Don't Come to MY Church Sunday!?

"No Trespassing"

"There is NO Re-entry"

"No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service"

Have you ever seen one of these signs? Have you ever been the victim of one of them?

I'll never forget waiting in a long line to enter an establishment for lunch, only to be told I was not properly attired. (I had on a tie and a cardigan sweater. But a JACKET was required.) I was fuming mad, never wanting to return.

Sounds a little like what's going on in Deuteronomy 23 that reads:

"No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD."

or

"No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation."

Can you imagine us posting such a sign on the door of our church? If your mother and father weren't married when you were born you can't come in. And if you have physical defects, don't bother showing up because you wouldn't be welcome. Can you imagine the groups that would be picketing outside of our building. You and I might even join them!

So what's the deal with such prohibitions? Don't we want EVERYONE to worship the One, True God?!

A hint to this passage may be supplied in verse 14:

"For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you."

Throughout the first chapters of Deuteronomy, God has taken extreme pains to show the people He is unlike anything or anyone else they have ever known. God has chosen them to be his very own people, his children.

And in response to the choosing, God wants, expects, and even demands the very best we have in return.

I'm so thankful that the prophets in the Old Testament, and Jesus in the New, show us that God has thrown open the doors and delivered the invitation to people of every race and every physical category.

But in our excitement to hear the invitation to everyone, let us not forget that God is holy and calls us to be the same. God has given us the very best and it is the very least we can do to offer our best in return.

Will you give God your best today? Take a moment and ask how you can give God your best at home, at school, at work, and in the world today. Wait silently for a moment, and see if you don't have a response throughout the day or evening about what God would like you to give to Him.

Grace & peace

God's Top Three Financial List

If you were God, (always a dangerous and somewhat ridiculous way to begin ANY discussion), and were designing a culture where you were going to go out of your way to bring great financial and material comforts to your people, what would you want the people of that culture to be wary of?

The 15th chapter of Deuteronomy deals with EXACTLY this type of situation. Moses is reminding the people of God's instructions for being a holy, completely different type of society.

Here are is a TOP THREE LIST of God's financial instructions:

1. THERE SHOULD BE NO POOR AMONG YOU (15:4) (The passage goes on to tie this statement to obeying God's commands. And while I can't control others' obedience or disobedience, I can ask myself this question, "How am I doing at wiping out poverty in and around my area?")

2. DO NOT BE HARDHEARTED OR TIGHTFISTED TOWARD YOUR POOR BROTHER (15:7) Sometimes HARDHEARTED or TIGHTFISTED shows up as apathy ("I don't care"). Sometimes it shows up as ignorance ("I don't know what to do") or laziness (and I'm not going to try and find out how I can help.)

3. GIVE AS THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS BLESSED YOU (15:14) If you enjoy the comforts of your own home, your own vehicle, your choice of food on your table, then you have been blessed. Period. God has blessed you, at least in part, so that you might pass some of that abundance on to those in need.

So now maybe you're asking, "Where do I start?" or "How do I begin?" Here are some practical steps.

- Sponsor a child through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries or Compassion International (Build it into your budget monthly. This will be a constant reminder that there are people in the world who are in need.)

- Regularly support your local food pantry with food, clothing, or money (Faith in Action in Chelsea and Eastside Mission in Flint are 2 great organizations, worthy of your hard-earned dollars)

- Consider "random act of compassion" like dropping off a bag of groceries or mailing a gas card to a single mom or a senior citizen on a fixed income

And may God bless your softhearted, openhanded generosity!

Grace & peace

Indiana Jones & Talking to God

"Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him." (Deuteronomy 5:24b)

In our world, the idea of the holy, the sacred, the so-very-special-that-you-have-to-be-careful-talking-about-it-or-holding it seems foreign.

We talk about EVERYTHING.

To some extent, that openness can be positive. (Someone said that sunlight is the best cleanser, especially when it comes to things like government [or church?]). And so democracy and capitalism have combined to create a culture where everything is open, and, ideally, nothing is hidden. Our entertainment and our information thrive on this concept.

But this openness often leads to casualness with things we ought to take more seriously.

Have you ever seen the Indiana Jones Trilogy? In various scenes of various movies, Indiana is searching for and dealing with things that are more powerful than anyone realizes. In the first movie, it's the Ark of the Covenant. In the third it's the Holy Grail.

We see the power of belief and the understanding of the sacredness of the objects expressed in these 2 stories.

While searching for the Grail, Indiana comes in contact with people who have vowed to protect it, and keep it from falling into the hands of mere profit seekers.

Throughout the journey, Indiana is reminded by his father what a special truth is symbolized by the Grail, (it is believed to be the cup Christ drank from), and that it is not something to be handled carelessly.

In the first movie, some who approached the Ark of the Covenant cavalierly, soon regret it. They open the top, an indescribable light and power explodes out of the box, and all who are looking at it are incinerated. We learn that such sacred things are too powerful or holy for us to toy with.

This is a LITTLE like the way the Hebrews in the Old Testament must have approached God, the Tabernacle, and the sacred objects which were a part of their worship.

They knew that there were particular places they were not to go. They knew there were particular things they were not to do. And they knew that crossing those lines entailed a significant, even fatal, cost.

In the midst of that environment, (Deuteronomy 5:7-21 is the 10 Commandments; the "Thou shall not's"), the people are reminded that there is a balance to be struck.

Yes, God is holy. Yes, His word is to be taken seriously. No, one does not handle the holy things without great care. However...

In seeing Moses speak face to face with God, and in hearing Moses bring God's word back to them, they had learned "that a man can live even if God speaks with him."

May God help us to find that sense of balance between the holy, all-powerful God, and the relationship He seeks to bring close to us.

Will The Real Donkey Please Stand Up?

If I started to talk to you about a talking donkey, you might think I'm referring to the movie "Shrek". But no. (Nor am I referring to "Shrek 2"!)

I'm referring to a story of a man named Balaam (BAY lum).

He was a prophet. (And a rather curious choice at that. Most of the references to him in the New Testament are unflattering, to say the least.) But for whatever reason, God sends His word through Balaam with some regularity, for a time.

In this story, Balaam is being summoned to go and speak to a king. The king is an enemy of the people of Israel. And the king wants Balaam to prophesy a curse upon the Hebrews.

Balaam goes, (even though God initially says NOT TO go). However, Balaam's having transportation trouble. Not with his car or his bike. But with his donkey. His donkey doesn't want to run (or walk).

Apparently, the donkey sees something in the way. (Spoiler Alert: it's the Angel of the LORD in the middle of the road, standing there with a drawn sword.) Good 'ol Balaam doesn't see it, can't understand why the donkey won't move, and gives the donkey a beating.

This happens 3 times. (Balaam apparently is a slower learner than the donkey. However, as you'll soon see, he's NOT the slowest, most stubborn person in the story.) Finally, God opens the donkey's mouth and she asks Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?...Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"

Eventually, Balaam sees the situation for what it is, and goes on to the king, with the firm conviction that he can only pronounce blessing upon the king's enemies, which INFURIATES the king.

Several times, the king (who seems even more obtuse and stubborn than Balaam), tries to coerce the prophet to say what would benefit the king (and thereby hurt God's people).

Balaam's response every time is something like this: "Didn't I tell you I must do and say whatever the Lord says?" The prophet can't just make things up or simply say them because the king will pay the prophet to say them.

The king moves the prophet to different locations, hoping the surroundings will change the prophet's word. But no.

The king promises tons of money and riches, hoping this will change the prophet's word. Again, no.

Finally, the prophet has had enough (and apparently, so has God). Because the fourth oracle the prophet gives to the king, not only includes blessing for the enemies. It includes destruction of all of Israel's enemies in this story, and that is what happens shortly. The king just doesn't get it.

It makes me wonder: Who's the donkey in this story?

But that's the easy way out. If I'm to let this story do it's work, I must ask another question: Where, in my life, am I stubborn, rebellious, and just not getting it?

It seems like this would be a great time to pause, and ask God for insight. Then, ask for forgiveness. Finally, this would be a good time to ask for help, strength, and wisdom to learn from my mistakes and not be the donkey in my life's story.

Grace & peace

250,000 Snails?

Did you hear the story about the guy who tied a string around his finger to remember something and then couldn't remember why he had that string around his finger?

It reminds us of a fact: we are forgetful. And we need help remembering.

(One of my favorite descriptions of the Bible is that it is the collective memory of the Church. To remember, we need to read it.)

God was so concerned about people remembering that He gave us reminders. The Sabbath, 1 day out of every 7, remind us that this is all God's creation, that He owns it, and we are only stewards. In the New Testament, the Christian Church began to celebrate Sabbath on the Lord's Day (or Sunday), to be reminded of Christ's resurrection from the dead.

Numbers 15:37ff tells about another specific reminder: tassels on garments. Specifically, BLUE tassels.

The tassels were dyed with blue dye.

According to one commentator, "the blue dye was extracted from the gland of the Murex trunculus snail and was very costly." He goes on to tell us that "one chemist estimated that a quarter of a million snails would be needed to produce one ounce of pure dye"(IVPBBCOT).

If 250,000 snails were needed to help turn your tassels blue, you'd remember it, right?

And every time you looked at those tassels, you'd think, "SOMEBODY wants me to remember this."

Remember what? "Remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes...(R)emember...I am the LORD your God, who brought you out Egypt."

So my question to you is this: What reminders do you have in place to help you live the life God created you to live? What new "tassels" might you sew into your life today?

Grace & peace

I Wish I Had a Cloud

Have you ever watched the clouds? Maybe it was a bright, sunny day, with lots of blue sky, and you laid down in a field of green grass, with your hands folded behind your neck, gazing at the formations.

Maybe it was traveling down the road in the backseat of a car, watching the shapes move and change as you sped along.

I remember sitting on the porch of a house in Durango, Colorado. There was a hill just beyond the house where we were staying. And our elevation was so high up, that it seemed the clouds just barely snuck over the top of that hill, surprising me with each second, as they continued to roll overhead.

In the book of Numbers, chapter 9, Moses and the Hebrew children were out in the middle of nowhere. God broke the slaves out of Egypt. That was what everyone had wanted.

But now what? Where do we go from here?

And beginning in verse 15, God guides them...by a cloud. When the cloud moved, the people moved. When the cloud stayed, the people stayed. It became their compass and their guide.

Neither Moses nor his people really knew exactly where they were going. But they DID have the cloud. And if they would keep their eyes on it, God would make sure it would take them where they were supposed to go.

"I wish I had a cloud." These were the words of one of my children. They were responding to a conversation we had regarding making decisions, sensing divine leading, and knowing which path to choose.

(Or maybe those were just the thoughts of a teenager who thought the idea of God sending a personal cloud was really cool, really mystical.)

Do you ever wish YOU had a cloud?

Let me ask you: If you KNEW God was going to send a sign, a sense of His leading, clues to the way you should go, what would you do to find it? How hard would you look to piece things together?

Would you pick up your Bible and work through those ancient words, seeing if they really might come alive?

Would you spend a few minutes in quiet meditation, waiting for thoughts to come into your mind, or impressions upon your spirit?

Would you be willing to seek out other like-minded people who are also looking for the mystical clouds in life? Would you be willing to spend time with them, even if they're in a church!?

What if you already have clouds around you, and you just have to open your eyes and expend a little energy for them to be able to do their work?

May God send clouds into your life today. And may you have eyes to see them.

Grace & peace.

Lamp Snuffers

It was as if God told Moses to take a big, bright, fluorescent, highlighter, and instructed him to mark it on the priest's Job Description.

The oil that was used, according to several commentators, was the best oil available. It would burn for a L-O-N-G time. And that was important because they provided the ONLY light in the holy place.

"(B)ring...oil...for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually."

Three times in a span of 4 verses, (Leviticus 24:1-4) Moses is commanded to have the priests keep the lamps lit and tended to CONTINUALLY.

Seems like one of the more basic jobs of the keeper of the holy things: KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!

Seems like it would go without saying, right? Nobody can come in if the lights are off.

Seems like it would be priority one: Nobody can see anything if the lamps aren't lit.

It is true in a church, both literally, and figuratively. If the Light is not shining, if the grace and goodness of God are not evident in us, if the Power and Person of God aren't present, nothing else matters. If the Holy One isn't at the forefront of all we do, if the Holy One isn't being reflected in our everyday lives, nothing else matters.

The same is true in your life and mine. We let so many other insignificant things crowd out the first thing. If the light goes out, who cares how comfortable I am? If my light goes out, what difference does it make how much money I am making? If my light goes out, who cares if my car is new or five years old?

Sometimes the things that snuff out the light are subtle. Gossip (talking about others behind their back), anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and greed are examples of "lamp snuffers".

In the New Testament, Paul tells us that "You are the temple of God."

So my question is this: What are you doing to keep the lamp burning in your life? What are you doing to fan into flame that which God has started in you?

Grace & peace