It’s All About the Lord: The Role of Women in Nailing God’s Enemies – Judges 4

Posted by Paul Apple on Mar 25, 2012 in Christian | 0 comments

We know that God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another.  When it comes to our eternal salvation, His supreme work of deliverance and redemption, God certainly does not want man to be able to boast in having any type of meritorious role.  So we humbly bow the knee before God and thankfully acknowledge that “by grace we have been saved through faith” – not of our own doing but entirely the work of God.

Here in the Book of Judges we see snapshots of lesser types of deliverances that God sovereignly engineers for His oppressed people.  Each of these have some contribution as a partial type or foreshadowing of the salvation to come that will be accomplished by God’s ultimate Warrior and Judge – His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  There are unique features in each account where we must try to understand the reason for such emphasis – in our account today we see the surprising leadership role of women highlighted as we see how God used Deborah and then even a non-Israelite woman, Jael.

(more…)

Heroes Are Not One Size Fits All – Judges 3:7-31

Posted by Paul Apple on Mar 20, 2012 in Christian | 0 comments

You are already familiar with many of the heroes sprinkled throughout the history of the nation of Israel.  Starting with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and moving through Moses and Joshua and then right down the line of the few righteous kings like David and Solomon and the various prophets like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the list goes on.

But in the book of Judges we are introduced to some heroes that were lesser lights on the panorama of history.  You probably did not consider naming your children Othniel, Ehud or Shamgar – you still have a shot with your grandchildren.  These are the heroes we will be considering today.  What characterized these very different types of leaders?  What types of weapons did they use?  How did they seize the opportunity before them by faith and take the decisive action needed to rescue God’s people from oppression?  What can we learn from their stories?  How can God use me – despite my limitations and unique challenges?  In addition, the mercy and faithfulness of the sovereign, covenant-keeping God is highlighted against the backdrop of the repeated unfaithfulness and spiritual adultery of His people.

(more…)

Formula for Angering the Lord — Judges 2:11 – 3:6

Posted by Paul Apple on Mar 11, 2012 in Christian | 0 comments

Because the Lord loves us so deeply, He is jealous for our loyalty.  He is provoked to anger when we persist in rebelling against Him.  Usually we talk in terms of how can we live in a way to please the Lord who loves us …  but today in Judges we will be studying the formula for angering the Lord.

This anger can burn against God’s own people in the form of discipline. In this context it seems to burn against apostates in the form of judgment and condemnation and wrath.  Why would we ever want to make the Lord angry with us?  Yet look at how quickly we forget about God and live as though God doesn’t exist – make decisions without consulting Him; live as if there is no accountability  Then we turn around and wonder why life is so hard and there are so many battles for us to fight.

The purpose of speed bumps = to get our attention and cause us to slow down and obey the law.  God sends speed bumps of difficulties into our lives for the same purpose.

(more…)

Second Generation Apostasy — A Crying Shame — Judges 2:1-15

Posted by Paul Apple on Mar 7, 2012 in Christian | 0 comments

THE FAMILY TREE OF APOSTASY –

Today’s topic touches each of us very deeply because it deals with the spiritual struggles of those who are closest to us.  Why do some children from Christian families have trouble embracing the faith of their parents?  We all know situations where this topic is relevant.  Those of you at Christian colleges – especially in a mentoring role to younger students – see a wide range of spiritual temperatures – from those who hold passionately to the Lord Jesus as the one they supremely love to those who are lukewarm to those who at this point in their life reject the gospel message.

(more…)

Subtle Sin Sows Seeds of Spiritual Decay — Judges 1:1-21

Posted by Paul Apple on Feb 26, 2012 in Christian | Comments Off

[Image from www.ChristArt.com]

We embark this morning on a new adventure.  Leaving the record of the victorious spread of the gospel recorded in the book of Acts, we turn our attention to the book of Judges and the struggles of the tribes of Israel as they seek to fully possess the promised land.  Never have a people been promised so much by God and yet failed to appropriate the blessings because of their disobedience and lack of faith.  We are going to witness a sad tale of people that just refuse to learn from their failures and continue to commit the same sins repeatedly over and over and over again.  It is no surprise that the consequences of idolatry and rebellion and friendship with the world and spiritual apathy remain consistently painful and severe.

(more…)

Dramatic Farewell Message to Elders at Ephesus — Acts 20:33-38 — Part 3

Posted by Paul Apple on Feb 12, 2012 in Christian | Comments Off

PREFERENCE FOR SELF SUPPORT IN CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

[Caveat: In certain circumstances]

This will be our final message on the book of Acts.  The remaining chapters detail Paul’s journey to Jerusalem, the various trials which cause him to defend himself, and then his final voyage to Rome after being shipwrecked on the island of Malta.  These stories are mainly historical narrative without a lot of additional doctrinal insight. But as we conclude our study of the Book of Acts today, we come to a truly revolutionary passage in terms of modern day Christian thinking.  You won’t hear this message from the lips of too many pastors and teachers.  You can take courses at the best seminaries in the country and you won’t find many professors advocating for this position.  That means that I must be extremely careful and guarded in what I say today.  We all struggle to be objective when we come to the Word of God and not be overly influenced by our own upbringing and circumstances.  We also must be balanced in giving full weight to the impact of the short paragraph in front of us while at the same time being honest about how this integrates with the rest of Scripture – this is the very difficult discipline of Systematic Theology.

(more…)

Dramatic Farewell Message to Elders at Ephesus — Acts 20:28-32 — Part 2

Posted by Paul Apple on Feb 7, 2012 in Christian | Comments Off

WATCHING OUT FOR WOLVES

We covered three areas last week of the Apostolic Pattern for Pastoral Ministry:

I.   (:17-21)  PASTORAL TRACK RECORD OF A CONSISTENT, HUMBLE, CARING, PERSEVERING, PROFITABLE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD

II.  (:22-24)  PASTORAL COMMITMENT TO FINISH THE COURSE OF MINISTRY WHATEVER THE PERSONAL COST IN A MANNER HIGHLIGHTING THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD

III.  (:25-27)  PASTORAL TESTIMONY OF A CLEAR CONSCIENCE IN MINISTRY DUE TO FAITHFULLY COMMUNICATING THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

Final two points each deserve full treatment on their own.

(more…)

Dramatic Farewell Message to Elders at Ephesus — Acts 20:17-38 — Part 1

Posted by Paul Apple on Feb 6, 2012 in Christian | Comments Off

Bible conferences can be a special time for believers.  I remember the privilege of taking in one of the Shepherds Conferences hosted by Dr John MacArthur out in California – a wonderful lineup of distinguished speakers who had much to offer the assembled group of pastors.  Now imagine cranking that experience up to an unbelievably higher level and you have the type of unique pastors’ conference that the Apostle Paul hosted for the elders from Ephesus as he gathered them to himself at the port city of Miletus.

These were men that Paul had discipled for a period of three years and then appointed to care for God’s precious flock.  Paul had poured his life into these leaders as well as his doctrine.  He had great expectations for their future ministry.  Now Paul is on his farewell tour and has one last opportunity to communicate to them face to face.  His insights and reminders and warnings and exhortations in this context should guide our pastoral ministry today.

Our own emphasis on plurality of elder church government has highlighted many of the same principles featured here.  This passage is close to my heart because of how deep my convictions run in these areas.  We have had a lot of teaching in these same areas from our studies in 1 Thessalonians and in the Book of Nehemiah – both books focusing on a variety of leadership issues.  So hopefully much of this will be review for us … but remember that what is believed in evangelical church circles today about these principles still needs to be faithfully practiced.

(more…)

“Top Ten” — Reasons Hotels Provide Such Poor Lighting in Their Rooms

Posted by Paul Apple on Jan 26, 2012 in Pet Peeves, Top Ten Lists | Comments Off

No matter the quality of the hotel, one thing you can count on is poor lighting in your room for the night.  I guess hotels figure that everybody must stagger back to their rooms in some type of drunken stupor where any type of normal lighting would  be too stark and abrasive.  It is annoying enough that you have to spend time figuring out where all the switches are and what they control.  But after you successfully hit the “On” switch you would like to be rewarded with some form of appropriate lighting.

So I offer my Top Ten Reasons Hotels Provide Such Poor Lighting:

10)  They are trying to save money on their utility bill  [Maybe that really is the only reason]

9)  They did not realize that there were any Americans left who could still read

8)  Their interior color scheme looks better muted

7)  They don’t want you to see the stains on the carpet or linens [OK, that was gross]

6)  They want to challenge guests with using their creativity to rearrange the furniture and lamps to come up with a reading position that works

5)  They don’t want you to be able to read the fine print detailing all of the extra charges and taxes on your bill

4)  Prevents glare on the TV which they figure you will have on all evening

3)  If you are only in the room to sleep, what’s the difference?

2)  Hotel rooms are notorious for a lot of shady activities [Let's not go there]

1)  They thought the acronym byob meant “bring your own bulb”  [Which, by the way, I have heard that many people do!]

“God Has Never Made a Mistake” — Ray Lewis

Posted by Paul Apple on Jan 25, 2012 in Baltimore Ravens | Comments Off

It mystifies me how people around the country view Ray Lewis as some type of thug or evil person.  I understand his serious incident with the law way back at the start of his career when he made the mistake of covering up for a friend who had stabbed someone to death rather than coming clean to the authorities immediately.  But he was not the perpetrator of that attack.  He was definitely hanging with the wrong crowd.  All he has done in his 16 seasons with the Ravens has been to exemplify leadership and praiseworthy character.  His sound bytes might not always have a logical flow, but they exude passion and emotion and inspiration and a positive spirit.

You learn a lot about a person in times of adversity.  Just look at how he responded to the Ravens heartwrenching departure from the playoffs in the last seconds against the Patriots.  For all of his competitiveness and hard play between the lines (you never see Ray involved in any chippy or dirty cheap shotting tactics), when the final whistle blows he is the first one to accept the outcome and move on with a positive outlook on life.  He appreciates the privilege of playing in the NFL but keeps things in perspective — recognizing that it is only a game.  In the locker room afterwards he emphasized that “God has never made a mistake.”  The team achieved their intended destiny in that sense.  No one person or one play was at fault.  Every one should hold their head high and remember that they gave 100% towards the team goal.  There is no sulking with Ray and no excuses.  There is only the joy of living life from the perspective that God is ultimately in control.  How is that a “thug mentality”?

Look at how he is respected by his peers.  Probably no leader of his stature in the NFL spends more time trying to nurture and encourage other players who are not on his team.  He is truly a unique leader and it is time the media focuses on that profile so that people outside of Ravens nation understand the overall contributions Ray makes to the spirit of competition.