Monthly Archive for August, 2007

Seeking His Kingdom that Really IS Better than Mine

Published
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Dan
on 8/30/2007
in Bible Study
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“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where theives break in and steal.” Matthew 6.19 NIV

Moths and rust both work the same way: SLOWLY. You have to let something sit unattended for a LONG time for rust and moths to destroy it. Stored up stuff, accumulated stuff that you’re just hordeing is WORTHLESS. You can’t serve God and money. Which one is the best to STORE UP? Store up and horde God who automatically flows out and refills those who want Him!

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

(Matt 6:31-34 NIV)

So Jesus says seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and we’ll have everything we need. Maybe that’s the hard part. Do we want what God knows we need, or do we think we’re smarter or wiser or “more realistic” than God?

More realistic than God. That’s rich.

I WANT a Canon Digital Rebel xti. and Adobe Creative Suite 3 and a Google Hat and a GPS and a laptop tray. But what if the tools I need to SEEK HIS KINGDOM and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS are a bucket and a sponge?! Will I be content when I FIND HIS KINGDOM!? or will I be disappointed that it doesn’t look enough like a Best Buy?

Christianity Unplugged

Published
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Dan
on 8/26/2007
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When inviting someone to church is considered a form of evangelism [proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God], we are woefully off target.

Donations and Worship so fast and big it can’t be counted

Published
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Dan
on 8/23/2007
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“When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.”

(1Kings 8:3-5 NIV)

I love it how in this part, and in the chapter before when they were making big things out of bronze, there was SO MUCH IT COULDN’T BE RECORDED OR COUNTED. It’s like everyone is just giving and giving and working and there is so much generosity and joy that it can’t be counted. On the small scale this reminds me of various weddings or birthdays where they are tons and tons of guests and they are bringing gifts so fast you can’t write down who brought what (which really is a silly thing to do anyway) and all you know is there is a bunch of stuff.

That would be awesome if people gave food to the Evansville Christian Life Center (which is out of food right now) and Crossroads had to call them and get trucks to haul it off and it was being hauled off and brought in so fast that we never knew how much was donated.

Seeds in the Thorns of B&H

Published
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Dan
on 8/19/2007
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“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.”

(Luke 8:14 NIV)

I just read this and thought about how much time I spent this morning during my “quiet time” looking on ebay and B&H at the Canon xti and its accessories.

The worries about my job and what to do, coupled with paying off half my credit card and the pleasures I associate with having a new camera and making tons of money as a photographer all choke off my bible study time, and do I mature? No.

All over the Old Testament, thorns are signs of fruitlessness, sin, and God’s judgement. When Israel was exiled, the walls of Jerusalem were overgrown with thorns. When some of the judges conquered gentile lands, they punished them with thorns, or the unconquered lands were said to be thorns in Israel’s side.

When Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, the land that used to produce their food grew thorns.

Finally, look at the mockery of Jesus, and what He was crowned with. I think everything that happened in the passion has a sort of hidden spiritual inside joke between Satan and God. Like Barabbas being freed instead of Jesus. Barabbas means “son of the father” so Jesus would have heard the crowd yelling “free the son of the father” and they didn’t mean him. What insult added to injury. Then when the roman guards bowed down and mocked Jesus, what awful mockery that must have been! He deserved to be worshipped, He deserved to be robed and crowned and bowed down too, and it was all done in mockery. 

What if just in that moment, Jesus remembered the words His Father told Him to say. “The thorns are life’s worries, riches and pleasure” Aren’t the Roman guards the ones that are really crowned with the misery of worry, riches, and vain pleasure?! Aren’t we the ones who fight and tear and cheat so that we can suffer with worries about protecting our too-many possesions and our cushy lifestyles? They are crowns of thorns. They are burdens to wear. May we cast our cares on Jesus and let Him bear the weight he already bore for us. Let us grow and mature out of the thorns and overshadow them with our branches of peace and contentment and watch worries, riches, and pleasure starve for LIGHT.

Quote from “The So-called Letter to Diognetus”

Published
by
Dan
on 8/12/2007
in Bible Study and Short Quotes
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Good quote about christians in the world from The So-called Letter to Diognetus on CCEL.org

To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, but does not belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the world. The soul, which is invisible, is kept under guard in the visible body; in the same way, Christians are recognised when they are in the world, but their religion remains unseen. The flesh hates the soul and treats it as an enemy, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from enjoying its pleasures; so too the world hates Christians, even though it suffers no wrong at their hands, because they range themselves against its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; in the same way, Christians love those who hate them. The soul is shut up in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; while Christians are restrained in the world as in a prison, and yet themselves hold the world together. The soul, which is immortal, is housed in a mortal dwelling; while Christians are settled among corruptible things, to wait for the incorruptibility that will be theirs in heaven. The soul, when faring badly as to food and drink, grows better; so too Christians, when punished, day by day increase more and more. It is to no less a post than this that God has ordered them, and they must not try to evade it.

The Nicene Creed

Published
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Dan
on 8/5/2007
in Bible Study
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We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation,
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered died and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the
Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy
catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one
baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Limits of Perfection and God’s Boundless Way

Published
by
Dan
on 8/5/2007
in Bible Study
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“To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.”
(Psa 119:96 NIV)

There are so many times that I think up what would be the perfect thing and I pray for that. Often times very specifically. When I was looking for a job 2 jobs ago, I drove past the ad agency I wanted to work at and prayed every day, “Lord God, plant me at Fire & Rain.”

As days went by, I began to think that I didn’t want to work with old software on a junky machine, so I began to pray “Lord God, plant me at Fire & Rain and give me a new computer to use with all up to date software.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

But it turned out more perfect than I would have imagined. Sure, some of it was hard, but overall, it was a great experience.

I think God’s command for me to go work there was beyond the bounds of my prayers.

The same goes for my work in Asia after that.

I am really funny in that I am always praying for very specific, and almost picky things. God knows I’m open to whatever He wants, but I like to ask Him for details, and you know what? He answers my prayers and busts out the boundaries of my wishes. They are beyond my perfect plans.

That word up there: “Boundless” check this out:
Strong’s 7342. רָחָב rachab, raw-khawb´; from 7337; roomy, in any (or every) direction, literally or figuratively:—broad, large, at liberty, proud, wide.

I love that.

God’s commands are exceedingly at liberty, extremely wide, overtly going in every direction, covering so many things.

Just for the record, today I’m praying that someone would give me a two story house on a specific street within a specific 3 block area. What if later in the week I showed a picture of it?

A picture I thought was perfect, but God made (will make?) boundless and free!?

Adonijah’s Impressive Sacrifices

Published
by
Dan
on 8/1/2007
in Bible Study
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In 1 Kings, Adonijah, son of Haggith, declares himself king, sacrifices a whole bunch of animals at a stone somewhere, and puts Bathsheba and Nathan into a panic. They burst in on David and tell him the news:

“He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant.”

(1Kings 1:19 NIV)

Something interesting happens here, that happens a lot of places. Other people look on and see the greatness of Adonijah’s sacrifice and think that the greatness of it gives him authority. Like a degree from Yale costs more so it must have more authority than a degree from IU, or someone drives an Infinity SUV so they must be more successful or more important than someone that drives a 10 year old Honda.

What makes me glad is something from earlier in David’s life:

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”"

(1Sam 16:7 NIV)

Adonijah can go to whatever stone he wants to and sacrifice whatever cattle he wants, but God is not impressed. Adonijah needs to impress men, so they don’t come and kill him or overthrow his little kingdom, but the men who will overthrow him look to God for how they should act. The kingdom isn’t something to be snatched or taken lightly. It isn’t a pot of gold to be argued over.

“He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”

(Luke 16:15 NIV)

As I sit in the ‘Vegas of the South’ (Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg) eating my ‘Continental Breakfast’ all I can think of is, please, God, help me to only value what you value. May all of my sacrifices be for You alone!