Why Sin is Wrong

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WHY SIN IS WRONG

How often they rebelled against him … and grieved him! (PSALM 78:40)

Here’s a good word from Dr. Jerry Bridges’ devotional: Holiness. I needed to be reminded of this truth today. How about you?

The verb mortify, or put to death, is used eleven times in the New Testament. In nine of those instances it refers to a literal putting to death of a person; each of those is in the context of an underlying hostility toward what that person stood for. For example, in Matthew 10:21: “Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death” (NIV). The hostility is not only toward the parents but also toward their authority. Likewise Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was put to death because of his bold, uncompromising witness for Jesus Christ (Acts 7).

Now apply that sense of hostility toward the sin you wish to mortify. See your sin for what it is and what it stands for – a rebellion against God, a breaking of His law, a despising of His authority, a grieving of His heart. This is where mortification actually begins, with a right attitude toward sin. It begins with the realization that sin is wrong, not because of what it does to me or my spouse or child or neighbor, but because it is an act of rebellion against the infinitely holy and majestic God who sent His Son to be the propitiation for my sins.

Think of an unusually persistent sin in your life – perhaps some secret lust that lies in your heart that only you know about. You say you cannot overcome it. Why not? Is it because you exalt your secret desire above the will of God? If we are to succeed in putting sin to death, we must realize that the sin we are dealing with is none other than a continual exalting of our desire over God’s known will.

Gerald Bridges; Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (p. 229). Kindle Edition.

Team You: We cannot live with bitterness because it will first manifest itself in our spirit, then in our emotions, and finally in our bodies. Tom Drout
Motivations: Leviticus 15-16; Proverbs 14; Matthew 27:1-26
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22
Powered Up:  Luther and his companions were men of such mighty pleading with God, that they broke the spell of ages, and laid nations subdued at the foot of the Cross. John Knox grasped all Scotland in his strong arms of faith and his prayers terrified tyrants. Whitefield, after much bold, faithful closet pleading, went to the devil’s playground and took more than a thousand souls out of the paws of the lion in one day. D. L. Moody

Hands

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Hands

I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10)

I have always had a fascination with hands. Maybe it’s because my hands and fingers are small and I have observed men with really big hands. I can remember the feel of my little hands in the big hands of my Dad.

My dentist has HUGE hands. And my son-in-laws grandfather had hands that seemed like the hands of a giant.


The picture of God’s hand in Scripture is amazing, especially when we read that He holds us by his right hand which has HUGE significance. Listen to what Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes about these hands:

Fear of falling is wholesome. To be venturesome is no sign of wisdom. Times come to us when we feel that we must go down unless we have a very special support. Here we have it. God’s right hand is a grand thing to lean upon.

Mind, it is not only His hand, though it keepeth heaven and earth in their places, but His right hand: His power united with skill, His power where it is most dexterous. Nay, this is not all; it is written, “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” That hand which He uses to maintain His holiness and to execute His royal sentences — this shall be stretched out to hold up His trusting ones. Fearful is our danger, but joyful is our security. The man whom God upholds, devils cannot throw down.

Weak may be our feet, but almighty is God’s right hand. Rough may be the road, but Omnipotence is our upholding. We may boldly go forward. We shall not fall. Let us lean continually where all things lean. God will not withdraw His strength, for His righteousness is there as well. He will be faithful to His promise, and faithful to His Son, and therefore faithful to us. How happy we ought to be! Are we not so?

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (2009-06-18). Works of Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon. According to Promise, All of Grace, Faith’s Checkbook, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, A Puritan Catechism & more (Mobi Spiritual) (Kindle Locations 2909-2914). MobileReference. Kindle Edition.

I am very thankful today that my heavenly Father holds me with His powerful right hand. How about you? – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Leviticus 14; Proverbs 13; Matthew 26:1-25

Motivations: It is a great deal easier to do that which God has given us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it. J R Miller
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 3:8; Level 2: Ephesians 3:1-7
Powered Up:  Prayer is receiving what God has promised. E. F. Hallock

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

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Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

This is a good word for you to hear today. I trust it will be helpful.  (Bill Welte)

Everything transacted in heaven or hell passes through Christ’s hands. The Son knows all the Father knows, and He is ready to reveal to His saints all they need to know in this life (John 15:15). We live in days of high political intrigue. Only the few who stand on the upper end of the world understand the mysteries of state; the rest of us know little more than what we read in the newspaper.

It is the same with regard to the plots which Satan is furtively weaving against the souls of men. Only a few have an inkling as to the purpose of Satan’s designs against them. These are the saints, to whom God’s Spirit reveals not only what He has prepared for them in heaven but also the warp and woof of Satan’s deadly schemes here on earth.

Know your heart. Be intimately acquainted with yourself, and you will better know Satan’s design against you. He takes his method of tempting from the inclination he finds there. As a general walks about the city and views it well, then directs his assault where he has the greatest advantage, so Satan surrounds and considers the Christian in every part before he tempts.

Read God’s Word attentively. It gives a history of the most remarkable battles between the great soldiers of Christ and their adversary Satan. You can read how Satan has foiled them, and how they recovered lost ground. There is not a lust of which you are in danger, but you have it disclosed; there is not a temptation which the Word of God does not arm you against.

It is reported that a certain man planned to poison Martin Luther, but Luther was forewarned by a faithful friend who sent him a picture of the would-be murderer. The Bible shows you, Christian, the faces of those lusts which Satan hires to destroy your precious soul. “By them is thy servant warned” (Psalm 19:11). William Gurnall. The Christian in Complete Armour (Kindle Locations 512-523). Kindle Edition.

Team YOU: Leviticus 8-10; Proverbs 10; Matthew 25:31-46

Motivations: The church that ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical.Oswald J. Smith
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22

Powered Up:  When you pray you get in God’s will before it happens. Delores Jarvis

A Dog’s Life

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A Dog’s Life
“And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am but as a dog.”  ~ Emeth, “The Last Battle” by C.S. Lewis
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
~ The Syrophoenician Woman in Matthew 15:21-28
We (those of us gentiles) are this woman beloved readers.  Jesus came to save (first) His precious possession.  Those children of Abraham who were looking for the Messiah, were to find Him first.  The Kingdom of heaven was (is) for all of us, but the over-arching plan has been that that plan would be dispensed through His chosen people, the Jews.
And this Canaanite woman had the dazzling audacity to scream out from the back of the crowd.
Help!  i am in WAY OVER MY HEAD!
Jesus answers with:  Silence…
HELP!!!  ME AND MY DAUGHTER NEED YOU JESUS!!!  WE ARE ABSOLUTELY STUCK WITHOUT YOU!!!
Jesus answers with: Why should I help a dog like you?  Look at all these religious people here trying to show me how good they are…
because i am a dog.  i am nothing.  But You are able Lord.  Only You can help me.
And it is here that Jesus tips His Beautiful hand.  He poured out the core of His message through the barking of a Syrophoenician dog.  Nobody else seemed willing to say it:  “i am poor in spirit Lord.  Only You can make me rich.”  Worship and faith poured out of this woman’s words…  Thou art worthy.  Thou art Who Thou claim to be.  And i will approach NO other for help.  Thou art my help, and my only hope of deliverance.
Absolutely gorgeous.
Jesus didn’t want her to be worthy.  Jesus wanted her to admit her unworthiness to be helped.  And in admitting this weakness – she made the leap of faith that engages the awesome Grace and power of a great and Loving G_d. 
And that day, He did not just free a woman and her daughter.  He propounded (again) a truth that has set 100’s of millions of us free.  We are nothing but dogs.  We are a mess.  AND Jesus is crazy about us.  He does not want us worthy.  He wants us broken – and knowing we are broken.  It is only in this place that the faith in His saving work begins to work in us.
And once He sets us free…  RUN like He’s opened the prison door.  Because He has!  Run like a dog who’s master has just left the gate open! – Makala Duolos is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Team YOU: Leviticus 6-7; Proverbs 9; Matthew 25:1-30

Motivations: “When arrogant people who know they deserve eternal misery tremble before a holy God of passionate wrath, they discover grace.  The encounter the depths of God’s kindness and love, a kindness and love they find nowhere else.  They fall to their knees and worship Christ as their Lord and Savior and as their truest friend, really their only true friend.  They know they don’t deserve a hug, no matter how badly they’re hurting; but they get an eternal one anyway.  That’s the grace that takes their breath away.” Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22

Powered Up:  You can love more people through prayer than any other way. You can love, by your prayer, people who avoid your or resist you. You can love people anywhere in the world by your prayer. The more you pour out God’s love through your prayer and actions, the more the Spirit will pour in as you ask Him. Wesley Duewel

Know How Satan Plays the Game

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Join us this Thursday night for our Men’s Fellowship with Pastor Dave Rittinger. Call 732-350-1187.


Know How Satan Plays the Game


“We are not ignorant of his devices,” he says (2 Corinthians 2:11)


I read this devotional on Monday and it was too good to not share with you.
Study Satan’s tricks, and acquaint yourself with his tactics. Paul takes for granted that every Christian understands them in some measure: “We are not ignorant of his devices,” he says (2 Corinthians 2:11). Can this be said of you? Do you know how subtle and clever your enemy is? What pleasant company he can pretend to be?


“Sit down at my gaming table,” says Satan. “Here are some tempting prizes: your earthly estate, your life, your liberty” Now you must agree, these things are good and lawful. But here is Satan’s gimmick: he expands the rule of his game so that if you play for him, you will certainly violate the irrevocable and unchangeable laws of God.


If you cannot have good things by plain dealing but must resort to sleight of hand, you know the prize is counterfeit and will turn to dung in your hands. How utterly foolish to fast shuffle with God by compromising His truth. You may think you have won a hand or two, but when the game is over, you will find yourself bankrupt.


If Satan can entice you to sin for what he assures you is a worthy prize, you are in serious trouble, but the worst is yet to come. Once he has you sitting at his table, he will begin in earnest to teach you the tricks of his trade. This diabolical dealers will show you how to slip your sins under the table, telling you no one-not even God-will see. He has been teaching this trick since Adam, who thought he could hide behind a fig leaf. What did Joseph’s brothers do when they had left him for dead but hide their deed under the coat they had bloodied? And how did Potiphar’s wife respond when Joseph turned away from her adulterous gaze? She hid her sin (again in his coat) and accused him of her own wickedness.


Beware of playing such games of chance with God. No coat is large enough to hide your sin; no hand is quick enough to slip it under the table and miss the all-seeing eye of God. If He does not call you to account for it in this life, you can be sure you will answer for it in the next. William Gurnall. The Christian in Complete Armour (Kindle Locations 498-510). Kindle Edition.
Beware brothers! The enemy is after you and me. It’s important for us to know how Satan plays “the game.” Knowing this will be very helpful. —  Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Leviticus 4-5; Proverbs 8; Matthew 24:29-51

Motivations: Cold words freeze people, and hot words scorch them, and bitter words make them bitter, and wrathful words make them wrathful. Kind words also produce their image on men’s souls; and a beautiful image it is. They smooth, and quiet, and comfort the hearer. Blaise Pascal
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22

Powered Up:  Our prayers lay the track down which God’s mighty power can come. Like a mighty locomotive His power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails. Watchman Nee

Two Observations about Obedience

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Just a reminder: Come join us Thursday night for our Men’s Fellowship Night with Pastor Dave Rittinger (Whiting Bible Church). Dinner starts at 6:15 PM followed by worship, message and fun in the Activity Center. Call today for reservations: 732-350-1187

Two Observations about Obedience

“And Moses inspected all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord commanded, so they had done it. And Moses blessed them.” Exodus 39:43
Something jumped off the page this morning when I was reading the final chapters in our reading of Exodus (38-40). Yesterday I talked about Bezalel and Aholiab and I was even more impressed with them as I read the final chapters of this amazing book.
I would love to have these two guys on my team. They exhibited a trait that is very rare these days in that they did exactly what they were told. If that wasn’t something of importance, why would did the writer of Exodus repeatedly say that the did “as the Lord commanded Moses.” By the way – that phrase is used nine times – so obviously the Lord wants us to see something.
I have shared this quote with you on a number of occasions from Pastor Tim Shorey: “Obedience is doing everything you are told to do IN THE RIGHT WAY (with the right heart attitude inwardly), RIGHT AWAY (immediately) and ALL THE WAY (do a complete job.)
That’s exactly what Bezalel and Aholiab demonstrated. They could have tried to do it their way – but they were obedient and God blessed the work of their hands.
But something else to note: chapter 40 which closes out the book showed that Moses modeled what he wanted others to do. Eight times it says: “Thus did Moses; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did!”
If we want those that follow us to get it – then we as leaders, fathers, supervisors, must model it for those who look up to us. Good reminder, Moses.
How about you today? As you look at Pastor Tim’s definition of obedience, how are you doing? Take some time today to think about it! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
Team YOU: Leviticus 1-3; Proverbs 7; Matthew 24:1-28

Motivations: Only in obedience can we discover the great joy of the will of God. —Sinclair Ferguson

Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22
Powered Up:  From one end of the Bible to the other, we find the record of people whose prayers are answered – people who turned the tide of history by prayer, men who prayed fervently and whom God answered. Billy Graham

Bezalel and Aholiab Who?

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ATTENTION ALL GUYS — What are you doing this Thursday evening? Why not join us for our monthly Men’s Fellowship night at America’s Keswick. Great meal, fellowship, worship, challenge from the Word, and fun in the Activity Center. Pastor Dave Rittinger, Senior Pastor Whiting Bible Church will be our guest speaker. Call today and register. Begins at 6:15 PM. Come and bring a friend! (732-350-1187) 

Bezalel and Aholiab Who?

Bezalel and Aholiab and every wise hearted man in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary shall work according to all that the Lord has commanded. Exodus 36:1 (Amplified Bible)
For those of you who haven’t dialed in to read the Bible with me this year, it’s not too late to start. Under the TEAM YOU section below, you can pick up where we are and begin to read an Old Testament and New Testament passage and then a chapter in Proverbs.
The past several days we have been in the book of Exodus and reading about the construction of the tabernacle and all the furnishings. Often time we tend to gloss over this as it is very detailed (and if you are like most men, we hate reading instructions!) instruction manual on how God wanted the tabernacle and all the accessories built.
There’s not a lot in Scripture about the guy Bezalel (what a name!) but he played a very pivotal role in doing the major part of the construction of the tabernacle and its furnshings.
Of this man, we read in Exodus 35:31 (Amplified Bible) that”God filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and wisdom, with intelligence and understanding, and with a knowledge of all craftsmanship.”  It also said that “God has put in Bezalel’s heart that he my teach, both he and Aholiab …” (Exodus 35:26). God “filled them with wisdom of heart and the ability to do all the manner of craftsmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, of the embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do or design any skilled work.” (Exodus 35:34-35)

Read through the remaining chapters of Exodus and you will see the phrase  “He made” 46 times (Amplified Bible). Bottom line he did it all just the way God commanded Moses.

What has God called YOU to do? Does the job require that you follow His commands and instructions? Is it a job that seems “over your head?” One that seems to be above your pay-scale? Well God will never call you to do something for Him unless He will be faithful to equip you to do the job.
Paul wrote to the body at Thessalonica: “Faithful is He who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

If He has placed a call on your life – be obedient. Trust Him. And be amazed at what He will do in and through you! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Exodus 39-40; Proverbs 6; Matthew 23:23-39

Motivations: I am persuaded that all of your problems are conceived and born in the sinful belief that something or someone other than Jesus Christ can quench the thirst of our souls. C. Samuel Storms
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22
Powered Up:  I can take my telescope and look millions of miles into space; but I can go away to my room and in prayer get neared to God and heaven than I can when assisted by all the telescopes of earth. Isaac Newton

Honor, to the Shame of … Part Three

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Honor, to the Shame of…Part Three 

“And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume Me.” John 2:15-17 (ESV) 

I think that the use of the word disrespect today has to be undone and re-done for people. I mentioned in my earlier Freedom Fighter that it seems that the showing of disrespect cannot go unchallenged. Say the wrong word and you got someone “all up in your business” and looking to engage in a good ole’slobber-knocker. And you know what…sometimes it is over the stupidest thing. When I hear kids use the “D” word now, I just wish someone would call their mama and tell her to do their child a favor, take them home and tuck them in. 

To conclude my time with the issue of honor/shame I have chosen what I consider the most disrespectful thing done to the Father right in front of the Son. It is the Passover and Jesus is going to the Temple as a grown man. He is most definitely about His Father’s business at this point in time. He walks into the huge courtyard to find sacrifice for sale. If your sacrifice was rejected at the altar, after you’ve spent time, money and effort to just to this moment, it was okay…just go to the courtyard and get yourself a new one. And if your currency is different from what we use, there’s a table for that. Just make sure you use the right exchange when you re-pay the Temple Tax to try this again. 

Now Jesus doesn’t waste no time in what He is about to do. Over go the tables, upside down go the boxes full of gold and silver coins and with that whip He chases the animal’s outta the courtyard. His disciple’s see what is written in Psalm 69:9 come to life, “For zeal for Your house has consumed Me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on Me.” This whole scene has its root in the shame that God’s people conduct themselves with and they don’t even see it. They have become so complacent with what they do they don’t even realize the shame they show the very God of Israel… and the Son is there, in the flesh, to see it all up front and personal. 

After He answered their question with, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” the Jews taunt Him by saying it took forty-six years to build Herod’s Temple, raise it up in three days, HA!!! But in their dishonor they miss the point. The Pharisees and the Sadducees spent a great deal of time trying to regain their honor after they were shamed by Jesus at every turn. It was no problem to bring shame to God in His very House by these kinds of men but it did not sit well with them when the Son brought honor to the very Laws set forth by His Father. Imagine that…Jesus sent here not only to save us from ourselves but to restore the honor that His name rightly deserves. 

I hope that when you sit down with your Bible you can focus in on the honor that you can bring Him and not what He can do for you. I for one will be taking my western lens out now and re-read some of those Old Testament tales too. I wonder what Samson looks like through the honor/shame lens now? Gideon? Job? Peter? Moses? Abraham? We need to realize that Jesus isn’t an investment but Family. And even if the actual family that God provided for us still sees through those profit/loss lenses we can rest in the knowledge we have what we need to maintain family honor by not bringing shame to the name of…Jesus Christ. Amen? – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a member of the Freedom Fighter Team

Team YOU: Exodus 31-33; Proverbs 3; Matthew 22:1-22

Motivations: “Does it matter if you receive the gifts of grace the way a beggar receives bread? This would not cause the gifts to be less pure or less precious. Receive with humility the sweet grace that God wants to give you.”-Fenelon

Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:10; Level 2: Ephesians 2:11-18
Powered Up:  Prayer can do anything God can do. E. M. Bounds

Honor, to the Shame of … Part Two

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Honor, to the Shame of… Part Two 

“And He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”  John 2:8-11 (ESV) 

Saving family honor was definitely the underscore when we read about the Wedding at Cana. Even though we read this as Jesus’ first miracle in the Bible we might want to take note here something that else is happening. “Everyone serves the good wine first” is a really great way to impress the wedding guests. Everything from the food to music had to be made to the approval of everyone in attendance. The bridegroom had to make that first impression in order for his families honor to be preserved. Once he had that, his place in the whole of the family was assured and approved of. 

The focus of those folks in the Eastern world, third world or in Biblical times on honor and shame meant that they were particularly oriented to what a group held to be honorable or shameful. Here in the west we tend to keep this in an individual sense. And in the urban setting it has taken this respect/disrespect sense. Where respect has more value than human life and that disrespecting is a challenge that cannot go unanswered. I find that those individuals that offend easily are the ones who feel disrespected the quickest. They gain their honor just for a name’s sake and not for the community as a whole. 

I wonder if we realize the level of “disrespect” we give God when His name is spoken ill of? Those of us in Secular-land can hear the name of God spoken in ways that make you kind of slide a little to the left of those saying them after they have uttered their dishonoring words. What of those Christians who even invoke His name in hopes of bringing a calamity down on someone? We need to keep in mind that God will vindicate His name by bringing down punishment on those who choose to dishonor Him. I think it is the most dishonoring of Elohim when we hear everyday people complain about the weather. Without His common grace upon us all this planet could get rather hot and dark. 

What of the honoring we do when we pray “In the name of”…? If you are in your Wednesday night prayer group you might have heard this. I would like to attribute this to when we are coming to the throne of grace, humble and contrite, asking for what we know we cannot do on our own. I have heard His name uttered in English, Spanish and in Hebrew. Coming with your requests “In the Name of Jesus the Christ” needs to be held in the highest honor given to whom who gave Himself for you. A great reason for you to defend His honor in public when you hear His name uttered by dishonoring lips. 

I hope you are getting the idea that your Savior doesn’t just want you to love Him with all your mind, heart, strength and soul but that you also honor Him by maintaining a right relationship with all three parts of the Godhead. There is one more aspect to cover concerning the honor/shame system we need to look at. In the last part of this we will see how easy it was for men to get angry and do whatever was needed to do to regain honor…even if that honor was based in those things not of God but allowed by Him none the less. Things that were at the very heart of a people who thought they had the honor/shame system down to a science. – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and member of the Freedom Fighter Team

Team YOU: Exodus 29-30; Proverbs 2; Matthew 21:23-46

Motivations: “The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One.”-A.W.Tozer
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:10; Level 2: Ephesians 2:11-18
Powered Up:  The Lord is great and high, therefore He wants great things to be sought from Him and is willing to bestow them so that His almighty power might be shown forth. Martin Luther

Honor, to the Shame of … Part One

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Honor, to the Shame of… Part One 

“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:1-5 (ESV) 

Working in an environment that has such a diversity of culture can leave a lot lost in translation. Yes you can get the basic of the daily duties across, even find out how folks are doing at times but when the meat of a problem has to be dealt with, things can and will get misunderstood. I work alongside a younger man from the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica and a man, about my age, who is a Puerto Rican but, hails from Vineland, New Jersey. Albert and Pablo are two men who not only keep me on my theological toes but there are times where they challenge me in the cultural fine art of communication. 

Both of these men have approached me on several occasions to fill me in on how the production crew feel about how I run the crew. Because I have to stick to certain policies and procedures sometimes I can come across as an uncaring boss who doesn’t understand the heart of the crew. Pablo sees things from a labor union stand point where Albert sees things from a “man coming into this country to make a reasonable living only to have found that it seems America only cares about business and making money” standpoint…that’s it!!!  

I thought that I tend to look at this with my Biblical eye to the grindstone and we live in the greatest country in the world until I heard Dr. Norman Goos ask, “We here in America read the Bible with our western eye’s don’t we?” I am taking his course on Tuesday nights titled “New Testament Survey in Antiquity” and Dr. Goos’ approach to it is quite different than I thought. “We need to change the lens in our minds so we can filter out our culture of profit and loss while we read the Bible.” His point in this is that we need to look our Bible reading in terms of how life is in the Middle East. It is an “Honor and Shame” culture and within that framework we can see what really ticked off the Pharisees of Jesus’ time. 

When I first looked at what has been written in John 2:1-5, I almost got the feeling that not only is the mother of Jesus seeking a miracle from her Son but that Jesus may have been putting His mother in her place by saying, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” All that is really going on here is that a wedding is going on and His mother is in charge of the kitchen. She knows her Son can help but the kitchen is her ministry what does that have to do with Jesus’ ministry? But in order to save the family honor Jesus gives us His first miracle at Cana and that it sounds like the wine was pretty good. 

Now the family honor here just happens to be from the lineage of David when it comes to Mary. It is the starting point for an honor that is ascribed to Jesus as well but ultimately we know the true honor here comes from The Father Himself. Over the next few Freedom Fighters I am going to try and hit on the need to read our Bible with those honor/shame lenses rather than those profit/loss lenses. I would like to leave you with this thought…if we were to stop wrestling with finding our self-worth or with self-esteem we wouldn’t have to feel the pushing and pulling of what other people think. Would it be in that we would find honor and feel no shame?  Just a thought?  — Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a member of the Freedom Fighter Team

Team YOU: Exodus 27-28; Proverbs 1; Matthew 21:1-22

Motivations: “Jesus brought humility from heaven to us. It was humility that brought Him to earth, or He would never have come.”-Andrew Murray
Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:10; Level 2: Ephesians 2:11-18
Powered Up:  To this day the prayer level is the power level of the church. Our prayer meetings give us away. When the knees are not often bent the feet soon slide! – Armin Gesswein