Powerful Video...Aaron

Failed Attempts Part 1...

Jacob and Joseph are now both dead.  Before his death, Jacob (now called Israel) moved his entire clan to Egypt.  They were given the land of Goshen in Egypt and God blessed them while they inhabited the land.  Exodus 1:7 reads, "But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them."

This presented a problem.  The king who reigned during there placement in the land was no longer in power.  There was a new king.  This king knew nothing of Joseph.  This king made the following statement in Exodus 1:9, "Behold the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.  Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and in the event of war, they also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us, and depart from the land."  To put it bluntly, they were somewhat scared of the sons of Israel. 

How would they deal with this issue they were facing?  How were they going to control the sons of Israel from growing stronger and mightier?  How were they going handle this situation?  Let's take a quick look at the text.

Exodus 1:11-14--They Worked Them
They appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor (v. 11).  They made them build storage cities for Pharaoh (v. 11).  They compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously (v. 13).  They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field (v. 14). 

What was the outcome of all of this hard labor?  Look at verse 12:

"But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, 

so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel."

In our everyday vernacular we would say it like this:  they through everything but the kitchen sink at the sons of Israel to try and control them and they only made the problem worse.  

The Egyptians failed to realize one thing.  God was working for the sons of Israel.  The harder the Egyptians pushed, the greater God grew the sons of Israel.  The more sanctions and rigorous regulations the Egyptians placed on the sons of Israel, the more God caused them to spread.  

Tomorrow we will take look at another failed attempt by the Egyptians to control the sons of Israel.

"Does Dress Matter?..."

I am not saying that I agree or disagree with everything written in this article.  However, I do think that it could generate some good discussion.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

One of the most read and shared articles in 2012 from Christianity Today is about church dress.  Click the link below to read the article.

Clothing Matters: What We Wear to Church

Why what we put on may be more important than we think.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/januaryweb-only/clothingmatters.html?order=&start=1

2013 Goals...

2013 GOALS

1. Lose 50+ pounds/become healthier.
1. Is this not just about everyone's goal?
2. Broaden the scope of what I read.
1. Read more theology.
2. Read more biographies.
3. Read more books with my wife about marriage.
1. Apply their teachings to our marriage.
4. Read more books with my wife about parenting.
1. Apply their teachings to our parenting of our 3 boys.
3. Become more missions-minded as an individual, a couple, and a family.
4. Work with the Oversight Board of Ada First to make Christ's Church more missions-minded.
1. Both locally and globally. 
5. Drink coffee.
1. Already accomplished!
6. Write more notes to people.
1. Both digitally and handwritten. 
7. Become more involved in community efforts.

These are just off the top of my head.  They might change.  They might increase.  They might decrease.  At the risk of the "cheesy police" coming after me, I will state this quote.  "If you fail to plan, you plain to fail."  I have got a plan.  Do you? 

Blessings!