Sin and Forgiveness - 2 Sam. 6-15 & Lk. 15-17

Today's OT readings are primarily about David and his failings with Bathsheba and her husband. The story is pretty famous, but I guess it still blows my mind. Primarily that God called David a "man after His own heart" and yet David makes a big blunder by committing adultery and murder. In a way it seems warped that David is called a man after God's own heart, but in another way it's comforting. I want to be a man after God's own heart, yet I know how weak and sometimes pathetic I am. David's story gives me hope, because he recognizes his sin, asks for forgiveness and is given it. Of course, he does still suffer some consequences.

Yet that brings more confusion to me. Because I know that even though we are forgiven sin has consequences, but yet we are taught that God doesn't punish us per se, rather He forgives and forgets. Yet David's sin has consequences, but also a trail of what seems to be punishment. Even after he is forgiven his family goes through some awful stuff that doesn't seem to be linked to the sin. When I think about grace and then think about these things, my mind is left confused....

Anyway, in the NT Jesus speaks about forgiveness as well. He tells parables to lost people that show God's concern and love for the lost. The stories tell that God desperately seeks the lost and looks for them constantly and runs to them with love and compassion when they turn to Him. How beautiful is that?!

Jesus also teaches that we should always forgive. He says that we need to call people out in their sin, but if they repent we should forgive - always. And how could we not, when God forgives us over and over? Yet, like the one leper who returned to thank Jesus for healing him, we should always remember to worship Him and be thankful (not take for granted) our forgiveness and healing.

Good stuff!!!

2 Sam. 3-5 & Lk. 14:25-35

In today's reading David is finally made king. One thing that is interesting to note is that he was only 30 when he was made king. What's interesting to me about that is thinking about all he's been through. He stepped up to battle the giant Goliath on the Lord's behalf, he played the harp for Saul, he was put in charge of the armies and battles by Saul, then he was chased and many efforts were made to kill him - ALL BEFORE HE WAS 30! Wow. Then he goes on to lead Israel for 40 years - quite a guy. (Although, even he was not perfect. In fact God never uses anyone who is perfect, except Jesus, because...........there are no perfect people!!!) ***So take heart, if you're not perfect, you're in good company.

That being said, in today's New Testament passage Jesus really issues a challenge to His wannabe disciples. There were many who were following Him because He did miracles and taught some interesting things, and perhaps, just because everyone else was following. But Jesus stops and warns them that if they want to truly be His disciples that they must give Him first place. He must take priority over family, friends, work....even ourselves. On top of that, Jesus says we must carry our own crosses. In other words, we must give up our lives and follow Him. Just as the waters of baptism symbolize, we are buried with Him and are raised into a new life.

Let's be intentional about living new lives.

Turning to God - 2 Sam. 1-2 & Luke 14:1-24

To the best of my thinking, much of what keeps people from God is a lack of humility. I don't really think there are many people who think they have better answers for how the world began or why the world exists. I just think most people want to live life their way. So they choose to claim that they don't believe or that they're not into organized religion because they don't want to submit to Someone. I think God makes clear through the natural order that He exists. I think there are truly very few people who don't believe in Him. But the human ego is something...it is perhaps one of Satan's greatest tools.

In Luke 14 Jesus talks about humility and the need to respond when God invites you. Jesus uses parables to talk about these things, because this discussion obviously riles (sp?) people up. Nobody wants to admit that they are too prideful to bow down to God. It reminds me of the feminist movement. Many women in the midst of wanting to advance women's rights have messed up some wonderful things women had going for them. Likewise, when humans try to live by their conceived truths instead of the Truth they make a mess of their life.

If we would just humble ourselves and obey Him life would be so much easier (and the evening news would be a lot happier!).

Good guy vs. Bad guy - 1 Sam. 22-31 & Luke 12-13

So the saga of David vs. Saul continues. Saul just keeps after David, chasing him and trying to kill him. But time after time David is respectful of the king whom God has set in place and refuses opportunities to kill him. Eventually Saul and his sons (including David's good friend Jonathan) are killed in battle with the Philistines.

We get some glimpses of what makes David a man after God's own heart in this story. He is obviously a strong man, the type of man people want to follow, but he is submissive to God's will. He (at this point in his life) is not about his ego, but rather God's reputation. Unfortunately we will soon see this incredible man fall to temptation. If we could only see our lives as a whole as we are able to read David's story perhaps we would stand stronger against temptation, recognizing how it taints and ruins the otherwise beautiful story.

Getting into the New Testament there is really way too much to comment on. You have to read this stuff. This is just Jesus' teachings, it's awesome. A couple of things I will note... In chapter 12, verse 7 it is incredible to know that God cares about us so much that He knows the number of hairs on our heads! It's just so important for people to understand that they are important to God. Also notice that 12:31 reminds us to seek the Kingdom above all else, with the subsequent advice in 12:34 that says, "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." SO TRUE!!!

1 Sam. 19-21 & Lk. 11:29-54

With the encouragement of my wife and a good friend (probably the only two who ever read this) I am going to try to continue writing. Rest assured, I have kept up with my daily readings (which I enjoy) but it is more difficult for me (as you can see) to be faithful to write daily. I will try to do better!

I do hate that I didn't write about Joshua and there are some interesting stories in Judges...Ruth might not have garnered any great writing...

But nonetheless, we find ourselves in 1 Samuel. To do a little catch-up - Israel has demanded a king. Although God is not happy about this (because up to this point, He has been their king) He tells the prophet Samuel (who also is not happy about this) to go ahead and anoint a man named Saul. Saul is a tall and handsome man, the type of man a nation can take pride in. And he is a fighter, a brave man, a warrior - even more reason to like him. But he doesn't listen (or rather obey) very well. God leads him into victory after victory, but one day when God told him to destroy a town completely, Saul decides he has a better idea (why do we ever think that?!). Saul decides to take some plunder and offer it to God as a sacrifice. But through this mishap Saul loses the Spirit of the Lord and his kingship, and we learn a valuable (and surprisingly hard to believe lesson):

1 Sam. 15:22 - Obedience is better than sacrifice.

God wants us to obey Him. All of the worship and prayers and sacrifices in the world don't please Him as much as our simple and faithful obedience.

And thus, God chooses someone to replace Saul, a young man named David. David is serious and passionate about God's reputation and glory, hence he kills the giant Goliath because he dared to speak against the armies of God. As you can imagine, Saul becomes jealous of David (and not completely understanding that God had given His Spirit to David) he continues to try and kill poor David. One such example is in today's reading, 1 Samuel 19-21.

Saul throws a spear at David in an attempt to kill him (as we'll see Saul really enjoys throwing spears at people) but David dodges and runs away. Saul's son Jonathan (who becomes great friends with David and later in life David takes in Jonathan's lame son Mephibosheth) takes up for David and argues with his father about David's integrity. But Saul continues to go after David and his daughter Michal, David's wife, saves David this time. So David and Jonathan have a talk and devise a plan to know whether or not David should flee. David skips a dinner, Saul gets furious at Jonathan for protecting him, hurls a spear at his own son (I told you he likes doing that) and humiliates Jonathan in front of everyone. So Jonathan sends David on his way. And David flees to another town in great fear.

--------------------------------------Ready for a little application?

How incredible is it to know now just who David was and how God chose him and used him and look back on David running and hiding and in great fear. We often doubt God's plan for us and we can't see with God's eyes the plans He has. But if we will just be faithful and obedient and continue trusting God, He will use us to do awesome things.

Also, how wonderful to have good friends. Jonathan and David's friendship is an awesome picture and not something to be overlooked. I have had many friends in my lifetime, but I can count on my fingers the number of people who I have a special connection with - people I know I will always be able to trust, people who would do anything for me. And I will would give my life for those people and their families. Their is nothing quite like that bond and it is truly special to have people in your life like that. What a blessing from God.

Be Strong & Courageous - Deut. 26 - Josh. 3

Wow, a week has passed already, I'm a slacker. Journaling is definitely a discipline for me...

Well, we made it through the toughest part of the Old Testament, congratulations! Now we're into the book of Joshua. Fiiiiinally the Israelites make it into the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb are the only ones who made the whole trip from Egypt - everyone else, even Moses and Aaron, didn't make it.

At the end of Deuteronomy, Moses teaches this new generation of Israel the commands of God and warns them to obey Him and remain true (knowing full well they wouldn't). Then Moses bless them and blesses Joshua as his successor.

Chapter One of Joshua is a great chapter. It is kind of like Joshua's ordination by God. God's advice repeated over and over is "Be strong and courageous, for I will be with you." In fact JJ Reddick, the former Duke player has 19 tattooed on his arm and it stands for this verse (Joshua 1:9). May we all remember when times are tough to be strong and courageous with the knowledge that God is with us.

Jesus' Brilliance - Deut 11-19 & Mark 12-13

Maybe you've never thought about it before, but Jesus was brilliant. As you read through the gospels with this thought in mind it's obvious. Not to mention the fact that two thousand years later millions upon millions of people are followers of His and are still trying to come to grips with the meaning and implications of what He taught.

In chapter 12 of Mark we see the religious leaders continually questioning Jesus, either trying to stump or trap Him, but they were completely unsuccessful. They ask Him about paying taxes, they ask Him about Heaven, and they ask Him what is most important when it comes to rules. But each time His answer is brilliant. Particularly His answer to the most important rule. Notice that the questioner was seeking a singular answer - the most important commandment. But Jesus gave two answers that He claimed were one in the same. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. That is to say, if you're not loving God with all that you are, you won't be able to love your neighbor as yourself. And vice versa, if you don't love your neighbor as yourself, you are not loving God with all that you are. And as we dwell on these things, we find that it is in fact true, that all of the other laws hang on these two commands.

In chapter 13 of Mark Jesus talks about the future. This is something that a lot of people spend a lot of time talking about. Especially Christian authors. But here is what I gleam form this passage (and it goes pretty much directly against what most Christian authors write). No one except God the Father (not even Jesus or the angels) knows when Jesus is coming back. And if someone claims that He has come back, don't believe them. Because the Bible teaches here in Mark 12:26 that everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds. You will not miss it!!! And yes, there will be sings preceding it, but to be honest the signs that are suppose to preceed this event have been happening for two thousand years, so we don't know when it's going to happen. And so the main teaching in this passage is to be ready at all times. Don't start getting more ready when there is an earthquake or a flood or another war. Just live a life worthy of meeting Jesus whenever He comes back and you will be in good shape. It's nothing to be scared of if you're ready. Take heart and look forward to it!

A Servant Leader - Deut. 6-10 & Mark 10-11

In the midst of Jesus and his disciples, Jesus had a special relationship with a certain three - Peter, James, and John. I don't know if they "got it" more and so He spent more time with them - or perhaps the opposite - maybe they needed the most work! Or maybe it was as simple as Jesus and these men had similar personalities or senses of humor so they spent more time together. Whatever the case may have been, one day two of these three ask Jesus for a favor - a big one. They ask if they can sit on His left and right in the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this as another opportunity for teaching. He teaches His disciples and us that, "Whoever wants to be a leader must be a servant." How true this is in the church. How wonderful of a world we would live in if more folks took on this attitude instead of "Me first."

Jesus goes on in the very next chapter to portray His message further. In what may sound to us like the opposite of a humble scene, Jesus shows His frame of mind to the crowd. He enters Jerusalem on a donkey as the people sing to Him and lay branches and coats on the ground in front of Him. To use this may seem like Jesus thought He was high and mighty. But to the audience back then it would've almost seemed embarrassing for Jesus. When kings entered a town they would ride in on a mighty stallion with somewhat of a royal parade to welcome them. Jesus, who was indeed a king, rode in not on a stallion, but a donkey. And not with a royal parade, but with tree branches and peoples' jackets. Jesus was reinforcing the idea that He was a king, but a completely different kind of king. A king who was a servant. A king who would suffer on behalf of His subjects. A King of Love.

I am proud to serve Him and attempt to follow His lead as a servant to this world.

Remember - Deut.1-2 & Mk 10:1-31

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' teachings to those who would enter the Promised Land. He recounts the entire history of the Exodus and God's redeeming acts. He recounts the laws that God gave, so the people can obey them and not suffer "wandering through life" as their parents did. And he instructs Joshua, as the new leader of this nation.

Today, as we start the book of Deuteronomy, think about these things in your life. How has God acted in your life? How has He provided for you, protected you, defeated your enemies? What might He have in store for you? What guidelines has God provided that you need to follow so that you're not stuck wandering through life, but rather following His path.

An interesting thing that I saw today as I read Deut. 1 is that it says that the Israelites wandered for 40 years and path that should've taken ELEVEN DAYS! Wow, I want so badly to just follow God's lead so it doesn't take my whole life to get around to what God wanted me to enjoy years earlier.

Moving on into Mark 10, we get to hear Jesus' teaching on divorce, entering the Kingdom of Heaven, and the cost of following Him.

With regard to divorce, it's not really a tough issue for Jesus, is it? Don't do it! If you do you are an adulterer. Jesus sounds pretty harsh, but remember that our relationship with Him is mirrored in the marriage relationship. It's supposed to be one of unending love. Jesus, obviously doesn't want this image messed up.

Jesus also teaches on entering the Kingdom of Heaven b/c someone asks him what they must do to have eternal life. Notice that His answer is not "Just believe." His answer is first of all, to obey God's commands, and secondly, give up everything on account of Him. This is obviously not easy for anyone, but Jesus points out that it is particularly hard for the rich. For those of us who live in America, that is something to pay attention to. Especially considering that even our poorest people are much more blessed than most folks in other countries.

Jesus isn't shy about letting people know that entering His kingdom is costly - it costs you everything! Why are we so shy about it? We want to give people God's grace and love unconditionally. But there is a condition - we must first give ourselves to Him. Jesus gave His life for us - are we willing to give our lives to Him?

Numbers 23-36 & Mark 8-9

Wow, I haven't posted since last Wednesday - sorry about that. I did pretty much the same thing last week. It is a discipline for me to blog everyday, I will try to be more faithful.

If you are reading along with me, congratulations again, we just finished another OT book! We have already made it through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers! If you have made it this far that is indeed an accomplishment - good job.

Towards the end of Numbers, we get a glimpse of who all makes up the nation of Israel at this point and we see a changing of the guard, with Moses preparing Joshua to take the lead. We also get to see God preparing the people for their new home. It's interesting how He provides common-sense guidelines for them and instructs them on how to divide things up evenly. We will get a pretty detailed summary of the last few books as we read through Deuteronomy. Remain faithful, things will get more exciting as we head into Joshua...

In the chapters 8-9 of Mark, we have seen Jesus feed four thousand, give sight to a blind man, accept Peter's confession of Him as the Messiah, predict His own death, be transfigured on the mountain, heal a demon-possessed boy, predict His own death again, teach the disciples that whoever is a servant to others is the greatest in His kingdom, and warn people not yield to temptation. That's a lot to cover in just a couple of chapters!!! But I think most important in these passages is Jesus' identity. Some try to claim that Jesus was simply a brilliant thinker or a great man, maybe even a prophet. But in these chapters, by Peter's confession, Jesus' transfiguration, and by His own predictions of His death, Jesus reveals Himself as either the one, true Messiah, or a madman! His miracles and healings only prove the fact that He is from God.

Inner Purity - Numbers 17-22 & Mark 7:1-23

So I gotta tell you, I never have and still don't understand the scene where God tells Balaam to go on with Balak's men and then God gets mad at him for going. Sounds a bit confusing to me. Nonetheless, my study notes suggest that the reason Balaam went was the money and that's what God was mad about. I don't know if the writes of these notes are correct, but it makes sense if they are, because God (and Jesus) are all about our motives.

As can be seen in today's reading in Mark 7. Jesus talks about how it is not what goes in(such as food) that defiles us, but rather what comes out of our hearts. But this begs that question, "What shapes our hearts and makes them produce evil?" My answer, and I hope it doesn't contradict what Jesus has just said, is that it is what goes in! In other words, our hearts, or rather our minds (since we don't actually make decisions with our hearts) our shaped by our experiences and what we allow into our heads. I am preaching about this to our youth all the time (and need to preach it to myself as well) because we live in a media saturated culture. There are literally thousands of messages bombarding us daily and we have to protect our minds. We have to be careful about what or who we listen to, what we watch, where we go, etc. Satan has his hands all over the television, movie, radio, and advertising arenas in this world and we have to be aware of that and choose to fill our minds with more light than darkness.

If you constantly watch and listen to darkness, all you have to come out of you is....darkness. But don't forget that light is so much more powerful than darkness. One candle in a huge dark room is much more powerful than one small bit of darkness in a well lit room.

God is light. Begin to allow Him to fill you until "your light so shines before men, that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Perseverance - Numbers 3-16 & Mark 3-6

If you've ever been part of a church, especially as a leader, you will relate well to the passages in Numbers and Mark for the past week or so. As you read the story of Moses and the Israelites in Numbers (particularly chapters 10-16) you feel a bit comforted. Not that these are pleasing stories to read, but rather they help you to understand that people have always been messed up. And Christian leaders, and even God himself, have to move on in spite of people dragging their feet and constantly complaining.

Jesus faced similar trials and told of people's hardness of hearts. The religious leaders constantly questioned Jesus' identity and were often planning His demise (as we see in chapter 3 of Mark). And Jesus tells us ahead of time (although it's still hard to accept) that the seed of the gospel would be spread all over, but there are simply different types of people and different times in people's lives and many will simply not accept the truth or take hold of it. Even with Jesus present, the disciples still feared the storms and in spite of Jesus casting out demons, people still complained about dead pigs.

For those of you out there who are living out your faith. Continue to lead with your life. Don't be discouraged by the complaints or lack of faith of others. Don't give in to the loneliness of the narrow path. Stay strong and be brave. Remember God's command to Joshua in Joshua 1:9,

""...be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord God is with you wherever you go."

AMEN

30 Hour Famine

Ok, well so sorry about not posting for several days, but I'm back. Later today I'll post and catch up a little on the Bible readings, but let me tell you about the weekend.

Starting Friday after lunch, all of our youth stopped eating. We took part in something called the 30 Hour Famine. This event is sponsored by World Vision and its purposes are mainly twofold. The first purpose is to raise money to help fight world hunger and malnutrition. The second purpose is that it provides an opportunity for those of us who never go without to get a taste (haha) of what it's like to go hungry.

During the event we watched a video of what it's like in Uganda. There are terrible plagues of locusts, no rain, and a civil war that's been going on for 19 years. We have no concept of how bad life can be compared to these people. We played several games to help us see what it might be like for the children of Uganda. Our kids had to compete for survival cards and many on the teams had "disabilities" so they had to play the game wearing a heavy backpack, or with one arm taped to their body, or a knee taped so it couldn't bend.

For the overnight portion we went to a sports complex and played all night. When we got back to the church we slept for a few hours and then went to a thrift store to help them out. Then we did a video scavenger hunt and came back and watched the tapes. We broke the fast by sharing a meal together.

It was a neat weekend. May we all be more sensitive to the needs of others, especially in more desperate parts of the world.

The Chosen Ones - Num. 1-2 & Mark 2:1-19

As we begin the book of Numbers, we are introduced to the different tribes and a census is taken. The census was based on men who were able to fight - that is healthy men who were 20 yrs. of age and older. The numbers are pretty staggering. All together, not counting the women, children, or Levites, there were approximately 600,000 people! Add in wives for each of those men and a couple of children and we're talking about 2.4 million people traveling with Moses through the desert in search of God's promised land. Holy cow! Have you ever imagined that many people when you read these stories? Even if it was just the 600,000 that's a lot of people - and when times were tough - a lot of complaining!

We also see a select group of people in Mark 2. Jesus chooses 12 disciples. Several of these men were fishermen, one was a tax collector, and the others we're not sure about. Not exactly an all-star team. But Jesus obviously knew what He was doing. That rag-tag group of men seemed a little slow when Jesus was teaching them, and a little cowardly when Jesus' time of persecution came, but they sure came through when it mattered. When Jesus was crucified and then resurrected, this small group of guys were filled with power, courage, and wisdom by the Holy Spirit and their witness was so powerful that this Jesus-movement is still very much alive today.

The cool thing is God chooses us in the same way. Just like the Israelites and the 12 disciples, we are ordinary people. But once we get "infected" by God, we become powerful. Our focus is changed and God begins to transform us. If this transformation is missing in your life, you need to check into that quickly, because you, as a Christian, are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. You have to realize that you must be active in this process. God works in and through us, but we must be intentional about how we live our lives. May we seek to live for Him and become like Him in the process.

On a side note: I will not be blogging this weekend. Our youth group is teaming up with another youth group to do the 30 Hour Famine. We will not eat for 30 hours in an effort to become more aware of the millions of people who struggle with malnourishment and starvation everyday. Through our fundraising efforts we are working to fight hunger throughout the world. Please pray for us as we take part in this life-changing event and pray for those around the world who battle just to stay alive each day.

Something New - Lev. 26-27 & Mark 2

It's hard to change isn't it? Especially when it involves something that you hold near and dear to you as foundational. But God requires change sometimes. When Jesus came, the religious folks had a lot of problems with Him (as can be seen in Mark 2 - today's passage). Jesus came with something new from God. He came with a relationship to replace laws. He came with forgiveness and grace to replace judgment and punishment and guilt. The Pharisees were very leery of Jesus because of this - they thought God would never "change" things on them like this.

We see a similar thing happen in Acts 10. Peter, a devout Jew, was on the roof praying when he had a vision from God, in which a blanket full of "unclean" animals was lowered down to him. God told him to "Kill and eat." This happened three times. Then some men arrived and asked Peter to come with them to Caeserea to talk with their master (who happened to be Greek). With the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, Peter went. He even told Cornelius upon his arrival that speaking to him was against the law (for Jews). But God led Peter nonetheless. Peter witnessed to them about Jesus and His resurrection and the Holy Spirit fell on them all. Peter was amazed that God was opening up this opportunity to them! But God is not afraid of change.

I wonder what things we are holding so near and dear to us that God wants to change? Are we open to God's leading still?

Catching Up - Lev. 17-25 & Matt. 27b - Mark 1

Wow, sorry about that friends - I slacked off this weekend. I haven't blogged since last Thursday, so we have some catching up to do. I'll try to be brief... :) (yeah right)

Leviticus has talked about all kinds of things that last few days hasn't it? Forbidden sexual practices, holiness in personal conduct, punishments for specific sins, rules for priests, seasons & festivals, just punishment, sabbath years and years of jubilee, and redemption of property and people. Let me just hit a few highlights...

• Forbidden sexual practices - God has a plan for sex. It is NOT a plan to rob us of pleasure. Rather, it is a plan to fulfill us sexually. Our world has tried to teach us that anything goes and that we should live it up. TV shows and movies and music make just about anything look or sound glamorous. But we aren't fooled when we watch the news and hear all of the sickening statistics that come from our screwed up world. By the way, read through these forbidden things. They are probably not things you want to do anyway!!!
  
  
• Holiness in personal conduct - God says, "Be holy because I am holy." This is not something followers of Jesus can leave in the Old Testament. We are only made truly holy by God's grace and forgiveness. But we need to remember that we represent God to this world and the only way they are going to be aware of His holiness is if we are different.
  

• Punishments for disobedience - these are so harsh. Two huge things we can learn from this list is 1) God hates sin and 2) How wonderful it is that God provided grace through His own sacrifice in Jesus.

• Seasons and festivals - How cool that God provides parties and celebrations and special days throughout the year for the people to remember Him and how He has rescued them. Too bad God doesn't still rule on holidays instead of Hallmark...

• Sabbath year, Year of Jubilee, Redemption of people and property - Notice, even back in these days, God's concern for people and His creation. Rest, renewal, and grace are much needed things for everyone. May we practice them more so in our world.

The end of the gospel of Matthew and the beginning of Mark are more than can be covered in one blog. How could I possibly sum up Jesus' death, resurrection, and Great Commission in a timely manner?! Or the importance of John the Baptist, Jesus' baptism, His wilderness temptation, His calling of the disciples, and His healings?!?! Wow. What an awesome God we serve. How is it so easy for us to keep from telling people this Good News?

If you haven't been able to keep up with any kind of Scripture reading this far into the year, here is a good place to start (or start over). We are about to begin Numbers in the Old Testament and we are just starting Mark in the New Testament. Join us!!!

meetings

Hey friends and others...

I have too much on my plate today and too many meetings tonight, so no blog...sorry.

However, since it's short today, let me ask a favor of you. Out of curiousity leave me a comment and let me know who all is reading this. I have a website tracker that shows me how many hits this site gets a day and where they are generated from and there are several readers in different countries. I would love to know who you are...

It's up to you though, if you want to read anonymously, that's alright!

Take care,

Who is Jesus? - Lev. 15 & Matt. 27a

Well today has been a fun day - a snow day! We've had a few of those lately... Typically today is my busiest day of the week, being a Wednesday, but when school is canceled we cancel church also - so instead today has been a restful play day. I have been able to play with my kids, and watch a Disney movie, and take a nap, do some reading...nice.

I am almost done with a life-changing book for me - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. I highly recommend it to anyone, but you have to have some commitment to get through it. It's not a quick, easy read, but it's well worth the investment of time and thought. He begins by going through the Beatitudes, but basically uses that info (which is half of the book) to launch into his discussion of what the phrase "the kingdom of the heavens" (which is used continuously throughout the NT and is a big theme that we basically ignore in church) means. Towards the end of the book he goes into a BRILLIANT discussion of how exactly to make disciples. The whole book is worth this end part, but I don't suggest skipping to it.... Anyway...the whole reason I bring up this book is because in part of my reading today the author talks about how our view of Jesus and our life completely impacts our ability and desire to follow Him. Which leads to today's NT reading...

Matthew 27 tells the beginning of Jesus' crucifixion story. He is taken to "court" and accused and questioned, but He remains silent. The only time He speaks up is to affirm His identity as one of His accusers asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?" The passage goes on to tell that the people cheered for Pilate to have Jesus crucified. So Pilate sent Him to be flogged and beaten, which would only be the beginning of Jesus' temporary "end."

As Dallas Willard suggests, it does indeed make me love Jesus, that He took the abuse and accusations and ultimately death because of his love for me and you. And that love for Jesus that comes about in me when I think of Jesus' love and sacrifice turns into a desire to obey and follow Him.

As you go through life may you continue to learn how much God loves you and may you help others to learn this as well. Jesus' love is truly life-changing.

God knows - Lev. 14 & Matt 26b

One thing that is cool about the Old Testament is that we see God taking care of the people with regard to the real stuff of life. For instance, in the past few chapters of Leviticus it's been talking about how to treat skin diseases and mildew. Back in those days the people didn't understand what we do know about germs, diseases, and mildew. God knew that, so He gave them guidelines and instructions for what to do.

Likewise, in chapter 26 of Matthew Jesus tells the disciples that they will all abandon Him and deny Him. Each of them, not just Peter, say "Never!" But of course they do. And so do we in our own ways everyday. But guess what? God knows that we're going to ahead of time. He knew even before He sent Jesus to give His life for us. And He still sent Him and still allowed Him to die.

I don't know what's going on with you, but we're going through a rough patch of life and it's so comforting to know that God knows our needs much better than we do. And He is in control. Sometimes the pressures of life pile up and you wish you were a child again, with no responsibilities and no stress. You wish you had a dad or a mom who could just take care of you and let you relax. Great news - you do! In Matthew 11 Jesus said, 28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Amen to that!

Ashley's Birthday

Well, today I'm not going to talk about my Bible readings. They were about skin diseases and mold (in Leviticus) and Jesus' betrayal and arrest in Matthew 26. I don't have too much to say about either passage and today is my wife Ashley's birthday so I am choosing to talk about her instead.

Eight years ago in Orlando, FL I met a cute little girl from Mississippi. Although I was seeing someone else at the time and had no intentions of "looking for love" that summer I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw her. As God had it planned, I was one of the few from our group with a car and Ashley and I were placed at the same hotel for work. So day after day we spent time together driving to and from work and doing different ministries in the evenings. During our free time, I sought Ashley out and we would go walk around different places and spent a lot of time talking. Little did she know at first, but I was "working the magic." hahaha

Within a very short time (although not as short as her) I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Just 5 months after we met, I asked Ashley to marry me and she (eventually) said "yes."

We have been married for almost 7 years and it has been the best time of my life. Ashley is a wonderful person. She is one of the few people who truly, down deep in her heart is loving and kind. Some of us have to try to hide that side of us and simply imitate Christ, but it comes natural for Ashley. She is self-sacrificing with me and our children. Constantly serving us and making our house a home holding us together as a loving family. When I am stressed the weight is lifted when I walk in the door of our house. I know that she loves me unconditionally and that changes everything. Her love helps me feel more loved by God.

I love to watch Ashley worship, because she truly loves God and wants to connect with Him. I also love to watch Ashley interact with our children (and others) because her heart just beams out love. We love to laugh together and act goofy. She truly is my best friend.

I am so blessed to have her as my wife.

I hope you have such love in your life. And I hope you can love others like this so they can get a glimpse of God through you.

Sheep or a Goat? Lev. 8-12 & Matt. 25b-26a

The story Jesus tells in Matthew 25:31-46 is so powerful, so in-your-face. We debate and discuss how salvation is by faith and grace, not works, yet it seems that Jesus might have a different answer. Not that Jesus would say we can earn salvation - we absolutely can't! That is clear. However, I think we often offer "cheap grace" instead of a new life to people. If we are to have a relationship with Jesus, we must follow Him with our lives. As Jesus' brother James says in his epistle (2:17) "Faith without works is dead."

Jesus tells how He will divide people when He comes in His glory - dividing them into two groups; 1) sheep and 2) goats. He will tell the sheep that they fed Him, clothed Him, invited Him into their homes, visited Him in jail and they will say, "What?! When?! We don't remember ever seeing You." And He will reply, "Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to ME." And the scene will be the same for the goats except opposite. Instead of being welcomed into a Kingdom prepared for them, they will go to an eternal fire because they did not take care of the least of these.

Nice story, huh? It's easy to read this story and agree with the message........BUT,

How about you and me? Do you take care of the least of these? Do you even know any "least of these?" If not, you might want to get busy making some new acquaintances or opening your eyes to those in your life who are without.

Pretty big stuff regarding our faith...may we not take it lightly.

The Reality of Sin - Lev. 4-7 & Matt. 24b-25a

Leviticus 4,5,6,&7 all talk about different types of offerings the people and the priests were to give to God. Sin offerings, guilt offerings, ordination offerings, and peace offerings. I'm so thankful that we don't have to go through all of these procedures to receive forgiveness and grace from God. It's awesome that God came and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for us. But in a weird way it's unfortunate that we don't have any kind of offerings or commandments that we must do when we sin or when we want peace between us and God.

Think about it, I mean I know these chapters are boring to read b/c they don't apply exactly to our lives, but when you imagine all these people had to go through it had to really affect their lives and their thoughts the next time they were tempted to sin. They had to go out in their fields a find a spotless animal (which was worth some decent money to them), they had to put a leash on it and walk it to town, they had to lay their hands on it - symbolically transferring their sin onto the animal, slice it's neck, watch the priests cut it up and drain the blood, burn it, etc. It was a big ordeal! And it was work and it was gross and it was....memorable and costly.

Now we just pray. We sin, we feel a little guilt, and we say a quick 'I'm sorry' to God.....then we just move on in life. So the next time we're tempted to sin it's easy to forget that we just messed up the same way a few hours ago.

Again, I'm so thankful for Jesus and His ultimate and perfect sacrifice for us, but I hate that I take sin so lightly.

Consider with me ways we can take our sin more seriously so we don't continue in it.

Continue to praise God for His unending grace and forgiveness and love in your life.

Never think that you're too far from God, or that you've messed up too much, He loves you as a Father and desperately wants you to return to Him.

Jesus' Return - Lev. 1-3 & Matt. 24:1-25

I will most likely be focusing on the New Testament readings for the next couple of months due to the nature of the material in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - although I will comment on the OT when something catches my attention...

Today in Matt. 24, Jesus is questioned by His disciples about the end times when He comes back. It's neat to hear Jesus teach about this, especially considering that His teaching is not very similar to a lot of stuff you hear (even - or maybe especially - by Christian authors).

Here are some of the highlights for you:

"Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Messiah." They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come."

I highlight some of Jesus' words in bold, because so many people are freaked out about Jesus' second coming. They say that there are false prophets around, and we've seen numerous earthquakes and famines....Jesus is coming soon! But the truth is that there have been false prophets around for centuries and there have been earthquakes and famine all over since the Bible days. Jesus says these things are only the beginning....don't panic! He goes on to say in verse 23 that, '...if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah,' or 'There he is,' don't believe it."

As you read on (into tomorrow's passage) Jesus says that His coming will be like lightning flashing across the sky. He says that the sun will get dark and the stars will fall from the sky. And He will send out His angels with trumpets and they will gather His children.

So in light of these things, don't be freaked out about Jesus coming back. Don't hear me wrong - you should get yourself prepared spiritually - but if you have a relationship with Jesus and walk with Him daily you can relax and look forward to His coming. Don't believe all of the manipulative scare tactics out there. Look to the Bible for answers.

Enjoy the snow! (We got about 5-6 inches last night!)

Tough reading - Ex. 39-40 & Matt. 23:23-39

I don't have much to say about today's Scripture readings, but I do want to talk briefly about where we've been and where we're going in the OT. Yesterday I pretty much summed up Matt. 23 so I don't have anything to add to that and Ex. 39-40 just describe the final touches for the tabernacle. So all I have to say about that is congratulations! we made it through the second OT book.

I admit, this point in the yearly Bible reading plan is a time of testing. The end of Exodus is pretty boring reading and then you go into Leviticus and Numbers which are tough as well, only to head into Deuteronomy - which is a recap of Exodus, Leviticus, and Number! It's a tough stretch of reading to be sure. But be assured that there is a point to it and we need to learn from it. (And meanwhile, enjoy the NT readings!!! Stay strong and eventually we'll reach the book of Joshua, which is a little more exciting. But since we're heading into Leviticus let me prepare you for it...

I'm reading through the New Living Translation of the Bible and I really enjoy its readability. It's written on a 6th grade level, so that suits me well! But my NLT Bible is also a Life Application Bible and I really enjoy some of the notes. One thing that I really like are the book introductions, especially for a book like Leviticus that makes you wonder what in the world this has to do with your present life. Some of the points in my Bible's intro to Leviticus are:

1. The overwhelming message of Leviticus is the holiness of God. So it talks a lot about our need to be holy and how to deal with sin so we can continue to approach our holy God.
2. It also talks about standards and guidelines for our lives, because we are to worship God with how we live our lives. This is obviously applicable to our lives and thoughts today.
   
3. The final aspect of the book deals with celebration. The book gives a lot of instructions for festivals. These were specific times for the people to remember and focus on God. We have special celebrations throughout the year too. Perhaps this book can help us to think about how to be even more intentional with our celebrations to keep God as the focus.

Remember these themes as you struggle through this book. Stay strong, you'll be surprised how God will speak to you as you remain in His word.

What's Important? - Ex. 34-38 & Matt. 22b-23a

Today's (and yesterday's) readings are powerful. The OT readings deal with Moses going back up the mountain to get the Ten Commandment tablets re-made and then more instructions regarding the making of the tabernacle (which doesn't make for the most interesting reading).

Then in the NT reading for yesterday and today we have some wild stuff. We have religious leaders asking questions and trying to trip Jesus up left and right, we have some brilliant answers from Jesus, and THEN we listen in as Jesus puts the smack down on the Pharisees - WOW!

Let me first say that it is so awesome to me that Moses got to spend 40 days and nights with God. And it is even more exciting that when Moses came down out of God's presence, people couldn't even look at him! Wow. That's holiness. You can't spend a whole lot of time in the presence of God without being changed. May we all "let our light so shine..." (Matt. 5:16). Then as I mentioned the text in the OT goes into more details about building the tabernacle, which is boring as all get out to read, but once again, it is very cool to think about because the reason for the precision and detail of these things is that they represent God! I wish we had the kind of respect and reverent fear of God that would lead to our careful worship of Him. He is so worthy!

But what really hit me today was the NT readings. Holy cow! Honestly I'm still reeling and don't know quite what to make of Jesus' words. What I mean by that is that His response to the Pharisees is just not what we consider a Christian response, yet it was Christ who said it - so obviously it was a Christian response - but wow. And what I can make of Jesus' words is this - God is not playing around. In chapter 22 we have the famous passage of the guy asking Jesus what the (notice the singular) most important command of Moses was and Jesus giving the Great Commandment - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important commandment. And the second is equally important:'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" So Jesus, although asked for THE most important command had to answer by giving two commands - and this is important - because you cannot separate loving God and loving your neighbors. They are tied together and Jesus says that these two commands sum up every other teaching. That's huge. And then Jesus goes into the rampage that I alluded to in chapter 23 where he gives seven woes to the Pharisees. And again, there's a lot more I need to swallow as God gives me wisdom, but what I do know is that Jesus was very serious about these teachings. And what was the main topic? Hypocrisy. That is saying or teaching or even believing one thing, while living another. Jesus does not care about how we look (or even act) on the outside as much as He cares about our hearts and motives. This is taught over and over by Jesus and yet we still focus on actions and looks. This is a huge lesson I'm learning and trying to figure out how to better teach my kids and my youth so as to help them change their hearts and convictions, not just actions, but it is indeed a hard lesson.

Keep reading friends, this is powerful, life-changing stuff!

Blessed...

I haven't been using this blog for much personal rambling, but here's one for ya...

Most people reading this know already, but last Friday we found out that Ashley is pregnant with twins! Wow! As you can imagine, we were excited....and scared! But overall we feel so blessed. God has already blessed us with two of the most beautiful and sweet children we've ever seen, and now He is blessing us with two more - and another boy and another girl at that!

Seeing as how we'll have four children, ages three and under, we are somewhat nervous - and that's what I want to talk about. Not the nervousness, but rather the multitude of blessings that come to mind when I think of all the help we'll need (and get). First of all, we are so blessed to only live 45 minutes away from my Mom and Dad, who are always a huge help. I've been so happy since day one of our marriage how well Ashley has gotten along with my parents. They love her, and she loves them - it's awesome. My parents have been so giving and helpful, yet mindful of giving us space. I don't know what we'd do without them. Ashley's family is always helpful too. They've always sent us gifts for the kids and money when times were tough. We are so blessed to have loving parents, which has helped us to be loving to our kids.

We also are blessed with some great friends. Only a few years back we yearned for friends our age and in similar life circumstances as us, and God has been so good to answer that prayer. We have several Christian couples who live locally that we spend time with. We enjoy laughing and playing with all of our kids, and studying God's word together. We also have many friends from college and "back home" who we love and enjoy.

But a huge blessing we have that I just can't imagine doing without is our church family. My home church (where I grew up) blessed us tremendously when we were first married and now the church where I work has carried on God's love for us. We are often blessed with greeting cards, restaurant gift certificates, hugs, gifts for our children, and many prayers. I honestly don't know how people survive without such a support system.

As we look forward to an even busier life with the new babies, we look forward with confidence because of the awesome people God has placed in our lives. If you are one of those people (and you probably are if you're reading this!) THANK YOU! Know that you are used by God in our lives and we love you.

American Idols - Ex. 29-33 & Matt. 21b & 22

It always amazes me to think of how powerfully and miraculously God answered the prayers of the Israelite slaves and rescued them from slavery in Egypt - only to have them constantly complaining and lacking in faith throughout their departure! In chapter 32 of Exodus Moses has been up on the mountain talking with God for 40 days (which is a long time when you're anxiously awaiting something) and the Israelites get impatient. So they tell Aaron to do something. So he tells them to give him all of their gold (necklaces, nose rings, etc) so he can....make a golden calf for them to worship!!! What?! What was he thinking?! But sure enough he goes through with it and the people worship a golden cow. People are so stupid sometimes aren't they? As you can imagine, Moses (who has just been face to face with God for forty days) comes down and goes ballistic smashing the newly carved Ten Commandment slabs against the mountain.

Likewise, in the NT stories for today we see the religious leaders challenging Jesus' authority and Jesus telling a couple of parable to help them understand just who He was and just how pathetic (and in trouble) they were. Again I ask, why are people so stupid sometimes?!

I understand that it's been two thousand long years since Jesus walked the earth, but we still confess to believing it. Yet we have golden cows and challenges for Jesus in our lives too don't we? It's not hard to spot our stupidity, just watch TV for a few hours. We celebrated people who have lots of money, regardless of their intelligence or morals. We worship people who play sports regardless of their actions of lifestyle. And we want to be like people on TV, no matter how stupid they are. What is our deal? On top of that, we worship ourselves and money (or stuff) most of all. Our society is so wrapped up with "me." We talk on cell phones while standing right beside another living, breathing human being. We buy things with plastic and pay double or triple for them over many years so we can have more stuff. We worship ipods, and video game systems, and plasma TV's and PDA's rather than time "on the mountain" with the Creator of our world. Then when things don't go perfectly for us we challenge God's goodness or love...

May we grow sick of ourselves as we read about the always complaining and never satisfied Israelites and decide for ourselves to worship and serve with joy our Savior and Redeemer.

Faith & Identity - Ex. 25-28 & Matt. 20 - 21:22

Well it appears that I won't be blogging on most Sundays or Wednesdays. That seems to be my normal pattern so far this year. Those days are just too busy! But I suppose 5 out of 7 days of blogging isn't bad?

Well, the OT readings for today discuss the exact specifications of the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Table of Showbread, the curtains for the tabernacle, the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Courtyard, and the clothing for the priests. This is the beginning of what can be some BORING READING. But don't give up, keep reading! Because a) there is a point to it and b) it gets better as you get past the book of Leviticus (which you'll complete in a few weeks). If you're hitting the wall of boredom, let me give you a brief answer to the grand old question, "Why is God telling us about this stuff and who cares?!"

Check this out;

1. The high quality and precious materials that all of things things were constructed of represent God's greatness.
2. The curtain surrounding the most holy place represents God's perfection and need to be separated from uncleaness and impurity.
3. The fact that the Tabernacle is portable represents the fact that God desired to be with His people as they traveled.
4. The Tabernacle and all of the things that went on there represent sacrifice, atonement, and forgiveness - all things that foreshadow Jesus.

Getting on into the NT readings, we see Jesus predicting what was gong to happen to Him which helps us to realize that He was fully aware of what was going on and why He had to do what He did. It's amazing that He was willing to die for us! We also see Jesus ride into town on a donkey. This was His way of proclaiming His kingdom. In that day kings would ride into town on a great stallion, proclaiming their greatness and all of the followers would bow before them. But Jesus, mocking the earthly model, chooses a donkey to ride in on, showing His humility. Another instance of His identity was shown when He cleared the Templ and even the children were saying, "Praise God for the Son of David." This made the religious leaders mad, because even the kids were saying that Jesus was the Messiah. So the religious leaders ask Jesus, "Don't you see what you've led these children to believe?!" And Jesus basically says, "Yes! They're smarter than you!" Jesus was very aware of His identity...

Which brings us to the teaching He gives in these chapters, because He wants us to be aware of our identity as followers of Him. He teaches His disciples that if we are to be leaders in His kingdom, we must be humble, not seeking first place. And He proves His point with His own lifestyle saying in chapter 20:28, "...even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give His life as a ransom for many."

May we throw off the messed up values of fame and fortune in this world and recognzie our new identity in Christ as servants, giving our lives daily so others can come to know Him.

God's Terms - Ex 23-24 & Matt 20:1-16

One thing that I think is hard for our country and our generation of people to understand about faith in the God of the Bible is that God is in control. We don't get to barter and trade with god in order to work out a deal with Him. He sets the terms. Don't get me wrong, the terms He sets are more than fair, but He makes the terms, not us.

In Exodus 23-24 God calls Moses and the leaders up to the mountain so God can speak to them. He gives them rules, He even writes them on stone tablets, and He confirms His covenant with the people. And they accept His terms (for the time being anyway).

In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who hires people throughout the day, so that they all work for differing amounts of time, yet at the end of the day, the landowner pays them all the same. Those who had worked all day were aggravated that they didn't get paid more. But the landowner (who portrays God in the parable) tells them that He owns the field and He hired the people (who all agreed to work for what they were paid) and He will pay His servants as He pleases. Once again, it is God's terms, not ours.

We have a weird culture at hand in America. In some ways it's good, but when it comes to faith it's usually not. We're taught and shown (on TV/movies) that we just need to grab life by the horns and anything we can get our hands on we deserve. We're taught a sense of entitlement - we think we deserve life on a golden platter. We begin to doubt God when we have financial problems or health problems or relationship woes. But when God blesses us with food, shelter, freedom, love, grace, etc. we never question why we deserve those things do we?

Many Americans find it hard to swallow the fact that God sets out one way to have a relationship with Him (John 14:6). They don't like the fact that God gives us moral guidelines to live by. They don't like the fact that they're supposed to be active in a local church or that they should even give 10 percent of their money to the church as an offering of worship to God.

But we have to realize who we are and what we are in relation to God. He is the Creator, we are the created. He is perfect and holy, we are sinful. He is all-knowing, we are not. He is yesterday, today, and forever our lives are just dust in the wind. The fact that He even recognizes us, much less wants to have a relationship with us is amazing. The thought that He gives us everything we have and only demands 1/10th of it in return, allowing us to keep 9/10ths is awesome.

May we wise up and begin to be more thankful and submissive to our gracious and loving God.

Rules - Ex. 21-22 & Matt. 19

Today's readings focus on rules...yeah!!! Don't you love rules? Don't they just excite you? hahaha Why is it that we dislike rules so much? Isn't it kind of funny how we're wired like that? As a parent and as a youth minister I am always teaching that rules are good, they are given out of love, they are there to protect you. But when I'm at a stop light with a "No turn on red" sign with no one in sight or on a road with a 25 MPH sign my opinion on rules changes!

The thing about rules is that they don't make us better people. They do keep us safe and out of trouble, but they are not life-transforming. God knows that, yet what did He do throughout the Old Testament? He gave rules. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Rules about sorcerers, rules about farm animals and slaves. Rules about fights and thieves and kidnappers. But the people just couldn't obey. And neither can we. As I mentioned yesterday, it's enlightening how we read through the simple list of just Ten Commandments and find ourselves thinking, "guilty, guilty, guilty, um I might be ok on that one, guilty, guilty...." haha it's pathetic isn't it?

God gives us the privilege now of looking back on the rules listed in the Old Testament and comparing them to the life-giving ideas of Jesus. Notice that Jesus didn't let go of the rules of the OT, but He got to the heart of the matter. "If you look at a woman lustfully you have committed adultery." Whoa! Yikes!

In Matt. 19 a the Pharisees ask Jesus about the rules of divorce and Jesus says "let no man split apart what God has joined together." The Pharisees remind Jesus that Moses gave permission to divorce and Jesus says, "Yes, I know this, but it was because of your hardness of heart - that wasn't God's original intention - whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery."

Another man in Matt. 19 asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to follow the rules, to which the man says "I have, what else do I have to do?" (Interesting that the man somehow knew there was more to it) And Jesus tells him to go and sell all of his stuff and give it to the poor. At this the man walked away sad, because he was a rich man.

Jesus says at the end of this story that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. An interesting pastor in Michigan named Rob Bell ( http://nooma.com/Info/Speaker.aspx ) reminds us as Americans that in our world today, WE ARE THE RICH. Even if you're considered low-income in America, you are rich compared to the rest of our world. The reason it's hard for the rich to enter heaven is because we are more focused on ourselves and our stuff than God. We don't recognize our dependence on Him.

Obeying the Ten Commandments or all of the other rules in the OT or in our current world is not what makes you a good person or a Christian. God cares about how clean the inside of the cup is as well as the outside. If we want our lives to change and if we want to help others change their lives, the place to start is on the inside, not the external actions.

Obeying rules is not equal to living for Jesus.

Lord, help me to learn this.

Catching Up... Ex. 14-20 & Matt. 17-18

Well, it's easy to get behind in life sometimes isn't it? And for any of you joining me in reading through the Bible, don't feel bad when you get behind, it's inevitable. Just catch up if you can, or don't even worry about what you missed (if it's alot) just start up on today's reading and move on. I have been fighting some sinus crud for a couple of weeks and it's gotten the best of me this week. On top of that, as many of you know already, we found out Friday that we're having twins!!! So yeah, wow.....what can you say?! God continues to help me understand that He is in control, not me. But we're very excited. There is a little boy and a little girl in there, so we got a double blessing! Pray for us... :)

Also, today I got to visit an old friend of mine. Heather Barron. I haven't seen her since the funeral of her husband and my friend Michael in June. Heather and Michael let me live with them my first year of seminary for free, which is one of the big reasons I chose Asbury (which is where Michael went as well). God used them in great ways in my life and I am so thankful for their friendship and love. It was great to see Heather today, just like old times - I wish we lived closer...

Anyway, those are my excuses for being a little behind.

There's way too much to cover from all of the Scriptures mentioned in the title of this blog, so I'll summarize, but it's too bad, because it is good stuff! In Exodus, chapters 14-20 take us through all of the plagues God sent on Pharaoh and Egypt to help them recognize His power and glory. Although the Israelites suffer 400 years of slavery, God doesn't forget them. He remembers His covenant and rescues them in an incredible way. Which is why they served Him in complete obedience for the rest of their lives. No, wait - after that miraculous rescue and many awesome works of God, the people continually grumbled to Moses and God as they left Egypt for the promised land. It's so aggravating and hard to believe as you're reading it, but then we take a look at our own lives and realize that we're not much different. I can't imagine how sad we must make God sometimes.

Another cool storyline in the midst of these Exodus chapters is God's provision. He continually provides water, bread (from heaven!), and resistance to the desert. (We'll read later that over the course of all those years in the sun and desert their sandals never failed them!) Once again, we fear for provision in our lives too, but God knows our needs and speaking for our family - He always provides.

Also cool is the Jethro segment where Moses' father in law tells him to train others to help him with his work. I feel Moses. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who can do it (whatever "it" may be) but we have to entrust others and train them to join in on the work to be done.

Lastly in the OT portion we get the Ten Commandments. Too many things to talk about here but...to name a few....what a brilliant list of values; what a simple list; amazing how hard this simple list is to obey; all of this makes Jesus' coming so necessary and once again brilliant. Thank God for His grace and sacrifice and love for us.

Into the NT...once again way too much stuff, but here are the highlights...
-Transfiguration - God's blessing and claim on Jesus - funniness with Peter being a dork
-Jesus predicts His death and resurrection - wow, can you imagine anticipating that?
-Teaching about being humble like children
-Teaching about how to deal with conflict in church - important***
-Teaching on being unforgiving - huge!

Awesome stuff people, check it out.

Busting our Pride - Ex. 9-13 & Matt. 15b - 16

It's amazing how self-centered, self-interested, and self-focused we are. For most of us, we live our lives based on me, or at least we (typically meaning me and my closest friends/family). We figure if we are providing food, shelter, and protection for ourselves and our families that we are good, society-enhancing people. That's how "our world" works isn't it. An often used acronym taught in Marketing is "W.I.I.F.M." - all marketing experts take the customers point of view in order to best do business thinking through - What's In It For Me?! - in order to consider what the business can do to make the customer choose them over the competition.

But throughout the Bible, and especially in today's passages (and yesterday's) God tries to help us understand that it's not all about me. Through many plagues, God helps Pharaoh to recognize that he is not in control. Eventually Pharaoh lets go and let's God's people go. Perhaps you've had (or are currently having) God take your legs out from under you to get your attention.
Maybe you're a little slow (like Pharaoh) and He's had to do it several times to get your attention. I've got some good news/bad news for you. God loves you and desperately wants your attention. If you're lucky (depending on how you look at it) He will continue to "soften you" until you give in. Although that will most likely be painful, at least it will be worth it in the end.

Unfortunately we have skipped some steps in our attempts to make converts to Christianity. We now tell people that:
1. They are sinners
2. They need forgiveness for their sin
3. Jesus died as a sacrifice for their sin
4. If they turn away from their sin they will be forgiven by God and get to go to heaven when they die.

While those things are true they leave one empty. Those things are simply a minmal checklist to get your ticket for heaven stamped. THAT IS NOT WHAT GOD OFFERS IN THE BIBLE.

You see, in today's reading in Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus says, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Did you catch it? Only if we give up our life for God will we find true life. Notice that it doesn't say we will find true death. It's not about what happens after you die, it's about life....now!

If you want an abundant life, you must give up your focus on yourself and focus on studying and living out the type of life that Jesus lived.

Believe me - I'm preaching to myself here as much as to anybody else. It's hard, but it's the only way to find true fulfillment in life and it's the only way to keep from losing your soul. "Is anything worth more than your soul?!"

May we seek a new focus for our lives and truly follow Christ not just talk about it.

Blind Leading the Blind - Ex. 7-8 & Matt. 15:1-20

So Pharaoh continues to have a hard heart and God (through Moses, Aaron, and plagues) continues to soften him. I can't imagine the mixture of faith and fear that Moses and Aaron must've had as they continued to obey God and confront Pharaoh only to have him respond negatively. God forewarned them that He would harden Pharaoh's heart, but still....all the while the Israelites and Pharaoh are getting more and more aggravated with Moses. It's not easy to go against the flow...

Which brings us to the story in Matthew 15 where Jesus, in His usual manner, confronts the religious leaders telling them that they were hypocrites and that they honored God with their lips but not with their hearts. Hilariously His disciples take Jesus aside and say, "Do you realize that you offended the Pharisees?" Ha Ha Ha! Um....yeah, He understood. He simply didn't care because He was too into "tickling ears" but rather transforming hearts.

Which in turn brings me to something I'd like to rant about for a minute. I've been reading an awesome book called "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard and it is really changing (or at least reaffirming) my thoughts on being a follower of Christ and making disciples. Dallas Willard, much like Jesus (although much more politically correct) refers to our current church leaders as "blind leading the blind." At least that's how I would summarize his thoughts. For the first half of the book, he teaches on the Sermon on the Mount, then in the second half of the book he teaches about how to truly become a student of Jesus and how to help others truly study and live out that life. The goal he says, is to live your life as Jesus would if He were living your life. Not WWJD, rather how can I do what Jesus would've done in my place, with my gifts, abilities, relationships, etc.

The first thing we have to do is to really decide to be a student of Jesus. I know that's no earth-shattering news. But how many people do you know whose number one priority is studying and living out the Jesus lifestyle? I can count them on one hand. So with regard to ourselves and of course others, who we might hope to make disciples of, we first need to identify what it is that undergirds all of our decisions. Once we have done that (which I don't believe is an easy or a quick process) we must get rid of that and replace it with Jesus. If all this sounds simple, let me just repeat what Mr. Willard says (and I totally agree with): -my paraphrase- Around 1300 years ago the church started making converts in place of disciples and that is what the church on the whole is in the business of doing today. So we make converts in hopes that they become disciples. When in reality these "converts" are only converted to church, not to truly studying and following Christ. So we may only have a handful, if that, of disciples in our churches.

Anyway, I'm obviously rambling, so I'll spare you. But I look forward to more of what God has to say to me and where He leads with these thoughts...they just may save (or ruin, haha) my relationship to the church.

I intend to more truly study and follow Christ.

I Am - Exodus 1-6 & Matt. 14

Today's Scripture readings were so great, because they reinforce the idea that "with God all things are possible." Unfortunately, we need to be reminded of that all too often.

As we enter into the book of Exodus, we see God calling a normal man, a shepherd. Moses is out shepherding one day and he sees the burning bush so he is intrigued. God speaks to him and tells him that He has heard the cry of the Israelites because of the cruelty shown to them by the Egyptians so He has come (in accordance with His covenant) to rescue them. The good news?!?!?! for Moses is that God has chosen to use him to do this!!! Gee...thanks...God. Gulp!

Moses is scared to death and tries several times to make excuses, but it turns out that God is a better arguer, so Moses accepts this mission. God tells him to simply march up to Pharaoh and tell him to let them go into the wilderness to worship God. Riiiight...

A similarly impossible situation occurs in Matthew 14. Jesus has a huge hungry crowd in front of him and his disciples tell Him that He better tell the folks to go take a lunch break. But Jesus has a better?! idea - "You feed them." But Jesus, there are 5,00 men, plus their wives and children, that's alot of tacos... "Feed them." Riiiight....

The answer to the problem both times is "I Am." God tells Moses and Jesus implies to the disciples that He is the answer. Don't hesitate, don't ask questions, don't make excuses....I Am is here.

But God...

How is my family going to make it financially? I Am
How am I going to afford college for three kids? I Am
How are we possibly going to reach our neighborhood for you? I Am
How can we help all of these homeless people? I Am
What about global warming? I Am
What about the war? I Am
What about....

"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10

The End - Gen. 49-50 & Matt. 13b

Wow, the end of the first book already! It hasn't even been a month and 50 chapters have zoomed by already...

I love the book of Genesis. So many interesting stories. From Creation, to the Fall of humanity, to the destruction of almost everything, to a chosen family through whom God would bless the world. Now that's a story!

Now we are about to head into Exodus. God's deliverance of the Israelites from the slavery they got into in the midst of the great Famine. Ya know, I don't think I ever realized that it was Joseph who put those people into slavery in the first place... But I'm looking forward to Exodus too, it's n interesting book as well. It's reassuring to see God hear His people's cry for help and His power as He takes on pharaoh and the Egyptians.

As for the New Testament, we will continue our way through the gosepl of Matthew. Today Jesus continued talk about the Kingdom of Heaven - one of the most discussed topics in the gospels and least talked about in our churches. May we come to understand and see the meaning and power of God's Kingdom here on earth and the part we play in it. His kingdom is here and now, we are simply blind to it.....kind of like the movie Matrix.

Which world will you choose...? Do you think ignorance is bliss or do you want to know the real deal and be part of it?

Dirt People - Gen. 46-48 & Matt. 13:1-30

Sorry I missed yesterday...we've been a little sick... And although I don't have much of a voice, I can still type - so I'm back!

Well, today's OT reading brings somewhat of a finale to Joseph and his father Jacob's saga. Joseph finally reveals his true identity to his brothers and has them and his father move to Goshen, in Egypt where there is fertile land. Jacob gets to live there for 17 years before he says his final words and blesses Joseph's sons. And wouldn't you know it old Jacob still has some tricks up his sleeve as he crosses his arms and gives a "backwards" blessing to Joseph's sons blessing the younger over the older (sound familiar?).

But what I want to focus on today is Matthew 13. This is where we find Jesus' parable of the four soils. It's a story we've heard over and over, but so important and telling in our own lives and the lives around us. Jesus explains that someone spreading seed spreads it all over - on a walking path, on some rocky soil, among thorns, and on good soil. We are to understand that the seed spread is symbolic of the good news of Jesus being shared and the response of the soil is symbolic of people's different responses to that good news.

One thing that's interesting is that the seed is spread all over! If you know anything about farming, this is not how you do it. This would be a waste of seed. But it works differently with the kingdom of God. We are to spread the good news of Jesus everywhere and let God take care of the harvest.

But most important is for us to note the types of soil and the comparisons Jesus gives in his explanation of this story to his disciples:

-Walking path = people who don't understand the message
-Rocky soil = people who recieve the message but then give up when tough times come
-Thorny soil = people who worry too much about life or are too focused on money
-good soil = people who receive the message and spread their seed elsewhere

I wonder....which soil are you?

No Rules, Just Right - Gen. 41-42 & Matt. 12:1-23

No Rules, Just Right - that's the slogan for Outback Steakhouse, but it might make a better slogan for Jesus' teaching in the New Testament. Throughout Jesus' life people misunderstood Him. That was primarily because they were Jewish and knew the Old Testament (the law) very well. But Jesus came and turned their worlds upside down because they had become more focused on the rules than the heart behind those laws.

We see this fleshed out often in Jesus' ministry and often it is with the rule-focused sect called the Pharisees. In Matthew chapter 12 we are given one such incident. As Jesus and His disciples walked through the fields on the Sabbath, His disciples began to pluck the heads of wheat and eat them (which the Pharisees saw as working on the Sabbath). So the Pharisees speak up to Jesus saying, "Look your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting wheat on the Sabbath." First off, Jesus responds by quoting Scripture to these know-it-alls proving that He knew the law very well thank you. Then He takes the conversation to a whole new (and outrageous) level by saying, "I tell you, there is one here who is greater than the Temple!"

Not only does Jesus use Scripture to defend His disciples, but He proclaims His authority as Lord of the Sabbath and throws that in their faces. And He goes on to teach them saying, "But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices."

God wants us to have pure hearts. Hearts after Jesus' heart. That is the point of Scripture, that is the point of church, and that is the point of spiritual disciplines. God wants to develop character within us so that we may become like Him. Whatever God has given you in your life - your job, your classes, your family, your friends, your personality - He wants you to live in that world (your world) and use those things to develop yourself into His image. He is ready and willing to help us, but we must decide to begin that journey. That is what it means to follow Christ.

I hope you will seek this path for your life and talk with me about it as we travel the road together.

"May the Lord be with you" - Gen. 39-40 & Matt. 11

May the Lord be with you...

...and also with you.

This is a common greeting and response for many churches. Unfortunately it isn't too common in the Baptist world. But Genesis 39 reminded me of it. Genesis 39 tells about Joseph and his continual trials. He has already been sold into slavery by his brothers and now we see him seduced by his master's wife who yelled "rape" after he ran away from her advances. Then he is thrown in jail. And after correctly interpreting dreams for two of Pharaoh's men, he is simply forgotten and left in jail.

But all throughout this chapter we see a certain phrase repeated, "The Lord was with Joseph." We see it in verses 2, 3, 21, $ 23. Things went wrong often throughout Joseph's life, but the Lord was with him and He continued to bless and use him throughout his life.

As we spend time with God and recognize that we can and must do so in the midst of whatever takes up most of our time (work, school, family) we will begin to understand what it means to "take His yoke upon us" as Jesus says in Matthew 11. You see, living for Jesus isn't a piece of cake, it takes work, but this path is such that it will make your life peaceful. Again, not to say that you will never have problems or stress, you will! But in the midst of those trials if the Lord is with you, you will have a peace in your mind and heart that transcends the circumstances. In Matthew 11 Jesus says, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."

So abiding in Jesus still requires work (carrying a yoke) but Jesus' yoke guides us into straight paths. His guidance is gentle and in His guidance we will find rest in the place of restlessness and the burdens we carry in life will be replaced with His burden, which is light. Soooo,

May the Lord be with you...

Sheep Among Wolves - Gen. 36-38 & Matt. 10

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus tells the disciples that He is sending them out as sheep among wolves. He warns them that they WILL be treated badly (just as He was). Jesus also says in Matt. 10:34 that He didn't come to bring peace, but rather a sword. That is, He has come offering true life if we give our complete allegiance to Him, but He demands that nothing else come before Him. So a relationship with Him may bring a sword to your relationships in life. Jesus says that we must love Him more than our fathers and mothers, our husbands and wives, our children, our friends, etc. If we are putting anything before Him we must cut it out of our lives.

We see the sheep among wolves scenario in today's OT reading. Joseph, the youngest and most loved by his father is hated by his brothers. So much so that they consider killing him, but then decide to at least profit from him by selling him into slavery. Can you imagine your family treating you like that?!

But take heart if you are currently suffering in this world, because GOD IS IN CONTROL. Just as the Father was with Jesus bringing Him back to life from death into a new and glorious life with the Father, God watches over us as well. Jesus forewarned us that we will face persecution, but He also said He would always be with us. God was in control in Joseph's life as well. He allowed him to become one of the top leaders in Egypt, saving the whole country (including his brothers) from drought and starvation.

Trust and know that God is at work in the same way in your life. Remember that God is above and outside and within our world seeing things from the larger perspective while we are simply in "the fishbowl of life" and all we can see is what's going on around us. If you remain faithful and in touch with God He will help you to consider life from His perspective and He will give you the power and love and grace to carry on.

DON'T GIVE UP!

What Girls Want - Gen. 29-30 & Matt 9:1-17

Genesis 29:20 - So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

Things like this scene are what make guys around the world seem unromantic. How are we supposed to compete with that?! This is one of the few scenes in the Bible that make Jacob look good.

Remember Jacob? The twin of Esau. He came out of the womb grasping his brother's heel. When they were older Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright and more importantly his father's blessing! But the tables are turned on Jacob when he moves to Haran to live with his uncle Laban. Jacob falls head over heals for Laban's younger daughter Rachel. So he tells Laban that he'll work for him for 7 years for his daughter's hand in marriage. And he does! But on the wedding night, the veiled bride comes into the bedroom and Jacob takes her as his wife only to wake up to....Rachel's older (and not as pretty) sister Leah!!! A little taste of his own medicine...

Jacob's life was blessed by God, but it was not easy or stress-free because Jacob continually tried to make things work on his own instead of trusting God. I'm afraid I relate to Jacob all too well. Not in the deception arena, just on the trying-to-make-things-work-on-my-own field.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (again) - Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Even the Demons Knew - Gen. 27-28 & Matt. 8 cont'd

It's getting late, so here's a quick thought for today...

Isn't it interesting that anytime Jesus ran into demon-possessed people, the demons knew that He was (and is) the Son of God? Why is it so hard for humans to get that? And perhaps upon all things that may prove to us that He is indeed the promised Messiah, the Son of God, this remark from the mouths of demons should be great proof.

We might've thought that simply in spite of Jesus they would try to make Him look bad and yell out, "You're a wimp" or "You wish you were God." But they can't, like the rest of us (eventually) the only response they could give in Jesus' presence was recognition of who He is.

How powerful!!!

Trust and Obey - Gen. 25-26 & Matt 8:1-17

Trust and Obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.

Ok, sorry I'm on a hymn kick here lately, but they are the first things to pop into my head when I read some of these stories. Interesting that no praise songs have popped up yet...

In today's Scripture we read about the death of Abraham, the birth of Jacob and Esau, God renewing His covenant with Jacob, and Jesus healing several people. In the midst of all of these stories it seems that there is one common theme - faith (or trust) and the outward sign of faith, which is obedience.

In Genesis 26:5 God tells Isaac that He is continuing His covenant with Isaac "because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions." That is a small sentence that packs a huge punch! God is going to bless Isaac (and his descendants) with land, numerous descendants, and God will bless all the nations of the earth through their family by allowing Jesus to come from their line! Wow. And why do they get this amazing blessing? "Because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions."

Then we read the beginning of chapter 8 in Matthew and we see a Roman (no, not Jewish) officer come up to Jesus and ask if He would heal one of his young servants. Jesus says, "I will come and heal him." But the officer says, "Lord I am not worthy for you to come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed."

This is one of the few times we see Jesus surprised. He reacts with joy and amazement saying, "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!" and then later to the Roman officer, "Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened."

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Proverbs 3:5-6 which reiterates the above lessons. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

If we would simply start trusting what God leads us to do and faithfully obey those things are lives would be so much easier and I imagine our descenedants and those around us would be blessed through our faith and obedience.

Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus.

The Solid Rock - Gen. 23,24 & Matt. 7

If you're not aware, I'm from Monroe, OH, which is just south of Middletown, about 45 minutes north of where we currently live in northern KY. Although a once proud native, it is somewhat embarrassing to drive past the Monroe exit and tell people that's where I'm from because it is kind of an infamous exit now. Monroe is now known for two huge flea markets (yee-haw), a porno magazine place, and a giant statue of Jesus that some refer to as "Touchdown Jesus" or "Drowning Jesus." This huge statue is located at a church called The Solid Rock, which is pastored by a guy whose daughter went to my elementary school. Unfortunately, this huge Jesus statue is one of the first things that comes to my mind now when I think of Solid Rock.

But on a brigher note, the next thing that comes to mind is another good hymn...

My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

That's a hymn I grew up singing and it comes from the idea found in Matthew 7 where Jesus said that, "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Through the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the wind beats against the house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock."

Matthew 7 is a great chapter where Jesus teaches about judging others, praying, and living out our faith. I highly recommend you reading and re-reading this chapter. May it move you to place Christ as your foundation so you won't become broken down and weary from life's storms.

I Surrender All - Gen. 20-22 & Matt. 6:19-34

I Surrender All, I Surrender All
All to Jesus, I Surrender,
I Surrender All

That has always been one of my favorite hymns, and if my memory serves me, the hymn of invitation that I responded to when I accepted Christ as a child. But as is typical with many songs we sing in church, it's so easy to sing the words and so hard to live out.

Today's Old Testament scripture tells one of the most incredible stories in all of Scripture, perhaps only trumped by that of Jesus' sacrificial death for us. In Genesis 22 the story of Abraham continues. We've been told that God promised Abram and Sarai a child and descendants too numerous to count despite their age, and after many years we see that miraculous birth of Isaac take place. If this story were an opera Isaac's birth would be a very loud, and celebratory sequence. And then we hit chapter 22. God does the unimaginable. God tells Abraham to offer this promised child, this miracle baby, this only child of the elderly Abraham and Sarah from whom the earth would be blessed, as a burnt offering.

A WHAT?!?!?!? Yes, a burnt offering.

Then what happens? Abraham doesn't ask questions, he doesn't curse God, he doesn't mourn, he saddles up his donkeys and begins his journey.

I cannot imagine this level of obedience and faith. I meagerly try to surrender all to God - I don't mind not making a lot of money, I don't mind having a humble house, I don't mind not having cool cars or clothes, but when it comes to my children's safety or my safety or several other things that I consider off limits, it's hard to surrender. I can give you great excuses and even argue for how God would understand, but Jesus demands it all. We aren't allowed to have boundaries for God.

This is a huge part of the reason Abraham is considered the Father of our faith. He is indeed the father of the line of descendants from which Jesus would come. But He is also the father and great example of the fear of God, which is what God desires. Not fear in such a way that you don't trust someone. Rather fear in a respect way. Fear of something so much greater than you that you can't for a minute imagine that you can compete with or have anything to offer. The type of respect you have for the Grand Canyon or the ocean or space.

I imagine that even Abraham couldn't have explained it very well and perhaps that's why we don't hear Abraham do much talking in chapter 22. He hears God's command, he couldn't possibly have understood why, but because of his fear (respect) of God, he simply obeys.

May we continue to move towards that kind of faith and respect and trust of God. He is certainly worthy of it.