The Challenge of Jesus (N.T. Wright)

Wanting to go deeper in studying the New Testament has led me to a lot of the writings of New Testament scholar N.T. (Tom) Wright. There’s no doubt he is one of the brightest and best! I doubt I’ll ever be able to read everything he has written (just look at the list of his books on amazon.com), but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. The books I’ve read of his are excellent. When he is arguing something or trying to make a point he really covers all his bases well (he covers the arguments of his critics and even his critics’ critics down to the fourth generation, ha! This can make his writings a little dry at times). So if you are going to set out to read something by Wright be prepared for some serious discussion.

I’ve been working my way through The Challenge of Jesus and have discovered that Tom is very helpful in getting me to see Jesus in his Jewish context. He does an incredible job of revealing what life was like for a Jew in the First Century. The Jews were who Jesus came to first minister the kingdom of God to. Because of this, Wright asserts that many of Jesus parables (e.g., parable of the prodigal son, the parable of the talents) are in some way or another referring to Israel.

For example, we read the parable of the Prodigal Son and assume it is about God’s forgiveness and love for the lost. We assume the prodigal represents a lost sinner. Put on your Tom Wright glasses and you see that this parable is about God the Father waiting for Israel, the rebel son, who has run off and mingled with pagans (remember the son eating and working with pigs?) to return to Him. Now this parable is just as much about Israel (the real prodigal son) as it is about God and His forgiveness and love for the lost sinner. It becomes now about a group of people and not just an individual. The parables of the lost coin and sheep become about lost Israel and God’s intention and desire to see them found again too.

So, why does this matter? Why is it important to place Jesus in His Jewish context? Well, for one it helps us see that Jesus was on a mission to seek and save lost Israel. Not saying He did not come to reveal the kingdom to us (Gentiles), but His first priority was to reveal Himself to Israel and be their King. Israel was really important to God. Israel really was His firstborn son. What God was attempting to do with Israel (Israel was to be a blessing to the other nations, see Gen 12:2-3) was important and mattered to God. He wasn’t about to throw them to the curb.

Second, maybe we need to re-examine some of Jesus’ parables in light of all this. If most of Jesus’ parables were originally understood to be about Israel, we might need to revamp some of the application we draw from such parables (i.e. is the parable of talents/ten minas really about the judgment we will face if we do not use our gifts for God?). I’ve still got a lot more to learn and this post is just the beginning. Honestly, I'm still working on how much difference this understanding of certain parables of Jesus will make. We'll see.

So, if you want to really get a good grip of the background to the New Testament and the context of Jesus I recommend reading N.T. Wright.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 14.0 (GS recaps and videos)

Stan Toler was elected GS yesterday.

Some of you have asked for videos showing the elections of our GSs. I could only find one for Eugenio Duarte on YouTube. Here is the link (just click on the name and it will take you to video):

Eugenio Duarte

General Assembly, Orlando FL 13.0 (Change of plans)

Breaking News

Woke up this morning and found out that Dr. John Bowling (he was elected GS a couple days ago) rescinded. He woke up about 3am this morning and felt no peace about his decision. So, now the General Assembly is in the process again of electing a new GS. I told you this was a historic GA.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 12.0 (Headed Home!)

General Assembly is over for me and I’m headed home (with my dad). When all is said and done we will have traveled over 2,000 miles in a Chevy Impala.

It was neat to be a part of the global NYI Convention and watch and observe the General Assembly. The COTN values people and you can tell that by the way we govern and do business.

Here are some other notable moments from General Assembly:
- Being in Global NYI Convention and having 9 other countries present via Skype. Delegates from these other countries could vote, ask questions, wave at us, talk to us, it was awesome! That was a job well done by the NYI tech crew.
- The worship services were full of energy and encouraging.
- Praying with other Nazarenes from around the world in small groups.
- Seeing and hanging out with old friends (good to see ya again Jon!).
- The service Friday night with Dr. Porter reinforcing the importance of discipleship and mentoring and that it must first start at home.
- Taking communion with 22,000 Christians from all around the world.
- Seeing how missional the Church of the Nazarene is and will continue to be.

On a completely unrelated note, we ate at a little joint called Zaxby’s tonight after a quick run into the Bass Pro Shops. Zaxby’s is a chicken place. It was awesome! I gotta find one of these when I get back to Indiana. They have some finger-lickin sweet-and-spicy chicken wings.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 11.0 (3rd GS elected!)

Just elected our third GS. Dr. David Graves. Here's a pic of him. The GS elections are now over. This GA was a historic moment for us in many ways. Exciting times!

General Assembly, Orlando FL 10.0 (New GS #2)

We have elected another new General Superintendent. It took a little while longer for this individual to accept, but he did. Who is it? ONU President John Bowling. Here's a pic.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 9.0 (New GS!)

We have a new General Superintendent!!! He is from Africa. What a great time to be a member of the Church of the Nazarene. Here's a pic of Eugenio Duarte:

General Assembly, Orlando FL 8.0 (live from the floor)

I’m sitting in a General Assembly plenary session right now as an observer. Four individuals from the NEI District were nominated for General Superintendent (wow!).

Saturday I had a chance to go fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. Fishing is a favorite hobby of mine. I don’t think I’ve ever blogged on it. We were fishing at the Cocoa Beach Pier. It was a great deal if you have your own pole (otherwise you have to rent). Five dollars to fish from the pier for the whole day too. The good about fishing this way is that you don’t have to worry about getting any type of out-of-state fishing license or anything like that (they can be pretty salty too! J).

So, how did the fishing go? Well, it’s the ocean. You never know what you will get. I caught a stingray, two sheepshead, and a saltwater catfish (that’s right, a catfish!). It was a blast! While we were fishing NASA launched a rocket with a satellite on it. I think we were five miles away. It took several seconds for the sound to hit us, but when it did it was awesome! Here are some fishing pics for you. The black and white fish is the sheepshead. Sorry, no pic of the stingray.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 7.0 (Last worship service)

It’s such an honor to be a part of a denomination that ordains women as ministers. During tonight’s service (this was the last worship service) we listened to G.S. Nina Gunter. She can preach! We closed the service with the march of the flags. All the nations where the Nazarene Church is, even the ones we can’t mention because of persecution (they were termed “Creative Access Areas”) were represented by their countrie's flag. People really liked it when the republic of Iraq was mentioned.

We were all given a small manila envelope at the beginning of the service and told to wait until we were told to open it. What was it? A rock with the scripture reference Joshua 3:5 on it. This passage reads,

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

From here we were challenged to go forward with our rocks if we would consecrate ourselves to the Lord and the official mission of the Church of the Nazarene (Mission = Go and make Christlike disciples of all the nations).

General Assembly, Orlando FL 6.0 (Sunday Morning Service)

A good Sunday morning service. I think there were over 25,000 people in attendance (I thought there were more). It was pretty full! The Orlando Convention Center is interesting because the place where we have our services is flat. Thankfully they have giant screens up to help you see. The 11 big screens help make all the seats pretty good seats. There was quite a bit of echo where I was sitting.

Paul Cunningham, retiring G.S., gave the sermon which was followed by communion. I think this was the largest crowd I have ever taken communion with. It's a special thing to take communion with such a large body of Christians. A little later I'll post some pics of our fishing trip we took last night to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a blast, literally! I'll explain more later.

Here's a pic I forgot to put in last time. Me and my good buddy John Wesley.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 5.0 (Great Friday service!)

(This post has been updated. See below.)

Last night at the worship service I listened to our G.S. Dr. Jerry Porter share his heart about discipleship. I like him the best out of our 6 GSs. Some say he is liberal, but I have not heard or read anything by him that suggests that. I think he's just aggressive and open to new and creative ways to reach and disciple people for Christ.

He is a big advocate of each person discipling someone and being discipled by someone. The best part of his message was the ending. He had several local pastors come up and asked if they were discipling someone. They said they were, so he had their disciples stand and come up with them. This was so we could see the difference one person can make when they disciple someone. There were at least a hundred people who came up with them. It was neat to see. We also broke into small groups and prayed for one another. I was prayed for and prayed with a couple of guys from the Caribbean Region. It was an awesome service!

As I reflect on the service last night one thing sticks in my mind. Dr. Porter asserted that discipling starts at home with the family. That will be something I will be thinking more and more about as a proud dad of two daughters. I'm not sure of how good of a job I'm doing at discipling my family. My wife does an incredible job at discipling our children. She knows how to communicate and teach truths to children in a way that is exciting for them. This is something she is really passionate about (Actually, right now at my home church she has a Childrens Ministries workshop going on that deals with how to disciple your children at home). What do I do? I read our girls Bible stories using various picture books and pray before meals and bedtime. I wonder if there is more I can do?

*Updated: On a strange sidenote: We had someone drown in our pool this morning between 5-6am. Our pool is right outside our room. The person was a 21 yr old male that worked at the hotel.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 4.0 (More from NYI Convention)

Here is your new Global NYI President (Mark Holcomb) in action.

Here's the view from where I was sitting at this Global Celebration service that followed our business session this morning.

They have 11 huge screens so you feel like you are sitting in the front row no matter where you sit. The picture is in HD too!

General Assembly, Orlando FL 3.0 (New location for NYC 2011)

Can you guess what city this is?

Hint: This is where the next NYC is?

Starts with an "L" and ends with a "ouisville".

General Assembly, Orlando FL 2.0 (New NYI President)

NYI just elected a new global NYI president this morning, Mark Holcomb.

General Assembly, Orlando FL 1.0

Been in meetings down here at Orlando, FL. The Church of the Nazarene is having General Assembly down here (it actually starts next week) and I'm a NYI delegate to the NYI Convention (started Wednesday). It's been fun and a learning experience for me. I've been to General Assembly before, but not as a delegate and not to NYI Convention.

Our NYI meetings are quite unique in that we have several different countries (e.g., India, Germany) present with us during these meeting via Skype. Every once in a while we cut to a shot of them using the big screens and we all wave hello to each other. It's pretty neat technonology but I think there are some things they need to work out, and I'm sure they will, for next Assembly.

I'll update more tomorrow with pics.

Sr Adult Road Trip

This morning I'm off to Wick's Pies restaurant with our sr adults. After filling ourselves with good food and pie we will be stopping at Silvertowne to look around. Should be another great trip! Everyone is excited to bring back some pies for their family. Usually for our trips we gather a half hour before our official leaving time to hear God's Word together and pray together in the sanctuary. This morning we will be hearing from the prophet Nahum.

Nahum 1:7 reads, The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

After this we will reflect on how God is a refuge and how He allows us to run to Him when we need help. Following this we will spend time praying together for needs, each other, and the rest of the church. It should be a wonderful time! I think it's going to rain today, so this is a perfect time to go and be indoors.

Jonah

Wasn't able to post last week due to District Assembly, sorry. I'm back this week.

I had a chance today to preach at one of our area nursing homes. We had a great crowd present and a wonderful sing-a-long. That's right, a sing-a-long. We played the good old stuff! I preached a short message on the book of Jonah. Here's a shortened version of my message:

We discussed two big problems Jonah had. The first was that…

1. God’s plan of salvation was too big.

Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah ran from God because He knew God would allow the Ninevites (which are Assyrians) to live if they listened to His message and repented. Jonah couldn’t understand why God would want to save them and include them in His plan of salvation. Israel was God’s treasured possession and the Assyrians were always knuckle to knuckle with God’s treasured possession.

As a matter of fact, the Assyrians in just a few short years after Jonah sweep down into Israel and completely wipe out the Northern Kingdom of Israel (which is where Jonah is from).
However, you have to keep in mind (and this just amazes me!) that God wanted to reach other nations through Israel (Genesis 12:3). This was God’s message to Abraham a few years back. Jonah had a hard time understanding God wants to bless others through Israel. Jonah struggled with that and how big God’s saving arm stretched. Even up until the end (Jonah 4:5) Jonah was hoping God would destroy the Ninevites.

It’s like God telling us he is going to completely destroy Iran/North Korea unless one of us goes and preaches to them. So, we think that if we don’t go, if they don’t hear God's message, God will wipe them off the face of the earth (and of course that would be good in our minds!).

That was what Jonah was thinking when he headed for Tarshish. He was thinking that if he didn’t go to Nineveh God would just go ahead and destroy them. To Jonah that was great! The Assyrians were enemies to the Israelites and this would be one less threat to them.

The second problem Jonah had was that...

2. God's love was too different.
What do I mean by too different?
Jonah 3:10
Jonah couldn’t understand how God could love and show mercy to the Assyrians and decide not to destroy them. This is just what Jonah feared would happen if he came and preached at Nineveh.

The Assyrians were a pretty ruthless people. They were heartless and liked to fight. They were known to impale their foes alive on large wooden stakes. So, you can see why Jonah was so confused as to how God could look at them and love them? Because from a human point of view, it just wasn’t possible. Jonah discovered in all of this that God’s love is different than mere human love. There is a difference between Godly love and human love. Apparently God can love His enemies. God can love those who intend Him harm. How does He do that?

To see God's love we can look at Jesus. In Luke chapter 5 Jesus calls a tax collector to come and follow him. These individuals were not liked very well, especially by their own people. They were the bottom of the barrel. Jesus takes one of these individuals and makes him one of His 12 disciples. After He calls him He is found partying and eating with Levi at his house. The Pharisees couldn’t understand why Jesus would associate with people like this. It’s because He really loves them!

Another story is found in Luke 7. Jesus enters another tax collector’s home and is sharing a meal with him and his guests and a sinful woman comes and anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. Instead of rebuking her and kicking her away, He lets her worship Him. Why? Because He loves her. He even goes so far as to tell this woman that her sins are forgiven. Why? Because He loves her.

Jonah learned a little about God’s love during his journey to Nineveh. It was not an easy lesson for him either.
Jonah 4:2 (Exodus 34:6-7), 11
God is full of compassion/or love and that was a tough lesson for Jonah to learn.
Has that been a tough lesson for you to learn? I encourage you to continue on in God’s love. We are never too old to show someone God’s love. I am so thankful we have Jesus Christ as an example. The ultimate expression of His love was His willingness to die for us on a cross. Aren’t you thankful for that?

Book Review: Community that is Christian

Community That Is Christian by Julie Gorman is a thorn in the flesh of American culture and American evangelicalism. Julie Gorman presents a picture of community that purposely attacks and tears down our preconceived notions of community as just small groups getting together only to rebuild it to its proper state in God’s eyes. The book is clear and concise in how it defines Christian community, its purpose from a Biblical and theological perspective, and how to create and nourish it through the use of small groups. Here is a synopsis from the book of the Biblical and theological rationale for the use of small groups in our churches today.

The biblical & Theological rationale for small groups: A proper perspective
Small groups should be viewed as a means to an end. The goal of every small group should be to foster and build genuine Christian community amongst believers. Despite the potential to foster Christian community, small groups can also hinder and/or destroy community if a proper perspective is not kept. To keep the destruction of Christian community from happening within small groups we must see and understand Christian community from a Biblical perspective.

Small groups according to Jesus
What does Christian community look like within a small group? Our best starting point for understanding this is with God’s Son, Jesus, the full revelation of Himself to us. Jesus depicts Christian community as:
o Reciprocal. “For God so loved the world He gave His only Son.” (John 3:16). The Son in turn reveals the Father to us (John 17:6).
o Sharers of everything. “All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.” (John 17:10).
o Totally dependent upon one another. Jesus can only do what He sees the Father doing (John 5:18). Everything He does is a direct result of what the Father has done.
o Bringing glory and honor to one another. “I have come down from heaven, not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)
o Seeking the others best interests. Jesus’ mission was to do the will of the Father (John 8:28). The Father’s mission was to send us His Son (John 3:16). The Spirit’s mission is to be our counselor and guide (John 16:7).
o Obedient to one another. There is a desire to obey the Father displayed in Jesus Christ. “I have come down from heaven, not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

Jesus displays Christian community as something that is others-oriented. Should our small groups be any different? Christian community is really a fulfillment of the commandments to love God with all our heart, strength, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). The growth and development (spiritual formation) occurring in our individual lives within small groups is a by-product of our love for God and others. In summary, small groups are a means to creating Christian community among believers. However, there is a problem.

Trouble in paradise
The first small group consisted of Adam, Eve, Jesus, the Father, and Spirit living in perfect fellowship with one another in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1 – 2). This is a good picture of community as it was intended to be. After making Adam, God declared him incomplete and lacking something. He was lacking another of his own kind. So God created Eve; this gave them the opportunity to build their own community through the family…the true apex of God’s creation. Hence, God’s picture of community was complete. In the next chapter (Genesis 3), Satan shows up and tempts Eve to become independent and reliant upon herself rather than her husband and God. Both Adam and Eve gave into the temptation and a separation between the perfect community (God and mankind) emerges.

From then on, we see God actively pursuing restoration of the relationships and community broken by sin. In the Old Testament, God chose Israel by making a covenant with them. They were to be His community, His people. He then gave them the Ten Commandments. The Commandments were to teach them how to relate to God and each other. There was some progress towards the community God hoped for but the failures outweighed them. Israel failed to keep the commands of God and authentic community was marred and blemished. It was only a shadow of what it used to be.

Because of this, we must realize we can never create Christian community on our own. It must come from an outside source stronger than us. This is why God took on human flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). Because of this (the Father sending Jesus to earth to die and atone for our sins, and then resurrected, and then sending the Spirit to live in us), He has repaired community between Himself, us and each other. This is the Gospel preached by Jesus Christ. This is the kingdom of God. When the Spirit arrives in the second chapter of the book of Acts we have the birth of the restored community of God. We see in the church the quality of community we saw in Jesus when He took on flesh (Acts 2:42-46, 4:32-35) and Adam and Eve before the Fall.

When small groups work
Small groups assist individuals in finding and growing their life in Christ by connecting them to others and God through togetherness. Our togetherness reflects God. How? God is three Persons (persons are capable of having relationships) living harmoniously together in perfect love as one God. Community originates with God and is, therefore, distinctly Christian. Living out Christian community is the heart of Christianity. The quote from Robert Banks (p. 38) said it best, “Union in the Spirit involved union with one another.” We cannot underestimate the role the Spirit plays in establishing and using small groups to form the type of community God desires we have with one another. Our job is to receive the Spirit and obey His leading to love God and neighbor. Then we have the opportunity to participate in the fellowship of the Trinity and experience Christian community. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

New Book!

A new book is out that follows in the line of Every Man's Battle. It's called Hero (click to see). Here's a summary:

You already know it’s not easy being a single man in this culture today. But it is easy to be overwhelmed, to feel helpless and hopeless about living by God’s high standards for singles. It’s easy to cave in to the pressures of this sex-soaked world and accept defeat—blaming the media, the culture, even girlfriends who don’t know how tough it can be.

But many men have read books like Every Young Man’s Battle and Tactics and have committed themselves to stand strong and pure in the power of God, and to go on the offensive against the onslaught of negative stereotypes. Some have suffered. Some have fallen. But many have experienced victory—and you can be among them.

What makes those committed men so desirable to women? Be Her Hero is their motto. From best-selling author Fred Stoeker, along with his son Jasen, come the straightforward insight and real-life examples you’re looking for to help you take personal purity to its logical conclusion. Here’s straight truth with irrefutable evidence of what makes an ultimate hero to women who long for men of faith—men who stand by their convictions and make their world a safer and better place.

Are you ready to accept the challenge? If so, this book is for you.

Spiritual Growth & Development

Season finale of Lost last night (it was crazy!). I'm a big follower. Anyways, here's some thinking on human and spiritual development.

Human & spiritual development
What is the link between human development and spiritual development? Is there a link? Are they connected? Is it possible for a person to develop humanly and not spiritually? How much do these two have in common?

Where God starts in human and spiritual development
In the Old Testament the Israelites demanded a human king to govern and rule them. Saul was their chosen king but God had regrets in giving him that position and even rejected him as king (1 Sam 15:35, 16:1). So, God sent Samuel out to instate a new God-chosen king. Samuel met several fine-looking and well-qualified candidates (e.g., older, strong, wise, good looking, intelligent, men of high stature). Samuel himself was even enthralled by these potential kings. But, God says to Samuel, “You’re making a mistake in judgment. Forsake outer beauty and stature, because I don’t look at that. I look at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7, my paraphrase) This advice led Samuel to choose a young shepherd boy by the name of David to become king of Israel.

God reveals to us in this passage of scripture that His greatest area of concern in human beings is their heart. Why is that? Jesus revealed and continues to reveal to us that we live from the heart. His teachings throughout the Gospels (especially the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7) reveal this truth to us. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NASB, emphasis mine) Christ is the only Being capable of reaching to where we truly live from, the heart. Without Jesus Christ we assuredly will continue to develop (spiritually, mentally, and physically), but it will be as a child not given proper nourishment to grow. Our growth will be stunted, our bodies weak, and we will be lacking something that has the ability to make us complete.

So, what is the heart? The heart, biblically speaking, is the place our daily choices stem from. Heart seems to be used synonymously with will and spirit. All the different aspects of our lives are decisions made from our heart. How we work, how we play, how we interact with each other, how we spend our free time, how we think, and how we feel come from the heart and are a matter of choice. There are outside factors that we cannot control and they can have an influence over us (e.g., our background, where we are born, where our parents choose to live when raising us, who our parents are, how our parents raise us, how and what our parents teach us, etc.), but the choice of who we become is a choice we get to make from the heart. Of course this is a choice that is given to us by God through His gracious gift of free-will. So, you begin to see the intertwining of human development and spiritual development.

Growth & Development
Scripture reveals the link between human and spiritual growth. Luke 2:40 describes the child Jesus as growing strong and increasing in wisdom.
- Growing “strong” requires proper nourishment and activity.
- “Increasing in wisdom” requires proper mental nourishment and activity.

The key word in Luke 2:40 is the word “grow”. This is the Greek word auxano and it means to increase or add to something. Growth we know takes time. Jesus had a tight grasp on this and it is why He spent several years with His disciples teaching them about the Kingdom of God. It rubbed off, because Peter later wrote that we are to crave the spiritual milk of the Word, that by it we may grow (auxano) in respect to salvation (1 Peter 2:2, my par). He wrote in 2 Peter 3:18 that we should grow (auxanoi) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (NASB). Paul reminded Timothy to be nourished on the words of the faith (1 Tim 4:6, NASB). Paul also points out in Philippians 1:6 that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

As humans, our minds and bodies take time to grow. Should our spiritual side be any different? Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:15 that as your faith grows (auxano), we shall be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you. What is constant throughout the Bible is the growth and development spiritually of individuals (bad and good examples are given of this: Contrast Saul with David or Judas with Peter).

After Jesus’ resurrection He sent Another to live in His disciples. Who is this “Another”? It would be the Holy Spirit who continues the role of the master Teacher Jesus in that He continues to teach and guide God’s children (John 16:13, Acts 2) in all Truth. The Holy Spirit ministers to the place where human and spiritual developments take place, the heart. This is why and how God can look at the heart of man and woman.

Why Christian human development and spiritual formation is important
Romans 1:18-32 is a key passage to why an understanding and implementing of Christian human development and spiritual formation is necessary and relevant. As fallen creatures we tend to look to ourselves for the solution and answer to our problem. We end up acting like a broken toy that tries to fix itself, an impossible task. Because of this we have become fools (Rom 1:22). Jesus’ challenge for those around Him and us today is to look to Him for the answer. “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” He tells us. He is the maker of the toy. He knows how it works and how to put it back together. Paul points out in Romans the danger to follow for those who try and do it on their own and constantly reject God; an unclear and distorted picture of reality. But for those who receive God’s Son reality is tasted and freedom from the chains of sin follows (Romans 8:1-2). One then experiences and grows in the type of life Jesus came to offer to those who would surrender to Him. Using big churchy words we call this “sanctification,” a God-driven process that leads to a better quality of life and allows us to experience life in the Kingdom of God.

How to prepare a sermon in 5 hours

(This does not include time given to finding a passage to preach. I start assuming you have already found a verse, passage, or book to preach.)

My college preaching class was appalled to find out that pastors were only averaging 3-5 hours in sermon preparation. How could they? The ideal picture was 15-20 hours of time spent in sermon preparation. However, the more time I serve in ministry the less I hold to the idea of spending 15-20 hours in sermon preparation. It would be nice, but is it really feasible? So, instead of becoming bitter and griping about it I put the ol’thinkin cap on and tried to come up with a way ministers can prepare a sermon in 5 hours. This is something I have put into practice (the few times I’ve preached) and it worked. I’m open to suggestions and criticisms of this too. So please comment and help me develop this. So, here we go.

Hour 1 – Letting the Scripture speak. In this first hour you do nothing but read, re-read, pray over, meditate upon, read again, think about, and ask God to reveal to you the Scripture you are planning to preach (I’m assuming you already have your passage selected). God wants us to know Him and He wants others to know Him too, because of this, He helps us understand His Word. His Spirit really can be our ultimate Teacher. Shut the door and lock it, get away to a quiet place where you won’t be bothered, a place where you can be alone with God and His Word for this step. Put up a sign on your office door telling others you are “In prayer” or “Spending time with God”. This isn’t a lie, you are actually doing this. What’s wrong with letting others know and protecting this time?

Hour 2 – Observations. In this second hour you will begin making initial observations about the particular verse or passage you are going to preach. This is where basic questions are asked as you observe the passage. Here’s a list of questions that will help lead you to understand any passage better:
- What’s going on in the story?
- What are some key words in the story or verse?
- What is the context to this particular verse or passage?
- Who’s the author?
- When was it written?
- Who is the audience?
- Why was it written?
- What is the overall theme of the book this passage comes from?
- What are other verses that connect to this?
- How does this particular verse or story break down in you were to make an outline of it?

Hour 3 – Finding answers. Hour 2 leads right into hour 3 because here you begin looking up answers to the questions you are asking of the text. Study Bibles are priceless here. They can eliminate the need for Bible dictionaries, handbooks, lexicons, and commentaries. In other words, they can save you time. If used properly you can find basic context questions to a particular passage or verse in just seconds! A good study Bible will have introductions to a book that will tell you who authored it, when they wrote it, why they wrote it, who they wrote it to, an outline of the book, etc.

Before study Bibles, pastors would have to look through several other books to find this basic information. Now you can have it right there with God’s Word (you can even have it on your computer too). There’s no excuse to not have a study Bible, they are an invaluable resource in sermon preparation. What are some good ones? I love the NLT Study Bible (personal fav!). The NIV Study Bible is another good one. I would avoid study Bibles that are from a certain theological persuasion (e.g., ESV Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible, Scoffield Study Bible).

Of course I’m not saying you can’t use other resources. By all means do! Some of your questions may not be easily answered, so you may have to wrestle with them for a while and do some extra reading.

Hour 4 – Applying it. You’ve done the basic research and now it’s time to start thinking about how this passage applies. What does God want you to apply to your life from this passage? Pray plays a key role here. Ask God to help you apply this and His Spirit to teach you is essential. I recommend starting with you. How do you apply this to your life? What are some examples from your life of how this applies or how this should have been applied (these can later become illustrations). After you finish the introspection you can begin to think about others and how they would apply such a truth.

Hour 5 – Sharing the truth. Imagine you are sitting at the table eating a meal with some of your closest friends. You want to share with them what you’ve just done. How would you do that? Would you start by reading them the passage of Scripture? Maybe you want to retell the Bible story in your own words. Once the story is read, you would want to share some of the context to the particular passage so they could understand it better. From there you would talk about what God revealed to you through this passage and how it applies to your life. As you are doing this try and imagine what kind of questions your friends would ask. Would something be confusing to them? Would they connect your application of the Scripture to the Scripture? Make an outline or type up a manuscript in this last hour of all your thoughts (this will become your sermon).

Now if you take Mondays off and do this exercise on a Tuesday morning, say from 8am to 1pm, you can have the rest of the week to think about, review, and develop this sermon. Hopefully you can come up with extra illustrations and stories to explain it polish the message off as you have time to think about it. Just carry a notepad with you so when you’re out calling and visiting you can write down your ideas and any changes you would make.

George Barna as Pastor and Theologian (Part 2)

We continue with the review of George Barna's book Revolution.

Direction Box
The Direction Box is where we come up with ideas and plans of how we will synthesize the Ultimate Box and Nature Box into daily life. Here we list ideas of what we plan on doing to make this philosophy of ministry happen. George gives the following direction:
- Participate in the spiritual practices, personal faith in God, a focused outlook on life, a righteous and upbeat attitude, good character, excessive love of God and people, holy and productive lives.
- Revolutionaries will be involved in community service projects, grow faith in their family, worship God regularly, understand and apply Scripture.
- Get back to a simple First Century lifestyle.
In passing George mentions that Revolutionaries can attend a local church if it helps them grow but they can obliterate it if it does not.

Routine Box
Routine is the prescribed methods you want to put into place to see your ultimate happen. This is where you get as specific as possible in how to implement your methods. It was hard to pull out specific routines in this book. George tried very hard to not be prescriptive. I thought this was a noble thing but if you read carefully you can catch a few general prescribed routines/methods. Here are several from pp. 22-25, 81-84:
- Commit to feeling the awe (worship) of God’s magnificence.
- Intentionally talk to others about Christ and our relationship with Him.
- Serve others.
- Share everything we have with those in need.
- Become friends with others.
- Meet in houses for church.
- Daily demonstrate faith.
- Be a revolutionary every moment of every day.
- Do whatever is right all the time.
- Be willing to listen for God’s voice and orders.
- Have a total disregard for all worldly things such as leadership roles, titles, and benefits.

Education Box
Education is done by the continual renewing and reshaping of the Spirit (p.52). This practice must be intentional and it will alter our daily routines (p.41). I would agree with this. People learn best by experience or putting the Word into practice. I agree with that too. I think George’s beliefs about how we learn are right on track. To his credit, George was adamant throughout the book about living and being a Christian first and foremost. He was big on modeling Christianity; in order to do that properly you have to have a relationship with Him. I could not agree more. I got a sense that he strongly favors the more informal learning environments (e.g., a home, golf course, over a meal). I do not totally disagree with this but I think formal learning and being taught in a classroom type setting is a vital part of how we learn.

Reader beware!
So, in summary, George’s philosophy of ministry sounds great (love God, love others, and don’t let anything get in the way of this), but it must be explored and studied to really get at what he is trying to say. The places of weakness were in his nature box. His beliefs about the Church/church were what led him to dangerous ideas in the direction box. So if you read this book be cautious, be alert, and remember that God is responsible for the creation of the local church (all its spots and wrinkles too!) and wants you to join His Body right where you are at.

George Barna as pastor and theologian (Part 1)

A big thanks to Brad Buhro who gave me a link to Dr. Oord’s article (click to read it) on entire sanctification that helps one understand Dr. Leth’s article and what he is trying to do and say. Sounds like a battle of the theologians is brewing in our Denomination over this. Assembly this summer could be interesting.

I had a chance a month ago to sit down and read Revolution by George Barna (It's a pretty popular book on Amazon and readers think pretty positively about it). You are probably familiar with the many stats you hear from George Barna's research group. So, what happens when Barna stops surveying churches and becomes pastor and theologian?

I just finished learning about something in education known as Frankena’s Boxes (click to see a list of his books). It’s a great tool for evaluating the content and message of a book. Frankena set these five boxes up as a visual way to explain why we do what we do (our philosophy). You start with the Ultimate Box (your goal/mission/vision go here) and move to the Direction Box (what you will do because of what your goal/mission/vision) to the Routine Box (specific things you will do). Along with this you have the Nature Box (what you believe the nature of things to be) and Education Box (how you believe people learna and grow). I’m going to use Frankena's Boxes here to evaluate and critique the philosophy of ministry in this book (I’ve divided this critique up into 2 parts so it won’t be quite as long).

Book Summary
In a nutshell, the book describes a coming revolution, something as great at the Reformation (according to Barna), that will forever change the Church and the church. Barna defines the Church (capital C) as all believers in Jesus Christ, including those that don’t attend or participate in a local church. He defines the church (small c) as the local congregation-based faith experiences which involve formal structure, a hierarchy of leadership, and a specific group of believers. This revolution, according to Barna, is coming to both the Church and church whether we like it or not. We can either change our local churches to adapt to it or we can resist it and watch our local churches whither and die.

Ultimate Box
What is driving George to write a book like this? Every philosophy of ministry has an ultimate that is directing and guiding it. For George, that ultimate is found on page 30, “Every human being was created by God primarily to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. All other activity is superfluous.” This sounds good, right? I mean who wouldn’t say a loud, “Amen!” to this if they heard it from the mouth of their preacher? Barna continues on page 39, “Do whatever it takes to get closer to God and to help others do the same. Obliterate any obstacle that prevents you from honoring God with every breath you take.” We would probably say an even louder, “Amen!!!” to this and maybe cheer. However, a closer examination at where this philosophy leads reveals the cake isn’t as good as the colorful and pretty icing.

Nature Box
The nature box is what we believe about certain things (e.g., what is the nature of the church? Man? The Gospel?). It also includes the cultural and social influences and settings. In this book the nature of the church (both capital C and small c) is greatly expounded upon. I believe that it is here, the nature box, that George makes his greatest mistakes. To help clarify my reasoning for believing that, here is what George believes about the nature of the Church and church:

Nature of the church
- The church (small c) is man-made and unnecessary for believers. It was created not by God, but by religious leaders centuries ago.
- Only one of God’s many instruments, a mechanism according to Barna (p.36), to bring us closer to Him.
- An abiblical idea (not addressed in Scripture) according to Barna (p.37).
- Nature of the Church
- The Church (capital C) consists of all believers in Jesus Christ who have professed Him as Christ and have a lifestyle to back it up.

Barna suggest looking to the book of Acts (2:42-47, 4:31-35, Acts 5) for answers to this question. In summary there are seven characteristics George gives to the First Century Church: Intimate Worship, Faith-based Conversations, Intentional Spiritual Growth, Servanthood, Resource Investment, Spiritual Friendships, and Family Faith.

Nature of humans
- In need of Christ and others to hold them accountable and help spur on growth.
- Not made to do this alone.
- Possess a sinful nature and will be sinners until death.

I thought George did a terrible job of trying to be discrete in his overtly obvious attempts to bash the local church and get us to drift away from it to something better. I thought his beliefs about the nature of the church were confusing at best and heresy at worst. Believing that our local churches are just man-made institutions leads to horrible conclusions (i.e., you don’t need it to grow spiritually or to mature in the faith; you’re ok if you don’t attend). As a matter of fact, George seems to indicate you are probably better off without the local church.

George seems to have missed the rest of the New Testament’s teachings on the local church and the role it played in shaping believers. The local church is the Body of Christ on Earth. It’s not the entire Body, but it is His manifestation of it in a particular town/city. George does not get this, but sees the church as an obstacle to true growth in Christ. Even the apostle Paul, on his many missionary journeys, was trying as hard as he could to establish local churches in the cities he visited. He even wanted them to contribute to each other (i.e. Ephesus) and hold each other accountable for meeting together on a regular basis.

This is where George’s philosophy of ministry gets dangerous. He says he has studied the Church of the New Testament but his presuppositions regarding the local church have tainted his findings. Instead of seeing local churches being established by Christians all over the Roman Empire, he shuts his eyes to this tedious work and concentrates on just the characteristics of believers.

Next week we'll examine his direction, routines, and education boxes.

Entire Sanctification Part 2

Part 2
I apologize to those of you who would like to read this article. I tried finding it online to put in a link to it and couldn’t. If you are interested in reading it I can email it to you. Below is part 2 to the article. In this section Dr. Leth covers holiness and “secondness,” holiness and love, and responsible grace.

4) Holiness and “Secondness”
We should understand entire sanctification as “theologically normative rather than experientially normative.” Theologically normative means this is what happens. Experientially normative explains how we may experience it. The problem with the latter, as Dr. Leth points out, is that people make their experiences the norm for everyone else. If someone didn’t experience it in the way you did then they didn’t really experience it at all. This should be avoided and we should have some room to wiggle around within the various ways a person can experience entire sanctification. Because we don’t all experience it in the same way.

5) Holiness and Love
Really being able to love means first of all that we love God. This is what we were primarily created for. I would agree.

This section was where I felt a little confused. I don’t think Augustine had it right when he said the fundamental human problem is that our love is misdirected. Isn’t the fundamental human problem the lack, or loss, of love in us that vanished after the Fall? I’m not one to argue with Augustine (because our mere human love is misdirected from God and others to only ourselves), but isn’t it hard to misdirect something you don’t possess?

Paul writes in Romans 5, “God has poured out his love (agape) into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” This love is not from us, it is from God. Isn’t this why the writers of the New Testament used the noun agape to describe Godly love? They had to come up with a totally different word for God’s love. Isn’t there a distinction between human love and the love of God? Isn’t this what entire sanctification is all about? Our love does become ‘perfect love’ (to borrow from Wesley) in entire sanctification because God fills us with His love. Harald Lindstrom points out that this is the chief mark of John Wesley’s view of entire sanctification (from his book Wesley & Sanctification, p 139). This is how we fulfill Jesus’ words to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).

This section was fuzzy and confusing. Maybe I was misinterpreting the message here, my ignorance makes that a frequent occurrence, but there was no talk at all about the distinctiveness of God’s love and the role it plays in entire sanctification. On a similar side note there isn’t really any mention in the 2005-2009 Nazarene Manual of entire sanctification being all about God filling us with His love. Why is that? How could we change and communicate that better?

6) Responsible grace
Dr. Leth believes in the believer working with the Holy Spirit but he affirms that spiritual formation is, “first and finally, God’s work.” I don’t believe practicing the spiritual disciplines will entirely sanctify us (neither does Leth) but they may help a person get closer to that crisis moment. I think Dr. Leth agreed with this. This is the amazing thing about grace. If God’s Spirit is working in us, all things will be worked together for the good of those who love Him.

What are your thoughts on this?

New Baby & Entire Sanctification part 1

Thursday Thinking is back! My wife and I had our second child this week. What a beautiful thing! This was my first time to experience a C-section (hers too!). We both survived. A beautiful baby girl was the result; she was a bit on the heavy side, 9 lbs. 1oz.

This summer Nazarenes from around the world will be gathering for General Assembly in Orlando, FL. One of the big issues to be discussed will be Article X on entire sanctification. Comments and whispers have been popping up over the possible changes to this second work of grace that might or might not happen. Dean of the School of Theology at Olivet Nazarene University, Dr. Carl Leth, has written an article to prepare us for what’s possibly in store at General Assembly.

So, here is one measly little associate pastor’s thoughts on Carl M. Leth’s article titled Trajectories: Identifying Key Issues for Article X (Article 10 which is Entire Sanctification). This paper was emailed out to all pastors on my District (NEI). As I read through it several times some thoughts came to my head. There will be two parts to this, so come back next week for part 2.

Overall, Dr. Leth made some great points. Here’s a recap:

Intro and why language matters
- Language matters. Language does matter and Dr. Leth was right on the money when he said, “language conveys meaning and, inescapably, values.” I think Nietzsche himself said the only way we could ever get rid of God in our society is to get rid of language. Language sets boundaries and helps us explain truths. We need it! I agree.

Section 1) Our distinct Understanding of Holiness
- I would agree that our understanding of what entire sanctification does in a person is crucial and the place to start. If we are not clear here, we will have all kinds of problems. Though we may explain to each other in different terms (e.g., sanctified, entirely sanctified, filled with the Spirit, baptized with the Spirit, fully surrendered, etc.) we have to be crystal clear in our understanding of just what it is we are talking about. We need a solid, consistent, and precise definition to help us understand entire sanctification. We need something in place we can keep coming back to that is unique and distinct in its definition of entire sanctification. What do you mean when you tell me you were, “filled with the Spirit”? Is that the same thing as “entirely sanctified,” or “baptized with the Spirit”? Is your understanding the same as my understanding? If so, we can move forward. I think this was the point Dr. Leth was making.

2) Baptism of the Holy Spirit
- Entire sanctification is not the starting point for when we receive the Spirit. This happened when we began our life with the Spirit, when we first confessed, repented, and believed in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and Savior.
- Entire sanctification is the point where we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in us.

3) Trinitarian Language
- I think Dr. Leth makes a good argument for why we need to talk about the Holy Spirit’s role in the sanctification process and not refer to it in generic Trinitarian language. It seems most people have a hard enough time believing in the Person Jesus Christ who took on human flesh and dwelt among us. How much harder it is to believe in a Person like the Holy Spirit whom we cannot see. We do not want to diminish the role of the third Person of the Trinity by excluding Him in our conversations about His work in our lives. If we talk of the process of sanctification in terms of the work of the Trinity as a whole, we diminish the role of the Spirit and His personhood.

Any thoughts on this?

Parts 4, 5, 6 will be next week.

Happy Palm Sunday!

Luke 19:28-48

Today is Palm Sunday. This marks the end of the Lenten season; our prayers, meditations, and fasting has come to a close.

This morning I’m reading Luke 19:28-48. This is one of the classic Palm Sunday passages. Verse 28-40 describes Jesus’ donkey ride to Jerusalem. He rides in on a colt (a young donkey). This had to be a surprise to everyone. Why? Messiahs don’t ride in on measly donkeys! They come galloping in on a mighty horse waving a sword! Jesus shatters their expectations of the Messiah again. The reaction is quite a scene. All Jesus’ disciples lay the garments down and shout and sing praises to God. Were they really worshipping Him for the right reasons? Did they think He was coming to die? Did they think God’s Son would save them by dying on a cross?

The Pharisees get pretty bothered by all this singing and shouting. Maybe it was too loud for them? They ask Jesus to tell his disciples to shut-up. I love Jesus’ response, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” In other words, somebody is going to be praising God today. Along with this story is the passage of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem for not believing in Him (vv.41-44) and Jesus clearing the temple and reminding the people that God’s house is a house of prayer (45-48).

I hope you remember and think about Jesus today and the rest of the week as we approach Good Friday and Easter. May this be a special time of reflection and meditation for you upon God the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Day 23/Chapter 23

I was hoping to be done with my study and reading of Deuteronomy by tomorrow (Palm Sunday). This was a part of my fasting and meditating upon Christ for the 40 days of Lent. I’m obviously not going to finish. Not that I won’t finish reading Deuteronomy, but I am going to take a break from hacking and slashing my way through this wonderful book. Plus, my wife and I will be having our second child on Monday. Can't wait! She migt be a little upset if she finds me blogging! This next week I’m going to go back to the normal Thursday posting.

(23:1-8) This section continues the regulations concerning worship. In this section God deals with men who are emasculated. One thing I wasn’t sure of was if this for men who intentionally did this or it happened accidentally? The NLT uses some pretty bold and clear language here in regards to this verse and what it is trying to say. I’ve been enjoying the NLT translation of Deuteronomy. I would recommend anyone wanting to read through this book to do it in the NLT. It makes a complex book a lot more clear and easy to read. God gives specific names of groups of people he does not want the Israelites worshipping with. Maybe I should say these people are not to be admitted to the “assembly of the LORD.” Why is this so? Because these nations did not help Israel after they left Egypt. Instead they cursed them.

(9-25) This section is titled “Miscellaneous Regulations” in the NLT. It deals with various other rule and regulations God wants the Israelites to follow. The crux of the matter is in verse 9. God wants the Israelites to stay away from anything that would cause them to become impure. God is giving the Israelites every possible chance (He’s covering all the different things they would need rule and laws in) to follow Him and His regulations. He does not want them to miss out on the quality of life they are to live. It would be interesting to explore in more detail each of these regulations and why they were so important. That may be a future project. We will see.

I hope you continue reading God’s Word daily and soak up His words for your life.

Day 22/Chapter 22

Chapter 22 observations

(22:1-12) Half of this chapter deals with various laws that are mostly related to interaction with others. Examples are helping your neighbor with his lost things (e.g., ox, sheep, cloak, donkey). God puts a priority on returning what is lost to its rightful owner. God does not want men and women switching wardrobes (v.5). Why? My presupposition is that it has something to do with role confusion and God wanting each person He has created to be the person He has created them to be. What do you think?

(22:13-30) This half of chapter 22 deals with various marriage problems of the day. Verses 13-19 deal with what to do in case a man lies against his wife by telling everyone she was never a virgin when they married. This is somewhat of a gruesome section in how it asks the parents to confirm the man as a liar (v.17). If the woman is lying she is to be stoned in front of her parents. If a man has an affair with a married woman, both individuals are to be put to death. Verses 25-29 talk about what to do in different rape situations. If a man rapes a girl pledged to be married he is to be put to death. If the girl is not pledged to be married and is raped the rapist is required to pay the father fifty shekels of silver and marry the woman and never divorce her (v.29). The no-brainer verse of the day is verse 30, “A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.”

Day 21/Chapter 21

I started this journey with good intentions (I was hoping to finish this before or by Palm Sunday) but have found it harder and harder to keep up. Why is that?

Chapter 21 observations
- Verse 1-9 gives the Israelites what to do in case an unsolved murder happens. A "young cow" (v.3, NLT) is to be offered as a sacrifice to God. In a remote area away from everyone, its neck is to be broken.
- Verses 10-14 deals with the Israelites marrying captives they take in times of war. If the Israelites want to marry a beautiful foreign woman they can, but she must come to their home and live, shave her head, cut her nails, and be allowed to mourn the loss of her folks for a month. If the Israelite man decides to divorce her, he must let her go free.
- Verses 15-17 deals with the rights of the firstborn. Even if the Israelite doesn’t like the wife who gave him the firstborn, he must still keep his commitment to her and the firstborn. Firstborn sons have special rights.
- Verse 18-21 is section all children need to listen to. If an Israelite had a rebellious son, he was taken to the elders and then stoned. I’m glad I wasn’t an Israelite back then!
- Verses 22-23 are interesting in light of what we will be celebrating in a couple of weeks. Jesus was hung on a tree you could say when He was crucified. According to these verses in Deuteronomy the person who is “hung on a tree” (NLT) is “cursed in the sight of God.” Listen to Paul’s words in Galatians,

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Day 20/Chapter 20

Introduction
This chapter was very interesting. I’ve never witnessed any great wars like World War I, II, Vietnam, but, I have been around long enough to see Desert Storm (90’s), the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems war is just as much a part of our realities as it was then (maybe it’s not quite as regular). Again, the Israelites are conquering a land God promised them. The only way for them to truly take this land is to engage in war. War is the language of the time for the Israelites and God has chosen them as His firstborn. Of course God isn’t for war, but it was the way of the culture. That is important to keep in mind while reading the entire Old Testament.

Chapter 20 observations
- Chapter 20 is appropriately titled “Going to War” in the NIV headings. This chapter deals exclusively with how the Israelites are to act in war.
- Verses 1-9 could be called “Preparing for war,” vv.10-18 could be “Rules of engagement,” and vv.19-20 “Save the trees,”
- The Israelites are to not fear when they go to war. God is fighting their fights (v.4). Apparently they are going to be going up against some fierce enemies and they are not to be intimidated.
- Before they fight they are to hear the words of the priest. He will encourage them to stand strong and not be afraid.
- Apparently the official will give specific individuals opportunities to not go to war (vv.5-8).
- God would rather have used peaceful methods if possible (v.10).
- Again, God wants the Israelites to completely destroy anything that might lead them to worship other gods.
- We even see a little creation care in the last section of this chapter (vv.19-20).

Day 19/Chapter 19

Chapter 19 observations
- Verses 1-13 describes the cities of refuge the LORD wants the Israelites to build as safe places for anyone who unintentionally kills someone. This is a place they can find safety from an accident.
- Verse 5 gives us a case study of an unintentional killing.
- There is a big distinction made between an unintentional killing and murder. Here, murder is preconceived. The murderer “lies in wait” according to the NRSV.
- When it comes to convicting a person one person’s witness will not do. There must be at least two (v.15).
- If the witness is lying, or proved to be a false witness, the people are to do to him what he intended to do to the one he was accusing (v.19).
- God is setting up this justice system among the Israelites to help “purge” them and make them a pure people (v.13, 19).
- There seems to be evenness to this justice system. You are treated as you treat others (v.21).

Day 18/Chapter 18

We continue the journey of exploring Deuteronomy. You can see that God is forming a people who are different and distinct from every other nation around them. He is trying to do something special with Israel. Here are some observations over chapter 18.

Chapter 18 observations
(1-8) This section focuses on the Levites, also known as God’s ministers. God has given this group, this whole tribe, no inheritance in Israel (I’m thinking that is referring to land?). God is their inheritance (v.2). They have to rely upon others completely. They eat of the offerings of the people. The offerings the Israelites bring to the place where God dwells (Tabernacle/Temple) are shared with them.

(9-13) God again informs the Israelites of how He does not want them to copy the “detestable” practices of the other nations. They are called to be different and set apart. God wants His people to be blameless. What are the other nations doing that is so bad? They are practicing magic, sacrificing their children in fire, casting spells, and talking to the dead (vv.10-11). These things take the Israelites focus off God.

(14-22) In this section we talk a little about prophets. Apparently the Israelites wanted a man to speak God’s message to them instead of God Himself (v.16). We have one of the marks of a true prophet given here; what he speaks must take place in order for him to be a true prophet of God. Obviously, there would have to be more to the test than this. You have to take into account the warnings given in chapter 13 about prophets.

Day 17/Chapter 17

I’ve reached the halfway point in my 34 days with the book of Deuteronomy. It has been a lot more interesting than I expected. I love watching and seeing how God provides and forms His people. He is trying so hard to create a people who love him with all their heart, soul, and strength (6:5).

Chapter 17 observations
(17:1-7) Chapter 17 continues that theme. God is working to keep His people’s focus on Him. He’s helping them be kingdom seekers. He doesn’t want them drifting away to worship other idols or be led astray. If anyone leads an Israelite astray, they are to investigate the matter thoroughly, have 2-3 witnesses, and stone the person to death. Why? God wants them to purge the evil from among them. This is how He had to work in this culture.

(17:8-13) We also learn that the Levites (the priests) can act in accordance with the appointed judge in cases that are too hard to handle. If contempt is shown towards the priest or judge the person is to be stoned.

(17:14-20) God obviously knows the Israelites will want to be like the other nations around them and be led by a king. So, in this section God gives them advice on picking a king. Choose only the king God selects. Sounds like some good advice! Then God shares what He wants the king to do. He wants the king to be very familiar with the law/His Word. He indicates that he wants the king to write the law and read it (vv.18-19). The promise, if the king does this, is that the king and his descendants will have a long and happy rule.

Day 16/Chapter 16

Chapter 16 observations
- This chapter divided up into six sections: vv.1-8, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, 21-22. There is a progression within each section; vv.1-17 deal with remembering what God has done, vv.18-20 deal with community relations, and vv.21-22 (this also includes 17:1) deal with the individual.
- Unleavened bread is called “the bread of affliction” in the fist section because it represents Israel’s time in Egypt and when God delivered them.
- The Israelites are to leave no leftovers in the morning when the sacrifice for Passover (v.4).
- Three times the people (the men) of Israel are to appear before God, the feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), Feast of Weeks (I think this is Pentecost), and Feast of Tabernacles.
- Judges and officials (v.18) are used in each of the Israel’s towns to help keep peace and bring justice to those who need it.
- In the last section (vv.21-22) God warns the people of turning to pagan practices (e.g., Asherah poles and sacred stones).

Comments
God, as we have seen already, is all about remembering. Here He establishes three big feasts/or parties. These times of celebration are a time for the community to come together and remember together what God has done. There is something powerful when people gather together with God as their reason for it. I can’t help but think of the church. We gather and remember what Christ has done and is still doing for us. We remember together, especially this time of year (Lent), the actions Jesus performed to deliver us from slavery to sin. As the hymn sings,
At the cross, at the cross where I fist saw the light
and the burden of my soul rolled away.
It was there by faith, I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day.