"They devise injustices, saying, 'We are ready with a we-conceived plot;' for the inward thought and the heart of man are deep." (Psalm 64:6, NASB)
A more literal translation says, "They search out injustices, saying, 'We are complete with a well-conceived plot'....The inward part and the heart of a man are unsearchable."
A visit to the Wannsee Conference House is always very sobering. Here on a very cold Tuesday afternoon, January 20, 1942, 15 high level German officials met for about an hour and a half-------- and changed the course of history. While the statistics say that 6,000,000 Jews died in the Holocaust, the ultimate intent was for all 11,000,000 Jews of Europe to die; as Heydrich put it at the meeting, "no Jews, not one." No passage in Holy Writ describes any better what took place in that beautiful villa, that very dark day in human history than our text. Yet 73 years have passed since that fateful afternoon in a quiet, "peaceful," lakeside villa, and the, "injustices," are still in the earth. "Well-conceived plot[s]," are continually conceived. When one considers the, "injustices," the evil in the earth, one can only assent to, "the inward part and the heart of a man are deep (and) unsearchable."
When we observe the evil in the earth, many ask, "Why?" We can say that it is sin at work, and perpetrators of, "injustices," are of, "the evil one," and, of course, this would be correct. Yet there is one very lingering truth which haunts us still. Germany, as was the South in American history, "steeped in Christianity." Both, however, reflected more a cultural version of Christianity than they did what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus." One could possibly say that slavery and what happened at the "Wannsee Conference" are just the "froth on the cauldron" of human history.
You and I too must beware of this diabolical, creeping temptation and possibility. None of us is exempt. I submit to you that only a continual, thorough reading, meditating study of the, "Words of God," can keep us from the evil of acculturation. Germany and the American South have not been the only "culprits" throughout history. And today, you and I have the same challenge which has faced the Followers of Jesus throughout history, viz., the rejection of the evils in any culture, and the embrace of the life style of the Kingdom of Heaven/God. "Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth." (Revelation 3:10, ESV)
Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me from the deception of acculturation. Amen.
A more literal translation says, "They search out injustices, saying, 'We are complete with a well-conceived plot'....The inward part and the heart of a man are unsearchable."
A visit to the Wannsee Conference House is always very sobering. Here on a very cold Tuesday afternoon, January 20, 1942, 15 high level German officials met for about an hour and a half-------- and changed the course of history. While the statistics say that 6,000,000 Jews died in the Holocaust, the ultimate intent was for all 11,000,000 Jews of Europe to die; as Heydrich put it at the meeting, "no Jews, not one." No passage in Holy Writ describes any better what took place in that beautiful villa, that very dark day in human history than our text. Yet 73 years have passed since that fateful afternoon in a quiet, "peaceful," lakeside villa, and the, "injustices," are still in the earth. "Well-conceived plot[s]," are continually conceived. When one considers the, "injustices," the evil in the earth, one can only assent to, "the inward part and the heart of a man are deep (and) unsearchable."
When we observe the evil in the earth, many ask, "Why?" We can say that it is sin at work, and perpetrators of, "injustices," are of, "the evil one," and, of course, this would be correct. Yet there is one very lingering truth which haunts us still. Germany, as was the South in American history, "steeped in Christianity." Both, however, reflected more a cultural version of Christianity than they did what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus." One could possibly say that slavery and what happened at the "Wannsee Conference" are just the "froth on the cauldron" of human history.
You and I too must beware of this diabolical, creeping temptation and possibility. None of us is exempt. I submit to you that only a continual, thorough reading, meditating study of the, "Words of God," can keep us from the evil of acculturation. Germany and the American South have not been the only "culprits" throughout history. And today, you and I have the same challenge which has faced the Followers of Jesus throughout history, viz., the rejection of the evils in any culture, and the embrace of the life style of the Kingdom of Heaven/God. "Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth." (Revelation 3:10, ESV)
Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me from the deception of acculturation. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
