Would Not Hear the Prophets

Our chapel stories this week have been about Stephen. In his final sermon, Stephen told about when Moses attempted to break up the fight between two Hebrew men, trying to reconcile them.

But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" (Acts 7:27)

Pastor pointed out how they "pushed him away." God sends a redeemer, a prophet, a reconciler, a savior. And how did they respond? They pushed him away.

But God didn't renege on the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses still brought them out of slavery. In the wilderness, the children of Israel continued to push Moses away. Still the Lord stayed faithful to them for the sake of His promise. Then came the time of the judges. Then their desire for a king. And all the while, the people pushed away the prophets God sent.

But still He sent His Son. "Surely they will respect My Son" (Matthew 21:37).

Or not.

But still He remains faithful.




PS: It is really interesting to listen to that sermon while you're thinking about it from Paul's perspective. After all, Paul was there. A ring-leader. A murderer. Saul of Tarsus heard Stephen's sermon and hated it. But he was the one who was the eye-witness, the one who told the story to Luke to record. Amazing to listen to this sermon through Paul's eyes, seeing how some of what he wrote to the Corinthians he first heard from Stephen in this sermon! God's word will not return to Him void but will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it.

Beautiful Bowlfuls

Nearly a gallon.
And I only worked my way through 2/3 of the patch today.And this is just the start!
Woo hooo!

I was editing some material on the First Article of the Creed the other day -- about how it is only through God's mercy in Christ's atonement that we can enjoy any of the good gifts God gives. And I'm thinkin', in the strawberry patch this afternoon, if God can give strawberries this abundantly, and if strawberries ain't nothin' compared to being with Him in heaven, then it's pretty hard to wrap your mind around how bountiful are His blessings! I'm just pretty excited about strawberries!

Garden Report

Ate one strawberry yesterday. Gary picked four this morning. Looks like they'll be starting in heavy by the end of the week. Gary and I dug out walking space in the strawberry bed. A week or two ago it looked like there was plenty of space for your feet and your bottom while picking. But boy, the plants have really bushed out. Note for next year: much much bigger foot paths in the bed.

Just beginning to see some flowers on the raspberries.

Not one cilantro seed has germinated, neither the rows I planted mid-April or mid-May. I'm buying a fresher pack of seeds and trying again.

Planted cucumbers, green beans, hubbard squash, and carrots yesterday.

How hard should it be to turn on the sprinkler? C'mon. It's a sprinkler, for cryin' out loud. It's not rocket science. How come it can take me an hour to get that blasted thing turned on and working? Last week I gave up and bought a new one. While at the hardware store, I saw the same brand I bought late last summer (the one that's driving me bonkers). It has a life-time guarantee. So I thought I'd check with the company about replacing it. But first, I tried running the old sprinkler again. It ran perfectly. And again a couple of days later, it ran without a hitch. I returned the unused new one to the store. The next day, the sprinkler-with-a-demon decided to pull its stunts again. I cried. (PS: I finally threw it down in frustration, hoping that a good whack might knock something loose. Guess what? It did. I finally got the plants and seeds wet.)

Question: have y'all found hoeing to be as effective as yanking out the weeds by the roots? I think it's good to pull out the weeds. But if I can't keep up, better to hoe than to let the boogers keep growing, right? If I hoe, do I have to tackle the weeds two or three times as often as if I yank 'em out by the roots? Or does hoeing kill 'em good-&-dead?