FredMcKinnon.Com

Ever read a passage in the Word and just pause .. because it doesn’t make sense?

This one stood out to me this morning:

Genesis:  18:21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.
(context:  the Lord (appearing as a man to Abraham) will go and investigate the city of Sodom to see if it’s really as bad as the “outcry” that comes to him is)

Scholars agree that this man was a Divine Manifestation of God.  He calls him “Lord”.  So, why then, did God have to go investigate Sodom in person to know whether or not their sin was as bad as He’d heard?

My ESV Study notes say:

I will go down to see. These words reveal that the decision to destroy the cities of the plain was undertaken with careful scrutiny of the evidence. This remark should not be interpreted as indicating limited knowledge on the part of God, any more than do the similar and ironic words in 11:5. All that is implied is God’s direct attention to the matter.

OK.  But it still makes me scratch my head.  Huh?  Have you ever noticed that before?  What’s your take?

34 And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
(Mark 5:45, ESV – YouVersion.Com)

I’m reading through Mark in my “Daily Reader” program right now, but I’m taking my time in this book.  It’s so easy to rush through the Bible once you’ve read through it a few times.  You assume “I’ve read that already”.  I found myself thinking that as I was reading the story of the “woman with the issue of blood” in Mark, chapter 5.

As I meditated on Jesus’ response to the woman, confessing that she was the one who had touched him, I noticed a few things:

1.  He calls her Daughter.  It’s capitalized.  Not woman, not lady, not child … but Daughter.  I think that is significant.
2.  It was her faith that brought about her healing.  Of course, the power went out of Jesus, He’s the source of healing.  But it was her faith that activated it.
3.  As he sends her on her way, he says “and be healed of your disease”.  It’s almost as if He is saying “don’t stop believing, don’t forget about it now – be constantly in faith, vigorous, and continue to walk in this healing”.  Like that as she goes, she should keep that healed condition.  Maybe if the symptoms could return, maybe she would fight wars in her mind about it coming back … and that’s why He told her “go AND BE HEALED” (but she was already healed).

Do you ever ask yourselves these kinds of questions as you study God’ Word?

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
(Matthew 28: 19-20, ESV – YouVersion.Com)

These are some of the final words Jesus had with His disciples.  It’s the last two verses of the book of Matthew.  What were His last words?  What was his final wish?

He told us to “go”.  Make disciples of ALL nations.

As I meditate on those words this morning I’m deeply convicted.  I am a full-time, professional “Christian”.  I work for the “church”.  Yet, when I evaluate how I spend my time and energy, very little of it is “going” to make disciples.

I dunno – maybe that’s not true.  I spend hours upon hours every week in prayer, reading, study, and conversations … coming up with ways to make our worship services at SSCC a place where the Believer can be edified, while creating a space where the Seeker can come to know Jesus.  We strive to create a space where the lost can be found, and where the found can be discipled into a greater understanding of God’s plan for their lives.

But that’s all part of the job, right?  How about those of us who don’t work for the church.  The real heroes – the Christians out there in the workplace, doing the jobs, rubbing elbows with those “in the world” all day.

One thing is for sure … this culture we live in has us all “going”.  But how can we add the “and make disciples” to our “going”?

Would love your thoughts!
Fred

Hey Everybody – Happy Monday …

I’d like your feedback … after all, if you’re reading this – YOU are the people who actually come to my blog, or read via RSS.

From time to time, I write little “snippets” or short insights called “From the Word” – they are basically reflections from my time studying the Bible.  I want to be more active in doing that.  Just yesterday, our Pastor talked about God’s Word, and really encouraged us on how to study, journaling, taking notes, etc.

As a result, I’d like to take my Bible Study time and my passion for blogging, and put them together.

Example:

Today, I was reading Matthew 4, and in both verses 20 and 22, the word “immediately” jumped out at me.  Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John … and when he asked them to come follow him, it says “immediately, they left …”

That’s the type of thing I’d post – just my “reflections” from my own personal time in the Word.

Here’s the question … this would likely increase my blog posting count to more than one post per day.  Would that be OK?
Would you prefer to see these “From the Word” blog entries right here on FredMcKinnon.Com, mixed in with all the other stuff (I already have a category setup for it that I’ve used in the past), or would it make more sense to have a totally separate blog, just for that?

I’m leaning a certain way … but want your feedback.

So let’s hear it.

Hey Everybody -

I just finished leading an hour of worship and prayer here at SSCC.  We do this every Wednesday at noon.  For obvious reasons we spent a lot of our time worshiping and praying about our economy and the current financial situation.

About half way into the meeting a lady came to the mic and begin praying some of the Psalms.  It’s electrifying to hear God’s Word being prayed back to Him.

After she finished I felt led to just encourage everyone that if they had a Scripture on their mind to stand up and read it out loud.  I repeated a couple of verses, my own paraphrase of them at least, and opened things up.

For the next while we had person after person speaking out and declaring God’s Word.  It was awesome.  At one point I found myself chuckling, thinking to myself “how could we ever be worried”?

My point – hearing God’s Word stirred my faith, my confidence, and made me ever-more aware of how incredible our God is.  It enhanced our time of worship in a big way.

So many times we think of “worship” as singing songs.  But the reading and celebrating of God’s Word is a beautiful act of worship.

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

With all that’s going on in our world these days – I’d like to hear from you.  What Scripture(s) are jumping around in your spirit today?

Fred