“I alone am left and they seek my life.”

The worst place to be in a time of crisis is alone.

By controlling the weather systems, Elijah had ruled the agricultural economy of Israel for three and a half years.  He had raised the dead and been fed by birds.  He had made fire come down from heaven.  He had defeated 850 false prophets on Mount Carmel, and then triumphantly brought the drought to an end by forcing the humiliated king to make breakneck speed back to the city in his chariot to avoid getting soaked.

The three minute video was very impressive.

It was my son-in-law Josh making a marketing pitch for his search engine optimization business.

The only problem was I didn’t understand a word of it.  Fortunately what really matters is that his prospective clients did.

I had a similar experience in Quebec this week when I had to return some merchandise I bought for a price correction.  I was able to explain in French that I was billed for two items instead of one, and the sales clerk launched into a lengthy apology and discussion which had something to do with the fact she had fallen into a daydream.  The rest of it was totally lost on me, so I just smiled and tried to look as if I got it all.  I did make sure I got the correct amount back though.

One of the most amazing things Jesus ever said was that we are his friends.

If we are sons and daughters of the King, that makes us brothers and sisters of one another.  And if we all friends of Jesus, that makes us friends of one another.  The apostle John closed a letter by saying, “The friends greet you.”  That’s how he described the church.

The word “celebrity” does not exist in God’s kingdom.  And shouldn’t exist in his church.

If the kingdom is the place where God dwells in eternal purity and power, the church is the community of imperfect people he gathers together on earth for a purpose.  That purpose is to give him glory.  Included in that purpose comes lots of other things, including evangelism, healing, discipling, teaching, community and so on.  But everything God does has the ultimate goal of bringing himself glory.

“For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.”  Thus says Psalm 125, one of the psalms written as songs of pilgrimage. These psalms were sung as the pilgrims made their way to Jerusalem for one of the great national festivals.  As they headed to the capital city, they were praying for the nation.

What the psalmist is saying is God’s people would go astray if they were under ungodly leadership.  The sad fact is it often happened just that way in Israel’s history.