Date: 7/1/2003
Time: 8:52:22 AM
"Look, we are your bone and your flesh."
Everyone loves a hometown hero, someone who is "one of us," a guy like you and me whom we can respect. ...Everyone, that is, except the Nazarenes in this week's Gospel passage.
DSS
Date: 7/2/2003
Time: 8:30:46 PM
Does anyone else see the great irony in a Middle Eastern nation choosing a leader of age 30 who would reign for 40 years? Who could see this possibly happening today in any country in that region? And a shepherd of "my people?" Rulers today make better wolves than shepherds, admired for their cunning, not for their caring. Could such a "swearing in" ceremony change the way we look at leadership today? Affirm the bone-and-flesh nature of the relationship, the shepherding, and the covenant, and a new type of political leader might arise. And in the ancient Middle East, one did arise, by the name of David. Mark in Rockwall, Texas
Date: 7/2/2003
Time: 8:31:25 PM
Does anyone else see the great irony in a Middle Eastern nation choosing a leader of age 30 who would reign for 40 years? Who could see this possibly happening today in any country in that region? And a shepherd of "my people?" Rulers today make better wolves than shepherds, admired for their cunning, not for their caring. Could such a "swearing in" ceremony change the way we look at leadership today? Affirm the bone-and-flesh nature of the relationship, the shepherding, and the covenant, and a new type of political leader might arise. And in the ancient Middle East, one did arise, by the name of David. Mark in Rockwall, Texas
Date: 7/2/2003
Time: 9:24:56 PM
Mu'ammar Gadhafi came to power in Libya when he was 27 years old. In 2009 he will celebrate his 40th year as the sole leader of Libya.
The late King Hussein of Jordan was only 17 when he took the throne, which he kept over 46 years until his death in 1999.
Date: 7/3/2003
Time: 11:44:57 AM
I find vs. 10 remarkable. The source of David becoming greater and grearter, the longevity of his reign, was not his political savvy, his military conquest, or his moral superiority, but the fact that the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. The promised blessing that comes with God's presence found repeatedly in Scripture. That is what God wants more than anything else, to be with us. O the great lengths that God went just to be with us, to be in relationship with us, to bless us. God wants more than anything else for us to be in relationship with his as our heavenly father, and we as his children. The great commandment that Jesus gave was not that we do this and that for God, but that we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus also promised that if we keep his word, the Father will abide in us. He will be with us! Amazing, isn't it? ES in OK