It seems that I have more than one theme!
There are more mantles than priests and prophets. Well, at least one! Not only are we all priests and prophets but we are also all royalty!
Each member of the church is seen by God as a priest, a prophet and a king. This doesn't function under congregational church. Under the roman church there were priests over the people and the whole point of the exercise was that there was the emperor over the whole church. In the church of England, we have the monarch as head of the church of course. None of this helps us to establish the truly mind blowing revelation of the New Testament of what we are supposed to be about.
Jesus is the prophet, the high priest and the king of kings! We know that we can only call Jesus Lord by the Spirit and He is the Lord of Lords. That makes those who believe, "Lords!" In the same way, Jesus is the king of kings and He is our king, what does that make us? We are called, "A royal priesthood!" The word "Christian" was first used as an insult to believers. It means, "Like Christs!" Some people don't like the term but it is actually more fitting than we first think. Jesus had the ministry of messiah/ Christ. He passed on the mantle for that and told us to carry on that ministry. We are everything He is, "as He is, so also are we in this world." 1 John 4:17.
In the Old Testament if you wanted to offer a sacrifice to God you needed a priest. That sacrifice is not just a sacrifice for sins, there were all kinds of sacrifices that a person could offer as an act of worship. But, we are told to make our own confessions and that we will worship by the Spirit. We have been released from the priesthood by being Incorporated into it. The priest "applied the blood" today we apply the blood of Jesus.
In the Old Testament, if you wanted a specific word from the Lord you needed to find a prophet, It may surprise you but the weren't just the famous prophets there were prophets all over the place. When Saul was called to be King he was with a band of Prophets. Now, we are freed from having to seek a prophet, we can seek God for ourselves. We can live in the prophetic. That doesn't mean we will go and shout at the national leader! That means that we live in a day to day relationship of knowing God's will for our own lives. God has renewed our consciences so that He can guide us. It is a case of not living by tradition but but the instant whisper of God. Course corrections are ongoing!
In the Old Testament, the splendour of God's nation is revealed in the king. Visitors would come to the nation or Israel to see the king. The witness of God's blessing was on the king. In other nations they had to offer sacrifices for prosperity. Prosperity was seen as a sign of blessing. Other kings would come and be in awe at the wealth of this tiny nation. They would be introduced to the true God. Jesus turned water into wine, He turned an average wedding feast into a royal banquet with quantity and quality of wine. He fed the 5000 (probably actually 30,000 as they only counted the men!) Again showing the kind of kingdom wealth that only a king can provide so freely. Jesus was showing that His Kingdom was not of earthly palaces, but He was never the less a king. In fact in John six that is the very next thing the people say, "Let's make Him our King!" The king also took the nation's army into battle and ordered the people to repent and turn to the Lord. In the same way now we too are meant to show the world what it is like to live under the blessing of God (Only your imagination will limit this!) We are called to be generous in all occasions. We are called to stand in battle where ever we are, not wait for a king to tell us.
Jesus is the head of the body. Every member of the body is individually joined to and controlled by the head. "the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God." Colossians 2:19. Put you hand out in front of you palm up. Now raise one or more of your fingers. This is what Paul might have been seeing. The fingers aren't controlled by the wrist but by the head. In the same way we are each joined to the head, Jesus. This is why we can all sing, "My Jesus, My Saviour!"
Because we are all joined in a way that no one was in the Old Testament, we are all part of the ministry of Christ. We have all that He has. Everything that you head has, your body has too! It is this relationship that enables us to live in such close relationship with God as was never seen before.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Imagination!
I've been boiling this down and down and following a theme I haven't intentionally followed, but God keeps laying stuff in my path that is the next thought in the line! And I mean God is doing it, because I'm not coming up with this stuff. I turn on the TV and there's the next bit, I open a book and there's the next bit! (OK I don't open books, but you get the point! I am just taking the seeds I see in different places, and those seeds are bursting into fruit in me!)
Imagination, boy is this getting simple!! Let me ask you a few questions:
Do you have an imagination?
Can you use your imagination to imagine really good things like if you had loads of money?
Does your imagination sometimes create black pictures all by itself?
Those black pictures are worry, fear, anxiety and so on. Jesus said don't be anxious for anything. The bible tells us to fear not and to cast our cares onto Him.
Now, you've just agreed that you control your imagination to think good things, so this is what the Bible is saying, take control. Now, it doesn't say, "Don't think of pink elephants!" You know what that means, the more you try not to think of pink elephants the more you think of them!
The bible tells us what to imagine. It tells us to imagine picking up our junk and throwing it at God's feet. I tells us to imagine that God is taking care of it. It tells us to imagine that we are free of it.
But what if it gets up and comes back? Then we imagine we pick it up and throw it down, again and again until it doesn't get up anymore!
It is almost impossible to throw a thought our of your mind, you have to create a new thought to replace it. We can do it. If you can imagine what it would be like to have lots of money when you haven't got lots of money then you have already seen yourself doing that very thing! You cheer yourself up with dreams. Over here we dream about winning the lottery, even though we personally don't do it, but for the unbeliever say, it is vanity, completely empty and void of any reality. Yet, even though there is no hope attached to what they imagine, or a hope of 1 in 14,000,000. Then how much more can we imagine ourselves happy when we has an absolute odds on certainty that God is taking care of our problems, because His word says so!
So, my advice to you is - start day dreaming!!! Obviously, not day dreams we naturally dream but dreams and imaginations connected with the promises of God! I have heard people try and do the "Well in the Greek!" on the "In my Father's house are many mansions!" Hey, dream about that mansion!
So, when you are in a place of negative imagination, imagine your way out of it. There is no reality, only perception, and God's perception is the only reality! So, change your perception to match His.
Imagine!
Imagination, boy is this getting simple!! Let me ask you a few questions:
Do you have an imagination?
Can you use your imagination to imagine really good things like if you had loads of money?
Does your imagination sometimes create black pictures all by itself?
Those black pictures are worry, fear, anxiety and so on. Jesus said don't be anxious for anything. The bible tells us to fear not and to cast our cares onto Him.
Now, you've just agreed that you control your imagination to think good things, so this is what the Bible is saying, take control. Now, it doesn't say, "Don't think of pink elephants!" You know what that means, the more you try not to think of pink elephants the more you think of them!
The bible tells us what to imagine. It tells us to imagine picking up our junk and throwing it at God's feet. I tells us to imagine that God is taking care of it. It tells us to imagine that we are free of it.
But what if it gets up and comes back? Then we imagine we pick it up and throw it down, again and again until it doesn't get up anymore!
It is almost impossible to throw a thought our of your mind, you have to create a new thought to replace it. We can do it. If you can imagine what it would be like to have lots of money when you haven't got lots of money then you have already seen yourself doing that very thing! You cheer yourself up with dreams. Over here we dream about winning the lottery, even though we personally don't do it, but for the unbeliever say, it is vanity, completely empty and void of any reality. Yet, even though there is no hope attached to what they imagine, or a hope of 1 in 14,000,000. Then how much more can we imagine ourselves happy when we has an absolute odds on certainty that God is taking care of our problems, because His word says so!
So, my advice to you is - start day dreaming!!! Obviously, not day dreams we naturally dream but dreams and imaginations connected with the promises of God! I have heard people try and do the "Well in the Greek!" on the "In my Father's house are many mansions!" Hey, dream about that mansion!
So, when you are in a place of negative imagination, imagine your way out of it. There is no reality, only perception, and God's perception is the only reality! So, change your perception to match His.
Imagine!
Monday, 18 August 2008
Your problem is not your problem!
We can look at that statement two ways, Firstly, if you are a Christian your problem belongs to Jesus. We are told to cast our cares onto Him because He cares for us. The other way of looking at it is that it isn't our problem that is our problem but our attitude to our problem!
What is your problem? Whatever your problem is, God is bigger! He tells us to give Him our problems. He wants to deal with our issues for us so that we will deal with His. What use are we to the work of the kingdom if all of our energies are focused onto just getting through life. Jesus promised us life in abundance. But if we act like the unsaved, like those with no faith, like those with no hope, by merely focusing on the issues of life as if to say that these are all there is, that these are what life is all about, then we are no use at all.
Jesus took our sins onto Himself so that we could take on His righteousness, If He can do that and we can believe that then why can't we believe that He can deal with our problems better than we can?
The other side of this is that God wants us to develop character. I meet so many would be Christian helpers. They are people who see someone in need and with twitching hands can't wait to do a great work of charity. However, the moment it becomes hard work, you should hear what ungodly, unchristian stuff comes out of their mouths. Unfogiveness, lack of mercy! "How dare they talk to me like that!", "After all I've done for them!" These are the spec removers of life!
When John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, was in prison he doubted whether Jesus was the one (And we call Thomas the doubter!) On the other hand when Paul was in prison he praised God. Both had exactly the same problem, but they had completely different attitudes to the same problem. One lost his head (literally) the other was set free!
So, we should not focus on our problems. We should cast them onto the Lord and let Him deal with them. We should have forgiveness and mercy, because that is the work of the kingdom! Our focus should be on God, not our problems.
What is your problem? Whatever your problem is, God is bigger! He tells us to give Him our problems. He wants to deal with our issues for us so that we will deal with His. What use are we to the work of the kingdom if all of our energies are focused onto just getting through life. Jesus promised us life in abundance. But if we act like the unsaved, like those with no faith, like those with no hope, by merely focusing on the issues of life as if to say that these are all there is, that these are what life is all about, then we are no use at all.
Jesus took our sins onto Himself so that we could take on His righteousness, If He can do that and we can believe that then why can't we believe that He can deal with our problems better than we can?
The other side of this is that God wants us to develop character. I meet so many would be Christian helpers. They are people who see someone in need and with twitching hands can't wait to do a great work of charity. However, the moment it becomes hard work, you should hear what ungodly, unchristian stuff comes out of their mouths. Unfogiveness, lack of mercy! "How dare they talk to me like that!", "After all I've done for them!" These are the spec removers of life!
When John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, was in prison he doubted whether Jesus was the one (And we call Thomas the doubter!) On the other hand when Paul was in prison he praised God. Both had exactly the same problem, but they had completely different attitudes to the same problem. One lost his head (literally) the other was set free!
So, we should not focus on our problems. We should cast them onto the Lord and let Him deal with them. We should have forgiveness and mercy, because that is the work of the kingdom! Our focus should be on God, not our problems.
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Thermastats and thermometers!
What's the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat?!!
A thermometer tells it like it is. They give it to you straight. They are honest, reliable and dependable. If you want to know the temperature then you ask a thermometer!
A thermostat on the other hand tells it like it's going to be! They aren't interested in what it is they want to get it to where it should be. If you set the thermostat to 21C/70F and it's 18C/70F, then the thermometer will be telling you what it is but if you go to the thermostat it will look like something it isn't! Now, is the thermostat lying? After all it is saying it is hotter or cooler than it really is! The thermostat isn't lying, the thermostat is set. It is plugged into the power source and it has faith that even though it is a small isolated and remote part of that power source it has the power to change things. Faith is believing in what you don't see. If you can see it you don't need faith anymore!
The first thing that has to change is the attitude of the thermostat. It has to be set to the desired temperature. Then once it is set and stating the required temperature then the power source will follow the faith of the thermostat. However, if the thermostat is only showing the actual temperature then although it has all of the ability of a thermostat to change things it is acting like a mere thermometer!
"18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor 4:18
"27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, " 1 Corinthians 1:27-18
"19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19
'38"I speak the things which I have seen with My Father;' John 8:38
A thermometer tells it like it is. They give it to you straight. They are honest, reliable and dependable. If you want to know the temperature then you ask a thermometer!
A thermostat on the other hand tells it like it's going to be! They aren't interested in what it is they want to get it to where it should be. If you set the thermostat to 21C/70F and it's 18C/70F, then the thermometer will be telling you what it is but if you go to the thermostat it will look like something it isn't! Now, is the thermostat lying? After all it is saying it is hotter or cooler than it really is! The thermostat isn't lying, the thermostat is set. It is plugged into the power source and it has faith that even though it is a small isolated and remote part of that power source it has the power to change things. Faith is believing in what you don't see. If you can see it you don't need faith anymore!
The first thing that has to change is the attitude of the thermostat. It has to be set to the desired temperature. Then once it is set and stating the required temperature then the power source will follow the faith of the thermostat. However, if the thermostat is only showing the actual temperature then although it has all of the ability of a thermostat to change things it is acting like a mere thermometer!
"18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor 4:18
"27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, " 1 Corinthians 1:27-18
"19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19
'38"I speak the things which I have seen with My Father;' John 8:38
Thursday, 14 August 2008
The widows mite!!
Don't you just love it when you suddenly discover that every sermon you have ever heard on a particular verse is wrong?!! Amazing, How many more verses are there? Actually I appreciate that some people hate the idea of someone coming along and telling them that their assumptions are wrong. I guess I have a prophet's attitude!!
Here goes. The story of the widows mite appears in Luke and Mark. In both it is placed in the same ongoing narrative. It is placed on the Wednesday of passion week. Jesus is berating the Pharisees and the false teachers and the false practices.
I had always thought that in that passage of the widow Jesus said, "And her gift was seen by God!" Or something like that.
Anyway, the usual sermon is that this woman gave more than the others and this was praise worthy. Therefore we should give sacrificially too! However, that is all implied. Jesus doesn't say anything about her gift in terms of whether it was good.
In the passages before He is berating the Pharisees and in the passages after He talks about the Temple being torn down. The context is condemnation. In the verse immediately before he talks about those who devour widows houses, and then sees this living example of that practice!!
Jesus is not stopping in the middle of a tirade to say, "Now let's have a little study on giving!" He is furious that this woman is being made to pay a tax, placed on her by the religious order when the only way she can pay that tax is from everything she has!
The only other conclusion, if the "Sacrificial givers" are to be believed, is that we are to give everything we have to live on and totally trust in God!! But Jesus doesn't say to His disciples, "Do ye likewise!!"
There is another favourite of these people, and that is where David was offered a threshing floor and some bulls to sacrifice. David says he must buy them because he will not give out of that which cost him nothing. These "Sacrificial givers" twist this to say, "Therefore giving must be sacrificial!" Hold on, he didn't say anything about how much he paid for it, what he was saying was that his offering needs to be his offering and not someone else's!! There is not mention at all about this being "sacrificial" for David, Only that he needed to feel that he had earned it to give it. I have heard people actually use this verse to say that we should give even of the gifts that are given to us. I can assure you, these people are pharisees to the max!!
Here goes. The story of the widows mite appears in Luke and Mark. In both it is placed in the same ongoing narrative. It is placed on the Wednesday of passion week. Jesus is berating the Pharisees and the false teachers and the false practices.
I had always thought that in that passage of the widow Jesus said, "And her gift was seen by God!" Or something like that.
Anyway, the usual sermon is that this woman gave more than the others and this was praise worthy. Therefore we should give sacrificially too! However, that is all implied. Jesus doesn't say anything about her gift in terms of whether it was good.
In the passages before He is berating the Pharisees and in the passages after He talks about the Temple being torn down. The context is condemnation. In the verse immediately before he talks about those who devour widows houses, and then sees this living example of that practice!!
Jesus is not stopping in the middle of a tirade to say, "Now let's have a little study on giving!" He is furious that this woman is being made to pay a tax, placed on her by the religious order when the only way she can pay that tax is from everything she has!
The only other conclusion, if the "Sacrificial givers" are to be believed, is that we are to give everything we have to live on and totally trust in God!! But Jesus doesn't say to His disciples, "Do ye likewise!!"
There is another favourite of these people, and that is where David was offered a threshing floor and some bulls to sacrifice. David says he must buy them because he will not give out of that which cost him nothing. These "Sacrificial givers" twist this to say, "Therefore giving must be sacrificial!" Hold on, he didn't say anything about how much he paid for it, what he was saying was that his offering needs to be his offering and not someone else's!! There is not mention at all about this being "sacrificial" for David, Only that he needed to feel that he had earned it to give it. I have heard people actually use this verse to say that we should give even of the gifts that are given to us. I can assure you, these people are pharisees to the max!!
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Priest and Prophet
I feel I may have written on this subject before. But I feel I need to write on it again.
This Subject appeals to me ever since a friend of mine told me about it in a very comforting way. My friend is from a very high church traditionalist background, yet he was very insightful on this subject.
I had been wondering why I didn't feel like I fitted into the fabric of the church. Within the local church I had all kinds or roles yet the moment I tried for any kind of ministry I couldn't fit in. My friend pointed out that the church today is run very much on the basis of the priest and that I was a prophet! What's the difference, well, I wish I had taped what he said! It was brilliant. Since then I have been trying to develop my own understanding.
I have tuned in whenever I have heard people talking about this subject, which isn't often! But most speak in very lose terms. Some will point out that in the Old Testament the Prophet was higher authority than the king. Some will point out that the priest and then through to the high priest was man's representative before God, whereas the prophet was God's representative before man. Both of these are true.
The priest is a person of ritual and procedure. They are a person of order, regularity and ceremony. They were also a person of received practice. Very often the priest would carry out the duties give him and taught him without question. The questions an individual may have would probably be asked during the training.
The prophet on the other hand has a nature of randomness. Rather than being tuned into the people and tradition, he is tuned into God. That may sound offensive to the priest who would also say he is tuned into God, but if that were sufficient then God would not need prophets! The problem for the priest is that carrying out the procedures can become such a habit that there becomes a strong reluctance for change. The prophet is ready to go where God sends. The priest will stay with the people.
In the New Testament, we are all called priests, yet within the church we have people marked out as priests. There is no precedent for this in the New Testament. However, we have people who by nature are so priestly they are like little automatons going through priestly duties. They cannot see it any other way. Ironically we are old that not all are prophets, however, we are also told that all can prophecy and should seek for prophesy!
So, if we have people who, by nature are priests, who have taken over the church, hijacked it from what it was meant to be - Should those who are prophets by nature let them make us feel unwelcome?
I could see three positions in thinking for the prophet:
I don't know why I don't fit in.
I know why I don't fit in and that doesn't make it any easier.
I know why I don't fit in but I know that God wants me there.
Of course you might not know why you don't fit in but feel God wants you there. But knowing your role in God's scheme is a great asset. It doesn't make it any easier, but then no one said we were here for an easy life! It doesn't make it easier but it gives purpose.
God doesn't actually want His church run by a few who mark themselves out as priests over the priesthood of all believers. Believers are trapped under an Old Testament religion. The church is run like the temple in miniature. But that wasn't how it was meant to be. Temple;e worship was of the Jews, not of the Christians. Nowhere is the church instructed to carry out temple style worship.
Now, those who no this have two choices (probably more!!) They can either take this as a sign to go out and do it right. The problem with that is that those who have the nature of a prophet generally don't warm people. People tend to be drawn to priests, like sheep to shepherds. There is no reason in the Bible to not be with other believers so that only leaves one other option as I see it!! To be a pain in the backside, a thorn in the side of the priests!!
When Jesus did it, He picked the most inopportune moment during the high festivals to announce that He was the way. Many of the statements He made such as, "I am the light of the world" and "If any one is thirsty" were said during the very moment when the priests were performing the ritual of light or water!!
Now, that takes a lot and will probably find you out of fellowship in no time!! However, the way I feel we should go is to trust in the ministry that God has given us. If you are not in the church then God cannot work through you to balance the church and make it think. However, if you are there then God can use you in the church. Understand that as much as God loves the people in the church, He doesn't love what they have made of it any more than He loved what the Jews had made of the temple!! He will not strike the church down and when they pray He answers. But, if they wont listen to Him He needs people who will go in through whom He can work to bring about His will in the church.
The ultimate end is not to have priests and prophets, but that we would all recognise that we are all priests and prophets! As much as priests hijack the church, so unbalanced prophets can't stand the church!
This Subject appeals to me ever since a friend of mine told me about it in a very comforting way. My friend is from a very high church traditionalist background, yet he was very insightful on this subject.
I had been wondering why I didn't feel like I fitted into the fabric of the church. Within the local church I had all kinds or roles yet the moment I tried for any kind of ministry I couldn't fit in. My friend pointed out that the church today is run very much on the basis of the priest and that I was a prophet! What's the difference, well, I wish I had taped what he said! It was brilliant. Since then I have been trying to develop my own understanding.
I have tuned in whenever I have heard people talking about this subject, which isn't often! But most speak in very lose terms. Some will point out that in the Old Testament the Prophet was higher authority than the king. Some will point out that the priest and then through to the high priest was man's representative before God, whereas the prophet was God's representative before man. Both of these are true.
The priest is a person of ritual and procedure. They are a person of order, regularity and ceremony. They were also a person of received practice. Very often the priest would carry out the duties give him and taught him without question. The questions an individual may have would probably be asked during the training.
The prophet on the other hand has a nature of randomness. Rather than being tuned into the people and tradition, he is tuned into God. That may sound offensive to the priest who would also say he is tuned into God, but if that were sufficient then God would not need prophets! The problem for the priest is that carrying out the procedures can become such a habit that there becomes a strong reluctance for change. The prophet is ready to go where God sends. The priest will stay with the people.
In the New Testament, we are all called priests, yet within the church we have people marked out as priests. There is no precedent for this in the New Testament. However, we have people who by nature are so priestly they are like little automatons going through priestly duties. They cannot see it any other way. Ironically we are old that not all are prophets, however, we are also told that all can prophecy and should seek for prophesy!
So, if we have people who, by nature are priests, who have taken over the church, hijacked it from what it was meant to be - Should those who are prophets by nature let them make us feel unwelcome?
I could see three positions in thinking for the prophet:
I don't know why I don't fit in.
I know why I don't fit in and that doesn't make it any easier.
I know why I don't fit in but I know that God wants me there.
Of course you might not know why you don't fit in but feel God wants you there. But knowing your role in God's scheme is a great asset. It doesn't make it any easier, but then no one said we were here for an easy life! It doesn't make it easier but it gives purpose.
God doesn't actually want His church run by a few who mark themselves out as priests over the priesthood of all believers. Believers are trapped under an Old Testament religion. The church is run like the temple in miniature. But that wasn't how it was meant to be. Temple;e worship was of the Jews, not of the Christians. Nowhere is the church instructed to carry out temple style worship.
Now, those who no this have two choices (probably more!!) They can either take this as a sign to go out and do it right. The problem with that is that those who have the nature of a prophet generally don't warm people. People tend to be drawn to priests, like sheep to shepherds. There is no reason in the Bible to not be with other believers so that only leaves one other option as I see it!! To be a pain in the backside, a thorn in the side of the priests!!
When Jesus did it, He picked the most inopportune moment during the high festivals to announce that He was the way. Many of the statements He made such as, "I am the light of the world" and "If any one is thirsty" were said during the very moment when the priests were performing the ritual of light or water!!
Now, that takes a lot and will probably find you out of fellowship in no time!! However, the way I feel we should go is to trust in the ministry that God has given us. If you are not in the church then God cannot work through you to balance the church and make it think. However, if you are there then God can use you in the church. Understand that as much as God loves the people in the church, He doesn't love what they have made of it any more than He loved what the Jews had made of the temple!! He will not strike the church down and when they pray He answers. But, if they wont listen to Him He needs people who will go in through whom He can work to bring about His will in the church.
The ultimate end is not to have priests and prophets, but that we would all recognise that we are all priests and prophets! As much as priests hijack the church, so unbalanced prophets can't stand the church!
Monday, 11 August 2008
One of those supposed Bible errors!!
I was reminded earlier about this apparent contradiction. It is one of those verses that those with half a brain like to pounce on!! The Bible is allegedly "full" of contradictions, and this is the best they can come up with!!
"23Now he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference. 24Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest. 25It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. 26It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths." 1 Kings 7:23-26
OK, in here are some simple maths measurements. We have a diameter and a circumference. We remember that from maths don't we?!
OK, the circumference is 2 times pi times the radius, or as I preferred to condense it, pi times the diameter! Pi is some weird number like, 3.1415 and so on ad infintitum!
So we have a diameter of ten and a circumference of thirty. Now even with quick mental maths we can see that thirty is 3 times ten and not 3.1415 times ten! Now, am I going to say that they were talking roughly?! No, they were very precise. The problem is that looking at it it would seem if we say the bible is infallible then here we have a very simple maths error.
Here's how to do the maths, for those who don't know and think this is an error!
The measurement from brim to brim, is the external diameter. The circumference is the internal measurement! The brim is said to be a handswidth thick. Now it is not really known what these two measurements were if converted into inches, but for arguments sake let's say a hand's breadth is what we call a hand, which is 4 inches. Now let's take the standard measure of a cubit as 18 inches.
The diameter is ten times 18 minus two times 4 which is 172 inches. Now, 3.1415 times 172=540.338 inches, if we divide that by 18 we get 30.0187 cubits. Now, we don't know the exact measurements of a hand or a cubit as they used them, but I would say that even guessing at them that comes out pretty damn acurate, wouldn't you?!!
"23Now he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference. 24Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest. 25It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. 26It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths." 1 Kings 7:23-26
OK, in here are some simple maths measurements. We have a diameter and a circumference. We remember that from maths don't we?!
OK, the circumference is 2 times pi times the radius, or as I preferred to condense it, pi times the diameter! Pi is some weird number like, 3.1415 and so on ad infintitum!
So we have a diameter of ten and a circumference of thirty. Now even with quick mental maths we can see that thirty is 3 times ten and not 3.1415 times ten! Now, am I going to say that they were talking roughly?! No, they were very precise. The problem is that looking at it it would seem if we say the bible is infallible then here we have a very simple maths error.
Here's how to do the maths, for those who don't know and think this is an error!
The measurement from brim to brim, is the external diameter. The circumference is the internal measurement! The brim is said to be a handswidth thick. Now it is not really known what these two measurements were if converted into inches, but for arguments sake let's say a hand's breadth is what we call a hand, which is 4 inches. Now let's take the standard measure of a cubit as 18 inches.
The diameter is ten times 18 minus two times 4 which is 172 inches. Now, 3.1415 times 172=540.338 inches, if we divide that by 18 we get 30.0187 cubits. Now, we don't know the exact measurements of a hand or a cubit as they used them, but I would say that even guessing at them that comes out pretty damn acurate, wouldn't you?!!
Saturday, 2 August 2008
By Jove I think I've got it!!
These past few days sinse getting this revelation of faith, it is like my eyes and everything has been openned. When I hear certain preachers now they resinate, I think, "Yes, I've got it too!" Sadly others, make me realise they haven't got it!! When I hear certain worship songs, they resinate too. It's what they have all been trying to tell me all along!!
God's Spirit is so gentle. He has been telling me and telling me so gently. I could kick myself for taking so long to get it, but then the Holy Spirit is perfect and He decided to take this long for it to sink in!!
A pastor at a previous church used to say that he was in the final revelation for the church! Yet looking back he missed the big one! He wasn't in the "Trust God," nature. He was in the "trust God" words, but it hadn't become his nature. He didn't naturally trust God. He would say, "Trust God " and then act and speak inways that showed he didn't really and fully. Yet there are some many out there who do. The wheat and the tares.
I was watching a guy last night who, my descernment, tells me, has become an expert in impersinating others who have it. That is no bad thing. Pauls tells us to be impersinators of those who have it! That is how we get it. By the continuous repertition of word and action.
How do we learn to drive a car? How do we become the kind of people who drive to the shops and then can't remeber a single thing about the journey? We drive like it is part of our nature to drive. We get there through continual word and action. We start of with the word dril, "Mirror, singal, maneuver!" When say that as we go through the actions. Now we do it with out having to think about it. If we do think about whether we did it right, it becomes scary, "Oh, I wonder whether I checked my mirror!!"
Trusting God, needs to be in our nature, it needs to become automatic. Not automatic in the sense of when it's needed but continuously, like breathing and blinking. I ofetn joke when people say they have pain when they breathe, I say, "Have you tried not breathing, see if that works!!" You can't stop breathing, you can't stop blinking. I really hope that I can't stop trusting God!!
God's Spirit is so gentle. He has been telling me and telling me so gently. I could kick myself for taking so long to get it, but then the Holy Spirit is perfect and He decided to take this long for it to sink in!!
A pastor at a previous church used to say that he was in the final revelation for the church! Yet looking back he missed the big one! He wasn't in the "Trust God," nature. He was in the "trust God" words, but it hadn't become his nature. He didn't naturally trust God. He would say, "Trust God " and then act and speak inways that showed he didn't really and fully. Yet there are some many out there who do. The wheat and the tares.
I was watching a guy last night who, my descernment, tells me, has become an expert in impersinating others who have it. That is no bad thing. Pauls tells us to be impersinators of those who have it! That is how we get it. By the continuous repertition of word and action.
How do we learn to drive a car? How do we become the kind of people who drive to the shops and then can't remeber a single thing about the journey? We drive like it is part of our nature to drive. We get there through continual word and action. We start of with the word dril, "Mirror, singal, maneuver!" When say that as we go through the actions. Now we do it with out having to think about it. If we do think about whether we did it right, it becomes scary, "Oh, I wonder whether I checked my mirror!!"
Trusting God, needs to be in our nature, it needs to become automatic. Not automatic in the sense of when it's needed but continuously, like breathing and blinking. I ofetn joke when people say they have pain when they breathe, I say, "Have you tried not breathing, see if that works!!" You can't stop breathing, you can't stop blinking. I really hope that I can't stop trusting God!!
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