One of the themes in Exodus 17:1-7 is that God is  on trial.

C. S. Lewis observed: “The ancient man
approached God as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern
man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite
a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god
who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may
even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the
Bench and God in the Dock.”

Phil Ryken says: “Instead of starting with God and evaluating our experience from
his point of view, we start with our own circumstances and judge him on
that basis. When things go wrong, when life does not meet our expectations,
we are quick to fix the blame squarely on his shoulders and to demand
some kind of explanation.”

Sunday, as we gather to worship and to share Holy Communion, we will be in Exodus 17:1-7.  The short story is:
God’s people are thirsty; they blame Moses; Moses complains to God about THEM; God tells Moses to strike a certain rock; Moses does; Water flows!  In the new testament we read that Christ is that rock (1 Corinthians 10).

The Bible often refers to God as a Rock. He is “the Rock of Israel” (Gen.
49:24; cf. Isa. 30:29), “the Rock . . . [whose] works are perfect” (Deut.
32:4), the Rock who is a “fortress” and a “refuge” (Ps. 18:2). He is “the Rock
of our salvation” (Ps. 95:1; cf. Deut. 32:15). In keeping with this imagery, the
rock that Moses struck with his rod was a symbol of God and his salvation.

In particular, it showed how God would submit to the blow of his own justice
so that out of him would flow life for his people.
God did this in the person of his own Son. The rock was Christ because
like the rock, Christ was struck with divine judgment. This is what happened
to him on the cross. Christ was bearing the curse for our sin; so God
struck him with the rod of his justice. The Scripture says, “He was pierced
for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment
that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”
(Isa. 53:5).

The judgment that Christ received on the cross is the proof of
our protection. It shows that we will not suffer eternal death for our sins. God
has taken the judgment of our guilt upon himself, and now we are safe for
all eternity.

Thinking about Hell

Francis Chan models amazing humility and  boldness here.  I think what he’s saying is important–and it challenges me.

was grabbed by this in the NYT today: The Sun Is the Best Optometrist

In short, the biological mechanism that kept our vision naturally sharp for thousands of sunny years has, under new environmental conditions, driven visual development off course. This capacity for previously well-adapted genes to be flummoxed by the modern world can account for many apparent imperfections. Brain wiring that effortlessly recognizes faces, animals and other symmetrical objects can be thrown off by letters and numbers, leading to reading difficulties. A restless nature was once helpful to people who needed to find food sources in the wild, but in today’s classrooms, it’s often classified as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. When brains that are adapted for face-to-face social interactions instead encounter a world of e-mail and Twitter — well, recent headlines show what can happen.

Luckily, there is a simple way to lower the risk of nearsightedness, and today, the summer solstice — the longest day of the year — is the perfect time to begin embracing it: get children to spend more time outside.

full link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/opinion/21wang.html?src=me&ref=general