Happy Father’s Day to the Greatest Father of All

Our Heavenly Father is the greatest father of all. He created us. Knit us together in our mother’s womb. He helps us when we are helpless.

Stories by Hosea and Luke in the Bible capture our God’s fatherly heart: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” [1]

Our Heavenly Father’s rescue of the Israelites from the labor camps of Pharaoh is a metaphor for His rescue of any sinner from the dominion of darkness. He brings captives out of darkness into His marvelous light.

But in Hosea’s story, this liberty did not last long. Why? The very next verse... “They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.” [2]

After God rescued His people, they submitted themselves to other gods... sex gods... material gods... gods that were not gods, but demons disguised as gods.

“I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.” [3]

The picture above is of a loving father helping his child to walk for the first time. Embracing his child afterwards. Tending and caring for the child when he/she was ill. Being gentle, loving, and responsible to meet the child’s needs.

Later, the loved child made bad choices... “He shall not return to the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent. And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels.” [4]

A reckless bent to sin... a total disregard of warnings led to the child’s demise and devastation.

But wait! Who is that in the distance? It is the child. He is returning. The father has compassion. He runs to his child. Overwhelmed with emotion, he hugs and kisses the child. The child is terribly sorry for hurting his father. The father says to his servants... “’Bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” [5]

Happy Father’s Day to the Greatest Father of all!

[1] Hosea 6:1
[2] Hosea 6:2
[3] Hosea 6:3-4
[4] Hosea 6:5-6
[5] Luke 15:20-24



The Plumb Line & Ripe Fruit

“The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ ‘A plumb line,’ I replied. Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’” [1]

A plumb line measures if a wall is built straight. God holds His plumb line against Israel, to see if they are ‘straight’ according to His Word.

Often, we people have the audacity to put a plumb line up to God and tell Him that He does not measure up to our expectations, and that is bad, but it is even worse when God puts a plumb line to us. Why? Because we, not He, are the ones who all fall short of His glory.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ‘What do you see, Amos?’ He asked. ‘A basket of ripe fruit,’ I answered. Then the Lord said to me, ‘The time is ripe for My people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’” [2]

It is bad when a nation feels the time is ripe to throw God and the Bible away. But it is even worse when God says the time is ripe to no longer spare a nation because it refuses correction.

From the Bible we learn that godly judgment always trumps the judgment of the ungodly.

A song made famous by Frank Sinatra boasts, “It did it my way.” How foolish! God created and sustains the whole universe. He is our Creator. He sent His Son to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven and receive His favor, and yet, we choose to do things our way without Him.

Wise King Solomon wrote, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” And “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.” [3]

Paul told the Corinthian Christians, “I will not boast, except in my infirmities.” “Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” [4] Paul was at his best for the Lord when he was able to boast in his weaknesses because God gave Him power in those moments.

Furthermore, God gave Paul the right motive. He wrote, “We do all things, beloved, for your edification.” [5] His service was about God and others not himself. May the Lord help us to go and do likewise.

[1] Amos 7:7-8
[2] Amos 8:1-2
[3] Proverbs 12:1, 15
[4] 2 Corinthians 12:6, 9-10

Alive from the Dead

Can you imagine inheriting lake front property, but with one caveat? The lake is dead. There is not an ounce of life in it. What’s more, the lake is so dense with salt and mud that your body can float on top of it. Something is seriously wrong with this lake. Fresh water flows into it, but it is dead. Can you guess where this lake front property is?

It is in Israel! It’s the Dead Sea or Yam Hamelakh (The Salt Sea). The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet below sea level. It is thirty-four miles long and varies from two and eleven miles wide. The water is 1,400 feet deep. It is fed by the Jordan River but has no outlet. You cannot catch a fish in it. It has no plant life.

God told Ezekiel that the Dead Sea will live. God uses the metaphor of a resurrected sea to assure His displaced people that one day Israel will become a nation again and they will return to their land, and they will be a people that are ALIVE TO HIM.

God showed Ezekiel water flowing from under the south side of the temple; south of the altar. Ezekiel exited the north gate and saw water trickling out. A man led Ezekiel eastward. He measured the length of the river. During the first 1500 feet of their walk, the water was ankle deep. 1,500 feet later, the water was knee deep. 1,500 feet later, the water was waist deep. 1,500 feet later, over a mile out now, the water was too deep to walk in. Ezekiel had to swim. The man asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then, he led Ezekiel to the riverbank where he saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. The water was flowing eastward towards the desert, where it entered the Dead Sea. This river that flowed out from the temple, turned the Dead Sea into the Living Sea. It gives life wherever it goes. It is a river of life. It produces swarms of living creatures and multitudes of fish. People will fish the Dead Sea from En Gedi to En Eglaim or from one end to the other. There will be many kinds of fish. Swamps and marshes will become fresh. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on its banks. Every month they will bear fruit and their leaves will bring healing, thanks to the Lord. [1]

God told Ezekiel how the land would be divided among the tribes. He uses names of places to identify the boundary lines. God revealed this while the tribes were still in exile. He described where the north, east, south, and west boundary lines would fall. A portion of the land will be for foreigners living among them. In the center of the land will be the sanctuary of the Lord. The sanctuary is consecrated for the Zadokites who were faithful to serve the Lord and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. It is a gift to them. [2]

The gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. Three gates on each side of the city! And the name of the city from that time on will be: “The Lord is there.” [3]

The vision that God gave Prophet Ezekiel is similar to one He gave to Apostle John’s in Revelation 21-22. These prophecies shall be fulfilled. The Lord keeps His promises.

The river that proceeds from God’s temple heals people. They are made alive to God. They want to be where His glory dwells. They want to keep the Sabbath. They want to honor God not self! This is the revival we need! A revival of people glorifying God!

Prophecies of restoration are relevant for us because in some ways WE HAVE BEEN displaced. Christianity no longer enjoys the place it once did in the western world. The Bible, USED to be highly respected. God is saying to us through His prophets not to give up. Do not think the battle is lost. It’s not. If God can make a Dead Sea LIVE, He can raise a dead nation to life as well.

[1] Ezekiel 47:1-12
[2] Ezekiel 47:13-48:12
[3] Ezekiel 48:30-34

Restoring Our Losses

Lay on your left side for 390 days to represent the 390 years that the northern tribes of Israel sinned against God. After that, lay on your right side for 40 days to represent the 40 years the southern tribes of Judah sinned against God. This is what God told Ezekiel to do. He was to embody how sin cripples a nation. [1]

The northerners and southerners of Israel gambled against God and lost. Assyria led the northern tribes into captivity. The Babylonians did the same to the southern tribes.

Can you imagine having to learn to read, write, speak, and understand a foreign language? Eat strange cuisine? Hear that your homeland is under the rule of a foreign power?

How depressing! But thankfully the story doesn’t end there. God is faithful! There is hope!

“I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.” [2]

Praise God for a restoration that He initiates! His own people had profaned His Name among the nations, but that was about to change. He was going to prove His holiness through them.

“I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.” [3]

Homecomings are special events. My stepfather told us how when he received his release papers from the Korean War, he was so happy. He packed his bag and walked away from his barracks. Suddenly, a bomb hit the barracks and blew it up. God was so gracious to my stepfather to bring him home. No enemy blow up God’s plan for us.

God is bringing His people home: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” [4] Praise God for forgiveness, cleansing and for transforming grace!

“I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” Praise God for an appetite to obey! Jesus commanded us to: “Baptize disciples!” “Teach them to obey everything I commanded you.” [5]

“...You will be My people, and I will be your God.” [6] Praise God for restored identification with Him!

“I will call for the grain and make it plentiful. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace.” [7] Praise God for replacing poor production with plentiful production; and for replacing disgrace with grace.

“On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified, and inhabited.” “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [8]

“Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate.” [9] God glories in replanting the uprooted. He enjoys restoring what was lost.

Whether on a national or an individual level, God is able to restore our losses! As Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” [10]

[1] Ezekiel 4:4-6
[2] Ezekiel 36:23
[3] Ezekiel 36:24
[4] Ezekiel 36:25-26
[5] Ezekiel 36:27 & Matthew 28:20
[6] Ezekiel 36:28
[7] Ezekiel 36:29-30
[8] Ezekiel 36:33-34 & Matthew 6:33
[9] Ezekiel 36:36
[10] Luke 19:10

Prophetic Preaching: A Pastoral Approach

“Phillip Wogaman in his book ‘Speaking the Truth in Love’ [1] gives a broad definition of prophetic preaching. He writes. ‘To be prophetic is not necessarily to be adversarial, or even controversial. The word in its Greek form refers to the one who speaks for God.’ He goes on to ask, ‘What does it mean to speak for God?’ Wogaman says, ‘To speak for another is to grasp, first, the mind of the other… genuinely prophetic preaching draws people into the reality of God in such a way that they cannot any longer be content with conventional wisdom and superficial existence.’” [2]

Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm’s definition of prophetic preaching is, “In accordance with the prophetic tradition of Israel and the ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture, prophetic preaching may be understood as divinely inspired speech enlivened by the Holy Spirit in the gathered community of faith. Prophetic preaching proclaims God’s Word from within the Christian tradition against all that threatens God’s reconciling intention for humanity and for all that creates and sustains a vital and necessary ministry of compassion to neighbors near and far. Because it is not exclusively either moral exhortation or predictions regarding future events, prophetic preaching envisions past, present, and future concerns within the context of the reign of God realized in Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit.”

“Ottoni-Wilhem names three essential elements of prophetic preaching that can be discerned from considering Jesus’ own prophetic words and deeds. First, prophetic preaching voices God’s passion for others. It incarnates and gives voice to God’s love for the world revealed in Christ Jesus and using the language of lament, voices God’s deep sorrow over evil and injustice. Second, prophetic preaching proclaims the promises of God. The prophet announces the coming reign of God, which has already broken into our midst in Jesus of Nazareth and gives assurance that God’s promise of a new day of justice and peace and equality will surely come to pass. And third, prophetic preaching points the way to new possibilities. Using the language of imagination, it invites us to envision the new day God intends and to discern how God would creatively use us to help bring that day to completion.” [3]

Walter Brueggemann offers his own definition of prophetic ministry in his now-classic book “The Prophetic Imagination.” “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the conscious and perception of the dominant culture around us.” [4]

“Prophetic witness consists of human acts of justice and kindness that attend to the unjust sources of human hurt and misery. Prophetic witness calls attention to the causes of unjustified suffering and unnecessary social misery. It highlights personal and institutional evil, including the evil of being indifferent to personal and institutional evil.”

“The especial aim of prophetic utterance is to shatter deliberate ignorance and willful blindness to the suffering of others and to expose the clever forms of evaluation and escape we devise in order to hide and conceal injustice. The prophetic goal is to stir up in us the courage to care and empower us to change our lives and our historical circumstances.” [5]

“Prophetic preaching is countercultural and challenges the status quo.”

“Prophetic preaching is concerned with the evils and shortcomings of the present social order and is often more focused on corporate and public issues than on individual and personal concerns.”

“Prophetic preaching requires the preacher to name both what is not of God in the world (criticizing) and the new reality God will bring to pass in the future (energizing).”

“Prophetic preaching offers hope of a new day to come and the promise of liberation to God’s oppressed people.”

“Prophetic preaching incites courage in its hearers and empowers them to work to change the social order.”

“Prophetic proclamation requires of the preacher a heart that breaks with the things that break God’s heart; a passion for justice in the world; the imagination, conviction, and courage to speak words from God; humility and honesty in the preaching moment; and a strong reliance on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.” [6]

“In her book ‘Transforming the Stone’ Barbara Lundblad contends that fear is often at the root of resistances to prophetic preaching. People fear change and the things it might require of them. But Lundblad reminds us that fears do not go away if we sweep them under the rug and refuse to talk about them. It is only as we begin to name them – honestly and forthrightly – and acknowledge the hold they have over our lives that we are able to take the first step toward moving beyond fear to faith and to embracing the whole Gospel God has entrusted to us.”

“Theologian Scott Bader-Saye reminds us that courage is not the absence of fear. Rather courage is the capacity to do what is right and good in the face of fear. We become courageous when we learn to live for something that is more important than our own safety.” Bader-Saye continues: “The courageous person feels fear but is not overcome by it. The courageous person recognizes danger but refuses to let fear get in the way of doing what is right, good, and necessary.”

“By honestly naming our own fears before God and others, we also open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who alone can give us the courage we need to confront and act in the midst of our fears.” [7]

May the Lord grant us the courage to preach prophetically! God’s heart and passion is for social reform that includes repentance of sin, transformation of character, and love for one another.

[1] Ephesians 4:15
[2] Leonora Tubbs Tisdale Prophetic Preaching: A Pastoral Approach, Westminster John Know Press, 100 Witherspoon, Louisville, KY, 40202-1396 © 2010, p. 4
[3] Ibid, p. 5
[4] Ibid, p. 6
[5] Ibid, p. 9
[6] Ibid, p. 10
[7] Ibid, pp. 17-18