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It’s better to die - 2 September 2010

The Philistine cows “went straight in the direction of Beth-Shemesh … they turned neither to the right nor to the left” (1 Sam 6:12), because it’s better to die in Israel that to live in Philistia – especially if you get to die as an offering to the LORD (v. 14).

A pneumatic drill without ear defenders - 2 September 2010

Sin is like operating a pneumatic drill without ear defenders in at least 25 ways:

It might seem at first glance like the quickest and easiest option,
but it damages you right from the moment you start,
and it’s completely destructive in the long term,
so you’ll certainly regret it afterwards.
You’ll find lots of fools saying it won’t do you any harm,
and they’ll probably laugh at you if you avoid it,
but wise people will certainly warn you against it,
and deep down, you’ve got a sneaking suspicion they’re right.
In fact, there is probably a law against it somewhere.
You’d realise the truth if you could think straight for more than about 10 seconds,
but the whole trouble is that once you get started it’s hard to think straight.
In fact, it becomes harder to think straight the longer you carry on,
so what you really need is someone from outside the situation to come alongside you and do some straight talking.
Once the straight talking begins, some of your friends will probably tell you there’s no point in changing now,
but they’re wrong.
If you stop, those friends probably won’t want to hang out with you so much,
despite the fact you’ll obviously be in better shape than before.
On the other hand, there’s a chance that you might be able persuade some of them to give up too,
in which case they’ll be grateful afterwards,
even though they might not thank you at the time.
If you stop, you’ll still be tempted to do other things that are just as stupid,
and you’ll probably suffer the after-effects for some time,
but at least the symptoms won’t get any worse;
in fact, you’ll almost certainly get gradually better,
and one day the damage will be put right for good.

Beginning with Moses - 1 September 2010

Jesus thought it was a good idea to begin with Moses (Luke 24:27), and so should you – especially now that www.beginningwithmoses.org has been redesigned and relaunched, with a whole pile of articles, blogs, links and other bits and pieces.

1 Samuel and Genesis - 31 August 2010

Thoughts on 1 Samuel 1-3 (and Genesis):

If you can remember Genesis 11-50, you’ll roll your eyes at yet another man with two wives (1 Sam 1:1-4 – remember Jacob and Rachel and Leah?). After all, Genesis is (in one sense) all about the mess people get themselves into when they tinker with the divine institution of marriage.
On the other hand, Genesis also teaches us to expect the LORD to bring something good out of the unpleasant situation in 1 Sam 1 – probably through the “barren” wife.
The LORD’s provision of a son for Hannah is cast in terms of resurrection in 1 Sam 2:6: “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.” Genesis reveals the same connection between children and resurrection when Abraham displays his willingness to sacrifice Isaac because he “considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Heb 11:19; cf. Gen 22).
The LORD’s message to Samuel in 3:11 (the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle), like Hannah’s response to Samuel’s birth in 1:20 (I have asked for him from the LORD) both reflect the meaning of Samuel’s name (heard of God).
Samuel was known to be “established as a prophet of the LORD” (3:20) because just as in Gen 18:17ff. (cf. Gen 20:7) the “Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

Shamgar? Who he? - 30 August 2010

There are few biblical characters (other than those who appear only in genealogies and list and suchlike) about whom we know less than Shamgar (Judges 3:31; 5:6-7). Consequently, preachers wanting to find out about him (which last week included me) will be more likely than usual to turn to the commentaries for help.

The coverage is variable, to put it mildly. Most of them spend two pages explaining what the other commentaries say before hastily moving on. Fortunately, a few stand out from the crowd. Here are the ones I looked at, together with a rating from ***** (great commentary) to * (great doorstop).

Block (NAC). *****
Jordan. *****
Younger (NIVAC). ****
Wilcox (BST). ***
Schneider (Berit Olam). **
McCann (Interpretation). **
Boling (ABC). *
Gray (NCBC). *
Lindars (Jdg 1-5 only).*
Niditch (OTL). *
Soggin (OTL). *

Sermon outline – Judges 3:31 - 29 August 2010

Shamgar was…

1. A humble farmer who refused to give up

2. A faithful foreigner who put God’s people to shame

Sermon outline – Judges 3:12-30 - 29 August 2010

1. The faithful leader Ehud was praised because he stood out from the crowd

2. The pagan king Eglon was mocked as he perished in his own filth

Bad science - 27 August 2010

Richard Dawkins accuses faith schools of “indoctrinating” children, ahead of a TV documentary that accuses them of being “socially damaging” (HT: Christian Institute).

But a 2009 report by Prof David Jesson of the University of York found that faith schools promoted better community cohesion than secular schools.

Don’t the the evidence get in the way of a good bit of prejudice…

Calvin-haters - 26 August 2010

“People don’t like Calvin because he doesn’t flatter them” (Steve Palframan).

Who’s really important? - 26 August 2010

Luke 9:7-9 records that Herod was intrigued by what he heard about Jesus, and “sought to see him” (v. 9). But then Herod disappears from the narrative (apart from a passing mention in 13:31) as abruptly as he appeared, and doesn’t reappear until chapter 23, where he finally meets Jesus, whom (we are reminded) “he had long desired to see” (v. 8).

Herod is left hanging in mid-air for most of Luke’s Gospel.

It’s as if Luke is saying, “Yeah, Herod the Tetrarch really wanted to see Jesus, but it turned out that Jesus was busy with more important things like feeding the poor and healing sick children and talking with women.”