Dark Days

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Scripture

Tiberius Caesar had been ruling for 15 years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod was the ruler of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruler of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert.

~Luke 3:1-2, NIRV

Quote

These are the times that try men’s souls.

~Thomas Paine

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bro. jack marc crowLuke three begins in a rather unusual way; it the first two verses Dr. Luke mentions eight men and they are easily divided into two groups. In the first group there are seven men and in the second group there is only one. The first seven have some thing in common: all seven are rulers, all seven are powerful, all seven were rich and famous and all seven were evil. Tiberius, certainly not the worse in the lot, was one of Rome’s greatest Generals but he loathed politics and made a very poor emperor. He lived a reclusive life and left the governing to unscruplous men. He was emperor in name only. Pontius Pilate was a decorated soldier from the Roman Calvary but he was a ruthless, insensitive ruler who often vacilated as in the trial of Jesus. He was far more into politics than he was principle. Both Herod’s, Antipas and Philip were typical Herods. They were hedonist. We don’t have any information on Lysanias but assume he was much like the Herods. The Romans replaced Annas as High Priest in AD 7 and appointed his son-in-law Caiaphas in his place but Annas continued to run things. Both he and he son-in-law were wealthy Jewish elites with great political powers. They were mean spirited, ruthless, greedy, vile and both were Christ haters. They were politicans, not priest.

What is the point? Jesus was born into a world that was in a mess. He was born into a world of political darkness. Luke mentions seven rulers and all of them were Hillary types. But it was during this time of darkness that God spoke to and through a man named John. God had been silent for 400 years but through John the Baptist, He broke that drought of silence. Wow, among all those dusty chunks of dark black coal, there was a diamon.

I admit my anxiousness concerning the upcoming election. My neighbor and Landlord thinks we can survive another Clinton administration, I am not that optomistic. When I read today’s scripture, I realized that Jesus and John lived in a time when there were no good rulers. Amidst the darkness, there is HOPE.

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  • TRUNK-A-TREAT went great: good job team! I am proud of you.
  • Great response to Kayleigh McClendon project: now, what she really needs more than anything is our prayers.
  • Today is St. Nicks birthday, he is 65 today. Born October 31, 1951. I didn’t want to mention it but I was afraid that Sir Anthony and Zedra would get upset if I didn’t.
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November 6-9

Wade Morris: Evangelist, Preacher, Teacher and Conference Speaker
Wade Morris: Evangelist, Preacher, Teacher and Conference Speaker

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