Can't wait to post new pics in less than a week. It will be a wonderful reunion with the family. 
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Where has two years gone?
It's really hard to believe it has been two years minus 6 days since we took this picture of Elder Sommerville. 
Can't wait to post new pics in less than a week. It will be a wonderful reunion with the family.
Can't wait to post new pics in less than a week. It will be a wonderful reunion with the family. 
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
THINGS I'VE LEARNED ABOUT MAKING JUDGMENTS
Commenting on Christ's request that His crucifiers be forgiven )"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" -- Luke 23:34) one commentator noted:
Who are the "they" who "do not know what they are doing?"...In Luke 23:34a the "they" for whom Jesus is praying includes both the Romans and the Jews in proportion to their respective roles in Jesus's death...In [Luke's] understanding, no matter how much the evil was plotted, the perpetrators can always be said not to have known (i.e., appreciated God's goodness or plan) or else they would not have acted as they did. In opposing Jesus's followers to the point of stoning them, Paul who was allied with the chief priests said: "I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean" (Acts 26:9). Yet surely Luke would judge that Paul did not know what he was doing...One might sum up Luke's attitude thus: If there were those who did not know because they had not been told, there were also those who did not know because, although they had been told, they did not grasp.
In other words, just as Jesus could say, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do," it can be said of all who sin, "They know not what they do." For, which of us, having an eternal perspective restored to us, would continue to do things which we know to be contrary to God's will?
When we look upon those steeped in sin or those tempted to stray from the path, we must, with Christ, petition the Father to forgive them. We must ASSUME THE BEST of them and part of that "BEST" is recognizing that most people commit sin because "they know not what they do." It is the Lord's place to judge their hearts and their choices. It is our place to unconditionally love them as He loves them.
Who are the "they" who "do not know what they are doing?"...In Luke 23:34a the "they" for whom Jesus is praying includes both the Romans and the Jews in proportion to their respective roles in Jesus's death...In [Luke's] understanding, no matter how much the evil was plotted, the perpetrators can always be said not to have known (i.e., appreciated God's goodness or plan) or else they would not have acted as they did. In opposing Jesus's followers to the point of stoning them, Paul who was allied with the chief priests said: "I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean" (Acts 26:9). Yet surely Luke would judge that Paul did not know what he was doing...One might sum up Luke's attitude thus: If there were those who did not know because they had not been told, there were also those who did not know because, although they had been told, they did not grasp.
In other words, just as Jesus could say, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do," it can be said of all who sin, "They know not what they do." For, which of us, having an eternal perspective restored to us, would continue to do things which we know to be contrary to God's will?
When we look upon those steeped in sin or those tempted to stray from the path, we must, with Christ, petition the Father to forgive them. We must ASSUME THE BEST of them and part of that "BEST" is recognizing that most people commit sin because "they know not what they do." It is the Lord's place to judge their hearts and their choices. It is our place to unconditionally love them as He loves them.
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