The Chicago Cubs were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday leaving the Chicago Cubs to fight for the World Series yet again… next year.
The Chicago Cubs were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday leaving the Chicago Cubs to fight for the World Series yet again… next year.
Go Cubs go!
]]>I watched a video the other day by a guy named Rob Bell called, ‘Dust’. This video taught me something that I had never heard before. Not to brag, but usually this is not the case. I often hear things that get me thinking about something differently, but rarely is something completely knew placed in front of me. This video answered a question I have had for a while, one that I have never heard a satisfactory answer about. That question was: “Why did Jesus disciples drop everything and follow him when Jesus said ‘Come, follow me.’” I have always thought, that there must be more to this story. Maybe the gospel writers left out some important instructions between Jesus and these men. The most common teaching I have heard to answer this question has been that they just knew that Jesus was special, but I honestly have never bought that simple explanation. They knew one thing about Jesus at this point, that He was a Rabbi. Until I watched this video by Rob Bell I didn’t understand how powerful that simple fact truly is in understanding Jesus disciples. So I recommend getting your hands on ‘Dust’ if possible or check out the sermon video at the bottom of this blog post where Rob Bell explains Discipleship at a Church. (this is an excellent video but is a bit longer than the ‘Dust’ video)
Here is a teaser of the ‘Dust’ video. (Only about a minute and a half of the 14 minute video)
Discipleship Video
I found this video online, it isn’t the Dust video, but it is Rob Bell explaining a lot of the information presented in the full ‘Dust’ video. I highly recommend watching this video to understand what it means to be a disciple in the context that Jesus disciples understood it.
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Here are some verses that have made me think during my read through of the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 5:17-18
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.”
Matthew 7:1-2
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others.[a] The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.”
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”
Matthew 16:24-25
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
Matthew 18:3-4
Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Matthew 18:18
“I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid[a] on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Matthew 21:21
Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.”
Matthew 22:31-32
“But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”
Matthew 25:29-30
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:42-46
“For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Time has been moving very quickly for me these last couple of months. I really am surprised that it is already September. Time seems to move more quickly as I get older. Which simply means each day that passes seems like it has less time in it than the day before. And I think realizing this has added some pressure for me to think more seriously about a topic that I have written about previously. Earlier this year I wrote on this blog an article called ‘What if the life you really want…‘ , and I have been dealing with the concepts I discussed in that posting in more practical terms now. (if you haven’t read that posting you may want to read it before moving forward into this one…)
My closest friends know that I have had a dream of ‘one day’ actually getting involved in politics. Not as a lobbyist, or an activist but as a civil servant and run for elected office. But this has always been something that I would simply talk about, but have never truly seriously considered. Even when Jaime and I were raising support to go to Kenya we would talk about what life after Kenya would look like. Political office often came up in those conversations. And currently, and I should admit that for the last year at least, this has really been the only thing that I truly dream about doing. And I recognize that simply because I have a desire does not mean that I should pursue it. But I keep meditating on the following verse.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
And I keep praying ‘Lord, give me the desires that you want me to have.’ And I keep dreaming of how I can help people through local government. So, I am beginning to think about facing my biggest fear, being rejected. I honestly think the only thing that keeps me from saying ‘Yes, I will run for an elected office.’ is simply fear of rejection, fear of failure. I recognize that I don’t have a laundry list of civic achievements, nor do I have a deep wallet to help ‘win’ an office. I know that if I choose to run, it will be hard work. I will need to prove to the community that I can do the job, and do it well. This won’t be an easy road. In fact it could be the hardest road I have ever thought about moving down.
In my posting called ‘What if the life you really want….’ I looked at the idea of facing a Lion. At the time that I wrote that posting I suspected that my Lion may be ‘becoming an elected official’. But, I wasn’t sure. And I still can’t say with 100% certainty that it is, but I am beginning to believe that God has given me the ‘desires of my heart’. That this idea is not all simply some crazy idea that I have come up with. That this may be what I should be doing with my life.
So I am continuing to process what I am supposed to be doing in Southwest Florida. If anyone who reads this blog has any feedback on this subject please feel free to post a comment or call me up.
]]>Micah is yet another one of the prophets that God gave a clear message to. Micah shared this message with Israel and Judah and also wrote down what God revealed to him in the book of Micah. Micah lived during the reign of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. So his life overlaps with Isaaiah.
Micah’s prophecy is nearly identical to the prophecies given to the other prophets. (not in a word for word sense, but in the overall message to Israel and Judah) So God is being very clear about what is about to happen and why it is going to happen.
Micah also focuses on Israel’s leaders, including the priests being guilty of misguiding the people. (chapter 3) He also talks about false prophets, basically prophets that are being paid to prophecy a specific message. (chapter 2)
Micah paints a picture of Israel that shows how distorted things had gotten. The people were being misled by the very people that were to be helping them worship God.
Esentially there is not a lot that appears to be unique with Micah’s message. So I really won’t do much of an outline. God simply seems to be wanting to hammer in that Israel being destroyed and taken into captivity was for one clear purpose. To bring them back to God.
]]>I love the book of Jonah. Soon after I became a Christian a friend of mine was talking about Jonah being swallowed by a big fish. I laughed, because I thought he was making it up. It certainly sounded like a scene from Pinnochio to me. Well, it just so happens that Pinnochio got this idea from the book of Jonah.
God spoke to Jonah and asked him to go to Nineveh to tell them that He was going to destroy them. Jonah decided not to go and ran from God. Chapter 4 verse 2 Jonah reveals why he ran away.
“Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.
Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he knew God might spare Nineveh because God is merciful and compassionate. Well, on the way to Tarshish by boat a great storm began to break apart the boat. The captain of the boat learned that Jonah was likely the cause of the storm and as a last resort they tossed Jonah into the sea. Immediately the storm stopped and all of the sailors were awe struck and offered sacrifices to God. This is when a huge fish then swallows Jonah. Jonah spends three days and three nights in the fish praying to God. Then the fish spits him out and Jonah heads on to Nineveh. (kids books seem to really like this part of the story)
Jonah heads to Nineveh and tells the people in Nineveh that God is going to destroy them. Everyone in Nineveh begins fasting and praying to God. So God spares Nineveh.
When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. — Jonah 3:10
You would think that Jonah would be overjoyed by Nineveh turning to God and God sparing them. However, Jonah has the exact opposite reaction.
Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh. Nineveh was a wicked city full of gentiles. So the book of Jonah ends with Jonah sitting on a hill overlooking Nineveh being angry with God. So by the book of Jonah you can already see that Israel really is not understanding that God’s grace and mercy are not exclusive to the Jewish people.
What I like about this book is that the people listened to the prophet God sent to them and repented. It is good to see a very different outcome than when the prophets are speaking to Israel. And it shows God’s grace to all people, not just the Jewish people.
Another interesting thing is that Jonah had been inside of a fish for three days. I wonder what he may have looked like?
Well, I think stomach acids would bleach your skin and hair. So Jonah was probably freakishly white. And I mean freakish. So I think a large factor in Nineveh even listening to Jonah was that he looked so bizarre. How could they not listen to a freakishly white man with a message of forthcoming doom?
Maybe God chose Jonah specifically because He knew Jonah would run and get swallowed by a fish before he would share the message to Nineveh? If an obedient prophet had gone to Nineveh maybe the ending would have been very different, maybe Nineveh would have ignored the message from God.
Well now I am heading into the book of Micah.
]]>The book of Obadiah is a message given to the Edomites. The Edomites are the descendants of Esau. Esau was Jacobs older brother that traded his inheritance for a bowl of soup.
The book is only one chapter long so it is a quick read and the cliff notes version of the book would look like this.
Edom, you did not help your relative Israel. You watched them suffer at the hands of their enemies and get taken to a far away land. In fact you plundered their land and gloated at their destruction. So now Edom will be destroyed by Israel’s return.
Obadiah ends this book with a description of Israel coming back to their land and all of Edom being destroyed by Israel. Verse 18 says “There will be no survivors in Edom. I, the Lord, have spoken.” So…. I don’t likely have a family tree that will go back to Esau.
]]>Last Saturday I talked with my cousin Jeremiah on the phone for about 2 hours. It was so interesting to see how much we have in common. Jeremiah plays guitar and I do as well. (however, he is far more talented than me), Jeremiah designs websites and I just happen to do this as well. We actually spent quite a bit of time talking about websites. For me I don’t know a whole lot of people that know anything about websites, so I don’t get to talk a whole lot about it without getting glazed over looks from friends and family. Maybe Jeremiah is in the same situation, so we talked about websites a lot. Overall, this two hour conversation was very enjoyable and didn’t feel strange and awkward (even though we had never talked before).
This is the second phone call I have had with my ‘new’ relatives and both calls were really good. Which is very encouraging to me since I feared that awkwardness would prevail in any conversations I might have with them.
I think I have a lot going in with life at the moment. Meeting relatives I had never met, waiting on a new job, and exploring adoption options. So maybe I will hold off on running for Governor or Senator or County Commissioner or President of the United States until a few things settle down a bit.
]]>Most discussions on the book of Daniel will refer to ‘Daniel in the Lions Den’ and “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”. They are amazing accounts of God’s provision. However, what caught my eye was that chapter 4 of the book of Daniel was written by Nebuchadnezzar. Now if you know anything about Ancient Babylon you know Nebuchadnezzar was the all powerful ruler of a big chunk of the world at this point in history. He was a very powerful man. And he is the King that God had destroy Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar even took the items from the temple before he destroyed it. He was the man that God used to punish Israel for worshiping other gods.
In the book of Daniel we see that Nebuchadnezzar is able to recognize the God of Israel with respect. In chapter three of Daniel after witnessing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survive a burning furnace (he had ordered them to be thrown in for not bowing down to worship his golden statue) he said this:
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.
– Daniel 3:28-30
Nebuchadnezzar praised the one true God and promoted the three men to high positions in Babylon. However, it should be noted that Nebuchadnezzar still doesn’t seem to grasp that the God he is praising is the only God, because he refers to other gods simply being lesser by this statement. “There is no other god who can rescue like this!” But he just went from being in a mad rage at these men for disobeying him to this, so this is certainly a positive direction that Nebbby (Nebuchadnezzar) is heading in.
Now the next chapter is a message that Nebby sent to every race, nation and language. So what is written in chapter 4 was very important to Nebby, so important he wanted the entire world to know about it.
Chapter 4 is fairly long so if you want to read it you can click here to read Daniel Chapter 4.
Here is my summary:
1. Nebby says exactly why he is writing this message. “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me.”
1. Nebby has a bad dream.
2. Nebby calls all his wise men, magicians, etc. to interpret his dream. None can do it.
3. Daniel then comes and is able to interpret his dream. Basically it is an outline of a future soon to come for Nebby. And it is odd. It basically describes him losing his kingship, behave like a cow, and then he would come back as King.
4. The dream then comes true. Nebby crawls around on the ground behaving like a bovine for a long time.
5. Nebby’s sanity finally returns and he praises God.
My overall understanding of Chapter 4 is that Nebby was truly repentant. This is why he sent this message to every nation, race, and language. He wanted everyone to know the following about the one true God, the God of Israel:
His rule is everlasting,
and his kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to him.
He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven
and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him,
‘What do you mean by doing these things?’
– Daniel 4:34-35
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”
– Daniel 4:37
We could focus on Nebby destroying Israel, and throwing some men into a burning furnace. But I think God wants to show us His grace and forgiveness to those who are repentant and desire to follow Him. And Nebby was not Jewish, so this account shows us God’s heart for all people once again, not simply an interest in Israel.
Now onto Hosea……
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