Posted on

Live like God’s people every day

“‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, ‘We are safe!’ You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done!’ says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:8-11 NET)

The conditions in Judah were not good. Although there was lip service to being the people of YHVH, the reality was that their hearts were far from him. Jeremiah dispelled any notion that they were in any way living as the people of God. Continue reading “Live like God’s people every day”

Posted on

There is hope for everyone

When we think about the most wicked king of the northern kingdom of Israel the name ‘Ahab’ would quickly come to mind. Then if we would turn our thoughts to the southern kingdom of Judah there really is only one who could match Ahab’s wickedness: Manasseh.

Manasseh should have had everything going for him. He was the son of Hezekiah, who brought about change and reform throughout Judah as he turned the people back to following God. He was such a good king that it was recorded of him: “He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done” (2 Kings 18:3 NET). High praise indeed! But this is not the way we remember his son and successor Manasseh. Continue reading “There is hope for everyone”

Posted on

Are we concerned about people?

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’” (John 5:1-3,5-7 NIV)

This incident gives us a glimpse into a day of Jesus’ life from which we can draw several lessons as his disciples today.

Notice, first if all, that Jesus was in the habit of attending the Jewish festivals. These, we know, were required of all Jewish men and this one would seem to be the Passover (I place this in AD 28). During these years he was teaching in Galilee, but these festivals took precedence over what he was normally doing. Continue reading “Are we concerned about people?”

Posted on

James on social discrimination

Practical, precise and penetrating epitomize James’ letter to the early church. Among other things, this brief letter exposes how evil might even lurk in the hearts of God’s people. Yet James extended hope.

We have no difficulty envisioning the sad scenario he painted. That he needed to address it at all with those whom God had transformed into being a kind of first fruits of his creation (James 1:18) ought to alert us to be on guard. Continue reading “James on social discrimination”

Posted on

Never changing, forever changed

“Two things you need to carry with you all your life: God is, and God loves you. No matter where you are or what you are doing, these two things will always remain true.” This was advice I gave my oldest two weeks ago in some precious one-on-one time. He repeated it back to me today without prompt, and told me he was trying to work to remember it.

I share this to remind us all that there are things that will never change. Over the history of the universe the one constant is God.

The great psalm of the law-giver speaks of God’s never changing nature: Continue reading “Never changing, forever changed”

Posted on

Be a good sport

“This garden used to have all different colors of irises, but they all turned purple.”

This complaint, or some like it, are made by people who have not kept a really close eye on their flowerbeds. It is a common belief that flowers can “turn” into a different color, but in the case of older, established flower beds, there is a better explanation. Continue reading “Be a good sport”

Posted on

Subject to change without notice

If the garden teaches us one thing – and one thing only – it is the principle that change is inevitable.

You might furnish the inside of your home with the highest quality furniture and decor, and keep the children off the couch in the formal living room, and then the grandchildren can come some day and recognize the room based on old photos from fifty years before. I’ve seen it happen. Continue reading “Subject to change without notice”

Posted on

Go and sin no more

The incident of the woman caught in the act of adultery, found in our Bibles at the beginning of John 8, has been questioned by Bible scholars as to whether this was originally part of John’s gospel. It is not the scope of this article to evaluate the arguments for and against, but this writer does believe that this is a real incident in the life of Jesus. Continue reading “Go and sin no more”

Posted on

What a child’s mobile can teach the church

Randomly grab part of a child’s hot air balloon mobile and you are likely to hold a collapsed tangled mess. However, if you pick up that same mobile using the center string securing the upper most support, the entire mobile falls into place displaying the proper relationship between its various components.

Each part of the mobile is important. Yet priority is built into a mobile’s proper functioning. The church can learn a lot from a child’s mobile. Continue reading “What a child’s mobile can teach the church”