... wine with a merry heart ...” the Teacher of Ecclesiastes says (9:7a). Where does he get such courage? Both he and the author of Lamentations as well as all our assigned Bible lessons point us to a merciful, loving God as the source of such (rebellious) strength. We can eat with enjoyment and drink wine with a merry heart, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes says, because “God has long ago approved of what you do” (9:7). In Lamentations it is sung that: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies ...
... his mind. A son of the vineyard owner, Jesus tells us. You and I could imagine him to be a teen-age son, feeling a bit rebellious and having reached his limit taking orders from "the old man." After all he probably had his own plans for his day. Now his father messes ... did what his father wanted him to do. It's obvious now that this is an allegory. The father is God. Of course, the son's rebellious answer to his father is surely not given as a model of the way we are to be before God - or is it? No, it's ...
... to use that word Abba for God. Ponder, then what this word says about David’s greater Son, Jesus, when you realize that Jesus called God Abba and taught his followers to do the same (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Christ told a story about a rebellious son who was like Absalom. In that Parable of the Prodigal Son, he sketched a portrait of another son who misused his freedom, rebelled against his father’s ways, left home, and spent his substance in riotous living in the far country. When that son came to ...
... two decisive events occur: 1) a "rebellion" and 2) "the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction" (v.3). Note that in verse 9 Paul differentiates this "lawless one" from Satan. They are not one and the same. But like the rebellious ones, this supremely lawless one will be actively working against God's law and grace. Paul's text also clearly defines this lawless one as an individual - not some amorphous, anti-Christian force or sentiment that will permeate our world. The personal nature ...
... bit of what heaven’s going to be like. The theme of this Sunday’s historic name, Jubilate (meaning rejoice) is right on target. Rejoice, people! Rejoice! Even if the world says life and our activities praising and serving God don’t matter, we (rebelliously) know better. For we know that hints of heaven are here on earth! That’s a good reason to rejoice. [1] Plato, Parmenides, 129ff. [2] Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging: A Doctor’s Prescription for Well-Being (New York: Random House, 2008). [3 ...
... level, we need to understand that the cross has always been God's way of dealing with sinful people. Marc Connolly's famous play, Green Pastures,2 pictures God as having created a good earth. God has left men and women to care for the earth, but rebellious human beings have turned the earthly paradise into chaos. God is angry -- angry enough to punish the inhabitants of the earth and bring them to their senses. But no one on earth is willing to listen to God, so God appears ready to chuck the whole business ...
... happened upon Absalom. They were unsure what to do since they had heard the king's command, so they waited for Joab. As the wise military advisor to the king, Joab would know what to do. Now was their chance to rid the kingdom forever of its rebellious, traitorous prince. The only thing was David warned Joab to "deal gently" with his son. Joab, acting out of complete loyalty for David and the kingdom, gave the order for Absalom to be killed. Joab felt he was acting in the best interest of the kingdom. He ...
... ' to take out the garbage like your mother askt 'cha or what?" And the son, watching MTV, shouts back, "Hey! get off my back! I'm busy, okay?" If that scene is familiar you may want to write down the reference for this passage: If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the ...
... story of a runaway boy. For each and every one of us, it is the story of our lives as well! Runaway or rebellious -- who cannot remember a time when one was at odds with parents, distanced from God or just "away from home" where one knew ... Jesus, this story is a picture of God. A God who loves us enough to let go. The parable is the story of the playboy, the rebellious young man who goes to his father and demands his inheritance, only to squander it away. And when he returns, the father welcomes him home. In ...
... than tears. Once he said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." "Obedience" is not a popular word in our day. The tenor of current society is opposition to authority. Many think in terms of rebellion with violence. The theme is "Burn, Burn" or "Kill, Kill." This rebellious attitude applies to Jesus' commands to love God and neighbor, to be good to all men, and to go and sin no more. Rather, we wish to make our own rules on how to live, and we do what we think is right. Our slogan is, "This is my ...
... which sets the standard for all Christian living and prayer. We are, therefore, to wage a truceless war against every thing which corrupts the soul, and ruins the body and mind, and kills the liberty of man. We are to carry on this war by creative and rebellious faith, rebellious not against the Supreme will, but against the intruding and transient evils of human life. But if by our own failure of faith, of love, and of hope, or by the vicarious law, we fall in the battle, we are to carry that battle as far ...
... one of the lessons was read this morning, was with a society of people who had drifted into a condition of moral and religious chaos. On the one hand, they were pretending to worship both Baal and the Lord. On the other hand, they were in reality a rebellious, defiled, and oppressive people who listened to no voice and accepted no correction from any source. What Zephaniah saw as essential for them to do was to get their act together by learning to "call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord ...
... -social rebel of sorts, although the term “rebel” perhaps gives him too much credit. The only cause that he was fighting for was himself. He was simply a criminal of the streets. No one, Jew or Roman, was sorry to see him go. Even in his death he is rebellious. He joins the enemies of Jesus at the foot of the cross in mocking the savior. He scolds him with abusive language. He shouts to him: ‘If you are the Christ then save yourself, and save us.” He did not turn to Jesus for mercy. He went to his ...
... -social rebel of sorts, although the term “rebel” perhaps gives him too much credit. The only cause that he was fighting for was himself. He was simply a criminal of the streets. No one, Jew or Roman, was sorry to see him go. Even in his death he is rebellious. He joins the enemies of Jesus at the foot of the cross in mocking the savior. He scolds him with abusive language. He shouts to him: ‘If you are the Christ then save yourself, and save us.” He did not turn to Jesus for mercy. He went to his ...
... , for our Utopia was the home we fought to leave." Imagine the joy and pride those parents felt when they read this message. "The rebels failed, for our Utopia was the home we fought to leave." We can imagine the struggles that took place between the rebellious children, eager to get out of the house and start making their own rules, and the anxious parents who kept a close eye on them. And now that the children are adults, they start to appreciate the rules and boundaries their parents placed on them. And ...
... doesn't point a finger at us. Christ hugs us. In fact, Christ for Paul is God's hug. Have you been hugged? Have you let God hug you? Some of you are like a rebellious child, who flails away with all your might, struggling to break free of God's bear hug-arms named Jesus. But all the while, I bet you're like every rebellious child hoping that the arms never let go, that they're strong enough to resist your resistance (with thanks to Peter Balaban for this image of the child). And God proved the strength of ...
... an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul." (Prov. 22:24-25) We become like the people we spend time with. If we spend time with angry and rebellious people, we will inevitably become angry and rebellious. (Dad, this is a strong reason why you need to be actively involved and in charge of the types of relationships your children establish.) A wonderful story illustrates perfectly the truth that we need to convey to our kids about anger. There was ...
... rejected in coming of age, so too humankind, in our time, has felt rejected by God. God is silent. God is indifferent. God is dead. The other side of abnormal dependency is abnormal independency. This is the characteristic behavior of adolescent rebelliousness and self-assertiveness. The emerging adolescent must establish his or her identity and sense of independence over and against the father or mother. Adolescents at this stage frequently avoid their parents, will not go to the cottage or boat with them ...
... bring this closer to home now and be more specific with three thoughts. (1) FIRST OF ALL, LOVE MEANS BEING ABLE TO SAY “I’M SORRY” TO GOD. One of the most famous composers had a rebellious son who used to come in late at night after his mother and father had gone to bed. And before going to his own room, this rebellious son would go to his father’s piano and slowly, spitefully… and loudly would play a simple scale, all but the final note. He would play, “Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti…” and then he ...
... be frugal with God's grace, like the older brother in the story who thought his younger brother didn't deserve a second chance. Contemporary preacher, Fred Craddock, preached a sermon on the prodigal son but with a twist. Instead of the father honoring the younger, rebellious son, he slipped a ring on the older brother, thanked him for his faithful years of service and killed the fatted calf in honor of doing what was right. And from the back of the sanctuary, a woman yelled out, "That's the way it should ...
... I want to do, I don't do. The bad things I don't want to do, that's what I end up doing. This will is rebellious by nature, it is bound by sin. Luther taught the third article of the creed by saying, "I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in ... we are headed. Where will we spend eternity? More importantly, how will you get there? Will your salvation come from your own rebellious hands spitting apple into the face of God, chanting with the crowds, "crucify him," or from a grace-filled God who, as ...
... him a student's ear. His tongue has a sweet and gentle purpose, and he maintains the humility to listen and to learn. Then, quite suddenly, the lovely tone of the portrait is interrupted by a discordant note. "The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious," he continues. "I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting" (vv. 5-6). What a strange disconnect. For all of the sweetness ...
... to enter. He goes to the dungeon and there exchanges clothes with Darnay. Darnay goes free; Carton dies on the guillotine. I hope the lesson is obvious. There is One who has gone to the guillotine in our place. He offers us power over our rebellious spirits. He offers us pardon for our transgressions. He offers strength for our weakness. If only Judas had understood that. What got into him? He had spent nearly three years in the presence of Jesus. We should not be surprised, though. What gets into us ...
... , an enclosure defined by thick impenetrable walls of brick and mortar, which sealed it off from the rest of the world. The name Nimrod itself says a lot. Nimrod means “rebellious” or “rebel” and is related etymologically to the Babylonian god Marduk, a pagan religion antithetical to the monotheistic worship of YHWH. Nimrod was feeling rebellious to God when he built that unholy tower. We don’t have to read far in scripture to know that Babylon becomes quite a unhappy word in the history of ...
... upon the story that the “prodigal” is a misbehaved son, or a runaway, or a “bad boy,” or a miscreant, or somehow someone who has been a rebellious spirit and who has sinfully squandered away his father’s fortune on very bad things! We blame the boy. However, the word for “prodigal” does not mean “rebellious.” It means “spendthrift.” It’s the word for a big spender, a compulsive shopper, a wantonly generous wastrel, someone who has engaged in unrestrained, profuse, reckless, lavish ...