my burg

"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us..." (Acts 17:26-27 ESV) Why were we created? What is our ultimate purpose? Why are we so restless?  Here's Dutch theologian  Herman Bavinck on "Man's Highest Good"… “The conclusion, therefore, is that of Augustine, who said that the heart of man was created for God and that it cannot find rest unless it rests in its Father’s heart. Hence, all men are really seeking after God, as Augustine also declared, but they do not all seek Him in the right way nor at the right place. They seek Him down below, and He is above, they seek Him on the earth, and He is in Heaven.  They seek Him afar, and He is nearby. They seek Him in money, in property, in fame, in power,...

Bible reading for December 29 -- 31 Dec 29 -- Malachi 2 and John 19 Dec 30 -- Malachi 3 and John 20 Dec 31 -- Malachi 4 and John 21 ================ "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall."  (Malachi 4:2)  DOING ALL THINGS POORLY (Mal 2-3). As we draw near the end of the Mosaic covenant period, we see that even when the remnant of Israel is spared and returned to the land, they still do not continue in faithfulness and zeal. The Jews have lost their sense of God's greatness and their religion is half-hearted at best. The Lord himself will come to them: "Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts" (3:1). God's Son, Jesus, would himself stand in the temple courts in Jerusa...

Bible reading for December 27 -- 28 Dec 27 -- Zechariah 14 and John 17 Dec 28 -- Malachi 1 and John 18 ================ "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 1:11)  WITH BELLS ON (Zech 14). Like most of the prophets of the Bible, Zechariah does not leave us with the bad news, but gives us the good news, the promise of a glorious future. After judgment -- if we learn from it -- comes blessing. And it's a beautiful world (see my previous post, "With Bells On").  TIRED OF GOD (Mal 1). The first two books of the Bible open with the glory of God, seen first in creation (Genesis), and then in redeeming his people from Egypt (Exodus). In the last book of the OT we find a people who are tired of God. They have lost the sense of his greatness. Regarding the worship of ...

"And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, 'Holy to the LORD.'"  (Zechariah 14:20 ESV) I grew up with horses, and a familiar (and happy) sound at Christmas was the chime of the old German sleighbells attached to the door handle of our home. And every so often, when the weather was cold enough and the snow was the right depth, we would hitch up one of the horses to an old sleigh we had in the barn. The hitching part was more of an ordeal than you might think, but those times made precious memories for us as a family. The verse written above comes at the end of the book of Zechariah and describes the restoration of God's city of Zion. Some of the images given in the Bible for the new creation are ones I don't immediately relate to, like streets of gold or gates of pearl. But this one, horses with bells on, strikes a deep chord within me. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) There was nothing in my youth which spoke of peace and wel...

  Bible reading for December 22 -- 26 Dec 22 -- Zechariah 9 and John 12 Dec 23 -- Zechariah 10 and John 13 Dec 24 -- Zechariah 11 and John 14 Dec 25 -- Zechariah 12 and John 15 Dec 26 -- Zechariah 13 and John 16 We are in the Christmas holiday season, and so, I'm combining several days' readings. Next week we will be finishing the 2021 Bible reading schedule! Congratulations to those of you who have been reading along with us. Thanks for your kind and helpful notes along the way. And may you and yours have a blessed Christmas! --Sandy ================ "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9)  THREE REMARKABLE PROPHECIES (Zech 9-12) . The prophet Isaiah gave us many wonderful descriptions of the Messiah-to-come, including his miraculous birth. Daniel gave us a sketch of the Messian...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)  I first met Mason Hutcheson when I was in grade school, and he was a young extension agent working with the 4-H clubs in our county. He was friendly, courteous, and loved his work with the community. I came to know him much better after I came to faith in Jesus Christ at Virginia Tech in 1971. In the summer of 1972, along with a number of others, we began a youth-outreach ministry in Culpeper called the Son House. We also served together many years with the leadership of a congregation in our community. As of this year, our friendship spanned fifty years. No other Chr...

  Bible reading for weekend December 20 -- 21  Dec 20 -- Zechariah 7 and John 10 Dec 21 -- Zechariah 8 and John 11 ================ "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." (Zechariah 8:5)  WHAT'S THE USE (ch 7)? These two chapters go together, as seen by the opening question regarding fast days (7:3), and the Lord's reference to these same fasts (8:19). The opening question may be seen as a kind of complaint, i.e., does it really do any good to observe the appointed fasts? The people have a kind of formalistic view of their relationship with God. They are ticking the boxes of ceremonial observation and nothing much has changed in their post-exilic life back in Jerusalem (vv 1-3). The Lord answers, questioning their motives (vv 5-7). They are using religion as a way to improve their own lot in life. They are not seeking the Lord for himself. So, they need to make real changes, that is, to observe justice and to not harden ...