ANOTHER RAINY SUNDAY

Google image of downtown Philadelphia in the rain

Yes, another rainy Sunday in Philadelphia.  I don't think I'll ever get another chance to post a Sunday garden with pictures entry.  But my garden is looking lush.  I just have to get out there and weed and cut back the roses.  There is always too much to do and not enough time.

I worked at the Regional Library again this week.  More overtime.  But we need the money to pay for the new car.  It wasn't bad.  As soon as the downpour and thunder and lightning started all the people disappeared.

I have one more Sunday to work and then I have a month off from overtime.  Good thing too because September is a very busy month.  Almost every day is full of stuff to do.

We had a guest speaker in church this morning.  Once a year the Bible Fellowship churches switch pastors.  So both of our pastors were away and Pastor Lou Protnicki from Maple Glen was our speaker.  He spoke on Hebrews 11 -- Faith's Hall of Fame, and tied it into the series we have been having in the book of Judges.  The key thought was:  Faith is believing that God is better than what life can give you and better than what death can take from you.  Faith is believing that God has something better for you.  If you can trust God to save you from hell and get you to heaven, then why can't you trust Him with the little things of life?  Faith allows flawed people to accomplish great things for God.  The message was fantastic.  Pastor Lou was so humble and put God in the forefront of everything he did and said.  It was getting later and I had to leave to get to work on time, but I couldn't go until I heard the end of the message.  Wish I could have stuck around to meet him and talk to him, but I just made it on time as it was.  It should be on our website on Wednesday, so I want to listen to it again.

I need to end this and get to bed.  Another week of work in front of me and two days without Diane to help out.  Sigh.

SUNDAY SERMON

I attended my sister Elaine's church this morning, Ledgewood Baptist in Ledgewood, NJ.  Her pastor is doing a series in the book of Numbers.  The message was so good and so appropriate to some things I am going through and trying to help a friend go through.  I just wanted to share it with you.

ACCOMMODATION -- TO A POINT

Pastor David Holwick

Numbers 9:1-14

The LORD gave these instructions to Moses in early spring, during the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt, while he and the rest of the Israelites were in the wilderness of Sinai:  "Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the proper time, at twilight on the appointed day in early spring.  Be sure to follow all my laws and regulations concerning this celebration."

So Moses told the people to celebrate the Passover in the wilderness of Sinai as twilight fell on the appointed day.  And they celebrated the festival there, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.  But some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead person, so they could not offer their Passover lambs, that day.  So they came to Moses and Aaron that day and said, "We have become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person.  But why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD's offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?"

Moses answered, "Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the LORD."

This was the LORD's reply:  "Say to the Israelites:  'If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present at the cremony, they may still celebrate the LORD's Passover.  They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the appointed day.  They must eat the lamb at that time with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast.  They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones.  They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.

"'But those who are ceremonially clean and not away on a trip, yet still refuse to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, will be cut off from the community of Israel for failing to present the LORD's offering at the proper time.  They will suffer the consequences of their guilt.  And if foreigners living among you want to celebrate the Passover to the LORD, they must follow these same laws and regulations.  The same laws apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you.'"

1.  How accommodating are you?  God is accommodating.  He wants to help us.  But even God has His limits.

2.  A night to remember.  This is the last Passover celebrated in the wilderness.  It is the last one some of them had for they died in the wilderness.  

     Marking the passage of the year, they are told to have a Passover.  

     The Passover celebrated an historical act of deliverance.  Divine substitution.  

     The New Testament parallels it closely.  We do communion, not Passover.  Christ is our Passover Lamb.

     Strict guidelines had to be followed.  (Exodus 12)  Things are done in a certain way.  It is an intricate service.  Dishes are prepared in a certain way.  It is educational.  Children ask questions.

     For once, they followed God's instructions exactly.  (Numbers 9:5)  The Israelites were not very good at obedience.

3.  Unanticipated Problems.

     Law codes cannot cover every contingency.

     God grants some accommodation.  You can't always avoid uncleanness.  God is gracious.  If you miss Passover for a valid reason, you can do it a month later.  God is inclusive.  He wants to draw people in.  People don't have to become like us, but become like God.

4.  Accommodation is not limitless.

     Humans like the idea of being accommodated.  We want the second chance, special treatment, benefit of the doubt.  But Christianity isn't all about accommodation.  A friendly church is great, but it must have the Gospel of Christ.  We need to stand for something.

     In Numbers 9 those without a valid excuse will be condemned.  God expects you do do what He says.  He has no patience with those who disobey.  God's grace can be stern.  We should not presume on it.  We are responsible for those things we have control over.

     Communion has similarities to Passover.  Not just that both have blood and deliverance.  See I Corinthians 11:29 -- For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself.  If you don't approach Communion in the right attitude, there are consequences.  If you don't do it God's way, He will do what He wants with you.

5.  God is not an enabler.  God calls us to repent and be a consistent person.  He wants us to have a changed heart.

WORD FOR THE MONTH

Every month Pastor Justin sends us an email with the "Word for the Month".  I thought this month was exceptionally good and wanted to share it with you.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

          July is all about the red, white, and blue. We have barbeques, fireworks, parades, and we remember those who have served and are serving in the military to keep our country free. But, what is freedom? For us Americans, it means having the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. It means that we have the right to worship as we wish and we are very thankful for that.

          When I was a kid, I thought that if you were a Christian, it meant that you really shouldn't get to have as much fun as everyone else – that you had to give up freedom. So, when Jesus says to His disciples, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32),” did He really mean, “live a legalistic life and be some sort of Christian robot?” As a believer in the Triune God, do I actually have less freedom?

          No! Knowing the truth indeed sets you free! You can live your life without fear of death and without paralyzing anxiety of life's troubles because you know who is ultimately in control. You know the meaning of life, and being a child of God gives meaning to every aspect of your life. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not a religion, it's a knowledge and allegiance to the truth set before the foundations of the world were laid. This frees us up to live the life God originally intended for us, without being bogged down with worries, guilt, anger, addictions, despair, constantly doing what we know is wrong, and fulfilling empty rituals.

          Ultimate freedom is living under God's authority. The instruction He has given to us in the Bible is for our own good, freeing us to live the best life we could live. As we follow God, He promises to bless us more than we could provide for ourselves. When you give your life to God through Jesus Christ, you actually gain freedom.

          So, as a follower of the Truth, be as creative as you can be, enjoy the little things in life, experience the beauty of God's creation around the world, read more, exercise your mind and body, cherish serenity, and relish being the temple of the Holy Spirit.

          That's freedom. That's life.
 

                                                             - Pastor Justin

The Gifts of the Magi -- Matthew 2:1-12

There were three different responses to the birth of Christ.

1.  Of  Herod -- He was Jewish by birth, but had no spiritual background.  He was ruthless and brutal.  He killed all he suspected wanted his throne including his wives and children.  He was not of the line of David so was not the rightful king of Israel.  And he knew this.  So when a huge caravan comes into his city asking where the king of the Jews is, he is upset.  They have legitimate proof -- they have seen a star.  This was very important in that day.  The heavens foretold the rising and setting of kings.  There was also a prophecy of the Star of Bethlehem.  People listened to those who observed the stars.  Herod took this very seriously.  People still take stars seriously -- the Horoscope.  But God, not the stars, controls everything.  Herod decides not to make his own decision, but calls his counselors and priests to him.  Some people derive their ideas about God from the media.  They don't go straight to the source, but get ideas from the ones who are speaking the loudest.

2.  Of the Religious Scribes -- They don't hesitate to tell Herod where the Christ is to be born.  They knew instantly.  The scribes were the legal experts.  They were well versed in Jewish law and the Torah.  They had studied and it was part of them.  But their response is nothing.  They don't do anything but give Herod his answer.  Their response was neither good nor bad.  It was indifference.  Are we so familiar with the Christmas story that we have lost the awe of it?

3.  Of the Magi -- Who are they?  They were not kings.  They were not royal.  Magi is translated as "wise men" but they were so much more than that.  Magi = magic.  Most scholars believe they were from Babylon or around there.  There was a religious belief called Zoasterism -- a Babylonian version of Judaism.  They could have been of this.  Another theory is that when Judah was exiled to Babylon and then were allowed to return to their own country, many Jews stayed behind.  They had businesses and established lives in Babylon.  These men could have been descendants of these people.  A third theory is that these were pagans who studied the stars and ancient manuscripts.  They felt a powerful ruler was born that they needed to pacify and make peace with.  We don't know if they fully understood what they were doing when they came to worship.

We don't need to know everything right now, but we need to take action to learn more and spread the gospel.

The gift of the Magi was not the gold, frankincense and myrrh, but their journey thousands of miles to worship the Christ child.

Sunday--Psalm 91

Again, a message meant just for me.  God has been using this series in the Psalms to stretch and grow me in ways I could never imagine.

GOD DELIVERS US

We have a lot of fears.  That's how we live our life.  It's our world view.  We see only what is happening around us.  But our focus is to be on God, not on what is going on around us.  Our faith is not in someone who is weak or facetious, but in a personal, all-powerful God.  God delivers those who trust in Him and we don't need to be afraid.

1.  God delivers us from sin and addictions.  We have sins so deep that we can't get rid of them.  But God can.  We need to chop off the things that hurt us and run to God.  He will deliver us.  Don't go through it alone.  God will deliver us from any spiritual traps that Satan sets for us.  Sin and addiction are all intertwined.  We can't get rid of just one and think they are all gone.  We try to compartmentalize our lives.  But we are more complex than we realize.

2.  God delivers us from fear.  The psalm writer is using extreme illustrations.  God is in control.  We can put our complete trust in Him.  Fear is practical atheism.  If we fear, we doubt God's sovereignty and control.  If we believe God is not in control over everything, then we are doubting God and that's atheism.  Because God is God, we don't have to fear anything.  If God is God, there is no fear.

3.  God delivers us from evil and danger.  How can a loving God allow evil to happen?  How can we trust Him?  God is in control.  What He wants to happen will happen.  Angels are encamped around us to protect us.  God will give us victory.  Evil will not befall God's followers.

God does not promise us a world without trouble, but to be with us in our trouble.  Deliver means to snatch us away.  But in verse 14 deliverance means to equip or strengthen.  We may go through troubles, but there will always be deliverance.  It may just not be on our timetable.

Run to God for refuge and protection.  He will be there to deliver us.  There will always be deliverance.  God's will is perfect.  Nothing bad happens to us without His permission.  It happens to strengthen us.

At the end of our days we will be satisfied with how God has protected and delivered us.  God can be completely trusted because He is in complete control.

8 days to surgery

Sunday--Psalm 90

Today we talked about Psalm 90.  Pastor Wayne spoke today.  He said the Lord is our dwelling place.  It's where we go when we're knocked down, out in the cold, and don't know where to go.  The amazing thing is God is always there.  He has never been far from any of us.

He spoke on the eternal nature of God.  He is always there.  We seek out peace and security in our lives, and that's God.

The second point was the frailty of man.  We are here today and gone tomorrow.  Life is short.  But God is always there and He's not aging.  Many times we go through hard things in life to grow closer to God and know He will never leave us.

Again, God gave me just what I needed to hear.

Sunday -- Psalm 66

We are continuing on with our study in the Psalms.  Today it was Psalm 66. 

Three verses really stood out for me.  I am using the New Living Translation.

v.12 -- You sent troops to ride across our broken bodies.  We went through fire and flood.  But you brought us to a place of great abundance.

Boy does that sound like me right now.  My body is very broken.  I feel as if I am going through fire and flood.  But the outcome is God is going to bring me to a place of great abundance!

v. 19-20 -- But God did listen!  He paid attention to my prayer.  Praise God who did not ignore my prayer and did not withdraw His unfailing love from me.

Even when it feels to me that my prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling and going nowhere, God is listening.  He is paying attention to my prayer.  He is not ignoring me and will NEVER take His love from me.

Praise God!

22 days to surgery

My Ebenezer

I Samuel 7:12 -- Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shan, and called the name of it Ebenezer saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

Ebenzer = my stone of help

This was the key verse for my devotional this morning.  I am really scared about the upcoming surgery, as anyone would be.  Who wants to be cut open?  Have to stay in the hospital?  Go through the pain and recovery?  But the message today reminded me that God is on my side.  He is fighting for me just as He fought for the Israelites against the Philistines.  He loves me and, like any good parent, is looking for me to succeed at my task, not fail.  Am I still scared?  Of course.  I need lots of prayer, so please continue to uplift me to the Throne of Grace.  Thank you.