WHY BE HOLY?

I am reading through Ezekiel, which is not always easy going. In fact I've come to chapters 40 - 48 through which I will once again read very quickly. But before I leave Ezekiel, I note how God wants Israel and the nations to recognize and know that He is God. And more than that, to recognize that He is a Holy God.
"And so I will show my greatness and my holiness" (38:23); "I will make known my Holy Name --- and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel." (39:7) The true God, our God, is so different from gods created by humans to replace Him.
The nations surrounding Israel didn't know much about a righteous, holy deity. Their gods and goddesses were unpredictable, sometimes bloodthirsty, encourage sexual immorality, etc.
As a believer, what motivates you - and me - to live holy, righteous, pure lives? I think there are a number of valid motivations. But surely one is this: God wants people to know that He is righteous and holy. One strong pointer to God's character is found in people who reflect, who mirror His character. So I am called to grow in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I am called to be "perfect, complete or holy" as God is holy. I am to show people what God is like by who I am and how I live.
Something of God's love must be seen in the lives of those who follow Jesus. Added to this, in a world of dishonesty and mistrust; a world of theft and cheating; the righteousness and purity of God should be reflected in the lives of Christians. As people see in us a combination of righteous character coupled with genuine love they will be pointed to the Holy Loving God we worship. The kind of God that many people would like to know and worship with us.

THE SHEPHERDS

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel (kings, priests, prophets) who had failed His people so badly. These leaders are condemned for being self absorbed, caring only about their own desires and needs. They failed to do for Israel what good shepherds do for real sheep (Ezekiel 34: 1 - 4)
- strengthen the weak
- heal the sick
- bind up the injured
- bring back the ones that stray
- search of the lost sheep.
The spiritual shepherds of Israel failed to care in that way for the people under their care, the nation of Israel.
In contrast, God promises that in a future day He will send the "Good Shepherd", descended from King David. (Ezekiel 34:23, 24; John 10:1) We praise God for "that great Shepherd of the sheep" (Hebrews 13:20).
I hope you often pray for those who serve as pastors and elders, the shepherds of God's people today. They serve under the one Chief Shepherd. (I Peter 5: 1- 4) It is a privilege to lead and care for God's people. It is also an awesome responsibility.

PRAISE OF EVERY TONGUE

At 6:15 am today, Saturday already in Vietnam, I woke and switched on the live broadcast of the Olympics opening ceremony. It was the last hour of the program as I watched the Olympic flag carried in and raised. They played the Olympic song and the Olympic oaths were spoken by an athlete, an official and a coach. I saw the entry of the Olympic flame and the dramatic lighting of the huge Olympic torch.  The program ended with Paul McCartney singing the Beatles well known song “Hey Jude.” He led the hundreds of athletes and 60,000 spectators in a kind of “sing along” with many holding hands.

I enjoyed it, but I also had a kind of sad feeling as I watched this part of the ceremony. It was wonderful to see so many from over a hundred nations coming together in peace. This kind of unity and non-violent coming together (OK, there is a little a violence in some Olympic sports including boxing), if only for a few days, is a very positive thing.

But as a follower of Jesus, I couldn’t help but wish the flag that was being raised was in honour of our God and King. When the oaths were read, I wished they were oaths of loyalty to Jesus. When the massive Olympic torch was raised, I wanted it to be in honour of our Creator and Lord.

Later in the morning (after 50 minutes in the fitness room) I read a few pages in Ezekiel, chapters 25 – 32. God warns of coming destruction of Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt. All of these nations had been enemies of God’s chosen people. He prophesies that they will judged and punished.

An important phrase is repeated at least eleven times in these chapters. “Then they (you) will know that I am the Lord. This is what God wants from nations and individuals. That is what I was wanting as I watched the Olympic spectacular – that the thousands in the stadium and the estimated one billion watching around the world would know the King and be united in worship of Him.

What caused my sad feeling was what Matt Redman has written and sung in “Missions Flame”:

“You should be the praise of every tongue. You should be the joy of every heart.”

We followers of Jesus must continue to go and serve; go and tell because centered in Christ Jesus we offer the Good News that brings so much more joy, peace and unity. We have so much more to live for, so much more to sing about, so much more. We must keep sharing what God offers to all. Our God deserves to be praised and worshipped by every one of His creatures.

OF SOME VALUE

Our apartment building fitness room opened shortly before Jan and I left for Canada and the USA in early June. I managed to use it six times during the two weeks before we departed. During the next six weeks, my most strenuous exercise was three games of golf and wrestling with our grandchildren on the floor and in the pool. (Try that sometime with very active 3 and 6 year olds. It is a fun way to exercise.)
We are now settled back into life in Hanoi and it feels good to be settled into a routine again. That routine so far for me has included workouts 3 or 4 times a week on the treadmill and weight machine.
"For physical exercise is of some value ---." In my case that value is to keep my heart strong and pumping and help keep my arteries clears. So I will do my best to keep up the exercise routine, though I don't think I'll ever graduate to a marathon like some of my friends.
"--- but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." I Timothy 4:8
For your physical and mental health, I hope you are getting some exercise this summer. Much more important, join me in the pursuit of godliness. With discipline, the Scriptures and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we will become more like Jesus. 

BY EVERY WORD

I enjoy reading - fast and slow. Since returning to Vietnam I have begun to access our Canadian library costing nothing but a $9.00 library card fee. So now for free, I can download a fiction book, or a light biography and read it quickly. On the other hand I am reading a theological book on my Kindle that is fairly dense and requires a much slower pace, with some words whose definition I can only guess from context.
Then there is the reading of Scripture that I do daily. I am preparing to preach this week on II Timothy 3:14 - 17 as part of a nine week summer series. It is a familiar passage with the familiar phrase "All Scripture is inspired or God breathed". I put that with the words of Jesus when He is tempted in the desert? "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matt. 4:11
When Jesus spoke, His words were "from the mouth of God." And when Scripture was written it was God breathed - as though from the mouth of God - coming through the personality of the human writer. That is why for example Jesus says "God said" when in reality He quotes words written by Moses.
All of the above to say don't ever stop appreciating this fact: of the millions of books on planet earth - hard copies and ebooks - only one is specially God breathed. Only one book provides us the absolutely trustworthy words from God.
I know most of you reading this blog; perhaps all of you, believe this to be true. Yet how then can we allow ourselves to become too busy to spend time reading God's book? How, except for very unusual circumstances, could a serious follower of Jesus say in good conscience "I just don't have time to read these unique words very often?"
Words from God - don't let them become common place or unimportant to you. You cannot live a healthy spiritual life without large amounts of these Words filtering through your mind and soul. 

A HOLY HOTEL

This post was written to be posted last Monday. Internet problems delayed it.

On Sunday, one of our elders gave our church announcements, then prayed for our children as they were dismissed as well as for our offering before it was received.
When he began to speak he shared a family story from the previous week. His four children are between ages 3 and 9 and attend our church services in the Crowne Hotel every week. During the week the family drove by the Hotel. The children started a discussion in the car, with different opinions. The debate was this: is that a hotel or a church? Then one of them referred to the name and suggested that the Crowne in Crowne Plaza Hotel must refer to the Crowne Jesus wears.
So there you have it. Unknown to the owners of the Crowne Plaza on Sunday mornings, their hotel becomes a holy place. Jesus promised that where people gather in His Name, he is there.
Wherever you are in the habit of meeting with God's people: apartment or house; church building or rented school; bamboo hut or hotel: Jesus is there. Holy people, holy place because Jesus is present and we worship Him.

HIDDEN IDOLS

In Ezekiel 14, God accuses the leaders and people of Israel of idolatry. When we think of idolatry here in Asia, we think of temples and statues made of wood or metal. They are easier to find in some countries than in others. In fact you can't avoid them in many countries because they are so numerous. I feel a mixture of sadness, pity and anger whenever I see people bowing, praying or making offerings in front of something that can never help them. Our God should receive their praise and prayers.

However idolatry is not always so obvious. In Ezekiel 14, three times the accusation from God is that these people "have set up idols in their hearts." God's stated desire, and the reason He allows Israel to go through defeat and exile is "to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols."
If you lived back then, the idolatry of many Israelites would have been obvious. They had borrowed the idols and worship practices of neighbouring people groups. They bowed down, prayed and offered sacrifices to gods made of wood, stone or metal.
But it seems that others were not so obvious in their idolatry. In fact chapter 14 begins with "the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me." They evidently wanted to be in touch with God. They were paying attention to the God's prophet. It would appear to an observer that they wanted to know and hear from God. Yet in their hearts they were idolaters.
Millions of people called Christians attend church every Sunday. A significant percentage of these people pray regularly and a smaller percentage read their Bible regularly. It appears that we want to know and hear from God.
Yet it is possible that we have set up idols in our hearts. Anything that takes precedent, takes priority over God; anything that keeps us from obeying and honouring God may become an idol. For some it may be something as evil as pornography or as obvious as a full on life pursuit of money. But other idolaters are not so easy to spot. Good things like family, possessions or career can become idols.

God knows our hearts. It is important that we know our hearts as well. "Lord keep us from idolatry."So we need to pray with the psalmist. "O Lord you have searched me and you know me. ---- Search me, O God and know my heart; --- See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:1 and 23 - 24