Marching Forth!

It is possible to hear the truth so often it can sound like an empty cliché.  A song taken from scripture called "The Steadfast Love Of The Lord" goes, " The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning, new every morning.  Great is thy faithfulness (oh Lord), great is thy faithfulness ."  One might imagine these words were spoken by a person who reveled in the blessings of God away from all trouble, one who celebrated countless blessings of health and wealth, without an enemy or care.  To the contrary:  these words are taken from the Lamentations of Jeremiah who, as he put it, was a " man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath ." The wisdom and faith demonstrated by this revelation of God's mercies was forged in the worst human suffering.  If you have doubts, read the first three chapters of the book of Lamentations .  You will read of the sufferings of a person who did not blame...

In the book of 1 Chronicles , Achan is referred to in a genealogy as " the troubler of Israel " because he took of the accursed things and led to Israel's defeat at Ai ( 2:7 ).  Before they took the city, Joshua strictly warned the people not to take of the spoil for themselves because it was the LORD's.  After God caused the walls of Jericho to fall the the city was taken, Achan coveted gold, silver and clothing he found, stashed it in his tent and brought a curse upon the nation.  Soon thereafter 36 men perished in a battle as a consequence of his decision, and the nation was indeed troubled until the truth came to light.  Having been identified by God Achan confessed his sin, the stolen goods were recovered and he was executed for his rebellion and disobedience before God. This situation is reminiscent of how the sin of Adam brought sin and death to the world which has been troubled ever since.  Jesus came to provide atonement for sin and destroy the curse wh...

" Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine ." 1 Timothy 5:17 Passages such as this one are not to be used by those in church leadership for self-serving purposes, but hold forth the practical value of godly leadership the Body of Christ benefits from.  Paul went on to say this "double honour" can involve financial support.  Though he worked as a tent maker to support himself during his missionary journeys so the Gospel would be without charge, it was fitting for him to be supported with practical provision in exchange for spiritual truth which is beyond price. In our western mindset, we need context about what it means to "rule well."  In the modern-day west, people place great value on personal freedoms as individuals and have no desire to be "ruled" by anyone.  Perhaps verses like this provoke wariness in people whom have experienced or seen abuses justified by those...

Today I was considering the parable Jesus told of the son who returned to his father, the greedy son who demanded his inheritance only to waste it on prodigal living.  Once the man had money in hand, he went far from his father to a distant land and wasted all by his "riotous" or dissolute lifestyle in pursuit of all pleasures of the flesh.   Luke 15:14 says, " But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want ." The party was over and all his money was spent, but this was not enough to cause him to return to his father who loved and provided everything for him.  He left off the partying and pursuit of pleasure for his survival, but perhaps he held out hope he could earn money and continue in a life of sin.  The man chose to join himself to a citizen of that country hoping to enrich himself.  He was not working to earn money for a return trip home, for as the parable related abject poverty and uncleanness did ...