Exercising Sovereignty

What is the biggest challenge in your life?

What are you tempted to think even God can’t do? 

In the 7th Century BC, the nation of Judah knew that God had sovereign power over them. They were His people. He’d created them, called them His own, and cared for them through the centuries. He’d even warned them, sending prophets to tell them they would be judged for following after false gods. And they were judged. Even as Nahum prophesied to them, they were under subjugation to Assyria.

Yet it seemed that God’s people were not quite so sure that God was truly sovereign over all nations. Yes, God could allow or cause Assyria to judge them. But, would God judge Assyria, a foreign nation who were not His people, for their wickedness as well. Nahum pronounced it.

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.” Nahum 1:3a

We know little of Nahum himself, but we know plenty of the situation he spoke into. From biblical & extra-biblical sources we know specifics of the rise and fall of the wicked Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians who practiced despicable, defiling acts against other nations. The Assyrians who were so hated that 100 years earlier the prophet Jonah had refused to go preach there lest they repent and be spared. The Assyrians did repent, but apparently only shortly.

Nahum does not prophesy to them but about them. He preached between 663, when the Egyptian capital of Thebes fell (Nahum 3:8), and before the Assyrian capital of Nineveh fell to Babylon in 612. Using colorful language and engaging style the poet laureate of the Minor Prophets, Nahum, describes the soon-coming downfall of Nineveh. It was most powerful city in the known world at the time with unrivaled architecture and unparalleled wealth. With an eight-mile long wall, encompassing 1850 acres, with 15 gates, and encircled completely by an impressive mote, Nineveh seemed impregnable. Nahum called it.  

Nineveh was so utterly destroyed by the surprising, conquering Babylonians and Medes that it was never rebuilt. It's known today by an Arabic word meaning, "The mound of many sheep."

Amidst the prophesied destruction, we see God’s amazing compassion and tender, gracious care for his people as well as the Assyrians. Remember Jonah, the God-given, whale-born missionary God had sent to Nineveh a century before. In addition to compassion, we clearly see God’s sovereignty. God, confounding normal human thinking, is both a righteous judge and a compassionate father. 

Nahum teaches that God is sovereign—in absolute, able control—over all people. Individual or nation. His people or not. Here or there. This language or the other. God is sovereign.  

No matter what you face.

No matter how great.

No matter how long.

No matter how hard.

Nothing stands versus the sovereignty of God.

Take hope, Dear Friend. Where human power or ingenuity ends, God’s begins. He is sovereign. 

“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7

This is the seventh in my series, Major Stuff from the Minor Prophets. Feel free to share this post or subscribe to follow this blog. Illustrated by The Prophet Nahum by James Tissot, 1888 watercolor.

Extending Grace

On a warm, summer South African January evening in 1994, I realized something. Three quarters of my two year missionary term was complete. Only six months remained. I was entering the fourth quarter of ministry with a people I could not now imagine leaving so quickly. 

If God would grant any request, if I could do anything that would make a lasting difference beyond my too short two years, what would it be? 

Officially, with the then Foreign Mission Board now International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, I was a Regional Youth Worker Missionary. Responsible for strengthening youth ministry in our 40 partner churches in the sprawling Johannesburg area of four million people, I had developed some amazingly close relationships with a handful of people.

What would be my legacy? What difference had I made? Had I done the missionary’s work as I been advised upon arrival of “working myself out of a job” since I’d raised up others to do my job?

Frankly, on that night, fourth quarter ahead, and difference made in question, I grieved. I knew in arriving that I’d be leaving. But I hadn’t enough life experience to have discerned how quickly I could grow to love folks so deeply. Leaving would be harder than I’d imagined. Yet, what would I be leaving?

I fretted. I wondered. I prayed. I wrote. And, yes, I cried. “Oh, God, would you be so gracious as to show me that my time here has been worth it? Would you let me see I made an eternal difference?”

In the days that followed, I muddled half-hearted through my commitments and must have seen not-so-much-myself to those who knew me. Then a meeting that changed my heart and opened the way for even greater things.

Our regional youth council was planning it’s next quarterly youth rally that would occur just six weeks before I was to return to America. They wanted me to preach. Four sermons. Would I be willing? 

“Of course, yes, I am honored,” I replied while immediately praying in my spirit, “Oh, God you have to help me know what in the world to preach on.”

Jonah.  A four sermon series, What Does God Ask of Me?, on the reluctant prophet is where God clearly led me. Our regional youth council had identified that few young people were answering the call to ministry, and all our pastors, though wonderful men, were older. I’d countered that in a year and a half I hadn’t heard a sermon or even an invitation inviting youth to surrender to vocational ministry. Jonah, in addition to confronting pride and sinfulness, allowed that invitation to ministry. 

Jonah was a prophet. He had been for some time by the time God called him to go preach to Nineveh. He knew how to recognize God’s voice. He knew how to deliver God’s message. He knew that God was gracious to save. And he knew that he didn’t like the wicked Ninevites and he wanted no part of their salvation. 

In disobedience to God, Jonah went the other way. Instead of overland to Nineveh to the east he boarded a ship to the way out west port of Tarshish.  

You know the story. Storm struck. Who you? Chucked overboard. Fish swallowed. Three days. Fish spewed. Repentance preached. Wicked turned. Preacher pouts. God rebukes, “Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left hand... Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

God’s grace extends even to the lowly likes of Nineveh. 

God’s grace extends to you. No matter what you have done. No matter where you have been. No matter what has been done to you. God loves you (John 3:16-18) 

And, let me not forget to finish my Africa story before you finish dealing with God’s message from Jonah for you. At that "six weeks to go what it God going to do" youth rally, six youth committed their lives to Christ for eternal salvation and SIX young adults surrendered their lives to vocational ministry! God was so present. So good to me. So strong among my dearly loved African friends. One dear brother who surrendered to ministry then, Thabiso Chapole, is still in touch today. What a blessing!

I thank God for extending His grace to me and my South African friends. He will extend that same amazing grace to you. Consider these questions: 

• How many times have I sought to run from God’s plan?
• How has that worked out for me?
• What did/will it take for me to get back to obedience to God’s plan?
• Am I willing to do obey now?

Pictured above is Matshepo Chapole, the wife of my dear brother, Thabiso, and founding member of the world-renowned Soweto Gospel Choir. Be sure to read or even listen to Jonah this week. And, of course, freely share this post and your comments with others. Extending Grace is the fifth post in a 12 week Minor Prophet series.

Transforming Love

When’s the last time you heard a sermon from Haggai? Can’t remember. Not even sure you can pronounce it. Have you ever heard a sermon from Obadiah? Probably not. Even though you think you can say it right.

That gap in our biblical preaching is one reason our church will be walking through the Minor Prophets for the next twelve weeks. The greater reason, however, is that the messages of the Old Testament’s twelve Minor Prophets are completely applicable to life today. There is Major Stuff in the Minor Prophets.

As such, I’m inviting both my blog readers and my church family along. Each Monday or Tuesday, I’ll post an introduction to the following Sunday’s book. We’ll share some background and a few application questions. It’ll prepare us for Sunday, but mores so that we might live a life shaped by God’s changeless truth.

Taking the books in canonical order, we’ll begin today with Hosea.

Melanie had a card given to me before the ceremony on our wedding day. The front of the card read, “Here comes the bride all dressed in white. Here comes the groom...” The verse continued inside, “but Frankly nobody cares about rental boy. It’s all about the babe in the dress.” Still makes me smile. 

I love my wife. She is a righteous babe. In more ways than one. On our wedding day we entered a three-party covenant with one another and God to be faithfully united for life. I married up. Way up. Melanie is God’s grace to me.

Many of you are married too. You know the feeling of being blessed by God and your spouse. But what if God had told you ahead of time that in spite of your marriage covenant your spouse would cheat on you, parent the children of others, and have to be bought back as if a slave? Would you still have married your spouse? Would you still consider your spouse an act of God’s amazing grace?

Obeying God, Hosea the prophet, did just that. His marriage to Gomer was a living parable of the relationship of the Nation of Israel with God. Israel turned to false gods as an adulterous spouse. God continued to love her and call her back even seeking to reconcile. Israel ultimately fell to Assyria by God’s judgment in 722 BC. Chapters 1-3 recount the relationship of Hosea and Gomer. Chapters 4-14 are a collection of speeches from Hosea’s 30 year prophetic career in Israel. The Book of Hosea is a call to repentance and return to the faithful Lord God. It is a call to be transformed by God’s covenant love.

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. Hosea 14:9 NIV84

Today, let’s use the two rhetorical questions of the concluding verse of Hosea to apply God’s Word to our lives. 

What does God want me to do in faithfulness to Him?

How can I seek God to better discern His will?

Don’t forget, read the book of Hosea for a better overall understanding, personal reflection, and application of it’s truths. And, as always, feel free to share a comment below, share this post, or subscribe for future posts.

Double Robot

From the Double Robotics website:

Double is the simplest, most elegant way to be somewhere else in the world without flying there. The minimalist design and intuitive touchscreen controls allow you to freely move around without inconveniencing others. You can stay at eye level, whether sitting or standing, by adjusting your height remotely, which makes conversations fluid and real. Retractable kickstands will automatically deploy to conserve power when you are not moving around. Efficient motors and lightweight design give Double the ability to last all day without recharging the battery.

It’s real. And it’s sold out.

If you can not be there, your iPad—or an iPad—can be there for you. A robotic double in your stead. Not only is this a super cool device, but everyone will wonder just how much you’ve been hitting the gym thanks to its slim profile.

The Double Robot takes video conferencing to new level. With its height adjusting arm, yes, but also by its ability to move from place to place during the conversation. And it’s all remotely controlled by you. Wow.

The only problem is: How do you get it there when you are here? Figure that out.

I’m teasing. But I have a point.

As cool as the Double Robot is, it is not you. And although the Double Robot has ingenious applications, it is not you.

When it comes down to it—in most of life, in real life—you are the greatest asset. Your presence is powerful.

Some folks say an “ugly word happens.” They need their mouths cleaned out. Then they need to realize that the “stuff” they are referring to is just life. “Life happens.”

And when life happens to friends or family—tragedy, or pain, or loss, or grief, or sadness, or anger, or rage, or depression, or fear—thats when we need one another. In the flesh.

You don’t need to know what to say. Be honest about that. You do need to be there. 

You can pray silently. If you don’t know what to pray, know that the Holy Spirit will pray for you. Just be present.

Don’t assume what the hurting are thinking or feeling. Ask. Take your cues—as to appropriate words and actions—from them. Talk and listen at their pace.

Double Robots are cool. 

But no one is as cool as you.

Be there. Presence is powerful.

Serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13b, NIV

You are welcome to share a comment about someone was there for you or share this post with that someone.

Flung

"But they were disobedient and rebelled against You. They flung Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who warned them in order to turn them back to You. They committed terrible blasphemies." Nehemiah 9:26 HCSB

I grew up in Texas. Not the South. Texas. There is a difference. If you have to ask, then you’ve never been to Texas. Or met a true Texan.

As a Texan, and particularly as a man Texan, I like the idea of flingin’ things. Like, “That fella flung the ball downfield for a touchdown on the very next play.” Or, “During the county fair cow chip toss, one gal flung a fresh one right into one of the judges.” Flung sorta sounds like fun.

That's why “flung” caught my attention in the verse above. Not your average Bible word. Here is a test: Worshiped; Sanctified; Flung. Which one of these three does not belong here? Which one of these three is not the same?

It is translated as the not so colorful “cast... behind” in the ESV and NASB and the really looses it’s umph, “turned their backs on” in the NIV. This Hebrew word, transliterated shalak, is most often translated as “throw” or “hurl” or “scatter.” The word implies intensity or violence. In the phrase of Nehemiah 9:26, it literally means “to thrust behind one’s back” or formally reject someone or something. Ouch. Like the New Testament, “Get behind me Satan,” flipped to become, “Get behind me God.” Sounds like trouble.

Not a fun flung that one. 

Toward a God who chose them, loved them, and provided for them, rebellious and disobedient is what they had been. They had fling off God’s Word. They had turned their backs on God. But here in this one chapter that captures their history, Nehemiah 9, they are turning back. Humbled and repentant.

Led by the Levites, priests chosen by God to intercede for the people, the Israelites confessed their sins. Confession leads to blessing.

Thank God for his magnificent mercy.

Thank God for His longsuffering lovingkindness. 

Try Psalm 16:8 instead, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” 

Footballs and cowchips can be flung. Not God’s Word or His love for you. 

(In case you are wondering, shalak is pronounced SHAY-lak in Texas or shaw-lawk for the rest of us. And, in case you wanna share this or comment, use the tools below. Thanks, Dear Readers.)