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.