I started in January. Reading the Bible all the way through, that is. It has been good for me to be reminded of the beginnings. We all know the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but after a while some of the details start to fade from our memories.
The story of Israel is a sometimes sweet, sometimes tragic saga. We see them depending on God and God taking care of them, protecting them. We see them disobeying God and God allowing them to suffer the consequences of their choices. This is no more evident than in the book of Judges, where my journey through the Bible is traveling now.
Joshua, and Moses before him, warned Israel: serve/obey God and be blessed or ignore/disobey God and be cursed. It's a simple choice. With Joshua, I am always striving to make my choice clear: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" But then Joshua and his generation died.
The new generation didn't know from first-hand experience what God had done; they only heard the stories. So, they fell away. God punished them. They cried out. God heard them and sent a hero to save them. Time passed. They fell away... Over, and over, and over again! The same cycle.
Then comes Judges 10. They fell away one more time. This time God has had enough! "You have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
The people knew they had messed up - BIG TIME!
So, they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.
God tried not to notice. Sort of like when we parents want to stay mad at our children, but they are so cute and so repentant that we just can't hang on to it very long.
God tried not to notice, but he did notice! "And he could bear Israel's misery no longer."
Make no mistake, God's wrath is fierce and we do not want to provoke it. But when we do, all we have to do is sincerely repent and God's tender heart will win the day!
Be blessed,
Pastor Mark
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Capernaum
Greetings!
It is so good to be back home. What a wonderful and blessed time it was, traveling in the Holy Land!!! It was a whirlwind trip. We left the hotel at 7:30am most days, and arrived back at around 5 or 6pm, just in time for dinner. Each day was filled with new sights and new spiritual sensations.
At one of our stops, our guide told us a little bit about Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. It's population was never more than 200 people! Can you imagine that? The Lord of the universe growing up in such a small, insignificant town? No wonder Nathanael wondered, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Capernaum was not far away, and this is where Jesus established his missional headquarters. It was a town of about 2,000 people. The curious thing about these towns is that almost everybody in every town knew everybody in all the other nearby towns! The people of Nazareth knew the people in Capernaum; the people in Capernaum knew the people in Nazareth. This was so because the people of each town needed stuff from the people of the other towns. It is enough to make one wonder how well Jesus and the Twelve knew each other BEFORE Jesus called them to follow him.
Standing in the synagogue in Capernaum (see picture below) was an awesome experience! This is where Jesus taught. It is not some traditional site where scholars think Jesus MIGHT have taught, as some of the other sites we visited were; this is the very place where Jesus DID teach! He stood and read from the sacred scrolls. He sat on stone benches and taught.
And I stood in that place! I sat on a stone bench in this place. I listened while others read from the sacred texts. I could almost feel Jesus' presence in that place.
And then I realized something that is even more awesome. Jesus doesn't need Capernaum anymore; his spiritual headquarters is in your heart and mine. He doesn't need a synagogue in which to teach; he teaches us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, wherever we may be. I am Jesus' spiritual headquarters now! I am the place and instrument of his teaching now!
And so are you!
Be blessed.
Pastor Mark
It is so good to be back home. What a wonderful and blessed time it was, traveling in the Holy Land!!! It was a whirlwind trip. We left the hotel at 7:30am most days, and arrived back at around 5 or 6pm, just in time for dinner. Each day was filled with new sights and new spiritual sensations.
At one of our stops, our guide told us a little bit about Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. It's population was never more than 200 people! Can you imagine that? The Lord of the universe growing up in such a small, insignificant town? No wonder Nathanael wondered, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Capernaum was not far away, and this is where Jesus established his missional headquarters. It was a town of about 2,000 people. The curious thing about these towns is that almost everybody in every town knew everybody in all the other nearby towns! The people of Nazareth knew the people in Capernaum; the people in Capernaum knew the people in Nazareth. This was so because the people of each town needed stuff from the people of the other towns. It is enough to make one wonder how well Jesus and the Twelve knew each other BEFORE Jesus called them to follow him.
Standing in the synagogue in Capernaum (see picture below) was an awesome experience! This is where Jesus taught. It is not some traditional site where scholars think Jesus MIGHT have taught, as some of the other sites we visited were; this is the very place where Jesus DID teach! He stood and read from the sacred scrolls. He sat on stone benches and taught.
And I stood in that place! I sat on a stone bench in this place. I listened while others read from the sacred texts. I could almost feel Jesus' presence in that place.
And then I realized something that is even more awesome. Jesus doesn't need Capernaum anymore; his spiritual headquarters is in your heart and mine. He doesn't need a synagogue in which to teach; he teaches us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, wherever we may be. I am Jesus' spiritual headquarters now! I am the place and instrument of his teaching now!
And so are you!
Be blessed.
Pastor Mark
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| The Synagogue at Capernaum |
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