This blog is closing.

Hi folks.  I’ve decided to close down this blog.  I’ll probably delete it in about two weeks.  Thank you all for your love and for your comments.  I’ve learned a lot from you.  If anyone has subscribed to the feed — you might want to remove it from your RSS reader.  That’s all.  The rest of this post is just rambling.

“Why?” you ask.  Well…

My purpose for this blog was to sort of hold myself accountable for daily bible study.  To that end, the blog was pretty distracting.  Instead of focusing on the word — I was always trying to come up with something witty or profound.  On the one hand, this helped me in the “application” phase of the bible study.  On the other hand, I had trouble getting past the fact that people are watching.

The secondary purpose was to show myself un-coward-like when posting comments on other people’s blogs.  It’s aweful comfortable to make (possibly critical) comments at other peoples thoughts — but not provide any thoughts of your own for criticism.

Thanks for reading, thanks for participating!

If anyone has read down this far — thanks.    In case you’re interested, I’ll be keeping the “Rock Log” on Blogger.  I kind of like WordPress a little better — but, oh well.

You know (I’m rambling now), another reason for killing the blog:  Part of me (the bad part of me) wants to get an ego boost out of this.  Sort of like a social suicide, “Will they miss me?  Will they care that I’m gone?  Did they really care what I thought?”  These sort of thoughts are evil — but I’m mega-prone to them (especially when I’m down).  My ego wants to hear people say, “Oh, Gabriel, please don’t stop the bible blog.  You’re so awesome!”  I’ve even been debating about whether or not to disable comments on this post:  allow them (“please, please feed me ego!”) or disallow them (“so long, cruel world!”).  Aaaarrgh!  How do you rid yourself of this sort of self-centered-ness?  Jesus has delivered me from a lot, but he seems to tarry on this one.  *sigh*

Memorials

Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
— Exodus 38:8

I love little passages like this.  There’s not many times that givers are recognized on this project (the tabernacle / tent of meeting).  If you read too fast, you’ll miss this one.  The fact that this gift is singled out means that there is something special about the gift.

Perhaps they were giving sacrificially.  Giving what they had — something dear to them — to glorify God.  Perhaps they did it as an example.  “It was customary for the Egyptian women to carry mirrors with them to the temples.”[1]  Perhaps these ladies set out to break off this tradition (rooted in idolatry) as an example to the other women to do the same.  (We see a lot of this in Exodus.)

Whatever makes this gift special, I always think it’s cool to find stuff like this in the scriptures.  Little memorials of real people, in real situations, really giving of themselves to God.

[1] — Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary on Ex 38:8

Giving

Moses spoke toa ll the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Take from among you a contribution to the LORD; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the LORDS’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze, and blue, purple, and scarlet matriel, fine linen, goats’ hair…. etc”
— Exodus 35:4-6

God didn’t guilt them. He didn’t force them. He said, “If you’re willing, please give.” Mind you, the tithe is not optional for Israel. But this contribution is optional. God says, “I would like to build a tabernacle… would you please donate materials to make it happen… but only if you’re willing. If you’re not, that’s OK.”

A friend once said to me, “The only right motivation for giving is gratitude.” Being thankful to God, and giving to him out of that. You don’t necessarily need to feel thankful. Sometimes we make the choice, “God, I’m not feeling really thankful right now. You know why. But regardless of how I feel, I know that there’s much to be thankful to you for… so here… here’s my tithe. Thanks.”

The David Crowder Band recently put out a limited edition release of their album Remedy. (It has some bonus songs and a bonus DVD.) When Crowder announced it on his blog, not all the fans were excited about this (especially the ones who already had the album). In his defense, he put it like this:

ok, if say, jimmy buffet (universal crowd pleaser example)
released a limited edition of “fruitcakes” i would not buy it. i own most of
jimmy buffet’s cds. they are pleasant to listen to while sitting in sunshine. they
also make you think of sunshine when it is cloudy and you are in a bad mood. i
like his “jimmy buffet” album best. i would say i mildly like jimmy buffet.

if say, “the frames” (band from dublin whose lead singer is
one academy award winner glen hansard) released a limited edition of “the cost”
(“the frames” latest album) and all they added was a sticker of a beaver on the
front i would buy it. if they released different versions of the cover with
different stickers, with like say a duck, a rabbit, an ox and some type of
amphibian, not a salamander, i would totally buy each of the covers so i would
have all of the animals. i would say i really like the frames.

….but this is what i do. when i am deeply moved by an artist i
want to participate fully in all that they are attempting to produce and
distribute. i have been touched and i wish to touch back and this is the means
i have been given to lessen the distance between us.

….now, here’s the punch line: i’m ok with being your “jimmy
buffet”, but i really want to be your “frames”.[1]

God wants to be your “frames.”

[1] – http://weblog.xanga.com/emprise34/654466346/official-band-news-wfavorite-comment-and-other-consequential-nonsense.html

You shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk

You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk
— Exodus 34:26b

Many of you know that Jews do not mix meat and dairy. It’s because of this one verse. They are so zealous to keep all the commandments, even this one, that they try to make sure that the two don’t even mix in their stomachs. (I believe the rule is that you have to separate eating meat or dairy by 3 to 6 hours.) I’m not going to down this… but I think it’s interesting.

What it speaks to me is about treating animals with consideration and kindness. What if the mother knew that you boiled her first-born baby in her own milk? I remember once hearing of someone who murdered a couple of children. After killing them, he sat down and at their Happy Meals. Somehow, the coldbloodedness of that just makes it worse. …and I think that’s the kind of thing that this verse talks about.

I saw a documentary on feedlots. Cattle belong in fields and pastures, but feedlots take them to a pen, with waaaay too many other cows, and keeps them there from birth until the slaughterhouse. Food is trucked in. The whole thing is just sick. What’s worse is that the cattle are fed corn… which isn’t well suited to their stomachs and makes them prone to disease.

This practice is economically feasible because (a) antibiotics have been able to keep down the disease and (b) energy costs have been low. It’s been cheaper to bring the food to the cows rather than take the cows to the food (pasture). When one (or both) of those changes, feedlots will start to disappear.

So… that’s one thing to be thankful for with rising gas prices.

[Edit] My buddy Steve left a comment with an awesome link to The Meatrix Check it out! – gabe 5/22/08

God Shuffled His Feet

In Exodus 34 we find a really cool account of Moses saying, “Show me your glory!” And God agrees to let Moses see Himself (except for His face). So, Moses goes out to the place God named, and brings some stuff that God said to bring, and the LORD comes by. He even creates his own fanfare.

Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.”
— Exodus 34:8-9

Man… Moses isn’t giving this up! God even said, “Yes” (last time), and Moses is still pleading the case to God. He’s not giving it up. Even when God said “Yes,” Moses more or less replies, “Well, you better mean it!“

God’s replies sort of puzzles me:

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorites…. etc. etc. etc.”
— Exodus 34:10-11…

So….. yes??

That’s a “yes,” right?

I hate these non sequitur responses. Jesus does them all the time, God does them even more in the OT. It’s like we missed part of the context. (Why? Because when God gets done, Moses doesn’t say, “Huh?”) When we dig in we often find great jewels of insight into God. But when we start out, we’re like the song “God Shuffled His Feet” by Crash Test Dummies. Here’s the lyrics:

After seven days
He was quite tired so God said:
“Let there be a day
Just for picnics, with wine and bread”
He gathered up some people he had made
Created blankets and laid back in the shade

The people sipped their wine
And what with God there, they asked him questions
Like: do you have to eat
Or get your hair cut in heaven?
And if your eye got poked out in this life
Would it be waiting up in heaven with your wife?

God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him

So he said:”Once there was a boy
Who woke up with blue hair
To him it was a joy
Until he ran out into the warm air
He thought of how his friends would come to see;
And would they laugh, or had he got some strange disease?

God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him

The people sat waiting
Out on their blankets in the garden
But God said nothing
So someone asked him: “I beg your pardon:
I’m not quite clear about what you just spoke
Was that a parable, or a very subtle joke?”

God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him

I honestly don’t Get God’s answer (to Moses — not the song) … I’d love to hear your thoughts.

God Disappointing Us

Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight. Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.

And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”
— Exodus 33:12-16

In a previous post, we see that the people are disheartened because God has just given them a “no confidence” vote. Here, not long after that, Moses goes in to talk with God… and Moses isn’t very happy with God at the moment. The meaning of what Moses is saying is stronger than the words he’s using. He’s either falling all over himself to show respect to God (which is not a bad thing), or his words have been sanitized a little bit for the Holy Scriptures. Moses isn’t happy because God called him to deliver the people… and it’s been a lot of heartache for Moses. The people are like children, constantly whining. And on top of that, Moses is typically having to deliver the people from God. This isn’t the job that he signed on for.

So, Moses is bringing his complaint to God: “Are You with me, or not? You said that you were in this! Things are not going well, and it’s stressing me out. Are You going to do this thing, or not? Are You with me? Are You going to show me where to go and how to do it? Is it going to be like this forever?”

God says, “Yes. I’m with you. I’ll stay with you. It won’t always be like this.”

To which Moses responds, “You better mean it. Because if you don’t, I don’t want any part of it.”

I identify with this exchange. There was a time that I thought, “If I’m with God (or God is with me)… then everything should go smoothly and I’ll always walk in success.” Moving forward, even though I was faithful, things went badly very quickly. I was more than a little ticked at God. And most of the time, I really want to know just one thing: God, are You with me or not? Was it you that I heard, or have I fooled myself? I don’t want to go on unless I know that this is really your thing.

However the exchange goes, you won’t get your answer unless you are regularly going into the Holy Place to worship God.

Wendie

My wife has just created a new blog. Please go over and make her feel welcome.

Paul on Marriage

I stirred some things up on a friend’s blog about marriage (no link — I think I overstayed my welcome)… so I thought I’d comment on Paul and Jesus’s statements on marriage.

Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman…. I wish that all men were even as I myself am However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that…. I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
— I Corinthians 7:1, 7, 32-35

When I was young, in love, and considering marriage I was convinced that Paul had really missed the boat on this one. And it’s popular to bash Paul for it. People also are very quick to point out that in 7:40 he declares that this is his opinion, not commandments from the LORD. And we all know that his opinion was wrong.

Before passing judgment, let’s look at what Jesus said (which is actually similar):

He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

As a 19-year-old “man,” I couldn’t accept this statement. Why not? Burnin’ love. (That’s all I’m sayin’.) What Jesus and Paul say that if a man can “do without,” then he’s free to focus fully on the works that God has laid out before him. Have you read the book of Acts? Paul travelled, was beaten, imprisoned, hated, etc. And he always went back for more. Have you read the gospels of Jesus? How he, too, was beaten, imprisoned, hated, etc. How would these stories be different if there was a wife and kids at home to support? Peter did get married. How is his story different?

Paul and the disciples describe celibacy as “better.” Jesus says, “Yes, it’s better… but don’t get all dogmatic and judgmental about it. The ability to shun marriage and follow God single-mindedly is actually a gift from God.” (Now, marriage is a gift, too… it’s just a different gift.) Paul, too, points out that it’s a gift (even a different gift).

Now Paul makes it sound dirty: “But… if you can’t control your urge to merge… then you might as well go ahead and get it over with.” (Paraphrase of I Cor. 7:9) Yeah, he’s being negative, but don’t totally dismiss this.

Scientists say that man’s “sexual peak” is at the age of 17. For women, it’s 36. This is the time in their life when they have the most desire (and best performance). I honestly think that God designed man’s sexual peak early so that he would get married. Otherwise, a man has a hard time realizing that he needs the woman (not just sexually… but he really needs her). The desire is just how God stacks the deck to get you to marry… because he wants you to marry. (Just not all of you.)

Let the flame wars begin!

Disappointing God

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.
— Exodus 33:1-4

God gives Israel a no-confidence vote. He even distances himself from the works of the exodus, saying to Moses, “the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt.” Usually God doesn’t give up any of the credit for his mighty deeds. It kind of reminds me of what God said before the great flood (Genesis 6:5-8). This is a revelation of a very human God, whose heart is broken because the people just won’t get it. A God is so passionate about a vision for the future (and how he even wants to bless us), that He gets downright angry that we don’t feel the same and can’t see beyond our noses.

But again we see “My angel” as an intermediary. Possibly the same angel as The Angel of the Lord… possibly another way that Christ’s grace protects us from God’s passion.  We also see God’s faithfulness.  In some measure, it’s like He’s given up hope.  But in another way, he maintains His faithfulness to the things that He promised.  He does not waver, and He’ll do what he has to do to make it happen.

The people put away their ornaments.  Partly because God told them to as a sign of solidarity (in the following verses).  But what do you do when you realize that you are being very disappointing to God?  Usually, we’ve tried very hard to see it His way… and we just plain failed.  Try as we may, we just don’t get it. So, for lack of anything else we can think of, we put away distractions and spend a time in humility trying to seek God and please him.

In Israel’s case:  it didn’t work.  Sure, they put away their ornaments for a spell.  But when they came to the promised land (in Numbers), they balked.  God got mad again.  Later on said of them, “They are always going astray in their hearts.”

So… what do you do when you want to get it, but you just can’t seem to get it??

Seeker Sensitive

It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him [God]. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him…. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commaned, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
— Exodus 34:29-30,33-35

Have you ever walked up on lovers while they’re caressing each other? (Don’t let your mind wander too far, boys…. focus… focus… stay on task…) It’s kind of cool to see, but it’s also uncomfortable to see. That’s why it’s called “making a scene.” That’s why people call out, “Get a room, you two!” Well, this is actually a form of worship (although you’re not worshiping God). To those involved, it’s comfortable, exciting, and life-giving. To outsiders, it’s obscene.

Worshiping God is like this, too. It’s obscene if you’re really worshipping him. It’s offensive. Raising hands. Crying out. Dancing. Yuck. But if you’re the one doing it (where in your head it’s just you and God), then it’s really cool. We see this in the story of Moses in both a literal and a symbolic way. Moses face was glowing as a direct result of worshiping God. This was freaking people out. So, he covered it up a little. Still a little freaky (in a Darth Vader sort of way)… but not as freaky.

And this is the whole idea behind being “Seeker Sensitive.” We’re not really watering it down, we’re just trying not to weird people out. We hold hands instead of kiss. We sit close instead of cuddle.

IMHO, some of the coolest worship songs are by The Benjamin Gate: “All Over Me,” and “How Long.”

How long can we wait
Will we wait for you to come?
How long can we wait
Will we wait for you to come
And lay ourselves down before You?

Awesome song, but just a little too passionate for most folks.

So, what am I getting at? Just the realization that to non-believers (and some new believers), passionate worship to God is a little icky. They need to be “fed” some of that stuff, but try not to gross them out too much.