Your Daughter-in-Law?

Katie came to the bank today with the kids.  The girls accepted stickers and colored.  Matthias crawled around, causing Alia to worry that he would get into the garbage or something.  Our newest employee did Katie's transactions while I flirted with the grandkids. 

After my family left, the new teller asked, "So, that was your daughter-in-law?" 

No.  She's my daughter. 

It happens over and over.  When there's a substitute or a new employee, upon meeting Katie, they always assume she is my daughter-in-law, and they seem surprised that she's my daughter.

A) Different last names seems to me to indicate she had my last-name, but no longer does.  But divorce is rampant, and some women don't take their husbands names anyhow.  Still, wouldn't it be nice if people could take it for granted that her different-last-name meant she was my daughter?

B)  Really -- why the pervasive assumption that Katie is married into the family instead of born in?  I don't get it.

Korby Quote

"Jesus does not puke when He hears you or sees you."

 -- Ken Korby, 1992

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

Date It!

Going through files at church, thinning, weeding, sorting, and ordering, again I see the importance of dating paperwork. 

Invitations to conferences with dates and no years.  That makes it hard to sort chronologically.

Faded and yellowed papers.  Are they from the 1950's?  Or is the booklet from the 1990's but printed on cheap paper that aged too quickly?

Lovely to run across a stream of stuff that you'd luv-luv-luv to throw out, but it must be kept for certain reasons ... and find that at least you can put them in order because they're fully dated.

At home it's good to find an owner's manual with the date scribbled on the front of when we bought that mower or washer or stove ... especially when the years fly by and you could've sworn that the appliance was only three years old in spite of the written evidence proves the item is twelve years old.

Thyself to Scorn Didst Offer

A few weeks ago we heard the parable (Matt 21) about the vine-dressers who beat up the land-owner's servants.  Then they killed his son.

Then we heard (Matt 22) about the people who were invited to the wedding-feast of the king's son and responded with, "Phhhtttthhhbbbbppp!  We've got better things to do."

We also heard about Pharisees and scribes and Sadducees trying to entrap Jesus (Matt 22). 

If we keep reading through the passion (Matt 26-27 or Psalm 22) we'd see a lot more scorn and mocking -- from the church leaders, from the soldiers, from the people.  Even from the disciples.

Every single sin we commit =
unbelief =
disobedience =
scorning Jesus.



Lamb of God, pure and holy,
who on the cross didst suffer,
ever patient and lowly,
Thyself to scorn didst offer.
All sins Thou borest for us,
else had despair reigned o'er us.
Have mercy on us, O Jesus.

We Have Never Been in Bondage to Anyone

Pastor was talking in Bible class today about how we believe in the Word of God.  But it's not only words we believe.  Any religious leader can spout words.  The truth of those words is shown in whether the words come to pass (Deut 18:21-22).  The events of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection show that His words were true.  His own words came to pass in the historical events.  The words of the Old Testament prophets also were proven true in the historical events of Jesus' day. 

So I asked, "Did the Old Testament Christians believe in 'just the words' or did they have the events too?" confused because they obviously had not observed the events that occurred in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

Pastor pointed out the constituative event of the Israelites: the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea.  That was their salvific event.  It saved.  It was a historical fact.  It was the fulfillment of the promise which came before.  It showed that the Lord was faithful to His word.



About an hour later, we hear from John in today's Gospel.  Jesus is telling His followers to abide in His word.  He tells them, "The truth shall make you free."  And what's the response from some of the Jews?

Free?  Huh?  We're free.  We're Abraham's descendents.  How come you're offering freedom?  We've never been in bondage to anyone. 

I laughed. 

Hello, guys:  Pharaoh.  Egypt.  Slavery.
Moabites, Amorites, Sidonians.
Ammonites, Canaanites, Philistines.
Assyria.
Babylon and Persia.

Yeah, I guess if they couldn't remember the historical events of their past, they're not going to be able to believe the words which came to pass in the unfolding of those events.

And neither would they believe the words which were soon to pan out in the events of Holy Week.