There To Be Found

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God,
you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

     I have ADHD! I forget things all the time. I am working on a project, realize I need something to complete the project, go to get that something and before I can retrieve it I have forgotten what I was going to retrieve. Or along the way I get distracted and forget about the project altogether! This drives me nuts! It also drives my wife of almost 40 years nuts as well.
     I have come to realize that I really don't forget those things. They just drop to the bottom of the thought queue. They will pop up and briefly pass through my mind days or weeks later. But before I can write them down, they are gone again, only to resurface and drop off at another random time.
     I am glad the LORD is not ADHD! He is always ready for us to return. He has open arms for us. Even when we have purposely walked away, He is there waiting for our return.
    This was really good news for the Israelites. It was news they would hear now, but not put into action for years to come. But the seed was planted. When they had wandered away and suffered the consequences of their separation from the LORD's blessing, they could know that they could return and be accepted.
     The one condition that continues, before the walk away and after the return, is that we come with all that we are. The LORD wants us to completely yield to Him. He doesn't want part of us. He knows that yielding 100% is what is best for us. It is the way we were designed to exist.
     And yet we often think we can give part of ourselves to something/someone other than the LORD. We cordon off parts of our lives in hopes that they won't affect our relationships with others. He have places that we don't yield to His intervention.
    When we do that we limit His ability to transform us and redeem us. Do we really want to limit our Creator from forming and making us into the best version of ourselves?

Not Endless, Only!

Deuteronomy 4:2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it,
but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. 

     I hate it when playing a game and the rules change right when I am about to get ahead. I think this is a universal feeling. I know it is with my grandchildren. I hear them in the backyard as they play a game. When the rules change these words ring out: "That's not fair!" And an argument ensures.
     None of us like living and working in a situation where the rules seem to change all the time. It makes life intolerable. We all have the innate drive to succeed. But when the rules change, success becomes increasingly frustrating. (Unless of course you are the one who gets to change the rules!)
     Some people wonder what God wants from them, what His standards are. They flit and fly around from this to that in an effort to find some path that will lead to God but not require too much change on their part. They want comfortable rather than righteous. They want the broad road rather than the narrow road, to quote Jesus.
     So as Moses, the ancient leader of the people of Israel, is saying his final words to them before he dies, he tells them to keep it simple. He says: don't add, don't subtract, just obey.
     The LORD doesn't have an endless list of things for us to do in order to live the kind of life that pleases Him and best fits with our humanity and our purpose. The list is really pretty short.
     He might not have an endless list, but there is a list. There are things that cross time and culture that are always right and wrong. There are things that consistently show up on the list. The Ten Commandments is one such list. Notice it is ten, not eleven, not twenty five, not 10,000.
     So in your life today, what are the things you are supposed to be doing to demonstrate to the world that Jesus has made an eternal difference in your life?

What Does God Look Like?

Deuteronomy 4:15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb
out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,

     We often hear children ask, "What does God look like?" Even some adults ask this same question. It is a natural question asked from a very human perspective. We as human beings are very good at recognizing faces. It is one of the first things that infants learn. They recognize human faces. Then their caregivers face and voice. Then they begin to recognize other things.
     So if I am a human being, which I assure you I am, then recognizing God's face ought to be something I try to firmly plant in my brain. I wouldn't want to miss Him if I passed Him in WalMart!
     But one of the failures of so many people is that we try to boil God down to our size, something we can get our minds around. But God can't be boiled down. He is so far beyond anything we could ever comprehend that it is impossible for us to picture Him.
     And that is exactly what the Second Commandment is all about. Don't make an image of the LORD. So when Moses is giving his final words to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land, he reinforces this commandment. He appeals to their firsthand knowledge. They had seen the fiery cloud when the LORD had spoken. But there was no discernible form to the person speaking.
     But even more importantly, all the other people groups around the Israelites had tried to boil down the LORD into representations of known objects. They made idols of animals & creatures in their attempts to capture the essence of the Creator. They carved images of the stars and other objects in the sky in hopes that they were capturing the Star Maker Himself.
     So Moses warns them not to try to reduce the LORD in any way.
     We can't reduce the LORD to an APP on our phone, a corner of our living space, an appointment on our calendar. We can't reduce Him. He owns it all. He is everywhere present. Nothing is hidden from Him. He even knows our hearts.

Uncomfortable Truth

Number 35:34 Do not defile the land where you live and
where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.

     One of the uncomfortable truths about the Christian faith is that we believe that the LORD lives among us. He is not distant, having started the project, given it the ability to keep going and then went to the spa for a time of relaxation. Instead, the message of the Scriptures from beginning to end is that the LORD's intention has always been to live with His people. 

     It started in the Garden where He walked in the cool of the day. He was present in the visible cloud that guided and protected the Israelites in their journey out of Egypt. And He was present in the person of Jesus as He carried out the work of the Father. 

     So why is it an uncomfortable truth that the LORD lives here with us? Well that is because He is holy and we are not. And when things that are not holy come in to the presence of Holy, bad things happen. Our sin gets exposed for what it is. We are confronted with our weakness and called to bow in surrender. 

     But this requires humility, something that is in very short supply in our world. And it has always been in short supply! Humility requires us to say those dreaded words, "I can't do it." We admit our weakness and make ourselves vulnerable. We confess our brokenness and become whole. We confess our sin and are offered forgiveness in return. 

     The LORD is holy, totally separate from us. And yet He chooses to live with us. And at the end of time as we know it, we will live with Him with nothing to hinder our interactions and connections to each other and to Him. That is the new Heaven and new Earth.

Infectious Diseases

Numbers 31:2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. 

After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

     In our day and age of antibiotics and modern medicine there are still natural forces that people can't control. Locust flights across fast areas of the African continent and a virus that has put tens of millions of people in mandatory quarantine are in the news. Medical supplies are in short supply and crops are destroyed. People are panicking.
     The best of human efforts can't stop the pain of human suffering.
     There are passages in the Scriptures that highlight a plague that has haunted humanity since right after the beginning. That plague is rebellion against the LORD's authority over the universe. And in His efforts to help humanity navigate the aftermath of sin's destruction He gives what can sound like very harsh, very unjust directives.
     Moses, the leader of the Israelites, the man who face Pharaoh king of Egypt and won, is about ready to die. The LORD gives him one last task: rid the earth of the evil the Midianite people and society practice. The practices were so dangerous for the LORD's plan for His people that He ordered that they be killed!
     Wow, that sounds harsh, doesn't it. It sounds harsh to our ears because we downplay the hideousness of sin. We think the sin we commit isn't so terrible, after all we didn't murder anyone. But sin, rebellion against the LORD's authority to govern our lives, is so eternally deadly that He takes drastic measures in an attempt to purify His people.
     But as history shows, sin has still not been wiped from humanity's presence. Its power has been broken in those who trust in Jesus' death and resurrection, but we still need to choose obedience over rebellion daily.

Our Calendar

Numbers 29:1“ ‘On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.' "

     Often our calendars are important to us. They keep us on track with our days. They remind us of important moments and celebrations. They help us to not forget anniversaries and birthdays! As a husband, I am thankful for this!
     But calendars can also become our slave masters. They can drive us and hold us captive. They can hedge us in and confine our activities in a way that limits our ability to stay present in the moments we have with those around us. We can always be running to the next thing, rushing ahead in hopes that the next thing will bring us satisfaction (hopefully).
     The Scriptures tell us that the LORD is in charge of the calendar. He created light and darkness (Genesis 1:3) thus marking out the time frame for a single day. He put the stars in the sky marking out different seasons. (Genesis 1:14-18) He created ordered worship around days, weeks, and years. He highlighted the passing of seasons various feasts and festivals, times when His people gathered to celebrate and remember what the LORD had done on their behalf. (see Numbers 28-29)
     Who has the rights to put events on your calendar? Do you give the LORD permission to add events? Do you let Him order your days, weeks, and years?
     Or do you fill the calendar yourself, or with your boss's help, or with your spouse and children, and then see if you can fit the LORD in in some of the empty spaces that are left?
     Maybe it is time to listen to His schedule first, and after He has placed His priority in our lives, then we can see how to fit our things in the places that are left. We say He is LORD, but do we live it with our schedules, our calendars?

Accounting. Yikes!

Numbers 26:63-65 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

     There are some portions of Scripture that most of us have a hard time understanding why they are there. Like some sections of the book of Numbers. There are two censuses in the book. One happens shortly after the Israelites are delivered from Egypt. The other happens nearly forty years later when they are about to enter the Promised Land. They are counted by clan, and the numbers are included in the text.
     But what do those numbers have to do with the plan of God revealed in Scripture?
     That is a great question! I am glad you asked. The key is the phrase "not one of them" which is repeated in the text. You see, they had made a listing of the people who came out of Egypt, who had seen the miracles face to face, who had subsequently chosen not to believe the LORD's promise. So the LORD made another promise. "Not one of them" would enter the Promised Land.
     So the counting demonstrates the faithfulness of the LORD. He keeps His word, even when we fail. He can be counted on (pun intended) to keep His promises to us. So the counting confirmed that what He said had happened. When He says it, it will happen.
     So the promises He has made concerning the forgiveness of our sin because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us can be trusted. The future home He has prepared for us is there. When He calls us to repentance, we can rest assured that He is waiting with open arms to receive us back into fellowship with Himself. We can trust Him completely. Or to say it in current vernacular, "He has our back."
     So today, turn to Him and know that He is there waiting for us to return, whether it has been a long journey away, or just a short day trip. He wants to share His presence with us. What is stopping you from returning?

Denied Passage - Opposition in the Making

Numbers 20:18 But Edom answered:
“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

     Opposition comes in many forms. Even when we do our best to not pick a fight, a fight can come. (Ask any married couple!) You can be sitting in your office, or doing your shopping, or any activity you like, and all of a sudden opposition arises. You didn't see it coming, and you don't know why it is there, but it is right in your face.
     The people of Israel had left Egypt and are getting ready to finally enter the Promised Land. They have been living in the desert for 40 years because of the rebellion in their hearts. And now they are finally getting ready to head north to freedom.
     But there are people in the way, nations who are going to defend their territory. Moses, who is the leader of the Israelites, wants unhindered passage through these territories. He writes a diplomatic letter asking for permission and spelling out a very specific arrangement so that he has the best chance for through passage.
     But the leader of the territory says "NO!" And not only that, he threatens the Israelites with war. Talk about unnecessary escalation. Moses is trying his best to be peaceful and the leader of the other nation won't have anything to do with peace.
     You see, civil discourse is something that ebbs and flows throughout history. We can see from our passage, and from our contemporary political environment, that even with the best of intentions things can go terribly wrong.
     The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome these words.

Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Moses tried his hardest to live at peace without compromising his mission. That needs to be our approach to getting things done. We need to work toward peaceful resolution. But we also need to recognize that there will be those who oppose us. We are not responsible for their action or reaction. Some people are just onery. They just don't want peace. They will put up a fight even if you agree with them.
     So when you face situations today or in this next week, seek to approach other people in a way that brings peace. Don't you become the one who projects a stubborn spirit. Accomplish the mission in a way that reflects well on the One who sent us on the mission. We bear His Image, so wear it well.

Responsibility

Number 18:1 The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. 

     Responsibility has become a dirty word these days. Everyone seems to point outward when blame is assigned. Most of us get very uncomfortable when we are in the hot seat. 

     This blame shifting began at the beginning of human interactions. We read about it in the first three chapters of the Scriptures. "The woman you gave me." "The snake." Each character in the narrative seems to shift blame. The LORD will have none of it. He assigns responsibility right away and carries out protective justice on the spot. He saves humans from the worst consequences by banishing them from the Garden and allowing them to die.

     In Numbers 18 the LORD assigns responsibility to Aaron for what happens with his remaining two sons in connection to their official capacity duties. Aaron bears responsibility. He has already lost two sons because they did what they weren't supposed to do. The LORD protected the whole community from the results of their rebellion by taking their lives. If their rebellion had been allowed to continue, the consequences would have been even more catastrophic than their deaths were. Death was a protection. Death was a grace to the whole community.

     Consequences, punishments, judgements, discipline, or whatever other term we might place on these things is God's grace. We might not see it in the moment, but it is grace at work. 

     Some might argue that the LORD is unfair in judging in this way. But His kindness in protecting the community shines forth as an extension of His character. He gives us authority as image-bearers to act on His behalf in this world. When we take our responsibilities seriously, and act faithfully to reflect Him well in this world, blessing follows. And when we don't, the LORD is able to honor us with discipline. Discipline isn't pleasant in the moment, but it can bring gracious fruit in our lives and in the world.

A New Chapter

So many times in Scripture the human participants in God's story get to turn the page on the past and move forward into a new chapter in their lives. It is not that the past disappears, but that the past is encapsulated and put behind them.
This does not mean that the past has no significance in the new chapter, but that its role is celebrated and liberated from the endless cycle of collapse.
Take the Israelite's entering the Promised Land. The miraculous Exodus from the land of Egypt, with its slavery ad oppression should have been a quick journey. But instead, it was filled with rebellion and shortsightedness. They had seen the LORD deliver them from Egypt with all that entailed. They could look each day that the visible manifestation of the LORD's presence in the pillar of cloud and fire. They could see His provision of food and water. They could see all this, but they still tried to run the show their own way.
Eventually, those who were younger than 21 at the time of the Exodus were standing ready to enter the promise after wandering for forty years in the wilderness. They could have closed the book on rebellion and opened a new chapter on obedience. But they didn't. Oh how history would have been different if they had fully obeyed.
What would be different about your history if you had obeyed at those key moments?

We have another adventure starting soon in our lives. We have a mission call to spend a number of months in another country serving those who wear the uniform and their families. It will mean time away from our family here where we live, and time in a temporary setting, among people we don't know, doing work that has eternal consequences.
We need your prayers. We need your financial support, no matter how small. We stand ready to walk into the next chapter. Will you join with us?
If you would like to join us, please go to Cadence.org.
Thanks in advance. 

20160626 The Thread - Jacob - A Wrestler

Everyone of us come from a family that has brokenness. When the LORD asks us to follow Him the journey often starts with very small steps of faith. He calls us to move in order get us unstuck from our comfortable lives into His greater future. And along the way we often end up more broken, more in need of His grace than ever before. Outline: Nobody’s family is perfect: Since we are all human beings permanently marred by sin, even the best families raise imperfect humans. Sometimes faith starts with small steps: We often don’t get to see too far into the future. The LORD gives us just a glimpse beyond our nose, and then He asks us to trust Him with the rest. The LORD accepts us where we are in order to move us to where He wants us to be: Abraham is called to do something very few people on the planet would be willing to do. And yet, because of his history with the LORD’s faithfulness, he steps out and trusts, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. The the LORD touches us it often leaves us more broken than before the touch: Encounters with the Living God will change us. The best changes are those that remind us repeatedly of our own brokenness and of His greatness. Reflection: What is the step the LORD has been asking you to take that you have hesitated to take? What is preventing you from being obedient? 
http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20723875

The Thread - Ruth - Committed Servant

Ruth stands as an example of someone who wasn’t afraid to serve those who were in positions of authority in her life. She knew what it meant to commit to a cause and follow through on that commitment.
Outline: Commitment has no limits: Nothing gets in the way of commitment in a relationship. Ruth’s determination to stay with Naomi has no limits. Commitment takes investment: Naomi is overcome with grief, and yet Ruth stays at her side. Ruth supports Naomi as she is overcome with grief. She provides the income for both of them. Commitment involves risk: Ruth asks Boaz to risk his life and reputation to support Naomi and Ruth. She trusts him to care for them. Commitment brings joy: Both Ruth and Boaz are faithful to their commitments. Ruth gives birth to a son and Naomi adopts him as her own. This son named Obed carries on the family line and becomes the grandfather of King David. Reflection: What are the levels of your commitments? Commitment to the LORD? To family? To the church? To your spiritual, emotional and physical health?

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20719041

The Thread - Moses - Drawn Out & Reluctant

Moses was an reluctant leader. It took years for the LORD to draw out his leadership abilities. But when he allowed the LORD to work, the LORD did impossible things through him. And the LORD was lifted up in the eyes of the whole world.
Outline: Leadership is often about timing: So many times the difference between success and failure as a leader is the timing of our actions. Good leaders are sensitive to the direction of the Spirit’s moving. When we follow the LORD’s direction His power will be there: God often uses our weakness to show His strength. When this happens people see His power. He gets the credit for the success. Even though Moses claims an inability to speak, he speaks. We need each other: Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands as he got weak. He stepped up to the leadership role the LORD has promised and he was willing to accept the help of others. Sometimes those closest to us betray our confidence: We just don’t see the attack coming. The hurt feelings happen because you trusted them and they hurt you anyway. Reflection: How are you allowing the pain of your past to prevent you from obeying the LORD today? Who do you need to talk to in order to seek reconciliation? What is stopping you from doing that today?

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20714174

The Thread - Joseph - Faithful Underdog

God often uses the worst of circumstances as a means of bringing glory to Himself.
Outline: Sometimes everyone in your family will misunderstand what the LORD is doing in your life: God often speaks to us as individuals and then that message is confirmed by the Word, the body and the Holy Spirit. Our families sometimes don’t understand, even when they want what is best for us. Sometimes the LORD puts us in a position without giving us the full picture of what He is doing: We have limited knowledge. God has complete knowledge. So we are often operating in the dark. We don’t understand what the LORD is doing. When we are faithful the LORD brings His blessing in His time: Joseph was faithful, and yet much of his life it seemed as though no one acknowledged it. But the LORD brought blessing both to him and to those he served. Blessing can also make us an object of envy and attack: Those opposed to us often don’t understand the blessing of the LORD. They feel jealous. But attack doesn’t mean we are outside of God’s will.

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20709638

The Thread - Jacob - A Wrestler

Everyone of us come from a family that has brokenness. When the LORD asks us to follow Him the journey often starts with very small steps of faith. He calls us to move in order get us unstuck from our comfortable lives into His greater future. And along the way we often end up more broken, more in need of His grace than ever before.
Outline: Nobody’s family is perfect: Since we are all human beings permanently marred by sin, even the best families raise imperfect humans. Sometimes faith starts with small steps: We often don’t get to see too far into the future. The LORD gives us just a glimpse beyond our nose, and then He asks us to trust Him with the rest. The LORD accepts us where we are in order to move us to where He wants us to be: Abraham is called to do something very few people on the planet would be willing to do. And yet, because of his history with the LORD’s faithfulness, he steps out and trusts, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. The the LORD touches us it often leaves us more broken than before the touch: Encounters with the Living God will change us. The best changes are those that remind us repeatedly of our own brokenness and of His greatness. Reflection: What is the step the LORD has been asking you to take that you have hesitated to take? What is preventing you from being obedient?

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20705097

The Thread - Abraham - A Man Called to Trust

God keeps His promises. He has communicated to people down through history. Some have had a special place in His plan. He made promises to them and He kept them, even when the people failed in trusting Him. Abraham is just such a person.
Outline: God makes God-sized promises to His people: When God speaks to people He often promises so much that we have a hard time believing those promises. The LORD is always faithful, no matter the degree of our unfaithfulness: Living a life of faith doesn’t mean we are perfect in our trust. We are imperfect trusters. We stumble and fall. We falter and sputter as we learn to trust. But when we do trust, the LORD shows Himself mighty. Sometimes God calls us to do seemingly impossible things: Abraham is called to do something very few people on the planet would be willing to do. And yet, because of his history with the LORD’s faithfulness, he steps out and trusts, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. Trusting God can be the most difficult thing to do: When the LORD asks us to trust Him, we need to trust Him, no matter how hard it seems.

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20700261

The Thread - Jesus is THE Answer

Despite human sinfulness, people trusted in the LORD, and the LORD remained faithful to those who trusted Him. Our faith is an objective faith. We put our faith in Jesus: There are many things we could trust in life. Jesus is the only One worthy of complete trust. The LORD is a communicating God: We can know for certain the object of our faith, Jesus, because God has communicated with us. He has spoken our language. And we don’t need any new revelation. Jesus is the final and complete revelation of God to humanity. Angels are not worthy of being trusted with eternal things: Angels are created beings, and as such don’t have a permanent place in our salvation history. They are below Jesus in every way. Jesus is superior to angels and therefore the proper object of our faith: The message Jesus brought is an eternal, enduring message. Because it is eternal, the need to obey it is much greater than the messages brought by angels.

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20694846

Honoring Contentment

Often life is ruled by desires of what we think we want or should have but do not or can not have. Wrong desires accepted lead to life-taking attitudes and actions. Once we start seeking satisfaction somewhere other than in the LORD, our thirst will never be satisfied. Contentment has nothing to do with the size of your bank account. We can trust the LORD to take care of our needs. If we aren’t content with what we have, we are in danger of judgment.

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20689969

Fog on the Brain

I have just realized that since landing in Okinawa, I have had fog on the brain. That is why none of the postings I have done have showed up in my feed!
Well, they will return in the next few days.
Thanks for clicking the links and watching the sermons.
Stan

Honoring Wealth

God promises to care for his creatures. He made them physical beings and in the midst of their work promises to provide what they need. Stealing shows a lack of trust in God, and keeps people from trusting and being able to have trusting, healthy relationships with others.

http://hospchap.sermon.net/main/main/20682306