Nevertheless, there is a key subsequent development that is necessary for us to understand if we are to appreciate fully the way our contemporary culture thinks, and that is the move from understanding sex as an activity to seeing it as absolutely fundamental to identity. Carl Trueman
Scripture
Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.
Observation
Two judges, Tola and Jair, between them ruled over Israel for 45 years. It Seems to have been a time of peace.
But then the Israelites turn again to foreign gods. They abandon the Lord. So the Lord abandons them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.
The Israelites call out to the Lord to rescue them. At first, He is unmoved. He tells them to call out to their foreign gods to rescue them. They repent from their wicked ways and their idolatry, so the Lord determines to rescue them.
Application
It would be very confronting have the Lord say to you: “You have been serving other gods so let them save you.”
Sometimes we can think we can take up the Lord and put Him down again, that our faith is like a buffet dinner where we can take what we want at anytime.
God is looking for relationship, for intimacy and faithfulness. He isn’t interested in what we may do to serve Him from time to time. He wants our hearts, our minds, our will.
People sin, even spirit-filled born again Christians. We repent and turn back to the Lord, and He welcomes us back. What He does not like is the uncommitted, fickle faith that ignored God six days and then wants Him on Sunday or, worse still, only ever calls to God when a problem needs to be fixed.
We must stay faithful to the Lord, everyday.
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I do not always do what is right by you. Please forgive me for being so easily distracted from following you and help me to follow you more faithfully. Amen.
By Kevin Airs For Daily Mail Australia
New data shows Covid cases in Singapore and New Zealand have overtaken Australia in the latest Omicron wave despite ultra-strict mask mandates.
Masks are worn everywhere in the densely-populated Asian city while New Zealanders are forced to wear them in all indoor public places, such as shopping centres and libraries.
But both now have higher case numbers per million than Australia, where compulsory mask rules have been abandoned in most indoor settings.
Shock data has revealed Covid case numbers in New Zealand and Singapore – where masks are reularly worn all the time outdoors, as seen here – have overtaken Australia in the latest Omicron wave despite ultra-strict mask mandates
These figures appear to smash the push now on in Australia for a return to mask mandates, which are currently compulsory only on public transport and in aged care and healthcare centres.
Since Australian mandates began to ease last October, per capita case numbers in Singapore exceeded, matched or lagged behind Australia, before rising ahead again.
In New Zealand, case numbers were six weeks behind Australia’s Omicron wave in January, but since February they have matched or exceeded Australia.
Death rates in New Zealand also overtook Australia per capita at the start of March, despite the Kiwis being on the highest code red mask mandate restrictions – and have stayed higher ever since.
In New Zealand, case numbers were six weeks behind the peak of Australia’s Omicron wave in January but since late February they have matched or exceeded its Tasman neighbour
Since Australian mandates began to ease last October, Singapore’s case numbers per capita exceeded, matched or lagged behind before overtaking Australia’s again
Death rates in New Zealand overtook Australia per capita at the start of March while the country was still at code red for mask mandates and have stayed higher ever since
In Singapore, death rates in the city dropped lower in April after racing ahead between October and Christmas, but are now surging wildly again and set to overtake Australia once more
Read the full article at The Daily Mail
Cloudy morning today, but that kept the heat in overnight 😊
From Jo Nova:
Photo by Colin Maynard
Right now, internal critics of these agencies are focused on one issue above all: Why did the FDA and the CDC issue strong blanket recommendations for Covid vaccines in children?
The calls and text messages are relentless. On the other end are doctors and scientists at the top levels of the NIH, FDA and CDC. They are variously frustrated, exasperated and alarmed about the direction of the agencies to which they have devoted their careers.
“It’s like a horror movie I’m being forced to watch and I can’t close my eyes,” one senior FDA official lamented. “People are getting bad advice and we can’t say anything.”
That particular FDA doctor was referring to two recent developments inside the agency. First, how, with no solid clinical data, the agency authorized Covid vaccines for infants and toddlers, including those who already had Covid. And second, the fact that just months before, the FDA bypassed their external experts to authorize booster shots for young children.
Formerly great institutions are being eaten from the inside:
…
That doctor is hardly alone. At the NIH, doctors and scientists complain to us about low morale and lower staffing: The NIH’s Vaccine Research Center has had many of its senior scientists leave over the last year, including the director, deputy director and chief medical officer. “They have no leadership right now. Suddenly there’s an enormous number of jobs opening up at the highest level positions,” one NIH scientist told us. (The people who spoke to us would only agree to be quoted anonymously, citing fear of professional repercussions.)
The CDC has experienced a similar exodus. “There’s been a large amount of turnover. Morale is low,” one high level official at the CDC told us. “Things have become so political, so what are we there for?” Another CDC scientist told us: “I used to be proud to tell people I work at the CDC. Now I’m embarrassed.”
The data shows a 4% efficacy for Moderna in babies, nothing for Pfizer, and with no long term studies on side effects:
Using a three-dose vaccine in 992 children between the ages of six months and five years, Pfizer found no statistically significant evidence of vaccine efficacy.
Moderna’s results—they conducted a study on 6,388 children with two doses—were not much better. Against asymptomatic infections, they claimed a very weak vaccine efficacy of just 4% in children aged six months to two years. They also claimed an efficacy of 23% in children between two and six years old—but neither result was statistically significant.
Dr. Marty Makary is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the author of The Price We Pay, and a medical advisor to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg is an epidemiologist affiliated with The Florida Department of Health who has published research on Covid-19 in schools in the CDC’s journal MMWR.
None of this would have got this far, if it weren’t for the failing of the legacy media. The journalists are as scared as the family doctors are. None of them want to publicly disagree with the sacred scientists at the FDA and CDC — the same ones who are also too scared to speak up.
The social imaginary emerging in the nineteenth century was one that intuitively placed human beings as the sovereigns at the center of a universe to which they could give shape and significance. Carl Trueman
The recent Covid Pandemic showed how much fear rules the lives of many people, including those who claim to be christians.
Governments fanned the fears so they could institute tyrannical lock downs, vaccine mandates and mask mandates. They didn’t have to try very hard because people were already hyperventilating in fear of a new disease.
If you have no god other than yourself, fear is a natural response to almost everything. If you are responsible to control everything in your life that is a terrible burden. No wonder people were so happy to contract this to government officials- just tell me what to do to stay safe and I will be happy.
The commandment “Do not be afraid” occurs hundreds of times in the Bible. There are also commandments to “Rejoice” and to not be anxious.
There is only one thing that makes these commandments feasible. We are told in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
When we know that God loves us we have nothing left to fear. If a pandemic kills us or cancer or we have a fatal car accident, we know that we will go to be with God in perfect eternal joy. And if we lose all of our money or our job, God has got that as well because He promises to meet our needs.
When you know God, really know Him, and you know His promises and commands, then there is nothing that can ever make you afraid. There is nothing that is stronger than God. Nothing can snatch you out of His hands. Nothing can steal your salvation.
Don’t be afraid. God loves you perfectly.
Scripture
After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the people of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery.
Observation
After Abimelech has ruled over Israel for three years, God sends a spirit to stir up trouble, in order to punish Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. A man called Gaal moves to Shechem and he starts to speak out against Abimelech.
Abimelech and his men go to Shechem and surround it at night. At first, an army led by Gaal overwhelms them, but Abimelech regroups and captures the city. He kills the people and levels the city.
Abimelech and his men then go to a town called Thebez. The people flee to a strong tower from where a woman drops a millstone on Abimelech, killing him.
Application
God sent a disruptive spirit to punish both Abimelech and the people of Shechem. This spirit manifested itself through the person of Gaal. The subsequent events are quite horrific with many people being killed in a nasty battle. How can God do such a thing?
When we look at the affairs of nations, we can not easily see how God is at work. He uses evil spirits, bad people and whole populations to achieve His purposes.
We should not be dismayed by these things, even if we cannot understand them. In the end, God is in control and that is what matters.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for the knowledge that in all things you work for the good of your people. Help me to trust you in all things. Amen.
While Nietzsche himself may have had a view of hedonism that was different from that which grips the popular imagination today (he understood the pleasure to be gained from struggle and from triumphing over adversity), the idea that personal satisfaction is to be the hallmark of the life—or perhaps better, moment—well lived is basic to our present age. Again, Nietzsche’s books may not be widely read, but his central priorities have become common currency. Carl Trueman
Great weather for riding… a pity my body wasn’t so keen. It seemed like harder work than it should have been 😁
New Life Narrabri 