BBAKER4311

Sunday services

2012-02-12T19:57:00.000-06:00

I was struck in the early service by the music and especially the statement, "Jesus, be the center". Now is that a command or a wish? It certainly is not a reality for me or for most. Otherwise it would be "Jesus IS the center".

But that is my hope, our hope. That Jesus will be the center of my life, the greatest thing in my life, the top thing.

I find that I simply allocate God time and often am more excited about my time doing other things, not my time with God. Jesus has done so much for me, I owe him so much. I should be making Jesus the center and allocating time for other things as needed.

I want Jesus to be first in my heart and in my life. It will be someday I think. Then all else will fall away. How much of a shock will it be then?

In the evening SJD is starting a program to encourage discipleship called "Monvee". There are packets for each participant. The thing that seems different is that each person takes one of those character tests and afterwards the results tell you which disciple you are like. That seems unique. But DW says we did that one time for a marriage seminar that we were attending. She says the results said I was like Paul. I wonder what that means. Sadly I cannot even remember it now.

Exodus 20

2012-02-10T13:32:00.000-06:00

But first of all I love this quote from Origen: "Everyone who lives according to Jesus' teaching rises to a friendship with God and communion with him" (Origen, AD 185-254). A lot of people wonder at some of the things he believed and his technique for interpreting scripture but one can admire his faith. He was truly a man of God.

Exodus 20 is where we see the long version of the ten commandments. Some have called them the ten words. Yet here God gives great pain to explain the ones that refer to our relationship to Him. This is so good.

The last five are self explanatory: kill, adultery, steal, lie, covet.

God says in 20:5 that he punishes the descendants of sinners to the fourth generation. But (20:6) in contrast be blesses those who love him (and therefore stay righteous) to the thousandth generation. Forever seems to be implied here. Who can imagine 1,000 generations? One wonders how this is possible. If one generation is disobedient then the next generation is obedient, how can this work?

Better is the prophet's wonderful parable. Was is Ezekiel who write: "If I eat something sour do the lips of my son pucker?" No of course not. So God will requite each person according to his deeds.

Can both things be sort of true. The children of righteous, obedient parents certain have a better chance of doing well, going straight themselves. On the other hand the children of those who act immorally, stealing, drinking, acting irresponsibly have a much worse start in life. Unfortunately they are much more likely to act like their parents. From my experience working with prisoners I cringe at the descriptions of their home lives growing up. This is not to excuse them. Many who had similar experiences did not get into crime. It is still a choice. Yet these men, because of the sins of their family, had a much harder life and their chances were much less than those who came from people who obeyed the ten commandments.

Fear - David Wilkerson old pulpit series theme

2012-02-09T17:50:00.000-06:00

As I skimmed through this written sermon I thought, "Yeah fear causes us to do a lot of things that are sin." I know that fear can affect me negatively in the business of making deals. I can trust that God will protect me, even from dishonest people.

I have to be aware and keep my eyes open. I do not have to let it get personal as I do so often. Lord I am trying to do better.

We can look a the newspaper and get fearful. I think to myself, "I will not be here to see some of the awful stuff that is going to happen." I read a funny caption, "Obama thinks we are going to tax ourselves into prosperity." Yeah it's funny but it also hits too close to home. Are some crazy economic ideas going to ruin this country? I get fearful.

DW speaks of testing. I hope that when I am tested that I can still say, "God is faithful and he loves me." In younger days I would get mad at God when I was feeling tried and when I did not know how I was going to solve a big problem. Now I still get fearful but I do know God loves me and I will get through it somehow. My emotion may still be panic. So I still have a lot of learn.

It seems to me that without a bit of fear I would get nothing done. If I had no sense of worry I'm afraid I would simply be a lazy slouch. I need an external force to drive me. There must be something missing.

DW mentioned that great preacher C. H. Spurgeon had great bouts of depression, melancholy is was called in his day. He fought against it by reading the psalms and taking to heart the promises found there. "Faith come from hearing, and hearing from the world of God." I think that is what I am saying when I speak of remembering God's faithfulness and love. The psalms but I think of Paul's letters. Jesus too often spoke of God's faithfulness, "Remember, little flock, God knows the number of hairs on your head. Does he not care about what you will eat and what you will drink?" Yes he does care.

hello, back from trip

2012-02-09T17:26:00.000-06:00

It's been a few days since getting back from cruise to the Bahamas. We got back Monday and traveled all day to get home.

So I am not clear what day this is. I have to keep reminding myself it is Thursday. It seems like it could be Wednesday or Friday.

DW and I had a nice 9 days with our oldest daughter and her husband. He is very nice. Everything was very polite. I hope they had a good time. I think they did. I certainly enjoyed the ports and the wonderful staff on the ship. They went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. The staff was such a contrast to the last cruise ship staff.

Exodus 16

2012-01-25T16:30:00.000-06:00

Specificall Exodus 16:4 - God "admits" that he tests his people. I do not like this much since I so often fail. But it's not my opinion that counts. Now he never tempts us to sin. There is nothing wrong with gathering more of the bread from heaven except God says not to. Assuming you do not take so much that it deprives someone else of enough to eat. But that does not seem to be the problem here.

But if God told you not to, to do it anyway is disobedience. God also tells them not to save any over until the next day. People tried to do both things.

When has God tested us like this? Were we obedient?

I am at a bit of a loss here. I really need to have better understanding. I tend to think if is not obeying one of the ten commandments then it is OK to do. But I suspect God tells us to do things, or not do things simply as a test of our obedience. I am afraid I bull right through many tests without even noticing. I ignore the still small voice. That is probably why God has never been able to use me much. It's probably true of many of us.

Right now I can think of one thing God is telling me to not do. I am to stop teasing. I really do not think there is anything wrong with teasing. But I am to hold my tongue. I know it hurts some people. I also know from past experience that in situations where I have refrained from teasing God has given me favor. I do have a misguided idea that teasing makes people closer.

One need not know why God gives us an instruction. The people of God in Exodus found out why when they disobeyed. But God did not tell them beforehand. Maybe they could figure it out but they insisted on testing God, not trusting his word. Moses was angry with them. I suspect God was too, but his feeling was mostly disappointment. They had proved that they could not be trusted.

God told them to pick enough for each day. More will be supplied the next day, enough for that day too. God was testing to see if they would trust God for their daily bread. There was one exception. On the day before Sabbath they would pick enough for two days and this time it would not spoil. God wanted them to make this seventh day, this Sabbath a special day.

So God has sent a test for Israel, his people. We can expect that we too, if we are God's people, will be tested. Lord help me to listen and know when you are testing me. He me to be obedient to your instructions trusting that you have a reason in my life.

God was checking to see if his people would be faithful in a little thing so he could trust them with bigger things. I think that is why he tests us too.

Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I will send down bread from heaven for you; and the people will go out every day and get enough for the day's needs; so that I may put them to the test to see if they will keep my laws or not.

Deuteronomy 8:2 Don't forget how the LORD your God has led you through the desert for the past forty years. He wanted to find out if you were truly willing to obey him and depend on him, (16) He also gave you manna, a kind of food your ancestors had never even heard about. The LORD was testing you to make you trust him, so that later on he could be good to you.

Psalm 6

2012-01-23T10:31:00.001-06:00

When things are not going my way I tend to put my head down and try to gut it out. I do not often think to ask God for help. If I think that God is punishing me for my sins I figure I deserve it and I do not think to ask God to forgive me and take away the punishment.

I read Psalm 6. I do not resonate with a lot of this psalm. I do not cry on my bed. I do not see attacks of my enemies. Usually when thinks go badly I figure it's my own darn fault. Yet people may be against me. If so its out of my understanding. People usually do not say, "I am out to get you here." No they smile and say nice things while trying to put one over on you.

The Psalmist sees his failures and immediately asks God for forgiveness and more than that asks for deliverance. Often I phrase it as "God's blessings". "God bless me today. Give me your favor in all the situations that I come up against at work and at home."

For me personally I add "Help me to be patient and loving with my family and my co-workers." Because I am constantly impatient and not loving. I need to ask God for help in those areas. I often add, "Send you Holy Spirit to dwell with me today."

I do not do this every day. But I should. Lately I have had problems at work. It is helpful to pray before I go to work. I can pray in the car, pray at the gym. There is a holy fear that comes over me. I need God's help.

The psalmist recalls that God is faithful and full of lovingkindness (a wonderful Hebrew word "hesed" that means both of those things.) The Lord hears my prayer. I do not identify with all my enemies being ashamed but if I do have smiling enemies, let them all repent of what they are doing and be ashamed.
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Psalm 6:1-10 [1] O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. [2] Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. [3] And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD--how long? [4] Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness. [5] For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks? [6] I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. [7] My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries. [8] Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. [9] The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer. [10] All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed. NASB

Don't expect the worst, expect God

2012-01-20T14:28:00.000-06:00

Don't expect the worst, expect God - Lloyd John Ogilvie. My dad always taught me to expect the worst. Be prepared for the worst. Then be pleasantly surprised when things did not turn out so bad. :)

Reading Exodus 14 and following. I immediately began to wonder, what did God expect? What does God expect from us? Does he expect the worst? Or does he fear the worst? The Israelites in the wilderness. Already at the Red Sea the Israelites are grumbling. They want to go back to Egypt. There are a series of disappointments for God. What did he expect?

How is it that God can know what will happen but do it anyway? It is too confusing for me, surely.

God chooses weak, insecure, untrustworthy people to do his work through. That is how, often seemingly accidentally, God gets the glory. So when I find myself inadequate for the job God calls me to, I am excited. When I see that I am getting wisdom. I see the truth. I desire God to get the glory.

Expect God to come through. Be confident in his ability. Even what seems like failure can still be to God's glory. God is doing things unknown to me, perhaps in the people around me, that I barely notice. It's amazing.

Like the Israelites on the other side of the Red Sea, I get excited to see God do a miracle in my life, save me. I get excited. But also like the Israelites I soon forget and get discouraged by new circumstances. Thank God for his continual faithfulness.
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Exodus 13:17-14:18 (NASB) [17] Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." [18] Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. [19] Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you." [20] Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. [21] The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. [22] He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. [1] Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. [3] For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' [4] Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." And they did so. [5] When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" [6] So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; [7] and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. [8] The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. [9] Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. [10] As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. [11] Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? [12] Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." [13] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. [14] The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent." [15] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. [16] As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. [17] As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. [18] Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen."

Holy Spirit

2012-01-18T12:49:00.000-06:00

MP spoke on the Holy Spirit this Sunday. We need to be continually reminded about the Holy Spirit. His role in the Godhead is often misunderstood and minimized.

We need to renew our spiritual side, call upon the Holy Spirit to dwell with us richly and use us.

Be open to be used by the Holy Spirit. Exercise the gifts.

Party!! - Levi threw a party

2012-01-17T16:50:00.002-06:00

Luke 5 - Churches often host wonderful parties with the hope of attracting new people. The communion service is a reenactment of a dinner party. It is a celebration. Let's make it a party. We rejoice (in a dignified manner of course) and then eat together.

Levi's party brought together his new found friend Jesus and his old friends. He hoped to reach his friends for Jesus. When you find something good you want to share it. Levi wanted to share Jesus with his friends.

Jesus knew his coming as a man invited a party. In response to the Pharisees Jesus said, "You do not fast when you have the bridegroom with you, no you party!" A wedding was a good example of a long and joyful party. You saluted the new married couple and celebrate hope of new life that comes with it. There is hope for happiness, hope for new life in the form of children to come.

A party is truly a gospel event when you invite new people, people who do not know the good news. Reach out and invite those in need to your party. If you churches services do not include new people it is not as exciting. Invite new people to the party.

Church festivals are good opportunities to invite new people. In the fall we had a soccer festival. At Christmas we did a Posada. Just this last Sunday a bunch of us got up early and had a cheering party for the marathoners. The praise band played for over two hours from the porch of a house in the neighborhood. It was a celebration. Many of the runners smiled as they passed the five mile point behind our church.

From 7 until a little after 9 we encouraged the runners, cheered and sang the praise songs. Neighbors did come by to see what we were doing and say hi. We told them we were from the church on E. 11th Street. Some seemed interested. It was a low keyed outreach.

Church parties can be a good way to draw in new people.

call of Nathaniel - what city would you liken Nazareth to?

2012-01-16T07:45:00.001-06:00

We read the call of disciples from John's gospel last night.

RC added some fun details. I love the nerdy tidbits. For example John the Baptist showed a couple of disciples Jesus and they went to follow Jesus. When Jesus asked them what they wanted, they responded by asking where he was staying. RC said this was the equivalent of asking themselves for dinner. Jesus did not say "no". He just said, "Keep following." RC mentions this is the start. Three men eating together. From this more people were asked and his followers grew. Now we too eat with Jesus in the form of communion.

Secondly Andrew is named as one of the pair. The unnamed disciple, RC said, was John himself. This fits in well with John never naming himself in his gospel.

A question came to me concerning Nathaniel's response. He said, "What good ever came out of Nazareth?" Nazareth was a sleepy little hamlet off the beaten path. No roads went through Nazareth. If you took the path to Nazareth you went not passing through. So my question is. "What small town in Texas would be equivalent to Nazareth?

I asked this question of my fellow chorus members after church. One man mentioned Waco. Another lady said Pasadena. Both of these town have some of the qualities I think Nathaniel had in mind but not all of them. Waco is too big. Pasadena is a suburb of Houston. It is not isolated.

I do not have a perfect one either. In east Texas I can think of Woodville or Jasper. Not isolated enough. People go through Woodville to get to Jasper. Leabau? Anyone heard of that? It's too small though. But the people I met there were very countrified. Marathon is small and isolated. But the times I have been there so many people I met had left the big city to go to a place that ran at a slower pace. They were not true country bumpkins.

Luke 5:16

2012-01-12T23:21:00.000-06:00

"He would often slip away to the wilderness and pray."

Why did he have to do this? Wasn't he completely God so he and God were to same? If he already is God and knows God why must he pray?

Well yes but he was also completely man. We believe Jesus was God. But we also understand him to be completely man. I believe he was limited in his human body. He could only be in one place at a time, an obvious human limitation. Also he needed to get to a quiet place to hear God's still small voice, just like we do.

I do not believe Jesus, as a man, had the ability to heal. His ability was simply as ours is, to ask God to heal. He gave up that ability when he became a man. Only God can heal. We pray to God for healing. The difference was that Jesus had perfect faith. And it was God's will. Jesus knew God's perfect will.

So Jesus needed to get off by himself to pray. And he did it often. He wanted to because he loved his father and desired to be with him as closely as he could. Just like when we love someone deeply we want to spend time with them. Jesus prayed to be with his Father.

DW suggested Jesus needed to pray so as to resist temptation. I'm sure there is that aspect of it too.

I pray. I sort of know how to pray. Did Jesus pray differently than I do? I suspect it was different but I do not know how. I suspect Jesus did more listening than I do. It must have had similarities to my own. I pray for people. Jesus must have prayed for people that he met. I pray for guidance. I am sure Jesus prayed for guidance as well.

Four verses later in 5:20 Jesus is teaching in front of some Pharisees and a man is lowered in on a stretcher for healing. Jesus wants to make a point so he sees that the men have faith so he tells the man on the stretcher that his sins are forgiven.

The scribes and Pharisees rightly agree that only God can forgive sins. The reader agrees but they have faith too and believe Jesus is right, he is God. He prays like a man prays but he is certainly God as well.

The Pharisees see this as blasphemy because they cannot even consider that Jesus might be right. To them he is a normal man claiming to be God. I can certainly understand their consternation. How can a man also be God? It is a lot to take in. Yet his signs show him to be not an ordinary man. He asserts he is God. We know it to be true.

Luke 4:18

2012-01-09T13:57:00.000-06:00

Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2a. He stops before the second part of verse 2: "the day of vengeance of our God." That part was not yet. Jesus did not come to judge. That was later, he will judge after all.

However today he proclaims that he has come to bring salvation. He speaks of the Messiah, the Savior. He has come to turn the world up side down. All those in attendance will remember the rest of Isaiah 61. This prophesy is about the servant-messiah. The people will be restored. Those living in Jesus' time had mixed all this in with revolt against the hated overseers, the Romans. They cannot imagine how liberty and restoration can occur without release from Roman rule.

But Jesus leaves off vengeance.

It is clear to all who hear that Jesus is proclaiming himself messiah. We will bring release, freedom, a double portion. We will be comforted, given oil of gladness, rejoice with everlasting joy.

Verses 1-6 are in the voice of the savior himself. Verses 7-9 are God's response. Verses 10-11 are Isaiah's reaction to this proclamation.

Isaiah prophesied his coming. Jesus proclaimed he was here. Because of his actions, the signs and wonders and his final resurrection from the dead, we see that he fulfilled his mission. It did not work out as the Jews expected. But Jesus came for all men, Jews and Greek. He is my savior. Is he yours?

ISAIAH 61:1-11 [1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; [2] To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, [3] To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. [4] Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. [5] Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. [6] But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. [7] Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. [8] For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. [9] Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed. [10] I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. [11] For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations. NASB

adventure awaits

2012-01-08T09:26:00.000-06:00

Life can be an adventure. But what happens after this life? I suspect the next life will be an adventure too. We will all see someday. So friends and relatives went to find out last year. It's pretty real sometimes.

Are we preparing? How do we prepare? Jesus says, "be like me." Paul says, "Be like me." Do we know living examples of people we can emulate. To prepare we need to be working to be more like God. God is loving, forgiving, helpful. He also judges, discerns. We do that too but remember God withholds judgment on us and when he does bring consequences they are always much less than we deserve.

Jesus said he came to release, comfort, restore. As much as is in our power that is what we are to do as well.

I am thinking of the scene in Field of Dreams where the James Earl Jones character is about to enter the afterlife. In the movie he enters it be going into the cornfield. I know corny huh? But it is only the boundary for those who are ready, who God has called. (Well of course God is never mentioned.) This is one man's fantasy. In this fantasy afterlife some men play baseball. Will there be baseball in heaven? I hope so.

The character in the scene seems to see this movement into the afterlife as a new adventure. He sticks his arm into the cornfield and it disappears. Then he pulls it back. He laughs and looks back at his new friends who will be left behind. He sees it as a new adventure. He is apprehensive of course. But he seems joyful. He is no longer depressed as he was when we first meet him. His new friends have cheered him up. He has seen signs of a reason for life. I will interject here that God has allowed circumstances to occur so that he can see that. And now he is going on to the next adventure. It is his time.

We too have a time here on earth. But soon we will go on to our next adventure. Many who love us will be left behind to continue on. Are we preparing? Will we be ready? I know some who leave out scared out of their senses. Part of our preparation is to learn to trust God more.

2012-01-06T15:26:00.002-06:00

"The truth is that if we would be acceptable to God at all times, we can take it for granted that we will be unacceptable to others some of the time" (John N. Gladstone).

Jesus provokes his neighbors here, doesn't he? My commentator thinks their anger rises out of the anger Jewish people have developed towards all non-Jews. The members of the synagogue cannot deny what he is saying. It is in the book. But they hate being reminded that God helps non-Jews.

Jesus spends most of his time ministering to fellow Jews. But he never denied Gentiles when they sought him out. Many great stories are of how he helped Gentiles in need. Jesus had compassion for all. No one is excluded unless they choose to be.

Why can't his fellow villagers simply accept his teaching and deal with it? Or "agree to disagree" so to speak? They would certainly have been better off if they had listened. But the Jews, as a group, were so bent on rebellion. Each succeeding rebellion caused stronger and stronger reprisals from Rome until finally in 70 AD they massacred all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and tore down the temple. (And robbed the temple treasury.) They forbid Jews from living in the city.

The Jews were expecting a messiah. Daniel's prophesies seemed to say they were living in the times. They never lost that expectation. But they would not consider that the messiah God would send would be so different. Jesus never stopped trying to tell them, like he did here in the synagogue of Nazareth.

This was an act of extreme caring. Yet the people could not accept it and even wanted to kill him.

Jesus' first desire was to bring the truth, not to win a popularity contest. What he told them: he was the messiah bringing peace and not war. He was bringing Good News to all men, not just to Jews.
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LUKE 4:22-30 [22] And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" [23] And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'" [24] And He said, "Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. [25] But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; [26] and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." [28] And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; [29] and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. [30] But passing through their midst, He went His way. (NASB)

Life group

2012-01-06T15:07:00.000-06:00

We discussed new year's resolutions or more politely put, goals for the year. Marvin is so tactful. That was a much better term.

I think the most important one offered was to reduce stimuli so you can hear God better. I was not so sure that I wanted to do that. My games addiction is still alluring. I should cut some out. But instead I try to spend less time with each one.

Yet that is a great goal. And going along with that is more time at prayer, more time reading helpful things, and reading the Bible and listening to sermons.

My Greek practice is important but only if it helps me get closer to God.

I hesitate to mention my goal to blog each day. This is a very poor effort. I am pretty discouraged about it.

Brighton Gardens

2012-01-01T14:28:00.000-06:00

I am still amazed I am doing messages at Brighton. I'm not sure how together it was. But it was cool that the normal message giver added a good charge for the folks to leave with.

Several of the people there give me comments after it is over and we go around and sa hi. One lady said it was good to hear the message of the gospel again. Yeah it was.

One lady who really knows her stuff asked me if I knew where in the OT the appearance of the wise men is prophesied. I did not know about that. She said she would search and tell me next time I come. I'll be interested.

The lady who told me last time I did not speak loud enough was not here this week. But I did speak louder.

The Joneses were very nice. I think I was able to make the message last 20 minutes. DW said it was coherent. I was less sure. But yes I guess so.

No evening service tonight. So I am relaxing with the football game on the TV.

Tomorrow is a holiday and the library is closed. I wish it was going to be open.

driving

2011-12-28T12:13:00.000-06:00

I do some of my best thinking, my best planning while driving.

I admit to reading my WSJ in the car. In fact that is about the only time I read that paper. So many of the papers do not get opened. Sigh. Not enough time for all my interests.

This morning a woman honked at me while crossing downtown. I looked over to my right and saw this fairly good looking blonde woman waving furiously at me. She was making wild motions. What I think she meant was that I should "just drive". I guess she saw I was reading the paper and thought I could go faster. Well I was driving with the flow of traffic. I was not driving too close of course because of my reading. But I was keeping up with the green lights that turn as I flow with the traffic. She had little to complain about.

Ironically she was driving over in the bus lane. So my reaction was to laugh at the irony. It was not clear how she reacted to my laughter. But she continued to travel in the that lane and did not pull up next to me again.

Since getting a ticket a couple of years ago for not using my turn signal when changing lanes I have been trying hard to use it at all times. Unfortunately there is no sound when it is on. So I often leave it on after I am done. I annoy myself and probably people behind me. I still forget to turn it off but I am trying to do better. But I still am very bad.

DW wants a new car. She wants it mainly so she can hand he 10 year old Buick to DD. DD wants a bigger car for possible cooking gigs. DD is doing a wedding cake this weekend. She is open for more cooking gigs of most any kind. Anyway DW wants a Camry. She has her eye on a big cup holder center in the middle between the front seats. She has seen a Camry with the interior that she likes. We are hoping to start the ball rolling this week.

Sherlock Holmes

2011-12-27T16:14:00.000-06:00

We went to see the new Sherlock Holmes Monday after Christmas at the new downtown theater. I think last year we saw the first on Christmas day or thereabouts. So hopefully we are starting a tradition. Every year on Christmas we can see the new Sherlock Holmes action film.

These are so different that Rathbone/Bruce. They are not based on Arthur Conan Doyle books at all but they do try to stay close to the characters that he developed. We start out with references to Holmes' addiction to drugs.

These are really modern action films set in last 19th century London. And France and Germany just for fun.

Some have said this one was disappointing. I'm not sure why. Unless the creation of two new characters last year was cool and new, people were excited. This year if you expected more well it was not more. It was the same. The characters were the same. The plot had no great surprises. I think I rather liked that it proceeded fairly logically to a conclusion.

Moriarty was perhaps a disappointment.

In one book Holmes "dies" because the author planned this one to be the last one. But because of public desire for more he can back in more book with little explanation for how he survived. They do the same thing in this movie. I suspect the similarity was conscience.

talk for Sunday

2011-12-27T15:36:00.000-06:00

I cobbled together a "sermon" for Sunday at the old folk's home while working on the elliptical machine.

I think it is cool, but not long enough. Naturally.

Kenneth

2011-12-23T12:06:00.002-06:00

Christmas is a tough time for me. It may be the darkness more than anything but I do know parties stress me. I am trying though.

I'd say all in all this has been a good year. The tree and the lights were up by Dec 8. The Christmas cards were done almost a week early. That is amazing for me. But I have to say my DW and DD gave me a lot of help. Still I had to initiate it all. They did all the shopping and cooking. I hope I did not grumble as loudly this year. I don't think I did but they may see it differently.

As I walked this morning (and discovered a few unpicked citrus trees) I thought about Kenneth. I saw one of those pillar like conifers. I remember when he died someone gave us one of those. We were to plant it over his grave. But I knew we would never return to the grave site. We never do. So I planted it in front of our house to remember. But it did not last long. It never got the size of the ones I saw on my walk. I thought of how after we die we are soon forgotten. I rarely think of Kenneth, who was our first born. He lived three days in intensive care. No one gave him much hope even though he was full sized. We lived in supreme denial until they told us he was gone. He was whisked away. We never got to say goodbye or even hug him. All the time he was in ICU he was full of tubes and wires and under a plastic sheet so we never got to touch him. That part still makes me teary. But also angry too if I let myself get in touch with it.

Kenneth would be 33 in February. I should say IS 33 in February. For I believe his soul is somewhere. Or maybe his soul awaits God's judgment and resurrection. On this earth he never had a chance to sin. However I do believe he was born a sinner like all of us. Like all of us he needs a savior, Jesus who was born in Bethlehem.

Someday we will get to see Kenneth. Praise God for his steadfast love.

Judgment - Revelation 20

2011-12-21T11:28:00.000-06:00

[10]And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The devil does not rule over hell. He is punished like everyone else.

[14]Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15]And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The lake of fire is what we think of as hell. Judgment comes on us all at last. Those who are not in God's book are thrown into hell and punished forever. This seems so awful. I think most of wish to say this is poetic, not actually true. We'd like to think this is Semitic hyperbole.

But this is judgment. We are found in the Book of Life because of what Jesus has done for us, this same Jesus whose birth we celebrate on Sunday December 25. We need a savior and God, in the plan he had from the beginning, sent his Son Jesus to be our savior. I thank God and I humbly accept him.

My Christmas cards are sent. We sent fewer than usual. We created a Christmas letter that starts out with a paragraph that feels humbly pompous to me. Nevertheless it is as true as I can make it.

We have had a very good year.

Genesis 45

2011-12-20T14:09:00.000-06:00

Joseph reveals himself! The Egyptians are happy for Joseph. They obviously like and respect this man. The brothers are stunned and denial comes big time. Joseph keeps on talking. He has obviously planned what he was going to say when he revealed himself. He already knew where they would live. He knew he would get them all to move to Egypt.

Verse 12 jumps out at me. Something they see with their eyes something about his mouth should be recognizable to them. Is his mouth like Benjamin's in some way. This is not a metaphorical mouth. He speaks of seeing it, not ears hearing it. Details like that I find fascinating.

Genesis 43

2011-12-15T14:45:00.000-06:00

So much can be said of this chapter and the whole book of Genesis. Read, ponder, seek application for yourself. Ask questions of the verses that you read and listen to God for answers.

For these people who lived over 3,000 years ago are so like us. I am reading Frank Cross on myth. The book is slow. I probably will not finish it. Cross is trying to force Genesis into a model like Greek myth, for example like the Iliad. In that story there are obviously two levels, the human actions and the actions of the gods. In Greek myth of course there are multiple gods all fighting like humans. God is always in agreement with himself. God works in a unified manner. He does not plot against himself.

Cross tries hard to make Biblical stories like the myths of other cultures. I suppose you can identify with the people in the Iliad. But Genesis is closer to the truth, to the true God.

There are lot of blessings in chapter 43. Jacob blesses his children (v.14) as start off to Egypt to get more food. He releases Benjamin to go very reluctantly. So when they get there Joseph sees all his brothers for the first time in many years.

Joseph's steward acknowledges the blessing of their God on them (v.23). Joseph blesses Benjamin when he meets him (v.29).

Again they all bow down to Joseph (v.26) when he comes home for lunch.

Joseph again asks about their father. They may think it is out of courtesy. But Joseph surely wants to see his father before he dies. Jacob is old.

Joseph is keeping up the ruse. But he breaks down again and cries when he sees his full brother fully grown. When he last saw him he was just a boy. Surely the brothers notice that something is wrong. Some people think at least some of them secretly might have figured out who the Egyptian was.

But Joseph must look much different now than he did when they sold him. He could have a beard now. Maybe it has been twenty years and Joseph is in his 30's.

Joseph may been waiting for them to recognize him. But probably the brothers do not have a clue. Even when they are eating and Joseph has them seated in order by age they do not get it. They marvel at it but it still doesn't connect. They just think it is coincidence.

I can identify with Jacob blessing their travel and their relationship with the man in Egypt who had given them such a hard time. Jacob knows God and knows that he is God's child. He belongs to God. So he knows that he can request things of God. Yet he is fearful. Because the situation is dire he has little trust.

I can so identify with Jacob. I can ask God in prayer. I can ask for his loving care. I can ask for his blessing. But I have trouble being confident that God will act. I am too aware of the situation and how uncertain it looks.

Thank God God is willing to answer us even when we only partially believe. We believe with our minds but not our hearts. We are not totally trusting. Lord, give us faith to be more trusting.

Revelation 14

2011-12-13T22:13:00.000-06:00

Well not about the whole chapter because I was struck by verse 4. The 144,000 saints were those not defiled by woman. They kept themselves chaste.

OK. What does it mean to be not defiled by women? Does that thereby exclude those who have been married? What about women? Do we mean "not defiled by men" in their case? Or does this only apply to men? Do you think I am taking this too seriously?

In the next verse we have another qualification: No lie is found in their mouth, they are blameless.

God is encouraging them, who read this, to have patient endurance, perseverance. It will pay off in the end. We will be judged righteous and blameless because of the testimony of the lamb (14:1), the Son of Man (14:14) who will reap the harvest of saved souls and punish those who have refused to listen to the good news (14:6) ad be saved.

I have faith that God will find me (us) among the blameless (14:5).

Weekend doings

2011-12-12T19:30:00.000-06:00

It has been very busy this weekend, mostly on Sunday. All day Saturday I worked at the runoff election. All the regular precincts were open. I suspect to try to increase the vote to keep a certain incumbent at large councilwoman from losing. That is a lot of money spent. But the mayor likes her. However she lost anyway to a conservative candidate who has run against her five times, finally winning. She was her own worst enemy.

Sunday I helped at Brighton and did a talk on Habakkuk and the promise of a savior to come. Habakkuk prophesies against people taking advantage of the poor and God tells him he is sending a barbarous tribe to punish Israel by an awful violent invasion. Yet in the midst of it all there a promises of a better time, this is the time of the savior, of God's anointed. It does fit into Christmas in that it explains very clearly why we need a savior, why Jesus had to come. DW says it was negative. I am just trying to do some out of the ordinary.

Then we had Vineyard church and another sermon on giving less and helping deserving charities. We may give money to charities in lieu of gifts, at least in addition to gifts.

The Texans were on in the background. It was nice to see and hear they won again and clinched the playoffs. I felt a little sorry for the Bengal team. A little. But I cannot get into this like I did the Oilers. I think Rice college sports is my first love now. But I prefer the games I play online, they are what I actually invest time in. Watching is not enough anymore.

Then it was off to SJD for the evening service. We had the new priest who never comes in the evenings. I admit to reading my Greek bible and did not hear his sermon at all.

Vineyard had a concert and a posada. I talked it up at SJD but no one came. They had live animals and Nate looked great as Joseph with his very long hair. The posada part was what I was looking forward to. Carlos was very enthusiatic but I could not hear the responses since the doorkeepers did not open their doors. The tamales were great and the kids had great fun hitting the pinata.

Oh, Saturday night after the election, we got 41 people, more than I thought but still very few, I was tired but Marvin was over. We did try to watch "Living Out Loud" our netflix movie. It was weird and hard to understand. What was her fantasy and what was reality? I could not tell and none of the rest of us could either.

Then I made motions to go to bed but was talked into a few games of Boggle. That actually cheered me up a bit.

Oh, Sunday night after posada I got in a two or so mile walk. I planned in to some inclines to get something close to hill work. That was good.

Hello

2011-12-06T23:56:00.000-06:00

OK, I've been gone too long. I did write some blogs while on the ship. I was away from computers for a week and I felt that I was in withdrawal often enough.

I fought the flu all the time on the ship but finally gave in to it Monday. All day Monday I was fighting it. After going to a luncheon over at Rice with a IVCF leader I came home and collapsed. I missed my Monday night meeting and slept a lot. I ate nothing for the rest of the day. Well almost nothing.

Fortunate today I felt much better so I went to work and got mostly caught up.

To all my readers, merry Christmas!! God loves you!!

Genesis 40

2011-11-26T09:16:00.000-06:00

Thank you to those (few) who responded. At least some do read sometimes. Thanks.

In Genesis 40 Joseph is in jail. He interprets two dreams correctly. I wonder if this changes his perspective of dreams. If you are going to say that a dream predicts the future you can see that these dreams are fairly easy to interpret. But I would never be so bold as to tell someone their dream predicts the future, would you?

This the second set of two dreams that involve Joseph. Perhaps two dreams makes the idea of prediction more reasonable. The first pair are his own. He implies when he tells them to his family that they predict the future. He doesn't exactly say so when he tells his family. But their reaction shows that they do understand that he is telling them what he thinks will happen. He uses the dreams to make his point. Joseph is telling them what will happen or better what might happen.

These dreams are what got him into trouble. His brothers sold him into slavery. He is now in jail, a man without a country. He has no rights, no family. He is all alone. Yet God has been immensely involved in his life.

Now that he has successfully interpreted two important dreams, foretelling the future, not as some soothsayer, but as one who listens to God and gives God the glory, does he take his own dreams more seriously? At the time when he was telling the dreams to his family I wonder if he really believed that it would come true. He was really just a child when he had the dreams. I suspect he had little idea of what the dream really meant and how the family would react to it. But now he might be more encouraged that God would really arrange to have his first two dreams to come true as well. He may be more secure in God's vindication of his life.

Even though the cup-bearer forgot all about him he is more secure in God's role. God will use all his trials and finally bless him mightily.

As we have trials and set backs let us pray that we will be like Joseph. We pray that our setbacks will turn out to finally work out in our favor. We must be positive and patient and let our setbacks be excuses to enter into sin.

weekend

2011-11-22T23:41:00.000-06:00

I am so remiss about this blog. I figure no one reads it so who cares?

Yet this is great for me. I am doing talks at Brighton once a month and other times I am doing short inspirational talks. So this exercise is great for me.

Saturday I got to see Rice football. Rice won!! It was great to see.

Sunday I had three services. Well 2 1/2. I went and helped lead at Brighton. I help the music leader since he used the piano and you really cannot lead singing at play unless you have a microphone, which we don't. Then a lady named Dee did the message. I ended up helping her with the message. We started late because DW and I were late. We ended early too. I felt a little like we cheated them. But we stayed and greeted and prayed for them. Some are in poor health. And we had a lower attendance. I wondered if the flu was going around. Four of us took the place of the Jones. Also the piano player Hugh brought his wife and three small children. The women at the old folks home turned into grandmothers for a while. Most of them liked the energetic little ones.

Then I went to half a service at Vineyard. I got them for the announcements and the wonderfully practical sermon by Harry. This the third and last sermon on finances. Today it was about saving and spending. He had some wonderful examples. He have a funny anecdote about he and his wife arguing about buying makeup when they first got married. I can relate.

No local football Sunday. I missed that.

Evening service was good too. We did "Redeemer music" out of the C-Book. JB came with me and was out third bass singer. Then I dropped him off at work. He had a 9:30 PM staff meeting. Can you believe that? I read the lectionary. Today is what is called Christ the King Sunday. I love the concept. But I was not terribly excited about the scripture. JB commented that he could understand the passage well from the way I read. That is what I am going for, story telling if you will, so I felt satisfied that I am doing what I mean too. I do not want to be the message. I want the story to be the message.

Our anthem was Jesus We Crown You with Praise (lyrics) by Lanny Wolfe (vocal on Utube).

I did not feel tired when I was done. But I had a good time and felt joyful about it all.

Genesis 37

2011-11-16T09:08:00.000-06:00

I am going to speak on minor details of this story that struck me. If you do not know the story well, go down to the bottom of this blog and read it.

Exodus 37: This is the beginning of the Joseph saga.

The story of Joseph's kidnapping and selling into slavery has lots of details thay become important later. It's like one of those fictional mysteries that DW and I like to read. The details can help the reader to understand the ending of the book if not actually figure out who did it before the revelation. (Most authors really are not fair in that way.) It's almost good to take notes.

The brothers are jealous and angry that he would tell them that they would bow down to him. He has these dreams you know. When it comes to getting their revenge remember they are not full brothers. They do not feel the same kinship to him that a full brother might. Most of them are children of the maids, not an actual wife. So they may fear that they will be passed over for the inheritance. Jacob, their dad, might decide to give him the portion of the first born. So what Jacob is saying rings with truth. Actually this is what does happen in the end, Joseph gets a double portion through his two sons.

How old is Joseph here anyway? Kids grow up quick in an agrarian society. From the description of his traveling to meet his brothers I'm picturing about 12. He is still a youth, not full size. He is just now beginning to leave his mother's society.

This is a society that looks out for one another and know each other's business, like some lower class neighborhoods today and like the neighborhood I grew up in the 1950's.

So when Joseph gets to Shechem and he cannot find his brothers it is not that he asks someone. He is too small and insignificant to do that. He cannot talk to adults as equals. No, a man notices he is lost and offers to help. Amazingly he actually knows where his brothers are. He may not know this boy but he does know the minor business of a family of shepherds who are from several valleys over. This is a people that takes care of one another.

Thinking of Joseph as a boy barely out of childhood makes sense of his naively sharing his dreams with his older brothers. He is still not old enough to understand how the dreams will effect them.

In his second dream he includes his mother and father with those who will bow to him. His father rebukes him and his brothers mutter angrily. But 37:11 "His father keeps this saying mind." Where do we hear this later? We are reminded of Mary, Jesus' mother, who takes the prophesies of the Wise Men, Anna, and Simeon in mind. She holds them in her heart. So does Jacob.

Mark 10:32-34

2011-11-15T16:09:00.000-06:00

Jesus is now heading to Jerusalem. The disciples are astonished, it says. They are lagging behind. Have you ever been part of a group when your leader started to take you in a direction that you thought foolhardy?

But these disciples know they are heading straight into danger. Yet they go anyway. They love and respect this man very much. Their minds tell them this is crazy. Yet they do it. Is it courage? Is it faith?

Jesus tells his disciples the unvarnished truth. We see this in verse 10:32 - "Jesus takes his disciples aside." Remember they are walking. Jesus separates himself a little from the larger group, with his disciples, to tell them something private.

They are perhaps walking on one of those great Roman roads that will still have remains of today. Many highways in Europe still follow those Roman ways.

The disciples know the danger in Jerusalem. That is where the leaders of his opposition live. They are powerful. They mean to kill him.

So Jesus takes them aside openly and tells them again that they are going to Jerusalem. And he is telling them what will happen there. He will be delivered over to thes priests and scribes, condemned and turned over to the gentiles (for execution). Only the Romans can administer crucifixion. And before they do it they will mock and scourge. Jesus tells them this because, awful as it sounds, he is in control of these events. He knows what will happen and he enters into it willingly. How can anyone understand this? Can we imagine doing this for the whole world? The disciples cannot understand. It makes no sense at all.

But Jesus adds, after he is dead, in three days he will rise again. There is nothing recorded about the response of the disciples. Surely there was at least a time silence before anything else. Probably the disciples discussed this amongst themselves as they continued the journey. It gave them a lot to think about.

Here in Mark this is the third time Jesus has told them what will happen to them. So by now they have had time to work on their reaction. Their reaction has been wrung out of them by now.

Jesus leads them resolutely to his death. He knows who he is, the power of God, and what he is called to do. He is obedient to his father in heaven.

The disciples are scared, probably mostly for themselves, and hang back. They wish somehow they can stop all this. But they are not in control, Jesus is. Yet they choose to be with Jesus and take what happens.

This is a great example for us. We do not know what the future will bring. Yet we follow Jesus because this is better than anything else.

Mark 9:14-29

2011-11-09T14:06:00.000-06:00

This is a long story of Jesus casting out a demon. We see demon possession and casting out a lot in scripture. It's not like the movies, usually, but here it sort of is. This comes right after the transfiguration. Four of them have been on a mountaintop. Physically high and spiritually high for those four that went up. They had to come back to reality. They went from faith to unbelief.

This demon possessed boy exhibits lots of symptoms. But he does not hurt anyone, like in a lot of movies. The explanation of his symptoms sound a lot of like an epileptic.

Let me backtrack and add that not all epileptics are demon possessed. But what the father describes in 9:18 sounds like a grand mal seizure. They did not have medicines to control seizures like they do now. So prayer is the only way this boy can be helped.

Also most demon possessed people do not exhibit such obvious symptoms. It is a bad idea to quickly decide someone is possessed. One must tread very carefully and cautiously, not particularly from danger but from the social stigma associated with such a diagnosis.

But in this era when more people dabble with the occult, spiritual healers, curanderos, seances, and the like more people are like to become associated with demons. A couple of weeks ago and friend and I did gingerly cast out a demon. We were not sure and did not make a big deal about it. But we advised the people to stay away from such spiritual healers. It is nothing to be scared of.

Jesus always controlled the demon and did not let it show off by acting weird or violent. Yet we read in more than one instance that the demon did manifest itself before leaving the person. I think her we are getting an extreme example.

Why did Mark write about this casting out? I think the key reason is what Jesus explains in 9:19 - "Oh, unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you?" Jesus is again speaking of hard hearted unbelief.

But then Jesus takes care of the boy and his father patiently and compassionately. The one who has the unbelief problem is the father. I think the father has something to do with the possession. He has done something to bring demons around him, I think. Jesus is carefully working on this man's faith. After Jesus does heal the son it will be up to the father to keep the demons from coming back.

The father knows he needs help and he cries out for it. This is just the response that Jesus is calling for. Jesus calls it out of him. The father knows he is lacking in faith. I believe he has been seeking in all the wrong places - oracles and diviners, other religions, etc. He needs help and now he is asking the only one who can truly help him. Jesus has carefully led him to the right choice.

This is the choice that we also should make too when we know our need. We admit our need and ask for God to make up what what we lack. He wants to do it.

Mark 8:27 - 9:1 second time around

2011-11-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

I thought this passage deserved two passes.

Jesus has been traveling in the area north of Galilee. This area is mixed, in both religious practices and in ethnic makeup. Locations mentioned are Tyre and Sidon, his home town of Nazareth, and the Decapolis region. After 9:1 Jesus is transfigured on the mountain and sees Moses and Elijah. After this he mostly stays in the area surrounding Jerusalem.

The area of the north is probably not even primarily Jewish. Jesus seems to walk to areas of Jewish settlement. Narareth was a small Jewish village. Tyre and Sidon we larger and probably had Jewish areas near non-Jewish or Gentile area. Many villages were not Jewish at all but these villages are never mentioned. They would be like Boston or Philadephia, divided int ethnic enclaves, Jews, Greeks, Asians, Africans, etc.

This present story occurs while Jesus and his disciples are walking between towns in the area of Caesarea Phillipi. There were towns in this area. Jesus seems to have been traveling to the Jewish towns and preaching in their synagogues.

In the Old Testament this region is called Dan, after the tribes that received it as an inheritance. This area is not dry like the south. It is hilly but full of streams, forests and vegetation. In Jesus' day it was famous for its magnificent temple cut out of the mountain known as Banias. Here sacrifice was made to the god Pan. But there were probably other gods sacrificed to and a cult of the emperor. This was likely a popular destination for pilgrims. The Bible never mentions this. Jesus and other God-fearing Jews probably tried to ignore it as best they could.

Mark leads off this passage by mentioning that they are walking through the area. This conversation like took a while. As they walked Jesus asked them who people say he is. They give his three answers. Jesus continues to question them. There is probably lots of discussion. There may be quite a few people on the road, loud distractions. Others might be passing them. Some are walking alongside them. Jesus then changes the question slightly. He asks them "Who do you say that I am?" I imagine this question was not directly answered right away. Taking to twelve (or more) moving people is not easy. They might get separated for a moment. I imagine there was some discussion amongst the disciples for how to answer this question. It may have taken a while, perhaps a mile or two before Peter got bold enough to say that they thought he was the Christ.

Jesus must have been excited, encouraged by this answer. They got it right. Jesus remarks that only by divine revelation could they have understood this. So I think it is with this encouragement that Jesus goes on to plainly explain what it means for him to be the Savior, the Messiah. However this goes awry. The disciples cannot handle the truth. I imagine if we knew all the things that would happen in our life beforehand we would not be able to handle it either.

Peter, again likely after some reaction and discussion amongst the disciples speaks up for the group. Remember they are walking down the road. Peter takes Jesus of to the other side of the road and rebukes him. Peter tries to correct him. Perhaps this is Peter's misconception of what it means to be Messiah that gets in the way. The Messiah is to be a victorious warrior, saving God's people from their oppressors. Peter tries to do this privately, without anyone else hearing.

But Jesus takes charge of the situation. He turns and makes sure they all hear his response. This makes me think they are all in on it. He corrects Peter. "Get behind me Satan, for you are not setting your mind on God' interests but man's."

Jesus then explains himself. This is climactic. This, with the following transfiguration, ends the first half of the book of Mark. For then on things are different.

Jesus has God's interests, not man's. He knows it will be hard. But this is what he was called for. Do we have God's interests or man's? I think I can only handle this is small bits, small time elements. I can seek to do God's will as I understand it. But in between it seems to me I seek after my own needs and pleasures. This is not to say that God is not happy with our having fun and so on. But overall we are to seek, and be ready to do God's will at all times.

This teaching, a follow up to Peter's rebuke is a call to be wholly given to God. "Take up your cross and follow me." "Whoever is ashamed of me in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory."

Our generation is do different than the one it which he lived. It sets it in stark contrast. Sometime the question is posed to make God the guilty one who has to explain why the world is bad. No it is we who are guilty and must explain our behavior. We are a part of this sinful adulterous generation. God is so good and loving and perfect. How can we not identify with him over and above the imperfect pleasures of this world?

MARK 8:27-9:1 [27] Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?" [28] They told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." [29] And He continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter *answered and *said to Him, "You are the Christ." [30] And He warned them to tell no one about Him. [31] And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. [32] And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. [33] But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." [34] And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. [35] For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. [36] For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? [37] For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [38] For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." [1] And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." NASB

Mark 8:27 - 9:1

2011-11-03T10:06:00.001-05:00

Here we are at a climax in Mark's gospel. This is the middle point.

Mark's gospel is likely a compilation of the stories that Peter went around telling people about Jesus. Think of him as a visiting evangelistic speaker. He tells great stories. The first Christians were hungry to meet people who really knew him while he was on earth.

When Peter got old or when he died these stories were very important and people did not want them to be forgotten. Mark has been helping Peter and had heard the stories many times. So he put together a book and he carefully organized it to tell the great story. So this gospel becomes not only great stories but a biography of the Messiah.

Peter does not let his pride get in the way of a good teaching point. The story is about Jesus, not about Peter after all. God gets the glory, as it should be.

Jesus response to Peter's rebuke is the climax of the first part of the book of Mark. After this comes the transfiguration and everything changes after that.

First Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the one who is predicted and hoped for throughout the Old Testament.

Jesus gets encouraged about the disciples and decides to speak very plainly about what will happen in the future. But this is just too much. The disciples just cannot handle the truth. Now Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke him. Why? Does Peter just not want this to happen? Perhaps Peter thinks if it will happen to Jesus then it is likely to happen to them. Perhaps he is selfishly worrying about himself.

But while Peter has tried to rebuke Jesus privately, Jesus turns and rebukes Peter publicly so that all the disciples can see.

Then Jesus explains further. And this is the climax. Jesus expands on not having man's (selfish) interest but God's. Do we have God's interest as we live our life or do we just worry about ourselves? This teaching cuts me to the quick. I try to have God's interest from time to time. I think I have to take it in small bits. I then remember that God loves me and I love God.

Jesus then states "If anyone wants to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it ... Whoever is ashamed of me in this adulterous and sinful generation the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory."

Jesus gives reasons why we should take God's side and not the world's. And there is a battle. You will have to commit to a side. Not making a decision is making a decision.

Even if it gets hard from time to time we must take God's side. We are proud of God, not ashamed. It is not God's fault for the sin in the world. It is ours.

Do you not yet understand?

2011-10-31T16:25:00.001-05:00

What is it the disciples do not understand? Is it that Jesus can take care of them all the time, not just in special occasions?

Motyer calls it "spiritual blindness". That is a good expression. It is good to look at ourselves to see how we fit on this issue? Again this "not understanding" is linked to "hardness of heart" by Jesus.

Hardness of heart to me means selfishness. It means not being concerned about others, only concerned about my own issues, not seeing beyond the length of my nose.

I think all of us struggle with this. The opposite of this is considering God's ways, not our ways. The disciples here saw God's miraculous provision only a short time past but immediately forgot about it. After seeing how God multiplied bread they now go back to worrying about what they will eat.

The disciples have gone back to "normalcy". The are practical atheists once again. They do not consider God when they decide a plan of action or think about their situation. Jesus wants them to change their behavior. He calls it hardness of heart.

I think I do sometimes consider God when I reflect on a situation or a plan of action. That is what God wants. He wants us to know God is eager to be always involved in our lives. But we often unconsciously have areas of our lives where we leave God out. In could be in our jobs, in our romantic life, in our health, in our recreation. God does not want us to leave him out. He wants us to act righteously in all those situations.

Jesus is training his disciples. He wants them to be wholly converted. He wants their hearts to change along with their behavior. It's an act of God but we are involved.

MARK 8:14-21 [14]And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. [15]And He was giving orders to them, saying, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." [16]They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. [17]And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? [18]"HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember, [19]when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." [20]"When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." [21]And He was saying to them, "Do you not yet understand?" (NASB)

Mark 8:1-13

2011-10-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

Steve Motyer has returned to the theme of hardened hearts in Mark. 6L52 is a key passage. Even the disciples has hardened hearts in that they could not understand the meaning of what Jesus has done.

Here in Mark 8, the second feeding, this time 4,000, the disciples are obedient but there is never any mention of their reaction.

Right after this we have the Pharisees coming and arguing with Jesus and demanding a sign. This is ironic. We have just witnessed a marvelous sign, one that cannot be missed, explained away. Yet their hard hearts caused them to miss it. One wonders what sort of sign would have satisfied them. I do not think anything would have been sufficient.

Motyer suggests that Jesus' response means "No sign CAN be given to this generation." "They are incapable of of seeing the sign because something within them resists the sight." - Motyer.

Perhaps the opposite of this is the sign of Jonah, which the Ninevites did respond to. They repented, or made a serious attempt to. God saw their intention and relented of his judgment.

I think God produces amazing signs all the time, in big ways and in personal ways. And yet most of us are like the Pharisees and even like the disciples. We are incapable of understanding the importance and we soon forget all about it.

I am afraid that describes me. I think DW is better at it than I. I once heard a teaching about setting up monuments in our mind. These monuments are the marvelous things we have seen and heard God do. When we are in need of encouragement we are to look at the monuments and remember.

The Old Testament has examples of this. The Israelites especially remember their deliverance from Egypt and their miraculous walk through the Red Sea. At the Passover dinner they remember it again. At communion we remember too what God did for us on the cross. Both of these are like monuments. We look up and are encouraged.

bad habit

2011-10-28T10:56:00.000-05:00

God seems to be speaking to me (again) about dealing with conflict. I HATE conflict and I react by getting angry. The bank situation is the major case in point. But I was almost civil the last time on the phone.
But then the phone company sent me a bill after I had stopped that service. I called and talked civilly, even nicely, to the lady over the phone. She said it would be taken care of. I would get a new bill in a few weeks. Did being civil help? I’m not sure. But it did not hurt.
So now I checked the prescription and found that they only put 30 pills when they should have put 90. Again I called. Again I was civil. She apologized at the end and said come in for the rest. I then noticed that it did not show more refills. Good thing I kept my last doctor prescription forms. They were doing these prescriptions from older computer entries. I need to get by and show them the newer one. Again, trying to be friendly. Conflict can be handled in a friendly manner. Lord help me.
I did come by late Wednesday night to the pharmacy. It turns out it was my fault, which I heartedly admitted. But they did not want to enter the new scripts. It would sort of work they way it worked this time but my doctor would be called automatically by the computer for approval. I hoped to avoid this next time. They did it finally and this time gave me copies of my scripts, not the originals back. Last time they only entered the ones actually needing to be refilled. The other were not going to need it for a month.
Now, in contrast I have a situation where I am on the other end. A mortgagee got very angry about the situation with the mortgage they have with my company. They have been past due. They have reacted by getting mad at me. They expected the impossible and called me all sorts of names. But we did finally work things out. Their anger did probably get them some concessions. But when they finally paid off I have held off from filing the "release of lien" because they said something about our not deserving this money. So that made me afraid they would stop payment on the check. It’s been two months and I am finally about to do the release. Usually it would only take three weeks or so.
The banker that I am mad at is treating me the same way. He is treating me gingerly. He is delaying actions I guess for similar reasons. I cannot read his mind. But he is acting a lot like I am acting towards these mortgage holders.
In sum, I am trying to be nice when I have to confront conflict situations. It’s a bad habit, long cherished, to get angry in such situations and it will be hard to break.

Mark 7:6-13

2011-10-26T12:36:00.000-05:00

Jesus reacts angrily to the Pharisees. The Pharisees accuse the disciples of ritual uncleanness. Jesus objects to their carping about superficial cleanliness when they are guilty of much larger errors.
Steve Motyer says "The problem with interpreting life through rules is that, sooner or later, mercy is forgotten." He also adds "Rules give comfort to the insecure soul." All of us have insecurities in that realm.
I think I am walking with God. I try to use rules and not be ruled by them. But I am sure, in my insecurity, legalism slips into my life.
Certainly legalism get in the way of God's mercy in my life. But I try to seek understanding and to read admonitions in the Bible to break free.
Sadly when was young my religious zeal kept me from spending time with my parents. I did not need to give them money but I could have given them time. I know my mother was upset with me at times. I cannot think of examples so this may be more the devil's accusation than God's conviction. I did not withhold money as Jesus accuses the Pharisees of doing but I did withhold time from my parents in the name of God.
Later I would join dad's company. I did that at least partially out of a feeling of obligation to my parents. And that obedience to God's call to honor my father worked out very well for me. God has blessed that immensely.
In Mark 7:9-13 Jesus likely has a specific example in mind. As is often the case we do not know all of the story. But the Pharisees, or at least some of them, probably did. Jesus is upset with how they have used God's name to do evil. God wants us to be kind to one another. We do not have to wait for permission to act with mercy.
God is also upset when we use his name to do evil, to withhold mercy. We need to be careful. This is legalism at its worst.

Mark 6 Greek comments

2011-10-24T14:11:00.001-05:00

OK, I was trying to keep going in my understanding of Greek. I see that my Spanish is still getting better, not great, I am not fluent. But I have been dabbling with Spanish for fifty years. So I have hope with the Greek. I still cannot identify the exact conjugation but I can get the jist knowing the root meaning of the word. And Greek words, like other languages, combine roots to create new words. It helps to know the roots.

Anyway Mark 6 contrasts two very different stories on purpose. We begin with the story of the Jesus sending out the disciples to preach and heal. Its a training mission. But in the middle, between the time when they are sent out and they return Mark places a tragic/sad story of the beheading of John the Baptist. There are so many contrasts. One is set in dusty poor areas, the other in an immaculate and beautiful palace.

As I'm reading of the awful use made by the queen of her daughter to get her revenge on John I often feel a little sorry for the young girl. So seems an unwitting pawn. This is naive. But I like to be naive sometimes. I do not think that is a good thing. It means I am purposely hiding from reality. Sometimes reality scares me.

But in the Greek it is even more clear (to me anyway) that this young girl is excited, eager to do as her mom wishes. She is excited to see the power that her young body evocatively dancing, has over men. It's probably clear in any good English translation. But the Greek adds extra adjectives. She is eager. She is quick to do as her mother bids. She has no regard for the life that is being murdered because of their whim.

I think Mark wants us to see the world that the disciples are going to preach to. It is an unkind, unfriendly world. People treat each other as impersonal objects to get what they want.

This young girl has probably never been out of the palace much. She has no experience of lives different than her own. But her heart is already hardened.

In a few more verses Jesus feed the 5,000. Jesus commands the disciples to feed the people. "Do it yourselves." It is a Greek command form. They respond, "How?" It would take 200 denarius to get enough bread to feed all these people. I estimate that to be about $10,000. The reading audience would know this is an impossible sum. But Jesus does not let them off the hook. He commands them to look and see. What do they have? So they return to Jesus with what little they can find. Before they can despair Jesus commands again. Get the crowd to sit in groups. Why the groups? Then Jesus blesses God, says a prayer. Then he gives the bread and fish back to the disciples to distribute.

Often it is said that the Greek verb means continuously giving. Yes the verb is a participle and it does mean continuous action. However this happens a lot in Greek, a lot more than in English. It is not special. But yes it is true.

Why does he put them in groups? I can only guess. Perhaps to give the disciples something to do to keep them from panicking. Second, perhaps this is silly, but getting them into groups forces them to eat family style. They are not eating alone. They are sharing. And also this way people will keep track of what is eaten and what is left. It will be harder for someone to take extra food and keep it back. This way it will be clear how much is truly left over.

Why is that last part important? Maybe just to show how abundant was God's provision.

My wife was telling me of a dinner she attended where there was only a small chicken to eat. But then a at least ten more people came. They prayed and blessed the food and there was enough for all. She thought it miraculous at the time. But I imagine there was not many times more left over than what they started with.

I think God sometimes does provide miraculously for his saints. Praise God for that.

Next we have the story of Jesus walking on the water. This version does not include Peter's response. But it does end by saying the disciples are so surprised because they do not understand the meaning of the feeding of the 5,000 - their hearts are hardened. So the daughter of the queen, so the disciples, so are we so often. We do not believe because our hearts are hardened.

I pray for softened faithful hearts today.

Saturday

2011-10-22T22:37:00.000-05:00

DW left for a day long retreat at 7 AM. She woke about 6:30. So I too walk and took a walk. It was mostly a plastic and aluminum picking walk. I passed back and forth north of our house. I then went home and dumped the stuff. Then I went east through Broadmoor. By the time I started on my second round I was getting tired. Six miles or so is all I can handle easily. I wonder about doing the half marathon this year.

Anyway I got home and worked on catching up on computer. I read part of a novel.

I had planned to grill but I was getting tired. So I did start the fire but used only some sausages that I had in the house. I did not go to the store for chicken or anything. I am just trying to burn my excess wood.

So I did get a nap in before the Rice football game. Tailgating at Rice is free if you know the right people. So I got some beer and chili and went to the game. I saw QM and talked to him for a while. I saw "Thrill" too and talked politics for a while. Rice did not win, made lots of mistakes. But they did score 20 points so there were things to cheer. I stayed for the end. I finally watched the fourth period from the second deck.

Oh yes, the bank called and this bank officer lied to me again. I got very mad again. This time I called a lawyer. We are going to have to follow this up. His delaying fixing his serious mistake has gone on long enough. I hate to even speak of this.

Titus 2

2011-10-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

When I read Titus 2 I think of those prisoners I knew at the downtown Texas jail. These guys are new Christians, most of them. But all of them are like Cretans Titus was disciplining. They are just starting to know what it means to live righteously. A lot of old patterns have to change. It will not happen overnight. Old habits take time to break. There will be a lot of failures, small or big.

Paul gives instructions. First for older men (2) - "temperate ... sensible, faith, love, perseverance."

This may seem only right and normal to us but it was new to the Cretans, to Greeks in general.

Paul mentions next older women (3) - to the reverent, not gossips, instead teach good things. Paul has to mention not getting drunk, another old habit to break. We do not usually associate older women with excessive drinking. But it happens enough, usually done in private.

Young women then get two verses (3-4). I think it is interesting that Paul takes pains to mention that women must choose to love their husbands and children. Love is a chose after all. Paul knew that.

For these women, husbands were likely chosen for them by their parents. Paul takes a radically different view of marriage. In the old system women were required to obey their husbands. Husbands were expected to demand obedience, perhaps by beating, not by love. Paul is preaching a whole new way of thinking about marriage and family. A husband was to love his wife, as God loves his people.

I find it interesting, worthy of note (9) that Paul instructs a wife to submit to her own husband and bond slaves to submit to his own master. Wouldn't this to be understood? A wife does not have to submit to all men. A slave does not have to submit to all masters. Why does Paul think it important to use "own"? He states it the same way in Philippians.

I suppose he wants to make it clear the hierarchy is only to the proper person. Women otherwise do not have to submit to men in general. Men, no matter what their position, do not have to submit to other men, only those to whom they are bonded. Paul seems to imply an equality among people in general here.

Bond slave seems a foreign concept to us. But if you make a contract with someone you are bonded to them. If you take out a mortgage on a house or have payments for a car you should consider yourself a bond slave, required to pay it until it is done.

2 Timothy 4:17

2011-10-18T10:47:00.000-05:00

I just love little details like this. It just hit me. Paul was probably not using imagery here when he speaks of being delivered from the lion's mouth. Paul uses imagery so often and this image of being delivered from the lion's mouth is used so often. We never think of it as literal because no one does that anymore.

The main image comes from the book of Daniel where Daniel is thrown into a den of lions and has to survive the night without being eaten. So when Paul uses this image he could be thinking of Daniel.

Yet Paul has just mentioned being before the court. He successfully defending himself. Under Emperor Nero Christians were literally thrown into the Colosseum to be eaten by wild animals for the entertainment of the Romans.

Paul was ever the brilliant defender of the faith. This time he defended himself in court.

Probably he had to convince the court to follow the law. Roman citizens, as Paul was, were executed in a more humane fashion. They could not be crucified and they could not be given to the lions. But Nero felt he was the law. He could do what he liked. He hated Christians and certainly was willing to treat them as badly as possible.

But Paul was successful in getting the Roman court to follow the law. It did not mean Paul would not be executed for being a Christian. But it would be done in a more humane, respectful way.

What spiritual truth do we get from this? I am at a loss. Yet Paul does see a great truth here shown in verse 4:18. Paul sees God's faithfulness. He believes God is still in control despite all. And he is confident that God will accept him in his own time. He will be accepted into God's heavenly kingdom. Paul is looking forward to it. He will be very present in this world as long as he remains. But he is confidently looking forward to the next world too.

Thank God for his faithfulness. Let us all be like Paul, confident in God and his promises to us.

Titus 1

2011-10-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

I am quickly going through the pastoral epistles (the two Timothys and Titus). I have gotten behind in my reading. That is mostly why there have not been any blogs lately.

In Titus 1, Paul, like he does for Timothy, is calling Titus to appoint leaders in the new churches.

Paul starts his set of qualifications with some mostly do-nots (1:6-7). Only one wife, having believing children, not self-willed, not quick tempers, not a heavy drinker, not easily provoked, not fond of sordid gain. Paul at least partially defines sordid gain further down in 1:11. He says some are teaching things they should not in order to be paid for it (sordid gain).

We can glean that these men were teaching specials rites and rules. These things, they claimed, would assure the learner right standing with God. Paul constantly rejected legalistic rules. Paul said faith is what saves and we show the fruits of our faith by our good works. These good works are a product of our faith. But they do not save us. Jesus saves us as we believe in faith.

And those works will be different for each person. There are no set rules.

After these mostly negative attributes of the leader come the good attributes, gifts perhaps (1:8-9) = hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding firm to the Word taught by Paul, Titus, and others. Thus they are able to accurately teach the Word and also correct those who disagree.

Remember Paul is talking of believers, not unsaved people. New believers still have to be taught and have to be unlearned things they formerly believed and practiced. In a church of all new believers anything is possible. It is so easy for a whole church to get off. Great care has to be made to make sure people do not latch on to incorrect ideas.

It is so easy for people to add on stuff, perhaps bringing on stuff from their old religion and old practices. Syncretism is combining practices from one religion onto another.

To keep these new converts growing in faith Paul knows, great caution has to made to keep the old stuff out. The teaching has to be kept pure and correct.

2 Timothy 3:10-17

2011-10-12T11:22:00.002-05:00

In the section quoted at the end Paul tells Timothy to be different. Verses 10 and 14 both start, "But you ...". He is contrasting Timothy's behavior with those of the world around him. We who attempt to be intentional disciples will do the same.

I read in the commentary an illustration. When in a special boat used to traveling near the north pole one experiences high winds. The ice floes flow with the wind. But the captain pointing out an ice floe moving in another direction. The caption said, that is not a surface floe but an iceberg. The iceberg has a deep root of ice below the surface. It is being pushed by a deeper water current running against the surface current being pushed by the wind.

The surface current is like the surrounding culture. The iceberg is being pushed by the unseen deeper current. That is like the Holy Spirit of God. We do not want to be buffeted by the wind by inspired by the Holy Spirit. That will make us different in many ways and get us ridiculed at best, persecuted at worst.

2 TIMOTHY 3:10-17 [10]Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, [11]persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! [12]Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. [13]But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [14]You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, [15]and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [16]All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [17]so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. NASB

2 Peter 4:12-19 - Levent's call to prayful waiting

2011-10-11T14:57:00.000-05:00

I mentioned Joel Osteen yesterday. Joel is a great man of God. He has a ministry that encourages a lot of people. I wonder how he reacts to 1 Peter 4:12-19? Peter expects suffering to come to the man who boldly proclaims the gospel. Those he is writing to assume this is a normal experience.

4:16 - If we suffer as Christian, do not be ashamed but in the name of Jesus glorify God! Peter and Paul agree that we should glorify God for the suffering that we experience.

Maybe I am twisting this but I take this to mean, rather than holding back, trying to hide our faith and trying to fit in with unbelievers, we should be proud of what we believe and not be ashamed of our beliefs.

Levent, a Turkish pastor who spoke yesterday, said that as we pray we wait on God. This is an active thing to do. To call on the living God, unbelievers will ridicule us for doing that. When unbelievers are told about a friend in crisis they speak of "sending good thoughts". How hopeless is that? Yet they honestly can do nothing else.

We call upon the living Go who loves us and all men and eagerly want to for us to ask. Unbelievers can ridicule us but we glorify God.

Sunday

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday DW and I went to the late service, which is the unusual 11:30 AM at our church. That seems really late. I miss the first half of the Texans game. What are you going to do? It turns out I missed the good part of the game and mostly listened to the bad part.

With all the rain the service was very small.

The good part of all this is that I got in a long morning walk, from 7 to 9. I explored some new area east of midtown. I found a few treasures. I got rained on but considering how much we need it that was no problem. I saw the dark clouds but it has been threatening the last few days with little actual rain.

I put my magazine and phone in plastic, they were safe. I also was able to protect my little earphone radio and still listen to it.

The rain was warm and there was no lightning. I was more than glad that we were getting some soaking rain. It was a gully washer, coming off and on hard for a while then soft again. Some curbs were filled up. In other places the water was quickly flowing into storm drains. The dustiness was finally getting washed away.

On Sunday mornings the normally music stations on the FM dial often program more religious hours. Some do public interest programs. I scanned the dial looking for what was available. My little radio is fickle about what stations it will pick up on FM. A couple of weeks ago I heard the tail end of Al Sharpton. It would probably raise my BP but I would like to hear that again. I did not find Sharpton.

But I heard a social affairs program about bone diseases. After that came a half hour sermon by Joel Osteen. Osteen was pretty good. He leaves out part of the gospel. But this was a pretty good sermon encouraging people that God's "no" means he has something better in store. That could almost be MP or one of my blogs. But he never mentioned suffering and his call to accepting Jesus did not mention repentance. This is an important omission. I enjoyed hearing some things I would not normally hear.

My shoe has still not dried out yet.

1 Timothy 3:1-9

2011-10-07T10:07:00.001-05:00

"These people...honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Isa. 29:13).

This indictment of the people of the church in Timothy's time seems all too modern. I can think of people like that. But better still to look closer still at myself.

Yes I am often trying to make short cuts to righteousness. I want to put other things before God.

We are still in the last days. Paul mentions that they are in the last days. Two millennium later we are still in the last days.

When I was in my twenties I knew men who did what verse six describes, play on the insecurities of weak women to get sexual favors. These people were all Christians and I had much less respect for the men than for the women. Sadly there were times that acting as those men did seemed appealing. I never did but mostly for the wrong reasons. But that comment by Paul is so telling. We often think of Paul as innocent in the affairs of sexual love but he was not at all. I am sure as a pastor he had to pick up the pieces from such dalliances and he knew the power of those hormones.

When we come to verse seven I hope that is not me, always learning but never becoming mature. It is always a temptation for me to love the facts more than the God that I am proposing to learn them for. If I never get out there and serve then I am learning for purely selfish motives.

In verses two through four we have a vice list. Paul is talking about Christians here, those who are supposed to be living like Jesus. Timothy has a tough job. Any church probably has such people. Are we any better? I hope so. But I should look at myself first. At one time or another I have probably been all those things.

I notice it is men who are called malicious gossips, not women, chuckle. I suppose this includes all people though.

Perhaps most of all I am convicted by verse five, "holding to a form of godliness while denying the power of it." To me that describes legalism. It shows faithlessness, a form of atheism. We go through the motions without really experiencing God. We have tamed God, which means we have denied him because God can never be tamed.

Paul is talking here about the negative side. He is talking bluntly to a leader. But there is a gracious side of this. All these people are saved by grace, not by their own actions. God has determined to love these people (and us) despite their unfaithful actions.

This is a wonderful reminder of God's gracious love: "There is no pit so deep, but Christ is deeper still" (Corrie ten Boom).

We should determine to accept God's love and endeavor love God more dearly.

The fight is still on for the souls of men. Satan was defeated by Jesus on the cross. But the battle will not be totally over until he comes back again. He has delayed, I guess so that more can be saved. Lord give us opportunities to help others to choose Jesus as savior and start on the path to discipleship.

The commentator's final prayer: Lord, my own life has been stained by the darkness of these last days; cleanse my heart, and relocate all my loves and desires more closely in Your will.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9 [1] But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. [2]For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3]unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, [4]treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5]holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. [6]For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, [7]always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. [8]Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. [9]But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also. NASB

2 Timothy 1

2011-10-05T13:31:00.000-05:00

In the letters to Timothy and Titus we are seeing an older man's sort of epitaph. That's not the right word. It's a bequeath, a written passing of the mantle. Paul is passing his mantle, his burdens, his gifts to younger men and by extension to all disciples and leaders who follow after.

Paul is not so old that he is in fear of death from poor health. No, Paul is likely in good health. But he is certain that this time in prison with Nero as Emperor, will be his last. He will be killed soon. He is not being treated as well this time. He describes a real prison, not a house, and chained to a guard. Nero was not a friend to Christians. And he was likely not very sane. You could never be sure what he would do next. But you could be certain it would not be merciful.

A great leader tries to raise up people to take his place. Timothy was probably Paul's most able assistant. But there were others, Titus being one. From reading these letters it is clear that Paul spent a lot of time teaching and encouraging his appointed leaders. He also demanded a lot of them.

Especially as I read 2 Timothy 1. Paul mentions he is in prison (8). His imprisonment has brought a new temptation for his followers. Paul mentions those who have not been scared off, (Onesiphorus and himself)by his impending death. And he mentions some who have (Phygeius and Hermogenes).

We too are tempted to think that being faithful to God means smooth sailing in life with no hardships. When hardships do come do we think God has abandoned us? Or are we tempted to think all that we have been taught is a lie All my imagination?

Paul takes the time to say a prayer of blessing for Onesiphorus for his good deeds. let's do the say thing for those who help us along in this life (or for others we love). Take time to say a prayer as you go, thanking God for what they did and praying a blessing into their life. This is the right thing to do, even if they do not yet have faith (or perhaps you do not know).

Paul encourages Timothy not to be afraid of suffering (7,8). I do tend to stoically accept the little suffering I face. (Or I yell loudly). But Paul say do differently. Our suffering is for the glory of God. His suffering is according to the power of God (8). What does that mean? I do not think I truly understand yet.

Christ Jesus suffered and it was to his glory and to the glory of God. When we suffer we are sharing in Jesus' suffering.

Paul states he is not ashamed to be in prison, suffering, perhaps being beaten, certainly living very uncomfortably (12). It must be very humiliating to be chained to a guard. Yet God is able to guard his faith until he goes on to his reward. Paul keeps the faith. Let us do the same.

1 Timothy 6:11-21

2011-10-03T08:26:00.001-05:00

In the first part of this chapter Paul goes back to how to correct false teachers and speaks of their evil motivations. This may be a key to thwarting their plans.

He also goes back to godliness. Some consider godliness a way to make money. These teachers claim to have some special key to godliness. Paul has taken great pains to say no, you get godliness by pursuing it. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith love, steadfastness, and gentleness (11).

Paul affirms that godliness does bring great gain if it is joined by contentment (6). This is like a proverb. And I notice there are quite a few proverbial statements in 1 Timothy. What a wonderful statement to ponder! Godliness brings great gain when one is content. Paul has contrasted this with people who are avaricious after money. Godliness brings a gain that we can take with us eternally after death. We certainly cannot take our possessions with us.

But this last half of the chapter speaks to Timothy personally and if we would to us personally. Paul uses stronger verbs: flee (11), pursue (11), fight (12), and take hold (12).

Then Paul ends with a passage praising God and Christ Jesus, a doxology. Paul cannot help himself. I hope you too find many things in this world to praise God for. He is worthy.

1 Timothy 4:6-16

2011-10-01T13:36:00.000-05:00

) I’ve been experiencing some failure in my life lately. It is true that God loves me whether I am successful or not. God just loves me. That is what I am consoling myself with. God commands that I remain in that love. Live it. Immerse myself in it. Perhaps that is what caused me to go wrong. At least part of my failure comes from not knowing my identity as a beloved child of God. I was trying to get love and approval from men instead of God.

What do you do when you think you are the only one who sees correctly? Am I like the guy driving the wrong way on a street thinking everyone else is going the wrong way? Everyone else thinks I am wrong. So I guess I am just not in touch with reality in this situation. I am trying to accept that the truth is not what I think it is, what my feelings scream that it is. I am trying to see it as the others do, looking at the same situation. Is there anything like faith in the this situation. I erred (I guess) when I tried to get what I thought was fair instead of relying on God’s love for me.

I have no doubt theoretically that I have blind spots. When it gets concrete it is hard to accept. I know that without God I would not be as together as I am. I’d be in much worse condition than I am now. Sometimes that seems like that is not saying much.

I see myself as greatly risking in many areas of my life. I think that is what God wants for me. Sometimes I do good. I try to do it to the glory of God. The problem is when it subtly or not so subtly becomes seeking after my own glory. That can happen when I stop remaining in God’s love for me.

Reading 1 Timothy 4:6-16 I am reminded that I have a burden to encourage people to become disciples, to identify themselves as disciples. That is what Paul is training Timothy to do. An important part of Timothy’s work is to model discipleship. Paul mentions bodily discipline (8). But spiritual disciple he calls “godliness”. Timothy is told to command and teach these things. Timothy is not to be timid but to be bold, bold yet gentle. He is to be bold in his walk, a disciple of godliness – love, faith and purity. Show yourself an example.

Timothy is always “on”. He must control his tongue at all times. He never can cease from his disciple. His whole life is to be a model of the mature man and leader.

All these things Paul is asking of Timothy are also for all of us who aspire to be mature. That is why this book is included in the canon. We cannot help but to be examples to those around us who also aspire to maturity. Paul sets Timothy lofty goals. The are for us also, for me also.

The Help

2011-09-30T17:56:00.000-05:00

We went to see The Help the other day. I would like to find the book that it based on. This is a very good movie.

It sets the tenor of the times about black maids in a very prejudiced southern town. But I think this was sort of the way in any town with relation to blacks servants and perhaps could apply to servants anywhere.

I have read quite a few books about English manners in the 18th century. The house fully staffed with servants has quite a bit of the same feel. Servants were not people in the same sense as everyone else. You might feel yourself magnanimous enough to speak to them as equals but the separation was always there. In a pinch you had no real loyalty to them. They would be discarded at whim.

They also touch on the subject of separate restrooms and never eat anything touched by a black, at least in your presence.

It is long by movie standards, almost 2 1/2 hours. Yet it kept my interest.

I remember black maids and vaguely black restrooms in Houston. So it touches me personally.

I really do not like violent movies anymore nor "dark comedies". This was the only thing playing that looked at all inviting. It was a good movie. And I left thinking a little.

bad week

2011-09-29T10:29:00.002-05:00

This has been a bad week for blogging. I apologize.

No good excuses but my CA daughter has been here this week with her fiance. We got to meet him for the first time. He is nice. We did not spend a lot of time with her since she had a wedding and banking to do plus reconnecting with old friends.

1 Timothy 2:1-8

2011-09-26T15:12:00.001-05:00

The word all is important in this section. We pray for all men (1). God desires that all men would be saved (4). Here Paul seems to be speaking to what is the true teaching. In chapter one Paul speaks against false teachers and teaching. Now he is affirming what is true. The false teachers are likely saying only a limited number can be saved or that there is some special knowledge that only they know. And they will share with you for the right price (wink).
Paul makes it clear that God wants all to be saved. And what is required is not special.
The other word that is important here is one. There is only one God and one savior Jesus Christ (5).
These are the simple truths that Paul is affirming against what the false teachers are trying to add.
Paul concludes this section by saying we should all pray together, in agreement (8) for all men and all rulers (1).
Paul begins and ends this passage speaking of prayer. The first verse explains what we should continually pray about ,and why. The last verse tells us how we should pray:
1) in every place and for every one
2) we will be holy before God
3) we will come to God without holding grudges against one another

Unless we follow those last two conditions our prayers will be blocked. Our lives need to be consistently holy, in private and in public - God sees.
And we must not stay angry with other people in the church, holding grudges, acting divisively.
I naively want to think that if all men accepted Christ as savior my life would be easier. Everyone would love me and not take advantage of me. Alas I will never find out. But if my relationship with Christians I do know is any example it is not true. Perhaps it is my selfishness or theirs but Christians are among the most trying people I deal with. I suspect it is just it takes work to be loving and patient.
If people were all Christians my life would not be a bed of roses. People would rightfully call me to responsibility. They would expect me to serve. They would expect me to work for the good of all. Maybe more than they do now.
I suspect heaven will be like this too. Only we will our part joyfully.

1 Timothy (second)

2011-09-25T16:04:00.000-05:00

I was described last night as a cream puff. This is a new revelation. Yeah, I'm slow too. The ladies at Alpha were encouraging me to be more forceful about getting the couples at the marriage class to listen to the tapes and not to whisper while the tape is going.
I have never thought of myself as a push over. I have some idea of why this has occurred. I have trouble being firm without getting angry. So I just keep quiet and stay frustrated inside. Sometimes not so much inside.
I do not like to be the one in authority because then I have to deal with peoples' negative reactions. Even if one leads, corrects, call people to obedience in the nicest way possible some people will still react angrily. I tend to get down with them and get angry right back. Then I have destroyed my authority.
And at the jail, as you might imagine, you have a lot of people who react this way to authority, without thinking first. It is how they were raised.
In situations like this in the past I have reacted right back. This muddies up the whole situation. And I do not think fast in stressful situations. I tend to panic. I start to doubt myself.
Anyway my tendency to avoid such situations makes me look like a cream puff - a push over.
In contrast, Paul in 1 Timothy does not give himself this luxury. He takes his role as evangelist and disciple maker very seriously. He must correct those who are disobedient, and who are teaching false doctrine, for the sake of the rest of the church. He will expel Hymanaeus and Alexander who persist in teaching false doctrine.
Paul knows he is right, for he has his word from God. He insists on proper doctrine and behavior in the churches. He has so many new converts. It is so easy for them to be led astray. Paul knows how important it is to teach, model, and admonish so that the new Christians will learn to be mature disciples.

1 Timothy

2011-09-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

In places in the world where the gospel is being spread aggressively and many people are accepting Jesus as Lord, such as parts of Africa, it has been said that the church's faith is a mile wide and an inch deep. It is not an accident that Jesus commanded his follows to go into the world and make ~~disciples~~. The word is not convert. People should not be afraid of that word.
There are many churches in places like Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. There is a great need for people to teach and model.
Paul and his fellow evangelists were having the same problems. The church was growing rapidly. In all his new churches he is fighting against ignorant people who were changing the gospel.
Paul admonishes Timothy to preach sound doctrine and not to get distracted by fruitless doctrines.
Paul is sternly warning Timothy of the danger of this. The gospel is to be explained. Some old behaviors have to be spoken against. People have to be retaught how to be a Christian. We follow Christ. We are to be like him.
Paul in 1 Timothy gives examples of fruitless discussions: working out genealogies and arguing about the (Jewish) law as things that can distract new converts from deepening their walk.
Paul suggests people are teaching strange doctrines (3). The people in Ephesus, where Timothy is, are Gentiles. And they think they are experts on the Jewish law (7)?
As new Christians they are susceptible. If someone confidently teaches a false doctrine they are liable to be confused. It is important that they, and we, find teachers who teach sound doctrine, not adding and subtracting from the true gospel. Paul tells Timothy to find people who will do that and appoint them as leaders.
We have the Bible to help us to judge true from false doctrine. They did not have that yet. The Bible was in the formative stages when Paul taught. So they did not have the Bible for help.
Paul was urgently concerned for the many new Christians that they would not be led astray.

1 TIMOTHY 1:1-11 [1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, [2]To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. [3]As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, [4]nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. [5]But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. [6]For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, [7]wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. [8]But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, [9]realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers [10]and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, [11]according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. NASB

Proverbs 24 second part

2011-09-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

The commentator speaks of the betrayal of a trusted friend. This is how he interprets v. 26. A kiss on the lips is the greeting for trusted friends. We see this also in Judas' kiss of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He betrayed a trusted friend. A kiss like this is the formal greeting of a trusted friend.

Judas betrayed Jesus. Have we every been betrayed by a trusted friend? If it has happened to me I have blotted out the conscious memory of it.

The commentator says he showed this verse (26) to a friend. The friend said, "There are some people I would prefer to lie to me." I'm not sure what he meant by that and it is left unexplained.

Are there some people he would prefer not to trust? Or some people he would rather not be friends with at all. (Why?) Or is it that some people have a lying nature? It would be incongruous to hear them tell the truth. He would not expect it. It would catch him off guard if this man he is thinking of was honest.

Verse 28 adds that one should not lie or perjure oneself in court.

The writer finishes this section by warning us not to be lazy. Verse 27 tells us to work wisely. Prepare and plan your garden or business venture, then go out and do it. A vineyard (30) needs constant tending. Or it will not produce. I vineyard is an excellent example. Some things, seem to grow with little manual labor. But vines need pruning fertilizing watering, lots of TLC.

PROVERBS 24:23-34 [23] These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good. [24] He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him; [25] But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them. [26] He kisses the lips Who gives a right answer. [27] Prepare your work outside And make it ready for yourself in the field; Afterwards, then, build your house. [28] Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips. [29] Do not say, "Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work." [30] I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, [31] And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down. [32] When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction. [33] "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest," [34] Then your poverty will come as a robber And your want like an armed man. NASB

Proverbs 24a

2011-09-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

My commentator thinks the theme of this part of the chapter is "bad company ruins good character". Or "bad company ruins good morals" quoted by Paul.

One must avoid bad company (1) and cultivate good advisers (6). We are influenced by those we associate with. We cannot help it. So beware of your choice of friends and business associates. They will subtly lead us for good or evil. So be wise.

The gate (7) is where the town elders meet to judge disputes and generally share the news. Is there wisdom at the gate? I think the writer here is not sure. Just like today we wonder at the intelligence of those who are in government.

Do not be envious of evil men (1) who seem to have life better than yourself. If you associate with them you will get into trouble (2). Do not use them as a model for how to get ahead.

I like verses 17-18 especially "do not rejoice when your enemy falls". There is great wisdom wrapped up in that.

On a sports chat forum I frequent this is jokingly referred to as not provoking the "weauf gods". If you brag too much about your team's successes you may bring wrath upon your team in the future.

But seriously if a rival in business is embarrassed by a set back that may work in our favor, how do we react? Perhaps this a person who is competing with us for a promotion. It is wrong and dangerous to gloat over their misfortune.

Verse 18 says God is displeased with this behavior and may very well feel compassion for our rival and restore them. God loves everyone after all, even our enemy.

This could be a direct consequence of our behavior. It is like we are kicking them while they are down. Others could feel sorry for the person we are laughing at and come in to help them. Perhaps may laugh with you but they will not think well of you. It is mean.

Jesus told us to love our enemies. This proverb seems to go along with that.

PROVERBS 24:1-22 [1] Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; [2] For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble. [3] By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; [4] And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. [5] A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. [6] For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. [7] Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate. [8] One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer. [9] The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men. [10] If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited. [11] Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. [12] If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? [13] My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste; [14] Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off. [15] Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place; [16] For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity. [17] Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; [18] Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. [19] Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked; [20] For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out. [21] My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change, [22] For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them? (NASB)

Proverbs 22

2011-09-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

Two kinds of behavior will bring you to the attention of the king (read that powerful, influential people). One who is gracious in speech 11) and one who is skilled at his work (29).

This chapter has some oft quoted aphorisms. A good name is to be more desired than great riches (1). Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is one he will not depart from it (6).

Of the later I have great pride. We did a great job, with the help of God and many wonderful people, of raising our four children.

In contrast listening the lives and character of the men in prison, who are really trying to change, it saddens me. Most of them did not have nurturing childhoods. Yes, children have choices. Not all children from neglecting families turn out bad. There are many reason why parents are not successful in raising their children. Sometimes circumstances make things impossible. But some kids hardly have a chance.

The rest of the chapter give lots of good advice about how one can become successful in life and come to the attention of influential people and have a good name.

We are not to oppress the poor. We are not to borrow money unnecessarily. Once you are a borrower the lender has a control over you. He can make your life hard.

My commentator made a list:
1) Think ahead, be prudent (3)
2) Fear the Lord, and know yourself (4)
3) Do not walk with evil perverse people (5)
4) Train your children well (6, 15)
5) Calm your temper (8)
6) Be generous to those in need (9)
7) Stay away from those who criticize people (10)
8) What kind of people do you model yourself after? (11)
9) Don't be lazy (see #1) (13)

Ezekiel 22:23-31

2011-09-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

This fits in with the proverbs chapters.

God will call down condemnation on his people because the leaders are oppressing the poor. Ezekiel says they are tearing them limb from limb, devouring them. He uses a illustration coming from the wild. This is how a predator eats, a lion for example. They had lions in Israel at this time. Shedding blood and destroying lives (27).

Four groups of oppressors are named: prophets, priests, princes, and people. All these groups take advantage of the poor. The poor specifically include: widows, poor, needy, foreigners. These people are powerless to protect themselves. So some take advantage of this and treat them unjustly.

Ezekiel says there is no one to protect them or even to pray to God for them. In Proverbs God says he will protect from oppressors if they call out to him. He will judge those and punish those who do the oppressing. And as a result of this God pronounces destruction on the land (30).

It is interesting that God pronounces judgment on the land too. Are the floods, drought, and earthquakes recently here in the USA a judgment from God? Has he pronounced destruction on the land?

How are we in this country oppressing the powerless? How can we stand in the gap before God for our country? How can we help? And by we I do not not mean let the government do it. I do not mean throw more money after it. How can we help?

How can we stand in the gap against the people, princes, prophets, and priests who are acting unjustly and oppressing the powerless? I certainly do not think we can expect politicians to do it for us.

EZEKIEL 22:23-31 [23] And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [24] "Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.' [25] There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. [26] Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. [27] Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. [28] Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken. [29] The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. [30] I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. [31] Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads," declares the Lord GOD. NASB

Proverbs 21

2011-09-14T10:46:00.001-05:00

Two points (among many) in this chapter are repeated. So they stand out.

At the beginning and the end of the chapter the proverbs speak of making our plans. Yet God brings the result. A foolish, lazy man does not work and plan in order to keep his family provided for. He is likely to go hungry. But it is God who brings the results, the victory (31).

So we do all we can to prepare. But after all we are right to gratefully praise God when all goes well. Recently we have seen this in natural disasters all around us. Some unfortunate people are losing homes to fires, some to storms, tornadoes and hurricanes. These things are in the news. We feel sorry for those who lose everything. It could happen to us. We are grateful for God that it does not.

But its not just natural disasters. Circumstances can contrive to foil the best plans and not always because of our mistakes. I figure the best we can do is muddle through. That is how my dad saw it. We often are forced to make decisions with very incomplete information. If we overlook something that changes everything we take our losses and move forward. If things work out as we hoped, we are right to thank God for his goodness.

If we suffer set back God is still good. We survived with our lives. We can take no possessions with us. I feel sorry for those who lose precious keepsakes, pictures, and even important records.We just can use them while we are here.

Secondly the proverbs repeat that it would be better to live in very uncomfortable conditions than to live with a contentious woman. This could just as easily mean a contentious man. I resemble that I'm afraid. I am reminded of one poignant example many years ago of being considered a contentious man.

There are many areas of my life where I cannot control my tongue very well. I can think of at least one place where I seem to be able to hold it together and am not known as contentious. It is by God's grace. It feels good.

Being contentious involves speaking hastily and foolishly. Lord help us all to speak carefully and often less.

James also speaks of the tongue (1:19-21, 3:1-12) warning us to be wise in its use, for it is powerful beyond its size.

So obviously I am not the only one. But I am the only one I can possibly control, maybe.

Lord help me to be a lot better husband. Also help me to be a better businessman and not so contentious. Help me to work in a collegial manner, building up partners and making deals that allow gain for all sides.

9 - 11 sermons

2011-09-13T13:27:00.001-05:00

I heard two good ones on Sunday.

First MP spoke of learning from the past and specifically used the 9-11-01 tragedy as an example.

People can learn the wrong things from the past. MP spoke of a man who had a successful yet unfulfilled career. The 9-11 tragedy got him to act on his dream to be a teacher. So he quit his job, got training, and ten years later he is still teaching.

But another man in the chaos of 9-11 called his wife at 8:37 AM to tell her he was all right. Ten years later every day at 8:37 he still calls his wife to tell her he is all right. It seems he is fixated in the past. He learned the wrong thing from 9-11.

Then MP generalized from 9-11. He used the illustration of a child learning to "pump" on a swing. To grow up you learn to go higher by yourself. You no longer need someone else to push you. You lean back on the back swing and push forward when coming forward. That makes you go higher.

In the same way we lean back (look back) to learn from the past in order to more strongly move forward. We learn from the past but we do not stay there.

In the evening, RC gave a sermon specifically remembering 9-11-01.

"Everyone remembers where they were on 9-11-01." He said this to us. I have heard it said repeatedly in the days coming up to Sunday. Yet it is not true for me. Truth be told I have it mixed up with the Challenger disaster in my memory. I have vivid memories of where I was when I heard about the Challenger blowing up with all those brave astronauts. Since Mission Control is in Houston it is closer to me. I know people who knew some of them. Perhaps that is why. I am not sure.

Pictures come to my mind and when I think of 9-11. But they are the memories of Challenger. Those same pictures come up. I have the two memories mixed up. I cannot truly say I remember sharing my feelings with others on 9-11. I have little memory of it at all.

Perhaps it is dissociated in my mind, if that is the right term. I did not spend a lot of time watching the towers fall over and over again. That was too much. It was painful and I did not want to deal with my emotions.

RC mentioned that many people came back to church after 9-11. The churches were filled. SJD was filled. I remember that too. He spoke of people getting single minded. We looked to God alone for comfort and help. We sought his love and support.

Yet this did not last. Soon we were back to being double minded again, wanting to love God but also wanting to take comfort from the sinful world. We wanted our distractions back. They tend to drown out God.

RC likened this to the Israelites who were single-mindedly grateful after God delivered them from the Egyptians miraculously through the Red Sea. Everyone praised God wholeheartedly. But soon the Israelites forgot. They were soon complaining about their situation. They had already forgotten God's great salvation for them.

Let us try to remember God's salvation and be truly grateful.

Mark 6:1-6a

2011-09-11T08:10:00.001-05:00

Jesus is rejected by his hometown.

There has been debate over the years as to which gospel was written first. It is then assumed those coming after had knowledge of the first gospel and made alterations accordingly. Most people today see Mark as the first gospel. This sparse telling of the rejection was later added to and commented on by the other gospel writers.

But the early Christians thought Matthew was written first. The gospels were arranged in the Bible in the order they were thought to have been written. We have always agreed John was written last.

Anyway. I think most of us agree that it is hardest to convince our family of the goodness of God. Michael Green says it is because they know us too well.

Let us not grow weary of praying for the family members that need to know him. And thank God for those who do know Jesus. We ask that they continue to grow in righteousness before God.

MARK 6:1-6 [1] Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. [2]When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? [3]"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. [4]Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." [5]And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. [6]And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching. NASB

Mark 5:35-43 - two healings

2011-09-07T10:25:00.002-05:00

My commentator emphasizes the contrast between the synagogue official and the woman. The bleeding woman is ritually unclean. But she disregards this. She pushes through the crowd, making everyone she touches ritually unclean. They may not know it but it does not change the fact. When she touches Jesus she makes him ritually unclean. Yet the touch does not make him unclean, it does the opposite, it makes her clean! She knows she needs healing and she goes and gets it.

The official also knows he is desperate. Going to Jesus though has to be against all his prior prejudices. If he has shared his intent with anyone surely they tried to talk him out of it. Better to lose a daughter than to allow this upstart to gain a victory. The synagogue official also knows where he must go for healing. Yet his reticence is based on entirely different reasons than the woman.

Both could be embarrassed by going to Jesus for very different reasons. I think if we came to Jesus when we had needs with the intensity that these two people did, God would grant our petitions. But we are too proud. We ask timidly. We refuse to give full weight to our desperation for fear of looking foolish.

The commentator saw it much differently than I. He thought of Paul who asked three times to be loosed of a "thorn in the flesh" and God told him "no"(2 Cor. 12:7-10). It sounds like Paul did ask in desperation. In his desperation God gave him a direct answer. The answer was no. Of course this contradicts what I just wrote in the previous paragraph. Yes I agree. God's ways are not our ways. There is no logical rule.

Yet Paul received an answer. In response to our half-hearted requests we usually get silence. . "In a model response to a negative answer he put behind him the disappointment of not getting what he wanted and instead accepted what he got." (Phillip Yancey).

Paul heard God. The no was a blessing. In this case no is better than yes. God knows better than we do. In this case he explained it to Paul. I think we always have to accept no as God's will no matter how fully or how half-heartedly we ask. In the final analysis we petition God and he answers. I believe through Jesus Christ our mediator and advocate we get audience with God. God hears and answers. But the answer could be no. In fact it often seems to be no or at least not yes as we wanted. It may be wait. It may be God will answer in a different, better way.

It is important to keep asking in positive faith and not in bitterness.

MARK 5:35-43

[35]While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?" [36]But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe." [37]And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. [38]They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. [39]And entering in, He said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep." [40]They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child's father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. [41]Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). [42]Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. [43]And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Mark 5

2011-09-06T18:46:00.000-05:00

Jesus travels over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and encounters the demoniac. When I traveled to Israel and worked on a Decapolis city archaeological dig this is the scripture I thought of.

This side is the Greek side. There are few Jews. Jesus thought he could get a rest over here, for himself and his disciples.

Gerasa is further north from where we were at Hippos. But both were Decapolis cities, proud of being modern, up to date, in the Greek/Roman style. Any Jewish people living there were quite hellenized.

I can imagine pigs living up at the top of a hill, Hippos is situated on a flat plateau at the top of a small mountain. As we face the sea there are steep slopes going down the sea. In some places it is more like a cliff. But the lake was higher everyone agrees. So if the water was right up against the hill then that would describe the account very well. The demons entered the pigs and the pigs ran down a steep cliff into the water.

But it happened further north. However the geography is pretty similar all along the eastern coast. The mountains rise quickly out of the sea. There is little coastline now and there must have been even less in Jesus' time.

So when I read this I think of the view from the top of Mt. Hippos/Sussita. (They both mean "horse" in different languages.

Mark 4 - Parables

2011-09-02T12:27:00.001-05:00

Jesus spoke in parables. Is that so they would not know? I think that is an exaggeration. Jesus wanted them to have to work for their knowledge. When something comes too easily we take it for granted. We do not value it as much. Having to work for makes it more memorable.

Wisdom is free. But we must work for it. We must study, listen, make the time, ask dumb questions. The disciples were humble enough to admit they did not understand. They asked the dumb questions. Sometimes Jesus mildly berates them but he always answers their questions. I think that is what made them disciples, they asked.

If others had asked don't you think Jesus would have answered? The Pharisees asked, testing Jesus. Yet Jesus always gave them a good answer. Often it was difficult to understand. But if they took the time to unpack it, it was full of wisdom.

Jesus' parables were not impossible to understand. On the surface they were often interesting even funny stories. Yet with reflection the meaning was usually not difficult.

Jesus parables used illustrations drawn from every day life, experiences these men had had or knew about. For example the parable of the sower (4:3+) was familiar to those much closer to the land than we are. Many of us have never truly seen a farm much less worked on one. And seed planting is done differently now. So it might be harder for us. But still not impossible.

People then tended to find distractions to while away time just as we do today. We have our computers, TVs etc. We go to clubs, movies, sporting events. We keep our minds occupied and never consider God. Why are we here? What does it mean to be alive? What happens after death? If there is a God, what is his relation to me?

Jesus came to force these people to think about such things. People in all eras could get busy and concentrate only on the moment. Jesus insisted that people work for it, that they seek wisdom if they are to obtain it.

Jesus gave them tantalizing stories. He forced them to think about eternal things. Jesus let them know wisdom was available and desirable. But they had to do some work to get it. If wisdom comes too easily we will not appreciate its value.

God, through his Holy Spirit, seeks to get us to think now as well, to seek wisdom. Finding wisdom will give us true peace.

How can we be sure of our faith?

2011-09-01T09:08:00.000-05:00

Week three of the new Alpha course. That is the title to the older session. Now it says How can we know our faith? I like the first title better. They have simplified it.

It is good to remember our faith is not based on our emotions. Some days we are down and feel less confident. But it is not based on faith but on facts. We chose Christ and God promises to keep that faith.

Nicky Gumbel always uses such great examples. One is faith look forward and feelings follow. When we continue to look forward at the facts we go straight. If we look back at the feelings we are likely to waiver from straight. And as we look at facts the "feelings follow".

I think of God's love. If I am down I can rehearse to myself perhaps out loud that God loves me. That is a fact. As I rehearse it the feeling that God loves me follows. So yes remember the facts and the feelings will come back.

We can be sure of our faith because of the Word of God, the Work of Jesus, and our Walk with the Holy Spirit. I love that Trinitarian example as well.

Freedom from fear/Fear versus Concern

2011-08-28T14:37:00.000-05:00

I took a long walk this morning before church. We went to the late service so I had time. I read three newsletters as I went along. (Yes I am careful.) Two of them had as a theme fear. One was from the current Jews for Jesus newsletter reprinting an older article by founder Moishe Rosen. This is a link to where these newsletter can be found. But the most recent one uploaded is June. The other was by David Wilkerson in his World Challenge Pulpit series. Both of these men are deceased, DW very recently. The WC newsletter is dated August 1. I think he died before this but it was probably already in the process of being published when he died.

If you are feeling fearful you might want to go and read these articles, especially the second one. At this time the first one is not online. Perhaps it will be later. I will summarize but nothing beats reading the real thing.

Is it an accident that fear of the subject of two current newsletters. My first impulse is to think it a happy accident. But no, with the current state of affairs in our economics, both locally and in Europe. And with the state of the federal government deficit spending.... We have Al Qaeda attacks, running two wars, famines in the world, a drought in the south, people are afraid.

Those of us who thought all their scrimping and planning for a carefree retirement was foolproof now see it could all be ruined by economic collapse. We did not predict the low current interest rates. Put you treasure in heaven.

Collapse is an unspoken catastrophe that many leaders are sort of trying to stop. And yet some of the things being tried may actually make it more likely. People cannot control the economy. We need to be on our knees.

I feel helpless. If I understood it better I might feel more helpless.

So truthfully both of these articles make it clear our only hope is in God. God promises to take care of us. But it may not be like we planned.

David Wilkerson contrasts the fear that Satan puts on us with the fear of God that is a good thing. Moishe Rosen prefers to use the word concern, Godly concern for what God calls us to, in faith.

Rosen states that Satanic fear paralyzes us. Godly concern heightens our ability to think and plan. If we have confidence in God we are set free to use our faculties. Rosen uses illustrations from World War II and mentions Franklin Roosevelt's repeated speech that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

To overcome that fearful paralysis we can remember, rehearse God's goodness, faithfulness to take care of us, and his ultimate control. Remember Satan's power is limited. His bark is loud, his bite is minimal. God will take care of us and him.

"Take your stand that God is good, that he loves you, an that He will not let any test befall you that He will not give you the strength to overcome. (1 Corinthians 10:13). - Moishe Rosen

David Wilkerson uses examples from the Bible. He makes it clear that to get rid of that fear we must turn our lives over to God. That is probably why I fear, I have not totally turned over my life.

But I was encouraged by forgetting the general statement and thinking of specific instances. Do I give my life to God in specific challenges. I think I do. The fear that I have not given my life to God is a lie from Satan. In specific tests I do submit my will to God. Probably not always but I do consciously try.

Giving my life to God means I can know God will take care of me, despite what happens in the economy. My finances could be ruined but that is OK. God will take care of me.

David Wilkerson has been a prophet of doom for our country. It has not exactly happened yet. If it does finally happen he will not be here. Perhaps that is for the best. He is enjoying his reward.

This time he mentions another prophet of doom, John Owen in 1680 England. Wilkerson believes that Owen's prophesies ultimately did occur. Owen tried to get people to repent and change their ways just as Wilkerson has. Were they both wrong? Was it appropriate to say and write such things?

Mark 2:18-22

2011-08-26T15:08:00.000-05:00

I read this and the first thing I think of is what does it mean to be perfect?

But really the test is wonderful. Jesus says, as long as the disciples have me they will rejoice. It's a party. He calls himself the bridegroom. Several of his parables are about a bridegroom. Jesus is that bridegroom. Later Paul will expand on that image calling the church the bride of Christ. He is the bridegroom. We, the church, are the bride. In Philippians Paul says Jesus will make his bride spotless, perfect. So we rejoice as Jesus is with us too, as the bridegroom.

There is a time for fasting. But I do not think we are required to fast regularly. Perhaps for specific concerns as for repentance or an important prayer request. But we have the bride with us even now. It is inappropriate for us to look gloomy.

Jesus was the master at using everyday experiences of the people to make kingdom points.

1) No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment (v.21).
2) No one puts new wine into old wineskins (v.22).

I guess many do not remember clothes that shrink at the first washing. There was a time when we had to allow for shrinkage in the clothes we bought. From Levis to dress shirts we had to buy them a little big. Clothes do not shrink anymore it doesn't seem. But they did in Jesus time and they did until recently. When a patched cloth was washed the new part would shrink, tearing the cloth or garment.

Every once in a while a piece of clothing shrinks in the dryer. We are mad. How did they make clothes that do not shrink. I think it is amazing really.

I remember as a child how conscience my mother when buying me clothes. She always made a game of it. Try clothes (which I hated) and then go out to eat (which I loved). My mother had to buy clothes with that first shrinking in mind. An sometimes they shrank too much and she would be frustrated. "Oh well, maybe little brother can wear that shirt."

As for new wine in new wineskins this must have been common knowledge in the time Jesus lived. But it is not so much now. We do not put wine in skins any more.

I don't know why they did this but I can guess. New wine is likely to give off gases. Older wine no longer did that. New wineskins must have been able to "breathe" a little. The pressure of the gas would be released because the newer skins would let some of the gas through keeping the skins from bursting. It must have been possible for the gas molecules to seep through without the liquid wine also seeping out.

This passage ends on a somber note. Jesus predicts that the (perfect) bridegroom will be taken from them. He is the perfect sacrifice for all our sins. Jesus was able to be with them, totally in the moment all the while knowing the horrible ordeal he was going to go through. How could he do it? He was perfectly brave.

When something stressful is coming in my life, like a family meeting or a public speaking appointment it is hard for me to concentrate on the present. Jesus had something much more stressful to go through, people hammering nails in his arms and legs. Argghhh!

That is what makes is human the pain we feel when injured. No one enjoys that. Jesus was truly human and he truly felt pain and would like to avoid it at all costs. Is that what made Jesus perfect? That he steadfastly walked to the cross without flinching?

Mark 2:13-17

2011-08-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

Jesus calls Levi, son of Alphaeus. We are pretty sure this is the same man we usually call Matthew. Levi immediately goes.

Then Levi gives a party in celebration of his salvation. How else can one call it? This is a real Lord's Supper. Jesus is the guest of honor. "Come meet my friends and acquaintances", says Levi. This is contrasts and underscored by the Pharisees who understand what a fellowship meal means.

When he broke bread with them Jesus is accepting all the "sinners" into his kingdom. The king gave a banquet and this time all the invited guests came. This reminds us of the parable Jesus told of the invited guests who did not come. Perhaps Jesus was thinking about this very party when he spoke like that.

God's kingdom is for everyone, rich and poor, sinner and righteous. We must put down what we are coming and come.

The church celebrates Jesus' death and resurrection by holding a symbolic meal. It is a fellowship meal in the same way Levi's meal was. We celebrate. We do not create a full three course meal. But we do it together, from all walks of life. We share Jesus together. Jesus is the honored guest. Jesus accepted all kinds, not just overtly religious.

The last verse gives Jesus' response to the Pharisees. "It is not the healthy that need a physician. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

This statement is ironic for we are all sinners, even those of us who are professional Christians. No matter how hard we try or what external efforts we make, we are all sinners and need to accept God's call to the banquet.

Jesus calls everyone and we all need to accept his call. We need to celebrate God's love for us.

Mark 1

2011-08-23T14:16:00.000-05:00

My commentator mildly rebukes modern prayer ministry saying Jesus did not "pray for" people. Jesus commanded spirits and fevers (v.31) to leave people.

I admit I certainly do not have faith for such commanding. Most of us do not. If God calls you to command sickness to leave then do it. I have heard people praying for people using the words of Jesus but even as they do it I sense they have doubts.

We are not Jesus. But Jesus told his disciples that "greater things would they do" when he would go away and send the Holy Spirit. I believe it is right to accept that encouragement for us today. Do I not experience it because I do not have enough faith or am not righteous enough? I do not know.

But it may not be all the time. It may happen only on special occasions that God only truly understands. Still I pray and leave the results to God.

Even that attitude seems wrong. That sounds like I am implicitly blaming God for my failures. Is that what I am doing?

There is a man in my office building who I have decided must have a demon. I'm afraid a lot of the men who come for a free lunch an counseling are "twitterpated". Does anyone remember what movie that comes from? Any twitterpated may very well involve demon possession of some kind.

But this one man singles me out for a weird sort of harassment. When he sees me he gets sort of aggressive about being friendly. He says "hi". I say hi back. Then he begins to barrage me with questions. If I start answering it never stops and it comes in a rush. He'll say, "How are you?" Then "How's your wife?" "Are you feeling well?" Then when I disengage and head off he keeps on asking questions an when I am getting out of earshot he'll say, "Have a nice day!" "I hope your day is nice!"

Call me crazy but the whole thing makes me uncomfortable. I have seen him do this with one other person a lot time ago. But I am the only one he singles out for this behavior. There are plenty of other office workers here but he seems to ignore them. Why me? Do I look like his father?

I wonder if I should command the spirit to leave. Isn't that what Paul did? He finally got tired of this man following him around. He got impatient and finally commanded the spirit to leave this man. Now he was Paul and I am nobody. This man was distracting people from listening to Paul's message. I am not proclaiming a message. It's quite different. And yet I think in both cases there is an evil spirit working.

But I am afraid of looking like a fool. And I certainly have no clear word from God that this man has a demon. Perhaps the spirit will beat me as one did the sons of Sceva. Yet I have the Holy Spirit and they did not.

Stay tuned. Maybe something will happen. I will report back if it does.

Mark 1

2011-08-22T11:35:00.000-05:00

Mark speaks a lot of shutting up demons. Jesus tells them to be quiet. (v.25, 34 and in other chapters)

Jesus also told the leper to say nothing (v.44). This could be a sort of reverse psychology (but probably not).

Why did Jesus tell the demons to be quiet? He did not care if they were telling he truth. I would not want evil spirits talking about me, would you? The message is somehow going to get twisted.

But why did Jesus not want the leper to speak? Was he evil too? Well, probably not. Certainly not in the same way demons are evil. There is no good in a demon. But perhaps, not being perfect the leper might distort the message too.

I think that is just what happened. The result of the leper's testimony was that Jesus was mobbed (v.45).

The leper did twist the message. He spoke of Jesus as a great healer. He missed the most important reason Jesus came. Jesus told them the kingdom of heaven was at hand. "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

We too must not lose sight of what is most important.

Mark 1

2011-08-21T09:00:00.002-05:00

Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee and chose four fisherman to be his followers. Why did they immediately follow Jesus?
Some say they already knew him. Perhaps this was prearranged. Some say that his special presence attracted them and this was a spur of the moment decision. "They left their nets."
Perhaps the Holy Spirit spoke to them and they obeyed his call.
There are some who claimed that these men were related to Jesus, perhaps by marriage. They already knew him well as a relative. Even the parents may have approved of this arrangement.
When we first read this perhaps as kids we took away that this was a miraculous event. Jesus calls these four strangers who are involved in an unclean profession and they immediately obey unquestioningly. Why? There is perhaps a sense of the Force like in Star Wars.
But a more mature relationship with God shows us God never coerces. He always speaks in his still small voice and often gives us reasons for his will for our lives.
Uusually he prepares us for the things he wants us to do. Yes, he asks us to step out in faith. No amount of preparation that God did in these men's lives would eliminate the step of faith.
They were leaving their families and their livelihoods behind. They knew the sea. Now they would travel on the land. They would be doing new things.
Jesus did what any great leader will do. He chose, prepared, and trained his successors.

sorry

2011-08-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

My goal of posting once a day has surely been very lacking. I have missed the mark by a mile.

It's a combination of working and playing.

The last two days I have helped work two scrimmages, Friday night at Dulles and Saturday morning at Chavez in HISD.

I had a lot of fun, ran in the hot sun, learned a lot, got dinged a little. It was great. Officials are generally a nice group of people. Some are very garrulous. I find that funny.

Now I am home with a bit of a glow from exercise and sunburn. Just a little sunburn. I am not a susceptible. Actually the truth is my skin does not "feel" as much as it did when I was younger. That is not altogether a good thing. I have to watch because I no longer feel cuts. This is how diabetes affects me the worst. My blood sugar readings are not particularly high or brittle. But I do have skin and extremity problems.

Anyway it's been a good 18 hours. And I will work chains for a high school game next Friday night. No I will not tell you where.

Exodus 10-11

2011-08-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

God is certainly in control. After each plague God tells Moses how pharaoh will react to the next one. Moses may have told the people what God said. I'm not sure we are told one way on another.

How long does it take? All this time the people are still in bondage. They still have their quota of bricks. How is their attitude different? They are still have to work hard. They are still bondage. Do Moses and Aaron make bricks too? Or is this for young people only? They have a group quota, not an individual quota. But I can imagine Moses pitching in and helping.

How many plagues? I remember being told ten. Yet I have trouble counting. Blood, frogs, gnats, pestilence on the cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, first born. That's nine. What have I missed?

God is open with knowledge. In verses 9:14-16 he explains to pharaoh that he does not kill him quickly so he can see his might. We too can see God's might.

God is in control, not pharaoh. God makes that perfectly clear. In this whole narrative, pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, thinks he is in control. But it is not so. God is in control.

This is still true today. Whether it is the president of the U.S.A. or the premier of China, however powerful they are, however much they think they are in control, God is one truly in control.

We must be before God beseeching his help, as the Israelites did. God may not respond as quickly as we would like. No doubt the Israelites thought he was very slow in responding. But God is our only hope for rain or for economic miracle. Only God can save us.

Psalm 102

2011-08-09T16:26:00.000-05:00

This is getting personal again.

As I read through this I was most affected by verse 23. The psalmist speaks of his days being shortened, being weakened. "Oh, my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days!"

What does that mean, "in the midst of my days"? It has personal meaning for me. It may mean a different thing to you, or maybe nothing.

It seems like for all of us as we get older our days become shortened. I mean in the sense that we are slower. We also get weaker in the brain perhaps. For me personally I think I am tempted to care less, thinking I won't be here much longer. I feel "weened away" in a reference to Our Town.

This is not a good thing. I want to not think like this. This seems part of finishing well, finishing our lives strong. This seems to use the analogy of running a race. As the race reaches it's end we do not slow down, we run as fast as we did, perhaps even pick up the pace. But perhaps the analogy breaks down when we get older. As the energy gets lower and our bodies get more frail surely God does not expect as much from us. We can rebel against this reality to some degree. But we cannot ignore it.

God is forever. But our time here is limited. What does it mean to be "taken in the midst of my days"? Does it mean taken while I still have a lot of goals not accomplished? I have not seen my grandchildren? I still have lots of friends that I will miss? Perhaps I have not seen my children married or even not gotten married yet and I hoped to?

What would be the opposite of being taken in the midst of my days?

I am reminded of people who did die young. Right now I am thinking specifically of two who were close to DW and I - JO and AR. I think about them from time to time. They are in their reward. Somehow it was their time to go. And yet when they went it seemed so unexpected. It is still hard to realize that they are gone.

Yet I am not sure if I would say they were taken in the midst of life. In certain ways I think their lives had reached an eddy if we are taking the analogy of water flowing down a stream. I would not have said they were in the midst of the current.

Yet both were believers acting on their belief. Their lives were different because of their faith. They were witnesses by their lives. Sure they were not perfect. To me that made their lives and witness even more miraculous. They trusted their savior. They knew they needed one. We all do.

Exodus 5

2011-08-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

I owe you some blogs. I worked hard at moving the office to a smaller space. I did get some reading done Friday. I also worked on getting our apartments ready for renting, arrrgggh!

Have you ever felt you were following God's leading and things got worse, not better? Were you criticized and even ridiculed for your decision or stance?

This is the fate of Moses and Aaron.

They had spoken to pharaoh and pharaoh tells them to work harder. Perhaps logically pharaoh thinks if they have time to think about taking a holiday they have too much free time. It may be logical but it is sadistic.

I note again Moses was not totally forthright with his plans. He says the people want to travel three days into the desert and worship God. He does not mention that they want to leave permanently.

Is this subterfuge on his part? Or is this really his original intention? If the second is the case then pharaoh's stubbornness works to God's favor. Pharaoh's stubbornness allows God to achieve his original plan - the Israelites' permanent removal from Egypt to the new land He has prepared for them.

I tend to think Moses was not telling the total truth. But I think whether he was or not pharaoh does not believe him and thinks Moses is trying to lead the people out of Egypt.

How far is three days' journey? Is it far enough to get him past the Red Sea?

Exodus 4 - Moses follows the call

2011-08-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

The first half of Exodus 4 is the call of Moses. The second half is Moses traveling back to Egypt. There are several questions that come to mind. One big question that I'm sure commentators have opined since this came out. From Jewish and Israeli commentators by sages and priests until today.

v. 18 - Why did Moses lie to Jethro, his father in law? Or did he? Perhaps you think he did not. Moses says he wanted to see his family. That is a natural reason. But it is not the real reason. He never mentioned that he is going back to lead his people, to be their savior. He never mentions the special cane and his leprosy trick.

Then in v. 19 we are given additional information. This looks like a gloss, something inserted later. To me it looks inserted. The flow of the narrative would be just fine without this verse, maybe actually better.

I am sort of surprised that Moses took his family. He is going to wage war. You do not take your family to into a war (v. 20). In verse 20 the writer does mention the staff which is the sign of God's power with him. Moses takes both his family and his weapon of war.

God prophesies that the first born of Egypt will die before they let you go. God says that Israel is his first born.

Then we have the strangest thing of all. I'm know many people have had many opinions about this, from the Talmud to the present. Vs. 24-26 - Why did God (or an angel) try to kill him? What does it even mean? How does Zipporah know what to do? So when the verse says "put him to death" is God referring to Moses' son or to Moses himself?

So anyway after this trial the family makes it to Israel. Moses performs the signs before the Israelites that God told him to use before the Egyptians and they accept him as their leader. Just like that.

Exodus 4 - The Call of Moses

2011-08-02T12:12:00.001-05:00

Moses was reluctant to accept God's call. God's call was strong and obvious. But Moses had reservations.

When I read the call of Moses and his hesitancy I think of a time when God called me to share a song that he gave me. It was pretty obvious that God gave it to me. There were two verses and the music which I actually wrote down. I picked the tune out on a piano.

God called me to share it. I refused. I was too proud. I thought I might be laughed at since I have no musical training. I was too shy. Anyway for several weeks God bugged me to share it. And when I didn't finally, after a couple of weeks someone else shared a similar song and I knew I was off the hook.

I wonder if my refusal closed some doors to other things that God had planned for me. But God did not reject me or hate me. I think I felt a lot of guilt, much of which came from Satan not God. I think I still have some feelings after all these years. That's why this story of Moses' call still reminds me of something that happened a long time ago.

It was an ordinary ditty. The version that did get sung a little around Redeemer is now mostly forgotten. The song that the man shared as a song God gave him was not exactly my song. But it was close enough. From that experience I got a great example of how when God gives a gift to someone it comes through the filter of his human servant. He and I were different so the final song was different.

It is interesting to me that most of the songs, and there were very many, that were inspired by the Redeemer revival, the ones that are still sung and are still in songbooks were written by trained musicians. The human servant is important to the process. God needs us to prepare ourselves to be used.

God called Moses and Moses had excuses why he could not do it. He had a heart for this mission, we saw that in Chapter 2. But Moses felt powerless and inadequate even despite the obvious power of God. Finally God lost patience and introduced Aaron into the mix.

It seems after Aaron became involved we hear no more about Moses' reluctance. After that Moses was committed. Why? Was it sibling rivalry? Or did Moses realize the obvious weaknesses of Aaron? Later we will see how little mental strength Aaron has. Moses may have already suspected this. He must have had a great fear in leaving the responsibility with Aaron. So now he was all in. I suspect God knew that bringing Aaron in would change Moses' attitude.

I think God has altered the way he works with me since my refusal to accept that call. Now it seems I see a need and only after I accept some responsibility to help do I find that God was calling me to it after all. It would be nice if I accept direct calls from God but I don't seem to comfortable with that. But God has not given up on me and he uses me when I allow myself to be used.

God wants all of us to accept training. Then God can use us better.

Psalm 90 - Didactic, wisdom psalm

2011-08-01T15:16:00.002-05:00

Psalm 90 is the first psalm of book 4 of the psalms. There are five sections (or books) of the 150 psalms. This psalm is attributed to Moses.

The "books" in the psalms usually start with a special opening psalm and often end with a special psalm. This one teaches. It has the tone of wisdom literature. The message is like that of Ecclesiastes.

What is the great enemy of mankind? It is death. Death is the fate of us all. Yet Paul says, "Death where is your victory? Grave, where is your sting?" Yet as we get older we feel death approaching. The frailties of getting old remind us of our final fate. Things hurt. We are slower, weaker, not as confident physically. We do not sleep as soundly.

The psalmist calls it a product of God's wrath (v.7). It is the consequence of Adam's sin. God told him if he ate of the forbidden tree he would die. He did die and we too will die.

God, by contrast, lives forever (v.4). We live 70 years, at best 80 if we are strong (v.10). When we read history (or archaeology) we are thinking about people who lived in another time and now are dead. We too will follow them into death. Just as they did, we get our time on earth. But God was alive before us and will be the same after us.

We have hope in the promise of Jesus.

If you have never considered who Jesus is and the salvation that he offers you should do it now. Jesus came to save us from the curse of sin and death.

Verse 13 begins to show that the psalmist too has hope. He understands that life is a blessing from God. It is a gift. He suggests that we enjoy it and be grateful for the time we have on earth (v.14-15). Yes it can be a vale of tears. We beseech God for his blessing. Also God have given us work to do (v.17). Without a vision we get bored. Let us do the work God has called us to gladly.

The psalmist ends by beseeching God to "confirm the work of our hands". This can have more than one meaning. First, we wish God to confirm our calling. Second, we also wish God to make the work that we do to be successful, to accomplish what we wish it to. We want God to make up for what we lack, to bless the fruits of our labors.

Wonderful service and sermon - Exodus 2

2011-07-31T15:32:00.000-05:00

Pastor MP spoke of being close to heaven, like the separation is thin between our world and heaven. It is a great analogy. Heaven is not just a future place, it is here with us now, close by.

I remember the guide at Yellowstone said the earth's crust is thin there, that is why there are so many geysers and boiling pools. Lots of water and lots of heat. When MP spoke of the thinness of earth to heaven that is what I thought of. It seemed analogous to me.

I also felt like the separation between us and God was thin at the service. I was greatly moved by the worship time and the sermon too. Perhaps the exercise before coming helped. I got in a two hour walk before church and really had not cooled down by the time we got there a few minutes late. I planned poorly and I did not get back home until after 9:30 PM. I showered quickly. I had not really cooled down yet. I needed at least two quarts of water to replenish what I sweated out. But I felt great in church. I now wish for the hills of Israel. If we go next year I will appreciate them more. They help with the aerobic experience. Houston is so flat.

Yesterday I mentioned how much I appreciated how the playwright quickly and efficiently set the scene for the rest of the play in Emma, based on the satirical book by Jane Austen. He had opening speeches by major characters to tell us about themselves and others we would soon meet. I also admire the way the writer of Exodus sets the stage for the rest of the story. I admire how efficiently all the stories in the Bible are set up. There is so much packed into a few sentences.

The first chapter of Exodus sets up the situation of the Israelites in Egypt. "Then there arose a pharaoh who did not know Joseph." The words are pregnant with meaning. Also they do not say so much. Is that a new dynasty? Was there some kind of violent political intrigue? I guess we will never truly know.

The second chapter introduces us to Moses. We find out why he was cast into the Nile in the last few verses of Chapter 1. He is miraculously saved from dying of exposure. Did his mom plan this all out?

We then find he is unwilling to forget his own people even thought he is living lavishly in the palace. When exiled to Midian, to a people closely related to his own he again shows that he has a heart for the powerless, for those unjustly treated.

God sees that he has a heart for the task God chooses for him. Or is it Moses who sees what God already knew, since God knows everything beforehand? He knew Moses heart before Moses did,

So after two chapters the scene is set for the rest of the story.

Emma at AD Players

2011-07-30T08:15:00.000-05:00

I went to see this at Grace Theater over on West Alabama near Kirby.

I cannot gush enough about this adaptation of the book by Jane Austen. This is the best production AD Players has done in several years.

The front of the bill mentions this is adapted by Jon Jory. He must get a lot of credit. I have seen movie an TV adaptations. This is quite different. There are a couple of opening speeches obviously done to introduce the characters and the conflict. We are quickly gotten up to speed.

This play goes for laughs, or at least the actors do. The satire of Austen's book is still there but it's not as important here. This is a comedy. But at the same time I think Emma's blunders are more starkly explained by the plot of the play.

Sarah Cooksey has been great in recent plays an she again shines as Emma. This part is right in her wheel house and she hits a home run. Other supporting roles are very well done. This is a big cast and almost all the regular players get to contribute.

This show is going to play until August 28. The house was full but not sold out. You should treat yourself to a fun play that has depth.

Garum = Roman era fish sauce

2011-07-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

Have I blogged on this yet? I think I mentioned it.

One thing I most remember about the talks we got at the archaeological dig at Hippos/Sussita was on amphora and one thing transported in them: Garum

Marketing has been around a long time. What, producers asked themselves, to do with left over fish? How can one transport fish over long distances and therefore increase our clientele? Fish cannot be kept fresh long. Fresh fish tastes best. What to do?

Answer: Boil down stinky leftover fish, transport it in jars, and call it "Garum" and sell it as a wonderful delicacy. Lots of foods are like that. Examples: Throw in all the spoiled meat, maybe some beans, add a lot of hot peppers and call it "chili". Slumgullion must have a similar beginning. I think of "chicken wings" that way today. You take the worst part of the chicken, a part that was often thrown away or made into dog food. When my mom cooked the whole chicken in the poorer days of my youth, my dad would graciously eat the wings, leaving for us children the better parts, the thigh, breast, and leg. I'm not sure who ate the backs. But some enterprising food merchant created sauces and brazenly touted "Chicken Wings" as a delicacy. Well, it is if you believe it. Some rich people will eat most anything if it costs a lot and has a fancy name, see caviar (fish eggs).

Anyway GARUM is an early marketing ploy brilliantly conceived and readily accepted by rich and poor alike in Roman culture for many centuries. There was a rich version using real fish, costing like caviar and a poorer sauce using mostly water and fish heads and such sold for poor people to flavor their food. But essentially it is rotten fish boiled in water. There is no other way to see it. In order to travel long distances by boat it can be no other way. It cannot be fresh. Marketers are great at simply renaming things. They touted this as an advantage, not as rotten but as a delicacy. People bought it for many generations. I say it was brilliant.

Garum, fish sauce, was shipped throughout the Mediterranean area in the bottoms of ships in strange looking pots called amphora (amphorae). These pots had double handles for easy moving, narrow mouths to be easily stoppered, and pointed bottoms to stack more easily. In ship bottoms they would double as ballast, keeping the boat upright in heavy weather.

These strange looking jars were actually very practical. They too were used for centuries. I think they evolved because of the Mediterranean Sea's longish narrow shape, a great natural canal used for trading and shipping goods by sea. Most people lived by the sea in Roman and Greek times. The longest portion of a trading travel would be by ship and not by land. So trading vessels were adapted to boats more than to land transportation methods.

Israel experiences

2011-07-28T10:10:00.000-05:00

For me one of most glaring differences in Israel is the brashness of people. Not everyone of course but enough to make it distinctive. And Jews still are very emotional about rules. (Hey I do resemble some of this, children take note.)

The way I saw it most starkly was in the kibbutz cafeteria dishwashing area. We ate in a cafeteria for lunch and supper. Lunch is the main meal. We were required to buss our own dishes. To do that you took your stuff into a hot steamy room where an automatic dishwasher with a conveyor line operated. There was usually a man watching the process (from mostly out of sight) to make sure things went well.

But it you did something wrong he became very present in your life. Sort of like the proverbial Jewish mother. You would get a tongue lashing. Really.

My first day I was tired and sort of on auto-pilot. I think I placed my soup bowl in a way that he thought wrong. His response: "What are you doing there? Those dishes will never get clean like that!" Seeing my confusion he came over and changed them.

Other times a different man said: "Can't you read the sign? It tells you how to do it." Fortunately that was only addressed to me once. But I also heard it said to another person.

These comments were said with .slightly raised volume and a tone of exasperation. Usually a response was required from you before you were dismissed. You needed to tell them you would do better, apologize for your mistake. Then the man would be slightly mollified. It was as if, even though I had only been there a few days I was required to automatically know all the rules and read all the signs. There were several.

One day I ate late and the dishwashing area was mostly closed down. I did not see where to place my trash so I moved a top off the normal place and placed it there. When the man came in and saw what I had done I was in trouble. "Can't you that the cover was there. Do you not understand that the cover means not to put anything there? It was covered for a reason. Why did you do that?" Then I saw the one remaining trash basket set out for we late eaters. It was on the other side of a big room. Yes I was wrong. And yes I got my deserved tongue lashing.

Lamentations 2

2011-07-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

Let me just say I am not oriented to Houston yet. I got amazingly sleepy at 4 PM yesterday, went home and slept from 5 until 11. I realized that corresponded to 11 PM to 7 AM in the morning in Israel. Proper sleeping hours in Israel, not in Houston. After 11 I just could not sleep at all. I read and caught up on computer. Then dozed until 6:30 AM this morning when I got up for work.

Work: We are moving down the hall to a smaller office. We have been here for over 20 years so a lot of emotional decisions must be made.

Jeremiah had to prophesy a tough message. It cost him. Are we called to speak to someone (or some group) a prophesy that is like the one Jeremiah had to speak? Prophesy is about leadership. MP has been leading in a prophetic way in his sermons. He has the authority as the pastor of my church. Most of us do not have that kind of authority over a congregation. But most of us do have places where we have some moral influence, if not authority. I think parents have this kind of authority but it should be used humbly and carefully. Jeremiah backed his words up with examples and evidence. It is not enough to simply make a generic statement that likely seems like a put down.

Jeremiah was concerned and mourned when God's judgment came. That is what Lamentations is all about. When God's judgment came Go, the loving God, seemed to be an adversary to his own people, "his footstool" (v.1).

When God actually opposes us, when he punishes us, is it a natural consequence of our selfish ungodly choices or is God against us. Whatever it truly is, when it is happening it looks like God is our adversary. We feel like blaming God.

People refer to the Holocaust when they read this chapter. We ask "Where is God?" (vs. 21-22) is such awful situations. The invasion of Israel and the murder of a majority of the citizens of Israel in Jeremiah's time was a similar atrocity. Everyone who survived asked bitterly "Where is God?" Jeremiah was sent to answer this awful question. He hated it.

We can only humbly empathize with those who have actually gone through such atrocities. Unfortunately it still happens in Sudan, in Bosnia, in Rwanda, and others less publicized. God is there and he weeps.

last day in Israel

2011-07-21T05:01:00.000-05:00

Yep, we are done here in Israel. The week is over. It is about 1 PM here. I have eaten lunch, the main meal of the day and am feeling pretty chipper.

So chipper that I plan to walk back out to the highway and turn up the mountain road for a 1/4 mile to a set of beehives. I want to take some close up pictures. Perhaps at 5 PM when the temperature starts to cool off.

There are beehives randomly (seemingly) placed everywhere. The are on metal flats of four so they can me moved by forklift if need be. I suspect they are here mostly for pollination of the many orchards around here.

There are orchards of olives, dates, bananas, and all sort of fruit trees. In season are plums and nectarines. Also green grapes are in season. Nectarines taste a bit different with whiter flesh and are blander.

The ride to the airport is still on though we have never met the lady. She will meet us at 6 AM. Pray for traveling mercies.

Digging in Israel

2011-07-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

I think DW and I are just getting the hang of the climate, the food, the local hours and it's almost time to leave.

We have confirmed a ride to the airport at 6 AM Friday morning.

Today I just did not want to get out of bed. I felt like playing hooky. But I felt the others who have suffered through the last two weeks and gotten to be, if not friends, at least familiar with each others' ways. Amanda, Matt, and Olivia have kept it real all the way along with our section leader Emilia (Amelia?) styled "Em" on her Facebook page.

We have had others come for a while. Joey was here the first week. Amanda still misses Joey. We have had high schoolers from Haifa, a family from Israel came for a day and others I forget right now. Oh yes today we had a young couple from Mexico, college students in the capitol.

Anyway, perhaps displaced, but I did not want to disappoint anyone. I suppose I would have felt some loss of face. (Incidentally we have a Japanese archaeologist volunteer this week.)

We are working with a lot students. These young people are smart and motivated. Most are pretty expert language students. Matt and Olivia like to play around with different languages.

Oh yes, how can I forget Ken, a man our age who is a long time repeat volunteer. He has been working on other projects around our section so I have not worked with him as much. But he has been generous to drive us places. We tried to make church Sunday night but he had a flat so we could not go.

The dig leaders are great with people and highly energized. We have done some evening tours that have been hard on me because I hate bus rides. These rides are even worse because they are through the mountains and the roads here are more like F.M. roads in U.S.A.

The food still bugs my stomach. Yet I eat it and have not significantly lost weight. It tastes alright bland but alright. It just is hard to digest.

We are actually considering coming back next year. I wonder what the leaders privately think about that.

Psalm 11

2011-07-17T07:04:00.000-05:00

Am I projecting or is the psalmist here working to be trusting? He is not totally ready to trust God wholeheartedly. What do you think? Is it there or am I adding it from my own emotions?

[1] In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain;
[2] For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
[3] If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"
[4] The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
[5] The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
[6] Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
[7] For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.

The psalmist sees things might not work out perfectly. He may be tried and tested. Yet he is convinced that his final fate will be much better than that of the unrighteous, the sinner who does not respect God.

The psalmist knows God is in control (4). Yet things may still be hard for him.

There is a hint of the fire and brimstone preachers of old (6). Our before God might be hard. But it will be much worse for us if we abandon God and follow sinful desires. God loves righteousness (7). He hates the unrighteous (5). So choose righteousness. It will be better for you in the end.

The psalmist encourages himself, "God loves the righteous!" I encourage myself with that, with the proviso that Jesus is my righteousness. God loves me. I will endeavor to love him back.

from Kibbutz Alon eiv Gev

2011-07-16T03:59:00.000-05:00

We got sick Thursday, the last dig day. It is Saturday noon here, Sabbath is almost over. I think I am feeling good enough to start my second week tomorrow. I am not sure about Barbara. She figured before we started she would lay out some days.

We have moved to a new room. This one opens to the outside. Restrooms and showers and down the outside passage. But we do have our own TV and refrigerator. The refrigerator is full of food.

I was reading in Nehemiah 8 where Nehemiah and some elders open the book of Moses, specifically the rules. They explain them from morning until noon.

When we hear God's word we are to rejoice (Nehemiah 8:9-12). So after the telling and the understanding they have a party. They rejoice together.

But not before worship and conviction. Nehemiah reads the scripture to the people. They were convicted of their sin. They were crying. Nehemiah told them repentance should be followed by rejoicing.

At this point (and at other times as well) the entire nation, men and women, all who were of the age of understanding are said to understand God's word and desire to practice it completely. Unfortunately times like these do not last for the Israelites. They do not last for us either.

God please help us to follow you will completely and with joy in our hearts.

Acts 2 - amazing growth

2011-07-11T13:40:00.000-05:00

I may have spoke of this before. But the commentator marveled at the instant church.

A church of 120 who had been with Jesus for a while multiplied almost 30 times at Peter's first sermon. Obviously all of this was through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Just think of that kind of growth in you church! How would you handle it?

The vast majority of the 3,000 converts wanted to join them. If you do evangelism you are responsible for the discipleship of who are saved. The next verses after 42 describe how they did it.

Verse 42 speaks to how they did it. "The apostles doctrine and fellowship" must have involved regular group teachings and personal, one on one or small group, sharing. They also got together to pray and had an early, simple version of a communion service to remember Jesus and his saving work. That is what Jesus told them to do after all.

The ideas of priestly privilege and the concept that only the initiated should receive had not been developed yet. It was a simple thing, a remembrance.

Verses 44-45 scare those who want to take this as a literal blueprint for how Christians should live now: Those who were converted lived together and shared all their things in common. Many (or all) sold what they had to give to their new brothers. This was a full time, seven day a week commitment, not just an hour or two on Sunday. But judging from the advice Paul gives in his letters, this was not the standard for every church, just the first one.

But many groups throughout the years have tried this original church plan, with limited success. The holy orders of the Catholic church have been the longest lasting attempts to live like this. They immediately realized that there must be rules. People are sinful. After the first blush of excitement is over there will be problems. There is also the temptation to retreat from the world. Most orders understand the importance of keeping contact with the world. The wisely understood this problem too.

US attempts to form Christian communities often started with a sort of utopian model. They often failed when people got illusioned. There are still some communities that attempt to embrace a simpler lifestyle and a more vibrant relationship with God. All these, I think, are based on this Acts 2 model of the church. But this is not the only church model that the Bible shows.

Ragtime by E. L Doctorow (a long review)

2011-07-10T15:46:00.000-05:00

Is that the guy's real name?

Well the book does not say one way on another.

This book is set on the first page in 1902 in New Rochelle, NY. The first family we meet is never named. The family is called Father, Mother, Mother's Brother, and Son. We follow them in snatches throughout the book. The last family we meet is also never named, the father is a poor Jewish man and his young daughter. He is called Tateh. So fathers play a big role.

In between Doctorow intersperses famous people of the time including Pierpont Morgan, Henry Houdini, and the characters in the "Trial of the Century" Stanford White, Henry K. Thaw, and Evelyn Nesbit. Looking in Wikipedia a lot of the smaller characters also lived. Doctorow wishes to create a story around these characters and more importantly describe the ethos of this time and place.

I think he does a very good job of describing the culture but in so doing he also reveals his own prejudices. He is certainly an atheist but also somehow believes in a karma type fate. I am reminded of some modern movies. His culture is godless, warping it quite a bit.

Perhaps the eccentric views he has Morgan espouse also reflect the author's views. It is not clear. But the waspish views of Father and Mother and the extremely legalistic moral views of Tateh are also described.

A major conflict that fills the last half of the book does not seem to have an basis in fact but serves to bring all these other characters together is the tragic plight of Coalhouse Walker, Jr. His car is vandalized simply because he is a negro. He goes on a vengeful rampage which kills many people and finally gets himself killed. If this in fact happened surely it would be on the internet.

It is a touching story that we are led to believe, because of all that comes before, actually happened. That is very misleading. Doctorow would like us to believe that it could, even should, have happened. White people had it coming.

Anyway the book ends with our poor Jewish artist Tateh moving out to California and getting rich in pictures, specifically creating the "Our Gang" comedies using his personal experience as inspiration. That is nice but a bit unsatisfying because his name is never mentioned. Searching in Wikipedia the creator of Our Gang was Hal Roach who may be Jewish but it doesn't mention. He was born in up state New York but seems to have spent a lot of time in Alaska before moving to CA. So Doctorow's Tateh is only very loosely based on Roach, that is why he is never named I guess.

So Ragtime starts out describing that might have happened but perhaps jumps over into impossibility after a while unless you subscribe to a very cynical view of life. Perhaps I do or perhaps I don't but I did not get joy in having my nose rubbed in it.

Adventure traveling

2011-07-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

Traveling is still and adventure. I thought I ad planned it out, really I did. But I did not ask for help from the people on the other end, people I do not know, people I thought might be too busy. I underestimated the serious problem arriving on shabbat (sabbath) would be.

I hate the long flights but this year things were much much better. Traveling this year had a lot to do with waiting. April dropped us off at the airport. We got into an elite line, just our blessing. It meant we had to wait in the gate lounge for three hours. We got to Toronto only to find that the flight to Tel Aviv was delayed. We waited four hours. Then after a blessedly short 10 hour flight we arrived in Tel Aviv to the reality that the only way to the kibbutz would require a $250 taxi drive. The knew if we wait until after shabbat we can get a $15 bus ride directly there. But that require an 7 hour wait until shabbat is over.

So we took the taxi to the central bus terminal in Tel-Aviv. Then we waited outside for a couple of hours that seemed like more sitting out on the sidewalk. Few speak English and those that do are hard to understand. Thus I did know I could enter at least an hour before we did. Then it took us a while to realize that while the escalator was blocked the elevator worked up to the top floor where the buses were.

Barbara got the very bright idea that Tvias was the same thing as Tiberias in bus parlance. I asked a driver who after consulting with someone who spoke English replied "yes". So I warily got on with DW. We drove on an inerurban bus that stopped a lot to Tiberias. We stopped in a relatively large town called Afula (while I had never heard of). The next stop was Tiberias. I could hardly believe it. It took only 2:15 of while I dozed a lot. DW dozed at the bus station while I read. I finished my Doctorow book, "Ragtime" from leaving Houstonto waiting in the bus station. I gotta go soon so signing off. Probably tomorrow a review of Doctorow.

Clark Pinnock

2011-07-06T18:11:00.000-05:00

Clark Pinnock quote: "Most wonderfully the Spirit is God's face turned towards us."

This is probably enough. Clark Pinnock is a great modern Christian writer. Some people might enjoy reading his stuff. Check it out.

The complete quote: "Most wonderfully, the Spirit is God's face turned towards us and God's presence abiding with us, the agency by which God reaches out and draws near, the power that creates and heals"

Peter's first sermon was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1

2011-07-05T15:43:00.001-05:00

Our Life Group was discussing whether it was necessary for the disciples to replace Judas, completing the twelve again.

The commentator explains at least part of the question very well. "Jesus chose twelve to establish the continuity with the old covenant and at the same time to announce the arrival of the new." So twelve was an important number.

But that does not really answer of whether they still needed 12 after Jesus had gone back up to heaven. But it was an important symbol when Jesus was on earth.

The commentator also mentions the expression "continually in prayer". The discples, beginning the new church, we continually in prayer. He asks do our churches know anything about being continually in prayer. I do not think ours does. Some might perhaps. I confess I don't.

But I know that at the beginnings of the renewal at Redeemer Episcopal there was continuous prayer. They met every morning before work, getting up a couple hours earlier than they would need to normally. The Azusa revival at the turn of the 1900's also had continuous prayer. Revival brings continuous prayer and visa versa.

Lawndale Annex

2011-07-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

DW and I went to an art exhibit opening at Lawndale Annex Friday night. It was mostly paintings but there were some sculpted objects and a couple of videos. Lawndale Annex is in the 4900 block of Main Street. They have ample parking.

We were talking about a painting when we were introduced to the artist. He was a normal looking young man with very short reddish hair. You always think of artists looking artsy in some way. He did not make that effort. The place was packed. There were a lot of the observers who did make the effort to look artsy.

I said something complementary about the three dimensional quality of some the objects in the painting. That got him talking about his motivation for the piece. I tried to act intelligent to keep him going but I had no clue how to react. I could not see where in the painting his motivations showed up.

The canvas was large, maybe three feet by four feet. Lots of the canvas was bare white. There were objects of different styles. Some objects seemed to have a relation to each other. But other things had no relation that I could see.

He did not mention any message, thank God, because I certainly could not see one. He said he was breaking away from realism in previous works. This work was a whimsy. He did not use that word. He said something about making fun, of himself, of his previous work. He called it playful.

But it was stark. There were different kinds of images, some flat and one color, some showing shadows. None of the objects were identifiable. Maybe that is what he meant by playful.

I mentioned to him two flat shapes in the lower right that DW and I thought looked like demons. That reminded him in a previous work he did draw characters from a fantastical SciFi book, I forgot the name. He said that was the geek coming out in him.

He stayed talking to us for a few minutes then politely excused himself to move on. He was so ordinary I do not think I would recognize him again.

Revelation 13

2011-07-01T17:14:00.001-05:00

This is sort of a climax here. The beast comes out of the sea. He has ten horns and seven heads.

I really do not have a handle on this. Perhaps too many distractions right now.

In verse 3 one of the heads is killed but then comes to life. Perhaps this is a parody of Jesus' death and resurrection. Anyway this sign causes people to worship this beast.

He is given authority for 3 1/2 years. We think of a Beast like "Beauty and the Beast" a awful looking monster like thing, perhaps like Chewbacca. Both these beasts that speak were good hearted. But I think the beast might be the opposite - good looking but evil. It would be sort of the opposite of those two modern fictional characters.

Call it my paranoia but I suspect the Beauty and the Beast send up was done conscious of the Revelation image. It was a sort of to make a mockery of it. Perhaps people who love this play/movie will object to this. The Beast with a good heart is a great image, even romantic. Still I think the intention of the writers originally was impious. That does not mean it cannot be used for good.

That's a weird aside. But this is a serious problem. We often do admire the wrong things. This beast that does amazing signs and speaks with tremendous authority is often wrongly worshiped. On can think of Hitler in the 20th century and Napoleon in the 18th (?) century. Both spoke with authority and had great followings.

But John certainly had Roman authority in mind here. Perhaps even specifically the head that died but then came back to life could refer to Nero who killed himself but whose policies were mimicked by Domitian. The heads could refer to successive Roman emperors.

The emperors were considered like gods and they were worshiped in temples. Those who did not worship were persecuted and sometimes killed.

But we are told to consider the fruits of such men/beasts. We will know when Jesus returns and be the one who is truly worthy of worship. We will not have to guess. We must not be distracted by great signs. Hitler resurrected the German economy and created great things like superhighways and automobiles. I am not sure what signs Napoleon did. The Romans continued to keep the peace and also build great roads and aqueducts. It was considered miraculous at the time. But it was not worthy of worship.

Revelations 11

2011-06-28T09:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I put up two blogs, hopefully broadcasting the second one today.

But if you clicked on the link (reported by DW) you get the one I did not share, Revelations 10. She liked that one. It was shorter than Rev. 9. So read them both if you like. I am going to comment on Revelations 11 today. I tend to get distracted and post less as the week goes on. That's why I did two on Monday. So we will see how it goes.
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We have covered the seven seals. The seventh seal brings the seven trumpets. The trumpets herald an important event. That's what the blowing of the trumpet does right? If an important person is coming he organizes some trumpeters to blow a flourish.

In each case the seventh is much bigger than the previous six. There is a pause before the seventh seal. There is a pause before the seventh trumpet. Seven is a number signifying completion. There is something greater about the seventh sign, whether seal or trumpet. This may have meant something to the first readers. I do not know what it is though.

The number seven gets involved in the discussion about what city John is referring to. Quite a few cities in the ancient world were known for seven hills. Rome certainly is famous for seven hills. But Jerusalem too was known for many hills. I think Athens and Babylon too had famous hills.

The beginning of the chapter speaks of John measuring the temple. He was to measure the inner court for "the outer court is dedicated to the nations". So this seems like we are referring to Jerusalem. But most people that John had his Revelation after the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. But what if it was written before.

In 11:8 John mentions that the two prophets live in the great city which is named spiritually as Sodom and Egypt. I think this city is Jerusalem but many, if not most say it refers to Rome. The prophets prophesied for 3 1/2 years. The Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye places them in the temple district, in the inner court. The author get a lot of mileage out of the prophets. They never seem to eat. They never leave the temple. They are spiritual beings but they look like men. The two prophets are often thought to represent Moses and Elijah.

What did they prophesy? Did they speak against unholy living? Did they warn of impending judgment like the Jewish prophets of old? Did they speak of salvation, repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ? That would make them different, New Testament prophets.

The seventh trumpet seems to open the reign of Jesus. 11:18 reminds us of Psalm 2. "Why do the nations rage?" Psalm 2 is a royal psalm. It speaks of God appointing his Son to sit on the throne and reign. Sitting implies all the work is done. Either Jesus has already completed his work or God is going to do it for him.

In Psalm 2 the nations are admonished to be wise and worship the appointed king. We know Jesus has done the work and earned the right to be our king. He came to serve us and became our savior. He loves us. It is much easier to serve a master who loves us and always has our best in mind.

But even so we often think we know better than God. We chafe and rage against him. When we are tempted to get like that it is good to remember God loves us and knows what is best, despite the circumstances. God loves us but he also has given authority to his son Jesus. We worship Jesus the Son also because it is right. We are ordered to do it. Giving homage to rulers is foreign to Americans. Still in this it is "meet and right so to do".

Revelation 10

2011-06-27T15:34:00.000-05:00

Chapter 10 gives us respite from judgment.

John sees a "strong angel". He sees one foot on the sea and another foot on dry land. I picture a man like creature very large, maybe 100 feet high. The angel must have been the size of the Colossus built out in the harbor of Rhodes on Crete.

The large angel has a little book. Then he cries out very loudly, louder than thunder. It seems he was reading the book. But John is told not to write what he hears..

It seems the angel speaks of Jesus. He seems to be foretelling that when the seventh seal is opened the kingdom, the mystery of God, will finally be revealed.

Trying to know what the mystery is seems hopeless. I do not think we can really know what the kingdom in completion will be like.

But the angel must be speaking of the second coming when Jesus comes back in glory to complete what he started. Let us prepare, be ready for that day. We do not know when it will come.

John is told to eat the book. It will be sweet to taste but will lay heavy on the stomach. Is that an image of salvation? It is so exciting at first but then one finds there are repercussions. One finds your excitement is not shared by others. Sometimes people even get mad at you for sharing your new faith. As you change you behavior people might make fun of you.

In the first flush of excitement we think everyone will be just as excited as we are. We think all will be happy for us. But not all are. And we face disillusion.

Revelation 9

2011-06-27T14:52:00.001-05:00

Chapter 9 tells of the judgment done on earth. But people still did not repent. The things described here as judgments sound a lot like the disasters in the news. There are wars and famines and tornadoes and flooding all over the United States. They also happen all over the world but we do not hear as much about them. But people do not cry to God and repent.

That expression "natural disasters" is instructive. Today things like that are never attributed to God at all. They are "natural". That means there is no intent. They just happen randomly.

People in Jesus' time certainly did not feel that way about cataclysmic events. To people back then the power of nature had an evil spiritual dimension. Now today we would consider that type of view superstitious.

I recently read a Greek novel of the first century called Callirhoe by Chariton. It has all the aspects of a modern romance. But the author also includes the gods in the business. To a Greek mind men did not do things unless the gods motivated them. And the author goes to great pains to explain why the gods caused things to happen. Greek myths and stories included the Greek gods as players behind human motivation. Cataclysmic events had a reason. The gods were mad at someone or some group. Someone was too proud or had too many good things happen to them. Or the gods might test a person.

Are we totally wrong to not believe such stuff? We do not believe in Greek gods. But are we superstitious to believe God might have intent for the disasters that happen in out time?

I too have trouble linking our present sinfulness with drought in the south, storms in the Midwest and flooding in North Dakota. But here in chapter 9 John tells us in the end times events just like these are signs of God's judgment. The correct response is to be repentance and a cry for mercy.

God tries in many ways to reach people. He knows we need him. He knows his plan of salvation involves believing in Jesus Christ. God wants us to face the fact of our mortality. So many people refuse to face the fact that their lives will end. We need to be confronted with the implications. What happens after death?

Billy Graham used to use the expression "getting right with God". Sometimes this seems selfish, doesn't it? But we should not put it off. We still understand God to be loving compassionate. But often people want to presume on God's patience.

People need to decide. There is only a limited amount of time. God wants us to make a decision. Are we for God? Then we should live righteously. Or are we against God and want to live a life leading to death? Righteousness leads to eternal life. Sin leads to death (Romans 12).

Some people want to ignore the message. They want to put it off. But we will all die. And some of us will die suddenly unexpectedly. It's not like we were not warned. We hear about sudden tragic death all the time.

Beloveds. Let us take God seriously and live a life that leads to life in him.

Revelation 9

2011-06-24T08:50:00.000-05:00

I agree with the commentator that this images are more from the realm of terrible dreams than from an actual prediction of what will happen in the future.

We have described in Revelations 9 the fifth and sixth woes. The fifth is a locust invasion. But these locusts and like scorpions and seem to be as big as men. Or is that just my imagination. They torment people but do not kill them.

Could this describe a terrible tragedy in our lives? Like a divorce, a child with birth defects, prolonged loss of employment? These kinds of things are woes that make life hard to live. There is constant emotional pain. John says despite these woes people refuse to turn to God but continue to sin. Verse 21 lists murders, sorcery, immorality or thefts. Do tragedies bring us closer to God or drive us further as we blame God for our plight? God wants us to come to him for comfort and ask him for aid. He wants to help. But so often we want to keep our sins and therefore keep separated from a holy God.

Verse 20 John says people continue to worship idols of gold silver brass iron and wood. I can think each of those materials as describing things we worship now. Perhaps for you they bring up different things. Gold and silver could symbolize worship of money. Wood could symbolize worship of houses, bigger and better, never satisfied. Iron and brass could symbolize worship of automobiles. None of these is evil in themselves, but if we put them before God they are for us.

John comments none of these things can see nor hear nor walk. They cannot speak or act on our behalf. Neither can money or houses or cars. By themselves they cannot make us happy or keep us secure.

I think John's conclusion in verses 20-21 show these woes are to bring us to repentance. The fact that it doesn't means the woes will continue. Let us be wise and repent early. Let us seek God help and comfort. Let us remember, no matter how awful things are, God is a good God, full of compassion and love.

Revelation 6

2011-06-21T12:45:00.001-05:00

Here in chapter six we reveal six out of the seven seals opened by Jesus Christ, the victorious savior.

No one is worthy but him to open the seals. The first four are the four horsemen on different colored horses who go to the four winds to administer judgment. After the fifth the martyrs are given white robes and told to wait until the rest of the those killed for the faith join them. They are promised that they will have judgment.

When the sixth seal is opened the whole earth will shake and all will cower in fear from the poorest to the greatest. They (we?) will be so scared they will wish they were dead!

So judgment will come. God is great and he will show his greatness more openly. To those with faith we already see his greatness and his righteousness. We also see his loving mercy. But this section isn't emphasizing that so much.

But it is important that we share with people and tell them acknowledging God as savior and God is serious. So many people think they can acknowledge God and somehow ignore Jesus. They cannot. We must not gloss over that. It is watering down the truth.

Revelations 4

2011-06-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

Why does John used jewels to describe what he say in the heavenly throne room? John must have had a tough time putting what he saw into words.

God is in the center of the scene. He is the only ruler deserving of honor, praise, and glory. All politicians make promises that they either cannot fulfill or do not intend to fulfill. But God has done much and he will do all that he promises. We can trust in his word despite what circumstances often look like.

God is freely and happily given praise by all those present. Let us do the same, freely and joyfully!

Lord, we know that you are bigger that our problems. And you will safely guide us to your home where we may praise you like the seraphim. Lord grant us faith!