City of David

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Thursday, February 1, 2018

Praise the Lord!  How good to sing praises to our God!  How delightful and how fitting!  The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel.  He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.  He counts the stars and calls them all by name.  How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!  His understanding is beyond comprehension!  Psalm 147:1-5^(NLT)

Representing the people of the United States, last month President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel.  That unexpected announcement raised more than a few eyebrows around the world; it created a controversy storm that will have tsunami-like waves of criticism and pushback for the foreseeable future.  Now, that’s not unusual for America’s most controversial president since…well, the last administration.  Controversy is the medium in which world politics swim, and some political fish have bigger gills than most.

Now, I’m not a politician, per se; neither am I a political science scholar.  What I am this morning is a man sitting at his keyboard in the wee hours of the morning considering the actions and words of another controversial, historic leader, Nehemiah, who led Israel to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity.  Nehemiah’s words in Psalm 147 are an outburst of praise from a heart so overflowing with gratitude and emotion you can just about feel the release of joy and unburdening of his heart. 

It is easy to get all excited about a comeback.  Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonian Empire.  The city walls were in ruins and those carried away had spent seven decades in prison camp.  Just the idea of re-construction was like a dream.  Yet it happened.  In Nehemiah’s account we read that because of the people’s willingness to work, the project was completed in less than two months[2].  With today’s labyrinth of building codes, permits, and labor issues you can hardly build a doghouse in that time.

Now, I’ve never found any place in Scripture where the United States of America is listed.  I see nothing in prophecy about anyone named Trump (unless, perhaps there is a play on words for the instrument Gabriel will use to signal the end of times J). 

But what we do see in Scripture and history is a constant, continual, immutable commitment of God to His promises.  And those promises center on His special people and the city of Jerusalem.  Given the President’s lack of familiarity with Scripture and faith issues, or even the rudiments of theology, it is an oddity to see him willingly spend his political capital to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.  However, if you look at some of the other surprises in Holy Writ concerning the City of David and how God displays His Sovereignty over the affairs of humankind, it becomes less surprising that He would use a dumbed-down version of “faith” to remind the world Who is really in charge! 

·       Didn’t God use a floating axe-head to display how nothing is ever lost?  ^{(2 Kings 6)}

·       Didn’t God use the little city of Ai to defeat Israel’s mighty army because one of Israel’s soldiers had secretly sinned?  ^{(Joshua 7)}

·       Didn’t God use a talking donkey to startle a prophet?  ^{(Numbers 22)}

Who is to say God didn’t inspire a flamboyant politician to focus our attention once more on what will be the center of the end of this evil age?

For You Today

Someone wise once said that the Kingdom of God was already a present reality. 

It is the job description of every follower of Jesus Christ to build that Kingdom as if He’s not coming back for a thousand more years…and to live each moment as if He is coming back today.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Nehemiah 6:15 is specific – 52 days

Improving On God

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Thursday, July 2, 2015

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.  They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”  So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the earth and govern it.  Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”  Genesis 1:26-28 ^(NLT)

The next time you order pizza delivery the knock at the door may be AI – literally! 

According to a recent post on InterestingEngineering.com recent developments and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have robots doing a lot more than you think. 

And it’s not all about a robot delivering your pizza.

The Future of Life Institute is impressive; their governing board includes the likes of Alan Alda and Steven Hawking.  They’re also very forthcoming about who they are and what they’re trying to do.  The home page of their website states their mission:

FLI catalyzes and supports research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future, including positive ways for humanity to steer its own course considering new technologies and challenges.[2]

According to the website, they are concerned.  As a watchdog institution eyeballing the development of science which has the potential to not only bless, but possibly blast humanity, a recent post shared the concern that huge leaps forward are not only possible, but happening. 

In short (and within the limitations of my feeble grasp of science), if the robots are made better and better, and given the ability to program themselves, they’ll eventually do it better than we can.  And they’ll keep doing it better, until they’re so far ahead of humans they become a menace to their creators.  We will become obsolete, and, perhaps, ready for the recycle bin.

Ugh!

According to our text today, God told Adam and Eve to rule over creation, and all the animals.  Perhaps God should have spelled it out that we should be very careful about taking things too far. 

There is a point at which your advances can also become your destruction!

And I think that is the point of The Future of Life Institute.

The organization offers to keep us informed – I signed up for updates, and I’ll let you know what I hear.

For You Today

There’s another future of life reality that has nothing to do with a website – and it isn’t concerned at all with AI or scientific genius; here’s what it does say:

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people!  He will live with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.  All these things are gone forever.”  And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”  And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  And he also said, “It is finished!  I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End.  To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.   Revelation 21:3-6^(NLT)

Nothing artificial about that life!

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[1] Title image: Courtesy – The Future of Life Institute

[2] futureoflife.org