Things are moving along. Writers and stories have been chosen for the Nov/Dec issue (with No Innocent Victim on the cover...yes!); and the new issue of Heaven's Metal fanzine is just about finished and ready to go over to Kinko's. All the while our printer in Michigan is printing the Sep/Oct issue of HM. I'm so excited about this new issue. One of the reasons is that there's this four-page feature on black metal that starts off with a photo spread across both of the first two pages, with a member of Slechtvalk weilding a battle axe. It is so awesome!
I sure hope the electricity doesn't go out today.
Jeremiah 44 shows some intense judgment and disobedience. The people of God were giving their allegiance to the "Queen of Heaven," a false goddess. God was not happy.
"Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present -- a large assembly -- and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 'We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the Name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.'"
God's response was mixed with sarcasm. He was basically saying, "Fine! You do what you want, but here's what I'm gonna do..." And then He told them that they'd all die. I think it's brave when people are honest and own up to their sin, but to hold on to it like that and defy God...not smart. Stupid. Foolish. Those freaking idiots died. I would so hate to hear the Word of our Lord speak so forcefully and condemning-ly to me and my own. You'd think a certain amount of holy fear would kick in. You'd think...
I hope I can always retain (and nurture) a "tender" heart towards the Lord, one that can repent and not stiffen like a stubborn-necked mule. I want to obey Him and be found wrong and He right. I want to humble my heart to Him. He is God. I'm grateful that He is so merciful, because like everyone else my propensity is towards pride. Yikes.
I'm planning on seeing Mikee Bridges and one of his friends in Houston tomorrow. I will congratulate him on a Tom Festival well done. We will hang out at the NASA Space Center in Houston and check that place out. They are deserving of congratulations for another successful Space Shuttle mission, which touched down in my old home of Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at August 9, 2005 08:47 AM