Reading from Monday, October 25

Oh yeah.

Reading for October 25
Jeremiah 48:1-49:22
This section, God talks specifically to a few different nations of people and how he is going to bring the pain on them. Honestly, I skimmed it. There's not too much in there that I'm interested in...sorry...

2 Timothy 4:1-22
I like this. If, at the end of this project, I am fully convinced in my faith, I would like to try and live by this challenge.

 ¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

He follows that up immediately with this little number:

³For the time will come when men 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. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

This is incredibly perceptive of Paul. There are many groups of Christians out there who believe some wacky things and interpret the scripture in bizarre ways - Westboro Baptist, I'm looking in your direction. We - myself certainly included - need to remember that what's in the Bible will likely not be popular. I still get made fun of to this day for my decision to wait until marriage to have sex. But get enough people around you, telling you to interpret the Bible in this way or that, and you will start to believe it.

I still have trouble accepting the condemnation of homosexuals. I can't believe that God would create something to be so inherently against his will no matter how many ways I look at it. I still have trouble with the fact that God was a giant ass in the Old Testament - but these issues aren't something I ignore. Rather I am challenged by them and I hope to eventually see and accept the truth of the scriptures.

Psalm 95:1-96:13
¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
       let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
 ¹² let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
       Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
 ¹³ they will sing before the LORD, for he comes,
       he comes to judge the earth.

Proverbs 26:9-12
 ⁹ Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand
       is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
 ¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random
       is he who hires a fool or any passer-by.
 ¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit,
       so a fool repeats his folly.
 ¹² Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
       There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Verse 11 is a popular one.

Reading from Sunday, October 24

Oh yes. Continuing down the road toward catching up.

Reading for October 24
Jeremiah 44:24-47:7
So in this reading there is a lot of detail around the specifics of the punishment for those Jews who flee to Egypt. One would wonder why would God take such a hard stance on fleeing to Egypt, but encourage them to flee to Babylon only a few chapters earlier? I think that Egypt still holds a mark of pain for God. It is where his people were arguably treated most poorly; and in the succeeding years after their emancipation from the land ruled by Pharaoh, there was a desire among a large group of Israelites to return there. The thought of this saddened God greatly back in the book of Exodus, and I think just the thought of them going back there, even though they probably wouldn't be enslaved anymore, is more symbolic to God than anything else.

I guess you could liken it to that scene from Forrest Gump where the adult Jenny returns to the house she grew up in. The house where she was abused by her father. When she comes across it, maybe thirty years after she fled, she has an emotional breakdown - throwing rocks through the window and weeping bitterly at all the negative and horrible emotions that were bottled up in her and just seeing that house brought them all back. I feel like that's kinda the way God feels about Egypt at that time.

2 Timothy 2:22-3:17
A way of life we can only hope to strive for:

²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.

Psalm 94:1-23
¹⁴ For the LORD will not reject his people;
       he will never forsake his inheritance.

This got me thinking. In the sermon from last week, my pastor put forth the idea that Jesus fulfilled the covenant fully during his time on earth. Meaning he was able to do what no human being could ever do - follow the rules of God. But at the same time, at the end of Mark (I believe) Jesus says the now famous cry "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" So follow me here for a minute. Jesus while fully human, was able to fulfill the law of the Old Testament perfectly, and he was forsaken by God, while billions and billions of people throughout the generations were unable to fulfill the covenant, and yet were never forsaken by God.

This speaks extremely highly of both God's and Jesus' character, but they are kinda the same thing.

Proverbs 26:6-8
MORE FOOLS!

 ⁶ Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence
       is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
 ⁷ Like a lame man's legs that hang limp
       is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
 ⁸ Like tying a stone in a sling
       is the giving of honor to a fool.

Reading from Saturday, October 23

Yup.

Reading for October 23
Jeremiah 42:1-44:23
So here we see the promise God made a few chapters ago in its full context. The people of Israel ask Jeremiah what God says about the future of their people. Here's what God says:

¹⁰ 'If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. ¹² I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.'

So that's the good part that we read a little way's back, but then he gives the following qualifier:

¹³ "However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, 'No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,' [...] ¹⁶ then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. [...] 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.'

So while all that hope and peace and joy that I read about, while extremely beautiful still comes with the caveat of loving and obeying God - at least back then. After Christ's death, I would make the assumption that this grace and love would be freely given to anyone who chooses to believe it.

2 Timothy 2:1-21
This is awesome.

 ¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying:
   If we died with him,
      we will also live with him;
 ¹²if we endure,
      we will also reign with him.
   If we disown him,
      he will also disown us;
 ¹³if we are faithless,
      he will remain faithful,
      for he cannot disown himself.

Verses 11 and 12 are pretty easy to swallow cause and effect scenarios - but verse 13 is where we should hang out hats. Through our unfaith - through my struggles with my faith - God will remain faithful to me. That is unbelievable.

Psalm 92:1-93:5
 ⁵ How great are your works, O LORD,
       how profound your thoughts!
 ⁶ The senseless man does not know,
       fools do not understand,
 ⁷ that though the wicked spring up like grass
       and all evildoers flourish,
       they will be forever destroyed.
 ⁸ But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

The grass withers and the flowers fall...


Proverbs 26:3-5
FOOLS!

 ³ A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey,
       and a rod for the backs of fools!
 ⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
       or you will be like him yourself.
 ⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
       or he will be wise in his own eyes.

 

Reading from Friday, October 22

Yes sah.

Reading for October 22
Jeremiah 39:1-41:18
I'll be totally honest here. This reading had so many names and this-guy-son-of-that-guy's that it was fairly difficult to stay focused. The main idea is that Babylon had taken over Jerusalem and appointed a new king there and all the Jews that fled could now return to their land.

There is one big takeway here - and this comes from Jeremiah speaking to the Babylonian guard assigned to watch him:

"The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. ³ And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him. ⁴ But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please."

Again, just reinforcement that God follows through on his promises. So if you believe that God has made you a promise and has not yet delivered on said promise, the evidence in the Bible suggests that he will eventually come through with it.

2 Timothy 1:1-18
Hey! New book!

OK - this is some very, very thick theology here. Let's dig in.

...But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Two real big points to cover in this one. First is the banner that Paul has been flying since his conversion to faith - a person's works have nothing to do with their salvation. In other words, there is no sum of kindness or good deeds that can be done to earn the grace of God, he gives it freely if we believe in him.

Second, Paul defines this grace as something that was inherent in the world. "Given in Jesus Christ before the beginning of time." This be referring to the beginning of the gospel of John when he describes Jesus as "the word" who was "with God and was God". Definitely a tricky idea to grasp, but the point is that Jesus is both God and separate from God. But what Paul is saying here is that Jesus' grace was our inheritance before time began. Which would lead one to assume that all the characters of the Old Testament who were subject to God's extreme wrath, should have indeed been subject to his grace.

I will jump in with my own feeble interpretation and say that man was originally afforded that grace by God in the paradise he created, but they ruined it through the original sin. This created the rift between God and man and forced him to create this covenant with the people to keep his anger on the backburner, but it just made things worse. More rules means more potential to sin. But the desire to give this grace was there from the beginning. It could not be realized until Jesus came to earth and fulfilled the covenant perfectly and died for everyone.

Psalm 90:1-91:16
This is pretty surprising. This was written by Moses and its strange to see him questioning God. David is a well known questioner of God's motives and wrath. Moses - though he became corrupt in his later years, was a fervent follower of God who unwaveringly spoke for God and his power.

¹³ Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Proverbs 26:1-2
¹ Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

Reading from Thursday, October 21

What up, yo? Starting tomorrow and running through November 8, I will be on vacation and by extension, the Adventure will be on vacation as well.I'm gonna try to catch up at least a little bit before I leave, but the blog will definitely be down for the next week or so.

Reading for October 21
Jeremiah 37:1-38:28
So there's a confusing bit of history here. These verses take place during the time of I believe 2 Kings, when there is a large war between Israel, Judah, Babylon and Egypt. Egypt began marching to protect Jerusalem and because of that, the Babylonian army withdrew from attacking them. God told Jeremiah that even though the Babylonians were leaving, that they would return and destroy the city. He urged all the Israelites to flee giving them this guarantee:

'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians ^[e] will live.

Jeremiah brought these words from God to the people of Judah and as a result he was thrown in a cistern - which is kind of like a well - only this one had no water, only mud, and Jermiah began to sink until King Zedekiah sent for his rescue. He asked Jeremiah if what he said was true about Babylon destroying them - and Jeremiah repeated that it was indeed true.

That's pretty much the story. It's nice to get back into a narrative. Ever since the end of Acts and Job, I have been drowning in a sea of straight theology. Not to say that's a bad thing, it's just nice to get a story again.

1 Timothy 6:1-21

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

There's a very popular saying in there. Do you see it? The saying goes "money is the root of all evil" - but here we see it in its original context - "the LOVE of money is A root of ALL KINDS of evil." Big distinction. In the same way, sex can be something that ruins someone's life due to pregnancy or an STD or abandonment or whatever. So then should we call sex evil? No. I know it's completely lame and unflattering to believe this, but I am a firm believer that sex should only happen within the confines of marriage. And within that context it is awesome. Think about it. Having numerous sexual partners presents all kinds of risks and produces all kinds of worries. What if they have AIDS? What if the condom didn't work? What if she doesn't call me tomorrow? None of these things are ever a consideration within marriage and it affords us the pleasurable, guilt free sex that we were designed to enjoy.

Now, coming back around the money thing, it's the same idea. Money can corrupt people. Money can ruin and dismay people's lives. But that's only the LOVE of money. It can be used for a great good if you instead love others instead of money. It can be used in ways the glorify God, and not yourself. Money in and of itself is not evil - the same way this computer isn't evil. But loving it can lead to problems and evil scenarios.

Psalm 89:38-52
A great summation of the duality of God.

⁴⁶ How long, O LORD ? Will you hide yourself forever?
       How long will your wrath burn like fire?
 ⁴⁷ Remember how fleeting is my life.
       For what futility you have created all men!
 ⁴⁸ What man can live and not see death,
       or save himself from the power of the grave ^[a] ?
       Selah
 ⁴⁹ O Lord, where is your former great love,
       which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

Proverbs 25:28
 ²⁸ Like a city whose walls are broken down
       is a man who lacks self-control.

Word.
 

Reading from Wednesday, October 20

Hey kids, what's shakin?


Reading for October 20
Jeremiah 35:1-36:32
This reading is pretty hard to follow but there is one section with a clear message. There is a family of people who are all descendants of this guy Jonadab. Jonadab ordered that none of his offspring should ever drink wine. And to the day of the writing of this book, the family kept that promise. God uses this as an example to the Israelites:

¹⁴ 'Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather's command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. ¹⁵ Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, "Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers." But you have not paid attention or listened to me. ¹⁶ The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.'

If this entire family can abstain from wine, surely God's people can keep a few rules here and there...

The thing that started to bug me as I see God getting angry again about all his people's sin is thinking about the reading from a couple of days ago when he outlined the plan of salvation he was going to carry out for his people. Now it seems like he's going back on that. That was my initial thought, but now I'm thinking he's just showing how badly his people need this salvation, because its likely that they aren't even aware of their own sin. So he uses these examples to show them how bad of shape they're actually in.

1 Timothy 5:1-25
This section talks very specifically about widows and how to care for them. There are also details about a list of widows that are really bad off that must be cared for by the church, and how if you have a widow in your own family that you yourself can care for, then do it and don't make the church handle it.

Not too much relatable here. I think the idea of becoming a widow was much more devastating back when this was written.

Psalm 89:14-37

²⁷ I will also appoint him my firstborn,
       the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
       ²⁸ I will maintain my love to him forever,
       and my covenant with him will never fail.

God is referring to David here and it's pretty amazing how he references Jesus here. My pastor talked about this in this sermon from last week - where he said that where the Israelites could not keep the covenant with God, Jesus was able to fulfill the terms of the covenant perfectly for us. Even to his own detriment. Even to his own demise.

Proverbs 25:25-27
 ²⁵ Like cold water to a weary soul
       is good news from a distant land.
 ²⁶ Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
       is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.
 ²⁷ It is not good to eat too much honey,
       nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

So tired.

Reading from Tuesday, October 19

Crap. Way behind again. Let's go.

Reading for October 19
Jeremiah 33:1-34:22
Wow. This is the first thing I've read where I've felt that God was completely justified in his anger. Chapter 31 continues the positive healing that God is promising to his people. He goes into great detail about specifically what he will restore and how many and how long and when and all the questions people would normally have about this sort of thing.

Then he asks all the Jews to free any slaves they own. He reminds them of a promise the Jews made to God back when they were freed from slavery in Egypt. They promised that they would free all owned slaved every seventh year in memory of what God had done for them. It appears that this practice had not been followed in millennium but God asks for the people to follow it now.

At first they agree and set their slaves free, but shortly after that, they all find their slaves and enslave them again. Here's what God says about that.

¹⁷ "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the LORD -'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.

This is interesting. We kinda see God's own interpretation of what benefits he provides to his people. But in the same way I tried to make God go away a week ago, God now "sets free" the Israelites - but in that he is no longer offering them his protection and guidance in a time so wrought with war that it would be a devastating blow to realize that their greatest asset had sold them up the river.

But God asked them to do something directly, they said they would, and then they didn't do it. And it wasn't some weird abitrary task like walking around a city blowing trumpets, it was to set human beings free. And the people disobeyed God and shamed their own people with their awfulness.

1 Timothy 4:1-16
 ⁹This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance ¹⁰(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

Interesting distinction there. God is represented here as the savior of all men, and Paul says "especially those who believe" but that means that it could include those who do not believe. This is a tricky piece of theology that I may not be smart enough to decode. Anyone out there get this?


Psalm 89:1-13
I like hearing about when God creates things like this:

¹¹ The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
       you founded the world and all that is in it.  ¹² You created the north and the south



It's creatively inspirational to think about God's thought process of creating something as non-tactile as "north" and "south"

Proverbs 25:23-24
 ²³ As a north wind brings rain,
       so a sly tongue brings angry looks.
 ²⁴ Better to live on a corner of the roof
       than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Sleep.

Reading from Monday, October 18

Hey folks. What's happening.

Reading for October 18
Jeremiah 31:27-32:44
Oh man. Yes. Yes yes yes. This is what I've been waiting for. In the same way that I felt like I had seen something beautiful for the first time when I wrote this post on Isaiah, the text from chapter 31 of Jeremiah is as magnificent as anything in the entire Bible.

God begins to shift from his rage against his people to the redemption which they will soon be part of.

²⁷ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah. ²⁸ In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the Lord, have spoken!

So that's kind of broad, right? I mean, sure it's a noticeable change in mood from our great deity, but "deliberately plant it and build it up" could be slick God-speak for destroying them, but in a different way. One thing I will point out is that last line - "I, the LORD, have spoken!" This is a common refrain when God is speaking - and it usually concludes a statement of his fury or his impending destruction on a place or people. This time we see it attached to a positive statement. Which means - if you follow the logic - that his mercy and grace for his people will be just as serious as the anger and fury against them. But again, this could be a deceptive statement - let's see what else he says.

 ³¹ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ³² This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

OK, so a couple things in this one. First I want to point out the last line there - 'I loved them as a husband loves his wife'. This gives us an idea of the kind of love God had for his people. A partnership type of love that was designed to be mutual and forgiving and merciful. When you think about it that way...well you could see it as God being an abusive husband - but put that image aside for now. Picture the other gods that the Jews ended up worshiping over the generations. Now picture those gods being mistresses. If you keep with the analogy, the Jews were essentially cheating on God with these other gods. God's anger, as would be a husband's anger, was completely justified. I would argue that the punishment was not justified, just as beating or killing a spouse for cheating would be unjustified. But what is the common recourse for an unfaithful spouse? Divorce. When you think about it that way, God becomes the victim. A humble husband who tolerates his wife's continued unfaithfulness against him. And, again, while I can't accept the punishment against his people, I am nearly brought to my knees thinking that God didn't abandon his people. Not after the first case of infidelity, or the tenth, or the eighty-ninth, or the 4,282nd or the 18 billionth - as scary as God can be, he has one trait that can't be denied - he loves his people. He continued to root for them. He continued to shape them and mold them. He never gave up on the relationship. Jumping ahead a little bit, God says this about the relationship with his people:

 ³⁶ “I am as likely to reject my people Israel
      as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”
 ³⁷ This is what the Lord says:
   “Just as the heavens cannot be measured
      and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored,
   so I will not consider casting them away
      for the evil they have done.
      I, the Lord, have spoken!

The other, obvious thing about this verses above (31-32) is the idea of this new covenant.  The beginning of Jeremiah was all about how God's destruction is coming - and the main reason cited for his anger was that Israel had broken the covenant they had made with God. So following the rules of the covenant, God had every right to carry out the punishment on his people. But now we're hearing about a new covenant - a covenant that is unlike the old one. This sounds pretty hopeful, but what is this new covenant? What are the terms? Let's see what God says.

 ³³ “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Woah. That is a pretty serious change in methods. This new covenant seems to be completely favored toward the people, while the original one was arguably pretty equal - follow the rules and enjoy God's grace. That sounds fair. The problem was that man was incapable of holding up their end of the bargain. So - once again - instead of taking legal action against them for breach of contract, or just abandoning them for breaking the rules of the agreement, he instead drew up a new contract - one that was completely in favor of the other party - man.

Also, look at that last line in bold there. "I will never again remember their sins." That is an unheard of change in direction for God. Every single thing we've read in the Old Testament about God has been this angry vengeance. But now we're seeing the reasoning behind it. This isn't even considering the act that occurs to make this happen...

These verses are the connection.

These verses connect the God of the Old Testament to the God of the New Testament to become the single, eternal God that loves his creation, and outright refuses to abandon them - refuses to abandon us - refuses to abandon you - and refuses to abandon me - forever. No matter how much we resist, screw up, blaspheme, cheat, curse, lie, steal, kill - he will never, never abandon us. 

1 Timothy 3:1-16

¹⁶ Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith^[f]:
   Christ^[g] was revealed in a human body
      and vindicated by the Spirit.^[h]
   He was seen by angels
      and announced to the nations.
   He was believed in throughout the world
      and taken to heaven in glory.

Certainly something to consider.

Psalm 88:1-18
While I talk about this grand picture of God's change in heart and how amazingly beautiful it is that he is drawing up this new covenant, you have to consider the other side of the equation - the human side. This is the other side of God's anger: human suffering.

¹⁵ I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
      I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.
 ¹⁶ Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.
      Your terrors have paralyzed me.
 ¹⁷ They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
      They have engulfed me completely.
 ¹⁸ You have taken away my companions and loved ones.
      Darkness is my closest friend.

It's extremely difficult to understand God's grand plan when you are in the midst of his punishment. I would compare it to a child being punished. The child likely does not see a spanking as as an act of love, but they are rather likely afraid, saddened or angered at their parents. The same way we react when we experience God's anger with us.


Proverbs 25:20-22
Good advice - when people are bummed, they don't want your cheery attitude.
 ²⁰ Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart
      is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather
      or pouring vinegar in a wound.

Reading from Sunday, October 17

Hey gang. I'm in Florida for the next couple nights doing some video work. It's awesome. On the flight down I listened to the latest sermon from ORB which was about Judgment. In the sermon, the pastor, Christian spoke about God's divine judgment. This is an aspect of God's character that I've had a lot of trouble accepting. If you were around for the Midianite thing, you know what I mean. But this sermon put the idea of God's judgment in a new way that I hadn't considered before: that basically God loves his people so fiercely that he will:

1) Defend them just as fiercely if they are threatened 

2) Correct them when they are acting foolish

He gave two examples. For number 1 - he asks the listener to picture a grandmother holding a new grandson in her arms. How gingerly and softly she hold him, but also how this same grandmother can become a violent defender of that child if his life is threatened. 

The second example was an obvious one - kids who are not corrected by their parents. Spoiled kids. Parents who never want their children to experience pain or frustration or sadness will spoil their children and then they turn out to be awful human beings. However, if they are brought up with punishment and correction when it is appropriate, they will (more likely) become well adjusted folks. 

There's much more to it than that, and I would really encourage you to take a listen if you get a minute.

Reading for October 17

Jeremiah 30:1-31:26

OK, I think this is what my pastor was getting at. While God's judgment may be one of the most terrifying things a human could think of, it is clear that he is doing it out of love. "Hurts him more than it hurts us" kind of thing. I'm basing this on these verses:

¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your wound,
       your pain that has no cure?
       Because of your great guilt and many sins
       I have done these things to you. 

¹⁷ But I will restore you to health
       and heal your wounds,'
       declares the LORD,
       'because you are called an outcast,
       Zion for whom no one cares.' 

²⁴ The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
       until he fully accomplishes
       the purposes of his heart.
       In days to come
       you will understand this.

You can clearly see here that God's anger is not knee jerk, freak out and regret it later kind of anger. This is metered, well intentioned, meticulously thought out scolding. He does these things not to punish us, but to correct us. 

1 Timothy 2:1-15

¹I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

A characteristic of God plainly revealed. God's desire is not that everyone will be punished - he wants everyone to believe in and worship him. And while that's selfish or not is yet to be determined, but you can't deny that it is good. Good for us and good for God.

Psalm 87:1-7

 ⁵ Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
       "This one and that one were born in her,
       and the Most High himself will establish her." 

Proverbs 25:18-19

 ¹⁸ Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow
       is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor.

 ¹⁹ Like a bad tooth or a lame foot
       is reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble.

Sleep needed.

Reading from Saturday, October 16

Hey dudes. What's shakin?

Reading for October 16
Jeremiah 28:1-29:32
So finally, I've reached the chunk of text containing my favorite and most often quoted verse. As you may have read, I've been a bit put off by the darkness of the book of Jeremiah. It is almost entirely about God's anger against his people and what punishment he will ultimately unleash on them. So I did a little experiment with myself. I tried not to anticipate the fact that verse 29:11 was coming, and in fact I hadn't even noticed I was reading that verse when I started tonight. 


My theory behind this experiment being to show how we can take verses out of context to mean something different than what they do. After reading all the terrifying images contained in Jeremiah, I had anticipated not even noticing the beautiful verse of hope amongst all the anger. Or at the very least, seeing it with new, knowing eyes that showed the verse for it's true, dark meaning. But quite the opposite happened.


As I read through God's current frustration, this verse popped right off the page. It is a shimmering beacon of hope amongst all the horror. It is reinforcement that God is indeed out for our best interests, even amongst all the pain and awfulness he may bring. Think about our journey through Jeremiah so far - think about how hard and scary it has been. In your mind conjure up that image of this angry God, who is so pissed he can't even seem to decide what punishment he wants to dish out. Do you have the image? OK. Now read this.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

Does that hit you with the same punch as it did for me? So while I thought it's significance would be diminished or lost all together, my favorite verse became even more powerful for me within it's proper context. That's pretty awesome.

1 Timothy 1:1-20
New book! 


Paul opens his letter to Timothy with an idea that I think we should all live by: 

 ¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 

As Christians we should always take the path of humility. We shouldn't wear our faith like a badge to beat people over the head with, but rather as a mark of shame. Saying "I am a Christian" should mean "I admit my faults. I am a true screw up, in every sense of the word. But I can have life because Christ loved all of us enough to give us that." Saying "I am a Christian" should NOT mean "I am better than you, stupid. You're going to hell and I'm not. Idiot!"

Psalm 86:1-17

 ¹⁵ But you, O Lord,

      are a God of compassion and mercy,

   slow to get angry

      and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

 ¹⁶ Look down and have mercy on me.

      Give your strength to your servant;

      save me, the son of your servant.

I wonder, this God who is supposedly "slow to anger" is mentioned a lot, particularly in the psalms. Is this merely flattering language to make God do what these people want, or is it a truth about him. The evidence of the Old Testament shows that he is usually fairly quick to anger. Maybe it is misreported or misinterepreted - we often don't read about times when God restrained himself - but it doesn't jive with what is written. In my own life I can admit to have experienced God's patience with me, but I'm still not convinced OT God and 2010 God are the same dudes. 

Proverbs 25:17
More straight up talk from Solomon:

¹⁷ Don’t visit your neighbors too often,

      or you will wear out your welcome.

Peace out, friends.

Reading from Friday, October 15

Hey kids.

Reading for October 15
Jeremiah 26:1-27:22
God, I hate this book. I know exactly why too - it's not what I expected. The only thing I knew about this book going into it was verse 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you...Based on that, you would think that Jeremiah would be full of hopeful passages about God's impending grace that would come through Jesus. Instead it has so far been almost entirely God's prophecies of destruction and doom on Jerusalem and all nations of the world.

And while I can see the importance of a book like this to show how God's anger reached a severe level shortly before Christ, it is incredibly difficult and emotionally draining to read. Chapter after chapter, God spells out the pain and gloom he will bring on his people, and it just sucks.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-18
There is a warning against idleness in this chapter. It's interesting to see read Paul comment on such a human, earthly thing. Usually you see him urging us to pray or to look for gifts of the spirit, but here he tells us just to work. Earn your money and your food through honest work: 

¹¹We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹²Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. ¹³And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

I also like he ties in the idea of doing right as well as being diligent in your work. Never tire of doing what is right. Good advice. 

That's the end of 2 Thessalonians by the way. First time I've ever cracked a page in this book.

Psalm 85:1-13
Ahhh...a sigh of relief. A sigh of hope:

¹ You showed favor to your land, O LORD;
       you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
 ² You forgave the iniquity of your people
       and covered all their sins.
       Selah
 ³ You set aside all your wrath
       and turned from your fierce anger.

It's particularly pleasing to read these verses after trudging through Jeremiah. It reminds the reader that even though there are times when God is angry and vengeful, there are times where he shows tremendous mercy and forgiveness. The problem is figuring out when he'll do what as his mood seems to sway with the wind.

Proverbs 25:16
 ¹⁶ If you find honey, eat just enough—
       too much of it, and you will vomit.

Sound, practical advice, sir.

Reading from Thursday, October 14

Hey dudes. I'm behind, I know. But I try to make vacation mean vacation. As much as I like doing this, its a fair amount of work so I took a couple nights off. So here I am trying to catch up again.

Reading for October 14
Jeremiah 23:21-25:38
OK. This is one of the strangest couple of verses in the Bible.

 ²⁷ "Then tell them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you.' ²⁸ But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: You must drink it! ²⁹ See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth, declares the LORD Almighty.'

Now, this "cup" to which God is referring is the cup of his wrath, which he had Jeremiah literally fill with wine and bring it around to the kings and people of all the nations and forced them to drink it. This supposedly symbolized the people accepting God's wrath against them? And what had they done to deserve his wrath? Well, maybe nothing. But God's phrasing here is that since he is bringing destruction to the city of his chosen people, then surely the other nations musn't go unpunished - slaughter for all!

But the connection to Jesus is fairly obvious here. In the same way that Jeremiah brought the cup of God's wrath to every nation on Earth, Jesus brought the cup of love and redemption to the very same people. Everyone on earth suffered under God, and everyone on earth was redeemed by him. I know - it sounds kinda ridiculous - why not just redeem everyone from the beginning? Well, I think this goes back to my question from a few nights ago - which was 'why do we even have earthly lives at all if God wishes for all of us to get to heaven?' Obviously there is a reason, or we wouldn't be here. Maybe it's to prove ourselves. Maybe it's to make a small, but lasting change on this world and its people, but its certainly not nothing. So similarly, the question is "why have this period of time where you relentlessly punished people, only to redeem them later on?"

I don't think I have an answer, but I think both of those questions should be bracketed by the same frame...

The end of chapter 25 though is remarkably frightening. It almost reads like a demonic chant...

³³ At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground.
 ³⁴ Weep and wail, you shepherds;
       roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
       For your time to be slaughtered has come;
       you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
 ³⁵ The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,
       the leaders of the flock no place to escape.
 ³⁶ Hear the cry of the shepherds,
       the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
       for the LORD is destroying their pasture.
 ³⁷ The peaceful meadows will be laid waste
       because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
 ³⁸ Like a lion he will leave his lair,
       and their land will become desolate
       because of the sword ^[i] of the oppressor
       and because of the LORD's fierce anger.

Ugh...I get the evil chills just reading that...


2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
We see the OT God making an appearance here in this chapter:

⁹The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, ¹⁰and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹²and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

This is a trick of the God of Exodus. When God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so he would not free Israel. In that seemingly futile act of selfishness, God found enough value to want to do it again in the "end times". I want to avoid using Christainese here so let me just clarify what I mean by "end times" cuz we haven't really talked much about it.

As far as I understand it, there will be an event called the Rapture. This is when Jesus returns to earth to rescue all those who believe in him and bring them up to heaven. The rest I'm not sure is Biblical or from the Left Behind series, but I think the deal is that once the Rapture occurs, there is seven years of purgatory - for lack of a better word - where people can still be saved but will see and experience awful things. I think the time period Paul is referring to here in 2 Thess is that post-Rapture time. And the belief is that God will test and trick the people so only the truly wise will be saved. Kind of a jerk move...

Psalm 84:1-12
A-ha. I hate the phrase "this is a bit of a gotcha" but it is...

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
       the LORD bestows favor and honor;
       no good thing does he withhold
       from those whose walk is blameless.

The first three lines are great! Wow God is a sun and a shield! He does bestow favor and honor! He doesn't withhold anything! But look whom that's for - for those whose walk is blameless. No one's walk is blameless. Is this intentional on the part of the psalmist to make a point? Or is he really that arrogant to think the he is blameless in the sight of God? Surely he was well versed in Old Testament history - it's clear that no one is blameless. No, not even one. I don't get it...

Proverbs 25:15
 ¹⁵ Through patience a ruler can be persuaded,
       and a gentle tongue can break a bone.


I love this. It totally reinforces my non-combative, passive aggressive lifestyle.

.

Reading from Wednesday, October 13

Note. This was written on Friday night in a Word doc. I was on a short vacation with Jilly and we didn't want to pay $15 for internet in the room. So here it is - written shortly after returning from the Jimmy Eat World concert.

Wow what a night. Jilly and I took a mini road trip up to Boston today. For what purpose? To see Jimmy Eat World. And holy crap. It was by far the best show I’ve ever seen. Those guys are so freaking good it’s not even fair. They came out boom, boom, boom, hit after hit – all played to absolute perfection. If I see you on a regular basis, ask me about it. It was incredible.

But this isn’t a music blog, it’s a Bible blog. So let’s do the Bible.

Reading for October 13
Jeremiah 22:1-23:20
OK cool, a couple things to look at here. Chapter 22 is fairly consistent with the rest of the book – Israel is doomed and God will bring the doom to them. Chapter 23 then gets into a little hope. Check this out:

 ⁵ "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
       "when I will raise up to David ^[e] a righteous Branch,
       a King who will reign wisely
       and do what is just and right in the land.

 ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved
       and Israel will live in safety.
       This is the name by which he will be called:
       The LORD Our Righteousness. 

As a Christian, I would interpret these two verses as a clear reference to the coming of Jesus. As we saw a few weeks ago, others may interpret this to mean something completely different but based on my beliefs, that’s where I think God is going with this.
The other thing that sticks out to me here is that God starts to shift the blame off of Israel and onto a set of false prophets who had apparently led Israel down this road of betrayal and destruction.

¹ "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. ² Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,"

And then at the end of the chapter God describes his fury as a storm in a beautifully terrifying analogy:

 ¹⁹ See, the storm of the LORD
       will burst out in wrath,
       a whirlwind swirling down
       on the heads of the wicked.

 ²⁰ The anger of the LORD will not turn back
       until he fully accomplishes
       the purposes of his heart.
       In days to come
       you will understand it clearly.

Boom.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Hey – new book!

A few nights ago we got our first tangible look at heaven, now we see our first glimpse of hell.

⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.

Again, many churches focus so much on this aspect of the faith, when I think we should be focusing on improving this world now. I mean if we are to believe that God created each one of us, and that we will ultimately live with him for eternity, then our time on earth is only a sharp intake of air compared to an everlasting lifetime of steady breathing. So why not bring us all into heaven to begin with? Well…I don’t know why, but if you believe all of the above to be true, then you have to agree that we are here for some purpose. What purpose that is may be a mystery, but we can’t simply focus on not going to hell. Then we are besmirching our task on earth – whatever it may be.

Psalm 83:1-18
This still leaves a bad taste in my mouth:

⁹ Do to them as you did to Midian,
       as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,

 ¹⁰ who perished at Endor
       and became like refuse on the ground. 

If you don’t know why, search for the Midianites genocide entry from back when I was reading Numbers. I kind of freaked out that night.

Proverbs 25:11-14

 ¹¹ A word aptly spoken
       is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
 ¹² Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
       is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear.
 ¹³ Like the coolness of snow at harvest time
       is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him;
       he refreshes the spirit of his masters.
 ¹⁴ Like clouds and wind without rain
       is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.

Word up.

Reading from Tuesday, October 12

Hey what's up? So my last post was pretty gloomy and I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who posted the encouraging and thoughtful comments. I'm getting feedback from all ends of the spectrum and I'm really excited about that. I will say that I am in no better place than I was last night, but I have given the situation some serious thought. I also listened to the first part of the new sermon from my church. In it, our pastor, Christian addressed the situation he's been seeing lately as he goes through the story of the Bible. That situation is that people are asking him a lot of questions about it. After the sermon and in his office during the week, he says that he is getting tons and tons of questions about specific things. Here's what he said about that:

"It is a sign of an unfaithful and an untrue depiction of Christian faith when all it does is present simplistic answers in such a way that it shuts down all questions. And on the other hand I think its a sign of a genuineness of a picture that raises more questions."

Yes. I am not a Biblical scholar. I am probably interpreting many of these things incorrectly, but the "unfaith" I felt last night was fairly separated from the text I was reading. I was going through some difficult stuff personally and cried out to God and did not receive an answer. So I tried living my day without God and without my faith. I said "Fine. God, you don't want to be there, then 'poof' - you're gone" This was incredibly difficult. As my night got worse I caught myself probably a dozen times starting to pray - stopping short and reminding myself that I didn't have God anymore. And this was a scary thing.

For so many, it's a knee jerk reaction when we are in a crisis to immediately start praying. Take that away and what do you have? There is nothing to ease your mind about a situation. Many others subscribe to the idea that "if it's in God's plan then it's meant to happen" Take God out of the equation and you no longer have that base of comfort and ease when things become difficult or uncertain. By this morning I was already praying again. I don't know where my prayers go, maybe they're getting to God, or maybe I'm just talking to myself, but I think if I ever divorced myself from my faith like I did last night, I would collapse. I would need to completely rebuild my thought structure and my personality and really who I am. Right now, keeping my faith just for the convenience of it is good enough reason to hold onto that thread.

Reading for October 12
Jeremiah 19:1-21:14
I honestly had no idea how dark and scary Jeremiah is. With verse 29:11, which I mentioned just as I started reading this book, I would have assumed that this would all be hopeful holly. This is the kind of stuff that's repeated over and over in Jeremiah.

¹⁴ I will punish you as your deeds deserve,
       declares the LORD.
       I will kindle a fire in your forests
       that will consume everything around you.' "

So, yes. Israel broke the covenant with God. They didn't follow the rules. So God is now free to do whatever he wants. That's not to say he wanted to bring all this destruction. Well, maybe he did - he's been talking about it for twenty chapters. 

1 Thessalonians 5:4-28
Life training.

⁹For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.'

This is another one of those sound byte clips that is so great and so encapsulatory (I can make up words) of the Christian faith. There is something here that I want to emphasize - in verse 10, Paul says "whether awake of asleep" - meaning alive or dead - we can live in harmony and unity with Jesus. The Chrsitian community in general has often focused fairly heavily on achieving the after life. How many times have you heard this conversion tactic?

"If Jesus were to come back right now, are you sure you'd get into heaven?"

Heaven is the reward. This life is the journey for that reward. That would be like a basketball coach focusing only on the trophy. Like this:

"Alright boys. Listen up. If we win this game, we get a trophy. The trophy is gold on the top with two little figures of boys in short shorts playing basketball. The rest of the trophy is comprised of plastic and a composite stone known as Trophoy, and it's just magnificent. So when you're on that court I want you to think of those two boys playing basketball, encased in gold. Isn't it beautiful. But don't make any mistakes! Mistakes could cost us that trophy then we'll be stuck with that lame 2nd place trophy. That one doesn't even have figures of boys playing basketball. So if you do make a mistake, make sure you make up for it and score some points so we can win the trophy. OK! Let's win that trophy! Trophy."

So what happens then is you focus so hard on this "trophy" that you forget to enjoy the game. You forget, or simply don't care to, help another injured player. You don't care to break the rules if you don't get caught. Whereas, if you focus on the "awake" portion of your life, and the fact that you can live together with him, while still on earth, is pretty incredible...


Psalm 82:1-8
The psalmist is calling God out in this one. In a nutshell -  "Why are you helping D-bags out while this group of twenty homeless widows continues to suffer. Here's a more elegant way of saying it:

 ² "How long will you ^[a] defend the unjust
       and show partiality to the wicked?
       Selah
 ³ Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
       maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
 ⁴ Rescue the weak and needy;
       deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

 Proverbs 25:9-10
Pretty simple stuff:

 ⁹ If you argue your case with a neighbor,
       do not betray another man's confidence,
 ¹⁰ or he who hears it may shame you
       and you will never lose your bad reputation.