JR. Forasteros - December 15, 2013

Shepherds

Road to Bethlehem

Even during the Christmas season, many of us feel far from God. Our journey toward Bethlehem looks remarkably like the shepherds. They were born and raised as God's people, but still considered second-class citizens. They were insiders who felt like outsiders. And at Jesus' birth, God left the Temple and appeared among the Shepherds to announce the king of kings could be found not on a throne, but in a manger. The good news for them - and for us - is that God is not found in Temples and Church buildings, but out among us, in our every day lives!

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The meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant in 2011 should never have happened. The powerplant was one of four constructed and operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. damaged in the 2011 tsunami that struck Japan.

Fukushima melted down because the tsunami washed over the complex, flooding the backup generators and tearing down powerlines. With no power, the pumps that kept the nuclear core cool shut down, and the reactor melted down. The disaster is considered the worst since the plant in Chernobyl melted down.

The problem with the Fukushima disaster is that, as multiple studies found after the fact, the TEPC had ignored multiple inspections, regulations and recommendations – including those from their own scientists.

In other words, the officials in charge of the plant had plenty of warning that, if they didn’t make some serious changes, they were headed for disaster.

They chose to ignore those warnings… and… disaster struck. Like they were told it would.

Have you ever been there? You were told something was bad for you, but you did it anyway, and it blew up in your face. Or you knew a habit would get you in trouble, but you silenced that voice of reason? 

God works to rescue us from our sin. But faith is a relationship – God isn’t going to force us to obey (then it’s not obedience, it’s compulsion). If we want life, we need to learn to hear God’s voice – and listen.

God loves us. God wants good for us. God wants to save us from disaster.

Join us Sunday as we learn how the Holy Spirit works to rescue us – even from ourselves!

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