Hello all,
God is not fair, God is gracious.
God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the people of God's intention to destroy the city because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. Because of his disdain for the Ninevites, Jonah disobeys God and flees to Tarshish (You remember later the story of the storm, three days in the belly of the fish, and finally being vomited on the seashore which led Jonah to obey God and prophesy to Nineveh). But do you know the rest of the story?
After Jonah preached and the people repented, he sat overlooking the city, bitter about God's grace given to the people. Jonah wanted God's wrath to rain down, but instead, he was confronted about his own anger, and about his own sense of injustice. The text ends with God asking, "Should I not be concerned for that great city?" (Read Jonah 4 for further details.)
I share this with you because this is our Old Testament text Sunday. I will be preaching from the New Testament, Matthew 20:1-16 though the themes of these passages are quite similar. The issue is about how God treats His people...does God treat people fairly, sticking to the letter of the law, or does he treat people graciously, with love and compassion?
We often think we want justice because we see ourselves in a more positive light than what we deserve, and often see others with a more critical eye. But these passages confront our views not only of others but of ourselves, and we are forced to admit that without God's grace, we truly would be lost and without hope.
As you have heard me say a million times, err on the side of grace...for that is what God does as well.
God bless you all,
Josh
Sports Corner
Overall Record for Picks (4-3) Not good, but still about .500
GT plays a college team this week--been playing High Schools lately and have been dominant. This week they face Kansas, a team from the soon to be defunct Big 12. I say Tech gets it done again, but they get a stern test. Tech by 6.
GA Southern faces an angry foe in Western Carolina (this is who Tech beat in game one). The Eagles look dominant, and the trend continues. Eagles win by 10.
UGA is coming off of two losses, one where they got out played by Boise, and one where they beat themselves in South Carolina. You simply cannot turn the ball over and win. UGA plays Coastal Carolina and blows them away...the score will be so bad, the game is not even televised. UGA by 30.
The Falcons play the Eagles at home...this is a homecoming game for Michael Vick. In his two previous meetings against the Falcons, he has been stellar with the Eagles winning easily. Folks, the streak continues this week. The Eagles defense is too much for the porous offensive line of the Falcons. It will be close, but Eagles will definitely pull it out. Eagles by 4.
God is not fair, God is gracious.
God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the people of God's intention to destroy the city because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. Because of his disdain for the Ninevites, Jonah disobeys God and flees to Tarshish (You remember later the story of the storm, three days in the belly of the fish, and finally being vomited on the seashore which led Jonah to obey God and prophesy to Nineveh). But do you know the rest of the story?
After Jonah preached and the people repented, he sat overlooking the city, bitter about God's grace given to the people. Jonah wanted God's wrath to rain down, but instead, he was confronted about his own anger, and about his own sense of injustice. The text ends with God asking, "Should I not be concerned for that great city?" (Read Jonah 4 for further details.)
I share this with you because this is our Old Testament text Sunday. I will be preaching from the New Testament, Matthew 20:1-16 though the themes of these passages are quite similar. The issue is about how God treats His people...does God treat people fairly, sticking to the letter of the law, or does he treat people graciously, with love and compassion?
We often think we want justice because we see ourselves in a more positive light than what we deserve, and often see others with a more critical eye. But these passages confront our views not only of others but of ourselves, and we are forced to admit that without God's grace, we truly would be lost and without hope.
As you have heard me say a million times, err on the side of grace...for that is what God does as well.
God bless you all,
Josh
Sports Corner
Overall Record for Picks (4-3) Not good, but still about .500
GT plays a college team this week--been playing High Schools lately and have been dominant. This week they face Kansas, a team from the soon to be defunct Big 12. I say Tech gets it done again, but they get a stern test. Tech by 6.
GA Southern faces an angry foe in Western Carolina (this is who Tech beat in game one). The Eagles look dominant, and the trend continues. Eagles win by 10.
UGA is coming off of two losses, one where they got out played by Boise, and one where they beat themselves in South Carolina. You simply cannot turn the ball over and win. UGA plays Coastal Carolina and blows them away...the score will be so bad, the game is not even televised. UGA by 30.
The Falcons play the Eagles at home...this is a homecoming game for Michael Vick. In his two previous meetings against the Falcons, he has been stellar with the Eagles winning easily. Folks, the streak continues this week. The Eagles defense is too much for the porous offensive line of the Falcons. It will be close, but Eagles will definitely pull it out. Eagles by 4.
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