8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. [1Ti 4:8 ESV].  Since this is my last post before the new year, I thought I'd mention this verse as a good one to keep in mind when making New Year's resolutions.  I always make them, but keep them to myself so no one knows how quickly and completely I mess them up.  Maybe that's because mine are so often focused on the physical - on the present.  You know, resolutions about eating less, exercising more, losing weight and things like that.  What if we focused instead on resolutions concerning godly things?  Wouldn't just a little success in godly matters that will carry over into eternity be more worthwhile than losing 10, 25, even 50 pounds that we're going to gain back next year anyway?  I mean, really, wouldn't it?  Wouldn't it be better to make some resolutions about reading our Bibles to keep our thoughts in the right place, about praying daily for God to give us opportunities, and about boldness to share the gospel THIS YEAR with 1, 5, or 1000 people?  I'm sure there are many more godly resolutions that could be made.  We each need to prayerfully consider which ones God is urging us to make.  I wish you all a very happy, prosperous, and godly New Year.
FB 12/29/22 Thursday.

​12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. [Col 3:12-17 ESV].  I don't think Paul wrote these words with "the Christmas spirit" in mind, but you won't find a better description of it anywhere.  We just ought to remember that behaving this way is not just a Christmas thing, it's a year 'round thing.  Merry Christmas, everyone!
FB 12/22/22 Thursday

​1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. [1Ti 4:1-3 ESV]  These verses are included in Paul's advice to Timothy, who was a young preacher at the time.  A couple of interesting things here.  Paul is talking about false teaching from "deceitful spirits and demons".  No one I know is going to join a church where the preacher has horns and a pointy tail.  Paul knows that, and adds in verse 2 that that these spirits and demons speak "through" others, who feel no regret at all about lying to those who trust them.  Paul's point is that these false teachers are just mouthpieces for creatures we'd recognize and avoid. Next Paul talks about a couple of specific false teachings - staying single and observing strict dietary laws.  Note how these two things require some kind of personal sacrifice or accomplishment as a component of salvation.  Other false teachings say you have to be smarter than everyone else, or initiated by someone else, or you need to be circumcised, as we saw last week.  The thing to note is that ALL false teaching includes personal accomplishment as a component of salvation.  False teaching always makes US the key factor in our own salvation.  In all its forms, this teaching s fundamentally just about salvation based on works - based on what WE do.  We must recognize any version of works based salvation as a flashing red neon sign advertising that this teaching is straight from demons and designed to lead us away from the gospel, and we should run the other way when we see it.
FB 12/19/22 Monday

​On Monday we saw Paul's counter to the Colossian heresy that claimed a weaker physical body would sin less, and so encouraged weakening the body. The good news there is that the Colossians were truly interested in avoiding sin and being better Christians.  So if asceticism and legalism don't achieve that, what does?  Paul tells them - and us - starting with this:  5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. [Col 3:5 ESV]  He says that if we want to be better then don't waste time with indirect philosophical ideas about matter and spirit, just avoid things that are sinful.  We don't give up things our bodies need, we stop indulging physical desires that we don't need - because those are the ones that are sinful!  Our bodies need food so we should eat.  Our bodies might desire three desserts, but at some point, we cross over from needs to indulging sinful desires.  Sex, according to God's plan for marriage, is a need, but wanting to sleep with anyone and everyone is sinful desire.  The fact is, our bodies want it both ways.  Our bodies want what they need, but they also want what is sinful.  That's because our physical bodies are "dead" - separated from God's will - and so incapable of choosing what is best for them.  But our spirits are reborn at salvation, new and able to comprehend God's will for us through his Spirit living inside us.  Our spirits can distinguish between physical needs and sinful desires.  The body alone cannot.  So to be better, we must learn to increasingly rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit that is alive and working inside us to bring about the better person we are trying to be.
FB 12/15/22 Thursday

​Since that post on Monday, I've been wondering whatever happened with that heresy in Colosse with the strict legalism and the asceticism.  These days, in this country, we are a lot more concerned about demanding our rights than we are with self-denial.  "Old time" asceticism is unlikely to get any traction here.  So where do we look for that heresy today?  I wonder if what has happened is that the ancient "insider" view that self-denial makes better Christians has turned into the secular belief that the first thing religious people give up is having any "fun" in life.  This view of church is, in my opinion, almost universal outside the church.  I think a lot of people want to be better people and see church as the place to do that.  But then they run up against this pervasive idea that going to church means giving up everything in your life that you enjoy.  Think of it this way:  In Colosse, Satan made being a better person actually physically painful to those IN the church.  But in 2022, he's figured out that he doesn't need to be so extreme, he can just change his target audience and undermine the church by creating a perception that "going to church will be painful".  Think how successful he's been with that!  For him, now, it is much easier to keep people out of church in the first place than to coax them back out once they've joined!  And in the bargain, he's turned the one real source of joy in the world - the gospel - into something no one "outside" wants any part of.  AND, he did all this just by "redecorating" a 2000 year old heresy!  I expect pretty devious stuff from the Father of Lies, but wow!  That's amazing!  And as for the legalism?  It's still around too.  It shows up in the icy glares we give people who wear the wrong clothes, have too many tats, or get a little too charismatic with their hand raising.  First time visitors can spot the legalism right away.  And it convinces them that everything they've heard about church is right on target.  The heresy is more subtle, but it is still here, and we need to recognize it, and do all we can to expose it for the lie it has always been!
FB 12/14/22 Wednesday Extra

​3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [Col 3:3 ESV]. This was Paul's opening argument refuting a heresy in the church at Colosse, a heresy that would be around in one form or another for a very long time. The MacArthur Study Bible describes it this way: "It contained elements of what later became known as Gnosticism: that God is good, but matter is evil, that Jesus Christ was merely one of a series of emanations descending from God and being less than God (a belief that led them to deny His true divinity), and that a secret, higher knowledge above Scripture was necessary for enlightenment and salvation. The Colossian heresy also embraced aspects of Jewish legalism...and rigid asceticism." At its minimum, asceticism is denying basic physical needs. In more extreme forms it is self-flagellation, sleeping on cold stone floors, and eating 200 calories a day for months. This weakens the body - the evil part of us - and the spirit - our good part - becomes comparatively stronger. The idea is that weak bodies sin less. Paul's argument was that the body is already dead, since we are crucified with Christ. Nothing we do to ourselves will make us weaker than dead. The health of our physical bodies does not determine how good or how evil we are. Jesus said lusting in our hearts - whether we physically indulge that lust or not - is adultery. Jesus said that wanting someone dead was as much a sin as killing them actually. So even if we so weaken our physical bodies that we can't wag a finger at an enemy we can still be guilty of murder. Imposing rules and punishments on ourselves does not make us more holy than the next person. More importantly, self-deprivation cannot save us. We need to be careful about thinking of ourselves as superior Christians because of how rigidly we follow rules that are not found in scripture. God made us to enjoy this life and not sin. They are not mutually exclusive!
FB 12/12/22 Monday

11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [Col 2:11-12 ESV]
Under the Old Covenant with Israel the laws were tangible -  literally written in stone.  Therefore, it made sense for the seal of participation in that covenant to be a tangible, outward sign.  That sign was circumcision.  It was a permanent sign imposed on the physical bodies of all those who sought God's will through the physical, tangible Law.  The Kingdom of God to which the saved belong in our time is a spiritual Kingdom.  The New Covenant is not about our physical bodies.  The Law is written on our hearts so we don't need stone tablets to discern right and wrong.  Our consciences, in collaboration with God's Holy Spirit inside us, reveal God's truth to us.  Still, covenants require a seal.  I believe that baptism is the outward sign of our commitment to this spiritual covenant.  This sign only "shows" for a few moments.  It is ephemeral, it is spiritual.  Baptism, under the New Covenant corresponds to circumcision under the Old Covenant.  Circumcision was "required" under the Law, but was not saving under the Law.  Salvation was based on faith and faith alone under the Law.  In the same way, baptism is "required" under the New Covenant, but is not saving under the New Covenant.  Salvation comes by faith alone.  That has not changed.  That will not change.  Looking at circumcision and baptism in this way makes sense to me.
FB 12/8/22 Thursday

​I don't really have a word for today.  I searched and searched my recent notes last night but nothing seemed like the right thing.  I have noticed that I often have trouble finding posts while I am reading Isaiah...which has 66 LONG chapters!  On top of that, I am always reading Isaiah in December.  Don't get me wrong, Isaiah is an amazing book.  It's just that Isaiah lived in a pretty dark time in Israel's history.  The Northern Kingdom fell in Isaiah's time, and he predicted with great detail the coming Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem that would come about 150 years later.  There are harrowing descriptions of a nation in decline, warnings of impending destruction, criticism of Israel's leaders, pleading for popular repentance, and multiple pronouncements of doom in this book.  Not much light reading here!  And much of it sounds just like what is going on in our country today.  I think our similarity with that nation about to be chastised without prejudice is what makes Isaiah a depressing read for me.  If God found it necessary to take such extreme measures with Israel, how can he not do as much and more to us?  However, let's not forget that this downer of a book also has this:  6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  [Isa 9:6 ESV].  This prophecy was fulfilled, and the world was changed forever.  No matter what we see around us, we know where this story ends because we know this prophecy came true.  And it is worth slogging through ALL the depressing parts of Isaiah to understand in context how much hope was in that verse for Israel, and to understand that it is a hope for the whole world.  You can't appreciate the hope if you don't understand the darkness from which it came.
FB 12/5/22 Monday

I've had a few people tell me that Monday's post was a little bit depressing.  It depresses me too, but I think we should be concerned about what the things we hear on the news say about the spiritual state of our country.  I don't pretend to know whether we've passed that crossroad in Monday's post or not, but I did find these verses in Isaiah:  16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. [Isa 1:16-17 ESV].  In the first verses of this chapter, Isaiah has indicted the people of Judah and Jerusalem for all kinds of sins and wickedness.  Isaiah says they have become so "broken" that they don't even know their wounds need to be treated (1:6).  What a picture that paints...people walking around bruised and bleeding and nearly dead, yet unconcerned about the wounds that are killing them.  But after all that, you get the instructive verses of 16 and 17 - that we might think of as a sort of "plan" to stop the bleeding.  Notice that It starts with those who can see that change is needed washing the dirt off themselves - dirt like pet sins, unrepented wrongs, hating enemies, dismissing those considered worthless.  Once cleansed and purified and healed of our own wounds - think baptized - then God can use us to begin reclaiming our country in His name.  What we have in these verses is the formula for revival.  Isn't it interesting that it does not start with "fixing" others.  It does not start with a thunder clap and voice from heaven.  It starts with God's people setting a higher standard for ourselves.   I don't know if it is already too late for us, but I do know that if we do nothing at all, it might as well be too late.
FB 12/1/22 Thursday 

I noticed an interesting comparison between some verses in Proverbs 1 and Romans 1.  These two passages say that at some point, when a nation has disdained God's truth for too long, when it has abandoned seeking wisdom from its protector - God - and begun relying on its own truths, the people of that nation are headed for this:  28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. [Pro 1:28 ESV].  This says there is a point of no return.  That's Old Testament.  Here is the New Testament version:  24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. [Rom 1:24-25 ESV].  Both verses make the same point.  God can only be denigrated for so long, and then he will just turn his back and walk away.  He will leave us to the end that reliance on human intelligence has led throughout history.  Even Israel did this.  It is why she fell in 586 BC and again in AD 70.  Is it just me, or does it seem like a LOT of countries today are standing at this crossroad between human intelligence and God's word?  Even though reliance on human wisdom, insight, and intelligence has failed every time so far, here is another generation too smart to take lessons from the past, too arrogant to submit to something greater than themselves, too wise in their own eyes to listen instead of talk.  The Bible teaches that a nation's prosperity is proportional to its commitment to God's truth.  The Bible shows that it has always been that way.  We may be about to see that it is STILL that way.
FB 11/28/22 Monday

​7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. [1Co 10:7-10 ESV].  This chapter of Corinthians is about the mistake of making assurance of salvation the foundation for undisciplined, ungodly, self-indulgent living.  Paul compares Corinth to Israel when they decided to rise up and play instead of observing the Law with reverence and fear.  With no taskmasters to discipline them, Israel just indulged themselves in bad behavior.  The Corinthians were doing the same thing with no Mosaic Law to restrain them.  Churches today are faced with a very similar situation.  In our case, the common cultural restrictions that kept most people behaving by God's rules - even if they didn't "go to church" - have dissolved away.  We see things happening today that would have made the Americans of 50 years ago throw up.  As Israel escaped its taskmasters, as the Corinthians threw off the Law, so our generation is abandoning the final vestiges of a common moral code.  Paul is telling the Corinthians that this is a terrible mistake.  God's way of doing things is not about Law or culture.  Before the Law came, when Cain killed Abel, murder was wrong.  Under the Law, murder was specifically labeled as wrong.  Today, after the Law is gone, murder is still sin.  So are idolatry and immorality.   So are drunkenness, homosexuality, taking God's name in vain, and lying.  Just because it is not written down, just because the culture is ok with it, does not mean it is acceptable to God.  What was sin will always be sin, and we are to avoid it, not embrace it.  It was not okay in Corinth, and it is not okay in churches today.  
FB 11/21/22 Monday

​On Monday, we saw that none of us can be good enough to deserve an answer to our prayers, and yet God does answer them out of His love and mercy toward us.  If God is willing to do good for those who offend him, isn't it obvious that we should do the same for those who offend us?  We have far less reason to refuse the petitions of those who offend us than God has, yet he answers.  Shouldn't we also?  I think this is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:44 when he said "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you".  I would suggest that if we want our own prayers answered, we ought to answer the prayers of others first.
FB 11/17/22 Thursday

​2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. [Psa 143:2 ESV]  In this verse, David asks God to hear his prayer without judging him.  David knows that if he has to be judged worthy before God will answer his prayer then he can just forget it.   Because really...why should God answer any of our prayers?  We constantly disobey and affront the King of Everything.  No earthly King would tolerate that.  David understands that he can never be good enough - never be righteous enough - to earn an answer to his prayers.  We must depend not on what we earn but on God's mercy - which we did not earn.  Our prayers are not granted - or declined - based on what we do, but ONLY upon His mercy and righteousness.  Also, we should never be upset when God answers the prayer of someone who doesn't deserve it because after all, we don't deserve it either!    I am not saying that we can live like the devil and have just as many prayers answered.  Just that when we ask, we need to understand that we are asking for a gift, not presenting an invoice for payment.
FB 11/14/22 Monday

​5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! [Psa 142:5-6 ESV]
These verses are from the same Psalm we looked at on Monday.  David is saying that the only help, the only refuge he has, is the Lord.  All others are against him.  It makes one wonder if this is the standard against which we ought to measure our own righteousness?  Could it be that if we don't feel oppressed on every side it means that our witness in the world is pretty weak?  If no one is telling lies to undermine our character does that mean our character is too low to make a difference anyway?  I'm not saying that IS the standard...but it might be.  There are also many New Testament verses that say the world will hate us...if it can tell we follow Jesus.  So...an easy, friendly life where we get along with everyone we know just might mean we need to up our game a bit.  It might be time to get more aggressive about our Christianity.  And just maybe this gives us some information about why so many of David's psalms are asking for refuge and protection, even though you would think a King was pretty safe.  Maybe his example was that much of a provocation to the unrighteous of his time.  Maybe our example ought to do the same?
FB 11/10/22 Thursday

​2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. [Psa 142:2 ESV]  In this psalm, David allows us to hear him pray.  I think David's prayers are good examples for us.  So like David, we are supposed to bring our troubles, even our complaints, to God.  As we read through the Book of Psalms, it seems that David must have been constantly opposed.  Many plotted to overthrown him and usurp his power.  We know that the evil hate the good, and never rest from trying to undermine them, push them out of power, and even to kill them.  Unfortunately for David, he made some bad mistakes that became public knowledge.  This gave his enemies many openings for for both direct attacks and propaganda to undermine his example.  It gave us many examples of how to pray through very difficult times.  The lesson is that god-fearing men must be as good as we possibly can be to keep these doors shut, or the Psalms of David will become our own.  And as instructive as David's prayers can be, we really don't want to be where David was when he prayed them!  
FB 11/7/22 Monday

​29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. [Psa 107:29-30 ESV].  I wonder if the apostles remembered this Old Testament Psalm the day they heard Jesus say "Peace be still" and they arrived safely at their destination?  The psalm is about the exodus from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the wandering in the wilderness.  It was God doing the miracles in the psalm.  Because only God could give orders to the sea..  But the apostles witnessed Jesus doing that same thing.  I never realized that Jesus calming the sea tied back so directly to the Old Testament, and should have established with certainty who he was.  No previous prophet ever did such a thing.  This should have told the apostles that Jesus was not just a man, not just a great prophet.  Jesus' calming the sea says emphatically and unmistakably that Jesus is God.  Was this verse from Psalms in Jesus' mind when he answered the Pharisees:  " 38 ...even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." [Jhn 10:38 ESV]?  Surely it was!  And surely we are as guilty as they were if we refuse to believe - despite the works.
FB 11/3/22

​25 He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. [Psa 105:25 ESV].  To those who were Egypt's slaves at this time, it would have been very difficult to realize that the hatred of their oppressors was part of the plan to set them free.  It is so very difficult with our short lifetimes and  our short time horizons, to discern God's plans, which cover generations, centuries, millennia.  We don't have the perspective for this kind of analysis if we are in the middle of it.  What we can have is the faith to accept whatever comes, no matter how unfathomable to us, knowing that it IS a part of God's plan, and that He is making us a part of it.
FB 10/31/22 Monday

3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. [Psa 101:3 ESV].  David wrote Psalm 101 about his commitment as King to His own King, the God of heaven.  In this third verse David commits to keeping his eyes on the prize.  And he cares little for those who turn away entirely from their commitment to God.  Surely this is a verse for our times with all the distractions that technology puts in our way.  How much of our time - our severely limited kingdom time - do we spend on FB, Twitter, TikTok...you know the list as well as I do, and I am so guilty of idling away hours at a time with no purpose at all in mind.  I don't think these things are "always" bad.  I think there are verses that tell us to relax, to enjoy our lives, our families and our leisure in great measure because our lives are so short.  But I think the line between relaxation and dissipation is in fact pretty easy to see - it's kind of like a big wide solid yellow line.  The problem here is not that we can't see the line, it's that we ignore it.  I really need to stop doing that!
FB 10/27/22 Thursday

​I found these two verses in my reading the other day.  They sounded very familiar:  11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. [Psa 91:11-12 ESV].  They sound familiar because they are the same verses Satan used to tempt Jesus in the desert as he started his ministry.  In Luke 4:10-11, Satan quotes these verses exactly as they are found in Psalms.  I wondered how they could be considered a temptation if they were an exact quotation?  It turns out that it is all about the context.  Satan "lifted" these two verses from Psalm 91, in an attempt to divorce them from that context and make them all about Jesus.  In fact, these verses won't be literally fulfilled until the Millennial, when Jesus is King on Earth.   And at that time, they will apply not to the Messiah, but to the Jews who worship him in that future time, to a people who will be virtually untouchable by disease, war, or enemies.  Satan wanted Jesus to "latch on" to these verses and claim them for himself.  Thing is, there were also some other promises in that Psalm...look at the last verse:  16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation." [Psa 91:16 ESV].  Long life...but Jesus knew he was on earth to die at the age of 33.  He knew that obedience to God would end in his death, not at a ripe old age but in his prime.  Had Jesus appropriated those two verses, and by reference the whole Psalm, he would have been saying "I claim long life, I refuse the cross."  This is what Satan wanted Jesus to do, this was his whole objective!  If Jesus had agreed, the cross would not have happened.   Be glad Jesus knew how the Psalm ended and recognized the deception for what it was!  Satan still uses Bible promises this way.  He takes them out of context and tells us that God is not keeping his promises to heal us, to destroy our enemies, to answer our prayers.  Satan leaves out the "take up thy cross" verses, and he leaves out the verses that say the world will hate us as it hated Jesus.  Those promises are in there too!  Bad things are going to happen in a world full of sin.  What we need to remember is that God promises to get us THROUGH - not AROUND - whatever good or bad comes our way.  Context matters!
FB 10/24/22

7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. [Rom 13:7 ESV].  Look at how far Paul goes with this.  He doesn't say pay taxes if they are fair, but pay them if you owe them.  (Revenue is translated "fees" in the NLT, and that makes more sense to us these days.  Think permits, licenses, and tolls.)  Then the last two - paying respect and honor where it is due.  Surely Paul means that we are to respect authority - respect the position - even if we don't much care for the person.  Paul was writing this to the Christians in Rome in about AD 56.  Nero became emperor in AD 54, and I see no way around the fact that Paul is saying Nero should be respected and honored BECAUSE he is emperor.  Just look back to vs 2 in this same chapter:  2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [Rom 13:2 ESV].  God put Nero in office as surely as he put Trump, Biden and (insert your least favorite politician's name here) in office.  I don't think this means we are to praise all politicians no matter what they do and I don't think this negates the freedom of speech that we are privileged to have in this country.  However, I do think it means we should temper what we say, to other people about elected politicians. I think it also means that we ought not propagate disrespectful, derogatory, or demeaning cartoons, memes, or posts about politicians we don't like.   We can disagree, but this says we are to disagree with the level of respect and honor due that office .  If we are Christians, we need to stop behaving as if we have a pass to ignore these verses.  At the end of this same chapter, Paul tells us what to do instead...Love your neighbor.  Focus on that.  I think he was redirecting the Roman Christians away from Nero-bashing and toward helping out the neighbors.  When I think about it, that does seem like a much more productive use of my time.
FB 10/20/22 Thursday
 

35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. 36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. 37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. [Psa 78:35-38 ESV].  When enough bad things happened to Israel as they wandered in the desert, they figured out that their "quality of life" was all up to Him.  Even though they "got it", they thought they could deceive Him and convince Him that they had repented and would become good little Israelites.  They said their prayers, they went to church, they sang the songs, they sacrificed the lambs.  What they did not do was change their hearts.  They were fine keeping all the rote and ritual because for them, all of that was a kind of lucky charm - a rabbit's foot - to keep the bad times away.  And even though they trivialized their worship, they still wanted all the blessings God had to give.  God saw through their deceit and their lies - of course - yet He kept his hand extended so that they might take it at any time.  Imagine the patience required to forgive such arrogance!  We need to realize that God has not changed.  Just because lightning doesn't strike doesn't mean God didn't see what we did all week.   Waking up in the morning doesn't mean God is proud of how we handled yesterday.  In my case, more often than not, it means he loves me more than I deserve and He wants to give me yet another chance to get it right.  We all need to stop thinking that church attendance or singing louder than everyone else can "fake God out" about who we really are.  That won't be successful.  Instead, we ought to take His hand, commit with our hearts, and submit to whatever He would have us do.    
FB 10/17/22 Monday

 

This verse I read a few days ago...that I'm sure I've read several times before...but somehow never really noticed before:  1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. [Rom 15:1 ESV].  Think of the implications!  Should strong Christians get twisted off on Sunday because some people are irreverent during the service?  Or because they are just too reverent and need to lighten up?  Do strong Christians get annoyed because some people raise their hands during the singing?   Or because they don't?  What about getting upset because the "young marrieds" with multiple toddlers and lots of "luggage" keep taking the closest parking spots instead of leaving them for us old folks?  And do really strong Christians get a little peckish because it is obviously disrespectful to wear...(just fill in whatever wardrobe choice annoys you the most)...to church!  Well...if I'm reading this verse right, it is the ones getting annoyed on Sunday that are in fact the weaker Christians.  Those others are "bearing with us and our long established "comfort zones".  But If we are truly the strong ones, it is not our choice but our OBLIGATION to overlook such things!  After all, they'll get better...just like we did!  See ya Sunday!
FB 10/13/22 Thursday

​Originally posted in July 2019.  Got to these same verses again today.  Consider the laws that have been passed in just those 3 years!  I thought this was worth a re-post.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? [Psa 94:20 ESV]
I'm pretty sure the answer to this one is a big obvious "No".
A few verses later, we find out what God is going to do about them:
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. [Psa 94:23 ESV]
I wouldn't want to be them.  And it's nice to know that it's not up to me to clean up our government.  I pray that the One who is cleaning it up will do so very soon.  In the meantime, I can rest, I can wait, because I know how this ends.
Originally posted 7/25/19.  Re-posted 10/11/22 Tuesday.
 

​3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. [Psa 73:3-5 ESV].  This Psalm is written by Asaph, but it could just as easily be David or Job.  All three of them complained about how well the evil were doing while they were hiding in caves or covered in sores.  We can all point to someone who is just not a very good person but is doing quite well.  Even if we don't know someone personally like this, surely we can all point to a politician somewhere in the world that fits the bill.  But we need to remember that we are not using a statistically valid sample.  I suggest that there are a lot of uncounted and wicked people out there who aren't doing nearly so well.  Unless you think prison is a great place to spend some time.  I suspect that not all the homeless people we see on the side of the road are good Christians down on their luck.  And I don't think you can make a case that good people are more likely than bad to get covid, cancer, or any other disease.  These statistics have not changed since Asaph's day.  If we find that there truly are more prosperous bad people then good it is only because the bad people outnumber the good by a wide margin.  It is not because God gives bad people a pass.  So what we need to do is stop whining about what others have and brag about what we have.  Asaph does get around to that by the end of this Psalm:  28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. [Psa 73:28 ESV].  Good advice for us all!
FB 10/10/22 Monday

 

The first words of Psalm 72 are "Of Solomon", telling us it is about him. This is called a coronation Psalm, and is believed to have been dedicated to the prosperity of Solomon early in his reign. Think of it as something read or sung during Solomon's coronation ceremony. Here are some things it says: 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! ... 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! ... 7 In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! ... [Psa 72:2, 4, 7 ESV]. Notice that these verses are not about the kind of man Solomon already is, but the kind of King the Psalmist is praying for him to be. We can use this as a guide to how we should pray for those who get elected come November - for ALL of them. I believe we all get a vote, but that God decides who gets elected. If God puts them there, then we surely ought to pray that they will lead according to the principles in Psalm 72.
FB 10/6/22 Thursday

​13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. [Psa 69:13 ESV].  David wrote Psalm 69.  If you read the whole thing, it is obvious that he was in a very low state of mind at the time.  He had strong enemies all around.  Not the kind of enemies who told lies about him, but the kind that plan to cut your brake line and then send you down a mountain.  David has prayed long and hard to be delivered from these enemies...but they are still around.  In the first 12 verses of this Psalm, David is complaining bitterly about this.  He argues that he has suffered enough and cannot take much more, so God needs to answer NOW.  But then we get verse 13.  David's attitude seems to change.  He stops the pity party and puts the timing into God's hands.  It is like he suddenly remembers God's loves for him.  With that, he realizes that what he's going through is God's plan for his life, and will work out for good in the end.  David realizes that the only "disconnect" between his prayers and God's answer is the timing.  If God can answer any prayer, why would we think he needs our help with the when?  This is how we ought to look at the prayers that we continually pray, the petitions that go unanswered year after year.  No matter how bad things seem, God's love and faithfulness never diminish, never change.  He will answer "at an acceptable time".  And because of that, we should never, ever, ever give up on a prayer.
FB 10/3/22 Monday

​5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God. [Psa 43:5 KJV].  Sometimes, the old King James Version just says it better.  This little verse is a prescription for those times when we are feeling isolated and alone, as if the whole world has gone crazy and we are the only ones left with any common sense.  The Psalmist prays for God to send the light to lead him to a place of worship where he can praise God.  Because we cannot remain alone while praising God.  We cannot be depressed and discouraged while praising God.  We cannot be anxious while praising God.  Praise is good medicine for getting our eyes back on the solution instead of on the problem.
FB 9/29/22 Thursday (there was no post on Monday).

1 Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. [Psa 37:1-2 ESV]. This Psalm seems to be written specifically for those times when we are "eaten up" with the injustice that seems to be increasing all around us. We see those who are laughing publicly at God's ways yet they just go right along, getting by as well as we do, or very often much better than we do. Many of them get re-elected, and we cannot imagine who is voting for them! So we get angry. We ask how it can be that we are so very good, and they are so very bad, yet they are better off. We are like Job in those chapters where he talks about the evil dying fat and happy in their beds while he sits and suffers from the sores. We know deep down that we ought not be thinking this way. Instead, we are to persevere in faithfulness, and look for God's purpose in our lives right where we are, in the circumstances where he has placed us. God promises that His justice will prevail in the end, not that our justice will prevail today. 28 For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. [Psa 37:28 ESV]. I think I'll bookmark Psalm 37...for the angry days.
FB 9/22/22 Thursday

1 To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD. Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. 4 He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil. [Psa 36:1-4 ESV].  How do you know if someone is truly wicked or just a sinner like the rest of us?  Here is insight into what goes on in the mind of the wicked, how they think.  They are motivated by transgression - it is their way.  They have no guilt about what they do, they believe their true character is beyond discovery - they consider themselves wolves in sheep's clothing.  We can never really know if this is how another person is thinking.  We can't read minds - but we can look for clues.  These verses do give us some outward, observable indicators to help us know what might be going on inside.  Listen to what they say - are they escalators or de-escalators?  Peacemakers or rabble-rousers?  Do they work at easing the burdens of others, or is it just a few things here and there for show?  Do they condemn perpetrators or do they laugh at victims?  David, as King, needed to recognize evil men so he could deal with them accordingly.  I think he is passing what he learned on to us because we need to recognize them also.
FB 9/19/22 Monday

7 You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. [Psa 12:7-8 ESV]
Think what is happening in the US is something new?  Not really.  The whole world is this way, always trending toward the evil instead of the good.  From Adam to Noah things just got worse and worse, until the flood - God's great reset.  After the flood, the world started down hill once again, and the verse above is how it was in David's time, about 2900 years ago, and it has only gotten worse.  We are headed toward another reset, and the Bible tells us that before it happens, things are going to get as bad as they were before the last reset.  That is what we're seeing - vileness is exalted.  In Noah's day, he and his family were taken "out of the world", and placed into the safety of the ark.  The next time, perhaps in our day, those who are saved - the Church  - will be taken out of the world straight into heaven.  Once that happens, things get even worse than in Noah's day because...how could they get better with not a single God-fearing person left on earth?  You don't want to be here when things get worse.  Here is the way out:  9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. [Rom 10:9-10 ESV].  Make an effort!  
FB 9/15/22 Thursday

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." [Psa 2:2-3 ESV]
Interesting that the civil authority on earth is shown as fully antagonistic toward and united in opposition to God. We can take this as the general state of governments. It was on this point that the US was different for a good long time. We were founded by men who believed in God and who saw themselves as subservient to judgment by the God of the Bible. I don't think, for the most part, that we can claim this anymore. And I think all our troubles as a nation are the result of this change of heart toward God on the part of our leaders...and after all, we elected them, and are just as much to blame as they are. This is not about whether we have Republicans or Democrats in charge. It is about whether God is in charge.
FB 9/12/22 Monday

​3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? [Psa 8:3-4 ESV]
And yet here I am, blessed as can be, doing very well.  God is good.
FB 9/8/22 Thursday, a birthday post.

​Just a little more on Job...The young man Elihu challenges Job's assertion that he might as well be evil as good. Job had shown that good things happen to bad people, and bad things to good people. Job asserted that good things happening to bad people is more often the rule than the exception - so be bad and live well. Elihu points out the gaping fallacy in this assertion. God is no more offended by the actions of evil men than he is impressed by the works of good men. God does NOT, in fact, run the world according to the actions of the people who live in the world. God runs things according to His own will and ways, which are beyond man's understanding. So why did Job suffer so much? We know from Chapter 1 that God considered Job a righteous man...but not a perfect man. Job had God all figured out, and that was a problem. We don't challenge our assumptions about God until something happens that "God would never do". We don't dig deeply into our assumptions until we are faced with evidence that they don't work. Difficulty, struggle, and injustice make us dig deeply into the WHY of our faith. Our faith is strengthened more when we are tested than when we are blessed. Job was tested to the limit of human faith so that he would take God out of the "box" he'd made for Him, and realize that NO box can contain God, nor can man ever comprehend the ways of God. Even though Job's assumptions about God were overturned, his faith never wavered. The lesson wasn't just for Job, but for all of us who puzzle over this story of a good man beset by evil. The lesson is that God is great and we are not. Furthermore, we ought not use earthly circumstances to measure spiritual stature. These two verses from the last chapter summarize the lesson: 3 '...I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ... 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." [Job 42:3b, 6 ESV], as should all of us who think we can judge God.
FB 9/5/22 Monday

37 For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God." [Job 34:37 ESV].  This is the summary statement that the young Elihu makes at the end of his critique of Job and Job's three friends.  Elihu has called Job a liar in this chapter for claiming that he has committed no sin worthy of so much suffering.  Elihu has said that if the standard is God's holiness, then Job HAS sinned.  Further, Elihu says that to argue with God about our circumstances, about our troubles, about our suffering is to elevate ourselves to God's own level because we are evaluating whether His judgments are fair.  Job has maintained all along that he has committed no sin to bring on his situation, and so therefore his calamity has no purpose.  Elihu suggests that perhaps all this was not about sin, but attitude.  Remember that this book starts with Satan charging that this "best of all men" on earth would curse God if he were not so blessed.  This was Satan's sin.  Satan believed himself equal to God, and believed he was treated unjustly by God's denying him equal standing.  God treated Satan "unfairly" so Satan rebelled, and cursed God.  Elihu sees that Job's attitude about current events is quite close to Satan's attitude.  Will Job make himself equal to God and declare God unjust, or will Job remain faithful in the face of incomprehensible suffering?  Satan's attack on Job is to justify his own actions.  God allows the attack to show that a man, though created a little lower than the angels, can remain faithful in the face of real injustice, and so prove to Satan that he is indeed flawed, and that God was right to deny him equality.  Perhaps all human suffering is allowed in order to make us question God, and show us that, perfect as we think we are, arrogance toward Him is hidden deep in our souls, and only through this kind of suffering can it be rooted out.  Only in this way can we begin to comprehend where we really stand in relation to the perfection of God.  And only then can we be truly submissive to His will.
FB 9/1/22 Thursday

​I am pretty good about asking God what to do...when I'm already in trouble.  Usually, I got myself into trouble by doing things my way.  I mean, I pray in the morning and then get on with my day.  I don't like to bother God with the light stuff.  The stuff I can handle.  But sometimes, this gets me into trouble.  So where is the line?  Asking AFTER I'm in trouble is too late.  Asking about every little thing is just nagging..so when?  In this Old Testament verse, David is praying:  8 And David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?" He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue." [1Sa 30:8 ESV].  While David and his men were away, raiders came and gathered up their wives, children and possessions and just took off with it all.  David and his men come home to an empty town.  What they should do is obvious.  Get some fresh horses and go get everything back!  But David doesn't yell "Let's get after them!"  He stops, asks God what the plan is, and THEN acts.  Not only does he get an answer, but God tells him he'll be successful.  If only I could learn to do that.  Turn left or right?  Go here first or there first?  The truth is, God already knows where he wants us to be every second of every day.  He's made all the decisions.  If we just do our thing we'll be WHERE we're supposed to be about half the time, we just won't know WHY we're there.  The other half of the time we'll just be wrong and get into trouble...which is how this post started.  Wouldn't it be better to ask, and be right MOST of the time?  And aren't we more likely to seize an opportunity and be successful if we KNOW that God sent us to that place at that time?  Won't we be more bold and more confident under those circumstances?  It all starts with "nagging" God for directions, even when the answer is painfully obvious.  
FB 8/29/22 Monday

10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." 11 And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. [1Ki 19:10-12 ESV].  In this familiar passage we find Elijah, feeling very put out because he is working hard to turn the people back to God, and for his trouble he is all alone, hiding in a cave, and people are trying to kill him.  So God sends him a message in the wind, the fire, and the earthquake.  Then that last, intriguing phrase.  What message was delivered to Elijah in that whisper?  Perhaps the message was "Here you are, safe in this cave I have provided.  Safe from marauding bands of thieves and murderers like the ones who stole Job's donkeys, oxen and cattle.  And here is wind, like the wind that took all Job's children, and here is fire, like the fire that took Job's sheep.  Job endured tremendous loss from all these things that have passed harmlessly by you, Elijah.  So tell me again why you are so put out?"  Maybe, when we get to feeling sorry for ourselves, we too ought to read that first chapter of Job, and then walk out the door of our safe and comfortable homes, and count our blessings instead of our problems.  Bet we'd all feel a lot better about things if we did that.
FB 8/22/22 Monday

I've been saving this one for an appropriate day.  But since I don't have anything else today, I decided to just post it now, and you'll see it again when the "right" day comes along.  "19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears." 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, [1Sa 13:19-20 ESV].  The Philistines (think "the government") had removed (murdered or imprisoned) all the blacksmiths (think gun and ammo manufacturers) from Israel so that no swords or spears (guns or ammo) could be produced and sold to the population of Israel.  Then the Philistine blacksmiths charged Israel a fee (taxed them heavily) to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes and so on.  These tools were necessary for survival in the agrarian world of that time, so Israel was forced to beg their government for the most basic tools of life.  The Philistines cared not a hoot whether Israel survived or not, they only cared about staying in power.  That's sort of the definition of "oppressive government" and it is still accurate today.  This whole idea of disarming the populace and then oppressing them has been popular for a very long time.  You would think everyone could see it coming a mile away by now.  But most don't.  I think the problem is that  so many people refuse to see that "disarmed" and "oppressed" are synonyms and insist that you can have one without the other.  You can't.
FB 8/15/22 Monday

6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the LORD. 7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people? [Jer 9:6-7 ESV].  In these verses, Jeremiah is telling us that Israel is rushing headlong away from God.  It isn't just that no one is looking for God, they are actively, aggressively pushing him out of everything.  If nothing changed, Israel was going to become a Godless nation.  But Israel as a nation was/is defined by "God-worship".  In those days, they were the only ones who did that.  They alone had the Law, the sacrificial system, the "strange" dietary laws and so on that were passed to them directly from God through Moses.  Israel was unique.  If they abandoned these things that defined them, they would become like the nations around them.  This is exactly what Satan wanted.  He wanted "God-worship" to become just a quaint memory from a bygone and superstitious time.  Satan wanted this because if he could completely remove God from Israel there would be no Israel, and God had promised Abraham that the Messiah would come from that nation.  If Israel fell, there would be no Messiah.  God couldn't let that happen, and that's why we have verse 7.  What was  happening in Israel was not just some kind of natural way of things, with people moving away from religion as their society advanced.  It was about God wanting to save the world and Satan doing his best to destroy it.  In those days, Satan's strategy was working well - so well that he is still using it today.  Surely verse 6 is a good description of where our country is going.  But verse 7 is not.  God made no promises to our Founding Fathers about preserving us even if we tried pushing Him out.  Likewise, God made no promises to Assyria or Babylon or Greece or Rome.  When nations abandon God, He abandons those nations, and those nations cease to exist.  This is what is on the line.  This is our motivation to pray, to witness, to work tirelessly to turn this nation back to God, before we end up just like the nations before us who abandoned Him.  
FB 8/11/22 Thursday

In 2 Chronicles 34, a priest finds the only remaining copy of the Books of Moses.  He takes them to King Josiah.  Josiah hears the words of the book, and is appalled at how far Judah has drifted from the Laws of God.  Josiah personally rededicates himself to follow God's Laws.  He inquires of God as to just how angry He is about this.  Here is God's answer:  25 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. [2Ch 34:25 ESV].  So it's over.  God has decided, and His mind will not change.  Even so, God says that because of Josiah's repentance, the disaster will not come in his lifetime.  Upon hearing this, Josiah calls all Israel together, reads the book to them, makes a public commitment to follow the words of the book, and demands that all his subjects do likewise.  He does this EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS it will not avert what is coming.  It is the same for us.  I often hear that if God does not bring down the US he will owe an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah - that we are past help.  And I hear people quoting 2Ch 7:14 and saying we need to pray all the time so that God will restore our nation.  So which is it?  Are we past help, or can we return to God and live?  I do not know.  But Josiah taught me this:  It doesn't matter anyway.  God's plan for this nation does not excuse us, those of us who confess Christ, from continuing to do the things God's word requires of us.  The standard for us does not go down just because others are plumbing ever greater depths of depravity.  It does not go down when our nation passes the point of no return.  Right now, today, we each need to focus on renewing  our own covenant with God and walking in all His ways.  That's our part.  His part is deciding which side of the line our country is on.
FB 8/8/22 Monday

​1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. [Mat 7:1 ESV].  This is a truly a well-known verse!  In fact, I bet more non-Christian non-church people know THIS verse than any other verse in the Bible except maybe John 3:16 - and that's a big maybe!  If, as a Christian, we say "That's wrong, and you shouldn't do it", we are likely to hear this verse in reply.  And it's true.  If we say "You've had enough alcohol, you should stop drinking" then we have made a judgment about another person.  If this verse really means never judge, then we should always let drunk people drive themselves home.  Obviously, that cannot be right, and that tells us that there is way more to this verse than what it seems to say on the surface.  I think what's needed here is some context.  It is never just about one verse.  Life is complicated, and we should expect God's instructions to apply to complicated situations.  Looking at only one verse can oversimplify things so much that we reach wrong conclusions.  This is one of those verses.  Here is some context and...it's in the very next verse:  2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. [Mat 7:2 ESV].  Verse 2 tells us what verse 1 really means.  It is easy to see that verse 2 presumes that we WILL judge and tells us in advance how that's going to go!   Verse 2 says that if we judge fairly, others will judge us fairly.  If we judge harshly, then others will be harsh towards us.  The two verses together don't say "never judge", they say "when you judge, do it so that others see the justice in it and agree with you instead of judging you right back".  There's a big difference between "You're a drunk, and should stop drinking", and "You've had six drinks, don't you think that's enough for tonight?".    And now we see that verse 1 is oversimplified so that we can easily memorize it and bring it to mind.  And when it pops up, it unpacks a lot of material on just how a Christian should judge when it is necessary to do so.  In English, there are seven words to memorize.  In Greek, there are only five words, and they are sort of a little rhyming poem, even easier to remember.  So when someone throws this verse at you, don't think "Oh, I should not have judged", think "Was I fair in my judgment".  But have no doubt at all that the Bible expects us to judge, so long as we are not mean about it.  And yes, I am preaching to myself with this one!  Thanks for reading along!
FB 8/4/22 Thursday
P. S.  In Greek, and transliterated as best I can, since I do not speak Greek, vs 1 says "may crin-eh-tee hinna may crin-ay-tee".  I am not sure which syllable in the "crin" words has the accent...but it still rhymes so long as you put it in the same place in each word.

​King Jehoshaphat decides to help Ahab, King of Israel and a thoroughly evil man, in his battle against Syria.  The battle goes badly and Ahab is killed but Jehoshaphat escapes and makes it home to Jerusalem.  When he arrives, he is given a personal message:  2 But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD. [2Ch 19:2 ESV].  This is the kind of news that very often means really bad things are about to happen.  But there is more to the message:  3 Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God." [2Ch 19:3 ESV].  God takes into consideration the previous good that Jehoshaphat had done, and sort of balances that against the terrible decision to join Ahab.  God recognizes that Jehoshaphat has made a mistake, but has not for a moment turned his back on serving God.  I think there are a couple of lessons here.  First, no matter how much verifiable, documented good we have done, we can still make devastatingly bad decisions.  We should never assume that we have reached a place where all our decisions are beyond question.  Second, Jehoshaphat shows us how to respond to God's correction.  He does not get angry and throw the prophet in prison - as other Kings had done.  He does not retire to his chamber depressed for months as his nation declines for lack of leadership.  And he certainly does not give up trying to be good because it is just too hard.  In fact, the rest of this chapter details the good that Jehoshaphat does for the rest of his life.  It starts like this:  4 Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. [2Ch 19:4 ESV].  This King responded to God's reprimand by recognizing that he'd made a mistake, putting that behind him, and getting back to doing things right.  I suspect, though it isn't recorded, that he also doubled down on never making such a mistake again.  We too ought to respond to our mistakes not by looking back at our error, but with renewed effort to do things right from here on.  
FB post for 8/1/22 Monday.

​8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." [Jhn 12:8 ESV].  I've often heard this verse quoted, but never really appreciated the context.  Jesus spoke these words directly to Judas as Mary was annointing Jesus' feet with an expensive perfume.  Judas says this is a terrible waste because so many poor could be helped by selling it and distributing the money.  Jesus knows that Judas is really just a petty thief who has no regard at all for the poor.  So we get the verse above, where Jesus makes it clear that he knows Judas' true intentions.  Jesus tells Judas that the poor will still be there next week...because Judas isn't really planning to turn them into rich people.  But Jesus won't be there next week, because Judas does plan to betray him to the Pharisees.  Jesus makes this statement for all to hear, but it is certainly addressed specifically to Judas.  Jesus is telling Judas that he knows the truth.  None of us can keep who and what we really are from Jesus.  Judas had been walking and talking with the Light of the World for three years, and thought he had everyone fooled.  He must have grown more confident each day as he harbored evil inside him and no one called him out.  But he was not fooling Jesus, nor can any of us.    It is not how we act or what we do or where we go to church that sends us to heaven or hell.  It is how we answer Jesus.  I think Jesus' words here were an offer of salvation to Judas, even at this late date, just a week before the betrayal.  It was the same offer he makes to us:  "I know what you are but you can still come to me and you can still be saved."  I think Judas knew exactly what message Jesus was sending, and he looked Jesus right in the eye, and rejected that offer.  It was the last chance Judas ever had.  Don't be like Judas.  Don't say no to Jesus!  
FB 7/28/22 Thursday

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" [Jhn 9:1-2 ESV].  We all know this story.  Jesus puts mud on this man's eyes and sends him to a certain place to wash it off.  The man does so, and for the first time in his life, he can see.  This guy was just standing there, probably in his usual begging place, blind, and with no thought of that ever changing.  After all, no one born blind had ever been "cured".  So he is standing there, and a chance - in this case I think it is fair to say his only chance ever - just showed up.  What happens then?  Jesus does something for this man.  Jesus makes this mud and puts it on the blind man's eyes.  Jesus does his part.  But then he tells the man to go and do.  Faith was required of the blind man, and he had to follow the instructions.  Had he gone into some nearby house to wash the mud off, he'd still be blind.  Had he gone to the Jordan River, he'd still be blind.  There was only one place where he could wash - the place Jesus named.  The blind man didn't stand there arguing that there should be many ways to cure blindness, and that some other way seemed better to him.  He went as directed and washed.  He put action to faith, and for his trouble, he gained sight that he had NEVER BEFORE POSSESSED!  THAT is why it is important to note that this man was born blind.  We are like the blind man.  We are all born unsaved.  Like him, we cannot save ourselves  nor can anyone we know save us.  At some point, Jesus shows up in our lives and says "I did this for you - I died on a cross and rose from the dead.".  Like the blind man, we must be open to this unlikely cure.  We must understand that there are not many ways, there is only this one chance.  I'm sure the blind man wondered what possible good having mud on his eyes would do, just as many are skeptical that the cross can have any effect today.  Jesus also tells us what we must do.  Here -  24 ...unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." [Jhn 8:24 ESV]; and again here - 1 "...Believe in God; believe also in me. [Jhn 14:1 ESV].  So we must have faith that belief alone can cure, and then we must truly believe.  This is salvation.  If we do this, then like the blind man, our eyes will be opened.  We will see what we have never seen before, and it will change us for life.  
FB 7/25/22 Monday

​2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [Rom 8:2 ESV].  I have always read through this verse pretty quickly and moved right on.  To me, this was always a contrast between the New Testament and the Mosaic Law.  It just meant that we no longer have to sacrifice bulls and goats and that it is ok to eat bacon (yay!).  Our teacher at church last night, though, showed us that it means much more than that.  We aren't just set free from the Mosaic Law, but from all the rules and laws and requirements that we "make up" for ourselves, and by which we grade ourselves.  We all have these rules.  Rules like "I have to read 3 chapters in my Bible every day, wear a suit and tie to church, and if I want to be a really good Christian, I have to stop at stop signs, even in my own neighborhood.  If I do these things, I can congratulate myself at the end of the day for being a good, law abiding, spiritual Christian...even though I didn't do a single thing God had planned for me that day.  Those were my rules I followed.  My rules don't make me better.  This verse says that the Spirit frees us from all that.  We can load ourselves up with rules to follow, rules that chain us up so tightly that we have no freedom at all to act as the Holy Spirit guides us, to go where he sends us, to praise when he fills us.  So today, let's leave the chains at home, take one step at a time, and listen for directions instead of just following rules.
FB 7/21/22 Thursday

26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. [Pro 25:26 ESV].  This is a message for our times.  We are being asked to accept the unacceptable, but more than than, to accept it and praise it.   We are being told not to oppose sin because only hate- and fear-filled people have a problem with sin.  We are being told that sin is an outdated concept.  We are being told that no one has a right to say "That's wrong".  These are all lies straight from the father of lies.  God's word is clear that if we just sit down and shut up as we're being told to do, then we will lose our witness.  The consequences will be that many who might have been saved by our example will also be lost.  Our job, as Christians, is to keep the water clean...because it is the water of life.
FB 7/18/22 Monday

4 And along with them, by their generations, according to their fathers' houses, were units of the army for war, 36,000, for they had many wives and sons. 5 Their kinsmen belonging to all the clans of Issachar were in all 87,000 mighty warriors, enrolled by genealogy. [1Ch 7:4-5 ESV].  What this means is that all 87,000 men in the tribe of Issachar - all related to each other, all "family" - were ready and willing to go to war whenever the nation of Israel needed them to do so.  Now can you imagine in our day how much a whole county full of related families  would have at stake in a battle with another country?  Can you imagine ALL the men in ALL the families in that county going out together to fight a war?  How common would their values need to be, how much in agreement as to the need for battle and the justness of the cause for battle would they have to be?  What kind of a leader would it take for all these diverse families to send ALL their men to serve under that leader?  How much more powerful was this army from the tribe of Issachar than anything any nation can put on the field today?  Unity is the measuring rod by which the true strength of a nation ought to be measured.  Now think about the US in our time.  Hold this yardstick up and measure what this country was 100 years ago, 200 years ago, compared to how we measure up today.  100 years ago, if two Americans met on the street, what was the chance that they agreed on God and country and right and wrong compared to the chances that two strangers meeting on that same street today would agree on these fundamentals.  This is why we are seeing the signs of degeneration all around us that we are seeing today.   The loss of widespread internal unity is an unmistakable sign of the degeneration of a country.  If we want to "repair" this country, we need to return to the core beliefs upon which this country was built.  We need to be, once again, one nation under God.  That's why Issachar could field such an army.
FB 7/14/22 Thursday

32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. [Jhn 3:32-33 ESV]  I have never really thought of Jesus as "bearing witness".  Jesus was a flesh and blood man, but a man who came from heaven, had been in the presence of God, and knew firsthand God's thoughts and plans.  He came down to earth to say "Hey, all this scripture stuff about a God in heaven is real, and I know that because I came from there and I have seen it myself!"  No one else can say that.  Jesus was a unique kind of preacher.  What Jesus knew of God was not revelation through scripture, but first hand knowledge.  Only the Son of God could claim such a thing, and THAT is why belief in Jesus is saving.  To believe the witness is to believe what he testifies about.
FB 7/7/22 Thursday

​25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever. [Pro 10:25 ESV]
Think our country is in a horrible mess, and the good guys are losing right and left?  Be encouraged.  Maybe this is God's storm, sent to wash away the wicked.  Survival lies in being righteous, in remaining righteous through the storm.  This verse is short and sweet.  There's no need to overthink it!
FB 7/4/22 Monday

4 They will say...For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." [2Pe 3:4 ESV]. Does that verse, written in 68 AD or so, sound anything like this statement I found on the internet the other night: Uniformitarianism..."This theory states that the forces and processes observable at earth’s surface are the same that have shaped earth’s landscape throughout natural history." If so, then Peter predicted what Charles Lyell would write in his "Theory of the Earth" in 1795 as a fundamental principle of Geology. Peter continued with: 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, [2Pe 3:5 ESV]. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Peter seems to be saying that the heavens - stars, galaxies, and so on - existed and went about their business for a very long time while the earth was just a water covered ball. That would mean that today's geological processes only began on earth when God decided to convert it to a place fit for the men, animals, and so on that he planned to create here. I've heard of the Gap Theory that inserts millions or billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 to resolve the apparent age of the earth according to Geology with its age according to Biblical genealogies. But Peter seems to be saying that the real gap comes BEFORE Gen 1:1. In that case, history does not begin in Genesis. What Genesis begins is the history of God's work on earth - a very different concept. I am not saying such a theory resolves everything, but it might resolve some pretty big problems. What I am saying is that it is more than a little interesting that Peter - an uneducated fisherman from Galilee - was already offering at least a partial rebuttal to Charles Lyell about 1700 years before Lyell was even born. How can anyone not give a lot of points to Peter on getting there first!
FB 6/30/22 Thursday

Jesus goes into a synagogue on the Sabbath and finds a man with a withered hand along with a lot of good church folks.  Jesus takes a look at the guy's hand, looks around at the congregation, "4 And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent." [Mar 3:4 ESV].   There are also a number of other stories of Jesus "working" on the Sabbath, and he always defends himself about it.  I have often thought these stories meant that sometimes it is ok to break the rules, even God's rules, if it is for a noble enough purpose.  But that just can't be right.  If that was right, then when Jesus went ahead and healed this man's hand, he broke the Sabbath, but for a noble purpose.  So...that would mean that Jesus sinned, and the lesson would be that we can too, if it's for a good enough reason.  See where that interpretation leads?  This cannot be what is meant because the rest of the Bible makes it clear that sin is NEVER ok, no matter what the reason!  So what Jesus is demonstrating, as I see it now, is not that sometimes wrong is ok, but that doing the right thing is never against God's rules!  He is saying it was never a sin to do what was good or necessary on the Sabbath.  He was making the point that the Pharisees had so perverted what this rule was about that you couldn't even heal a broken man on God's day.  As if God ever wanted to restrict healing the injured to the other six days.  What a ludicrous way to look at that rule!  But before we start nodding our little knowing nods about the Pharisees, it might be a good idea for all of us to do some thinking about the "rules" we're most passionate about, and see if maybe our rules are keeping someone from the good things God wants for them!
FB 6/27/22 Monday

​26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? [Luk 12:26 ESV].  Some interesting things about this little verse...the small thing we're talking about is either adding a single hour to our lives or a single cubit to our stature, depending on which version you're reading.  Believe me, if being 18" taller was easy, I'd be 18" taller!  I think most of us would agree that the easier of these to do is adding the hour to our lives.  At first I thought that was about dieting, exercising, vitamin supplements and so on just don't really do anything for us.  But in context, this is about worry.  So we can't add an  hour by worrying...about our diet, the 5 miles we didn't walk, or the vitamin we forgot to take.  Worrying about that stuff won't help - once we mess it up, it's water under the bridge.  And if worrying about the pill we forgot won't help, then how much good will worrying about the 2nd amendment, global warming, or gas prices do?   Not one bit!  We have even less control of those things!  So fill out the form, and either buy a Tesla or fill 'er up...and then get on with the day.  We'll all be a lot happier this way!   
FB 6/22/22 Thursday

​In 2 Samuel, David is on the run again, this time hurrying out of his palace in Jerusalem.  He is leaving because his own son has declared himself King, and is seeking to kill him.  As David and his men are hurrying along, a man loyal to the previous King begins to curse David and throw rocks at David and his men.  I expect he was throwing the largest rocks he could find.  Try to Imagine David's state of mind - a King pushed off the throne by a favorite son and forced to run like a criminal.  Those who had chosen to flee with him were also facing a very difficult future.  In fact, their loyalty to David might well cost them their lives.  These people are all in a very dejected state of mind.  Some are very angry about the situation.  And into all this comes some nobody with an old axe to grind, cursing and throwing rocks at them.  So one of David's military commanders steps up and asks David's permission to behead the "dead dog" that is throwing the rocks.  Here is David's reply:  "It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” 2 Samuel 16:12 ESV.  That just brings me to a complete halt!  The man with the rocks was in the wrong.  He was throwing rocks at God's anointed.  He was denigrating David personally and the office of King of Judah generally.  David has more than enough resources to teach this guy a very short and brutal lesson in respect.  But David is not thinking of things from a worldly point of view.  David is thinking about what God might do in this situation.  David is thinking that God might choose to reward him for shouldering the wrongful curses and painful rocks and that any reward God might give him will far outweigh the dishonor poured out by the rock thrower.  So David sets aside the justice he deserves for himself and chooses to endure the events God is allowing to take place.  In the same way, Jesus chose to endure injustice, to suffer and die when he had done no wrong, because he judged the eternal reward he would receive from God of far greater value than the suffering of the cross.  Because Jesus chose to endure suffering, shame and death, God chooses not only to withhold justice from the sinful world that murdered his Son, but also to offer us salvation.  Through Jesus, He offers us not only a full pardon but the reward of eternity in heaven with Him.  Jesus, like David before him, was far more concerned with eternal reward than transient physical circumstances.  We would all be better off if we would count insults and dishonor in this world as harbingers of reward in the next, and leave vengeance to the Lord.
FB 6/20/22 Monday

​6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed." ... 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, 'I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.' [1Sa 24:6, 10 ESV].  The last two posts have been difficult - urging prayer for and submission to awful, ungodly leaders.  Here is something that helped me with that.  In the verses above, each place where the English word "anointed" is used, it is the translation of the Hebrew word "masiah".  Try reading these verses that way...try thinking of Saul as "the LORD's masiah", or "for he (Saul) is the LORD's masiah".  As nearly as I can tell, the title masiah is used of Saul in the OT far more than it is used in prophecies about Jesus.  That word to which we attach great reverence was actually a pretty common every day word in Saul's time.  Reading it as "Saul, the LORD's masiah" makes me cringe - but that's what it really says in Hebrew!  When I do read it this way, I get a much better sense of why David refused to kill Saul.  That finally begins to make some sense.  What if we apply this title to our leaders?  Will we be so quick to speak against them, to criticize them, to call for their removal?  Depending on your politics, try saying "Joe Biden, the LORD's masiah" or "Donald Trump, the LORD's masiah".  Because here's the thing - both of those statements either were or are true, according to this verse: 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. [Rom 13:1 ESV].  Difficult as it may be, our politics ought not override our Bibles.  We ought to pray for every one of our leaders.  Every one.  Tough lessons here.
FB 6/16/22 Thursday

​6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed." [1Sa 24:6 ESV]  Saul, a demonstrably evil and mentally  unstable monarch, is intent on the murder of David.  He has murdered others in pursuit of this goal.  Yet David refuses to kill Saul when opportunity presents itself because God set Saul on the throne.  I don't think we are meant to identify leaders only as those on whom a prophet has poured some oil.  If they are in power, God put them there.  If God put them there, it is not for us to remove them.  But we can argue from this whole episode that David is also not "turning himself in" to this evil King.  David is on the run.  He has gone into hiding and is evading the anointed King's evils intentions.  I would liken this to the underground church in Rome during the time of persecution and churches today in countries where Christianity is actively opposed by the government.  Their actions are technically illegal, but they don't all march  down to the jail and surrender.  I think the lesson for us is that while direct action against those in power is not ok, it IS ok to passively resist evil, even when perpetrated by an anointed leader.  I think this lesson is timely because it is quite possible that overt persecution in this country is right around the corner.  Christians may well be hated, as Saul hated David, without reason or logic.  Our best strategy in that case  is to avoid the persecutors, to live peaceably, and to hide in God's own protection.  It is NOT walking into the hands of the haters.  It is not organizing an uprising.  It is showing by every action that we are not a physical threat to those in power.  It is waiting for God to release us - or for martyrdom.  Here is the rule, in so many words, just as David stated it:  12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. [1Sa 24:12 ESV]
FB 6/13/22 Monday

18 Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and strike the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. [1Sa 22:18-19 ESV]  The King here is Saul, during the time he was trying to kill David.  Saul learns that Ahimelech, the leader of the priests of Nob, once gave David food and weapons.  In his irrational rage about a long ago event, Saul orders that not just Ahimelech, but all his family be executed.  But that is not enough for Saul.  He also orders that all the residents of Nob - men, women, and children  - also be summarily killed.  Guilty just for living in the same town as Ahimelech.  This is not a good story.  We are appalled at such depravity.  We are angry at God for allowing such injustice.  We wonder how we can learn anything from such a horror story.  Maybe one thing we can learn is that we ought not judge a culture of 3000 years ago, where kings had unlimited power over life and death, by the standards of our own time.  What Saul did to his perceived enemies was the way all Kings treated their enemies at that time.  That doesn't make it "right" even back then, but it was not an isolated act.  We should also notice that Saul is saturated with sin by this time, with hate and resentment and jealousy unchecked, and these were the major factors in his actions.  We should see Saul is an example of the depravity of which man is capable.  Perhaps this story is here to show us the evil that sin combined with unlimited power can bring?  Were Hitler, Stalin, and Mao so very different from King Saul?  How many children did these men kill?  In fact, they make Saul's murders seem trivial by comparison.  Aren't we kidding ourselves that man has changed so very much for the better since Saul's time? And perhaps the biggest lesson we ought to learn is in this verse:  1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [1Ti 2:1-3 ESV].  There is little wiggle room here.  No matter what, we ought to pray for our leaders - every one of them - even leaders like Saul.  If we will not, if we find it revolting to do so, we must realize that we are disobeying God's command - which is sin - and so indirectly participating in the evil of such men.  We ought to pray for God to save our leaders who are lost.  We ought to pray that God will change them from the inside out.  And if He will not, we need to pray that He will keep them from pursuing the kind of evil that old King Saul pursued.
FB 6/9/22 Thursday

​2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. [Mat 7:2 ESV].  I don't know about you but this verse hits me pretty hard.  I should probably have this on the sun visor in my car so I can see it every time I "judge" others on their driving skills.  If we take this verse seriously...and why would we not...then we (I) might want to lighten up just a little bit.  This verse doesn't mean that if we judge other drivers God will judge our driving.  I think the first part of this verse means that if we are harsh and vindictive and vengeful - even downright mean - about the mistakes of others, God will apply those same attitudes to us when we make mistakes.  From the other direction, proactively, we ought to work on judging others as we want God to judge us.  Do we want Him to recognize that even though we lose our tempers over a trivial matter and do or say something quite stupid that we feel bad about that, and wish it hadn't happened?  Don't we want God to take our repentance into account before he judges us?  I think we see God's example of the right way to judge in His treatment of Israel.  Think about how very often Israel messed up completely and yet how often He gave them another chance after they repented and turned back to him.  This attitude toward offenders does not sync very well with our culture today.  Trying to judge others in this way is a tall order.  A good way to work on it is to note that this is a short verse, easy to memorize and bring to mind as we go through the day.  If we can train our minds to think of this verse when we're offended, instead of hitting the horn or yelling at a loved one,  how much difference would that make?
FB 6/6/22 Monday

​13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me." [Rth 1:13 ESV]  Naomi's bitterness is not because of her own poor lot in life.  She is well aware of her situation, but isn't feeling bad for herself at all.  She isn't depressed about her life.  She is moving on, anticipating whatever God has in store for her.  She wants a better life, not for herself but for her daughters-in-law, who have become collateral damage from Naomi's hardships.  Even at such a time, facing the hardships of a long journey and life as a childless widow, her main concern was for those who'd been kind to her and to her sons.  This is the key to maintaining our faith when things are rough.  We ought not turn our thoughts inward and dwell on our own hardships, but look outward, and look for ways to help others who are suffering also. I am convinced that if we focus on making things better for others we can better cope with our own circumstances.

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. [Rth 1:6-7 ESV]
Naomi decides to go "home" because God is there, and she's heard He is taking care of His people there.  She believes that even though her connections with that country have grown dim with time that being in the vicinity of people whom God is blessing will have benefits for her also.  In those days, travel was a very dangerous thing for anyone.  It's not like they had freeways, or highway patrols, or even local sheriffs to keep the roads safe.  For three women traveling alone, this was a very very perilous journey.  Naomi judged the benefits of proximity to the people of God worth the risks involved in getting to them.  Maybe it is a big step to get ourselves back in church after being gone for many  years. Maybe we worry about the fallout from friends and family if we try to break from a life with no real purpose and go back to a place where we were once fulfilled and at home.  Back to a place where all seemed right.  The perils of the road are real, but the possibility of being welcomed back into the presence of God's people, and the sharing of God's blessings on them, is worth those risks. In Naomi's case, the risks turned out not to be as serious as she imagined.  It is always worth risking the dangers of the road in order to get home.  So make a plan, get packed, and take that first step toward home.

In Luke 3 we see the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist.  Here is the short version of his message:  "8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham."   [Luk 3:8 ESV]  John warned them that being Jewish was not sufficient for salvation.  He told them that if they were truly the children of Abraham, it would show in their lives.  And he did not mean it would show in the number of bulls they sacrificed.  John taught that personal behavior mattered and more than that, was the real litmus test for followers of God.  He taught that following ritual like you would follow a recipe would never change anyone or get anyone into heaven.  So they asked him what would?    11 And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." [Luk 3:11 ESV].  John does not give them some elaborate new way of offering sacrifices.  He does not tell them to attend synagogue three days a week instead of just two.  And he did not mean that good deeds, rather than multiple sacrifices, were the way to heaven.  He meant that the most fundamental aspect of Godly behavior - and the proof of salvation - is not what you do in church, but in what you do elsewhere.  The fruit of repentance is showing God's love to others.  We too can get caught up in the ritual of worship and pat ourselves on the back because we do Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night so very very well.  But we all need to remember that those other five days are full of opportunity to take the plenty we got at church and share it with those who have nothing.

There was also a third group at the crucifixion:  Those who were crucified with him also reviled him." [Mar 15:32b ESV]  Let's just call this group  "the two thieves".  These knew Jesus, too, like the other two groups.  But these actively hated him.  They hated him because he told them they were thieves and that thieving was wrong.  They hated him for daring to suggest that they could do better.  Who did he think he was, anyway?  Most of all, they hated Jesus because he told them they were sinners condemned and their future was eternity in the fire.  We have seen that we are like the first two groups, but these are condemned criminals!  Are we also like them?  Well, we're all like one or the other of them.  One of them vented his own problems at Jesus right up until the moment he died.  He never saw his own faults, was never sorry for his sins, and so never repented.  He died in his sin and is now in hell.  Need I say that we don't want to be like this one?  The other thief, though, saw the truth in Jesus' pain.  This hating, despising, angry thief had a better understanding of salvation than the passersby or the devoutly religious.  Why?   Because this thief had no illusions about who and what he was.  He was a sinner, an adversary of God, and he was nailed to a cross beyond all ability to save himself.  But he did recognize that salvation was right there in front of him, nailed to that next cross.  This thief didn't care if Jesus had really done the miracles.  Nor was he ever going to learn how to worship the correct way.  And he didn't care whether or not Jesus could get down off that cross.  This thief knew those were not the really crucial things anyway.  What mattered was that an innocent man was willing to die for the crimes of others - for HIS crimes - to keep him out of hell.  And this thief begged for salvation from the one man who would and could do something like that.  We too need to be real with ourselves about who and what we are, about which thief we are.  We need to stop debating about whether he healed the sick or they just got better, and realize that our only hope, our only salvation, didn't come down from the cross because he CHOSE to stay there and die.  He chose that to give us our one chance to live - through belief in him and what he did for us.  Be like the second thief!  Believe, and ask Jesus for salvation.
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Here's the next group of people who attended the crucifixion of Jesus:  31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself.  32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe..." [Mar 15:31-32a ESV]
Let's call this second group the devoutly religious, and I use this phrase in its worst possible connotation.  Like the passersby, these also knew who Jesus was and what he stood for.  These also went to synagogue every week...and ran the services!  These were true insiders.  They were also fixated on rituals and rules.  They saw Jesus' message of an easy yoke and a light burden as a "loose" way of doing things.  To the chief priests and scribes, the harder it was to do, the more holy you were for doing it that way.  So they'd made rules that only they could obey, and they'd made errorless compliance the only way to heaven.  To the devoutly religious, Jesus was a trouble maker.   Aren't we glad we are not like them!?  In our day, these would be the ones who are all about Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.  To be a good Christian, you need that much church and that's all the church you need!  Hymns, choir specials, and an occasional solo are ok, but anything beyond that is entertainment, not church.  We all know that those who wear suits and ties are more holy than the casual open collar types.  Dresses, and only dresses, are appropriate for the ladies, and these will reach mid-knee if your morals are up to par.  There are no verses that back up these "rules", but there is long-standing tradition.  I don't know about you, but I laugh at such rules...until it is my favorite rule that gets walked on!  Then I get "devoutly religious"!!!  Jesus DID make radical changes to the religious practice of his day.  But we have to remember that Jesus NEVER tried to change the God-given principles that had endured - and still endure - thousands of years later.  Jesus didn't tell us how to have church.  He told us to love God and our neighbors and do the right thing.  Doing these three is far more important than sacrificing bulls or wearing ties.  After Jesus died, the chief priests and scribes went happily back to their stifling traditions, to ritual without feeling, and they felt good about that.  Instead, I hope we can look forward to the next "event" at church that was not predicted in the bulletin, and focus on worship and service to others rather than tradition!!!

The gospel of Mark relates the story of the crucifixion in chapter 15.  The reactions of three different groups of people are described.  Here is the first group:  "29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" [Mar 15:29-30 ESV]  Let's call this first group the passersby.  These knew who Jesus was.  They'd heard about him.  They'd heard the claims of his healing and his extraordinary teaching.  They'd heard others call him King and Messiah.  They surely knew people who's lives had changed because of Jesus.  But they maintained a healthy measure of skepticism. Thy just never quite bought in to all those claims.  Some said he'd even brought dead people back to life.  Now that had to be an exaggeration.  And now, as they walk by the cross, they nod knowingly and think how they were right all along.  He claimed great things, but the Romans made short work of him.  This would never happen to the true Messiah.  And the healings?   Well after all, sometimes  people just get well don't they?   He was no one of any real consequence after all.  His death, to them, proved that his claims were invalid.  Isn't it easy to shake our heads at them for their ignorance?  But think about this...those passersby were probably regular attenders at the synagogue.  The probably took their lambs to the temple at Passover every single year.  I think if we're hones we all have a bit of the passerby in us.  We say on Sunday that we believe Jesus did all those miracles, but do we believe we can pray for one and it will happen?  Or do we just pray and hope, without really believing?  We think he is coming back, right, this very same Jesus?  But...it's been over 2000 years, so probably won't be today, or really any time soon.  I mean, statistically, odds are long.  So there's really mo reason for urgency in telling others - very best friends, immediate family, distant relatives, least of all strangers - anything about him.  It'll wait.  After all, it's not like hell is yawning before us.  Truth is, we all have at least a little bit of the passerby in us.  And we really need to work on that, and grow some faith, and be bold in our witness - before it is too late for those we should have told!

Some verses about the consequences of spilling innocent blood:
"13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ... 16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD." [2Ki 21:13, 16 ESV]
"3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon." [2Ki 24:3-4 ESV]
"36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood." [Psa 106:36-38 ESV]
I think all these, and certainly the last one, are about human sacrifices.  What is a human sacrifice, exactly?  It is taking the life of another in the belief that doing so will make your own life better.  That is the motivation.  How is that not what abortion is about?  Isn't it, with very few exceptions, ending the life of an unborn child so the mother of that child can have a "better" life?  Ending this practice of human sacrifice is what we are praying for, so that we as a nation don't get wiped as a dish, removed from His sight, and continue to live in a land polluted with blood.  We are no different than the people in the verses above, and should expect the same fate.

​"42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." [Mar 9:42 ESV]  These words from Mark 9 are in red, spoken by Jesus.  If Jesus considered it a heinous crime just to cause a child to sin, what must of he think of those who kill children in the womb?  What must he think of a whole country that makes such a thing the law of the land?  As a country - no...as individual states - a chance to correct a very great wrong is nearly within our grasp.  But make no mistake.  The powers of this world will be working as never before to stop this from happening.  We need to be praying not just daily but constantly for God to protect those who can put decisions about abortion back into the hands of  His people.  This is not over.  A leaked opinion is not an official ruling.  Pray for the protection of the Justices of the US Supreme Court.  Pray for their safety, pray for their determination, pray for wisdom.  Pray for all of them.

​Here is another aspect of the events that took place in Meribah, after Israel turned back from entering Canaan in Numbers 20.  Let's consider Moses' state of mind at this time.  To understand Moses thinking, we need to go back to these verses in Number 14, right after the people have heard the report of giants, fortified cities, and large armies ahead of them in Canaan:  "1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."" [Num 14:1-4 ESV]  In these verses, the people decide they prefer a return to Egypt over war with Canaan, and they are planning to just oust Moses and elect their own leader to take them back to slavery.  So God sends them back out into the desert.  Surely Moses, like the people, was feeling very low at this point.  After all, Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb believed.  But since no one else did, these four faithful men would endure the same 40 year delay as the unfaithful.  Surely Moses would have been especially angry and upset with the people.  At the very door of deliverance, they had rebelled again, failed again, and blamed for all of it again.  Instead of Canaan, they get 40 years of unfulfilling, purposeless wandering, with Moses right up front having to  listen to their constant whining and bickering and blaming for another 40 years.  And while in this state of mind, considering these prospects, Moses struck the rock rather than speak to it as God commanded, and made clear his displeasure with the way God was running things.  And look at what indulging in that pity party cost him!  Self-pity is a horribly dangerous state of mind for a faithful Christian, and if it could happen to Moses, it could certainly  happen to us!  We need to constantly guard against this, we need friends that will warn us when we're doing it, and we need to figure out how to pull out of it when we find ourselves indulging in it!

​"12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."" [Num 20:12 ESV].  I have always been puzzled by the seeming harshness of the consequences imposed on Moses and Aaron for striking the rock and not just speaking to it.  What was it that Moses did so wrong that it cost him Canaan?  He'd brought water out of a rock before, at Marah back in Exodus, by striking it.  Why did God tell him to do it differently this time?  Look at Moses' exact words:  "10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"" [Num 20:10 ESV].  Maybe it wasn't so much what Moses DID wrong, as it was what Moses SAID wrong.  With these words, Moses declares the people rebellious AND separates himself from having any part with them.  And when he says "shall WE bring water", he is usurping God's provision for the people, and making himself the provider.  By posing it as a question - "Shall we?" - Moses is having the people look to him for the water they need.  I think he also implies that he disagrees with God's providing water to "rebels".  He doesn't think they deserve it, and his own judgment is that they shouldn't get it.  So he not only separates himself from the people but he also separates himself from God as he disagrees with God's mercy.  Negating God's message of forgiveness and proclaiming his own message of punishment due is what costs Moses entry into the land of Canaan.  Don't we do the same when we feel resentment toward bad people who get good things?  I do this at least once a day!  Do we ever get so mad at a politician or a celebrity - obviously guilty of something but walking around scott free - that we just say right out loud that they ought to be locked up?  When we say this, we mean that we are not like them, we are not guilty, and we are qualified to judge them.  But further, just like Moses at Meribah, we are saying that we disagree with God's mercy to them, and that our own justice is the better way.  It is just not a good idea at all to think that way!  We are  just as guilty in God's eyes as those we  would judge.  Far better to point out God's mercy to the guilty, ourselves included, and praise Him, than to put ourselves above Him!

​ "4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? ... 7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."" [Num 20:4, 7-8 ESV].  This happens right after Israel balks at entering the Promised Land.  Because their faith fails them at the critical moment, God denies them entry and sentences them to 40 years of wandering.  They turn away, and immediately find themselves in a waterless desert.  The lesson is that when we fail a test, God doesn't say "Oh, well, since you didn't pass that test there will be no more tests".  Instead, He sends us back to first grade, and we begin again.  Way back in Exodus 15, after God had drowned Pharoah's army in the Red Sea, the very first thing He did was send Israel three days into the wilderness with no water.  They whined back then, as they do again in Numbers.  God provided water for them in Exodus by having Moses strike the rock at Marah.  I think we can all agree that they failed the "water test" in Exodus.  Even so, they should have at least learned from that, and grown in faith.  Their faith should have continued to grow as they saw more miracles - manna from heaven, quail in the desert, and so on.  If faith had grown, they might have passed the course final at the border of Canaan.  But they failed miserably.  So God takes them back to the first test and begins again building the faith they need to conquer Canaan.  It works the same way with us.  Testing is not a possibility but a certainty for Christians.  We need to train ourselves to recognize testing, learn from our failures, and prepare for the re-tests which absolutely will come.  Else, we remain defeated at the elementary level of faith, and never graduate to the advanced faith that makes us far more useful to God, and brings the blessings that God promises.

"18 At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out." [Num 9:18-22 ESV]
I put in quite a few verses today because I think you need them all to make the point.  Just look at how many times these verses say to wait on God!  Half a day, 24 hours, many days, a few days, two days, a month, or even longer.  Until God said to move, Israel did not move.  They watched the cloud, they were attentive to God's leading, and they moved ONLY when God decided to move.  What a great lesson for us also.  Ever feel like your prayers are not being answered?  That means the cloud is still in place.  Wait for it.  Feel like God wants you to get out there and do something, but you can't figure out what?  The cloud is not moving, wait for the cloud.  What do we do when we are frustrated and chomping at the bit to move ahead?  We watch the cloud, and we study, and we pray even more, and we minister right here where we're standing, and then we check the cloud again.  But we stay put until that cloud moves, because it will go better if God leads!

​"18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."" [Mat 18:18-20 ESV].  These three verses follow the ones we looked at on Monday.  We often hear this last verse on rainy Sunday mornings when church attendance is very light, as if to say that as long as two or three show up, we have enough for church.  But...in context...is that really what this is about?  In context, these are the concluding verses in a protocol for conflict resolution in the church.  Remember that the first step is a one to one meeting of the offended and the offender.  After that, witnesses are brought forward.   This is not a small matter, as these "two or three" must all agree on some things:  they have to agree that a sin has been committed, they have to agree on which who is at fault, and they have to agree that the sinner is unrepentant.  Once this is established, the whole church only verifies that the witnesses agree, and then the whole church, as a body, takes action.  So it is at the point when the offended and his witness(es) are in agreement that an unrepentant brother has committed a sin against another brother that God is among them, and He reinforces from heaven the discipline that Jesus has laid out for this circumstance.  God acts also to discipline that brother. 

​"15 "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." [Mat 18:15-17 ESV].  These verses in Matthew begin a section about resolving conflict between church members.  That first phrase tells us we're inside the church, because our brother - not some stranger - is the offender.  The next phrase tells us this is about serious offenses - about sin - not about trivial things.  Examples might be buying a used car from a church member and finding that it has a bum transmission that he knew about.  That brother has cheated you.  Perhaps a brother is jealous of your success at work and begins trashing your reputation.  He is "bearing false witness" about you.  This is about not allowing such people to remain in good standing with the church if the sin is attested as true by two or three.  Letting such unrepentant people continue in full fellowship with the church would just continually ignite discord, discontent and disharmony.  The instruction here says that if such people don't sincerely repent after being confronted and instead choose to disregard multiple witnesses attesting to their guilt, they must be made unwelcome in the church.  Note that it takes three steps to get to this point.  One on one.  With one or two witnesses in addition to the offended brother.  Then the whole church gets involved.  Perhaps this is how it's done in your church.  If it is done in mine, I am not aware of it.  One thing is certain.  Jesus himself said this is how it ought to be done.  So why are churches not doing it?
Maybe thinking about this makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable.  I put some additional thoughts about this on my web page.  They can be accessed at https://www.peppergt.com/more-on-conflict-resolution

These are the last verses of the Parable of the Wedding Feast:  "11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."" [Mat 22:11-14 ESV].  We saw last time that we're just substitute guests at this party in the first place.  The King is glad to have us, such as we are, but that does not mean that anything we do is just fine.  In the parable, when he arrives, he gives the crowd a quick once over.  And here's this one guy who didn't even bother to dress for the occasion.  I get the impression that this guest was a bit arrogant.  Maybe he thought he deserved to be on that first list.  He thought he was good enough all along to be included with the top tier, so there was no need for him to put on fancy clothes and act like he was grateful to be there.  Maybe he felt like he'd done a lot for that King, and that was good enough.  But the King didn't see it that way at all.  The King recognized the arrogance right away and the King does not hesitate to throw him out.  Not just out, but into outer darkness - a really bad place.  Outer darkness is just another name for hell.  I think the warning here is that just acting like we belong in church but not shouldering any of the responsibilities that go with serving God is not going to fool anyone.  We should be doing our best to honor and serve the one that brought us here.  We are here because of His generosity, not because he owed us an invitation.  Maybe this guest should have asked the others if he looked all right?  Perhaps if he had made himself accountable to the other guests, rather than separating himself from them with his attire and his attitude, he would have seen that he still had a serious problem.  We ought to all get a second opinion about our attitudes on a regular basis.  And if we find ourselves thinking we're doing a pretty good job here at church and they are lucky to have us - we need to find a mirror real quick, and check to see how we're dressed!  The King is going to show up any second now, and you do NOT want to look ungrateful!

​Here are the next few verses of the Parable of the Wedding Feast:  "8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests." [Mat 22:8-10 ESV].  These follow last Thursday's verses about the King burning the city of those who killed his servants.  Like any father, this King wants his son's wedding celebrated in a big way.  He needs guests, but to get them, he has to lower the bar.  In fact, you might say the only qualification for wedding guests is a willingness to attend.  I think verse 10 says it best:  they brought all they found, both bad and good!   Here's the interesting part...that verse is about us!  We are just substitute wedding guest, second-stringers you might say.  With the bar this low, you can bet there were some in attendance that raised eyebrows.  Ever run into someone at church who's presence is so surprising that your jaw drops?  Did you happen to notice that person's jaw dropping because they were just as surprised to see you!  That's what today's church is made from.  A whole bunch of last minute afterthoughts wearing fancy clothes, and often feeling a little bit awkward to be here.  So why do we put on our best behavior and try to act like saints, even though everyone who knows us knows better?  Because even though we're subs, the feast prepared for us is exactly what was prepared for those original guests.  How can we not give back our best, when we're receiving His best?  And why would anyone think the people in church are supposed to be "better than everyone else"?  Truth is, we know very well that we're just the second team. 

​Here are the first few verses of the Parable of the Wedding Feast.  "2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast."' 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city." [Mat 22:2-7 ESV].  As I read this parable, surely the King is God and the son is Christ.  The imminent wedding is perhaps about the church age just around the corner of time from the telling of this parable.  The invited guests would be the Jews - going far back in history.  They repeatedly reject God's messengers, even killing prophets who's message offends them.  So this parable is about the Jew's rejection of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, right?  But is there more?  Or is it also about how we in the church age can reject the gospel and yet God will continue to offer His blessings.  And it seems the invitation gets more and more urgent and undeniable as time goes on.  Continued rejection therefore requires a more and more deliberate decision, and repetition of the offer breeds belligerent contempt in those who say no.  I think the parable might be saying that sinners don't go to hell because they didn't respond to that first whispered offer of salvation, but because they hear it clearly, unmistakably and frequently yet still refuse it.  That is, sinners get what they get because they themselves have chosen it.  They  would rather die forever than admit they have a need only God can supply.  Even God's patience eventually runs out.  His long checked anger overflows and destruction by eternal fire must come.  So if God's invitations are making you feel angry, it means your time has nearly run out.   Fix that attitude now.  You can't come home once your city is burned down.

​7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. [Exo 33:7 ESV] After the disaster with the golden calf, while God was still so angry with Israel that He self-imposed a distance between them and Himself - a principle we have seen before - Moses would set his own tent up well outside the camp, and so meet with God there. Now think of this....Moses met with God, and convinced God to relent and to visit His people and be constantly with them once again, by actions he took from a location OUTSIDE the camp. God and the people were physically separated by sin and some kind of "bridge" was needed to bring them back together. Similarly, Jesus also interceded for all mankind from a location outside the city of Jerusalem. Look how much foreshadowing there is in this story of Moses and his relationship with God, written perhaps 1500 years before the coming of Christ: Moses was in every way "of" the people, from the tribe of Levi, a direct descendant of Abraham. Jesus was in every way a man, born of a woman, and from the tribe of Judah, a direct descendant of Abraham. Moses' relationship with God was as a favored son. Jesus was in every way God's Son. Moses interceded with God, seeking that bridge over the sin that could bring God and Israel together. This led to the Tabernacle and to daily sacrifices for sin, that temporarily appeased God. It even allowed a very limited and exclusive direct contact through a priesthood representing the people. Jesus dealt with the sin of all people for all time, from outside Jerusalem, as our perfect priest, sacrificing himself once for all. The result was that all men could come into the presence of God - all who accept Christ are priests themselves and no intermediary is needed. Moses succeeded in bringing God into the camp with his people. Jesus brought God to all mankind as evidenced by the tearing of the veil. So tell me again how the Bible is just a lot of made up stories thrown together in a sort of anthology, and how it is not written with the finger of God, without error, and applicable to all generations. Explain to me how these two stories, written thousands of years apart, so beautifully reinforce each other on so many levels, are just coincidental.

"28 "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go." [Mat 21:28-30 ESV].  This is the parable of the Two Sons, and Jesus ends it by asking the scribes and Pharisees which son did right?  They are forced to answer that the son who disobediently refused his father's request - that is, the one who first sinned by saying no to his father - but then repented and went to work, was the son who got it right.  So why was this a big deal?  Because the scribes and Pharisees believed themselves sinless since birth.  They had so distorted the commandments that it was possible to live a sinless life.  To them, what you "said" was more important than what you "did".  And with this little short story, Jesus shows them that they have it completely backwards.  Jesus tells them that those they look down on as sinners recognized the good news when they heard it, changed their ways, and will see heaven because of it.  Yet these "perfect sons" refuse to believe and as a result reject the Messiah, and so condemn themselves to hell.  A good story to remember when someone says they've done too much wrong to ever be saved.  They say this because they are comparing themselves unfavorably to the scribes and Pharisees - the "good" people.  Jesus says here that those who recognize the wrong in their lives are more likely to be in heaven than those who believe themselves perfect.  So that excuse is not an excuse, but the first step toward salvation - and the step that perfect people never take.  Sin does not exclude anyone from his grace.  It informs us that we need that grace.  It isn't that sinners cannot be saved, it is that sinners can't save themselves, and Satan twists that into "I've done too much wrong to be saved".  That is a lie.  All you  have to do is walk away from former sin, and believe that Jesus is God's Son, and that he died to pay for what you did.

​1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. [Isa 59:1-2 ESV].  These verses are about the nation of Israel - about the whole country rather than about a person or group within that country.  They were written to explain why things were getting so bad there.  That nation had moved away from God, abandoned any serious devotion to Him.  God noticed this.  Make no mistake, God ALWAYS notices this!  This disregard of God and His rules resulted in a separation between God and Israel.  I believe this is a principle that God applies not just to Israel, but to all nations.  God did not move away from Israel.  The people of that day, by their actions, created distance between themselves and God.  Their sins have created a sort of fog around them so that their prayers no longer reach God.  To be sure, there were still some good people in Israel at that time - just as there are still good people in our nation.  There just weren't enough to keep that nation in favorable regard.  God had let that nation go.  I cannot help but wonder if our prayers, from this country, today, are reaching God through the fog of sin we live in.  I hope God has not declared us beyond His sight and beyond His hearing, but I believe that if we are not, we are very very close to the line.  We need to pray for our country as no other generation has ever prayed for it, because just as in Israel in Isaiah's time, we either turn back to God together or we all go down together.

​"1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ... 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed." [Mat 16:1, 4 ESV].  Jesus answers them rather aggressively, and then he walks away.  Makes you wonder what is really going on here?  To understand why Jesus answers in this way, we need to understand why they would ask specifically for a sign "from heaven", rather than asking to see him cast out a demon or make a lame man walk or feed  5000 people with just five loaves and two fish - any one of which ought to have been sufficient proof, and all of which he had already done.  Here are a few verses that shed light on that:  "14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining." [Joe 3:14-15 ESV]  In this verse, signs in heaven portend the day of the Lord - the arrival of the Messiah to do battle on behalf of Israel.  The Pharisees and Sadducees didn't understand that there would be two advents.  This passage in Joel, telling what sign will foretell Messiah's arrival, is about the second arrival.  Here is another verse they were applying to the first advent though we know now it is about the second:  23 Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders. [Isa 24:23 ESV].  These signs occur just before the Messiah assumes his earthly throne in Jerusalem - at the second coming.  And just one more, this one from Jesus himself:  "29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." [Mat 24:29 ESV].  Hard to mistake this one.  These signs will occur after the seven years of tribulation - just prior to the second coming.  It is important to understand that ONLY GOD can cause signs to appear in the heavens.  Satan has no power in the heavens, so he can't "fake" anything there.  Heavenly signs are ONLY from God and we are told specifically (and three times!) that these particular signs in the heavens occur just before the Messiah comes.  So the Pharisees are saying that IF Jesus can show them these signs in heaven that the scriptures say are going to happen before he comes, THEN they will believe that he is the Messiah.  They think they are being very knowledgeable and brilliant with this question, but instead, they only demonstrate how rigidly they hold on to misinterpretation even when the proof of their mistake is standing there talking to them.  They demonstrate how blind they are to the plentiful signs right in front of them which call for an overhaul of what they believe.  Jesus is angry with them because they are not just wrong to ask this, they are 180 degrees wrong.  So Jesus tells them not to look up for the sign, but 180 degrees from there, down into the empty tomb for their proof!  That is also the proof we should proclaim!

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--;
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  [Eph 2:1-2, 10 ESV]
Where is God in the 21st century?  How can He be here and let all these evil things happen?  How many times have you heard someone ask a question like this?  Always, their point is that such things would never be allowed by a benevolent God, and they often add "if there even is a God".  While I have to agree that the negative side of the scale is piled high and heavy with evil, I don't think that's the end of the story.  I think people who ask such questions fail to account for the things God does on the positive side.  Even if they do include them, I don't think they know how to "score" the good things God does against the "evil" for which they blame Him.  What these verses say is that God injects good into our evil world via the grace and mercy he shows to those who believe in Him.  For instance, how much good is involved in taking the person described in vss 1 and 2, a follower of Satan  - which is how we all were at one time, - and turning him into the person in vs 10, who's whole purpose is to do good in the world?  How much "evil" is removed - and replaced by "good"  - when someone who deserves to burn in hell is instead saved and given eternal life in heaven?  How many good things does that person do instead of the bad things they would have done?  How would one ever weight that in their evaluation of God?  Or what about the prayers God answers for those who are following Him?  Ask someone who is obviously Christian if God ever makes their lives better by answering their prayers?  When they start down their list, consider how a person might weigh each answered prayer against what might have been?  Ask a believer how much the inner peace they have is worth to them?  Ask what it is worth to know they have value in God's eyes, and to know the things they do for Him give meaning and purpose to their lives?  How can a lost person, questioning whether God is good, or even exists, take these things into account in his evaluation?  Here is the thing:  God is infinitely good to those who love Him.  Just ask us!  That's what He promises, that's what He does.  To those who reject Him and doubt Him, he promises only justice, not blessing.  Ironically, the injustice for which so many blame God is in fact an example of God giving evil men yet another chance to repent before it is too late for them.  The point is that no one has the data needed to "weigh" God's actions and then accuse Him. No science can tell us how many good deeds it takes to balance a bad deed.  It is just far more complex than that.  So next time you hear someone question the character of our God, remember this passage, say a prayer for them, and think about all the good things God has done for you that this person knows absolutely nothing about.

​Over the last week or so, I have been getting very near the end of my "read the Bible in a year" program.  As I read through the three letters from John, two letters from Peter, Jude and Revelation, I noticed a heavy concentration of warnings about and methods to identify false teachers.  Here is something that really stood out to me. I'm sure it is not a "secret" or anything, but it really made an impression on me.  I could make the point with just one verse, but I think the critical importance of this truth can only be recognized when we stack some verses in the order they occur in the reading.  Here they are:
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. [1Jo 2:23 ESV]
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. [2Jo 1:7 ESV]
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. [2Pe 2:1 ESV]
These verses make it very clear that something all false teachers have in common is an unscriptural characterization of Jesus.  They may deny that he is sovereign, that he is divine, that he was really 100% human, or that we owe him any gratitude for what he did for us.  In theological terms, they all preach a false Christology.  If they can make Jesus anything different than what he really was and is, then they undermine the true gospel.  They will say they are bringing us into the light, while in fact they are trying to lock us in a dark room.  That second verse says they KNOW this is what they are doing!  These are not just well meaning but uninformed people.  These are bad people.  So the most common, most obvious identifier of a false teacher is that their version of Jesus will sound like someone we've never heard of.  The absolute best way to guard against false teachers is to know everything there is to know about who Jesus is, what he did, and how he did it.  We should read everything printed in red in the Bible so we know what Jesus said about himself.  We can read what Paul says about Jesus, what John and Peter say about Jesus.  Not just once, but regularly!  Mark these verses and read them over and over!  Then we'll know whether Paul, John, and Peter would agree with what is being said about Jesus.  We must know who he is in order to recognize who he is not!   

​12 "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [Isa 8:12, 13 ESV].  In context, these verses are God's advice to Isaiah.  He should not believe all the rumors he's hearing in the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem in about 700 BC.  They were mostly worried about what Assyria was going to do to them after they finished annihilating the Northern Kingdom.  Imagine the conspiracies of back room deals, political accommodations, and outright betrayal and treason in such a time.  Even so, I think there is a clear analogy to the fears we have today and the conspiracies that feed on them.  How many things are going on right now that we are told will be the end of mankind?  We have global warming, Covid-19, unchecked immigration, and white privilege.  Every one of these is predicted to end our civilization if not addressed now, today, with every dime and dollar we can spend on them.  And how many conspiracy theories are connected to each one?  We are a nation consumed with fear and suspicion!  What should we do?  There's a whole list of ideas on that, too!  Stop eating meat, drive electric cars, wear a mask, get a shot, build a wall, and on and on and on.  In the old days, God told Isaiah to stop worrying about all that noise.  God said that what they better worry about was not what Assyria had in mind for them, but what He had in mind for them.  Good advice for us, too! 

"And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"" [Jon 4:10-11 ESV]
The verses above come after Jonah has finally gone to Ninevah, convinced them to repent, and God has relented from destroying them.  As I picture it, Jonah goes up on a hill, a barren hill looking down on the city, and sits all day in the hot sun pouting because God spared Ninevah.  So that night God has a bush grow up and give him some shade for day two of his pouting.  That night though, the plant dies, and the sun comes up hot and the wind blows dry on day three.  I guess God thought two days of pouting was more than enough.  But in Jonah's mind, on top of everything else, now his favorite plant has died and he has no shade.  Jonah "mourns" the loss of this fast-growing but short lived plant.  He has pity on a bush while he is wishing horrible destruction on all 120,000 in Ninevah.  It would be easy to laugh at him...if we weren't so nearly just like him.  How much do we really value others when see them as undeserving?  Do we worry about what hardships they are facing or whether they have any inkling of who Jesus is and what he offers them?  Like when we have to wait behind someone at a green light while they dig out a few dollars for the homeless person on that corner.  How about when the lady with the crying baby is closer to the check out line that just opened than we are - and she knows it?   I mean surely I am not the only one?  Some days I think my name should have been Jonah!  And some days I think Jonah should be the most common name on the planet!  So...much as I love this little book, let's all try and NOT be a Jonah today!

​3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. [1Jo 5:3 ESV]
Here is another from 1 John.  How do you tell if someone loves the Father?  Well they do what He says,and they don't complain about it!  When I was in college I never went to church.  When I'd go home during breaks, Dad would often ask me why I wasn't going.  I remember telling him all the best PBS shows were on Sunday morning (this was BEFORE VCR's, much less DVR's).  Is that not about the lamest excuse you ever heard???  But that's what I would say.  In hindsight though, I bet what Dad heard was "His commandments are too burdensome."  And Dad knew what that answer meant, even though I didn't.  I wonder how much sleep he and Mom lost over that answer?  So think hard about your excuses and what they really mean.  It's a sure bet that if yours sound as lame as mine did, somebody is losing sleep praying that you don't burn.  What you decide about Jesus is not just about you.

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. [1Jo 5:1 ESV]
The first part of the verse reminded me of Jesus telling Nicodemus he must be born again.  So I looked it up, and it turns out that the story of Nicodemus is only found in John's gospel.  The same John who wrote the verse above.  That can't be a coincidence.  So John gives us additional clarity about what Jesus meant - belief in Jesus as the Christ results in spiritual rebirth.  But there's more.  The last part of the verse says that if you are reborn - and reborn means saved - then you will love everyone else who is reborn.  The reason is that all who are reborn have the same Father.  John is saying that all saved people are brothers and sisters, all family.  I think the love we have for a brother or a sister is different - is more - than the kind of love we're supposed to have for our neighbors.  So...is there someone at church we just cannot stand?  Either we are being very petty and need to get over it, or one of us is not reborn.  Seems like it would be a good idea to get to the bottom of this situation, one way or the other.  Either we need to "fix" ourselves, or we need to take the gospel to that other person.  Something to keep in mind as we remember who we saw at church yesterday. 

14 I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD." [Eze 24:14 ESV]
That's a real verse from the Bible.  God really said something as final as that.  In the first verse of the same chapter God tells Ezekiel to write down the date.  On that day, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon laid siege to the city of Jerusalem.  Over the next eighteen months, as the city slowly starved to death, horrors beyond what any civilized person can imagine occurred inside the walls.  After eighteen months, the city fell to the invaders.  Soldiers kept from home for so long by civilians with no real chance of winning tend to be unmerciful in their mopping up operations.  That was the horror on top of the horror.  Thousands, maybe tens of thousands were murdered in their homes and in their streets, buildings were burned, everything of value was stolen and carried off.  This is what happened to God's own chosen, favored people when God reached the end of Godly patience.  There is a scene In Revelation 20 of the final judgment of mankind.  Every unsaved person in the history of the world will stand accused before God, awaiting His verdict.  It is called the Great White Throne judgment.  Do you think, on that day, that God will be less severe with those who refused to honor the bloody death of His own Son on their behalf?  Imagine standing there, waiting for the verdict, and then hearing the verse above begin thundering from the throne.  Imagine the force of that verse, as it builds from beginning to end, and knowing what those final words are going to be?  Believe me, if God so emphatically meant it when He pronounced destruction on Jerusalem, He is more than capable of sentencing those who disdain the sacrifice of his Son straight to hell forevermore, with no chance of parole.  It is very unwise to think God does not mean what He says.

​14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. [1Pe 4:14 ESV]
This short little verse, hiding in the back of our Bibles, contains perhaps the most encouraging explanation in the whole Bible of how we ought to view persecution. This verse says that if we are persecuted, it isn't random. There is a reason that you or I might be singled out for a backhand, or ridicule, or destruction. Getting singled out means that the abusers recognize the Spirit of God shining from us as a light to others, and they will hate that light. We ought to ask ourselves whether we would be noticed or ignored completely in such a situation. If we honestly do not expect to be noticed - or we don't really even want to be noticed - it is time for some serious reappraisal. As with Moses in the Old Testament, the closer we get to God, the more our relationship to Him will show. What a privilege, what a commendation, what an honor to be noticed in this way.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. [Heb 12:12-13 ESV].
It's easy to get discouraged, especially these days.  Politics are a mess, it's cold outside, and covid is hiding behind every bush.  Our tendency is to pull in our horns, sit in the recliner, and moan about the sad state of the world.  Only one problem with that.  It fixes exactly nothing.  The real problem is not the heaviness of the burden its the pitiable weakness of us mules.  This verse says "Get up and move!"  It says "Do something, just something!"  The longer we sit, the more we stall, the more we focus on the burden, the worse our condition becomes.  Instead of fretting about the burden, nudge it, give it a shove, roll it, get some buddies to help with it, but do something that will begin to build some muscle.  Then, when you've built a little muscle, start improving the road so it will roll easier.  If we get stronger, and the road gets easier, we can accomplish far more than it seems we can as we sit here explaining the problem instead of doing something about it!  Get up, get stronger, make a plan, and make it better. 

In last week's posts, we saw how Esau realized too late that the most valuable gift of all had passed him by.  Then we looked at advice for lost adults who might find themselves craving another chance at salvation but not really knowing how to approach God about that.  So those two posts were addressed to adults who realize they are lost  and are searching once again for salvation.  Today's post is addressed to saved adults who are almost certainly attending church with those addressed last week, and who are most certainly having lunch with some of them during the week.  Why don't we look them in the eye and ask them the question?  I suspect it is because we've been taught that the chances of an adult being saved are very slim.  I found an article that says those over 19 have only a 6% chance of being saved.  Kids 5-13 have a 32% chance.  That's 5 times more likely than an adult!  So we are content to let the church Children's Department focus on the kids.  That's all we need to do, right?  Well yeah, that's where the best chances are but...what about these verses, from the early days?  41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [Act 2:41 ESV]  This was a sermon preached in the streets of Jerusalem at 9 in the morning on a weekday.  Peak business hours.  Pretty sure there weren't many kids in that group of 3000.  How about this:  4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. [Act 4:4 ESV] This specifically says 5000 adult men.   And finally...30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  [Act 8:30,31 ESV].  We all know this story.  The Ethiopian Eunuch was certainly a grown man.  Now imagine, if you are saved, the internal turmoil experienced by someone who has been in church all their life, or was in church as a child and rejected it as an adult, who now realizes they got it 1000% wrong.  Imagine their desperation to make amends.  Imagine how isolated they feel, even from the Christian friends all around them.  Imagine their fear of how their own wives, husbands, and children might react.  How much courage does it take to ask for help in this situation?  Yet everyone around them - you and I -  just assumes they have that all straight.  All this is just to say that there is NOTHING in the Bible that restricts the gospel to kids under 13!  Let's be bold.  Let's look adults in the eye and ask them to tell us their conversion story.  And if they don't have one...we now have something to talk about!  This post is as much a pep talk to myself as to anyone else.  We all need to be doing more of this.

​We saw last time from the story of Esau that planning to be saved "later" can turn out very badly indeed.  What if, like Esau, we are well into adult life and suddenly have a pervasive sense of loss and  the prospect of our own mortality is weighing heavily on us?  Maybe we are feeling a little desperate for having put off salvation for so long?  What are we supposed to do - what action can we take?  I've not heard many - if any - sermons that addressed this desperate situation, but I have read a sermon about it.  Jonathan Edwards puts it far better than I can, so I will quote his answers to these questions:  "Do not spend time in thinking that you have done what you can already, and that you are not elected, and in giving way to other perplexing, weakening, disheartening temptations.  Do not waste away this precious opportunity...you have no time to spare for such things as these.  Improve this time in seeking and striving for salvation, and not in that which tends to hinder it.  It is no time now for you to stand talking with the devil; but hearken to God, and apply yourself to that which He does now so loudly call you to... He is now putting a new opportunity into your hands; though not of the same kind with that which you once had, and have lost, yet in some respects as great of another kind.  If you lament your folly in neglecting and losing past opportunities, then do not be guilty of the folly of neglecting the opportunity which God now gives you."  If God were not still calling, there would be no inner urgency to make things right with Him and be saved.  Admit what this really is - recognize it as real -  to your inner cynical adult self.  Admit the errors of your life and  give yourself permission to believe  - preferably on your knees before God.  Stop over-thinking it all and just pray. 

​17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. [Heb 12:17 ESV]  This verse is about Esau, Jacob's brother, who sold his birthright for some soup.  Esau hadn't seen much value in that birthright back then, but finally the time arrives for reckoning.  Esau realizes that he's disdained the most valuable thing he had.  Perhaps he'd spent his life thinking          someday he would undo his error.  But now, as his father lays dying, he realizes there are no more "somedays".  He cannot regain what his father does not offer.  Surely all this is meant to warn us about how salvation works.  Many brought up in church reject God's early call for one reason or another, and then behave as if it wasn't that critical.  Perhaps at first the thinking is that there will be another day for that.  But as the days pass, we begin to distance ourselves from all that reminds us of that rejection.  No more church, no religious radio stations, no blessing before we eat, no prayers before we sleep.  But perhaps, one day, we allow ourselves to remember that call and we feel a great sense of loss - just like Esau.   This reflection often comes at some crisis in our lives - the death of friend or family member, an unexpected job loss, or a devastating financial problem.  What then?  Maybe we tell ourselves it is already too late for us, or perhaps most commonly, we decide once again that it's not as important as the other things on today's schedule.   And maybe that's the end of it for us.  But what if we can't shake it.  Perhaps we finally have a grasp on the importance of it, and we do want to amend our early rejection. Yet because we are older and encumbered with adult understanding, we don't know how to respond.  The old way seems far too simple now.  Maybe we connect this feeling with the loss we are experiencing and so don't think it is even real.  So we might decide to just push on through it, as we push through the grief.  I urge you though, if you find yourself thinking this way, to remember Esau, who was also feeling emotional as he thought about his loss.  For him, even though he finally recognized his need, there was no call, no offer of reconciliation with this father.  Don't wait for things to end that way.  Begin to seek Him now.  Plead with Him in prayer, beg for a new beginning, crave that one more chance.  Be obsessive about it!  And hope that it is not too late.    

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [Heb 12:1 ESV].  This verse is actually the "punch line" of a tremendous pep talk that fills Hebrews 11.  That chapter is about what the Old Testament  heroes - familiar names like Noah, Abraham, and Moses - had to overcome in order to do God's will, and about how they died with the prize still in the future.  They moved the race along, but they didn't see the end of it.  They each handed off to the next generation, and the race is still in progress.  This punch line says that just as they did their part back then, it is now our turn to do ours, knowing full well that we may be handing off at the end of our lives also.  Nevertheless, it is up to us to heed God's word, rise above the daily cares and hindrances that will always be there, and run our leg of the race like this is the bell lap, and crossing the finish line comes down to us. 

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. [Heb 10:4 ESV].  Even the repetitious tedium of the Temple sacrifices had an important purpose.  It was a reminder to the participants that no matter how perfectly they executed the procedure, they were never getting over the bar that was permanent atonement for sin.  It had to be done again, and again...  It's like everything else we do repetitively - house cleaning, yard mowing, car waxing.  We don't usually think about it, but the reason we have to do these things over and over is because our methods, our tools, and our "selves" are just not perfect enough to make what we clean stay clean.  Pretty easy to grasp this problem, right?  So look at this next verse:  5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; [Heb 10:5 ESV]  This is Jesus, the Messiah, talking to God, and making the point that since animal sacrifices just won't do, God prepared a body for Christ, a human living body of flesh, the same as the bodies of those condemned by their sin.  Only the sacrifice of a perfect man could ever atone for the sins of imperfect men.  God loved us so much that He prepared that perfect body in the person and life of His own son Jesus as the sacrifice on our behalf.  That's the "love" side of the story, and it is the most important story there is.  How do we know it's such a big deal?  Because of the ferocity of Satan's attack on it!  This same concept - that atonement requires a like for like sacrifice - is what pagans were thinking when they made human sacrifices.  They even understood that the innocence of the victim made the sacrifice more effective.  This understanding led to the sacrifices of babies and little children by idol worshipers in Old Testament times.  Those human sacrifices were the result of Satan's direct efforts to pervert one of God's fundamental truths by leaving out one key fact.  The sacrifice can't just be "near perfect", it has to be an absolutely perfect version of those it is meant to save.  But there are no perfect people.  There could never be a worthy sacrifice - unless God Himself provided it.  Satan knows this.  Even so, look at what Satan convinced people to do by twisting that truth!  Surely this qualifies as one of his most despicable lies!  This is the level of hatred that Satan harbors for mankind.  He despises us, he wants to cause us unending pain.  He wants to distance us from God.  He wants the mud from this perversion of God's plan to dirty our understanding of how much God has truly done on our behalf.  He wants us to be so revolted by the sacrifices that he brought about that we condemn all sacrifice - even Jesus' own willing sacrifice for us.  Why does he do this?  Because WE can be forgiven and HE cannot.  We can be in heaven, he is doomed irretrievably to hell.  That's a done deal, so nothing he does will make his fate any worse.  That's why there is no bottom to his evil.  To reject the sacrifice God gave us in his only Son is to embrace this evil that despises everything about us.  Have no doubt.  We must all choose - either the Son that God's love provided to save us or the evil that will laugh as we burn in hell.  Don't trifle with this decision.  It's the most consequential that we will ever make.

​3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [Phil 2:3 ESV] A familiar verse, but one we rarely see in practice. It doesn't play well with our American culture. We seem to be more focused on making sure our rights are not abused. This attitude, since it permeates our culture, is not going to be an easy thing to fix. But here's an exercise. Think of three things that really aggravate you on an almost daily basis. Make them small things, because those will be easier to work on first. For example, I get upset when people keep turning left after their light has turned read, so people with the green light, like me, still can't move. And then there are people who can't seem to park between the lines, so they take up their parking place AND make the one next to them unusable. Worst of all though, are people merging onto the interstate going 10 mph slower than traffic so everyone has to slow down and make room for them. So now, I have three things to work on. Three places where I can make the other guy's business more important than mine. Let the lefty turners go because they're going to CVS to get a scrip filled for a sick child. That guy that parked on the line needed just a little extra room so he could get his grandmother's walker as close to her as possible. And those slow mergers...they're driving as fast as they can safely drive because their reactions are slower than they used to be. They're just trying to keep everybody safe. Yes I know these are all trivial, that I ought to be well past these kinds of aggravations, and that's kind of the point. If I can't fix these, how will I fix the real conceits and selfish ambitions that are also part of me? And I bet I'm not the only one at church that still needs some work on these!

"What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice," [Phl 1:18 ESV]  This verse concludes a point Paul is making in vss 15-18.  He started by talking about some men who were preaching the gospel out of envy and rivalry.  Self interest was their only interest.  They saw that Paul had a large following, and they wanted some market share.  Paul implies that some of them could care less about the gospel and its implications, they just wanted to get paid.  We kind of expect Paul to call for action against such men but that's not what he does.  He not only thinks what they are doing is ok, but he positively rejoices in their preaching.  Why????  Because they are preaching the gospel and it is the gospel that saves, not the beliefs of the one preaching it!  Paul has the same attitude here that Jesus had when he said "He who is not against us is for us".  We know that today there are enough disputes over things like church governance, baptism, and women preachers to give rise to dozens of denominations?  I found a list of 19 different Baptist associations on a Baylor University page - and that's just the Baptists!  I am not saying that any old preaching will do.  I am saying that the most important thing ought not be the name on the sign in the parking lot, but whether the gospel is being preached inside the building.