Always Reforming

A thought:      Every time we really look into the lives of our heroes, one truth emerges--they are imperfect.  Whether they're athletes, musicians, religious leaders, or even Bible characters, our leaders all share the fact that they are human, and, accordingly, they were flawed (except Jesus, of course).  They all have character weaknesses that went along with their character strengths.  They have sins with which they struggle.      This is actually a good thing.  Mentors and heroes that are perfect are much less useful to us.  We need to have real people to look up to, not illusions of grandeur.      There is a common issue, however, that I've noticed results when we discover our heroes' flaws and sins.  We tend to excuse our own sins.  We see that even great men/women were sinners, and so we allow ourselves to copy their sins.  "It can be that bad," we think, "after all, so and so did it."  Our heroes, instead of lifting us up, then grant us li

     1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. 2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. 3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? 4 How long  shall they utter  and  speak hard things?  and  all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. 7 Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard  it . 8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and  ye  fools, when will ye be wise? 9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? 10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge,  shall not he know ? 11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they  are  vanity. 12 Blessed  is  the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest h

"  I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O  LORD .   I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation."     In the first 8 verses of Psalm 40, David is declaring the faithfulness of God.  He is telling the people how God has cared for him.  He is encouraging others to put their trust in God as well.  If you do, you will not be disappointed!     In Verses 9 and 10, David speaks to Yahweh and expresses his love for acting as a witness to the faithfulness of God.  David did not simply recall these events and thank God for them.  He spread the news.     Are we hiding God's deliverance in our heart?  Are we concealing his steadfast love and faithfulness from other brethren and from the unsaved?  We must not commit this sin of omission.  We

Psalm 4:1-8     Very briefly, I would like to look through these verses to learn a few lessons about prayer, persecution, and peace.  Beginning with verse 1: Read verse 1.   David begins his psalm with a request.  He asks God to hear his prayer.  He begs God to acknowledge him and to answer him.      David does not take for granted God’s willingness to hear and answer prayer, and yet, he knows that His God will hear and respond.  He knows this from past experience.  “You have given me relief when I was in distress,” he says.  When seeking deliverance and provision from God, David often meditated on previous answers to prayer.  You could even say that he reminded God of them.      Many times towards the end of his psalms he reassures himself that his prayer will be heard and his petitions granted.  Sometimes he thanks God for answering his prayer before he’s even finished praying it.  Look at Psalm 6:8-10: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for Yahweh has heard the sound

In the chapters leading up to chapter 28, we find the final works of David.  In Chapter 22 we see him prepare for the building of the Temple .  In 23 we see him organize the Levites and in 24 we see the division of labor for the priests.  In 25 he organizes the musicians and in 26 he organizes the gatekeepers and treasurers and other officials.  Lastly, in 27, he appoints military leaders.  Finally, in 28, as his last kingly act, he addresses the people to give them his final wishes and to pass on the scepter to his son, Solomon.  It is this final speech that we will study in the final two chapters of 1 Chronicles.  Through this speech we will seek to understand essentially two things.  1, we will learn what it means to be a good leader, and 2, we will learn what it means to pass along the covenant.      Beginning with verse 1:  Read verses 1-3.   David calls together all the leaders of the people.  There were political representatives, military commanders, and even heads of the

  It seems to me that solving actual problems in practical ways is an area in which the Church has been extremely impotent in the last few decades.  Perhaps this has been a problem for many centuries.  After all, the basic issues at the root of the problem come from universal principles of man's sinful nature--problems that span all cultures and ages.     I think one of the main problems in our day is the fact that people (elders and laymen alike) are more interested in avoiding embarrassment than they are in purging sin from their congregation.  Church discipline has been utilized to purge people instead of purging sin.     I think this has led to people becoming extremely afraid and embarrassed to present a sin problem to their church leaders or fellow church members.  People who struggle with sin that they would sincerely like to overcome are too afraid to admit that sin because they think they will be shunned and ostracized.  Unfortunately, precedent solidifies their fears.

"For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.     This verse from Romans helps us to understand the nature of the covenant signs in the Bible--circumcision and baptism--as well as the sacramental meals.  There are two extremes to which people gravitate when it comes to signs in the Bible.  Some downplay them, ignore them, and neglect them.  This is usually a reaction to the other extreme.  On the other side of the spectrum are those who idolize the signs.  They invest saving power into the signs that God never intended the signs to carry.       Signs are exactly that--signs.  Their very nature is to point to something greater.  Too often we look at baptism and we think that the very act of placing water on a person (or dunking them, if that floats your boat) mystically does something.  Some people believe it removes sin.  Some believe that it unites you to Christ, and therefore has a part in saving

(You'll need your Bible for this one) John 6:22-51     Before reading the passage, establish context.  Verses 1-15 recount the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand, where Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men, besides women and children, with nothing but two fish and five loaves of bread.  Verses 16-21 tell the story of Jesus walking on water to meet His disciples.  He had not set sail with them because He had withdrawn into a mountain by Himself because He knew that the people wanted to make him their king.  Jesus stayed in the mountain until evening and then met His disciples and crossed over to the other side of the sea with them.  This is where our story picks up in verse 22.      Read verses 22-27.   This was at the height of Jesus’s popularity.  The people had witness His healing ministry and they had been fed by His miraculous multiplication of the bread and fish, and they wanted to see what else He had in store.  They were puzzled as to where He had gone.  They kn