Monday, December 24, 2012

True Justice, Mercy, & Compassion

And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: "This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ ~Zechariah 7:8-10

When my right-wing family, friends and neighbors wonder how I can call myself a Christian and yet be a liberal- this is why; verses like this.


Sunday, December 02, 2012

ADVENT; Promised through Prophets


Jeremiah 33:14-16
New International Version (NIV)
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.“‘In those days and at that time    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
    he will do what is just and right in the land.In those days Judah will be saved    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

'Prophet, Priest, and Pirate' is the name of this blog. Jesus is out prophet (John 12:50), our high priest (Heb.4:14-16), and our king (John 18:36). He calls us all (John 20:21), if we follow Him to also be prophets (Joel 2:28-29) in the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:4-9) and heirs and participants in His kingdom (1 John 3:1-3).

The first candle on the Advent wreath is the Prophets' candle. One thing that followers of this blog may know bugs the heck outta me is that Americans seem to think that prophets magically predict the future. That's not prophecy, its divination, which God strictly prohibits in Leviticus 19:26. Seeking out signs and omens to predict the future is a sin because God wants us to trust Him and know that He will be with us in the future and take care of us.

Prophecy, on the other hand, is delivering God's Word, His message. Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Joel, Malachi, Micah, and Zechariah- they all announced and declared the coming messiah- not by divination, but because God gave them His promise, and they repeated them.

When we share that God promises to love us, and He sent his Son Jesus as a sacrifice for us, to save us, forgive us, and stay with us, we are being prophets.