rebuke x 5

65. Deuteronomy 1

There are a couple interesting things about the first verse of the book of Deuteronomy. First, Moses calls together all of Israel for a nationwide rebuke. He didn't call some or just the heads of the families, he speaks to all Israel. There should be no question as to who Moses is speaking to, it is everyone. Second, Moses alludes to the times when the Israelites had angered God. He names the five places where these things happened. So standing before the entire nation Moses simply mentions the places where these things had happened - no need to expound - they obviously knew the offenses they had committed and would be reminded of them by the mentioning of the places where they had happened. For our benefit here they are...

1.in the desert - he rebuked them for their having angered God in the desert by saying, “If only we had died [by the hand of God]” (Exod. 16:3).
2.opposite the red sea - He rebuked them regarding their rebellion at the Red Sea. When they arrived at the Red Sea, they said, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert?” (Exod. 14:11)
3.between Paran and Tofel and Lavan - he rebuked them because of the foolish things they had said about the manna, which was white, saying “And our soul loathes this light bread” (Num. 21:5), and because of what they had done in the desert of Paran through the spies.
4.at Hazeroth - Concerning the insurrection of Korach which took place in Hazeroth
5.and Di-Zahav - He rebuked them for the calf they had made as a result of their abundance of gold, as it is said: “and I gave her much silver and gold, but they made it for Baal” (Hosea 2:10).

new chapter

It has been a month since I have written anything here and a lot has happened during that time for our family. Probably all six of you who read this blog know that Bonnie and I will be starting a new chapter in our lives starting in August. We have accepted the challenge to plant a church in New Bern, NC. We were not really looking to move to NC, but agreed to pray about the possibility and here we go. After a month of prayer and talking to folks about this idea God challenged us to go. Since we said, "Yes" we have met with many people and told them the news, spent a week in Orlando at the National New Church Conference, and have been trying to get our house on the market to sell. I'm sure it is still going to get worse before it gets better, but at least the ball is rolling.

With this in mind we have a couple prayer requests.

1. Pray for our house to sell in a bad market, and at a good price for us.
2. Pray for our girls as we break the news to them that we are moving.
3. Pray for the kids at Avalon that they would not check out just because we are moving.
4. Pray that God would prepare the people of New Bern to be open to this new church work.

And one request, if you know anyone in that area that might not know God or has fallen away, please send me their contact information.

Thanks!

caduceus

59. Numbers 21:4-9

It surprises me how often in our culture you can find references to biblical stories or people. Here in Numbers 21 there is another. After the Israelites have left Egypt they go through many difficult times and often grumble against Moses and God. They often wish they could go back to Egypt and become slaves again. During one of these times of grumbling, God sent venomous snakes among them. The passage says that the snakes bit them and many of them died. Nice right? So the people did what all of us do when we realize that we are wrong, they begged God to help them. Moses prayed on their behalf and here is what happened:

8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

This symbol of the bronze snake on a pole has been adopted by medical professionals to indicate that hospitals and medical clinics are places where you can get healing. The symbol is called a Caduceus. When you see it, remember that its origin is in the Old Testament and that true spiritual healing is found in another symbol we often see today, the cross.

consider myself

Matthew 23

Seven woes. Seven rebukes. Seven not so friendly responses to the religious leaders of Jesus day. It is easy to read through Matthew 23 and think, "Yeah, Jesus you tell them! You no good religious teachers!" But then I start to think about who are the religious teachers today. Umm, me? I wonder how many of these warnings could be applied to me or others today? Is there a parallel?

Overall theme of the chapter:

5"Everything they do is done for men to see:

Application: All leaders must check motives for the things they do.

Warning #1

13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Questions: Do I ever decide who should receive God's grace? Do I ever pass over someone because they don't appear to offer as much to the kingdom as someone else?

Warning #2

15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Question: Jesus said that when a student is fully trained he will be like his teacher. Based on my faith and purity should anyone become like me?

Warning #3

16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

Question: Do I place the correct emphasis on spiritual things over material things? Do I get confused in thinking my preaching or singing or teaching is what makes a difference to people or is it the power of God and His word?

Warning #4

23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Question: Could I be feeling good about turbo tax red flagging what I gave to the church last year, but forget to love people and show mercy when I should?

Warning #5

25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Question: Does my inside present well in God's eyes or am I just putting on a show for everyone else?

Warning #6

27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Question: It is not a question of whether I am a hypocrite or not; the question is in what areas am I a hypocrite?

Warning #7

29"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

Question: Do I make myself out to be more than what I am?

My prayer is that God would help me to be humble and walk with Him everyday. May I be closer each day, more devoted each morning, more grateful each night.

fly away

58. Psalm 55

I am working on getting caught up on my reading so I will try to post a few comments from wherever I am reading at the time.

Today I was reading Psalm 55 from the readings of the week of March 9th. This Psalm is a prayer of David. It is one of many laments that David writes as his soul searches for help from God. The first few verses describe the depths of David's fear and anguish at the presence of his enemies. These verses are followed by verses 6-8 which are great:

6 I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest-

7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
Selah

8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm."

I have felt this way before. I have never been chased by enemies or felt the fear of death lurking around every corner, but I have had stuff up on me to the point that I wished that I could just fly away and forget all that was below me. The great theologian Lenny Kravitz said it this way:

I wish that I could fly
Into the sky
So very high
Just like a dragonfly

I'd fly above the trees
Over the seas in all degrees
To anywhere I please

Oh I want to get away
I want to fly away
Yeah yeah yeah

I believe that it is a natural human reaction to adversity to want to escape from trouble. It is good to see that even David had times when he wished he could just fly away and be free from the trials of this life. Unfortunately we do not have the ability to take off and be free from life. We try to in various ways, but inevitably we must come back down and those problems are still there. I do think that we all need a little down time, a few hours a week or month where we can relax and put our problems out of our mind for awhile. But never with the intent to escape from them, but rather to clear our minds so that we can come back and face those problems with a better, clearer perspective. For me it is golf. For some it is a book or some other activity. And always with the desire to face life and with God's help overcome all of those things which make us want to escape.

Thanks King David. (and Lenny)

update

I don't think anyone is reading this blog lately because I have been so long in posting, but I am working on getting caught up. I have had a lot of life stuff going on lately so that's my excuse. Look for an update tomorrow.

what's the count?

51. Numbers 1-2

It is the custom of the American Church to count and keep track of the number of people who attend each church. Many churches are known for the number of people who attend, and in some cases they are known more for this number than for the witness for God that they are to the community. Because of this focus on numbers there are some who would argue that numbers are not what is important, rather the condition of the hearts of those who attend church. (These are undoubtedly the churches with fewer numbers) So what is the answer? To count or not to count, that is the question.

Bamidbar is a Hebrew word, which is the fifth word of the Book of Numbers, it means "In the wilderness". The Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Tanach is called Bamidbar. While the Hebrew Tanach begins by focusing on the place where the Hebrews are when the book is written, Jewish scholars who study the Torah take note of God counting his people in the book of Numbers.

Because they were dear to Him, He counted them often. When they left Egypt, He counted them (Exod. 12:37); when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf, He counted them to know the number of the survivors (Exod. 32:28); when He came to cause His Divine Presence to rest among them, He counted them. On the first of Nissan (the Hebrew month in which the Passover falls), the Mishkan (the Tabranacle) was erected, and on the first of Iyar, He counted them.

It is interesting that the Jewish writer points out that God counted them because "they were dear to him." It reminds me of when Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep. God cares about each one in his flock. He cares about numbers insofar as those numbers represent those who are dear to him.

So if we count to make ourselves look good, we are probably wrong. If we count so that we can keep track of those who are dear to God, then we are probably right. May we love people and keep track of them with the most sincere hearts and with pure motives for these people are dear to God.