Numbers 13

What do you see? Do you see yourself and the obstacles you face in the shadow of an Almighty God or do you allow yourself to be eclipsed by what is small to Him?

Pastor Fred

Numbers 12

Isn't it still today the same, when somone does something, even a leader, that we don't understand or feel was wrong, instead of talking with them, meeting with them, we use it as an opportunity to undermine them...for shame!

Pastor Fred

Numbers 11

What a great chapter!

Philippians 4:6 is so key to our understanding of prayer. Boldness in prayer is not the same thing as being demanding! Paul writes that should pray but with a heart of thanksgiving, never a sense of entitlement. That is where things went terribly wrong with the Israelites in Numbers 11. We see them being ungrateful, demanding, a sense of entitlement for more and better...did God out of grace help, sure, but with a healthy dose of lesson learning judgment mixed in!

Picking up in verse 16 and 17, we see the placing of elders to share with Moses the "burden" of the people, essentially, their discipleship. This is different from what Moses instituted at the urging of his father-in-law in Exodus 18, having people in place to settle disputes. The elders are to serve as prophetic, spiritual leaders along with Moses, an extension of Moses of sorts throughout the camp... on person is not capable of caring for all the discipleship needs of the people. Too, there were still the priests. Do you see the shaping of church roles here thousands of year ago? Fascinating isn't it! The Levites represent a need for full-time, vocational staff, the elders are, well the elders, serving with the lead person in helping with governance and discipleship, and then there is the collective responsibility of everyone to serve in whatever capacity helps to lead the greater unity of the community (Exodus 18). I love it!

Oh Joshua! In verses 28-30 we see Moses, a wise leader shaping his young protege. A shaping that many of us as leaders can never have too much of! We must never be threatened by the influence others are supposed to have with us. Great leaders release others into their own place of influence, not threatened by others role as leaders but celebrating seeing them fulfilled in their calling!

Finally, in verses 31-35, Kibroth-hattaavah, translated "Graves of Cravings." What cravings do we have that will become our graves to us spiritually, and in some cases, physically?

Pastor Fred

Numbers 9-10

In these two chapters we see a great juxtaposition of what has the potential to be two competing views when God intends them to work together, in a complimentary way.

First, in chapter 9:17-23, we read how God supernaturally lead the Israelites, millions of people, through the wilderness to the Promise Land by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They would follow that cloud/fire ever time it moved, regardless of how long they had come to a stopping point. If they just finished setting up camp, no small task given their population, livestock, proper ordering (chapter 2), and etc., only to see God on the move, they followed. There was very clear God reliance... something we should all follow as a foundation for life!

Then, in chapter 10:29-31 we see Moses pleading with Hobab, the son of his father-in-law to not leave them and go back to the land of Midian because he, Moses, and the people were dependent on him to lead them to the best places to camp...what happened to chapter 9:17-23?

This is wonderful example of how God, in His divine direction, still expects us to rely on the wisdom and life experience of those He has placed in our midst to help us in the pursuit of our destiny.

If we only see the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire as God's sole means of leading people, we miss the breadth of His efforts to guide them. The risk to us is that we overly rely on just one source of direction in this life. Does God want to lead us through personal, divine revelation? Most certainly! But not exclusively! He leads us also through the counsel of others...what other ways does God lead us that have a Biblical basis? See what you come up with!

Pastor Fred

Numbers 5-8

Where is our sense of sacredness for the vow in our modern world? We look for the loop hole in the contract, marriages are treated like juvenile high school break ups, legitimate debts are abandoned, citizenship is forgotten.

I find it striking that the initial texts in Numbers that are laying a foundation for society for this burgeoning nation, so much attention is given to vows. Without vows, there is no bond for the communities that comprise a society to remain in tact. Paul in Ephesians 4 speaks of the bond of peace. I know I reference this text often but because it is central to our Christian ethic. When we hear the word bond, we think of super glue, mighty putty, gorilla glue...but Paul is not speaking of adhesion, although that concept has some relevance but not as strong as the actual meaning. Paul is speaking of the bonds of imprisonment. In fact, many Biblical scholars believe that his letter to the church at Ephesus, as indicated by the Open Bible Expanded Edition, was a part of his "Prison Epistles" written during his first imprisonment in Rome in AD 60-62 along with his letters of Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. He is saying that we are no more free to walk away from our vow of peace among the family God, that is inherent in our vow of devotion to Christ, than he is free to just walk away from his prison in Rome. Even here in the first century, Paul is demanding that Christians not forsake the sacredness of vows.

Are there any vows that you have forsaken? Then find a spiritual leader who can walk you through a redemptive journey of restoration. You say, "Fred, I don't need the help of a spiritual leader, Jesus is my High Priest." I would say to you, "Yes He is but not at the exclusion of The Church that He Himself established." I find it terribly curious that people who profess faith in Christ disregard, and in some cases have a disdain, for His Church. No honest and thorough reading of Scripture in its entirety can lead to any other conclusion than a vow of devotion to Christ encompasses as well a vow of devotion to a local family of believers...held together in the bonds of peace.

What vows have you forsaken...what vows do you need to make anew or possibly for the first time...we like to say that as Christians, we are children of promise, may we not forget that this not only means that we are the benefactor of God's promises to us but also expected by Him to be a maker of our own promises where mandated by Scripture...and keep them.

Pastor Fred

Numbers 1-4

According to the Open Bible Expanded Edition, The title of Numbers comes from the fist word in the Hebrew text, Wayyedabber (And He Said). Jewish writings however usually refer to it by the fifth Hebrew word in 1:1, Bemidbar (In the Wilderness). This more nearly indicates the content of the book. The Greek title in the Septuagint is Arithmoi (Numbers). The Latin Vulgate followed this title and translated it Liber Numeri (Book of Numbers). These titles are based on the two numberings: the generation of Exodus (Numbers 1) and the generation that grew up in the wilderness and conquered Canaan (Numbers 26). Numbers has also been called the "Book of Journeyings," "the Book of the Murmurings," and the "Fourth Book of Moses."

I like to call it a book that contains one of the greatest sentiments of all of Scripture, found in verse 54 of chapter one, "The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses." These few short words reveal to us two of the foundational keys to a life well lived: obedience to God and a healthy reliance on spiritual leaders. We have such a domineering drive for independence in our western culture that we are often at odds with these two necessities of anchoring in the depths of eternal life.

I celebrate our American ideal of "don't tread on me" that is immortalized on the famous Gadsden Flag, but I celebrate it politically. We must never yield to any political ideal that threatens our freedom, our freedom to willfully and prudently submit to the authority of God and those He has graciously given to us to lead us in our spiritual, eternal pursuits. From the first day I became a fully devoted follower of Jesus, I vowed submission to God and to the leaders of my church family. Too many followers of Jesus espouse that the former is only necessary and a close examination of their lives will always reveal a trail of broken relationships and unresolved conflict. Their hope of heaven may be in tact but their promised heaven on earth will always elude them. That which God set forth in the forging of a new nation, Israel, is a timeless principle for us all.

May the sentiment of Numbers 1:54 accurately depict the posturing of your life!

Pastor Fred

Leviticus

...taking a break from blogging in this book...our Chinese drywall trial in New Orleans is this month, our move into a new rental...lots happening...see you in Numbers!!!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 40

Be a priest in your church! If you are not involved in any capacity to help make your weekly worship gathering a success, you are neglecting your priestly duty! I am always inspired by how the priests of the nation if Israel, the Levites, were not just the ones who did the teaching, the sacrifices, the worship, the praying...all the things we typically think of as sacred, but the priests were also the ones who did manual labor in the temple. They set everything up, took everything down, inventoried, polished, cleaned...all the work of the Tabernacle was sacred!

The usher ministry of your church, the cleaning teams, the nursery, the teachers, the altar workers, greeters...you can't find a job that relates to your weekly corporate gathering that is not priestly in nature, sacred! And all of us are called to help in some capacity, priest each of us!

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."

1 Peter 2:9

Priest Up!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 37-39

With the same intentionality that all the furnishings of the Tabernacle were created, so too God is at work building us to function in our churches! In these chapters, we read about the Ark, Table, Lampstand, Altar of Incense, Altar of Burnt Offerings, Bronze Basin, Courtyard, Priestly Garments, Ephod, Breastplate, Robe, Garments, and the Holy Diadem. Have you ever thought that within you, God is also at work creating such a breadth of capacities so that you can serve Him? And that within your church, He is creating a similar diversity of people who will together accomplish the work of worship and revealing His glory to your community?

I love how in 39:32-43 we read Moses inspecting all the work that had been done. Check out what Jesus said the ministry of the Holy Spirit is about in John 16:5-15...sound familiar? He is the inspector of our hearts and our churches, measuring what He finds against what God has commanded...what is He finding in you...what is He finding in your church...may it be all that The Father has desired!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 35:4- chapter 36

These verses challenge us all to continually ask ourselves a deeply probing question, "Am I creating a more than enough environment in my church?" (36:7)

We must ask ourselves how are we meeting God's expectations to give of our financial resources and skills/abilities for accomplishing God's vision for the local church we call home. Are our hearts continually being moved and our spirits prompted to give (vs. 21).

May it be so!!

Pastor Fred

Exodus 35

In Gordon MacDonald's "Ordering Your Private World," his final chapter is on rest. Let me give you some of the quotes.

"William Wilberforce (if you haven't seen the biographical movie "Amazing Grace" about Wilberforce, watch it!) had discovered that the person who establishes a block of time for Sabbath rest, cessation, on a regular basis is most likely to keep all of life in proper perspective and remain free of burnout and breakdown."

"This rest was not meant to be a luxury, but rather a necessity for those who want to have growth and maturity."

Quoting Abraham Joshua Heschel, "It is a day on which we are called upon to share what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world."

Speaking of Jesus, "No wonder He met every encounter with a fresh burst of wisdom. No wonder He had ample courage not to fight back, not to defend Himself. His spirit was always rested, His private world ordered. Without this kind of rest our private world will always be strained and disordered."

"What had happened, much to my amazement, was that by bringing this restful order to my private world through proper Sabbath observance, I was able to impact my public world in the days that followed with much greater wisdom and judgment."

Speaking again of Wilberforce, "Because he got back on track (with devoted times of weekly Sabbaths), the great landmark achievement of abolition (of slavery) was his claim."

"The world and the Church need genuinely rested Christians: Christians who are regularly refreshed by true sabbath rest, not just leisure or time off. When a godly rest is achieved, yo u will see just how tough and resilient Christians can actually be."

Are you rested?

Here are couple articles on rest that I have...check them out...

Nuach

Sabbatismos

Pastor Fred