Blog Archives

Don't Drop the Ball

7/30/2018

A simple message with profound consequences. Studying the book of Ecclesiastes can be somewhat disconcerting. But the football analogy in this past Sunday's sermon was of good use. Not that I really understand that much about football but I do know that the point of the game is to make a goal. And to do that, you can't lose the ball.
     Our text was from Ecclesiastes 12:8-14. Solomon, the wisest man of all time, is the author of this book. He begins the first chapter stating that "...all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2) And, again in chapter 12, he makes the same statement (verse 8). In verse 10 it states that the preacher sought to find acceptable words. That's what our preacher did today...and it worked.
     Just about everyone knows the Peanuts cartoon strip. Often we see Charlie Brown and Lucy, Lucy is holding the football and Charlie is going to kick it. Without fail, Lucy grabs the ball just as Charlie gets ready to kick it and he falls flat. Things like that can happen to us in life. Just as we're about to accomplish something, it gets pulled out from underneath us. Charlie wants to follow through and kick the ball. Lucy sabotages him. She keeps him from completing his kick.
     In life God would tell us to hold on to the ball. That's how we win the game. We're carrying the gospel of Christ. We have to keep doing it. It's the only way to win the game. If you drop the ball, then you let the whole team down. It doesn't just affect you, it affects everyone. We're carrying the message of Christ to a lost and broken world. We can't get side-tracked. Too many others depend on us to do our part. Especially those we love and want to see saved.
     What is your goal? According to Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13 the sum total of all knowledge is this: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Why? Verse 14 spells it out: "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
     Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon who was gifted with not only wisdom from God but also riches, and honor so that there wouldn't be any other king like him all his days. (I Kings 3:12-13) At the end when there is an accounting, all that has ever been accomplished here on earth is nothing but vanity. The book of Ecclesiastes spells it out. Solomon in all of his wisdom sums it up, "Fear God, and keep his commandments." In other words, don't drop the ball.

God Will Deliver

7/25/2018

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Daniel was probably around 18 years old when he was transported as a captive to the land of Babylon. He so impressed his captors that he was put in charge of much that had to do with Babylon. Even when Babylon was conquered by the Medes and the Persians, he found favor in their eyes, too. By now he was an old man, somewhere around 80 to 90 years old.
     Darius chose three presidents to be over the kingdom. The first and most favored president was Daniel. There were also 120 princes who reported to the presidents. This captive taken from Judah was the president over everything. The other two presidents and the 120 princes were angry.
     The princes and the two presidents were the establishment. Why in the world would Darius the king choose such an ingrate? He wasn't a part of their group. He was an outsider. He didn't belong here ruling the country. They had to get rid of him. So they began to conspire against Daniel.
     Time and energy was spent looking for fault in Daniel. This group would try anything to get rid of him. But few they could find who believed all the untruths and fabrications they launched in Daniel's direction. No fault was found in Daniel and this just worked to make the establishment even more irate. They had to get rid of this interloper.
     A daring plan was afoot. They gathered together and wrote a law. It stated that a royal statute would be built and for 30 days no one could make a request of anyone other than the king. This also included making any requests to any God, aka praying. Once the king signed it, and he did, it became law and could not be rescinded even by the king himself. It also meant that whoever broke this law would be thrown to the lions.
     A short history lesson here: about 450 years earlier, Solomon had made a prayer to God when he dedicated the temple at Jerusalem to God. It is a now-famous prayer and can be found in I Kings 8. In it Solomon asked God to hear the prayers of captives who wound up in other lands. While praying, no matter where they were, they were to face toward the temple and make their prayers. In chapter 9 it says that God appeared to Solomon and told him that he had heard his prayer.
     Daniel heard the new law. But his habit was to pray toward Jerusalem daily and he continued to do so. This was the incident they needed to be rid of him once and for all. Immediately they reported it to the king. Their was no choice. Daniel had to go. But before he went, the king told Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee."
     Daniel was delivered to the lions' den. The king passed the night fasting. When it was morning, he went to the lions' den and yelled for Daniel. Daniel's reply was, "O king, live for ever."
     Now the king was mad. He had been duped into signing a law that had been designed to get rid of Daniel. The demise of the conspirators was the one they planned for Daniel.
     Has mankind changed? Not very much, I suppose. Do people still hate others enough to try any means possible to rid themselves of them? Watch the news, pick up the newspaper, read a current events magazine, then you decide.

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Who is that God?

7/15/2018

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Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of Babylon for 43 years (from 605-562 B.C.). He was a famous ruler who conquered many nations and carried off their inhabitants to serve in Babylon. Among the ones carried off were Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach. Meshach, and Abednego. These three young men were the ones who refused to bow down to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar made. It made him really mad and he threatened to throw them into a fiery furnace.
     King Nebuchadnezzar said, "and who is that God that will deliver you out of my hands?" The swift answer was, "...our God whom we serve..." So, now, the scene was set. They would either die in the fiery furnace for refusing to worship the golden image and its gods or they would be saved by their God, the God of Israel. We all know what happened. When Nebuchadnezzar went to check on them, they were walking in the fire talking to a fourth person. The fourth person turns out to be the Son of God.
     Nebuchadnezzar becomes a believer and he does real good for awhile. Then, he gets to thinking that all of Babylon is great only because of his power and glory. God, our sovereign God, the governor among the nations (Psalm 22:28), sent a dream to Nebuchadnezzar telling him what was going to happen. Less than a year after the dream he went crazy. He finally came to himself and resumed praising God. (Daniel chapters 3 and 4)
     Twenty-three years later while Belshazzar is king of Babylon the unthinkable happens. The Medes and the Persians are camped outside Babylon. Babylon, which has not been invaded for 1,000 years, is swiftly coming to its' end. Belshazzar who knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar and the God of Israel, believes he is invincible. He calls for the most sacred vessels from Solomon's temple to be used at a great party. These are the vessels that God has blessed and are sacred. No wonder that during the party, he is brought up short by a finger writing on the wall from out of nowhere.
     God has paid him a visit. Belshazzar doesn't know the meaning of what is written and calls for Daniel to interpret the words. To sum it up, this is the final insult. He knew the story of Nebuchadnezzar. He knew that God "hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psalm 115:3) He paid the final price for his disrespect for the Almighty God--he died that night. And Babylon fell.

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No More Curse

7/8/2018

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"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;" (Deuteronomy 11:26). Then God goes on to spell out the blessing; obey the commandments of the Lord, and the curse; if you don't obey the commandments of the Lord. Like Pastor Josh said in the Sunday sermon, "God did lots of cursing, he cursed everything." The Book of Deuteronomy is full of curses especially chapters 11, 27, and 28.
    It actually goes back to Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve ate of the tree. God had warned Adam not to eat of the tree (Genesis 2:17) but he did anyway. The first thing God did was curse the serpent. (Genesis 3:14,15) Then he multiplied the sorrow of the woman. (Genesis 3:16). And then he cursed the ground under Adam's feet. (Genesis 3:17) And as a result of that we are plagued to this day with thorns and thistles.
     Pastor Josh told us his Grandpa's story. He had acreage here in Douglas county. And like everyone who has a farm, thistles are a real pain to try and get rid of. The thorny roses around here are a real problem, too. But that's another story.
     Grandpa would load up a pick, shovel, and a heavy bag. Then he would put on heavy gloves and go out into the field and work on getting rid of the thistles. He knew that leaving just one piece of these banes of existence could produce a harvest of new thistles which could spread and take over his field again. They truly are a curse. Because, after all this work, they could still blow in from somewhere else and it would be the same thing all over again.
     The good news is there's a day coming when there will be no more curse. It's in Revelation 22:3. Heaven doesn't have thistles. Heaven doesn't have sin either. Sin is no longer a constant drag on the human spirit. Jesus Christ paid the price for that when he took on the curse and hung from the tree. "...for he that is hanged is cursed of God..." (Deuteronomy 21:23). When Christ returns, a new day and a new world will come into existence. Hallelujah.

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Linda Johnson

Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 11 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church. She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald.

Andrea Strong

Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.