Annika spends her Saturday am on a horse.
I took this with Camera ZOOM FX for Android.
http://bit.ly/qH3AhdSent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Annika is looking good
Annika spends her Saturday am on a horse.
I took this with Camera ZOOM FX for Android.
http://bit.ly/qH3AhdSent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Listen to questions people are asking, give God's answers
Darrin Patrick at #ignite2012Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sermon from this morning
The takings and makings of oaths In Daniel 11:27, we find a very interesting verse. "The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time." Two kings sit down and lie to each other. What an interesting description of the interaction between two world leaders. There is an advertisement for Survivor. In it the contestant says, "It ain't survivor, if I am not lying." In other words, one must lie your way to the top in that game. Do you recall a few years back that there was a Christian contestant, and that season there were often discussions about how she would face the ethical dilemmas of building and breaking alliances.
Today we bring that same question to our own lives. If we are going to live like Jesus. If we are going to commit ourselves to conforming to the image of Jesus, we will eventually run into this issue. Are we willing to embrace the third commandment - thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain" and the ninth commandment "thou shall not lie"? Today we turn to the topic of truth telling. And to the topic of "oaths." We are going to do a bit of hoping around through some different passages today, in order to see this subject in the greater context of the Bible. Today we will use the Bible to understand the Bible. We will make sense of this passage, by taking guidance from other passages, so keep your Bible handy. Turn first with me to Matt. 5. We will read verses 33-37. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Observations: 1) "Do not swear..." This is not a passage about course language. There are other passages that address that, and we are not going after that subject today. 2) From the context we can see that the practice of the day was to choose an object - a "throne," or a place - "Earth or Jerusalem," and to swear by these, thus avoiding the 3rd commandment of taking the Lord's name in vain. A fuller understanding of this is found in Matt 23: 16-21 Matt 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. 3) There is little disagreement about the general sense of what this text is telling us to do. "Tell the truth." Do not add a bunch of words to your statements in a effort to make them sound "more true." You may be asked about what you saw, or did, or to report on the progress being made on an assigned task. Tell the truth. If when you start to tell it, others start to doubt your integrity, do not call down curses on your head. If I am not telling the truth... may the fleas of a thousand camels fly up my nose. What it means: 1) What it does not mean. It does not mean do not take oaths at all. The Bible on several occasion instructs us to be careful in taking oaths. Thus implying that we will make oaths. Jesus is not changing the OT law. Lev. 19:12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." Numbers 30:2 "2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." 2) As with the other situations to this point, Jesus is returning to the intent of the law. Be careful with your words. Make sure your words match reality. If you say you will do something, do it.
Application: 1) Check your pride: The vase is broken 2) Be courageous: Better to tell the truth to a friend 3) Remember the law - grace cycle.
Today we bring that same question to our own lives. If we are going to live like Jesus. If we are going to commit ourselves to conforming to the image of Jesus, we will eventually run into this issue. Are we willing to embrace the third commandment - thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain" and the ninth commandment "thou shall not lie"? Today we turn to the topic of truth telling. And to the topic of "oaths." We are going to do a bit of hoping around through some different passages today, in order to see this subject in the greater context of the Bible. Today we will use the Bible to understand the Bible. We will make sense of this passage, by taking guidance from other passages, so keep your Bible handy. Turn first with me to Matt. 5. We will read verses 33-37. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Observations: 1) "Do not swear..." This is not a passage about course language. There are other passages that address that, and we are not going after that subject today. 2) From the context we can see that the practice of the day was to choose an object - a "throne," or a place - "Earth or Jerusalem," and to swear by these, thus avoiding the 3rd commandment of taking the Lord's name in vain. A fuller understanding of this is found in Matt 23: 16-21 Matt 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. 3) There is little disagreement about the general sense of what this text is telling us to do. "Tell the truth." Do not add a bunch of words to your statements in a effort to make them sound "more true." You may be asked about what you saw, or did, or to report on the progress being made on an assigned task. Tell the truth. If when you start to tell it, others start to doubt your integrity, do not call down curses on your head. If I am not telling the truth... may the fleas of a thousand camels fly up my nose. What it means: 1) What it does not mean. It does not mean do not take oaths at all. The Bible on several occasion instructs us to be careful in taking oaths. Thus implying that we will make oaths. Jesus is not changing the OT law. Lev. 19:12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." Numbers 30:2 "2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." 2) As with the other situations to this point, Jesus is returning to the intent of the law. Be careful with your words. Make sure your words match reality. If you say you will do something, do it.
Application: 1) Check your pride: The vase is broken 2) Be courageous: Better to tell the truth to a friend 3) Remember the law - grace cycle.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
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