Daniel 2 & one-on-ones

On Sunday (1/20/08) we looked at Daniel 2 with the high school group. Once again, we are continuing with the theme that obedience to God will favor His sovereignty over your life. In this chapter, Daniel and his buddies, are given the impossible task of dream interpretation. Not only that, but they must tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream. It first starts with his "experts" and they can't do it. In fact, they say it's impossible! Then it falls on Daniel. He takes it back to his buddies- Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They pray fervently to God for mercy to reveal this impossible task, and He grants it to them. The next day, Daniel is able to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar and tell him his dream, as well as its interpretation.

That's the basic narrative of what happened. First and foremost, the main point is that Daniel was close to God and obedient to Him. When it says that they prayed "fervently" to God, I don't think it meant a nice little prayer you would typically say before taking a geometry test, or something like that. I think it meant deep, heartfelt, seeking the presence of God type of prayer. And after God revealed the mystery to Daniel, he worshipped Him right there.

Not only did he glorify God, he also gave credit to his friends. They all prayed throughout the night for God to grant them mercy. He told King Nebuchadnezzar "we" will interpret the dream in verse 36. At the end of the chapter, Daniel requested his friends be promoted as well.


During the jr. high class I had the chance to sit one-on-one with each of the students. It was time to find out what they learned, what they enjoyed, and what their understanding was of being a Christian. I found it just about universal that the Whatever It Takes game was enjoyed by all. I also found that a lot of the youth have a basic understanding and faith in Jesus Christ, but just want to learn how to live that out on a day-to-day basis. That's very encouraging to me.

New Light

Last Friday (1/18/08) we got to attend a wonderful worship night, followed by a lock-in at New Light. Bill, the youth pastor, called it Undeniable, based on Romans 1. He referenced a few other passages, too, but focused mostly on this chapter from Romans. The theme is that God's presence, His work, His knowledge, etc., etc., is undeniable. Knowledge began with God. So if you want to attain knowledge and be wise, you should know God.

I'm working on getting notes from Pastor Bill. But for now, check out their youth group blog. It was also cool being in worship with around 60 youth. That's definitely something we do not get to experience very much, and it's cool hearing a big room of voices like that worshipping God. We will definitely have more experiences like this. So stay tuned.

Daniel Review for Jr. High

For the high school class this morning we took a look at a few different books.

We started with the beginning of Daniel. If you've ever felt alienated from being in a foreign land, or felt like you don't belong in some way, then Daniel is the person to read about! The first chapter tells us how the Babylonians took the people of Judah captive. (The Hebrews were split up into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, at this point). They carried articles from the temple of God into their own temples.

Here is where it gets interesting for Daniel. Off in a foreign land where he doesn't know the language or customs, he, amongst other Israelites that were handsome, smart, etc., had to participate in a pagan ritual for the royal food and wine. It doesn't sound bad on the page, but this food and wine the Israeli royalty and "elite" had to eat and drink were offered to the Babylonian gods in disgusting rituals. Rituals that went against the God of Israel for many reasons.

Daniel chose not to take part in these rituals for the royal food and wine. In addition he made a plan to make it happen. The consequences? Only possible death! He first talked to an official whom Daniel found favor with, but ultimately the official was afraid of death on account of Daniel not defiling himself with the royal food and wine. He then took another risk by asking the guard appointed over him, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for a 10-day trial diet of vegetables and water.

As we can see, it paid off. Why? Because Daniel knew what he believed in and stuck to his principles. It ended up helping him in the long run, too. The last verse says that Daniel remained there until the first year of reign of the next king, which was some 60 years later.

Two important things to note. 1) Daniel's plan of action included the accountability of friends. It should be not mistaken that God doesn't intend us to follow Him all alone. We are meant to live in community. We need to help each other live more obediently to Him. 2) Obedience to Him gives us His favor. Who caused the official to show favor over Daniel? God did (verse 9). And in verse 17, it says God gave knowledge to Daniel and the other three Israelites.

We also picked three Psalms to go over. Just to pick up the main idea behind each one because they are very rich. These are the ones we looked over.

Psalm 88- A psalm of despair crying out to God from life's pressures.

Psalm 98- Quite the opposite psalm, celebrating the Lord for his faithfulness, salvation, and justice in carrying out His judgement.

Psalm 24- Written by David. Who may come into the presence of the Lord? Those who wholeheartedly seek His face.

With the jr. class we finished our review. You can click on the link to refer back to old blogs on our Foundations of Faith series.

blessings

What I've Done

Tonight we looked at the themes of mercy and forgiveness, aided by the hit song "What I've Done" by Linkin Park. The discussion we did was taken from a youth ministry website. You can view that here. I will just summarize some of the questions and thoughts that were brought up.

The music video in itself is very interesting. Throughout the video the band is performing the song out in the open. Interspersed within the performance are images of great human tragedies. Atrocities like war, hunger, racism, some regimes, harming the environment, abortion, drug use, oil spills, etc. The approach Linkin Park takes with these issues is interesting. Although they are not directly to blame for most or any of these issues, who do they blame? (Hint: You don't have to look farther than the title of the song).

Next, we brought it closer to home. In 5 minutes, try writing all the sins you have committed since you were little; as far back as you can remember. No matter how little or many you come up with, the point is that we all have sinned. Romans 3:23 says that. Are there any sins that are on your list that you regret? In the second verse, Linkin Park used the words "cleaned this slate." Do you want a clean slate? A fresh start?

When we realize how much we need mercy and forgiveness, the grace of God can overwhelm us. That's what the pre-chorus talks about. "So let mercy come and wash away what I've done." God can do that! He can remove sins from His memory if we ask for His forgiveness. Psalm 103:12 and Romans 5:8-9 talk about this. I used another song to illustrate this point. Audio Adrenaline (unfortunately just recently retired) came out with a great song called "Ocean Floor". In the song, it talks about how our sins are behind us now, because after God forgives us, He places those sins far away, "on the bottom of the ocean floor."

To close we had personal prayer time. Asking forgiveness with those sins we committed. Symbolically, we cast our sins away by ripping the list of sins we wrote in many pieces and throwing them in the garbage. You should try that sometime. The message comes forth even better when you physically do it also. Be blessed!

remembering God's faithfulness & review

Today we looked at a couple of Psalms during our high school class. This accomplished a few things. One, some of the high schoolers wanted to study the Psalms. Two, it shows us something we can do when we are restless. These psalms (not written by David for a change) shows us what we can do to give us hope for the future. Remember the past and what God has done for you and your ancestors. Then realize that God has always been there and is here right now to this day.

The first few verses in Psalm 77 show the psalmist's restlessness. Then he goes on starting in verse 5: "I thought about the former days..." The rest of this psalm and especially the next one is a great recap on Israel's history. History that had been passed down from generation to generation. A history that shows God's faithfulness giving the Israelites victory, but also a history that showed the Israelites rejecting God and being unfaithful. In turn, God drew away from them sometimes.

After questioning whether God will continue to reject or be merciful, the psalmist finishes by referring to God parting the Red Sea to lead the Israelites to safety from Pharoah. Psalm 78 goes into quite more history of the Israelites. In fact, verses 59-64 refer directly to I Samuel 4. From the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians, to the time wandering in the desert, questioning God's faithfulness to provide water and food. It seems there was a pattern of God's people doubting Him and being unfaithful.

And you know what? That continued on to the days of the psalmist. That's why he is remembering it. At the beginning of Psalm 78 he says he will speak in a parable. This is so the people will remember past mistakes and strive towards being right with God and not making those mistakes again. And they continue on today. We are unfaithful and place idols above God. They make look different from the idols back then, but they hurt God nonetheless. That's why we need to look at Israel's history and our history, just like the psalmist, and recognize how God has been faithful. Maybe then we can see hope for our future.


For the jr. high class we did review. We got through most of the Foundations of faith lessons. Again, I encourage you to go back to those blogs. Jesus being around since the beginning of time, His teachings, His miracles, God's Word, and prayer is what we went over.

improvising?

Seems like a strange topic for a bible study, doesn't it? Yet tonight we're going to look at how God has improvised with biblical figures. And how God doesn't want us to just be with Him at church but at all times. He wants a relationship with us. And just like you want to talk with and spend time with a good friend frequently, so does God with you. Plus, it gives the opportunity to watch some pretty humorous improv comedy!

We watched a video by a group (who unfortunately disbanded a few years ago) called CPR. Very funny group made of three guys who love Jesus and made clean, but hilarious, comedy. Like I said, they unfortunately disbanded, but one of the founders of the group started another group called 321 Improv. In the video you get to see them perform a few improv games, as well as talk about who they are and how they go about performing.

Some biblical stories seem like God is improvising with his people. One of the most well-known examples of this is found in Genesis 18. This is when Abraham pleads with God for Sodom. He keeps talking God down from fifty to forty-five to forty, and on down to ten righteous people in Sodom. If there are ten people, God will not destroy Sodom. Unfortunately, we know the outcome of this story. Genesis 19 describes how Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.

Another example of what I'm getting at is later in Genesis 32 when Jacob wrestles with God. In the scriptures, it talks more of a physical wrestling. Yet how often does God come up to as an actual person in order to wrestle with us? My guess is not very often. So what does this mean for us today? When there is a problem or any conflict in life, we must give it up to the Lord. What does that mean? Praying, reading God's Word, spending time with God. Like any relationship, growing doesn't occur between two people when no time is spent together. Just had a fight with a friend? Take it to the Lord. Confused or angry with a passage of scripture? Take it to the Lord. Schoolwork seem overwhelming? Take it to the Lord.

seeking wisdom

During our high school class last Sunday (12/30/07) we took a look at I Kings 3. In this chapter, Solomon, who was just appointed king, asks the Lord for wisdom, and is granted it. He also resolves one of his first (maybe the first) dispute during his reign. As in many bible stories, it is important to see the truth in each passage for what it is, and learn how to apply it to our lives today.

Yes, we can note that Solomon doesn't ask specifically for "wisdom". Instead, he asks for a "discerning heart in verses 7-9. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Yet we can still say without a doubt that God granted Solomon wisdom to rule. And why? Because God was so pleased at the request. So it was granted atleast during the first years of his reign. This early example of Solomon settling a dispute between two prostitutes shows this.

Verses 16-28: One woman accused the other of killing her son by laying on him while she slept, then exchanging the infants while the first woman slept. But the second woman says that her own is the living one. How does Solomon resolve this? He gives an order to cut the baby in half. One of the woman was filled with compassion for her son and lets the other woman have him while the other woman agrees to cutting so that neither woman shall have the boy. Solomon's deduced that the woman with compassion was the real mother of the baby.

Yes, it seems a bit weird. And what if the two prostitutes responded the same way? Well, obviously Solomon would have had to think of something else to figure out the true mother. This is where we figure out how it applies to us today. Try and think of a tough decision you or someone else had to make. I heard a great example of this on a Relevant Magazine podcast.

That particular week they interviewed author Don Miller, whose most famous work is the book Blue Like Jazz. He said his friend was invited to another state to settle a dispute a church was having with the new Hooters restaurant that recently opened in this conservative community. There were obviously a lot of preconceived notions without any real talking back and forth. So Don Miller's friend went to this community and issued a challenge to both the church and the restaurant- to raise the most amount of money for a certain cause (I can't remember which cause it was specifically). The Hooters restaurant ended up raising more money than the church. So while there may not be good friends between the two sides, it atleast dispelled the preconceived notions and got people to start talking.

What's one area of your life you can start applying more wisdom to? Let's ask the Lord for wisdom and go through life more intelligently.

During our middle school class, we watched the first episode of a great new tween series called Angel Wars. This is for those pre-teens who are into shows like Naruto. But these episodes combine great animated action with biblical principles. The first episode dealt with self-esteem and looks. I encourage you all to check it out. They can be purchased at your local Christian bookstore or online at their website.

Where is God in the hard times? (devotional)

Do you ever feel like He is not there? We explored this issue a bit last Friday (12/28/07). Peter and the other disciples and followers of Jesus felt that... literally. When Jesus Christ said he would return and restore the kingdom of Israel, everyone else was thinking during their lifetime. Days, months, and years passed. Nothing. Where is He?!?!

We took a look at 2 Peter 3 to discuss this. Peter quotes the doubters in verse 4 when he says "everything goes on as it has." There is quite a bit of sarcasm and disbelief even from those that were there to witness the crucifixion or able to hear first-hand accounts. And if they started to doubt, imagine how that can stockpile 2000 or so years later. Winn Collier wrote in Deeper Walk that each generation has seen its plague, war, disaster, etc. Has everything really been the same since the time of creation?

Hopefully Peter's words can bring us back to hope, as they probably did to whom he was directly speaking to. God's Word created everything, even the earth from the waters. It will be preserved until the time of judgment, when Jesus comes back. And since creation, God has been working. He never stopped. If God did stop, evil would have wiped us out a long time ago.

We have to remember how time works for God. "A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day." Even when life is going terrible for us, there is a grander story going on that is still being written to this day. I know remembering that is what we want to do least when tragedy hits us. But God is always working goodness in every moment.

My prayer is for us to put all of our trust into God, even during the hard times.