We have spent solidly 2 weeks in Chapter 8, now... At this point, we've had our men's group meeting on Tuesday nights take over this track of study...
Looking at the Book to this point, we're getting the point that Judah and Jerusalem, and the people had all gotten into this cruddy false religion. Society was ripping apart at the seams, within the community of believers. Disobedience and neglect of the commandments had given way to cults of sex and death, oppression of the poor, immorality... you get it...
At the same time, the "Professional Religious Community" was lathering the people with all kinds of false comforts! They twisted the meaning of the Scriptures and created "another Gospel" to keep people from seeing the truth.
Jeremiah was a voice crying out for people to RECOGNIZE the days they were in. The only hope for anyone in judah in those days was to SURRENDER to the judgment of Yahweh, and go over to the Babylonians... That was a very unwelcome message to just about everyone...
We are constantly looking at Isaiah, who prophesied the coming of Messiah, the rebuilding of the nation after the deportation, and the call to justice... Isaiah's prophecies help us understand a lot about where to turn with Jeremiah's cry...
Is. 28:10-17 were a big part of our study, as we looked at how false religion in Judah included lots of rules, but didn't stop immorality...
1 Kings 17 and the Story of Elijah on Mount Carmel showed us the extent to which false cults of sex and death take root in a nation with bad leadership. How much more true in the church?
We talked about how the church in america is riddled with just the same kind of denial, immorality, and rule-keeping religion that Jeremiah preached against...
We spent a chunk of time praying for those among us who struggle with the seduction of such falsehood. The most time was spent praying for Lew...
God have Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Friday, January 06, 2006
Chapter Seven
It's been a few weeks since we met for Study together. Since we started, we've moved the study to the Chase House from the Sidewinder Cafe. I've also stopped drinking coffee--an interesting experience to say the least. Those of you who know me will know how extreme a move that is for me... It's just that i can't justify the expense, and don't want to wait for the medical field to finally announce that coffee's as deadly as cigarettes. Whatever
Anyway, here we are in Ch. 7. Just click on the title to this entry to pull up the passage. It's a neat little thing that I can do on Blogger.
Comment away! I'll lay down some more thoughts on this during the week.
Anyway, here we are in Ch. 7. Just click on the title to this entry to pull up the passage. It's a neat little thing that I can do on Blogger.
Comment away! I'll lay down some more thoughts on this during the week.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Jeremiah Chapter Six
Big Snow this Friday. We all slept in. But I'll still post a quick observation on this chapter.
this chapter has a verse in it that is really important. It's no. 14.
"they heal the wound of my people slightly, as if it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say; but there is no peace." At least that;s my paraphase...
This gets repeated in Chapter 8, too.
you know, there is a huge problem on this planet.
we are created in the image of god, fit for glory.
but we're stranded in a fallen world, a hostile land.
and our souls cry for freedom and comfort from it.
and we seek out that comfort in sin, so often.
Jeremiah is calling the nationto forsake sin and return from its false gods. this flew in the face of the established religious voice which proclaimed peace and comfort. jeremiah was warning them that their time was up. They were being given over to destruction for their waste of grace...
So, Jeremiah still cries to us. He cries that when a people forsake the straight ways of Yahweh for twisted paths: forsake the River of Life for "broken cisterns" (ch.2)...that when we do that, we will experience patience, but also, ultimately, destruction... there are voices like this. they cry to us today.
And how do we respond to the Voice?
Don't we see what Jeremiah is talking about?
Remember how James tells us to change our laughter to mourning? It's about our obedience to what we know. What we know far outweighs our obedience, as a national church... heck, even as a city church.
There is so much torepent over, why would we resist calling a spade a spade and just crying out in mourning over it.
but in Jeremiah's day, they were averse to bad news. They didn't want to hear it, even with an army encamped around them. They were unwilling to ADMIT that they had departed from Yahweh.
I'd imagine it was at least partly because they didn't see how they could FIX it. True. We can't fix it. We have no hope of making up for what we've taken. There's no fixing what we have ruined. To admit the truth of apostasy is to mourn without hope of fixing it, begging God to forgive and restore... it is UTTER HUMILITY, offering nothing else.
Jeremiah is calling us all to a life of utter humility: recognising that the WOUND is DEEP! Yet we still hear, all around us, the superficial healing of the false teachers and scribes of Jeremiah's day, "Peace, peace" they cry.
just because it brings a certain misery doesn't mean that a true assessment is wrong. it's not wrong to admit that we're ruined. it's not wrong to admit that we're undone. it's not wrong to admit that the american church has sold out, by and large, to materialism, traditionalism, classism, racism, -ism schism... it's not wrong to admit that we're all really worldly, too.
...as long as it produces in us a humble mournfulness that will call back the rains... the rains of blessing, eh? god opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble...
but there is a strong religious market infalse comfort, lately. as soon as the conviction of teh Spirit sets in, andyou start to feel that mournfulness come upon you, here comes the professional religious man to chase it away with comforting words that massage the status quo back into you... soften up that senisitivity and put you back to sleep...
woe to the false religion of comfort that has made the church in america pro-war, without being missional in peacemaking. Woe to the false religion of comfort that allows divorce without discipline... that winks at adultery...
woe to the false religion of comfort that dares denounce abortion, but keeps its extra posessions to itself and its extra rooms empty of orphans...
woe to the false religion of comfort that amasses huge quantities of wealth under this world's banks, but is poor toward God.
woe to the false religion of comfort that gives little, out of its abundance, leaving the workers in the field hungry and bereft of succour...
woe to us! we are the church in america. children in china have prayed for us today--FROM PRISON!!!! And we have not visited them..
Woe to us! we are the church in america. we criticise the prophets, and assassinate the character of our true teachers... we work our mules and oxen to death in the sun, with plenty more to replace them with, never giving them food, or a break, just working them till they die, then harnessing another with promises and cajoling...
woe to us! What's wrong with woe? too much of a downer for you? Steer clear of the prophets when you live in an affluent nation full of religious hypocrisy. What can i tell you?
this chapter has a verse in it that is really important. It's no. 14.
"they heal the wound of my people slightly, as if it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say; but there is no peace." At least that;s my paraphase...
This gets repeated in Chapter 8, too.
you know, there is a huge problem on this planet.
we are created in the image of god, fit for glory.
but we're stranded in a fallen world, a hostile land.
and our souls cry for freedom and comfort from it.
and we seek out that comfort in sin, so often.
Jeremiah is calling the nationto forsake sin and return from its false gods. this flew in the face of the established religious voice which proclaimed peace and comfort. jeremiah was warning them that their time was up. They were being given over to destruction for their waste of grace...
So, Jeremiah still cries to us. He cries that when a people forsake the straight ways of Yahweh for twisted paths: forsake the River of Life for "broken cisterns" (ch.2)...that when we do that, we will experience patience, but also, ultimately, destruction... there are voices like this. they cry to us today.
And how do we respond to the Voice?
Don't we see what Jeremiah is talking about?
Remember how James tells us to change our laughter to mourning? It's about our obedience to what we know. What we know far outweighs our obedience, as a national church... heck, even as a city church.
There is so much torepent over, why would we resist calling a spade a spade and just crying out in mourning over it.
but in Jeremiah's day, they were averse to bad news. They didn't want to hear it, even with an army encamped around them. They were unwilling to ADMIT that they had departed from Yahweh.
I'd imagine it was at least partly because they didn't see how they could FIX it. True. We can't fix it. We have no hope of making up for what we've taken. There's no fixing what we have ruined. To admit the truth of apostasy is to mourn without hope of fixing it, begging God to forgive and restore... it is UTTER HUMILITY, offering nothing else.
Jeremiah is calling us all to a life of utter humility: recognising that the WOUND is DEEP! Yet we still hear, all around us, the superficial healing of the false teachers and scribes of Jeremiah's day, "Peace, peace" they cry.
just because it brings a certain misery doesn't mean that a true assessment is wrong. it's not wrong to admit that we're ruined. it's not wrong to admit that we're undone. it's not wrong to admit that the american church has sold out, by and large, to materialism, traditionalism, classism, racism, -ism schism... it's not wrong to admit that we're all really worldly, too.
...as long as it produces in us a humble mournfulness that will call back the rains... the rains of blessing, eh? god opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble...
but there is a strong religious market infalse comfort, lately. as soon as the conviction of teh Spirit sets in, andyou start to feel that mournfulness come upon you, here comes the professional religious man to chase it away with comforting words that massage the status quo back into you... soften up that senisitivity and put you back to sleep...
woe to the false religion of comfort that has made the church in america pro-war, without being missional in peacemaking. Woe to the false religion of comfort that allows divorce without discipline... that winks at adultery...
woe to the false religion of comfort that dares denounce abortion, but keeps its extra posessions to itself and its extra rooms empty of orphans...
woe to the false religion of comfort that amasses huge quantities of wealth under this world's banks, but is poor toward God.
woe to the false religion of comfort that gives little, out of its abundance, leaving the workers in the field hungry and bereft of succour...
woe to us! we are the church in america. children in china have prayed for us today--FROM PRISON!!!! And we have not visited them..
Woe to us! we are the church in america. we criticise the prophets, and assassinate the character of our true teachers... we work our mules and oxen to death in the sun, with plenty more to replace them with, never giving them food, or a break, just working them till they die, then harnessing another with promises and cajoling...
woe to us! What's wrong with woe? too much of a downer for you? Steer clear of the prophets when you live in an affluent nation full of religious hypocrisy. What can i tell you?
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Jeremiah Chapter Five
WEEK FIVE:
This is the day I created this blog.
Gary and Joann are at the table.
They ask, "So, have we dwindled to this? Just us?" I respond, "We have 52 weeks of this. We'll know who came, then."
I love getting up to study together in the word. I don't prepare anything but my life withChrist. Sometimes i'm especially ready. Sometimes someone else is. But the Word himself teaches us, every time.
Our study in Jeremiah is echoing in my week. I feel a burden for my nation and my heart is changing, grieving more deeply... That seems wrong, maybe, but it's in James...
Today's notes:
Ch. 5
Look for a godly person—I’d spare the nation on their account…
v.7 are kids a barometer? Or is he angry on their behalf?
We also referenced how they look to other nations
how they are like whores
like adulterous wives
their leaders are corrupt
and nobody pleads the cause of thepoor and the fatherless...
pleading for the fatherless? What a word to the 'hood...
This is the day I created this blog.
Gary and Joann are at the table.
They ask, "So, have we dwindled to this? Just us?" I respond, "We have 52 weeks of this. We'll know who came, then."
I love getting up to study together in the word. I don't prepare anything but my life withChrist. Sometimes i'm especially ready. Sometimes someone else is. But the Word himself teaches us, every time.
Our study in Jeremiah is echoing in my week. I feel a burden for my nation and my heart is changing, grieving more deeply... That seems wrong, maybe, but it's in James...
Today's notes:
Ch. 5
Look for a godly person—I’d spare the nation on their account…
v.7 are kids a barometer? Or is he angry on their behalf?
We also referenced how they look to other nations
how they are like whores
like adulterous wives
their leaders are corrupt
and nobody pleads the cause of thepoor and the fatherless...
pleading for the fatherless? What a word to the 'hood...
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Friday, December 02, 2005
Jeremiah Chapter Two
Ch. 2
The devotion of your youth
• Addressed to the people of Jerusalem: Everyone
• God confronts their abandonment
• Context of marriage
v. 13
20-25 adulterous woman who has left her husband
Idolatry
Making covenant for national security.
The devotion of your youth
• Addressed to the people of Jerusalem: Everyone
• God confronts their abandonment
• Context of marriage
v. 13
20-25 adulterous woman who has left her husband
Idolatry
Making covenant for national security.
Jeremiah Chapter One
Ch. 1
The Call
• Youth
• Priest class
o Priest/prophets
• Community—Anathoth
o They’ll try to kill
Reassurance
Almond Tree
Pot
The Call
• Youth
• Priest class
o Priest/prophets
• Community—Anathoth
o They’ll try to kill
Reassurance
Almond Tree
Pot
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