The Sunday of Orthodoxy

The Epistle for the Sunday of Orthodoxy is Hebrews 11:24-28, 32-12:2 (WEB):

²⁴By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to share ill treatment with God's people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; ²⁶accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. ... ³²What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets; ³³who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,* ³⁴quenched the power of fire,* escaped the edge of the sword,* from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. ³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection.* Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned.* They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword.* They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ³⁸(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. ³⁹These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn't receive the promise, ⁴⁰God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

¹Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Shooting from the Hip

"Shooting from the hip" can mean, literally, shooting a handgun from near the hip, presumably after it is drawn from a holster, without taking time to properly grasp the handgun with both hands and aim it at the target.  While it is quicker than the proper technique, it is also wildly inaccurate, which leads to the metaphorical use of the term, where it means, "taking action without proper thought or preparation."

As the title of this blog states, "i am an engineer."  A fundamental process taught to all engineers is problem solving.  Of course, this process is not limited to engineers; it is useful in all walks of life, whether at home or at work.  There are many variations on the problem solving theme, with differing numbers of steps, but they can all be summarized in the following three steps:

1. Indentify and define the problem.
2. Determine the "root cause(s)" of the problem.
3. Develop and implement the solution -- one or more correct actions -- to resolve the "root cause(s)."

Of course, in step 3, you should ensure that the solution adequately resolves the "root cause(s)" and does not introduce other problems.

Sadly, step 2 is often omitted; this is justified on the basis of saving time and effort.  However, the "solution" developed frequently does not actually solve the problem; instead, it may make the problem worse.  In this case, the time and effort needed to revisit and actually solve the problem will far exceed that "saved" in the initial attempt.

Anyone who skips step 2 of the problem solving process is just "shooting from the hip."

Forgiveness Sunday

The Epistle for Forgiveness Sunday is Romans 13:11-14:4 (WEB):

¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let's therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let's put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

¹Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. ²One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ³Don't let him who eats despise him who doesn't eat. Don't let him who doesn't eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. ⁴Who are you who judge another's servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

Romans 13:11 (WEB)

¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.

Matthew 24:42-44 (WEB)

⁴²Watch therefore, for you don't know in what hour your Lord comes. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don't expect, the Son of Man will come.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 (WEB)

¹But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ²For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³For when they are saying, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

Matthew 25:5-7 (WEB)

⁵Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!' ⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

Ephesians 5:14 (WEB)

¹⁴Therefore he says, "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

1 Thessalonians 5:5-8 (WEB)

⁵You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don't belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶so then let's not sleep, as the rest do, but let's watch and be sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. ⁸But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Romans 13:12 (WEB)

¹²The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let's therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let's put on the armor of light.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-7 (WEB)

⁵You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don't belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶so then let's not sleep, as the rest do, but let's watch and be sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.

1 John 1:5-7 (WEB)

⁵This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don't tell the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Ephesians 6:11-18 (WEB)

¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. ¹⁴Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the spoken word of God; ¹⁸with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:

Romans 13:13 (WEB)

¹³Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.

Ephesians 5:2 (WEB)

²Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.

Colossians 1:10 (WEB)

¹⁰that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 John 2:6 (WEB)

⁶he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

2 John 4 (WEB)

⁴I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father.

1 Peter 2:1-2 (WEB)

¹Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, ²as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,

Romans 13:14 (WEB)

¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

Galatians 3:27 (WEB)

²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Colossians 3:5-8 (WEB)

⁵Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; ⁶for which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. ⁷You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; ⁸but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.

1 Peter 2:11 (WEB)

¹¹Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

1 John 2:15-17 (WEB)

¹⁵Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the Father's, but is the world's. ¹⁷The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God's will remains forever.

Romans 14:1 (WEB)

¹Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

Romans 15:1 (WEB)

¹Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (WEB)

¹Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren't yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready,

Romans 14:2 (WEB)

²One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

Romans 14:14 (WEB)

¹⁴I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Romans 14:22-23 (WEB)

²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn't judge himself in that which he approves. ²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn't of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.

Romans 14:3 (WEB)

³Don't let him who eats despise him who doesn't eat. Don't let him who doesn't eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

Romans 14:10, 13, 15, 21 (WEB)

¹⁰But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. … ¹³Therefore let's not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother's way, or an occasion for falling. … ¹⁵Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don't destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. … ²¹It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.

1 Corinthians 8:11-13 (WEB)

¹¹And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. ¹²Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forevermore, that I don't cause my brother to stumble.

Matthew 7:1-2 (WEB)

¹"Don't judge, so that you won't be judged. ²For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.

Colossians 2:16-17 (WEB)

¹⁶Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, ¹⁷which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's.

Romans 14:4 (WEB)

⁴Who are you who judge another's servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

1 Corinthians 4:4-5 (WEB)

⁴For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.

James 4:11-12 (WEB)

¹¹Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. ¹²Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

Sunday of the Last Judgment

The Epistle for the Sunday of the Last Judgment is 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2 (WEB):

⁸But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don't eat, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better. ⁹But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol's temple, won't his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? ¹¹And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. ¹²Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forevermore, that I don't cause my brother to stumble.

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord? ²If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

I will add my comments and discussion later.

The Gospel for the Sunday of the Last Judgment is Matthew 25:31-46 (WEB):

³¹"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; ³⁶naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? ³⁸When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?'

⁴⁰"The King will answer them, 'Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' ⁴¹Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry, and you didn't give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; ⁴³I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

⁴⁴"Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?'

⁴⁵"Then he will answer them, saying, 'Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me.' ⁴⁶These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

I will add my comments and discussion later.