Say Sodom and Gamorrah and what comes to mind?

When you say Sodom and Gamorrah, what do you think about? Well, society has tagged onto one definition. I am not trying to downplay that but let me sketch something a little different.

First, Sodom and Gamorrah (S&G) are talked about in Genesis. We are introduced when Abraham and Lot divide up and Lot turns towards S&G as his home base. In Genesis 14, S&G is sacked and many people are taken captive, including Lot. When Abraham hears about Lot, he arms his men and goes out and takes out the captives, freeing Lot and the people of S&G. The King of S&G offer Abraham all of the freed substance in which Abraham refuses citing that he didn’t do it for lucre and that God should be given the glory. I bring up this thinking that this was S&G’s wake up call. Wake up and clean up or next time… well, next time there wont be a next time.

In Genesis 19, Lot is told to flee (S&G didn’t wakeup and clean up) and soon S&G is burned.

19:24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

Ok, now for what people don’t normally talk about with S&G. So, if I said, what was the sin of S&G, what got them cooked, you would say: __________

Now what do the scriptures say?

Ezekiel 26: 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

You don’t say…? You mean some of their sin, in fact maybe a good sized portion of it was their pride and idleness? Oh, and they didn’t help those in need. That isn’t what we normally think of. If we are going to be judged by our idleness, our pride, and our lack of strengthening the hand of the poor and the needy, I think we are in trouble.

But you don’t buy it, you have always thought that S&G’s main sin was something else, not anything that you might do. Does this come up anywhere else? Why yes. Check out Isaiah Chapter 3 where the Lord is telling Jerusalem why they have messed up. Notice verses 9 to 15:

9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
…
14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean ye that ye my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.

So, Jerusalem was doing some of the stuff that S&G were, that being that “the spoil of the poor is in your houses” and “grind the faces of the poor”. Sounds a lot like what Ezekiel said.

In the final analysis, there are also scriptures that discuss the moral indecency and perversion of S&G and I don’t want to downplay that. But, did you ever think of these things in the scriptures above? How much like Sodom and Gamorrah are we? Something to think about.

Being Lazy on a Saturday Morning

I have not posted for a long time, just busy... Anyway, it is a Saturday morning and I am just looking at the computer with my son. Anyway, he is into superheros. We found this fun site:
http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com which gives you a bunch of questions and matches you to a superhero. Anyway, my son's results...

You are Superman

Superman 80% Robin 77% Spider-Man 65% Iron Man 55% The Flash 55% Batman 45% Hulk 40% Supergirl 30% Green Lantern 25% Wonder Woman 20% Catwoman 0%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Teaching my kids… 2

Note: I wrote this some time ago (almost a year) and didn’t post it. Anyway...

As a father and husband, my wife an I often talk about the "home" we are creating. What are we teaching our kids? Are we passing on to them the knowledge of and opportunities for spiritual growth that we were given?

I know that the best way to build such a home is to not think of the home we want as a destination but as a process, a long-term process. In this light, I am always looking to gain new insights and understanding, especially from the scriptures.

Recently I have been reading the Old Testament. I have come to look at Deuteronomy in a new light. What an interesting book!

As Moses is reviewing his teachings to the children of Israel at the threshold of entering the promised land, he gives them this little gem.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11
18 Therefore shall yea lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children , in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

First, I need to have the words of the Lord in my heart and soul. They need to be reflected in all that I do (hands) and in my perspective in the world (eyes).

While I do believe and have hope in the words of the Lord, are those words written on my heat and soul? Are the words that much a part of me? They are generally there but then they are not.

Simultaneously (as example is often the best teacher), I need to teach the words to my children at all opportunities, while sitting in my house (family dinner, less TV time, etc.), while on the way to places (turn off the radio a bit more while in the car), when preparing for bed, and when preparing for the day.

I do need to work on this one. I let other influences into my world way too much.

Then I should have words of the scriptures on my walls especially near our entry/exit ways to our home both as a symbol to others as well as a remembrance to ourselves of what we want our home to be.

How to do this? Well, my wife has put scripture passages on our walls... what else? Suggestions anyone? What do you do?

Teaching my kids...

My wife an I often talk about the "home" we are creating. What are we teaching our kids? Are we passing on to them the knowledge of and opportunities for spiritual growth that we were given?

I know that the best way to build such a home is to not think of the home we want as a destination but as a process, a long-term process. In this light, I am always looking to gain new insights and understanding, especially from the scriptures.

Recently I have been reading the Old Testament. I have come to look at Deuteronomy in a new light. What an interesting book!

As Moses is reviewing his teachings to the children of Israel at the threshold of entering the promised land, he gives them this little gem.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11
18 Therefore shall yea lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children , in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

First, I need to have the words of the Lord in my heart and soul. They need to be reflected in all that I do (hands) and in my perspective in the world (eyes). Simultaneously (as example is often the best teacher), I need to teach the words to my children at all opportunities, while sitting in my house (family dinner, less T.V. time, etc.), while on the way to places (turn off the radio a bit more while in the car), when preparing for bed, and when preparing for the day. Then I should have words of the scriptures on my walls especially near our entry/exit ways to our home both as a symbol to others as well as a remembrance to ourselves of what we want our home to be.

Leaving a pleasent pathway

The last few evenings I was reading, with my wife, some words about service and being of service to others. I was deeply touched by some of what we read. The author was discussing Christ washing the Apostles’ feet at the Last Supper where He ends by saying,

John 13:15-16
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

The author then continued with the following (found online here):

What an example of service to those great servants, followers of the Christ! He that is greatest among you, let him be least. So we sense the obligation to be of greater service to the membership of the Church, to devote our lives to the advancement of the kingdom of God on earth.

Just think! The only reason the world knows anything about them [Jesus’ Apostles] is because having met the Savior, they made Him their guide in life. If they hadn’t, nobody now would know that such men had ever lived. They would have lived and died and been forgotten just as thousands of other men in their day lived and died and nobody knows or cares anything about them; just as thousands and thousands are living today, wasting their time and energy in useless living, choosing the wrong kind of men for their ideals, turning their footsteps into the road of Pleasure and Indulgence instead of the road of Service. Soon they will reach the end of their journey in life, and nobody can say that the world is any better for their having lived in it. At the close of each day such men leave their pathway as barren as they found it—they plant no trees to give shade to others, nor rose-bushes to make the world sweeter and brighter to those who follow—no kind deeds, no noble service—just a barren, unfruitful, desert-like pathway, strewn, perhaps, with thorns and thistles.

Not so with the disciples who chose Jesus for their Guide. Their lives are like gardens of roses from which the world may pluck beautiful flowers forever.

Wow!!! What a description!!!

To live each day and being of benefit to others, not leaving my pathway barren. I hope and pray that I can leave the human race, the children of God, a bit better for my having lived. Otherwise, for what purpose do I live and how can I claim to be a follower of the Master?