The Disobedient Preacher - Part 2

This is a continuation of yesterday's snapshot of grace from the Old Testament. Lord willing I will conclude it tomorrow.




God is a God of mercy and when He wanted to extend that mercy to the people of Nineveh He choose a prophet to take the message to the people. Jonah did not act in a gracious manner as he would rather see the people punished than forgiven. So he ran away but God had other plans. In His mercy God intervened and sent Jonah on his way to preach to Nineveh. Jonah was a most successful preacher and the people of Nineveh repented and God stayed His judgment.

Jonah did not act graciously and He became very angry at God for showing grace to these people. He knew that God was a God of mercy and grace and that is why he did not want to obey. However, God was not only gracious to the Ninevites but He was also gracious to Jonah.

When the Ninevites repented Jonah became angry and went out of the city and sat by the city wall in the hot sun. He complained to God about the sun so God allowed a vine to grow up to give him shelter and shade. Then came a worm that destroyed the vine and Jonah was once again sitting in the hot sun. God tried to teach Jonah a lesson of mercy and grace but Jonah just did not get it. He was angry that God destroyed the vine and was angry because God had not destroyed Nineveh.

The Disobedient Preacher - Jonah

Why is it today that there are some preachers who love to talk about God’s love but ignore His judgment while there are others who will preach judgment but will not show mercy? They preach that AIDS or SARS is God’s judgment against a sinful people but they are reluctant to show that God wishes to extend His mercy and grace to everyone who will turn to Him. Some fire and brimstone preachers are like Jonah and want God to punish sinners rather than extend them grace. They want judgment today but God wants people to have time to repent of their sins.

Jonah was the reluctant prophet who could not accept the mercy and grace of God that was extended to the enemies of his people. God wanted to show grace through His prophet but instead He showed grace in spite of His prophet and in doing so He also showed grace to His prophet. In the end the Ninevites accepted His grace while the prophet did not. How often the people of this world are more willing to accept God’s grace than the people of God. This should never be as it is only by His grace that we can be part of the family of God.

Continued tomorrow - LW

Firm Forever

As I am going through the Psalms in the morning I came this morning to Psalm 33. Verse 11 says, "But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." There are certain attributes of God that I find more meaningful to me than others. One is the fact that He is the unchanging God. It bothers me that there are those who would teach that God has changed. If He is God then He cannot change. There are those who tell us that God will change His mind if we pray. This verse tells me that His plans are unchanging. So what changes when we pray? Some would say that if God does not change when we pray then why bother to pray. Is prayer about getting our will done or God's will?

What Love is This?

A friend send me this book and told me that I needed to read it. I think that she was afraid that I was becoming a Calvinist. So I read the book and I think I may be one of the few that read it cover to cover. There must be a reward for those who endure to the end.
I found very little love in this book but a great deal of anger. I am going to write a longer book review but let me say this about David Hunt's book. It is not a book I would recommend to anyone. It will not convince a Calvinist that he is wrong. Those that already distrust Calvinism will only be angered by this book. Those that do not know about Calvinism will certainly be confused and maybe even question theology. This book is of no help to anyone who reads it.
Before I began to read this book two relatives who are not Calvinist's told me not to read that book. In fact one who is very charismatic told me that they recommended to their people not to read it.
If you are thinking of reading it, don't. I know that there are many things about which he writes that are a problem but his approach is questionable at best. I am dismayed that we think we must have labels. Doctrine is important but we must know that some doctrines are held in tension in the Bible. If they weren't then we would not have to live by faith.

River of Life - Part 3

This is the conclusion of the snapshot of grace from the Old Testament. Please read the last two days first.

Sometimes we think that what we are doing is too insignificant to make any difference. Remember the stream as it flowed out from under the door of the Temple. No one would have believed that it would change the Dead Sea and bring it to life. No act of grace is too small.

We also need to recognize the grace that is shown to us not only by God but by others as well. The grace that is shown to us by others is not the same as the grace that is shown us by God in that He gives us grace through His Son Jesus Christ. However, we often miss out because we don’t acknowledge the grace of God or others in our lives. God’s grace can come to us in many unexpected ways. We need to develop the habit of looking for that grace.

As the river grew so are we to grow. Paul told us to grow in grace. Let us be like the river of life and grow in grace.

The River of Life - Part 2

This is a continuation of yesterday's post. Please read it first, the conclusion will be tomorrow, Lord willing.

The Lord gave Ezekiel many marvelous and wonderful visions. He had the mysterious vision of the wheel within the wheel with eyes around the rim. He had a vision about the Temple and those that worship there. One of his best known visions was the vision of the valley of dry bones. Finally the Lord gave him a marvelous vision of the river. The Lord had taken him in a vision to the Temple and there he saw water flowing out from under the door. It began as a small stream but after they had traveled a thousand cubits the water was ankle deep. He measured another thousand cubits and now the water was knee deep. After a third thousand the water was up to his waist and when he measured still another thousand it was a mighty river, too deep to cross, deep enough that he would have to swim.

The angel then led him to the bank on the river and there he saw all kinds of trees growing along the banks of the river. In the river there were many kinds of fish and the river flowed into the Dead Sea and made it fresh. The Dead Sea came to life with all kinds of fish.

This is a beautiful picture of the chain of grace. As we minister grace in a small way it begins to grow and with the growth comes new life. Grace is life giving even making the dead to live again as the river brought life to the Dead Sea. It should have remained salty even though there was fresh water flowing into it, but the water from the Temple brought life.

I will conclude this snapshot of grace from the Old Testament tomorrow - LW.

The River of Life – Ezekiel 47

Life for Ezekiel had been extremely difficult. He was a priest who was taken captive when the Babylonians conquered Israel. Unlike Daniel he was not taken to the court of the king but rather he was taken to work on the canals. He suffered a great deal from the Babylonians but he also suffered from his own people. God had told him that he would preach to a stubborn and hard-headed people but his audience was not the Babylonians but his fellow captives.

During the time of captivity he was struck dumb for over a year by the Lord as an object lesson to his people. During that time he had to lie on one side for three hundred ninety days and on the other side for forty days. Meanwhile he had to cook his food using animal dung for fuel. The Lord had told him to use human dung but that was so repulsive to him that the Lord allowed him to use animal dung instead. Even this was considered unclean to a priest but Ezekiel was obedient to his God. Later his wife died and the Lord commanded him not to mourn. If anyone needed grace Ezekiel was that one.

Continued tomorrow - LW