Everyday Yes #5 --

Crazy week in multiple directions... First of all, news from my own life, my youngest turned 20 on Thursday, so yay for Jasmine!! I'll get her card and gift to her when I go to the services for Rich's (my ex) father on June 4th. Prayers for all involved. Secondly, Sheila seems to be totally done moving. I haven't heard anyone over there this past week. May God go with her and bless arrangements for her cat, Spencer, to live back with her soon*. Mike and I are getting to know each other better than ever and it's just amazing!! I'm so happy in spite of the 1 1/2 distance we share in location. Continued prayers in faith* for God's provision in His timing for both of us. Another prayer concerning me and Mike is that my parents learn to accept him. They met him twice, briefly 30 + yrs ago, but don't even remember it. The only time they've seen him recently was a quick video call on Easter. Also continued prayers as Rob and I continue to navigate our friendship.

In view of national news, as you know, I try so very hard to avoid politics on here. This latest story out of Texas leaves me no option. And if it "weeds people out" of my future blog entries, so be it. I pray for only those I can truly minister to as site members. The rest I pray God's love and wisdom for their lives. That being said, I don't grieve for the parents of these children other than from the perspective of their willingness to partake in yet another orchestrated event designed by political forces for the advancement of their extremist agenda. I pray for nothing but their guilt to first consume them and then for God's grace to free them to better decisions in the future. I also pray for those who orchestrated the whole scenario that they would feel guilty about using children to force their agendas. Too many in our society have lost sight of human value at the early stages and later stages of life. I'm leaving the rest of that discussion for another time potentially. (although with the whole Roe v Wade thing in the news again, maybe not)* We make these posts apologizing to the kids that "it's not supposed to be this way", yet continue to put people in power who perpetuate the problems. When will it be enough?? I struggle to pray for our country considering how many people either seek to destroy it, or vote for those who do nothing else. Pretty sad thought for Memorial Day Weekend, but I only wish it weren't true...

Now to address the scandal in "Church World" that I honestly hadn't heard about until this morning in my own Church (at least not as a current story)... All Pastor Joe said this morning was something about news that was challenging our faith as a major Protestant Church Denomination was being investigated. I just looked it up before coming on here so I could comment with some understanding of the situation. As I was thinking on it earlier this afternoon while I was out enjoying the sun, I couldn't help wondering if it was something to do with Independent Baptist Churches. I know some things about them from local history as well as online sources and a movie I was introduced to a few years ago*. Well, I was at least partly right. Southern Baptist Churches are "independently owned and operated" even though they have the legal "umbrella" of a Society. In my reading this afternoon, I also found out that since changing some rules a few years ago, local churches that "cross the line" of "Christ-like" behavior may be removed from under said "umbrella". They then become fully Independent Baptist Churches, so yeah... I was right. One article I read mentioned that SBC leadership considered the abuse within its own system "minimal" compared to that of the Catholic Church because it was discovered later and presumably hadn't been happening as long. What an absolute CROCK!! Abuse is abuse no matter how many times it happens or the form it takes. The number of incidents or length of time has absolutely nothing to do with it!! The article also spoke of the "decentralized" organization of the SBC as opposed to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. As if that actually has anything to do with it either!! And we wonder why so many young people are leaving the Church... Maybe if we actually all followed God rather than pursuing power (also mentioned in an article I read), we would be seen as something worthwhile and not just another source of pain in the guise of Salvation. This is why it is sooooooo much more important to follow God rather than any denomination or individual. If the Church you're going to isn't answerable to anyone but God, then you're in dangerous territory because the interpretation of "following God" is allowed to flex according to the beliefs and desires of the one leading it. I pray for anyone reading this who may be a member of such a place. Use wisdom and discernment, please!!

And that actually flows really well into the message today. Anyone who has grown up in Church like I have may remember a great little Bible Story Song from Sunday School. The one about the Wise and Foolish Builders, yes?? You remember, right?? "The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise many built his house upon the rock..." I'll include it as a bonus in the music. We need to make sure our lives are built on something solid which is only found in God. In order to do that, our Churches need to be built on Him as well. In the process of opening our service with prayer this morning, Pastor Joe read Psalm 46. I encourage you to read it now before we continue.

We had the privilege this morning, of having Nate Parks on the platform. As some of you know, he's our "regularly scheduled Guest Minister". Or randomly scheduled, however you want to look at it. :) He opened the message by sharing his thoughts on our series title, "Everyday Yes". His mind defaults to bacon when he sees these words. Like, "Yes, I could have bacon everyday!!" LOL He recently saw an ad that pictured bacon between 2 Krispy Kreme donuts and never felt more understood. LOL

He then shared a brief story about a long-time friend and the conversation they had recently. This man's life was just getting to be more and more of a mess and in the course of talking, Nate asked him about his Church life. The man told him that he stopped going some time ago because he had gotten discouraged by the message he was hearing. Now, to clarify the situation further, this man Nate was talking with had been trained to be a member of the Clergy!! Somehow he had managed to miss the point that The Church isn't the message, it's the body of believers designed to encourage us through the week. If you only think about God on Sunday, or not at all, then of course your life is going to be a mess. (active thought here... your house not only needs to be built on something solid, but all houses need continued maintenance in order to remain stable)

So now onto the main message -- Let's read this familiar passage together...

Matthew 7:24-27 New International Version

The Wise and Foolish Builders 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

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"Short and sweet", as they say... but ultimately powerful. As a practical way of helping us to embrace the idea of "Everyday yes", Nate made sure we all had a blank index card this morning. We were to write down questions to aid our study of any given passage and then the additional references that go with today's passage, which he used as a "practice" piece. Let's explore this Scripture with that in mind...

What does the passage say?? -- The first step in Bible Study, once a theme or section has been selected, is to read it at "face value". What are the words and what is the main point they are presenting?? In this case, the words involve hearing and doing the Words of God as a means of building a solid foundation for your life as opposed to rejecting them and effectively building on sand*. It is a reminder that there are consequences to our choices. It's a case of knowledge vs wisdom. It's building a house in the mountains rather than on the beach. It's a definitive choice between 2 options (binary) rather than the Societal embracing of nuance or "shades of gray". A "secondary" question to ask about the passage is, Who is speaking?? In this case, it is Jesus.
What is the context?? Any of you who've been reading a while know how critical context is to me... And that's because it's critical to the full understanding of the passage*. In this case, the context is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The "secondary" question here is, "Who is the audience??" This group were mostly Jews who were willing to take the chance that Jesus really was the Messiah, and so intended to follow Him. In any case, Jew or Gentile, they were still Old Testament believers seeing as how Jesus hadn't died and resurrected yet. This gives insight into their perspective. Jesus was consistently saying in this Sermon, "You've heard it said... I say this..." That's because these people had the upbringing in the Old Testament Scriptures to reference in their minds according to what He was saying in the moment. The Gentiles would have been "brought up to speed" later by their friends. As a fellow native of NH, Nate presented a local example of perspective by pointing out that hiking the Presidential Range of the White Mountains and only reaching the summit of Mt. Clay, which is a shorter mountaintop between Washington and Jefferson, will only provide you with a limited view even though it breaks the tree-line. Summiting Mount Washington, however, gives you a full-out 360 degree view. The next thing to explore in a Bible Study when looking for context are other passages that lend to the message. In our case today, one of these cross-references is found in Leviticus 26. Moses had received The 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai and within 30 days after, God also gave him the rest of the Jewish Law. This was God's way (or at least one of the ways) in which He established His presence with them. If you're not familiar, Leviticus 26 is God's listing of Blessings and Curses on the Jewish people, depending on their obedience or lack thereof. Verse 3 says, "If you walk and observe..." (sounds like everyday choices, right?? "House building"??) Verse 14 goes on after the blessings to provide the list of consequences for "Not listening..." Another good passage to reference here is Deuteronomy 30. Moses is near death without entering The Promised Land due to his own moment of disobedience*. He is imploring the people to, "choose life". As you may recall, Joshua takes over from there. The next battle is Jericho, in which God specifically instructed that no booty be kept or plundered. They then travel to the City of Ai and lose what should have been a "gimme" conflict. Why?? Achan decided he was smarter than God and kept some items plundered out of Jericho. He was building his life on the "quick and easy, comfortable" beach rather than on the "mountains" of the Words of God. (see the connection??) In Joshua chapter 8, we see our friend dividing the crowds in the valley between Mt. Gersham and Mt. Ebal* and renewing their Covenant with God. The fact is, wisdom may be the harder road, but it is far more rewarding than foolishness. The rewards are longer lasting and worthwhile.
What is the message?? -- Kinda forgot about the steps, didn't you?? :P This passage is a clear reminder that there are impactful decisions we need to make every day if we are to follow God with any "decent amount" of success. Our "house" is our life. How we build it matters. The "secondary" questions for this one are "What is the core of the message??" and "What stands out most??" For this passage, the core is that we need to make time for God every day and not just our "Sunday nugget". That's what Nate's friend had been doing and that's why he got discouraged. As to what stands out most, that answer will change over time depending on what's current in each of our lives.
How can I apply this in my life?? -- Ask yourself what's going on that needs immediate attention in light of the passage. Make a plan for an actionable response. Write these on the back of the index card.

A final cross-reference to this message and passage is found in James 1:22-25 where he is cautioning his readers to be "doers of the Word and not hearers only". Otherwise we might forget what we look like in God's eyes... -- God Bless!!

Footnotes --

Sheila's cat, Spencer has needed a new, temporary location due to the small space Sheila is currently staying in and the fact that Spencer is has not been allowed to roam the house outside her room. I was asked to take him for a while, but declined due to uncertain plans and out of fairness to Spencer for less transition. (not to mention being allergic to his litter) :/ Anything chemical is a potential threat to me except my laundry detergent and Dawn dish soap. The word "anaphylactic" is not a happy thought.
Prayers in faith -- I recently mentioned about this in other entries.
Roe v Wade -- In the interest of being brief, the only win-win scenario is for Christians to stop being hypocritical by forcing our views on others when we don't want views we disagree with forced on us. (this goes perfectly with last week's warning against Christian Nationalism) My feeling is that a Heartbeat Law on whatever level, in conjunction with compassionate, medically necessary, exceptions; is the only way to strike a proper balance between morality and medicine. A dichotomy of personal vs political opinion is necessary if Christians are to be truly Christ-like. Jesus presented the truth in love without forcing the issues, who are we to do any less?? Positive action, yes. Militant judgement, no. That being said, PP should be defunded and the taxpayers' money split between Hospitals and well-vetted Adoption agencies.
Church Abuse movie -- "The Preacher's Daughter" -- find it, watch it, demand action where necessary!!
This passage always reminds me of "The Three Little Pigs" -- the author knew what he was talking about, that's for sure!! :)
Context brings full understanding -- In a recent conversation with my ex-boyfriend, now good friend, Jeremy, who has been to Bible College but never ordained, we were talking about The Bible and how so many people, including some Pastors, consider the subject of Hermeneutics as a "Dull, boring, waste of time". Essentially a "dead" concept. They are so very wrong!! The study of Biblical languages and culture is absolutely essential to capturing the full context and meaning of Scripture.
Moses' disobedience -- Numbers 20:8-12 -- Moses strikes the rock to release water rather than speaking like God had commanded.
God was using a visual aid for Joshua's reading of the Law and renewal of the Covenant. Mt. Gerizim was lush and full of blessings. Mt. Ebal was barren and full of curses.