Lesson From The Judges

The book of Judges is not a great bedtime read. If you're looking for a book that will leave you feeling filled with optimism than I suggest the Book of Ruth. (Which conveniently follows the Book of Judges in God's eternal grace) But if you want a stark reminder of  the effect that our stubborn and rebellious nature will produce than this is the book for you.

Starting in the first chapter we hear the story of the failure that Israel exhibited over and over. (Literally over eight times we see the phrase, "but they did not drive them out") Charged with the task of driving out the people from the land that God had given them they found occasion after occasion to disregard His instructions. The price of their disobedience haunts the nation of Israel to this day. Sin always has a price and that behavior left unchecked impacts not only us but our loved ones as well. Check out chapter two for these sad words, ". . . and another generation grew up after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. Then the Israelite's did what was evil in the sight of the Lord . . . and they abandoned the Lord."

Remember . . .

When Jesus gives us a command we would be wise to not only obey, but to examine all of the context surrounding His request. For instance, in the book of Luke 17:32 we see that Jesus instructs us to "Remember Lot's wife". So who was Lot's wife and why should we remember her?

Chapter 17 of Luke starts off with Jesus talking about the tug of sin on our lives. He segues into forgiveness and faith (He is teaching His disciples during this part of the chapter) and then as they are traveling to Jerusalem they encounter ten men infected with leprosy. The ten men stood at a distance (as required by law) and called out to Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus instructed them to report to their priests and as they went they were healed! (Another reminder that almost every time Jesus healed someone in the Bible he required a faith action before they were healed)

Problems with Christianity

By the time he got to Yale University, it wasn’t the logical arguments that made him turn his back on Jesus. It was the way kids in the youth group had marginalized him.

“More often than not people’s problems with Christianity don’t have to do with intellectual hang-ups but with the stories of hurt, stories of rejection, stories of people who are supposed to embody the gospel in a compelling and endearing way, they end up doing the opposite,” says Dr. Paul C. H. Lim in the video embed above.. 

Highly recommended, around 50 minutes in length. 

I Love Games

I have so many nerdy hobbies that it can't be a surprise that I also love to play board games. When I was a child we played several games growing up, Clue, Careers, Monopoly, Parcheesi, Carom, Sorry, Life, Chess were some of my favorite board games. We also loved to play Ping Pong, Basketball, Football and Table Top Hockey. Looking back the noise we made playing that hockey game on the kitchen table had to drive my parents bonkers. (Thanks again Mom and Dad!)

In high school I discovered Avalon Hill war games. Panzer Blitz, Gettysburg, Tactics II, Kingmaker and of course, Diplomacy. (The only game guaranteed to destroy friendships in less than the duration of the game itself) In college D&D was growing in popularity and with my active imagination I fell in love with that game. (Go Rowlf! - Palladin / Cleric with a killer hammer)

After work become the driving force in my life I gave up most games until I got married in my very late 30's. Children games became fun again, Chutes and Ladders, Enchanted Forest, Labyrinth, Connect 4, Battleship and Uno were the games of choice. Later, Ticket To Ride, Pandemic, Monopoly, and Stratego were fun distractions until the boys moved out and my daughter discovered boys.

What's next? Hopefully a season of time where our kids will bring their growing families and friends over so that together we can discover the next generation of great board games.