Ironworks

          This week it was reported on archeology.org that the tomb of the Egyptian god Osiris was found opposite the Nile River from the city of Luxor. The article describes the tomb like this, “it was modeled on the mythical tomb of Osiris, and was intended to celebrate that god's mysteries. Below the Osiris statue the team found the tomb's burial chamber, and a nearby room was decorated with reliefs depicting demons and deities holding knives and meant to stand guard over the body of the tomb's occupant.” While I concede it is too early to know if the body found in the tomb is the alleged Osiris, I cannot help to think about what it means if it is.            If this is the body of Osiris, he joins a long line of men who claimed to be gods, yet found themselves to be mere mortals by the fact that they each have died. We could make reference to older mainstream religions such as Buddhism and we could go to Jingchuan Coun...

“Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:  whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that.  But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil.  To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”  James 4:13-17      What is your life? The answer may be scarier than the question itself. Yet, the Holy Spirit asked, “What is your life?” It is a vapor, something that is seen briefly. It appears and it is gone. So why do we try and hoard the time that we have on this earth instead of willingly giving it up for God? When we plan in such a way that we leave God out of our lives, we hold onto the temporary brevity of life rather than the eternal desire God has...

“Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done.  And Pharaoh-necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.”  2 Kings 23:31-33      Each one of us has an opportunity. Each one has a decision to make with that opportunity. Each one of us must respond to the open door that is before us. Jehoahaz of Judah had the same options afforded to him. We might be tempted to jump on the case of Jehoahaz for choosing to do evil in the sight of the Lord. We might be tempted to say he had such a great example of how to be a godly king in his father Josiah. While his father’s example was great, it does not take away from the ...