The Application of Knowledge

   What does this sentence mean to you?

   "When pipers pipe, they blow air into the bag through the blowstick; then they squeeze the bag so that air flows through the drones and the chanter."

   Shall I play the Jeopardy theme song to help you out? Go ahead take all the time you need to figure out what that sentence is talking about. Did you figure it out? Well, if you did good job. If you didn’t, I’m not going to tell you what it is yet.

   Some of you may know what this sentence is talking about. So, if you know what is means, you are the teacher. You need to tell everyone who doesn’t know what that sentence is about. All together now: bagpipes. There, now everyone knows what that sentence is about. So now you can all play bagpipes, right?

   You mean you can’t play bagpipes? Why can’t you? I just imparted the knowledge to you that the sentence was about bagpipes. Oh, you are saying I just told you about the bagpipes and I didn’t tell you how to apply the knowledge. You are right, I didn’t.

   This is how some teachers and preachers teach. They tell people the knowledge and theology; but they do not tell people how they can apply it to their lives. So if someone asked me what that sentence above was about I could say bagpipes. If the person asked me why they should care about bagpipes, or how to play bagpipes I would have to say I don’t know.

   See, if teachers and preachers are not helping me apply knowledge to my life then I cannot help others apply the same knowledge to their lives. I can have all the knowledge in the world; but if I don’t know how to apply it to my life then the knowledge isn’t doing me much good.

   I understand that everyone does have their own brain. If I look in the Bible I can probably figure out how to apply certain passages to my life. But, what if I interpreted those passages wrong? Then, what could be worse is I tell others what I think about the passages. I am spreading incorrect knowledge to other people. And,I am making other people apply that knowledge incorrectly. The only way I will change my ways is if someone sets me straight. I would need someone to guide me on the correct path like a teacher or a preacher.

   That is why it is the job of a teacher to guide others. Teachers need to not only impart knowledge but help others apply the knowledge. I’m not saying that teachers should say “this is the only way you can apply this knowledge.” But teachers need to help guide their students.

   Finally, if you are not a teacher, you do not get out of this. We are all teachers whether we like it or not. We all need to impart knowledge to others and help them apply the knowledge. If you don’t believe me then think about your children, or children you will have in the future. If you tell a child how to tie his shoes, but you don’t show him how. How does that help him? You must guide children.

   So, are you imparting knowledge to others? Are you guiding others in applying that knowledge in their lives?

   Proverbs 19:20 & Proverbs 4:6-7

The False Prophet and the Talking Donkey

   Imagine you are back in Bible times. You are riding your donkey down a dirt path with some important men. Then suddenly your donkey starts acting up. You begin to fall behind. It is important that you keep up with your group. So, you get off your donkey and start beating it. Suddenly the donkey begins to talk to you. What would you do?

   If you haven’t guessed by now this is the story of Balaam. For those of you who do not know Balaam he was a diviner, he was called an oracle (Numbers 22-24). Balaam knew the word, but he chose to turn his back on it.

   The full story of Balaam is that he was asked by the king of Moab to curse the Israelites; and, in return, Balaam would get money. The king sent men to come get Balaam and Balaam invited the men to stay for the night, which was his first mistake. Balaam sought God’s counsel and God told Balaam not to curse the Israelites and to only do what he told him to do. Then God told Balaam to go to the Moabite king. So Balaam got on his donkey and followed the men. Balaam’s sin happens here. He wanted to curse the Israelites so that he would get money. That’s why God sent the angel to stop him and then the donkey talked. Then there is a lot of back and forth where the Moabite king asks Balaam to curse Israel but Balaam can only say what God tells him to say, which is only blessings on Israel.

   That is the end of Balaam’s story in Numbers, but that is not the last time he is referenced to. See, Balaam was a false prophet. He may have only said what God told him to say at the time; but looking in later passages we can see that he also told the Moabite king how to get God to curse Israel. He told the Moabite king to start influencing the Israelites by introducing other gods and enticing the Israelites with sexual immorality. In Numbers 31 we can see the influence Balaam had when the Israelite men go to war against Midian. The men spare all of the women (v. 15/16). They did this because they wanted the women for themselves. Even in Revelation we see Balaam mentioned in chapter 2. A church started to follow the teachings of Balaam, which means they were eating things sacrificed to idols and committing acts of immorality (v. 14).

   Balaam’s sin was a sin of the heart, which means that mostly only God could see it. He was so greedy that he was willing to turn his back on God and everything he knew about the truth. There are many people in this world who are a lot like Balaam. They know the truth; but they manipulate the truth in order to get what they want. That is why it is vital for Christians to know the word. If we do not then we could be influenced by a false prophet.

   We also need to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves are we committing any sins of the heart. We know exactly what sin is, it is anything that goes against God. If we are doing anything, or causing anyone else to stumble, then we are just as bad as Balaam.

   So, are you being swayed by any false prophets? Are you causing others to sin because you may be a false prophet, inadvertently? Are you sinning, but you are not willing to change your ways? What can you do in order to stop sinning?

   1 John 4:1-6, Hebrews 10:26, Romans 6:1-23

Becoming Numb to It

   There was another robbery on Main Street. Someone was killed in another car crash. ISIS attacked another big city. And, on and on it goes. Do you ever feel like you are beginning to become numb to everything going on in the world? I know I have felt that way. It is like everywhere I turn some horrible thing happened. More and more sin is occurring and the American culture is going down the toilet.

   Christians are also starting to slip. It only takes a few times for us to do the same sin over and over again before it becomes a habit. That sin may not even be a blatant one. It may be a sin of omission where we look the other way and don’t do what we know we should do.

   Another issue with becoming numb to things is we become numb to the Bible and people who are preaching the Bible. If you are like me you have been in the church for many years. You have heard the same Bible stories over and over again that you know them by heart. You may even think you don’t have much more to learn from the Bible. If you have reached that point I am sorry to say you will probably be knocked off your feet soon enough. (Because, if you are not growing and learning more about God then you cease to be of help to your fellow man. On top of that, you are admitting that God isn’t God. If we knew everything about him then we wouldn’t need to worship him).

   One other point I want to make in this is the fact that it is more difficult for the entertainment industry to entertain people. Why is this? It is because we become numb to certain things. We want new and more exciting things. But, there is a danger to wanting this. First we can see where the entertainment industry is today. There are sex scenes, violent acts, and many more gruesome things on television. And then we wonder why there is so much violence in the world; and why it is so difficult to teach children in general.

   How can we stop the numbness? We need to have childlike faith. Every time I reread a book of the Bible, or any book, I find something new. Children are curious and want to learn, if they have a curiosity for learning fostered in them. We need to try and learn new things about God in order to grow closer to him. And, when it comes to the world, we need to put ourselves in others shoes. Many times we don’t really care about something unless it affects us. But, if we think about how we would feel if that was our family member who died; or, if we just lost our home. How different do you think the world would be?

   Above all else, we must lean on God during these difficult times. I don’t know exactly what will happen tomorrow, or next year. But, I do know that if I lean on God everything will be alright.

   So, have you become numb to sin in your life or the world? What are you going to do in order to counteract the numbness? Have you lost your childlike curiosity? Are you going to lean on God no matter what may happen tomorrow?

   1 John 3:6-10, Matthew 18:3, Proverbs 3:5-6

Truth Versus Grace

   Imagine this happened to you: one day you are in church. Suddenly a couple comes in who you haven’t seen before. The pastor greets the couple just like any visitor at the church. You go to sit in your normal seat and try not to stare at them too much. You want to make them feel welcome but you don’t know what to say.

   A few weeks pass and the couple is still coming to church. They have become increasingly involved in the church. You are glad that they want to be involved in furthering God’s kingdom. But, the couple is also becoming more touchy feely in church. They have begun holding hands and putting their arms around each other’s shoulders.

   Normally, you would not have much of a problem with this; except for the fact that the couple is lesbian. You are on the council at church and it has come up that something needs to be done about how physical this couple is getting. The problem is your church is a non-denominational church and there is no membership. You do not want to kick this couple out of church; but you know that they are outwardly sinning.

   Rather than state your opinion at the council meeting. You just sit and listen to the other people talk. It seems like most people fall in two courts. One is that the couple should be kicked out because they are not repenting of their sin. The other is that we are all sinners and we are all in the church. So, we should let them stay in the church. More arguments are thrown back and forth; but you start to realize that the arguments come down to two key components truth and grace.

   If the church leans too much on the truth side then everyone may as well leave the church because they are all sinners. But, if the church leans too much on grace then everyone would be in the church. That is good because everyone could hear about Christ; but then the church would not be the church. It would just be a club. You are not quite sure what the church’s answer should be; but you know the church cannot lean too much on the grace or truth side otherwise they are not following Jesus’ example.

   This is a problem many churches are facing today. And, many churches do pick a side: truth or grace. But, what those churches do not realize is that they are essentially splitting Jesus Christ down the middle. If Christ is our example we will do our best to follow him. But, if we choose only one aspect of him to follow then we aren’t really following him.

   Churches must have a proper balance between truth and grace. Above all we must remember that everyone sins; and that, to God, all sin is equal. The issue is that people have made some sins seem worse than others. And, some sins are more visible than others. For example, people may know someone who murdered a person; but they may not know that a person who gossips to everyone.

   One final thing I want to say about this topic. Some people may say that a gay person is not repenting of sin so that person should not be allowed in the church. You do not know that person at all. You do not know what that person is going through. And, if that person is kicked out of the church then that person may never hear the gospel message. Now you may say some gay people know what they are doing is wrong. But, who are you to say that? And, if you push them away how are they ever going to change?

   So, which side do you lean on when it comes to this argument? Do you need to find more of a balance of truth and grace when it comes to the way you look at certain sins?

   1 John 1:8-10, Romans 3:23, 1 Corinthians 10:13

   Disclaimer: Please do not try to misunderstand what I am saying here. I am just saying that people tend to blow this argument way out of proportion; and I am upset that this argument has destroyed so many churches, families, and people. I tried to keep my opinion hidden a little in here and state the facts. I also have to give credit to one of my professors at Lancaster Bible College for the little scenario at the top of this blog.

A Praise A Day: Looking Back at 2016

   Over the last year so much has happened. I’m sure a lot has happened to you just like a lot has happened to me. This year was a little different for me because I made a choice at the beginning of the year. I made a choice to look for the good in life every day.

   This idea began because of something a friend told me. She would get a sparkling cider bottle, which would be her “giving to God jug.” Any time she had problems that she would constantly worry about she would write it on a piece of paper and put it in the jug. There was no way she could get the paper out. Therefore, there was nothing she needed to worry about. I worry too, but my jug was a little different. Mine was about praises.

   If you do not know me, then you do not know that I am a pessimistic person. At least, I seem like one to a lot of people. In my mind I try to think positive but the negative tends to come out. This last year I decided that every day I would write down at least one praise per day. Some days I had a lot of praises to put in the jug. Other days it was difficult for me to come up with a praise but I still did.

   What I discovered is that I began to have more joy no matter what was happening. I also started to worry less about what would happen to me. I was able to see firsthand all the good things that God put in my life, which made me less worried about all the bad things. It is also fun to look at the jug and see it filled with praises. I also took the papers out of the jug at the end of the year and looked back on all of the praises I had (I chose one that I would be able to get the papers out of). This helped me see how much I have grown and how much I have to be thankful for.

   I’m not saying you need to write down all of the praises you have every day. And, maybe you are an optimistic person and you don’t need to work on finding praises. But, there may be something else you need to work on. I encourage you to choose one character trait you would like to work on this year. Then come up with something you are going to do in order to help you grow in that area of life. I promise you that when you look back at 2017 at the end of next year, if you have kept trying to grow, it will be worth it.

   Colossians 1:9-10, Romans 8:28, Psalm 103:2