(Jesus said) "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven."[Matthew 10:32-33]
So, history students, here is your lesson for today:
Ptolemy was a Greek scholar who was born in Egypt around the year 85 A.D. He popularized Aristotle's theory which said the earth was the center of the universe, and everything else revolved around our blue planet. Ptolemy's theory was good enough that it held up for about 1,400 years.
At the time of Luther, a fellow by the name of Copernicus, having made some observations, said, "Nope, the sun is the center of our solar system, and the earth revolves around it." The argument of Copernicus was picked up and strongly promoted by Galileo and a dozen other astronomers. Eventually, Galileo's enthusiasm for this new way of thinking was condemned by the church. Galileo was required to recant and spent the last years of his life under house arrest.
Ever since that time the free-thinking world has loved to point to the church and say, "See how narrow-minded you Christians are! The way you treated Galileo proves how you take unreasonable stands against science and the truth."
Most of the time we Christians have heard that criticism and hung our heads in shame.
Well, no longer. A new book written by Christopher Graney, Setting Aside All Authority, has done a thorough and complete review of what happened in those days. What he found out was
1. up until the time of Galileo, the preponderance of scientific evidence supported the idea of an earth-centered universe;
2. that the opponents to Copernicus and Galileo were not primarily motivated by religion when they condemned the new theory, and
3. when the church condemned the new theory, it did so after it had consulted with the leaders of the scientific community.
So, what's the point?
The point is this: the Savior told us there would be times when we would be reviled and persecuted for following Him (see Matthew 10:22). We offer no apologies for the Savior's work or for those who have been faithful in following the Savior, and we are glad to apologize for the many hurtful, painful things we have done wrong.
But we must take a stand for the Savior and contradict the world when it wrongly accuses Him such as this old case about Copernicus and Galileo. We must take a stand because believers should not let their present-day silence lead to the Savior being beaten, spit upon, and lied about -- again.
Once was enough.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that my words and life may boldly point to the wonderful work Jesus has done to save me. This I ask in His Name. Amen.
So, history students, here is your lesson for today:
Ptolemy was a Greek scholar who was born in Egypt around the year 85 A.D. He popularized Aristotle's theory which said the earth was the center of the universe, and everything else revolved around our blue planet. Ptolemy's theory was good enough that it held up for about 1,400 years.
At the time of Luther, a fellow by the name of Copernicus, having made some observations, said, "Nope, the sun is the center of our solar system, and the earth revolves around it." The argument of Copernicus was picked up and strongly promoted by Galileo and a dozen other astronomers. Eventually, Galileo's enthusiasm for this new way of thinking was condemned by the church. Galileo was required to recant and spent the last years of his life under house arrest.
Ever since that time the free-thinking world has loved to point to the church and say, "See how narrow-minded you Christians are! The way you treated Galileo proves how you take unreasonable stands against science and the truth."
Most of the time we Christians have heard that criticism and hung our heads in shame.
Well, no longer. A new book written by Christopher Graney, Setting Aside All Authority, has done a thorough and complete review of what happened in those days. What he found out was
1. up until the time of Galileo, the preponderance of scientific evidence supported the idea of an earth-centered universe;
2. that the opponents to Copernicus and Galileo were not primarily motivated by religion when they condemned the new theory, and
3. when the church condemned the new theory, it did so after it had consulted with the leaders of the scientific community.
So, what's the point?
The point is this: the Savior told us there would be times when we would be reviled and persecuted for following Him (see Matthew 10:22). We offer no apologies for the Savior's work or for those who have been faithful in following the Savior, and we are glad to apologize for the many hurtful, painful things we have done wrong.
But we must take a stand for the Savior and contradict the world when it wrongly accuses Him such as this old case about Copernicus and Galileo. We must take a stand because believers should not let their present-day silence lead to the Savior being beaten, spit upon, and lied about -- again.
Once was enough.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that my words and life may boldly point to the wonderful work Jesus has done to save me. This I ask in His Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 104:1 Bless Adonai, my soul!
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 104:1 Bless Adonai, my soul!
Adonai, my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with glory and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a robe.
You spread out the heavens like a curtain,
3 you laid the beams of your palace on the water.
You make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make winds your messengers,
fiery flames your servants.
5 You fixed the earth on its foundations,
never to be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep like a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they rushed away,
8 flowing over hills, pouring into valleys,
down to the place you had fixed for them.
9 You determined a boundary they could not cross;
they were never to cover the earth again.
10 You make springs gush forth in the vadis;
they flow between the hills,
11 supplying water to all the wild animals;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 On their banks the birds of the air build their nests;
among the branches they sing.
13 You water the mountains from your palace;
the earth is satisfied with how you provide —
14 You grow grass for the cattle;
and for people you grow the plants they need
to bring forth bread from the earth,
15 wine that gladdens the human heart,
oil to make faces glow,
and food to sustain their strength.
16 Adonai’s trees are satisfied —
the cedars of the L’vanon, which he has planted.
17 In them sparrows build their nests,
while storks live in the fir trees.
18 For the wild goats there are the high mountains,
while the coneys find refuge in the rocks.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.
20 You bring darkness, and it is night,
the time when all forest animals prowl.
21 The young lions roar after their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, they slink away
and lie down to rest in their dens;
23 while people go out to their work,
laboring on till evening.
24 What variety there is in your works, Adonai!
How many [of them there are]!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creations.
25 Look at the sea, so great, so wide!
It teems with countless creatures,
living beings, both large and small.
26 The ships are there, sailing to and fro;
Livyatan, which you formed to play there.
27 All of them look to you
to give them their food when they need it.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it;
when you open your hand, they are well satisfied.
29 If you hide your face, they vanish;
if you hold back their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
30 If you send out your breath, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of Adonai last forever!
May Adonai rejoice in his works!
32 When he looks at the earth, it trembles;
when he touches the mountains, they pour out smoke.
33 I will sing to Adonai as long as I live,
sing praise to my God all my life.
34 May my musings be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in Adonai.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more!
Bless Adonai, my soul!
Halleluyah!
105:1 Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him,
talk about all his wonders.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let those seeking Adonai have joyful hearts.
4 Seek Adonai and his strength;
always seek his presence.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his signs and his spoken rulings.
6 You descendants of Avraham his servant,
you offspring of Ya‘akov, his chosen ones,
7 he is Adonai our God!
His rulings are everywhere on earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Avraham,
the oath he swore to Yitz’chak,
10 and established as a law for Ya‘akov,
for Isra’el as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Kena‘an
as your allotted heritage.”
12 When they were but few in number,
and not only few, but aliens there too,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from this kingdom to that people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them.
Yes, for their sakes he rebuked even kings:
15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones
or do my prophets harm!”
16 He called down famine on the land,
broke off all their food supply,
17 but sent a man ahead of them —
Yosef, who was sold as a slave.
18 They shackled his feet with chains,
and they bound him in irons;
19 until the time when his word proved true,
God’s utterance kept testing him.
20 The king sent and had him released,
the ruler of peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his household,
in charge of all he owned,
22 correcting his officers as he saw fit
and teaching his counselors wisdom.
23 Then Isra’el too came into Egypt,
Ya‘akov lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 There God made his people very fruitful,
made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
and treat his servants unfairly.
26 He sent his servant Moshe
and Aharon, whom he had chosen.
27 They worked his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and the land grew dark;
they did not defy his word.
29 He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the royal chambers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of insects
and lice throughout their land.
32 He gave them hail instead of rain,
with fiery [lightning] throughout their land.
33 He struck their vines and fig trees,
shattering trees all over their country.
34 He spoke, and locusts came,
also grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up everything green in their land,
devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
37 Then he led his people out,
laden with silver and gold;
among his tribes not one stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy to have them leave,
because fear of [Isra’el] had seized them.
39 He spread out a cloud to screen them off
and fire to give them light at night.
40 When they asked, he brought them quails
and satisfied them with food from heaven.
41 He split a rock, and water gushed out,
flowing as a river over the dry ground,
42 for he remembered his holy promise
to his servant Avraham.
43 He led out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44 Then he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they possessed what peoples had toiled to produce,
45 in order to obey his laws
and follow his teachings.
Halleluyah!
1 Thessalonians 1:1 From: Sha’ul, Sila and Timothy
To: The Messianic Community of the Thessalonians, united with God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah:
Grace to you and shalom.
2 We always thank God for all of you, regularly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 calling to mind before God our Father what our Lord Yeshua the Messiah has brought about in you — how your trust produces action, your love hard work, and your hope perseverance. 4 We know, brothers, that God has loved and chosen you; 5 that the Good News we brought did not become for you a matter only of words, but also one of power, the Ruach HaKodesh and total conviction — just as you know how we lived for your sakes when we were with you. 6 You, indeed, became imitators of us and of the Lord; so that even though you were going through severe troubles, you received the Word with joy from the Ruach HaKodesh.
7 Thus you became a pattern for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia; 8 for the Lord’s message sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but everywhere your trust toward God became known. The result is that we don’t need to say anything; 9 since they themselves keep telling us about the welcome we received from you and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, 10 and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment.
____________________________
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
____________________________
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