Hector Franco

Married to Sarah and father to 6 kids (one in heaven due to miscarriage)| A follower of Jesus |Pastor at

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

The most "infamous" Psalm verse is this: "Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!" (137:9).

What? Why is this there?

What today would be classified as war crimes were often standard operating procedure in ancient warfare, like ripping open pregnant women or dashing in pieces their little ones (e.g., 2 Kings 8:12; Isa. 13:16). If just imagining that violence sickens us, try to fathom being forced to watch this nightmare happen to those you love.

Israel did. The Babylonian soldiers seized Israelite babies and smashed them against rocks, while their Edomite allies cheered on the mayhem and murder in the city, gloating over it all (Ps. 137:7, 9; Obadiah 10-14).

A ravenous pack of flesh-tearing hyenas had more humanity in it than did the destroyers of Jerusalem on that day of diabolical horror.

So, Israel cried out to the God who says, “Vengeance is mine” (Deut. 32:35), to avenge, to repay, an eye for an eye: “O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (137:8-9).

Unless you have seen your child murdered before your very eyes, do not stand in judgment against those who prayed this red-hot prayer. It was written in agony, prayed in heartbreak, and handed over to the Judge to do with as he saw fit.

Some are troubled by prayers such as these. I am not.

I am grateful they are recorded, for there are times in life when we all want, and need, to pray them. We need volcanically to explode in molten petitions that capture emotions for which prim and proper verbiage would never suffice. We hand our pain, in the form of untamed prayers, to God. His are the only hands tough enough to hold such burning lines. He will hear. He will know what is best.

Revenge is taken from us, and judgment falls in the heavenly court, where it belongs, with our God and our Savior, who always knows and does what is best.

*For more thoughts on the Imprecatory Psalms, see my YouTube video, "Should Christians Pray the Imprecatory Psalms?" https://t.co/sYAze3EDgJ

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

One hundred and ninety-five lashes. That's how many times Paul was struck over the course of five brutal synagogue punishments.

In 2 Corinthians 11, which we read today in Bible in One Year, Paul tells us that five times he received "forty lashes less one" at the hands of his fellow Jews (11:24). Why thirty-nine lashes each time?

This punishment originated in Deuteronomy 25:1–3, where a guilty person could be publicly flogged, but the punishment could not exceed forty lashes. To avoid accidentally violating the law by miscounting, Jewish practice eventually standardized the punishment at thirty-nine lashes.

This was not some random beating by an angry mob. It was a formal disciplinary punishment connected with the synagogue. Jesus had even warned his disciples that this would happen: "They will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues" (Matt. 10:17).

Paul knew both sides of this persecution. Before his conversion, he violently persecuted the church (Gal. 1:13). Afterward, he himself was persecuted by members of the synagogue.

Why submit to it? Paul could presumably have walked away from the synagogue and Jewish community. But accepting the punishment allowed him to maintain his connection with his fellow Jews and continue proclaiming Christ among them. The precise charges against Paul are not recorded, but his proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah and his inclusion of Gentiles within God's people certainly provoked fierce opposition.

Those thirty-nine lashes, multiplied five times, paint a vivid portrait of the zeal and love of Paul. His words, "To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews" (1 Cor. 9:20), were no mere propaganda, no empty missionary slogan. He loved his fellow Jews so deeply that he spoke of having "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" for them (Rom. 9:2).

So Paul kept going back. That's how deeply Paul desired his fellow Jews to know their Messiah.

O Lord Jesus, give to us such zeal, such willingness to sacrifice and serve, that others may know you, the only true God.

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@jorge_hema Me encanta la idea.

[Erik Reed @ErikReed]

In all my years of pastoring, I have learned this lesson: a person's spiritual maturity is not truly visible until they DON'T get their way. Then you see the person.

[Matt Smethurst @MattSmethurst]

When @TimKellerNYC was 24 years old, he was a new pastor in rural Virginia. Alice was an elderly Christian who had suffered enormously in her life.

More than four decades later, Keller still remembered her perspective.

[Jason Kovacs @jasonkovacs]

The 4 S’s of Repentance

1. See your sin → In light of the Cross and the grace of Christ name your sin specifically.

2. Sorrow over your sin → Grieve over how it offends God and harms others.

3. Sever your sin → Turn from it decisively and pursue obedience.

4. Satisfy your soul in Christ → Delight in Him as far better than anything sin promised.

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@Joel7Richardson Thank you. The playlist is a bit confusing because it’s ordered from newest to oldest, and it looks like some videos are missing. I think I figured out why, though—there was another presenter, but this playlist only includes your videos.

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@jorge_hema Ah caray! ¿Cobran?

[Denny Burk @DennyBurk]

From Wayne Grudem:

“Sometimes the results of our ministry appear many years later: In 1982, when our oldest son Elliot was in 3rd grade, Margaret began to think that we needed a Christian school in the north suburban Chicago area (there were none near us). As we talked, I agreed with her.

We began to talk with other parents and soon we formed a committee to address the possibility of founding a Christian school. After many presentations at many churches and in many homes, Christian Heritage Academy opened in 1984 in Northbrook, Illinois with 59 students in grades K-6. The school now has moved to nearby Northfield, Illinois, and has over 400 students in grades K-12.

I was the first president of the board, from 1982-1984. I think many of you who receive this prayer memo worked with us to get Christian Heritage Academy started.

Fast forward to about 2005. There was an 11-year-old boy in 5th grade, and one day, after hearing a challenge from a teacher, he raised his hand to commit his life to Christ. This commitment set the direction of his whole life. The young boy’s name was Charlie Kirk.”

[Justin Taylor @between2worlds]

Which way, young man?

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@AJWTheology G: Mexican food every day!

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@jorge_hema ¡Dios bendiga su obra en Tuxtla!

[Holy Bible @Holy__Bible1]

Out of My Control

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@jorge_hema Dios te use grandemente!

[Hector Franco @HectorFranco82]

@jorge_hema

[Jeremy Treat @JeremyTreat5]

Everything hinges on union with Christ.

[Jared C. Wilson @jaredcwilson]

"I am so bad that He had to die. I am so loved that He was glad to die." - Tim Keller

[Randy Alcorn @randyalcorn]

Live each day with an awareness that one of these days will be your last day. That’s partly good news because you’ll no longer live under pain, suffering, and grief. But while we’re still here this is a world of unparalleled opportunity. Let’s use it well. https://t.co/lS4llPBdaL

[Joel Quezada ن @ElPastorJoelito]

Mi vida y mi paz mejoraron mucho cuando aprendí que no toda batalla debe pelearse.

Que hay trincheras y discusiones que es mejor abandonar en lugar de insistir.

Tus fuerzas y recursos no son ilimitados, úsalos sabiamente.