There's no 'I' in worship . . .oh crap!

Biblically, worship is about responding in the right way to God.

In such a self-centred world, where self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction drive our activities and determine our responses. We need to remember that worship is primarily about God.

If we are not careful, worship becomes about us.

"I didn't feel it tonight"

"I didn't get anything out of worship today"

Now of course worship involves me - I'm a participant - but it's not about me or for me.

There are 3 main biblical reasons for worship (and they are ALL God-focused)_

Love you X

Understanding Worship

We all do it (in one form or another).

Sometimes we enjoy it. Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes we feel like it. Sometimes we don't.

So why bother?

Worship is a topic that always starts a debate, violent attack or divide of a church. Worship is an individuals time with God. We all have our preferences, our opinion on the right or wrong way to worship.

'Worship wars' start when my idea of worship isn't the same as someone else in the congregation.

Is this what it's all about?

If the focus is on how we worship then maybe we've missed the point. Maybe we need to look at what worship is, or why we do it.

Love you X

Theories of atonement

This would probably be better titled 'angles of atonement', as christians thoughts on the cross have come from many different perspectives and we (as humans) will never fully understand what Christ did for us.

Here are 3 angles (that carry some truth) . . .

1# The cosmic angle_ on the cross Jesus defeated satan. An early church metaphor phrases it this way. 'Jesus was the bait and the cross was the hook which reeled in our enemy'.

2# The human angle_ The cross reveals us. It rips us and opens us up. All self-justification ends here. We have executed the son of God. To quote Baldrick [fair enough, he's talking about the scarlet pimpernell, but you get the idea!] "he's here to save us! . . . and you've killed him!"

When I survey the wonderous cross,

on which the prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

This same cross reveals the depths of God's love at the same time.

3# The divine angle_ The cross is God's work for Himself before it is His work for us. In the cross He justifies His justice and His mercy.

Love you X

Story of SALVATION

The control of the entire bibles narative can be traced back to the exodus story.

2 things happen in Isreal's deliverance.

First, God's people are set free from slavery to pharoh and the Egyptian gods.

Second, they are set free from the wrath of God.

When the final plague falls upon Egypt, God provides a substitute for the Isrealites. A lamb (clean) is sacrificed and the blood marks their houses, so that the angel of death passes over.

Salvation, then is to be delivered from both bondage AND the wrath of God.

Then in the new testament we see Jesus comes to bring the final exodus. He frees us, not from Egypt or Rome, but from satan and sin. When Jesus lifts the judgement of the law from us, He takes away satan's power to accuse us and hold us in bondage.

Jesus also comes to set us free from the wrath of God.

He is our passover lamb [1 Corinthians 5:7]

His blood protects us.

God now freely forgives sinners through His son.

Love you X

Centre of the New Testament

At the heart of the new testament we find not the ethic of Jesus, or the example of Jesus, or the wisdom of Jesus, or even the suffering service of Jesus, but the CROSS.

All 4 gospels move lead us towards the final week of Jesus.

All preaching in the book of Acts focuses on the cross (and the ressurection/reign of Jesus).

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul tells the Corinthians that he determined to "know nothing While I was with you except Christ and Him crucified".

Hebrews presents Jesus as our great high preist who hasn't gone into the temple in Jerusalem, but heaven itself. Not bringing sacrificial animals blood, but His own blood to atone for sin.

Peter calls slaves to follow the example of Jesus based on the servant in Isaiah 53. (1 Peter 2:21-25)

In 1 John 4:10, John writes "This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins".

The book of Revelation shows the lamb who was slain as the LORD of the universe. His blood purchased us for God.

Love you X

He chose the cross

The crucifiction and the cross is seen as offensive (for several reasons) . . .

The cross is 'culturally' offensive, it was not talked about in polite conversation. The very idea that a god, immortal and eternal, could be crucified is madness.

It is also 'historically' offensive. Christians claim that a jewish peasant, executed under Roman law, is the LORD and saviour of the world. He alone deserves the term 'christ', not ceaser.

Thirdly, it's 'philisophically' offensive. Rather than the cross just being an illustration of divine love, it is the basis for divine love. The cross shows God's universal love and forgiveness.
The cross shows Jesus' total submission.
Through His death we gain life.

Fourthly, it's 'morally' offensive. To put it simply (thank goodness!) you cannot save yourself.
To look upon this broken, bleeding, peirced, mangled messiah is hard, and some turn away or deny Him. But it's through faith in the crucified Jesus that we are saved.

With all these offences, why did the early christians glory in the cross?

Why did they hold up this bloody instrument of torture?

Rob Bell commented upon the weirdness of the idea of the cross in modern day church. He says that essentially we are displaying a horrible torture/execution device on the wall or roof of our churches. Like bowing down at the foot of the guillotine. Like displaying the lethal injection table in our church. Like wearing a golden minature AK47 around our necks!

Seriously though, it is not the cross itself we display, but the meaning behind it. Much like how Jesus lived and taught, it was never about what was said or heard, but the hidden meaning.

Christianity isn't blatant.

It isn't easy to look at.

We have all gotta do some searching.

Love you x

Our hearts response

Hi I'm back!

So I'm gonna talk about worship.

When dealing with worship, everything (obviously) looks back to God.
But one of the most obvious points to stop at is Jesus (duh!) and the cross.

Crucifixion was the ultimate penalty in the ancient world. It was not only a form of capital punishment, but also torture and shame. To hang there naked, broken, bleeding is bad enough, but then for your body to give up unable to take the weight on your nailed hands (or wrists) and to suffocate.

No 'citizen' could be crucified, this form of death was reserved only for slaves, imigrants and outlaws. This public display of power by the Roman empire was another way for them to become obsessed with controlling every corner of their 'boundaries'.

In 1 Corinthians 1:23, we see Paul describing the 'word of the cross' is folly to Greeks and scandal to the Jews.

Love you X

You gotta suffer me talking at you

Hi, y'all.

Gideon's over (cries of joy!), and now I'm thinking of what to do next as my study!
What's up with me at the moment?...

Matt has suggested that I even record myself reading my study of Jonah or turn it into a mini book (what do you reckon?)

I'm speaking on the morning service of Sun 28th October. My message is entitled 'God loves losers'.

I'm also speaking at the worship confrence on Sat 3rd November. That message is entitled 'Why we worship'.

Here is my plea (to both of you that still read this blog!), please come to these meetings and point and laugh at me, or support me.

Love you X

The end

Gideon has kinda let me down, he once had fire in his belly, he once tore down the baal alters, he once was known as 'baal fighter'.

This man has now turned Isreal's eyes away from the LORD and onto a vest!

This 'turn of attention' is what starts the hebrews back on that slippery down-hill slope to idol worship.

How soon they forget.

After Gideon's death, the story continues, his son Abimelech massacres 69 of his brothers (in one day!) and only leaves Jotham alive. He burnt 1000 men and women to death in a tower at Schechem [Judges. 9:49] and was finally killed himself, whilst attempting to burn another tower. A woman inside the tower dropped a millstone on his head and crushed his skull.

Gideon's story teaches us one main truth (I think);

When we stay close to God - we bear fruit, when we drift away from God - that's when the nettles and weeds come to choke us.

Gideon's life was known as 'mostly good'.

I don't want to have a 'mostly good' life.

I want more.

You don't have to stay hidden in the winepress.

"The LORD is with YOU, mighty warrior"

Love you X

Ephod

An ephod was either an image of God or an idol, as some have argued. An ephod is the vest worn by a hebrew priest. There would be urim and thummim (ask Andy) set into it. These stones were used by the preist to discover the will of God. When both sides revealed the urim (to curse) the answer was 'no', when both sides revealed thummim (to be perfect) it meant 'yes'. If one of each was showing it meant 'no reply'. Kinda like an ancienst magic 8 ball!

This seems like a rediculous construction for Gideon, as he seems to have no need for a vest to communicate with God. 3 problems present themselves when viewing Gideon's obsession with priestly vests . . .

1] Making this ephod (aswell as taking a collection of Midianite nose rings) was Gideon doing something that God hadn't asked him to do. God called Gideon to be a judge, NOT a priest.

2] Maybe Gideon was attempting to make his situation (his fame, success, power) a permanent status, when God only held Gideon in this position on a temporary basis. Gideon had been called to build alters and communicate with Yahweh and save Isreal during the period of his mission, but now the mission was over. Even if things are started by God and are a success, people have a tendancy to 'take it too far' or 'exhaust the possibilities' or 'flog a dead horse' and before we know it, what was once from God, about God and for God, we find ourselves worshipping a vest!

3] Maybe Gideon purposefully diverted the focus of worship away from the main sancturary at Shiloh, because that site was found inside Ephraim territory. This could have been a political move, like Sweden always giving Finland 12 points in the eurovision song contest! Whatever the reasons for this ephod, it is obviously disasterous to the Isrealites. The description of the consequences of this event is the strongest in the book of Judges...

"... Isreal prostituted themselves by worshipping it there ..."

Love you X

The king has left the building

The Isrealites no longer wish for Gideon to be their judge. They want him as their ruler and king. Gideon's reply redeems himself in vs 23 . . .

"I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you."

Gideon viewed his monarchy as a replacement to the LORDs reign and rejected it.

God has rule over Isreal (Theocracy)

After making such an amazing statement, he then goes and makes a ridiculously stupid one!

Gideon asks for an offering . . . to himself! He asks for a portion of each man's plunder. The amount came to 700 shekels (50 pounds) of gold, around 5000 gold rings. He also accepted half-moon and teardrop pendants AND fine purple robes (from Midianite royalty).

Gideon refused the offer of kingship, but accepted the king's treasury and wardrobe. He continues his 'royal' lifestyle by having a vast number of wives and a hareem of concubines. He also made the mistake of having a son by one of these concubines and naming him ABIMELECH (means 'my father is the king').

His final downfall came with his bright idea to make an EPHOD (a preistly vest).

Love you X

Thou shalt not covet

Now came the 'ticker tape parade', the welcome party they'd been expecting.

As they entered Ophrah, the very same voices that had been shouting for Gideons death were now exalting him. (hmmm... sounds like the opposite version of another biblical story!)

But what would become of the princes of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna were personally responsible for the death of 2 of Gideons brothers at mount Tabor.

For Gideon, the answer was simple, they must suffer the most humiliating form of execution . . .

No, not death by girls allowed!

Death at the hands of a boy.

This task was probably given to Jether (Gideon's eledest son) who took the sword in trembling hands and faced these two infamous enemies. Whether through fear or weakness, Jether couldn't carry out his task. So it was left to Gideon to serve the death blow, which he did without hesitation.

Then something glistening caught his eye. The camels were wearing Saharonim (a kind of garment made of gold and silver ornaments and emblems), idols and images of pagan gods.

Gideon took these 'trinkets' for himself ("he covets the precious things" to quote Tubbs from the league of gentlemen). Maybe it was the fact that he was born into a wealthy family made him crave for more? or he had watched these Midianite prisoners with their fancy clothes and jewellery whilst he took the long trek back to Ophrah. Either way, we catch a glimpse of the old 'baal/assherah worshipping' Gideon.

Love you X

Humble pie

Gideon, with his 300 men and Zebah and Zalmunna (great baby names!), headed back to Succoth. It was time for the judge to deal out the punishment.

Somehow, Gideon had a list of the 77 elders from the town. He called them out one by one.

They knew what to expect, Gideon had already told them what fate was awaiting them.

Whips of desert thorns and briars were made infront of the 77 (a sign of bareness and wasteland [Isaiah 7:23 & Luke 6:44]).

Did the people of Succoth use this time as an opportunity to apologize or humble themselves before Gideon? No.

Next was the turn of Peniel.

As they saw Gideon's 300 approaching in the distance did they prepare to welcome them (as they should have originally) ?

Did they arrange to snd a peace offering to honour the local hebrew heroes? No.

A battle quickly began, in which Gideon's men won (of course) and then (as promised) the tower was demolished.

Interestingly to note is that this was a water tower.

Think about it.

The massive importance of having a water tower in your town in the middle of the desert.

To these people water was power.

That tower represented their pride.

What a way to humble the people of Peniel.

Love you X

Butlins

We don't know much about the final battle, Gideon would have passed Nobah (schoolboy sniggers) and the Gaddite town of Jogbehah and travelled along 'the road of those who dwelled in tents', a well used Midianite caravan route. Think 'Butlins' but with slightly more pagan sacrifices, rape and murder.

The Midianites were taken completely by suprise, they had no idea just how tanacious (good word!) Gideon was.

Zebah and Zalmunna were taken captive, as Gideon's 300 rose victorious over the Midianites.

Victory was indeed sweet.

Love you X

Don't give up

The truth is . . . we don't know what Gideon's motives were. All we can do is trust in the grace of God.

"Grace means that the Lord often blesses us even though there are glaring areas of lack in our lives" [J Lucas]

They get the same frosty reception in a place called Peniel (which means 'face of God'), this was where Jacob wrestled the angel [Gen.32:30] Only this time Gideon promised to tear down their tower and not spank them with branches!

After yet another set-back, it was a further 25 miles to Karkor.

Gideon hit a lot of 'brick walls' whilst following the will of God, lots of set-backs, knock-downs, and times when he probably just felt like giving up.

But he didn't.

Are you passing through Succoth, or being turned away by Peniel?

Don't give up!

Love you X

Quotes

Once again there is conflicting arguements about this issue amongst commentators . . . .

Was Gideon wrong to punish the people of Succoth? . . . .

* "Gideon had such great confidence in God that he began to take things into his own hands. Gideon threatened (Succoth) with vengeful words and punished them with exagerated cruelty. One is left to conclude that Yahweh's spirit had left Gideon at this point." [E J Hamlin]

* "It is a personal vendetta which Gideon has been prosecuting so ruthlessly in the Trans-Jordan . . . (earlier) his motivation was obedience to God, but here it is personal revenge . . . how he has changed . . ." [M Wilcock]

Or was Gideon right to punish the people of Succoth? . . . .

* "It is probably correct to see the beating of the elders of Succoth . . . as a judicial sentance carried out as a judge, rather than indicating a personal vendetta or fit of revenge." [D Jackman]

* "The punishment inflicted by Gideon . . . was well deserved in all respects, and was rightously executed . . . having been called by God to be the deliverer and judge of Isreal, it was Gideon's duty to punish the faithless cities." [Kell & Delitzsch]

What d'ya think ?

Love you X

Succoth

Succoth was a small settlement, east of the Jordan, on the dividing line between Gadite and Manassite territories. The sight of Succoth brought with it water, food and shelter. 'Succoth' means shelters or tabernacles, because Jacob built dwelling places there after he had seperated from Esau [Gen. 33:17]

The people of Succoth had too felt the wrath of the Midianites and would have heard the news of Gideon's 300 defeating the enemy.

What kind of a welcome party could they expect when entering this place?

None.

Gideon was probably expecting some kinds of 'ticker tape parade' like at the end of the Ghostbusters movie. However, Succoth refused to help them.

Why?

It's thaught that Succoth were worried about their own skin and anxious not to upset their Midianite neighbours. What if Gideon's 300 failed to finish off the enemy and word got out that the people of Succoth had helped out Gideon?
What would become of them?

Gideon was furious, understandably, he had put up with being taunted and bullied for 7 years by the Midianites, he had allowed his army to walked away and to be worked down to 300, he had suffered humiliation at the hands of Ephraim, and NOW he must put up with these cowards?

So was his promise of "thrashing them with twigs" a direct judgement from God, or just the ramblings of a bad temper?

Love you X

Succoth and see

Pursuing the fleeing Midianites to Karkor was no mean feet. 150 miles right through the middle of the desert. I would imagine after the last 24 hours that Gideon and his 300 had had, this would be more than a little daunting. Just as the band of Hebrews were beginning to loose hope, they see something on the horizon that stirs their souls.

Succoth.

Love you X

Scissors never beats scissors

As these 2 tribes square up to each other on the brink of civil war, Gideon does what any good leader / judge / politician would do. He difuses the hostile situation by grinning like the cheshire cat exlaiming the greatness that is Ephraim.

"What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleamings of Ephraims grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?"

Gideon was humbling himself and playing down his own victory.

How far Gideon has come.

Back in the winepress Gideon would never have stepped down from that sort of arguement or insult. In Proverbs 15:1 it says . . . 'A gentle answer burns away wrath'.

Gideon shows us how a leader should be, he resists the temptation to bite back with arrogance or be on the defensive. Gideon quickly and calmly difused a situation that had the makings of an epic, but tragic, civil war.

Gideon refused to answer anger with anger, because (lets be honset) scissors NEVER beats scissors.

Love you X

At this point, I would imagine that Gideon is still psyched up about the miracoulous victory. Still high on adrenaline and excitement. So why now does some criticism rear its ugly head to rob him of his success?

How often have you known some element of your life going SO well and then someone says something or does something or something just happens just to ruin it?

We need to remember that sometimes criticism is for our own good. A prime example of this is Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' to keep him humble.

What we want isn't always the same as what we need.

Love you X