Monthly Archives: January 2012

Jesus teaches not to draw attention (Matthew 6: 16-18)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus teaches the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount not to draw attention to themselves during fasting, but to wash their faces and comb their hair so people cannot tell, since fasting is a private matter with God.

My Thoughts:

Compliments: Sometimes we all want to be noticed, to be told we look nice, that we are successful, that we are doing something right. If we do not receive compliments then we will seek attention in other ways. People do not seem to give out compliments enough, so try to start a trend and maybe it will come around to greet you at a later date.

God lists animals that may be eaten (Leviticus 11)

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Bible Summary:

God gives Moses and Aaron a list of animals the people of Israel may eat and ones to avoid.

Animals they can eat:

  • Land animals with divided hoofs that chew cud, except camels, rock badgers, or rabbits.
  • Any fish with fins and scales, but nothing else in the waters.

Animals that must not be eaten:

  • Pigs, since they do not chew cud.
  • All animals with hoofs, except those with divided hoofs that chew cud.
  • All four-footed animals with paws.
  • These birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, buzzards, vultures, crows, ostriches, seagulls, storks, heron, pelican, cormorants, or bats.
  • All winged insects, except those that hop like locust, crickets, or grasshoppers.
  • Small animals that crawl or walk on the ground, with four legs or more, including Moles, rats, mice and lizards.

Also, if you touch a dead animal, you must wash your hands and will still be unclean until the evening. If it comes in contact with your clothes, you need to clean them. If a dead animal touches a pot, clay stove or oven, it is to be broken and thrown away.

My Thoughts:

Cultures and Foods: It is interesting how different cultures eat or do not eat certain foods. The people of Israel were not allowed to eat pork, but could eat locust, crickets and grasshoppers. Today, the people in India do not eat cows since they consider them sacred and the people of China seem to eat about anything.

For what it is worth, I have eaten frogs legs, turtle soup, alligator, and rattle snake – and as the joke goes, they do all taste like chicken!

Hygiene: God taught the Israelites about hygiene, to clean after touching dead animals. This may have been in response to the dead animals and disease that killed many of the Egyptians. The ban on pork may also be due to an outbreak of trichinosis back then.

Kids eat healthier with smaller main dish

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In an effort to keep kids healthy, many parents accidentally train them into poor eating habits. These well-intentioned parents send their kids to school with large main dishes, like Mac & Cheese, to make sure they have enough to eat, but many times the kids fill-up on the main dish and skip their fruits and vegetables. So, cut back on the main dish and your children will healthier for the rest of their lives. Read the full Smaller servings mean more balanced meals for kids: study story at Reuters.

Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” Speech

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most powerful speakers of all time. Listen to his full I Have a Dream speech video on YouTube to see for yourself. I believe most people have never heard the beginning of the speech, so I recommend listening to the whole speech. However, if you are just interested in the “I Have a Dream” part, it starts around 12:20.

Dr. King emulated the teachings of Jesus, especially the non-violent methods presented at the Sermon on the Mount that we have been learning about in the Gospel according to Matthew. He had such power, such conviction, to stand up for what he believed in, to give the ultimate sacrifice – now that is truly living!

I am not sure what Dr. King would think about his dream 59 years later. The drum major was shot down five years after this speech and no one could really fill the same role after. He would likely be happy the Obamas are in the White House, but still unsatisfied with the conditions of our inner-cities and lost dreams of many. There is so much potential. You just have to believe.

Oprah proud of her first South African graduates

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Oprah’s girl school in South Africa graduates 72 disadvantaged young women. The whole class is now headed to university, most at home but some abroad in the United States. “There are a lot of people … who lower their expectations and think that if you come from a disadvantaged background … you have a disadvantaged brain. I know that is not true,” says Oprah.

I completely agree with Oprah. Everyone, let me repeat, everyone has potential to do great things. Read the full First class graduates from Oprah’s South Africa school story at Reuters.

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 7-15)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus says not to use a lot of meaningless words when you pray and offers the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

He further says if you forgive others their wrongs then God will forgive you.

My Thoughts:

What a compact prayer that teaches everyone to:

  • Worship God
  • Accept God’s will
  • Live for today – not in the past or the future
  • Know when you have enough – our daily bread
  • Forgive yourself (i.e. don’t beat yourself up over mistakes) and forgive others (they make mistakes too)
  • Help keep us away from temptation
  • Keep us safe – from evil

Amen!

Jesus teaches to do charity anonymously (Matthew 6: 1-6)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount to do religious duties and charitable works privately such that even your closest friends do not know about it.

My Thoughts:

Public Display of Charity: I wrote yesterday about a woman who did 26 random acts of kindness in a day. She posted her experience on Facebook “to inspire more people,” but according to Jesus the woman “will not have any reward from your Father in heaven” because she did the acts publicly. At first, I was thinking the same thing – that she did it for attention, especially handing out balloons to kids in front of Target! But, at the end of her project she posted a summary of what she learned, including tearing up at another woman’s really thankful response to paying for her groceries. So, I think the kindness made its impact on the giver too.

Piousness: I think Jesus was warning everyone about piousness – tell them to not go to church or do charitable works just to show others you are better than them. These are private affairs between you and God that should make you feel good inside just for the doing.

Even though it is best to do good privately, it is better to do them any way you see fit than not at all. So, do not let this warning hamper you from doing an act of kindness directly to someone or in front of others, just don’t brag about it!

Person 1, Kindness 26

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Sarah York of Tacoma, Washington spent her 26th birthday doing 26 random acts of kindness around town. Her log of the acts on Facebook are almost as good as what she learned from the reactions.  Read the details in the One day, 26 acts of kindness story at Komo News.

Doing kind acts many times does more for the doer than the receivers.  Try it today and see.