troutdude's discipleblog

Handling the Word

2012-01-26T05:52:00.001-06:00

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

Lord, I see Your approval
not for my own merit
not for men's applause
Would You assist me with the removal
of the pride I did inherit
and selfish focus because
I need to preach Your Word?

I will step back, out of the way
so You may show Yourself as Lord
and the greatness of Your grace
might pull together all of each day
keep me loving the truth of Your Word
and in its pages seeking Your face
We need to know Your Word.

Empty talk abounds... false teaching
tickling ears of many today
Lord, keep me centered in the pages
so that I can always be reaching
with the gospel to hearts in a way
consistent with truth for all ages
I will live in the Word.

Lord, I give myself to You
so use me as You can
its not at all a waste
Your Word shows me what to do
to reach the heart of man
with confidence and earnest haste
no shame will come in serving You
handling Your awesome Word!

follow the pattern

2012-01-25T06:11:00.001-06:00

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:13-14

For some reason the word "pattern" in this exhortation from Paul to Timothy stands out to me. Paul had a long enough and a deep enough relationship with Timothy to be able to utilize that word in describing to Timothy what he needed to do in ministry. Paul had left a clear pattern, an outline of instruction that Timothy knew he could follow. Perhaps that pattern is given as a reminder in the themes of 2 Timothy. But the reality is that both doctrinally and in ministry practice, there was a pattern that Timothy had been given by Paul that should not be forgotten, but applied in his current situation.

In many ways reaching our world for Christ and committing to seeing it change by building up disciples is the same task that it was when Paul was making it happen in the first century. That is why we must be great Bible students and understand Jesus' life and the doctrine that flows from it in the New Testament principles of discipleship. We should know both the Old and New Testaments so that we can see all that scripture reveals about our world. We ought to pay clear attention to Paul's ecclesiology and the practical instruction he gives in the pastoral epistles in particular so that we too might be able to follow the pattern of sound words when it comes to planting churches and strengthening Christians worldwide.

Following the pattern also has an element of personal commitment and respect for what God has revealed. And Paul's stern invitation to Timothy was to "guard the good deposit entrusted" to him. This is a warm thought. It is also a warning thought. We must see the gospel, the doctrine that flows from it, and the pattern of Christian growth and maturity that grows the Church as a valuable asset worth investing further and protecting carefully at all costs. These days many in ministry will put everything up for reconsideration. The mistake is that in so doing they may sell off the good deposit and then the church is left morally and spiritually powerless and bankrupt. We cannot abandon the gospel because of its harsher implications (like judgment or eternal punishment) just for the sake of acceptance or numerical success. We must guard what we have been given to follow.

seasoned with salt

2012-01-24T06:05:00.001-06:00

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:5-6

Paul assumes that Christians will be engaged with unbelievers. The church naturally interacts with those outside her community. This expectation is what brings the gospel into the world. It is what makes the truth live for all to observe. And the natural fact of this truth is accentuated when Christians conscientiously live it out to those who are outside the church.

The first sense of this is shown in lifestyle. That is why the metaphor of "walk" is used. We will live our lives in relationship with unbelievers. The church does not isolate. We infiltrate. And the call is to walk through our communities with wisdom. Of course the source of that wisdom is Christ and the Word of God. To walk wisely then is to live gracious Christian lives in a winsome way toward (not away from) those outside the faith. We want to engage relationships toward those who need Jesus, intentionally displaying the wisdom of the gospel for them to see.

And when we engage the world in this way, we had better be prepared to talk about Jesus! Our speech is to be gracious. What is more full of grace than than the gospel? At some point and I believe at all points, we should naturally talk about Christ's redeeming love and His transforming work in our lives. It is that wisdom that unbelievers desperately need, even though they may not fully know that they want it. And eventually they need to hear it in order to believe it and be saved.

This is the gospel lifestyle of the Christian. It walks the walk and talks the talk. Not in a trite way, but with the seasoning of the salt of the gospel. That piques the thirst of those who need the water of life. We are promised that if we will live this way in the world, we will have the answers (the gospel as seen and heard naturally in Christians who infiltrate the culture) that every person really needs.

4 reasons to look to Jesus

2012-01-23T06:30:00.001-06:00

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4

This passage transitions to the practical sanctification in Colossians. If Christ is indeed my Lord and the head of the church, it follows that His people will live under His direction. And Colossians three describes the way we put to death earthly deeds (Col. 3:5-11) and put on a holy lifestyle instead (Col. 3:12-17). There are four reasons stated to do this.

First, we seek heavenly things BECAUSE OF OUR RESURRECTION. Right now in an identifying spiritual sense we have been raised to new life in Christ. Our baptism pictures this identification with a new life. And it is because of that resurrected life in Christ that we know that Jesus will provide the direction that we need. Resurrection is about new life. We won't find that new life in our old life. We will find it in the author of our new life -- Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we must seek this life IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. The contrast is between the things on earth, which represent all the sinful and wrong choices we have always made outside of Christ, and things that are "above". The word "above" points us to the resurrected and ascended Christ Who is at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Thirdly, we REMEMBER OUR EXPIRATION. We have already died in a sense. We must consider ourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ. In order to live in resurrection, we must first die. And that is what we know in this passage. We died... past tense. We died to sinful choices because our life is now hidden in Christ. He reveals that new life in us.

The final thing is to ANTICIPATE OUR PERFECTION. The ultimate realization of our new life in Christ will be known fully when we live with Him in glory. The reason that I will heed His direction is that I know that my life is always headed toward my state of forever being found in Jesus. Nobody gets a pass on death. At some point we will all be with Jesus. And death to sin helps us defeat the worst that physical death may threaten us with. Hope holds that a generation will appear with Him in glory minus physical death. That is the imminent hope of every Christian generation. But that timing is God's to determine. But even death for any Christian in Christ becomes immediate new life with Him and His saints forever.

growing in Christ

2012-01-19T06:51:00.001-06:00

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7

This is a wonderful passage to understand Christian growth and maturity. We received Christ as the Lord, we walk in him, are rooted and built up in Christ, and in that commitment we become established in our faith through the teaching of God's truth and the good news of the gospel message. This is the way each Christian is supposed to mature.

The New Testament is very clear that Christianity is a lifestyle. Christ changes us as we are in relationship with Him. Our acceptance of Him as Lord is more than just acknowledgement of historical fact. For instance, I can believe that John F. Kennedy existed as a historical person although I never met him. I can know he achieved many things. But it does not then follow that I order my life around that fact and find my life transformed by living "in Kennedy". It is completely different with Jesus. Our faith in Him becomes a living faith because He is God and alive in us. We gladly build our lives around that relationship of faith.

The way that Paul helps us understand that relationship in the book of Colossians is found in the theme of the book summed up in two simple yet enormously impacting words: "in Christ". The text of Colossians helps us understand what being in Christ means. This chart from the ESV Study Bible gives us a lot to look at:
1:14 IN WHOM we have redemption
1:16 IN HIM all things were created
1:19 IN HIM all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell
1:22 Reconciled IN HIS BODY of flesh
2:3 IN WHOM are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
2:6 walk IN HIM
2:7 rooted and built up IN HIM
2:9 IN HIM all the fulness of deity dwells bodily
2:10 you have been filled IN HIM
2:11 you were circumcised IN HIM
2:12 IN HIM you were raised up
2:15 triumphing over them IN HIM
3:20 pleasing IN THE LORD
4:7 fellow servant IN THE LORD
4:17 the ministry that you received IN THE LORD

Analyzing the implications of being "in Christ" is one way of knowing what Christian growth looks like. And when we begin to walk that way, we will live more and more like Jesus in this world!

a change of kingdoms

2012-01-18T06:18:00.001-06:00

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14

The reality of Christian salvation is found in this powerful, poetic passage. There are four words that I find particularly encouraging in this description. Two of them are verbs, describing God's action in our salvation. The other two are nouns, showing us what we have received in our salvation.

The first action of God is that He delivered us. We were lost in slavery to sin. We were under bondage and unable to free ourselves. And Jesus stormed the "domain of darkness" and cut the chains that sin and Satan had bound us to in that realm. Christ brings deliverance to us. Sin imperils and imprisons us. We are in danger of death and of eternal damnation. But God's great mercy in Christ provided the deliverance. The cross was the means by which Jesus broke the inescapable power of sin over us. We have been delivered by this saving work on the cross. This was the major reason Jesus came to earth.

The second act that He did for us was to transfer us to Christ's kingdom. Salvation is about a permanent change of spiritual location. We were delivered from the grip of a dark lord, and brought into the glorious kingdom of a new King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our hearts were in bondage to the darkness of the rule of sin. But with the transfer, we are free to serve our new loving, Lord Jesus! That is a GREAT change!

The third word celebrates the result of redemption. We know that we were "bought with a price". Our lives were saved, delivered, and transferred by the blood of Jesus. And only His atoning sacrifice could give us this new life. And knowing that my life cost my King leads me to worship Him in grateful praise!

The final word on the matter is that God has granted us forgiveness in Jesus. God sent His Son on this bold mission to storm sin's powerful prison, not to save good heroic people, but to deliver and save sinners so that He could then pardon them and give them new lives! Imagine that... God's rescue operation was to free and redeem hopeless convicted criminals. Our salvation is a jailbreak. And we are pardoned into full freedom in a new kingdom. If redemption shows us God's mercy, then forgiveness sings of God's grace! Our salvation is an amazing event, not ever to be taken lightly.

broken walls & a faithful God

2012-01-17T06:06:00.001-06:00

And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.
2 Kings 25:21

An era ends and a new experience begins for the Jewish people. With the second siege of Jerusalem the Babylonian army destroys Judah. The little bit of military strength is wiped out. The defenses of Jerusalem are demolished. The remaining treasures in the temple are ransacked. The temple and all major buildings are burned. The city is left in complete ruin.

The people of Judah are carted off in captive exile to the capital of the empire, the city of Babylon. It is there that the next stage of defining history will face the Jews. They will serve the king of Babylon and remember the Law while in exile. It is during this 70 year time frame that their lives will long for the true blessings of the covenant again. It is the point where all their identity will be bound up in their worship of God. They will have nothing else. God will be their only hope and sustainer.

That the Jews kept any kind of identity during this experience is testament to the saving power of God. Many exiled nations did not. We know that ten of the twelve tribes of Israel that were exiled into Assyria just wound up being absorbed into pagan nations. They disappeared... fading into history. Yet God had a greater work still to do in the world. The Jews of Judah and the tribe of Levi both needed preservation. The kingly line of David would give rise to the Messiah. And so 2 Kings ends with an assurance that Jehoichin's family was provided for out of the royal rations of the Babylonians. He is even mentioned in Chaldean court records. God is working, even in the worst moments of the Jewish nation. He will preserve His people and His covenant with Israel. A remnant will remain that God can renew and revive.

Watching this unfold in the biblical text this way puts the focus on God's glory. He is doing the work. The historical facts are clear. And the fact that there are Jews yet today testifies to God's faithfulness. More than one captivity has befallen them over the centuries, and yet God remains faithful to His sustaining promises! God can be trusted when His Word compels us to believe Him.

Captivity

2012-01-16T06:18:00.001-06:00

And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign...
2 Kings 24:11-12

This is the beginning of the end for Judah. The king is taken away to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar installs a puppet king, Zedekiah, on the throne and the first wave of the exile of the Jews begins with the Babylonians leading away captive all the high ranking officials, people of wealth and influence, and military class of Judah. The land is left with just the poorest of Jewish peasants living in it under Babylonian administration.

The text is clear that this circumstance was not a chance takeover by a random power. God had promised judgment and had foretold a captivity for His people, right down to a description of what valuable national treasures would be ransacked (2 Kings 24:13). The outworking of this came with Nebuchadnezzar's armies. The Babylonians were the means of God's justice. The exile was the curse of the Law enacted upon the disobedience of the people of Judah. Their failure to keep the covenant led to their present horror and pain.

We see the sovereignty of God at work. It was His plan, even in this wartime siege and occupation of Jerusalem, to remind the survivors of His power and His covenant with them. And although the reminder was harsh, it eventually would be effective. Never again would the Jews post exile commit outright visible idolatry as a nation. The captivity would change the spiritual direction of God's people. And it started with the loss of a kingdom. Once they were no longer in control, they could begin to acknowledge God's control over them.

Standing firm for a long time

2012-01-13T09:31:00.001-06:00

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
2 Kings 23:3

This was Judah's last renewal. It would last the lifetime of King Josiah. It is clear that his life was dedicated to obeying the covenant and restoring national obedience to the Law of the Lord. This reform would consume all his energies. And it would be massive in scale.

The text of chapter twenty-three shows the vicious extent of idolatry. It began with clearing the idols out of the city of Jerusalem, starting in the temple of the Lord. It then spread to every town and high place in Judah. It is clear that the pervasive paganism of past kings was everywhere. It took all of Josiah's lifetime to eradicate the influence of idolatry. He destroyed altars and temples. He executed pagan priests. He desecrated pagan holy sites and altars. He did everything in his power to wage war on idolatry.

Josiah also did what no other God-fearing king before him had done. He went so far as to expand his idol-smashing efforts to Samaria. He eradicated the first source of idolatry God's people succumbed to after the break-up of the kingdom. And there was a massive amount of idolatry and influence in Samaria that had been historically longstanding by the time Josiah confronted it. Josiah seriously kept his covenant with God.

One main thought strikes me: to fully obey God may require a lifetime of fortitude and faith. It never stops in this life. We don't get much relief from the work. We have to keep going at it. And the reward comes from God.

It's OK to feel bad.

2012-01-12T06:26:00.001-06:00

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
2 Kings 22:11

The repentant heart is moved by godly sorrow, as evidenced by Josiah's actions here. Josiah was the boy king of Judah. He came to the throne at the tender age of eight years old. His heart is strong for the worship of the Lord. He orders repairs to the temple in Jerusalem, and it is during the search through the dusty temple treasuries that the book of the Law (possibly the book of Deuteronomy scroll) is found. God has been so neglected that His Law has been lost, squirreled away in some recess of the temple. And when the Law comes to the light of day and is read to king Josiah, his response is a broken heart over the nation's sins. He immediately recognizes that Judah's failure to keep the covenant placed the nation in jeopardy of God's judgment.

Josiah's response is the proper leadership response to the spiritual state of the nation. Because the king was repentant and sincere in his worship, God spared Judah yet again and promised Josiah he would live long enough to see blessings and not cursings. God would withhold judgment on Josiah's generation. Repentance brought a return to worship which in turn brought merciful restoration to God's people from the hand of the Lord.

The big idea that grabs my attention from this account is the call to repentance. Many times it is OK to feel bad. Godly sorrow is after all, first and foremost, GODLY. The Lord hears and sees us when we are broken over sin. And sometimes that broken state is exactly the right place for us. The Lord is always ready to receive the repentant heart. He never turns such a one away. It is always right to turn from sin, no matter how deeply entrenched we are in the sin, and to turn to God.

The 21st century church is short on repentance. We tend toward smug self satisfaction or emotive narcissism. We don't teach or model being broken over our sin. We rail on the sins of our age instead. And this is one reason why our impact in this generation is fading. May we gain some Josiahs for this generation! And repentance, godly sorrow, brokenness, and mourning over sin starts with my heart. It's OK to feel bad when the result is repentance.

more evil

2012-01-11T06:16:00.001-06:00

But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
2 Kings 21:9

Manasseh is the worst of leaders. He did not build on the heritage of faithfulness left by his father Hezekiah. Instead, he was enamored with all the evil idolatry around him. He went so far as to erect idols all throughout the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:4-7). His worship is unspeakably wicked. He offered his own son as a burnt offering sacrifice, bent on being evil in his worship.

God's assessment of Manasseh is not a good one. His final pronouncement was that the king had led Judah to be more pagan than the pagans God had ordered Israel to drive from the Promised Land. Now the Jews were worse than the Canaanites in God's moral assessment. And in one man's leadership all this evil turned out. The king was set against all worship of God and the reality was that this was more than a culture war. This was rejection of God and His covenant with the Jews.

God sent His prophets with a message of judgment. The Lord would bring disaster to Jerusalem in direct response to Judah's rejection of Him and the Law. This was a continuous pattern with the Israelites. The cycle of sin, suffering, supplication, and salvation would end in the exile. And Manasseh's acts were the "last straw" that sealed Judah's fate. God does not say exactly when the judgment would fall, but He is firm in the fact that it will occur.

When God's people have a reputation for evil, God will act to defend His own holiness. And that is exactly what this text is chronicling. The remaining moments of Judah's history will simply be a countdown toward justice. It is the inevitable consequence of the negative elements of the Covenant. God gave His people blessings in obedience, and cursings in their sin. Now, in sinful idolatry, the cursings of the Law will fall on the nation.

mercy for bitter tears

2012-01-10T06:18:00.001-06:00

"Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
2 Kings 20:3

Hezekiah knew he was dying when he prayed this simple prayer. He did not ask to live, which I think is very interesting. He seems to have accepted the message of Isaiah the prophet that his time had come. He appeals to God's covenant faithfulness and just asks God to remember the kings's own obedience to follow God. The bitter tears would flow because nothing about mortality and death is particularly joyful! But Hezekiah is simply coming to terms with death's reality, and prays his honest prayer.

God intervenes and adds fifteen years to the king's life. Isaiah is sent back to Hezekiah with a message of hope and healing. God graciously confirms the hope with a miraculous sign. The sun's shadow actually recedes back its relentless advance, signifying God's ability to add time to the king's days on the earth. God turns in mercy to a faithful and obedient follower, who is a leader of His people.

This story sets up a theological debate. Obviously. God knew that Hezekiah would live. Why then is the message of death followed with a message of healing? It seems to be that God is drawing out of Hezekiah the faithfulness that is already there. It is a moment for God to have with the king. Hezekiah is not bragging about his testimony before God. He is rehearsing the facts and reviewing his life in the light of having to come to grips with mortality. God made the choice in Hezekiah's case to do the miraculous and to converse with the king about his day of death. And in so showing His power, God kept confirming His relationship with His obedient and loving child.

The highest ruler in the land is subject to God's sovereign purposes. And when that powerful man is obedient and humbly submissive to God's control, the power of God is displayed. God received the glory in Hezekiah's life. And the extra fifteen years he received from the Lord was just more time to spend glorifying the mercies of God. The way in which God turned even bitter tears into a moment of praise for His power is the way God can work in any difficult situation. We just need to be faithful to Him and trust God's plan.

Let God Handle It (Hezekiah's Prayer)

2012-01-09T06:12:00.001-06:00

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.
2 Kings 19:14

When a pagan king threatened Jerusalem
a God fearing king did not lose his head
but calmly went to God in prayer
telling God what this pagan king had dared
to defy the God of the Covenant
when trouble came, God's people prayed

An army assembled outside the gate
threatened and mocked while God's people wait
for God to answer Hezekiah's humble prayer
and they cried out in desperation there
God answered their cries, kept Covenant
so that very day, God answered prayer

The world's most powerful fighting strength
is no match for the answer to prayer God makes
because there is unrivaled power in vital prayer
God heard His people, protected them from the snare
when they returned, obeyed His Covenant
they saw the power of God when His people prayed

Hezekiah was king and had money and might
but he trusted God to take care of what was out of his sight
which is why he is great as a man of prayer
and God blessed his rule, rescued and cared
the pagans ran, struck down in a night
God worked to make His people right

When anxious and unsure as to what to do
Lord, help me to remember to turn to You
for the power, strength, and perspective I need
to live this life, trust, and believe
when circumstances don't seem to fit
I know my God can handle it!

big contrast

2012-01-05T06:10:00.001-06:00

He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses.
2 Kings 18:5-6

Hezekiah stands out in sharp contrast from most of the other kings of Israel and Judah in the recent recounts of 2 Kings. His is a worship of Yahweh that is fully devoted to following God's Law. Hezekiah has a zero tolerance policy for all idolatry. He cleans house in Judah. He is bound and determined to seriously follow the LORD and to lead the nation in obedience to the Law of Moses.

And as Judah repents and returns with zealous hearts to worship God, Israel falls to Assyrian exile, the polar opposite of faithfulness to the Lord. Hezekiah's spiritual leadership saved a remnant at just the most crucial time. And God would be glorified by keeping covenant in Jerusalem as a faithful few worshiped him, turned from idols, and followed the Mosaic Law.

Hezekiah's leadership reminds me of a very simple principle: It is never too late to start doing what is right. And that truth was literally what saved Judah from the fate of all the rest of the Israelites. God will reward love for Him, obedience to following Him, and faithfulness in worshiping Him. We may not always see it as sharply as we do in this account. But it is clearly always the best thing to trust and obey the Lord and His Word.

failure in being false

2012-01-04T07:38:00.001-06:00

But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.
2 Kings 17:14-15

Most of this chapter is commentary. That is a rarity in the historical books of the Old Testament. The reason this long commentary exists is the nature of the content being discussed. Most of God's Covenant people, ten tribes in the northernmost geography of Israel, are taken into captivity in Assyria, never to be seen again. They are just absorbed... blotted out.... gone. That is a significant moment. The book's writer is compelled to explain why this happened.

It happened because God's chosen people refused to keep His covenant with them. They abandoned God in wild pursuit of idolatry, hoping to live the lives of the pagan nations around them. After numerous generations of this pursuit, and after ignoring all of God's loving attempts to convince them to repent by the preaching of His prophets, judgment came to them. And it was fierce, final, and inescapable.

There is part of this commentary that is particularly telling. It is one phrase in verse fifteen that is chilling: "They went after false idols and became false"... That phrase makes me pause, cringing at the implications. They had a worship disorder. They were extremely religious... in all the wrong ways and for the wrong things. Their hearts went after what was false... what was not God... and it was not good. They themselves turned against what was true and good by the very things their hearts craved and worshiped. We will become like what we worship. If we worship what is false we will be false.

I am thinking VERY carefully about what that means. It is a stunning insight into humanity. By that I mean that is is a stunning insight into ME! Elsewhere in scripture we are warned to guard the heart, because out of the heart flows the wellspring of life. When the heart goes false, out of that will eventually come death and loss. That is the warning of Israel's demise --- watch your heart and keep it from what is not from God!

Really Bad Idea: Syncretistic Religion

2012-01-03T06:47:00.001-06:00

And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus.
2 Kings 16:11

King Ahaz is trying to keep the throne in Judah intact. But he is an idolater. He does not worship the Lord exclusively but seems to hedge his bets by practicing idol worship of every stripe, along with symbolic participation as king in Judah with temple sacrifices to the Lord. But for him, survival is now at stake. The superpower of Assyria has been flexing Middle Eastern muscle. When Syria threatens Judah, Ahaz appeals to Assyrian military might for assistance. He knows it will cost him. He does not care. Damascus is overthrown by Assyria, ending Judah's immediate threat from Syria. Ahaz travels to Damascus to meet and thank his new Assyrian overlords.

While in the capital city of his former (now defeated) oppressors, he is enamored with the imposing altar in the temple of the Syrian god, Hadad. He has to have one. It makes no sense according to the common thought of the day. Since Syria had now been conquered, wouldn't that make Hadad a rather weak deity? Nonetheless, Ahaz sends Uriah the priest at Jerusalem a detailed model of the altar with instructions to build one in the temple of Yahweh. Uriah complies with this order and hastily has it ready by the time the king returns from Damascus.

Ahaz then moves his new altar into position in the temple, bumping Yahweh's altar to an inferior place in the court. Now the temple at Jerusalem is in effect dedicated to the worship of two gods, prominently featuring Hadad, former god of the Syrians, now in Jerusalem for a limited engagement. The king's altar takes precedence over God's altar. Ahaz has not abandoned God entirely, he is instead worshiping God PLUS something else. This is syncretism. And it violates the very first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me."

The sad part is that the high priest has willingly participated in this awful accommodation. The priests have joined with the king in turning from the exclusive worship of the Lord. And it is ironically a picture of defeat from the very beginning. They have built and dedicated an altar to an already defeated idol in the temple. It just shows the increasing spiritual decline. Syncretistic spirituality is a decline of faith and not an increase, enlightenment, or noble tolerance. And it erodes real worship.

evaluation time

2011-12-29T06:56:00.001-06:00

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
2 Kings 15:34

There is this ceaseless litany summarizing the long list of kings here in 2 Kings 15. The actions of each king are set off either with "he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD" or "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD". Each king is held to a greater, higher standard by which his activity is evaluated.

A pattern emerges. None of the northern kings in Samaria do what is right. And they are characterized by short reigns (several less than a year, one for only one month) and lots of trouble unsettles their kingdom. There is a string of conspiracies. The kings fall by murder and overthrow by usurpers. There are inside pressures placed upon the throne from with Israel's borders. And there are great outside pressures. By the time Pekah reigns in Israel, Assyria has carved out lots of territory and taken the northernmost portions of Israel captive to Assyria. What is left is barely more than a vassal state.

Meanwhile, back in Judah, an opposite pattern is in play. A series of righteous kings leads the nation in worship of God. And they enjoy relatively long rules. God is honoring the Jerusalem throne even as Samaria declines in power and prestige. But by the time of Jotham's reign, outside pressures are threatening David's throne as well. Northern kingdom weakness has created a highway for invasion straight to Jerusalem. And southern threats from Edom and Moab continue. Syria and Assyria made incursions into Judah's territory. Even though Judah has a string of righteous rulers, the damage has already been done and the stage is now set for all of God's people to be led into God's judgment. It is just a matter of timing.

Seeing these patterns so dramatically makes me appreciate Paul's New Testament perspective on Old Testament history: "these things were written for our instruction." By observing this history and seeing God act in it, I get perspective on how God interacts with humanity. And that serves as a gauge for checking out my own habits and willingness to live as God says. I want to do what is "right in the eyes of the LORD".

The cost of self-driven agendas

2011-12-28T07:07:00.001-06:00

But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
2 Kings 14:11-12

This is a brutal civil war. Generations after Israel has split into two kingdoms, at a time when no outside threat was around to intimidate either Israel or Judah, this gruesome fight breaks out. God's people go at one another. Both Amaziah king of Judah and Jehoash king of Israel have experienced military victories that allowed them to recapture territories from historic enemies. Those enemies are now preoccupied with the new threat from Assyria.

Cocky and over confident, both Jewish kings are feeling the tensions of the split kingdom. The civil war starts with a "diplomatic" suggestion by Judah to Israel. The offer is rejected and Amaziah storms down to Jerusalem for all out war. The city wall is torn down for a substantial section. The temple is ransacked and Amaziah is humiliated. It is really sad to see God's chosen people reduced to hatred and infighting.

After this battle, the northern kingdom of Israel emerges as the military power. Judah limps along as a religious and cultural vanguard. It is clear that lines have been drawn and everybody now knows their place. The sad thing was that all of this was a direct result of the abandonment of the covenant by the Jewish people. The Law was meant to bring peace and civil prosperity, But death and offense was what came when God's Law was ignored.

There are always great costs to be paid when we choose to direct our own lives. Idolatry is costly and painful. And the horror of this civil war pictures the painful tragedy that comes in the wake of our sinful choices.

God is under no obligation to be merciful.

2011-12-27T05:54:00.001-06:00

Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.
2 Kings 13:4

God intervened when by terms of the covenant, He did not have to do so. The king of Israel, Jehoahaz, was not a righteous man. The text says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 13:2). Yet when the Syrian army constantly harassed and attacked Israel, God saw the foreign oppression. When Jehoahaz turned to God in prayer, God answered his requests and turned back the Syrian aggression. The text is not specific as to who Israel's "savior" was (many scholars believe the growing Assyrian threat to the north diverted Syria's resources from Israel), but God did answer a prayer that He was not obligated to respond to in any way.

The reality is that God is gracious and merciful. And He will show His love in ways we do not understand. In the case of Jehoahaz, God brought deliverance from a military power, not because the king was righteous, but because God Himself was gracious. He did it out of His own nature. God always acts out of His own nature. No one tells God what to do or makes Him act any certain way. So when grace comes forward, we are seeing God as He truly is.

I am thankful that God is gracious to sinners. I would not be here if He wasn't that way. And I am so very moved by His mercies shown to me. If not for the redemptive work of Christ for me, I would be no better than a wicked king myself.

Changing the world by worshiping God

2011-12-26T07:53:00.001-06:00

And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
2 Kings 12:2

Jehoash had a long reign (40 years) of relative prosperity. The text credits his obedience to God as being instrumental to his great rulership in Judah. He had a close relationship with the priests and the worship of Yahweh in the temple. His chief accomplishment centered around repairs being made to what was a broken and run down temple.

When the priests did not seem to be making significant timely progress on the repairs, Jehoash expedited the process by royal edict and intervention. He devoted the largest administrative efforts of his regime to the task and created a mechanism so that the royal treasurer had oversight of the gifts received at the temple. The royal treasury then paid for supplies and skilled labor to repair the temple. It was a long and expensive process, but the king invested himself in it as an act of lifelong worship. Yahweh's worship could only be restored in a temple restored to His honor!

For Jehoash, commitment to God was literally shown in his life's investment. He devoted the administration of his kingdom to the rebuilding of the house of worship for God. All the funds that could be were devoted to this project. It defined his life. We can learn a lot from a man who devoted his life to the worship of God by administering a government in such a way that God was the defining mark and focus of his administration. Worship is what we were made for. It is what we do, no matter our vocation.

When we devote all our resources and energies to the glory of God, we are blessed and God is worshiped. And great things can come from that. Lives can be restored. The world can be changed.

Prophecy ain't always pretty.

2011-12-21T07:17:00.001-06:00

Joram said, "Make ready." And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.
2 Kings 9:21

The spectacular end of Ahab's dynasty begins with God sending a prophet to anoint a new king in Israel. God's choice is a ruthless, high energy general named Jehu. As soon as he is anointed, he launches a conspiracy to removed Joram and the queen mother, Jezebel. And he is familiar enough with the prophecies of their demise to keep them in mind as he boldly rides out to take over the throne.

He meets both Joram, the Israeli king, and Ahaziah, the Judean king, at the prophetic juncture of the vineyard of Naboth. Here was the place that figured in the prophecies. Joram's father, Ahab, had stolen this land and Jezebel had Nabath murdered through treachery so that it could be ceded to the king. The irony was that this is where it all ended for them. Joram's bloody body was tossed there in fulfillment of the Word of the Lord.

After fatally wounding the king of Judah, Jehu drives his fast chariot on to the Samaritan palace where a painted Jezebel tries to entice him. He has no such desire and instead appeals to the palace eunuchs to toss her out the palace tower window. They do so, and her bloodied, broken corpse is consumed by wild dogs, just as had been prophetically announced.

Prophecy is not always pretty, but it does always point to the sovereign control and power of God. He is in control. He will be heeded. His Word will not fail. We can always trust that fact.

benefits of heeding God's Word

2011-12-20T07:37:00.001-06:00

And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now."
2 Kings 8:6

When you read the interplay between the kings and the prophets, you are struck by the way the kings had an adversarial relationship with the men God was using to speak His Word. Most of the kings only listened to the prophets when it was convenient. And this is particularly true of Elisha's ministry. Yet God went out of His way to show that those who honored the prophets would be honored by Him.

The outstanding example is the unnamed Shunammite woman. We know some facts about her. She and her husband were wealthy (2 Kings 4:8). They owned fields and were substantial farmers in their home town. At one point she was childless and God blessed her with a son out of gratitude for her family's care of Elisha. God even restored her dead son to her after she sought out Elisha's help.

Elisha warned this Shunammite woman of a severe famine. She left her livelihood and land holdings in Israel for Philistia while the seven year famine ravaged the land. By precedent, her home and fields ceded to royal control. She must have been a widow at this point. Her husband does not come to the king, and Gehazi's story centers exclusively on her.

So moved was the king of Israel by her story that he did the unthinkable. He deeded all her land holdings back to her (woman did not get to own property in that culture) AND he generously gave her a portion of stored food from the royal storehouses equal to seven years of crop production on the land. God's grace came upon her again by her obedience to the Word of the Lord through the prophet. It was as if she had never left her home.

The simple truth is that God rewards obedience to His Word. And the benefits are often more than we can imagine. That is a principle worth emulating from the woman who listened when kings would not!

famine relief

2011-12-19T06:36:00.001-06:00

Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
2 Kings 7:16

God saved Samaria from total collapse at the hands of Syria. The king of Israel was impotent to save his people against the siege that was starving his capital city. But God was still the God of Israel, and even though no one called out to Him, He easily turned the Syrian army away from the attack. And He did it in such a way that dramatic results were coming, just as Elisha the prophet had foretold.

The siege of Samaria had been going on a long time... long enough that the food supplies within the city gates were dwindling. The results were highly inflated prices on basic necessities. And it had gotten so bad that some of the residents of Samaria had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive (2 Kings 6:24-31). But a dramatic moment would change all of that overnight. God was going to intervene for all to clearly see.

In the middle of the night the Syrian army flees in panic as they hear the sound of chariots, horses, and an approaching army. They assume that the king of Israel has hired mercenaries and they abandon their camp in panic, leaving behind all food and valuables. It was enough stuff to completely resupply the starved city, just as Elisha had said. God miraculously saved His people, just with a mere delusion to an army.

God's gracious deliverance is always worth considering. I see this and realize that the Old Testament is full of examples of God's gracious, unmerited favor to people. He brings glory to Himself by being gracious to us. He fed Samaria again after wartime siege and His method was to just introduce the sound of war. He showed Himself a powerful savior to a disobedient people. That is the grace that God shows sinners. And He does so even more powerfully in the grace shown us in Christ Jesus today!

Overwhelming Force

2011-12-16T10:21:00.001-06:00

He said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
2 Kings 6:16

Outnumbered? Outmanned? Outgunned?
Now when God is for me
I may not always see
what God has for me
but He has His unseen army
and He will certainly protect me

Unsure? Uncertain? Unprepared?
God will make a way
He can save the day
and in Him power is at play
to bring me confidence today
that carries strength into the fray

Dejected? Demoted? Defeated?
I probably tried to control
what only God can know
and if I would humbly go
in repentant trust and show
faith in Him, God will restore

Afraid? Alone? Awaiting?
God has more in His hand
than I can command
and healing confidence can
come to back to this land
when I let God do what I can't

the attention of the world

2011-12-15T05:53:00.001-06:00

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant."
2 Kings 5:15

The story of the healing of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, is classic Sunday School fare for kids. I remember hearing it often as a child growing up in church. Some of the more difficult problems were glossed over: the threat of Syrian war, the captivity of a Jewish girl in forced servitude, or the gruesome effects of leprosy. But for the most part, I remember the details of a miracle... Naaman is cleansed of leprosy after seven washings in the Jordan river.

The interesting part of the story comes when you contemplate the reality of a Gentile warrior coming to a lowly Hebrew prophet, and finding healing from the God of Israel. It is the Abrahamic Covenant at work, even when God's people were acting more like heathen people than the Gentiles themselves were... at least the Syrians. The nations of the earth are being blessed by the God of Israel, in direct fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham.

Naaman's response is confessional. He is ready to devote his life to the worship of Yahweh. He had despised Israel to the point of disdain at the thought of washing in the muddy Jordan. But now he was hauling home Israeli soil to build a mud brick altar on which he planned to sacrifice exclusively to Israel's God. He has converted. And it is at this point that we again are reminded that even in the Old Testament, God desired that the nations come to Him. He wants the world to know His grace and glory!

If God could use one prophet and a dirty river to do His work of reaching the world, imagine what He wants to do through His church! It is time to stop pursuing a selfish enriching agenda like Gehazi did and instead point to the glory of God like Elisha. From there, the world can see God and we can be agents of His glory. Christians should be proclaimers of God's glory in the gospel to all the earth.

prayer and power

2011-12-14T06:09:00.001-06:00

When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD.
2 Kings 4:32-33

When looking at the miraculous ministry that followed Elisha, it might be tempting to see the accounts as magnifying the man. But the text is clear that God is at work in Elisha. He is nothing without God's work in him. He relies on God showing Him what to do, how to do it, praying for God to work.

This situation was particularly poignant. Elisha stayed in the Shunemmite home regularly. The woman convinces her husband to build a room just for the prophet's use when he visits. He is like a member of the family. In gratitude, Elisha asks her if there is anything she needs. When he is aware she has no son, God reveals to the prophet that she will bear a son. True to God's Word, she is blessed with a son the next year. But in childhood one day, the boy is stricken with a headache and dies in her arms. She sets his body on Elisha's bed, and journeys to Carmel to see the prophet.

Elisha returns with her and it is here that God does another miracle for this generous family. Elisha prays to God to restore the life of the child. Elisha's constant intercession eventually leads to a resurrection. The child is restored through the faithful prayer of a faithful servant for another faithful servant. Again, it might be easy to miss Elisha's prayer. It was not that the prophet alone resuscitated the boy. It was the power of God at work through prayer that made the miraculous happen in that home.

If we want to see God at work in our lives, we must pray. That is the biblical example and admonition. Even Jesus made it a point to pray to the Father. We cannot serve God and NOT live lives of communication with Him. God works in our hearts and in our circumstances as we surrender to Him in prayer.

Miracles... a big thing... and a little thing

2011-12-13T08:44:00.001-06:00

This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand...
2 Kings 3:18

Miracles are big things for us, small matters for God. That is the whole point of the miraculous. God has no problem interrupting the order of the created universe to accomplish His purposes. After all, the creation of the universe was an effort that just took His Word and Will to accomplish. He spoke the countless galaxies into being. He can interrupt the water cycle of a Middle Eastern stream... no problem.

But interruptions by God are a big deal to us for a couple of reasons: 1) They challenge our perceptions and experiences. When we read about them in the Bible, they counteract our knowledge and experience. This forces us to consider God as "beyond" our realm of knowledge. 2) They force us to see God's power. Yes, His power is displayed in the design of creation, but when the miraculous is considered and cannot be explained away, we are left rethinking our tendency towards simple naturalism as an explanation for everything. This means that there is more than just the universe that we can observe.

I am grateful that miracles are a light thing for God. It assures my faith and my trust in Him. And I am OK with miracles being a "big" thing for me. It forces me to rely on God to provide direction, instruction, and wisdom in my life.

The faithfulness of the prophet

2011-12-12T05:58:00.001-06:00

And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
2 Kings 2:13

Elisha's ministry begins right in the very footsteps of his master, Elijah. He is persistent in following his mentor even to his end. It has been revealed to him and confirmed that his master would be taken from him on that day. I think Elisha believes that to mean that Elijah would die. That is why he persisted in staying near to the old prophet. And God does reward that faithfulness.

In order to cross the Jordan river, Elijah strikes the water with his cloak. God parts the river for the two prophets to cross. It is on the other side of that event that the chariots and horses of fire then separate the two prophets. Elijah is taken away into heaven in a whirlwind as Elisha watches in amazement. The old prophet's cloak comes fluttering down. Elisha scoops up the symbol of his master's ministry and then uses it to part the river again to cross back over and assume a prophetic ministry of twice the impact of Elijah.

This was a moment of sheer terror, trust, and confirmation. We want a flannelgraph version of Elijah boarding a golden chariot with hot rod flames painted on the sides. But that is not the picture of the text. The fiery horses and chariots split up Elijah and Elisha. I think they were driven by angelic messengers representing the military might of God's army. A chariot was the pinnacle of military technology in Elisha's day. It evoked fear. Modern terms might make us think of a Raptor fighter jet. And after this fearful confusion, a tornado sucks Elijah right off the ground. Elisha watches as the old prophet is torn from the ground and swirled up into the heavens. It was an amazing way to be taken body and soul from this world.

Elisha would for the rest of his days be reminded of this moment. Every morning when he put on the cloak of Elijah, he would have this encounter with God at hand. He had torn up his own clothes after this event in grief over Elijah's departure. All that he had after this was the continuing prophetic ministry in the clothes of the prophet who came before him.

The focus is on obedience and on the power of God at work in obedient servants. Elijah was promised the gift and protection of God in his prophetic ministry. And he promised Elisha twice that sort of experience if he stayed with him to the end. God rewarded and used His servants, the prophets, to bring great glory to Himself through their faithfulness to Him... even when the nation of Israel was living in unfaithful days.

The Word Spoken

2011-12-09T06:25:00.001-06:00

So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.
2 Kings 1:17

God used men
to spread His word
way back when
His people Israel all lived
in the Promised Land.

Unusual men
who did as God said
lived for Him
and carried messages
throughout that land.

Prophets and sages
spoke only God's message
and now recorded in pages
we can read the story
of faith through the ages.

Prophets spoke His word
and the message resounded
to all those who heard
God's power was known
and worship came to the Lord.

Decisions were made
people ignored or obeyed
the Word of God stayed
before them even when pagan
infatuation led them astray

God still used men
-- hairy cloaked prophets --
and these unusual men
were givers of truth
in Israel's land.

He is not safe.

2011-12-08T05:57:00.001-06:00

The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
Joel 3:16

I read this passage this morning and I am struck by the power of God in His purpose for His people. We want a theology that controls God. But He is not leashed by humanity. God is not under our control. He shakes the heaven and the earth with just the sound of His voice! He is an awe-inspiring God.

C.S. Lewis captured this part of God in the Christ-figure of the Narnia books, Aslan the Lion. In a scene from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", the children are introduced to the reality of Aslan in the home of Mr. Beaver:

"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

And God cannot be tamed by our thoughts of Him. He is not safe. But God is good. And that alone helps us understand His love as well as His expectations of us. The God Who roars from Zion is also a refuge and fortress of His people. I am more than a little nervous everyday with that truth. And I think it is right where God can use me.

repentance and the character of God

2011-12-07T06:00:00.001-06:00

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Joel 2:12-13

As we have seen already in the first chapter of the prophet Joel, an awful natural catastrophe had come to Israel. A famine in the wake of drought and a disastrous locust swarm had left the country desolate. It served as a picture of what God's future judgment upon humanity would look like in the Day of the Lord. And the Lord uses the moment to pull Israel close and offer a chance for repentance. That is the appeal being made in this passage. It is worth breaking down and thinking through.

First, it is good to know that NOW is always the time to return to God. There is no bad time to come to God in this life. God declared to Israel that even in the wake of His discipline, they would find mercy with Him if they would just return to Him. God's heart is to always honor the return of the repentant sinner. And that is what he is saying to His people with this passionate plea. "Even now" He would take them back into His grace.

It is also important that actions will accompany a repentant heart. They flow out of a commitment to return to God. In this case, God saw His people fasting, weeping, and mourning with broken hearts over sin. That was the way to show that the genuine repentance was serious. Their hearts were split by a godly sorrow over sin. This was more than the pain of a national tragedy. This was true brokenness over sin and its consequences. And it led them to return to the LORD.

Finally, repentance helps us see God in new relational ways. The text reminds us that God is gracious and merciful. He is not miserly with His love and forgiveness. He is a merciful God Who will bless the lives of sinners who come to Him and beg for His mercy, acknowledging their weakness and His greatness. He is not slow to be gracious. However, He is slow to anger. He does not want to define His relationship with humanity by wrath and judgment of our sin. He wants to forgive us. He wants us to know His steadfast, abiding love. And repentance is our path to finding that real love!

The final note to look at comes with the unique experience that follows repentance. A repentant people sometimes experiences the good purposes of God instead of the judgment that their sins truly deserved. God revealed this in the story of Jonah and the city of Ninevah. And He is the same God to repentant sinners today. His will may be to respond to our repentance by relenting of judgment and showering us with grace. That is a great thing about God!

God in disasters

2011-12-06T06:14:00.001-06:00

To you, O LORD, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Joel 1:19

These words were written after a devastating plague of locusts swept through Israel. It appears that what followed was drought, famine, and wildfires in the wake of the agricultural loss. Joel calls upon the nation to lament and mourn. But he also uses the thoughts brought on by the present tragedy to focus the attention of Israel upon two very crucial theological truths: 1) the vital need for repentant prayer brought on by these events. The nation MUST turn to God in times of extreme loss. 2) The opportunity to consider God's greater judgment. Any tragedy is a chance to shudder at the potential calamity coming in the final judgment known as the Day of the Lord (Joel 1:15).

Here is why this is important. A disaster is something that is usually caused by circumstances outside of human control. That is what makes it a disaster. Disasters are the result of a natural event (an earthquake, a storm, a flood, a locust swarm) that we cannot manipulate or escape. We cannot even foretell them accurately. And the widespread destruction leads to a tragedy on a massive scale. Disasters point to the helplessness inherent in our humanity. They force us to accept our limitations and our spiritual and physical need. Large scale disasters bring us to spiritual openness. And that is one hope that can bring triumph from loss and tragedy. It is a good thing in terms of human understanding to need the help and mercies of God. We can neglect Him when our lives seem to be the product of our own industry. But when we realize that they aren't, profound theology rises to the forefront of our hearts.

When we have nowhere to turn but to God, it is there we understand that our sense of being "in control" was only there by His mercy and provision. And when God restores us, we may never see our lives quite the same way after tragedy. This is why it was not cruel of Joel to use the occasion of the plague, drought, and fire to preach about God's future judgment coming upon the entire world. It helped to increase perspective.

Difficulties are often God's way of increasing our periphery to include Him. We get a kind of tunnel vision when we make our daily lives solely about human culture and modern thinking. But when God is always there, known to be superintending and guiding us as we live in the world He made for use to use for His glory, it makes nothing mundane and everything important (even losses) for His purposes, glory, and goodness to us.

The relationship between saving faith and good works

2011-12-05T06:05:00.001-06:00

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
Titus 3:8

The "trustworthy saying" that Paul is referring to is his explanation of the gospel in Titus 3:4-7. The gospel is rooted in God's goodness and lovingkindness towards us. God saved us, and not any of our own actions, so that it is clearly a work of His mercy and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. It came about all because of the work of Jesus for us so that we are justified by Christ's grace and given an eternal hope. We can put our trust in this truth.

Where the text goes next with the product of saving faith is vital to understand. Believing in Christ is not where faith ends. Saving faith is a living faith. It does something. Paul was so convinced of this that he told Titus to insist on these actions among the believers in Crete. Good works are typical for the church. We believe in God, and that is of inestimable personal value. But we also must devote ourselves to good works. We have to be very deliberate to do good in our world. We must pay attention both to what we believe AND to what we do. That phrasing tells me that if I am not careful, my default setting might be just to be content to believe in Christ and do very little with that faith.

Paul has shown that Christians are a people in whom a very visible lifestyle of good works must live (Titus 1:16; 2:14; 3:1). This command is the final point in that continuing argument that has woven itself throughout the short book of Titus. Faith is borne out in what we do. We bring the gospel message to the world by proclaiming it in WORD and DEED. Paul never expecting that the two concepts be separated.

There are results to such Christian living. The words used here to describe it indicate that good works flow from saving faith and that spiritual reality is both excellent and profitable. They are seen by society as good and are helpful to the world at large. At Christmas time the media will occasionally tell such a story. And the reality is that the Christian commitment to good works ought to ALWAYS impact the world. If the saving life in Christ truly changes us, we ought to in obedience to God, be changing our world in many excellent, profitable, and God-glorifying ways!

The reputation of a minister

2011-12-01T06:45:00.001-06:00

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus 2:7-8

These were Paul's words directly to Titus. They are instructive on the kind of character and commitments that anyone serving in ministry should endeavor to emulate. This is the reputation I should seek as I serve Christ and His church. It is worth picking these commands apart to analyze their application.

The very first verb is one of demonstration: "show yourself..." This is a command to be visibly reputable. It means that any minister should have an open life... one that can be known. Any servant of Christ is ready to be analyzed for the character of the Lord. And Paul makes that openness and observability a command to Titus. Live so people will see in all respects that you are Christ's slave. They are going to watch you and scrutinize you anyway... let them be impressed with Jesus!

The emphasis on observability goes on to point out the durability of good works. A servant of Jesus is someone whose good life is a model for others to follow. This creates a platform for discipleship. The minister of Christ is a model of good works. The church cannot go wrong if they do the things that he is doing. That is the command given to Titus. Be an example that the church can follow and thus follow Christ. Don't just be an open book... be a really worthy, really good read!

But example must include sound teaching. And Paul makes it clear that the hard work of gospel ministry includes good teaching, not just good works. The two go hand-in-hand. There are three elements that mark good teaching. The first is integrity. It is an integrity in both personal character (think of the money-hungry, greedy modern televangelist as the antithesis of this) and in faithfulness to the truth of scripture. Along with integrity comes dignity. Teaching is respectful, because dealing with God is not a flippant occupation. Any minister of the gospel carries a stronger responsibility and is a bigger representative than any international ambassador ever could be. We are not nightclub entertainers and late show comedians. The final phrase to describe teaching is "sound speech", which is defined as that which "cannot be condemned"". Our very teaching must be of the finest reputation, even with the world.

The result of exemplary living and sound teaching is that the reputation of the church in the world is stellar. We are a shining light, a city on a hill, and the salt of the earth. And when we balance these, the world should not be able to say anything evil against us.

What makes a group of believers a local church?

2011-11-30T06:08:00.001-06:00

This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
Titus 1:13-14

Paul left Titus on the island nation of Crete to bring order and final form and functionality to the bands of believers there. He left him to establish local churches. This was a big task. And in the first chapter of this epistle we see two clear challenges: leadership development and doctrinal clarity.

The believers were suffering from a deficiency in biblical eldership. Titus was instructed to go town to town, and where there were believers, biblical elders were to be appointed as qualified men were trained. I find it interesting that the phrase is "appoint elders in every town", and not "in every church". There is subtle clue here. These groups of believers needed to be organized into churches. Elders were crucial to that process. I might go so far as to say that you do not have a functioning local church until there is elder qualified leadership appointed within it.

The elders could assist Titus in the second task of clearing up the doctrinal controversies raging across the island. Judaizers had gotten involved with the bands of new Christians. They were mixing law and grace. They were confusing the believers with commands of legalism and Jewish mythology. It sounds like these Gentiles were getting trapped in some sort of weird kabbalistic teaching that was starting to dominate the Christian community. Titus, along with qualified men who would organize churches under elder shepherding, would have to take the problem on boldly!

Paul does not mince words. The method for shutting down doctrinal madness is clear: "rebuke them sharply". The goal is orthodoxy: "that they may be sound in faith". Good biblical rebuke on false teaching has the goal of restoring the purity of the gospel. These Christians had unwittingly swallowed the lies. They lacked discerning shepherds to guide them. Paul knew the key to churches getting established in Crete was strong elder leadership coupled with doctrinal clarity and rebuke of heretical teaching.

The beauty of the plain understanding of the New Testament is that the same pattern works today. The gospel reaches the world through local churches with strong loving shepherding elders, and a strong gospel conviction that clearly proclaims and lives out biblical doctrine and practice.

simpler disciple-making

2011-11-29T06:13:00.001-06:00

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me-practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9

This is a pattern for discipleship. And it isn't program driven. It is built around personal observation and engagement. Paul was confident that the Philippian church was the kind of body of believers that could be close enough to him to get close enough to Christ. For Paul, discipleship was all about the relationship. And making disciples meant living an exemplary life -- a life that could be followed.

I have been officially a "discipleship pastor" for nearly a decade and a half now. And in that period of time I have had a lot of "programs" pushed at me. They have been varied and almost always they have been built around curriculum, culture, or Christian celebrity. Here is what I mean... Christian publishing houses spend tons of money developing curriculum and then they market the stuffings out of it. Really. We are talking mailings, phone campaigns, personal representatives visiting churches... you name it. They make incessant dazzling claims and special offers. They tie it to endorsements and bulk rate pricing. It is a product, and I am not completely sure that curriculum alone makes followers of Jesus.

A second contemporary trend is to piggyback on Christian culture. This is the most superficial problem to hit the church in my lifetime. We have our own Christian sub-culture these days that apes secular culture, complete with special T-shirts and hip rock bands. And I have seen these things upheld as the answer for building believers, particularly teenagers. I think that this is a HUGE mistake. I think it results in superficial excitement and not legitimate and thoughtful faith. What happens when the bands leave town, and your family is still a mess when you get home? This is why we now have "Christian" vampire novels copying the "Twilight" series. Somebody should just stop the insanity! It is embarrassing Jesus!

A third disturbing distraction to true discipleship is the cult of celebrity in the American church. Evangelicals are masters of this. We have always been so, right from the Great Awakening. Today it looks like this: a big name pastor or a parachurch leader launches a new 40 day program for churches. It has to be 40 days, because God did that a lot in the Bible. It does not matter what the 40 days is about. It could be 40 days of dental hygiene. The evangelical church will buy the stuff. It gets packaged and marketed. And when I dig into it, I find it is nothing like the simple discipleship strategy of Paul. But because it comes from the monolithic Christian culture, many of my parishioners expect me as a pastor to get behind it. I usually do not. And that creates a conflict that should not have to be there.

Paul could say what he said to the Philippian church because he had invested substantial time and personal ministry with the people there. They knew him. He had nothing to sell. He had simply foolishly given away his life to them. Not a great marketing strategy. And they could do as he did and be following Jesus. That is the disciple-making philosophy, curriculum, culture, and practice that I subscribe to. And I don't need much else beyond the Word of God, the Spirit of God, working in the people of God to see God use that to reach the world for His glory!

Maturity is not my goal.

2011-11-28T06:26:00.001-06:00

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Philippians 3:13-15

Maturity alone is not the goal of Christian living. Paul made it clear that maturity has a goal. It is the realistic expectation of all of our living. Mature Christians don't get to stop running the race. Instead, they lean forward and press onward toward the highest goal. The "one thing" Paul did was to keep at the prize of being with God in Christ. Mature believers live with the glory of the presence of God always in their vision.

Paul called on mature Christians to share his view. He made it clear that the more we grow in Christ, the greater our longing is to be with Christ. He assumed that thinking about our goals in the light of our lives being filled up with desiring God and His glory would be a measure of our maturity. And I agree.

But this thinking has practical ramifications. It is not just about a "happy in heaven" mentality. In fact, Paul makes it clear that those who have their eyes on this prize will seek to live out God's glory right here and right now within the church and the world. It is on this goal that the book turns to practical matters.

A life that is consumed with thinking about eternity with Christ will affect unity in the church (Philippians 4:2-3). That life will exchange daily anxiety for faithful prayer and true peace (Philippians 4:4-7). That life will think about and practice righteous living (Philippians 4:8-9). There are real, noticeable and life-changing differences in the maturing Christian who wants to live for the glory of God.

I have a lot of growing up still to do. I am going to think about this goal of Paul's. It is not that I don't want maturity. It is just that I am tempted to define it in purely human terms and in qualities that I can define in ways that make myself look good. I think of it wrongly, solely in terms of my knowledge of bible doctrine, or in my commitment to some program of activity prescribed by a church or a ministry. But my maturity should be consumed with the glory of God on display in my life among the nations so that others may see God and come to faith in Christ. It never stops running toward that rewarding experience.

Obedience: key to holy living

2011-11-23T07:37:00.001-06:00

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13

Obedience is a key component, a necessary element of our practical sanctification. We cannot live holy Christian lives if we will not obey God and His Word as He directs us in it. Paul knew the Philippian church. He had been with that church from its earliest moments. And he knew it was a church that obeyed the truth. He encourages them to stay at the work of holiness.

And holy living is work. God enables us to do it. But we must work at it. It is not easy work. But it is also not impossible. God has given us the scriptures to tell us what holy living looks like. He has filled us with His Holy Spirit to enable us to do the things that He asks of us. Holiness is not just a possibility; it is an actuality. It is expected of us. It defines us. Christians are distinct and different. We live out the new redemption we have in Christ.

So there is this element of sanctification that falls on each Christian's shoulders. It is not a salvific working FOR salvation. It is a visible working OUT of the salvation we already have in Christ. And it is right to expect that Christians would live differently from non-Christians. Paul assumed so. He instructed believers to be that kind of Christ-follower in this world. The expectation should always be there for us to worship God by working out our salvation with healthy respect, in obedience to God's Word, by the enabling of His Holy Spirit, as God helps us to obey and follow Him.

The tension between now and eternity

2011-11-22T06:06:00.001-06:00

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Philippians 1:21-24

Paul is not suicidal in this wistful expression. He is passionately worshipful... confident in his hope and love for Christ. He was equally torn between his love for the Lord and his love for the people of the Lord. At its root this longing is a tension between worship and discipleship. Both were attractive options for the apostle. His heart's cry was to be caught up in the beauty of eternity with his Lord. His life's passion was making Jesus known in the world through His church. This was really a tight squeeze for him to admit to feeling.

And I notice that there is a lot from Paul's passion that challenges me. Paul was an interesting person with powerful drives. He had a passion for eternity. He longed for the presence of his Lord. He was ready to leave this world for the presence of Christ and he realized that being with Christ forever is ultimately the will of God for all Christians. But he also had a passion for community with God's people while in this life. He saw the work of building up believers in the church as necessary, even a form of worship. It was necessary to encourage the community of believers so that the church could experience its eternals joys with Jesus. And though eternity with Christ "felt" like the more pleasant personal option, community with the followers of Christ was necessary for the sake of the gospel and the world. Paul was willing to keep serving because there was great joy in the ministry done with that eternal perspective in view. Jesus was at the finish line either way!

This presents questions for me that direct me toward thinking about my main motivators in life. Am I truly moved by a passionate vision of eternity with my Lord? Does that excite me? Do I really live like death is always the personally better option? Christians have hearts with a longing. It is knowing that we are aliens far from our home. We were made for a better country. We are looking for a city whose builder is God. And this world, at its very best, is far from the joy we will know in the presence of Jesus forever!

Am I really living for the joy of service in the community of Christ? Do I dread the ups and downs of living within a little society of sanctified sinners who are still being redeemed? There is a joy that comes in the "necessary" experience of serving Christ with my fellow believers in the church. But it comes through the co-laboring, the endurance, the confrontation of wrong in myself and others, the commitment to the rightness of God's truth as the gospel changes us, and the mutual passion we are following in following Jesus. It is only a taste of heaven and it leaves our hearts wanting more together... yearning to be together with Jesus. And while I am in this world it is essential that I be there... living my live in and with the followers of Jesus... loving a sometimes unlovely church... living for my Lord.

a lucky shot?

2011-11-21T06:16:00.001-06:00

But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded."
1 Kings 22:34

The demise of the wicked king Ahab was prophesied by God. At least twice God let him know that he would end his reign in misery. Ahab took every precaution in the Syrian war to save his life. But he wound up being deluded into going into battle. In a rare alliance with Judah, Ahab convinced king Jehoshaphat of Judah to ride into battle dressed in royal attire. Meanwhile, Ahab "disguised" himself in some fashion. Ahab's ruse was meant to draw the attack to Jehoshaphat. But God had other plans.

Ahab was still a high-profile target. He fought from a chariot with a driver. That made him at least an officer level target for the enemy to concentrate fire upon. Even then, the text makes it clear that God was using this battle in His own way to end Ahab's rule in Israel. No Syrian could officially take credit. The seemingly random, "lucky" shot of an unnamed archer was all God needed. The arrow struck in the one open space in Ahab's armor, wounding the king in a vital area and opening up a bleeding wound. The king bled to death in his chariot as he fled from battle. He could not hide from his fate.

The final note of prophetic irony comes when they clean the king's blood from the chariot at the pool of Samaria. There the dogs lick up the blood of Ahab the wicked king just as Elijah had prophesied (1 Kings 21:19). The rule of an evil king comes to a wicked end in the way that God had spoken that it would. It was the word of the Lord working to speak again to His people... even stray arrows will follow His command.

Bad Reputations Last Long

2011-11-18T09:28:00.001-06:00

(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.)
1 Kings 21:25-26

This parenthetical commentary on the moral character of king Ahab is telling. It is not the kind of life story we would want God to write of us. Ahab was a bad guy. He was not the kind of king God envisioned to lead His people. There are several indictments against his reputation and character in this short commentary.

First and foremost, Ahab was unique in his evil idolatry. There was no one else like him in terms of his turning his back on God. He had a penchant and lust for idols. And he followed that lust in defiance of a very straight-forward and vivid prophetic ministry. God kept speaking to Ahab through Elijah and other prophets. And Ahab just kept at his idolatrous worship. He was manic in his pursuit of idolatry.

Ahab's idolatry had some strong self-interest behind it. The text says he "sold himself to do evil". He felt like he got personal gain from his rampant neglect of God. He was evil with a profit motive behind it. In that sense, it is clear that this commentary sees Ahab as something of a spiritual prostitute. That is not a pleasant picture to have of the leader of God's people.

He was also easily influenced by his evil wife Jezebel. The entire text of 1 Kings 21 relays the account of Jezebel's conspiracy that illicitly gained Naboth's vineyard for her husband. She killed a righteous man in cold blood, using the technicalities of the covenant God made with Israel to design Naboth's demise. And Ahab was happy with the results that his wife got for him.

The nail in the coffin for Ahab was his outright pagan reputation. He was as idolatrous as the Amorite people that God eradicated in the Promised Land. Israel had become as despicable in their culture as the Canaanites had been in God's sight. The reputation of pagan idolatry now was the practice in Israel. Evil marked the society, thanks to Ahab and Jezebel and their corrupting influences.

God of Second Chances: a prayer for mercy

2011-11-17T05:54:00.001-06:00

And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD."
1 Kings 20:13

You love to give second chances
You are the reason why
people live, the world turns
there is life in Christ even when we die.

You always seem to give a second chance
even to the rebel heart
and when You glorify Your great name
it often is with a second fresh start.

You care for those who get second chances
that's why grace fills human history
and when repentance responds to Your mercy
You write Your love into our fallen story.

You gave an idolatrous king a second chance
so that he might know You are the LORD
You saved a nation that deserved Your justice
and verified Your power in Your holy word.

O God of gracious, wild, undeserved second chances
be merciful to us yet again this day
we have turned to idols, but in Your mercy
would You forgive us and take our guilt away?

a prophetic funk

2011-11-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.
1 Kings 19:18

Elijah was in a ministry funk. He had the prophet's blues. Jezebel had issued a death warrant for him (1 Kings 19:2). The response of Elijah was to run away into the wilderness. There, in the thin shade of a broom tree, he despaired of his own life (1 Kings 19:4). He did not want to be killed by Jezebel, but he didn't want to live in his current situation either. This was a fitful, irrational depression impossible to explain from the power of Elijah's past.

God ministered to Elijah. Angels came to him and fed him twice under that tree. Elijah slept there and had nothing to fear. He was literally under God's care and protection. Then God sent him on a journey to Horeb. There, in the wild of the mountain, God gave an intimate confirmation of His call upon the prophet. First, a fierce, rock-rending gale force wind, then an earthquake, and finally a fire came through Elijah's cave on that mountain. And God was in none of the dramatic demonstrations. But the low whisper of God's voice was so intense that it compelled Elijah to cover his face with his cloak and come to the mouth of the cave and talk with his God (1 Kings 19:9-13).

In conversation with God, Elijah states twice that he believes he alone is left as servant of the Lord in Israel (1 Kings 19:10, 14). But God sets Elijah to work with a new understanding. He is far from alone. God has seven thousand people in Israel who have not given in to idolatry. Elijah might have felt alone, but he was not alone. And no more would he be a solo prophet. he would anoint Elisha to be a prophet with him and beyond him. By so doing, God corrected the depressed, selfish thinking of Elijah, giving him new ministry, and re-energizing him for the work to which God called him.

The God Who answers with fire

2011-11-15T06:04:00.001-06:00

"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
1 Kings 18:37-38

Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. His trust in God led him to arrange a little contest. The priests and prophets of Baal were invited to prepare a bull for sacrifice. Then they could call upon Baal to consume that sacrifice with fire. Elijah would do the same with God, and then the sacrifice that was accepted and consumed would prove the veracity of the prophet(s) offering the sacrifice.

Baal's worshippers hastily agreed. After all, Baal was popular and they were many. They worshiped a god of fertility who had a reputation for yearly blessing the land with crops in response to sexual rites in his worship. They prepared their altar and their sacrifice. They cried out to Baal for hours on end. They danced around their altar. Eventually they practiced ritual self mutilation in homage to Baal. But there was no answer. Elijah mocked their idolatry, and when they finally gave up in pagan exhaustion, he set to work in faith.

Elijah builds his altar and prepares wood for a fire. He places the sacrificial bull on the altar. He instructs those with him to dig a trench around the altar. They then drench the entire altar and sacrifice with precious water (they are in a drought) until it is so soaked that water fills the trench around it. Only in that impossible condition does Elijah confidently and quietly call upon the LORD. And God answers with a consuming fire.

The response of the people was an immediate awe and acknowledgement of the God Who answers with fire. Elijah moves forward to lead this crowd to capture the priests and prophets of the pagan gods. They were led down to Kishon where they were all executed for their treacherous idolatry. God has spoken and in one day proven the impotency of idolatry and the efficacy of prayer and worship offered to Him.

The reality is that the God Who answers with fire is still involved in winning hearts to Himself for His glory. The impotency of any system of thought or human derived false worship that sets itself against Him will be demonstrated dramatically. And it is not like I have to make that happen. God can defend His own reputation. I just have to be willing to let Him show Himself in me as I confidently follow Christ.

confrontation contrasts

2011-11-11T05:46:00.001-06:00

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
1 Kings 17:1

One of the fascinating facts of the history of the Jewish people is that it is not just about political actions, wars, kings, or accomplishments in culture. The unique history of Israel is full of theological majesty through the revelation of the Word of God. And at this point in the biblical text there is an explosion of prophetic activity among the Jews. The reasons are simple. God will not be pushed aside, and a unique covenant with Israel meant that they would hear clearly and powerfully from Him, whether they wanted to or not!

And there is an interplay in the last few chapters of 1 Kings that is fascinating for the reader to pick up on. I have to admit that it is one of my favorite sections of the Old Testament. It pits God against idol, king against prophet, the power of the Word of God against the power of error, and the veracity of God's prophets against the agents of idolatry and evil.

Elijah is just a fun character to study. He is bold and assertive, yet totally dependent upon God for the simplest of life's necessities. He is aggressive to Ahab, yet later he is fearful of Jezebel. He mocks the vain worship of the priests of Baal, yet mopes at his own seeming ineffectiveness. He is used by God to poke at a king's foolish agenda of idolatry while being just a frontier nobody himself. God uses a willing prophet from "nowheresville" to confront and control the outcomes of the most powerful and selfish people in the land.

Elijah is effective as God's prophet because he is obedient to God. Ahab is an impotent king because he is disobedient to the Law of God. Elijah's worship of God leads to power and protection for him. Ahab's worship of Baal (a fertility god supposed to bring the yearly rains) is incompetent, ineffective and powerless. God is making a contrast. And the absurd boldness of it makes me chuckle.

The exotic call of spiritual decline

2011-11-10T06:10:00.001-06:00

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.
1 Kings 16:30-31

Ahab is the most morally destitute of all of Israel's kings to this point in her history. He set himself up to be as much like the pagan nations as possible. He did two things that enabled his evil. First, he married a Canaanite woman and made her queen. And the name of Jezebel still echoes in our day as synonymous with wickedness, temptation, and perversion of the good. With his Canaanite bride came the most insidious of the Canaanite idols. Baal worship now plagued the northern kingdom of Israel and would continue for generations.

Ahab and Jezebel would force a new social order of Baal worship upon the people. And it had an impact. Archeologists still dig up Baal figurines in what was Jewish territory in Ahab's time. The problem was ubiquitous. The worship of this false god became an obsession in Israel. And it all began with Ahab. Here is a lesson in the power of social pressure.

Ahab made an alliance with the Canaanites in Sidon by marrying Jezebel. And Sidonian culture, particularly its false religion, flooded Israel with idolatry and immorality. This was the agenda that Jezebel brought with her to the queen's throne. The text will pick up in this book to show just how ambitiously the royal couple embraced the worship of Baal and enforced it on Israel. In one generation's time, the worship of God was being stamped out, not by pure aggression, but by wild acceptance of the exotic and new.

By application today, that warning still rings in the air. We can always be tempted to exchange the old truth for a new lie. Heresy and doctrinal deviation often begin with the lurid call of the exotic. And if we are not careful to measure the new with the standard of scriptural truth, we will quickly lose out. For me, the standard is always to gauge ALL teaching by the clear commitment to the particulars of the gospel. That will protect us from error and all kinds of evil.

idol-busters

2011-11-09T06:16:00.001-06:00

And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done.
1 Kings 15:11

Righteousness is refreshing. Reading through the accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah can be tedious. Mostly because it is a litany of disobedience and unrighteous acts. But when you come across the righteous actions of a good king... it is like a cool refreshing breeze on a really hot day! That's the feeling I get reading about Asa, king of Judah.

The summary statement is that God saw Asa as a king who did what was right. The text gives five quick reasons for his righteousness. FIrst, "He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land" (1 Kings 15:12a), thus stopping the sexual fertility worship perversions practices in Canaanite idolatry. Secondly, he "removed all the idols that his fathers had made" (1 Kings 15:12b). I take this to mean he eradicated every temple shrine erected by previous kings to a foreign god. Thirdly, "He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother" (1 Kings 15:13a). The rationale for this was her commitment to Asherah worship. Fourthly, "Asa cut down her image (Asherah) and burned it", thus publicly going against family idolatry and committing to the worship of God (1 Kings 15:13b). The final evidence offered is something only God could know: "the heart of Asa was wholly true to the LORD all his days" (1 Kings 15:14b).

Asa's reforms were controversial and sweeping and still incomplete (he left high places untouched as explained in 1 Kings 15:14a). But he would not let the worship of God fall into complete loss. His heart worshipped Yahweh fully. And for his love for the Lord and actions of worship by combatting idolatry, he is commended by God. Sometimes trusting God in hard times and standing for the truth in an age of falsehood leads to a lifetime of smashing idols.

idolatry's root is selfishness

2011-11-08T06:15:00.001-06:00

For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree
1 Kings 14:23

Judah was left as the Israeli tribe holding the temple ground and David's throne in Jerusalem. But they did not treasure and worship God any longer. Very quickly the people of Judah slipped into rampant idolatry. It was epidemic among the Israelites. And the book of Kings and Chronicles record the ups and downs of what was a spiritual roller coaster ride for the children of Israel.

I do want to comment on something that I noticed as striking in this description of idolatry under Rehoboam. It is clear that idolatry is a selfish exercise. It is not motivated by worship. It is motivated to please self. What they built to worship they built for themselves. It find that to be fascinating and applicable to my own experience. Any abandonment of God or any false worship or anything else other than God is an attempt at satisfaction of self. At its root, idolatry is an attempt to put my desires, my goals, my wants, above the will of a God Who will not allow other gods before Him. God desires worship and devotion. He demands it. He deserves it. Idolatry lets human beings temporarily seem to direct their lives (at least in the appeal of idol worship) according to their own wants and desires.

With that in mind, I can see lots of application to how the idolatry of Israel and Judah as instructive to my times, even to my own heart. I am not tempted to cast a Baal in bronze. But I am continuously tempted to get only what I want out of my life. I am tempted to build "idols" for myself. It is accepted as normal, even in evangelical sub-culture where we claim God is directing us. Our main culture legitimizes idols. We call a big one "The American Dream" -- often the most devious and deceptively demonic because it lulls us into a selfish trance of materialism and spiritual apathy. And very soon a son of this idol, Materialism, will rear up and appeal to us to storm the stores on Black Friday to "get what they want" or... what we want.

Another idol might be "Rights". Funny how when we talk about them, we often say, "I have the right to..." Asserting and demanding my rights is often just another selfish worship of something other than God. John Calvin was quite brilliant when he declared the human heart to be an idol-making factory. The factories are still running at full production, even in a dying world economy.

deadly serious choices

2011-11-07T06:17:00.001-06:00

After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
1 Kings 13:33-34

God used a young prophet to get the attention of Jeroboam in Samaria. Israel split from Judah, but Jeroboam did not want even religious unity with Judah. His solution was to establish "high places" or centers of sacrifice within the Northern Kingdom, thus sealing Israel off from Judah. God confronted the king on this practice. These quickly became idolatrous.

The young prophet (given no name in this passage) had been instructed to travel to Samaria, confront the king, and then to return home by a different route than he travelled to get there, not breaking a fast until his return home. God powerfully confirmed the message of the prophet. When Jeroboam reaches out to seize the young man, his hand is suddenly "dried up" and useless. When he begs the prophet to pray to God, he does so, and Jeroboam is miraculously restored. Then the prophet begins his journey home.

On the way home, another prophet (also anonymous) hears what has occurred. He meets up with the young man, lies to him with a false vision to convince the young prophet to come to his house for a meal. The young man breaks his fast, and then back on the road, is killed by a lion as judgment by God. His death becomes an illustration to the truth of God's prophecy and the seriousness of obedience to God's command.

The sad truth to this whole episode was that Jeroboam did not heed the warning given to him by God... just like the young prophet. He set up a competing system of false worship that deceived most of the tribes of Israel. He grieved God by "returning back" to what God had clearly warned him not to do. And just like the young prophet, his lack of careful thought about this did not change his guilt. He would bear the judgment for his sin.

I believe the best thing we can take away from this sort of episode is a true fear of the painful consequences of sinful actions and choices... even ones we make unwittingly. Both Jeroboam and the young prophet made personal choices that broke God's specific will and did not seek God in their decisions. Jeroboam's choice was knowingly made. He would deceive Israel. The young prophet's choice was unwittingly and unthoughtfully made. He was deceived like Israel would be under Jeroboam's religious system. Both men are now vivid historical examples of what consequences God will bring to our disobedience. They show us the seriousness with which we should live with the results of sin.

Disunity (an alliterative journey of break up and breakdown)

2011-11-02T05:46:00.001-05:00

'Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.'" So they listened to the word of the LORD and went home again, according to the word of the LORD.
1 Kings 12:24

divided people
disagreeing over
duty to king
distressed by labor
done with mandatory service
David's throne no longer in control

determined to mutiny
destined to split apart
divided into Israel and Judah
doing what each tribe wanted
denying allegiance... ten tribes go north
destroying the unity of God's people
David's throne still in Jerusalem

dwindled army of Judah
drawn into battle array
determined to recover by might
downed by God's Word
devoted to the prophet
drops their resolve to fight
David's throne now powerless

diminished testimony
divided loyalties
devilish false worship
diversionary tactics of leaders
diluted potential to influence the world
destruction of brotherhood
David's throne still to be regained to this day

a bad finish

2011-11-01T06:16:00.001-05:00

He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 11:3-4

Solomon had been blessed so much, but finished so poorly. He knew better than to turn from God, but his heart was corrupted. His fleshly lifestyle got the better of him in the end. The text lets us know that Solomon was what we might call today a sex addict. He loved the adoration of women and really, he worshiped sex. He collected foreign women to his harem like some men collect rare works of art. His passion revolved around the thousand women who now had his heart.

And when these foreign wives requested that Solomon let them worship their false gods, he joined in, building temples to at least four other foreign gods in and around the capital city (1 Kings 11:5-8). There were now more opportunities to deny God than to worship God in Jerusalem. Solomon was being pulled away from God by the fixation with collecting wives.

God confronted Solomon and very directly warned him that the kingdom would be taken from him because of this idolatry (1 Kings 11:9-13). The sad thing is that there was no response of repentance on the part of Solomon. When David, Solomon's father, had been confronted about his sexual sin, he repented quickly, publicly, and with earnest sorrow. The text gives us no indication that Solomon was moved by God's warnings. He just did not care about anything else any more.

The final part of Solomon's reign was marked by conflict with God and with other nations. Edom, Syria, and Egypt began to harass the nation of Israel. There would be no peace while Solomon abandoned the LORD. And this did not move Solomon in the least. His sin had turned his heart from God. His sin had hardened his heart to God and even to what he was suffering as a result of that sin.

It is sad to see someone finish bad! And it is instructive. The older I get, the less I can trust my natural inclinations. The battle with sin intensifies. I am capable of wickedness and selfishness at any moment. And to finish in them is a great loss. It is only by aligning my passions in pursuit of God's will for me as His Word reveals it that I will trust enough to finish this life well.

The world streaming to Israel

2011-10-31T06:19:00.001-05:00

Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.
1 Kings 10:23-24

One of the blessings of the covenant was that God said the world would flock to Israel to hear from Him. Under the reign and fame of Solomon, that is exactly what occurred. The world sought audience with Solomon to hear wisdom and see the wealth of Israel. It was quite an unusual time in the history of Israel.

In many ways this period of time during the rule of Solomon is a picture of what God wanted His nation to always be. And it will find its true fulfillment in the millennial reign of Jesus. The mission of Israel in worship of Yahweh was to be a light to the Gentiles. And for most of their history they struggled to do so. Somehow, through the providence of God, things came together in such a way under Solomon that the nation got it right. And when they did, God blessed them and the world took notice of Israel and the God that they worshiped. Even the Arabs came to learn from Solomon, under the leadership of the Arabian queen of Sheba.

So in this short passage we have the vision of Israel's central position as the people of Yahweh meant to attract the world to the worship of the one true God. And in this passage we see unprecedented blessing coming to Israel as they worshiped God, willing to open their lives for the world to come and see. This is an outstanding, clear proof that God has always loved the world.

one person's obedience impacts others

2011-10-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
1 Kings 9:4-5

This is a repetition of the Davidic covenant to Solomon, but this time God gives Solomon certain consequences to consider if he or his descendants disregard the Law of God. God makes it clear that the king is not exempt from the requirements of the covenants God has made with the nation. The king stands as the first representative to obey and follow the Law, worshiping God in obedience to His commands.

God does not exempt anyone from obedience to Him. Solomon is told this early in his reign. Even though he has accomplished so much in worship of the Lord, God knew his heart. There were already little cracks in his character coming through. The extraordinary wealth he had achieved left him pursing more... to the point that the chapter goes at length to show this effort. He had also put money above relationship with an important ally of Israel. His construction of an elaborate palace showed his tendency toward materialism. His marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh was starting to open him up to spiritual compromise.

So God is graciously reminding Solomon to stay true to Him. The kingdom would count on it. The risks were high in obeying God. In some ways they always are. It affects more than just any one person's choice.

a serious worship leader

2011-10-27T06:27:00.001-05:00

"Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant."
1 Kings 8:56

Any worship leader worth anything ought to take his cues from the celebration of praise that Solomon led at the dedication of the first temple. All of 1 Kings 8 maps out an impressive order of worship. And Solomon leads it masterfully. It all begins with the processional that brought the ark of the covenant out of the old tabernacle and into the new temple. The king, along with all the elders in Israel, led the line of people who followed the ark to the temple. During this procession, numerous sacrifices were made. And God's glory came and overflowed the temple after the ark was set in the holy of holies (1 Kings 8:10-11).

Then Solomon sets a short history of the worship of Yahweh in place. He blesses God, he blesses the nation, he recounts the covenant that the Lord made with his father, David. And in this short opening praise, the focus is clearly on the faithfulness of God.

As Solomon stands in the courtyard before the altar of the Lord, he leads the nation in a magnificent and instructive prayer. He focuses on the faithfulness of God and remarkably, most of the prayer is a plea for God to remain faithful even though Israel does not remain faithful. Solomon knows God can't be limited to one spot in the temple. The temple did not contain all of God within it (1 Kings 8:27). But it was a place where Israel could focus on God.

Then Solomon spends the bulk of his prayer acknowledging the need that sinners have for the justice and mercy of God. God would have to settle lies from the truth in human relationships (1 Kings 8:31-32). God would grant renewal after defeated Israel repented of sin (1 Kings 8:33-34). God would respond to sin-induced catastrophe (i Kings 8:35-36) and forgive a repentant nation. The temple would be a place where Israel acknowledged sin. God would hear their repentance in heaven and act (1 Kings 8:37-40). This cycle of forgiveness would affect gentiles within the borders of Israel (1 Kings 8:41-45).

The complete cycle of confession and forgiveness was the focus of all that was done in worship at the temple (1 Kings 8:46-53). Then Solomon ended with a benediction that reinforced this (1 Kings 8:54-61). Lest anyone doubt his conviction, a massive kingly gift of sacrifices (1 Kings 8:62-66) was begun that must have taken months, if not years to complete. Solomon was serious in what he said, prayed, and did in worship of God.

New beginnings and hard work

2011-10-26T06:05:00.001-05:00

Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.
1 Kings 7:51

This was the moment that became the spiritual high point of Solomon's reign in Jerusalem. The temple of the Lord is complete, furnished, and temple worship is about to begin. It has been a project Solomon has work towards for a long time. It was a passion that his father, David, also had. And now the work of two generations has come to a completion.

With every completion is also a new beginning. In the case of the temple project, the new beginning was a house of worship for the Lord in Jerusalem. The past had been symbolized in a tent of worship, testament to Israel's wilderness past. Now, with the temple complete, a certain established commitment to the worship of God and obedience to His Law is confirmed. This is the new beginning. The temple period of Israel's history begins.

With each new beginning come new challenges. The large temple complex with Solomon's palace adjacent to it would require constant attention. God was worshiped day and night and levitical duties kept priests and Levites at the temple complex around the clock. It said a lot that the king built his own house so close to God's temple. It meant that Solomon was a close worshiper. Yet, with that came heightened security and new concerns. All the treasures of Israel's throne were stored at the palace and in the temple vaults. This was like Fort Knox with an altar.

The administrative challenges of such a set up would require the kind of wisdom and manpower that Solomon could provide. Between the priests, Levities, soldiers, and king's household, a lot of coordination had to take place behind the scenes. And the effort was to promote Israel's big identity as a nation: the worship of Yahweh in His temple. With new beginnings come a balance of joy, hard work, worship, planning, and commitment -- all for the glory of God.

The Temple Project

2011-10-25T05:58:00.001-05:00

And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.
1 Kings 6:38

For seven years the wealth of a nation
and the labor of thousands
poured forth in worship.
Stone, mortar, planks of cedar
were shaped into a dwelling
for the glory of God.

And the wisest king directed the situation
as the wood cut, stone set by hands
were his stewardship.
Walls, ceilings, floors, center altar
were placed into the building
for the glory of God.

After seven years an achieved vision
created a place where crowds countless
would worship the Lord.
Offerings, sacrifice, oblations, and vows
all given meaning at this place
for the glory of God.

And the achievement of a chosen nation
was to point to a visible standing reference
that showed the Lord.
With each gift, each slain beast, worship now
was the central focus to showcase
the glory of God.

Building a temple for God with my life

2011-10-24T06:09:00.001-05:00

Solomon takes on the dream of his father, David. He will build the magnificent temple where the God of Israel will be worshiped in Jerusalem. He realizes that he is doing so at the prophetic word of God and in the providential timing of God. Solomon has been set upon the throne and unprecedented peace and prosperity have come to Israel just for this project. God is leading him in one of the defining tasks of his reign: the original temple in Jerusalem.

This was Solomon's great act of worship and obedience. He was a flawed leader, a king whose brilliant genius was marred by his moral ambiguity and sensual appetites. But at least at this stage of his rule, his genius was met with equal measures of obedience and love for the Lord. He used every political and persuasive power at his disposal in pursuit of the temple construction.

I draw a very simple application. God is worthy of my investment of time and resources in making His name great in my life. I don't have the wealth or the clout of Solomon to use, but I do have all that God HAS given me. It is enough to magnify God greatly. Am I seriously doing this? Am I building a temple for the worship of God in that way that I am living my life? God did not ask me to be Solomon. But He is still the great God He has always been and I am compelled to make that truth known so that others can rejoice and worship the Lord with me.

The attraction of wisdom

2011-10-20T06:16:00.001-05:00

And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
1 Kings 4:34

When God blessed Solomon, He blessed all of Israel and the world. Ultimately the reign of Solomon would have affect to the gentiles far beyond the borders of Israel. The nation of Israel was attractive to the world. And the main attraction was the wisdom generously granted to Solomon by God.

In no other time in Israel's history had such unprecedented renown come to the nation. The world flocked to Jerusalem to hear what Solomon had to say. Such was the fame of the kingdom. It is a picture of what Israel's future yet will be. And it was a fulfillment of all that God had promised Israel could be if they kept His Law. And all of this was centered around the wisdom of God.

Solomon's wisdom was listened to then, and much of it is available to us today. The Book of Proverbs consists of the collected sayings of King Solomon (along with a few other wise guys in Israel) and represents a wealth of spiritual, moral, and practical wisdom that is as useful today as when they sayings were first assembled together. Ecclesiastes exists as a source of philosophical discovery and worldview wisdom that hits all the major necessary components of any organized philosophical construction. And it too is as timely as ever. The Song of Solomon extols the beauty and wisdom of marital love, providing ancient insight into sexuality that has not changed in thousands of years. Solomon's wisdom still speaks, and through the Bible the world can still flock to hear it.

humility --> worship --> wisdom --> blessing

2011-10-19T06:29:00.001-05:00

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?
1 Kings 3:9

This was Solomon's moment of really extraordinary spiritual perception. God came to him very early in the initial days of his kingship after Solomon had spent a day celebrating, worshipping, and sacrificing to God. The Lord offered to Solomon anything that he asked of Him. But lest we think that God was offering to be Solomon's personal genie in the lamp, remember, God was testing the character of the young king. Solomon pleased the Lord greatly with his request.

The young king asked God to supply him with the kind of wise mind that would be beyond his years. He wanted to understand just how to govern God's people. Notice that in his request, Solomon never asks to exalt himself or even lays claim to being "over" the nation. Israel is God's people and Solomon mentions that twice in his request. Solomon needs wisdom from God in order to effectively govern God's great people. It was this controlling humility that opened a window into Solomon's heart. God was very pleased with what He saw there. In fact, the reason God answered this request was that it came out of worship and not self-motivation.

Solomon's primary concern was over the moral leadership of the nation. He wanted understanding so that he could discern between good and evil. That was an insight few leaders think of today. It is all about profit or success or growth at all costs. Seldom does leadership make its mark by the outstanding example of moral uprightness. That is sad, really. God would bless Solomon, even in later days of dubious morality, because in these beginning days he was consumed with really doing what pleased God as Israel's king.

So there is a lot to understand here. Foremost is that humility in worship helps us see God as He is and ourselves as we are. It was humble worship that led Solomon to ask for the right thing that pleased God. That worship led to wisdom. And God went over and above Solomon's original request. Because he had asked so well for what was so right, God also blessed him with great success and wealth. So humility led to worship. Worship led to wisdom. Wisdom led to blessing. That is a chain of events worth noting and hoping for in my own life.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

character & covenant form leadership

2011-10-18T06:16:00.001-05:00

"I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
1 Kings 2:2-4

In David's final charge to his son (now king), Solomon, he emphasizes that the first royal duty is faithfulness to God. Everything else flows from relationship with and obedience to God. And the measure of this in Israel was in the Word of God as revealed in the Law of Moses. If Solomon would be faithful to keep what was written there, leadership would flow from the commitment and character thus exhibited.

David is appealing really to two covenants. The first one is the one that all of Israel had with God as His unique people. And the document of that covenant was the Law of Moses. The nation would prosper as they were led by the king to be faithful to God through the Law.

The second covenant was the one God made with David, promising a ruler in His line forever on the throne of Israel. This was a covenant with no document, unilaterally held in the promise of God. It did insist that David's descendants lead, and David believed God when He made this promise to the line of David.

What would bring success would be an unwavering commitment to obedience to God and faithfulness to His Word. The first requirement of real leadership is character. And the kind of character forged in the heart by knowing and following God's Word is irreplaceable. It is the kind of character that builds a life for eternity. And that is what David knew, believed, and trusted right to his very last breath.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

Faithful to the end

2011-10-17T06:12:00.001-05:00

And the king swore, saying, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' even so will I do this day."
1 Kings 1:29-30

The ascension of Solomon to the throne of Israel begins in crisis and ends in confirmation. David is old, feeble, and clearly in his last days upon the earth. His son, Adonijah sees the chance to claim the throne and sets up a quiet revoluton. But news of Adonijah's actions reaches the palace, and Bathsheba comes before the king, along with Nathan the prophet to inform David of the problem. His last official act as king would be the setting up of a successor.

It is in that act that we see the faithful heart of David. First and foremost, he is faithful to the God Who has given him such a long life and allowed him such a long reign. His lifetime from boyhood on has been lived in service to the throne of Israel. And he has faced all kinds of adversity, always finding God to be His deliverer. He began his official proclamation by affirming the faithfulness of God. David has stayed "a man after God's own heart", even as he saw the end of his service to the throne of Israel.

David was also faithful to his promises. Bathsheba was aware that David had seen the potential in their son, Solomon. And David had promised her that Solomon would succeed him as king. And so he did. David kept his faithful promise to her. This is not how we might expect the story of David and Bathsheba to end, but God's grace made of even that difficult relationship, began in sin, something that had a really good end with the anointing of Solomon as king in the place of his father, David.

Faithful David served a faithful and gracious God. And that is what would carry God's work and David's legacy into the next generation.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

Restore

2011-10-14T08:12:00.001-05:00

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
Amos 9:14

God,
You restore Your people
from misery's depth
You call forth mercy
and in grace give back
what sin has taken

Lord,
You restore relationship
when nothing's left
You reach out with pity
and give Yourself to inact
a new covenant of restoration

God,
You set the pace
for redemptive renewal
and we can only be impressed
as You take us back home
with a Father's great love

Jesus,
We see Your face
shining as a jewel
knowing that You redeemed our mess
so that with You we know
peace here now in in home above

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

the worst human crisis imagineable

2011-10-13T05:55:00.001-05:00

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land- not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it."
Amos 8:11-12

When we imagine the worst thing that can happen in a society, we tend to focus on the ravages of war, or a natural disaster. But God made it clear to the Jews that the worst judgment that He could send upon them would be a spiritual famine. It would involve a scarcity of His Word. When God is quiet, nearly silent, then how can any human hope to make sense of anything in life?

This is the sort of thing that God's people ought to dread. But the Jews at this point in their history were led by selfish aristocrats who did not care about either God or man. In context, chapter seven dealt with a priest intent on shutting down the prophet Amos, effectively wanting to stop hearing from God altogether. The first half of Amos 8 deals with the actions of an oppressive system that drudged through Sabbath and festival observances, anxious to resume commerce rather than worship the Lord. And when they got down to business, they overcharged and underpayed the poor. God was going to take care of both problems. He would give them what they wanted: no more messages from God. It would be a spiritual famine. But along with it, He would permanently end their abusive practices by sending them all into foreign exile as slaves, where the abuse they had dealt out would return to them.

When people reject God's truth, they should not be surprised when their society implodes. When God's truth is despised, it will eventually be unheard. And human beings left to their own inner "moral compass" will inevitably increase their sufferings and the evil they commit toward one another. Sometimes the worst judgments come when God leaves us alone to do as we please. Certainly humans are incapable of utopian realities by any human efforts. We need a guiding reality. We need the Word of the LORD!

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

tattletale

2011-10-12T06:08:00.001-05:00

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words."
Amos 7:10

The priest of God, who should have allied with the prophet of God out of respect and obedience to the Word of God, turned against Amos. The reasons are clear. Amos was calling Israel to repent as he warned of God's impending judgment. This threatened the livelihood of Amaziah, a profitable religious niche he had cared out for himself. Amos took the people to task for worship mixed with idolatry. And Amaziah was at the top of that religious system.

The weapon being used against Amos is political in nature. Amaziah hopes that by being a tattletale to the king, that Amos will be intimidated and shut down. He is conspiring against God's prophet. By doing so, he is rejecting God's plan. But he seems totally unaccepting of the message that Amos brought. He accuses the prophet of treason because Amos preached that Jeroboam would be taken into exile at the end of a sword (Amos 7:11). He tries to chase the prophet down to Judah (Amos 7:12-13). He tries to destroy Amos' reputation and to scare him away from his calling.

But Amos responded with the truth. He had no calling but what God had given him. God took a shepherd and part-time fig picker and made him a prophet (Amos 7:14-16). And Amos had a message from God for Amaziah the priest: God was going to humiliate the leader of false worship in Israel (Amos 7:17). The same fate that awaited Jeroboam awaited Amaziah as well.

The main lesson I see in this episode is that the truth of God can defend itself. God will not let His Word go unheeded among His people. And He will not let His servants who faithfully proclaim His truth to be slandered. God did not stop the slander, but He did vindicate His prophet even as Amos had to endure the confrontation. It takes courage to uphold the truth. But God will uphold those who have the conviction to obey Him.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

persistence of pride

2011-10-11T05:59:00.001-05:00

The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: "I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it."
Amos 6:8

The pride of Jacob was manifested in an insane pursuit of leisure and personal pleasure. The people felt secure, but their wealth, gained by exploiting the poor, was a false security. God was going to bring them down. They felt more secure than other nations God had judged (Amos 6:1-2). But their trust in themselves would only hasten their disaster (Amos 6:3).

The luxury had numbed them to reality. They imagined themselves as kings in the land. They bedded down on ivory furniture, feasting on lamb and veal, content to soak in their own entertainment (Amos 6:4-5). They indulged in copious amounts of alcohol and their version of "spa treatments", exalting their own bodies, but refusing to mourn over the nation's spiritual complacency (Amos 6:6). This was a collective calloused conscience that was kept comfortably numb by the "good life". But God was going to sweep away the indifferent attitudes first in the worst of the judgment (Amos 6:7).

God is not impressed with human economic prosperity. It tends to exalt human achievement and fails often to bring about trust in God. That does not mean that wealthy people can't be God followers. But it does mean that the more we have, the easier it is to trust in ourselves. God had to reduce these people down to impoverished exiles before their hearts returned to Him. Incidious wealth will pull the human heart far away from reality! And it is not really riches that does that. It is our pride. And that is the first thing God hates in this context. Pride is the first sin in heaven that began with Lucifer. And it is often the first sin in our hearts as well.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

where worship begins

2011-10-10T06:11:00.001-05:00

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24

God would have none of the dead, ritualistic activity that passed for worship in Israel and Judah. He longed instead that moral character and actions would flow out from His people. But they had abandoned Him and obedience to His Word long before this. What was left was a stale formalism devoid of personal meaning that only ensured that judgment would fall upon them. Chapter five of Amos details this in prophetic, poetic urgency.

God promises a judgment that would remove 90% of the able-bodied men among the Jews (Amos 5:1-3). He offers a chance for them to return to Him and see a different outcome (Amos 5:4-9; 14-15). To do so would mean a return by the people to hearts and hands that practice the kind of living that righteousness demanded in the Law.

God lists all the societal sins of His people. The collective nature of selfishness led to a societal inequity that God would punish. The truth of the Law was hated (Amos 5:10). The rich among them were abusing the poor to further enrich themselves (Amos 5:11). The result was a cumulative culture of greed and abuse (Amos 5:12-13). When judgment fell, it would consume this entire culture (Amos 5:16-17). It would be so intense that it would cause people to wonder if indeed it was the final Day of the Lord judgment come to the earth (Amos 5:19-20). Amos clarifies that although it would be a horrible day, God would have a further day with all of humanity in the future.

God pronounces disgust with the formalistic religion and headnod to Him that was offered as "worship". He hated their cultural observances without personal commitment (Amos 5:21). He refused to accept offerings and sacrifices that came from hearts turned away from Him (Amos 5:22). He refused to listen to praise songs sung from lips that generally spoke against His truth (Amos 5:23). He had enough of their duplicity, promising to remove Israel's idolatry in His acts of judgment (Amos 5:25-27).

It is in this context that God's heart for His people is borne on the poetic reminder in Amos 5:24. Too many people today pull this verse from its context to support activism and "cause" righteousness. We should see it for what it is, recognizing the principles only within their proper context. It is a message calling for repentance. And the fruit of such repentance would be seen in real worship of Yahweh that would transform a culture with His character. Justice would be known. The poor would not be abused. God would be worshiped. All people rich and poor, small and great would know a living justice that would pour over the nation like a rolling river, starting with righteous obedience to God by individuals.

- Posted on an original iPad.
prepare your minds for action...
1 Peter 1:13

Return to Me

2011-10-06T05:49:00.001-05:00

"I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me," declares the LORD.
Amos 4:11

In many ways
God made them pay
for sinfully going astray
refusing to obey
but they did not return

So the prophets cried
and the truth was applied
to a people who denied
that they were on God's side
so they did not return

And warnings were made
about a coming day
when God would do what He said
as the people stumbled and bled
but they did not return

God's limit was reached
they ignored what was preached
the dam of judgment breached
flooding lives unimpeded
still they did not return

Lives were shattered
families were scattered
relationships and truth battered
because Israel ignored what mattered
and did not return

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

God is not hiding around the corner.

2011-10-05T05:55:00.001-05:00

"For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?"
Amos 3:7-8

Revelation serves as a confirmation of the Lord's sovereign rule over His people. God had chosen a unique relationship with his prophets whereby He would speak His actions to them. His people would be well prepared with full knowledge of their fate. God was not going to spring judgment on them in surprise.

What this passage is making clear is that God is not hiding behind corners waiting to do a sneak attack of judgment. His methods are not hidden. They are straightforward and clear. God would not make any move among His people withour first speaking it through His prophets. He is the clear communicator of His purposes. And Israel was told to expect to keep hearing from the prophets because God was moving in such a way that no one could say that they did not know what was coming. He was roaring like a lion, and nobody could deny the sound of His voice or the clarity of His message.

The one thing I know about revelation as I deal with it is its clarity. I deal with biblical revelation of immense diversity. The Bible is the book of my life. By that I mean I am devoting my life to understanding its message, to what it reveals aobut God and how I need to respond to His truth. And for all the difficulties of interpretation that may occassionally arise, there is a towering, undeniable record of clarity that I personally cannot deny. I have plenty to keep me busy, even if I never spend another minute working through the meaning of a "problem passage".

God's track record is pretty clear for me. I should not confuse it with the efforts of His people or the church, which are spotty at best. But I have never found His truth, His demands, His principles, or His revealed character to be anything other than magnificent. In a way, observations and applications of what I have seen in His Word are absolute undeniable evidence of God's existence and commitment to a personal impact on my life. I think of my journals as irrefutable personal evidence of God. And it is only possible because God has said so much. The Bible is information dense! Really, I have more information about God than I can process in my lifetime.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

discipline & judgment

2011-10-04T06:02:00.001-05:00

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem."
Amos 2:4-5

At this point all the oracles of judgment in the book of Amos have focused on the historic enemies of the Jews. It is quite possible a certain smugness set in with the original audience of these prophecies. That is, until the same prophetic formula ("...for the three transgressions... and for four, I will not revoke the punishment) was directed at Israel and Judah. Then God's judgment got very serious. This was not a glib message with commercial vitality: "Three Ways to Find Success". No, it was a stern reminder of how God deals with unrepentant sin.

The sin of Judah that God points out is one of neglect and deliberate disobedience. They neglected the scriptures, in particular the law of God. God had given His Word to guide the nation. And they had let it fall to the ground. Instead, the leaders of Judah told lies, and the nation followed. And just like their forefathers, they had begun to practice idolatry. Abandoing God's truth led to disobedience to God's commands. And God promised fiery judgment, starting with the leadership in Jerusalem.

The power behind these indictments is the reality of judgment. Scripture will go on elsewhere to describe the eventual fall of Jerusalem. Eventually the total abandonment of the law of God would lead to judgment that resulted in the nation being led away captive to Babylon. There, in the discipline of their God, the Jews would return to loving God and obeying Him. A new respect for His law would re-emerge.

Although I take no joy in contemplating God's judgment on His people, I do take care to note that His justice is bound to His holiness. he does not take retributive vengeance. He gives lovely, holy discipline. This is shown in the manner in which He revealed this discipline to His people. The oracles of Amos are a demonstration of the merciful purposes in God's discipline. The Jews knew that God was going to do this. He loved them enough to warn them of the consequences of their sin and the nature of His disciplining and refining judgment.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

shock & awe

2011-10-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

And he said: "The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers."
Amos 1:2

The first chapter of the book of Amos is all about the judgments pronounced against the nations around Israel and Judah. It might lead God's people to conclude that they were safe from God's actions against sin. The list starts with Damascus, the nation just north of Israel. It works its away geographically around the map, ending with Edom and Moab which are just south of Jewish territory. But that did not mean that God's people were free from answering to God. Really, the prophecies of Amos are like homing missiles. Or like artillery shells finding their range, they hone in on Israel. They find their target among God's people.

The effect of God's pronouncements against these nations is to instill the Jews with a sense of awe. The powerful prophecies go off like bombs in the capitals of the nations around them, eventually settling in with equally harsh judgments in the cities of Israel and Judah. God is getting the attention of His people by reminding them of His authority over all the nations. Then He gets to the issues with His people, Israel.

Part of the reason the prophets should still be read today is to instill us with the same sense of awe. God is powerful in His sovereign control over the world of humanity. And that control still extends into our lives at all levels. We should live with an awe-filled respect of His way and His judgments. We often sing of His love and His grace, but are we really worshipping God when we fail to sing of His judgments?

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

An appeal for gracious communication

2011-09-30T09:19:00.001-05:00

Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
Philemon 21

Paul could have chosen to agressively confront Philemon. But Paul was not that kind of encourager. He knew that a moment of divine providence needed to be followed up with gracious confidence. The story of the short book of Philemon is just that: grace following in the heels of God's sovereign work.

Philemon was a church leader familiar to Paul. He was part of the upper eschelon of Roman culture. He had a large household that included slaves. One of his highly trusted stewards, Onesimus, embezzled from him and ran to Rome. And there, thinking he might hide in the big city, by God's providence came into contact with Paul. And Paul led him to faith in Christ. Paul instructed the new convert to do the right thing... the unthinkable thing: return to Philemon with this letter in hand. Paul trusted Onesimus to obey God. And in the letter, Paul trusted Philemon to obey God as well.

Grace followed in the redeeming of the soul of a runaway criminal slave. Grace followed in Paul's careful admonition to Philemon to receive back a repentant brother in Christ. Grace followed in Paul's confidence that both of them would follow Jesus and do the right thing.

I find it instructive that Paul wrote so confidently and graciously about all this. I wish we Christians could learn Paul's grace and method of confident affirmation when communicating to one another. It makes the gospel very attractive. So many times in the age of social media on the internet, I have seen great sin in the lack of grace we extend to each other in our "discussions". And with sadness and a repentant heart, I acknowledge before God and others that I have been guilty of this as well from time to time. My take-away from Philemon is to be comitted to gracious speech, even when I have to say hard things. Confident encouragement should guide my communication with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Who is with me on this one?

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

spiritual muscle

2011-09-29T06:21:00.001-05:00

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Ephesians 6:10

Real spiritual strength has to come from a source beyond my self. It has to come from the Lord. The obedient believer finds himself relying more and more on God's work in him, realizing his work for God can only be accomplished by God's power anyway. It is a strange, paradoxical sort of moment... one that Paul conceded with his statement: "when I am weak, then I am strong". We often cannot know God's power until we come to the end of ourselves in some fashion.

I have to be honest: for much of my Christian life it has been easy to give in to the temptation to fake Christian spirituality by my own efforts. Churches are notorious for creating systems that look impressive and make people look spiritually sound. All I have to do is show up at the right place, smile, and thoughtfully nod at the right words that someone else says, then say a few of the right things myself. It can appear to be all that is necessary to appease the system. But that is not Christian living. It is instead a devilish kind of formalistic righteousness.

Instead of this, we need to realize that Christian strength and maturity are rooted in relationship with Jesus. It is bound up in life experience with Him. A program of study or activity might evidence that, but until individuals learn to dig deep in life connection with Jesus, such strength does not come to them. I think that church has to "grow small" and resist programming to be obedient to this teaching and see it happen in the lives of its people. We have to encourage real relationships among believers. That is why for me, some kind of small group or one-to-one mentoring relationship must be encouraged as the mechanism of discipleship. And those kinds of relationships can empower people to passionately pursue Jesus. Such people who are strong in that kind of commitment will live it out to the world. The gospel will advance.

Real spiritual strength can't be found by visible medals of achievement that we display on our chests. Instead, it is known by the change that Jesus makes in our hearts. It is found in abandonment of personal pride in our religious efforts. It is known by people who identify with saving and sustaining grace and who give up on their own self-righteousness. That is the spiritual muscle that I want to have!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

Love is hard.

2011-09-28T05:59:00.001-05:00

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:2

Loving others
means loving my Savior
enough to love them
as He loved me.
Jesus gave His life to love me.

Loving my brother
can't be easy
because he can hurt and wound.
Just because he is not me
does not give allowance to withold love to me.

Loving another
takes sacrifice and commitment;
it means setting aside my agenda,
letting God change me
so that I ought to be the kind of love He is in me.

Loving gathers
me to my Savior
where with other believers I find the true picture.
I reflect His love for me
to all those around me.

Loving others
will never be insignificant;
sacrifice never isn't!
May God change me
into the kind of love He wants of me!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

Grow up!

2011-09-27T06:10:00.001-05:00

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16

A big part of Christian maturity is meant to take place as a corporate experience. Call it group growth. Christians are meant to grow and learn in a dynamic setting of mutual ministry. The church grows like Christ together. We are meant to know this experience as the means to real maturity.

So much teaching on spiritual growth today focuses on the individual. And ultimately that is important, but individuals cannot truly mature in faith outside the culture and context of the local church. Paul gives clear teaching that is worth examining in this passage.

First and foremost, the church provides the context, meaning, and culture for growth. This is bound up in the phrase "speaking the truth in love". For me to grow, I must be regularly shown God's truth from other Christians. And interaction with the teaching (the "speaking") of God's truth through the church is absolutely essential. In a traditional church setting this might begin on Sunday in a service. It should not end there. Other Christians in relationship should speak the truth to me so that I may grow.

The emotional nurturing soil of Christian growth is love. We grow in the love of the Lord and of other believers. We grow to love our world. And the truth is taught to us in love. The two must go together to avoid the extremes of stale doctrine or meaningless emotionalism.

The direction that we grow is Christlike. Together Christians grow into or toward "the head" of the Church. And that mutual direction brings unity, purpose, and a commonality that cannot be equaled. Ultimately, we begin to see Jesus in each other this way.

We grow together and build each other. It is not about me growing as a separate organism. I think that is how we tend to see Christian growth. We have it all self-focused. We could not be more misguided. Instead, Christian growth is about building the body. It is about me serving others and helping them grow. It is about the church growing together, not just meeting together on a Sunday. We need each other. We are one body and I am just one part of that greater experience. Growth is about the church building itself up in love. When Christians get this and live it out, the world is changed, not one Christian at a time, but one church at a time!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

The plural of "christian" is "church".

2011-09-26T06:07:00.001-05:00

...so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 3:10

Paul saw God's sovereign plan at work collectively among Christians and he gave it a name: "church". The work of the church is focused and extensive. Through the church God is making His complex wisdom known. That is worth considering. It is not just one message the church proclaims. It is multi-faceted and always layered around the gospel. It is a wisdom that speaks to all of humanity and to every condition. And God has decreed that Christians gather as the church to get His wisdom known in every way that they can do so.

This presupposes that the church first knows what to proclaim. If we are to make it known, we better know it. So the church should first be teaching itself the ways in which God's wisdom, contralized in the gospel, affects our own hearts and lives without need for any worldly philosophy to direct us. The sufficiency of God's Word combines with the personal direction of His Spirit to unify us in a common impact to the world with God's wisdom. We know the truth. The truth sets us free in more ways than we may know.

This requires that Christians learn how to make God's wisdom known. The church should be training believers. And this involves not just a program of discipleship or a mechanism for evangelism. It involves Christians learning to dispense practical wisdom to each other and to the world in which we live. It means we live out a practical concern and demonstrate effort to help deal with key problems around the world, always with the gospel clearly on display. Our conversations should revolve around the saving wisdom of God. What good does it really do if I feed a hungry person but keep Jesus' love in the gospel message away from his starving soul? What good is it if I speak against violence, but do not tell people how to find rest for their souls with the Prince of Peace?

We should not be quick to attack the collection of Christians known as the church. Individual local churches might have problems. My experience is that they ALL do because ALL people are still being redeemed, and endemic sin keeps us all a little messy still. Still, all Christians following Jesus should love their family in Christ, even the weird ones who do ignorant things sometimes. False doctrine and sinful practices among us should be confronted with an attitude of gentleness and restoration (Galatians 6:1-2). But the church should commit to the wisdom of God. We should align ourselves around biblical truth and values and together LIVE OUT the gospel, making the wisdom of God known in the world.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

Why good works must exist

2011-09-22T06:07:00.001-05:00

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

It is God's design that Christians do good things on this earth... right here... right now. It is His purpose for us and a big part of what it means to be a Christian. But we must understand exactly WHY we do these things. And that has been a source of confusion for many. Scripture gives us clear guidance into understanding our motivations to do the good things we have been called to practice.

WE DON'T DO GOOD WORKS TO SAVE OUR SOULS. The Christian life is a life of practical theology. What I mean is that Christians believe and have received a life-changing faith. It shows in us and how we relate to other people. It must start with what we know. In the context of this passage about good works, Paul makes it clear that works in no way save us from our sinful selves. God acted in grace through Christ. Salvation is by Christ alone, through grace alone and by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing that I could do could save me. Works alone will never bring solutions to the sin problem. Only Jesus can do that through His atonement at the cross. So nobody can be called a Christian by thinking that doing good works made them worthy of relationship with Christ.

WE CAN'T EXPERIENCE SALVATION WITHOUT SUBSEQUENT GOOD WORKS. Good works do not bring us salvation, but they do naturally result from our salvation. We are saved FROM sin. We are saved TO do good works. AW Tozer liked to say it this way: "we are saved TO as well as FROM". We were created in Jesus to do good works. Jesus, our Lord and Master, cared for people in a way His world had not seen. He commissioned His followers to demonstrate a love for people that sought them out, even in their lostness, to proclaim and demonstrate "good news": the gospel. This gospel is about the saving grace that is in Christ. If we proclaim it we must also live out something new and good and transforming.

We must live out these two truths in balance. Christians must teach biblical doctrine with clarity and reach people with Christian charity. Emphasize one without the other and we miss our calling. It is that vital. Without this kind of Christian love actively reaching our world, Christianity will become a stale institution. We become either a theological fortress of imposing doctrinal walls, or we become just a powerless social institution bereft of eternal impact. But if we put them together...! WOW! The truth will set people free! That is why God created us to do good works. They validate the truth claims of the gospel, bringing a change that shows a new creation in Christ, one human life at a time.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

to church or not to church

2011-09-21T06:27:00.001-05:00

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:22-23

Jesus is the head of the church. And the church is the body of Christ. Jesus died to bring the church to Him. And He rose to show us His authority over all things, even death. Jesus is supposed to permeate and fill believers and thus fill His church. This is His church, and we have no business trying to tear it down.

I have seen a disturbing trend among many Christians in the past fifteen years or so. We have Christians advocating the abandonment of the local church. It usually comes with great criticism of the contemporary church. And the reality is that they are critical of some program or strategy, confusing it with the theologicial construct known as the church. It may be some personality of some Christian leader that upsets them. Their solution is to emphasize personal spirituality over corporate spirituality. They will then gravitate towards family first or self first in order to justify the abandonment of the church.

In many cases their criticisms are spot on and I would share them. The reactions against excess are justified. But the solution proposed does not fit the problems described. The solution should be to follow the biblical command to gently instruct and reform the church, not to abandon it altogether. Some people have become so antagonistic that they refuse to even use Jesus' word for His own body. They refer to themselves as living in a "missional community" rather than a "church". This is probably a sin on my part, but when I run into someone like that, I like to tweak them just a bit by continuing to use the word church to describe their experience.

I don't think it is wrong to avoid a building or a structure. The early church evidenced in scripture was so persecuted that they probably never would have considered owning a building. However, I do think it is wrong to abandon the assembly of believers. It is God's design to reach the world. And to refuse to fellowship with believers in a traditional church altogether is disfiguring to the Bride of Christ. Paul did not tell us he went around establishing "communities" or "households" on his missionary endeavors. He left behind local churches, often still in development, with leadership and structure in place, and possessing a body of teaching centering around the gospel of Jesus Christ. I bet it was a pretty messy experience at times.

To one degree or another a holy discontent ought to always describe the church. Lord knows I have had well nigh enough of contemporary excesses such as lavish buildings, Christian marketing, personality-driven ministry, slavishness to faddish programs, Christian celebrity idolatry, anemic curriculum-based sub-par teaching, and a caricatured Christian sub-culture that somehow wants to be as cool as the world's "real" culture... just slapping Jesus onto worldly desire or trend. Even with all my discontent, I know that leaving the church behind is not the answer. Instead, proclaiming and modeling authentic Christianity within the community of believers collectively known as THE CHURCH is absolutely necessary. Jesus died for the church, which is comprised of all Christian followers of Him, and He knew what we would become when He did so. If my Lord and Master loves this messy church Bride, so should I! He calls us to just passionately follow Him, laying aside the charts, the self-enamored thinking, and the programs we want, refusing to take our eyes off Him. Jesus is the head of the church!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

conscience-stricken confession

2011-09-20T06:15:00.001-05:00

But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly."
2 Samuel 24:10

David knows he has willfully sinned against the Lord by the taking of a census of the fighting forces of Israel. The text is silent as to exactly why this was a sin. We do know that generally in the past any such census would have been done at God's command, and that is absent in this text. We also know that Joab provided advance warning to David concerning the wrongness of these actions, but David refused to listen to his general (2 Samuel 24:3-4). The census was performed clearly as an act of sin from that point onward.

Eventually after the final count reaches the throneroom nine months later, David is conscience-stricken over the sin he has committed against God and comes to the Lord in confession, begging to receive God's forgiveness for his sin. David's confession here is instructive. it gives insight into how we should deal with our own sin.

The terms in which David refers to his actions show us what confession involves. The first three words set the tone: "I have sinned..." David did not evade responsibility by calling his actions anything less than sin. He took full responsibility by adding the phrase "what I have done".

David also knew that only God could bring the healing of forgivenss and "take away the iniquity". He was appealing for God's mercy and grace to a sinner. He also realized that his actions were stupid and foolish. But that was the last way he talked about his sin. I find that insight to be challenging. Usually at war with my pride, I may concede an action as dumb, but not easily will I acknowledge it as sin. That needs to change if I am going to be a man of confession and change!

The power of Christianity lies in its tranformative ability to find God's grace and live in it. It comes by acknowledging our broken sinful selves and exchanging that life for the life of Christ. And it starts with honest confession of sin. Christians can't be apathetic when it comes to our own sin. We should still readily identify ourselves as sinners when we need to confess. It keeps God in proper perspective. Oh what a beauty of humble confession would adorn the church if such a real view of sin would mark our prayers, our commitments, and our lifestyles!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

famous last words

2011-09-19T05:54:00.001-05:00

The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
2 Samuel 23:3-4

These "last words" of David (probably the last recorded psalm of David) are filled with wonder at the power of God at work in his kingdom. David was amazed. He has been a man of warfare all his life. He has seen a lot of violence. Yet he has lived to be an old man despite all the struggles, the sins, and their consequences. He has been blessed in spite of it all.

In this short psalm he summarizes his experience as king by summarizing what God has done for him. He begins with the miracle of God's Word, claiming that God has used him to speak His Word (2 Samuel 23:2), a clear and rare personal reflection on the theology of inspiration and inscripturation. He then speaks of God's honoring Himself in David's rule. There was a unique relationship with God that David experienced as king. When he ruled "in the fear of God", his kingdom was a blessing to those he ruled.

David then reflects on the wonder of having God make a unique, uni-lateral covenant with him in which God promised an everlasting dynasty to David (2 Samuel 23:5). This was the most amazing part of David's life. He was chosen and his house was chosen by God... and this was the secret to his success. God had done everything for him to honor His covenant with David. David knew it all came from God's grace to him.

David ends his last psalm with an observation that contrasts living under God's care with livng a "worthless" life in disobedience or disregard of God (2 Samuel 23:6-7). The end of such living is waste and destruction. The righteous ultimately prosper in God's embrace while those who reject God are miserably destroyed. David knew that the peace with which his life was ending was God's final verdict on his life and his kingdom. He is happy to thrive in such blessing.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

grace as far as the eye can see

2011-09-15T06:07:00.001-05:00

He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
2 Samuel 22:20

David rejoiced in the incredible experience of God's grace. He experienced it in almost every category of his life, even while still a boy. It made him who he was. It made him the kind of king that he was as well.

David's poetic description of that grace is profound. It gives me insight into God's care for me right now. God's desire to save us, to rescue us, is in no way restrictive. Instead, it is meant to give us the kind of freedom He made us to enjoy with Him. David says that God brought Him out into "a broad place". There was plenty of room to enjoy all the good things God was giving him. Grace is not constricting... it is liberating.

I know that kind of liberation in Christ, and in many ways, I know it to a greater degree (at least from a New Testament perspective) than David could have ever imagined. I have the capacity to do what is right. Not on my own, but through the enabling of the Holy Spirit and the equipping of God's Word. The real rescue that I can live is what Jesus brought to the world. It is a rescue from the worst effects of sin. It is a rescue from the worst defects of self. And I am a new creation in Christ, set free to wander the vast expanse of the new frontier of God's grace!

God delights in His children. David could sing of that despite all the hardships and the discipline that he had received for his sin. God was good and God is not out to make life miserable. He delights in us and that is why grace is offered to us. I am a child that God loves. That is a profound truth and the very best way to define myself.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a change of seasons

2011-09-14T05:59:00.001-05:00

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."
2 Samuel 21:17

David is not the same young warrior that he used to be. He has returned to his old pattern of fighting as warrior king beside his troops in battle. Only now he is an older man. His children have grown. He is not the agile young fighter that he used to be. He is growing weary in the battle. This is a liability now. It has been great to have him leading the battle, but not in the thick of it where it has become a distraction.

David was always a target, so that is not what his men are getting at when they swear to no longer take him into the heart of the battle. The issue is that David's crucial role as unifying king is too important for the nation. He is too great a risk in battle. And he cannot stand up to the rigors of hand to hand combat like he used to do. He is the "lamp of Israel" to his men, and they can't stand the thought of losing him in battle.

This is a season of change. David truly has a warrior's heart, but that energy needs to be directed somewhere other than in hand to hand combat. He needs to be leading, not participating, in the battle. And David humbly accepts the change. He is not the young fighter of giants anymore. His men will follow him anywhere, but he must continue to lead the army of Israel another way.

Life has its seasons, and David must now adjust. It is time to let young warriors kill the giants (which is a key chapter theme here). Just as David proved his manly courage while still a shepherd boy by killing a Philistine giant, so do his young troops dispatch four of them again in this account. It is clear the torch has passed with greater results. He could see Israel's army do greater things under his leadership than David would accomplish alone. So the reward of this change of seasons for David was the fruitful increase in the army's overall success. I take note of that as I read it today. As our years increase, the chance to see the next generation do more than we ever did also increases. And God can use us to help see that happen. That is encouraging. It gives purpose to the relentless movement of seasons of change.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

rebellion again

2011-09-13T06:19:00.001-05:00

So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 20:2

David gets very little relief from the civil war trauma in Israel. No sooner does he end one rebellion than a new one arises. Again a Benjamite gives David trouble. Sheba manages to lead away the armies of most of Israel in a short-lived rebellion. While David should be attending to restorative duties, he is forced to continue to wage a war at home against his own people.

David hopes to quickly control this insurrection. He dispatches his new "head general", Amasa (a political move since he came from the armies of the northern tribes), to rally the Judean army in three days time. But Amasa fails to achieve this task by the due date. David then appoints Abishai, the brother of his demoted general Joab, to finish the task. That sets in motion more of Joab's reckless bloodthirsty cruelty. Taking matters into his own hands and without the authority of the king's orders, Joab tracks down Amasa and murders him in full site of the armies of David. He then assumes command of the forces and chases down the rebel Sheba, who is now defensiviely holed up in the fortified Israeli city of Abel.

Joab lays seige against a leading Israelite city, threatening great loss of life and destruction to get his man. A wise woman of the city negotiates with Joab at the wall of the city. By the end of that day the city leaders toss the head of Sheba over the wall and Joab is satisfied. He gets what he wants by any means necessary.

Horrible things happen in war time.This is evident by what we see occurring at the hands of Joab. Ideally, Amasa should have been relieved of his command by David. But Joab seized control quickly by violence. Eventually David would never forgive this of Joab. He is a powerful general, but ruthless, because he is a morally weak person. He is more of a gangster than a real leader. Yet even in the messiness of human sinful actions in war, God protected David and delivered Israel back over to David's leadership. The real picture is God's sovereign control over all these wild and wrong political and military actions. Not even the worst sins that people commit against one another can thwart the plan and power of God. No human rebellion will succeed against God's rulership.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

the homecoming

2011-09-12T05:54:00.001-05:00

Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home. The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.
2 Samuel 19:39-40

David is on his way back to Jerusalem to have the kingdom restored to him. It has been a difficult moment. He has had to set aside his overwhelming grief over his son's death to get back to the business of the kingdom. He does not get the luxury of wallowing in his grief. Joab confronts him and calls him to walk once again among the people who are hurting from the civil war just like he was hurting at the death of Absalom.

David is filled with a thankful and gracious spirit. David expresses gratitude to the aged octogenerian Barzallai. The old man had taken David in and used his wealth and resources to take on the needs of David and his family as they fled to safety from Absalom's forces as they took Jerusalem. David offers the man who took him in a position at the palace. But Barzillai politely refuses. David expresses his gratitude and still repays Barzillai by taking Chinham at his suggestion.

David finds ways to show mercy and grace as well. He continues to be gracious to Mephibosheth, who explains to David that Ziba stole from him and lied to the king about his loyalty. David accepts the disabled son of Jonathan back into the royal household. Bigger grace is shown when Shimei greets David again, this time repentant over his actions at cursing David. The king is merciful, refusing to continue any punitive bloodshed against Shimei. Instead, David accepts the apology and actions, forgives Shimei in mercy, and refuses to allow violence to continue to tear Israel apart.

So this homecoming for David was a mixed bag of emotions. But he kept his head, having clearly been taught by God through these events. What comes out in David is the kind of character that only God can give a man. And that is instructive for all Christians who may find themselves in unthinkably difficult circumstances.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

unreconciliable grief

2011-09-09T06:16:00.001-05:00

And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
2 Samuel 18:33

This is poignant, raw grief... and yet, so much more. David is inconsolable at the moment. I believe the depth of emotion stems not just from the death fo Absalom. I think a huge amount of regret is in this sorrow over David's LIFE with Absalom. David is mourning all the lost opportunity with his son. He never really reconciled with him, and that is very, very painful.

There is a grief that comes with a lost reconciliation. It is multiplied in David due to the factors involved. David did not reconcile with his son. He chose to ignore him. The closeness of the relationship demanded he act on the opportunity to restore. David did not do so. He put it off to the point that his inaction eventually involved the entire nation of Israel in a civil war. It was a big mess. Perhaps David secretyly hoped that Absalom would surrender in the battle or be captured alive so that a reconciliation might be possible under David's exclusive terms. But that was a fantasy... a deadly delusion.

David had to know that the troops would be making Absalom the first objective. If given him as a target of opportunity, they would take it. He warned the generals to spare Absalom. But this was war, and in the mix of God's providence (Absalom's hair snares him in a tree) and war's uncontrolled passion (Joab and his troops target Absalom), the king's wish is not followed.

All this speaks to the tragedy of missed restoration. In David's case a paralysis of leadership mixed with personal pride and political protocols to short-circuit the process. And it led to literal warfare before it all ended... badly. The warning to us is that failure to extend grace, mercy, and to act on a commitment to the hard work of reconciliation can lead to awful personal devastation. Absalom was not the only Israelite to die in the guerilla warfare in the forest of Ephraim on that day. Unresolved conflicts claim many casualties in the collateral damage of the battle.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a friend in need

2011-09-08T05:36:00.001-05:00

After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, "Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you."
2 Samuel 17:21

in times of trouble
friends that come
to minister
and help with love
can be worth double

when trials rage
and your heart is broken
by circumstance
friends are a God sent token
graciously turning the page

friends who care
for your deepest pain
and commiserate
are like refreshing rain
watering desert, bringing cool air

and God sends love
at the friend's hands
to illustrate
His sovereign plan
a little help from above

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

adding insult to injury

2011-09-07T06:30:00.001-05:00

So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.
2 Samuel 16:13-14

David is now so humbled by the events surrounding him that he just keeps taking further humiliation without resistance. There are three major humiliations added to his exile in this chapter. The first one is when David is told that Mephibosheth has stayed behind in Jerusalem in that hopes that Israel will anoint him as king as the last survivor of the house of Saul. All the years of faithful care of Jonathan's crippled son have been for nothing. This is a high insult. Sometimes the people to whom we extend the most grace become the least respectful of it.

The final humiliation in this chapter comes when David's own counselor, Ahithophel, advises David's son, Absalom, to publically shame his father. Absalom pitches a tent on the palace roof and there publically beds the king's harem that David left behind to care for the palace. This was the symbol of Absalom's seizure of the throne and the life of his father and was an atrocious form of disrespect not only for his father's kingship, but for all respect for him whatsoever.

But sandwiched in between these episodes is a third humiiation at the hands of a strange little character named Shimei. This previously unknown Benjamite runs alongside the hillside above the road from Jerusalem to the Jordan valley, hurling curses as he pelts David and his retinue with dust and stones. David instructs his bodyguard to let this man keep up his taunting. He sees the actions as perhaps from the hand of God. The 21 mile hike out of Jerusalem is punctuated with the jabberings of this angry Benjamite.

David is completely humbled by his current situation. He has lost the throne and virtually all dignity among the people of Israel. And the humiliation is accepted, mostly without comment. David believes God is working in all this. David seems to be at his best when running for his life, just as he did many years ago under the persecution of Saul. He is in a position of trust again, and that is something that will make the difference for him.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a lesson in failed fathering

2011-09-06T06:22:00.001-05:00

And a messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom." Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword."
2 Samuel 15:13-14

Thus begins a sad episode in the life of David. His own son, Absalom, manages to lead a conspiracy of revolutionary proportions. The result is that David believed the reports of Absalom's success and in fear vacated the throne. He wished to avoid a civil war, but conflict would be unavoidable.

Absalom had crafted this rebellion over four years. He saw his father as weak and indecisive. He set himself up at the gates of Jerusalem to judge matters that people were wanting to bring to the palace. He managed to endear himself to the people through his handsome friendliness and really, back-slapping politics, all in the name of justice. The nation knew that Absalom was the prince that did the work of the king. Absalom was probably very self-assured in this practice of his. He had seen his father neglect justice twice with his own family. I am sure that Absalom believed himself to be the victim who understood other's rights and was thus an empathetic judge. He was very personable with all who came to him and that is how he eventually won a substantial following (2 Samuel 15:4-6).

David's powerlessness to confront Absalom led to his present exile. As he weeps his way through the city, the days of David the giant killer and darling of all Israel seem distant, ironically given over to his scheming son. The years of sorrow and neglect of his family come to visit David painfully on this slow journey marching out of the palace. The consequences of his own sins keep visiting him in new and painful ways. It is not pleasant to read.

David's paralysis of leadership in his own home is instructive. It warns fathers in particular of the dire issues at stake in caring for children with God's mercy and justice. David had struggled with seeing his own sons commit his own sins. He has been inconsistent and unresponsive to the spiritual needs in his home. And now that his oldest son has risen against him, he accepts the humiliation. The consequences of failed fatherhood are haunting his every move as he weeps with each step that leaves his kingly life behind into unknown exile.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

the tragedy of half-hearted reconciliation

2011-09-02T06:08:00.001-05:00

And the king said, "Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence." So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence.
2 Samuel 14:24

David was willing to appear to forgive, but only on his terms and only to a certain point. We can't even know for sure from the context whether or not reconciliation with Absalom without sentencing him for murder was the right thing for David to do. The circumstances that led to this uneasy stance are suspicious. Joab is behind them. He was notorious for circumventing the rules, putting his agenda above anybody else's concerns.

Joab's involvement as a "peacemaker" is highly suspect. Remember, when he had the cance to bend the rules to seek personal vengeance against Abner, he did so and took the life of the general that had killed Joab's brother in battle. He did this explicitly against the king's wishes (see 2 Samuel 3:26-39). He can hardly speak as an expert in forgiveness and reconciliation!

For this and other personal reasons David arrives again at a very indecisive compromise on the subject of his relationship with his oldest son. He is still paralyzed by this whole mess. This is not the way that David needed to be with the son who would be his heir apparent. This coolness toward Absalom, as well as the physical distance would only breed further problems. The wound festers for two more years. Altogether it has been seven years since the rape of Tamar, the murder of Amnon, and Absalom's fugitive flight. David has done nothing except tacitly letting Absalom return to Jerusalem with his diplomatic consent.

There is a principle I use in counseling that comes into play as I look at this situation: EVENTS + TIME = DISTORTION. The longer David puts this off, the more twisted, complicated, and distorted it all becomes. If he takes action on it, much of the outcome will be delayed to deal with the seven years of festering feelings, pain, and inaction. This deflects from the heart of the issue.

Really, there is no real peacemaking being done by David. He is accomodating. He may be dabbing ointment on a troubled conscience. But he is only aggravating the issue by this half-hearted "peace-faking" response. It will not lead anywhere good for David, for Absalom, or for the kingdom.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

sin leaves nothing good behind

2011-09-01T06:21:00.001-05:00

And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.
2 Samuel 13:36

This family sorrow comes as a direct result of God's pronounced consequences upon David's sin. The upheaval in the royal family was inevitable. Through it all, David's moral indecision is remarkable. He seems powerless to act in an outrageous situation. And as time wore on it just got worse. The outcome of painful consequence that Nathan prophesied as a result of David's adultery and murder is coming to pass. The sword will not leave David's own house (2 Samuel 12:10).

The family conflict is gross, twisted, and complicated. David's oldest son, Absalom, had a sister named Tamar. David's other son, Amnon, was infatuated with his half-sister. Amnon's cousin, Jonadab, suggests a plan to lure her into seduction. Amnon follows the advice of a scoundrel and ends up raping his half-sister. Then in his shame and scorn, he sends her home. She is traumatized, abused, broken, and ashamed. David does absolutely nothing about it once he finds out. He just gets angry. And over two years, Absalom's seething, bitter rage toward Amnon just grows. It is the epitome of family dysfunction.

Absalom decides to deal with Amnon with his own sense of justice. He convenes a "party" for all the princes in Israel (David had many wives... there were a lot of the king's sons), and there Absalom executes a conspiracy that murders Amnon. In the chaos, all the king's sons flee and a confused report comes to David that Absalom has killed all his brothers. Eventually, when everyone returns to the palace, it is clear that Amnon alone was murdered by Absalom as a revenge killing for the incestuous rape of Tamar.

Sadly, David still does nothing. Over two years he sat idle over Amnon's sin. Now over a three year period he will do nothing to deal with Absalom's sin. David was a sexual predator himself to a degree. He had seduced Bathsheba. David was a murderer himself. He had killed Uriah with a complex conspiracy. Perhaps that is a reason for his moral paralysis. Both sons had done things he himself had done. But the brewing pain in this season of sorrow just kept making things worse.

When I read this account, I am warned that the consequences of my own sins are much deeper than I usually suspect. It forces me to admit that I don't always take sin as seriously as I should. And I know that God forgives. That is not the issue. But even in forgiveness, there are still consequences. It might still mean that sorrow will visit with sin's effects.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

three parts to confession of sin

2011-08-31T06:30:00.001-05:00

David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
2 Samuel 12:13

"I have sinned against the LORD." With these six words David confesses and turns from his sin. They are some of the most difficult words any person has to say in this life. But with them David acknowledges several things. It is worth analyzing this confession to understand just how we may need to own up to our own sins.

First, David took personal responsibility. "I have sinned" could not blame anyone else. He did not justify. He admitted that he was responsible for his sin. There could have been easy justifications... "Bathsheba was out of line by bathing on her rooftop where I could see her..." "She did not refuse me..." "Uriah did not comply with my command to go home..." etc. Instead, David chose to quickly confess his role as the owner of the sin, thus owning the consequences. He did not evade the guilt that comes with being culpable.

Secondly, David did not diminish the actions of his sin. They were wrong and sinful. He saw them as sin, as something completely wrong, and not as something else. The adultery was sin. The murder of Uriah was sin. The cover-up of these actions was sin. By agreeing with God on these matters, David has made a true confession. He is quick to deal with facts and to own his sinful role in the matter.

The third element of David's confession is the magnitude of his guilt. He acknowledges that his sin is against God. Ultimately he committed a kind of idolatry. He chose to devote himself to illicit sexual pleasure rather that to God's plan for him as king. He chose to sinfully defend his personal reputation and pride when Bathsheba became pregnant. Whe he clearly could not do so, he resorted to murder to take control of the outcome. He sinned against God's Word. He tried to usurp God's sovereignty over the outcome of these events. In confession, he acknowledged that God was sinned against.

It was in a confession that fully embraced these three areas that David returned to God. And despite the consequences that would turn to him now, David found that God was remarkably merciful. God let David live and continue to rule Israel. But nothing would be exactly the same for him. Yet, there is always some mercy when we repent. And that is a truth that all sinners (including myself) still find in God.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

ruined by unguarded alone time

2011-08-30T06:23:00.001-05:00

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 11:1

David does something dangerous. He chooses for whatever reason to remain in Jerusalem, leisurely strolling his palace while all the army of Israel is at war. It leads to personal disaster. It was in this unguarded and "alone" moment that David slipped into his worst season of life. What he did with his personal time led to a flaw in his character opening up into a major sinful chasm that ran deep and dry for a long, long time.

The story is rife with deliberate sinful choices. David may not have meant to stay back from the battle in order to commit adulty with another soldier's wife, but that is where his choices eventually took him. And the tale of treachery and murder that unfolded is a dark chapter in David's history. His life would never be quite the same after it. And it began with reckless and unguarded alone time where he indulged himself. By the time 2 Samuel 11 ends, David is involved in murder and has created a government conspiracy to cover it up. And it all began by first choosing to stay alone at home while others went to fight.

Men can have particular challenges with "alone" time. I know this for a fact in my own experience. I have seen my experience duplicated countless times in counseling men. Even cases of severe sexual sin often start with a pattern of unguarded and unprepared alone time. It is just too easy to give in to a glance just like David did. Today, internet porn provides a massive pipleline of illicit temptations to stare down from our private rooftops at anything imagineable. And it never is the simple indulgence that men make it out to be. Porn use is not harmless. That is without debate in the serious counseling community. It easily becomes a consuming, raging, wasting, life-dominating habitual sin. I have had guys tell me they re-arranged lives, risked losing jobs, neglected family in order to create time and dangerous ways to be alone with their computer or secret porn stash. It is no different than David sending his servants to bring Bathsheba to him.

We need to rethink porn. It is not a simple pleasure. It is destructive and sinful. It is a cancer that eats at the heart of a man's soul. Sexuality is part of the core of every person God created... "male and female... he created them". To mess with that is a key component of Satan's plan to thwart God and deceive us. Porn messes with it by exalting the body over the soul. Women are degraded and abused. Men are degraded by being taught to do whatever is imagineable to a woman's body. Souls are destroyed. Porn is not about the body. It is about the destruction of the human soul.

The reality men face is this... men in particular need to guard alone time, not just coast through it blindly. With internet porn as a major temptation, men need to actively pursue accountability with Christian brothers. But my experience in ministering to men with this issue leads me to also recommend a step prior to that. Men need to create a scheduled plan for all alone time. We should talk about it to God and to at least another man. We should read the warnings in David's story. We should see him and weep at the outcome of unguarded time, realizing that guarding our own hearts could prevent us from suffering the same types of consequences. It is time to come down from the rooftop of leisure and selfish sexuality. It is time, instead, to go to war.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a soldier's theology

2011-08-29T06:19:00.001-05:00

Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.
2 Samuel 10:12

These words come from the top tier of the military leadership of Israel under David's command. This is what Joab, the top general of Israel, said to rally the troops. They serve as an example of how conflict was approached by the army of Israel. And in the approach is instruction for handling unknown and fearful difficulty.

The first part of this address to the troops is a call to courage. It is a speech to build morale. Israel had been painfully insulted at a diplomatic setting. At a state funeral in Ammon, the Israeli delegation had been clearly singled out for humiliation. The new king of Ammon felt threatened and chose to physically taunt Israel's power by sending the delegation home shaved, and naked from the waist down. This was a clear message of hatred, of emnity to David. Then Ammon allied with the rest of Israel's historic enemies and prepared for battle.

The sudden move to wartime footing required courage. Israel's armies were facing a cleverly prepared defensive battle in enemy territory and the Ammonites and Syrians set up plenty of troops and resources to this advantage. They expected to humble Israel in battle just like they had humiliated and laughed at the delegation.

There was a call for the Israeli army to remember their unique call as soldiers. They were to be courageous for the people. National honor and the unique status of Israel as God's chosen nation was at stake in this war. And the call of the generals was a reminder of who they were fighting for and just how important the outcome must be.

The charge then moves into a reminder of God's unique call to Israel. The cities of the nation, each hometown of each soldier, all the territory the Jews occupied had been given by God and belonged to God first and foremost. They were fighting to hold on to that unique gift. This was personal and spiritual.

The final part of this short rallying speech was a call to be reminded of God's sovereignty. There was Someone Whose reputation was greater than the reputation of the army. God would ultimately hold the outcome of this war in His control. They army would ultimately submit to that truth as they fought the fight. Each soldier and each skirmish had to align with God's sovereign leadership. Even the generals could not outrule God in that regard.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

carried to the table

2011-08-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

And David said, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
2 Samuel 9:1

David's heart longed to acknowledge in gratitude, the debt he owed to his good friend Jonathan. His memories of the joy of that relationship with Saul's son and valiant hero of Israel led him to pursue finding anyone of the house of Saul on whom to express that grace. This was not proper protocol. Kings sought to eradicate any bloodlines from past dynasties. In this case, David longed to preserve it. Imagine his joy when a son of Jonathan is found!

Mephibosheth was by this time a young man with a son of his own. But David reaches out to him, deep need and all. He is cripplied and unable to walk from a childhood injury. David takes him into the palace and feeds him like a prince at his own table. The son and grandson of Jonathan are loved like David's own children. This was a merciful love, the king do extravagant grace that showed just how much David truly was a man after God's own heart. he was merciful and gracious because God was merciful and gracious.

David's example of grace is powerful and instructive. It causes me to look at my own heart. Am I as willing to sacrifice and take into my life good people in deep need? Am I willing to reach out to those I don't HAVE to love and reach out to help? That is what mercy and grace will do in me because that is what God's mercy and grace did for me! Will I do the same when the time comes to do so?

I keep hearing Leeland's haunting song... "Carried to the Table":
Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the Master’s courts
Lifted by the Savior
And cradled in His arms

I was carried to the table
Seated where I don’t belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don’t see my brokenness anymore
When I’m seated at the table of the Lord
I’m carried to the table
The table of the Lord

Fighting thoughts of fear
And wondering why He called my name
Am I good enough to share this cup
This world has left me lame
Even in my weakness
The Savior called my name
In His Holy presence
I’m healed and unashamed

You carried me, my God
You carried me

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
2 Samuel 9:13

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

a process for peace

2011-08-25T05:57:00.001-05:00

So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.
2 Samuel 8:15

This summary statement shows the net effect of David's leadership in Israel. It comes near the end of an account of David's military conquests. There are campaigns against the Philistines, the Moabites, the Arameans, and the Edomites. The historic foes of the Jewish state are conquored by David. He brought a peace to the nation and extended its national borders. This came by way of military expansion and brutal fighting. Yet the untested armies of Israel kept having victory after victory. The secret is explained twice in chapter eight: "And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went" (2 Samuel 8:6, 14).

But peace came at a price. Before Israel knew this national prosperity, it first experienced the hard work and pain of numerous wars and conflicts. David's authority was challenged by the people groups surrounding Israel. David conquered these nations in order to secure the borders of his land. But in the end, after the fight, the nation found a security, a "Pax Davida", that was new, refreshing, and prosperous.

The outcome of David's administration came through the paradox of difficult hard work, and clear trust in God. The nation had to keep securing her borders from outside threats. David had to transition from the role of hard-nosed general to the rule of a fair and just king. And in all that, God brought victory to David.

In the case of David's reign, peace came at a price. The armies of Israel were busy for quite a while. Once the nation was secure from external threat, the internal work of legal justice and equitable rule secured the internal structure. Now all the promises that God had given David had the best climate for fulfillment. The price of peace was paid in military action. The result of peace was the security of societal stability. And Israel prospered as David let God work among the people in this way.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

overwhelmed by intimacy with the Almighty

2011-08-24T05:58:00.001-05:00

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD."
2 Samuel 7:18-19a

David's passion for God was rewarded with an intimacy with God that resulted in overwhelming blessing and joy. David planned to build a permanent temple for the worship of the Lord in Jerusalem. He first approached Nathan the prophet to confirm his desire to do so. The prophet told him to move forward with the idea. And that is the start of the Davidic covenant.

God then came to Nathan with a revelation for king David. He confirmed his kingship and promised him an heir forever on Israel's throne. He told him that his son would complete a temple in Jerusalem. But first, God wanted to build something. God wanted to build the household of David before David built a house for God. God was doing something trans-generational. In fact, this was a vital part of the history of redemption. Of course we know where this all went... Jesus is the Son of David by lineage. But God wanted this done before the temple construction. The covenant was most important to God, even as David benefited from it. It was a unilateral covenant... God was going to do all the work.

David responded to this communique from God by entering the tabernacle, sitting before the Lord, and offering an intimate prayer of gratitude and submission to the plan of God. He accepts the covenant and agrees to it. He was humbled by all God had done. He used a personal, emotional, and intimate title for God, praying with the address, "O Lord GOD" numerous times in his short prayer. He commits to the covenant in this conversation with God. It is really quite beautiful to read and reflect upon.

This episode lets us in on the nature of God in relationship with us. He seeks to reward those who "diligently seek Him"... those who obey and follow Him. He enters into relationship. God pursues us with His blessings.

I need that reminder. I often think of my faith as something I do or have. I mistakenly see it as all up to me. But God is passionate about me. He is merciful, forgiving, and has provided the means for even a miserable sinner like me to find grace through my Savior, Jesus Christ. God wants to commune with me. He loves me. He delights in me as He delights in His Son. And He longs for me to be as close to Him as I can be. I need to hear from Him. I need to obey His Word. I need to talk with Him as freely as David did.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

divested of dignity

2011-08-23T06:04:00.001-05:00

And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
2 Samuel 6:14-15

This was a realistic worship in its purest form. David has longed for Jerusalem, his new capital city, to house the tabernacle for the worship of the Lord. And now the time has come to see this dream become fact. As the ark of the covenant is carried through the streets of the city, David leads the joyful procession. He dresses, not in royal robes that draw attention to him as king, but in the simple linen ephod that any Levite might have worn in service before the Lord, showing himself to be a willing worshipper. It is a humble designation.

David is exuberant, and he worships the Lord as the musicians loudly play by leading the procession in a free-form whirling dance of pure joy! He is running and spinning like a child in the freedom and joy of the home of his father! It is a liberating and instructive worship. Israel sees the king humbling himself joyfully before God. It was a deeply spiritual and also a wildly happy day for David and the nation.

Of course, this is not kingdom protocol. And someone gets upset. In this case, that someone is Michal, daughter of Saul, David's wife. She chides David for his lack of royal decorum (2 Samuel 6:20) and expresses her snide disapproval. She did not get it. While the entire nation rejoiced with the king in worship of God, she held back because she could not see that the true King of Israel was honored by the ark's coming into Jerusalem.

Thankfully, David does not let her sarcastic lecture deter his enthusiasm for God's worship. He plainly tells her that he would gladly humble himself even more in worship of His God. He is willing to strip himself of all dignity before God if that is what worship means. He refuses to let stuffy palace propriety ruin his heart before God. And in so doing, he shows us that kind of passion we ought to bring in our own worship of God.

I am afraid that for many evangelicals, a relationship with God and worship of God is shackled by the trappings and protocols of worship decorum. And it can be different in different church settings. You hear things like: "We have to have a quiet prelude with piano and organ"; "We need a band and laser lights!" "No musicians! They are a distraction!" "Lots of music and a full orchestra!" The list is really endless because it boils down to a personal cultural preference. We need to instead bring our own hearts into worship, whether corporately or privately. There we humble ourselves, divested of our dignity, to find God's wonder-filled grace and the true meaning of worshipping our great God.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

Secret of Success

2011-08-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.
2 Samuel 5:10

Achievement gained
goals attained
or goods obtained
in David's reign
came from a great God

Battles won
victory's done
in daylight's sun
kingdom begun
directed by God's hand

Kingdom grew
to something new
trusting through
what David knew
God had given him

Success lived
in what he did
fame spread
and David said
it was all God's gift

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

assassins

2011-08-18T06:30:00.001-05:00

How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?
2 Samuel 4:11

David is administering justice with this statement. Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and acting king of Israel, was assassinated by two of his trusted military commanders. The two Benjamite brothers, Baanah and Rechab, entered into the palace and as Ish-bosheth lay napping they murdered and beheaded him. They then fled to Judah with their grisly trophy, hoping they would appease David with the head of Israel's king, ending the last resistance to a united Israel.

They did not count on David's sense of justice convicting them of the evil that they had done. But David had refused to kill Saul who had sent army squads out to destroy David. At issue was the fact that God had not called David to fight his way to the throne. David was upset when a non-soldier had performed a "mercy killing" on Saul as he was wounded on the battlefield. He ordered that Saul's killer by avenged with capital punishment. These two calculating murderers would face the same sentence.

David had many times negotiated peace with Saul. I believe he was committed to a peaceful transition of the kingdom, even as the civil war had raged. The text is clear that Israel was at a point where negotiations might have been effective. Ish-bosheth knew that the war could not continue without Abner as the general in charge of his armies. The soldiers were demoralized. The king was dismayed and lacked the will to fight (2 Samuel 4:1). David very well may have been able to easily march into the palace and depose Ish-bosheth by treaty.

Now, with the murder of Saul's son, and the killers seeking to gain favor with David, it outwardly looked like David was behind the assassination plot. David deals with this by justly executing the assassins. By taking care of the needed justice, he clearly spoke to the nation that he was outraged at the death of Saul's son. He defused any further accusation of his own complicity in the awful events of Abner's murder and the assassination of Ish-bosheth.

David was really a man of peace. He could fight with great courage when he needed to, but he knew where peace was possible, and he pursued it. He was also a just ruler. He would not acknowledge that a murder ever advantaged him and that shows his moral leadership. He led in justice and in peace.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

long wars test character

2011-08-17T06:08:00.001-05:00

There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
2 Samuel 3:1

I am sure that David did not ever plan to have to fight this long civil war in order to unite Israel under one king. But the political manipulations of Abner are what kept the war going. Eventually Abner would change "parties" when offended by Ish-bosheth. But even that change would prolong the war rather than end it. The political and military intrigue in this section of 2 Samuel shows us what power and a lust for greatness coupled with revenge will do.

There was a personal feud between the two opposing generals, Abner (Israel's general under Isho-bosheth) and Joab (Judah's commander under David). Abner had killed Joab's valiant brother in previous battle action. Joab held a grudge and vowed to kill Abner. When Abner made a move to defect to David, leaving the army of Israel (Ish-bosheth had smudged his honor by accusing Abner of a sexual liason), Joab used that moment to exact his revenge. Joab pretended to meet with Abner privately to discuss terms. And in that deceptive moment he killed Abner in cold, calculated revenge. This was not just a breach of diplomacy. Joab acted on a personal vendetta. This was not leadership. He took advantage of an arrangement David had made in order to kill Abner himself. This was also disobedience to the king.

David made it clear that he was outraged at Joab's actions. He put on a full state funeral for Abner. He insisted that all go into official mourning and was upset at any other suggestion than this (2 Samuel 3:36). Even as these circumstances pretty much ensured victory for David, he refused to delight in the wrongdoing of another person. David's heart was for peace in Israel. This civil war was breaking his heart.

David's character was tested in this long war. Even as others resorted to letting the worst in them gain the upper hand in the civil unrest, David held firmly to his values. And his character led the nation. It was his determination to do the right thing that prevented societal chaos and collapse of morals. Had he approved of Joab's revenge, he would have led Judah to continue a campaign of plunder. By demonstrating real character, he showed himself to be a true leader worth following. It would help heal a divided nation.

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13

divided kingdom

2011-08-16T06:06:00.001-05:00

Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
2 Samuel 2:10

David's reign began with division. After the death of Saul, there was controversy for two years over who should be king in Israel. Most of the Israelites were persuaded to follow tradition and became subjects of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul. But the text is clear that really a general was the power behind this throne. Abner was the real force behind this succession (2 Samuel 2:8). What followed was a period of military skirmishes between Abner's army, and the troops loyal to David in Judah.

The account of this brief period prior to David's united reign is told to us through military history. It is as if the military archives were opened for the writer of 2 Samuel to research. Battles take place that create an inevitable shift of power to Judah. Abner may have been a general with political sensibilites, but his army was no match for the army of Judah commanded by Joab. Little by little, it became clear that the military strength resided with Judah and the army that fought with David. This brief civil war would eventually come to an end under the king that God had anointed for Israel.

I am sure that this was not the way David wanted to begin his rule. But the divisiveness in the nation led to this period of civil unrest. David was smart enough to let his premeire general lead the engagements. And eventually this strategy would be met with acceptance on all sides. But David would not ease into the throne of Israel. It would be fought for just as he had fought for his reputation as he defended Israel under Saul.

A divided kingdom was not what David would accept. This was the circumstance he faced, but he did not cause it. Abner led the opposition against David. David is caught in a position where another man's ambition for power is focused against him. And really Abner was opposing God first and foremost. David knew this. That is why Abner's plan was destined to fail miserably.

God would use the political machinations of a scheming general opposed to God's plan to eventually bring about the result of a unified Israel under David. God would defend the king. David trusted the call and purposes of God, even as he instructed Joab in his confrontations with the rebel general. God will work beyond human ambitions. He always has and always will!

- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13