"Is God love?"

 My reply to this blog

 

 https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/is-it-true-to-say-that-god-is-love/#comments

 

Liz Figures

February 24, 2021 at 4:23 pm

a) I think we leave judgement out of our definition of God’s love at great peril.

In child protection services it’s well known that a parent may say to a child ‘I love you’ and demonstrate that affection in many ways, but if that child has disclosed to that parent that it’s being abused by a third party yet the parent doesn’t act to bring justice and safety the child is often left with a severe feeling of abandonment known as ‘failure to protect’. The child may well feel more lifelong animosity to the person who ‘failed to protect’ than the one who actually perpetrated the acts.

Similarly with other authority figures, when they commit or even allow to go unchallenged various injustices the victims feel an even greater sense of betrayal.

Hence the inherent conflict in people’s arguments – on the one hand they want a ‘hands off’ God so they can do what ever they like but still enjoy his love and benefits but on the other hand are angry with him when other people or ‘life’ (often others at one step removed) are unfair, somehow they still feel the ‘failure to protect’. Hence deep down the need to know that there will be ultimate justice.

but

b) I find it very powerful that in Exodus 34 when God has that particular opportunity to say what ever he likes about himself and this is the definitive chance to describe himself as he wants to be seen he talks about being compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and overflowing in love in the loving-kindness sense. He also punishes and blesses. Punishment only lasts a few generations (the length of time the epigenetic effects consequences last?) Blessing goes on and on and on. I feel this is all so clearly reflected in the life of Jesus. And the 1 Cor 13 summary. Love is patient and kind …

I think the fudge over the NT translation love is a serious error. I think “loving-kindness” for agape reflecting the OT word and concept could help.

I also think we need to be taking the hell-fear and judgmentalism approach out of preaching and church life, which both basically take God himself out of the equation making frightened-ness about suffering and fearing of human ostracism the primary motors of the pressure we put on people to convert and behave.

c) As for the “banal measure of how I feel”, I do basically agree in theory. The problem, and a very major one, is that the discussion does not come in a vacuum. I think that as Evangelicals we have been pretty heavy handed, handing out condemnation and rigidity when even a modicum of loving-kindness would have gone a very long way. I’m afraid I’ve known too many people who were put off God because of us. If you look at why people are still leaving church despite still having faith it’s very telling. Some may balk at the idea of calling bullying rigid sermons, thoughtless judgemental patronising pastoral advice, or isolating excluding cliquish congregational behaviour as ‘spiritual abuse’ but it seems to have that effect on it’s victims just as much as any other emotional abuse or coercive control. It makes me think of the bullying sheep in Ezekiel, also the sheep-looking wolves in Acts.

I feel the church needs to overbalance in the opposite direction for while just to right the wrongs of previous generations. We need to exercise our ‘compassion muscles’ much more than our self justification ones, even if the desire for right doctrine, soundness and respect for the Bible were in themselves a counter swing against the excesses of liberalism etc.

I do understand that the previous over-leaning the other way meant for example, a very soggy self contented church that needed the counterbalance of Finney et al However in view of the damage I’ve seen from our over zealous evangelicalism and the balance I feel exists in Bible – (I desire love not sacrifice etc etc) I think that it’s impossible to over emphasise that God is love/loving-kindness.

I get very moved reading the first letter of John. More important than which John wrote it, is to me, the way it’s written. This isn’t literary analysis of course but it’s impassioned pleas make me think of an elderly apostle who, of all the complex and amazing things he’s shared is reduced to just repeating over and over that for all your right-ness, saying you love God, it’s rubbish if you don’t loving-kindness your brother. Like Paul’s frustration with the Corinthians’ rightness giving dissonant resonances.

Of course this reaction has a personal element underlying it. What would I and so many others I’ve encountered along this de-churched road have given for a few words of kindness, a little thought beyond perceived right-ness. You recently published a post that I can’t just find by the ex Shaftesbury guy who looked into where his old congregation went. He echoed the findings of STEVE AISTHORPE who looked for his old fellow congregants when he returned from mission in Nepal. We have to listen carefully and prayerfully to these voices otherwise we just go round repeating the same errors and undermine the very church we say we’re trying to build. Yes, God is love can be a trite reply to important theological concerns but I don’t think replying yes God is love but … is the best reply. I feel we need a good deal of pride swallowing to compensate for the Pharisaical damage we’ve done to the gospel first. Once we outdo them in love maybe then we can take them to court.

The Journey (Ruth)

A refugee journey

(Based on the Bible book of Ruth, an ancestor of Jesus)



No rain. No rain. Still no rain.


Harvests failed. Hunger drove us out. We crossed borders looking for relief. We wanted only the simple dignity of earning a day's wage, of feeding our families. We trekked, dusty and worn.


I am Naomi. In my own language my name means joy. What irony that was to become.


Now I am weary and full of years, but at that time we were young and willing. We worked hard. We worked long hours doing the jobs they didn't want. We learned their language and customs. We made a home and a life. The day came when could arrange marriages for our sons. What a proud day. What a happy day.


Then the sickness came to our village. My husband's body, weak with hard labour, was quickly overcome. We wept deeply for our loss.


Our sons worked even harder. Their future was my hope. We kept saving for the weddings. We kept our heads high. More people died. Labour shortages. Work was harder but wages rose. Then disaster again knocked at our door. One son after the other was taken sick and died.


We were now 3 widows in one household. How could I, broken in health and heart, produce more sons to honour our promise to those two young women? I revoked their contract and gave them freedom to find new husbands. I decided to return to the land of my birth. Though little more than a beggar I needed to be among my own.


I sold what we had left to pay safe passage with a trading caravan. Well, I say safe. How safe has it ever been for women travelling alone? But it was a risk I had to take.


I said goodbye to the girls but they wouldn't let me go. Finally one agreed to return to her parents but Ruth held on to me. Stubbornly she begged me, "I will go with you. Your people will become my people, your God will become my God."


In my grey mood I said some hard things to her. I told her there would be only shame waiting for us, returning with no working men and no foreign money. But still she came. She hung on to this dried up depressed shell of a woman. She made me eat when food felt like dust in my mouth. She made me walk when all I wanted was to curl up and die too. She trusted in my God, whose very name I was cursing in my despair.


We came to the land of my ancestors. Old friends and family shook their heads when they saw me. When they greeted us I said "Don't call me Naomi, joy. My new name is Mara, bitterness. I have gone sour with grief." There was no welcome party. We had brought no honour in our homecoming.


According to the customs of my land, laid down by our God in his laws, the poor must be provided for. They harvest round field edges, grain left standing for this purpose. We call our God "The Living God" because although we have times and places for meeting him, we can't confine him to them. He hates when the weak are neglected and oppressed. He shows himself to be full of grace and compassion, slow to anger and completely reliable in his love. He gives legal rights even to women, foreigners and those in need, a rarity in my day and age.


So Ruth went to work in the field of a relative of my late husband. Being a good man, Boaz instructed his workers to leave her extra grain, to make sure she was unharmed and to give food to her. In time, in order to provide for us fully he negotiated to take her as his wife. I could give him no bridal gift but according to our laws if she marries a family member he can take over some ancestral land in my late husband's name so we brought him a blessing and our honour was restored.


Now, finally settled in her new land, Ruth gave birth to a son. More honour. I had not smiled since my loss in that distant place. I had journeyed in deep depression. When dear Ruth put the baby in my arms, at long last I laughed and sobbed all at once. I was flooded with joy and hope for the future. Our God had rescued me from distress and shame through the faithfulness of this young woman. May his name be praised.

Review : Revelation, Ian Paul

Revelation: An Introduction And Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentary Book 0)
by

Ian Paul

Liz Figures's review

Aug 15, 2020  ·  

For me this is the straight forward, down to earth, no nonsense approach I was looking for. It is what one would expect from a mathematician, which was Ian Paul's line of study I believe before becoming a theologian. It did make me think a little of reading the book on poetry by Steven Fry, but a commentary should dissect, and dissect Ian Paul does, whilst also giving a refreshing overview of the whole, and communicating his own sense of worship and awe that the text inspires.

I am now reconciled to number significance and word counting in particular. In the past I'd encountered it more as superstition - 3 means this - (er, says who?) but here it is shown to be part of a literary language used consciously by the writer, much like the composer of the sonnet or ode is not only transported in wonder at their subject matter but mathematically works out the stanza lengths and rhyme locations to carry the content, adding extra layers to the meaning for those in the know. It seems it was a Jewish literary device to use certain words a set number of times in a text. And what a relief to find that 666 would have been quite clear to the initial hearers and was probably never intended to have the magical terror with which it has been imbued in our popular culture, at least according to this author, although the message was still a very serious warning not to be taken lightly.

I think one of the author's aims may have been to reduce the superstition and misplaced anxiety often linked with this book of the Bible (I have a vivid memory of coming in one evening to find my normally very level headed room-mate at university sitting on the edge of her bed in tears of fear having read Hal Lindsey). For me this was successful. I was struck by the repeated reminders that this work was probably intended to be comforting as well as a warning to the initial hearers, the opposite of the anxiogenic use it has been put to.

I still don't like the word eschatological and not just because it accumulates too many consonants at the front of the word which feels like having to walk barefoot over shingle before finally getting to the sea, but because of the association with all sorts of whacky theology. I think we need to start afresh with a simpler word phrase with less history and overtones, using translated not transliterated words like last, end, far or final.

As far as judgment goes he underlines God's characteristic approach to justice which he calls "lex talionis" which he defines as :"He gives to people only what they have given to others" and "God only gives to others what they deserve if they refuse the gift they do not deserve." An eminently sensible approach not matched in some more classic views of hell and judgement as defined, I discovered latterly, by Greek and Norse concepts of an afterlife torture for the wicked and as portrayed on the Medieval frieze on my beloved Lincoln Cathedral West Front with the torturer being the very one who Revelation says will be destroyed.


I found his regular references to genre helpful. Having recently watched almost all the 'making of' videos of Game of Thrones out of curiosity to see what all of the fuss was about, the great throne room setting for the large part of the action in Revelation was particularly vivid. I was happily led on a Google rabbit hole exploration about angels after his fairly brief but clear description of their role and found myself reading up about stock characters and plot devices in Greek plays (which he then gets on to, but I was inordinately satisfied to have found out for myself lol) and lo and behold there are the messengers (angels, which I would have preferred to not have been transliterated, can't have everything) and heralds (trumpets) along with letters (scrolls), and we all know about ancient Greek pottery so the bowls seem pretty logical too, all being as familiar to audiences at the time as the staff and equipment in the bar at The Queen Vic is to modern soap watchers or the language of sleuths, witnesses, clues to adepts of the murder mystery genre.

He then draws out layer after layer of allusion to the then current cultural references of Roman myths, along with a good dose of Roman Empire and Emperor cult language. Then there's the Old Testament references which come in nearly every verse, - very familiar to anyone raised in a Jewish environment, a closed book to outsiders readers and thus ideal for communicating the subversive message i.e. The Emperor isn't the real overlord, Jesus is; The Emperor can't come up with the goods on his promises, he has neither the power nor the niceness to do it, so don't be seduced into compromising with him.

That said, Ian Paul does not tie Revelation to just being a political cartoon/religious coded message against The Empire of the time but as he says in his introduction :"Although there are clear connexions made with the specific realities of Roman imperial power, the metaphorical description that John offers us provides a critique of all human imperial aspiration." (p34)

I liked his tables comparing groups of words, and the helpful summaries of what he thinks Revelation is also not saying for words and concepts like Satan, the Millennium, Beast etc etc Obviously he can't recapitulate on all the vast literature around and he has taken a particular line that not everyone will agree with but given the nature of the task I think this was always going to be inevitable. In my opinion he's made a readable book of it, that is accessible as a go to first source for the serious Bible reader and balanced jump off point to more detailed researches.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3496750000

Coveting

I had a thought recently about coveting. It’s always puzzled me as at the level of just being envious of something that someone else owns it seems different from the other commandments and yes, “just” a heart issue.

However I was observing the behaviour of our 2 dogs. The least dominant one was lying on something and the other decided she wanted it. She stood there, a bit too close, clearly in eye line until the less dominant complied and reluctantly gave up the coveted position. The more dominant is capable of getting the less dominant to concede almost anything just by staring or standing too close for comfort. I’ve never seen any actual violence between them yet the power relationship is clear.

I’ve come to believe that coveting has more to do with coercion and power relationships than just heart desire.

The Lord's Prayer for the Very Worn

The Lord's Prayer for the Very Worn

Not me trying to think up something clever, this is how I pray. I'm too weary or muddle headed to think what to say, or even feel'like saying anything, so I go for wheat Jesus said to say, that's good enough for me. But if I just recite it my brain will be elsewhere by line 2 so I try to say it like I feel I can be more simple or at least in a way that makes me think about what it's saying. So it comes out different every time. 

Just come sit with me a moments quiet. I like to just feel myself listen a little moment and catch a couple of breaths.

Dear Father God, somehow both not tied down by our human limitations yet fully understanding them. You're really special to us regardless of what our feelings are or aren't doing today. 

We can't begin to understand how you'd do it, but we want your kingdom to come and your will to be done in our little time and space bubble, however limited it seems to us it still counts, whatever hills and valleys we go through today. Please give us the strength and clarity of thought to be able to make any key decisions if needed and the courage to be able to say no and yes, to understand your will as much as we need to for today. 

Please provide for us and our nearest and dearest, we throw and chuck our burdens onto you because you've said that you care or us. Thank you. 💕

We invite you into our thought lives today. We're not asking to have no pain but we really want the grace to be able to forgive and receive forgiveness. 

Please protect and strengthen us, we are weak and vulnerable even on the days we feel full of it, let alone how we are now. Please help us to find comfort in healthy ways and places. Give us the strength to be able to stand against the evil one and having done all, to stand. Is armour uncomfortable in bed ? Maybe not yours. May your peace, utterly incomprehensible given the circumstances, keep our hearts and minds in the love and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I find it so hard to grasp about your kingship, some times everything seems on the surface so out of control, but I believe and continue to hang on to the fact that 

* you have the authority to do what you think best, 

* you have the power and the wherewithall to get it done, 

and 

* you will get the credit you deserve, glory to you King Jesus.

I agree most wholeheartedly. 

Stirring Up

Stirring up.



"One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus." Luke 5 17-19.


I have to start by being pedantic, sorry. It's the "they". What they ? If you just take the paragraph as it stands from v 17,  it makes no sense. It can't refer to the Pharisees because they hadn't come from every village. But there isn't anything else in the paragraph it can refer to. Unless that is you take away the title "Jesus forgives and heals a paralysed man". Then it becomes obvious it's refering to the crowds. Nothing serious lost this time. I like the chapter and verse numbers and the useful titles put there to help us find our way around, but just sometimes I feel they can be an obstacle to twigging what the writer wanted to say. Like all sorts of other wonderful human elements in life that are mostly very helpful but can sometimes get in the way, like meetings and notices and flower arrangements and Sunday School lessons and car parking arrangements and budgets and ...


That isn't what really touched me about this passage, though the temptation to feel pleased with myself at my little pedantry is not inconsiderable. 

What I really like about this incident is the men. Yes, you read me right! The actions of this gang of mates sums up for me what I find the most attractive in a group of blokes, or girls for that matter. 

It's not just that I would always rather be where the action is, although honesty says that that is part of it. I'd rather have home made than cordon bleu if I can join in with making it, even if it's only with my hands in the sink. I like action, the sensation of doing something, fixing something, helping out, lending a hand.  Is that less spiritual because it's very human too ? Good works.

I also like team. I like where the fun and safety of a climbing group depends on everyone playing their part and looking out for each other. Someone who only turns up at the end to have a pint in the pub, who sits smelling of roses while muddy boots are shed and aching muscles kneaded, has missed it. Mucking in, rallying round. What I like best in the whole wide world is human beings. Fellow-ship. Love.

But there's another element to this that I'm very drawn to - they stir each other up to act. One of them had a bright idea and the others didn't talk him down with common sense. 

Obviously it isn't fool hardy bravado. They know how rooves work. There are steps up the side of the house to get up there so they're never putting their friend at risk. They have adequate muscle. They would certainly check man's sleeping mat isn't gone weak with rot and drop him on the floor (which I'm certain they did before they set off, I'm concerned about these things). 

I think the great risk is probably of getting into trouble with the rich host who could be the main employer in the area; or with the local religious leaders who, humiliated in front of their national superiors, could make sure no one ever again shops at their market stall or marries their daughters.

No one would blame them if they'd done the crowd thing, the sensible thing. No one has lost face. They could say to themselves or to the relative who asked them to bring him, "Well, we tried. You should have seen the crowds, and wouldn't you know it, it was the day the inquisition turned up too." They'd have been absolutely right. 

But somehow they breed in each other something that goes beyond that. This is when faith stirs up faith. They trust each other as well as God. They just get on with it. Together. It happens. 

Stir one another up to love and good works" Heb 10. 

Or spur on. Could we read egg on ? Certainly encourage comes into it. As does inspire. It sounds to me like more than a simple comfy mutual fur stroking enterprise however you read it, (though I am also partial to a little reciprocal reassuring, a little smiley at the right time can go a long way, I think that comes into the category of cheering on lol)

Stirring up, stirring on to love and good works. Stirring stops the gravy going lumpy or burning on the bottom. It makes us unable to sit back in the status quo and stops us allowing what we've begun to spoil because we'd allowed it to settle. 

Could it even be something that appears counter intuitive too, for example reminding each other that if some of us busy bees don't get adequate sabbath rest we risk to let the quality of all we're at be ruined because we take on more and loose our ability to adequately give love or do good works ? 

So, hang on in there dear friends, let us not give up, what ever it is God's reminding us about today  ❤



PS Little side track thoughts - can we receive as well as give, allowing ourselves to be lowered through the roof without having to wriggle and wrestle, clinging on to the sides? How are we at tolerating getting our precious bedding mat full of dust and rubble without shouting at everyone ? And how do we cope with that 'chance would be a fine thing' misery of being amongst the crowd down below without the support group who will take those sorts of initiatives? Or maybe that's interpreting more into the situation than is merited by the text lol.


PS What mutual exhortation have we got growing in our let-us patch ? To satisfy my curiosity I did a cursory word check on the phrase "let us", looking at how the letter writers used it :

Romans 13: 12 ... let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime ... 14: 19 ... let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.15 : 2 Let each of us please his neighbor ... 

2 Corinthians 7: let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit ...

Galatians 5 : 25 ... let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 6: 9 let us not grow weary of doing good ... as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.

Philippians 3: 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

1 Thessalonians 5: 8 ... let us be sober

Hebrews 4: 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest ... 4:14 ... let us hold fast our confession.  6: 1 ... let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ  10: 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith... Let us hold fast the confession of our hope ... And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works... 12:1...let us also lay aside every weight and sin ... and let us run with endurance ... 12: 28 ... let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship ... 13:15 ... let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,

1John 3:18 ... let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God ...

Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory ...

one another

one another.

been thinking some thoughts.

it's not original but i've never heard it preached on - the "to one another" s. 

the list i saw some years ago had 35 verses noted on it. it's all the things that we should do for each other, how we should relate to one another." be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honour one another above yourselves" for example.

my starting point in my thinking lately has been the obvious  new commandment - "that you love one another as i have loved you". i've only just got why it's a new commandment cos the summary of the law, the old commandment is love too. but that was  to love your neighbour as you love yourself, this is to love as christ loves. whew ! i did make the link a while back tho that when paul reminds husbands to love their wives he's only repeating the instruction that's given to everyone but maybe husbands need more reminding to do it for their wives. also the guideline for wives to submit to/respect their husbands is a repeat of the word given to everyone a verse earlier - "submit to one another out of reverence for christ" !! He isn't asking us to do anything extra for our partners than what he asks us to do for others in a sense - just we need extra reminding to do it for a spouse :-) (and the parents/elderly and bosses) very confusing tho having the title stuck before the submit verse rather than after it.

i associate the love one another idea with dribbly choruses in the charismatic renewal and having to hold hands with strangers in meetings - but somehow this is fellowship/koinonia that includes and goes beyond the get together/eklesia. maybe the realities of it makes holding hands with strangers seem positively preferable for us relationally challenged europeans.

reading the letters by john,  the special friend, i was struck by what sounds like an elderly man repeating over and over in desperation for someone to listen and not lose the heart of the good news - love love love. this is a highly participatory activity that can't be accomplished in rows of people who have no eye contact with anyone and go home without talking to anyone. obviously there's the place for the big. but maybe a shortage of the middlin' and the small. i was "friends" for a while with a woman in the states on fb who was going through a bad time and then just after moving house had her purse stolen and had no cash to get her through to the end of the month. i asked her had she mentioned it at church - she said there are 3000 people in my church, you can't. I put some euros in an envelope with a little card for her which gave her the money to buy gasoline to get to work every day and to get to her mothers for the rest of the month. someone from her church must at least have seen her fb entries - or maybe not ? i would happily queue up and go to a huge church to hear people teach but i wouldn't call it fellowship. don't get me wrong, it wasn't sacrificial giving, just a little bit of spare, but it made me want to cry that a little sick nobody a thousand miles away was able to spot what was needed and no one near enough to be able to give her a hug as well. you didn't need to be clairvoyant to understand her fb post !


i was struck some years ago too about the inclusiveness of paul's practical instructions in 1 corinthians - in each set of instructions from ch 10 onwards there's the words each, every or all ! this is life, this is how the good news works. i don't like the instruction manual image very much as i feel it gives too much of a mechanical, put your money in the slot and you'll get a can of coke automatic feel to something which is obviously much more organic. but here i feel it's appropriate. there are all these clear instructions - this is what you do - "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ" "speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" "encourage one another and all the more as the day approaches" "forgive one another as God has forgiven you in Christ" "sharing with one another as each had need" - and that's just a few i can remember-ish by heart

bodies need skeletons - eklesia, structure appointments, other wise we'd never do anything, but they also need flesh koinonia - being built together, every ligament etc (ephesians)

Wrath ?!

The working title for the thinking in my head is "What makes God really mad?" but it's not necessarily the best summary of the topic, just my starting point.

I had a problem with "wrath". I've read the bible through several times and my eyes sort of jump the nastiest bits. I finally decided I had to face it and so set myself a question. Why would the God is Love get that mad ? What on earth could make him act like that ? I picked a prophet at random and worked through the "because" verses. What an eye opener. Amos turned out to have been a good choice cos of the way it's laid out. I'd been put off cos of the odd (to me) imagery but in fact the "because" clauses are really clear ! and it turns out it's some of the things that I'm passionate about too so the answers please me rather ! I went on to Isaiah (link)- well the first half - the you naughty kids half . Same again. 

The needy, the poor, the fatherless and widow, aliens (I just love to use that word just to be naughty - like Sting, "I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York) ok, foreigners, false weights and measures and rigged or biased 'justice'. 

Then there is the immorality and the false gods/idolatry etc. But I'd expected to find just that, and more of it. So God is not just concerned about private morality and his own public image and following. He gets so cross at how the weaker members of society are treated he's prepared to let bullies fall into the hands of even bigger bullies to get a taste of their own medicine. He gives them loads of warning in the hope they'll stop of course. 

Of course Amos and Isaiah were talking to particular situations but I've found it in many of the other prophecies too.

My lack of understanding about this had affected all sorts of things including feeling overly sorry for the Hebrew people being taken on off into exile. Yes they have been appallingly treated since and there is absolutely no excuse for that persecution plain and simple. However the second half of Isaiah is not comforting because God has to pay them to make up for the horrid Babylonians, it's just reassuring them that now they're on the receiving end it wont last for ever, they're not abandoned. They still deserved it. That isn't taken away !

This led on to thinking about what does God really like, what makes him happy ? Of course there are lots of things but the simplest answer has become even more clear to me. To love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind soul and strength and to love my neighbour as myself. The Westminster confession has not done us a service. Only worshiping God is half the story and if I only do that without the second half the first half is completely wasted. It's only paper roses (do you remember the song by Marie Osmond ? "paper roses, like your imitation love for me"). which leads on to James - Faith AND Works. 

It has so many practical out workings. Like how we treat employees. Do we pay our bills straight away ? I have a friend who is a decorator and can't live by it cos people don't pay for work until he's virtually taken them to court. Do we make sure our employees get a living wage ? the farmer who takes on ppl and pays the same what ever time of day they start - K Bailey says the wage was just enough to feed one family for a day - the crazy employer made sure that no family in that village went hungry that day. My home helps don't get enough to live on from the wage the social security gives them for my care so I top up their wage - I don't give it as a gift but as a right so they're not put in the position of keeping on thanking me. 

My baptism verse is in Isaiah 58 but it's a bit rich wanting the blessing of being a well watered garden without applying the first part of the chapter - this is the fast that I chose ... It's an "if" blessing like so many others. Same with Hebrews 13 - how many times have I sung we bring a sacrifice of praise - I led worship for many years and feel passionately about praising God (in all sorts of ways aswell as music) but it's a 2 halved verse : sacrifice of praise AND good works!

I'm sorry The Poor is not a "sexy" subject but the NT is so riddled with it. I reread early Acts again and there it is like Skegness through rock. What did the first ever Christian "Full Timers" do ? They thought that caring for the starving old ladies was important enough to not be able to get on with prayer and study !! The Jews, even the Pharisees who supposedly kept the law were letting them suffer. The first appointments in the early church were to take over. Not just one but SEVEN !! Cornelius was heard by God cos of his prayer AND his care for the poor. Paul went to see the brothers to check out he'd got his doctrine right - and they said fine but don't forget the poor. Galations 2

I did a little study on giving in the NT (link) - It's clear, no need for inferences from OT ideas. Relatives, leaders, brothers and the poor. The 4 areas of giving in the NT. No ambiguity. The Jesus mandate.

“Where is the temple ?”

If I had ever managed to write a book about my time as a worship leader and my thoughts on the subject the title would have been “Where is the temple ?” That seems to me to be  key – where we imagine the temple to be. 

As long as we think it’s a building we’ll think the people who officiate there are the priests so everyone else must be the visiting pilgrims. Where as we know that we are the temple of the HS and we are each clearly handed priestly duties such as offerings, sacrifices, praise and intercession. There is no link in any way in the NT between the role of leaders – (and there are leaders, with clear roles) and the priestly duties we are given !

king ?

i'm interested to know where the view of God being the dominating king in the OT comes from too. there are references to him being king and having a kingdom of course, but i think they are surprisingly few and tho they're in key places (God's reply to samuel when the people asked for a king - 1 sam 8; baalam's prophecy maybe - numbers 23, ; david's song - 1 chron 29; lots of psalms; twice in job;  isa 6, and 43 onwards; the song of darius - dan 6; zech 9 and 14; malachi; and probably some i've missed) they're  so little that you can hardly say God's  going on and on about it. then there is the title sovereign lord, but that's something given to him in prayer from us not something he imposes in prophecies or teaching or law. other titles like creator, god, judge,  shepherd etc seem to me to be far far stronger or at least as strong.  

the role of kings seems to be principally as warlords. that's why the people of israel originally wanted a king, that was the main activity of Saul and David. Hence that expression "In the spring, when Kings go out to war". David adapted his role to include temple builder and Solomon followed on in that way and also included the role of judge, arbitrator, giver of wisdom. Samuel blew it by using slave labour to build the temple and having foreign wives, which he knew was dodgy. He even built a new palace for the daughter of Pharoh cos he knew she shouldn't really be living in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant had been ! Interesting the way things are written up in Kings (which makes me think it is authentic) - Up to Solomon's death the writing is politically correct in favour of Solomon, (it doesn't even quite say that Solomon was not the rightful heir, it's only allowed to hint at that). Straight after it lists why he went wrong and why the kindom was ripped apart.


all this leads me to think that Jesus is the continuity of an extraordinarily restrained sovereignty. domination is just not part of it. this makes me take things like the picture at the end of revelation, where he turns up to the wedding on a white charger with a sword coming out of his mouth, all the more seriously - it turned out he didnt make empty threats, but he did leave it as long as poss in the hope we'd behave. and even there the next image is of the lamb and a slaughtered one at that ! even the final judgement will not be based on anything arbitrary but will be letting us have the final consequences of our own choices. when God doesnt play by the rules it's only to offer grace, show mercy !
 

It's the Romans of course who use the title King of the Jews for Jesus and it's not picked up again until Paul uses it when writing to Timothy. Then John uses the title for Jesus just a couple of times (significant times though) in Revelation. However the idea of Kingdom comes up a lot in the gospels. Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God. This implies kingship but that rarely seems to be the main direction of these teachings.

of course "king" is a very frustrating word search, i've waded through 2289 OT references !

My summary of Isaiah

as far as i can tell 

foreword : dear isaiah – this mind blowing vision is a hint for you to volunteer to take my message. as soon as you say yes you will go i will then let you in on the secret that they’re not going to listen anyway. 

here are the messages :

ch 7 to 45 :  

"look after fatherless, widows, aliens, weights and measures regulations, justice, alcohol moderation, leaning on God not other nations, no idolatry or immorality or else. 

if you bully the weak you’ll end up getting bullied by a nation bigger than you and see how you like it then – look it’s happening to your neighbours so hurry up and get your act together cos i really mean it. 

and woe to the lying prophets who are saying its ok, we’re doing the right things, we must be in God’s will, he’s on our side."

ch 46 - 66 

"ok, ok, i know this is a horrible dry flat desert region but i will eventually let you go back to your hills and fertile crescent when you have twigged that i’m still with you even out here in this wilderness. look i made all this and i made you. you know you never really kept me in a box in the first place and you certainly cant now. 

i’ll send my servant to fix things. here are a few signs to look out for to know it’s him. 

ps even the trees and the hills will be rather cheerful about all this…

ps it all works out all right in the very end too."



(lizeph paraphrase of isaiah.)


therefore (my conclusions)

a) jews dwelling in the land should look out for the first half of isaiah's prophecy for those dwelling in their own land

b) jews living in exile should take particular note of the words to them while they’re in exile.

A story : 'Help'

'Help'

Wild briars whipped at his legs, but Dimitri didn't notice. Eyes fixed on the road he scrambled into his hidden look-out point. He'd heard the news. His cousin had rushed up to tell his father. There'd been a riot. That would mean new prisoners. 

Dimitri lived with his parents and his brothers and sisters in a little house next to the jail. Jailer was a poorly paid and little respected job. His father often spoke of getting another job. Well he talked about it. Dimitri didn't know what the jail looked like inside.  He'd looked in once but ran away sick with the smell and the noise.

They were coming up the hillside out of town. The Guard, only two prisoners, and the usual curious crowd. Dimitri ducked as he saw his father anxiously came out to meet them. He was always living on his nerves, terrified in-case a prisoner escaped, then he would be executed. Dimitri had learned to duck quickly if his father lashed out when he was like that. He'd have to keep the little ones quiet at supper.

That night Dimitri was restless. He had slept but something had woken him. It was the quiet. There was no shouting or moaning in the cells next-door. Just the sound of singing. It sent shivers up his spine.

Dimitri stood in the rubble that had been his house. The babies were crying. Everyone was shouting. His mother was desperately counting children. His father was oblivious of them all. He was shrieking and waving a knife. Dimitri stared his eyes wide, less worried about the earth quake than by the hysterical behaviour of his father. He'd never seen him this bad before. His father was going to kill himself. Dimitri tried to make his legs move but he was rooted to the spot.

Then a voice called out clearly amongst the debris that had been the jail.

"Don't harm your self, we're all here."

The Jailer called for called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. The prisoners were walking around, their chains had fallen off them.

"What must I do to be saved?"

They replied : "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your household."

We don't know what became of Dimitri and his brothers and sisters. We don't even know his real name. The last we hear is that the jailer at Philippi washed and fed his prisoners, they were all baptised and "the whole family was filled with joy, because they had come to believe in God."

Many children have lived in de-humanising poverty, witnessed trauma, or their parents in distress. The love of God is for whole families. If you identified with that child, but didn't have the help you needed at the time, I believe it's never too late to experience the healing hand of Jesus so that we can avoid passing on our chaos to a further generation.

From Acts chapter 16

Thought : Ekklesia and Koinonia

Paul, I so agree with what you're saying here. I've given this so much thought. I've agonised over this. I've so longed for relationship, and depth. I've ached for it. The whole NT over and over : love love love. You cant just do that in a meeting. When I came to the Lord I already had church. What I needed was relationship. Relationship with God. Relationship with people. What principally brought me to make the commitment that made the difference was simple acts of kindness. Adults who remembered my name. Girls who invited me to sit with them in class and at lunch. Worship where I knew I just knew that not only was God present in the building but that He'd come out from behind the altar and sat with me in the pews. God talks. He even talks to ordinary people like me. Worship where even ordinary people could join in. Even ordinary people like me a shy 17 year old.

I found a lot of these things in planting new church. We had it. But then it got more formal and leaders got more distant and it changed. Alienation. I have to say that the influence from traditional pentecostal churches helped a lot in one way in helping us come into the fullness of the spirit. But we took on their priest heavy structures too.  Home/cell groups help a lot. They don't make relationship but it's easier to make relationship in a smaller group.

I've spent so many years talking about this, praying it over, going over and over the New Testament. Longing. Just longing.

I've come to the conclusion that it's not the church structure that makes the church. I've been in anglican churches where there has been heart organic church yet has a written liturgy for services and some of the services are still from the prayer book, but there's life. I've been in pentecostal churches that have been strangled, suffocated by the unwritten liturgy, unwritten rules, bullying of pastors or of anyone who was different.

I've come to feel that we need both ekklesia AND koinonia. They can both exist separately but are only half the story. Like so many of the pairs in the NT of seemingly opposites. Faith and Works. Grace and Truth. The words Church and Fellowship are not synonyms. They are opposites that complement each other. Yin and Yang. 


Ekklesia - NT greek - a public meeting for public participation. The original democracy.
Koinonia - NT greek - fellowship. intimate participation in something.





Remembered the old song :
Love and marriage,
Love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.

The structure + the organics.
Farms versus plants and animals. Plants and animals grow in the wild, that's organic. But feeding and protecting animals and tending the plants actually takes a lot of organisation and jolly hard work - that's farming.
Soulless mass farming leeches from the environment and finishes by leaving it sterile. No farming means everyone is just left to hunt and gather - OK for a few neanderthals in a very rich terrain.

Get starved of one and we resent the other. We blame the institution for the lack of fellowship. Obviously some institutions are less well designed for fellowship to be able to be incorporated but I've found that if I've been willing to do church within church by fostering relationship it compensates.

But where there is no structure at all there is no accountability, no adequate teaching and there is no obligation to remember the weak. The classic groups of course are the elderly who end up dropping off the map and the poor and weak who don't get on the map in the first place. I also think that unless we plan in time to pray and worship and teach it gradually gets left to the end then left out. I think good teaching needs serious study, prayer, maturity, experience, preparation. Worship got too big. Great have big worship from time to time but you can't do I Corinthians stuff in massive ekklesia. You need to have smaller scale ekklesia to be able to do more koinonia stuff with it.

Study : Who or what is a Pastor ?

Who or what is a Pastor ?
NT church leadership : Dictionary study 


I got some Bible dictionaries out, mainly Vines and looked up a few New Testament leadership words. I think some of them are so loaded with political and religious overtones these days that it could be safer just to use the word leader ! I think that if you keep a funny looking foreign word that's become a posh or jargon word then you can give it any meaning you like cos you've avoided using plain English.

* Pastor : latin of course, I forgot that. The greek is poimen - I'd never heared of that before and the New Testament is riddled with it. Not a religious word in greek or latin, but a concept used for leaders in the OT. Everywhere the translators go all the way to translating it into shepherd  EXCEPT in eph 4 where they keep the latin word pastor. Hmmm, is there a whiff of politics in the air here ?

* Bishop :  An englishified pronunciation of episcopos - epi - greek for over, scopeo - to look at or watch. Overseer, foreman, supervisor. Not a religious word.

* Elder : prebuteros : greek for old, and may well refer to maturity and experience not just age given that life expectancy wasn't so brilliant. Not a religious word. We still talk greek - presbyters - i've never known what they do though although I was christened in my grandad Jones' Presbyterian church and he was an elder. I've just answered my own question. He sang in the Liverpool welsh male voice choir too and he died playing tennis - his friends thought he as larking around as usual when he keeled over. That's not in Vines.

* Deacon or Minister was well worth a look. : - greek verb diaco - to hasten after. Used to mean servant or serving. It indicates that you're not the boss - you're running round for a master. You're not doing things because you fancy it or for your fulfillment (though that could be a result). It gets used all over the place. Very very rarely is it a job title. The ones who are picked in acts 6 are never actually called deacons, the word is the one used for waiting at tables (pretty impressive church policy  to pay for that many high quality men to care for the elderly - we do pick and choose what doctrines and practices we choose to follow or ignore). 

Diakonos are household servants amongst other things, but can be doing anything from scrubbing floors to accountancy. It comes in "serving one another" 1pet4v10, "works of service" eph4. In 1timv10,13 "Let them serve as deacons" seems to be more encouraging a particular attitude than a job title, Mr. Vines says. It seems to be that we all should serve. Some are appointed serve as overseers but they should do that and everything else they do with an attitude of service.

Diaconos describes a)  how we work for God, b) preaching and teaching and c) working for the church. Paul calls himself one twice, in  acts 26v16 and along with Apollos and Cephas in 1cor4v1.

Vines says the technical difference between diaconos - hired servant, and dulos - bond slave is  the type of contract with the master - ie the second is permanent.They probably do much the same work just on a different contract.

[Dulos - bond slave ie Old Testament slavery which is forced service too but the person is not bought or kidnapped. It's imposed by a court (the elders at the gate) to pay off debt or fines. Slaves should still be given civic rights. It can't last more than 7 years. If at the end of the time the slave decides steady work with food and lodging thrown in is less hazardous than hanging about in the market place being used as temporary labour its him who says to the master I like you and want to stay on. I dont know how much say the master gets in it! A scarification on the ear lobe is the visual sign of the permanent contract between the two according to Leviticus. What if these days, instead of prison, offenders had to work as free household employees for the people they have stolen from, or creditors etc... until they've worked enough hours to pay it off, or 7 years which ever is the least and then have the option of permanent work and lodgings at the end of it?]

1pet 5v2 refers to people as overseers and shepherds, 
and in hebrews Jesus is the overseer and shepherd. 

1tim5v17 those that look after the affairs of the church well are worth paying properly.

Leadership is always plural when it comes to elders or shepherds 
and they 1)feed 2)lead 3)protect : Acts - Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders.


I think that, (following the logic of vines' suggestions):-

° Overseer/Bishop (episcopos) is a job title, 
° Elder (prebuteros)- is the qualities/qualifications required
° Deacon/Minister/Presbyter (diaconos) is job role and attitude ie obedience to the boss, working, meeting needs
° Shepherd/Pastor (poimen) is a job/task description, along with Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Teacher, (see below) 


So -lizzy f's conclusion  :

Using the words as they were originally used outside a church context 
- your average slave
could spend his/her day serving
he becomes elderly/experienced, 
so he/she could be promoted to work as theforeman/supervisor. 
Senior tasks can include being looking after and teaching other workers, and acting on behalf of the boss - giving messages, being sent out to sort out things, and making public announcements about his good news.

AND inside church the same person could also 
- be in a dulos/slave relationship with God, 

and so could Deacon/Minister serve in the church 
he's mature Elder/Presbyter
and so could be an Overseer/Bishop, which according to Ephesians 4  could then be

Pastor  ( poimen :greek -shepherd), one who feeds, leads, protects the flock

Evangelist (euangelion -  town crier, from : eu - well/good,- angellein- to bring news ) person who proclaims some good news

Apostle (greek apo - away, stellein - to send) someone sent out to help or advise

Prophet (greek - prophetes, pro - for(another)- phanai - to speak) to speak on behalf of someone, in this case God, spokesman, representative.

Teacher (didaskalos - to show, teach, impart) to pass on skills and knowledge

and by doing it he will be helping the people to serve too and so build up the Body of Christ

Study : Can These Bones Live ? - Nicky Gumbel

Psalm 129:1-8   ·    James 3:1-18   ·    Ezekiel 36:1-37:28   ·    Read all

November 19 Day 323

Can These Bones Live? ‘Thousands of churches face closure, demolition or conversion in the next decade, leading to the demise of some branches of Christianity in Europe’ wrote Ruth Gledhill in the London Times.  We see churches in decline, closures, dry formality, few young people and few vocations in some parts of the church.  There seems to be a spiritual dryness and a lack of hope, almost a sense of being abandoned.  As we look out at the church in some parts of the world, especially in the UK and Europe, it appears to be like the vision which Ezekiel saw of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37).  Dry bones are a picture of demise and death.  The dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision are the people of God.  God asks Ezekiel ‘can these bones live?’ (Ezekiel 37:3).  The vision of Ezekiel continues with a prophecy of resurrection and restoration for the people.  Three weeks ago we had a Worship Central live recording at one our church sites in Onslow Square, London.  Until a few years ago that church was empty and unused, but that night it was packed to the rafters (as indeed it is now every Sunday).  One of the new songs we sang was based on this chapter from Ezekiel, Dry Bones (by Worship Central).  As we sang it that night we were a living demonstration of its truth.  There is hope for God's people, there is hope for the Church, these dry bones will live again. 1.  Trust God to turn things right around Psalm 129:1-8 Do you sometimes feel kicked around by the enemy?  Everything seems to be going wrong.  You seem to be losing.  You are experiencing the oppression of the enemy (v.1). But victory rests with the Lord.  The psalmist says, ‘They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young ... Their ploughmen ploughed long furrows up and down my back; Then God ripped the harnesses of the evil ploughmen to shreds’ (vv.1–4, MSG). Lord, thank you for your victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thank you that you defeated all oppression and wickedness through the cross and resurrection.  Thank you that you have made victory possible for us; victory over sin and death. Lord, it seems that the church has been under oppression for a long time.  We pray for your victory.  Set us free from the cords of the wicked and give us a great harvest. 2.  Develop a spiritually healthy community James 3:1-18 Dry bones can live again.  It is possible to develop a healthy body again individually and as a community: ‘You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy the results’ (v.18, MSG).  However, there are conditions – which the apostle James sets out in this chapter. He continues to warn about the tongue – especially for those of us who teach: ‘Teaching is highly responsible work.  Teachers are held to the strictest standards’ (v.1, MSG).  It is consoling that he adds, ‘we all stumble in many ways’ (v.2) – certainly I do. The tongue is a powerful little instrument which can do so much good, and so much harm ‘By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell’ (v.8, MSG).  Harsh, unjust words have destructive power: ‘With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in God's likeness’ (v.9).  To curse means to speak evil.  To bless means to speak well.  We need to learn to control the tongue so that we speak only words of blessing to people and about people.  This little instrument of our bodies can do so much damage.  Relationships, even marriages, often end because of things that have been said or not said.  People lose their jobs, their reputation, start arguments or even wars by their words. On the other hand, our words have tremendous power for good.  They can bring healing, encouragement and edification.  They can build or destroy.  Our words can change a person’s day or even life. The apostle James goes on to speak of ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven’ (v.17).  He writes, ‘Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom?  Here’s what you do:  Live well, live wisely, live humbly.  It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts’ (v.13, MSG). We need to get rid of all bitter envy and selfish ambition (v.14).  Envy and selfish ambition are unspiritual, from the devil, and cause all kinds of disorder and evil practice (vv.14–15).  He contrasts that kind of false wisdom with the wisdom that comes from heaven: ‘Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterised by getting along with others’ (v.17, MSG).  This wisdom ‘is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness’ (vv.17–18). If we live like this our lives will have a huge impact on society.  The Message version describes this as doing 'the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour’ (v.18, MSG).  If we work hard at our relationships with those around us, then we will 'reap a harvest of righteousness', and we will have a huge impact on society. Lord, we ask for that wisdom from heaven that this passage talks about.  Help us to live lives that are pure and peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Thank you for this wonderful promise that peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  Lord, tame our tongues that we may never use them in any other way than to bring blessing to you and blessing to others.  We pray for a harvest of righteousness. 3.  Be filled with the Holy Spirit Ezekiel 36:1-37:28 Hope at last!  Dry bones can live!  We have read so many prophecies of judgment.  But God is about to act.  God speaks to his people and says, you are ‘coming home’.  ‘I’m on your side’.   Instead of death there is going to be ‘life, life and more life’ (vv.8–11, MSG). How will this happen?  God promises ‘I will give you a new heart and put a   new spirit in you  ; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a  heart of flesh .  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep   my laws’ (vv.26–27). In the Old Testament God’s Spirit came on particular people at particular times for particular purposes.  God promises that his Spirit will live in all of his people, all of the time.  He will replace our hard hearts with soft hearts – hearts of compassion.  He will give us new desires – the desire to love and serve other people.  He will give us a heart that does not want to sin.  We still do sin but our consciences are very sensitive and very uncomfortable with sin.  His Spirit strengthens us and enables us to do God’s will.  God promises, ‘On the day I cleanse you from all your sins ... the ruins will be rebuilt … So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people’ (vv.33–38).  This vision of restoration gives me such hope for the church in our nation, and across the world.  God never abandons his people, and his plans are always ultimately to restore and save us.  Here is a beautiful description of forgiveness, a new heart, the Spirit of God living within us, renewal, rebuilding, restoration and growth. It will come about through ‘the word of the Sovereign Lord’ (v.4) and ‘the Spirit of the Lord’ (37:1).  ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.  ‘Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’  Therefore prophesy and say to them: ... ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live’ ” ’ (vv.9b–14). We should not speak negatively.  We should speak words of life.  God can revive things that have been dry and even dead.  When the word of God and the Spirit of God come together there is resurrection life and the knowledge of God.  What is impossible with human beings becomes possible with the power of God.  The chorus of Worship Central’s song  Dry Bones  brings these aspects together – ‘these dry bones will live again ...  we’re nothing without you, nothing without you.’  Without God we can do nothing – the church would indeed crumble away as the world tells us.  But with God, these dry bones will live again.  And there is yet more.  The Holy Spirit brings unity.  The Lord gives Ezekiel a visual aid using two sticks to communicate the unity God is going to establish: ‘Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand … making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand … one king over all of them … one shepherd’ (vv.17,19,22,24). This is a foretaste of the unity of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4–6). God promises ‘I will be their God, and they will be my people’ (Ezekiel 37:27). Lord, thank you that all these promises are more than fulfilled through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  Thank you so much for your cleansing.  Thank you that you say that we are your people, and you are our God.  Thank you that you dwell with us by your Spirit.  Thank you that these dry bones will live again – but only through the work of the Holy Spirit who brings the victory from the Lord and the harvest of righteousness and life from the dead.  Lord, do it again in our time we pray. Pippa Adds Ezekiel 36:26 ‘I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.’ We recently came back from the Alpha Weekend where we saw hearts of stone melting into hearts of flesh – an incredibly moving sight.

Study : Giving - to whom ?

Giving - to whom ?

By Liz Figures in THRESHING FLOOR (Files) · Edit doc · Delete

1. Attitudes to giving

* 1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

* Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices— mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law— justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.

* James 2:2-4
 2" Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
    3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, Here's a good seat for you, but say to the poor man, You stand there or Sit on the floor by my feet,
    4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

* 2 Corinthians 9:7
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

* 2 Corinthians 8
The Collection for the Lord’s People
 13 "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality,"



2) Who to give to

A) RELATIVES

1 tim 5v8 "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

B) LEADERS

17 "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching."

1 cor 9v 13 "Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."

Galatians 6v6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

C) BROTHERS IN NEED


Acts 4:34
There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
Acts 4:35
and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
Acts 10:2
He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

rom 12 v13 "Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

Ephesians 4:28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Matthew 6:2So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

James 2:15-17
15 "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
    16 If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
    17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

1 john 3v17 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
    18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."


D) THE POOR

acts 6v1" In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
    2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
    3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
    4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Luke 12:32-34 (in Context) Luke 12 (Whole Chapter)
Luke 14:13
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
Acts 9:36
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor.
Acts 10:4
Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord? he asked. The angel answered, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
Acts 10:31
and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
Acts 24:17
After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.Galatians 2v9 James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognised the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.
   


Galations 2 v 9 
James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognised the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.


Matthew 25 The Sheep and the Goats
 31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
    32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
    33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
    34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
    35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
    36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
    37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
    38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
    39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
    40 The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'