More Than a Prophet

Our church uses Christian Light Publications lesson plan. This is my week to teach Sunday School and so I thought I would put my notes in a post.

More Than a Prophet

Matthew 11:1-15

Intro/Context

Some of us tend to be very skeptical people, when i hear about “something new” or “revolutionary” I tend to say “really? Are you certain about that?” Why is this? I think it is because often times things simply are not as they sound. Rather we trust our own senses, which may not be very accurate or we question someone we trust.

I just did it recently with Walter. He came in to the office looking for a recommendation on getting an electronic log system for his truck. So I looked up this system on the company’s website and then found some reviews. The reviews I found were very unfavorable. People complained that the device would register them to be driving when clearly they were not etc. I then suggested that he calls someone who, like him, is an independent operator and already has a system in his truck. Ask what they use and how they like it. In other words talk to someone you trust.

That's what we find in our lesson today. John wanted answers so he sent someone whom he could trust.

Background

Read Matthew 9:35-37

In Matthew 10 we find Jesus selecting 12 disciples Read Matthew 10:1-6

Jesus gives them a list of instructions...this is the jist of Matthew 10.

The Prophet’s Concern

What does Jesus do while the disciples are gone? He goes about preaching in the home towns of his disciples.

John the Baptist meanwhile, is languishing in prison since (Matthew 4:12) his arrest. He must have been having some doubts and since he couldn’t go to Jesus himself, he sends 2 trusted disciples with John’s burning question: Are you truly the ONE?

Read Luke 7:21.

Luke records a specific item that Matthew doesn’t. Jesus began a healing demonstration for John’s disciples. “In that hour…”

Then Jesus says to the visiting disciples, “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see:

• Blind see
• Lame walk
• Lepers are cleansed
• Deaf hear
• Dead are raised up
• Poor have the Gospel preached to them.
• Last but not least: Blessed is he who is not offended at me.

This was a list that was rabbinical tradition of what to look for when the Messiah came. (Lee Strobel?) Let’s look at what Isaiah actually said (mistake in lesson commentary).

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:5‭-‬6 KJV 

And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord , and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 29:18‭-‬19 KJV 

Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah 26:19 KJV

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek [poor, afflicted]; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord , that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1‭-‬3 KJV 

For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."
Isaiah 8:11‭-‬15 ESV

How can something small enough to be stumbled over be large enough to be a sanctuary? Just another paradox of the nature of God.

The Prophet’s Character

Matthew 11:7: John was not a pushover

Matthew 11:8: It is possible that the place where Jesus was teaching was within site of Herod’s palace, if not they were most likely familiar with Heriodin or Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.

Matthew 11:9: So what was John?

Matthew 11:10-11:

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 3:1 ESV

Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants.”

John the Baptist was the culmination of the Prophets, he was the last and the greatest...so said Jesus!

How can the least in the Kingdom of Heaven be greater than John?

I am going to suggest to you that it’s because the “least in the Kingdom of Heaven” was able to really know what John was only prophesying about. Our message is not one of future things but of current reality! He who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit or with the fire of judgment is here!

Entering the Kingdom by force??

Somehow over 2000 years and translating between Greek and English we have lost some understanding what Jesus meant by this statement.

Luke 7:29-30 In Luke’s account of this story we find that he doesn’t include this saying but it shows up later in Luke 16:16, however in Luke 7:29-30 we find this parenthetical statement.

(Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John. )
Luke 7:29‭-‬30 NET

I understand this to go back to Isaiah 8:14-15 and the picture of Jesus being the “sanctuary” or a “rock of offense”. The proud who refused to admit their sins and repent caused violence and those who did found Jesus to be the sanctuary for their souls. Where are you?

Elijah the Prophet (verse 13-14)

Jesus clearly pointing to Malachi 4:5. John was Elijah who was to come!
Application

Jesus offered proof that He indeed was the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ. To everyone he will become either the refuge of their soul or He will be a stone that causes you to stumble and will ultimately destroy you.

Application

Today! Is the the great and awesome “Day of the Lord”, because you have a choice! Take refuge today!

Return to blogging

Let's Try This Again

Once again I have decided to take up blogging. I see that it has been almost 2 years since my last post. The pictures of the children have begun to look very dated, not to mention that they are missing one of the children.

Why Post?

My number 1 reason is that I have been challenged to work through the hard problems of understanding scripture and faith. Many bloggers blog to generate readership, others generate questions and controversy. My intention...whether successful or not is to work through some of these questions and post it for the world to read. Whether they will read it or not, I will let up to them.

Bright Alternatives Banquet

Thank you children!

You have to forgive the shaky camera, it's really hard to hold a phone steady.

The winter that never ends

Spring Fever

I don't remember such a cold, bitter winter...even back when I was a kid. It's simply been brutal. Three (3) times I saw -20 (give or take a degree)

February 16

Can't have a campfire...no problem.

Finally on the last shot of -20 the thermometer gave up...found it later in the snow.

I think I could just take 1 picture and then put several dates to it.

I was really intrigued with the flakes.

There is a promise in the Bible.

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Genesis 8:22 (NIV)

So, sometime spring will come...maybe next week.

 

Of Rats and Snakes

What do snakes eat?

About a month ago I launched a website for a local pet food store.  But not to sell dog or cat food. This time it's for frozen rats (and mice). Hey pet snakes need to eat too...yuck.

He's dead, Jim.

 From what I understand...these people, the snake owners, warm up this cold one and dangle it in front of there dear python.

See if you can read the price on this one.

Some of the snakes are picky...they don't like TV dinners, they prefer fresh food.

Yum, yum? Here serpent, time for din, din.

Somehow the naked ones are especially unappealing. The small ones are indeed cute.

Some of these did go for pets. They were just too cute. Um..ok. Somehow the snake owners bought 20 or 30 and the pet people only bought one. Hmm.

So here's what happened. About 2 weeks ago (I know, I am slow at getting my writing done) I went along with the pet food store owner aka The Bradford Feedery, to the Steel City Reptile Expo in Pittsburgh partly to promote the website and partly to unload some snake food. It was a long, fun day and we sold approximately 300 critters. I don't think any ran away although a few tried.

These didn't run away. We had to keep them a little warmer on the trip.

Some very nice displays.

I didn't try any, so I can't vouch for the taste. I am sure it tastes like chicken.

This was an interesting critter at the stand next to us. It is a Crested Gecko.

Jesse inspecting the wares.

I think he saw a snake.

I'll rescue you!  JK

I didn't get a picture of this one. Jesse was standing by a cage with a fairly large snake in it. The snake was hissing and decided to strike at Jesse. Surely that would have been a Kodak moment.

 So if you know someone who needs a pack of one of these (delicious?) feeder rats. Please stop by our website at www.northernrodents.com

Shipping gets expensive with dry ice but considering the fact that you might only feed your snake once a week or once a month, it's really not too bad if you order a larger quantity.

Anyone hungry?

This was all a learning experience with Google Adwords and Facebook ads. But that goes for another post.

Hunting with Children

It's a little like cooking with children, things are a little more messy and it adds an interesting twist.

Let me back up a little. A few years ago I gave up hunting, it was...boring. You sat in the woods and watched for animals that didn't appear. It's times like that, that you begin to think about all the other things you could be doing. Things that don't include getting cold or wet.

Now fast forward a few years, a few of my friends introduced me to a different method of hunting called "driving". This included crazy things like stomping through briars and swamps while a few of your friends watched for deer. When you get to your "standers" (if you find them) you swap stories about near misses (or hits) and on the odd occasion you watch someone else gut a deer. There was camaraderie and action, it was not boring...hard work but not boring.

Then it happened 2 years ago, I got something, a buck, not big but it wasn't boring. Then last year I got something else, a bear, not big but it sure wasn't boring.

This year I was introduced to a new aspect of hunting, hunting with my children. Me and my group of friends was not nearly as successful as some years and so I attempted to remedy the situation on my own. I also purchased a mentor license for my son, only to discover that my oldest daughter also thought it would be fun to give it a try. Hmm.

It came down to the last week and I promised each child a turn, my gun was a bit big for an 8 year old so I was to do the shooting and he was to be quiet. You know how that worked out, right?

First we saw this guy...oops this wasn't while hunting.

Kicking snow in the stream

But alas we didn't see anything. That was Thursday.

Then it was Saturday and my daughter's turn. We got an early start of 9:30 AM and quietly crept into the woods, actually it was more of a crunch, crunch into the woods. We had a thin glaze of ice over the snow that loudly crunched when walking on it.

We found our first spot...but I wasn't satisfied, so we moved.

While Autumn watched through the branches...

I watched from beside the trail.

Later I discovered that I took this picture about 10 minutes before I shot the deer.

She saw the deer about the same time I did, she saw me get down and aim, but when I FIRED, she about jumped out of her skin!!!

No she didn't shoot it, but I believe she could have.

Yes it was a buck that had shed it's antlers.

And we were on our way home by 11:30 or 12:00. And I must admit that it helped to have some "drivers" nearby.

Hunting with children definitely adds another aspect to the sport (SHHHHHH!!! Be quiet!!). I suppose any activity that provides 1:1 time with your children builds character, sometimes more in the parent than in the children but nonetheless builds character.  That's good right?

I also informed my daughter that this could hardly be classified as "hunting". It was too easy. This was getting, not hunting.

How shall we live?

 I became a bookworm...well not really but I did just finish 2 books that have really gotten me thinking. The first one I finished was "How Should We Then Live?" by Francis A. Schaeffer. I should say that I "listened" to it rather than read it, that's the same thing, right?

In this book Mr. Schaeffer looks at the history of the culture and church from the time of Roman Empire at the time of Christ until the 1970's (or early 1980's). One of the things that he points out throughout the book is how art reflected the worldview of the culture and the artists. The main point of his thesis is how culture and man in general degrades when he resorts to humanistic thinking (ie. Man begins with himself to find the answers to life) and he revives when he turns to God for his answers and begins with an Almighty Creator as his foundation for thinking.

The second book, (I read this one) was "Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up" by David W. Bercot. (This is pronounced "Burr-so" not "Burr-kot".) Wow, did this one ever get my wheels turning. Mr Bercot has spent a lot of time studying the writings of the early church leaders particularly the Ante-Nicean writers (ante-Nicaean means before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD not "against" Nicaea). He reviews how these early Christians understood the Scripture and the Gospel message. Mr. Bercot made a significant effort to find the teachings that were universally taught in various places and at various points in time.

There are several issues he discusses as examples of what these men taught and understood:

• Salvation
• Predestination/Free will
• Baptism
• Abortion
• Divorce
• Military Service and/or government involvement.
• Living in community/brotherhood.
• Prosperity ie. health and wealth gospel.

Then the writer switches gears and looks at how things changed in the early 300's with Constantine as well as the effects of Augustine's teachings. I never realized how much Augustine's teachings influenced the church from Catholicism to the Reformation. Much of the Reformed/Lutheran theology is based on Augustine's teaching. 

I don't want to create a tl;dr post so I will try to get to the point. I also don't want to insult your intelligence by re-typing the entire book(s) here...you can read them yourself (and you should). Here's my question: How should we then live? 

1. With an unwavering commitment to Christ despite rejection, persecution, trials, family ties, financial success or failure, and temptation.
2. A life of holiness.

Sounds simple...Jesus said that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:30. This Gospel is still easier than carrying around a load of guilt and regret.

I was in prison

I was in prison...but they left me out again.

The only picture I was allowed to take.

What if you could equip a church in a town of 1200-1300 people? That's what we attempted to do last weekend when I volunteered with the Light of Hope Rebound seminar with several other men.

Going into prison is always intimidating. You think you need to empty your pockets when you go through airport security? Try entering a prison!

So what's it like? It's a little taste of Heaven. We worshiped with brothers from all sorts of nationalities and backgrounds. It wasn't quite the way I am used to worshipping. Perhaps you are used to a band in church, I am not. :) But that's OK.

When you think of prison ministry you think of going behind the bars and "ministering" to the people who are stuck there, perhaps lead someone to Christ and explain the Gospel to him for the first time. While that may happen, that was not my experience this time. I was challenged, blessed, and I am still processing some of the things I learned in the seminar.

There were about 30-50 men who appeared to make up the core of the church behind the bars. They told us that normal attendance on a Sunday service was in the 100-150 range. The men I met were men on fire. They glowed! I think if you would have turned out the lights, it would have been well lit.

This seminar was organized as a follow up to the spring crusade organized by Light of Hope Evangelistic Ministry.  Amos Stoltzfus was the main speaker although the volunteers had the opportunity to share.

Why was I so blessed and challenged? When you really stop and think about it I am really no different than these men. They are sinners and so am I. They face challenges and so do I. They fail and so do I. But here they were, serving the Lord with all of their hearts in a very difficult and dangerous environment. Wow!

Pray for these brothers! They have goals for reaching the lost both around them and outside the fence.

Time goes so quickly.

Hold tight to the sound of the music of living,

Happy songs from the laughter of children at play;

Hold my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows,

Making mem'ries of what was today.

Chorus: We have this moment to hold in our hands

and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,

But we have this moment today.

Tiny voice that I hear is my little girl calling,

For Daddy to hear just what she has to say;

And my little son running there by the hillside,

May never be quite like today.

Tender words, gentle touch and a good cup of coffee,

And someone who loves me and wants me to stay;

Hold them near while they're here and don't wait for tomorrow,

To look back and wish for today.

Take the blue of the sky and the green of the forest,

And the gold and the brown of the freshly mown hay;

Add the pale shades of spring and the circus of autumn,

And weave you a lovely today.

Gaither

Just some goofing around but they grow up so quickly.

Our Gift

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even

praise unto our God:

Many shall see it, and fear,

And shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust,

And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O LORD my God,

Are thy wonderful works which thou hast done,

And thy thoughts which are to us-ward:

They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire;

Mine ears hast thou opened:

Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come:

In the volume of the book it is written of me, 

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God:

Yea, thy law is within my heart.

 (Psalms 40:1-8) KJV

We prayed and we prayed. What for? For a healthy baby, one with a palate! Twice we have had children who had a birth defect known as Pierre Robin Sequence. It falls in the category of Cleft Palates but is somewhat different because the airway is usually obstructed and causes breathing difficulties. So while expecting our 6th child this condition was on our minds. Will we have another one? 

Let me make one point here, I know there are many families out there who have experienced far worse issues in bringing children into the world, my heart goes out to you.

We had ultrasounds and the doctors felt confident...as confident as they could in their limited knowledge, that this baby was good to go.

On Friday at 7:31 AM a healthy baby girl was born to us! (I won't write the name here for privacy reasons.) She can breath, eat, and cry just like a "normal" baby should. HOW AMAZING!!!

God does answer prayers, and even if he hadn't answered this specific one the way we would have wanted, we would have praised Him anyway. But no, He gave us a wonderful, healthy child and we are rejoicing. 

So how do you praise God for something like this? Psalm 40:6-8 gives that answer: 

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

 (Psalm 40:6-8) 

Basically it is a gift...how do you repay a gift? You don't, that would be considered a purchase not a gift.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins:
Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee,
When I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
And in thy book all my members were written,
Which in continuance were fashioned,
When as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
When I awake, I am still with thee.
 (Psalms 139:13-18)