You Can Handle The Truth!

The Bible has been translated into 400 languages and portions into 2500 languages. In one year alone the United Bible Society distributed 633 million portions of Scripture throughout the world. It was written over 1600 years that spanned 40 generations and by 40 different authors from various walks of life. It was written by political leaders and fisherman, a physician and a tax collector. It was written in prisons and in the wilderness, while on travel and in exile, in times of war and peace from the heights of joy to the depths of despair.

It has been written for you and it is uniquely YOU!

· It was written on three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe. It was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
· It has been preserved under attack Voltaire, French atheist who died in 1778, predicted that Christianity would be swept from existence and pass into history within 100 years of his time. 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society bought his home and used his own printing press to produce Bibles!
· Manuscript evidence of the Bible is overwhelming. There are more than 5600 ancient manuscripts of the Greek NT. Add to that 10000 in Latin and 9300 other early versions and you have 25000. No other ancient document comes close. The next is Homer’s Iliad with 643 and all of them partial. The significance is that the scribes would count the words and even the letters to make sure nothing was omitted. The earliest NT manuscript – a fragment of the gospel of John dates from AD 125 – a span of 30 years! Compare that to Iliad which has as its earliest copy 400 years from when it was written.
· What about the OT…well in 1947 a large collection of manuscripts came to light near the Dead Sea as a shepherd kid threw a rock into a cave and heard a crash and documents were found that were stored in earthen jars. Have you ever been part of one of those time capsule experiments?? Well, this was the biggest one on record. Archaeologists found about 100 000 fragments that were pieced into 800 ancient documents now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many of the manuscripts were manuscripts of the OT. Scriptures. They found a complete copy of the book of Isaiah that was 1000 years older than the previous oldest manuscript. They checked out Isaiah 53 and of the 166 words, only 17 letters were in questions and 10 were a simply a matter of spelling, four letters were stylistic and the remaining comprise the word light. There was only one word in question after 1000 years of transmission!
· Proof from archaeology has found and discovered the seal of King Solomon, King David’s name in stone and a bull the Canaanites worshipped. People used to laugh at the OT references to the Hittite people calling it a fabrication of the Bible. Recent archaeological digs have now found hundreds of references to Hittite people over a 1200 year period in the Middle East.

Internal Uniqueness
· The Bible is full of contradictions is also answered by further in depth study and recognition of the fact that different authors will reflect and emphasize different aspects of the same story. It is a recognition of the fact that God fully used the personalities of those who wrote. You can see Peter’s personality through the way that He communicates God’s Word. He covers many subjects in a short amount of time and Paul in many ways wrote like a lawyer with great logic. 2 Peter 1:20,21
· The Canon of Scripture identified the inspired revelation of God and determined that by the book’s authority in its teachings of Jesus and they looked for statements that gave divine authority such as ‘the Word of the Lord came to’ without apology. They also looked at authorship and authenticity to be consistent with all other revealed texts on the matter. One of the most authoritative was Athanasius who was the bishop of Alexandria and at that council in 367AD put all these books to the test.
· Fulfilled prophecy. Isaiah 9:6,7; Psalm 72:9-11,15; There are 61 major prophecies concerning his life written many hundreds of years before His birth! We’ll discover more on that next week.
· God –breathed – Now some will say this is circular reasoning but the Word itself claims it to be inspired in 2 Timothy 3:16,17. In Bible College we refer to the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Word. We affirm that it is all given by inspiration of God…all 66 books, 41 173 verses. God breathed His words into the very hearts and minds of human souls. Verbal inspiration means that we believe God chose the very words and plenary means the whole thing from Genesis to Revelation, not just certain parts. We also affirm its inerrancy in that the Bible simply tells the truth. "Infidels for 1800 years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before. - H. L. Hastings “No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. What book on philosophy or religion or psychology...has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible? With such venom and skepticism? And yet, the Bible is still loved by millions, read by millions, and studied by millions." - Bernard Ramm
So, you maybe are impressed, but you may be asking WIIFM….well, let’s go to one of the most succinct treatise on WIIFM
The writer of this precious poem in Psalm 19 uses five vivid synonyms to describing different dimensions of God’s Word.
law - instruction, or teaching, God has given by direct revelation
statutes - civil and religious appointment of the Mosaic law
precepts - legal pronouncements or rules of divine administration
commands - authoritative commands used as principles on how to live life
ordinances - declarations God has made about Himself, His nature, and His purposes
Listen to these words about the Word: perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, sure, and precious. When the children of God hear these descriptive adjectives, their hearts cannot help but exclaim “Amen!” God’s Word is precious!
He wants to change us. His words convert souls. They make the simple wise. They bring rejoicing to hearts. They enlighten eyes. The counsel of the Lord is unchanging; it endures forever.
He has known the deadly damage of sin from the beginning. His instructions, often are not popular, but they are our GPS…it keeps you from making all those route recalculations!
When many of Jesus’ superficial followers turned and walked away, He asked His disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter expressed the sentiment of every child of God: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67-68).

I fought the Law and the Law won! v7a
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
First, "the law of the Lord." That is the widest term for all the written revelation God has given us. "The law of the Lord is perfect." It is complete, there is nothing left out. It is comprehensive, it does everything that we need it to do. There is no part of your life, no problem that you will ever face in your life, no question with which you will ever be troubled, that the Word of God does not speak to and illuminate and meet. So it is perfect, "reviving the soul."
A better word for reviving is transforming! Scripture has a supernatural way of life change affecting you to the very core of your being. It was through the reading of God’s Word that God spoke to me and forever charted the course of the direction of my life.
Can you share with me the power of a specific verse that God used to transform your life?

Are you in the know?? v7b
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Sure means "dependable, reliable." You can count upon this word to be true. Therefore you do not need to know a lot about everything else. The simple person is referring to being open minded in the wrong sense….being so open minded that you brain leaks out! It is the kind of discernment to see that walking into certain situations will only be self destructive. It enables you to make wise choices, being skilled at daily living. As I shared a few weeks ago, we talked about the shift that moves from the soul to action, from action to decision, from decision to habit and finally habit to stronghold
The Word of God is not against knowledge; it is only against knowledge which does not begin at the right place. But even if you do not have a lot of knowledge, even if you are "simple" in terms of education you can still be made wise by trusting Scripture because it is sure, it is reliable. That is why we are challenged:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. {Prov 3:5 RSV}There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. {Prov 14:12, 16:25 RSV}
It enables you to keep from falling into the same pitfalls or repeating the same mistakes.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy , joy - down in my heart to stay! v8
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
Precepts refer to God’s rulings, His prescription and principles and there is the resulting joy.
Examples:
· They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength
· You reap what you sow
· Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled
Jeremiah 15:16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.
Luke 24:27-32 the disciples reflect on how their hearts burned within them when Jesus explained or expounded the Scriptures concerning Himself to them.

You light up my life! v9a
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
Often people will say that the Word of God is confusing and there are certainly passages that force you to dig deeper, but what I have found is this, when it comes to character development, mainly being conformed to Christ’s image, the Bible is really clear
On the fear of the Lord
If you fear God in this life, you will not have to fear Him in the life to come. James Macdonald
The fear of the Lord is pure. It is without blemish. It is uncompromised, undiluted and is strength from cover to cover. It grants us a source of stability.

It is "enduring for ever." Once you enter into the fear of the Lord in its rightful sense you find that this produces a quality of life which enables you to consider this question…in the light of eternity, how much difference is this going to make….or my mom’s always soothing words to the youngest of five boys…”if this is the worst thing that is going to happen, you are not off that bad!’
Ordinances are not just for reverends! v9b

The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and altogether righteous.
Ordinances – another word is judgment – describing God’s verdict
He will set everything straight guaranteed. He will ultimately right every wrong and silence his critics.
The final word…
They are also wealth-producing, enriching, "more to be desired than gold," he goes on to say. And they are wonderfully pleasant, marvelously pleasure-producing:

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. {Psa 19:10b-11 RSV}

You might say, "I don't see these things in the Bible. I read my Bible and it's supposed to do that for you, but when I read it I don't find these things." Do you know why'?
It is he who does all these wonderful things for us. It is the Lord who forgives and transforms and cleanses and enlightens and makes us to rejoice. It is God, it is the Lord Jesus. And as we find him in the pages of Scripture these wonderful things happen to us.

The Takeaway

EIIFM...everything is in it for me! As we desire to live a life of godliness and contentment we will find satisfaction here.

From experience I have discovered the Bible to be:

convicting – Hebrews 4:12 I have seen the penetrating power of God’s Word challenge the lives of our people as well as myself
freeing – John 8:32 It has enabled so many to be free debilitating patterns of destructive behaviour.
comforting – Psalm 23 In times of loss or sickness, I have seen it transform a person’s outlook and bring hope and healing.
exactly what I need –

and exactly what I don’t need. John 5:39…It is not to pump my head full of knowledge, but full of love and appreciation for all that He has done for me.
For Small Groups and Discussion

1. What about the Bible’s external uniqueness stands out most to you?

2. Practice sharing in the group how you would share with a non-Christian about how the Bible is inspired?

3. Talk about from experience how you have discovered the Bible to be:

convicting –
freeing –.
comforting –
___________

4. How can guilt be a positive motivating factor in your life? When does it become negative as it relates to spiritual disciplines?
5. How can we be guilty of the same thing Jesus condemned the Pharisees for as it related to God’s Word in John 5:39,40

Who is really deluded anyways?

All religion is from people who want control. It is the bottom of the heap when it comes to those who take authority as truth. Religion has false promises and makes exaggerated claims. Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery and it has been used to manipulate and control societies. Raising your children to believe they are members of a religious group is a ludicrous obscenity! Religion poisons everything. This is the heart cry of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the author of the God Delusion and now we have the movie Zeitgeist. As believers we need a theology of who God is and today we will discover His character, His transcendence, His imminence in allowing us to separate fact from fiction, religion from relationship, the lies from the truth.

In three parts, Zeitgeist (which has no credits) attempts to show that 1) Christianity is rehashed pagan sun-worship and is used by the rich and powerful to control people, 2) the 9/11 tragedies were part of an elite conspiracy, and 3) ever since World War I, the ultra-rich have been secretly manufacturing wars and financial collapses to control the populace and to get richer and more powerful. I

The notions that most religions were originally a kind of solar worship, and that the Jesus Christ story recapitulated the mythos of numerous other “dying gods,” were floating around in the late 1700s. Jay Kinney

The main flaw in such arguments is that they are selective and thus superficial. They are selective in that they take only those things that match, and ignore differences. This leads them to be superficial.

However a more serious problem occurs with the films choice of parallels. Most of the first part of the film is linked in one way or another to Jesus being born on December 25th and how this links in with winter solstice celebrations. The problem is that one thing pretty much all scholars agree on, skeptical and believers alike, is that Jesus was not born on December 25th. The NT describes the shepherds in the fields with their sheep at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8) which would have been highly unlikely on December 25, and points more to the spring. The reason we celebrate December 25th is because a couple of centuries after the birth of Christ the church set that date deliberately to replace the Winter solstice celebrations, so of course there is a parallel to the winter solstice, but not for the reasons implied in the film. With this fact alone most of the first half of this part of the film falls apart.

Another problematic parallel is the movies’ claim that the cross is actually an astrological cross, symbolic of the zodiac. While again there may be a parallel here it is hardly meaningful, and in fact goes straight to the heart of the problem with such reasoning. What the movie ignores is that there is a very good reason Christians use the symbol of the cross and it has nothing at all to do with astrology. Christians refer to the cross because Jesus was crucified on a cross.
Similar problems arise with the claim that Jesus represents the sign of Pisces whose symbol is 2 fish. Predictably the movie points to the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 thousand. Yet interestingly while they show the text “we only have five loaves of bread and 2 Fish – Matt 14:17” the narrator says “Jesus feeds five thousand people with bread and two fish.” Note the number of loaves of bread is not mentioned by the narrator, while in the text five is spelled out, but not two. Why? The simple reason is that the fish make the parallel they seek, while the bread does not. Wouldn’t a better explanation for the two fish be that, fish were a common food source for that area and in fact if someone would have food, it probably would have been bread and fish?

Similarly the movie claims that people do not know what the fish symbol on their cars is actually “pagan astrological symbolism for the sun kingdom during the sign of Pisces.” Of course the real explanation does not fit their parallel, and so is ignored. Early Christians adopted the fish symbol, not for any astrological meaning, but because the Greek word for Fish, IXTHUS, is an acronym for Greek words “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior.”

**With thanks to Elgin Hushback for his research on Zeitgeist


The take home message of The God Delusion is this: God is invented by mad, deluded people. Faith is blind trust in the absence of evidence. It is a process of non-thinking. We are the ones who have lost touch with reality. Belief in God is just like believing in the Tooth Fairy and Santa. We need to abandon these beliefs as soon as we are capable of evidence based thinking. The problem that he doesn’t address is why then are people discovering God later in life. The example of Anthony Flew, a noted atheist philosopher who came to know God in his eighties. Then there is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, son, Bill Murray who converted to Christianity in 1980 and was baptised at a Baptist church in Dallas, where he took up work as a preacher.
The book also does a good job of attacking the idea of intelligent design, but to take the book one step further, then who explains the explainer?


“Science has wrecked faith in God, relegating God to the margins of culture where he is embraced by deluded fanatics.”
He also devotes time to showing how science disproves God but unfortunately a lot of scientists do believe in God. It is not that simple of a straw argument that he is trying so hard to exploit. In fact 40% of scientists responded yes to the question, ‘do you believe in a personal God who might be expected to answer prayer?”

He states that believing in God in on the same level as cosmic teapots. Again he is very good at mocking, misrepresenting and demonizing competiting worldviews with his and tries to present them in the most naïve light as possible.

He tries to reduce religion to some single universal trait and tries to escape the universal complexity of it. Try to dumb down even the differences within Christianity and then within evangelicalism. There is great difference even between religiosity and belief in God because there are many who eschew religious behavior, but have incredible belief in God.

He also makes the assertation that the brain is a collection of organs for doing various cognitive functions and religion is a misfiring of these modules and therefore pathological. The question must then be asked, ‘are all ideas viruses of the mind?’

He then goes on to suggest that it is a ‘God-meme that has leapt into their brains,’ but even the scientific community largely sees this as a flaky idea.

He makes the bold claim that religion leads to violence, but that flies in the face of Jesus of Nazareth who did no violence. Then he has the audacity to state that there is not the smallest evidence that atheism systematically influences people to do bad things. Does he have selective memory. What about the Soviet era between 1918-1941 with their repression undertaken in an atheist agenda for the elimination of religion…Lenin and Stalin or Hitler with his focus on a perfect race. The reality is that human beings are capable of both violence and moral excellence motivated by their worldviews, religious or otherwise.

A criticism against religion is that on the formation of in groups and out groups yet Jesus completely turned that upside down in His teachings by the command to love our neighbour and enemy…the story of the Good Samaritan – half Jew/ half Greek.

Dawkins is right to identify to redefinition of family values as part of Jesus’ radical demands. However, even with the OT, he is highly selective of his texts leaving out such commands as to urge hospitality to strangers, setting limits on revenge, declaring a jubilee on debt and forbidding infant sacrifice – all in the Pentateuch, namely Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

He also overlooks the research done on physical health by those who follow a personal God to those who don’t as it relates to longevity of life, blood pressure and many other characteristics

Michael Shermer from the Skeptics Society affirms what Dawkins misses and that is this:

For every one of these grand tragedies there are 10 000 acts of personal kindness and social good that go unreported. Religion, like all social institutions of such historical depth cannot be reduced to an unambiguous good or evil.

Research based on The Dawkins Delusion by Alister McGrath


The God that Dawkins does not believe in is “a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, on and on malevolent bully.

Well, guess what Richard Dawkins, we don’t believe in that God either!



Here is the God that we affirm!



The Bible simply affirms that God exists and to think otherwise, one is a fool in Psalm 14:1. The Word also claims that the one who seeks God will find him.

Who Is God?

He is a Transcendant Being.

God said to Moses, "I am who I am in Exodus 3:14 meaning that He transcends time and space. He is not contained within time, He is not contained within the universe. He does not need to occupy a place in order to exist. He is omnipresent. His power permeates the whole of our universe and he makes all things hold together. No one can escape the presence of God. Psalm 139:7-11 He is omnipotent and by that He has mastery and sovereignty over all things. The word Almighty is used of God 56x in Scripture. To Moses in Exodus 6:3; to believers in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and to John countless times in Revelation. However there are limits, He cannot be tempted by evil and He cannot sin, He cannot violate His own nature. He is omniscient. He numbers and names the stars. Psalm 147:4 He knows everything about our lives before we were born. Psalm 139:16

Malachi 3:6 teaches us that God is unchanging. He is perfectly consistent within Himself.


2. He is an Immanent Being.

By this I mean He is a Personal Being. We learn that he is capable of experiencing emotions such as pleasure, love, disappointment and indignation.

Immanence speaks of God being a Dynamic Being.

Genesis 1:1 introduces us to God as the one who conceives and designs the work of creation. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him James 1:17

Genesis 1:2 introduces us to God as the Spirit who watches over the works of creation
Genesis 1:3 introduces us to the Word of God, the agency through which God’s will is activated. The trinity of God begins here and is fully expressed through the whole of Scripture. John 1, Colossians 1:15

He continues to be active in His role today. He continues to actively call to himself people who desire to be part of His new creation. He is not willing that any should perish 2 Peter 3:9

3. God is Absolute Goodness.
O LORD, who is like you – majestic in holiness Exodus 15:11

When we view a starry night or snow capped mountain it gives us this awe, this wonder of untouched beauty, completely pristine. God is holy in His eternal nature apart from anything that He does.

God’s holiness is also reflected in His actions. The same Hebrew word that David uses to proclaim, “O taste and see that the LORD is good” appears repeatedly in the Genesis account of creation. Everything that is good is a reflection of His holiness.

The concept of holiness and goodness that describe God also characterize His laws and commands. Romans 7:12 states that “ The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. It reflects Him.

Holiness and goodness not only manifest itself in His being and protecting what is good, but in His being of the one who restores goodness that was lost in light of the Fall.

The Genesis account is a love story that describes God acting according to His deepest desire…God so loved that He gave the world.

God is love 1 John 4:8,16

With God we see infinite patience and attention to every minute detail to establish this world capable of life.

He also has come to serve in love. The majestic God of the universe upon discovering the mess that resulted from the Fall searches for Adam and Eve, patiently drawing out the confession and consequences and anticipating the saving ministry of His Son. Genesis 3:15


4. God and the Problem of Evil
We learn that God creates human beings with the capacity to shun Him, defy Him, to thwart His creational purposes, to plunge into the chaos and bring the pollution of sin and death.

The Bible gives us a window into the world of the unseen as it relates to evil. We are introduced to prinicipalities, world rulers of this present darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in Ephesians 6:12

The presence of evil also reveals the free will of man granted to them by God. He sets objectives and purposes and even with all the twists and turns of human choices, God fulfills His purposes often bringing about the good through the evil. The ultimate value of God continues to transform and transcend the suffering that occurs in bringing them to realization. He is sovereign within history with those who accept His authority and over history, determining its outcomes.

God reveals that He meets us in our suffering as seen in Job 41:9

The Takeaway

You can choose whose version of God you will believe, man’s or God’s?
Joshua 24:15b But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord

For Discussion for Small Groups - Take time to walk through the names of God

The Names of God

Elohim – It comes from the root word to fear and indicates Deity. In its general sense it is used primarily in the OT. He is the mighty leader, He is supreme. It speaks of God’s transcendence.

A compound name of this word is El Shaddai which connects the Mighty One standing on a mountain. It is the way that God appeared to the patriarchs to give comfort and confirmation of His covenant.

El Eyon is another compound name meaning the most High God emphasizing His strength, sovereignty and supremacy. It was used first by Melchizedek in blessing Abraham in Genesis 14:19

El Olam means the everlasting God and is used of the God of eternity in Genesis 21:33
El Roi is used in Genesis 16:13 as the God who sees in relation to Hagar who gave this name to God in response to her being shunned by Sarai with Ishmael’s birth.

YAHWEH - LORD – the personal, covenanting God. It emphasizes His changeless existence, His presence with people and His connection to work on behalf of His people as illustrated in Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt.

Many compounds of this name

Yahweh Jireh – the Lord will Provide Genesis 22:14
Yahweh Nissi – the Lord is my Banner Exodus 17:15 in response to the defeat of the Amalekites.
Yahweh Shalom – the Lord is Peace Judges 6:24
Yahweh Sabbaoth – the Lord of hosts 1 Samuel 1:3 the Lord, the commander of angelic armies
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem – the Lord your Sanctifier Ex 31:13
Yahweh Roi – the Lord is my Shepherd Ps 23
Yahweh Tsidkenu – the Lord our Righteousness Jeremiah 23:6
Yahweh Shammah – the Lord is there Ezekiel 48:35
Yahweh Elohim Israel – the Lord, the God of Israel Judges 5:3

Adonai / Kurios

Like Elohim, it is a plural of majesty. The singular means Lord, master, owner Genesis 19:2 It conveys God’s absolute authority. The NT equivalent is Kurios. Colossians 3:22 also used mainly by Luke and Paul.

God – Theos

It is the most frequently used in the NT speaking of Him being the only one true God. Matthew 23:9. It teaches His uniqueness1 Timothy 1:17, that He is transcendent Acts 17:24 and the Savior 1 Timothy 1:1 It also is the word that is used of Christ as God in 1 John 5:20

Master

This word connects God to ownership and is used by Peter in Acts 4:24; the martyrs in heaven Revelation 6:10

FATHER


It is used of God in the OT only 15x, but 245x in the NT. God gives His children peace, grace as a salutation in the epistles, He gives good gifts in James and commandments and as we address Him in prayer. Romans 8

Have A Blessed New Year...see Psalm 1

I have just turned 40 so even though it’s a biblical number, we are going to deviate from 40 to 52 and from days to weeks…that right, I want 2008 to be a day by day experience of delighting in the presence of God. It was on my 40th Birthday that God impressed this chapter on me and I carved out a prayer based on this chapter. I want to expand on that prayer as I challenge us all to a high calling for this new year!

I have a longing for this year for Southside to be a place of deep feeling, sound thinking and right actions. We are on the very cusp of the landswap materializing and a new community being born right around us. There are necessary changes coming and we need to be ready and what better place to get direction than Psalm 1. This chapter gives us godly counsel for us to prospers for all the right reasons.

Over the past years we have walked through many different 40 day challenges from the purpose driven life, to discovering our SHAPE, 40 days of community and last year we walked through 40 days of lent and celebration as we looked at the different feasts of Israel.

Blessed is the man

The word blessed...

That word blessed can be somewhat overused and bland in the English language. The Hebrew term is much more descriptive, especially with its plural ending. A workable translation would be, "Oh, the happiness, many times over ..."There are two verbs in Hebrew meaning "to bless." One is b rak and the other, ' shar. Psalm 1 uses ' shar. What's the difference you ask? B rak is always used of God or by God; it is something God does or is; it is an act of grace, bestowment. On the other hand, ' shar is always used of and for man; the man who is said to be ' shar has done something to deserve the word being applied to him; it is a congratulating, a place of favour because of a decision made.

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked


In this chapter, the reader is presented with some clear cut guidance and you are either moving in the direction of the wicked or the direction of the blessed. We have two directions, two lifestyles, two destinies. The Psalmist is standing at the doorway and calling us to choose life, choose being rooted, choose blessing. Often we think of wicked as being someone who is really evil, but here in this passage the wicked are those who choose to rule out God in their everyday living. One is God centered and the other is self centered.

The clearest example of this in the OT is Abraham and Lot (Gen 13:12-13) Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. (13) Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.


Second, Samson thought he could handle a Philistine woman. Compromised values. The inherent risk and danger of dating a non believer

Who do you hold court with, whose words influence you to action. Who is it that you would call a close friend because as an old proverb says, ‘show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.’ Now there are certainly people hopefully in your life that are acquaintances and those who you love to see come to the Lord. We are talking about a different person here. The environment which you choose affects you. Spend enough time in the company of a person that always cursing and you will find yourself more easily led to curse. Hang out with people who are always doubting their faith and you will too. It is the law of attraction.

or stand in the way of sinners


Do we realize that we are on the wrong path? What does it mean to stand in the way of sinners? Is it that realization that we live in such an affluent culture that a trip to a third world country is what it takes to wake us to the reality that we are all too easily led astray. It is the same path of temptation that our non Christians battle with and it is the want for more. How easily do we adopt our culture’s habits and outlooks?


or sit in the seat of mockers.

To sit in the seat of mockers…is translated dwelling place, to be at home. The shift here moves from the soul to action, from action to decision, from decision to habit and finally habit to stronghold


2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
To delight is about the emotions and the thoughts. There is a longing, a yearning to really know the way. It is that motivation that David would also speak of when He said in Psalm 37:4 when we truly delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart.
Psalm 132:4,5 I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids,
5 till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob
That is the kind of passion that keeps you awake until You’ve met with God. Pray with me for that fire in our eyes and in our hearts.
Joshua 1:7,8

Delighting involves both our mind and heart. If we neglect the mind we can drift into a wrong understanding of God. If we neglect the heart, then we just have dead orthodoxy. We need to delight with our whole being, mind, emotions and will.

and on his law he meditates day and night

The idea of day and night has also been seen by many as literal morning and evening dwelling on God’s Word but other theologians have picked up on another meaning and that is the understanding of meditating on the LORD…YAHWEH, the personal covenanting God in light and darkness. The day represents when life is good, when we can see what God is doing. The night speaks to the pain, the lack of understanding, the discouragement, the lack of enlightenment.
O, how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (119:97, 103)


Mark 1:35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. If it is good for Jesus, it is good for me.

Delighting in the law… it is exciting, pleasing and powerful… it is transforming


Meditating on His Word - the early church fathers used a word called ‘ruminate’ and

For the Jewish people, it was the idea of a clean animal in Leviticus which was chew and rechew its own cud. For us it is that need for 'mental chewing' on the words of Scripture so that it really is absorbed into our being.

Never reduce Christianity to a matter of following rules, demands, resolution and your own willpower. Following Jesus is about who we love, what we delight in and what tastes good to us. John 3:19 states it best that when Jesus,’ the light came into the world and men loved darkness rather than light.’ The righteous and the wicked are separated by what they delight in… the revelation of God or the way of the world. So, you say, well, Jack, I’m not feeling it. My answer is this…pray for new taste buds on the tongue of your heart and meditate on the staggering promises of God’ Word.
We don’t naturally do this…we often starve ourselves hungry and then we wonder what’s wrong…you have to pray for the hunger. The ability to delight in God’s wisdom is a supernatural thing and that is why we desperately need to pray for it.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
What is your root system like? We can’t see the roots of a beautiful tree. It is the hidden part of your life that makes you strong and beautiful.

George Müller lived from 1805 to 1898 and is famous for establishing numerous orphanages and relying on God for help in remarkable ways. Listen to his testimony about how and why to meditate on Scripture.
While I was staying at Nailsworth, I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished.

What kind of fruit bearing tree do you know that has leaves that don’t wither…this is a very special kind of tree which takes us right back to the garden of Eden…. A place of perfection and real blessing.

The leaf does not wither… this person has joy because they have a vital relationship with God.


The Takeaway:

Three Things

1.There is a place where you can live where there is blessing
2. It comes with a cost, it won’t be easy. Growth in character and righteousness takes time.
3. The more you meditate on His Word, the more you delight in it and the more you delight in Him, the more you will meditate on Him

The goal of meditation is to know God better and to apply his word to our lives. This reaches well beyond just knowing facts about the Bible. It calls us to trust the God of the Bible.

Faith of A Child

I want to focus on what childlike faith look like as it represents our entrance into the kingdom. This passage teaches us the truth of childlike faith, humility and acceptance as we began life in the kingdom. It also represents the same attitude that we must embrace so that others may see the reality of kingdom life in us.

Jesus challenged any type of ‘doorkeeper’ mentality that kept people from coming to Him. He stripped away all the layers of man made rules and wanted people to discover Him with the wonder of a child. May we come today and experience the presence of Jesus with that kind of awe as we see Him through the eyes of a child.




MORPH…. to change and become like little children…


Let’s talk about children

They are unpredictable - You never know what they are going to say. They don’t have filters and embarrass us at times, but often they surprise you and we are captured by what they say….out of the mouth of babes right!

Is it time to do something unpredictable, something radical to recapture your faith?? Maybe it is time to draw outside the lines? Have you lost the gleam in your eyes, a faith that stand speechless in Jesus’ presence?



They are filled with wonder and love to play and dream- They can easily get lost in the moment of fresh discovery.

The critical issue facing the church is dullness. We cannot let ourselves fall into this slumber. The Good News has become okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. God wants us to be ‘wide-eyed and mystified’ to steal a title from an album.

The greatest enemy to the faith states one writer maybe that we have Christians who are no longer astonished and amazed.

The story of Rylan’ faith…April 19th was a great day for me.

It was one of those days that I took Rylan to the rink for parent/ tot hockey and in the dressing room he started talking to me about when I get to be a grandpa, get grey hair and all that good stuff. Then the subject moved to dying and he was concerned about when I would die and so the conversation moved to heaven and how you get there. He then asked me, "So, when I go to the doctor, will he see Jesus in my heart?" He expressed last night that he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. So, we prayed together and he continued praying thanking Jesus for dying for his sins. After I told him that he is not only my son, but God's son as well. He wanted me to know that he was Jesus' son too! He then yelled out "I am a Christian" from his loft bed so Jord, Bryn and Addi could hear what happened.


AW Tozer ‘the culture is putting out the light in men and women’s souls’


It is time to find the place where the wonder of faith can be experienced. Maybe it is a time to consider wild abandon, risky faith, quiet listening, happy terror! He came to rescue you from the flatness of your soul

It is that time of the year again where we are reminded of Mary, a young woman, a virgin betrothed to young guy in town by the name of Joseph. They had the respect of their community, I’m sure everybody thought ‘what a neat couple’ and plans were in the making for a great wedding…and then an angel shows up and turns a predictable engagement into a walking nightmare. Joseph has to embrace a pregnancy that is not his. As a couple they have to deal emotionally with the death of so many innocent babies because of their child. They have to flee the country, live in exile and such is the great adventure of faith!

Has God given you a crazy dream…pray for it to become a reality but prepared to commit to it as Lois so wonderfully put it to me last time, ‘stepping out in faith means you actually have to get out there and walk on a limb!

Maybe it is time to quit college or university and take a year off to go on the mission field. Maybe it is time to give up a secure job and go back to school. Maybe it is time to leave the corporation because the work is killing you!

Are your possessions possessing you?

What is the other option? The danger is that the voice will grow silent inside of you, the still small voice of God leading you, giving you dreams for His kingdom because the blaring noise crying out to you from work, from culture is so loud in your life telling you that the only thing that really matters is your work, how much you make and if you want fun, just wait for the weekend…


What about play?

Mike Yaconelli writes “play is an expression of God’s presence in the world; one clear sign of God’s absence in society in the absence of playfulness and laughter. Play is not an escape; it is the way to release the life-smothering grip of busyness, stress and anxiety.

What if we invited people over to our home and, instead of telling them about our joy, lived it by playing with them?

Come humble like a child v4


L’Arche community is where the majority of the members of the community are physically and mentally challenged.

The following is a blessing given to Henri Nouwen by his spiritual mentor. Henri served ten years at L’Arche in Toronto from ’86 –‘96 in seemingly oblivion. After all, prior to that he was a professor of theology at Harvard and Yale… However it was his writings on discovering God have captured many of us because of what he learned there at L’Arche. He wrote on solitude, community and ministry as the three avenues to create space for God to speak.


May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted. May all of your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit.”

Children accept the fact that they are not in control, there is someone bigger that is running the show. They ask a lot of questions and often they speak more to the relationship than to the answer. They know that they are secure because someone cares for them.

Well adjusted children know that they don’t always get what they want, but they can sure be persistent! They don’t give up easily!

Being humble doesn’t mean being passive. It is actively pursuing the will of God, having the heart of a servant and doing it with grace no matter what position you have.

In Luke 21 we discover a widow who came every day to the temple to give her small offering in the face of enormous ridicule, people would look down on her and demean the size of her gift, but she had that type of humility and abandonment to offer what little she had and Jesus recognized it for what it was.

God hides Himself in difficulty, in the challenges, in the shadows, in the failure and disappointment as well as the light and great surprises, but He is always there…

Deborah and the images of people standing at the foot of her bed…He is waiting for us to discover Him, waiting for us to learn.

Humility also means that we are not afraid to ask for help. We admit that we don’t have all the answers. We don’t know how everything will turn out. Our strength is found in admitting our weaknesses and realizing that good Christians are not always strong. As adults we just become more and more hesistant to admit we are in trouble

Put the welcome mat out!! v5

God forgive us for any type of ‘doorkeeper’ mentality that holds us back from embracing all people from every kind of background and experience.

It is the type of attitude that says that my way of worshipping God or my approach to God is superior to yours or this is the formula for prayer

We need to learn how to pray like children, no clichés, just being real with God and praying exactly what it on your mind. They are honest, simple and direct

It is worrying more about our appearances than who we really are. It is that thought process of wondering what will people think of me if I really run into Jesus’ lap and I embrace His presence. It may be the same mentality that comes into your mind if you thought about raising your hands in worship. I don’t want to appear too different from everyone else.

That is exactly what is going through the minds of those trying to keep the children from Jesus. We need to have decency and order.


The Takeaway

Rediscover your faith in Jesus through the eyes of a child, the wonder, the humility and abandonment.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups


What’s the difference between being childlike and childish?
I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with wonder, risk and danger. Do you think life should be lived dangerously? What would a dangerous life look like for you?
Can you name one prominent dream stealer in your life? Did you realize that dream or lose it?
Childlike faith is a faith that longs for God and seeks Him wherever He may be-even in the place of no answers. How do you think you can meet God in “the place of no answers?

Questions are provided from Dangerous Wonder (available in our library)

1 minute of fame in NYC!!

Well, Sharon and I decided to celebrate my 40th / our 18th anniversary in NYC and we had an unbelievable time from seeing the bright lights, big city at Times Square to the decorated and packed Macy's! We also strolled in Central Park, watched the production STOMP and celebrated our anniversary at a Thai restaurant, the Holy Basil. We ate at Tom's Restaurant, the one seen in Seinfield and navigated the metro subway. However, the highlight of our trip came on our last day, December 11th '07 as we woke up at 4:15am to catch the subway from Queens to go to Columbus Ave and 66th to see Regis and Kelly Live. We waited there in the stand by line from 5:50am to 7:40am, enjoyed free hot chocolate and we were 7th and 8th in line. We also hit it off right away with #6, Carin from DC who we discovered to be a Christian as well. Check out her blog at http://wanderer.oozy.ws/ She retells the story much better than me...So, at 7:40am, they gave us our numbers and we grabbed brkfst at Starbucks. We were back in line at 8:30am and then at 8:45am, they would eventually take in 12 of us and we got front row seats in the corner on the left side. I took my coat off, get settled and a producer came up to us and asked us if we wanted to dance and we said SURE!!! So, after 10 minutes of practice, we were on to do our thing... The icing on the cake was that this was their Christmas gift week so everyone in the studio audience received $500- gift cards...are you kidding me!!! What a blast, God is good, real good to this crazy pastor and his amazing wife who got another few, "you look like Cameron Diaz" in line to make her day! :) Here is the link to the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arVbEaO4Rdk

Doing The Impossible...

I have been thinking a lot about that word this week. You put together a inter-faith symposium on religion and global peace that places a rabbi, a religious cleric from Islam and an ordained minister together to talk about what we share together and that would be impossible in many parts of the world. Well, I was there and it happened on Wednesday night at Milton Sports Center. I t was put on by a branch of Sunni Muslims, Ahmadiyya, who proclaim love for all and hatred for none quite different than Shite muslims who are very violent. We talked about understanding each other as well and visiting each other’s places of worship.

There has been a real concerted effort to bring Muslims and Christians together to dialogue about what we agree about. This movement now has a website where you can sign on http://www.acommonword.com/. It is an open letter to Christians signed by 138 Muslim leaders calling for peaceful coexistence and 300 leading Evangelicals leaders have responded with an affirmation towards this end with the acknowledgement of loving God and loving neighbour. I have to agree with Glenn Penner that there is something even more important than peace and that is truth and we need to realize that anything that does not proclaim Jesus as Lord is a counterfeit. We need to focus on opportunities just not just to keep the peace, but share about Jesus! Check out his writings at persecutedchurch.blogspot.com

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6


The ability to please God without faith

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

I love how the KJV captures the pursuit as it uses the word diligence. It is persistent application of doing things God’s way and He keeps asking me not to do what comes naturally, but supernaturally. You want to keep getting what you always got then do things the way you’ve always done them.

However, if you are ready to walk across the threshold to living your life by faith, be prepared to have your eyes opened wide.

Remember this that you won’t change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing. As Sharon shared last week about being stuck… are you there? Are you ready to move forward? God wants you to change, He wants you to please Him, but you can’t do it in your own strength. You need supernatural empowerment from on high. Pray that the HS would reignite your faith, recapture your heart.

How far are you willing to go to earnestly seek him. There was one such man who wanted God’s blessing on His life so desperately he stayed up all night and wrestled with the Lord until the Lord touched him in such a way that he became completely dependent on him for His every move. In Genesis 22, his name, Jacob was changed to Israel, from a deceiver to one who met God face to face, one who wrestled with God and experienced the fullness of His presence. Make no mistake about it that it came at a price.

In Genesis 32:25, the man that He wrestled with was no ordinary man, but a heavenly wrestler of God and He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so what is the significance of that? No longer could Jacob wrestle, now He was forced to cling to God, to lean his entire weight on Him! Jacob was brought to the end of his own resources

He was physically left limping with the constant reminder to not do things in His own strength. How has God touched you to make you realize that you can’t do it, you can’t live the Christian life. It is only as we desperately come to God, cry out to Him and say walk me through this journey. I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the resilience. Walking in faith says God says I need you to live your life through me…that is faith, believing that in faith God is going to direct your steps, that He is going to reveal the answer as we pray, as we close ourselves into Him!

Without faith, without His blessing, you can’t please God, it is a futile attempt.


The Multiplication of God’s Kingdom Matthew 13:18,19

It cannot be tracked!

Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches."

Faith is something that grows, it does not remain stagnant. It starts as a mustard seed, but faith multiplied is like a mustard seed which grows into a tree. We are to be rooted in faith in such a way that others can rest on the faith, the evidence of and the strength that lies within its branches. It is a movement done in such a way that it grows beyond itself.

There has been a lot of caution out there going against a recent book being made into a movie called ‘The Golden Compass’ and rightly so, we need to be aware of this. Apparently the author aim is to destroy faith in our children being a self proclaimed atheist. It has certainly gotten a lot of airplay on talk radio and the warnings are out there. There are some catholic school boards that have removed the book from their school libraries. The Christian church is best when we are on the offence not the defence.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

Maybe its hard to get the image of a mustard tree in your head so I’ll give you one we can all relate to. Let’s talk about dandelions, now that is a movement. Do you have any idea how much money is spent on trying to eradicate them?? OK, I don’t know, but rest assured it’s a ton! They are a seed producing, manufacturing system. They are so committed to reproduction that they only stay beautiful for a couple of weeks. We need to be a dandelion church and give ourselves away. Church growth told us to look good and be good, but God wants us to give our faith away, start new small groups (house churches), give our stuff to others, share our faith stories, get the message out there. There is more to pursue in life that just not being disturbed by our neighbors!

We need to be a movement of faith and telling our own ‘golden stories of faith’ that point to the True North Star and when He shows up and does the impossible.

The things you do in faith. Matthew 17:20

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

One writer put it this way: “The prayer of faith is a definite request made in definite faith for a definite answer.” Faith is believing God will show up, God will make a way because you know you can’t!

Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.
J Oswald Saunders

The Takeaway:

We serve the God of the impossible, but we can’t go there unless we step out in faith and believe.

Questions For Discussion and Small Groups:

1. How can your faith be increased to believe God for the impossible?

2. Glenn Penner from http://www.persecution.net/ shares, “the Quranic verse (Aal 'Imran 3:64) that served as the inspiration for the Muslim leaders in their open letter entitled "A Common Word Between Us and You" in http://www.acommonword.com/ is not a call to come together and live in peace despite our differences. The call of the passage in its context (Aal 'Imran 3:64-71) is a call for Christians and Jews to give up the lies of their faith and submit to Islam. It is not a call to find

common ground; it is a call to surrender!

Do we truly have common ground with Judaism and Islam? Should we be cautious of this movement? Why?

3. “The prayer of faith is a definite request made in definite faith for a definite answer. What definite prayer requests are you making to God?

By The Spirit!

KEEP ON KEEPING ON WITH FAITH IN GOD! Luke 11:9-13
When it comes to a prayer of faith, how desperate are we to see God act. Jesus keeps telling us to keep on asking, keep on looking, keep on knocking. The prayer of faith means we will not take no for an answer until God shows us otherwise! It is the confidence to believe.
Last week, I loved what one of you said to me following the service. This person came back to the table to grab more mustard seeds and the response was, “I am grabbing a whole bunch of these to stick all over my place!”
When God is at work and amazing things happen, those who are the instruments remain just that. They are humbled by the realization of what God has blessed them with. Usually the ones who have the gift are the most reluctant to accept what they have been given because they know the depth of where that might lead them and who that might lead them to. They don’t take credit for it, they recognize the hand of God give the glory to God. It’s that simple.

Every movement for the advancement of the gospel must be created and inspired by prayer EM Bounds

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

His plan for people to come to know Him is by prayer
Isaiah 58:9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Psalm 50:15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

It is that willingness to be silent, to remove the distractions, to just pause and to listen and wait for his promptings, his leading that is so powerful and transforming in our lives.

The flipside is also true…by not praying is a denial of the power of God, a denial of his nature and his desire for all people. Prayerlessness is a denial of God Himself.

The absence of prayer lessens all the life forces of the soul, cripples faith, sets aside holy living, shuts out heaven. EM Bounds
Intercession for others is the highest aspect of prayer because of its broad and unselfish application.

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS BELIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL THE ANSWER! John 16:5-16
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of guilt
· In regard to sin – because men do not believe in me.
The main sin that the Holy Spirit convicts of is the sin of unbelief.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4.
But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:16…back track a little more and this only happens through Christ v14

It is the sin of unbelief that condemns a person. There are a lot of good humans out there and they have cleaned up their act quite nicely I must admit. They are ‘good’ people, but without Jesus they are still lost and in need of a Saviour. You can quit all your bad habits, still be lost and headed for hell.


The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. He will not lead you to do things that are contrary to the example of Christ or the teaching of the Word.
He will tell you about the future... This is the ministry of the prophetic. You cannot pin down or tell me how the Spirit works. John 3 Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible, but very powerful. You cannot explain or predict the movements of the wind and it is the same with the Spirit of God. He is the one who will show you the how, give you the when and tell you the way!
He will bring Christ glory The key to recognizing a counterfeit is studying the real thing and with money, it is discovered in the unique markings. When trying to discern when someone is speaking prophetically or sharing about the work and movement of God, get a sense of who is getting the glory here. Where are the accolades going, where are people running? Are they running towards God, is Christ receiving the glory or is it self and the pursuit of personal gain?

Prayer is not ME theology…we pick up on Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9 where it states he was, ‘claiming to be someone great’ He was very influential, they called him the great one! He became a believer and thought that He could ‘buy in’ to the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter and John could see right through him.


He will reveal to you what He receives from Jesus...
I can’t figure out why God heals and answers prayers for some people and not for others. I do know this, prayer changes me, it changes my attitude and enables us to build a strong foundation for when the storms really hit. It gives us strength to endure and at times to accept the pain and we must endure. You may get to the place where you say God, “I give up” and it is there that He can also bring assurance and the groanings of the Spirit which cannot be understood, but God knows and He cares very deeply for His children Romans 8:28,29. The Holy Spirit is your ultimate intercessor before God.
Isaiah 64:6 For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
We are being called to put God to work! Prayer moves the hand of God

Christ could do nothing without prayer. The apostles were helpless without prayer – and were absolutely dependent upon it for success in defeating their spiritual foes. The could do all things by prayer.
EM Bounds

The Takeaway
The God of the OT and NT is the same God today and as we pray we will see how He continues to break into history supernaturally.
Here’s my challenge, the wake up BELL for every week -

B – bless 3 people/week –share, give, encourage
E – eat with 3 people/week - Jesus ate good food with bad people…that was his life. get good at hospitality. If you can’t make it, then ‘treat’ it!
L – listening prayer – practice it for an hour/week
L- learn together
S – share together, journal how God is giving you divine appointments and interrupting your life, your workplace during the week and tell those stories to each other in your house churches…be energized by it.