The Watchman

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"' Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'"

"As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

When all this comes true — and it surely will — then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

Ezekiel 33:7-11, 30-33

You know, it wasn't my idea to post here on Sundays. I posted the Word For The Week on The Underground Railroad for African Americans For Democracy and I was asked to cross-post it here as well. I knew full-well - and I protested to this effect - that nobody hereabouts would be interested in anything that I had to say about eternal matters, but for the sake of a diversity of views it was insisted that I participate here on Sundays, so I did so with all that is within me. To the best of my ability I have stood as a watchman on behalf of this community, offering prayers for the well-being of all who grace this place, offering encouragement or a different point of view whenever I could get by here during the week, offering a chuckle and a smile on Saturdays, and offering a word from the Word on Sundays.

I shall return to my former way of things.

I found it interesting that people thought it perfectly fine to ridicule Christians for behavior that they deemed inappropriate, yet the same people cry bloody murder when a Christian points out behavior that we understand to be inappropriate. Putting Jesus in a clown suit and calling Him "Jeebus" is just harmless fun, but plainly saying, "The Bible calls certain behaviors 'sin'" is somehow "bashing."

Whatever.

I have done that which I can do to point out that the Redcoats are coming - we all will die, it's just a matter of when and how, but what then? When it's all said and done we will each come face-to-face with Him who created us and we will have to give an account of all that we have done. I have learned a lot in the time that I've spent here, debunking some beliefs that I'd held while reinforcing others, and I have tried to stand as a watchman for this community.

"We don't need no stinkin' Watchman!"

As you wish.

May the LORD watch
Between me and thee
While we're absent
One from another
Amen.

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