Dagon Has Fallen

Posted by Danny

Friday, March 9, 2012

Hilarious idol stories. May I say, RIDICULOUS god narratives? If they were not true, they would be virtually impossible to believe. For instance…

Jacob's father-in-law is tweaked because his daughters, grandkids, and cheap-labor son-in-law are relocating without the common courtesy of saying "good-bye." He tracks them down and commands a thorough search of their properties because someone has "stolen his gods." How big is his god? His daughter successfully hid it under her skirt! Genesis 31

With an ancient John Deere (a pulling team of oxen), Gideon demolishes the community gods in one short night. When the perpetrator of the blasphemous assault is identified, the people rise up to avenge their gods. His father insightfully declares, "If he (Baal) is a god, let him contend for himself." Judges 6:31 Hmmm…novel thought there.

The bookmakers had the odds at 450 to 1, but after hours of desperate pleading and humiliating failure, Elijah taunts them. "Either he (Baal) is occupied (not multi-tasking well), or gone aside (time-out in the little boys room), or is on a journey (and left you behind), or perhaps he is asleep (exhausted from taking care of losers) and needs to be awakened (failure of internal clock)." 1 Kings 18:27

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Living a G-rated Life in a ‘Mature-audiences-only’ World

Posted by Danny

Friday, March 2, 2012

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

They pointed out her sin.  He pointed to her Savior.

Isn’t it painfully true that the sins in the lives of those around us appear to be so much viler and so much more visible?  The pride of our hearts assures us that such decadence is far beneath our failures.  What they are doing, I would NEVER do!

They had set their trap, made their move, and drug her--in judgmental self-righteousness--into the glaring morning sun.  They exposed the overexposed adulterous to the light of the Holy One. They would hear Him render a guilty verdict that would place Him in an inescapable corner…the conflict of the Law of Moses and the laws of Rome. The perfect snare.  How proud they were of their excellent plan!

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”  John 8:7

A little doodling in the dust and a pregnant season of silence, then the Holy One of God was alone with the fallen daughter of Eve.

“Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?  Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”  John 8:10-11

How pious and self-righteous we become when we arrogantly draw attention to the despicable behaviors of those in the world that surrounds us.  The minor “mis-steps” of the members of the church seem so insignificant when contrasted to the unspeakable behaviors of outsiders.  It is easy to rise in judgment of the world while standing indifferently to our own sins.

“For what do I have to do with judging outsiders?  Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  God judges those outside.  Purge the evil person from among you.”  (emphasis added)

The mission of the Church is not to point out the sins of the world.  The mission of the Church is to point the world to the forgiving grace of the Savior!

See you Sunday, Church!

Pastor Tom

Sunday “left-overs” on Tuesday

Posted by Danny

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Giving is great when comprehension of grace is deep!

Hezekiah ascended to the Throne after a couple of decades of serious spiritual decay. Here’s the historical record…

• Uzziah is greatly blessed…until pride in accomplishments removes God from the throne of his heart and he seats himself in God’s place.
• The legendary King dies with the mark of God’s curse upon him and a son ascends to the throne. In personal piety, Jotham follows the Law of the Lord. But in practice, the King neither prioritizes worship no stirs the heart of his people to turn from idolatrous practices. His reign looks good in the performance side, but bad on the eternal plane.
• Then the wheels fall off! Along comes sixteen downgrade years under the influence of Ahaz. He not only ignores true worship at the Temple of the Lord, but he actually institutes idols into the routine of his life. He takes it beyond the pale of our imagination. He sacrifices his very own children LITERALLY on the fires of pagan idols! When times got tough, he raided the House of the Lord and gave its sacred properties as a bribe to God’s enemies. “In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord…” 2 Chron. 28:22

The canvas is set, displaying the darkened skyline of ultimate decadence and an unbridgeable chasm of departure from the Lord – enter Hezekiah.  

He immediately sets out to return the heart of his people to the Lord. Both properties and people are consecrated again. Blood is shed and blood is applied as formerly defiled places and people are cleansed. The praise band cranks up its instruments and the worship team raises up their voices. “And they sang praise with gladness, and they bowed and worshiped. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.” 2 Chron. 29:36 God had prepared carefully what His people were about to do spontaneously. The people had just witnessed the incineration of (in today’s dollars) a $22,750 offering! And the worship had only just begun…

By week’s end, the people of God, so enormously moved by the covering and restoring grace of God, gave offerings totaling $7,700,000. As they watched that entire gift rise to heaven in consuming smoke, they sang, they prayed, and they rejoiced. Giving is great when comprehension of grace is deep!

Cleansing Corinth from the Church 1 Corinthians 5:6-13

Posted by Danny

Friday, February 24, 2012

The evidence has faded away. No one entering the Sunday gathering, nor arriving for any weekday activity even notices it any longer; but at the time, they left their mark.

It was raining hard but Jerry and I were on a mission, so we ignored the weather. With rags in hand and a powerful chemical, we scrubbed away the message spray painted on the front of the church building. It took effort and time, but we felt that we had done the best we could do in light of the circumstances. Graffiti was erased. Some of our fellow churches were not so blessed. The same message painted on brick walls requires far more effort if it is to be permanently removed. Spray-painting a message on a church entrance is not appropriate; and rightfully, even the non-religious of our city would display a bit of indignation. Who would assault a church building and consider it acceptable to display such crude artistic effort?

This blue metal building is not the Church. It is, however, a facility resource where the Church regularly gathers. The Lord of the Church is far more concerned about what marks the gathered Church than He is about what graffiti message marks its housing. So while we take immediate and energetic action when the spray paint declares its message, we tend to give little attention when its members "mark" the true Church.

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:16-7) In seeing the Church, the Apostle was indignant, but those who were the Church were indifferent. "You are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Your boasting is not good."

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The Down-side Of Grace

Posted by Danny

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

Striking the balance between Legalism and Liberty is a continual challenge. As Dr. Tom Dworak would say in his Bible studies on grace, “It is far easier to live under law than to live under grace. Under law you have checklists to determine your behavior. Under grace you must study, reflect, pray and decide. Its always easier to have someone else do your thinking for you!”

As we move to the second major section of Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthian saints, we receive a “wake up” call regarding the abuses of grace. A brother has gone beyond the pale of moral latitudes and his brothers and sisters seem to interpret it as an amazing testimony of the covering breadth of grace. Paul issues a stern wake up call. “Because he is our brother and his lifestyle is distorting the purity of the gospel, step up to him and call him out on it. Challenge him to radical repentance!”

In reflection, our summary was:

Take it personally: As David prayed, we must pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is ANY hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.” Our own hearts deceive us but they are an open book to Him! (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Pray up and Step up: Non-involvement may seem the comfortable way but it is not the loving way. Care enough to personally prepare your own heart and then love enough to go. (Matthew 7:1-5)

Keep it private: Talk it over with God and no one else. He knows and it is He who turns the heart. Expect that grace will greet your going and that a heart will be turned toward home. (Matthew 18:15)

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