I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the Secret." Colossians 2:4 (TM)

Stuff like the DaVinci code and the Gospel of Judas have been around since the early days of the church. Wherever you find truth, close by you’ll find someone bending it, warping it, shaping it for their own ends (spiritual, emotional and/or material). The thing I love about the Gospel is that it’s very simple:

1. We’re sinners deserving of death & judgment.
2. We can’t possibly be ‘good enough’ or ‘do enough’ to earn our way back into God’s grace.
3. God sent His own Son, Jesus to suffer and die in our place.
4. Jesus rose from the grave, conquering death, and offering eternal life to any who would believe The Message and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

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Colossians, Chapter-a-Day, Salvation, Eternal Life

[Jesus] was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. Colossians 1:17 (TM)

I have read in different magazines about the dark matter that holds the universe together. Atoms, the basic building blocks of matter, have all these protons and neturons that are spinning around, but you have to have space to spin around in, right? There’s actually more space in matter than matter. So how does it all hold together without spinning out of control? Science calls it "dark matter." Colossians calls it Jesus.

"I [God] am like a luxuriant fruit tree. Everything you need is to be found in me." Hosea 14:8b (TM)

Since Wendy and I have been doing this production about the hardy pioneers who came to America and founded Pella, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about our rugged individualism. I think there’s something inherent in our culture that likes to do things on our own – not be dependent on others, and I think that sometimes affects our relationship with God. We may hear God say "everything you need is to be found in me" but we don’t want to accept it – we can manage well enough on our own thank you very much. There are times I think I’d do well to be less of a rugged individual and more of a gracious recipient of God’s provision.

Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods–kill living babies and kiss golden calves! And now there’s nothing left to these people…Hosea 12:2b-3a (TM)

When you go to Israel and visit the places the Bible talks about, the text takes on new depth. This is a picture of me standing on an altar to Baal which was unearthed in the excavation of Megiddo. Behind me is the Valley of Megiddo (Armadeddon). On altars like this, the worshippers of the Baal cult had public orgies, cut themselves to prove their commitment to their god, and then slaughtered innocent infants as sacrifices. The people of Israel were getting sucked into this cult, and God wasn’t pleased. Obviously, the entire area had been desolated and covered in the sand of time. I would have to say that Hosea’s prophecy came to fruition. 

Technorati Tags: Hosea, Megiddo, Prophecy, Scripture, Israel

Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods–kill living babies and kiss golden calves! And now there’s nothing left to these people…Hosea 12:2b-3a (TM)

When you go to Israel and visit the places the Bible talks about, the text takes on new depth. This is a picture of me standing on an altar to Baal which was unearthed in the excavation of Megiddo. Behind me is the Valley of Megiddo (Armadeddon). On altars like this, the worshippers of the Baal cult had public orgies, cut themselves to prove their commitment to their god, and then slaughtered innocent infants as sacrifices. The people of Israel were getting sucked into this cult, and God wasn’t pleased. Obviously, the entire area had been desolated and covered in the sand of time. I would have to say that Hosea’s prophecy came to fruition. 

Technorati Tags: Hosea, Megiddo, Prophecy, Scripture, Israel

Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim. I rescued him from human bondage, But he never acknowledged my help, never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon, That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek, that I bent down to feed him. Hosea 11:3-4 (TM)

Hosea uses a metaphor of God being a parent with a rebellious, ungrateful child. Raising teenagers makes this metaphor hit the target. You realize with teens that they are firmly planted in the center of their own universe, you are taken for granted and there is no realization or acknowledgment of how much you have done and continue to do for the. An apt metaphor for Israel, and a decent reminder to me that I shouldn’t treat my heavenly Father like a teenager.

Technorati Tags: Hosea, Israel, Rebellion, Metaphor