Allen Balta is a member of a group called Mensa. Mensa is an international group that according to it’s website:
.Mensa "provides a forum for intellectual exchange among members. Its activities include the exchange of ideas by lectures, discussions, journals, special-interest groups, and local, regional, national, and international gatherings; the investigations of members' opinions and attitudes; and assistance to researchers, inside and outside Mensa, in projects dealing with intelligence or Mensa." [Mensa Constitution]
To put it in terms I can understand, it’s an organization for smart people to get together with other smart people and be smart together. Sounds like a hoot don’t it. (improper contraction intended)
To get into Mensa you need an IQ of 130 or higher. This isn’t just your average bunch of star trek convention going folks. These are astrophysicist kinds of people whose idea of a good time is to sit around discussing the effects of thermo nuclear radiation on the body of a bird.
They don’t necessarily pontificate on unanswerable questions like “Can God make a rock so big He can’t lift it?” They attack answerable questions like:: If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it now? And: There are 1200 elephants in a herd. Some have pink and green stripes, some are all pink and some are all blue. One third are pure pink. Is it true that 400 elephants are definitely blue?
With this in mind, it’s curious that one of Allen’s aspirations was to beat the Guinness World Record for the most hugs in one hour. He decided to do this at a recent gathering of Mensa at the Rocky Mountain High Q Convention. I can only assume that pun was intended and found to be hysterical and witty by the members of Mensa.
Armed with the information that the record was 765 hugs in one hour, Allen (of course) did the math and figured out that with 3600 seconds in an hour that he would need only one hug every 4 seconds to soar over the top of this record with over 900 hugs. He and his fellow high IQers hugged the hour away and, as predicted, he easily beat 765 hugs.
Unfortunately for Allen and his “hugathon” he didn’t make the record because of what might be called with a sense of understatement, an oversight. Perhaps he was just blinded by unbridled enthusiasm for getting that many hugs from others that would include High IQ chicks. I’m not entirely sure if it’s possible to feel stupid when you have an IQ of 150, but I suggest Allen might.
For you see, upon submitting his record to Guinness he was informed that the record for the most hugs in an hour was not 765 and Allen had in fact missed the record by some 300 hugs. Allen who has an IQ on par with people like Einstein completely blew it by basing his goal on erroneous information.
I hate it when I miss the easy stuff. I have a tendency in my daily world to mess up on the easy stuff. The fundamentals.
I think that’s why I relate to Israel so much. They blew it over and over again on the easy stuff. Chapter 17 is no exception. Just a few weeks earlier they’re watching God part actual sea water into walls on either side so they could walk on dry ground and now they’re freaking out because they’re thirsty.
Chapter 17 also introduces us to a pesky little enemy called Amalek. The Amalekites are sworn enemies of Israel who according to Deut 25 would kill the feeble and the weak who would fall behind on the Journey. Kind of like the hyena’s of ancient times.
OK so important news for Monday night. In the spirit of solidarity with the economic down turn we’re doing to have a special Hamburger Helper Monday. Seriously. It’s the cheapest gourmet dinner. It’s bursting with those carbs that you love and that excellent “flavors” that we have come to know and love in America.
If you can bring a pound of beefy magic, please email me at dtyler@platformmanagement.com If you can’t bring anything, do not hesitate to come anyway. We’ll make sure there is plenty for everyone.
We’ll start at 7:30 as usual, but if you’re bringing food, try to bring that a few minutes early. No Kitchen access to try to bring it in a crock pot, or slow cooker, or electric frying pan.
I know it’s last minute, but hey, It’s hamburger helper. How easy and last minute is that.
Blessings,
dArren
Wanna do lunch this week? Me too. Let's buy lunch for a kid in Haiti. $15 feeds a child for a month. You can "do lunch" a few times. You can donate online at www.conduitmission.org
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Conduit March 15- Breastplate Of Love
We took a little detour last week in Exodus. Just a short one there’s no arguing it was scenic. I thought it might be worth giving a synopsis of it here in writing with limited commercial interruption.
In Daniel 9 it’s recorded that “seventy weeks” were decreed for the people of Israel to.. well I suppose I can sum it up Eugene Peterson style by saying that he gave them 70 weeks to get their crap together.
The term week in the Hebrew is a word called “shabuwa”. It was a unit of 7 and thus the reason the NIV (nearly inspired version) calls it “seventy sevens”. In much the same way that we use the term decade to describe a 10 year period, the Hebrew uses this term to describe a 7 year period. (In Genesis 29 Laban said to Jacob that you can have my daughter if you fulfill her week, which was 7 years)
So God decreed 70 periods of 7 years for Israel. Math students feel free to chime in. That’s 490 years. In verse 25 Daniel says the clock is to start ticking at the moment of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Then Daniel says there will be:
7 seven year periods and 62 seven year periods when the anointed one comes. That comes to a grand total of, 69 seven year periods. (one is missing. It’s a seven year period that hasn’t come to pass. It’s known among other things as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” or as we most commonly hear it called, the great tribulation)
Have I lost you yet? I hope not, because this comes together quite beautifully.
On March 14, 445 BC Artaxerxes Longimanus issues a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Exactly what Daniel said would happen. It took 49 years to rebuild the city (7 seven year periods) and from that moment on began a period of 62 seven year periods.
Humor me on this. The Jewish and Babylonian calendar had 360 days in it (unlike our 365 and 1/4).
69 years times 360 days equals? 173,880.
The decree of to rebuild Jerusalem given on March 14, 445BC.
173,880 days later to the day is April 6, 32AD. Why is that germane?
The exact day that Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It’s recorded in Luke 19:41-42 He wept over the city and said if you only knew, if you only understood that on this day. This EXACT day anointed one would come. It would be just about a week later that the exact same group of folks who were singing Hosanna would instead be saying crucify Him.
No wonder Jesus wept. They were the very ones that should’ve understood but didn’t. They didn’t understand the times they were living in.
In 1 Chronicles 16:32 in the middle of a sort of roll call of the tribes, the men of Issachar are introduced as men who “understood the times they lived in and knew what Israel should do”. There were only 200 of them; just a handful. But they knew what they should do and the rest of their family of Issachar were under their command.
What meanest these things?
Jesus was clear that we wouldn’t know the day or the hour of His return but He did say we’d know the season. We’d know the times. He said that there would be signs; the seasons would change. When the seasons change. It feels different. It’s very distinct.
Paul told the people at Thessalonica that we wouldn’t know the date and time, but he said that if you’re not in darkness, that this day shouldn’t surprise you like a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5) And then he spells out what we should do. Paul spells out exactly how we should live. He said we should be alert and awake, self controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate.
Love as a breastplate? Paul called it the breastplate of righteousness in Ephesians but he adds love here when talking about the return of Jesus.
Jesus ends His teaching on knowing the times with the judgment that is to come. In Matthew 25 He specifically spells out that what He is going to be keenly interested in on that day. He said that He is going to ask us about when we fed, clothed, took care of “the least of these brothers of mine”. It’s my guess that He’ll have more to talk about on that day, but that’s the only thing He takes the time to warn us about.
A breastplate covers your heart for protection in battle. Taking care of the least of these brothers of Jesus, an act of love that serves as a protection of your own heart.
If we are to be like the men of Issachar we can’t only know the times that we live in, we must also know what we are to do. I’m sure the list could get more exhaustive, but if you’re looking for a place to start, might I suggest start with where Jesus ends; with the least of these brothers of His.
I really pray that as Conduit, as students of the Word that we could be like the men of Issachar. There aren’t very many of us, but that we can understand the times that we live in and that we know what the Church (our family) should do.
As we cover Exodus 16 this week, notice that it is in God’s character to feed and clothe his people. It was so much His will that he chose to let it rain quail (desert chickens) and that every morning there was what the people of Israel called Manna (interesting that God didn’t call it that) It was the equivalent of Israeli cinnamon rolls popping up out of the ground.
It’s God’s will to take care of His children. As I type this there are millions of His children who are hungry and naked around the world. If we are His Body (and we are) then it is the job of the body to carry out the ideas and will of the head. He has not chosen to make it rain chickens are grow cinnamon rolls from the ground. He has chosen you and He has chosen me to administer His will in those areas.
If we truly understand the times that we lived in, we would know that is exactly what we should do.
Monday night at 7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 in the Factory as well as live on the web at www.mogulus.com/conduit
Hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Darren Tyler
If you’re motivated at all to put on the breastplate of righteousness and love, but don’t know what to do here are a couple of ideas.
1. Give: it’s easy, immediate, biblical. You only have to give what you’re able (2 cor 9) so it’s not like you have to wait till you get rich. If you’re able to give $1 then that’s the place to start. There are many great places to invest, and Conduit is one of them. We give 96.5% of all the money that comes in straight into the front lines of feeding, clothing and serving the poor. $15 feeds a child in Haiti for a month. www.conduimission.org and click on the donate now button
2. Go: We are sending a team from Conduit to Haiti in June. Is God speaking to you? Email me and I’ll put you in touch with Bucky and Kimmie who are leading the trip.
3. Pray: Pray for creative ideas of where to start. Maybe it’s just as simple as a lemonade stand in your apartment complex or doing a garage sale, etc. The Holy Spirit WILL lead you. You’re asking Him to do what is already His will. That’s pretty much a no brainer.
4. Don’t Do Nothing: If you’re doing nothing, I’m fairly positive that’s not the right answer. ☺ God has called you and I. He has invited us to follow Him. If we’re following Him, it denotes that He is on the way somewhere. Let’s go!
CHECK OUT THE PODCAST: www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
DONATE ONLINE www.conduitmission.org
Or Mail Checks Payable to :
Conduit
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
In Daniel 9 it’s recorded that “seventy weeks” were decreed for the people of Israel to.. well I suppose I can sum it up Eugene Peterson style by saying that he gave them 70 weeks to get their crap together.
The term week in the Hebrew is a word called “shabuwa”. It was a unit of 7 and thus the reason the NIV (nearly inspired version) calls it “seventy sevens”. In much the same way that we use the term decade to describe a 10 year period, the Hebrew uses this term to describe a 7 year period. (In Genesis 29 Laban said to Jacob that you can have my daughter if you fulfill her week, which was 7 years)
So God decreed 70 periods of 7 years for Israel. Math students feel free to chime in. That’s 490 years. In verse 25 Daniel says the clock is to start ticking at the moment of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Then Daniel says there will be:
7 seven year periods and 62 seven year periods when the anointed one comes. That comes to a grand total of, 69 seven year periods. (one is missing. It’s a seven year period that hasn’t come to pass. It’s known among other things as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” or as we most commonly hear it called, the great tribulation)
Have I lost you yet? I hope not, because this comes together quite beautifully.
On March 14, 445 BC Artaxerxes Longimanus issues a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Exactly what Daniel said would happen. It took 49 years to rebuild the city (7 seven year periods) and from that moment on began a period of 62 seven year periods.
Humor me on this. The Jewish and Babylonian calendar had 360 days in it (unlike our 365 and 1/4).
69 years times 360 days equals? 173,880.
The decree of to rebuild Jerusalem given on March 14, 445BC.
173,880 days later to the day is April 6, 32AD. Why is that germane?
The exact day that Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It’s recorded in Luke 19:41-42 He wept over the city and said if you only knew, if you only understood that on this day. This EXACT day anointed one would come. It would be just about a week later that the exact same group of folks who were singing Hosanna would instead be saying crucify Him.
No wonder Jesus wept. They were the very ones that should’ve understood but didn’t. They didn’t understand the times they were living in.
In 1 Chronicles 16:32 in the middle of a sort of roll call of the tribes, the men of Issachar are introduced as men who “understood the times they lived in and knew what Israel should do”. There were only 200 of them; just a handful. But they knew what they should do and the rest of their family of Issachar were under their command.
What meanest these things?
Jesus was clear that we wouldn’t know the day or the hour of His return but He did say we’d know the season. We’d know the times. He said that there would be signs; the seasons would change. When the seasons change. It feels different. It’s very distinct.
Paul told the people at Thessalonica that we wouldn’t know the date and time, but he said that if you’re not in darkness, that this day shouldn’t surprise you like a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5) And then he spells out what we should do. Paul spells out exactly how we should live. He said we should be alert and awake, self controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate.
Love as a breastplate? Paul called it the breastplate of righteousness in Ephesians but he adds love here when talking about the return of Jesus.
Jesus ends His teaching on knowing the times with the judgment that is to come. In Matthew 25 He specifically spells out that what He is going to be keenly interested in on that day. He said that He is going to ask us about when we fed, clothed, took care of “the least of these brothers of mine”. It’s my guess that He’ll have more to talk about on that day, but that’s the only thing He takes the time to warn us about.
A breastplate covers your heart for protection in battle. Taking care of the least of these brothers of Jesus, an act of love that serves as a protection of your own heart.
If we are to be like the men of Issachar we can’t only know the times that we live in, we must also know what we are to do. I’m sure the list could get more exhaustive, but if you’re looking for a place to start, might I suggest start with where Jesus ends; with the least of these brothers of His.
I really pray that as Conduit, as students of the Word that we could be like the men of Issachar. There aren’t very many of us, but that we can understand the times that we live in and that we know what the Church (our family) should do.
As we cover Exodus 16 this week, notice that it is in God’s character to feed and clothe his people. It was so much His will that he chose to let it rain quail (desert chickens) and that every morning there was what the people of Israel called Manna (interesting that God didn’t call it that) It was the equivalent of Israeli cinnamon rolls popping up out of the ground.
It’s God’s will to take care of His children. As I type this there are millions of His children who are hungry and naked around the world. If we are His Body (and we are) then it is the job of the body to carry out the ideas and will of the head. He has not chosen to make it rain chickens are grow cinnamon rolls from the ground. He has chosen you and He has chosen me to administer His will in those areas.
If we truly understand the times that we lived in, we would know that is exactly what we should do.
Monday night at 7:30pm at Journey Church in Building 8 in the Factory as well as live on the web at www.mogulus.com/conduit
Hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Darren Tyler
If you’re motivated at all to put on the breastplate of righteousness and love, but don’t know what to do here are a couple of ideas.
1. Give: it’s easy, immediate, biblical. You only have to give what you’re able (2 cor 9) so it’s not like you have to wait till you get rich. If you’re able to give $1 then that’s the place to start. There are many great places to invest, and Conduit is one of them. We give 96.5% of all the money that comes in straight into the front lines of feeding, clothing and serving the poor. $15 feeds a child in Haiti for a month. www.conduimission.org and click on the donate now button
2. Go: We are sending a team from Conduit to Haiti in June. Is God speaking to you? Email me and I’ll put you in touch with Bucky and Kimmie who are leading the trip.
3. Pray: Pray for creative ideas of where to start. Maybe it’s just as simple as a lemonade stand in your apartment complex or doing a garage sale, etc. The Holy Spirit WILL lead you. You’re asking Him to do what is already His will. That’s pretty much a no brainer.
4. Don’t Do Nothing: If you’re doing nothing, I’m fairly positive that’s not the right answer. ☺ God has called you and I. He has invited us to follow Him. If we’re following Him, it denotes that He is on the way somewhere. Let’s go!
CHECK OUT THE PODCAST: www.darrentyler.podomatic.com
DONATE ONLINE www.conduitmission.org
Or Mail Checks Payable to :
Conduit
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Conduit March 8- Bittnerness
One of the pictures that Exodus paints so brilliantly for us is that, just like us, Israel was on a Journey. God led Israel from place to place with different stops along the way, all on a journey to the land he had promised them.
Stop number 4 on their journey is recorded in Exodus 15. God led 3 Million Israelites 3 days through the relentless heat of the desert. On the third day they came across the springs at Marah. It must have looked like a bunch of tweens rushing to a Jonas Brothers sighting as the people moved towards this water. Expecting to find refreshment and relief they instead found the water to be bitter!
It’s an exercise in understatement to say that they were disappointed. They were angry and probably felt betrayed by Moses and God. You can imagine what they must have done. Actually you don’t have to imagine it, you can read for yourself. It says they “grumbled”. I think that’s Bible speak for they cussed Moses out.
Why would God do this? After such an excruciating period, why lead them to a place that looked like deliverance, only to find that it was anything but. It looked like they were going to be refreshed and revived and what they found was bitter.
I’ve definitely had that in my life. I’ve had business ventures that I thought were God increasing my financial situation or relationships that I felt like were the answer to all my prayers only to find them to be a Marah experience. Why is it that God does this to us on certain stops along the way in our journey?
I’m sure there are probably more, and I would love to hear your insights, but I can see a few reasons of why God would invite Israel to this place of missed expectation, to this place of bitterness and it’s helpful for me in my own life.
1. Marah acts like a spiritual X-ray. I think I’m a nice guy. In fact, I think I’m the nicest guy I know. When I go through a Marah time in my life I get to see what is really inside of me. When that job or opportunity or relationship doesn’t turn out like I expected it doesn’t MAKE me bitter, it reveals what is already inside of me. It shows me exactly what I need to be working on in my life. It gives me a real look at who I really am instead of who I think I am.
2. Marah is Gods way of reminding us that life really is full of sweetness and bitterness. Eden is the sweet place we were designed for. The world in which I live is fallen and broken. My times of Marah remind me that this world is not my home. It causes me to long for my eternal dwelling.
3. Marah has a way of squeezing out the stuff inside me. Even a cursory glance at Psalms reveals that David had no problem letting it out. It seems as if God encourages us to get it out. It’s not like He doesn’t know what I’m thinking, Marah times give me a chance to squeeze out some of that impurity. Think of it as a zit whose time has come. Marah just does the squeezing.
And so what to do when I come to a place of Marah?
Again, God paints a beautiful picture for us in Exodus. I Peter 2 and Galations 3 are two places where the cross is referred to as a tree. The tree in the Word is always a picture of the cross. Notice what God told Moses to do. He told him to take a tree that was already there, and to throw it at the water and it took away the bitterness, it made it sweet.
Jesus ended the story of the good Samaritan with the Samaritan telling the inn keeper to do whatever was necessary to take care of the victim and that He would pay for it. It’s one of a few examples including Philemon of what is called propitiation. It’s the picture of Jesus taking on himself the payment for my sins. In Matthew 6 Jesus refers to sin as a debt. It’s a bill that I cannot afford, it’s payable in a currency I do not have. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus cashed the check.
When I encounter a situation where someone has wronged me, has sinned against me, has let me down, I have the opportunity to carry that bitterness with me. When I consider what Jesus did though which was not only paying the price for my sin, but also the price for the sins committed against me, it reminds me that Jesus took care of it already. Fear tells me that I have to own it, to take care of it, Faith says to trust that God worked it out. I throw “the tree” at the bitterness. I let it make it sweet again.
I’m not making light, and know that there are things that can happen that have legitimately bring hurt and bring pain. Those are debts that demand to be paid. We can punish someone, and if the wrong rises to a certain level often times society punishes with something like prison. But we can’t make them repay. The tooth pastes it out of the tube, and we can’t put it back. This is a problem beyond my means, and requires a solution that only God can bring.
Harboring and holding on to the bitterness brings one more weight for us to carry. It’s a burden that weighs me down on the journey. If it seems like it’s something you can’t let go of, something that is too big, I’ve got comforting news, we don’t’ have to do it on our own. The Lord will do it through us. He knows what bitterness can do to us, and gives us a way of escape. Oftentimes it’s not an overnight experience, but Elim is not far away.
What is Elim? The next stop on the journey for Israel. It was a perfectly divine desert oasis with shade trees to bring coolness and water to bring refreshment. It was what Marah only appeared to be.
We’ll talk about that this week at Conduit. You’ve probably had one of those Elim experiences after church camp or going on a mission trip, or just having a great time in church. We’ve seen God take Israel on a journey of victory, of gaining ground and losing ground, of bitterness, and now of refreshment. This week it’s Elim and a the promise of refreshment in a desert place.
If you can join us live we’ll meet at Journey Church in Building 8 at the Factory at 7:30pm. We’ll also be live on the web at www.mogulus.com/conduit
Hope you can join us.
Darren
www.darrentyler.com
www.conduitmission.org
Prayerfully consider being a part of what Conduit is doing. We are a pipeline for resources both spiritual and natural from a place of plenty to a place in need. The efforts of Conduit are fulfilling the commands of Jesus to feed, clothe and serve those who are in need. Just a $15 donation will feed a child in Haiti for a month. You can donate online at www.conduitmission.org or mail your donation to
Conduit
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
Remember that over 96% of the money that comes in goes right through to our partners on the front lines.
Stop number 4 on their journey is recorded in Exodus 15. God led 3 Million Israelites 3 days through the relentless heat of the desert. On the third day they came across the springs at Marah. It must have looked like a bunch of tweens rushing to a Jonas Brothers sighting as the people moved towards this water. Expecting to find refreshment and relief they instead found the water to be bitter!
It’s an exercise in understatement to say that they were disappointed. They were angry and probably felt betrayed by Moses and God. You can imagine what they must have done. Actually you don’t have to imagine it, you can read for yourself. It says they “grumbled”. I think that’s Bible speak for they cussed Moses out.
Why would God do this? After such an excruciating period, why lead them to a place that looked like deliverance, only to find that it was anything but. It looked like they were going to be refreshed and revived and what they found was bitter.
I’ve definitely had that in my life. I’ve had business ventures that I thought were God increasing my financial situation or relationships that I felt like were the answer to all my prayers only to find them to be a Marah experience. Why is it that God does this to us on certain stops along the way in our journey?
I’m sure there are probably more, and I would love to hear your insights, but I can see a few reasons of why God would invite Israel to this place of missed expectation, to this place of bitterness and it’s helpful for me in my own life.
1. Marah acts like a spiritual X-ray. I think I’m a nice guy. In fact, I think I’m the nicest guy I know. When I go through a Marah time in my life I get to see what is really inside of me. When that job or opportunity or relationship doesn’t turn out like I expected it doesn’t MAKE me bitter, it reveals what is already inside of me. It shows me exactly what I need to be working on in my life. It gives me a real look at who I really am instead of who I think I am.
2. Marah is Gods way of reminding us that life really is full of sweetness and bitterness. Eden is the sweet place we were designed for. The world in which I live is fallen and broken. My times of Marah remind me that this world is not my home. It causes me to long for my eternal dwelling.
3. Marah has a way of squeezing out the stuff inside me. Even a cursory glance at Psalms reveals that David had no problem letting it out. It seems as if God encourages us to get it out. It’s not like He doesn’t know what I’m thinking, Marah times give me a chance to squeeze out some of that impurity. Think of it as a zit whose time has come. Marah just does the squeezing.
And so what to do when I come to a place of Marah?
Again, God paints a beautiful picture for us in Exodus. I Peter 2 and Galations 3 are two places where the cross is referred to as a tree. The tree in the Word is always a picture of the cross. Notice what God told Moses to do. He told him to take a tree that was already there, and to throw it at the water and it took away the bitterness, it made it sweet.
Jesus ended the story of the good Samaritan with the Samaritan telling the inn keeper to do whatever was necessary to take care of the victim and that He would pay for it. It’s one of a few examples including Philemon of what is called propitiation. It’s the picture of Jesus taking on himself the payment for my sins. In Matthew 6 Jesus refers to sin as a debt. It’s a bill that I cannot afford, it’s payable in a currency I do not have. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus cashed the check.
When I encounter a situation where someone has wronged me, has sinned against me, has let me down, I have the opportunity to carry that bitterness with me. When I consider what Jesus did though which was not only paying the price for my sin, but also the price for the sins committed against me, it reminds me that Jesus took care of it already. Fear tells me that I have to own it, to take care of it, Faith says to trust that God worked it out. I throw “the tree” at the bitterness. I let it make it sweet again.
I’m not making light, and know that there are things that can happen that have legitimately bring hurt and bring pain. Those are debts that demand to be paid. We can punish someone, and if the wrong rises to a certain level often times society punishes with something like prison. But we can’t make them repay. The tooth pastes it out of the tube, and we can’t put it back. This is a problem beyond my means, and requires a solution that only God can bring.
Harboring and holding on to the bitterness brings one more weight for us to carry. It’s a burden that weighs me down on the journey. If it seems like it’s something you can’t let go of, something that is too big, I’ve got comforting news, we don’t’ have to do it on our own. The Lord will do it through us. He knows what bitterness can do to us, and gives us a way of escape. Oftentimes it’s not an overnight experience, but Elim is not far away.
What is Elim? The next stop on the journey for Israel. It was a perfectly divine desert oasis with shade trees to bring coolness and water to bring refreshment. It was what Marah only appeared to be.
We’ll talk about that this week at Conduit. You’ve probably had one of those Elim experiences after church camp or going on a mission trip, or just having a great time in church. We’ve seen God take Israel on a journey of victory, of gaining ground and losing ground, of bitterness, and now of refreshment. This week it’s Elim and a the promise of refreshment in a desert place.
If you can join us live we’ll meet at Journey Church in Building 8 at the Factory at 7:30pm. We’ll also be live on the web at www.mogulus.com/conduit
Hope you can join us.
Darren
www.darrentyler.com
www.conduitmission.org
Prayerfully consider being a part of what Conduit is doing. We are a pipeline for resources both spiritual and natural from a place of plenty to a place in need. The efforts of Conduit are fulfilling the commands of Jesus to feed, clothe and serve those who are in need. Just a $15 donation will feed a child in Haiti for a month. You can donate online at www.conduitmission.org or mail your donation to
Conduit
256 Seaboard Lane
C-103
Franklin, TN 37067
Remember that over 96% of the money that comes in goes right through to our partners on the front lines.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Conduit Mar 2- Ex 15- Know Your Role Shut Your Hole
In Exodus 14 Israel found them selves in a situation that seemed hopeless. They had lost ground by turning back the way they had come. All the hard fought progress they had made was lost. They found themselves surrounded by insurmountable mountains on two sides, a sea on one side, and an army of angry Egyptians on the other. If they had such a thing as cable news or talk radio there is no doubt they would have been hearing from all the pundits just how monumentally screwed they were.
It’s not lost on me that we as a country find ourselves in a very similar situation. As a nation we’re sort of wedged into a position of seeming hopelessness.
On one side we’ve got a mountain of debt on our government that is into the trillions of dollars rung up by current and past Presidential Administrations. David Scwartz who wrote the book How Much Is A Million puts it in perspective in a recent interview with Time: “One million seconds comes out to be about 11 ½ days. A billion seconds is 32 years. A trillion seconds is 32,000 years.” Stack a trillion one dollar bills on top of each other and you could get a quarter of the way to the moon.
On another side we’ve got a mountain of an economic crisis. We’re taught that “history teaches us” the market will rebound. Of course, the “history” of our stock market is just over a hundred years old. What 6,000 years of history teaches us is that great civilizations rise and fall.
And meanwhile we have enemies that are plentiful and powerful. It was said after 9/11 that our failure was a failure of imagination. It never occurred to us that someone would crash full of innocent people into our buildings. What are we not imagining now? The Iranian nuclear program feels very far away until you consider that if they send a ship to the Atlantic ocean armed with a nuclear weapon, explode it 180 miles over our country and shut down everything that operates on electricity east of the Rockies.
On the other side of the sea that we are trapped up against is safety, but we can’t get there because the cost is too great, the water too deep. Just a few months ago the Bush Administration introduced the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It was a $750B infusion of cash “buying” troubled assets.
It was a giant move; the financial equivalent of shock and awe. It was like someone took the Colin Powell war doctrine of “overwhelming show of force” and applied it to the financial system. If you’re wondering whether or not it worked, consider this. Bank of America, JPMorgan, Chase and Wells Fargo have received a total of $140B of taxpayer money. The result of this is that these 4 banks have lost a combined $335B dollars in value. Bank of America alone has lost over $140B.
It’s important to note that Israel was where they were because God led them there. Not only did He lead them to the desert. Exodus 14:2 God told them to “turn back”. He led them to turn back to give up the progress they made. (This week we lost over 10 years of gains in the stock market. We have certainly turned back. We have certainly lost ground. )
He told them where to go, which is to say he told them to wedge themselves between 2 mountains trapped on one side by a sea. They were sitting ducks and God led them to that very place.
There was a leader that was bringing on trouble that was ultimately being controlled by the Lord. It says in Exodus 14:4 that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. It was God that led Israel into a situation that seemed hopeless, and it was God that led Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt to bear down on them.
The question is why would God do this? Why lead your people into this situation? The last half of verse 4 tells us: “But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."
Egypt, which is a picture of the world, worshiped many gods but not the one true God. In His mercy God was setting up a show down that would leave indisputable proof that He was THE Lord.
We have prayed for revival in our nation, and in our world. We have prayed that God would be known, that the whole world would see that He is the Lord. I’m no prophet and certainly do not know the future, but I wonder if that’s what God is doing globally. Perhaps He is setting a stage to answer our prayers.
We do not have to be afraid. God is in control. When I’m afraid, I tend to freeze up. I tend to get a little panicky and maybe even a little whiny and definitely a little edgy. It’s hard to blame Israel for being a little scared, but listen to what God told Israel. Exodus 14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”
He told them go get moving. It can be my tendency to sit around and whine about what’s happening in our nation. If you’ve been by my face book page you know that I have some opinions. I do pray about it, and sort of whine to the Lord about how it got so bad, and could He please fix it. I just can’t help but wonder if the Word of the Lord for me and maybe for you is to get moving. Let God do his part, do His job, and we do our part.”
And what is our part? What is our role? What did God call us to do? With over 2000 verses in the Word about the cause of the poor and the vulnerable I have a great idea where we could start. I see a myriad of commands for you and I, for the Church to be about that business.
All they had to do was keep moving and as Exodus 14:14 records “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still”. I think it’s the Biblical equivalent of the southern saying, “know your role, shut your hole”.
I don’t have to be afraid of the gathering storm around me. The bigger the crisis, the bigger the storm, the bigger the God needed to deliver, and the greater the deliverance. Our God is infinite. This situation is not out of his reach, and not out of His control.
Perhaps this is all part of the set up for the final show down, the final moment where the Bible tells us “every knee shall bow, every tongue confess”. I don’t have the benefit of hindsight on this one, so I don’t know. What I do know is I need to get moving. Conduit let’s get moving! We’ll let God figure out the rest.
I’m excited to be back for Conduit tomorrow. Teaching the Bible to a laptop in a hotel room isn’t nearly as fun as seeing you guys in person. I hope you can join us. We are going to tackle Exodus 15 and maybe even 16. I also wanted to share some pretty cool stuff that I have read in the news in the past couple of weeks that are pertinent to our study and to our times.
We're back at Journey at 7:30pm in Building 8 At The Factory. If you’re in town I hope you can make it.
Best,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com the teachings from Ex 13 and 14 are both posted
www.conduitmission.org remember that only $15 can fee a child in Haiti for a month.
It’s not lost on me that we as a country find ourselves in a very similar situation. As a nation we’re sort of wedged into a position of seeming hopelessness.
On one side we’ve got a mountain of debt on our government that is into the trillions of dollars rung up by current and past Presidential Administrations. David Scwartz who wrote the book How Much Is A Million puts it in perspective in a recent interview with Time: “One million seconds comes out to be about 11 ½ days. A billion seconds is 32 years. A trillion seconds is 32,000 years.” Stack a trillion one dollar bills on top of each other and you could get a quarter of the way to the moon.
On another side we’ve got a mountain of an economic crisis. We’re taught that “history teaches us” the market will rebound. Of course, the “history” of our stock market is just over a hundred years old. What 6,000 years of history teaches us is that great civilizations rise and fall.
And meanwhile we have enemies that are plentiful and powerful. It was said after 9/11 that our failure was a failure of imagination. It never occurred to us that someone would crash full of innocent people into our buildings. What are we not imagining now? The Iranian nuclear program feels very far away until you consider that if they send a ship to the Atlantic ocean armed with a nuclear weapon, explode it 180 miles over our country and shut down everything that operates on electricity east of the Rockies.
On the other side of the sea that we are trapped up against is safety, but we can’t get there because the cost is too great, the water too deep. Just a few months ago the Bush Administration introduced the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It was a $750B infusion of cash “buying” troubled assets.
It was a giant move; the financial equivalent of shock and awe. It was like someone took the Colin Powell war doctrine of “overwhelming show of force” and applied it to the financial system. If you’re wondering whether or not it worked, consider this. Bank of America, JPMorgan, Chase and Wells Fargo have received a total of $140B of taxpayer money. The result of this is that these 4 banks have lost a combined $335B dollars in value. Bank of America alone has lost over $140B.
It’s important to note that Israel was where they were because God led them there. Not only did He lead them to the desert. Exodus 14:2 God told them to “turn back”. He led them to turn back to give up the progress they made. (This week we lost over 10 years of gains in the stock market. We have certainly turned back. We have certainly lost ground. )
He told them where to go, which is to say he told them to wedge themselves between 2 mountains trapped on one side by a sea. They were sitting ducks and God led them to that very place.
There was a leader that was bringing on trouble that was ultimately being controlled by the Lord. It says in Exodus 14:4 that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. It was God that led Israel into a situation that seemed hopeless, and it was God that led Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt to bear down on them.
The question is why would God do this? Why lead your people into this situation? The last half of verse 4 tells us: “But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."
Egypt, which is a picture of the world, worshiped many gods but not the one true God. In His mercy God was setting up a show down that would leave indisputable proof that He was THE Lord.
We have prayed for revival in our nation, and in our world. We have prayed that God would be known, that the whole world would see that He is the Lord. I’m no prophet and certainly do not know the future, but I wonder if that’s what God is doing globally. Perhaps He is setting a stage to answer our prayers.
We do not have to be afraid. God is in control. When I’m afraid, I tend to freeze up. I tend to get a little panicky and maybe even a little whiny and definitely a little edgy. It’s hard to blame Israel for being a little scared, but listen to what God told Israel. Exodus 14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”
He told them go get moving. It can be my tendency to sit around and whine about what’s happening in our nation. If you’ve been by my face book page you know that I have some opinions. I do pray about it, and sort of whine to the Lord about how it got so bad, and could He please fix it. I just can’t help but wonder if the Word of the Lord for me and maybe for you is to get moving. Let God do his part, do His job, and we do our part.”
And what is our part? What is our role? What did God call us to do? With over 2000 verses in the Word about the cause of the poor and the vulnerable I have a great idea where we could start. I see a myriad of commands for you and I, for the Church to be about that business.
All they had to do was keep moving and as Exodus 14:14 records “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still”. I think it’s the Biblical equivalent of the southern saying, “know your role, shut your hole”.
I don’t have to be afraid of the gathering storm around me. The bigger the crisis, the bigger the storm, the bigger the God needed to deliver, and the greater the deliverance. Our God is infinite. This situation is not out of his reach, and not out of His control.
Perhaps this is all part of the set up for the final show down, the final moment where the Bible tells us “every knee shall bow, every tongue confess”. I don’t have the benefit of hindsight on this one, so I don’t know. What I do know is I need to get moving. Conduit let’s get moving! We’ll let God figure out the rest.
I’m excited to be back for Conduit tomorrow. Teaching the Bible to a laptop in a hotel room isn’t nearly as fun as seeing you guys in person. I hope you can join us. We are going to tackle Exodus 15 and maybe even 16. I also wanted to share some pretty cool stuff that I have read in the news in the past couple of weeks that are pertinent to our study and to our times.
We're back at Journey at 7:30pm in Building 8 At The Factory. If you’re in town I hope you can make it.
Best,
Darren
www.darrentyler.podomatic.com the teachings from Ex 13 and 14 are both posted
www.conduitmission.org remember that only $15 can fee a child in Haiti for a month.
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