The House You're Building

  [1] Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. [2] For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. [3] For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. [4] For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” [5] And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” [6] Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, [7] again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden...

  Introduction   The Israelites have seen God move in dramatic ways.  They have just been rescued from Pharaoh for a second time.  This left them on a spiritual high as they responded in worship.  Yet after seeing the plagues and God’s deliverance, days without new miracles leave them despondent.  Many of the stories in this installment of Exodus show a people with short memories.  They begin to grumble as God’s provision doesn’t come in their timing.  They need water in the desert and complain to the One who had just commanded the Red Sea to destroy their enemies.  In biblical settings, the desert is a place where people wander, need guidance, and mutter against Yahweh [1] .  Is it so different in our days? In symbolic fashion we describe seasons of life where there is dryness and scarcity as being “in the desert.” Are we patient with God and remember what He has just done for us when His timing i...

        Orient   John 5:1-29 This section begins the “festival cycle” of John.  Here we will find a narrative pattern of Jesus attending a Jewish festival and while there, his words or actions create building conflict with the Pharisees.  This is Jesus’s third sign of the 7 in this gospel that point to His authenticity and cause the readers to face who Jesus is.  In this exchange, we find Jesus claiming to be God as He is Lord of the Sabbath.  The focus is on the work He does and how it aligns with the character of His Father.  You will read about roles within the Trinity as well as the power of Jesus to give life.     Introduction If you grew up in a religious household, there were things that were “taboo.”  Public school, smoking, dancing, wearing pants, may have been an unspoken restriction.  It seems to be in our nature to add to God’s law.  People often prohi...

  Have you ever thought about what it was like when God created the animals?  I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and one of my favorite parts is seeing how the artists in the films visually recreate some of my favorite magical creatures like hippogriffs and thestrals.  Imagine the whimsy of God, making the massive blue whale, the intricate hummingbird or the pieced-together platypus.  Not only inventing their physical characteristics but choosing their behaviors.  I on team dog because God made them loyal, sweet, and playful.    What was God thinking when He created sheep?  Did you know that sheep are mentioned more than any other animal in the bible [1] ?  Not only were sheep an important part of the ancient world’s economy, but God uses them in the Bible as an analogy of how we act.  It’s almost like God knew us and decided to design an animal that reflects our tendencies to show us our need for Him. Most ar...

Last night I was with a group of parents at my daughter's soccer party.  She has played with this team for a few seasons now and I've begun to develop some relationships.  Largely though, we know surface level facts about each other.  In a gathering like this, you really only get to talk to the people next to you.  Work, the holidays, the weather...all safe topics.  I'm not really one who thrives in this kind of environment; I sometimes don't know what to say... One thing I noticed that in all the conversations, everyone was mentioning how busy they were.  From blue collar work to the legislative branch (I was sitting between a truck driver and a lawyer), everyone has the same reaction to the pace of middle-class pace of life.  Last night when my husband got home at 9 from another late meeting, we were talking about how every season is busy.  Fall, school starts and sports.  Then the holidays come-pretty soon it's spring and with sports ...