The Shack

Hey everyone:

I don't know if Lynda and I will be there on Sunday or not. I'm much improved and will probably be going to work next week. Actually, I worked some today as I attended and took part in public meetings at Centerton at 3PM and 6PM. Hopefully this needed activity won't slow my improvement. But, if I'm able to travel, we need to drive to Oklahoma City and assist Sara for a couple of day and probably bring Ephraim back to stay with us for a while. Richard heads to Boston on Saturday for two weeks of classes for his doctor of ministry program. So, I'll either convalesce here or in OKC.

Where did we get to in The Shack on Sunday? How far should we have read to for class on Jan 17, and probably how far for class on Jan 24th? Help us out who have missed, not just Lynda and me.

Hebrews: Pay More Careful Attention

I am much enjoying our study of Hebrews. The approach of the lesson writers, a series focusing on how things are better since Jesus came, is a novel approach. Let's see, we've had:

• Jesus is superior to angels
• Jesus is great than Moses
• Jesus is the better way of entering God's rest
• Jesus is the greater high priest
• The new covenant in Jesus is superior to the old covenant

Yet, this type of approach overlooks something else in the book that is also important: the commands the writer of Hebrews gives us. The book includes quite a few "Therefore, we must..." type commands. These typically alternate with the "better than" segments. Take the first one:

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

Those who first read Hebrews, or who couldn't read and only heard it read, were at a decided disadvantage to us. They have no New Testament to study. They had no televisions or tape recorders to allow them to hear things over and over again. In their fellowship times, an elder would read from the scriptures that they had--the Old Testament--and then expound on it. It's possible that they might have read from one of Paul's letters, depending on how widely these had been copied and distributed at an early date.

They didn't have commentaries to explain how Jesus fulfilled their scriptures. They didn't have many published books created to help them live the life God wanted for them. Just what they heard.

Perhaps, then, we have less excuse than they did for drifting away. How should we paraphrase the command of Hebrews 2:1 to make it more applicable to our modern era? Perhaps:

Since Jesus is superior to all ministering spirits, we must pay more careful attention to all the life-building information God has sent our way, so that we do not drift away.

Next Life Group Lesson Series

Hey class:

It won't be that long before we will finish Hebrews (six more weeks, I think) and will have to find something else to study. Who has an idea of what to study? Anyone?

Marion and I have begun looking at C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, but it's a tough read. I don't know that we could be ready with that without a lot of preparation--a really lot of preparation.

Here are some thoughts I've had. Anyone else please feel free to comment, shoot these down, add your own.

• Everyone names a favorite chapter of the Bible and we study that. This would last as many weeks as we have people name a chapter.
• A study of Jeremiah, probably lasting 15 or more weeks.
• A study of Mere Christianity. If we have to, we'll be ready.
• A study of the sacraments. What I'm thinking of is the seven sacraments celebrated in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, and our Protestant interpretations of them.

Simon Says

Well, I hope everyone had a good time in class today. I enjoyed catching a couple of people in the game of Simon Says.

I chose the game, and the silly illustration of keeping your Bibles closed, because I wanted to demonstrate how we willing accept authority over us. I think at times we forget why we accept the authority of the Bible, and from time to time we should refresh our minds about it. Peter said it well in the passage we looked at (2 Peter 1:12-2:10a). I will be reading that again this week.

May you be carried along by the Holy Spirit this week as you study God's word.

What One Thing is Strongest of All?

We have completed three weeks of our study; two weeks to go. We have the "wise" answer of the third bodyguard to go, plus the second answer of the one who cheated and gave two answers.

What say you, the Young and the Rest of Us? What do you think the last two answers will be?