Category: Shadows (Page 21 of 25)

A key component of the mission of the Church is equipping members for discipleship. What exactly does that mean? Is today’s Church focused on the right priorities? With so many people leaving the Church, it is worth our time to take a deeper look.

(Matthew 28:19-20) ¹NIV New International Version Translations– “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

From the directive in Matthew, there are good clues to help with a definition of “equipping.” The word “go” indicates that the product of the Church’s efforts is to send people out into the world around us. There is also an outward component, baptizing. Baptism is for those who have either acquired or have a knowledge of God’s Truth (Romans 10:17; 1 Timothy 2:4; Hebrews 11:6). To gain such knowledge requires equipping teachers who know God’s Word. Then passing it on. That sounds simple enough but there are complications. There is always a danger that the message is being tailored for acceptance rather than to God’s Truth.

(2 Timothy 4:3-5) – “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

The pressure to sustain or grow congregations is real. Technology and music needs to wow worshipers and bring them back each week. Christian education can resemble fellowship rather than learning. Sermons must engage but not be divisive.  All this while our world is busy teaching counter messages. Many denominations are responding by adopting worldly opinions so as not to offend. Christ’s church was not meant to be a place that accepted everyone’s opinions. God’s Kingdom is NOT a democracy where everyone gets to vote on policy. Repentance is disruptive. God’s Word is disruptive.

What might be good clues to make sure God’s Truth is being taught?

(Romans 1:19) – “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. “

Clue One: The basic reality of God is plain enough. Paul says, “Open your eyes and there it is.” God is well organized, loves diversity, is powerful and real. To deny God is to deny Truth!

(Romans 2:13-16) – “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.”

Clue Two: Some things are hard wired in us by God. Most people know there is a right and wrong. Our conscience tells us this. The conscience is like a law written in the human heart. Our world tries to tell us to ignore God, think only of yourself. What Truth will you chose to believe? It starts with us!

(John 1:!4) – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The ultimate Truth is Christ. He must be forefront in all we do. Christ didn’t come to make people happy, He came to give people life, everlasting life. Discipleship, equipping people is all about moving Christ to the front of your life!

Clue Three: God gave each of us reasoning and the Holy Spirit (revelation). Truth is knowable. Truth is not a mystery.

(Proverbs 4:26) – ” Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.”

God expects us to think, to use common sense, to be discerning. The world is not a reliable teacher. It will take observation, prayer, and knowledge of God’s Word to become an effective disciple. Hard work for the Church and for the future disciples of the Church.

Clue Four: God provided us a complete text book. It is the best “user manual” for life ever written.

(2 Timothy 3:26) – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”

Successful completion of the church’s mission requires all disciples to:

• Know and believe that All Scriptures are from God. No selective cutting and pasting allowed.
• Believe and rely on the Scriptures for their decisions. Disciples may offend some people. Remember, it is not about pleasing our world, it is all about pleasing our God!

As the most widely published book ever, external evidence supports the Bible as a book that you can rely on. The Bible’s has the benefit of about 40 main contributors. Thirty were in the Old Testament and ten in the New Testament. Within a few generations from its first writings, there were thousands of copies made. External evidence also includes many archeological discoveries. The final evidence of Scripture’s authenticity is that, although written over 1,500 years, it tells one consistent story. No human being could account for that. It’s an amazing example of the power of God.

Clue Five: It takes Jesus, front and center to equip disciples. One of the clearest and the most well know verses in the Bible is “Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” Notice Jesus says, “I.” Jesus Christ is not a religion. He is not a ritual. Jesus did not come to give us rules and regulations. It turns out that God’s Truth is a person! Jesus came to forgive and “equip!“

Other religious leaders all say they are looking for the truth. Some say they are teaching the truth. A handful say they point to the truth or are a prophet of truth. Jesus says “I am the truth.”

What do you do with the truth once you have discovered it?

(2 Timothy 2:15) – “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Consider that the average person spends 2 hours a day on social media. They spend 3.5 hours watching television, and 8 to 9 hours sleeping. Add in working, transportation time, meal prep and leisure time. Soon you begin to see one of the problems. One to two hours in church once a week can be overcome by life itself. Can you become equipped in an hour or two once a week? Jesus even tried to simplify the message:

(John 13:34-35) – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Is Jesus’ simple message enough? The world’s message is counter that of love. It is divisive, always separating people into groups. Whether by political, color, domination, economic, or heritage, love is never the goal. Winners and losers, hatred are the goals for the world. Power and corruption rein supreme. In Scriptures, a disciple is to be a learner who endeavors to obey what they have learned. To be a disciple of Christ, to become “equipped,” one must:

• Love God with all their whole being (Matthew 22:37)
• Love their families and neighbors as they love themselves (Matthew 22:39)
• Keep themselves holy and pure (Ephesians 1:4)
• Be unified with each other (1 Corinthians1:10)
• Be wise and understanding about God’s Word (Ephesians 5:17)
• Set themselves apart from the world (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
• Be prepared for the spiritual battle ahead because they must live in the world (Ephesians 6:10-20)

How would you answer the question, why are people leaving the church? Is the mission of Christ’s Church too hard? Has the world moved on? Should we no longer worry about God’s Truth? Is the Church focused on the wrong things? What about those who cannot afford to be financially generous, living on fixed income, hear the pressure to give, but are too  embarrassed to come, and my very favorite, those who do not want to be confronted with their “sin?” Are the demands just too much today? Our generation and the next generations have a few big decisions to make!

Contemplations:

• Do you believe that you are called to be a disciple for Christ?
  • Items to Explore: This is a hard question. Where does your inner faith point you? Paul says there are different gifts and do you know your gifts?  Do you believe that all people are called to be disciples? Are you comfortable with sharing your faith and teaching others about the God’s Word?
• Discipleship seems to be dependent upon a knowledge of Scripture. What do you do to learn as much as you can?
  • Items to Explore: We learn God’s Word many ways. Do you attend worship or watch online regularly? What about supplemental Bible Study? Are you an avid reader of inspirational material? Do you allocate personal time to reading God’s Word?
• Can you tell someone how your life was before Christ, how you grew to know Him and turn your life over to Him, and what life is like now?
  • Ideas to Explore: Testimonies do not have to be dramatic. Everyone has a story that relates to someone else. Being a disciple is about a willingness to share your experiences. It is also about living for Jesus. Do you really know what that entails and means?
• If someone asked you to define “God’s Truth,” what would you tell them?
  • Items to Explore: Can you be honest about sinful behavior and tell a family member or close friend how God may not approve of what they are doing? Without being judgmental, how would you point out “sin?” Are you apt to avoid controversy so not to offend someone? Can you draw a clean line between sinful behavior and Godly behavior?
• What keeps you from expanding your commitment to discipleship?
  • Items to Explore: Time, beliefs, fear?

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  NIV New International Version Translations

There is a lot of imagery in the Scriptures and there is always a danger of taking  the literal view of the message and missing the “real message.” This study looks at one example of why we should take time to reflect on what we read and to look for what is hidden between the lines.

(Luke 5:1-11)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “‘One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

The first four apostles were fishermen. They owned their own boats. As fishermen, they were like middle-class business owners of today. They had no specific religious credentials to qualify them to join Jesus. The four fishermen were living in the age of Roman oppression. Their lives included high taxes and military enforcement of Roman law. There were other forms of social conflict and economic distress in their land. The world that these fishermen lived in was a mess. Many of us today can identify with the world that the apostles lived in. It was like our own world is today, a mess.

Jesus directed Simon (soon to be Peter) to put down their nets in the “deep water.” Simon’s response begins with an age-old point of view. The men had fished all night and had nothing to show for their efforts. Their response was first to say, why bother? Why should they expect a different outcome? Yet they do what Jesus says to do. This specific response is what we all will model in the future Christian Church, to do what Jesus says to do. During an unpromising situation, the future apostles let down their nets again. When they do so, they catch a super-abundance of fish. Their old nets cannot handle the catch and begin to break.

Many people read and take a visual view of these verses. Jesus, Son of God Himself, knows all things. He even knows where the fish are. From this story, we are told that the future apostles fill their boat. They are amazed at how much Jesus knows about fishing, He must have special powers, calling Him Master and Lord.  He must be God! However, is there another message between the lines?

There is a more subtle message in this Scripture that we should not miss, its connection to the “deep water” (Greek: bathos). This idea of “deep water” occurs several other times in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings) in connection with the primordial sea, the sea that was created by God Himself that had existed from the very beginnings of time. The sea is a powerful Jewish symbol of chaos. Luke, the Gospel writer, sees his world as a chaotic and hostile place, stuck between traditional Judaism and the followers of Jesus, the repressive behavior of the Roman Empire, and conflicts within the church itself. The apostle Paul says it best when speaking of Jesus using the same Greek word, bathos. He says that nothing, not the deepest ocean, not all the world’s chaos can separate us from Christ! In other words, not even the chaotic world, Satan’s world can keep us from Christ!

(Romans 8:39) – “neither height nor depth [bathos], nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.”

Luke also uses the fishing imagery to spell out the mission for the apostles in a way well-known to them: “from now on you will be catching people.” They were familiar with “catching.” “Catching” is a very different word today. It is typically associated with disease (Webster – communicable, contagious, pestilent, transmissible, transmittable). Luke’s imagery is better because as fishermen, the future disciples could relate to the work they were being asked to do. They could understand the risks involved and the satisfaction involved in catching fish. Jesus thinks the same will be true of the mission of His Church. “Catching people from the depths of chaos within our world” will be a good thing. A lot of work, yes. Risks, yes. But the satisfaction of serving Jesus cannot be compared to any worldly pleasure. From this fishing trip, the ministry of the apostles becomes the model for the disciples and the Church itself. As the apostles pulled their nets from the sea teeming with fish in Luke 5:1-11, so the Church spreads its nets to create a new community for God.

It becomes clearer to us that Jesus is not trying to trick the fisherman into just working for Him. In this early encounter with Jesus, He is visually sharing with them the mission that they will be asked to undertake. Luke is saying that Jesus’ command to change the side of the boat that the nets were on was nothing more than a command to change His Church from an internal focus on itself (shallow water) to an external focus on the chaos within our world (deep water). Jesus is encouraging His Church to drop its nets into the chaos of life, not just fish in the shallow waters. Jesus is asking us to be witnesses to the impact that God can have on lives. He is asking His disciples take on the job of inviting people into the movement towards God’s Kingdom. We see the threat of chaos in our world today in national politics, relationships among races and ethnic communities, international relationships, and many other places. According to Luke, the Church is to continue it’s focus on the same mission established by Jesus Himself . We are share the Gospel to individuals, households, and communities as an alternative way of living.

(Revelation 2:24) – “Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you,”

Here, the apostle John is praising the ministry and people of Thyatira²Thyatira – A city in the north of Lydia, on the river Lycus. The Bible mentions Thyatira and also that the Church at Thyatira is one of the seven Churches of the Book of Revelation and is also mentioned in Acts 16:14 because they have been living and acting by principles established by Christ. Because of their living by Christ’s principles, they grew wiser and better. The same should be the goal of all Christians, to desire to grow in faith and that our last works of life should be our best works. Yet Thyatira was also being impacted by wicked people. John warns those who are trying to snuff out the good living and good works of Christ’s Church. John reminds us that God knows the hearts of men, their principles, designs, frame, and temperament. He will take care of those who are interfering. The apostle encourages the church in Thyatira to keep themselves pure and undefiled and not give up on the mission. Why, because to let your guard down, is dangerous. God’s mysteries are as dangerous as the mysteries of Satan and Satan will go to unfathomable depths of deceit to disrupt the mission of the Church. When you are living (catching or fishing) in the “bathos,” the deep water, it is easy to get tired and give up.

To encourage Christ’s believers, we are reminded of how tender Christ is to His faithful servants! He lays nothing on his servants accept what is good for them. Remember, Christ loves us! There is Christ’s personal promise that an ample reward awaits those who persevere, who are victorious in the end. There is even the promise of the gift of knowledge and wisdom that can be used to survive in this chaotic world today.

Contemplations

• How do you read the Word of God?
  • Items to Explore: Do you just read the Bible? How regularly? Do you use a study guide? Is there a difference between reading God’s Word and knowing God’s Word?
• Do you ever seek the Hebrew and Greek words and their definitions to help you with clarity?
  • Items to Explore: Language in itself is dynamic. Words are added, and meaning changes. Going back to the original source has value. How would you apply this logic to everyday life? Do you think the changing definitions of familiar words are part of the Generation Gap?
• Do you participate in discussion groups?
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you being taught the meaning of Scripture? How do you validate what you hear? Do you discuss, internalize, and compare Scripture’s messages to your life today?
• In what ways have you found the Bible to still be relevant in society today?
  • Ideas to Explore: When you read passages in the Bible, do you try to find comparisons in our world today? Do you use discussion groups to expand your interpretations and ideas? What are your concerns with discussion groups?
• What discourages you from the mission of the Church?
  • Ideas to Explore: Where is the Church winning? Losing? Do you have ideas on how to improve the Church, so it is successfully completing Christ’s mission?
• Where does the discouragement come from, the discouragement that would cause you to lose hope?
  • Ideas to Explore: What parts of society support Christ’s mission for His Church? What parts discourage His mission? How do you keep yourself positive on track in support of Christ’s Church?

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  NIV New International Version Translations
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  Thyatira – A city in the north of Lydia, on the river Lycus. The Bible mentions Thyatira and also that the Church at Thyatira is one of the seven Churches of the Book of Revelation and is also mentioned in Acts 16:14

The purpose of gaining knowledge and discerning the truth is so we are equipped to make good “decisions,” and take worthy and fruitful actions. Life’s decisions have eternal significance. If knowledge is critical to our salvation, who is responsible for determining the truth in knowledge, the “lips” or the “ears?” This is quite a provocative question. In decomposition, it is asking and age-old question, whether the responsibility for understanding and truth is that of the teacher, the lips, or the student, the ears? To answer that question, one must look first at the process of finding Truth.

“Reason” is the natural ability of the human mind to discover and process truth. “Revelation” is the supernatural disclosure of truth, by God through the Holy Spirit, which could not otherwise be discovered by the unaided powers of human reason. Both work together and are necessary for humanity to become knowledgeable about our world. This is important because our world is sinful and truth, whether spoken (taught)  or heard (learned), is often distorted by Satan’s bias. If we allow ourselves to simply let politicians, media or even the Internet become our source for knowledge and wisdom, we are doomed! If we accept the teachings of our institutions of higher education without challenge and if we fail to determine what is true for ourselves, our world finds itself where it is today. We are divided, believing absurd things, and sitting on the verge of societal collapse. The answer to our lead in question is both the lips and the ears are responsible!

Our Bible clearly demonstrates that God can reason, and because we are made in His image, God intends for us to use our reasoning ability to discover and contemplate what is true. Many truths, however, can only come via revelation. Revelation and reason cannot be separated from the life of the Christian. The world calls upon our reasoning abilities to prove that their view is correct, justification by reason. The Holy Spirit teaches us to depend on God’s Word for guidance. This should not surprise us, since we know that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of the Scriptures themselves.

(1 Corinthians 2:6-16)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ”

Reason and revelation form the doorway and the gate to truth when they rest on the foundation of God’s Word. Our educational systems have stripped God from the classroom and our society is effectively stripping God from the family. Satan must be pleased. That leaves our world with little hope. Truth, God’s truth, is the only path to eternal life. Part of that truth is that God Himself, incarnate as Jesus Christ, came to remove all encumbrances from our relationship with Him. We have been granted the grace to seek a full pardon and enter an eternal relationship of love and peace with God. That is the perfection of the Trinity at work—God in three persons, working together to teach us what is True.

Human reason connected to revelation is evidenced by the fact that we are frequently called upon to decide between true revelation and false revelation. How can we be discerning, apart from using reason? Blind belief is unworthy unless it is consistent with God’s reasoning. It would be foolish to believe everything without applying reason to test its believability or truthfulness. Likewise, it is arrogant to assume that everything must be accepted by human reason before it can be accepted as God’s Word, or Truth. It is important for us to have a biblical perspective on life because the Scriptures answer the important questions of life. A biblical perspective will cause us to love God more and help us handle life’s trials:

(James 1:2-3, 12) – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

The Holy Spirit teaches us dependence on God’s Word for guidance which will protect us from errors in judgment. A biblical perspective is not about being right but about knowing how to live right (truthfully). Not every problem in life is clearly addressed in the Scriptures. Sometimes there is no answer. There, we must rely on common sense in discerning what to do.

An example might be the world’s approach to abortion. It is hard to conclude any other position from the Scriptures other than that abortion must be opposed. Yet, we live in a world of free will and democracy. All have the right to their own opinion. Reason and revelation should lead Christians to seek God’s Truth in determining their opinion and not fall victim to the world’s claim of personal choice.

How do we know when reason and revelation are present, working together as God has intended?

• When the Holy Spirit is present, there is confidence and courage, even in the face of opposition. The presence of the Holy Spirit encourages Christians to stand up to those who would disparage God’s Truth and to stand up for Christ and the gospel. This is especially true for our leaders.
• When the Holy Spirit is present, there is a dependence on Scripture. The Holy Spirit and Scripture always go together and become the foundation of God’s Truth.
• When the Holy Spirit is present, past failures will be forgotten, forgiveness will be present, and we move on. Our world needs Christ’s witnesses focused on God’s future, not dwelling on the past.
• When the Holy Spirit is present, there is a focus on Christ and the gospel. This is done by repenting and committing ourselves to Christ’s mission for His Church. The mission is simply to equip disciples and share Christ. It will be the Holy Spirit who turns a simple conversation into an opportunity to share the gospel. Remember, only when necessary, use words! And yes, there is one more component to the mission. Christ came to help the widows, orphans, and poor, also adding this to the mission of His Church.
• When the Holy Spirit is present, God’s Kingdom wins. All gain the wisdom and understanding of God’s revelation of Himself in His Word. God’s Truth becomes known, and there is a noticeable lack of divisiveness because we are all One with Christ!

Contemplations

• Do you agree with our answer to our introductory question: The responsibility for knowledge belong to both the lips and the ear?
  • Items to Explore: How should we question what we hear in and around us? What are our sources, lips, that influence our knowledge base, our beliefs? Are the sources, lips, reliable? What responsibilities do we have to demand that institutions of learning put God back into our children’s teaching? How do we fix the “family?”
• How do you use reason and revelation to sort out what you hear?
  • Items to Explore: Are you generally questioning? Do you look for opposing opinions? How do you tell an opinion from a fact? Do you ever revisit your opinions, beliefs?
• How can someone use Scriptures to help their reasoning capabilities?
  • Items to Explore: Do you ever take worldly opinions and check them against God’s Truth? Do you know how to seek God’s Truth for yourself?
• Have you ever given your beliefs an audit, of sorts, and compared them against God’s Truth?
  • Items to Explore: Do you tend to form and opinion and stick to it for life? Have you ever been wrong about something that you initially believed in? (be truthful here) How did you deal with knowing you were wrong in the past?
• What does it take for you to change an opinion?
  • Items to Explore: Beliefs are often deeply rooted, formed from events even back to our childhood. Changing them to be consistent with God’s Truth  requires honesty, hard work and practice. Think about the process that you might try to validate your concerns and then change them to be consistent with Scripture.

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  NIV New International Version Translations

The United States is a country who puts on its currency, “In God We Trust.” Yet, the US is heavily in debt.  Is debt bad?  Do we really trust God? This study will look at what our Bible says about debt.

Where did it all start?

In September 1789, Alexander Hamilton, then-Secretary of the Treasury, negotiated terms with the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America to borrow $19,608.81 (about $600,000 in today’s dollars) to address shortfalls within the U.S. budget. This was the first time that the United States spent more than it took in and created a National Debt. If the federal government spends more than it receives as tax revenue in any given fiscal year, it adds to the National Debt¹https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/national-debt. If revenues are greater than spending, the government can use the surplus to pay down some of the existing national debt. The two ways to reduce debt are to increase taxes or reduce spending, both of which impact economic growth. How have we done? There is the National Debt Clock. Since it changes minute by minute, there is no way to publish an amount. Trust me here, it does not go down, only up!

Who does the US owe money to?

Two groups hold US debt,  the government itself and the public² https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124.

U.S. national debt is the sum of these two federal debt categories:

• Public debt, held by other countries (Japan and China are the largest holders), the Federal Reserve, mutual funds, and other entities and individuals. Those who have loaned the US government this money expect to be paid back “with interest.”
• Intragovernmental holdings, held by Social Security, Military Retirement Fund, Medicare, and other retirement funds. This is money the citizenry has given to the US government to use for specific purposes but our leaders have “dipped in,” and loaned itself funds with the “promise of repayment” back to the citizenry for the original purposes that it was intended. If the payments are not made to those funds, there are only two options: tax the citizenry and make them pay again; or break the original commitments and cut the promised benefits.

God, Himself, has an opinion on debt. Since you are both a lender to the US government and a debtor of the obligations made by the US government, you should take the time to be familiar with God’s views. The impact of the national debt can only be fully understood by comparing the current debt against the federal government’s ability to pay it this off. The debt-to-GDP (Gross National Product) ratio does this by dividing a nation’s debt by its gross domestic product. GDP is sort of our country’s income. It is no different that your income when considering your credit score and ability to repay what you may borrow. The current US debt to GDP ratio is over 100%³ https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=wi0o%5b/. That means the US owes more than it takes in, and it is never a good position to be in. The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio has been above 100 percent since 2013. Most investors get worried when it approaches 80%.

The question Is whether debt this really a bad thing?

Clearly when we mortals purchase things like a personal home, it is sometimes necessary to carry debt over and above our annual income, many times carrying a debt for a lifetime.  In those cases, we never really own our home, the lender retains title. However, there are some historical and biblical lessons that are important. Not all debt is bad, especially when there is a plan to pay it off and the purpose of the debt is consistent with Godly values. There is an expectation that income and debt will be managed and controlled.

History gives us our starting point

By the end of the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War), the interest payments on Britain’s national debt exceeded half of the British Government’s annual budget. To pay the debt, King George III imposed heavy taxes and suffocating regulations burdening its 13 colonies to repay Britain’s debt. What followed was our American Revolution.

(Proverbs 22:7)⁴NIV New International Version Translations – “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

The first point of Biblical knowledge concerning debt is that it must be paid back and that until it is, the lenders have power over the borrowers. This is especially true when the lenders have armies. No where in our world’s recorded history has this claim ever been disputed. Debt must always be paid back and until it is, the debtor is a slave to the lender. It took war to remove Great Britain’s rule over America to stop the burdensome taxation and break King George’s chains of bondage. What happens, however, if a government defaults on its own promises. Lenders will stop lending and can you imagine  if the US defaults on its own citizenry. For example, if all of the retirement savings were consumed and not given back to the people? Armageddon!

(Proverbs 23:7) – “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;”

You will find nothing in Scripture that says defaulting on a commitment is OK with God. It is plain, God expects everyone to uphold their oath and God expects our leaders to repay all debts. Because we are all part of this country, we all carry both the oath and obligations of US debt and carry those obligations both as lenders and borrowers.  These are called risks. However, the national debt remains our debt, our children’s debt, and our grandchildren’s debt. Currently, your debt (risk) is approximately $84,000 per citizen or $159,000 per working taxpayer (In 1790, Hamilton’s debt in today’s dollars was 17 cents per citizen). In essence, that is the sum of what we have loaned our government as well as what our government has borrowed from foreign powers as obligations. Remember God’s rule, ALL DEBT MUST BE REPAID!

(Ecclesiastes 5:5) – “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.”

Through the democratic process of elections, we appoint representatives. God does not accept our “washing of hands,” on the issue of debt. God holds each citizen accountable to the “oath” that those representatives place us under. Regardless of labels of conservative or liberal or party affiliations of democratic or republican, each citizen is obligated to the debts occurred by those representatives. God expects us to manage our lives and choices accordingly. God expects us to choose our representatives wisely. Remember, our God does not take default of an oath to repay a loan lightly.

(Proverbs 22:26-27) – “Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.”

God also loves a generous heart. Everyone is expected to be generous, not by obligating others to debt but being charitable by way of their own “Heart,” by way of personal choice and responsibility. In the Bible, we find the story of a woman named Dorcas, or Tabitha, introduced as one known for her care of widows and her provisions of clothing for the poor. As a widow herself, she lived in the town of Joppa, a city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Dorcas was well-off and was loved by the townspeople. When she became ill and died, they called for the Apostle Peter. Peter took Dorcas by the hand and brought her back from the dead.

(Acts 9:36-42) – In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” Peter went with them, and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

That is how our God can use a simple act of charity to build His kingdom. Dorcas is just one example in our Bible of how we are to meet the needs of those around us. Christians are to “continue to remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10). James, Jesus’ half-brother, is quoted in (James 1:27) “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” This was the type of religion Dorcas practiced. It is how the Body of Christ functions. Charity is not to be subcontracted to a government but owned by each of us. The question each must ask is whether the national debt is for God’s work or building worldly kingdoms? Is concern for each other really driving our debt?

(1 Corinthians 12:25–26) – “so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

(Roman 13:8) – “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”

So what is God’s opinion of our national debt?

(Isaiah 10:1-4) – “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

Contemplations

• The role of government as defined in our Constitution is to “promote the general welfare.” What does that mean to you?
  • Ideas to Explore: Does this mean that government is to create and protect our citizenry so that a free people can create their own opportunity for success themselves? If so, how, if not, why not? Think about what monies are spent for support of foreign enemies, waste, and corruption, and think about what is spent for the “widows, orphans, and people in distress.” Are the priorities set correctly? Who sets our government spending priorities?
• Do you consider your fair share of the national debt something you are willing to sacrifice for and pay off?
  • Ideas to Explore: Some of the debt is for helping others, much of the debt is for things most people do not care about. Is the debt being used to keep people in power or help people?
• What were you taught about debt?
  • Ideas to Explore: Do you believe that the National Debt is your responsibility to solve? Are we passing financial knowledge on to our children or just the debt?
• Does the National Debt risk the welfare and freedoms of our country?
  • Ideas to Explore: As government removes rights and privileges, how sure are you that religion, your right to worship, for example, is not in jeopardy? Is government spending for national security a reasonable priority?  What other areas of government should be funded even if the US needs to borrow money?
• What should citizens of the US do about the National Debt?
  • Ideas to Explore: The options are to ignore it, pay it off, put the country on a balanced budget to retire the debt. How would you implement your plan? What needs to change? How will you change?
• What do you think Jesus’ brother James meant when he said: “to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
  • Ideas to Explore: Are we to be happy with less so that we can be more generous? Do people have “too much stuff?” Is media creating a consumer driven economy that goes against the teachings of God?

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  https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/national-debt
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  https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124
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  https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=wi0o%5b/
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  NIV New International Version Translations

A single mustard seed

Faith is the cornerstone of the Christian religion. If we ask our secular world what faith is, you might hear that faith is any firm belief based upon confidence in the authority and veracity of another, rather than upon one’s own knowledge, reason, or judgment; earnest and trustful confidence: as, to have faith in the testimony of a witness; to have faith in a friend. Biblically, we can look in Hebrews:

(Hebrews 11:1)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

In Christianity, faith is hoping that the message of the Gospel is true. The message? “That the good news is that Jesus died for our sins and bridged the gap between us and God. Because of His sacrifice on the Cross, there is a way for us to be right with God and spend eternity in heaven. The reality of the Gospel’s message can affect every part of our lives, change the way we think which, in turn, will change how we behave.” Simply stated, that is the Gospel’s message of hope.

Does this faith in the Gospel’s message have any real power? Can this faith cause us to act on what we have not experienced yet, to believe the promises in the Bible even if they have not been fulfilled yet? Is it this faith that allows us to trust our Creator in the most dire and hopeless situations?

While most would agree that the big hope all people carry is for an eternal existence without the pain and disappointment of this world. A joyful, thankful, and peaceful eternity! That is the Gospel’s message but that is not the only message. The Gospel also tells us how to enjoy life now, in our lifetime. Faith proves to our own minds, the reality of things that we cannot see by our human eye. Because of all that God revealed, we can see God as holy, just, and good, now. This Christian view of faith is be explained by the many examples of persons in former times. It is the reason why the retention of history is critical to our hope and joy in our world. It has been through faith and an obedience to God that remarkable accomplishments have been achieved despite human failings and sufferings. It is the Bible that gives the most true and exact account of the origin of all these things, and we are expected to believe them, and not rewrite them to fit a human narrative. All humanity has already been given sufficient evidence to see the works of creation that were brought about simply by the command of God. Hence, God holds all power and, therefore, it will be faith in Christ that provides access to God’s power; Christ is God.

Without faith in Christ, there is no substance, no purpose, or strength in a person’s life. People may have faith in other worldly gods, themselves, or even material things, but this type of faith is temporal. For the faith we are talking about needs to rely on an eternal source of energy. We witness this faith with power in God’s servants, from the very beginning of the world. Wherever the principles of the Gospel’s message have been planted, there is always a regenerating Spirit of God present. With the planting of the Gospel comes Truth and Hope. Our hope in the Gospel is that God will perform all He has promised us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our joy will come from knowing that our hope is built on Truth. Scriptures are filled with examples of faith, hope and joy. Let us look at a few of the examples of the “power of faith.”

(Luke 5:17-29) – “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Place yourself into the above verses of Luke. Ask yourself this question, do you have friends with a love for you and a faith in Jesus that they would do the same for you? Would your friends bring you to Jesus no matter what the circumstances are? In Luke, the paralyzed man is not only brought to Jesus, but they also had to remove roof tiles and lower their friend into a room in a home where Jesus was teaching. Despite being paralyzed, the man, soon to be healed, is assumed to have made sufficient impact on other people’s lives. His friends had gone far beyond the norm to get their friend to Jesus. Do you have friends that would do the extraordinary to expose you to Jesus? Even Jesus was impressed by their faith, that was what Jesus noticed first. It was not their knowledge of Scriptures, their testimonies,  wealth or position in society that drew Jesus’ attention. It was their unselfish act of faith for a friend. Jesus’ response was a double bonus. The sins of the paralyzed man were forgiven and he was healed. Faith and hope brought joy to both the paralyzed man and his friends that day.

(Matthew 17:20) – He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Whether you take the power to move a mountain literally or not, is up to you. However, Jesus is stated here that real faith, faith in the Gospel’s message, faith in Him does not have to be large to have power. A mustard seed worth of faith can do many great things, save lives, change lives, improve lives virtually anywhere. A mustard seed is no bigger than the head of a pin.

(Matthew 14:29-30) – “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Matthew also recalls the time Peter walked on water. We are given this story to show what doubt does to the power of faith. The world is busy planting doubt, doubts about God’s existence, creation, even whether eternal life exists. Doubts about virtually anything you can think of, including race, religion, sex, your job, you name it! The world is Satan’s turf, doubt is Satan’s specialty. The fastest way to lose all hope is to have doubts about the Gospel’s message.

While this study may be about theological views on faith and power, it is not simply an academic exercise. The reality is that it will be through faith that you influence the way you live your life each day. Your faith has a profound impact on how you treat others. Seeing Christ as the sole source of your redemption will prevent you from becoming spiritually prideful, considering yourself as more deserving of His grace than another. When pride is replaced by love, a multitude of sins are covered and prevents a great deal of disunity.

(1 Peter 4:8) – ”Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Paul says to “serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:13-14). The appropriate response to God’s graciousness and grace is love, and this love should be seen in our care and concern for those around us, including unbelievers. Though we are by no means to dismiss sinful behavior, we are called to imitate Christ in all our interactions. The power of faith found in the Gospel’s message of hope can make our world more joyful. Christ is calling all of us to trust His Truth, to give it a try.

Contemplations

• Do you have friends that would go to extra ordinary efforts to bring you to Christ?
  • Ideas to Explore: The witness of one’s testimony is a sign of their love and concern for others. Are you open and encouraging to those who share their joy of Christ? Is your faith in Christ visible so that your friends would know you would want to go and see Jesus? 
• To what extent would you go through to bring a friend of yours to Jesus?
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you inviting, do you try to include others in your faith walk? Are holidays an expression of joy for God? 
• Do people see joy in your life or unhappiness? 
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you someone who needs to be lowered through the roof to Jesus or are you someone who has already been lowered? Is your faith externally visible in a way that draws others to Christ?
• What are the areas of doubt that still linger in your thoughts?
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you spending time with those doubts in an attempt to remove them? Doubts are normal so what life habits do you have that work to strengthen your faith?
• Jesus says you can walk on water and move mountains – Do you think you can?
  • Ideas to Explore: What keeps you from believing what Jesus tells you?

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  NIV New International Version Translations

Doors and gates have always had two purposes: to let people IN and to keep people OUT. Certainly the very first purpose was to let people IN once you possessed a dwelling. But humanity is “fallen from grace through sin,” so as we progressed, it was imperative to keep criminals OUT. Doors are a well-represented biblical image. There is a lot about doors and gates in the Bible. In fact, there are 273 mentions of doors in Scripture. This makes it one of the key symbols in the Bible. Maybe the most important mention of door/gate in Scripture is used by Jesus Christ Himself about Himself. In the Gospel of John 10:7, He says, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.¹New International Version Translations”

(John 10:7-10) – “Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

In the above verses we can see that there is a relationship between the sheep and their Shepherd. One of the hallmarks of the Good Shepherd, as well as those who are shepherds under Him, is that they are there to help the sheep. And the sheep know them. The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and recognize it. Since there is a relationship between the two sides, the sheep and the Shepherd, there is a peaceful co-existence, and a balance of authority between the sheep and Shepherd. In other words, each one knows their place within the organization and the sheep willingly follow the Shepherd. There is contentment and peace in the flock. But when a thief, a robber comes, and they will come, they are kept away by the Shepherd because their motives are destructive to the sheep under His protection.

This study could really end here. This is not a difficult concept to embrace. It is through Christ, our Shepherd, that we find our hope. He is the entry point, the gate (door) offering us eternal protection and inviting us to come into permanent fellowship with Him. However, for some reason, the door to find Him is hard to find, narrow, and some will not enter. They may be our friends, our family members, part of our communities, even our neighbors. So the question shifts to whether you and I have any responsibility to help people “find the Door, the Gate?”

(Matthew 7:13-14) – “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Furthermore, Jesus may even knock on the door of human hearts and minds, personally extending invitations to enter through Him. However, people may fear entry and not answer the invitation. Frightening thought!

(Revelation 3:20) – “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

There is a poem on Lostpine.com called “I Stand by the Door.” I hope you take a moment and click this link and read it. In all the twenty plus years of maintaining Lostpine.com, this poem does the best job in summarizing our purpose. The poem by Samuel Moor Shoemaker states the simple tasks of a “doorkeeper,” someone who has decided that since they know where the Door is located, they would spend the remainder of their life helping others recognize that Christ is THAT door. Here are the ending verses to this poem:

As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God and hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as to not hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door-
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But-more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait,
For those who seek it.
“I had rather be a doorkeeper…”
So I stand by the door.

While each human is called to listen to God’s callings, to find Christ for ourselves, once we have found Him, please, please take the time to share Him with those closest to you. Especially share with those who need Him the most, those who do not know Him.

Why? The Calling for Sharing

(1 John 1:5) – “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:11) – “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

(Colossians 1:28) – “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”

(Ephesians 2:10) – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

(Exodus 9:16) – “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

(Hebrews 2:12) – “He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.’”

(Hebrews 4:12) – “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

(Luke 9:2) – “and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

(Mark 16:15) – “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

(Matthew 24:14) – “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony”

(Matthew 5:13-16) – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

(Matthew 10:26-27) – “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”

(Psalm 9:11) – “Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.”

(Psalm 71:17) – “Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.”

There can be no greater duty for a Christian than to help those who are searching for Christ to find Him. Worse yet, many may have found the Him (the Door) but are frightened by what they do not know about Him. Your testimony to them can make all the difference. You may be the only Gospel they ever see! With gentleness, hold their hand, point them to the Door through your words and actions. Guide them to Heaven’s gate and show them the way. Place their hand upon the latch. Then step back, stand near, for it is Christ who saves. Salvation does not come through our “Good Works,” but from our love for God. The people we encounter are the beneficiaries of that love.

(Ephesians 2:8-10) – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Contemplations

• Have you found the “Door?”
  • Ideas to Explore: Have you accepted Christ as your savior? Are you willing to share that experience with others? Do you believe that your testimony is of value to people around you?
• What are your concerns about sharing your faith in Christ?
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you worried about what your “friends will think of you?” Are you concerned that the world will no longer like you? Are there physical threats and risks that you are concerned about?
• Are you concerned that people you love will not be included in the “Kingdom of God?”
  • Ideas to Explore: Are you too shy to share with friends and family. Is sharing personal experiences embarrassing for you?  Do you accept that it is your responsibility to share your faith with others?
• Can you give a testimony of faith in Christ?
  • Ideas to Explore: No matter how simple or complex you believe your faith walk has been, there is someone who can benefit from hearing it. Do you think you must have to experience a “knock off your horse” experience like the Apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus in order for your testimony to be impactful? 
• Where do you want to spend the rest of your life?
  • Ideas to Explore: Living in a safe Christian environment where you are insulated from the world? In the world, among sinners where temptations attack you every moment? Where does God want you to live?
• Everyone needs three people in their life: A Barnabas, someone to hold you accountable; a Paul, someone to mentor you in your faith; and a Timothy, someone who you will mentor in their faith.
  • Ideas to Explore: Who is your Barnabas, Paul and Timothy?

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  New International Version Translations

Why should we pray? Besides several obvious answers like God tells us to pray and prayers matter to God and prayer glorifies God, we should pray so that we can participate in our world’s spiritual battle, be humbled, and finally, because it will change us for the better. Christ prayed and offered us a great template to use for prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is a common name for the Our Father, the prayer that Christ taught to His disciples when they asked Him how to pray (Luke 11:1-4). It is an outline, not a special incantation. The Our Father is meant to help guide us during our communications with God.

(Luke 11:1-4)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

The outline intended for our use is this:

1. First, to understand who we are praying to, God our Father who is in Heaven.

2. Hallowed means “to make holy.” Prayer is personal and recognizes our Father’s holiness when we pray. He is close and caring, but not our equal. Awe and humility are the correct emotional responses.

3. What do you want? God is not an ATM machine. Christ tells us the focus our requests for God’s Kingdom to come to our world, His Will to be done in our world now as it is in His world, Heaven.

4. We pray for God to meet our needs, to take care of us. There should be a sense of trust here that God knows are real needs.

(Psalm 38:9) – “All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.”

5. We ask God to forgive our sins, search our hearts, recognize that we need His forgiveness. Just as our Father graciously forgives us, we to must also forgive one another’s shortcomings.

6. Resisting temptation takes strength. Our world is full of temptation. It is through the Holy Spirit’s guidance that we can overcome sin. Our supplication is for the Holy Spirit to be part of our prayer life. It is in prayer that we ask for guidance.

(Romans 8:26-27) – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

7. Finally, Satan is real, he is the master of Spin. We end our prayers with a request that God deliver us from Satan’s cunning traps.

With Christ’s own words as a guide, there is also a concept of prayer called Contemplation. Ignatius of Loyola²https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola, born Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola, lived between 1491 and July 31, 1556. He was a Spanish Basque Catholic priest and theologian, who together with Peter Faber and Francis Xavier founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The Jesuit order dedicated itself to teaching and missionary work. Ignatius recorded his methods of prayer in a celebrated treatise called the Spiritual Exercises, a simple set of meditations, prayers, and other mental exercises, first published in 1548. It is known as “Ignatian spirituality“.

Ignatius was convinced that God can speak to us as surely through our imagination as through our thoughts and memories. In the Ignatian tradition, praying with the imagination is, therefore, called contemplation. In the Spiritual Exercises, contemplation is an active way of praying that engages the mind and heart and stirs up thoughts and emotions. Through Contemplations, we enter a life event or story, a passage of Scripture by way of the imagination. By this method, we can recall and be present at the mysteries of Jesus’ life, or the lives and events of other Biblical characters and their stories. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is active in prayer. As Jesus’ own prayer outline, and the “Our Father” teaches us, we can become part of God’s Word through our own imagination.

Let us look at praying again, using Contemplation as an additional guide:

• In contemplation, enter a story, the Word of God, as if you were present.
• Place yourself in the same location, observing what is happening, listening to what is being said.
  • Was it outside, a simple room?
  • A warm or cold day, can you smell fresh grass or the sea breeze.
  • How do you feel? Fearful, happy, confused, in awe?
• Your role is to become part of God’s mystery, to assume the role of one of the people if possible. Become part of the Scripture story, part of your prayer.
• Next, look at each of the individuals who are present.
  • What are they experiencing? Who is speaking? What are their emotions?
• Enter into a dialogue with those who are present.
  • Because you are there, you can listen to those who are speaking God’s own Words, listening, learning.
• Then respond to them. Become part of the conversation. God knows your heart; share your feelings.

If you ask God His name and the answer is “Abba (Father)”, you will soon find the God of the prodigal son, the God who will forgive you and love you no matter what you may have done in your life.

If you come to know Jesus through the Bread and Wine of Communion, you will know that God sent His one only Son into the world to save you (John 3:16-19).

It can be through Contemplation that you can see God’s invitation:

(Ephesians 3:17-20) – “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

It will be through God’s Word and prayer that we can feel God’s unconditional love for us. When praying, we often find ourselves searching for something. It may be healing, justice, refuge, peace, mercy, love, or simply good old fashion guidance. To help, click on Lost Pine’s list of God’s characteristics. Here you will find an excellent place to find your journey to contemplation and God Himself. Scriptures, the Word of God, provide an excellent place to begin your prayer journey. Give it a try, see where God leads you. It is not your carefully chosen words in prayer that God seeks. He is after your heart, “Imagine That!”

Contemplations

• What is easy and what is hard about prayer?
  • Items to Explore: Time, interruptions, family, work all make it hard to carve out time to pray. Yet, faith, the Word of God, can often provide a beginning point for one’s imagination and journey with God. Do you have a set time? Do you use Scripture as a guide?
• Is it wrong to ask God for worldly things?
  • Items to Explore: What are the differences between needs and wants? How does trusting God as the ultimate provider help us sort out our priorities?
• When would a request for God become problematic?
  • Items to Explore: Is a request based on our perception of need? Where did the perception come from? Is hatred or anger involved in our prayer?
• Do you have a favorite Psalm?
  • Items to Explore: Psalms are prayers, many set to music. They can provide comfort, reinforcing the true characteristics of God. If you do not have any one Psalm in mind, try reading Psalm 119. Place yourself with King David. Try Contemplation.
• How do you feel about listening to others pray?
  • Items to Explore: Do you lose your concentration during long and complex prayers? Are you worried that you will not sound eloquent or have the right words? What do you think God expects from you?

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  NIV New International Version Translations
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  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola

Mainstream churches across America are becoming concerned with the loss of their members. Data shows that approximately 80 million Americans, roughly 40 percent of the United States population, are now unchurched.¹J. Russell Hale, Who Are the Unchurched? – page 2. A recent Gallup 2020 Survey² https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx concluded that for the first time since 1937 when Gallup started their polling, a majority of Americans do not belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque. This same survey determined that most Americans do not consider religion to be important to them. Most of the decline attributable to increase in percentage of people who profess no religion.

Yes, there was a pandemic that forced many to shelter in place. However, while a man-made disease swept our planet, a culture of hatred was busy taking root. It is called by many fancy names such as “Woke Totalitarianism” and the “Cancel Culture.” For sure, we are witnessing the “The Great Silencing of America.” Spin control is nothing more than the act or practice of attempting to manipulate the way events are interpreted by others and this Spin is aimed directly at conservative beliefs, the Church and its members. There is increasing safety in silence and little incentive to step out and share one’s faith as a witness to Christ. The world tried to silence Jesus once before but that did not work out well for them!

The New Testament Greek word for “church” is ekklesia, which means “the called out ones.” In Greek society, the term was used almost exclusively for political gatherings. The Book of Acts records three instances of this secular usage of the term (Acts 19:3; Acts 19:39; Acts 19:41). In Athens, the word signified the assembling of its citizens for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the city. Moreover, ekklesia referred only to the actual meeting, not to the citizens themselves. When the people were not assembled, they were not considered to be the ekklesia.

The New Testament, however, uses ekklesia 109 times to describe of the community of God’s people. Although the word only occurs in two Gospel passages (Matt 16:18; 18:17), it is of special importance in Acts (23 times) and in the Apostle Paul’s writings (46 times). It is found twenty times in Revelation and only a few times in James and Hebrews. Therefore, based on the biblical use of ekklesia, “church” we can apply the word to mean any local assembly of people who profess faith in and allegiance to Christ. The New Testament created the universal church in (Acts 8:3; 9:31; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 15:9; and especially in the letters from Paul (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians).

Many people today maintain that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus brought about the Kingdom of God, producing an overlapping of two vastly different worlds, and now the two worlds exist simultaneously. For clarity, we can call the other world, the “secular” world. This belief should bring us to rephrase our Gallop Survey Question, In our overlapping worlds, why are people leaving the “Church,” God’s world, for the other world? Many people, including Christians, have concepts about what the Church is. What exactly is the church? Is it a building where Christians go to on Sundays to worship? Is the church an organization, an institution of people who believe in Jesus Christ? Is it the Kingdom of God? To discover what God’s Church really is, let us look the Bible.

Although the Bible does not provide us an actual definition of worship, one is left with the general impression that to worship God is to ascribe to Him the supreme worth that He alone deserves. The role of worship is, of course, assigned to the Church. At the heart of the expression of the Church’s faith are the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The former symbolizes entrance into the church while the latter provides spiritual sustenance for its members.

To understand the issue of church attendance more thoroughly, we need to first start with the original Biblical mission statement of the Church. Here are two of the key biblical goals to measure the Christian Church against:

(Acts 2:42)³NIV New International Version Translations– “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

(Matthew 28:1.9) – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

These are somewhat different goals, one internally focused on equipping disciples and providing comfort/safety for Christian fellowship. The latter goal from Matthew is outwardly focused, much more like a mission statement. Therefore, since members cannot remain insulated within the Church, they will need skills to help survive in the secular world. God has called us to make a difference out there! However, you need skills first. “If you are told to you need to get to the other side of the lake, someone needs to teach you to swim first!”

Seeking comfort and safety of like-minded fellowship is understandable. Christians find themselves forced to live in a world, the wrong world, filled with lunacy. War, disease, poverty, drugs, a diminishing value on life, the pursuit of money and power saturating society. The lust for power driving political policies that weaken economic opportunity and freedom. What kind of world is this? The secular world is Satan’s world. However, our two worlds are co-mingled, and the Church must survive in both!

There is an insightful saying from a poem, it is better to rule over, be like a king in hell than to serve somebody as a slave in heaven. The famous saying “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” comes from a monologue delivered by the character of Satan in John Milton’s book, Paradise Lost, originally published in 1667. ⁴Book l lines 242 through 270 of the epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608 – 1674). This saying comes from line 263. Satan takes the position that it is better to be in a bad place and rule over that place rather than to go to a good place and work like a servant there. If you want to really understand what is happening in our society today, it is not lunacy, it is the lust for power and rule; a choice that is knowingly made by those who seek it.

When the epic scene begins in the poem, Satan, and his legions of fallen angels have already been defeated by the God’s angels and have been cast into the depths of Tartarus, which is described as horrible, dark, fiery place full of pain and suffering. This does not seem like the sort of place anyone in their right mind would want to rule. The problem is that the fallen angels were so deluded and filled with their own self-worth, they honestly thought they would win the war against God. Now, here they are, defeated and literally condemned to eternal damnation in Hell. There is no known escape. While you may call this poem a fictional story, it overlays what God tells us through His own Word about evil.

Satan knows he needs to keep these fallen angels on his side. When he speaks these famed, immortal words, he is talking to his fellow fallen angel Beelzebub. Throughout the poem, Satan’s greatest talent is shown to be his rhetoric; he can twist the truth to make even the wisest of people believe the most inane things. Have you listened to the news media or your government’s press conferences lately? Satan tries to Spin it this way: God’s Kingdom may be paradise, but you must serve God. Here in Hell, things may be awful, at least we are not in servitude. Evil has a sophisticated message and it always sounds good.

(Romans 1:21-25) – “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the Immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised Amen.”

To understand the Church today, we must ask, has it been teaching Christians not only to change this world but how  to survive in this blended world? Is the reality of both worlds fully understood? Is the Church sticking to its Mission?

(I Peter 3:1-5) – “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”

First, we see the inward focus, the gathering of people for worship, sacraments, and preparation. However, to be making disciples of “all nations”’ Christians need to survive in a world filled with lunacy, deceit, and rhetoric. While a body of like-minded people is always a comfortable place to be, the mission says nothing about comfort. It defines purpose, training, and practice. The process of living in a jointly shared world is not an easy thing to do. If you are not convinced that there is an issue, then ask yourself how leaders are chosen year after year that spend money they do not have (Biblically an unsound practice) or support abortion under the pretext of personal choice and health and fund it with your taxes (Biblically called murder). How is that for Spin? Should not the Church be helping its members with the choices necessary to not only survive in a secular world but then to act more like servants to this world?

All throughout history, humanity has fought to maintain freedom so that the human spirit can be joyful and happy. This vision is not possible to achieve unless the Church’s members are equipped to be different, not only living in the secular world but sending the secular world a clear and consistent message, especially for those who lead in it.

(Ephesians 3:10) – “His intent was that now, through the church. the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”

If then, people are leaving the institutional churches, they are being pulled there by the secular world’s dazing appeal, its untruthful Spin. An institution does not save people, only Christ can. That is the message the Church is called to shout out! Whose job is it to tell them the truth, God’s Truth? Ours of course. And just to leave you with one more sobering thought, here is some last words from the Apostle John on an institutional church that failed to understand their mission:

(Revelations 3:14-22) – “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich’ I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness,’ and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I Love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Contemplations

• Why do you think people are leaving the institutional churches?
  • Items to Explore: Why do you or would you go to church? How fearful are people of the secular world and its ability to hurt people of faith? Is there too much emphasis from the institutional church on facilities and money?
• Why do you think it is important to include the family, children in any program geared to equip people for secular survival?
  • Items to Explore: Children are eventually sent out, to college, into the world, they need to have the tools to defend their faith. What are the tools they need? What tools do adults need to live in a world full of Spin?
• Should people be open with their leaders and demand Godly behavior?
  • Items to Explore: Why to people vote for the untrustworthy leaders year after year? Why do people support leaders that do not act in accordance with God’s Law?
• Is race being used to bring people together or divide them?
  • Items to Explore: God’s Kingdom is filled with diversity. Yet, in our world, we are constantly told to be aware of a person’s color. Why is that? Does hatred based on race give a secular advantage to one group over the other? 
• Why is it that people cannot tell Spin from Truth?
  • Items to Explore: Does Evil take advantage of our weaknesses? Are people generally discerning enough to sort out truth from lies? Society is too self-centered. Are we addicted to self approval?
• How do you combat the Cancel, Woke Culture? 
  • Items to Explore: Is social media worth it? What causes a person’s opinion to become divisive with others? Is it now more important to be “right” than “righteous?”

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  J. Russell Hale, Who Are the Unchurched? – page 2
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  https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx
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  NIV New International Version Translations
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  Book l lines 242 through 270 of the epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608 – 1674). This saying comes from line 263.

In the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes I (around 445 BC), Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king of Persia. He learned that the remnants of Jews returning to Jerusalem were in trouble and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. Nehemiah asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city’s walls. Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild, gave him letters explaining the king’s support for the venture, and provided timber from the king’s forest. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah’s enemies on all sides—Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs, and Philistines—and rebuilt the walls within 52 days.

As Nehemiah was leaving Babylon, he met some Arab men who mocked him for what he was about to do. Nehemiah records his statement, which stands even today as the basis for who has the right to the city known as Jerusalem:

(Nehemiah 2:20)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

From ancient times, cities located in the Middle East were surrounded by stone walls with gates that were guarded for the protection of the citizens. Walls for security are nothing new. However, the importance of walls is to enforce the use of “gates.” Until 1887, each gate would be closed before sunset and opened at sunrise. The gates²Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem – Wikipedia today are: Jaffa Gate; Zion Gate; Dung Gate; Golden Gate (now walled up); Lion’s Gate; Herod’s Gate; Damascus Gate; and the New Gate. The gates of the cities were also the “social media” of their time. Walls control access and regress points. People would gather at the gates where they would conduct the business of the city, share important information, or just pass the time. Anyone who was anyone had to pass through one of just a few gates providing access to Jerusalem.

In the 70 years prior, the walls had been severely damaged. Strong walls and working gates were necessary for a functioning city and society in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was just a layman, not a priest like Ezra or a prophet like Haggai. He served the Persian king in a secular position before leading a group of Jews to Jerusalem to rebuild the city’s walls. Nehemiah’s experience in the king’s court equipped him for the political and physical reconstruction necessary for Jerusalem to survive.

It would be Nehemiah’s leadership that pulled the various factions together to accomplish their goal. Nehemiah led by example, giving up a respected position in a palace for hard labor. He was quite effective in convincing the city’s residents to “own their section of the wall” and work together as families to do the repairs. Nehemiah continued in his quest to rebuild Jerusalem. God provided all the necessary workers, and the building began. However, they would not be without enemies who tried to stop the project. But God intervened as He had done with Moses (Exodus 14:14). Nehemiah records,

(Nehemiah 4:20) – “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”

It would be Nehemiah’s humility before God that provided an example for the people. He did not claim glory for himself but always gave God credit for his successes. This was God’s pre-ordained plan to bring His people out of bondage and back into their land to worship in the temple once again. Nehemiah would often, at the sight of distant enemies, walk in front of the broken walls of the city, proudly wearing his sword. This was his subtle way of saying, Come if you dare, but if you come, prepare to fight us. We can learn much from the life of Nehemiah. While he maintained a personal relationship with his God. Nehemiah also partnered with Ezra to solidify the political and spiritual foundations of the people.

(Nehemiah 8:18) – “Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.”

Nehemiah stands as a testament to faithfulness and perseverance. He lived far away from his home, yet he never gave up hope that someday he would return to it. He spent most of his life in exile in a pagan land, yet he never wavered in his faith and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was a prayer warrior, putting everything before the Lord in prayer and interceding on behalf of his people, and he was rewarded for his diligence and perseverance. Nehemiah cared so much for his people that he never gave up the hope of their restoration, not only to their homeland but to the God that first called their forefather, Abraham, out of the same area and made a covenant with him, one that Nehemiah believed would stand forever.

(Nehemiah 1-11) – Nehemiah’s Prayer

“The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.

I was cupbearer to the king.”

The book of Nehemiah shows us the significant impact just one individual can have on a nation. Nehemiah served in secular offices, using his position to bring back order, stability, and proper focus on God. God can use people from many different places and with different skills. The secret to Nehemiah’s success and the success of any leader is the source of their motives.

Colossians 3:17) – “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Contemplations

• Looking back at this and the last three studies, why do you think that Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, all men working for pagan kings, were able to get those kings to support their mission to restore the people to Jerusalem?
  • Ideas to Explore: Their Christian faith was visible and built up trust with the kings. The kings wanted to get rid of the exiles, and they knew that these men were competent and could get the job done. Each had unique skills and experiences suited for the job at hand. What were those skills that stood out?
• Nehemiah is known as a “wall builder.” Why would God allow the city of Jerusalem to have walls?
  • Ideas to Explore: The concepts of safety and order are consistent with God’s requirements for His people. When chaos exists in a city or country with constant safety concerns, it is hard to get people to focus on faith issues. Having no specific gates interfered with the ability to communicate. Why is reliable communication with a nation’s citizens important?
• Nehemiah carried a weapon. Why does society today see a “strong defense” as a problem, not a deterrent?
  • Ideas to Explore: Society likes to farm out jobs like security to specialists. Leaders fear people who can defend themselves. Why was Nehemiah so effective in his tactic of facing the enemy? What is different today?
• Nehemiah assigned sections of the wall to each family to repair. Why was this such an effective strategy?
  • Ideas to Explore: Ownership in the project and results. Families could see the full benefit of a safe and repaired wall. Pride in one’s work is a great motivator. Nehemiah was not a boastful leader. What project management skills do you see in Nehemiah?
• How did Nehemiah’s nature of constant praying help him in his task?
  • Ideas to Explore: God wants us to lean on Him. Prayer works. Nehemiah connected his project to God.

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  NIV New International Version Translations
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  Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem – Wikipedia

Ezra was the second of three key leaders to leave Babylon for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.  While Zerubbabel would rebuild the Temple (Ezra 3:8), and Nehemiah rebuilt the walls, Ezra would restore worship. Ezra was a scribe and priest sent with religious and political powers by the Persian King Artaxerxes to lead the group of Jewish exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:8, 12). During the 70 years of exile, there was much intermarriage between the Jews and Babylonians. Ezra condemned mixed marriages and encouraged Jews to divorce and banish their foreign wives. While this sounds almost inhumane in our world today, Ezra was basing his position on what we would hear later from the Apostle Paul who is quoting Ezekiel:

(2 Corinthians 6:14:18)¹NIV New International Version Translations – “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

In marriage, those who do not have the same faith or in the case of the Israelite and the Babylonian, even the same god, were sharing an impossible relationship. Ezra knew the difficulty of rebuilding the people’s trust and faith in their God and was using Scripture’s own advice to help him with the task.  Ezra would also renew the celebration of festivals and supported the re-dedication of the temple and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls by Nehemiah. Ezra’s goal was to implement the Torah, and his impeccable priestly and scribal credentials allowed him to remain the model leader.

(Ezra 7:10) – “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.”

The book of Ezra continues from where 2 Chronicles ends, with Cyrus II, king of Persia, issuing the decree that permitted the Jews of his kingdom to return to Jerusalem. God is universally sovereign and can even use a polytheistic (believing in multiple gods) king of Persia to make possible His people’s release. He used Artaxerxes, another Persian king, to authorize and finance the trip and Ezra to teach God’s people His Law. This same king also helped Nehemiah restore some measure of respectability to God’s holy city.

Ezra came from Babylon to Jerusalem expecting to find the people happily serving God. What he found was just the opposite. He was sadden by what he saw but never gave up on God. Ezra wanted God to change the situation and blamed himself for not being able to change people’s hearts. Ezra wanted the people to know how important and essential the Word of God was to their daily lives and to their salvation. Nothing supersedes the worship of our God, and obedience to that command is not optional.

A sovereign God looks over and protects His sheep, always keeping His promises and providing encouragement through the people He sends.

(Ezra 5:1–2) – “Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.”

Even when God’s plan seems to be interrupted, interfered with, or stalled, as with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, God always steps in at the appropriate time to continue His plan.

Ezra’s effective ministry included teaching the Word of God, initiating reforms, restoring worship, and leading spiritual revival in Jerusalem. These reforms magnified the need for a genuine concern for reputation and for the public image of God’s people and city. Ezra encouraged the people to think about what the world saw, dilapidated city walls around God’s city. Interesting question isn’t it? What does the world think of our own country today with its crumbling cities, crime, political divisions, drug problems and uncontrolled debt?  Does the world see us as a country with a covenant relationship with God? What distinguishes us as God’s people?  Ezra was an encouragement to God’s people to magnify worship as their top priority, to emphasize the need for and use of God’s Word as the only authoritative rule for living, and to be concerned about the image God’s people show to the world.

Our goals should always be worthy in God’s eyes as well as our own. Yesterday’s problems will become today’s successes if the hand of the Lord is in them. Ezra’s goal was to be worthy in God’s eyes, and he effectively used the memories of seventy years of exile to rebuild God’s city and rebuild His people too.

Contemplations

• Why is worship and God’s Word so important in restoring a nation?
  • Ideas to Explore: True restoration cannot occur without God’s help. People must change inside to be fully repentant and not repeat past mistakes. Do you think that there is instructive material in Scripture that is helpful to humankind?
• The nation of Israel needed three things to start over, a temple, to use the temple properly and to be safe in their city. Why are these three things so important to in a Godly society?
  • Ideas to Explore: These are the three things’ people need to change and become better people – God knows best. It is the first commandment from God. We can benefit from history.
    
• Why was Ezra so effective?
  • Ideas to Explore: How did his education and experience play a role in his success? What did the pagan king see in him that instilled confidence and support? What did the people of Jerusalem see in Ezra?
• How does the Word of God restore a nation?
• Ideas to Explore: God’s Laws are the foundation for humanity. People eventually corrupt any good law with more laws so going back to basics is always better.  Does God’s hand have to be in any plan to change people for the better?

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  NIV New International Version Translations