Date: 13 January 2009
Bible (NT/OT):
Matt 8
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them."
The Faith of a Centurion
5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Jesus Heals Many
14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
Jesus Calms a Storm
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." 26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"
Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men
28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." 32 And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Ps 9:13-14
Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:14 That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
Sun Tzu:
Discipline means organization, chain of command, and logistics. Organization means that the troops must be grouped in a regulated manner. Chain of command means that there must be officers to keep the troops together and lead them. Logistics means overseeing supplies.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Melody (tune) is a succession of pitches arranged in a way that they make coherent sense or seem to belong together. Melodies are usually divided into shorter “phrases”. These musical phrases are usually arranged in a musical question (antecedent) and answer (consequent) format. Harmony on the other hand is several pitches that belong together played at the same time.
Events:
Yesterday, I got up took Sadie for a run, read, wrote then drove up to Fort Hood. While driving I was listening to Glen Beck who echoed something that I have been feeling for some time now. Glen Beck was discussing “global climate change” the new term for the old “global warming” since it is apparent that we actually have not been warming for nearly 10 years now. I have a couple thoughts on global warming:
1. The pollutants of cars and factories pales in comparison to the natural pollutants of a forest fire or volcano. The world has been adapting fine to the above for billions of years so what is another drop in the bucket if, let’s be honest it’s not hurting anything (best guess maybe a degree warmer over the last 100 yrs and who knows what actually caused this).
2. My biggest peeve against global climate change is that we are throwing billions of both public and private money towards fixing a theoretic problem when we have real problems that truly need and deserve that money. The fact that the Global warming people could organize a worldwide campaign and raise millions of dollars is great but where did that money go? What could those millions of dollars have done for the troops fighting our nation’s two wars? What could that money have done for the starving and sick around the world? Places where 10 dollars could save a life, not where we throw millions upon millions of dollars at a fictional problem. I don’t fault the good people who are truly concerned about our future on this planet, I fault the media and Al Gore’s of the world that have sensationalized a theoretical problem that even the scientific community cannot agree upon. The theoretical “global warming” needs to be last page news until we have some causal relationship between manmade pollutants and actual warming. It may, in fact, be real but until we have a verifiable diagnosis how can we justify throwing millions of dollars and crazy solutions at it? You would not think me a very good physician if I saw a patient and without any tests or verification, just my hunch not only told the patient that they had Cancer but started them on expensive and extremely dangerous chemotherapy. The treatment that we have attempted for Global Warming is just that, treating a disease without a diagnosis with expensive therapies that are unproven and potentially more dangerous than the original theoretical disease.
Got to Hood, saw some patients and stayed in Temple last night.
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them." Jesus does not heal or witness with the same dramatization that we see in many churches today. Why is this? I don’t truly know but I have a couple thoughts. Here Christ wants to ensure that the ceremonial law is kept in that a Jew with Leprocy was to be declared “Clean” by the priest before re-entering society. By avoiding this law the man 1) could have been thrown into jail but worse 2) If the Priests had known that Jesus had healed the man, they likely would not have declared him clean. They would have instead made it seem as though Jesus failed at his miracle so to discredit him. But why isn’t Jesus racing from town to town preaching and healing with great impetus? I mean he’s only got like 3 years to “win” as many souls for God as possible right? Jesus ultimately understood, as we should, that it is God who draws and God who saves. It would be shocking for a present day minister to say to his high-school kids leaving for their summer mission, “If San Antonio doesn’t welcome you and receive your message, just keep going, don’t stay there and debate, fight or “win” just leave.” Not very motivating but this amounts to what Jesus says in Matthew 10. Our Job is to Share the Gospel, it is not to fight or convince. And, it is defiantly not to water it down so that it is more tolerant and acceptable.
2. Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. What a leader, to care this much for his servant. So what is it that Jesus Loves? The Soldiers Faith right? But Faith in what? Why does Jesus say he has found no such faith in Israel? We Christians throw around faith all the time. It seems that all you need for salvation is some abstract concept of Jesus. As James says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19-20)”
Jesus is impressed with this Gentile’s acknowledgement of his deity and sovergenity. The Centurion is a Gentile not a Jew, he did not have the privilege knowing the old testament and all of it’s prophecies to the Kingship of the Christ . None the less, the Centurion first acknowledges Christ as Lord, then acknowledges Christ’s dominion over man, sickness and distance. The Faith of this gentile is not simply in Christ as healer, but in Christ as Lord. Everyone could see that Jesus could heal but the centurion announces Christ’s Lordship. This profession precedes that of Jesus closest disciples by months to years. This is why the Centurion is so highly praised. There was a recent controversy in the church over what was called “lordship salvation”. The question was, can a person be saved by faithfully acknowledging Christ’s power over death without acknowledging Christ’s Lordship over them? Can a person be saved who cries out for salvation but does not the have any desire to live by the law of God? Interesting discussion, food for thought but in the end the answer is no. In salvation we realize that we have been bought with a very costly price, we have been rescued from sin and death and if we are truly saved we are grateful beyond words and could no longer allow for sin to rule our lives. Do we fall and sin? Yes but as Christians do we want sin and the self to sit on the throne of our lives NO, that is not if we are true believers.
3. V11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fulfillment of the promise that even the Gentiles would be saved through this coming, now come messiah. Despite Jewish tradition, salvation does not and never did depend on lineage.
4. V22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." A difficult saying, but one that tests the heart. Will we choose our worldly relationships and loves over Christ? This verse, of course, does not forbid us from attending funerals. The point is that this scribe is standing with Jesus and with the opportunity to follow Christ looks back and sees a more worthy activity. Jesus will later says “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:37-38)” Christ is our savior and our only king or he is nothing to us and we should sleep in on Sunday mornings.
5. V 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" I wonder what the Centurion’s response would have been.
6. Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Make no mistake, we serve a Victorious King, even the Demons acknowledge this. In due time, the events spoken of in the closing chapters of Revelation will come to pass and the ruler of this current age (the devil) and his demons will be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone (Rev 20:10) and we will sit down and dine with our fellow saints and triumphant King.
7. V34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
This entire chapter has recorded Jesus dominion first over the Jew (with leprosy), then over the Gentile (Centurion), then over nature (boat incident) and now over the demons. And when faced with such dominion what is fallen man’s response? Run, leave, escape. Everyone wants a savior, no one wants a Lord. No one wants to step off his throne and let Jesus take over.
8. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:14 That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. As we step off our throne and fall in line with Christ, our reward may not be our “best life now” but it will be our best life soon. We will find a Heavenly father far more loving and forgiving than any worldly father could ever be. A Father that knows us intimately and looks forward to spending eternity with us.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Matt 7
Date: 12 January 2009
Bible (NT/OT):
Matt 7
Judging Others
7 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
6 "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Ask, and It Will Be Given
7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Golden Rule
12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
I Never Knew You
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
Build Your House on the Rock
24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
The Authority of Jesus
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Ps 8:3-4
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Sun Tzu:
Leadership is a matter of Intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness. A general should have these five virtues
1. Intelligence involves ability to plan and to know when to change effectively.
2. Trustworthiness means to make people sure of punishment or reward.
3. Humaneness means love and compassion for people, being aware of their toils.
4. Courage means to seize opportunities to make certain of victory without vacillation.
5. Sternness means to establish discipline in the ranks by strict punishments.
Reliance on intelligence alone results in rebelliousness. Exercise of humaneness alone results in weakness. Fixation on trust results in folly. Dependence on strength of courage results in violence. Excessive sternness of command results in cruelty. When one has all five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a military leader.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006)
Eratosthenes (276-194BC), besides being creating the concepts of longitude, latitude, musical scales and prime numbers, is best known for measuring the circumference (size) of the world. Eratosthenes knew of a well in Syene, Egypt where at noon on June 21’st (the longest day) the sun would shine all the way to the bottom. This meant that the sun was directly over head (no shadows). Eratosthenes also realized that if the earth was round, then at the same moment the sun’s rays must be hitting Alexandria, Greece at an angle and casting a shadow. The following year, Eratosthenes went to Greece and measured the angle the shadow cast on 21 June. Eratosthenes knew that the angle of the shadow was equivalent to the angle formed by the two cities and the center of the earth. He then divided the angle by 360 degrees and determined the fraction that separated the cities. He realized that 1/50th of the earth separated the two cities. So all he then had to do was measure the distance between the two cities . When Eratosthenes had the distance between the two cities he simply multiplied by 50 and came up with 24,700 miles (actual measurement is 24,902miles).
Events:
Yesterday, I got up read and wrote then went to Church at Redeemer Presbyterian. We had an amazing guest speaker, the president of Covenant Theological Seminary, one of the PCA Seminaries. He preached on Daniel 7 and how Christian fits into God’s “big plan” of redemption. He presented an interesting concept that I had never heard of (that I will have to explore much more), that the Thrones (pleural) in Daniel 7 refers not only to those of God the Father and Christ, but also correlates to 1st Corinthians 6:2-4 which reads “2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.” Meaning that the Saints would in effect sit with God in the Judgment of the world??? Have to really think about that one. After Church, I finished up my work on “Are we a Stench to the Culture.” Went to Palates with Marla and finally came up with a title for the blog and started to register it. “From East to West,” a play on both Psalms 103: “and I will separate them from their sin’s as far as the east is from the west”, and also that the entire purpose of the blog is keep me connected with my family from the east (Iraq) to the west (USA)
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. 7 "Judge not, that you be not judged. How silly we must look with our self-righteous judgment when compared to the perfect judgment of God. God not only has upheld the standard (thereby giving him the right to be the judge) but he has also the perfect knowledge with which to judge. We judge with the plank in our eye of our own sin. We know in part both our neighbors actions and know not at all our neighbors heart. So why would we go out on a limb and venture a guess about the “rightness” of our neighbors action? I have great comfort when I am wronged. I know that if the person that wronged me is or will become a Christian, then in the end when we both sit in heaven, he will realize his actions and be truly sorry for them. Sorrier than he could ever be for them while on earth with a plank in his eye. I also know that if the person that wrongs me in not and never does become a Christian then the wrong they committed against me will be added to the long list of transgressions that ultimately condemn the unrepentant to an eternity of, “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” A punishment far more severe than I could ever deal on earth and a punishment that ultimately breaks my heart for my aggressor and far short of judging my offender out of anger, now I am feeling sorry for him that he committed this atrocity to me. Judgment belongs to the lord for good reason.
2. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. This verse if very reassuring. That we have a heavenly father who loves us better than any worldly father ever could and is prepared to give us all good things. We must of course remember yesterday’s promise that the father also “knows what we need before we ask,” and realize that a good father does not give his child a poisonous snake even if his child asks. In God’s wisdom, he ultamitly know what will encourage our faith and sanctification and what will discourage our faith and sanctification. This text is used in to terrible ways:
1) As a proof text for the Gospel of Wealth. Let’s do an experiment, right now pray for 1 million dollars to appear on your front door. Now get up and walk over to the door and collect your money. I’m waiting, still waiting. I bet you did not even get up. Why didn’t you get up? Is 1 million dollars not worth the walk? Though the televangelist would say that you must not have really believed your prayer, or maybe you just have to donate some money to him to actually collect your money from god, I would say this verse is not referring to worldly possession that will ultimately lead us away from our God. God is not in the habit of giving us serpents even when we pray “hard” for them. Well what’s a serpent, how about the healing of a disease that is bringing you closer to God and closer to Heaven? How about more money or worldly possession so that you can continue to enjoy “your best life now” and forget about your sin, depravity, need for salvation and future glory. I hope you get the point. God did not leave the money not because he is not there, or because he does not love you, or because he is not trustworthy but because he loves you too much to give your serpents.
2)As a proof text for the Armianian (semi-pelagian) who is determined that we have the power in and of ourselves to ask, seek and knock thus meriting salvation by our own good sense. We must bounce this verse off what Christ says later…“No one can come to me unlesss the Father who sent me draws him. (Jn 6:44).” I love the quote, “Human will is really real, it’s just not really free.” It is entirely true that all who ask, seek and knock find God, but it is also entirely true that no one does this without being first being prompted by the holy spirit. In Calvinism we distinguish regeneration and repentance. God works behind the scenes to regenerate our heart, to create in us a conviction of sin and a love for him, we then and only then willingly ask, seek and find. I could talk about this all day but I don’t have time now. Believe me it will come up again.
3. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Nuff said, we could all write 11 pages on this. I think this one line is why Jesus is considered a “great teacher” by all the other religions. Forget about what comes before and after it J.
4. 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. This is the purpose of works in the gospel. The entire catholic religion goes wrong right here. Good works do not produce salvation, the demonstrate salvation. We are not saved by our good works, rather we are saved (our tree is good) so good works flow. Do believers still sin? All the time but, no true believer can continue very long in unrepentant sin, the Holy Spirit won’t allow it. They will be absolutely miserable.
5. 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' This is a humbling admonition to put our faith into action. By our actions we will see the faith. Is it possible for even the most “spiritual,” those who seem to be performing miraculous signs and wonders (Pentecostals, Benny Hinn’s) to still be unbelievers? Yes. Salvation is not dependant, nor is proven (as Pentecostals would have you believe) by miraculous signs and wonders.
6. "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. On Christ we will build our worldview. As we see the world through the bible’s glasses, the world makes sense. We understand the current troubles, we can cope with the never ending disaster, we will no longer fear man’s assaults or even death, we can truly forgive and serve our neighbor, we can live a joyful and successful life (though not always monetarily) in the looking forward to the promise of future reward.
7. Psalms, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? When we consider that the Holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, creator of the Universe knows and loves us intimately, how could we ever again need worldly affirmation? How could we ever again have self-esteem problems? When the almighty Lord’s love for your is the source of your esteem, you have an esteem that no earthly father, mother, wife, son, daughter, accomplishment, victory, self-help novel or talk show host can ever give… or take away.
Intellectual Devotion:
It is amazing how simple nearly all amazing scientific discoveries seem in retrospect. Amazing achievements can be accomplished by putting together fairly simple concepts. Discovery does not so much depend on building up bigger and bigger ideas as it does breaking down what we observe in the world into the simple concepts we learned in school. I wear a long white coat and let me be the first to say that it does not take someone with a long white coat to figure this stuff out! Use whatever concepts you know and objectively evaluate the world, you’ll be amazed at what you discover.
Matt 6
Date: 11 January 2009
Bible (NT/OT): Matt 6:1-13
Giving to the Needy
6 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Lord's Prayer
5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting
16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Do Not Be Anxious
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Ps 7:17-8:1
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Sun Tzu:
Building on our last thought: Therefore measure in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things:
1. The way (from yesterday): “inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger”
2. The weather (today): “the weather means the season…the rules of the ancient military state that operations should not be carried out in winter or summer, out of concern for the people. Don’t go into another’s territory at an unfavorable time.”
3. The Terrain: “The Terrain is to be assessed in terms of distance, difficulty or ease of travel , dimension, and safety. In any military operation it is important to know the lay of the land. When you know the distance to be traveled, then you can plan whether to proceed directly or by a circuitous route. When you know the difficulty or ease of travel, then you can determine the advantage of infantry or mounted troops. When you know the dimensions of the area, then you can assess how many troops you need, many or few. When you know the relative safety of the terrain, then you can discern whether to do battle or disperse.
4. The Leadership (1/12/09)
5. The discipline (1/13/09)
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
The Limestone bust (shoulders and head) of Nefertiti was discovered in Egypt in 1912. Nefertiti was the most important queen of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (later Akhenaton) who ruled from 1353-1335 BC. During his rule, Akhenaton “one who serves the Sun God”- embraced a new, monotheistic religion that emphasized ethics. Nefertiti is believed to be the driving force behind his conversion. The bust was smuggled out of the country disguised as a piece of broken pottery. The bust now sits in the Altes Museum in Berlin.
Events: Yesterday I went over to the Gym for weights, best in a while (I’ve been rehabbing from a shoulder injury since September). After Weights Marla and I went to a Fitness Yoga class. I absolutely love Yoga and Palates these days and will sorely miss them in Iraq. While it is an incredible workout, it is the only workout that I have ever walked out of and felt healthier, more relaxed and more flexible. I always used to say that I liked working out because it made me feel good, but by good I actually meant bad. I used to “like” the sore feeling because it reminded me that I had done something good for myself. Well, after yoga and palates, I actually do feel good, great in fact. I would go everyday if I could and I’m not too manly to admit it. We then went up to Georgetown to look for houses. We looked at 5 or 6 but did not love any of them. Good thing I guess because we are still a couple months away from being in a position to buy. We love our realtor Darleen Buck (she has been incredibly understanding of both our situation and Marla’s particularity) and would highly recommend her to all moving to the Austin, Georgetown area. Got in bed early last night, no movies or TV.
Deployment update: looks like 11 Feb. I’ll be flying out of Fort Hood with about 20 others to include 2 other captains who I have become strong acquaintances to weak friends with. What a huge blessing, looking like I may be gone 5-6months instead of the 12-15 that I was anticipating. While I will miss Marla terribly, this is a very good thing as we need to get a deployment out of the way so that I am not first up at my next duty station. And 5-6months is a bargain on deployment these days!
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. V1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. This verse summarizes what’s to come. Continuing with the discourse on the Heart of sin as opposed to the action of sin, Christ examines the motives behind what may seem the most pious of actions. First Christ confronts giving, then prayer, then fasting. The promise is that if we are doing these “godly” things to be praised by the world for being generous, pious or devoted then we have received our reward in full as our motivation for such acts is simply worship of man and not worship of God. The discourse on prayer has changed my public prayer for years. I will rarely pray in front of people that I am not extremely comfortable with and many of you may have seen the uncomfortable situation of me denying to pray infront of a group. The reason that I will wave a prayer is that I know that what will come out of my mouth in these situations will be more focused on looking spiritual to my peers, sounding “good” in public than on the actual matters that need prayer. I call it “sabotaging” what may sound externally like a good prayer. I know my heart and one of my greatest struggles has always been vying for everyone’s approval. So as opposed to standing there and acting like a Pharisee, I decline.
2. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him This is one of the most encouraging verses to me. God the father knows what we need for spiritual growth and the Kingdom’s expansion even before we pray, and that’s what he is going to give us no matter what we pray. But what about my prayers for an X-Box even my prayers for ‘aunt betty’s’ recovery from cancer why aren’t they heard? Again, more than the physical body, God restores the Spirit. Occasionally these are in conflict. If my Aunt Betty’s Illness is driving many to Christ then what we need is that Illness, not whatever man-centered prayers that I throw up there. This verse also frees me to create less lofty, abstract prayers. The intimidation aspect that I spoke of earlier goes away. Joel, one of my closest friends who finishes up seminary this spring, once said that when asked to pray in the expectation of a wonderful, lofty seminarian prayer he would love to instead recite the Lord’s prayer, “our father who art in heaven…” and look at peoples expressions. What would people think? From this passage what should they think? I understand writing down a prayer so that we can remember all of the things that we want (obviously not need) to pray for but one of my biggest pet peeves is when people write down a prayer for the purpose of making it sound like the prayer is a literary giant, the next Shakespeare because these prayers are obviously a violation of the above concept. The sole purpose of such a prayer is the prayers glorification, not the glorification of the ruler of the universe from a humble servant.
3. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Tough balance between being a responsible steward of what God has given and holding too thightly to worldly wealth. I often stumble towards the irresponsible steward side. I tend to keep a very “loose grip” on money. Given the choice though this is the side that I will always fall to. God forbid we fall into the trap of the Rich Man supposedly kept all of the law but was not willing to give his worldly temporary possession away in order to inherit eternal life. Of whom jesus said “It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” This is not because as “Rich Men” we need to give in order to be saved, the problem again is where our heart is. We can not serve both God and Money. The Rich Young Ruler (and many today) have chosen the Idol of Money over love for Christ. When asked to abandon the former girlfriend (money) for an eternal marrage (heaven), an adulterous people choose to love their money over their God. This is why it is difficult for the rich man to enter heaven, not because there is some set amount we have to give. Further if we did try to give our way into heaven, blessing etc the attitude Christ would be, “your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God” (Acts 8:20). Money provides worldly comfort and is simply a diagnostic tool of where our heart lies.
4. Vs: 25-34: Live this verse and you will live a happy life. When I examine all of my former worries and what Christ has brought me through, I should no anxiety towards the future (not always the case but something to strive for). Come what may…deployments, injuries, illnesses, I know that I am far more valuable to my Father than I could ever imagine. The worst (and best) thing that could happen is my death and when I can look forward to that, what do I have to be anxious over? Daily in the ER I am confronted with people who live their lives terrified (anxious is too light a word) of pain, suffering and death. Their fear has controlled their lives to the point that they are not worth living. Granted some people truly are dying and proceed to die in front of me, but to those “frequent fliers” (I guess the technical term is Hypochondriacs) with minor ailments who rush to the ED petrified over the slightest cold; I try to emphasize that their anxiety of death will kill them far sooner their cold. As you would expect, I’ve been met with mixed reactions, but believe me this is far better than some of my colleagues techniques.
5. Psalms: I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. The God that I serve (the God of the bible) is worthy of praise and respect.
Intellectual Devotion:
Our Queen’s can have an incredible impact on our spirituality (ask Solomon) for the better or the worse.
Bible (NT/OT): Matt 6:1-13
Giving to the Needy
6 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Lord's Prayer
5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting
16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Do Not Be Anxious
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Ps 7:17-8:1
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Sun Tzu:
Building on our last thought: Therefore measure in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things:
1. The way (from yesterday): “inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger”
2. The weather (today): “the weather means the season…the rules of the ancient military state that operations should not be carried out in winter or summer, out of concern for the people. Don’t go into another’s territory at an unfavorable time.”
3. The Terrain: “The Terrain is to be assessed in terms of distance, difficulty or ease of travel , dimension, and safety. In any military operation it is important to know the lay of the land. When you know the distance to be traveled, then you can plan whether to proceed directly or by a circuitous route. When you know the difficulty or ease of travel, then you can determine the advantage of infantry or mounted troops. When you know the dimensions of the area, then you can assess how many troops you need, many or few. When you know the relative safety of the terrain, then you can discern whether to do battle or disperse.
4. The Leadership (1/12/09)
5. The discipline (1/13/09)
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
The Limestone bust (shoulders and head) of Nefertiti was discovered in Egypt in 1912. Nefertiti was the most important queen of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (later Akhenaton) who ruled from 1353-1335 BC. During his rule, Akhenaton “one who serves the Sun God”- embraced a new, monotheistic religion that emphasized ethics. Nefertiti is believed to be the driving force behind his conversion. The bust was smuggled out of the country disguised as a piece of broken pottery. The bust now sits in the Altes Museum in Berlin.
Events: Yesterday I went over to the Gym for weights, best in a while (I’ve been rehabbing from a shoulder injury since September). After Weights Marla and I went to a Fitness Yoga class. I absolutely love Yoga and Palates these days and will sorely miss them in Iraq. While it is an incredible workout, it is the only workout that I have ever walked out of and felt healthier, more relaxed and more flexible. I always used to say that I liked working out because it made me feel good, but by good I actually meant bad. I used to “like” the sore feeling because it reminded me that I had done something good for myself. Well, after yoga and palates, I actually do feel good, great in fact. I would go everyday if I could and I’m not too manly to admit it. We then went up to Georgetown to look for houses. We looked at 5 or 6 but did not love any of them. Good thing I guess because we are still a couple months away from being in a position to buy. We love our realtor Darleen Buck (she has been incredibly understanding of both our situation and Marla’s particularity) and would highly recommend her to all moving to the Austin, Georgetown area. Got in bed early last night, no movies or TV.
Deployment update: looks like 11 Feb. I’ll be flying out of Fort Hood with about 20 others to include 2 other captains who I have become strong acquaintances to weak friends with. What a huge blessing, looking like I may be gone 5-6months instead of the 12-15 that I was anticipating. While I will miss Marla terribly, this is a very good thing as we need to get a deployment out of the way so that I am not first up at my next duty station. And 5-6months is a bargain on deployment these days!
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. V1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. This verse summarizes what’s to come. Continuing with the discourse on the Heart of sin as opposed to the action of sin, Christ examines the motives behind what may seem the most pious of actions. First Christ confronts giving, then prayer, then fasting. The promise is that if we are doing these “godly” things to be praised by the world for being generous, pious or devoted then we have received our reward in full as our motivation for such acts is simply worship of man and not worship of God. The discourse on prayer has changed my public prayer for years. I will rarely pray in front of people that I am not extremely comfortable with and many of you may have seen the uncomfortable situation of me denying to pray infront of a group. The reason that I will wave a prayer is that I know that what will come out of my mouth in these situations will be more focused on looking spiritual to my peers, sounding “good” in public than on the actual matters that need prayer. I call it “sabotaging” what may sound externally like a good prayer. I know my heart and one of my greatest struggles has always been vying for everyone’s approval. So as opposed to standing there and acting like a Pharisee, I decline.
2. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him This is one of the most encouraging verses to me. God the father knows what we need for spiritual growth and the Kingdom’s expansion even before we pray, and that’s what he is going to give us no matter what we pray. But what about my prayers for an X-Box even my prayers for ‘aunt betty’s’ recovery from cancer why aren’t they heard? Again, more than the physical body, God restores the Spirit. Occasionally these are in conflict. If my Aunt Betty’s Illness is driving many to Christ then what we need is that Illness, not whatever man-centered prayers that I throw up there. This verse also frees me to create less lofty, abstract prayers. The intimidation aspect that I spoke of earlier goes away. Joel, one of my closest friends who finishes up seminary this spring, once said that when asked to pray in the expectation of a wonderful, lofty seminarian prayer he would love to instead recite the Lord’s prayer, “our father who art in heaven…” and look at peoples expressions. What would people think? From this passage what should they think? I understand writing down a prayer so that we can remember all of the things that we want (obviously not need) to pray for but one of my biggest pet peeves is when people write down a prayer for the purpose of making it sound like the prayer is a literary giant, the next Shakespeare because these prayers are obviously a violation of the above concept. The sole purpose of such a prayer is the prayers glorification, not the glorification of the ruler of the universe from a humble servant.
3. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Tough balance between being a responsible steward of what God has given and holding too thightly to worldly wealth. I often stumble towards the irresponsible steward side. I tend to keep a very “loose grip” on money. Given the choice though this is the side that I will always fall to. God forbid we fall into the trap of the Rich Man supposedly kept all of the law but was not willing to give his worldly temporary possession away in order to inherit eternal life. Of whom jesus said “It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” This is not because as “Rich Men” we need to give in order to be saved, the problem again is where our heart is. We can not serve both God and Money. The Rich Young Ruler (and many today) have chosen the Idol of Money over love for Christ. When asked to abandon the former girlfriend (money) for an eternal marrage (heaven), an adulterous people choose to love their money over their God. This is why it is difficult for the rich man to enter heaven, not because there is some set amount we have to give. Further if we did try to give our way into heaven, blessing etc the attitude Christ would be, “your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God” (Acts 8:20). Money provides worldly comfort and is simply a diagnostic tool of where our heart lies.
4. Vs: 25-34: Live this verse and you will live a happy life. When I examine all of my former worries and what Christ has brought me through, I should no anxiety towards the future (not always the case but something to strive for). Come what may…deployments, injuries, illnesses, I know that I am far more valuable to my Father than I could ever imagine. The worst (and best) thing that could happen is my death and when I can look forward to that, what do I have to be anxious over? Daily in the ER I am confronted with people who live their lives terrified (anxious is too light a word) of pain, suffering and death. Their fear has controlled their lives to the point that they are not worth living. Granted some people truly are dying and proceed to die in front of me, but to those “frequent fliers” (I guess the technical term is Hypochondriacs) with minor ailments who rush to the ED petrified over the slightest cold; I try to emphasize that their anxiety of death will kill them far sooner their cold. As you would expect, I’ve been met with mixed reactions, but believe me this is far better than some of my colleagues techniques.
5. Psalms: I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. The God that I serve (the God of the bible) is worthy of praise and respect.
Intellectual Devotion:
Our Queen’s can have an incredible impact on our spirituality (ask Solomon) for the better or the worse.
Matt 5
Date: 10 January 2009
Bible (NT/OT):Matt 5, Psalms 6 (exert)
The Sermon on the Mount
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Anger
21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Lust
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Divorce
31 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
Retaliation
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Ps 6:1-3
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord— how long?
Sun Tzu:
Building on our last thought: Therefore measure in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things:
1. The way (from yesterday): “inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger”
2. The weather (today): “the weather means the season…the rules of the ancient military state that operations should not be carried out in winter or summer, out of concern for the people. Don’t go into another’s territory at an unfavorable time.”
3. The Terrain (tomorrow)
4. The Leadership (1/12/09)
5. The discipline (1/13/09)
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was among the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Born in Oak Park Illinois, Hemmingway began writing at the age of 18 as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Soon thereafter, however, he was shipped off to WWI as an ambulance driver where he was wounded. Hemingway’s works subsequently focused War time stories (The Sun also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Whom the Bell Tolls) Hemingway joined a group of writers, later called “the lost generation” who were disillusioned by war’s brutality. The “Hemingway code hero” is a stoic, disillusioned male who exhibits grace and nobility in the face of violence and adversity. Hemingway’s last years were mired in depression and he ultimately committed suicide with a shotgun in 1961 despite being a world renowned writer and a winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Events: Yesterday, I woke up , wrote for a couple hours then took Sadie to the Park for a long run through the woods. I love running with her through the woods and thanks to her GPS collar, I no longer worry when she takes off after deer. During my runs, I have begun to practice looking past the first layer of brush. This is a trick that I learned about in “The Tigers Way” by Joe Poole. Poole describes this as a must acquire skill for deployment as our eye (as a camera) will automatically focus on the closest object, the enemy however is likely hiding just beyond our eyes focus. It is harder than it seems, my eye inevitably watches the ground in front of me for rocks that may turn my ankle. It is hard enough to train myself to look up, watching the ground with my peripheral vision, much more difficulty to purposefully take my eye off the first layer of brush and look through it at ever increasing distances. But it as a trick well worth practicing, It is amazing how much I have been missing all of these years of watching the ground. Focusing on these skills seems to take some of the pain away from running. Last night we went out to dinner with great friends and I brought up my recent inner conflict with meaning of 1st Corinthians 9:10, Paul’s “all things to all people” commentary. I was subsequently able to further solidify my views on the passage and write a couple pages on it.
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. An overall note on the Sermon on the Mount, (ch 5-7). When nonbelievers, atheists, Muslims, agnostics, Hindu’s etc… refer to Christ as, “a great teacher” they most often refer to this famed sermon on the mount. As we read through keep this in mind. Ask yourself how this sermon can even make since apart from the gospel. The sermon makes promises to an isolated few, implements laws that no man can keep and is presented in a very abrupt manner.
2. The beatitudes v5:1-12: There is a difference between indicative and imperative. The Beatitudes are written in the indicative form, meaning they are not something to strive for, they are something that if granted as the “kingdom of god is at hand.” An example of the imperative form is, you should be meek so that you can inherit the kingdom of god. This is of course not Christ promise. The promise is that the kingdom has come and all of the true citizens are blessed from the meek to the persecuted. The difference between the promise (indicative) and the imperative is fundamental to our understanding of the gospel.
3. Vs 16: In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. What is the purpose of our good works? Not for our salvation but that the world may give glory to God when they see our salt, light and hearts. The world is under what we call “common grace” because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Indirectly even unbelievers benefit from the grace that God has given us. This grace should overflow from the believer, that we may be salt and light to the world not a stink!
4. Vs 17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. A saying that I have heard and love is, “If you are not occasionally charged with antinomianism then you are not preaching the gospel enough.” Antinomianism is the heresy that the law is no longer relevant to our lives since we are now under grace. While it is true that we are no longer under the condemnation of the law, the law still must be upheld. Christ did not abolish the law (antinomianism), but actually fulfilled the law not only in keeping it but also serving as the sacrifice that the law required.
5. Vs 18: For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. notice that those who break the laws are called least in the kingdom of heaven but they are still in the kingdom of heaven because righteousness is not based on our ability to keep the entire law anymore. Breaking the law does not exclude us from heaven but we may not enter heaven as triumphantly as we would have entered had we done a better job obeying the law.
6. Vs 20: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. How can our righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, teachers of the law. Well I guess we must rely on Christ’s alien righteousness and not our own. This I why later in the gospel Christ says of John the Baptist…
“Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (MT 11:11)
As much as the Pharisees knew, when they rely on their own inherent righteousness they cannot enter heaven but the least of us who relies on Christ imputed righteousness surpasses the Pharisees.
7. Vs 21-40: Amazing dialogue of the state of man’s heart. We calvinests have a doctrine called, “total depravity” this is not really the time to get into an extended discussion on total depravity but I promise it will come up soon. Here Christ makes clear that we sin not in our action but in our thoughts. Though to the outside world all that is apparent may be our “white washed walls,” Christ here is determined help us understand our need for his alien righteousness. The Law is not meant to save but to drive us to Christ. What is lacking in the liberal church in America is the need. Without preaching about the depths of our mind’s sin (even short of our bodies action) the laity of the church has absolutely no need for Christ. Subsequently without a need the church has no love for Christ. One of my favorite verses in all the bible is “he who is forgiven much loves much”. For my free reading I am currently reading Saint Augustine’s confessions and what has been enlightening to me is the depth of his sin before his conversion to Christ. Saint Augustine goes into great depths about his thievery and sexual exploits. But after his conversion to Christianity (in his 30’s) he looks back and while he laments over his sin, he seems all the more passionately in love with Christ for pulling him out of his unfulfilling life of crime and sex. Perhaps it takes the depths of sin and depravity to make us truly appreciate the amazing mercy of God in Christ. This was defiantly the case in my life. Can people who never hear or understand the wrath upon wrath that is justly due their sin love God the way Saint Augustine did? Vs 21-40 drive us to Christ enforcing that no matter how good we all appear externally, no matter how much better than our neighbor we may seem that we are all wrath deserving sinners at heart.
8. Vs 27-30: why does Christ connect the eye and Hand immediately after lust? Could he be speaking of Masturbation?
9. Vs 38-40: Relates directly to a discussion that we had with friends last night about not becoming a stench to society by forcing them to take us to court to remove the 10 commandments from a court, a nativity scene from a fire station, prayer time from school etc… If we are fighting these concepts for the historic importance than lets them as historians but this is not a battle I feel we should be fighting as Christians as these trinkets are meaningless to the Justification and sanctification of the believer and seem to actually be compromising our witness, erecting walls between Christians and the very agnostics that we need to be talking to. Again if we are to fight this let’s fight it from the historic perspective as historians not from the Christian perspective as crazy, extremist fundamentalists. Because in the end my faith is not strengthened by a nativity scene, 3 minutes of silence, Christmas trees in airports etc… I know this will spark great debate as it already has and I have written by views more coherently in a paper that I’ll attach.
10. Vs 48: 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Now that’s an imperative! Talk about intimidating, lets reflect on his overall point as discussed above. The law is the standard, in order to merit salvation based on our own works we must, “be perfect, as our father is perfect” Thanks be to God that through faith we actually take on Christ’s perfection. Christ is the perfection of God in that he was born without the stain of original sin and lived his life perfectly without sin, now through faith in his finished work on the cross we actually gain the perfection the Father demands. Wow!
11. Psalms: The weight of God’s wrath weighs heavy on David, as it does on us all. But out of love, in mercy, the Father has provided us salvation.
Sun Tzu
1. We must not only choose our battles wisely but the timing of our battles wisely…Christmas time probably not the best time to fight the battle over infant salvation .
Intellectual Devotion:
1. Despite all his worldly success, even a Nobel Prize, in the end Hemingway put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. What a commentary on what is truly important in this life.
Bible (NT/OT):Matt 5, Psalms 6 (exert)
The Sermon on the Mount
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Anger
21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Lust
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Divorce
31 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
Retaliation
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Ps 6:1-3
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord— how long?
Sun Tzu:
Building on our last thought: Therefore measure in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things:
1. The way (from yesterday): “inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger”
2. The weather (today): “the weather means the season…the rules of the ancient military state that operations should not be carried out in winter or summer, out of concern for the people. Don’t go into another’s territory at an unfavorable time.”
3. The Terrain (tomorrow)
4. The Leadership (1/12/09)
5. The discipline (1/13/09)
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was among the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Born in Oak Park Illinois, Hemmingway began writing at the age of 18 as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Soon thereafter, however, he was shipped off to WWI as an ambulance driver where he was wounded. Hemingway’s works subsequently focused War time stories (The Sun also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Whom the Bell Tolls) Hemingway joined a group of writers, later called “the lost generation” who were disillusioned by war’s brutality. The “Hemingway code hero” is a stoic, disillusioned male who exhibits grace and nobility in the face of violence and adversity. Hemingway’s last years were mired in depression and he ultimately committed suicide with a shotgun in 1961 despite being a world renowned writer and a winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Events: Yesterday, I woke up , wrote for a couple hours then took Sadie to the Park for a long run through the woods. I love running with her through the woods and thanks to her GPS collar, I no longer worry when she takes off after deer. During my runs, I have begun to practice looking past the first layer of brush. This is a trick that I learned about in “The Tigers Way” by Joe Poole. Poole describes this as a must acquire skill for deployment as our eye (as a camera) will automatically focus on the closest object, the enemy however is likely hiding just beyond our eyes focus. It is harder than it seems, my eye inevitably watches the ground in front of me for rocks that may turn my ankle. It is hard enough to train myself to look up, watching the ground with my peripheral vision, much more difficulty to purposefully take my eye off the first layer of brush and look through it at ever increasing distances. But it as a trick well worth practicing, It is amazing how much I have been missing all of these years of watching the ground. Focusing on these skills seems to take some of the pain away from running. Last night we went out to dinner with great friends and I brought up my recent inner conflict with meaning of 1st Corinthians 9:10, Paul’s “all things to all people” commentary. I was subsequently able to further solidify my views on the passage and write a couple pages on it.
Thoughts:
Bible:
1. An overall note on the Sermon on the Mount, (ch 5-7). When nonbelievers, atheists, Muslims, agnostics, Hindu’s etc… refer to Christ as, “a great teacher” they most often refer to this famed sermon on the mount. As we read through keep this in mind. Ask yourself how this sermon can even make since apart from the gospel. The sermon makes promises to an isolated few, implements laws that no man can keep and is presented in a very abrupt manner.
2. The beatitudes v5:1-12: There is a difference between indicative and imperative. The Beatitudes are written in the indicative form, meaning they are not something to strive for, they are something that if granted as the “kingdom of god is at hand.” An example of the imperative form is, you should be meek so that you can inherit the kingdom of god. This is of course not Christ promise. The promise is that the kingdom has come and all of the true citizens are blessed from the meek to the persecuted. The difference between the promise (indicative) and the imperative is fundamental to our understanding of the gospel.
3. Vs 16: In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. What is the purpose of our good works? Not for our salvation but that the world may give glory to God when they see our salt, light and hearts. The world is under what we call “common grace” because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Indirectly even unbelievers benefit from the grace that God has given us. This grace should overflow from the believer, that we may be salt and light to the world not a stink!
4. Vs 17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. A saying that I have heard and love is, “If you are not occasionally charged with antinomianism then you are not preaching the gospel enough.” Antinomianism is the heresy that the law is no longer relevant to our lives since we are now under grace. While it is true that we are no longer under the condemnation of the law, the law still must be upheld. Christ did not abolish the law (antinomianism), but actually fulfilled the law not only in keeping it but also serving as the sacrifice that the law required.
5. Vs 18: For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. notice that those who break the laws are called least in the kingdom of heaven but they are still in the kingdom of heaven because righteousness is not based on our ability to keep the entire law anymore. Breaking the law does not exclude us from heaven but we may not enter heaven as triumphantly as we would have entered had we done a better job obeying the law.
6. Vs 20: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. How can our righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, teachers of the law. Well I guess we must rely on Christ’s alien righteousness and not our own. This I why later in the gospel Christ says of John the Baptist…
“Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (MT 11:11)
As much as the Pharisees knew, when they rely on their own inherent righteousness they cannot enter heaven but the least of us who relies on Christ imputed righteousness surpasses the Pharisees.
7. Vs 21-40: Amazing dialogue of the state of man’s heart. We calvinests have a doctrine called, “total depravity” this is not really the time to get into an extended discussion on total depravity but I promise it will come up soon. Here Christ makes clear that we sin not in our action but in our thoughts. Though to the outside world all that is apparent may be our “white washed walls,” Christ here is determined help us understand our need for his alien righteousness. The Law is not meant to save but to drive us to Christ. What is lacking in the liberal church in America is the need. Without preaching about the depths of our mind’s sin (even short of our bodies action) the laity of the church has absolutely no need for Christ. Subsequently without a need the church has no love for Christ. One of my favorite verses in all the bible is “he who is forgiven much loves much”. For my free reading I am currently reading Saint Augustine’s confessions and what has been enlightening to me is the depth of his sin before his conversion to Christ. Saint Augustine goes into great depths about his thievery and sexual exploits. But after his conversion to Christianity (in his 30’s) he looks back and while he laments over his sin, he seems all the more passionately in love with Christ for pulling him out of his unfulfilling life of crime and sex. Perhaps it takes the depths of sin and depravity to make us truly appreciate the amazing mercy of God in Christ. This was defiantly the case in my life. Can people who never hear or understand the wrath upon wrath that is justly due their sin love God the way Saint Augustine did? Vs 21-40 drive us to Christ enforcing that no matter how good we all appear externally, no matter how much better than our neighbor we may seem that we are all wrath deserving sinners at heart.
8. Vs 27-30: why does Christ connect the eye and Hand immediately after lust? Could he be speaking of Masturbation?
9. Vs 38-40: Relates directly to a discussion that we had with friends last night about not becoming a stench to society by forcing them to take us to court to remove the 10 commandments from a court, a nativity scene from a fire station, prayer time from school etc… If we are fighting these concepts for the historic importance than lets them as historians but this is not a battle I feel we should be fighting as Christians as these trinkets are meaningless to the Justification and sanctification of the believer and seem to actually be compromising our witness, erecting walls between Christians and the very agnostics that we need to be talking to. Again if we are to fight this let’s fight it from the historic perspective as historians not from the Christian perspective as crazy, extremist fundamentalists. Because in the end my faith is not strengthened by a nativity scene, 3 minutes of silence, Christmas trees in airports etc… I know this will spark great debate as it already has and I have written by views more coherently in a paper that I’ll attach.
10. Vs 48: 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Now that’s an imperative! Talk about intimidating, lets reflect on his overall point as discussed above. The law is the standard, in order to merit salvation based on our own works we must, “be perfect, as our father is perfect” Thanks be to God that through faith we actually take on Christ’s perfection. Christ is the perfection of God in that he was born without the stain of original sin and lived his life perfectly without sin, now through faith in his finished work on the cross we actually gain the perfection the Father demands. Wow!
11. Psalms: The weight of God’s wrath weighs heavy on David, as it does on us all. But out of love, in mercy, the Father has provided us salvation.
Sun Tzu
1. We must not only choose our battles wisely but the timing of our battles wisely…Christmas time probably not the best time to fight the battle over infant salvation .
Intellectual Devotion:
1. Despite all his worldly success, even a Nobel Prize, in the end Hemingway put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. What a commentary on what is truly important in this life.
Matt 4
Date: 10 Jan 2009
New Testament: Matt 4:1-5:1
The Temptation of Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written,
"'Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
"'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and 'On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
"'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 the people dwelling in darknesshave seen a great light,and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,on them a light has dawned."
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Ps 5:4-8
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Sun Tzu:
The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share the death and share life, without fear of death….If the people are treated with benevolence, faithfulness, and justice, then they will be of one mind, and will be glad to serve. “Joyful in difficulty, the people forget about their death.” If the leaders can be humane and just, sharing both the gains and the troubles of the people, then the troops will be loyal and naturally identify with the interests of the leadership.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Hammurabi was king of babylonia from 1792-1750 BC, he is credited with the first written law. “Future Kings, Hammurabi said, must uphold the rule of law rather than govern according to their own impulses. The notion that rulers could not arbitrarily change the laws governing their citizens was a revolutionary concept. Respect for the law remains one of the fundamental hallmarks of successful government. Hammurabi’s law was written on stone pillars that were unearthed in 1901 and are on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Bablonian scientists used a counting system based on the number sixty, which is why minutes have sixty seconds.
Events: Yesterday I had a full morning of seeing patients and helping an Engineer Battalion with their Flu Vaccinations. We had the non-deployable scrub and the Doc that I am transitioning with was there to help the tradeoff. He has great insight into how to accomplish the military aspects of my job, sure could have used him months ago as I flailed to find my way. Marla and I watched Sisterhood of the traveling Pants 2 last night and it was pretty good.
Thoughts:
Bible:
1) V1-2: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. As Hebrews 4 emphasizes…it is very comforting to know that we do not have a king who is “unable to sympathize” with our worldly struggles. We do not have a king who was born, lived and died in a “Castle that is far, far, away.” We have a King (as the praised leader in the Sun Tzu reading, “sharing both the gains and troubles of the people”) who took on flesh and experienced all of the heartbreak of lost relationship (both by death and desertion), all of the temptation of the world (and devil) and more bodily suffering and pain with his flogging and suffocation on the Cross than any man in history. Christ, the King of all the Kings of earth, humbled himself to a peasant’s birth, servants life and criminals death to win for us beyond the promise of salvation, the promise that he can truly sympathize with our struggles and pain.
2) V3-10: Notice the dialog is entirely Old Testament quote. The Devil has an awesome command of the scriptures (as I should expect as he was a most beautiful angel). The Devil is an incredible adversary; he knows our playbook better than we do. However, notice that Jesus does not simply command his legion of Angles to throw Satan into the pit of fire (as he could), instead Jesus, in his humanity, demonstrates how we are to resist the devil…by our own command of the scriptures. Satan is stronger and smarter than us in a debate, track meet, popularity contest, cage fight, academic decathlon etc… we lose. If we have any hope in keeping the faith we must not rely on our strength but the strength of the Word of God. “Resist the devil and he will flee.” The scripture is our only means or resistance. Sure reminds me to read more! Side note: When Christ quotes the old testament is what is called the ‘internal testimony’ to the divine origin of the scripture. This Proof does not work for unbelievers who throw out Christ and the bible but is a reassurance to believers that the entire bible is divinely inspired.
3) V17: From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Many are concerned with the second coming, is the promise true that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” even though it’s been 2000 yrs? Remember the kingdom of heaven was literally at hand… Jesus and his church. The Kingdom was established with Jesus as the king and the faithful (not the world, not Israel) as the nation. The kingdom was literally being expanded every step the King took down road as he drew citizens, first Peter and Andrew, then the sons of Zebedee and expanding like a “mustard see” to you and I.
4) Psalms 5:4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. This text is a brilliant gospel message from 1000 yrs before Christ…Remember God I Holy and by his law we are evil lawbreakers (no matter how good we look compared to our neighbor). V4: God is Holy and Just and we cannot dwell in his presence. But the Lord, out of love, provides an imputed (foreign/outside of ourselves), “your righteousness (v.8),”not a works based inherent righteousness to atone for our vileness. Thereby reconciling us to himself and bringing us into his house (v7).
Sun Tzu:
1) Great commentary on leading from the front.
Intellectual Devotion:
1) Great commentary on why a Just Law is a good one. I am thankful that we don’t serve an arbitrary God but one who published the standard and now provides mercy through his son.
2) I have always wondered why there were 60 seconds in a minute…most of all when finishing my residency required research and was trying to convert over 1,000 times into fractions/decimals in an excel file. I cursed the fact that time is based on 1/60 and the rest of the world is based on 1/100. This discrepancy cost me days of my life!
New Testament: Matt 4:1-5:1
The Temptation of Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written,
"'Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
"'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and 'On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
"'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 the people dwelling in darknesshave seen a great light,and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,on them a light has dawned."
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Ps 5:4-8
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Sun Tzu:
The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share the death and share life, without fear of death….If the people are treated with benevolence, faithfulness, and justice, then they will be of one mind, and will be glad to serve. “Joyful in difficulty, the people forget about their death.” If the leaders can be humane and just, sharing both the gains and the troubles of the people, then the troops will be loyal and naturally identify with the interests of the leadership.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Hammurabi was king of babylonia from 1792-1750 BC, he is credited with the first written law. “Future Kings, Hammurabi said, must uphold the rule of law rather than govern according to their own impulses. The notion that rulers could not arbitrarily change the laws governing their citizens was a revolutionary concept. Respect for the law remains one of the fundamental hallmarks of successful government. Hammurabi’s law was written on stone pillars that were unearthed in 1901 and are on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Bablonian scientists used a counting system based on the number sixty, which is why minutes have sixty seconds.
Events: Yesterday I had a full morning of seeing patients and helping an Engineer Battalion with their Flu Vaccinations. We had the non-deployable scrub and the Doc that I am transitioning with was there to help the tradeoff. He has great insight into how to accomplish the military aspects of my job, sure could have used him months ago as I flailed to find my way. Marla and I watched Sisterhood of the traveling Pants 2 last night and it was pretty good.
Thoughts:
Bible:
1) V1-2: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. As Hebrews 4 emphasizes…it is very comforting to know that we do not have a king who is “unable to sympathize” with our worldly struggles. We do not have a king who was born, lived and died in a “Castle that is far, far, away.” We have a King (as the praised leader in the Sun Tzu reading, “sharing both the gains and troubles of the people”) who took on flesh and experienced all of the heartbreak of lost relationship (both by death and desertion), all of the temptation of the world (and devil) and more bodily suffering and pain with his flogging and suffocation on the Cross than any man in history. Christ, the King of all the Kings of earth, humbled himself to a peasant’s birth, servants life and criminals death to win for us beyond the promise of salvation, the promise that he can truly sympathize with our struggles and pain.
2) V3-10: Notice the dialog is entirely Old Testament quote. The Devil has an awesome command of the scriptures (as I should expect as he was a most beautiful angel). The Devil is an incredible adversary; he knows our playbook better than we do. However, notice that Jesus does not simply command his legion of Angles to throw Satan into the pit of fire (as he could), instead Jesus, in his humanity, demonstrates how we are to resist the devil…by our own command of the scriptures. Satan is stronger and smarter than us in a debate, track meet, popularity contest, cage fight, academic decathlon etc… we lose. If we have any hope in keeping the faith we must not rely on our strength but the strength of the Word of God. “Resist the devil and he will flee.” The scripture is our only means or resistance. Sure reminds me to read more! Side note: When Christ quotes the old testament is what is called the ‘internal testimony’ to the divine origin of the scripture. This Proof does not work for unbelievers who throw out Christ and the bible but is a reassurance to believers that the entire bible is divinely inspired.
3) V17: From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Many are concerned with the second coming, is the promise true that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” even though it’s been 2000 yrs? Remember the kingdom of heaven was literally at hand… Jesus and his church. The Kingdom was established with Jesus as the king and the faithful (not the world, not Israel) as the nation. The kingdom was literally being expanded every step the King took down road as he drew citizens, first Peter and Andrew, then the sons of Zebedee and expanding like a “mustard see” to you and I.
4) Psalms 5:4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. This text is a brilliant gospel message from 1000 yrs before Christ…Remember God I Holy and by his law we are evil lawbreakers (no matter how good we look compared to our neighbor). V4: God is Holy and Just and we cannot dwell in his presence. But the Lord, out of love, provides an imputed (foreign/outside of ourselves), “your righteousness (v.8),”not a works based inherent righteousness to atone for our vileness. Thereby reconciling us to himself and bringing us into his house (v7).
Sun Tzu:
1) Great commentary on leading from the front.
Intellectual Devotion:
1) Great commentary on why a Just Law is a good one. I am thankful that we don’t serve an arbitrary God but one who published the standard and now provides mercy through his son.
2) I have always wondered why there were 60 seconds in a minute…most of all when finishing my residency required research and was trying to convert over 1,000 times into fractions/decimals in an excel file. I cursed the fact that time is based on 1/60 and the rest of the world is based on 1/100. This discrepancy cost me days of my life!
Matt 3
Date: 8 January 2009
Bible (OT/NT):
Matt 3:1-4:1
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 h In those daysi John the Baptist came preaching inj the wilderness of Judea, 2 k "Repent, forl the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare* the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"
4 Now John woreo a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food wasp locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, butd he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize youe with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus camel from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold,the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Ps 4:6-8
There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord !"
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord , make met dwell in safety.
Sun Tzu:
Therefore measure in terms of 5 things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things are the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and discipline. Then you can determine who is likely to prevail. Having determined this, only then should you mobilize your forces.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
The Torah is the 1’st 5 books of the Old testament (genesis, exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy). It’s 613 Laws are the basis of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Written by Moses between 4000-10,000 yrs ago, it is still transcribed by hand. If a single mistake is made the entire transcript is invalid.
Events: Yesterday I drove up here to fort Hood, spent time seeing patients. Took some pictures of my office so that I can show my family where I worked these last couple months, worked out on base and went for a beautiful run at lake Belton. I got to watch a beautiful sunset as I was running. I had dinner with Gracie and John. We talked for a couple hours about the death of Mrs. Conner’s sister last weekend. Apparently, she fell and had a severe head bleed. No word on deployment.
Thoughts:
1) V1-4: 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" Is this the Elijah that was to prepare the way? The prophets foretold that Elijah would come to prepare the way of the messiah. Here we see John The Baptist (RC Sproul says the last and greatest of the OT prophets) who lived in the wilderness as the OT profits did, wore the garments of the profit, and had the first prophetic word for Israel for 400yrs. So why when asked specifically if he is the prophet Elijah does he say, I am not? Does this contradict Jesus who says later that he was Elijah? My thought is that by DNA John was entirely John thus John was correct when he said that he was not Elijah. However in the OT and NT the prophesy speaks of Spirit of Elijah… Thus Jesus is also correct because John did come in the Spirit of the old testament prophets…the spirit of Elijah.
2) V5: and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. What in the world was he doing baptizing before Jesus instated this new sacrament? When I was in medical school, one of my rotations was with a Jewish physician who brought me to synagogue 5 days a week in addition to many ceremonial circumcisions…great rotation! There I learned that there were many ceremonial cleansings For example, the priest would wash before entering the Holy of Holy’s. Another great example is how the unclean (from disease) would have to be washed before reentering Jewish society as clean…what a great image of a people being washed clean before meeting Lord incarnate and a symbolism of the unclean people who will soon be permanently (not temporally) cleansed from their disease of sin. The action, as much as the words “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” is symbolic of the King that is about to step onto the scene.
3) V9: And do not presume to say to yourselves,y 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. The Pharisees and many Jews today, thought they were more holy than the gentiles simply because they were descendents of Abraham, this is why the genealogies in the bible and in record were so essential to the Jewish religion. However, salvation has always been about faith in the Lords ability to cleanse the mess Adam created. I wonder when John says that God can “from these stones…raise up children of Abraham” if he pointed at stones on the ground or pointed at the Stone’s getting baptized and standing in front of him? The bible often talks about humanities hardened hearts that prevent people from seeing the truth of God and Loving him. Indeed it takes God’s supernatural intervention to raise up children of Abraham from our stone hearts.
4) V12: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Lets always remember, “the fear of the lord is the foundation of wisdom.” Too many people think of God and Jesus as the easy parent that can easily be manipulated into saying Okay to almost anything. Who we can bat our puppy dog eyes towards and out of their undying, unconditional love for us they will forgive our most grievous offenses. Again, I must repeat myself. ..this is not the God of the bible. Jesus himself says that he has come to sort the wheat from the chaff and turn father against son. I know that it may seem that I have a dark view of God, but I prefer to see it as a healthy respect for the creator of the universe who gives me my every breath. A God who instated a standard that I have not lived up to, but thanks be to God that in love he gave me salvation in the death of Jesus Christ (and no other way). Apart from Christ all that I deserve (and will rightly get) is wrath. In Christ we have been adopted as Sons. This is how God has chosen to glorify his son, by making the salvation of the human race dependent upon him. Yes, God the father expected a great deal of Jesus in the Cross. Many have in fact charged God with divine child-abuse, however let’s remember that Jesus chose the Cross out of love for his children, humbling himself to the point of death. As was the plan from the beginning, God then exalted his Son over all peoples so that in him and in his name is the only hope for man kind.
5) V12: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor andh gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Hell’s real. But…But…. If we can’t believe in it we should choose a less offensive religion like Buddhism.
6) V13: John immediately recognized Christ…the other gospels record his words: “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” There should have been no doubt of Jesus purpose, as these words introduce the beginning of his ministry.
7) Psalms: I chose this verse today after all the talk of what a fearful God we serve for reassurance that through Christ we have overcome the world, a verse that brings me great comfort is 1st John: “he who is in you is stronger than he who is in the world.” I am reminded, that God in Me (the holy spirit) is more powerful than the ruler of this current world (the devil). Therefore, I have nothing to fear. My life ends in victory no mater my circumstance, obstacles, suffering and even death. The worst the devil can do to me is send me to home to Christ. How much less can man hurt me.
Sun Tzu: This works everywhere from training dogs to winning military campaigns…assess your situation thoroughly, choose your battles wisely and only the ones that you know you can win.
Intellectual devotion: The law is the basis of Judaism, Islam and Christianity but only Christianity. In fact laws govern every religion on earth. All other religions however teach that the law is something to accomplish and in that way merit “heaven”. I like to call these religions Maneanity because the reward depends on mans effort. Christianity, however, does not depend on my ability to fulfill the law, in fact, if I rely on the law, the new testament says that I have no part of Christ. Christians believe that the Law was given not to demonstrate our ability, instead as a demonstration of our inability. Good luck achieving salvation by keeping all 613 laws. The Jews atoned for their sin by their annual sacrifice on Yom Kippur (without a temple anymore I have no Idea how they feel they are atoned for now?) The Muslims acknowledge that it is impossible to keep the law so Allah is subjective in the way he determines salvation and the only way to ensure salvation is to die in jihad. As for me, I’ll rely on Christ’s righteousness for my merit.
Bible (OT/NT):
Matt 3:1-4:1
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 h In those daysi John the Baptist came preaching inj the wilderness of Judea, 2 k "Repent, forl the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare* the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"
4 Now John woreo a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food wasp locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, butd he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize youe with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus camel from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold,the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Ps 4:6-8
There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord !"
7 You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord , make met dwell in safety.
Sun Tzu:
Therefore measure in terms of 5 things, use these assessments to make comparison, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things are the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and discipline. Then you can determine who is likely to prevail. Having determined this, only then should you mobilize your forces.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
The Torah is the 1’st 5 books of the Old testament (genesis, exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy). It’s 613 Laws are the basis of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Written by Moses between 4000-10,000 yrs ago, it is still transcribed by hand. If a single mistake is made the entire transcript is invalid.
Events: Yesterday I drove up here to fort Hood, spent time seeing patients. Took some pictures of my office so that I can show my family where I worked these last couple months, worked out on base and went for a beautiful run at lake Belton. I got to watch a beautiful sunset as I was running. I had dinner with Gracie and John. We talked for a couple hours about the death of Mrs. Conner’s sister last weekend. Apparently, she fell and had a severe head bleed. No word on deployment.
Thoughts:
1) V1-4: 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" Is this the Elijah that was to prepare the way? The prophets foretold that Elijah would come to prepare the way of the messiah. Here we see John The Baptist (RC Sproul says the last and greatest of the OT prophets) who lived in the wilderness as the OT profits did, wore the garments of the profit, and had the first prophetic word for Israel for 400yrs. So why when asked specifically if he is the prophet Elijah does he say, I am not? Does this contradict Jesus who says later that he was Elijah? My thought is that by DNA John was entirely John thus John was correct when he said that he was not Elijah. However in the OT and NT the prophesy speaks of Spirit of Elijah… Thus Jesus is also correct because John did come in the Spirit of the old testament prophets…the spirit of Elijah.
2) V5: and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. What in the world was he doing baptizing before Jesus instated this new sacrament? When I was in medical school, one of my rotations was with a Jewish physician who brought me to synagogue 5 days a week in addition to many ceremonial circumcisions…great rotation! There I learned that there were many ceremonial cleansings For example, the priest would wash before entering the Holy of Holy’s. Another great example is how the unclean (from disease) would have to be washed before reentering Jewish society as clean…what a great image of a people being washed clean before meeting Lord incarnate and a symbolism of the unclean people who will soon be permanently (not temporally) cleansed from their disease of sin. The action, as much as the words “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” is symbolic of the King that is about to step onto the scene.
3) V9: And do not presume to say to yourselves,y 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. The Pharisees and many Jews today, thought they were more holy than the gentiles simply because they were descendents of Abraham, this is why the genealogies in the bible and in record were so essential to the Jewish religion. However, salvation has always been about faith in the Lords ability to cleanse the mess Adam created. I wonder when John says that God can “from these stones…raise up children of Abraham” if he pointed at stones on the ground or pointed at the Stone’s getting baptized and standing in front of him? The bible often talks about humanities hardened hearts that prevent people from seeing the truth of God and Loving him. Indeed it takes God’s supernatural intervention to raise up children of Abraham from our stone hearts.
4) V12: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Lets always remember, “the fear of the lord is the foundation of wisdom.” Too many people think of God and Jesus as the easy parent that can easily be manipulated into saying Okay to almost anything. Who we can bat our puppy dog eyes towards and out of their undying, unconditional love for us they will forgive our most grievous offenses. Again, I must repeat myself. ..this is not the God of the bible. Jesus himself says that he has come to sort the wheat from the chaff and turn father against son. I know that it may seem that I have a dark view of God, but I prefer to see it as a healthy respect for the creator of the universe who gives me my every breath. A God who instated a standard that I have not lived up to, but thanks be to God that in love he gave me salvation in the death of Jesus Christ (and no other way). Apart from Christ all that I deserve (and will rightly get) is wrath. In Christ we have been adopted as Sons. This is how God has chosen to glorify his son, by making the salvation of the human race dependent upon him. Yes, God the father expected a great deal of Jesus in the Cross. Many have in fact charged God with divine child-abuse, however let’s remember that Jesus chose the Cross out of love for his children, humbling himself to the point of death. As was the plan from the beginning, God then exalted his Son over all peoples so that in him and in his name is the only hope for man kind.
5) V12: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor andh gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Hell’s real. But…But…. If we can’t believe in it we should choose a less offensive religion like Buddhism.
6) V13: John immediately recognized Christ…the other gospels record his words: “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” There should have been no doubt of Jesus purpose, as these words introduce the beginning of his ministry.
7) Psalms: I chose this verse today after all the talk of what a fearful God we serve for reassurance that through Christ we have overcome the world, a verse that brings me great comfort is 1st John: “he who is in you is stronger than he who is in the world.” I am reminded, that God in Me (the holy spirit) is more powerful than the ruler of this current world (the devil). Therefore, I have nothing to fear. My life ends in victory no mater my circumstance, obstacles, suffering and even death. The worst the devil can do to me is send me to home to Christ. How much less can man hurt me.
Sun Tzu: This works everywhere from training dogs to winning military campaigns…assess your situation thoroughly, choose your battles wisely and only the ones that you know you can win.
Intellectual devotion: The law is the basis of Judaism, Islam and Christianity but only Christianity. In fact laws govern every religion on earth. All other religions however teach that the law is something to accomplish and in that way merit “heaven”. I like to call these religions Maneanity because the reward depends on mans effort. Christianity, however, does not depend on my ability to fulfill the law, in fact, if I rely on the law, the new testament says that I have no part of Christ. Christians believe that the Law was given not to demonstrate our ability, instead as a demonstration of our inability. Good luck achieving salvation by keeping all 613 laws. The Jews atoned for their sin by their annual sacrifice on Yom Kippur (without a temple anymore I have no Idea how they feel they are atoned for now?) The Muslims acknowledge that it is impossible to keep the law so Allah is subjective in the way he determines salvation and the only way to ensure salvation is to die in jihad. As for me, I’ll rely on Christ’s righteousness for my merit.
Matt 2
Date: 7 January 2009
New Testament: Matt 2:1-3:1
2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a rulerwho will shepherd my people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The Flight to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah,weeping and loud lamentation,Rachel weeping for her children;she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."
The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
Psalm:
Ps 2:10-12
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Ps 3:6-8
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. 7 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!
Sun Tzu:
Military action is important to the nation—it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imperative to examine it.
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Presocratics: Greek Philosophers that lived before Socrates (469-399BC). Hallmark of their belief was a distinction between appearance and reality. Further: uncritical, everyday observation tends to present us with a misleading picture of the world. For Example, Thales felt that everything was ultimately composed of water, Heraclitus felt that everything was actually built from fire and that everything was in constant motion.
Events: I went home for the night last night and spent time with Marla and Sadie, it was great. Watched an episode of Scrubs which I still maintain is a much more accurate depiction of true life in the hospital than “House.” We also watched an episode of Desperate House Wives. Got up early and drove back up to the Hood. Saw lots of pts in clinic and met with the Doc that I’m replacing in Iraq. Sounds like I’ll have my own room J and I’ll be flying directly to FOB Delta on a Jet not a helicopter or convoy. Best ETA to FOB Delta is early Feb.
Thoughts:
1) Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; Why was all Jerusalem troubled with king Herod? At the birth of their king? I really don’t know any thoughts? Maybe it echoes the quote: “Everyone wants a savior, no one wants a LORD”
2) King Herod, the priests, in fact all Jerusalem seemed to understand the implications of the Birth of Christ. Further, Jesus repeatedly tells the disciples , Jews and Gentiles of his purpose to live as God incarnate, die as a sacrificial lamb, raise to life and ascend a king. so why do the disciples and so many apostate today have difficulty understanding and accepting it? Is it just that they were dumb? Stupid? Are we saved simply because we are smarter and could weigh the benefit of Belief in Christ’s offered Salvation and make an informed decision to “accept Christ?” Or, could it be (as the bible describes) that the father has to draw sinners to himself. In that way none can boast before God of our superior intellect or that we had anything to do with our salvation (even a good decision!!). In this way we can have true compassion on unbelievers. In addition our judgment over the action of unbelievers is suspended. Remember: “but for the grace of God, there go I.”
3) 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” Notice they worshiped Jesus and not Mary. How do the Catholics spend more time during their Mass adoring Mary than Jesus. If a Catholic were transported back 2011’ish yrs to the birth of Christ? I guess it depends on the catholic… If the Pope were transported back what would he have done? I don’t know that either. What I do know is that much more of their current day service speaks to Mary (even if just as an intercessor) than Christ. Why not just speak to the biblical intercessor, the biblical mediator…Jesus?
4) V15: and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." The Old Testament in its entirety foreshadows Christ; even its true, historic events. It is a commentary on Gods plan for the redemption of his chosen people (Old Testament Israel) to the exclusion of the rest (Old Testament gentiles). I’ve never heard people cry about God being “unfair” to the cannonites, Ishmael, Esau etc…. But, I often hear arguments against God’s right to choose today. Was it easier when an entire nation was condemned?
5) Psalms: Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! The amazing dichotomy between God’s wrath being poured out on the unfaithful vs. His salvation towards his chosen people(the faithful). Again this is not the golden calf, teddy bear in the sky god that is preached across America every Sunday. This is the God the true God of the bible. We may choose to worship a more manageable, nicer version of True God who rules as long as we acknowledge that we are not worshiping the Judeo-Christian God but a God of our own creation, a less majestic, less powerful and less respectable god. L
6) Sun Tzu: I feel that the primary purpose of the government is to ensure the safety of its citizens both at home and abroad. This bailout and growth of the Government should be with the explicit goal of its citizens safety, not comfort. The point at which the Government steps out of the realm of protection and into the realm of provider seems very dangerous!
1) Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; Why was all Jerusalem troubled with king Herod? At the birth of their king? I really don’t know any thoughts? Maybe it echoes the quote: “Everyone wants a savior, no one wants a LORD”
2) King Herod, the priests, in fact all Jerusalem seemed to understand the implications of the Birth of Christ. Further, Jesus repeatedly tells the disciples , Jews and Gentiles of his purpose to live as God incarnate, die as a sacrificial lamb, raise to life and ascend a king. so why do the disciples and so many apostate today have difficulty understanding and accepting it? Is it just that they were dumb? Stupid? Are we saved simply because we are smarter and could weigh the benefit of Belief in Christ’s offered Salvation and make an informed decision to “accept Christ?” Or, could it be (as the bible describes) that the father has to draw sinners to himself. In that way none can boast before God of our superior intellect or that we had anything to do with our salvation (even a good decision!!). In this way we can have true compassion on unbelievers. In addition our judgment over the action of unbelievers is suspended. Remember: “but for the grace of God, there go I.”
3) 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” Notice they worshiped Jesus and not Mary. How do the Catholics spend more time during their Mass adoring Mary than Jesus. If a Catholic were transported back 2011’ish yrs to the birth of Christ? I guess it depends on the catholic… If the Pope were transported back what would he have done? I don’t know that either. What I do know is that much more of their current day service speaks to Mary (even if just as an intercessor) than Christ. Why not just speak to the biblical intercessor, the biblical mediator…Jesus?
4) V15: and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." The Old Testament in its entirety foreshadows Christ; even its true, historic events. It is a commentary on Gods plan for the redemption of his chosen people (Old Testament Israel) to the exclusion of the rest (Old Testament gentiles). I’ve never heard people cry about God being “unfair” to the cannonites, Ishmael, Esau etc…. But, I often hear arguments against God’s right to choose today. Was it easier when an entire nation was condemned?
5) Psalms: Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! The amazing dichotomy between God’s wrath being poured out on the unfaithful vs. His salvation towards his chosen people(the faithful). Again this is not the golden calf, teddy bear in the sky god that is preached across America every Sunday. This is the God the true God of the bible. We may choose to worship a more manageable, nicer version of True God who rules as long as we acknowledge that we are not worshiping the Judeo-Christian God but a God of our own creation, a less majestic, less powerful and less respectable god. L
6) Sun Tzu: I feel that the primary purpose of the government is to ensure the safety of its citizens both at home and abroad. This bailout and growth of the Government should be with the explicit goal of its citizens safety, not comfort. The point at which the Government steps out of the realm of protection and into the realm of provider seems very dangerous!
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