Everyday Faith: Managing Me

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Eph 5:15-16).

Does the work we do reflect the character of God?

We are blessed to have professor Art Hill (Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota),  lead the first of our Everyday Faith seminars. The seminar series addresses the Sunday/Monday gap, in other words, helps us translate our faith from Sunday church to Monday work. (By ‘work’, we mean not just the work we do to earn a living, but all the kinds of work we do in everyday life — at home or in the community — at any stage of life, anytime, anywhere. By ‘work’ we mean the things we do when we’re awake.)

The topic for the first seminar is the theology of work and everyday faith. Theology simply means the study of God. Sometimes the best place to study God is in everyday life in the workplace. God is always at work (John 5:17). It has been said that ‘work’ in its various forms is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible. Jesus worked as a carpenter. It’s significant that the vast majority of Jesus’ teaching relates to the workplace.

Clearly, our work is important to God. The workplace is the crucible of faith – where, as Jesus’s apprentices, with God’s help, we learn to apply our faith. One of the best ways to learn is together, from real examples, so we can see clearly in our mind’s eye how other people live out their faith in everyday life — and how we might do so too.

“My friend and I love to pray,” Art said simply, “May we pray for you?”

One of the first things Art did in our initial seminar series (at St Luke’s Church in Faribault, MN) was get down to the practical details of implementation. I loved the immediacy of the ‘let’s-do-it’ approach! Art showed us how simple and easy it is to be used of God to bless someone in their place of work – a server in a restaurant, for example. Earlier that evening I had had the honor of dining with Art at a local restaurant. “My friend and I love to pray,” Art had said simply, addressing our server by name “may we pray for you?” Our server had had a really tough week, and wanted us to pray. I could see how deeply she was moved, and could sense the pain in her life. In my judgement, this was, by God’s providence, a divine encounter. It was our privilege to pray.

During our seminar, we discussed this simple, practical, praying-for-a-server example of living out our faith in everyday life. It’s an easy thing anyone can do anywhere – not just in a restaurant. We role modeled it, practiced it, reviewed it — and practiced it again. What a profoundly practical way of translating theology into everyday faith. Just do it! Be ready for God to use us for His purposes in every situation, and pray for those God puts in our path.

Keys to executing God-given roles effectively

God calls us to specific roles in everyday life (for example, as spouse, parent, employee, or as a leader in the community). Art addressed a key problem common to us all. We’re busy — so busy it’s hard to even think meaningfully about living out our faith in everyday life. One of Art’s areas of research is personal task management — called ‘Managing Me’. What a blessing to learn from a world expert on this crucial topic! Managing ourselves is crucial if we’re to be available for God’s use in everyday life. Art took us through six key steps we can take to manage ourselves and our work better:

1. Aim. Make sure we are crystal clear about our purpose. We are followers of Christ (Mt 4:19) who walk not without aim (1 Cor 9:26a).
2. Sort. Identify incoming work, eliminate low-value tasks (including emails!), and triage those that remain, with God’s wisdom, per James 1:5a.
3. Select. Pick the best purpose-related, beneficial task to do. In Ephesians 5:15-16a, we are exhorted to be wise, making the best use of our time.
4. Do. Focus on getting the selected task done. Don’t wander off into interesting distractions (like day-dreaming about vacations to Hawaii!) Proverbs 10:4 exhorts us to work diligently.
5. Review. Reflect, evaluate, learn and improve. (Incorporate Review into daily meditation and prayer — see Psalm 139:23-24.)
6. Break. Take a complete break. Get good sleep. The rhythm of work and rest is important. (See Ex 20:8-10.)

It’s clear that if we put these steps into practice for each of our God-given roles we can more clearly image God’s character in our work, and be far more fruitful and effective in our God-given vocations in everyday life.

This summary of the ‘Managing Me’ seminar is just a very high level overview — I’ve not done justice to the comprehensive excellence of Art’s work. We were left with examples that go into much more detail about how these ‘Managing Me’ principles can be applied in every conceivable situation, so there were takeaways for everyone. Also, Art gave us a number of insightful passages from Scripture showing what God says about managing ourselves and our work. It’s crucial that we manage ourselves so we can use God’s gift of time wisely for His purposes and glory. Effective self-management is step one for Everyday Faith.

“Pray for our server!” Art reminded me.

Art is a humble, godly man of prayer who raised Christ high, shared faithfully from God’s Word, and brought encouragement and wisdom to all seminar participants. I was completely absorbed. Before I knew it, time was up. What we learned together was how to manage ourselves and our time so we can be more effective for God’s mission. We learned how we can take simple steps to be the church more effectively (rather than being people who just ‘go to church’). And we learned how we can incarnate God’s love in the here-and-now of our everyday mission field, where, if we’re available to God, divine encounters happen.

Gracious Father, in the gospel you lavish us with your love. Launch us into your transforming story of redemption.  Help us walk in the Spirit, and live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in our everyday lives and vocations. Our desire, as an act of worship, is to bring everything we do under the lordship of Christ, and in so doing, testify to the gospel of your grace. We pray these things in the name of Jesus — who has promised to make all things new, including me. Amen.

(This post was written by Warwick Alcock, Director of Strategic Operations, Village Schools of the Bible.)

The Gospel and Politics

How the world sees Christians

In post-Christian America, Christians tend to be caricatured in academic circles and the press as morally inferior, reprehensible or evil because we embrace historic Christian teaching. The doctrine of sin is dismissed as antiquated and offensive, sexual morality is derided as restrictive and harmful, and the exclusivity of Christ is considered a mark of intolerant arrogance.

Politics is not the answer.

Despite the way Christian are often dismissed, ignored or derided, neither conservatives nor liberals have the answer. Politicians, whether from the left or the right, promise utopia in order to get elected, but seldom deliver. Regardless of who is in power, politics is muddy, divisive, and fractious, as we see today. As English writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton insightfully pointed out, “from the dawn of time all men have had governments and all men have been ashamed of them”.

The Gospel

The gospel, being the power of God (Rom 1:16), has an extraordinary ability to make friends of people who otherwise would be enemies. It’s a gospel of peace that works a ministry of reconciliation (Eph 6:15; 2 Cor 5:18). We see this clearly illustrated in the surprisingly diverse make-up of the Antioch church in the book of Acts.  Christians support a positive, proactive vision for living out the gospel in the public square –- a vision that provides moral clarity for Christian political engagement that is firmly rooted in Biblical authority and gospel depth. Though we see politicians as flawed, we regard politics as a legitimate tool for societal change. How?

Christian Theocracy? No.

Though Christianity does indeed apply to every sphere of life (Col 1:19-20), we do not need a theocracy in which leaders rule on behalf of God. Christianity has never required that we hold positions of power. God brings about change, not through theocracies, but primarily by regenerating and strengthening the human spirit, which inspires godly thought and decisions, and which in turn impacts communities and societies and the way they are run.

Christian engagement in a plural society

As Christians we are convictional pluralists. There will always be people who worship Christ and others whose affections are fixed on false gods, and a whole range of people in between.  We live in a democratic republic where the beliefs of the majority shape the lives of the minority. The Christian faith equips us to tolerate and thrive in this messy pluralism. Through common grace we actively seek opportunities for political cooperation with others for the good of the world (see Jer 29:7). We work for the common good and we challenge our fellow citizens –- religious and atheists alike — to do so too, in a way that safeguards and promotes the public good. We pursue the welfare of our society, but as exiles –- as resident aliens: in the world but not of it (Jn 17:16; 1 Pet 2:11).

Prophetic ministry

Christianity therefore stands as a prophetic ministry in a pluralistic culture. Christianity is not merely meaningful for us personally, but is healthy for society as a whole. We confront false ideas with courage. We critique both parties — both conservatives and liberals — because our allegiance is to Christ, not a party.  Our Christian faith provides a vantage point from which to critique an overreaching government, prevent patriotism from becoming national chauvinism, and stop us being mean-spirited about our deepest convictions.  We witness to our society as a minority group, from the margins. We offer a third way, not the way of conservatives or liberals, but the Way of Christ. We overcome a divisive, fragmented perspective on politics with a conversation framed in the Biblical master-narrative of the gospel: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation.

The root cause of the problem: The Fall.

In the aftermath of the Fall and the ensuing depravity of the human heart, we find we have the entrenched tendency to twist God’s created order into idolatry.  Politics is directed towards idols rather than God.  Instead of wisely stewarding God’s resources to bless others, we grasp for power, trample the weak, spew vitriol and create factions. Neither liberals nor conservatives are the problem – we are: all of us. We are profoundly alienated from God, from ourselves, from others, and from creation. This is the polar opposite of the concept of shalom: of godly community. When things are pointed away from Christ, intended blessings become a curse. This is precisely why the regeneration of the human spirit is so crucial (refer John 3:3).

Hope: Redemptive Mission

Through the gospel, we offer a different hope as we seek to display Christian character and discernment. The power of sin and death is at work trying to claim every square inch of this universe. But God’s power — the power that raised Jesus from the dead — is counterclaiming every inch. Through Christ a new power is at work in this world to renew and restore it. The political realm, as dark as it may seem, will one day bow in submission to Christ. Everything we do takes place under God. As God’s people, we apply Christ’s love in the political arena, bringing our Christian beliefs into the political discourse in a constructive and healthy way. We challenge our legislative, judicial and executive branches to foster a political environment that does not promote any type of zealotry. It should not actively promote the beliefs of any kind -– religious or atheist -– that deny religious liberty and promote the interests of the few over the interests of the many. In this way, the Christian perspective makes room for everyone to thrive together, and flourish.

Vision: Final Consummation

God built into this world a splendid diversity that finds its ultimate unity in Him (Rev 7:9). We pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth. We are intentionally missional (Mt 28:19-20). Our goal is shalom: a perfect fellowship in which God reigns in every heart, and His children rejoice together in His love and joy. We strive for God’s vision upon the earth. Shalom will never be perfect in this fallen world, but as surely as Christ was raised from the dead, we know there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein perfect righteousness dwells, and there will be no more tears: no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev 21:4). This is the extraordinary future that God has in store for us!

God has a compelling vision for His people who, if authentically living out the Way of Christ, are able to make a vitally important contribution to the political life of our country and our world. In all we do, may we be centered in the gospel: Word-saturated, Spirit-led, and Christ-honoring.

For an additional perspective, see our blog article on Politics as Mission.

Acknowledgements

This blog post has summarized key points and drawn extensively from the following helpful resources about Christianity and politics:

Ashford, B. Every Square Inch: An introduction to cultural engagement for Christians. Lexham, 2015.
Ashford B. and Pappalardo, C. One Nation Under God. A Christian Hope for American Politics. B&H, 2015.

This blog post was written by Warwick Alcock, Director Strategic Operations, Village Schools of the Bible

“Why are So Many Christians Biblically Illiterate?”

 

At Village Schools of the Bible we exist to help the local church grow biblical literate believers.  What follows is an excellent article by Jeremiah J. Johnston, “is president of Christian Thinkers Society, a Resident Institute at Houston Baptist University where he also serves at Associate Professor of Early Christianity. Johnston is the author of “Unanswered: Lasting Truth for Trending Questions” (Whitaker House,November 3, 2015) and accompanying Bible Study.

Pray for Village Schools of the Bible as we fulfill our mission: teaching God’s word and transforming lives. Warren Coe

Emblematic of the Bible’s declining influence is what Harper Lee penned in her 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in which the character Miss Maudie says, “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of [another].”

Most Christians know enough about the Bible to be dangerous.

The Bible in America is a massive industry ($2.5 billion) yet it is the best seller few read and fewer understand.

The Bible has become a moving target. One can strip it down, twist it, misread it, add to it, supplement it, and even overrule it, and, unfortunately, 95 percent of the congregation will not realize it.

Why? Because Americans no longer know the Bible. The evidence is overpowering that contemporary Christianity is Bible-ish, at best, and at worst, in some cases, Bible-less.

The American Bible Society releases an annual State of the Bible report and their research is persuasive in understanding the declining influence of the Bible in America.

Everyone has an opinion about the Bible. Politicians attempt to use the Bible, Grammy-award winners quote it and Hollywood has portrayed it on the big screen.

Yet one problem remains: most are oblivious to the Bible’s basic content, meaning, and message.

Across the pond, the results are even more dramatic: one-third of British parents thought Harry Potter was a thematic plot-line derived from the Bible.

The Bible is not held in the esteem it once was. Over the last 150 years, America has drifted from its Biblical focus. In an election season, it is remarkable to recall that, though he was not a member of any church, the Bible was valued as an authority in America so much so that Abraham Lincoln quoted from it four strategic times in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. President Lincoln used words ascribed to Jesus in Matthew 18:7 and – using the Bible — pronounced God’s judgment on our nation for her moral bankruptcy of slavery.

The unwillingness of many Americans to dig deeper into the Scriptures is not related to a lack of options. The Gideons give away a Bible every second. One publisher sells more than sixty different editions of the Bible.

Clearly, the challenge of biblical illiteracy in America is not because of a shortage of Bibles, but rather knowledge and appreciation of the Bible’s message.

The Bible is a diverse love story. Actually, it is the greatest break-up-and-get-back together story the world has ever known.

The message of the Bible is that even though we are not what we should be, God loves us, redeems us, and has a purpose for our lives.

A tremendously exciting new initiative is underway to re-introduce the world to the Bible.

In 2017 the six-floor 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible will open only two blocks from the National Mall in Washington D.C. The Museum of the Bible invites all people – those with faith and those without – to engage with the Bible in an immersive experience with its unique history, narrative and influence.

Once one encounters the story of the Bible’s history and preservation, the cost that was involved — and it was a terrible cost — one can never again open the Scriptures with the same detached, careless attitude.

The story of how the Bible has come to us is a tale of heroism, courage, persecution, betrayal and towering faith in a God who raises the dead, mixed through the centuries with the blood of martyrs. If 80 percent of Americans believe the Bible is “God’s word,” shouldn’t we show the Bible some respect by knowing more about it?

Join Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey Online Learning

I am excited to announce that Village Schools of the Bible now serves the body of Christ through online learning.  We offer Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey, our signature discipleship ministry, to brothers and sisters in the United States and around the world.

What is Online Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey?

Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey is a journey through God’s Word beginning in Genesis.  In thirty-two weeks we travel through the Old Testament and New Testament, ending our study in the Book of Revelation.

The Old Testament is divided into sixteen lessons (one lesson a week).  The New Testament is sixteen lessons (one lesson a week).

Each lesson consists of three to four audio/power point presentations.  Each episode is about 10 minutes in length.  So you can learn as you travel or during a lunch break or anyplace you have time to learn from God’s Word.

The discipleship curriculum includes:

• The Bible.  You will read through the entire Bible in thirty-two weeks.
• Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey textbooks.  You will read our two textbooks (one on the Old Testament and one on the New Testament).
• Writing a Reflection paper.  At the end of each lesson is a series of questions designed to engage you in a deeper reflection on God’s truth.

A mentor will assist you along the journey.  The mentor will invite you to join the discussion forum with other students.  The mentor will interact with you and your paper.  Mentors will pray for you.

How Do I Get Started?

Visit: http://www.villageschoolsofthebible.org/online-courses/

Follow the prompts.  We are so excited to have you join this amazing journey through God’s Word. Student who take Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey all say the same thing–“Cover-to-Cover Bible Survey transformed my life.”  This is the power of God’s Word in the life of God’s people.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Warren, Executive Director of Village Schools of the Bible

Facing Hard Times

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?  The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come.  When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.  While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm.  It simply uses the storm to lift it higher.  It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us – and all of us will experience them – we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God.  The storms do not have to overcome us.  We can allow God’s power to lift us above them.

God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives.  We can soar above the storm.

Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.

The Bible says, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.”  Isaiah 40:31

(Source Unknown)

Elisabeth Elliot is with Jesus Today

I just got the news that missionary and noted author, Elisabeth Elliot has died today (June 15, 2015).  Her husband, Jim, was martyred for the cause of Christ over 50 years ago. As a widow and young mother, Elisabeth continued to serve the people who killed her husband.  As a thinker and writer, she helped many to deeply understand the call of God upon their lives.

In Today’s Christian Woman magazine (2013), Jan Wismer, wrote: “Elisabeth believed in asking this foundational question: Is this God’s will for me, right now, in this place? … Unapologetically, Elisabeth espoused such truths as: give to get, lose to find, and die to live. Setting her sights “on things above” (Colossians 3:1), Elisabeth ministered among three indigenous groups in Ecuador before helping listeners and readers find joy in the ordinary affairs of life—like cooking meals and cleaning toilets—on her globally syndicated radio program. She called it living sacramentally, and her rock-solid principles shaped my life.”

At a personal level, there are three important women of influence in my life: my mother, my wife and Elisabeth Elliot.

Thank you, Lord for giving Mrs. Elliot to the body of Christ on earth.

Covenants: God’s Way

The Covenant of Eden

Covenants are important to God.  He has chosen to relate to the human race and His people through covenants.  The first covenant takes place in the Garden of Eden.  The Lord said to our first parents, “The Lord commanded the man, saying ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’” (Genesis 1:16-17)

Amazing!  One rule in the garden.  Life and death rested on obedience to one rule.  We all know how that came out.

The Covenant of Noah

After the great flood, God made a covenant with Noah and the human race.  “…I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”  (Genesis 8:21)  This was an unconditional covenant.  It was a covenant that rested entirely on God’s faithfulness and not on man’s.

The Covenant with Abraham

This covenant with Abraham reached around the world.  “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the family of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2, 3)  The Abrahamic Covenant was unconditional.  It rested on the Lord to fulfill.

The Mosaic Covenant

Then the Lord made a covenant with Israel during the exodus.  The Mosaic law comprised of 613 laws.  These laws include the 10 commandments, the sacrificial system, the feasts and the cleanliness laws.  God said, “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:2).  This covenant was conditional.  God would bless Israel if they obeyed God’s law.  The tragic story of Israel was their inability to obey.

The Davidic Covenant

This unconditional covenant promised that Messiah would be heir to King David’s throne.  (2 Samuel 6:16).  When Jesus entered Jerusalem his last week on earth, the crowds shouted, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:10)  Jesus is our King of kings and Lord of Lords!

The New Covenant

Jeremiah prophesied that God would establish a new covenant.  “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.  “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, (Jer 31:31-34)

Praise God!

New Testament believers live in the light and miracle of the new covenant.  Christianity is not about external obedience but inward transformation.  (John 3:5-8)  Grace through faith and not of ourselves is God’s way to salvation.  Yes, out of faith comes obedience. (James 2:18)  First things first.  Our standing before God rests upon faith.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Praise God for the new covenant.  Sealed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Received by faith alone in Christ alone.

Missional Living / Faith-at-Work Seminar Series

God cares about you and your work! The Village Schools Missional Living seminar series focuses on applying faith in practical ways, Monday to Saturday, outside the church building. Workplace leaders from across the Twin Cities lead the seminars.

Our initial seminar on January 20 was led by Art Hill, a professor from Carlson School of Management. This seminar covered a basic theology of work as well as case studies to help us learn in a very practical way how to live out our faith in our various places of work. Click here for a quick overview of what was covered at this seminar.

Our next seminar on 23rd March will be led by Kent O’Grady (senior officer retired from the Minnesota State Patrol). Kent shares how to negotiate ‘separation of church and state’ sensitivities, an increasingly delicate topic for Christians in today’s workplace culture. Save the date!

For more information speak to email us or call the Village office at 952.540.9460

Jewish Immigration: A Look at God’s Future

No nation the diminutive size of Israel has captured the attention of the world like Israel.  As of 2014 there were 14.2 million Jews in the world.  According to one estimate that is around 0.002% of the world.  Yet this tiny nation has been the object of both scorn and admiration.

In order to help you understand this small but amazing nation, my blog post will provide: (1) a timeline of Israel.  (2) A Biblical understanding of Israel.  (3) The state of Israel today.

A Timeline of Israel

In 70 AD the Roman general Titus drove his army into Jerusalem and leveled the city.  That was the end of Israel as a nation.

On May 14, 1948 Israel was given nationhood.  Many Bible scholars before 1948 believed and taught that Israel was no longer important to God’s unfolding plan of redemption.  After 1948 many Bible scholars changed their mind.

In 1962 Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the “Final Solution Plan,” was executed by hanging in Israel.

The Six-Day War took place in 1967.  Against great odds, Israel won that war and annexed the Gaza Strip, Sinai, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Then in 1979 Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty.  The foundations of this small nation were firmly established nearly 2,000 years after they were destroyed.

Israel and Biblical Teaching

In Genesis 12:1-3 God made a promise to Abraham.  ^ESV  Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:1-3 ESV)

Notice what God promised Abraham and his kith and kin: (1) a land, (2) a name, (3) a great nation and (4) a blessing to all the nations.

In Exodus he rekindles that promised to Moses and the Israelites enslaved in Egypt.  ^ESV  Deuteronomy 4:1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. (Deu 4:1 ESV)

The promise of a land was reiterated by many of the great prophets.  ¹⁵ “But as the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.  For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.” (Jer 16:15 ESV)

We find a similar theme in Isaiah.  ²¹ Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.  ²² The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it.  (Isa 60:21-22 ESV)

Romans 11:23-26 builds upon this Old Testament understanding.  ²³ “And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.  ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.  ²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”  (Rom 11:23-26 ESV)

Israel has a prophetic future.  God is and will use Israel for His redemptive purposes.

The State of Israel Today

But there are new developments.  Jews from around the world are returning to their ancient land.  AP reporter, Aron Heller in his January 14, 2016 article describes an exodus of Jewish people from Europe.  “Jewish immigration to Israel from western Europe has reached an all-time high as a result of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.”

8,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel last year.  France has been home to the third-largest Jewish population in the world.  800 Jews from Britain joined the exodus.  According to Heller, “Italy and Belgium are next on the list.”

Jews are going home!

The prophet Zechariah predicted, ⁷ “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”  ⁹ Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. (Zec 8:7-9 ESV)

The prophet Isaiah picks up a similar theme.  ⁶ I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”  ⁸ Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!  ⁹ All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true.  ¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.  ¹¹ I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. (Isa 43:6-11 ESV)

The prophet Jeremiah also heralds this miraculous return to the ancient homeland.  ³ “For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.” (Jer 30:3 ESV)

Amazing Thought

Today we are witnessing God’s plan of redemption and the role Israel has and will play in that plan.

What a great day to be alive.  Students of the Word look on the tumultuous affairs of the world with confidence—God is in charge of human history.  He is in charge of your history.  We have nothing to fear.

I encourage you to review the Scriptures in this blog post.  Enjoy God’s promises.  Then rejoice in the confidence you have in Christ.  Jesus told his disciples these powerful words that are applicable to our day.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you; I am with you always even until the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:20)

Warren

Thoughts on Christian Fellowship

Last night Marlys and I went for pizza with another couple.  With all four of us around the restaurant table we caught up on our children; where they are and how they are doing.  We talked about the latest news; the good news and bad news of life in this world.  But the most satisfying discussion was about the Lord.  We talked about our Lord Jesus Christ and what He is doing in our lives.

As we do after every fellowship occasion, Marlys and I debrief.  We remember what fun we had with our friends and what we learned about their lives and families.  We also review the spiritual discussions we enjoyed.  You might say we double-dipped: we experienced the moment and then we went home to talk about that moment of wonderful Christian fellowship.

‘Stir Up One Another to Love and Good Works’

I wonder if the writer of Hebrews had this in mind when he wrote, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  (Hebrews 10:24, 25)

Final Thought On Christian Friendship

No man is an island.  That is especially true in the Christian life.  We weren’t born orphans when we entered the kingdom of God through faith alone in Christ alone.  God birthed us into the Christian household of faith (Galatians 6:10).  In order to grow and mature into The Faith we need the fellowship of believers.

Set a date.  Make a call.  Enjoy godly Christian fellowship in 2016.