Saturday, January 31, 2009

1 Samuel 3: A Holy Calling

What is a calling? When God calls someone he gives them a task to fulfill or a position in which to serve. It is not something that we earn, or have the potential to fulfill it by ourselves. Rather, God appoints us and gives us the ability, strength and wisdom to fulfill his purposes.

God called Samuel to lead Israel through its transition into a monarchy. God had not called a leader such as Samuel since Joshua. Something great his coming and Israel will need a Godly prophet to lead them through this change. Unlike the judges, Samuel is known throughout all of Israel (v. 20), meaning all of Israel is to be transformed into something new. God always uses prophets when he leads Israel through major redemptive changes. Moses, the great prophet for Israel, lead the nation out of bondage from Egypt. Now Samuel will lead Israel out of its spiritual anarchy into a godly kingdom. But this goal was never fully inaugurated, because the monarchy failed with its poor kings.

The kingdom that Samuel was called to build came under the work of a greater prophet—Jesus Christ. We don’t typically think of Christ as a prophet, but he was greater than the prophet Moses. Prophets represented God to humanity just as the incarnated Christ being God himself represents God to us. Put simply Christ reveals God’s truth to us that through Christ God has redeemed a people for himself. All of Scripture points to Christ and his work.

So what are we called to? God calls us to be a holy people and to live lives worthy of Christ (Ephesians 4:1). Secondly, we are called to serve one another (Galatians 5:13). But we are not just called to serve the church or those we like but to serve everyone including the entire world. We are to seek the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:4-23). We are to be a blessing to the entire world and not just in “ministry” but also as be lawyers, doctors, soldiers, accountants, plumbers and carpenters. We all have a calling through which we are to serve God in our work. It is a calling that Christ gives us strength, hope, and ability to accomplish. Let us then live our lives worthy of Christ doing whatever it is that he has called us to do, for that is a holy calling.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Friday, January 30, 2009

1 Samuel 2: New Leadership

1 Samuel 2: New Leadership


Two of the key themes in 1 & 2 Samuel are the themes of leadership and blessing. They weave together like a rope in the history of the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. The birth of Samuel is representative of the end of the period of the judges and the beginning of the leadership of the kings and prophets. Samuel would guide Israel into a day where Israel would be led by a kings, priests and prophets as taught in Deuteronomy. He would be the final judge and yield his authority to a king and would then emerge as a prophet in the line of Moses, founding a school of prophets who would be the guardians and watchman for the covenant in Israel.

The emergence of Samuel and the demise of the house of Eli are great examples of what is important to God in the development of leaders. Samuel is born in humility, but is sanctified by dedication. Hannah’s prayer reflects the beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5) and the many calls in the New Testament for humility. Her prayer comes to sharp, human application when she says in v. 9, “it is not by strength that one prevails…” Samuel would be a picture of the ne dedicated to God, living in obedience to him—raised to live for him from the beginning. This foundation would serve history well as his life would serve as a hinge point for the history of Israel.

The disintegration of the house of Eli also resembles the beatitudes (this time, Luke 6) in the way a curse comes to those who are proud. They are selfish with the things of God and contemptuous of the work of the Temple and for these reasons, God removes from them his anointing and their opportunity to continue to offer leadership in Israel. God says, “although good will be done in Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man. In many ways, lives of the sons of Eli are a prologue to the rise and fall of King Saul, as Samuel is a prologue to the rise of David.

This is a great reminder to all who lead and who are stewards of talent and wealth. To whom much is given, much will be expected. Yet, there is hope with Eli. Though God removed the anointing for ministry from his family, he did not remove them from Israel. And, with Samuel, Eli had a second chance to grow and nurture new leadership for Israel. Have you reaped poorly from sowing poorly? You may have a hole to work out of, but you can trust that God is a God of second chances.

Posted by Marc Lucenius

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Ruth 4: Redeeming Sacrifice

So why does this kinsmen pass on the right to purchase this land from Naomi? Even if the land comes with responsibility to Ruth would it not make sense to acquire the land for himself? No, not in the context of the culture we are reading about. The kinsman would not only be required to purchase the land from Naomi, but would also be obligated to give Ruth a son. This son would become the rightful heir of this estate. This would then make the land purchased by the kinsman property of the son through inheritance of Naomi’s family. This land that was purchased at a cost would then be lost. In this culture the son would also be recognized as one from Naomi’s family line. The kinsman would only be serving as a surrogate for Naomi’s deceased son; therefore the son would not bear the kinsman family name.

The kinsman acceptance of these terms would come at great financial and personal sacrifice. Boaz knew that the kinsman would not be able to agree to the requirements set by the law. You can see why redeemer is attached to the word kinsman. The restoration of Naomi and Ruth was going to come through sacrifice on the part of Boaz. Any son born to Ruth would rightfully bear the family name of Ruth’s deceased husband. This could mean that Boaz’s family name might possibly end with him, as we do not read of any other children born to Boaz. It would also come at the financial loss of the land purchase.

Where do you see lives being redeemed by others? I see it all the time in the actions of many at Willowdale. We see people sacrificing their time to mentor students at the Garage or those that sacrifice financially to sponsor couples so that they can attend marriage conferences. We just had several people give an entire weekend to serve students at a Young Life retreat. We have some spending Saturday after Saturday ministering to people in jail. We have ladies giving their time to serve pregnant teens who don’t know what life now holds for them. We had a group of men who spent last Saturday working on a home through the ministry of Good Neighbors. These folks have the heart of Boaz and are the pace setters for the rest of us. Christ clearly showed us that redeeming people comes at a cost. I am grateful to be part of a body that is willing to sacrifice in order to redeem people.

Posted by Jim

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ruth 3: Excellence on Display

How are you known by others? What do they know about you that would give an accurate description of who you are? Ruth 3 deals with a few characters that are known for exceptional character. They are known by others as men and women of excellence.

It begins with Naomi. A widow and mother-in-law back home after the severe famine. She’s accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth. Naomi realizes Ruth’s faithfulness and devotion to her and seeks security for Ruth out of her own love and devotion for her. So Ruth listens to all that Naomi commands her to do, to go into the fields after Boaz has finished eating and drinking for the night to be near him to see if he would take care of her. Ruth was being instructed to prepare herself as a bride. She was appealing to Boaz’s kinsman obligation. Her actions were a request for marriage. And Boaz once again is impressed with Ruth’s character. Her kindness (v.10) was shown to him because she didn’t simply go after the younger men. He knows of her history (see Ruth 2) and how faithful Ruth has been to Naomi. But now he sees another side of her. In fact, he says “all the people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.” He’s impressed.

It can also be said that Boaz is a person of excellence. You see he could have simply accepted Ruth’s approach without any further discussion. But, he knew there was a relative closer to Ruth than himself. So the right thing, the law, indicates the closest relative has the first right as kinsman redeemer for this relative, or the first right of refusal so to speak.

What do you do when you’re in a situation that benefits you and you can easily get past the letter of the law? Ruth and Boaz were in this position. Both are examples of excellence on display. Ruth didn’t have to stay with her mother-in-law, she didn’t have to leave Moab and come to Naomi’s home. Ruth had nothing except her relationship with Naomi and her character. Boaz demonstrated excellence when approached by Ruth for one reason – because it was the right thing to do. Do we do that in our culture? Do we do the right thing because it’s the right thing? Or do we need other reasons to do what is right? Let’s remember Ruth and Boaz as examples of excellence, as examples of doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. And let’s remember that we’re all faced with so many situations in our lives, every day and every week. And that we’re ambassadors of Christ, called to live righteous lives in all our ways. So let’s do the right thing – let’s put Christ’s excellence in us on display everyday.

Posted by Joe Stecz

Monday, January 26, 2009

Ruth 2: Beyond justice to...

If Judges is all about what was wrong with Israel, Ruth is a picture of what is right. We see in this passage that there is a place for a gentile, like Ruth, to experience the blessing that God has given Israel, that there are still Godly men in Israel like Boaz, and there is a system that God has established to provide for those, like Naomi who have experienced personal disaster.

Ruth displays her faithfulness to Naomi by going out to work to provide for both of them. God shows his faithfulness to Naomi and Ruth by establishing a law that farmers shouldn’t completely “maximize” their harvest, but leave gleanings for the poor to collect and enjoy. Boaz shows his faithfulness to God by noticing Ruth and going beyond the law, having his men leave extra gleanings, thereby demonstrating mercy and compassion to Ruth and Naomi.

Meeting Boaz introduces a new concept into the mix: the kinsman-redeemer. In each family, the kinsman-redeemer would be the closest person to one in need and would take responsibility for the land as well as the continued descent of that family line. In the case of Naomi, the family line of Elimelech was ready to end, with both sons lost. Boaz was one of a few men who were relatives of Elimelech who could take responsibility to purchase Elimelech’s land and to marry Ruth, and in so doing, “redeem” both the land of Israel and the family line in Israel.

When Naomi discovers how Ruth had stumbled upon Boaz and experienced his generosity, her hopes return, serving as a hinge point for the story. So what does this teach us about God? We could suggest many things, but may I suggest that the law of Israel and the heroes of Israel serve to go beyond justice to achieve the vision of a beautiful Hebrew term known as “hesed.” Hesed is many things but is best translated as ‘covenant faithfulness.’ This is a broad term that we see on display in Ruth’s loyalty, Boaz’s compassion and the law of God that really isn’t about justice in this situation, but rather blessing and how it extends from Israel to the world and from generation to generation.

If the goal of the law is to produce holiness, the goal of holiness is NOT to give a sense of moral superiority that we are so tempted towards, but rather to set us apart from the selfish gravity of the world and to free us from it in order that might joyfully display compassion, generosity, love—hesed.

Posted by Marc Lucenius

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Ruth 1: Faithfulness

What happens when disaster strikes? Where do we turn, who do we blame? There are many places we can turn and many ways we can react, so what do you do? The book of Ruth starts off with a famine and for an agricultural community nothing could be worse.

But for Naomi the disaster doesn’t end there. She loses her two sons and her husband. Her situation is simply something we cannot fathom. It would be the equivalent of losing your home, your family and friends, your job and absolutely no possibility of ever gaining employment again. She had two choices: begging or prostitution.

Naomi’s response was to change her name to bitterness and lay the blame for her situation on God (v. 20-22). Orpah chooses to go back to her family but Ruth pledges to remain faithful to Naomi until they die. Ruth accepts Naomi’s grim fate. But it is through Ruth that God shows is faithfulness to Naomi. Naomi may have returned to Israel empty but she was not alone, God had provided Ruth through whom he would bless Naomi again.

The Hebrew idea of faithfulness is far more comprehensive than we typically think. It encompasses love, mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, benevolence, loyalty, covenant faithfulness. But it could be summarized as a quality that moves a person to act for the benefit of another without respect to any advantage or reward the doer might receive. Having faithfulness means I actively work for the benefit of another. Ruth shows her faithfulness to Naomi by choosing to suffer the same fate as Naomi. But there is a greater act of faithfulness in the Bible than Ruth’s, it is Christ’s. Jesus was so filled with faithfulness to God, that he was moved to die on behalf of us to save us from a fate much worse than Naomi’s and Ruth’s. While we were still sinners he died for us (Romans 5:8).

Christ has already saved us, his people, from the worst disaster they could experience. But God’s concern for Naomi and Ruth also shows that he doesn’t stop there, he is also faithful in the little things of life. Didn’t Jesus say the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount? Do not worry…because if God clothes the grasses of the fields and feeds the birds of the air how much more will he take care of you (v. Matthew 6:25-34)? God is still faithful even in times of disaster. We may not see it at first but if we wait on God we will see that he is faithful and always has been. Let us then praise our faithful and awesome God.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Judges 21: Spiritual Anarchy

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)”

Have you ever watched the news or read the newspaper in disgust by the violent and terrible acts that people do? Not a day goes by when we don’t see some unbelievable act of cruelty. How can people do this to one another? Jeremiah answers the question by pointing out the deceitfulness of our hearts. We don’t realize how easy it is to convince ourselves that wrong is right. In addition we should never say, “I would never do such a thing.” The context for the Rwanda Genocide didn’t form over night, but it took decades of dehumanizing hate and prejudice that lurked around and poisoned them until it was finally ignited in 1994. They deceived themselves over generations until as one perpetrator described “they were taken over by Satan.” The genocide of the Benjamites in Judges was no different.

With every successive judge, Israel walked farther away from God. They did what was right in their own eyes (v. 25) and the greater the distance from God the more heinous they acted. In chapter 21, when Israel finally came to their senses after their bloodlust they realized that they had effectively annihilated one of the twelve tribes (v. 3). They had killed every woman of the tribe, left only 600 men, and then swore to never allow them to marry their daughters. To preserve the tribe, they slaughtered everyone but the virgin daughters in Jabesh-gilead and kidnapped the girls of Shiloh as they celebrated in the fields to give them wives. This was “right” in Israel’s eye.

What was God’s response? Deafening silence. All that is said is an editorial refrain saying, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (v. 25)” The Israelites deceived themselves and did what they thought best, just like the Rwandan Hutus who murdered a tenth of their countrymen. Judges 17-21 portrays Israel in spiritual anarchy.

But God’s response doesn’t come in the book of Judges but in Samuel when he removes the wicked leaders of Israel and replaces them with Samuel and David. There is something better that God has in store for Israel than spiritual anarchy. But the kings of Israel don’t fair much better. They repeatedly led Israel and Judah astray which ended in exile. Israel doesn’t find its true king and leader until Jesus comes as king and deliverer. It is only in following Christ that God’s people can defeat spiritual anarchy and live rightly before God.

Our hearts may be easily deceived but God does not let his people wander aimlessly. The Holy Spirit gives us the guidance and the strength to see the deception and fight against it. We cannot allow the lies to rule our lives but must instead focus on the grace and love of Christ.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Friday, January 23, 2009

Judges 20: Are you depressed yet?

Has Judges depressed you yet? A book like this is evidence that the Bible isn’t a book that man put together to persuade people to join their own religion. The Bible is theological history. If the author of Judges was writing this to persuade people to become followers of Yahweh, he would not have included chapters 17-21. Or, maybe he does want people to become followers of Yahweh? How do these chapters help?

This story actually begins at 19:1 where it describes how Israel had no king in those days. That tells us that this was written and compiled in the days of the monarchy. The way it is written suggests that Judges thinks that there should be a king in Israel—the program of the Judges sure isn’t working.

This is supremely on display in this passage where Israel slips into Civil War. The people, clueless in how to follow him seek him as to whether they should fight one another. He “gives them over” into battle with one another and demonstrates the disaster of going generations without any spiritual leadership.

A king will be needed to be a true Spiritual leader. But even the Kings of Israel will not be strong enough to lead the people away from idolatry in there worship of Yahweh. Jesus would have to come as the true Judge and King to not just lead, but deliver a new people into a new way of life.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Judges 19: Sin and Restoration

What a horrendous story! In those days Israel had no king. Have you ever had those situations that you have no idea why they had to happen? We read a story of rape and murder in the Bible and guess what, there’s really no deep life lessons attached to it. Sure, there are some basic principles we could pull out of the story but really Israel has decayed terribly. It has no king. Israel is not following God or a leader God appointed. Horrendous stories were happening. We see the world that’s lost in sin in Judges 19.

Sometimes when life takes these ugly turns we need to look to the future. Ultimately Jesus comes into the story and starts restoration. Ultimately he will come again and make ugly sinful situations ancient history.

Until then what is a person supposed to do? I suppose one could simply continue to redeem the world while praying to God to come again quickly. But that doesn't seem to give us much hope for today. The Lord's prayer indicates that we can experience some change today, "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Through Christ's death on the cross we can experience some of heaven today. We can help restore this broken world to what God intended, because Christ has already begun this work. It may be frustrating as we see the problems around us and it may seem futile at times but God is stronger and more gracious than we can imagine. Therefore our service to him is never in vain.

Posted by Danny

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Judges 18: Two Journeys

Judges 18 is the story of two journeys. The first journey was taken by five men who scouted out a potential land for their tribe. The second journey was a military action of six hundred soldiers who were ready to battle the current occupants of this land. Verse 2 says “So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, ‘Go, explore the land’." Does this sound familiar to you? God had told Moses to do the same thing years before when Israel had not yet entered the promised land. Verse 7 says “They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good”. Once again does this sound familiar? Remember the land “flowing with milk and honey”? The Danites were repeating an established system, a process they had seen before. They felt that following this program would place them in Gods favor.

In both journeys there is a break that occurs at Micah’s house, these breaks seem to reveal the heart of the story. At this break a Levite (priest and prophet) was asked and predicted that God was with the Danites. This was a part of fulfilling the pattern of history that they knew well. This process of asking God to bless man's plan has been played out many times before. When we look into the actions of everyone in this story we do not see a group of people looking for God’s will. We find a group of people going off to war and then asking for God’s approval. We find a Levite that quickly changed allegiance based on what was best for him and not based on what God may have called him to. We find soldiers stealing from Micah showing further greed, and before you get too misty eyed for Micah, don’t forget this is the same man who stole from his own mother. The actions of everyone involved show a sinful greedy heart yet they tried very hard to follow programs that would place them in God’s favor.

This is where we need to stop and check our motives. Do you find yourself fully engaged with God when you are facing a potential job change or move? What about when you are facing an aggressive quota at work? Seeking God’s face during these times is very wise, but are we just as engaged with God the day after we have meet that quota or made that life changing decision? We need to seek God every day. God desires our lives, every day of it. He is not looking for us to follow some religious process for him to bless us. He loves us and is simply looking for us to surrender to his good and perfect will for our lives.

Posted by Jim

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Judges 17: A Mixed Bag

Have you noticed people are different? That everywhere you go, you’ll come into contact with people who think and act differently than you about a whole variety of things. I’ve noticed that in so many of my conversations it’s just plain amazing. That people hold to their way of thinking and their beliefs as if that’s the only way to think. But when you come down to it what we’re really dealing with is people everywhere have a mixed bag of beliefs.

That’s what we find in Judges 17. We have a man named Micah who has taken money from his mother. When she realizes it she calls a curse on whoever has taken her 1100 shekels. But when she realizes it was her son, she utters a praise hoping for God to bless her son. She knew her curse was now laid squarely on her son’s shoulders; so she wants God to protect him. When she receives her money back in full, she again speaks and acts foolishly. She takes 200 shekels, and consecrates it to the LORD for an idol to be made and worshiped in her household which completely violates the command of Exodus 20:4 – you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. And Micah learning from his mom’s mixed bag of beliefs hires a young Levite to be his priest thinking now God will be good to me.

What’s so striking about this story is both Micah (who’s name ironically means, “who is like Yahweh?”) and his mother think their doing the right and godly thing. They take their money and think they can buy God’s favor; they use their money to worship a created image instead of the creator. They have a mixed bag of beliefs when it comes to their faith and how they live it out. They’re following their own ways and not God’s.

The most telling verse in this passage is found in Judges 17:6 – In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Our culture is no doubt very different from the time of Judges. But in some respects so similar. You see in our day so many are doing what they think is right in their own eyes because so many have no king. Having a king during Micah’s days meant the king would have focused the people’s attention on the Lord and would have prevented this kind of sin and apostasy so prevalent during these times. Today we must always remember we have a King who wants us to walk with Him. Our King wants us to know Him so well that we won’t be violating His commands. Today, let’s focus on knowing what we’re doing; that we’re worshiping the One True God. Let’s focus on being certain that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart are ALWAYS pleasing in His sight – the KING OF KINGS!

Posted by Joe Stecz

Monday, January 19, 2009

Judges 16: God cannot be mocked, but God will not forsake

“God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7


“…the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deut 31:6


For some, it is hard to reconcile these two verses and the concepts of wisdom and grace that they represent. Samson is a great picture of what it looks like when God’s grace seems to be in conflict with wisdom and justice. God had set clearly before Samson what it meant for him to be faithful to God. Beyond the hair thing, his life resembles nothing of what a spiritual leader ought to look like. It is a mess of self-absorption, like a grown-up rich middle school boy, knowing no constraints and no consequences for his actions.

Samson’s life was the pushing and testing of God’s boundaries the entire way, seeing what he could get away with. From breaking his Nazirite vow, to vengeance, engaging prostitutes and then marrying another daughter of the enemy, his life is a picture of the folly and lawlessness that Israel had descended into without a spiritual leader. In many ways, the marriage he had for himself, the life of constant conflict and the final manipulation to have his hair cut is evidence that God cannot be mocked. But for these reasons had God forsaken Samson and Israel?

If you or someone you know has dug themselves into a hole because of their folly or disobedience. It is easy to confuse the law of sowing and reaping and the promise of God’s faithfulness. Blinded, humiliated and on display in an idol’s temple, he summoned the faith to call to God one last time, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me.” God remember and answered his prayer. No matter how unfaithful we are, God will recognize and help us take that step back towards him. Grace doesn’t cancel out the law of sowing and reaping. But the law of sowing and reaping doesn’t cancel out grace either. Even in Samson’s unfaithfulness, God did not cancel his promise to be with Israel.

You may think that unfaithfulness requires you to earn your credibility back with God. You will never do enough to earn credibility with God on your own. That is what Jesus has done for us on the cross.


“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-5

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Judges 15: God's Faithfulness

What happens when God’s people look like the rest of the world? Are they still God’s people? Is God still faithful? How would you know that God’s people are far from him? One way to tell would be to look at the lives of the leaders.

Samson’s life, to say the least, is a mess. But more importantly Israel is a mess; they are but a shadow of what they were when Moses and Joshua led them. Samson’s life mirrors Israel’s. Israel has little concern for God or his covenant with them. Instead of following God’s commands Samson repeatedly takes his cue from how the Philistines act (vv. 3, 7, 11). This period of Israel’s history under Samson, bears the marks of the Philistines more than the marks of their God (v. 20).

But God still used Samson to deliver Israel. God’s faithfulness is greater than Israel’s sin. Even though Israel has become just like the Philistines and God still delivers and protects them. God’s faithfulness never stops and it reached its climax in the death and resurrection of Christ. While we were still sinners Christ died for us.

It is a great tragedy when the church looks no different from the world. When our leaders and our lives offer no hope and no light to the world around us because we are no different we fail to live as we are called to. Yes we may be God’s people but we have forgotten his faithfulness and his grace. We live selfish lives and we look like the Corinthian church (See blogs from Oct-Nov 08). We must ask ourselves if our heart truly seeks Christ and loves him. If not we must turn and repent from what has lead us away from God.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Judges 14: Our Hope and Trust

We have all heard the phrase, “God works in mysterious ways.” Often through very difficult and sometimes painful circumstances God works amazingly. How often have you experienced some disappointment or setback only to see how God worked it out for something greater than you could have imagined? But there is also another side of God’s mysterious workings, where God works through our sin or rebellion. Samson was like this.

Samson was called to be a deliverer for Israel against the Philistines. But there was a problem; Israel was much too comfortable being ruled by the Philistines. What is noticeably absent from this cycle is that Israel does not cry out to God for deliverance. How far has Israel fallen, they don’t even want deliverance! But God has other things in mind for Israel; he uses Samson’s wanton lust for a Philistine woman to destroy this “peace (v 4).” Samson’s first confrontation with the Philistines ended with thirty men from Ashkelon being killed to satisfy a bet and his wife being given to another man escalating into further violence.

This story brings up a number of strong questions. Does this confrontation happen because God brought it or because of Samson’s wanton lust? The answer can seem very unsatisfying, but it is both. Samson was fully responsible for his own lust and anger, but God was also at work as more than a silent partner. God was also driving the situation so that the confrontation occurred and his people would be delivered. This interplay is a mystery and we too often want to break it down further than is possible to remove that mystery.

This mystery with Samson is but a shadow compared with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The cross was the ultimate sin and rebellion against God, nothing compares to it, yet God moved all of history so that Christ would come and die. It was the climax of history, yet the Pharisees and Romans were equally guilty and responsible for it. However, out of this mysterious working, God gave to us the greatest blessing we could never fathom—His sacrificial grace. So the question remains for us, “Do we trust God?” Can we look past our current difficulties and trust that he is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28)? We have hope because God is working and though it may be mysterious it is more powerful than we could ever imagine.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Friday, January 16, 2009

Judges 13: Push the Reset Button

Sometimes a problem needs a band-aid and sometimes it needs a long rehabilitation. It is tempting to try and find “really big band-aids” to solve the problems that really need a long rehabilitation. Israel had regressed into to such chaos, that a band-aid was a mockery and the problems were so intractable that the rehabilitation would take four generations of leadership to turn it around.

Israel was so far from the vision that God had for the nation that Samson as deliverer would only, “begin the deliverance of the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines.” The passage reveals the disparity as Manoah and his wife were clueless in how to respond to the angel of the Lord. The Israelites had been under Philistine rule for forty years, and under that idolatrous influence, were so lost that they could even recognize God’s presence among them.

So Samson could only “begin” the deliverance. Full deliverance form Philistia would take succeeding generations of leadership in the persons of Samuel, Saul and David. Therefore God looks past Manoah’s generation, allowing them to live in subjugation and frustration and begins his deliverance with a new generation, through a child. A band-aid cannot fix the spiritual rot that had taken root in the nation. It would take a spiritual leader like Samuel, followed by a failed experiment in Saul before the generations of Israel would groom a true man after God’s own heart in the anointing of David. Even then, David would need years of patience to grow into the leader God had called him to. The deliverance is not quick, nor is it easy. Samson will need to be groomed and will need to be set apart to God so that he can demonstrate not just leadership, but spiritual leadership. Samson’s development as a spiritual leader will require the commitment of the preceding generation.

The problems in our generation perplex us and frustrate us. We have been groomed by preceding generations to address some. It is always tempting to go for the big fix on the rehabilitation and short-cut God’s pattern of developing substance in the small ways. Therefore wee cannot underestimate the importance of investing in the next generation of leaders through mentoring, coaching, discipling, etc. Our most intractable problems that frustrate us the most will not be solved in our generation, but if we commit ourselves and our kids to God, they will raise up to begin the deliverance, whatever the issue.

We should be grateful that God does not take the band-aid approach to salvation. Jesus has begun the deliverance through his death on the cross and his resurrection victory over sin and death. Each generation must be trained to be a witness to Jesus’ deliverance so that THE deliverance in the end will be inclusive of all of the issues that frustrate and subjugate those of all generations.

Reading Notes: Experiencing the angel of the Lord is quite often equated to being in the presence of God as in v. 22 and throughout the OT. Many scholars suggest that this be understood as a theophany—the real presence of God in their midst. Whenever the Angel of the Lord appeared in the Old Testament, saints would often equate it to seeing God personally. It is hard to tell who the angel of the Lord was—a preincarnate Christ or an angelic representative with such authority that it was the same as God himself are the answers that most scholars have suggested.

Posted by Marc Lucenius

Judges 12: Shibboleth

Shibboleth!

This word of curious sound and orthography has endured through the ages to become a by-word in our present tongue. Why? In one regard we are not surprised, for the Bible is a font of verbal expression. Even some of the most sacred turns-of-phrase have been adopted (or co-opted) by our post-modern culture. What secularist would blush to describe someone as “turning the other cheek” or as “salt of the earth” or even to exclaim “Hallelujah” when driving home a point? And this one word—Shibboleth—is so packed with historical drama that it makes an informed hearer shudder upon its very oration: forty-two thousand lives were snuffed out for want of a single consonant.

The text states in verse six that the Ephraimites simply could not form a “sh” sound with their mouths. When challenged, their dialect gave them away much as Peter’s Galilean speech may have given him away on the night of Jesus’ betrayal. Matthew Henry states that the Ephraimites apparently had a custom to pronounce the Hebrew letter Shin like the letter Samech.

We can make some observations.

First, the Ephraimites dealt harshly with Jephthah without cause and they were repaid. (As our countrymen might again say in unwitting echo of Scripture, “They that live by the sword die shall die by the sword.”) The Ephraimites were without excuse in their harsh threats to bring incendiary destruction upon the house of Jephthah merely for not being invited to the Ammonite-killing “party”. Indeed, their bloodlust is hard to fathom.

Secondly, our attention to detail in the worship of God matters. For want of a nimble palate the Ephraimites were decimated. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron—the sons of the very first high priest of Israel—were struck down merely for offering improper incense to the LORD (Lev. 10:1). Uzzah merely tried to right the ark as it was falling from the cart and was killed (II Sam. 6:6-7). Herod merely accepted the plaudits of an adoring public without acknowledgment of God, and was consumed by worms (Acts 12:20-23).

The severity of the judgment that fell upon the Ephraimites is a warning to all. Our God is a consuming fire, and whoever violates one precept of the law has transgressed in all. But the Christian who submits to the lordship of Christ can point to the One who makes the dumb to speak. He will be our speaker at the Last Day. Our tongues will not be tied, nor our speech halting. The closing argument of the Great Advocate will not merely grant us passage across the Jordan of Palestine that the Ephraimites sought. His speech will lead us across the Jordan of death into the four-square city where there is no night and the Lamb is all its glory. What a Savior!

Posted by Aaron Martin

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Judges 11: Let's Make a Deal

Jeremiah 31:3 (Message) Israel, out looking for a place to rest, met God out looking for them!" God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!

Hosea 11:4 (NIV) I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Luke 18:15-17 (NIV) People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

When you read these scriptures what characteristics of God do you see? We have a God who first loved us and who will continue to love us; he is unchanging. This is the same God that Jephthah was playing “let’s make a deal” with. What if Jephthah would have simply stopped and made an animal sacrifice to God before going to war in simple obedience and worship? God has made many vows to us and in return simply asks for obedience. The disciples tried to keep the little ones from Jesus because they thought people were wasting his time. As if adult men bring more value to Jesus than a child. Children offer the obedience that Jesus is looking for.

We can look back at this shaking our head and ask what was Jephthah thinking, but truth be told we have all played “let’s make a deal” with God at some time. God, if you would just give me that good paying job, I would tithe. God, if you would just give me a spouse, child, house, car and I will…. God if you _______, then I will _______. We can all fill in our own blanks. We mistakenly think we have something of value to offer God when the only thing he has ever wanted from us is obedience. Our response of obedience should come from the fact that God loves us. We should lay down our own agenda and obediently follow God because of that love, and not out of the result of striking some deal. We need to repent for trying to negotiate a deal with the creator and, instead, know that he loves us. He wants to prosper us if we would simply obey.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Judges 10: After Further Review

Over and over again the Israelites did things their own way. They committed to following in their fathers footsteps, casting aside the true God of their fathers for the gods of their neighbors. You would think after time they would come to a point where someone, anyone would simply and maybe with a hand raised say, has anyone else noticed that we’ve been down this road before? Has anyone else realized that a history lesson is in order here?

Friends, if you think anything like me you would think that after further review of their history they’d get it, that there’s no way we’re going to go down this same road over and over again and come up with different results. We’re just following what’s been done in the past and it’s always led to heartache and pain, and that’s what we find once again in Judges 10.

Judges 10 says the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and many other foreign gods. And as a result, God gets angry. He allows the Philistines and the Ammonites to take them captive and for eighteen years the Israelites who thought they knew better were in great distress, they were being oppressed.

What happens next isn’t atypical. The Israelites cry out to God saying we’ve sinned against you, help us God. But what follows comes as a bit of a surprise – God says no. Don’t miss this – God says to Israel in Judges 10:14, go and cry out to the gods you’ve chosen instead of me. You see I think at some point in time we have to get real honest. Real honest about the fact that talk is cheap, action is what matters. And God knows all this; He’s heard it all before. What Israel does next is what God wants – they finally back up their words with action. They got rid of the foreign gods and pleaded with God to give them whatever the consequences He saw fit. They came to a point where after further review, the thought of life without the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, life without the God who truly can deliver them was unbearable. Never did they think they’d hear God say no; never did they think it might one day come to a point where God might not forgive. Thankfully, God finally answers them because He couldn’t bear their misery any longer.

You know God knows when we’re just talking the talk but not walking the walk with our faith. Let’s take this history lesson and always remember God knows when we mean what we say when we’re willing to back it up by also doing what we say. Our faith without action is dead. Think for a moment about areas of your life where you're just talking and not walking. Get honest with God and then together let’s live our faith by casting off the sins that so easily entangle us. Live for God today and give God the glory!

Posted by Joe Stecz

Monday, January 12, 2009

Judges 9: Abimelech, The Undeliverer

Reading this is the Biblical version of watching The Office. The Office is painful in the way it takes timeless leadership principles (like people first) and distorts them under Steve Carroll’s character’s narcissism. Abimilech is the Biblical version of Steve Carroll. It is painful to watch The Office, but thankfully I don’t have to. We do need to look, however painfully it might seem, at Abimelech; because the tragedy of his life really did happen, and God recorded so that it might teach us about his purpose for our life.

Abimelech (in contrast to later Judges) is actually an effective leader according to Ancient Near Eastern customs. It was not unusual in that day for a new ruler to remove any threats or competing claims to the throne. He was persuasive (convincing his brothers to follow him) and for three years he was the joy of Shechem and Beth Millo. But God would not allow this to continue. He sends an evil spirit in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jotham to serve the effect of a regime change. You will be hard-pressed to find such radical action by God in scripture to remove a leader from position. Abimelech was that bad.

What may be of greater concern for us is this: The judgment was not just on Abimelech but also upon the ones who placed their joy and trust in him. Things were so bad in Israel that the people of these two cities actually liked Abimelech. The judgment in a way even falls upon Gideon, post-mortem. He didn’t want the responsibility of leadership--just the benefits. So when the need for a new judge arose, his sons followed his example abdication and paid the price. It is a terrible picture of the judgment of God against selfishness. Yet, the passage is clear in his judgment saying that it occured so that “the crime against Jerub-Baal’s (Gideon’s) seventy sons might be avenged.”

It is important for us to remember that God is just. He will not allow any sin to go unpunished. Early in revealing himself in scripture, God makes that clear through swift and immediate consequences. That will change over the course of Biblical history. Now, as we look back through the cross we recognize that God is still committed to full justice, yet we have hope in the midst of sin and crime’s against him. Instead of an evil spirit being sent to destroy us, an evil spirit was sent into Judas to destroy his relationship with Jesus, and to ultimately send Jesus to be the target of God’s vengeance against sin on the cross. We who place our hope in him have a true deliverer.

Reading Notes: 1. Judges was written during the days of Samuel and David and asks the question, “What kind of leader does Israel need?” The prologue (1:1-3:6) addresses the leadership problem by describing how God raised up Judges (2:10-20) that were only effective during their lifetime. The epilogue (17-21), “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25, Deut 12:8). In between, we see a series of Judges. Each one is worse than the other. Abimelech is the tipping point and the complete contrast of what a deliver should be. The transition from Gideon to Abimelech is the tipping point in the failure of the Judges to be a lasting leadership model for Israel.
2. In verse 21, it says “Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer.” Beer is a place—just so you know :)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Judges 8: Past Victories

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

When are you most tempted by sin? You can be tired, hungry, stressed out, or many other times. But we are never in more danger to fall into sin then after a great victory. God used Gideon to destroy the Midianites but the danger for Gideon came after he won the battle.

The Israelites wanted Gideon to rule over them as their king (v. 22). He wisely declined, well sort of. His actions show that he actually lived like he was their king, only he would not admit when they asked formally. He treated his fellow Israelites harshly (vv. 5-9, 13-17). He claimed their enemies’ symbols of royalty. He treated the death of his brothers as royal assassinations (vv. 18-20). Gideon lived like their king and request of giving the gold earrings proved their submission to him. His treachery does not end there. The ephod which Gideon makes sets up a graven image of himself for Israel to worship. This is the first time a leader of Israel has openly lead the people into idolatry against their God.

Gideon’s failure is far too common. He knew God but his thinking became futile and exchanged God’s glory for images of his own (Romans 1:21-23). God used Gideon to deliver his people from their physical enemies but only through Christ could Israel be truly delivered from their own wickedness. What Gideon could not do, Christ could. As Gideon set up an image of himself to worship, only Christ is worthy to be worshiped as the true reflection of the Father. As Gideon tried to live as a king only Christ is the true king who sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

The author of Judges knows we need a king, but it is not a human king that we need. Rather a king who is the image of God and supreme over all creation (Col 1:15-20). We need God himself to rule over us, anything or anyone else will end in disaster. We must be vigilant to remain following God after a great victory or we could fall into temptation. Let us then remain Christ centered at all times and not rest on past victories.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Judges 7: Trust

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

Where do you place your trust? It is easy to say “I trust God.” But when life hits do you really? Do you trust in the strength of money, the promises of science and medicine, the security of a job, or your abilities and gifts? Do you trust in the hope of politicians or the strength of military and police forces to keep you safe? Gideon struggled in trusting God. But when he finally placed his life in God’s hands, God did some pretty amazing things.

When Gideon raised an army to fight against Midian thirty-two thousand came, but for God this was too many. God had Gideon whittle them down until there were three hundred men against over one hundred and thirty thousand Midianites. Typically this isn’t the best military strategy, reducing the size of your force on the eve of a battle against already overwhelming odds. But this fight is not just to defeat the Midianites but also over the heart of Israel (v. 2). God and God alone will receive the glory from this victory. It must be clear that God defeated Midian otherwise Israel’s faithlessness will continue.

It is amazing that God is fighting two battles, one seen the other unseen. God wins both but the heart of his people is not completely won until Christ comes and dies on the cross. Israel cannot boast that they defeated the Midianites nor can his people boast that they have become faithful by their actions. Christ through his death makes those who follow him faithful; there is no struggle that we must then work only victory. Therefore let us then live faithfully to him.

But how do we do this? We trust that God has and will provide all that we need. We begin to live our lives in service to God, loosely holding everything we once held dear and allowing him to use it according to his purposes. Trusting God may seem blind, but it allows God the room to do pretty amazing things.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Judges 5: When Leaders Lead

What does it take to achieve victory in life? As a church, as a nation, or as a family unit we constantly face tough times. If we’re honest, most of the trials we bring on ourselves by our own attitudes and actions. I love verse two of this victory song sung about the victory against Sisera. “When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves- praise the Lord!”

The song in Judges 5, recalls a great victory which starts out with that great statement. When two things come together, leaders (princes) lead and people fully obey God (willingly offer themselves) there’s joy and worship. This pattern is seen so often in scripture. It is also seen in its opposing form. Leaders stop leading. People stop offering themselves to service. The end result is that mourning and oppression rise up. This song of celebration in Judges 5 is fitting given the victory Israel just won. The story of Deborah is a great story of life being lived out as it should. Princes are leading and people are offering themselves willingly.

Are you a leader? Listen to God and lead others courageously as you do. What if you aren’t? Offer yourself just as courageously to God and follow the leaders he chose to lead his people. And be ready to praise the Lord with the results of Christ’s body working in unity.

Posted by Danny

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Judges 4: God's Plan

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

In 2 Chronicles 16 we read that the eyes of the Lord search the entire earth to strengthen the faithful. Judges 4 gives us a picture of who God sees as faithful and foolish. Does God see you and I like Barak or Deborah?

In Old Testament times the faithful were used mostly to bring God’s commands and judgments to people. What does God use the faithful for in our time on this side of the cross? Do we bring grace, mercy and truth in both deed and word wherever we go? God is looking to use the faithful and obedient. How many times have we responded like Barak and missed what God had intended for us? God had intended honor for Barak and because of his lack of courage he missed out on what God had intended to give him.

There are four specific things we can learn about God from this passage. First is that he has a plan, however he is not dependent on us to fulfill anything in order for him to carry out his plan. Second, God desires to use us as his instruments to bring forth his plan even though he is not dependent on our response. Third, God hears the prayers of his own. Israel was crying out and God responded to their cries. Finally and most clearly from this passage we see that God uses the faithful.

Father, please give us strength to be courageous faithful followers of you today and make that our daily prayer. Amen.

Posted by Jim

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Judges 3: Heroes

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

Who are our heroes? Are they movie or literary characters? Are they individuals who have done great feats of bravery or heroism? Are they characters in the bible? There are different types of heroes: epic or tragic, perfect or flawed, real or fictional. We love heroes, and we love stories about them. Stories about heroes go back to the 20th Century B.C., telling a story is something that makes us human. Ancient Israel was no different. They too had heroes and stories about them. We could think of Judges as a book of such heroes, exploits of men and women who arose to fight their enemies in times of great distress and danger and who fought against all odds to win a glorious victory. But we would miss the point of Judges if we did so.

Judges has only one hero—Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who remained faithful to a wicked and faithless people. The silence regarding the actions and flaws of the judges should not be taken as an affirmation of such actions rather the subtle action of God’s hand throughout the book reveals the true hero. Israel by doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 3:12) broke their covenant with God and called upon themselves the covenant curses (Deuteronomy 25:15-68). In order to bring Israel back to himself, God gave them into the hands of their enemies such as “little fatty,” Eglon king of Moab until Israel called out to God to deliver them. God then raised up from among his people a flawed deliverer who was often infected with the same plague of paganism as the rest of Israel. Ehud was not a grand hero but violent, opportunistic and crude. Yet God was faithful to his people and still delivered them however imperfect his people were.

Yet as we move through the book of Judges we can see that the deliverers that God used were increasingly violent, pagan and wicked. Israel found itself in a self-destructive cycle where they increasingly conformed to the wicked world around them and forsook their covenant with God. However, God is faithful and instead of leaving them in the cycle, he gives them a king from the tribe of Judah (21:25)—David. But this line of kings does little better than the judges. So God brings them his final and ultimate hero—one who would not fail Jesus Christ. God’s hero looks different from what we would expect. He is humble yet unbreakably strong, human yet infinitely more powerful. Unlike Ehud, Jesus does not change the socio-political factors in our deliverance. He changes our hearts, so that we are able to live and follow God. It is a victory of epic proportions which appeared tragic but ended in unparalleled glory in which we as his children get to participate.

Posted by Aaron Miner

Monday, January 5, 2009

Judges 2: Every Generation needs a Deliverer

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

What does the trend line of your life look like? Is it up and to the right consistently? I would like to meet the person who can describe their life that way. For most people, the graph-line of their life is up and down and sometimes it is hard to tell whether they are trending up or down. Judges gives us a view of God as the Lord of history. He tests Israel and he saves Israel. He finds Israel unfaithful, He allows them to feel the consequences of their unfaithfulness and then he saves them again. Seeing God in the book of Judges as the God of history will help us to know Him as the God of our history.

A key to understanding Judges is seeing that there are cycles that drive the book and the history of Israel at that time. When there was a leader who followed God, the people flourished, but after the leader died, the people would turn to foreign gods and drift away from faithfulness in their covenant to Yahweh (the Lord). This is because the experience of the Lord’s deliverance was experienced by the previous generation. Each generation would need to experience the deliverance that would come from the hand of a grass roots deliverer (or Judge). Judges were kind of like Jedi Knights. They weren’t formal rulers, but functioned with leadership within the nation and raised up to deliver the people when they were subjugated under foreign power.

Their deliverance wouldn’t last and after their death, the people would drift again, leading to the need for a greater deliverance. Judges would provide a compelling case for Israel to have a king. Better than that though, Judges points us forward to a deliverer who can deliver beyond his own generation. Israel needed a deliverer that wouldn’t be confined by death and could transcend death and bring deliverance in every generation. Jesus is our true Judge who delivers us from all of our enemies.

Though we have a deliverer that meets us in every generation, God still tests us to prove our faith. Just like every generation needs to experience Jesus and his deliverance for them and their world, so do all of the phases of our life. Is there a season in your past where God was quite real that has given way to a soft faith? As you go through Judges, see the God of history in the face of Jesus in order to experience his deliverance for you in every phase and season of life.

Posted by Marc

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Judges 1: Old Testament Obedience

Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d

Every parent and child knows a little something about obedience. Parents want their child to obey and children don’t want to. When a child is told to clean their room the last thing they want to do is to clean their room. However, rules are typically made for the child’s benefit. For instance, children should not play on busy streets, watch violent and graphic movies, or demean one another. Even chores and responsibilities teach children the value of work and discipline, without which they will struggle later in life. But we too often fail to realize that we adults must be obedient. We have laws, work regulations, and other obligations to which we must submit too. Every month I must pay my mortgage or I will lose my house. Similarly, Israel had obligations to obey.

God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt and gave them a specific area of land to live in. In Numbers 13, Israel rebelled against God because the Canaanites appeared too strong for them. Instead that entire generation wandered in the desert for forty years. Finally, under Joshua’s leadership Israel was allowed to enter the Promised Land, but to remain in it they must continue to be obedient to God (Deut 4:5-14). They were given explicit instructions to drive out all the nations that lived in the land (Deut 7). This may seem harsh to us today, but God had a purpose. If these nations remained they would turn the hearts of the children of Israel away from God to Canaanite idols (Deut 7:4). God desires a holy people who solely serve and obey him (v. 6-7).

Judges 1 begins to hint at Israel’s failure to obey God with their inability to drive out the Canaanites from the land. Judah was the most successful but the tribes faired increasingly worse. The failure to remove the Canaanites left Israel susceptible to their influence and ultimately Israel served the Canaanite gods. What was Israel’s problem? They had wicked hearts. It was not that Israel would not be obedient to God ­- Israel could not be obedient. God taught Israel his laws but he had yet to write them on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This would occur when God makes a new covenant with Israel.

Israel’s failure to obey God points toward Christ who came in humility and in obedience (Matt 26:39, 42). Christ did what Israel could not. Through Christ God made a new covenant with us which gives us the ability to obey God. We are now alive in Christ and we no longer walk according to ways of this world (Eph 2:1-10). Since we are now alive in Christ, let us then live in obedience to God. Let us be imitators of God and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (Eph 5:1-2).

Posted by Aaron Miner

Thursday, January 1, 2009

What is coming next

It can be tempting to think that since Jesus came, the Old Testament is not as helpful to us as we seek to grow in our relationship with God. Actually, we can look at the Old Testament in light of who Jesus Christ is and understand it more fully than those who read it before Jesus’ arrival. So we will spend January and February working through Judges-Ruth-1st and 2nd Samuel. We will be starting on Sunday January 4, so please take this time to catch up on any days you have missed.

Also, please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on how the blog is working for you. Just use the link below. We would love to hear from you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XvMBwN1u64YfvOO4KSX9ZQ_3d_3d