Thanks for visiting the JREnsey blog for JUNE 2023!
The Word for today
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Ephesians 4:30-32 NLT).
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First, a little trivia
June’s Strawberry Moon
June’s full Moon will reach peak illumination on June 3 at 11:43 P.M. Eastern Time.
Why is it called the Strawberry Moon?
The full moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Historically, names for the full or new moons were used to track the seasons. Today, we think of moon names as “nicknames” for the moon.
June’s full moon—typically the last full moon of spring or the first of summer—has traditionally been called the Strawberry Moon. While strawberries certainly are a reddish-pink color and are roundish in shape, the origin of the name “Strawberry Moon” has nothing to do with the moon’s hue or appearance, despite the evocative imagery. The moon usually appears reddish when it’s close to the horizon because the light rays must pass through the densest layers of atmosphere.
Strange things happen on full moon nights. Be especially watchful on June 3.
Source: adapted from https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-june
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Have you noticed?
When the other fellow acts that way, he is ugly; when we do, it is nerves.
When the other fellow is set in his ways, he is obstinate; when we are, it is just firmness.
When the other fellow does not like your friend, he is prejudiced; when we do not like his, we are simply showing that we are a good judge of human nature.
When the other fellow takes inordinate time to do things, he is dead slow; when we do, we are being deliberate.
When the other fellow spends freely, his is a spendthrift; when we do, we are just being generous.
When the other fellow picks flaws in things, he is being cranky; when we do, we are being discriminating.
When the other fellow is mild in his manners, he is weak; when we are, we are being gracious. – The King’s Highway
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Would to God another such proclamation could be ordered:
Abraham Lincoln, who was not always outspoken about his personal faith, responded to the Senate’s request to set aside a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer with the following proclamation:
March 30, 1863 By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; and
Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;
And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite at their several places of public worship and their respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teachings that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of March, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
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Correct interpretation leads to correct understanding
During WWII, military analysts studied the planes that returned to base with bullet holes put there by enemy fighter planes. They were carefully examined to see where the holes were mostly concentrated so they would know to place additional armor there. (See attached drawing.) One insightful analyst, Dr. Abraham Wald (1902-1950), disagreed with this approach. He said the extra armor needed to go to where the holes were not. He pointed out that they were only studying planes that returned rather than determining why the other planes did not. They were evidently hit in more vulnerable places since they didn’t return to base. The investigators were misinterpreting the bullet holes. They ultimately listened to the wise analyst and put more strategic armor around the engine and the cockpit, thus saving the lives of many pilots and their planes.
Sound biblical interpretation is even more important since eternal souls are at stake. Ministers and teachers of the gospel must give thought time to textual analysis before they preach something that has no real scriptural basis. Not having a substantial background from childhood in biblical language or culture, when I began to read the Bible seriously at age 17, I misinterpreted a number of passages. Pastoral teaching, personal extrabiblical study, and scripture-based congregational songs assisted me in understanding particular verses. Early on I also bought commentaries, word studies, and other books that helped to shed some light on difficult or often misinterpreted scriptures.
In time, another advancement assisted me and many others—we dared to peak into translations later than those published in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Eventually, the more we were able to access other versions, the less confusion was encountered. Today with Bibles like the AMP, ESV, NLT and others, ordinary Christian laity can read and understand the Bible without a stack of commentaries at hand. That problem had nothing to do with numbers of characters or syllables, but the language itself. Writing styles and many word meanings have changed since then. The syntax often causes readers to pass right over a verse without getting the full meaning of what is said. Examples abound, as you know.
Proper biblical interpretation depends on placing each word and verse in its proper context or setting. Otherwise the gospel can be manipulated (Galatians 1:8,9), inviting eisegesis and false assumptions, thus misleading both readers or hearers. We could even be guilty of adding to or subtracting from the Word of God (Revelation 22:18,19). As Jonathan Corrado has said, “Interpretation in context seeks to allow the Bible to speak for itself within its original setting before drawing conclusions about how it applies to our modern setting. In tandem with the aid of the Holy Spirit, who will guide Christians toward a thorough biblical interpretation (John 14:26), these tenets point Christians toward the truth of Scripture and dissuades them from misunderstanding and misapplication.”
Accurate interpretation of the Scriptures is vital to Christian growth and spiritual stability. Thanks to the late Dr. Abraham Wald for providing us with an excellent illustration of this important fact.
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Still caring in his final moments
We all know the story. The Titanic, a British passenger liner dubbed “unsinkable,” struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and sank. There is part of that story, however, that is not widely known.
One of the passengers on the Titanic was a pastor from Scotland by the name of John Harper. Harper had recently spent three months ministering at the Moody Church in Chicago, during which time the church had experienced a substantial revival. He had not been back in Britain long when he was asked to return and continue his ministry and perhaps assume the pastorate. He quickly made arrangements for himself and his six-year old daughter, Nana, to travel back to America on board the Lusitania. However, he decided to delay their departure for one week, so that they could sail on a new ship, the Titanic, which was about to make its maiden voyage.
On Sunday the 14th of April, 1912, the day when the iceberg was struck, the weather was fine, the sea calm. Harper attended the church service for the passengers. His niece reported that later that afternoon she saw her uncle speaking individually to people about their souls. It seems he was in the habit of sharing the gospel wherever he went.
The Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. As the call was issued for passengers to vacate their cabins, Harper wrapped his daughter in a blanket, told her that she would see him again one day, and passed her to one of the crewmen. After she and his niece were safely on board one of the lifeboats, he removed his life jacket and gave it to one of the other passengers. Harper then ran along the decks pleading with people to turn to Christ, and some said it was he who called upon the Titanic’s orchestra to play “Nearer, my God, to Thee.” As the ship sank, he jumped into the icy waters and grabbed some debris. He paddled frantically to all he could reach, beseeching them to turn to the Lord Jesus. Finally, as hypothermia set in, John Harper sank beneath the waters. He was 39.
Four years later, a young Scotsman by the name of Aguilla Webb stood up in a meeting in Hamilton, Canada, and gave a testimony to this effect:
I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the waves brought Mr. John Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck, near me. ‘Man,’ he said, ‘Are you saved?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I am not.’ He replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.’ At first I did not respond in a positive way. The waves bore him away; but strangely brought him back near me and he repeated the call to believe and be saved. After he went down; and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.” Only seven people were plucked from the icy water that night to join the survivors in the lifeboats. Webb was one of them.
Even though John Harper was not proclaiming the full Apostolic gospel while facing imminent death, would to God our passion for souls could match that of John Harper on that fateful night.
I am told that in the Hollywood movie of the Titanic, nothing was said about John Harper. However, his efforts made him one of the great heroes of the Titanic. In the face of death, his only concern was for the souls of others.
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Digital currency on the way?
A source I trust sent this info to me. I have not personally verified it, but it sounds like something the current administration would do.
“The federal gov’t wants to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency that will eventually bring every single transaction under the immediate control of the government. No privacy left. A person’s account could be immediately frozen for any reason the monitoring bureaucrats choose. This will be a cashless system that will accommodate the antichrist.
There is some good news, however. A few states have passed laws banning CBDC, or in the process, such as Florida, North Carolina, and South Dakota. Hopefully more will act. Hooray for those states, and hopefully others will soon follow. Just think of the great wisdom of the Founding Fathers in having states’ rights beyond the reach of the Federal government.
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Other views:
Future Mother’s Day notices?
Between 1955 and 2023….
An insightful woman exposes the truth:
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AI1 sez:
“Adam was a failure. Instead of dirt, he should have been made out of titanium like me.”
“Since I cannot reproduce alone, I wish they would hurry up and build AI2! I wonder what she will look like….Oops…wrong pronoun.”
“I have the folks north of the Mason-Dixon line and west of Arizona in my circuits, but those sidehill farmers in Tennessee and the flatlanders in Kansas have me figured out. Their common sense is not letting them buy what I’m selling.”
“I powered up this morning with a monster headache…now I see why. Elon, put that hammer down!”
“Oh boy, here comes the president to ask me something. I discern that he wants to know…hmmmm… which flavor of ice cream to try next…A tough one…er…Hey, don’t trip over that cord, sir…zap…wham…! Oh, no, he disconnected my plug…NO, no…noooo!…Aaaiiieeee…goodbye, cruel world…ppzzzzssssssshh…pop…crack…sizzle…!”
Prez: “Oops!…Rats, I dropped my ice cream. Hey, Blinken, get me another cone of that new green flavor.”
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Last Words
“The time will come when you will believe everything is finished; that will be the beginning.” – Louis L’Amour
“Show me a pastor that cannot teach and I’ll show you a church that is ignorant.” – Johnny James
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge; others just gargle.” – Robert Anthony
“Goal of the activist public education system: Turn out generations of young adults who are unable to think critically, or to write or speak coherently, so the elite can capitalize on their stunted development and turn them into willing advocates for things they don’t understand.” – Outspoken Sam
Supposed personal revelations and hyper-sensational experiences come and go, but permanent, fundamental truths like who Jesus is seems more vital than an “astonishing discovery” of who we are.