The Transforming Word of God

As I continue reading the book of Jeremiah, God's patience with His people is obvious. God had warned them persistently (11:7), yet "'they proceed from evil to evil,  and they do not know me,' declares the Lord. '... they refuse to know me,' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:3b, 6b ) God continues to show Jeremiah just how far His people have fallen. He even tells His prophet not to pray for this people and not even to intercede with God for them (7:16) because His warnings have been ignored, His commands have been ignored, His pleas to truly return to Him in heartfelt repentance have been ignored again and again. As Jeremiah grasps the severity of his nation's sin, of God's wrath toward his people, of God's determination to judge them harshly, Jeremiah cries,  "My joy is gone;  grief is upon me;  my heart is sick within me."  (Jeremiah 8:18) Yet he sees God as righteous even as he complains to Him  ...

Reading the book of Jeremiah can be somewhat depressing. Knowing that's how my brother was feeling as he began reading the prophet's writings, I decided to reread the book, to refresh my understanding of it and so be able to discuss it with John. I then wrote a message to him that I decided would be worth sharing, although slightly revised. I have the John MacArthur Study Bible . In his introduction to the book of Jeremiah, he pointed out that this prophet of God "sought to turn the nation back from the point of no return." He also noted that one of the sub themes is "God's sufficiency in all trouble". I believe those two things are important to remember when studying the writings of this man of God. As I read the first six chapters this afternoon, I couldn't help but think that these words could also be written to our great country, a country that once prided itself in being a Christian nation with Judaeo-Christian mores. Look how far from...

"Life is busier today than it was when we were kids." That's what my daughter tells me. I don't question the validity of that statement, but I do question the why of it. And why it puts so much pressure on her generation. A lot of it has to do with our culture, although individual choices play a large part. When Bob and I were first married, Blue Laws were still in effect. We couldn't even shop on Sundays! When our children were born, Sunday was still kept free of extra curricular activities, including sports and the arts. That began to change when my son was involved in sports. Even then, they seldom interfered with morning church service. That, too, began to change, however, before he graduated from high school. From then on, it seemed more and more activities were able to be crammed into a week. As I ponder this situation, I realize that the prevalent Christian influence on our culture at that time truly helped us. We had one day of week that could be...