The Pillars in God’s Temple

Here’s an interesting quote:

Wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely way, there God is hewing out the pillars for his temple.
… Phillips Brooks, “The Pillar in God’s Temple,” from The Candle of the Lord, p. 72

Saturday…

the day before Sunday, the day many Christians plan to go to church to hear God’s word preached and to worship Him from Whom comes our hope.

An excerpt from A Dangerous Grace by Charles Colson, found in The Glory of Christmas, p 128

In 1993, archaeologists digging in the Near East made a remarkable discovery about King David. They uncovered a rock fragment inscribed with an ancient text referring to “the House of David,” a phrase used for the ruling dynasty founded by King David. The rock appears to be a victory monument erected by a Syrian king nearly three thousand years after a battle described in 1 Kings.

What makes the finding so significant is that it’s the first reference to King David or his royal family found outside the pages of the Bible - providing new external evidence for the historical reliability of the Bible.

This is by no means the first time archaeology has supported the Bible. Time and time again, critics have flatly stated that some portion of the Bible could not be true. Time and time again, archaeologists chipping away with their hammers have uncovered stunning support for the biblical text. . . .

From the late nineteenth century, when archaeology first became a science, the Bible has been proved reliable on all levels - religious and historical.

The God of faith is also the God of history.

Isn’t it amazing, though, how many people had not seen yet but believed? Luther, Tyndale, Wycliffe, Calvin, The Brothers Wesley, Susanna Wesley and many, many others.

Got busy and almost forgot to post today…

Psalm 118:8

It is better to trust in the LORD

than to put confidence in a man.

 

The Man Born Blind

The pastor’s main text was John 10:1-something. I didn’t pick up a bulletin and there was an ongoing distraction behind me (Thank God for grandparents who care enough about their grandchildren to fight to get custody of them so they can grow up safe and loved, and who bring their grandchildren to church.) so I never did catch what the ending verse was, but I think it might’ve been through v. 21.

Things that caught my attention:

• The shepherd knows his sheep by name and calls them.
• He leads them, he doesn’t herd them. They know him and willingly follow.
• Did I mention that sheep know the shepherd’s voice? They will not follow a stranger.
• Jesus, the Shepherd, said that whoever does not enter the sheep pen, i.e., the body of believers, through the gate, i.e. through faith in Him, is a thief and a robber. That must go along with the, “Whoever does not gather with me scatters” passage.

You know, for sheep being so incredibly dumb, they can’t be completely stupid if they know their master and won’t follow a stranger. I was just reading about Basque sheepherders on a University of Nevada web page and one of the things they said is that sheep are a little trickier to raise than cattle because there is a delicate relationship between the man, his dog/dogs, and the sheep. Sheep are more fragile and need to be handled “just so”. Given the amount of effort a sheepherder would have to put forth to raise his sheep, it seems like it would be extremely difficult for someone else to come along and try to be him.

I’m always glad to go to church. It is rare that I don’t learn something new, or learn a different aspect of something of which I’m already familiar. I am so thankful to live in a place where I can go to church and learn about the Bible without fear of real persecution. May God be with our brothers and sisters in Christ who do not have the freedom I often take for granted.

Edited to add: Anyone who has read this post and isn’t familiar with the text referred to is probably wondering what in the world any of this has to do with the man born blind!

Well, pastor read from chapter 9, which provides the setting for chapter 10. The Man Born Blind had been healed by Jesus and then harrassed by the pharisees to whom Jesus was responding after telling TMBB that they were the ones who were blind.

Backing up a few verses, I got a kick out of the exchange between the pharisees and TMBB. He had already been before them once but they called him back to question him about Jesus:

“Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” Remember that they were actively seeking ways to find Jesus guilty of something. Anything. They had to rake him over the coals again, just in case they missed something the first time. And then my favorite part:

“He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

Having nuked them, they did not respond kindly to him:

Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

And then he says:

Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

Because they couldn’t think of an intelligent reply, they resorted to snobbery.

“You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Obviously TMBB was a man of faith. Or at least if he hadn’t been before, he certainly was then. He also seemed fairly comfortable insulting the pharisees. “Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” One wonders if spending years and years witnessing the pharisees’ burdensome hypocrisy, the yoke placed on him fell off in that moment when Jesus, the Son of God, stopped and showed love to a blind beggar.

And then, after Jesus heard that they kicked him out of their “great and glorious presence” (see Curious Hand Gestures), he found TMBB, introduced Himself, correctly called the pharisees blind, the pharisees heard and took issue with that, and that is where the sheep I talked about at first come in.

Wrapping up November

What a month! It’s been a good one but a very tough one. There have been several great opportunities to be discouraged but there have been even more opportunities to thank God for His many blessings in my life.

NaBloPoMo

What a nightmare! What a burden for someone who doesn’t like to quit a project but who regularly runs low on creativity. And yet it has been a blessing! I have been forced to consider regularly that verse that says, (Proverbs 10:19) When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise, which carries over into all areas of life. (This is not to say that sin is present in long blog posts, but simply the likelihood is greater.) I am glad for that lesson but relieved that the challenge is almost over.

Nicklebee Notes …

We still aren’t sure when we’re getting our van back. There was more damage found when the adjuster went and looked at it yesterday. He actually jacked up the estimated damages on the original estimate. Hopefully everything will get fixed that needs to be fixed. And soon. Mr. N is guessing it will be at least another week and a half to two weeks before the work is finished. At least two more weeks?

Oh well. What can ya do?