"Who will you trust?"
Subscribe in a readerIve been thinking about Isaiah lately, getting ready to teach it next week. Isaiah's message to the kings of Israel and Judah is "who will you trust?" For Ahaz and Hezekiah (the two Kings Isaiah speaks to), the challenge was to look to God for safety and strength and NOT to Egypt or Assyria. Both Kings were tempted to make political alliance with their neighbors against God's clear direction.
Why?
That's easy I think. Egypt and Assyria represented a tangible hope of recue that they could see with their eyes. Those political alliances offered hope of safety and security WITHOUT having to look to an unseen God who's methods of deliverance couldn't be put on a calendar or written in a contract. As it turns out, both Kings make the wrong decision, and it ends up costing them disaster that NEVER would have come if they'd have only looked to the Lord for rescue and help.
Here are Isaiah's words to Hezekiah after his choices to make alliances with Egypt cost him 45 walled cities in Judah:
"Thus says the Lord, the Holy one of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved: In quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused and said "No, we will flee upon horses," therefore you shall flee!...the Lord waits to be gracious to you, therefore he will rise up to show you mercy. For the Lord is a God of justice: blessed are all those who wait for him." (Isaiah 30:15, 18)
Home stretch (Quarter 4 begins)
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| Evan leading "the gift" at Rumbling Bald |
Subscribe in a readerWe're heading into the home stretch and quarter 4 begins on Monday as we kick off our run through the prophetic literature. The students are off on spring break this week.
I continue to be impressed by what God is doing in our midst. I love the community he's created around the school. I love the people he's brought our way. For me, this year has been a time of enjoying all that God's done in us, for us and through us these past 5 years. Several of our current students (Evan/Jon/Chance) have reconnected me to my passion for rock climbing and every time we're out I wish this year would never come to an end. It's going to be particularly challenging to say goodbye to this group.
I'm thankful for this life God has given our ESBS community.
I'm thankful for your involvement in it: for how you support it with your prayers, finances and volunteer time.
Tom
Kings...me...God...etc.
Subscribe in a readerWe're studying 1-2 Kings currently. Reading the book, which records the lives of all of Israel and Judah's Kings, its fascinating to see the way an entire King's life is immortalized forever in just one paragraph. It's got me thinking "man if my life was summed up in one paragraph, what would that paragraph be about, and would I be surprised by the things that DIDN'T make the list?"
Scot Pitts brought up a great point in lecture today. He brought up the point that each one of the Kings of Israel, who so many of whom look like such tyrants in 1-2 Kings, would have most likely had a VERY DIFFERENT opinion of how their lives should have been immortalized for all time. Jeroboam 11 is a great example of this. Jeroboam 11 (2 Kings 14:23-28) took advantage of a weaker political climate in the region and expanded the borders of Israel to one of their greatest extents, ushering in Israel's last "golden era" of economic prosperity before the spiral into Exile. It's interesting to me that Jeroboam 11, while things were going so "well" for him , was BLATANTLY IGNORING God's direction and God's law.
Jeroboam spent 41 years as King of Israel, leading Israel the whole time down the same path of idolatry and sin that would eventually wreck the nation and send them into exile. The book of Hosea was written into this time (Israel, pictured as a prostitute running away from their true love). Ouch.
I wonder if Jeroboam went to his grave thinking he'd done Israel a huge favor by being such a "successful leader." I bet so. The problem is, his "success" is measured in every way OTHER THAN the the things God cares most about:
Relationship with him, love for Him, following Him.
listen up stup"e"d
Subscribe in a readerwhen I was like 11 years old my friend and I were riding our bikes around the neighborhood when we ran across some wet concrete. SWEET!. the hidden Rembrandt comes out in me so quickly when given the chance to immortalize my creative energies on the sidewalk. After our masterpiece was finished my friend signed our art project by writing "stupid"...but managed to spell "stupid" incorrectly in the process (wrong vowel...he used an "e") forever declaring on the sidewalk that the hastily created image was in fact a self portrait...ha.
Anyway, he's not the first one to be a little thick in the head.. We all get that way, and sometimes I feel bad for God about how hard it is to get through to us. Every now and then he does, and its encouraging. I wanted to share one with you that happened yesterday:
Two days ago while driving into work I felt that little voice inside my head say "turn off NPR and listen up..I want to talk to you." Normally I tune that out, but not this time. Then the thoughts started flowing: you know those thoughts: the ones that you're not sure about...whether they're God..whether they're just you. Anyway, during that time I had the thought "check the contact links on your website to make sure they work." When I got to work I found out that for about a month the links had been dead, and that anyone trying to contact the school in that time wouldn't have reached us. Luckily (wrong word to use) no one had tried.
Fast-forward 24 hours. Yesterday morning when I got to work I had an e-mail in my inbox from that corrected link. It was from a brand new student inquiry for next year. The first one that I've gotten from that link in several months. A day earlier I wouldn't have gotten it. Uh huh...get 'er done God!
so the lesson of the day for me is: "Listen up stup(e)d"...pay attention, God is in control, he's got something to say to you today, and everyone is better off if you'll listen.
Tom
Beach Retreat
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| Luke Phillips...scooting in the beach |
so my son is 8 months old...and he has decided that its easier to scoot everywhere than crawl...notice the drag track behind him.
we surprised the students with three days at the beach...and boy was it awesome. 70 degrees and sunny three days straight. No work...just fun. I wanna go back right now!
Thank you to everyone who made this happen..giving your time, resources, homes to make this the best numbers retreat we've ever had!
tom