#i might look for some hebrew children's books when i start being able to apply meaning to the letters

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Little celebratory thing: it feels like I'm getting a bit better at alef bet! Even though the vowel markings can feel redundant, they're still something I've been able to remember and recognize individually!

[randomthoughtsrandomdude]

HonesTEA time! (Notice how this isn't a Hot Take Wednesday post.)

I'm going to state a few facts that led me to my conclusion, and then I'll share the HonesTEA. (Please note: HonesTEA is made from observations that have been steeping in my brain, but as it contains no actual "tea", it is not in violation of the Word of Wisdom)

Prep time: About 20 years for me to gather everything, but assembly only took about 2-3 weeks.

Yield: Quite large, so pace yourself or risk getting overwhelmed.

For this HonesTEA, you'll need the following facts:

- The only perfect person to walk the earth, in the history of ever, is Jesus Christ

- God the Father, and his Son have knowledge and power that is eternal and all-encompassing.

- They have only ever had imperfect people to work with to share the gospel and change the world.

- Man's knowledge is still growing, and thus not all-encompassing.

- Joseph Smith, a single man, was given revelation to change the world.

- Each individual on Earth is entitled to their own personal revelation that they can use to help those within their responsibility (eg. fathers for their families, leaders for their congregations, etc).

- Using the knowledge he was given, Joseph Smith was able to share his vision with others and establish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

- The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to bring others closer to Christ through obedience to His laws and ordinances.

- The Church is led through continuing revelation, and we believe there is still much to be revealed before Christ comes again.

- The prophets and apostles, though led by God, are still men, and thus imperfect. They aren't heathens, but they can make mistakes just like you and me.

- When a person makes a mistake, or sins, the expected next steps is to admit the mistake and then take actions to make right what was wronged.

Now for the recipe:

- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, as most people would consider, a good organization. The intention that all mankind can know their Creator and Heavenly Parents, and establish a relationship with Them that results in a desire to live with Them again is inherently good. 200 years ago, a young man with a question about how to move forward with his life started the ball rolling to bring us to the Church as it stands today. The trail has not been smooth or steady, but things have definitely come a long way.

- Throughout those years, due to the imperfect nature of man, there have been mistakes. There have been policies enacted and revoked, statements made and then rejected. This is not unusual, because again, man is imperfect.

- Some of these actions/policies/statements originally claim to have been inspired.

- When they are later renounced, that also comes through the claim of having been inspired.

Now here's where things might get lumpy, so pay careful attention:

- We (LDS general membership) believe that God is no respecter of persons, and that all are alike unto Him, both male and female, bond and free; because of this, there's nothing He does to actively bar anyone from coming unto Him.

- From 1830-1852 there were no bars to who was received into the church, and allowed full access to the blessings and ordinances of the Gospel.

- In 1852, the policy to restrict priesthood ordination was put into place, with no explanation that still stands today as a reasonable excuse for it to have been put into place. This policy also restricted black members from ordinances beyond baptism. Elijah Abel, a man who had received the priesthood before the ban, petitioned to receive his endowment in 1879 and was denied. Jane Manning James asked to be able to perform ordinances for her ancestors and was only allowed to do baptisms for the dead, and nothing more.

- In the min-1900's (nearly 100 years later, for those who are counting), clarification was made that the restriction was solely for men of black African descent. Other dark-skinned races, such as Fijians, Pacific Islanders, and Australian Aborigines had no such restrictions.

- Changes didn't seem possible until the question of how the charge to "go ye therefore, and teach all nations" could be fulfilled with the policy of exclusion in place.

- It wasn't until Church leaders were faced with the fact that they were asking members to build temples that they would later not be able to enter that there seems to have actually been a serious supplication with the Lord about what to do.

- June-September, 1978 (136-ish years for those who are counting). President Kimball receives the revelation to rescind the ban, and over the next few months it is unanimously received by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the other General Authorities, and eventually the general membership in attendance at 148th Semiannual General Conference.

- Now, in a Gospel Topics essay (published in 2013), it states "Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavour or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form" (footnote here references a talk from President Hinkley April 2006).

- This is good. This is very good. So why did the publication of the Come, Follow Me book (copyright 2020) intended to help families and children include a section about 2 Nephi 5 that was *very racist*?

- Granted, once this was pointed out, the online version was quickly updated and a statement was made by Irene Caso (a Church spokeswoman) about the error. (I can only find this statement in the article published by the Salt Lake Tribune, it doesn't seem to be anywhere on the Church's website)

Once you've let that steep for a good hour or two, let's proceed:

- How is any of this explained in a way that doesn't include racism?

- I *refuse* to believe that God is racist.

- Don't blame God for the shortcomings/mistakes of man. (Article of Faith 2, anyone?)

- I hope whoever was put in charge of that section of Come Follow Me was suspended, possibly even fired. I honestly do. And probably whoever their quality-checker was.

- Because you know. You KNOW. That the Church isn't some small-town publishing company. You would *expect* there to be multiple quality checks before a World-Wide MANUAL is sent out TO THE ENTIRE WORLD.

- (side-note here as I am monolingual, I don't know if this was also translated into other languages. BUT IF IT WAS HOW WAS IT NOT CAUGHT?)

- (second side-note, if you do some research on blackness in the Topical Guide, you'll come across Joel 2:6, which in its footnote states that blackness is a Hebrew idiom for gloom. Take that nugget and apply it to the Hebrew-influenced Nephi's journal [also known as 1st and 2nd Nephi] and enjoy some new perspective)

- I'm fortunate enough that I'm not seeing blatant racism posted across my social media, but if it can make it into the Church's manual, then it is in the Church.

- With the world in the climate it's currently in, I would looooove to see some tangible, solid evidence behind the Church's claim to "unequivocally condemn all racism".

- Maybe it's through revoking temple access? Maybe it's through being unable to take the Sacrament? Whatever it is, there's some serious application of repentance that's needed.

- In any case, there are some Major Misdeeds done to our POC brothers and sisters, and the leadership of the Church has been alive for most of the reparation process (Ulisses Soares would've been ~18 at the time of the ban being removed.).

- But we're 42 years into it, and we still have so much more to do.

- All is not well in Zion.

- And I don't care what your calling in the Church is.

- If you're racist, you are preventing yourself from receiving the revelation necessary to help those who are looking up to you for guidance.

- And you need to fix that.

Now let it cool and enjoy! The HonesTEA pairs nicely with thoughtful acts of service, or with meaningful discussion, and is safe to share with your electronic friends! Leftovers never expire, so you can enjoy HonesTEA whenever you want!

[dailyaudiobible]

03/26/2021 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25, Luke 7:11-35, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31

Today is the 26th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is great to be here with you today moving our way forward, moving our way toward the weekend. We’re coming around the Global Campfire together be together to spend time together to allow the Scriptures to speak into our lives and our motivations and our situations and it’s great to be here. It’s great to be here every day. And, so, let's take that next step forward. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. In the Old Testament we are reading from the book of Deuteronomy the Last things that Moses has to say. As we will recall, three different discourses in the book of Deuteronomy and we’ve moved our way through the first one and we are now, like we just kinda got the prologue yesterday but we’re now in the second of the three discourses. Deuteronomy chapters 5 and 6.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Deuteronomy, we’re in this second discourse where Moses is saying to the people everything that he needs to say, everything that God has told him to say. These are the last things that he's going to say. He’s gonna be absent from their presence because he's going to…well…he will disappear into history. He is going to die. And, so, these are the final things that he needs to say. So, some of this is review. Like for example, today he reviewed what we…what we would call the 10 Commandments, these main commandments that are guiding, that are like centerpieces of the culture that is being formally and he reviews this and he reviews the fact that God had come down upon the mountain to speak directly to the people but the people were afraid and in awe of God and so they asked essentially asked Moses to be the spokesperson for God which is in effect asking Moses to be the prophet. And then we come to a central foundational like declaration, what is a prayer until this very day, “hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” A profound declaration that there is but one God and only one God. And in introducing that Moses is laying out a posture that the people are to espouse, a posture of heart that is supposed to be the normal, the default way of living and being. Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes and you shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.” In other words, you must not forget any of this. This must become a part of the fabric of your life, the default, the normal. This is the posture of this new culture. This is the posture of this new people that is being raised up. And he puts that out there and we need to take it on board and live into it completely ourselves, but he puts that out there and then he begins to give a warning about what it's gonna be like when they get over the Jordan. Like when they get cross the Jordan and they succeed at conquering the people's and dispossessing the land and taking the land and forming the land and then dividing the land up into the different tribal lands and they become one people in this land and they have inherited all kinds of cities that they didn't build and crops that they didn't plan and things are going well. And that's…that's the essence of this. When you get through the wilderness and you get to the Jordan River and it's time to crossover and you're thinking about that you…that you’re realizing that you are at the beginning of the end of your wilderness experience and you are about to enter the land of promise and your dreaming about what that's gonna be like, that's essentially what Moses is saying here. And boy does that apply to our lives. And Moses counsel is when you get through the trial, when you get through the battle, when you get to the other side and you're in the promised land and things start to get easy for you don't forget this posture because if you forget this posture, then you're gonna fall away, you're gonna forget that God brought you out of slavery, you’re gonna forget that He brought you through the wilderness and shifted your identity and gave you an identity that wasn't slavery. If you forget than you're gonna get arrogant. You're gonna oppress people, you're gonna fall away from God, you’re going to chase other gods you're going to transgress the covenant and destroy yourself. Don’t forget what God has done to bring you this far. That's what Moses is telling the children of Israel, but does it not feel so immediate to us? Is this not good counsel for us as we continue to navigate forward?

Now as we turn the page and go into the book of Luke, we have Jesus doing his ministry healing people, revealing the kingdom of God, teaching the people, comforting the people and pretty interesting juxtaposition today because Jesus raises someone from the dead as they were being carried out of the city to be buried and the next thing you know the disciples of John coming up to Jesus and asking Him if He's the one. And this lets us understand the expectations of the time surrounding the Messiah. So, if Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, then He is someone that was expected because of prophetic utterances that it comes centuries before. So, it wasn't like they weren’t looking for a messianic figure, but they were reading into the culture of the time what the Messiah would do, and they felt like they really didn't need a Messiah to come because they were a people that were occupied, they were people landlocked by the Roman Empire. They were a people inside the Empire. So, even though they were in their ancestral homeland it had not been under their rule and governance other than for short rebellious…rebellions it hadn't been in their possession for over a millennia. But they were there in their ancestral homeland. This promised land that we’re talking about in the in the book of Deuteronomy, they were there in that land, but it was now a part of the Roman empire. They wanted a Messiah who would come and sort of defeat this global superpower of Rome, throw them out of the land so that the land could be under Hebrew rule again and restored back to God. And the Messiah, the Anointed One would be able to bring everything together, all of the components together that would…that would enact that. So, even though John the Baptist knew he was preparing the way of the Lord and was calling the people back to God as a prophet, and even though Jesus submitted to baptism and John baptized Him in the Jordan River, even though all of this has happened John is now arrested and he's sending these messages…these messengers to Jesus, to say, “are You the real One? Are You the One we were looking for or should we be looking for somebody else?” It’s a fascinating question that allows us to understand what the expectations were. People were looking at what Jesus was doing, thinking He might be the Anointed One. And then all of the expectations of the anointed one are read into and put upon Jesus. Is he going to be able to get a militia together? Like, is He gonna be able to get people who are willing to die, who are going to go fight the Romans, who are going to go try to take over Jerusalem, to try to take over the capital? Is this what's gonna happen? And Jesus response is very very important. They expected Jesus to certainly be godly and anointed and that He would lead the people back to God, but He would lead the people back to God first by war, by takeover. Jesus response to that and specifically to John's disciples so they can go tell John is, “go tell John what you're seeing. Go tell John what you're hearing. The blind are receiving their site. The lame walking, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news preached to them and blessed is the one who isn't offended by me.” What Jesus is saying is, “I am the one. And I am doing exactly what I came to do. I am restoring the people. I am revealing the kingdom. I am showing you that there is another way to be and it's a good way to be, because it's the normal. It's what you were designed to be. You're supposed to be in this world doing what I'm doing. I am revealing the kingdom.” So, in other words, the kingdom Jesus is revealing is different than the kingdom they are expecting. The kingdom they are expecting is one that will be established by the ultimate takeover and removal of the…of the governing power. The kingdom Jesus is operating in is one that is after the hearts of mankind, because if you capture the hearts of mankind anything and everything can change but if you just go take over a building or you just go take over a nation…well…then there's only gonna be retaliation. Like it's only going to cause problems that are ongoing and there are ongoing problems in the world today that go back thousands of years because of rifts and injustices between peoples and we find this in the Bible. This isn't the way forward, that you just finally defeat everybody. The way that you defeat everybody, at least in God's kingdom, at least according to Jesus is through love. You capture and turn the heart through love. The kingdom is revealed and comes crashing in and then once that happens inside of a person they become transformed, they can't see things the same way anymore, things of shifted. We who follow Jesus, we should know this, this should've actually been our experience. But now we look through the eyes and the understanding of our faith and we look at things differently. The trouble is that all too often we don't. All too often we’re just pulled back into the culture and we’re worshiping at that altar instead of raising up our eyes and seeing that when the good news when the kingdom comes breaking in it brings restoration and life like a river cutting a channel through the desert. So, it begs the question what we are expecting of Jesus. I mean, are we in the same boat? We just…we need him to beat up the bad guys? We need Him to kinda move the obstacles out of our way, the things that we can’t overcome our own, the things that we just wish were different? We just need him to beat up the bad guys? Or are we understanding that we’re a part of that story and there’s a whole different way of looking at things. And we can have eyes to see and we can see that the kingdom coming isn't out of armed rebellion or some kind of military overthrow, the kingdom comes when we see the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who isn't offended by that because that is the way of Christ

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into this. There’s a lot here, a lot to consider in today's reading. That happens so often where we can move back into the day and just get distracted and in an hour we will forget all of it or we can meditate upon it, we can allow…allow it to sit there and just keeps speaking to our hearts and minds, that there's a posture, that there's a way, that there's a way to see, that there…there's a way to hear, there’s a posture of heart that is in alignment with how we were created to be and when we are acting how we were created to be we are in alignment with You. Come Holy Spirit, plant this in our hearts and lives we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray for some of the DABBers. And before I begin to pray I just want to pray a prayer request for my nephew and my sister in law in Germany. She was found sick and my…my nephew, he was in jail and I just need some prayer that he's having some challenges and just want some things to pray and I also want to pray for piano man and just build his precious wife. I wanted to pray for the…the lady who just lost her husband a few days ago, Lori. I want to pray for Dusty Rose and the challenges her husband is going through. And it went on for the DABbers who are going through depression. There's something there going through depression and they feel like giving up, but I just want to let them know to hold on because���because your…your…your…your…your answers are only only a…only a…only a whisper away. Gracious father, I praise you and a magnify you. I thank you for the DABbers. I thank you for all of your lovely people. I thank you for our prayer…for our prayer line. I just ask You to name my call Lord. Those who are going through there with the family, those who have lost family during this covid, those who have lost precious ones Lord and they’re having challenges and they’re dealing with it. And You touch that family Lord. You work a miracle. Those that have a need Lord, those Young women that are __ and they need…they need direction. O Lord bless those even with those that are looking for spouses. Bless them with a spouse that is fine for them. You have Your way in the name of Jesus. Lord You continue to bless Dusty Rose’ husband. You give him a champion job, one that he knows no one did it but God. Lord You have Your way in the name of Jesus that…that husband that is…that is…that is…doesn't know which way...

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family this is my first-time calling in. I've been listening for…this is my third year and I felt led to call but to call in after participating in the prayer wall online last weekend. It was so amazing to be a part of it even just for that short time. It was just so wonderful to play for others. I went there to ask for prayer, but I got even more out of writing prayers for others and it made me think about when other people have called in and they've thanked people for calling in asking for prayer. I never quite understood that fully but after going to the prayer wall and writing out prayer for other people I realized that it really is a blessing to get…it's a privilege to get to pray for others because I…I got to talk to God while I was praying for others and it was just really wonderful. So, thank you so much everyone. Thank you so much Brian for this podcast it has really blessed my life and I'm so happy to be a part of it and getting even more involved. I would like to pray for myself this Thursday. Today is Sunday March 21st and this Thursday I have a __ surgery coming up. So, I would just ask for your prayers that all goes well, and I look forward to hearing all your continued prayers and to keep praising you all. So, God bless have a great day. Bye.

Good morning Brian thank you. Thank you DAB family. My name is Allison and…well…I just want to say that I am just thankful for Daily Audio Bible. I am new to Daily Audio Bible. I started January 1st and I just want to give God the praise and I just ask for prayer. I have an exam coming up to become a substance abuse counselor. Keep me in prayer that I am not nervous and safe travels. Have to travel over an hour to get to the exam. But also, I just want to pray for everyone that listens to Daily Audio Bible and Brian. And I wanted to say Father in the name of Jesus thank You for this prayer group, thank You for Daily Audio Bible. We desire that our prayers avail much. We are individuals who are mutually dependent on one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, we who with unveiled faces all reflect Your glory are being transformed into Your likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from You who are the Spirit. Father, we realize that You know what we have need of before we ask and that we are not all growing in the same manner or on the same time schedule, but we are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. So, have a blessed day Daily Audio Bible family in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen and Amen. Thank you. And thank you Brian and your family and just be blessed. Have a blessed rest of the day and year.

A couple days ago I heard this from someone, that many millions __ yesterday and possibly tomorrow but only one today. So, where do we want to be? For sure in the present with the presence of our Savior. He's aware of all of our mistakes and He has forgiven us, so we don't have to live there anymore. He knows our joys and our sorrows, and He hears our cries. He answers before we call, and He hears us as we speak. In this present moment Lord, I…please hear the prayer of my heart as I call on you on behalf of Steve from Maryland who lost his wife five years ago leaving him with five kids. His 14-year-old son has been struggling through covid with his schooling and all the other issues of maternal loss and so on. And Steve has had to be a single dad with these kids helping to organize their life. Now his son is also losing his sister to a jail term and his one daughter is having a baby next month. So, these are tremendous amount of stuff being poured on him. And, so, I'm asking You the God of our very present please reach out to him, touch his life, enable him to manage and be with the children, be with his daughter as she goes to jail. May she receive a word from Christ while she's there and turn her life around. Hear his prayers…

They come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and the voice, I hear falling on my ear the son of God discloses. And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known. He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush the singing and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing. I’d stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling, but he bids me go through the voice of woe his voice to me is calling. This is God’s Smile here and aren't those words just lovely? That old hymn. And that's it…that’s it from me. I just wanted to read that hymn out and send my love. Kiss kiss everybody.

[seeking-his-plan-blog]

Dinosaurs and the Bible.

Friday, March 23 - Day 35 of Lent.

I am not going to try and find the answer to this, but I will share my thoughts on it from my Bible-reading and research. One theory supporting dinosaurs in the Bible is that dinosaurs were created by God, became corrupt and then were wiped out in the flood. Another theory is that they even went onto the ark with Noah, but were wiped out afterwards.

The traditional depiction of dinosaurs as gigantic and ferocious lizards makes it hard to believe that God would have included them in the garden of Eden. Yet, before sin corrupted life, isn’t it possible that dinosaurs might have been peaceful?

Isaiah 11:6-7 shares this picture of heaven:

   “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,      The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,      The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;      And a little child shall lead them.      The cow and the bear shall graze;      Their young ones shall lie down together;      And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. "

Perhaps animals were always made to be peaceful, but when the forbidden fruit was eaten and sin was introduced, so was death and corruption. After all, we have proof that serpents could walk and climb trees before the fall of mankind. So anything could have been possible.

Here is an interesting set of verses from the book of Job, which is deemed one of the oldest books in the bible. He describes a creature, the “behemoth” that fits the description of a dinosaur (brackets are added by me):

15 “Look now at the behemoth,which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. 16See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles (big stomach). 17 He moves his tail like a cedar (big tail); the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. 18 His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs like bars of iron. 19He is the first of the ways of God (biggest thing that God has created, big as He is); only He who made him can bring near His sword (only God can come near him). 20Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. 21 He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. 22The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him. 23 Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed; he is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, 24 Though he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare."

Some think that this description matches that of a hippo or an elephant. However, neither a hippo nor an elephant match the description of the tail moving like a cedar tree, as elephants’ and hippos’ tails are tiny! Furthermore, the phrase, “He is the first of the ways of God”, in the original Hebrew translates to “he is the BIGGEST animal that God created”. Although the elephant and hippo are large, they are not even one tenth of the size of a Brachiosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever to exist. Take the Brachiosaurus and try to apply it to the above description. It works! Furthermore, the phrase, “Only He who made him can bring near His sword” directly states that no mere human can approach this creature with a sword. Ask yourself, how easy is it to go near an elephant? Granted, it’s not the simplest thing, but don’t tell me that no human could possibly ever near one with a sword. A dinosaur makes more sense here.

There’s another similar description of a dinosaur-like creature in Job 41:1-2,7,12-32. This description is interesting because it references the Leviathan, a creature who is of the sea and breathes fire. The history books of many cultures refer to ‘fire-breathing dragons’ in their ancient tales. It’s a wonder why, across  many different cultures, it was always a dragon, and not like, a lion or something. That is because the fire-breathing dragons are likely based on truth. The Leviathan also has armour that makes iron look “like straw”, and arrows “cannot make it flee”. The descriptions indeed do not fit any earthly creature that we know of, and could reference dinosaurs that existed before the flood.

Remember, only after sin was death created! You cannot have death before sin, and sin only came in the Garden of Eden.

The common belief of how dinosaurs became extinct is that a large object from space (meteor or the like) hit the earth, and raised enough dust to block out the sun for months. Plants and animals died. But this doesn’t explain why some life-forms survived and others didn’t. Why was extinction selective?

From a biblical perspective, a likely reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs is the worldwide flood detailed in Genesis 6-7. After the flood, mankind changed from being able to live about 900 years, to gradually only living 80-120 years. It was possible that God made a class of very large animals perish in the flood, because He knew that the strength of man would decrease, and that such animals would not be able to be controlled by feeble man anymore. 

Alternatively, a theory in which the dinosaurs survived the flood is still biblically sound. I mean, consider this: If the flood drowned the dinosaurs, it certainly would never have drowned the sea dinosaurs. Everything that exists in the sea before the flood still exists today. But the fact is that approximately 95% of the world’s seas have not yet been discovered. Let that sink in for a moment. Who knows what could still be down there?

If dinosaurs escaped the ark, the dramatic change in climate due to the falling of the “waters from above” that are referenced in Genesis 1:6, would have caused many dinosaurs to perish in the sudden heat, as well as being an explanation for the drop in the life-expectancy for humans (because the sun was now shining directly on them, without the water blocking the sun from above). So, dinosaurs started dropping like flies. Furthermore, in the same way that hunters kill bears and other wild beasts who are a threat to their families, in a world where dinosaurs and man co-existed, it is only natural to assume that man hunted dinosaurs for thousands of years (according to this theory). 

How many bears, crocodiles and tigers are on suburban land today? Zero! And how many bears, crocodiles and tigers were on suburban land 100 years ago? Many! Dinosaurs were hunted and endangered as men continued to hunt them, as our very own familiar beasts are.

There are even theories to suggest that small dinosaurs (the unhunted), as well as the deep sea dinosaurs, still exist today! There have been numerous sightings of ‘sea serpents’ ‘monsters’ (Loch Ness, for example, a beast that has been sighted individually over 9000 times), and dinosaur-like creatures in countries all over the world. There is a swamp in the African Congo, which remains approximately 80% undiscovered and is the home to many natives. Scientific expeditions out there have recorded the natives reporting many sightings of ‘Mokele-mbembe’, a water-dwelling creature that looks identical to a dinosaur. 

I don’t believe it to be mere coincidence that the different monsters sighted in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Congo and many other countries are all of similar size, shape and likeness to a dinosaur. More specifically, a chilling amount of them, from report, bear specific similarity to a Plesiosaurus. How can that be coincidence? Or anything else, especially given that the natives in the Congo -- who drew pictures of a Plesiosaurus when asked to produce an image of what ‘Mokele-mbembe’ looked like -- have literally zero communication with any other country in the world.

If this stuff interests you, please watch the first link provided below, as I can assure you there are hundreds of stories of similar sightings all over the world.

Another theory is that in God’s 7 days of creating the earth, the story did not mean literal days. After all, as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:8:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

By this logic, the ‘day’ in which God created “the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind,” (Genesis 1:21) could have lasted a lot longer than our 24 hours of a day.

If you have time and would like to dive into the theory of creationism+dinosaurs, this lecture is an excellent one to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIF7Yh3hI

Nobody was around to see what actually happened to dinosaurs. I wasn’t. You weren’t. Even Charles Darwin wasn’t. It seems that prior to the 19th century, the oldest historical text to follow was the Bible, and other reliable texts such as ancient wall-paintings, texts, myths, legends and stories (a lot of which included ‘fire breathing dragons’ or creatures of the like). For this reason, before the 19th century it is probable that many subscribed to the theory of creationism, or whatever was taught/proved as fact by these texts. After 1801, the beginning of the 19th century, technology made enough progression to welcome in other feasible theories based on what radioactive and carbon dating could ‘prove’ (please see link below for dispute on this by evolutionist-turned-Christian John Mackay). Is it possible that Satan used this technological development to plant incorrect theories in our minds about dinosaurs, so that we and our children would doubt the Bible? 

These are all very interesting questions. I have recently been listening to John Mackay, a man who used to be a devout evolutionist, but now devotes his life to disproving common theories of evolution. His interview below is definitely worth a watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24T7ebvjdq4

And here is a clip of him debating Richard Dawkins casually! :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH2_j7bpsLo

Regardless of when or for how long dinosaurs existed, there is certainly support in the Bible that dinosaurs did, in fact, exist, and perhaps even in the time of mankind. Whether their extinction was by a meteor or the great flood, the integrity of the Bible does not suffer. If, for some reason, someone found a little dinosaur running around in some deep forest TODAY, it would not really affect our understanding of the Bible or our faith. Whereas, evolutionists would have to redefine and change their whole system of thought if they found a dinosaur in today’s world. 

The importance is, it doesn’t matter! Our faith is still the same! And it’s great!

[faithfulnews]

Equipping people to get the most out of God's word

I spoke to Katherine O’Donnell, a Wycliffe member living in Tanzania, about her work of Scripture engagement.

What do you do in Tanzania? My goal is to help people to engage with the Bible in the language that’s most appropriate for them. When I say engage with, that can be anything from helping them first of all to get hold of a Bible, whether that be written or audio, and to being able to read or listen to it, to being able to understand and think about it, and to being able to apply it to their own lives and be changed by it.

How did you come to be involved in the work of Wycliffe, and Scripture engagement? I’ve always had a bit of a thing about Africa. As a child, I was really inspired and excited by missionary stories. When I was in my early teens, a couple who worked in Malawi came to speak at our church. They brought some African artefacts, and we sang a Malawian-style song, which I thought was great. But even though I had a bit of a thing about Africa, I wasn’t thinking of going there myself.

As I went through school I started to think maybe I wasn’t just meant to send money that way, but rather to go there myself. After school I took a gap year in Kenya through Wycliffe, and spent six months home-schooling some American children in a remote village. That was my first personal encounter with working overseas, and it confirmed to me that that was the direction God wanted me to take.

I was advised to get some normal life experience rather than go straight into working with an organisation, and get some Bible college time. So that’s what I did. After university I worked for two years as a public health nutritionist and then spent two years at Bible college. For my Bible college placement, I ended up going back to Kenya and training Sunday school teachers for a few weeks. And I absolutely loved it! This was more like what I wanted to be doing, as I was getting more concerned with people’s spiritual nutrition rather than their physical nutrition.

Wycliffe previously hadn’t seemed like quite the right fit for me – but then I somehow found out about the Scripture engagement side of Wycliffe’s work. And suddenly it was like this stuff I want to do and was gifted in doing, came together with this organisation I had so many links with and that I knew so much about. That’s when I decided to apply to Wycliffe and did my training. I wanted to work in Africa, and I’d been to Kenya, so we looked at East Africa, and the best fit seemed to be the Mbeya Cluster Project in Tanzania.

  Katherine with friends

What’s the most rewarding thing about your work? I think it’s seeing my local colleagues grow in their understanding of the Bible, and in their ability to teach. I also love it when I get to teach, and see people engaging with and having fun with the stuff we’re doing. I spend a lot of time training Sunday school teachers, and I love seeing these adults enjoying themselves playing games, and then later hearing anecdotal stories that their Sunday schools have got bigger because they’ve become more fun.

What keeps you going when you find your work difficult? My Tanzanian colleagues are a huge encouragement to me, but even bigger than that is the hope that we have in Christ. A few years ago I went through a very difficult time spiritually. It was really hard – I couldn’t pray, I couldn’t sing, I was grappling with big questions about my faith, partly due to one of my MA modules exploring God’s providence and suffering. This culminated in what some might call ‘the dark night of the soul’ in my walk with God. One Sunday evening I decided not to go to church, but instead stayed home and for some reason felt like reading the whole of the book of Hebrews! There had been one verse from Hebrews 11 going round and round in my head – ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see’ – and so I just decided to read the whole book. As I read it, it was as if light suddenly started to shine into the ‘dark night’ that I was going through. A significant theme in the book of Hebrews is persevering because of the hope that we have in Christ, and this theme resonated in the midst of all my questions. Life can be very hard, suffering is everywhere, but without God we have no hope, without Christ and his resurrection there is no reason to carry on living. So we have to keep trusting. Because where else is there hope?

Do you find it difficult being single on the field? Yes and no. I think the hardest thing about being single in the work that I do is that there’s so much transition, which can make you feel more vulnerable, because there’s no-one taking that transition with you, there’s no-one who knows both parts of your life. And so then it feels like I have these two separate identities, and there’s no one that shares that with me. So in that respect singleness is hard. In other ways, it makes things easier, because I have more freedom to travel, and things like that. But there is a cost as well. It should throw us back on God, because he’s our constant companion, and it does to some degree, but I can’t touch God, I can’t feel him, I can’t hold his hand. But at the same time I think God is really kind and faithful. He’s given me friends, and people that I can be with. It’s not a husband, but they’re people who I can spend time with, I can have a hug with, I can share my life with, and that’s really valuable.

  Teaching outside

What would you say to someone else considering this work? Come and join us! This work is so important! Here in the UK and Ireland, we are so blessed with multiple ways of engaging with Scripture. We have all sorts of resources at our fingertips, but in Tanzania, it’s not like that. A lot of people can’t read, or don’t find reading easy. Most of the resources that we use rely on some level of literacy, or a desire to read, or an ability to critically examine text, because that’s how we’re trained educationally – but their education system is different. So it’s really important to help people learn simple tools for engaging with the Bible, and to make the Bible accessible in places where people can’t easily pick up a Bible and read it and understand. It’s exciting work - you get to be out there engaging with people, although there’s a lot of time behind a desk as well. And it’s a privilege to come alongside people and teach and train and support in that way. Translating the Bible is not enough on its own. There are too many stories of Bibles sitting in boxes not being used because we don’t have people out there helping people to engage with the Bible in their language, teaching them how to read in their language, making audio resources or visual resources available to them. The Holy Spirit can of course take and use God’s word, and write it on someone’s heart, but just think about your own life. I haven’t just grown up reading the Bible on my own and letting the Holy Spirit teach it to me.

Any missionary myths you want to dispel? Missionaries are NOT super holy. We haven’t got it all sorted! People sometimes have the idea that missionaries have things more sorted spiritually. And I don’t think we do.

How can readers pray for you? It’s a constant prayer request for me that I would know God more. I can’t do this work and have a half-hearted relationship with God. I want to know him more, understand him more, understand his character better, so that I might become more like him, and worship him, love him and serve him better.

This article was previously published in Words for Life.

Go to the article

[wildernessproject2020]

Psalm 127

Psalm 127 (The Message)

1-2 If God doesn’t build the house,    the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city,    the night watchman might as well nap. It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,    and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys    giving rest to those he loves?

3-5 Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?    the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows    are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents,    with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;    you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.

Prayer Heavenly Father, our Holy God, Almighty. We stand before your word. Would you please send your Spirit upon us so that we may understand your heart, your will, and your way that are already revealed in Jesus Christ, your one and only Son. We humble ourselves before Jesus, your presence. Open our ears of hearts and our physical ears as well. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

Psalm 127

Who is the author of this psalm? King Solomon.

Who is he? What comes up to your mind when you think about King Solomon?

Wisdom. Wisest king. Richest king. And you know what? He was crazy about building houses, not only the house of God, but also the house of himself and his wives. The size was huge. The decoration inside and out was beyond our description, beyond our budget! Materials? From all around the world. He was a great architect and designer.

But, what is he saying in verse 1? He says, “If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks.”  He was aware of who was behind all the progress and works he made.

Since he built the city of Jerusalem, it grew stronger and stronger. But he says, “If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap.” And then, he concludes saying, “It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late and work your worried fingers to the bone.”

You know, I’m living in the guest house, down there. One day, in the morning I found a great size of the black circle in front of our small garden. I looked at it carefully, and it was ants, the big black ants. They were literally making a circle. So I was wondering if there was some dead insect or lizard, but there was none. It was so interesting. So I powdered some strong repellent powder on their gathering. And they scattered and slowly died. After sweeping them off, I found their home. They were coming and going in a tiny hole and around the hole, there was a heap of soil. They were literally busy building their home. Guess what I did.  

I destroyed their home. I felt really bad, but the ants were so big and so many. I powdered the same powder with which I killed the gathered ants, and then I stepped on the soil so hard so that they could not come out. I wasn’t sure when they started building their home probably while I was sleeping, during the whole night, because the day before I found their home, there was no heap. All their labor became vain in an instant. They didn’t even realize where they’re trying to build their home. They didn’t realize that there is a creature so much bigger and greater than them living there. I had the power to either destroy them or let them live. But unlucky them! They all died. As I meditated on this verse, the ant heap that I destroyed a few days ago came up to my mind.

Solomon recognized who was behind, who was in control. Looking at the beauty of the city and the temple of God filled with the presence and glory of God, he couldn’t help but remember what God commanded him (1 King chapter 9, verse 1 through 9). 

1 King 9:3 says, “And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”

God granted Solomon’s request to build a temple for God.

And then God declared blessings and also curses with open-ended conditional clause. If you follow my statues, you will be blessed, if you don’t you will be cursed. Very clear statements.  

Unfortunately, Solomon’s heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, and God’s curse came upon all his works. He died in peace but all the tragedy came upon the next generation of the Israelites. Temple of God was destroyed; the city of Jerusalem was ruined. Nothing was left. Solomon didn’t witness the incident but he knew what would happen in the future. Maybe he wished, writing and singing this psalm 127, that the people of Israel could prevent the incident by knowing God and trust God. However, psalm 127:1-2 became lessons based on their real life.    

He was also aware of human’s physical limitation. We can’t avoid sleep, can we? That’s God’s design for a human. God is so humorous I believe. I feel like God says, “hey, go to sleep. You can’t manage everything by your own. No matter how many hours you sleep or you don’t sleep, life goes on, come on. Don’t push yourself too hard. Don’t overdo yourself too much for your health. Depending on me. Trust me because I who keep you will never slumber nor sleep (Ps. 121:4). You’re killing yourself. You see here? The psalmist, King Solomon, is telling us about the state of our heart. You overwork maybe because you trust yourself more than God. You wake up early and go to bed late maybe because you think you can manage your life in order to be successful apart from God who is the master of your life. Search your heart. Search your intention all the time. If you trust in the Lord, if you fully acknowledge who is in control, who is behind with the authority, you can fully open your hands and give up all your earthly desire that you want to accomplish without God.  

Here, the verse, therefore, is not telling us to simply go to bed because God loves us. It’s not talking about…you fall asleep all the time even in the class, and you saying, oh, its because God loves me more than anybody. Don’t use the verse in order to justify your laziness.  

Sleep with complete trust. And in doing so, trust and love between God and us grow stronger. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart to see if there is something that you don’t trust in the Lord to the point of not being able to sleep. You don’t have peace in your heart, so it leads you to busy working. Ask him. And remember who is in control. Trust in the Lord!

In Hebrew thinking, “to build a house” means to make a family. Let’s look at the book of Ruth 4:11. It says, “Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.”

This blessing belongs to Boaz and his wife, Ruth. People blessed them with the example of two wives of Jacob, Rachel and Leah who built up the family of Israel with their twelve sons.

And Ruth who received the blessings from the elders and all the people built the royal “house of David,” and after all, the “house of the Messiah”

Here, we have some people who got married and some people who are expecting to get married someday. And also, we have parents here, and future parents here.

Family is the smallest unit of a community that God created the first. Wherever you grew up, whoever you grew up with, the fact is that we have sustained our lives with a great deal of influence from the people around us, starting from a family. Of course, there are so many dysfunctional families that you don’t want to call it ‘family’. However, let’s stop blaming others. It doesn’t really matter now whether you’re from a broken family, dysfunctional family or not, because God has adopted you as His sons and daughters and brought you into a bigger family, a divine family, a divine community.

With the New Testament view, not only a human- blood-related family but also a Christ-blood-related family, a community with brothers and sisters in Christ are families too. With the New Testament view, not only your biological children but also your disciples in Christ are your children. I don’t have biological children yet! But I do have my spiritual children! They are God’s best gift from my youth!

The same principle applies. If God didn’t build a family, if God didn’t build a community, the builders labor in vain. (Ps 127:1). Think about your family, and also think about your community that you belong to. Is God there? Are you putting God the first? Let’s enthrone him at the center of our family. Let’s acknowledge Him as king and head of our family, our community. It is my prayer that your family, your community may grow more and more with knowledge in Christ and become God’s blessing to bless others.    

And also, with the New Testament view, “to build a house” means to guard yourself which is the temple of God.

1 Corinthians 3:9 says, “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building”

1 Corinthians 3:16 -17 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

I’m God’s temple where the Spirit dwells. So are your people that you serve. They are God’s temple. We should apply this psalm to building up not only ourselves but also the people of God, the church, and protecting the church from its enemies. Aren’t we here for this very reason, are we? We are here to build each other up; we are here to connect each other based on the cornerstone which is Jesus Christ in order to build His body.

The same principle applies. When you go out and do God’s service: serve your local church, your congregation, remember this. If God didn’t build the house, each individual that you are ministering, if there is no God in your relationships, the builders, you, touch the surface level only. You might not know at that moment, but later, when hardship comes, you will know you only build shacks.  When you meet people, when you minister them, when you pastor them, when you do discipleship with them, acknowledge the one whom you are addressing to the people.  

Conclusion

“to build a house” means “to build yourself as the holy temple of God,” “to build your family as the holy temple of God,” “to build your community as the holy temple of God,” and “to build each other up in order to build the holy temple of God”

Let’s enthrone Him in all the aspects of our daily life, our family life, our marriage life.

Remember who is behind and who is in control. Build your house, your family, your community, and your people along with God.

You please do your work. And let God do His work by fully trusting in the Lord.

May God bless you

[johnhardinsawyer]

The Politics of the Kingdom

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

3 / 25 / 18 – Palm/Passion Sunday

 Mark 11:1-11

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Philippians 2:5-11

 “The Politics of the Kingdom” (Using Jesus, and Other Mistakes)

 A little over a week from now will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in Memphis.  Over the past five decades, Dr. King has achieved an almost saint-like status for some. In a 2011 poll that was taken by the Gallup organization, 94% of respondents had a favorable view of Dr. King.[1]  I was surprised to learn, though, that Dr. King was not nearly this popular when he was alive.  

In the years leading up to his assassination, the preacher and civil rights activist was less popular than ever. A 1966 Gallup poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Dr. King and a third had a positive opinion.[2]

If you learn about some of the things that Dr. King said and did that didn’t involve the beautiful phrase “I have a dream,” you might start to understand why he wasn’t all that popular.  When he started talking about racism, segregation, and housing in the North, and poverty and economic justice, and the war in Vietnam, and “restructuring American society,”[3] it was clear that King’s dream of a different kind of Kingdom was ruffling the feathers of all kinds of people and his popularity dropped – both in the white community and the black community.  “I Have a Dream is so nice,” people thought, “but all that other stuff is too political.”

Hmmmm. . . political.  This is a word that really gets people going, isn’t it?  I don’t know how many times in recent months I have heard one person or another talking about how they don’t want politics in their football or their food choices, their hobbies or their habits, their awards shows or their gun shows, the rhetoric they hear or the religion they espouse.  If you take the word “politics” back to its root in the Greek, you get the word polis, which means city or state[4] or nation.  Anyone who lives in a polis tends to have opinions about what would make that polis a better place to live.  The only trouble is, all those who are seeking the well-being of their polis rarely agree on what would make that polis better.  I guess this is where politics – the process of “making decisions that apply to members of a group”[5] – becomes partisan.  People choose sides, thinking that that their opinions about the polis are the only ones that make sense to them.  And they don’t want to recognize that what’s best for everyone in the polis might look different from how they feel things should be.

Jesus lived in politically divided times.  Around the time of Jesus’ birth, the Romans moved in to stay and became the main governing and occupying force.[6]  By the time Jesus was an adult, the Roman empire had been involved in the politics of Judea for decades.  This was not the first time the descendants of Abraham had been conquered by one group or another.  Empire after empire had invaded the land, laying waste and laying claim.  The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks, had all left their mark over the centuries – and sometimes that mark was quite bloody.  Now the Romans were in charge.  They put puppet rulers on the throne – the Herodians – but it was clear that Rome held all the real power.  And the people who lived in the land had to choose:  would they go along with the empire who had conquered them, or would they resist?

In Jesus’ day, even though Rome held almost all of the power, there were different groups squabbling over whatever little power was left.  This was especially true in the Jewish religion.  As shocking as it may sound, there are times when the politics of power are mixed with religion, and vice-versa.  As we learned in our Wednesday night Bible Study a few weeks ago, in the Jewish religion, the Pharisees were concerned with following the Law of Moses, the Sadducees were concerned with sacrificing things in the Temple, the Essenes thought that the Pharisees and Sadducees were impure, so they went out to the desert to get away from it all.  To top it all off, there was a growing number of people who were thinking revolutionary thoughts of somehow rising up against the Romans.  Things were quite complicated and volatile.

And then, Jesus came onto the scene.  And everywhere he went, he was interacting with people of different religious backgrounds, and different political leanings, different levels of purity and different races.  He didn’t make things easy for himself when he healed a Roman Centurion’s servant, and talked with women and men who were not Jewish, and mixed it up with the Pharisees and Sadducees.[7]  Different groups tried to test him to see whose side he was on.  The scribes and Pharisees were especially persistent, asking Jesus why he was eating with sinners, and tax collectors, and other undesirables.  It seemed, that if Jesus sided with anyone at all, it was with the people who had no power at all – the poor, the outcast, the sick, the sinners, and the children. In the Kingdom of God, the lowest and the least and the last are the ones God prefers.  Answers like these didn’t satisfy the Pharisees so they went out, pretty early on, and conspired with the Herodians – the Jews who were allied with the Romans – to destroy Jesus.  This is just one example of how political things were for Jesus.  But, when he rode into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, things got really political.

In Mark’s version of the Palm Sunday story, the people use “cloaks” and “leafy branches”  (Mark 11:8)  instead of palm branches, but this scene of Jesus riding a colt into the city of Jerusalem with people laying down their cloaks and waving branches was a symbolic recreation of triumphant parades from the past.  Symbols like this can carry a lot of emotional and historical weight.  

There was this one time – a couple of hundred years before Jesus – when the city of Jerusalem had been conquered by the Greeks and was being held by the Seleucids – a group of people who had burned all of the copies of the Hebrew scriptures that they could find.  Times were tough for the children of Israel.  But then, the Maccabees, a Jewish family, led a revolt that made it all the way to Jerusalem. They took most of the city from the Seleucids and laid siege to a fortress where the last of their enemies were hiding.  Finally, when the fortress fell, they went in “. . .with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel.”  (1 Maccabees 13:51)  Years later, when people saw Jesus – someone from the household of King David, someone who had been talking about the “Kingdom of God,” someone who had enough of a following to actually do something dramatic – riding into the city, in full view of all of the parties and groups who wanted a piece of him, there were likely some in that crowd who knew their history, and thought about the “great enemy,” the Romans, and waved their palm branches with revolution on their minds. A palm branch is a symbol loaded with meaning.  Perhaps, you might be able to think of other symbols like this – both positive and negative.

You see how political things were for Jesus?  He had some influence with the people who followed him and could have claimed power with that influence.  But he didn’t. . .  at least not like everyone else wanted him to.

Many of the people who waved branches and cheered for Jesus could only guess what was on his mind as he rode down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives and up into the city of Jerusalem.  Just so you know the road down the Mount of Olives is very steep and I don’t think we give Jesus enough credit on his colt-riding skills, especially since he was riding a “colt that [had] never been ridden.” (Mark 11:2)  Reading Mark’s account, we don’t know if Jesus was happy about all of the cheering, we just know that he rode into the city, went into the temple, looked around at everything and went back out to Bethany (probably to return the colt that he borrowed).  Nowhere do we read that Jesus met with this group or that group – that he tried to curry favor or play politics.  There were those who had revolution, or the Law, or the Romans, or human political power on their minds, but Jesus had the Kingdom of God on his mind.

It should be noted that in the Bible, the word polis is used to talk about human cities and nations, but it is also used to talk about the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem.  At the end of the Book of Revelation, we see this Holy Polis[8] “coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:2)  The holy city of the Kingdom of God is a place where every tear will be wiped away, where death and mourning and pain will be no more, a place where wholeness and peace and praise will be known by all, and where everyone will dwell fully in the presence of God.  In his earthly ministry – in the ways that he taught and preached and healed – with his very presence among all those who needed him, Jesus sought to create this Kingdom and bring it near.  And in his dying and rising, Jesus brings this Kingdom into full view.  This Kingdom is unlike any other.  It is a Kingdom of grace, made perfect in weakness and vulnerability.[9]

The prophet Isaiah writes about a suffering servant who listens to God, is not rebellious, and doesn’t turn back.  This servant is one who is struck on the face and is insulted and spat upon, and yet he keeps going.  Isaiah uses the image of a “face like flint” (Isaiah 50:7), the face of someone who appears hard and determined.  But if flint is struck in just the right place, the stone will chip, revealing just how vulnerable it can be.  The same can be said of Jesus, who had warned his disciples that the “Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, [rejected by all of the parties and power-brokers in the polis] and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31)

Jesus Christ “humbled himself and become obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)  The cross is a symbol full of meaning because it is the place where the life of God brings an end to death, where God’s love is shown in all of its fullness, where a vulnerable God – a crucified God – shows true and gracious power.  It would seem that Jesus has an agenda all his own – one that so many did not understand, but one that applies to everyone in the human family.  And throughout the gospels, Jesus calls his followers to take up their crosses and follow him.

To follow Jesus does not mean that we will always join a joyous parade.  Sometimes, the march is full of hardship and tears.  But if we are striving for the Kingdom of God, the way is blessed because we have One who goes before us – One who has shown us the way, the truth, and the life.

The way of Jesus is one of non-violence – putting down our swords – of humility and healing, of peace and wholeness.  The truth of Jesus is that he came as a teacher and shows us – in his life and example – how to love and forgive.  The life of Jesus is abundant and full and everlasting.  It is a life that is always seeking, striving, and working for the Kingdom of God, both in the here-and-now and in the yet-to-come.

This is a Kingdom, that we see in the presence and person and humble power of Jesus Christ.  May we seek this Kingdom above all others.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

------

[1] http://news.gallup.com/poll/149201/Americans-Divided-Whether-King-Dream-Realized.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=plaintextlink&utm_term=Politics.

[2] http://www.newsweek.com/martin-luther-king-jr-was-not-always-popular-back-day-780387.

[3] Trailer for King in the Wilderness, documentary – 0:30.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVGRg89DbyM.

[4] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1979) 685.

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics.

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea_(Roman_province).

[7] Luke 7:1-10 (also Matthew 8:5-13), Mark 7:24-30, John 4, Mark 12:18.

[8] Nestle-Aland, ed. Novum Testamentum Graece (Stuttgart:  Deutsche Bibelgesellshaft, 1993) 675 – “hagian polin”.

[9] 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

[firstumcschenectady]

“Here, in the Brokenness” based on Isaiah 64:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37

I don't know if you've noticed it, but things are not as they should be.  Actually, I suspect you have noticed it, but it feels like time to explicitly name two of the very many ways in which this is true.

First of all, our society is and has been awash in sexual harassment and assault.  Many, many men have used whatever power and influence they have in the world for their own pleasure at the expense of others, most often women.  This is not news, per say, and yet there is something happening.  

This is much like the impact of the #BlackLivesMatter movement on police brutality, it isn't that any of the behaviors are new or different, it is that suddenly people are paying attention to the atrocities, and calling for accountability en masse.  Important and powerful men have been removed from the positions they've used abusively.  The status quo is being interrupted, and that's good.

Yet, it isn't good enough.  This week I had the incredible joy of holding the youngest member of our church family in my arms.  (It is GOOD to be pastor.)  I wanted to be able to promise her a world where she wouldn't know sexual harassment or assault, where she will be safe to be whoever she is, where-ever she wants to be, no matter who is nearby, all the time.  The yearning that I had to offer her that world clarified how very far we are from it, AND how desperately needed it is.

Secondly, we live in a country that accepts poverty as a necessary component of life.  Based on our policies, it is OK if people are hungry – whether they are working or not, whether they've applied for SNAP benefits or not, whether they are children or adults. Based on our policies, it is OK if people are homeless, and if a person struggles with addiction – by our policies - it is almost as if they don't deserve to be housed.  Based on our policies, only people who can afford to pay for it deserve the right to health care.  Based on our policies, it is acceptable for those without money to be misrepresented or underrepresented in court, and spend time in jail for crimes they didn't commit.  Based on our current policies, not even children have a right to health care.  

All of these are choices, choices that we have made as a society about what we value and who we value.  Budgets are moral documents, budgets indicate what an organization really values.  Our society values the growth of the economy, the growth of our exceptional military might, and the flow of wealth from the bottom to the top OVER the capacity to care for the vulnerable, the elimination of hunger, the accessibility of health care, the safety of housing, or the fairness of the courts.

Things are NOT as they should be, and those were just two examples.  There are many ways that things are not as they should be.

This is not the first time in history that this has been true.  According to Marcus Borg, the earliest human societies did not have significant wealth differentiation nor oppression.  The first two types of societies were hunter gatherer and early horticultural.  About them, Borg says, “Differentials of wealth and power were minor.”1 However, once full fledged agricultural societies developed about 5000  years ago,  it became possible to generate wealth.  In the time of Jesus agriculture was the primary form of wealth.2 Borg calls the system at the time of Jesus the preindustrial agricultural domination system.3 As far as I can tell, a few things have changed since the time of Jesus: we're now industrial or post industrial and wealth is no longer primarily acquired through agriculture.  

Domination systems that have oppressed the many for the sake of the few have been the norm in the world since the development of full-scale agriculture.  The pieces of the world that concern me the most are all parts of domination systems, ways that the systems are rigged against the majority of the population for the benefit of a small minority.  David Graeber, in “Debt: A History of the first 5000 years” theorizes that the world's major religions have all emerged as a a response to the particular ways that domination systems existed in their parts of the world.4 I'm going to take a stronger theological stance on that and say that God has been at work in the world to disrupt domination systems as long as they have existed, and the particular forms of that work have been formalized into religious traditions.

We hear in the texts today the same yearnings we know in our lives for the world as it SHOULD be rather than the world as it is.  These texts feel familiar to me, to the depths of my soul.  The Hebrew Bible text doesn't JUST come from Isaiah, who is my favorite, it comes from third Isaiah – the last 7 chapters of the book – which is the very best part of Isaiah.  The prophet speaks of deep yearning for God's presence, a presence that would change reality from its brokenness to its fulness.  The prophet remembers times that God has felt present and has made things better.  The prophet celebrates that God is one who cares about how the people treat each other, and yet bemoans that God feels very far away.  In fact, the prophet worries that God is angry because the people have so profoundly mistreated each other, and made peace with a society of deep injustice.  The prophet suggests that because God isn't changing reality, they are stuck living in the mess they made, without God delivering them from it, and that isn't OK at all.  

Oh Isaiah, how can you speak from so long ago truths that can still sting with truth?  I'm sometimes frightened that texts from 2500 years ago are still so accurate, which means that domination systems haven't lost their grip even as they've changed their ways.

At first glance, or first hearing, or for me first 100 hearings, Mark doesn't sound like he is saying the same thing.  Luckily, there are those among you who share things with me when they seem useful, and one of you sent me a reflection that opened my eyes to this text.5

This passage in Mark appears just before the passion narrative begins, Mark is using this text as a foreshadowing of the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Like the passion narrative, it will start in the night and shake the powers of the world.  David Luce writes, “Mark, in other words, isn’t pointing us to a future apocalypse (“revealing”) but rather a present one, as Christ’s death and resurrection change absolutely everything.”6 For the gospel writer of Mark, the yearning represented in Isaiah is FULFILLED by Jesus.  For the gospel writer, Jesus is the presence of God in the world changing things from how they are to how they should be.  At the same time, as Christians today, we know that the work Jesus did in the world wasn't completed in his life, but is ours to continue as the current Body of Christ.

So, the gospel writer speaks of things being pretty bad: suffering, the sun and moon no longer giving the world light, the stars falling to nothingness.  In the midst of that horror, Jesus will break in and transform it all.  The gospel writer encourages people to be looking for the signs that hope is about to break into the brokenness.  The gospel writer, I think, is hoping to encourage people in the midst of some very bad days, to understand the brokenness itself as a sign that things were about to change.

It is hard, nearly 2000 years later, with all the brokenness that has been between then and now to be as certain that the change is right on the horizon.  The yearning is easy to connect with. The hope is imperative to connect with, the but the time frame is harder to buy into.

I do think that God is present with us, and that God is ever working for justice, for dismantling the domination systems, for transforming the world as it is into the kindom itself.  While we seem pretty resilient to God's work, and while many things as are broken around us, I'm told by historians who have a broader view than I do that big and amazing things have gotten better.

Some things aren't all that new, but are pretty cool anyway.  The experiment in universal public education that started in Massachusetts has had a huge impact on the world and its literacy. All of those hospitals that various churches started over the centuries have had an amazing impact in global health and longevity.

According to the annual letter from the Gates Foundation (one of my favorite reads), in the past 25 years childhood mortality rates for kids under 5 have dropped by 50%!  Most of these preventable deaths have been prevented because global vaccine access has increased, and 86% of the world's kids are now adequately vaccinated.  The Gates Foundation says that 300 million women in the developing world now have access to and use contraception, which increases maternal and child health, decreases childhood morality rates, increases education, and lowers poverty.  These 300 million women represent over half of the women seeking to have it, but they're actively working on it, and the problem will be cut by over half again by 2020!  As a reminder as well, since 1990, worldwide extreme poverty (living on less than $2 a day) has been cut in HALF.7

The news that we hear mostly focuses on the broken, and in the past year entirely too much of my attention has been on the broken.  We live in a world of domination systems, and many many things are broken.  At the same time, God IS at work in the world, working with people, and together we are making many things better.  

Dear ones, the world is broken, and things are not as they should be.

AND

God is at work in the world, there are many things that are getting better, and the work we do matters.

It is all true.  And here in the brokenness, we yearn for God's kindom to come, just as Isaiah did, just as Mark did, and as God's people have through the ages.  May the day come when the yearning is fulfilled.  Amen

1Marcus Borg, “Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary” (USA: HarperOne, 2006)  79-80. (Quote on 80.)

2Borg, 80-81.

3Borg, 79.

4David Graeber, Debt: The First 5000 Years (Brooklyn and London: Melville House, 2011), p. 83.

5David Luce, email/blog  entitled “...In the Meantime” Posted: 27 Nov 2017 07:50 AM PST  Found at http://www.davidlose.net/2017/11/advent-1-b-a-present-tense-advent/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+davidlose%2FIsqE+%28...In+the+Meantime%29.

6Luce.

7Bill and Melinda Gates “Dear Warren: Our 2017 Annual Letter”  written February 14, 2017 https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter?WT.mc_id=02_14_2017_02_AL2017GFO_GF-GFO_&WT.tsrc=GFGFO accessed December 2, 2017.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

December 3, 2017

[jameshboyd]

Humor in the Bible

"Are Christians allowed to laugh, have fun and enjoy life?"

When discussing my faith with others, this issue comes up frequently from Christians and non-Christians alike. When I was first introduced to the Gospel as a teenager, I asked it myself, and with good reason. To be sure, the call to follow Jesus is a very serious and sober one, commanding us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, even if it means laying down our very lives (Matthew 10:39; John 12:25). But the next question deals with how we apply this commitment to our lives on a day-to-day basis. Does Jesus' call to self-denial and holiness mean that we cannot enjoy even the legitimate pleasures of life? I don't think so. Laughter is one of the most primal responses human beings are capable of experiencing. Philosophers and psychologists have long sought to understand its complexities on emotional and physical levels. Journalist Norman Cousins credited the healing power of laughter to his recovery from a fatal illness. Jane Wollman points out that "(Laughter) excercises the diaphram and stomach muscles, in addition to massaging the internal organs. Moreover, by stirring up the endocrine system, it triggers the release of hormones that boost metabolism...Sigmund Freud thought laughter originated from the smile of an infant falling asleep at the breast-the emotional expression of pleasurable satiety (2)." Of course, for those who love the Bible, these healthy effects of laughter should come as no surprise. Thousands of years earlier, Proverbs 17:22 told us how "...a merry heart does good like a medicine." We read in Psalm 24:1 that "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof (King James Translation)." 1 Timothy 6:17 further tells us that God gives it all to us for our enjoyment. and that "the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)." It even states that God Himself sits in Heaven and laughs at human foolishness (Psalm 2:4). The Bible uses words such as “laugh,” “laughter,“ or other variations of those words over 200 times. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery tells us that “The Bible is predominantly a serious rather than a funny book. Yet it would distort the Bible to suppress the humor that is present (3).” As with all of life, the key is balance. As Ecclesiastes tells us, there is both a time to weep and a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Mark Pinski, former religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel, rightly observes that:

(T)he ability to laugh at one’s faith is a sign of growth and theological maturity... humor is a way of explaining religion — to its adherents and to others. Increasingly, believing members of orthodox faith traditions are able to joke about their foibles and shortcomings before an audience of their community (4).

With these facts established, we will now look at a few specific examples of humor in the Bible. First let’s look at the Book of Exodus, chapter 32. Moses has been on Mount Sinai communing with God and receiving the Ten Commandments. While he was gone, he leaves his brother Aaron in charge. Unfortunately, though, we know what happens. The people’s commitment to God and to Moses turns out to be very fickle, and they have Aaron melt down their gold and make a golden calf idol for them to worship. Obviously, when Moses returns, he is not happy! He burns the idol, grinds it to powder, mixes it with water, and makes the people drink it. Is this funny? No, except for one place. When Moses confronts Aaron in verse 21, look at Aaron’s response in verses 22-24: "Don’t get so upset, my lord, … You yourself know how evil these people are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!” We may laugh at that, but in reality, haven’t we all given God those kind of excuses at some point? Next let’s look at 1 Kings chapter 18. This is the familiar story of Elijah and his showdown with the prophets of Baal. As most of you will recall, they had both built their altars and were engaged in a contest to determine who was serving the true God. The challenge was that both would call down fire from Heaven to consume their respective sacrifices and the one who answered was the one to be worshipped. The prophets of Baal went first, but they had a problem: Their god, Baal was only a statue. He could not hear them, let alone answer them. So when they called on him to send down the fire, obviously, they got nothing. Now the funny part: We see Elijah respond with a little sanctified “trash talking” in verse 27. The King James words it "And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." In that day, "on a journey" was a Hebrew euphamism for going to the bathroom! This is reflected in many modern translations. In other words, “Where is you god, sitting on the toilet?” So ladies, cut your husbands some slack: "Potty humor" is biblical! Next, let’s look at that venerable guide for practical wisdom, the Book of Proverbs. Millions of believers, myself included, look to it regularly for important life lessons. But what we often miss is that they are often cloaked in very funny terms. Here are some examples:

Proverbs 11:22 A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

Proverbs 19:24 Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Proverbs 22:13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”

Next we will look at the life of Jesus. Did He have a sense of humor? Now it is true that Isaiah 53:3 describes Him as a “man of sorrows,” but does that describe the whole of His human experience? I don't believe it does. Always keep in mind that Jesus was both fully God and fully human, and a part of being fully human is experiencing the full range of human emotion, both the joys and the sorrows. Jesus was not the dour, gloomy person that popular religious tradition has often painted Him as being. He "rejoiced (Luke 10:21)," which is the Greek word agalliaô which means "to exult, rejoice exceedingly, be exceeding glad." He was not a far-off ascetic who simply sat on a mountain at spouted platitudes. He met people where they were. He attended weddings and other social functions (John 2:1-11), even to the extent that He was (falsely) accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). People from all walks of life actively sought out His company. Did you ever wonder why this was? While the spiritual aspects of His presence are obvious, could it have also been that He was (gasp) a fun guy to be around? Unfortunately, though, this side of Jesus is a much-neglected course of study in the theological world. However, a notable exception is the popular book called “The Humor of Christ” by a Quaker author named Elton Trueblood. Mr. Trueblood tells us of his inspiration for writing the book:

We were reading to our eldest son from the seventh chapter of Matthew' Gospel, feeling very serious, when suddenly the little boy began to laugh. He laughed because he saw how preposterous it would be for a man to be so deeply concerned about a speck in another person's eye, that he was unconscious of the fact that his own eye had a beam in it...His laughter was a rebuke to his parents for their failure to respond to humor in an unexpected place. (5)

Here Mr. Trueblood brings up a vitally important point: Many of Jesus' parables and illustrations had humorous overtones in the vernacular of that day. A common form of communication for Jews in that day was called hyperbole, or exaggeration to emphasize a point. A modern example would be “I haven’t seen you in a million years!” Here, Jesus uses it in a very funny way. Being a carpenter, He used the tools of His trade to make a stinging point about religious hypocrisy. “Why are you worried about a speck in your brother’s eye when you have a two-by-four in your own eye?” Another example: Matthew 15, starting with verse 21. A gentile woman comes to Jesus asking Him to heal her demon possessed daughter. But Jesus reply is shocking: “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel…It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” I have to admit that Jesus' response here always bothered me a little. At first glance, it seems that Jesus is being very cruel and insulting to this woman. That is, until you consider the humor element. Look at her response in verse 27: “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” Basically, she had just “one-upped” the Lord, and He commends her great faith and sets her daughter free. Elton Trueblood also reminds us that “Often a smile comes because Jesus reveals to us some of the absurdity of our own lives, where we need help to recognize it (6).” I can certainly say "amen" to that, can't you? Now I would like to address a topic that will no doubt prove to be a bit controversial: Exactly what kind of humor is appropriate for Christians? More specifically, I want to spend a little time talking about profanity, crude language and "off-color" humor. Our movies are rated primarily in three areas: Sexual content, violence and language. While we certainly do need to use discernment in how we address and evaluate these topics, many well-meaning believers say that we need to avoid any and all references to them. Of course, if we take this to its logical conclusion, then the first book we will have to throw away is the Bible itself! Lets face it: The Bible is, in places, a very violent book! Yes, it is God's Word, and as such, it does not ignore the darker aspects of life. The Bible describes a man getting a tent peg hammered through his skull (Judges 5:23-27). It tells us how King David paid his wife's dowry with 100 Philistine Foreskins (2 Samuel 3:14). It even describes, in very graphic detail, an overweight king named Eglon who was assassinated with a sword, soiling himself in the process (Judges 3:21-22)! And as for sexuality, have you read the Song of Solomon lately? Of course, the context is always the key. By including these stories, the Bible is not encouraging gratuitous violence. It is simply acknowledging that it does exist in the fallen world we live in. Furthermore, the Song of Solomon is not condoning perverse or promiscuous sexual conduct. Rather, it is a liberating celebration of sexuality between a man and his wife. I personally am glad that many Christian leaders are more willing to discuss these topics in an honest and frank manner (7). Locking away any topic as being "taboo" will ultimately do more harm than good. This is why much of what is offered as "wholesome" entertainment is often a shallow, unrealistic characature of life. I enjoy "Leave it to Beaver" reruns as much as anyone, but that is definitely not the world I live in! But the question still remains: When, if ever, is it appropriate for Christians to use "off-color" language? A certain well-known minister once shocked his audience by stating that "...millions of people are starving to death, and most of you don't give a ----!" He went on to rebuke them by saying that "The sad thing is, most of you are more upset at my using that word than you are about people starving!" Was this the best way to make his point? That is open to debate, but it does call challenge us in how we are going to define "bad words." Often, the word "profanity" is used to describe any and all forms of off-color language, but that goes beyond its actual meaning. The word "profanity" means "outside the Temple" and refers specifically to blasphemous or sacriligious terms. Of course, this should not be part of any Christians vocabulary (Exodus 20:7). Nor should immoral sexual talk (Ephesians 5:4) or racist or otherwise degrading language (Matthew 5:22). These principles are summed up in the following Biblical guidelines:

"No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.”- Ephesians 5:4

"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."-Colossians 3:8, NIV

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."-Colossians 4:6, NIV

Yet outside of these common-sense perimeters, the Bible simply does not give us an explicit list of "forbidden" words that we are never allowed to utter under any circumstances. More often than not, the definition of "bad words" is culturally determined rather than biblically mandated, and is therefore subject to change over time. For example, the word "gay" is now almost universally recognized as referring to homosexuality. Yet originally, it meant to be happy or light hearted. Similarly, to "have an affair" once meant to throw a dinner party or other social gathering. Now it means to commit adultery. "Grass" used to be something people mowed, now it is something people smoke! This is noteworthy because the Bible itself even uses rather crude language on occasion. Although it is sometimes obscured by our flowery King James English, there is an inherant "earthiness" to the Scriptures that is often overlooked.

Isaiah 64:6 states that man's righteousness is as "filthy rags." Literally translated, this is referring to a bloody menstruel cloth.

Matthew 15:17- Jesus illustrates a point by referring to a bowel movement.

Matthew 23:33- Jesus calls the religious leaders a "generation of vipers," or "sons of snakes." Referring to someone as the offspring of an animal remains a common and forceful means of denunciation. The modern equivilent would be "son of a (not-nice word for a female dog)."

Galatians 5:11-12- Paul wishes that the false teachers in the church would castrate themselves.

Phillipians 3:8- Paul compares his pre-Christian life to fesces.

So am I trying to justify bad language? Not at all. I am simply saying that we should define our terminology by the Bible itself, not simply letting cultural norms dictate to us what does and does not constitute improper language. God is not as prudish as we may have been led to believe! God gave us life to be enjoyed. Jesus said "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)" (John 10:10, Amplified Bible). This is why Christians should be having more fun than anyone on earth! It only makes sense that people who are going to Heaven would be happier than people who are going to Hell! Not only that, this joy gives us a very powerful tool with which we can communicate both our faith and our humanity. In the words of Joel Hunter, Pastor of Northland Church in Orlando, Florida:

"The more seriously we take God, the less seriously we need to take ourselves. Self-deprecating humor not only reduces the intimidation factor, it personifies the possibility of success of people with flaws. Pastors who can joke about their own shortcomings are paradoxically making the ideals of religion seem more possible by putting them in a common human experience (8)."

It is sometimes said that "The medium is the message." While that may be true to some degree, we must also make sure that the medium does not obscure or compromise the message. As we have seen, there is certainly a place for humor in communicating spiritual truth, we must never let that distract from the seriousness of our message. The minister's chief role is to be a messenger of God, not simply an entertainer. The Bible says that walking with God is a life of pleasure (Psalm 16:11), delight (Psalm 37:4), sweetness (Psalm 119:103), joy (John 15:11) and freedom (John 8:32). Yet this relationship is built on very somber realities. In short, God is holy, man is sinful, but God loves us in spite of that. In His death on the cross, Jesus paid our sin debt so that we could receive God's forgiveness and experience this joy both here and forever! If you have never entered into this relationship, why not open you heart to Him now? © 2011 JHB NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture referances are from the New Living Translation.

1-Quoted in Allen, Steve. How To Be Funny: Discovering the Comic You. 1987. Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY. p 7. 2-Dictionary of Biblical Imagery: An Encyclopedia Exploration of the Images, Symbols, Motifs, Metaphors, Figures of Speech, Literary Patterns and Universal Master Images of the Bible By Leland Ryken, Jim Wilhoit, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman, Colin Duriez, Douglas Penney, Daniel G. Reid Published by InterVarsity Press, 1998 p. 407 3-Pinski, Mark I. "On Religion" column." Putting the 'Fun' in Fundamentalism." USA Today. December 08, 2008. 4-Trueblood, Elton. The Humor of Christ. 1964. Harper & Row Publishers. New York, Evanston and London. P 9 5-Ibid. p 50 5-Altough he is a controversial figure,. I gratefully acknowledge various teachings from Pastor Mark Driscoll as a source and inspiration for portions of this message. 8-Quoted in Pinski,"Putting the 'fun' in fundamentalism" cited above.

#jameshboyd #keepitreal #yourfriendjames

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[g-hanbax]

The Meaning of Suffering: A Reflective Understanding Based on Christian Philosophy

By G-Han Bax

3/3/16

     A specific suffering may not be a consequence nor a punishment, sometimes, it can be seen as a blessing once you look back; or simply a test. We experience pain and suffering everyday in different manifestations and experiences. Suffering is much more than a psychological experience, knowing that some sufferings are physiological. To make the experience more understandable in its category and phenomenology, it is more like a “personal” experience and not just closed to a psychological or physiological one. It is undeniably true that we do suffer and feel pain, and so I want the readers to learn something we can apply in our daily lives. A change of perspective perhaps, a touch on the emotions, mentality and spirituality, that this information will not only be for this day or the next, but it will be a thought that can hopefully help every individual (specifically the suffering Christians); that it will be a lesson that we’ll bring and pass for the rest of our lives. I’m going to deal with a topic where everyone is not excused, and that is, obviously, “suffering.”

  What is with suffering? What is the meaning of all these experiences? Is there even meaning to it? Suffering is true to everyone, and it is truly an actuality to the christian, in all the days of his/her life in this world, especially on the sanctification stage, which is the setting apart or the process of becoming holy. Either he/she is experiencing the effects of sin, the consequence of sin, the presence of sin, or even the tempting desire to sin. I want the readers to have perspective that will enable them to see the positive side of suffering without prejudice –it may sound like a paradox but as we reflect on our own lives, we see that we actually are products of our past suffering self. Suffering is necessary, and it is inevitable as well, whether you’re a Buddhist, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Christian, an agnostic or even an atheist, we can never deny the presence of pain. The only difference we have is how we view it in our lives: Some appreciate it, some think it’s a curse, some view it as chance, while others pretend it’s not real.

   What philosophical and theological insights have we come up so far? In scripture, pain and suffering were experienced by every biblical character, even Jesus Himself felt so much agony during the crucifixion and throughout His whole life, and guess what, Jesus even experienced death itself. The bible is clear in the book of Hebrews that everyone has their own time to die (Hebrews 9:27), jumping a bit on the death situation from the pain experience; death is inevitable and such fact triggers the evangelists to preach the gospel for the people who deeply need Jesus in their life because they might die any minute. I’m not saying that that fact is the motivation for evangelism, it’s just an awareness to every evangelist that death is certain and that the gospel must be preached. We also have Job, where in the book of Job, the message clearly emphasizes and elaborates the meaning of suffering and pain, that Job’s sufferings were indeed tests of his faith and character, that God is supreme and He will do whatever pleases Him, and that there are still so many things beyond our comprehension. Graciously, God restored and even doubled what Job lost. When I first read the book of Job, I felt so uncomfortable, I felt that what was happening was unfair and unnecessary for Job, but then, God’s sovereignty cleaned it all up, that God gives and God also takes away. Indeed, the promise found in 1 Peter 5:10 is true, “ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

   Evil is real whether we believe in it or not, evil being felt is what pain is, while evil being experienced is what suffering is. My philosophical understanding of evil based on christian philosophy and theodicy is another topic on my blog (The Six A’s: A Theodical and Systematic Approach on Evil). I will not try to explain my thoughts in a way like I truly understand everything about pain, from experience to explanation. I myself can tell that my experience of suffering and pain are far less compared to some people I know and have read or heard about. But what I can help in this discourse is that I will try to philosophically explain the meaning of suffering based on christian philosophy and theology, real experiences, true events in life, and also through analogical terms to acquire practical applications that can change our perspective on the matter.

Wisdom and Experience

  Suffering can be experienced in many different things and ways, it may be through waiting, battles in life, oppression, persecutions, depression, being lost or even losing a loved one. But what good does it do to us when we encounter such moments? Is there even good in moments of suffering? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Such moments teach us significant lessons in life, and you are not taught by it but you’re taught through it, and I just appreciate how Aeschylus, the Greek philosopher, simply said it in his early time, and I quote, “Wisdom comes through suffering.“ Short but simple, and we see that many times in scripture, Paul learned so much when he was in prison, Job understood more about God’s character and power after his trials, Jesus encountered Satan with his temptations in the wilderness before He completely started His ministry. We know this is true and we’ve come to such wisdom ourselves, basing it from our personal experience of suffering itself. We learn from difficulty and tests, that’s why we have exams in school, for a student learns when the student is challenged. 

   A common saying goes “experience is the best teacher”, well, it truly depends. Experience is not a person, it’s only something we go through. The Christian worldview suggests that no, experience is not the best teacher, God is. For it is God who ultimately gives or allows people to go through particular experiences in life. Through our life experiences, we’re able to learn life lessons and gain wisdom according to God’s will. These life lessons are given to us to make us better people, being able to understand reality in a deeper sense, capable of teaching others for them to be prepared of their own trials, giving advice to people to do or not do such and such, and personally, to be able to be mentally prepared for future challenges awaiting at the trail of life. 

Most of life’s most important teachings are taught to us in our sufferings. “The shortest route is not always the best route, because often times it can bypass life’s most important lessons.” Just like Abraham, Moses, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, Joseph, the disciples, and the apostles, they know the value and the importance of suffering when it comes to learning. Wisdom is taught best during the test. 

An Indicator and for Awareness

  The second point I want to tell you starts from a story about a young girl named Ashlyn Blocker, a 12 year old, who is suffering from CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis). There was a time when her mother asked for prayers during an interview, because it is dangerous for her daughter to not feel pain, maybe she would step into thorns and bleed herself to death and many other situations that need indication. Ashlyn’s mother said something like this on radio, “How I always pray that my daughter will feel pain.” Isn’t it ironic? That that which parents don’t want their children to experience, here we see the other way around in their story? Turns out, pain is a need, it is not compulsory but it’s necessary. Pain is an indication that there is something wrong, and as we become aware, we seek to find a solution. Suffering may not be the answer but it will tell you to find an answer and might even bring you there.

  I am not saying that even in heaven, pain will be a need, just that, here in our world, evil exists as an actuality and that we need indicators to tell us what is wrong to bring us to what is right. Just as how God also punishes us with pain and suffering many times in our life as a consequence to our sins, we are reminded that these moments give us indications that we have done something wrong, and that we need to correct our mistakes. 

  Another point of suffering as an indicator is that suffering can lead the skeptic to philosophical questions that would lead him to God. Having felt pain, this leads the skeptic to an idea of what evil feels like. And so, the skeptic asks himself “why evil exists?” Realizing that evil exists, he then rationalized that good then necessarily exists. But then if evil and good exists, there must be somewhat a standard into which anyone could determine which is which, and so, we’ll call it a moral standard or law. A moral standard is abstract and in itself in-explainable. If we live in an all-material world, there would be no reason to believe in abstract concepts, but then abstract concepts are real, like mathematics and morality. Therefore, we aren’t living in an all-material world. Following the logic above, if the universe is not only matter but also metaphysical, since concepts are contained within, just as how every physical thing requires a cause, abstract concepts within the universe necessarily begs for a cause. The moral standard mentioned earlier, fundamentally requires a personal cause that set the standard in place. The moral standard or moral law, begs for a moral law giver. The moral law giver is described to be non-physical, moral, emotional, beyond time, can act on the physical, holy, loving, and may seem to care on humanity; in which the basic descriptions match the biblical God. Point is, pain as an indicator, can bring people in the light of the knowledge of God. 

Discipline and Toughening

  The third point is this, in metallurgy and materials science, there are various heat treatment processes that are necessary to harden or toughen metals, like normalizing, case hardening, tempering, and annealing. For example --Annealing, it’s a process where you heat up a metal in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it. And as we understand the concept of this process, we can easily reflect in our lives, that just like us, our present sufferings prepares us for the next. We get stronger every time we overcome one. Meaning, we can find meaning in the middle of the heat, and we understand that the heat we are experiencing may be painful but it will result to us becoming better and stronger. Even plants and trees grow in both sunny and rainy days. With the help of the sun’s light and heat and the rain’s water, each factor contributes to the growth of a plant in the process. The experience is not constant, there will be changes in the situation to stretch our threshold. The saying “God will not give you what you can’t bear” is actually unbiblical, many times in scripture, God went over the limit to test His people, God actually gives us tests beyond what we can bear. And that is the true test, so that in situations of pain, we will rely only in Him and that we will completely be dependent on our Lord. 

A powerful verse found in James 1:3:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

  Just to mention, In John Hick’s Soul Making Theodicy, although I don’t completely agree with all his points, he emphasized this point clearly, in a way that God uses pain and suffering to mold us to the person He wants us to be, that as we encounter such trials, we become more complete than ever; or we become closer to the person that God wants us to be.

The Contrast and The Reward

  And lastly, it’s about the contrast between pleasure and pain. We need to understand the order and the correlation between the two. These two are undeniable experiential realities that give depth to each other through their phenomenology, that there is actually a fake pleasure and a genuine pleasure in life: fake pleasure is when pleasure comes first then pain, while genuine pleasure is when pain comes first then pleasure itself. We experience the delight of pleasure by contrasting our experience to the horror of pain. It’s hard to appreciate light without darkness, we can’t simply define things in a self-explanatory manner without the phenomenological counterpart (unless it’s axiomatic), pain emphasizes pleasure. 

  Sometimes life’s blessings blind us from our real condition, and so, God takes the necessary step to twist our hands and let us see our situation which is actually really destruction. Through this pain, we get to experience the pleasure of being free from our destructive condition. Another example is this: A rich man who doesn’t appreciate anything anymore due to the abundance and mediocrity of his wealth, and then in an instance, God takes away his riches. Then he suffers, it may be painful for him in such moment, but it’s also the time when he appreciates every bit of financial blessing he’ll receive that the real pleasure is not really in the gifts but Giver. Sometimes our brokenness fixes us, only through Christ. He breaks us in order to build us with the parts He wants us to be built with. We are able to contrast the real pleasure from the fake one by experiencing pain. God is the ultimate reward to all of this, being able to go to Him and having the will to do so because of pain and the long for comfort, is a blessing. The very moment then of suffering, in this context, is grace from above. 

  In the Philippines, where we have multiple shared and confused cultures, some people would always expect for something good after experiencing something bad, or a reward after a suffering. But has anyone ever thought of this in a different way? Has anyone ever considered that maybe the suffering is the blessing? Maybe because what you’re suffering for is really what you’re suffering from (a break up from an immoral relationship, losing money or material things that has become your idol, letting go of people who lead you away from God , etc.). And undergoing a suffering of letting go, or a reboot and repair will be the healthy way out. But first, it will be painful but through this pain, genuine pleasure awaits, and that would be a reward no money can buy

What’s My Move?

  When we are in a situation –situations of pain and suffering, changing the situation is not as easy as we think, but what we can control is our perspective of it, that God allowed such things to happen in your life and mine for a specific purpose. This is what is called as “God’s permissive will.” Our God is a loving God, yet He also is wrathful enough to punish evil. Our evil acts are punished by wrath but He is also kind enough to teach us lessons while punishing us, so not all pain are actually punishments, some are actually blessings from the Most High. Care can be shown in anger, love can be expressed through a punishment, and beauty can be found in wrath. So, instead of being depressed and being a grumbler to God in the situation, think about the outcome, also, think about your size compared to God, that who are we to question the perfect God and His plans(Romans 9:20)? Not that we aren’t allowed to be curious or to inquire, but when we try to probe God and challenge Him, we need to first understand that not all things are for us to understand. 

  Pain is truly a temporary feeling, although some wounds can never be healed again, still, the experience can teach us many things in life that could last a lifetime, like the presence of pain, the comfort only God can give, the hope of eternal life, and so on. I believe, no wound is too severe for God, every wound can be healed, we just have to accept the reality of it. The confidence we have in our suffering, which is our advantage, is that we are certain that God’s plan is perfect and that God is with us in our sufferings. “He knows you’re suffering and He knows your sufferings.” No one is excused when you talk about problems, even the richest of men experience pain, both sides of the coin can fall facing the ground, whether a person is a believer or not, but the difference between a believer and a non-believer when encountering such trials in life is not that the other will experience less pain, but on how they will respond to a problem, the very perspective and attitude of one in his/her situation.

The christian has meaning in his/her suffering, and that he has hope, and I’m not saying this in a way that the christian has a make-belief kind of hope to help him during his/her suffering, or basically, a psychological defense mechanism and that’s why he/she believes what he/she believes, hopefully, that’s not the reason for any believer’s faith. Technically, such thinking is faulty, and generalizing Christians that they think this way is a faulty generalization as well, and truly, this hope is not the foundation of faith, but rather, just a by-product of faith.

Conclusion

 To conclude, we have four points in this discourse: wisdom, indication, discipline, and reward, things we get in it, through it and after it. Suffering is a natural phenomenon in this lifetime, in it, it makes you weak and it can make you weep. But remember that in storms, a rainbow comes along, in dark valleys, a green meadow awaits on the other side, and in our scariest nights, the morning sunshine welcomes us. In the midst of suffering, a lesson can be learned and the seek for comfort is in progress. From a problem to pain to peace, in a sequence like this, God makes someone a better person than he always was. Every time you fall down, you just give God another reason to pull you back up, not only that we should persevere in these moments, but we also need to pray and prepare for what’s next to come. So, Is there meaning in suffering? In the christian worldview, absolutely yes. 

  Not only does Christian philosophy explain the meaning of suffering but it can also explain the root cause of suffering. God permitted the evil we feel and experience for His greater purpose, according to His perfect will, nothing in this world is beyond His control, that’s why we can’t say that it’s just there and meaningless. Pain and suffering is not only an individual experience, it is a social experience as well, like if your friend has a problem, your family member has cancer, and etc., you get to share the pain and problem as well, and that’s the power of empathy. Point is, the purpose of the pain of one, can be for another, the death of a parent can be for the growth and strengthening of a child. So if you ask for the meaning of a particular event or a person’s death, remember that even in the Old Testament, whenever God judges to kill someone, everyone gets to see. The purpose is to tell and display to everyone the reality of death, the effect of sin, the temporariness of this earthly life, and the wickedness of man– even Jesus wept when He saw Lazarus dead, even though He would revive him later on, and that’s because He saw the condition of man.

 One’s (a believer) physical death may be the end of his/her temporary life, the family and friends may weep at his/her death, but think about the end of pain in his/her experience, what the family and friends weep about, actually, is his/her joy and comfort (1 Kings 14:12-13 ). We should always put in mind, whether we like it or not, that everyone has their own time to die (Hebrews 9:27, Ecclesiastes 3), that’s why the gospel must be preached before it’s too late. Evil, a by-product or directly a product of poor human choices. So punishment, which is God’s response to our sin, are supposed to be meaningless and purposeless events which can only be explained by itself, but it’s not, God still puts purpose and meaning in our suffering, He never leaves us in pain if there’s nothing to gain. 

  God didn’t create evil but God allows it as a means to bring you to Him and highlight His goodness, not in a selfish way but in an understanding that God loves you so much that He knows that true joy and comfort can only be found in Him, that’s why He wants you to be with Him, not because He needs you but because you need Him. I tell you, if your discomfort is the only way for you to seek for God, then surely, God will give you discomfort to bring you to Him. He would rather take the small risk of letting you experience some pain than for you to fall to sin and be eternally separated from Him, which is the ultimate pain. In our experiences, God gets all the glory, in satisfying His wrath and His love, He alone deserves the praise, before the storm, after the storm, and even during the storm, and also, it is only through God and in God that it is possible to have purpose in pain. God does His part, and that is to guide us and help us whenever we fall, so we should also do our part, and that is to endure the pain, being completely dependent on our Helper.

So in our problems and pain, are we willing to learn a lesson? Are we willing to be strengthened? Are we willing to endure and persevere? Are we still willing to praise God no matter what? In such moments, don’t waste the experience, let it mold you to the way God wants you to be. Adjust what needs to be adjusted and control what needs to be controlled.

Let us be joyful in such times as how James reminds us in his book to be joyful in the face of trials. When God puts us into test, He doesn’t remove the joy in us in our pain, but rather, He clearly makes us understand that even in the middle of pain, we can still have joy, not because of our situation but because He alone is the source of Joy. So, before this ends, I just want to leave two verses that can empower us in such stages in life; I don’t know if you are experiencing any pain or suffering right now, that you are being persecuted for your faith, yes, persecutions are inevitable, and it is inescapable, Jesus already told us from the start that these things will come, but what are persecutions compared to the promise? To be persecuted in the name of Jesus is not a burden, it is deeply and graciously a privilege.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

and in

Revelation 21:4,

John says:

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  

                                                    Ladies and gentlemen, pain and suffering come and go, but our hope is found in Christ, knowing that someday, it will end. God bless everyone.

PS: This is a speech I wrote as my final exam in my speech class back when I was still in my second year in college, glory to God that I got a high grade on it. The title was simply “The Meaning of Suffering”, I tried to avoid the ‘religious feel’ of the speech when I first wrote it to open it to everyone, since my audience were just my random classmates, so I made something that touched the christian faith, and started with real and experiential concepts, then ended it with how christian philosophy makes so much sense because of this reality, implicitly telling them the Christian message. Now that I decided to post this on my blog, I added many thoughts to clarify my words and points, I also added a more ‘religious feel’ into it, since there's no one stopping me now lol. Although, I just wrote this directly with no meticulous examination and correction, I won’t be surprised if there are syntax and grammatical errors in it, so forgive me in advance and consider, if ever you are a grammar Nazi. I hope the message will be clear to anyone who wishes to read. Specifically, the audience in this revised piece are Christians, just to be clear, but if you’re not Christian, you’re free to read and learn.

[dailyaudiobible]

11/4/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 10:1-11:25; Hebrews 6:1-20; Psalms 105:16-36; Proverbs 27:1-2

Today is the fourth day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. And here we are at the end of another week, a week that has switched months for us, and launched us into the 11th month of the year. And day by day we get closer to the destination - the completion of the Bible. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. We have much territory to cover. And we’ll take the next step forward into the Scriptures today. So, we've been reading from the Good News translation this week, which is what we'll do today. Ezekiel chapter 10 verse 1 through 11 verse 25 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Hebrews today, the last verse that we read we encounter an interesting name that harkens back to the Old Testament. The verse reads, on our behalf Jesus has gone there before us and has become a high priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek. And tomorrow, when we encounter the book of Hebrews, we’ll be hearing much more about Melchizedek. And, so, we probably need talk about him a little bit. So, I'm going to start that today by just explaining who Melchizedek is and where he shows up in the Bible. And we’ll probably only get through the Old Testament part of that. But we'll talk about it more tomorrow. So, who is Melchizedek and why is he compared to Jesus in the book of Hebrews? Now, when you start digging into that territory, it starts getting complicated really fast, and the waters get very murky, and you find everything from remarkable correlations to fantastical things that you would expect to read in an adventure or fantasy novel. So, if you want to lose yourself down that rabbit hole, there's plenty of stuff to read about it, but if you want to stick to Biblical scholarship, then you’ve still got a lot of thoughts about a lot of things. So, we don’t have several hours to talk about this and I am nowhere near a leading expert on it, but over time I have done enough research and scholarship on it to at least give us some context and a little bit of a baseline, maybe just like a little platform from which you can do as many deep dives as you personally want to do. But in terms of what we do here every day, as we go through a portion of Scripture and apply it to our lives, context is important. So, let's try to get some context. Melchizedek is a figure that first appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis chapter 14. And, obviously, we read that many months ago, back in the month of January. The story is about Abraham and Lot in a battle where there were five kings against four kings and Lot was captured and taken away in this battle and Abraham went in pursuit and recovered everything. And on his way back, he runs into this figure, Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of the most high God. And Abraham pays him a 10% tithe of the plunder from the battle and Melchizedek then, in turn, blesses them. So, no big deal so far, just the retelling of an event that happened and, perhaps, the first theological handle that we have in the Bible relating to Melchizedek is a distinction. So, let's look at that real quick. I'm reading from Genesis chapter 14. After Abram returned from his victory over Chedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shiva, that is the King's Valley, and Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God most high, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing. Blessed be Abram by God most high Creator of heaven and earth and blessed be God most high who was defeated your enemies for you. Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the good he’d recovered. The king of Sodom said to Abram, give back my people who were captured, but you may keep for yourself all the good you have recovered. Abram replied to the king of Sodom, I solemnly swear to the Lord God most high, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say I am the one who made Abram rich. I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Okay, so, before we can point out the distinction, we just have to understand what's going on here. Abram has met God. God has invited Abram into a land that he would be shown and he's following God's directions. Understand, Abraham's not following Scriptures. He’s not referring to prophecies. None of that has happened yet. So, the Bible that we are reading hasn't happened yet at all, but Abram knows who he is always following and that his entire destiny is based upon that relationship because he's left behind his home and all of the resources and culture that he's used to navigating. And he's away from all of that and he’s pursuing the direction of the God who introduced himself to him. So, he’s clear that his life is in God's hands. So, we have the king of Salem, who is a priest of the most high God, who is coming out and blesses Abram. Of course, Abram in rescuing his kin, Lot, also saves the necks of a bunch of kings. One of them, the king of Sodom, who expects that he will have to reward Abram for what he's done and he’s trying to negotiate that deal. Abram makes a distinction. He gives a tithe - a tenth to Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, but tells the king of Sodom he won't take anything. He’s not taking anything from anyone in terms of plunder because in no way is he leaving the door open so later someone will be able to say that they made Abram. Right? That they made Abraham who he is. Abram is acknowledging God alone. So, we can say that. We can say that solidly. And that's our first introduction to Melchizedek. Abraham makes a distinction between the king of Salem, priest of the most high God, and the other kings. So, who is this guy and does his name mean something? According the Scriptures, Melchizedek is the king of Salem, also known as Jerusalem. So, Melchizedek is a Canaanite king who rules the region and city of Jerusalem, also known as Salem. And the majority of biblical scholars would agree on that. What does his name mean? So, Melchizedek - the king of righteousness or maybe more literally, my king is righteous, or maybe even more literally, my king is right. And that's it. Melchizedek only shows up one other time in the Old Testament by name and that is found in the Psalms. Psalm 110 verse 4, which reads, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And thoughts about this begin to spray off in all kinds of different directions from there. And, I mean, and you can see how. The order of Melchizedek, what is that? I mean, that sounds like the title to a thriller, does it not? I mean, what is the order of Melchizedek and how does one get into the club? So, we have to, first, acknowledge that a lot of things happen between Abraham and King David writing Psalms. Right? So, Abraham has Isaac. Isaac then sires Jacob and Esau. Jacob's name changes to Israel. He has kids. They become the children of Israel. They are enslaved in Egypt. They are freed from Egypt. They wander in the wilderness. They come into the promised land, that is the conquest. We go through generation after generation after generation of judges and then kingship is introduced into the culture with King Saul and then comes David. So, a lot happens between the two times Melchizedek is named in the Old Testament. And even though a lot has happened, a lot of ground has been covered and a lot of years of past, Melchizedek doesn't disappear from their thought. Even though he was only mentioned two times in the Old Testament far apart in history, he is still being referred to. Why would that be? Why would this obscure event in Abraham's life that refers to an ancient Canaanite king who happened to the be a priest of the most high God continue forward in the culture extra-biblically throughout all the generations all the way down to King David writing a song? So, there can be all kinds of explanations but from a scholarship perspective, I think this is what holds the most water- Melchizedek is the first priest named in the Bible and he is a priest of the most high God, king of Salem. In David's time, priests could only come from the tribe of Levi, as mandated by the Mosaic law, and yet, Melchizedek was most certainly not a Levite because Levi hadn't been born yet in Abraham's time when this incident happened. So, in Abraham's time, there is no Mosaic law because Moses hasn't been born and there are no Levites because Levi hasn't been born. And yet, Melchizedek is a priest of the most high God, but most definitely not a Levite but the Bible makes it clear that he's a king. So, Melchizedek is a priest of the most high God, who is also a king. So, when David writes Psalm 110 and he pens this song and writes these lyrics under the inspiration of God, a statement is being made. David is to be a priestly king in the order of Melchizedek. So, like Melchizedek was. And it so happens that David is king in Jerusalem, the same city. So, David is a king who is aligned with the priesthood. So, maybe not occupying the office and the function of Levitical priesthood, but nevertheless, the priesthood before God. And this is a bit of a big deal from a theological and from a cultural perspective in David's time because they do have the Torah, they have the Mosaic law, and it's the underpinning of their entire society, and priests can only be Levites. And yet, David is to be a priestly king. And the way that this can work is that David is being set aside by God, like Melchizedek, in the order of Melchizedek, to serve in that role even though he's from the tribe of Judah and not the tribe of Levi. Okay. So, I have to take a small bunny trail that applies directly to this. So, probably the most compelling theological understanding would place us back in the life of Moses. So, we know the story of Moses and his childhood and him being placed in the river in a wicker basket and being raised by Pharaoh's daughter and ending up killing an Egyptian and having to flee for his life and all of this. And the next thing you know Moses is before burning bush and God is calling him to set his people free from slavery in Egypt. And God is telling him to go and Moses is resisting, he was giving every excuse. And his main excuse is, I don't know how to speak, like, I'm not a public speaker, I don’t know how to do this. And God's telling him, you really don't have to do anything but just obey me. Like, I’ll put the words in your mouth. It's all good. You don’t have to worry about this. And, finally, Moses is like, send someone else, please send somebody else, which for me is a very sad scene in the Bible because of how much it imitates our own lives. But in the end, God relents and sends Moses brother Aaron to be the mouthpiece. And this is where we see sort of like this dual role - a priestly role and a governor or a kingly role. Moses and Aaron make up the two pieces but that is more like the plan B. Right? So, the plan A was that Moses would be empowered by God to lead his people and would be the mouthpiece of God to those people. In other words, a priestly governor, a priestly ruler, a priestly king. So, in other words, Melchizedek was a priestly king of the most high God. Moses would've been invited into that but didn't enter into it. But then God invites David into that role once kings are introduced into the story of Israel. And that is where I'm going to stop for today. We are going to read about Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews extensively tomorrow and we’ll pick this up then, once we have a little bit more New Testament context to the story 

Prayer:

Father we thank You for the beauty of Your word. And as we apply our minds and hearts to all of its nuances and intricacy, we invite Your Holy Spirit among us. We thank You for this gift. We love You, Father, and worship You. We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what's going on around here.

It's been a flurry of activity around here as we begin to deploy this new app and platform. And those of you who contributed to the Global Campfire Initiative will have been receiving your invites. And, so, you are some of the first people to even see this. So, we’re excited about that and we’ll continue forward toward our projected release of all of this in December.

Looking at the calendar, the 19h of this month, the month of November, we’ll be back out on the road in the deep South. We’ll be in Shreveport Louisiana area, Bossier City, Louisiana. And we’ll be sharing Sneezing Jesus at River Valley church in Bossier City. So, you can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section. And, we’ll look forward to seeing you there.

If your partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Then as I say, often, I can't thank you enough, thank you for your partnership. There's a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner. Had to catch myself. I almost said the upper right-hand corner because that's how it is in the new app, but the lower right-hand corner or if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports:

Good morning. It is Beloved by Him from Gloucester, UK and it Wednesday, the first of November. And, this is a praise report, really. I’ve been listening consecutively for to whole months now from ___ and it is amazing how God has blessed me since then and how much better I am now then I was when I started. So, let’s pray. Father God, thank You for the DAB. Thank You so, so much for Brian and the team behind it. Thank You for Brian who answered Your call and for everything you’ve done with it through then, for all those people who reviewed the DAB way back when I first started listening a long time ago. Father God, thank You for the Global Campfire Initiative. Thank You that the team are going to make this free and we pray Lord that You’d be at work in that, that You would help us discover all of those bugs, all of those problems, so that when it comes to releasing it properly it will just be a great instrument of grace for people to find You and learn and know more about You. Father God, I lift up my brothers and sisters out there who aren’t listening right now, who can’t listen for whatever reason, whether it’s a technical difficulty, no access to wi-fi or data, or ___ whatever. I pray Lord that You’d blessing them where they are and sending people and sending companions for them to help them through. Father God, for those of us who are in a dark state right now, be it depression or anxiety, something that’s stopping us from listening, I pray Lord that Your light will shine so, so brightly in our lives. We’d love to see You and be blessed by You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Hi. Good morning Daily Audio family. It’s really nice to know that I have friends and brothers and sisters around the world for praying and believing who are strong who are in community. I just want to be vulnerable with my brothers and sisters this morning. I feel so lonely and on my own. I have been divorced for about four years now and live on my own and often on my quite time, it’s when we’re in isolation that the enemy tries to attack most, mainly in fort life, mainly ideas and notions and addictions and comforts. Sometimes we comfort ourselves in our loneness with different substances like drink and alcohol and even pornography to satisfy those needs. And I want to be honest with you, I’m struggling. I’m struggling with ___ of loneliness and with a God who is there, who knows my thoughts, who knows my coming in and going down, who knows my thoughts. I just want to put my need out there and say, I really need companionship and accountability, that the right people, the right friends, will come around me, that God will just comfort me. And You said You will never leave me or Forsake me. I just need stability and ___ that word today. I wish you and thank You for considering my prayer request and I love you all and appreciate you, Brian and Jill. God bless you all. Bye-bye.    

Hi everyone, it’s Lisa the Encourager. I hope you guys are having a great day. I am calling in to pray for some of my Daily Audio Bible friends. I’m calling to pray for Edgar. He is in Belize, He’s on a pilgrim’s journey. So, I want to pray for Edgar tonight. I also want to pray for Julie from Maryland, to lift up her husband in prayer. He’s a godly man and she just wants us to pray for him. So, I am going to praying for him for you tonight sweety. And also, doctor John, I am praying for Phoebe, she’s in medical school and I know that…I can’t imagine…I’m sure that’s a lot of stress and I guess she mentioned that she has some depression and anxiety and am just praying that she’ll alleviate some of that stress and that she’ll just have piece in God through all of that - from God. And also, Melany had called in abut her sister, that she was in a horrible accident and needed healing from that. So, I am praying for that for you and your dear sister Melany. And lastly, Homeward Bound called about her dad needing surgery and he needed it in two weeks. I think that was from October the 7th. It’s been some time now. So, I’m not sure if he’s had surgery or is post or pre-op but I am definitely going to be praying for your dad, Homeward Bound, and it’s my pleasure to pray for your dad. So, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I thank You so much for Edgar and him on his pilgrim’s journey. Lord, I just pray You’ll protect him and give him all the kind of resources that he needs in order to complete this pilgrimage and that he’ll give all the glory to God and he will be able to be lifted up in His Spirit and feel fulfilled, Lord…and I just pray for…    

Hey Daily Audio Bible friends, this is ___ in ___ Chicago. I just left a message but I believe it got messed up, so, please delete that one and play this one instead. Anyway, let’s pray. God, thank You so much for today. Thank You for how You went before me and the people in the small group tonight as we met and had to talk about some tough stuff and You just did a miracle and gave me a humble heart, allowing us to listen to constructive feedback. I ask that You would open my heart to people that I have closed my heart to and just give wisdom on boundaries and all that stuff. Thank You, that You are constantly at work in the world and Yu are constantly at work in our lives. I thank You for the lady that calls into the Daily Audio Bible and sings songs over us. I ask that You will just strengthen and encourage her. Whether or not You bring back her original voice, we thank You that you’ve given her willingness to call in and bless us with the voice that she has right now. This is such a great, really amazing thing. So, thank You, God, for that. Thank you everyone that is listening and I ask that if there is anyone that is listening right now that wants to give up on life that You would bring them joy and peace and hope. Thank You so much that two days ago marked the one year anniversary of someone know and love being in the hospital for suicide, suicidal tendencies, but now is living and working and much healthier than before. So, we thank You so much for that beautiful transformation. Amen. Love you all. Bye.