A Pinch of Salt

Salt is a popular topic in the Bible. 86 times in the Old and New Testaments do we find this common household item in various contexts. Jesus talks about His followers being the "salt of the earth" in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13). Paul in Colossians 4:6 instructs the Christians in Colossae to: "let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." 

We see in this verse three directives wrapped with a vivid image. As we seek to imitate our Lord, we should also mimic his speech (Luke 4:22). Paul is inferring here just as he did in Ephesians 4:29 that our speech should "minister grace to the hearers." We can't do that unless we have grace in both our hearts and in our words. Ephesians 4:15 instructs us to "speak the truth in love." 

We MUST be gracious with one another in our speech. We are also told here to be "seasoned with salt." Why would Paul include this image? Well, in that day, salt was used as a preservative as well as a seasoner. We put salt into our speech to ensure that it is pure, preserving, and properly seasoned. Paul echoes this in Ephesians 4:29 "let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth" thus our speech MUST be pure.

Salt was also a part of the sacrificial system. Perhaps Paul was suggesting that our words should be offered as sacrifices to God, words of praise to the Almighty. It would certainly help in those awkward moments if we remembered that our words were looked upon as a sacrifice of praise.

You see when a Christian speaks out rudely or coarsely, it creates a stumbling block to those around them especially unbelievers. This passage is an excellent way for Paul to begin wrapping up his words of encouragement to the Colossians. There is no place in our conversation for a "know-it-all" attitude. Yes, we must live a life of conviction without compromise, but we must also cultivate a gracious spirit of love. If we fail to do that we do more harm than good to our witness. When one's character, conduct, and conversation are in harmony with one another, working together, we are able to truly be able to answer each person graciously, seasoned with salt pointing them to the cross of Christ.

See ya Sunday!

A Peace Filled Life is a Thankful Life

This time of year many are reflecting on the things that they are thankful for. Whether that be family, health, jobs, our homes, or other blessings we have so much to thank God for. Being thankful can also be somewhat difficult especially when it seems at times that life just isn't fair. A storm of this life takes a friend or a home, cancer attacks unexpected, the waves just never seem to stop.

But we see in Colossians 3:15 Paul instructs the Colossian Christians that they were to have a "thankful heart." As Christians what does this mean? Well, when you look at the full context has a much fuller meaning than mere thankfulness. 

Colossians has many references to thankfulness, but the word Paul uses here is unique, it is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. Also, in full context, it is directly linked to the exhortation to allow "the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).  

The combination of "peace" and "thankfulness" here is quite logical. When you lack peace, you will also lack thankfulness, and more often than not the lack of peace comes from a dissatisfaction with things as they are or from other selfish motivations. On the converse when one is thankful, having come to the realization that all things are provided in Christ we find real peace. 

When we come to rest fully in Christ. When we trust in Him and embrace His Word of Truth. That is when we find the true peace that passes all understanding. That is when we face the storms of this life, and we can sing songs of praise to the one who saved our eternal soul. 

"Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - (Colossians 3:12-17 CSB)

See ya Sunday! 

If-Then

Deductive reasoning and logic statements such as "if-then" statements have been around for thousands of years. In mathematics "if-then" statements are also known as conditional statements. The "if" is the condition, the "then" is the resulting conclusion. This is shown as a p -> q  this would be read as "if" p "then" q.  The statement should be true in its converse as well in that q ->p or "if" q "then" p.

So what in the world does this have to do with theology?

Well the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3, knowing the logic-based approach to life found in the region around Colossae, offered his audience an "if-then" approach to the Christian life. Listen to what says in Colossians 3:1-11

"So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all."

Do you see the "if-then"? Paul is presenting the logical course of action that "IF" you have been raised with Christ, "then you should" seek the things above. He follows that statement in further detail on how we are to do that with the "therefore" statement in verse 5. "Therefore" (if we have been raised with Christ) we are to put to death what belongs to our earthly natures.

The emphasis in this passage is on the believer's relationship with Christ. We died with Christ. Thus we live in Christ.

Let's simplify this (this might be an oversimplification but true none the less) IF we are truly in Christ THEN we should live as if we are. Paul in Galatians 2:20 phrases it like this:"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

If we are to follow Christ, it should be as if we have died with Christ. Meaning that our thoughts, wants, desires, and loves all should be of the things above not the way they were before we trusted in Christ (on earthly things).

Certainly easier said than done, not going to lie, but that should be our goal.

See ya Sunday!

A Great Number and a Greater Reminder

I really dislike paperwork. To the point which yesterday I realized thanks to Irma I was 3 months behind on our monthly reports for the Food Ministry. Now I knew we have had a lot of people that have been helped since the storm but I was in no way prepared for what I discovered. From September 12 thru October 31st we were blessed to be able to minister to 1138 families representing 4100 individuals.

Now to put that into perspective, an average month we serve 250 families and between 400-500 individuals, annually the past few years we've been steady just shy of 7000 individuals for the year.

Insane. However, as I started to reflect on these numbers I was given a stern reminder. Romans 12:3 literally popped up on my phone and as I read the words I was immediately convicted. See Paul had every reason to boast about his achievements as well yet he realized the danger in thinking too highly of himself. Listen to what he says:

"For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." Christian Standard Bible

I love how Eugene Peterson phrases this passage in The Message: 

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. Romans 12:3 MSG

In the greater context, Paul is referring to spiritual gifts, but the point is still very much a valid one. Just as we must always remember where our giftings come from, we must also remember as Peterson puts it not the ones bringing the goodness to God. It's not about the good works we do, it's about what God has already done. He is the one who brings all goodness into this world. Thus, "the only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him."

It's not wrong to look at the work that has been done and be excited and proud of it. We just have to remember who actually was responsible for those things. Neither I nor our amazing team of volunteers are the ones responsible for the fact that 1000+ families were impacted with the Gospel message over the past two months. The responsibility for that lies with God alone. We are just blessed to have been used as His instruments, and what a blessing that has been. 

Indication of a Healthy Church

What makes a church a healthy one? Is a healthy church one in which there are activities seven days a week? Packed worship services? Constant community involvement? I wonder what the Apostle Paul would say if he were to visit our church today? Well while that's a nice thought we know it's not practical however we do find in Paul's writings to the Colossians several indicators of a healthy church. 

Colossians 2:1-10 -

1. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. 2. I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ. 3. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him.

4. I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5. For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

6. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, 7. rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.

8. Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. 9. For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10. and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

In this passage, we see four indicators of a healthy church.

The first we see is in verses 1&2, and that is the bond of love. Paul's prayer for these believers was that they might be joined together, knit together, and kept together. Paul knew that if they were on their own, they would be weaker prone to wander. This unity is possible only in love. It is the love of God that unites us to him, and it will be the love of God that will unite us with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The next indicator we see is in verse 3-4 and again in 8-10, and that is we are to be resistant to seductive or deceptive teachings. Paul was warning the church to test the teaching they received to ensure that it was sound doctrine. In the Colossian church, they were faced with a heresy similar to Gnosticism and while that teaching was attractive and comfortable to accept it was contrary to God's Word. Combating this is simple, believers must thoroughly become acquainted with God's Word through personal study and sound Biblical teaching. False doctrine could be compared to anabolic steroids, think about it - steroid use can give you a false sense of power and assurance. However, there is a problem. Those same pills that make you stronger at first will eat away at your body, eventually consuming you. Paul is warning the people of Colosse that while that bottled doctrine might sound good and look harmless, it is in-fact spiritual death.

In verses 5-6 we see another indicator of a healthy church, that they are ordered and disciplined. These are military terms with a clear message, this group of believers has become a disciplined group of soldiers. In a battle when everyone does their job, they stand the best chance of remaining stable in the face of opposition. This is the result of careful, rigorous, consistent training. The Colossians arrived at this point because of their attention to Godly discipline and training.

There is also a sense of loyalty when you look at this, think about it - if you are in the US armed forces, you can't just join up with a military of another country, not unless you wanted to defect thus betray your nation. So why is it that we can so easily do this within the church today? Where is the loyalty and faithfulness of the body of Christ?

The final indicator we see in this passage is found in verses 7-8, and that is that a healthy church holds to the faith and abounds in gratitude. Scripture is filled with references to individuals who faced great tests of faith and when they passed their test they were able to give high praise to the Father.

We have been entrusted with a great responsibility as a church, and that is to live out our lives in such a way as to point the world around us to Christ. Are we willing to faithfully pursue Him and walk with Him no matter what?

I heard a long time ago from another pastor - God put the church in the world; Satan tries to put the world in the church. Be Faithful!

What are you known for?

I shared this thought the other night at dinner, and I wanted to record and refine it. As we are working our way through the book of Colossians on Sunday mornings I was particularly struck by chapter 1 vs. 4&5a "for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven." 

This church had garnered a reputation. They were known for something. Look at what Paul is saying here "for we have HEARD of your faith in Christ Jesus..."  Paul isn't writing this from personal experience. He didn't visit them, or plant the church there. Epaphras came to know Christ in Ephesus and upon returning to his hometown because of his excitement and passion for Christ planted this congregation in Colossae. Paul has heard of their faith and love in Christ, he has heard of their love for all the saints and offers up this prayer for them and pens this letter of encouragement to them.

The question is this, we are all known for something. What are you known for? It's a simple question one which we should all ask ourselves, are we building a reputation of faith and obedience or are we more worried about what the world has to think about us?

What about your church? I know many of you are a part of our faith family here in Islamorada but many others reading this are in other places, other faith families. What is your church known for? Is it known for its love and readiness to reach its community for Christ or is it known more as a social club where outsiders are tolerated but rarely accepted?

What would our world look like if our people concerned themselves with building a reputation of a people in a passionate love relationship with God and our churches had a reputation for loving their communities and adapting ministries to meet needs?

Just a few thoughts I had this week...See you guys Sunday!

21 days

When I sat down this evening to work on getting an email update out I realized that it has been almost a full month since I had sent anything other than a brief Facebook post out. As I reflected on the events that transpired this month I didn't really know where to begin. I look at the response of our faith family over the last 21 days and I am truly impressed. From those who have dedicated their time to sorting supplies, serving in the kitchen, or folding clothing to those who have shed both blood and sweat to clear yards and clean up houses. God has equipped and gifted his church for this moment.

To put this in a different perspective as of Thursday volunteers from First Baptist Islamorada have been able to touch the lives of over 550 families from Key Largo to Key West. We have been given unprecedented access to be the hands and feet of our Savior to our neighbors. We don't need to preach at them or pound them over the head with our Bibles to introduce them to Jesus. We need to pray with them and for them. We need to meet their needs in such a way that they see Christ in us. When we take the time to listen to their stories or go out of our way to meet an unexpected need God is glorified and His name is exalted.

My prayer for each of you is one of endurance and strength. ~ O that the favor of the LORD my God may be upon me; prosper the work of my hands upon me; yes, establish the work of my hands. Save me, I pray, O LORD! O Lord, I pray, give me success! (Psalm 90:17; Psalm 118:25)

The End is Just the Beginning

This week as we wrap up our study of the Minor Prophets, we spend our time studying the last two chapters of Malachi and by canonical placement the last two chapters of the Old Testament. I find it interesting that the last word of the Old Testament is "curse". That word is the word ḥērem in Hebrew and means appointed to utter destruction. Think about that. If the Bible ended there. If the story was over with that verse would there have been any hope? 

Doesn't appear like it, thankfully the Bible doesn't end there and the story continues the final chapters reveal what we knew to be true from the very beginning, God wins. But more than that the way he ends is spectacular. 

The New Testament was written largely in Greek vs the Hebrew of the Old Testament but we see in 
Revelation 22:3 a promise that every good Jew would have picked up on right away. It says "and there will no longer be any curse". What hope! What joy we should find in this! Because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross the curse we had been under since Adam, this appointment to utter destruction has been voided for those washed by the blood of the Lamb of God. 

What a glorious promise! One day every tear will be wiped away, there will be no more pain, there will be no more death or destruction. We will bask in the glory of the King of Kings and LORD of Lords praising him glorifying his name for all eternity. What a glorious promise! 

See ya Sunday! 

Sins of the People

There is an old story that has made its rounds in the pulpit. Goes' something like this: "A church member scolded her pastor for preaching a series of sermons on "The Sins of the Saints."
"After all," she argued, "the sins of Christians are different from the sins of other people."
"Yes," agreed her pastor, "they're worse."

This is the heart behind the next two weeks. Malachi is faced with the formidable task of confronting the people and the priests of their sins. Because the sins of God's children are indeed worse. When believers sin, they not only break the Law of God, but they break the heart of God. It would be so easy for us to simply attribute this book to be simply ancient history and not let it affect us in any way but the harsh reality is that these sins not only exist in the church today but they have become prevalent! Let's commit ourselves to the Lord and affirm our love for him today!

Hope to see you on Sunday!

End of the Road (Zech 14)

As we come to the end of the road in our study of Zechariah, we find ourselves pursuing the same subject as in the previous chapters. The day of the Lord, the day the cup of staggering is poured out. Now, there are those who endeavor to make chapter 14 simply a footnote or the attempt to ignore it all together. The great theologian Martin Luther supposedly offered the brief words about chapter 14 “Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.” While I find it comforting that others have labored through it as well, we still must honor God’s word and address the contents. So, I implore you, read through this chapter before coming to worship or watching the service online this week! 

To give you a taste of the questions we will tackle look at verses 1-2:

“A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.” (Zech. 14:1-2 HCSB)

Here is the question: why does God wait until after all this horror to come and rescue?

I mean, He does show up, the very next verse tells us He does fight, and He does win.

But why does He wait until after the plundering, the destroying, the raping, the enslaving, and the spoiling? Why do His people have to suffer first? For that matter why do we? Afterall if Jesus defeated death on the cross why do believers today have to endure these hardships?

The question goes deeper when you look closer at verse two notice what it says, “I will gather…” So, this isn’t even an issue with God’s timing. The verse says God is gathering or bringing these nations against His people.

If God is really in control why all the suffering and pain? Now, this is obviously a huge question, for which I don’t have all the answers but when we look to God’s word for the answer the long and short of it is our perspective which is the problem. Our point of view is that no pain is best; God’s is that suffering is temporary and the result at the end is better than the start. Thus it is worth it. 

Alas, there is a lot more to be said on this and I hope you show up or tune in on Sunday as we deal with this and some other critical questions in our lives today!

On That Day...

Resuming our study of Zechariah this week. The final three chapters take us to end times. We see the description of Gentile nations attacking Jerusalem, the Jewish people experiencing severe trials, and the Lord returning in power and great glory to deliver His people. We see the phrase "in that day" used 16 times in these final chapters. "That day" is "the Day of the Lord," which we see described in Joel 3 and Zephaniah 1, a day in which God's wrath and judgment would be poured out upon the earth.

In Zechariah 12-13 we are reminded of the meta-story of God. A story that begins with God, who created. Humanity, who rebelled. Jesus, who came. And us, who respond with repentance.

We then live lives of hope – hope that “our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Cor 4:17); hope that God’s “love for (his people) is passionate and strong; (He is) consumed with passion for (them)!” (Zech 1:14, 8:2); and hope that determines that we will live for Him, not for ourselves.

What do you hope in?

The Real Shepherd

On occasion in the Old Testament, the Lord calls His prophets to “act out” the message. Ezekiel was told to lie on his side for 390 days and make a dirt map and dirt walls and put an iron skillet in the middle (Ezekiel 4). Isaiah walked around naked and barefoot for 3 years (Isaiah 20). Hosea was told to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1). And here, in Zechariah 11, our prophet is no different he is instructed to act out the role of a good shepherd and then a few verses latter to take on the role of a bad shepherd. 

Ultimately, we see the picture of Christ in these verses. Jesus tells us in John 10:11 "I AM the good shepherd..." Zechariah 11 would have been and still is an essential text for the early church’s understanding of Christ’s ministry. Christ was God’s intended shepherd, who set out to care for the flock, protecting them from poor shepherds and abusive owners. For thirty pieces of silver, he was removed from his leadership, rejected by the flock (Jews), shepherds (priests), and owners (Romans).  Yet, God used this rejection to bring salvation for his flock… Thank God for that! 

Take some time this weekend and read Zechariah 11:1-17 in preparation for Sunday! 

Open your doors, O Lebanon,

    that the fire may devour your cedars!

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,

    for the glorious trees are ruined!

Wail, oaks of Bashan,

    for the thick forest has been felled!

The sound of the wail of the shepherds,

    for their glory is ruined!

The sound of the roar of the lions,

    for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

“Woe to my worthless shepherd,

    who deserts the flock!

May the sword strike his arm

    and his right eye!

Let his arm be wholly withered,

    his right eye utterly blinded!”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Two Burdens, Three Shepherds...

Two burdens and three shepherds sounds like the start of a really bad joke. But it is an apt description of Zechariah 9-14.  Sunday we will begin working our way through what has been deemed by many as the most complex six chapters in the entire Bible. It is also six chapters which contain the greatest concentration of messianic truth found anywhere in the Bible.  In these pages we see the Prophet Zechariah reveal two burdens. Zechariah unveils the Messiah to his listeners and to us as the humble King, the loving Shepherd, the mighty Warrior, the gracious Savior, and the righteous Ruler who will reign on earth as King and Priest.

It will be quite the journey and may at times seem overwhelming but I promise you it is worth it to simply begin the process of sifting through these crucial verses.

The first of the burdens we will explore begins with a promise of judgment against Israel's enemies and ends with Israel's hope for the future. A hope rooted in the coming Messiah. A Messiah who will bring about judgment but also restoration.

Finally, we see three shepherds illustrated in Zech 11, wailing shepherds (or the rulers of the nation who have led the people astray and are now paying for their sins), the true shepherd who was rejected, and the false shepherd.

Make sure take the time this weekend to read Zechariah 9-11 so it won't be so new come Sunday!

Fast or Feast

One of the most common roadblocks facing a church is tradition. Now don’t get me wrong tradition is a useful and necessary part of society. It helps tie generations together and keeps us moving forward in a united way or at least it should. Every one of us has various traditions to which we hold to. They may involve the way we eat, the way we dress, our family hierarchy, how we treat our families. Tradition helps to stabilize things for us, guiding us in the choices that we need to make. Unfortunately, too often tradition gets in the way, it creates problems especially when times have changed, and people are unwilling to adapt.

Zechariah faced this same obstacle in the rebuilding process of the temple. Two years into the work project, the people are in an uproar over whether to fast or not to fast.  You see the Law of Moses only required one national fast, that was on the annual “Day of Atonement” (Lev. 23:16-32). Individually they were free to fast as often as necessary, but the requirement wasn’t there on the national level.

In Zechariah 7-9, however, the people were up in arms because to commemorate the events surrounding the destruction of the temple there had been four new fasts added to the religious calendar. One in the tenth month, when the Babylonians had begun their siege, one in the fourth month, when the walls were broken through, one in the fifth month when the temple was burned, and one in the seventh month when the Jewish governor Gedaliah was assassinated.

The question was now that the temple was being rebuilt, “was it necessary to continue the fast in the fifth month?”

I love Zechariah’s response to their inquiry. He didn’t tell them yes or no, he answered a question with a question. Smart man! He was trying to get them to draw their own conclusions. He asked them “when you fasted, did you do it for the Lord or for yourselves? And when you feasted, as it for the Lord or for yourselves? What was in your heart?”

Zechariah wasn’t condemning their traditions, rather he was imploring them to search their hearts for the reason behind the action. The prophets had long taught (dating all the way back to Samuel in 1 Sam 15:22) that the Lord wanted their obedience, not their sacrifice.

Zechariah wanted them to understand that a true spiritual walk is not simply switched on or off at our convenience.  Zechariah is trying to get the people to understand that if they fast let it be for God if they feast let it be for God. Ultimately, we see in Zechariah 8:19 all four fasts one day will be turned into feasts.

So, how does this impact us? How does this lesson affect us in the church today?

Well, the danger of tradition is that it can easily turn into traditionalism. Traditionalism is going through the outward motions instead of honoring the Lord with our hearts. Far too often in Christianity today we allow traditionalism to take hold, we do things one way because we have always done them that way, we sing songs because those are the songs we grew up with and our parents or grandparents sang them.  

We outwardly take part in a religious event but fail to have an inner spiritual experience.

We attend church, sing the songs (or don’t), might even drop whatever change that is in our pocket in the offering plate, but we aren’t doing it because we love the Lord we are doing it because it is what is expected of us as a good Christian. Notice I say we here a lot? That’s because I must examine my motivations just as you do each and every day!

I love the way Warren Wiersbe phrased it that “it's easier to have a religion of habit than a religion of the heart.”[1]  

We need to ask ourselves that important question of “why.” We collectively, be it in the larger church body, our family, or our own heart, need to examine the heart of why we do what we do. As you are inwardly questioning your heart and asking yourself why you believe what you believe and do what you do, I beg of you don’t try and lie to yourself. Be brutally honest. Because God will be brutally honest with you in the end when you face him in judgment.

Are there any cherished traditions in your life that need to be turned from a fast to a feast?

See ya Sunday!

---

[1] Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Heroic (Haggai, Zechariah), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 463.

Four Down... Four To Go...

Just a short blurb today.... This week we will resume our study of Zechariah. When we left the young prophet last, he had received four visions and their meanings. Each designed to motivate the people in the completion of the temple. We also saw that as God revealed these visions, Zechariah, he also revealed greater things to come pertaining to the Messiah.

The next three chapters reveal four more visions, a gold lampstand with two olive trees, a flying scroll, a woman in a basket, and four chariots. These visions are capped with a command to Zechariah to crown Joshua, the High Priest.

While this symbolic crowning was intended to bolster and encourage Joshua and those captives who had returned to build the temple, there is a clear correlation to the coming Messiah.  While to the children of Israel this was something they were still looking forward to, we have the great fortune to be able to look back and be reminded of our Lord's role as both king and priest. Thus we need to ask ourselves, are we submitting to the Kingship of Christ? Are we making proper use of His intercession as our High Priest?

Your response to His gospel is telling in answering those questions!

Take a few minutes and read Zechariah 4-6 today as you prepare for worship this week!

Spiritual Duct tape?

What a great week! I know I am exhausted but it was totally worth it! For those that might not know we had Vacation Bible School this week and while they were not all here every day we had 41 children registered! That isn't counting the ten teens that were here as helpers throughout the week!!! And we aren't done yet as the kids will be singing and sharing on Sunday so plan to be here to hear and be blessed.

All week the kids were challenged to memorize Colossians 1:15-16

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven, and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

This week as I was preparing to preach I just kept being drawn back to these verses, so this week we will deviate from our regular routine and spend the morning looking at Paul's explanation of the Gospel in Colossians 1. So much you could glean from these verses that we will come back and spend a few months walking through the book after we finish the Minor Prophets series.

One thing that really struck me as I was reading actually came in verse 17: He is before all things,
and by Him all things hold together. The longstanding joke is that Duct tape fixes everything right? But here we are told that it is Christ who holds it all together - not some super spiritual duct tape...

As I meditated on this verse I was struck by the complexity of it - I mean stop and think about it. There is nothing in this universe that is held together apart from Him. Let's think on that for a moment. This rock we call Earth is roughly 196.9 million square miles weighing in at an estimated  13,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds hurling through space in a nearly circular orbit at 67,000 miles an hour around a huge flaming ball of gas and plasma. Yet we are at the perfect distance from the sun to support life. A little wobble here or there and we burn up or freeze and life is gone. "By Him all things hold together."  

Or let's make this a bit more personal. Consider the human body. If the blood vessels in one adult human body were stretched out, they would cover approximately 60,000 miles – enough to circle the earth’s diameter two and a half times! Or take for instance our synapses, the connections between neurons, which snap together like thinky Legos to create the immense network that is the human mind. The total number of these synapses is a mind-boggling 100 trillion. A number that's 1,000 times greater than the total amount of stars found within our Milky Way galaxy. "By Him all things hold together."

Today let's just sit back and ponder that, can we? We serve a great God whom, "by Him all things hold together"  We might try to use duct tape but duct tape for all its greatness it can't mend the rift between us and God. For that God used the cross upon which His Son redeemed us.

See you guys Sunday!

He is Zealous for Zion!

These next couple of weeks we will be spending time in the Book of Zechariah. This book is a challenge and only in part because the "Z" on my keyboard is broken. Zechariah is the longest of the Minor Prophets and with that also comes the notoriety of being one of the most obscure and difficult books in the Old Testament to understand. Zechariah was preaching at the same time as Haggai with the purpose of encouraging the people to rebuild the temple.

Zechariah however, has a completely different feel to it from Haggai. It is Apocalyptic in nature; filled with symbolic visions much like Ezekiel and Daniel. These visions also lend the book to be very messianic in nature similar to Isaiah. This complexity leads to us spending more time here than we have on the other Minor Prophets. We must approach Zechariah with humility and ask God to help us to understand the contextual meaning of the book, or what it meant for those who were hearing of these visions first hand. There is also a message for us in those very same lines which is why we search its pages today.

The basic message and theme of the book are clear enough: "I am extremely zealous for Jerusalem and Zion" (Zech. 1:14).

When you place Zechariah and Haggai side by side you find that Zech's visions came in between Haggai's second and third prophecies or while the temple was being rebuilt. Haggai had led the people through a period of repentance prior to the start of the work (Haggai 1:12-15). So as Zechariah shares his visions with the people we are reminded that repentance is not just a one-time act.

Following this first message, three months later Zechariah has a series of eight visions in one night. The first four of which we will cover this Sunday and the next four next week. First, we see the rider and the horses, Zechariah sees a man riding on a red horse among Myrtle trees in a hollow, followed by red, sorrel, and white horses (Zech 1:7-9). The horses are further explained as sent by the Lord to patrol the earth to report back to the Lord. Their report to the Angel of the Lord is that“we have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet.” Then "Angel of the Lord," asks how long will God not show mercy on Jerusalem and Judah (Zech 1:12). The Lord's response is comforting words Zechariah is told to proclaim: (Zech 1:13-17)

"The Lord replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

14 So the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim: The Lord of Hosts says: I am extremely jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made it worse. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; My house will be rebuilt within it”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.

17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”


Praise the Lord for His zeal for His people! He is just as zealous for you and I as He is in these verses for Jerusalem and for Zion!

As the explanation continues, however, we see that, while may seem the nations are "at ease" their judgment is forthcoming and God will show mercy to Jerusalem. This vision and the next both confirm the promise made to Zerubbabel by Haggai in Haggai 2:20-22.

"20 The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overturn chariots and their riders. Horses and their riders will fall, each by his brother’s sword."

The other three visions, the four horns and four craftsmen, the man with the measuring line, and Joshua the High Priest each follow suit, with the goal to stir up the people to complete the temple, and exhorting them to repentance.

As we approach these visions (and the next four) it would be easy for us to simply skim them and point to Christ as the final fulfillment but as with all scripture, we must be cautious in seeking to understand these visions. Unless we have an inspired interpretation provided in the New Testament we should use caution and humility when interpreting them outside their original context!

Hope this helps to lay a foundation for you for this next miniseries through the book of Zechariah!

See ya Sunday!

Priorities

The prophet Haggai's book might be the second shortest in the Old Testament but that doesn't mean it is short on wisdom for us today. As the book opens in the opening verses we find a message that digs right to our own hearts. Take a look - Haggai 1:2-9

“The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways:

You have planted much but harvested little.

You eat but never have enough to be satisfied.

You drink but never have enough to become drunk.

You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm.

The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways. Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

The people had been back in Jerusalem for 18 years and their homes were finished and luxurious but the temple was in shambles. "The time has not come" is the excuse they have been using for all these years while they worked and worked securing their own all while neglecting the Lord's.

The Lord explains through Haggai that all the work they were doing for their own benefit was for naught. When we toil and labor for ourselves and neglect the Lord we expect much from our toils but actually see very little fruit. Why? Because we've neglected the Lord. 

We need to put the Lord first in all we do -- when we do so the result? Well simply put - Haggai 1:13 says, Haggai the Lord’s messenger, delivered the Lord’s message to the people, “I am with you”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

When we put him first he is with us and we find our satisfaction in him and him alone... 

see ya Sunday!

Not Just Roses and Unicorns

One of my favorite books of the Bible is the book of Habakkuk. Not just because the prophet has a cool sounding name either. But because of the manner in which he views the world. In Christianity today there is a prevailing line of thought that emphasizes the idea that when you trust in Christ all your problems vanish.

This is a myth that needs to be silenced once and for all.

Yes, it is true that when you surrender to Christ your most basic spiritual problem, your relationship with God is solved. But with that solution emerges an entirely new set of problems that you didn't face when you were an unbeliever.  Struggles like: "Why do good people suffer and evil people prosper?" or "Why isn't God answering my prayer?" or "When I'm doing my best for the Lord, why do I experience the worst from others?"

Friends, those who claim to be without problems are either not telling the truth or they are not growing and experiencing real life. Living in a dream world blocking out all reality.

That wasn't Habakkuk. Habakkuk surveyed the land of Judah, and the international scene, he found himself struggling with some serious problems. Thankfully, Habakkuk did the right thing he took his problems to the Lord.

We should follow Habakkuk's example and turn to God when the world seems to fall apart around us.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

A Familiar Place...

This Sunday as we prepare our hearts for worship and for communion our text brings us to a familiar place. We find the Prophet, Nahum, proclaiming pending judgment against the city of Nineveh. We encountered Nineveh previously when we studied Jonah. At that point, facing a similar punishment, the city was given an opportunity to repent. One hundred fifty years or so later God through Nahum offers Nineveh no such opportunity. The Assyrians had their chances to walk in obedience and exhausted all of them. Now the moment has arrived in which they would answer for the atrocities committed throughout the generations.  Nahum assures the children of God that "the Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished." (Nahum 1:3a)

This message of Nahum for the people of God is one of consolation and encouragement that God has heard their cry and will judge those who have harmed his children without reservation. This message for those who do evil, however, is one of warning. A warning that we cannot rely on what mercy was shown to those who have gone before us. The faith of our fathers, the faith of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, is their faith to share for our education and encouragement but is not nor can it ever be our saving faith. That saving faith is found in none other - no amount of prayer, no amount of sacrifice, no amount of another's love or faith can grant someone salvation. The only faith that can save you is yours.  The Lord may be merciful and slow to anger, but the day of judgment does finally come. Will you be ready?

The question we must ask ourselves is this - are we trusting in what your parents or ancestors might have done to escape the judgment of God or are you trusting in what Christ has done for you? Putting your faith in him alone?

See ya Sunday!

Can You Hear It?

Eight out of the nine oracles found in the book of Zephaniah announce God’s just judgment of all the earth; and the judgment against Judah and Jerusalem in particular for the violation of the covenant they shared with the LORD.

However, the ninth oracle breaks from this pattern. In Zephaniah 3:14-20 we find a song that reveals that the God of justice and judgment is also the God of forgiveness and hope. We discover in verses that He is our King, the LORD in the midst of us (Zephaniah 3:15). He is our incarnate Savior who, in His love, rejoices over us (Zephaniah 3:17).

This song of rejoicing is not only a song in which the people of the LORD are exhorted to raise their voices (Zephaniah 3:14), but also one in which the LORD Himself participates. Thus, the LORD “rejoices” over the remnant of His people “with joy”; He “joys” over them “with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

Can you hear the song?

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;
shout loudly, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has removed your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;
you need no longer fear harm.
On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.
Yahweh your God is among you,
a warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
He will bring you quietness with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”
I will gather those who have been driven
from the appointed festivals;
they will be a tribute from you
and a reproach on her.
Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lame and gather the scattered;
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.
At that time I will bring you back,
yes, at the time I will gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.
Yahweh has spoken.

Easy as 1, 2, 3...

“Mankind, He has told you what is good
and what it is the Lord requires of you:
to act justly,
to love faithfulness,
and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8 is a verse that most people know. Right here we have a blueprint of exactly what God was requesting of his people. But the people Micah was ministering to just weren’t listening. Now to be clear, to make Micah 6:8 a salvation text is to misunderstand the message of the prophet. None of us can do what God requires until we first come to God as broken sinners who need to be saved. We can’t “act justly” unless we’ve first been justified by faith and are right with God. How could we possibly “love faithfulness” if we haven’t personally experienced God’s loving faithfulness? Finally, if we want to “walk humbly” with God, we must first bow humbly before Him, confess our sins, and claim His promise of forgiveness.

Unbelievers who think they are acting justly, loving faithfulness, and walking humbly with God are doing nothing more than fooling themselves; it doesn’t matter how moral their lives might be.
Titus 3:5 puts it like this: "Not by works righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."

Friends, before we get comfortable up there on our high horses we need to remember that the only people God can save are lost people; the only people God can forgive are guilty people. If we see ourselves as God sees us, then we can by faith become what He wants us to become. But first, we must get out of our own way.

Honestly, walking humbly with God may be the most challenging part of this text. We are much better at defining what it isn’t than what it is. For instance, to walk humbly is to neither to have your nose up in the air nor your shoulders slouched over your feet. To walk humbly is to not exalt yourself, to not worry or be bothered by other people's opinions of you. To walk humbly is not to be above someone or below someone, but rather with someone. It is not thinking you can do it all on your own, carrying the burdens upon your limited human shoulders. It is not forgetting you are human. It is not living without grace. It is not playing God. So maybe walking humbly with God is simply about paying attention to who we are and what is around us. It is as Micah said, "I will wait on God, and God will hear me.

If we want to have a chance to live out Micah 6:8 we have to come humbly before God, will you do that today?

Micah ~ "Who is like Jehovah?"

After a restful and adventurous few days off for our anniversary, I am excited to get back to the grind and into our series looking at the prophet Micah.

Micah or "Micaiah" a prophet in the days of Jotham and Hezekiah brought his message to the people of Judah at the same time our previous prophets of Amos and Hosea were preaching to the northern kingdom of Israel. 

Micah was a reformer, he foresaw the coming judgment of Israel and was encouraging the Jews to return to the faithful worship of God and sincere obedience to his covenant but he like the prophets in the north was largely ignored. 

In chapters 3-5 which we will delve into this weekend, we see Micah's second message in the book. In these chapters, Micah rebukes not just the leaders of the church but the leaders in the community exploiting the poor. Following that rebuke though Micah offers the people hope in a series of promises. We see a Promised Kingdom (4:1-8); a Promised Deliverance (4:9-10); a Promised Conquest (4:11-13); and a Promised King ( 5:1-5). 

These promises are achieved via a purging of the nation. A purging seems painful but is necessary. Why? Because for us to walk rightly with, we need to have a personal purging, we need to be cleansed of all unrighteousness so that we can be pure before the Lord and ready for his return. The only one who can bring this purge about is the Lord himself. 

Just some food for thought as we prepare for church tomorrow!

Many prayers answered...

Thank you for your many prayers this week as we served in El Cotorro. We had our challenges, but God provided in every situation! Pastor William and his family send their warmest regards and thanks for sharing us with them for the week.

Below I have included some pictures from our week illustrating the project and will be posting more on Facebook later. It is amazing however how things work out. One of the things that Pastor William has been praying about for over a year now has been for the ability to purchase a home near the church so that they would have more space for materials and worship. This was an almost impossible dream, but thanks to friends from Colorado the funds were provided, and this week while we were there Pastor was finally able to secure a home two houses down from the church. This is an incredible blessing because for the last 4 years William and his family have lived at the church while it has been under construction. This blessing will change their lives and hopefully allow the project to speed up.

Please continue to pray for Pastor William and his family! Also, be praying if you would like to be involved in this project, we have another team heading down in October. October 6-13, 2017

Good Morning from Las Brisas

Good morning everyone, as most of you read this post our team will be hard at work about the Lord's work in El Cotorro. We appreciate your prayers while we are here!

This year has proven to be especially challenging. We struggled to find people to participate this year, and even then, we lost several participants before the deadline to go right up to just this past week. We’ve had missing passports and found passports, we’ve had sickness, even death attack our team member’s families. But we know without a doubt that this is where God desires for us to be. We know that God has a plan for each of those on the team and that we will be a blessing to Pastor William and his family at Las Brisas Iglesia Baptista.  

Our team this year consists of myself, Pastor Alex, Chrissy Bullard, Edie Nicholson, Pavel Bacallao, Pavel’s son Jaccell, and Tom Red from our sister church in Big Pine.

I look forward to our return next week and sharing with you the incredible blessings we received and gave on your behalf! Thank you for your prayers for safety and traveling mercies. Pray also that the Gospel message would be proclaimed!

Pastor Jonathan

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Looking at our passage this week in Hosea I can’t help but be reminded God’s redemptive work in his Son. Hosea chapters 4-5 we see this picture of a courtroom in which the judge is reading off the charges against his people. At the end of chapter 5, the sentence is pronounced, the Lord proclaimed in 5:15 “I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress.” He was going to leave the people of Israel to their own devices until they were ready to repent.

Israel and Judah were weak and sick, and instead of turning to the Lord they turned to the King of Assyria and the only thing the Lord could do was to step back and wait for them to realize their predicament.

In chapter 6 we hear a plea of repentance from the people. However, it isn’t unusual for an individual when accused in a trial to express regret and remorse over what they have done and ask for a second chance. Which is what in this case we see Israel doing, except God in is sovereignty wasn’t fooled. God recognized their feigned repentance and proceeded to expose their hypocrisy.

The Lord calls their loyalty out like a “morning mist” vanishing like the “early dew.” Meaning that they are claiming loyalty now when it benefits them but as soon as the circumstances change they are gone.

To provide some substance to their faith, God sends His prophets with the Word of God, but over and over the people turned a deaf ear.  God doesn’t desire our relationship with him to be shallow, filled with empty words and emotions. He doesn’t want our hearts to be excited one day and frigid the next. Hosea 6:6 is a common theme throughout scripture “For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”  

God recognized the superficial nature of their sacrifices and rejected them. There is but one sacrifice which while it pained Him, He couldn’t refuse. The sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t for himself, it was made for us. It was made that we might be reunited much as Gomer to Hosea with our Lord.

The power of Christ’s sacrifice, however, wasn’t found in his death. It was found in His Resurrection. What a glorious event that defeated death, hell, and the grave once and for all who believe. But just saying oh I believe in God is far from sufficient, we need to demonstrate true repentance.  

Happy Resurrection Day! 

Are You Cheating?

Last week we finished our study of Amos, a guy called by God from the Judean countryside to serve as a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel. This week we start a four-week mini-series on the Prophet Hosea. Hosea even though he is preaching around the same time as Amos, has a slightly different approach. Now, to be fair, there are times in scripture we see prophets taking some unusual methods to get the attention of the people. For instance, Isaiah for three years embarrassed the people by walking the streets dressed like a prisoner of war. The prophet Jeremiah carried a yoke on his shoulders for several months. The prophet Ezekiel even used a haircut at one point as an object lesson to get his point across.

The question is why did they need to do these things? I mean the prophet Jonah preached a super simple message repent or die, and here these guys are putting on a show….

To be fair these peculiar things as Wiersbe puts in were in fact “acts of mercy.”[1] The people were suffering from selective hearing, and they were allowing the sound of God’s voice to be drowned out and were no longer heeding the Covenant. The Lord called Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others to these strange things with the goal of shocking the people, waking them up to listen to what God had to say.

Hosea was no different from the rest of the prophets, he was called to live out a painful object lesson to wake up God’s people. Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute by the name of Gomer who would then bear three children, two of which likely were not even Hosea’s. Then just when things didn’t seem like they could get worse Gomer left him for another man, leaving Hosea to buy back his own wife.

So why did God instruct this man of God (some think Hosea was a priest) to endure these challenges?

Well, it paints a vivid picture of what the children of Israel had done to God by chasing idols and prostituting themselves, committing spiritual adultery. We face the same challenges and temptations today. Look at what James the half-brother of Jesus said in James 4:4: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (ESV)

Church, lest we face God’s wrath we need to heed what Hosea wrote. Each of the individuals in this story—Hosea, Gomer, and the three children—teach us critical spiritual lessons about the relationship between God and his people.

Israel had played the harlot, but God would take her back, just as he does for us when we cheat on Him.

The question we need to ask ourselves are we being faithful and true to our betrothal? When we allow other things, important things such as family, work, school, friends, to come between us and our relationship with God, we are cheating on Him. We must guard against this! Do these things matter? Yes, without a doubt and God cares just as much as you do if not more for these areas of your life but the thing you have to remember is that while God cares for your family he also cares for you. I love the illustration, when you get on an airplane they instruct you to put on your own oxygen mask first when faced with an emergency. If we don't focus on our own walk we can't hope to help anyone else!

May the words of Hosea encourage us to remain faithful to our first love!

See ya Sunday!

[1]Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Amazed (Hosea, Joel), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 316

Don't Starve...

Amos has so many lessons upon which we can meditate. The sermons he preached in chapters 3-6  compelling. Calling on the people to “Hear this word…” Urging them to see the error in their ways, to see that their pride and complacent behavior was the source of their fall.

The prophet’s record ends with five distinctive visions of judgment which God gave to His servant: a vision of a plague of locusts (7:1-3), a vision of a devouring fire (vv. 4-6), a image of a plumb line (vv. 7-9), a vision of a basket of ripe fruit (8:1-14), and finally a vision of the ruined temple (9:1-10). Amos then closes his message on a positive note as he describes the future glorious kingdom that God has promised to His people (vv. 11-15).

In chapter 8, our blue-collar prophet shares of a day of bitter mourning. A day we often refer to as “the Day of the Lord.” We see many vivid pictures in which we are told of what will happen “on that day” on the day of bitter judgment.

The Lord through His prophet proclaims that this coming judgment would, in fact, be like a famine (vv. 11-14), not only of literal food but also of spiritual nourishment. Amos knew as do we that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3 ESV) echoed by Christ in Matthew 4:4. Thus, these days would be days in which people would cry out for help, but they would indeed find no sustenance.  What a tragedy it is that all around we have plenty of "religion" but no Word from the Lord!  People stagger like drunks from place to place, always searching to find food and drink for their bodies as much as spiritual sustenance for their souls.

Today we experience this all too often in one of two ways. We are either famished, not receiving any nourishment spiritually or we are feasting on the wrong things, much as a diet of junk food and Coca Cola will surely destroy us from the inside out eventually causing our bodies to fail.

We are in a sense starving ourselves, consuming the Word one day a week and feasting on junk the other seven.

Think about it…. If you only ate once a week how healthy do you think you would be?

Don't Settle...

Last week we looked at the eight oracles or prophetic words Amos had for Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations. This week, we see our country prophet zeroing in on "the family" (Amos 3:1). From Amos chapter three to chapter six we see our prophet preach a series of sermons each one building on the previous, each one addressing various issues that were facing Israel and Judah.
When he reaches chapter six, we find what I think is the source of their problems. He addresses two issues in chapter six which are intricately related. Complacency and pride. Amos 6:1 starts off proclaiming woe to those who have become complacent and ends expressing the Lord's hatred of pride. How are these related? Well let's consider what complacency means - The Oxford Dictionary describes complacency "a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements."

So you see, while Amos was telling them "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion" (Amos 6:1 NIV) he was setting them up to receive the knockout punch a few verses later when he says:  "The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob
    and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
    and everything in it.” (Amos 6:8 NIV)

Catch that? The Lord abhor's the pride of Jacob. He is disgusted with those who sit complacently, perfectly content with what they have achieved. Thus sitting back and wait on the "Day of the Lord" to arrive knowing their salvation is secure, not worried about their brother.

Let's bring this up to today. Do we fall into the same trap? Israel and Judah were experiencing the best days economically, their social standing was secure, they weren't warring with their neighbors.

In the church today, (talking universal church here) we have more than we have ever had. We have access to resources no other generation has had yet are we taking advantage of the blessing which God has bestowed upon us or are we sitting complacently admiring with our achievements?

Are we embracing a "Field of Dreams" mentality (if you build it they will come) or are we actively sharing our faith with all who would listen?

I want to challenge you this Easter season - take advantage of the willingness of people to go to church and invite them! Go out of your way to find people, even people you think would never give the church the time of day. But don't just invite them to share with them what God has done for you and bring them!

Let's not let our pride stand between us and obedience to God!

See ya Sunday!

The Country Prophet

Week 5 in our survey brings us to the Book of Amos. We are going to spend a couple weeks here so I wanted to give you some of the important contextual thoughts in writing such that you might be able to refer back to it. Amos himself gives us a timeline for when the book was written:

"The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." (Amos 1:1 HCSB)
So, in verse 1 we find all sorts of relevant information. We find our author, Amos. We find his profession and his location "one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa." We see the purpose of declaring "what he saw" (interestingly this is probably better translated his vision concerning). We also see a timeline "in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." So now we can go back and figure out when Uzziah and Jeroboam both reigned, look for records of an earthquake and come up with a date of around 755 BC.

Now, Amos' book is divided into three sections: First, we have a series of "oracles" concerning sin and judgment of eight nations (ch. 1-2). Second, we have a series of "sermons" concerning the sin and judgment of Israel (ch. 3-6). Finally, we have a series of "visions" regarding the sin and judgment of Israel (ch. 7-9).

I think that if Amos were walking out streets today, he would likely feel very much at home. Amos lived in a time much like ours when society was changing radically.

Wiersbe points out that both Israel and Judah were at peace with their neighbors, which meant that their wealth and energy could be used for developing their nations instead of fighting their enemies.

With both kingdoms experiencing prosperity; their cities were expanding rapidly, and a new wealthy merchant class was emerging in society. They were moving from an agricultural society to a commercially driven society and were experiencing the problems and benefits associated with that change.

But, the lesson we learn in these first two chapters is a powerful one. Amos is seemingly echoing Obadiah's and Jonah's message that God is concerned with more than just the deeds and faith of the children of Israel. Amos makes it clear that apostasy and cruelty will be treated the same. God condemned the nations for their cruelty and Israel and Judah for their apostasy.

God cares about all the nations, His desire made evident in the New Testament through His Son. John 3:17 "For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."

I hope you are looking forward to this survey as much as I am! See ya Sunday!

Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Concerned (Amos, Obadiah), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 344-343.