February 7th, Leviticus 19-21
This week has been non-stop discussion about the mission of the Kingdom of God. Evangelism is one of those things, but the deeper discussion is doing justly and loving mercy. Not to be lazy but the words if chapter 19 express this better than I and it is God's word so...
Here's the frustration of my blog this week, I wanted to just insert Leviticus 19:9-18 and let it speak for itself. If someone could help me by posting that text as a comment I would appreciate it.
One last word about seriously plunging into justice issues comes from my class this week. "Mercy is pulling people from the river and offering help. Justice is going upstream and finding out why so many are falling into, getting pushed into the river and seeking ways to put a stop to it."
Stepping into the gap and using our strength as an asset for the widows, orphans, strangers, and the poor. That's kingdom work!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Lev16-18 Young People Wonder Why We Enforce Parts of God's Word
February 6th, Leviticus 16-18
Day of Atonement has a lot going on. A goat being sacrificed, the scapegoat heading off to the wilderness, and the expectation of people doing nothing on this day like a Sabbath. The goat that is put out into the wilderness is bearing the sin of all(nice foreshadowing ). The other part I find exciting is that this atonement is what cleanses us. A sacrifice is what cleanses us. I think I read about that elsewhere, like God's plan has a common theme.
Chapter 17 sounds like goats were being sacrifices to other gods. Sounds like a new rule... If you can't sacrifice it to God don't sacrifice it at all. Which isn't a new rule right. If you we're ever wondering about the blood, God says the blood equals life, don't eat the blood. I guess blood sausage is out.
Chapter 18 a discussion about nakedness breaks out. The first thing I noticed is an affirmation of marriage and the oneness of two. Father/Mothers nakedness are not just their but each others. That doesn't get mentioned concerning anyone else. There is a list of sexually perverse things not allowed. Don't have sex with your neighbors wife , offer children to Molech(read sacrifice them to), have homosexual relations, nor with animals.
Hard question for the day... Since we don't enforce Chapter 15, why do we choose to enforce the mandate against homosexual behavior?
Please don't leave nasty comments about this. Come up with a legit, articulate expression. Where is Gods heart in all of this?
Day of Atonement has a lot going on. A goat being sacrificed, the scapegoat heading off to the wilderness, and the expectation of people doing nothing on this day like a Sabbath. The goat that is put out into the wilderness is bearing the sin of all(nice foreshadowing ). The other part I find exciting is that this atonement is what cleanses us. A sacrifice is what cleanses us. I think I read about that elsewhere, like God's plan has a common theme.
Chapter 17 sounds like goats were being sacrifices to other gods. Sounds like a new rule... If you can't sacrifice it to God don't sacrifice it at all. Which isn't a new rule right. If you we're ever wondering about the blood, God says the blood equals life, don't eat the blood. I guess blood sausage is out.
Chapter 18 a discussion about nakedness breaks out. The first thing I noticed is an affirmation of marriage and the oneness of two. Father/Mothers nakedness are not just their but each others. That doesn't get mentioned concerning anyone else. There is a list of sexually perverse things not allowed. Don't have sex with your neighbors wife , offer children to Molech(read sacrifice them to), have homosexual relations, nor with animals.
Hard question for the day... Since we don't enforce Chapter 15, why do we choose to enforce the mandate against homosexual behavior?
Please don't leave nasty comments about this. Come up with a legit, articulate expression. Where is Gods heart in all of this?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Lev 14-15 Clean is no small thing
February 5th, Leviticus 14-15
Today's chapters bring us some word about being declared clean from leprousy. Again it's about the regulations surrounding it, but an actual story might go something like this...
There is something not right about a few spots on your hand. You hear rumors of what leprousy looks like and you begin to be cautious about every physical interaction. The condition seems to worsen over the coming weeks, you look at your wife and kids and decide it might be best for you to go see the priest who confirms your worst fear. You are Unclean. You don't go home again, your escorted to the edge of the city. There your family will bring you your belongs. You step forward to interact with your family one last time. As you step forward, they step back and you see in their eyes what you will see in everyone's eyes for the rest of your days... fearful pity.
Never again will you embrace your wife. Never again will you wrestle with, tickle, or throw your kids up in the air. Everything has changed. You will walk the streets proclaiming unclean, unclean. The human touch you long for will never be yours again. ( let's not treat each other like lepers during cold and flu season. Human touch has more value than staying germ free. It's kind of like the Adventures in Missing the Point I talked about on Sunday.)
When you read these stories about being declared clean, I encourage you to fill in the blanks with what a personal story might look like. The rejoicing that comes from being pronounced clean, the rejoicing today that you and I can be pronounced clean because of what Christ has done for us. Rejoicing that Jesus has taken care of our banishment outside the city and allowed us to be in fellowship because of forgiveness. So lets live this day free to touch people with the love of Christ.
Today's chapters bring us some word about being declared clean from leprousy. Again it's about the regulations surrounding it, but an actual story might go something like this...
There is something not right about a few spots on your hand. You hear rumors of what leprousy looks like and you begin to be cautious about every physical interaction. The condition seems to worsen over the coming weeks, you look at your wife and kids and decide it might be best for you to go see the priest who confirms your worst fear. You are Unclean. You don't go home again, your escorted to the edge of the city. There your family will bring you your belongs. You step forward to interact with your family one last time. As you step forward, they step back and you see in their eyes what you will see in everyone's eyes for the rest of your days... fearful pity.
Never again will you embrace your wife. Never again will you wrestle with, tickle, or throw your kids up in the air. Everything has changed. You will walk the streets proclaiming unclean, unclean. The human touch you long for will never be yours again. ( let's not treat each other like lepers during cold and flu season. Human touch has more value than staying germ free. It's kind of like the Adventures in Missing the Point I talked about on Sunday.)
When you read these stories about being declared clean, I encourage you to fill in the blanks with what a personal story might look like. The rejoicing that comes from being pronounced clean, the rejoicing today that you and I can be pronounced clean because of what Christ has done for us. Rejoicing that Jesus has taken care of our banishment outside the city and allowed us to be in fellowship because of forgiveness. So lets live this day free to touch people with the love of Christ.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Lev 11-13 Better days and God's Ways
February 4th, Leviticus 11-13
Fun fact for the day. Don't eat scaleless fish or a hoopoe. Also good news for us guys... If your hair is falling out your okay, your just bald! Load off my mind.
Sorry for the late post. Some of you know I travelled today to a conference for the denomination I serve. We are in CA. We flew over the place they detonated the first a-bomb. It was a good choice of a place since the rest also looked like a barren waste land.
Today I am glad for hope in the midst of life that seems lifeless. I witnessed hundreds of miles of dry stream beds from the plane. Water that doesn't come often enough. All of scripture is God-breathed. I'm glad God went to some effort to help us decide what is better to eat. I'm also thankful for the gold mine of great verses that will appear with more frequency later on.
In the mean time let righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream. And not to rub it in but 60 feels better than 10 degrees.
Fun fact for the day. Don't eat scaleless fish or a hoopoe. Also good news for us guys... If your hair is falling out your okay, your just bald! Load off my mind.
Sorry for the late post. Some of you know I travelled today to a conference for the denomination I serve. We are in CA. We flew over the place they detonated the first a-bomb. It was a good choice of a place since the rest also looked like a barren waste land.
Today I am glad for hope in the midst of life that seems lifeless. I witnessed hundreds of miles of dry stream beds from the plane. Water that doesn't come often enough. All of scripture is God-breathed. I'm glad God went to some effort to help us decide what is better to eat. I'm also thankful for the gold mine of great verses that will appear with more frequency later on.
In the mean time let righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream. And not to rub it in but 60 feels better than 10 degrees.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Lev 8-10 Leadership, Followership
You might have seen this picture on my facebook account and wondered what it was. It is a picture taken inside the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs CO. This is the ceiling, a fish-eye lense, and a unique look. I mention it because the Academy has a unique outlook on leadership.
Military institutions want leaders and that is one their pursuit. But for the first two years as a cadet, it's not about the promotion of leadership. The first two years cadet's learn the 8 principles of followership(I didn't make up the word, they did). Their thinking is you'll never be a good leader, til you learn how to be a good follower.
I say that because in the text today we see Aaron and his sons getting ordained into the priesthood. It seems from the text that God wants them to care about the details of the job and some don't. Some times we take on responsibilities willingly, sometimes it is thrust upon us with no choice in the matter. For all of us, wherever we are at, we have a responsibility to be a good leader, or be a good follower. When it comes to God's house you can see why responsibility matters, but it matters everywhere as a testimony to God. Leadership is something we pursue. People want to be on top, give orders to others. However,following is a craft worth perfecting also. Jesus said "Come follow me," not come lead me. Do it well and when God call on you, you will lead well.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Lev 5-7 Clean License Plates, Sticky Tabs
February 2nd, Leviticus 5-7
So let's be honest, I kept reading hoping for one great verse that would be a great thought. The only real impression I got was a housekeeping thought. It seems to me that sprinkling blood on the front of the altar and sprinkling flour all around would make for quite a caked on mess.
The other thought is simply the routine of all of this. Day after day, animal after animal, for a million people or more. I did think of the integrity of the priests. The command was one handful of flour to be sprinkled on the altar the rest is for the priests to use. What if the handful gets smaller and smaller because the priest wants more and more. It's a heart issue about not only doing your job, but doing it the way God asks you too.
Speaking of the heart, all of God's commands in all of this can be just an obligation or an offering of praise or apology to the Lord. With the advantage of knowing other parts of scripture we know that "Rams and bulls and all these things I have." "The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God." This is not an issue of God's need of these things. What God really wants in these matters, what God has always wanted and will always want is a "broken and contrite heart."
As in our life, sometimes the details of what is going on overshadows the heart of what God wants. God wants to be connected at the heart with his people. He wants things clean because he wants to be close.
I just gots my tabs for my truck. My license plates are cold, my plates are dirty with sand and road grit from cold, frozen MN roads. I have to get the plates clean so the "2014"sticker will adhere. God wants nothing between us and Him, us and each other. To live in an inspiring version of reconciliation. That's my prayer today.
So let's be honest, I kept reading hoping for one great verse that would be a great thought. The only real impression I got was a housekeeping thought. It seems to me that sprinkling blood on the front of the altar and sprinkling flour all around would make for quite a caked on mess.
The other thought is simply the routine of all of this. Day after day, animal after animal, for a million people or more. I did think of the integrity of the priests. The command was one handful of flour to be sprinkled on the altar the rest is for the priests to use. What if the handful gets smaller and smaller because the priest wants more and more. It's a heart issue about not only doing your job, but doing it the way God asks you too.
Speaking of the heart, all of God's commands in all of this can be just an obligation or an offering of praise or apology to the Lord. With the advantage of knowing other parts of scripture we know that "Rams and bulls and all these things I have." "The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God." This is not an issue of God's need of these things. What God really wants in these matters, what God has always wanted and will always want is a "broken and contrite heart."
As in our life, sometimes the details of what is going on overshadows the heart of what God wants. God wants to be connected at the heart with his people. He wants things clean because he wants to be close.
I just gots my tabs for my truck. My license plates are cold, my plates are dirty with sand and road grit from cold, frozen MN roads. I have to get the plates clean so the "2014"sticker will adhere. God wants nothing between us and Him, us and each other. To live in an inspiring version of reconciliation. That's my prayer today.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Lev 1-4 Sunday Bloody Sunday
February 1st, Leviticus 1-4
Daily life and the cost of sacrifice. Certainly an interesting start to Leviticus. If you like hearing about kidneys, lobes of liver, fat and entrails this is the passage for you!! Imagining the shear volume of blood everywhere is a bit overwhelming. I'm trying to get past all of that to move into some greater meaning.
One thing that stirs me is the real time issue of subsistence, nomad, farmers/herdsman. They are truly living on a razor's edge of being able to provide for their families. It hit me this morning as it talked about baking loaves to be brought as a grain offering. If I had limited food in my home and baked bread that would leave me a little hungry, how would I feel about it. It's the nature of sacrifice. Sacrifice that doesn't really cost me anything isn't by definition sacrifice.
I thought about the offering for unintentional sins. I have to rewrite it so I can understand the impact. They were to bring a bull, or a goat to be sacrificed for committing an unintentional sin. What if every time I committed an unintentional sin, I was required to bring $500 to put in the offering. One of two things would happen. I would either go broke, or I'd be a lot more cautious about how I lived my life. As a people whose lives revolve around money, maybe we understand losing cash more than losing an animal. But I think it would only take one or two trips to make this sacrifice before you take note that every time I sin an innocent animal has to die. That might make an impact as well.
For many, the first Sunday of the month is communion Sunday. Jesus was also innocent. "He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." A story tragic and hopeful all in the same breath. Blood shed because of my sin. May we say thanks and walk with more caution, seeking to honor our Lord.
Daily life and the cost of sacrifice. Certainly an interesting start to Leviticus. If you like hearing about kidneys, lobes of liver, fat and entrails this is the passage for you!! Imagining the shear volume of blood everywhere is a bit overwhelming. I'm trying to get past all of that to move into some greater meaning.
One thing that stirs me is the real time issue of subsistence, nomad, farmers/herdsman. They are truly living on a razor's edge of being able to provide for their families. It hit me this morning as it talked about baking loaves to be brought as a grain offering. If I had limited food in my home and baked bread that would leave me a little hungry, how would I feel about it. It's the nature of sacrifice. Sacrifice that doesn't really cost me anything isn't by definition sacrifice.
I thought about the offering for unintentional sins. I have to rewrite it so I can understand the impact. They were to bring a bull, or a goat to be sacrificed for committing an unintentional sin. What if every time I committed an unintentional sin, I was required to bring $500 to put in the offering. One of two things would happen. I would either go broke, or I'd be a lot more cautious about how I lived my life. As a people whose lives revolve around money, maybe we understand losing cash more than losing an animal. But I think it would only take one or two trips to make this sacrifice before you take note that every time I sin an innocent animal has to die. That might make an impact as well.
For many, the first Sunday of the month is communion Sunday. Jesus was also innocent. "He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." A story tragic and hopeful all in the same breath. Blood shed because of my sin. May we say thanks and walk with more caution, seeking to honor our Lord.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)