Exodus 17 has some amazing instruction for the churches of today.

“Then all the congregations of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord”

Did you catch the important parts there? They moved by stages and they moved according to the command of the Lord.

There are churches today that either are not moving or they are trying to move all at once. There are also churches that are moving in order to become large, important, not die, etc. Churches should only move “according to the command of the Lord.” If the Lord is not commanding us then we need to wait for the Lord’s command.

The Lord instructs the people to gain twice as much manna before the Sabbath so the people will not have to gather on the Sabbath.

“It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? See, the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day.”

It was reasonable for the people to think they would need to gather on the Sabbath. After all, every other day of the week the manna only lasted for one day before it became maggoty and moldy. There was no reason to think that the manna gathered on Friday would be any different. No reason than that was what God had said.

Too often we disobey God because we think God is not making sense, so we correct the perceived error. It is better for us to start by trusting that God is right and worry about making sense later. That is easier said than done.

God prepares a means for the Israelites to be freed from Egypt. Not only will they be freed from their captors, but they will take with them much of the wealth of the nation. God made the Egyptians look favorably upon the Israelites, and the Egyptians freely gave them their wealth.

God will accomplish God’s will, and it will be accomplished to a degree of completeness that we seldom expect. The Israelites wanted freedom and to return to the Promised Land. God was setting them up to be released with great wealth. God is able to provide for our needs before we even now our needs.

Finally Pharaoh is ready to let the Israelites go. He will let them take all their families and leave. The only condition is that they must leave behind their livestock.

Moses says no, you do not bargain with God. So Pharaoh rescinds his offer and says, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” To which Moses responds, “You are right; I shall never see your face again!”

Don’t try to bargain with God; just do what God asks of you. If you try to bargain with God you will always get the short end of the deal.

Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? That’s a question I have heard many times. The answer appears two verses later. “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”

Throughout the process of God leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, God intended to become known to the nations of the world. If Pharaoh had immediately allowed the Israelites to leave, would the headline of the story be God’s sovereignty or Pharaoh’s benevolence. God wanted to be known.

Today God still wants to be known. But, rather than hardening the hearts of men so that God can overcome, God uses us. God uses those people who have a relationship with Jesus Christ to reveal God to the world. God is revealed through our actions, words, attitudes, humor, associates, and a myriad of other ways.

In everything we do we reveal some aspect of our relationship with God and the revelation of God to the world around us. When we fail we reveal God’s faithfulness, when others fail we reveal God’s forgiveness, when we succeed we reveal God’s power, when others succeed we reveal God’s encouragement. These are only a few examples, but in everything we do, we reveal God to the world.

There were many circumstances that conspired to make Joseph different from his brothers, but there were also a lot of things that Joseph did to invite anger from his brothers.

Joseph was the child of a different mother. Jacob made it known that Joseph was his favorite. However, Joseph spoke badly of his brothers and told them dreams he had where he was empowered over them.

Regardless of whose fault was the bitterness between Joseph and his brothers; God would use his situation for good. Even when we act stupidly, God is in control.

No sooner has Jacob finished with one awkward relationship than he is forced to deal with another awkward relationship. After leaving Laban on nearly good terms, Jacob realizes that he is about to confront his brother. Jacob has every reason to believe that Esau will still be furious with him. When they had last parted company Jacob had just stolen Esau’s blessing and inheritance and Esau had sworn that he would kill his brother. However, God had given instruction for Jacob to return to his homeland and for once Jacob was being faithful. However, we still find Jacob scheming to turn the situation so that it will benefit himself.

Jacob agrees to work for his uncle Laban if he can marry Laban’s daughter Rachel. After the agreed upon time of work has passed Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Rachel’s older sister Leah. Jacob then agrees to work another seven years in order to marry Rachel.

An unfortunate side effect of this situation is that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. “Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” With each of her children Leah hopes to win the affections of her husband. With the first she says, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” With the second she says, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has therefore given me this son also. With the third one she says, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” With her fourth son Leah has stopped expecting her husband to suddenly love her and instead says, “This time I will praise the Lord.”

Sometimes we miss the blessings God is sending our way because we are so focused on an area of distress in our lives. Leah kept thinking that the next child would fix her relationship with her husband. Finally, with the fourth child she realized that even if her relationship with Jacob never improved she could still praise God for her children.

This fourth child, Judah, would be the line through whom the priests of Israel would come. Ultimately, Judah would be the forefather of Jesus. Judah may not have done what Leah wanted him to do (fix her relationship with Jacob) but he blessed the world in ways she would never imagine.

Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for his son from among his own people. The servant begins his search by praying, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show loving kindness to my master Abraham.” God grants the servants request and he finds a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac.

In everything we do needs to be done in prayer. If we are not spending time seeking God’s will and looking for God’s leading then we are setting ourselves up for failure. God is active and is constantly interacting with our lives. God can and does lead us if we take the time to listen for God.

In everything we do we need to begin in prayer. Prayer does not always guarantee our success, but failing to pray guarantees our ultimate failure.

“Oh what tangled webs we weave when first decide we to deceive.”  Upon entering a new land Abraham lies about his relationship with his wife calling her his sister.  Abraham did this because he doubted the power of God.  Abraham explains to the king, “I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, an they will kill me because of my wife.”  Abraham assumed that God was not working in the lives of other people.

How often do we assume that God has not been working in the lives of the people around us.  Have you ever felt called by good to speak to someone or do something, but out of fear not followed through?  If God is calling us to do something we can rest assured that God has already gone ahead of us and prepared the way.

We are not as important as we think we are.  We are instruments that God uses, if we allow ourselves to be used.  I seldom see all the ways God is working in the people around me.  I would much rather boldly go into every situation assume that God has prepared the way, then sit back and avoid doing what God is leading me to do.

“[God] took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars– if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

Have you ever had a moment when God provides a revelation, or a bit of encouragement, or a message to you. Off the top of my head I can remember three specific times in my life when the world paused and I felt God saying something. One time I was driving home alone in an ice storm and my car slid out of control. It came to rest on the edge of a deep ditch, I couldn’t step out the driver’s side door without falling ten feet. I crawled out of the passenger’s door and stood staring into the snow for a few minutes. As the snow beat against me I recognized that God was in control.

One time I was questioning God and I prayed, “Give me a sign that you are in control.” Two days later my wife sent me an email with a picture of a positive pregnancy test, (which, honestly, was something we were trying to avoid). In that picture I recognized that God was in control.

One time I sat in alone in a dark car at night trying to discern what it was God was calling me and my church to do. I looked up at the stars, much like Abraham, and as I stared into the darkness I recognized the direction God was calling us to go.

I would encourage you to take the time to listen to what God is saying to you.

“Abram believed the Lord, and [the Lord] credited it to him as righteousness.”

There are moments every day when God is revealing himself to us. Through the words or actions of another person. Through the beauty of creation. Through chance circumstance. Through the inward leading of the Holy Spirit. Through thought and reason. Through the example of those who have gone before us. God is constantly revealing some aspect of himself to us.

In Genesis 9 God sets the rainbow as the sign of the covenant that God makes with Noah and all of creation that he will never again flood and destroy the earth. To this day the sight of a rainbow is an opportunity to be pulled back to God.

As we live out our days we need to not be so busy that we do not take the time to revel in God’s revelation. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit speak, appreciate the God centered actions of those around us, recognize when God has moved to provide for us, and listen to those who have gone before us. God communicates with us all the time; we need to stop and pay attention. Do not be so busy, so self-absorbed, that you cannot take the time to look at the rainbows.

At youth group recently I was talking to my High Schoolers about the Bible. I asked the question: what is the Bible? We concluded that at the very least, the one thing everyone can agree on is, the Bible is literature (I think it’s more, but I’ll save that for another day). The Bible has words, stories, plots, characters, and settings, so it is literature. I then stated that most people would agree that it is very good literature with excellent stories, character development, and plot twists; I added the caveat that there are some boring passages as well and mentioned the genealogies.

For the most part Genesis 5 is insanely boring. It’s a long series of “this guy was born he lived xxx years and had a kid”. However, there is one fascinating morsel in Genesis 5; verses 21-24.

“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

Imagine having such a close relationship with God that God takes you away. When I feel far from God I turn to this passage for encouragement.

Cain and Abel both brought offerings to the Lord. Cain brought some of his harvest and Abel brought the best portions of his flocks. God showed favor to Abel’s offering and did not show favor to Cain’s offering. I have heard many explanations of why God showed favor to the one and not the other. The text seems to suggest that Cain brought an offering while Abel brought the best he had to offer.

It is important to bring our offerings to God, but we need to work to bring the best we have to offer. God should not be an afterthought. Our God is not a God to whom we can through a few offerings every now and then and he will be appeased. Rather, our God is alive and active in our lives and we need to give God the best we offer. We need to give God the best of our income, the best of our time, the best of our relationships, the best of all our lives.

One other point I want to make from this story. We do not give our offerings to God expecting something in return. We give our offerings to God because God has already blessed us with so much. God has blessed us with life, family, friendships, food, water, shelter, Jesus, salvation, a relationship with God. Our offerings are given in thanks for all we have received, not in anticipation of receiving some future blessing.

God is not a vending machine who will give us our desires if we put in a payment of prayers and offerings. God is not a slot machine who will randomly dispense a reward if we put in enough prayers and offerings. God is our father who cares for us. Our prayers and offerings are like the pictures my four year old draws for me and I hang on the refrigerator; they are expressions of love.

The man and the woman were given responsibilities and boundaries by God. God expected them to fulfill their responsibilities (be a good steward of the garden) and obey the boundaries (not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However the man and the woman disobeyed God. When God confronted them about their disobedience they did the two things my children do when I catch them disobeying; they lie and they try to shift the blame onto someone else. God sees through their lies and their blame tactics and disciplines the man and the woman. Then they are removed from the garden (from dwelling within the providence of God). However, outside of the garden, God still cares for them and provides them clothes.

When we wander into disobedience we miss out on some of the blessing God wants for us. When we become selfish and put our own desires before the desires of God, we are separated from the best that God would have for us. God will still provide for us, but we keep ourselves from accepting the best blessings of God and instead receive second rate blessings. There is no benefit in blaming others for our failings; we need to accept responsibility for our disobedience and learn to follow God.

God’s desire is to meet our needs. God cares for us and wants us to live fulfilling lives. Look what God did in Genesis 2. First God gave the man life; we take life for granted but it’s a big deal. Then God provided for all of the man’s physical needs; the Creator gave the man food to eat and water to drink and a place to live. God gave the man work to do so that his life would not be meaningless. God provided the man a companion so he would not be alone. In doing all of these things, God’s desire was to meet the needs of the man (and eventually the woman).

God also gave the man and the woman boundaries. The Creator told the man and the woman to enjoy, use, and care for all of creation, but they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All of the man and the woman’s needs were met; they were given food, shelter, responsibility, companionship, and boundaries. These are the same things parents make sure their children have so they can mature toward being adults.

I would argue that God also provides for us today. Today before I ate I thanked God for providing me food. God has provided me with a job so that I and my family have shelter. God has given me the responsibility of raising my children, caring for my spouse, and ministering to my community. God has provided me with the companionship of a wonderful wife and challenging friends. God has revealed boundaries across which I am not supposed to go; when I do cross these boundaries I am being destructive to myself and to others. God provides and I need to be continuously thankful for all that he has given me.

These days when I read Genesis 1 I can almost here music playing in the background. In my mind I see people sitting around a fire and listening intently to the story/song of God creating. The people want answers to the basic questions of life: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is our relationship to nature? What is our relationship to God? Who is God? And the people were given the beautiful song of Genesis 1 to reveal God to them.

Where did we come from? God created us; in fact God created us as special and unique creatures who are inherently different from the other animals of creation. Why are we here? To care for and tend to God’s creation; we are responsible for the Kingdom of God. What is our relationship to nature? We are to live in and alongside nature while we carefully use nature to meet our needs. What is our relationship with God? We are created in the image of God as fellow workers; we are stewards over God’s kingdom on earth for a time. Who is God? The creator, the one to whom all of existence is in debt.

The next time you read Genesis 1, go off by yourself to a private place where you will not feel self-conscious and sing the chapter. Imagine you are singing to that group around the fire; you are trying to bring them a little closer to God by singing to them the answers to the questions they ask. Sing the most beautiful song, the song of God’s creation. It will be beautiful regardless of your singing abilities because it is a song of God.

An analysis of the labor market for protestant ministers in the United States

Below is an excerpt from a paper I wrote in 2003 analyzing the labor market for pastors.  The full article can be found here.  Enjoy this excerpt:

“In a free market setting pastoral wages will always be very low when compared to other professionals. These low wages are due, in large part, to the vast number of perceived close substitutes that churches are willing to employ…

The free market model does not appear to be the best model for churches to use to set their pastoral wage. While it is true that by using the free market model churches can reduce the cost of employing a minister, the minister the church employs may not be able to perform all the duties the church expects of him. This may be because the minister is forced to work elsewhere or because the substitute hired is not a close enough substitute…

As discussed earlier, it is clear that the church founders and early church leaders felt that a congregation needed to provide its minister with a wage upon which he could live. If churches were to focus on this as their goal, rather than focusing on “how little can we pay the pastor and get away with it,” the church would be in a much better position…

If the church continues to use the free market model to pay ministers they will have under-qualified, overworked, unhappy ministers who can not meet the expectations of the church. A new model for pastoral pay must be found. This new model will not be as economically efficient, but it will, hopefully, create a system that encourages investment in qualified, caring ministers who can shepherd over the church to which they have been called.”

Jesus tells the story of a farmer who hires workers early in the morning and agrees to pay them a days wage.  The farmer then hires some more workers later in the day and agrees to pay them a full days wage.  Near the end of the day the farmer goes out and hires the last of those who are willing to work and agrees to pay them a full days wage.  The workers who worked all day are upset that those who only worked an hour or two are receiving an equal pay.  The farmer says, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?  Or are you envious because I am generous?”

I have to admit that I am often envious that Jesus is generous.  It does not seem fair that a person who has done great evil can receive forgiveness just as easily as someone who has, for the most part, lived a morally good life.  It does not seem fair that one person can commit their whole life to being Christ’s disciple and another person can have a nominal relationship with Christ and both wind up in heaven.  I am envious because there is a whole lot of sin that I would like to do.

But I also realize the benefits of not sinning.  I get to lead a balanced life.  I get to lay all my trouble and anxiety on God’s shoulders.  I get the incredible joy of helping others discover Jesus.  I get the fulfillment of being a part of God’s kingdom on earth.  No sin is more rewarding than being with, working for, and worshiping God.  When I am envious of think of my relationship with Jesus  and realize that those without Jesus are envious of what I have.