Mike Blogs

Did that Call to Worship seem familiar to you? It should; it was déjà vu all over again since it was the same as last week. I intentionally had us repeat it because what I want to talk to you about today is built on what Pastor was teaching last week. In this highly connected world, are you getting Too Much Information? Too Much Information to sort it all out? Too Much Information to know what’s true and what’s a scam? Too Much Information to know what to do? Do you risk an

One of the practices to begin with in good Bible study is to see what words, concepts, or themes are repeated. In this chapter, the word for ‘heart’ and ‘hearts’ is repeated. In fact, it appears 40 times in the book of Jeremiah, more than any other book of the Bible, except Psalms and Proverbs. In Jeremiah, God says that Judah is close to his heart; but Judah has not kept God in their heart. God says that Judah’s hearts need to be circumcised. This metaphor was stated earli

You got a feel for the problems with patriarchal imperialism last week. The king thinks that he can do no wrong. He has a group of rich and powerful men around him as sycophants (suck-ups) and army officers who are trained to believe everything he says. The result is that the people, like you and me, have no representation at all at the highest levels. Things only get done as a personal favor from the king, not through proper courts and agencies. Notice that, in the first two

We learned last week that Jeremiah not only prophesied (preached) but he also performed the word of God. That is, he conformed his behavior to demonstrate the word of God; perhaps for those who were hard of hearing. That’s a joke, but too true as a metaphor. Maybe the people who refused to hear the word of God would believe it if they saw it. Here are some additional instructions for Jeremiah about how to perform as a prophet. 16: 5-9. For thus says the LORD: Do not enter th

Hadassah, ‘myrtle’, that is her given name, but we know her as Esther, ‘the star’. The book, Esther, is one of only two books in the Bible that are named for a woman. The other book is Ruth, whose story we have already considered in this series of devotionals about women in the Bible. We will have several devotionals about Esther, the people around her, her social and political context, and why she is an outstanding woman. It is a complex and revealing story. I should note u

Would you like to be a prophet? You’d better think again. There is pain there that eats up your life. Perhaps that is why the prophet Amos loudly proclaimed: “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now then, hear the word of the LORD” (Amos 7: 14-15). We know, because he told us, that Jeremiah was from a

Time is running out on the kingdom of Judah; the only political stronghold left to the people of Israel since the northern kingdom was destroyed and dispersed in 721 BC. Today’s story occurs about 100 years later, specifically 640 to 609 BC, during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. Judah is on a downhill skid, more like a roller coaster ride; down, then up, down, down, then up, etc. Soon the downs will overcome the ups and Judah will also disappear from the map. After tha

God has had enough of Judah’s disobedience, disrespect, and bad behavior. Through Jeremiah, God has revealed a future that few will survive. Here is how events will play out for the people and their families. 15: 8-9. I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror. The mother of seven will grow faint

Last Sunday at the end of the service, we sat in the pews for the Postlude, as we always do because we have a wonderful organist. The organ rang with a rather bombastic song, so I looked to see what he was playing. It was the March from Athalia by F. Mendelssohn. Now, any other time in my life I probably would have shrugged my shoulders, said “That’s nice,” then walked back to greet the pastor. Instead, when I got up and walked toward the front, Teresa said, “Where are you