Deuteronomy 18:15-20 br...
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Deuteronomy 18:15-20
In 1965, Reverend Schwab felt called to start a unique home -- a place where children from difficult family situations would live in safety until they were 18. Every child accepted would have a safe home and schooling until adulthood.
Reverend Schwab crisscrossed the state raising funds. He negotiated with state school and human services officials. He met with troubled families and children. He designed and helped build every structure at the orphanage. He taught classes for the children and always enjoyed taking them fishing.
Because of his leadership, churches throughout the state supported his mission. Slowly, the first five mobile homes were replaced by permanent dormitories and the number of children and house parents grew.
Reverend Schwab died suddenly in 1996. His mission almost immediately ended. Although people still speak warmly of his service, he never planned for another leader to take up his work.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
S. I. McMillen, in his book, None of These Diseases, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Kathy had seen the book advertised online, in bookstores, on television. She'd seen it on display at Barnes and Noble and at the library. She'd heard people talking about it all over town -- but couldn't bring herself to read it. "I have better things to do," she said to herself. "It doesn't look all that good." So she ignored the newest book craze and went on her way, perusing old classics that she had practically memorized. A few weeks later, she went to visit Hannah. Hannah loved to read as much as Kathy did, and their tastes ran similarly in the realm of literature. Hannah simply gushed about the new book Kathy had been ignoring. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's fabulous," she said. "You have to read it." Kathy never would have picked it up if someone she knew and trusted hadn't recommended it, but guess what? It's now one of Kathy's favorites.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Most of us think of a prophet as one who foretells the future, but this is not true of biblical prophets. They did not have crystal balls, or read the stars. Instead, prophets were teachers, explaining what God requires of the people and holding them accountable for their actions. Sometimes prophets gave instructions concerning economic justice and foreign policy. At other times prophets spoke words of comfort to the oppressed and depressed.
When the need arises, God will raise up a prophet from among the community of faith to speak divine truth and righteousness. We do not usually think of Moses as a prophet, although he was the first and greatest, according to Numbers 12:6-8. Moses mediates the word of God to the Israelites and promises that God will not desert them after he, Moses, dies.
The promise of a prophet such as Moses is fulfilled in Jesus. In today's gospel, we see Jesus claiming and manifesting that authority as prophet, priest, and monarch.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
What does it take to "build up" the church? Cinder blocks, wood beams, sheetrock, insulation?
The one thing Paul says in this passage does not build up the Christian community is knowledge. "Knowledge puffs up." Knowledge leads to pride. Knowledge makes some people feel superior to others.
That doesn't sound very intellectual, does it? Lots of us pride ourselves in being intellectual. We think having lots of diplomas on the wall is a pretty good thing. Is Paul some sort of backcountry yahoo, who would ban everything but the Bible in public schools?
Far from it. Paul's not saying, here, that knowledge is bad. He's saying that a certain know-it-all attitude is bad news for the church.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods: sex, shekels, and stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving trio: pleasure, possessions, and position, whose worship is described as "The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Football, the firm, and family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life's basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster.
(from James Packer, Your Father Loves You [Colorado Springs: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986])
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
In 1969, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a group of people were preparing to have a "hurricane party" in the face of a storm named Camille. Were they ignorant of the dangers? Could they have been overconfident? Did they let their egos and pride influence their decision? We'll never know.
What we do know is that the wind was howling outside the posh Richelieu Apartments when Police Chief Jerry Peralta pulled up sometime after dark. Facing the beach, less than 250 feet from the surf, the apartments were directly in the line of danger. A man with a drink in his hand came out to the second-floor balcony and waved. Peralta yelled up, "You all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can. The storm's getting worse." But as others joined the man on the balcony, they just laughed at Peralta's order to leave. "This is my land," one of them yelled back. "If you want me off, you'll have to arrest me."
Peralta didn't arrest anyone, but he wasn't able to persuade them to leave either. He wrote down the names of the next of kin of the twenty or so people who gathered there to party through the storm. They laughed as he took their names. They had been warned, but they had no intention of leaving.
It was 10:15 p.m. when the front wall of the storm came ashore. Scientists clocked Camille's wind speed at more than 205 miles-per-hour, the strongest on record. Raindrops hit with the force of bullets, and waves off the Gulf Coast crested between 22 and 28 feet high.
News reports later showed that the worst damage came at the little settlement of motels, go-go bars, and gambling houses known as Pass Christian, Mississippi, where some twenty people were killed at a hurricane party in the Richelieu Apartments. Nothing was left of that three-story structure but the foundation; the only survivor was a five-year-old boy found clinging to a mattress the following day.
(from Christian Values Qs Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1994, p. 10)
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Rich enjoys teaching the middle-school-age Sunday school class each Sunday. The students are able to identify with Rich who is not that much older than they are. At an age when most youth began to lose interest in church, Rich's students can hardly wait for Sunday school. Many parents have asked Rich what he does to keep their children so interested. "Whatever it is," they would tell him, "keep doing it." One Sunday evening a month Rich holds an activity for his class.
In the Sunday school class Rich covers subjects that are relevant to his students, including peer pressure, cheating on tests, as well as boy and girlfriend issues in addition to their Bible lessons. The students are attentive and take the subject matter to heart.
One day after school Derek went to Rich's apartment and discovered that Rich was with his girlfriend in what was obviously a compromised position. Derek confronted Rich telling him that what he was doing was wrong, that's what he had taught the class. Rich tried to explain that what he and his girlfriend were doing was all right since they were adults. Derek did not understand, if that type of behavior was wrong for youth then why was it all right for adults? The high esteem that he held Rich in disappeared. Derek would expose Rich to his friends. It felt as if Rich had let his students down.
Paul cautions believers to be very careful that what they do does not negatively affect people new to the faith. The specific issue involved eating meat that was once offered to pagan idols. Since the believers no longer believed in idols they felt they were doing nothing wrong eating such meat. For new believers who watched as the members eat meat offered to idols might cause them to stumble in their faith walk. Paul adamantly wrote, "If food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall." If what we do causes another person to fall from faith we should stop the practice immediately.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Cal attended church every Sunday, taught the high school Sunday school class, and sat on the church board. He had a deep faith. But there is one thing for which Cal is deeply sorry. Cal's friend, Barry, had been raised by strict parents. He was taught that one should never drink alcohol. Cal, whose parents served wine with meals, and didn't frown on the occasional beer, believed that drinking was okay if done in moderation. Cal and Barry worked construction together. It was hot work and often after work, Cal would stop for a beer on the way home. Barry never came along despite Cal's invitations and assurance that it wasn't wrong. Eventually, Barry decided he would give it a try. In a tragic twist of fate, in a matter of years, Barry developed a serious drinking problem, lost his job, and almost lost his family. Cal confessed to his pastor one day, "If I had known that my more liberal views on alcohol would have ruined Barry's life, I'd never have taken a sip."
Paul warns us not to let our liberty become another's stumbling block.
Mark 1:21-28
Robert Ekvall was a translator between the North Koreans and the United Nations forces in negotiations to end the Korean War. The negotiations at Panmunjom continued for months while the war raged.
One thing Bob noticed is that just before the North Koreans made a concession, they'd first cause a commotion about something extraneous to the situation. The United Nations negotiators thus learned the important lesson that the uproar indicated that the North Koreans were about to concede a point.
When Jesus comes to town (whether Capernaum or Jerusalem), there's a big uproar among his opponents (whether demons or religious leaders). No matter what the results appear to be initially (even on Good Friday), the commotion comes from soon to be conquered forces.
Mark 1:21-28
In US Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse. Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow."
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.' "
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees."
The captain said, "Send: 'I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.' "
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.' "
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse."
We changed course.
(from Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm [Waco, Texas: Word Publishing, 1991], p. 153)
Mark 1:21-28
At this point in the gospel of Mark, Jesus is a nobody for most people. Sure, John the Baptist has been around, talking up some guy who's on his way, but it'll take some time for everyone to figure out that Jesus is that guy. At this point, Jesus has been baptized and picked up some fishermen as his disciples. Big deal -- another wandering teacher. Then he comes to the synagogue in Capernaum. He teaches as if he wrote the scripture, with conviction and authority, not like the scribes who are always re-interpreting things and contradicting each other. People come to listen, intrigued. He's the curiosity of the day, a passing blip on Capernaum's radar -- at least until things get really interesting. He commands an evil spirit to come out of a man, right there, in front of everyone! The blip becomes a steady beep. Commanding evil spirits trumps authoritative teaching on the curiosity scale. The crowd of onlookers quickly spreads the word, and that one unclean spirit catapults Jesus from nobody to celebrity in no time at all.
Mark 1:21-28
It may seem strange that the man with an unclean spirit worships in the synagogue. It really is not that uncommon to find people in worship who are possessed by addictions, denial, animosity, or simply have "unquiet" minds. Even in the twenty-first century, many continue to stigmatize those who are labeled "mentally ill." We can watch most physical ailments improve and heal over time, but emotional trauma is altogether different and mysterious.
The human mind in many ways continues to be unexplored territory. Unkind and thoughtless words have frequently been spoken to and about those individuals who are plagued by mental disorders. But what is normal? Who is normal? Who among us has grown up in a normal household? Statistics tell that one-third of the population at some point during their lifetimes can be considered to have mental disorders.
The church is a hospital for sinners and for those who are hurting. Let us reach out with the love of Christ to touch these painful lives and assist in their healing through our own open arms, open hearts, and healing hands.
In 1965, Reverend Schwab felt called to start a unique home -- a place where children from difficult family situations would live in safety until they were 18. Every child accepted would have a safe home and schooling until adulthood.
Reverend Schwab crisscrossed the state raising funds. He negotiated with state school and human services officials. He met with troubled families and children. He designed and helped build every structure at the orphanage. He taught classes for the children and always enjoyed taking them fishing.
Because of his leadership, churches throughout the state supported his mission. Slowly, the first five mobile homes were replaced by permanent dormitories and the number of children and house parents grew.
Reverend Schwab died suddenly in 1996. His mission almost immediately ended. Although people still speak warmly of his service, he never planned for another leader to take up his work.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
S. I. McMillen, in his book, None of These Diseases, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Kathy had seen the book advertised online, in bookstores, on television. She'd seen it on display at Barnes and Noble and at the library. She'd heard people talking about it all over town -- but couldn't bring herself to read it. "I have better things to do," she said to herself. "It doesn't look all that good." So she ignored the newest book craze and went on her way, perusing old classics that she had practically memorized. A few weeks later, she went to visit Hannah. Hannah loved to read as much as Kathy did, and their tastes ran similarly in the realm of literature. Hannah simply gushed about the new book Kathy had been ignoring. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's fabulous," she said. "You have to read it." Kathy never would have picked it up if someone she knew and trusted hadn't recommended it, but guess what? It's now one of Kathy's favorites.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Most of us think of a prophet as one who foretells the future, but this is not true of biblical prophets. They did not have crystal balls, or read the stars. Instead, prophets were teachers, explaining what God requires of the people and holding them accountable for their actions. Sometimes prophets gave instructions concerning economic justice and foreign policy. At other times prophets spoke words of comfort to the oppressed and depressed.
When the need arises, God will raise up a prophet from among the community of faith to speak divine truth and righteousness. We do not usually think of Moses as a prophet, although he was the first and greatest, according to Numbers 12:6-8. Moses mediates the word of God to the Israelites and promises that God will not desert them after he, Moses, dies.
The promise of a prophet such as Moses is fulfilled in Jesus. In today's gospel, we see Jesus claiming and manifesting that authority as prophet, priest, and monarch.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
What does it take to "build up" the church? Cinder blocks, wood beams, sheetrock, insulation?
The one thing Paul says in this passage does not build up the Christian community is knowledge. "Knowledge puffs up." Knowledge leads to pride. Knowledge makes some people feel superior to others.
That doesn't sound very intellectual, does it? Lots of us pride ourselves in being intellectual. We think having lots of diplomas on the wall is a pretty good thing. Is Paul some sort of backcountry yahoo, who would ban everything but the Bible in public schools?
Far from it. Paul's not saying, here, that knowledge is bad. He's saying that a certain know-it-all attitude is bad news for the church.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods: sex, shekels, and stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving trio: pleasure, possessions, and position, whose worship is described as "The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Football, the firm, and family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life's basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster.
(from James Packer, Your Father Loves You [Colorado Springs: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986])
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
In 1969, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a group of people were preparing to have a "hurricane party" in the face of a storm named Camille. Were they ignorant of the dangers? Could they have been overconfident? Did they let their egos and pride influence their decision? We'll never know.
What we do know is that the wind was howling outside the posh Richelieu Apartments when Police Chief Jerry Peralta pulled up sometime after dark. Facing the beach, less than 250 feet from the surf, the apartments were directly in the line of danger. A man with a drink in his hand came out to the second-floor balcony and waved. Peralta yelled up, "You all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can. The storm's getting worse." But as others joined the man on the balcony, they just laughed at Peralta's order to leave. "This is my land," one of them yelled back. "If you want me off, you'll have to arrest me."
Peralta didn't arrest anyone, but he wasn't able to persuade them to leave either. He wrote down the names of the next of kin of the twenty or so people who gathered there to party through the storm. They laughed as he took their names. They had been warned, but they had no intention of leaving.
It was 10:15 p.m. when the front wall of the storm came ashore. Scientists clocked Camille's wind speed at more than 205 miles-per-hour, the strongest on record. Raindrops hit with the force of bullets, and waves off the Gulf Coast crested between 22 and 28 feet high.
News reports later showed that the worst damage came at the little settlement of motels, go-go bars, and gambling houses known as Pass Christian, Mississippi, where some twenty people were killed at a hurricane party in the Richelieu Apartments. Nothing was left of that three-story structure but the foundation; the only survivor was a five-year-old boy found clinging to a mattress the following day.
(from Christian Values Qs Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1994, p. 10)
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Rich enjoys teaching the middle-school-age Sunday school class each Sunday. The students are able to identify with Rich who is not that much older than they are. At an age when most youth began to lose interest in church, Rich's students can hardly wait for Sunday school. Many parents have asked Rich what he does to keep their children so interested. "Whatever it is," they would tell him, "keep doing it." One Sunday evening a month Rich holds an activity for his class.
In the Sunday school class Rich covers subjects that are relevant to his students, including peer pressure, cheating on tests, as well as boy and girlfriend issues in addition to their Bible lessons. The students are attentive and take the subject matter to heart.
One day after school Derek went to Rich's apartment and discovered that Rich was with his girlfriend in what was obviously a compromised position. Derek confronted Rich telling him that what he was doing was wrong, that's what he had taught the class. Rich tried to explain that what he and his girlfriend were doing was all right since they were adults. Derek did not understand, if that type of behavior was wrong for youth then why was it all right for adults? The high esteem that he held Rich in disappeared. Derek would expose Rich to his friends. It felt as if Rich had let his students down.
Paul cautions believers to be very careful that what they do does not negatively affect people new to the faith. The specific issue involved eating meat that was once offered to pagan idols. Since the believers no longer believed in idols they felt they were doing nothing wrong eating such meat. For new believers who watched as the members eat meat offered to idols might cause them to stumble in their faith walk. Paul adamantly wrote, "If food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall." If what we do causes another person to fall from faith we should stop the practice immediately.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Cal attended church every Sunday, taught the high school Sunday school class, and sat on the church board. He had a deep faith. But there is one thing for which Cal is deeply sorry. Cal's friend, Barry, had been raised by strict parents. He was taught that one should never drink alcohol. Cal, whose parents served wine with meals, and didn't frown on the occasional beer, believed that drinking was okay if done in moderation. Cal and Barry worked construction together. It was hot work and often after work, Cal would stop for a beer on the way home. Barry never came along despite Cal's invitations and assurance that it wasn't wrong. Eventually, Barry decided he would give it a try. In a tragic twist of fate, in a matter of years, Barry developed a serious drinking problem, lost his job, and almost lost his family. Cal confessed to his pastor one day, "If I had known that my more liberal views on alcohol would have ruined Barry's life, I'd never have taken a sip."
Paul warns us not to let our liberty become another's stumbling block.
Mark 1:21-28
Robert Ekvall was a translator between the North Koreans and the United Nations forces in negotiations to end the Korean War. The negotiations at Panmunjom continued for months while the war raged.
One thing Bob noticed is that just before the North Koreans made a concession, they'd first cause a commotion about something extraneous to the situation. The United Nations negotiators thus learned the important lesson that the uproar indicated that the North Koreans were about to concede a point.
When Jesus comes to town (whether Capernaum or Jerusalem), there's a big uproar among his opponents (whether demons or religious leaders). No matter what the results appear to be initially (even on Good Friday), the commotion comes from soon to be conquered forces.
Mark 1:21-28
In US Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse. Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow."
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.' "
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees."
The captain said, "Send: 'I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.' "
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.' "
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse."
We changed course.
(from Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm [Waco, Texas: Word Publishing, 1991], p. 153)
Mark 1:21-28
At this point in the gospel of Mark, Jesus is a nobody for most people. Sure, John the Baptist has been around, talking up some guy who's on his way, but it'll take some time for everyone to figure out that Jesus is that guy. At this point, Jesus has been baptized and picked up some fishermen as his disciples. Big deal -- another wandering teacher. Then he comes to the synagogue in Capernaum. He teaches as if he wrote the scripture, with conviction and authority, not like the scribes who are always re-interpreting things and contradicting each other. People come to listen, intrigued. He's the curiosity of the day, a passing blip on Capernaum's radar -- at least until things get really interesting. He commands an evil spirit to come out of a man, right there, in front of everyone! The blip becomes a steady beep. Commanding evil spirits trumps authoritative teaching on the curiosity scale. The crowd of onlookers quickly spreads the word, and that one unclean spirit catapults Jesus from nobody to celebrity in no time at all.
Mark 1:21-28
It may seem strange that the man with an unclean spirit worships in the synagogue. It really is not that uncommon to find people in worship who are possessed by addictions, denial, animosity, or simply have "unquiet" minds. Even in the twenty-first century, many continue to stigmatize those who are labeled "mentally ill." We can watch most physical ailments improve and heal over time, but emotional trauma is altogether different and mysterious.
The human mind in many ways continues to be unexplored territory. Unkind and thoughtless words have frequently been spoken to and about those individuals who are plagued by mental disorders. But what is normal? Who is normal? Who among us has grown up in a normal household? Statistics tell that one-third of the population at some point during their lifetimes can be considered to have mental disorders.
The church is a hospital for sinners and for those who are hurting. Let us reach out with the love of Christ to touch these painful lives and assist in their healing through our own open arms, open hearts, and healing hands.
