“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
Acts 17:30 NIV
Commands
Back in 2008 U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, and Canadian Air Force Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command, signed a Civil Assistance Plan that allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency. According to General Renuart, “This document is a unique, bilateral military plan to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to the other nation’s requests for military support of civil authorities.”
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Idolatry comes in all forms. Whatever in our life comes before our relationship to our Creator God through faith in Jesus Christ is an idol. We usually think of idolatry as being the worship of handmade statues or something natural like a certain tree or mountain, and in my travels, I have seen plenty of this. More and more I’m seeing Buddha statues in Canadian homes and gardens – they are more than just a harmless statue – those are idols worshipped by millions around the world. But our idols here in Canada tend to be other things – materialism, sex, drugs and alcohol, your home, or your car. Whatever it is that comes first in your life. It’s easy to determine if something is an idol – how much of your time and resources does it take. Paul speaks into this in Acts 17:30: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Paul has just been speaking about idolatry, and he gives this warning to the people of Athens – in the past God might have overlooked idolatry in the lives of those outside of Israel, but no longer. For them or us.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley