Virtual Bible Study: Amos 9

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 9. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

"In that day, I will restore..." Amos 9:11a

Do We Really Want Justice for All??

One of the highlights of being a father is watching my boys put their hands over their hearts and say the pledge of allegiance. The pledge, taught to them in school and in boy scouts, touches a nerve inside of me. Those words, those timeless words, are indeed things to strive for.

But there is one phrase of the pledge of allegiance that always gets me. The final phrase that we say together.

... With liberty and justice for all.

That phrase has caught my attention of late. Not the liberty part so much as the justice part. Why in the world do we hold up the ideal of justice for all? Why not just say: “With liberty for all.” And leave it at that. Why add the justice part? Do we actually understand what it means to have justice given to all? Do we understand justice period?

Justice is about fairness and giving people their due. Justice says in commerce, for example, that for a certain amount of money, a measure of gasoline will be given to you. Justice makes sure that the deal stands, that the scales are right that determine the amount of gasoline and the bank honors their agreement to pay for that amount of gasoline. Justice says, in criminal court, that after all the accused will be judged by a jury of his or her peers and that, after the verdict is rendered, a certain sentence will be carried out. Justice ensures that each side has his or her arguments before the decision is made.

These are the usual uses of justice that we see. But there are others. Other definitions of this word that might not be so popular because they truly are life-changing! What about a just distribution of wealth in the world? Did you know that less than 10% of the world’s population control nearly 80% of the world’s resources? Is this just? Or that while less than 2% of the world live in two or more homes, some 25% of the world live homeless? Is this just? Or right? Consider in our own country how loans are granted, with the lowest percentage rates given to those who are rich while the poor suffer under higher rated loans. Or consider how we use and abuse food, while billions go hungry every day.

Just last year I met a family who was living in Itch-Ke-Pe, our free camping park by the river, who were trying to find work. Their home had been sold in foreclosure. They had nothing save the camper they were living in. They had moved to Columbus from Michigan to find work. But since they had no permanent residence, they couldn’t even find work at McDonalds. Countless places had “Help Wanted” signs up in their windows, but no one would take a chance on this family and given them work. Their kids were enrolled in school, but they couldn’t stay. No one would hire them, not unless they already had a permanent address in town. And no one in town had even bothered to ask how they could help.

Is this just? Or right? I don’t think so.

So what happens if justice is given to all? What happens when justice enters the scene? Well... what happens is what is described in the last chapter of Amos. Here, finally, we have the Lord passing judgement on unjust Israel. Earlier in Amos he has presented arguments for their guilt. Their attitude and treatment of the poor and oppressed in their midst. Now the Lord passes judgement.

Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake...
No one will get away, none will escape.
Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them... I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

Justice will be done and it will be done by God. The Lord God will make things right and will tip the scales in favor of the poor. And those who have wronged the poor will suffer simply because the scales have tipped. Those who have much will find what they have taken away and given to those who have none. Those who have eaten their fill will feel the pain of hunger that others have felt. Those who have judged others based on their income will find themselves judged in return.

Is this what we want? Justice? Do we really want God to be a God of Justice, treating us as we ought to be treated, righting the scales, tipping the balance? Or do we rather want a God of mercy and compassion? A God who, even after judgement is passed, has a change of heart? At the end of Amos, after his words of judgement and condemnation. After God has said: “I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” Comes this passage:

The days are coming, declares the Lord, when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills...I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.

Even in the midst of justice’s wrath, we are not forsaken. For God is a God of mercy and compassion, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...for everyone! Rich and poor alike! And God has great plans for us. He has prepared a place for us where justice and righteousness flourish. A city unlike any city on earth. A place where the poor and the rich are equal in God’s sight. A place where it doesn’t matter how much you own, how large your bank account is, how rich or wealthy or mighty you were in life. A place whose light is the Son of God. A place of great celebration, where the rich and the poor alike sit down at the same table, with the ultimate loser, Jesus Christ, at its head and drink the new wine that God has made.

We are called. We are invited. We are challenged. To make this city a reality here and now. To live in eager anticipation of this City of God and to live lives of justice for all, sharing what we have with those in need, until Christ comes to bring justice...and mercy...to all! May the God of mercy and compassion, the God who relents in punishment and does not treat us as He ought, be praised forever and ever! Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1) Does Justice extend to All? In America? In the world? Who does judgement usually fall on?

2) If God walked into your home, what would he ask you to change or do differently? What would He commend you on?

3) Does God treat us as He ought to? Does He show mercy most times? Or justice? What do you want most of the time?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Merciful God, I have been wasteful with what you have given me and not shared what I have with those in need. Forgive me. Open my hands and my heart in compassion and love toward my neighbor that my life may be one of justice and righteousness, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Stay Tuned to What is Happening Next week... :)

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 8

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 8. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“‘Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land...’” The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: ‘I will never forget anything they have done.’” Amos 8:4,7

“Not Just A Christmas Thing”

Its only 4 short months away. The “most wonderful time of the year.” A time when dreams come true, when purses and wallets open in generosity and hospitality. A time when the good things in life are celebrated and the poor and needy are taken care of. A time when we make sure that everyone has a meal to eat and company to share. That’s right...the Christmas season will soon be upon us! Only 4 more months to go!

It’s amazing what happens at Christmas. Amid the crowded malls and the hustle and bustle of the various stores, there is a spirit of the season and an openness to generosity and compassion. Outside those very stores where presents are bought for loved ones, men and women, some dressed plainly, others in bright red and white outfits, ring bells of hope for the poor. Children, my children included, clammer for change to deposit in their pans of hope. Boxes are gathered at various churches, “Christmas Boxes”, that include everything from simple toiletries to a small toy to play with. Boxes to be delivered to the poor in other countries during the Christmas season. Meals are prepared at homeless shelters throughout the world as volunteers line up to provide a good warm meal to those who live outdoors.

But after December, that season dies out. The bells disappear from the stores after Christmas. The generosity diminishes. And the poor become a nuisance. “Why can’t they just get a job...” or “Where’s their family to take care of them.”

What happens to us between Christmas and, say, August? Why do we focus on the poor at one month and not the other? Their needs remain the same. The family who can’t afford to heat their homes in December also can’t afford to cool their homes in June and July. The homeless on the street might be a little more comfortable one month over the other, but their problems remain too. They are still hungry for their next meal. They still need someone to talk to, someone to treat them kindly and like the people they are. Someone to reach out to them in love. Why are we so quick to help them one month and ignore them the next?

That same question is on Amos’ mind today as he writes thus:

Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”– skimping the measure, boosting the price, and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.”

The New Moon Amos describes here is nothing short of Christmas. A time to take care of the poor and the needy, the alien and the widow. A time for justice. Only Israel, like us, has this time be the only time the poor are remembered. Every other time it’s “business as usual” as we avoid, ignore, and otherwise ostracize those on the margins of society. Every other time we think first to ourselves and then to our neighbors, supporting those measures that help us while caring and thinking little of the welfare of others.

My friends! This should not be so! We may not oppress the poor as bluntly as Amos describes, but our actions still have consequences and our attitudes still affect others. How we view the poor and needy at our roadsides reflects how we view God. How often we visit the elderly in our nursing homes affects how we live. How we tend to the stressed and weary among us speaks to how we tend to God.

If they are just a nuisance, than so is God!

Bono, the lead singer for U-2, said it best. He said: “Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who God is or if God exists--most will agree that God has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.” I think he’s right. Everything I read in Scripture tells me that God doesn’t reside in “temples made with hands” nor does he reside in the heavens or mystically connected to Nature, no God lives with the poor, the widow, the outcast, the wanderer. “What you do to the least of these you do it to me,” Jesus says in Matthew 25. He doesn't say: "Go far away from everyone you know and that's where you'll find me at!"

This thought isn’t anything new either! Even in the Old Testament, God is seen paying close attention to what we do for the hungry and the needy. “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted THEN your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”(Isaiah 58:9b-10). God lives with the poor and cares for the poor and spends all his time with those who feed and clothe and nurture the poor. They are promised true blessings! They are called children of God!

And we too can join their ranks. Whenever we take time our of our busy schedule, when we resist “going your own ways, serving your own interest, or pursuing your own affairs” as Isaiah puts it and care for those in need, we do so with Christ by our side. Christ who cares for the poor. Christ who wants to see justice done. Christ who is ready to cast down the powerful nations from their thrones to raise up the weak and the lowly. Christ who is already there with them, tending to their needs while we sit in our comfortable homes. So... are you ready to find Christ? Really?? Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. If there was a fire and you had 60 seconds to grab what is dearest to you, what would you grab? What if that is how God feels about the poor and needy, the hungry and deserted, the orphan and the widow? What does it mean if they are God’s precious possession?

2. Think about the poor in your own community. How might you extend yourself in love and compassion toward them, not just at Christmas but throughout the year?

3. Describe a time where you felt God was with you. What was going on in your life at the time? What were you doing? What were others doing for you?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Compassionate God, you make your home in the poor through the birth of your Son who comes to us an impoverished man. Grant us your grace that we might set aside our own agendas to minister to your people, wherever they may be, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

See you Next Week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 7

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 4. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“‘Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive! He is so small!’
So the Lord relented.” Amos 7:2-3a

“Denial is NOT a river in Egypt!”

They say that much of life is determined by the attitude you take. See things negatively and you’re more likely to wide up miserable. See things in a positive light and you’re likely to wide up happier in the end. Attitude is everything!

So what attitude should you take when faced with these news items?

• U.S. Poverty Rate Hits 11 Year High
• More than 1 in 5 Kids live in Poverty
• Georgians Could Face Hungry Winter
• Large Percentage of Children Work in Yemen
• Pakistan Flooding Could Bring Health Problems

The list goes on and one. Every day more new items are added.

But what is our response? What is our attitude? As we enjoy these last days of summer, as we spend money that could feed hundreds of people in other countries, what should our attitude be? How should we approach the poor and the needy?

Our chapter in Amos shows us two different responses to predictions of poverty, disease, destruction.

The first response is Amaziah’s. Listening to Amos’ ranting, Amaziah does not repent or say he did anything wrong. Instead, Amaziah tries to shut Amos up. “Get out you seer! Go back to the land of Judah! Earn your bread there and do your prophecying there! Don’t prophecy anymore at Bethel because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.” (Amos 7:12-13)

Amaziah takes the classic “don’t talk like that here” approach! He doesn’t admit that he did anything wrong. He certainly doesn’t repent! Instead, Amaziah tries to get that nay-sayer to leave!

We find this to be true even today! An article in the New York Times entitled “Congregations Gone Wild” talks about how congregations today want entertainment and comfort. In fact, people today will leave their church if their church isn’t preaching the message they want to hear!

Sound familiar? Sounds like Amaziah all over again. And we can have that response too. We can respond to the poverty of the world with denail. We can assume it is someone else’s problem. The homeless poor living at the park down the street are someone else’s problem, not ours. They deserve to live there, right? And so do the impoverished poor in Africa too? And so do all who have fallen on hard times? We don’t want to hear about caring for the needy. We have enough to worry about with our own families.

This response though garners judgement. Amos’ response to Amaziah is severe!

Therefore this is what the LORD says:
'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagancountry.
And Israel will certainly go into exile,
away from their native land.'

But there is another way.

Amos himself in today’s lesson shows us this different response to poverty. When faced with the eminent destruction of Israel because of their misdeeds, Amos doesn’t deny or dismiss the problem...he repents! When faced with the destruction to come, twice Amos repents on behalf of his people. Once before the Lord releases locusts to destroy their fields, Amos cries out: “Lord forgive!” And again when the Lord prepares judgement by fire, Amos cries: “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How long can Jacob survive! He is so small!”

And what is God’s response to this? Look for yourself. He relents! God relents and doesn’t do what he was going to do. God changes his mind concerning the destruction he was planning!

God is indeed “...a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”(Jonah 4:2) God doesn’t rejoice with evil, but rejoices with the truth. God never gives up. His faithfulness is from generation to generation! God is patient and kind. He takes no joy in the destruction of anyone! He’s not only willing, he’s anxious, to show mercy! He’s hungry to, in fact! God takes any excuse you can offer to show mercy. “Jacob is so small...” Amos says, and God relents. Elsewhere in Scripture, God relents too, for weaker arguments than these!

God is indeed a God of mercy and compassion. A God who doesn’t take joy over another’s pain. A God who never gives up! And arises out of the simple admittance of guilt. The mere act of repentance. Choosing the attitude that leads to change of heart and mind, rather than the one that leads to hardness of heart and soul. Choosing to see the poor and the needy at our doorsteps and beyond and, working together, improve their situations, rather than ignoring them or dismissing them.

This is what God is calling you to. This is YOUR problem. Are you going to admit to it, to repent of it, or are you going to continue to ignore and deny it? You can’t continue to raft down De-Nial forever! Amen!

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. Where are your blind-spots? What are the things you shutter to think or to talk about?

2. What is your attitude toward the needy poor? Toward the impoverished in this and other countries? How has that attitude shaped your behavior?

3. What areas of your life do you need an “attitude change” in?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Caring and Compassionate God, I have so often ignored and avoided the poor that stand all around me. Forgive me. Open my eyes with your Holy Spirit. Give me a repentant heart and infuse me with your compassion as I live as your child redeemed by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 6

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 4. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“Woe to you who are complacent in Zion...” Amos 6:1

Here Comes Amos... Watch out!

I found the most interesting little poem in my office this week. This is what it says:

The Prophet’s Way
His classroom is the good earth.
His tools are Love and Faith.
His Word is Prayer
His students are the poor, the lame, the blind, the unwanted.

He opens eyes with faith.
He opens ears with simple truth...
And He opens love with true love.
He is gentle and humbe...
Full of forgivenes.

His teachings are of God’s gift
of everlasting life.
For God’s heart brings heaven to earth,
and love and understanding to mankind.

It's a nice little poem. Almost makes you want to invite a prophet over to dinner, huh? Show a prophet a good time? Maybe take him fishing and serve him up a meal at home. It makes hearing and listening to a prophet oh so appealing. Too bad it’s not true.

What’s wrong with it, you ask? What’s wrong with these things? Aren’t the things spoken here of God? Well... yes. Except for the fact that this is not what a prophet is called to do. And it is way too kind to be a prophet’s way.

Prophets are known to have harsh words. They are said to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” They say things like:

If ten men are left in one house, they too will die. And if a relative who is to burn the bodies comes to carry them out of the house and asks anyone still hiding there, “Is anyone with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

For the Lord has given the command, and he will smash the great house into pieces and the smaller house into bits! Amos 6:9-11

THIS is what Amos says to the people of Israel against their complacency, against the injustice they are living with. This is what Amos says against those who...“...lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fatted calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlfuls and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.” (Amos 6:6-7)

Amos does not speak words of comfort. He speaks words of judgement. Judgement against how they have forgotten the poor and needy at their doorsteps. Judgement against their laziness in reaching out to their neighbor. Judgement against a comfortable lifestyle that does not “grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”

That’s what a prophet does! Those are a true prophet’s words!

Amos is no prophet you want to invite over to dinner. As he walked up to dinner, he would notice the size of your home and mention how most of the world lives in poverty or in a poor, one-room shack at best. You would escort him in, and he comment on your fine things and wonder how the sale of those items might change lives. He would glance outside and ask why you have two nice cars when most of the world doesn’t own even one. You would sit him down to the meal and he would mention how, if this food were distributed justly, to all people everywhere, you would be eating just rice and a few flour cakes. He might comment on your comfortable chairs, your “beds inlaid with ivory” and tell you that billions of people sleep will never sleep on anything else but th floor. He might tell you how men and women in other countries are paid pennies for their labor so that you can have the privilege of cheap clothing worn on your back. In fact, I think, there is little in your life that a prophet like Amos wouldn’t criticize.

And why not? We are the comfortable. If a prophet is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, than we stand to be afflicted! We are the richest nation who have ever existed. We are the top 10% of all people living on earth and we do little to help others, little more than make excuses. Why shouldn’t a prophet like Amos speak against our lifestyle? He is an ambassador of justice after all. Why not point out the injustice that makes up our standard of living?

We might feel there is little we can do, but that is far from the truth. The awareness of the problem is our first step. Seeing our own prosperity and our neighbor’s disparity is a start. The confession, to God and our neighbor, that injustice exists, even in our own lifestyles, is our next step. From there we must stop ourselves from making excuses and dismissing it. Either making excuses for the other person’s poverty(i.e. “They are lazy” or “They’re all mentally ill...” or “If they just got up and worked a bit...”) or excuses for our own wealth (i.e. “I worked for it...” or “I deserve it...”). And finally, with a new heart, we move to action. Actually helping another person. And here we don’t have to sell everything we have. We’re called to bless others as we've been blessed, not to become a burden on them. No, we can use what we have to bless our neighbor.

Luke tells a perfect tale of this in Zaccheaus. When faced with Jesus in his own home, Zaccheaus, a very rich man, showed us transformation at its best. Sitting at dinner, he told Jesus: “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” To this Jesus replies, “Today salvation has come to this house...”

If it were up to the prophets, salvation would come to your house only as you strive for peace and justice. Thankfully God has sent His Son to save the rich along with the poor and to ensure that, in His Kingdom, “justice does flow like a river and righteousness like a never ending stream.” Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1) How would you describe your lifestyle? Are you comfortable? How would you compare it to the homeless men and women struggling in Pakistan after the recent flooding?

2) Do Amos’ words offend you? Or comfort you? What do you find offensive about them? What might be comforting about them?

3) How can you bring the justice of God into your life?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

God of the Prophets, your coming disturbs our comfortable lifestyles and challenges our wealth and privilege. Open our eyes to the injustice around us. Forgive us for our own part in it. And enable us by your Spirit to change, in Christ’s Name we pray. Amen.

See you Next Week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 5

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 4. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord.” Amos 5:18a

The Problem with Countdowns
By Rev. William Dohle

Did you know, as of Monday, August 2, 2010, there was...
871 days... 16 hours... 13 minutes... and 43 seconds until...
DOOMSDAY!?!

It’s true. That is its true if you believe that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. On that day, one website claims, the End-Time events will begin. In fact, there is a whole website devoted to Christians who believe this date is accurate. You can discover the reasons they believe the end will begin on this date here.

Why are we Christians so fascinated with the end of the world? Why have we, since our beginnings, been counting down to when this world will end? Why have some formulated whole event schedules on when one thing will occur or another? Why has prominant Christians, like Tim LaHayle made a living pondering the end of all things and what those events will look like?

I can see why we did in the beginning. When Christianity began, Christians were persecuted and killed. The “end of the world” would have been heard as the end of Rome. The end of Christians being killed for their faith. The end of the long line of Ceasars throwing Christians to the lions and the flames. The end of the ridicule and the hatred and the final revelation that Christ is Lord of all.

That’s what the end of the world was for the early Christians. But why do WE look forward to the end? Why do we countdown the days, the weeks, the months? Why do we spend our time thinking and wondering about the end of the world? And do we do it with anticipation? Or hesitation? Do we look forward to the event? Or not?

If we are one who counts down to the end, then perhaps we should read Amos.

Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the lord?
That day will be darkness, not light.

It will be as though a man fled a lion only to meet a bear,
As though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light–
Pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

Now why would Amos say such things? Why would he be warning people about the day of the Lord, the end of all things? Why would he himself seem to be worried about that day instead of anxiously looking forward to it?

Perhaps Amos here has a handle on what the day of the Lord truely is. That day, the end of all things, is a day of justice. A day of righteousness. A day when the injustices of the world will be righted. When the words spoken by Mary before Jesus’ birth will come true:

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1)

This is what will happen on the Day of the Lord. And who are we in this picture? Who are we in the world? We are the richest people to have ever lived! Unicef claims that: “More than 50 percent of the world’s assets are owned by the richest two percent of adults...while the bottom half of the world adult population own only one percent of wealth. Altogether the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total.” You can find more of their findings here.

The problem with countdowns it that they inevitably distract us from the present. We become so busy looking forward to the future that we forget to see the present poor around us. We forget our neighbor struggling to make ends meet. We forget the stranger on the corner looking for a place to stay. We forget the poor who are all around us today. Instead we busy ourselves with the future and remove ourselves from the present.
That is why Amos pleads over and over again to just do what is right.
This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live...”
Seek the Lord and live...
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord god almighty will be with you just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts...

For Amos, even worship doesn’t shield us from God’s justice.
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
BUT let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.

So... people of God...TAKE YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE CLOUDS! Stop thinking about the future so much. Stop your planning and your organizing! Stop ignoring the poor that are seen all around you. Or the time will come, as Amos predicts, when justice will roll down like a river and carry us away. And we who are the richest in the world will be made low as the poor are lifted up by God. Amen.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. Are you a futurist? Do you plan and ponder the future more than enjoying the present? How could you "plan" to be more attentive to the poor around you?

2. What "songs" and "sacrifices" do you think the Lord would be happy with? Where do you think true worship occurs? In church? Or in the world around us?

3. Again God reiterates his commitment to the poor in this chapter. How does it make you feel that the creator of the constillations cares so much for the least, the little, and the lost in our world?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

Creator of the Universe, we, the richest of your people, have failed. We have failed to give the poor their due. We have failed in our job as stewarts and caretakers of your world. Forgive us, strengthen us, and renew us in our commitment to justice and righteousness, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See you next week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 4

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 4. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel...prepare to meet your God. He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness and treads the high places of the earth–the Lord God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:12-13

Perking Up Your Ears to God

Bill Cosby has the funniest segment about children. He says children have “brain damage” which is shown in how many times you have to tell them to do something and how little they understand why they do what they do.

I can honestly say that he’s absolutely correct. I have told my son to do something(say, take out the dogs. Not something too hard to do). He won’t acknowledge me the first time or the second time. The third time he’ll say he will. But it won’t be til the fourth or the fifth time telling him(and usually threatening him) that he finally gets up and does it.

I’ve tried to figure him out. I’ve tried to understand. But I just can’t. Why does it take threats for him to finally turn around and do what I’ve asked him to do?

This is what God is thinking in this chapter of Amos, I’m sure. Amos repeats the phrase: “...yet you have not returned to me.” Not once...not twice...but FIVE TIMES! Five times God repeats this phrase to the people. Here’s what he says before. You can join in on the chorus if you like. The chorus is... “Yet you have not returned to me.”

- I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town.
CHORUS
- I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another...People staggered from town to taown for water but did not get enough to drink.
CHORUS
- Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees.
CHORUS
- I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps.
CHORUS
- I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stink snatched from the fire.
CHORUS

See? God is talking to children! Very obstinate children too. Children who don’t understand or listen. Children who, even when they are punished, still don’t listen!

And God wants what every parent whose children are misbehaving wants. He wants them to admit they’re wrong! To say they’re sorry! To repent and turn from their ways. That’s what God is after. God wants a relationship with them again. He wants them to treat the poor right. To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with their God. That’s what God wants. That’s what he’s after.

And God is not only mad but also very sad too. God is hurt in this chapter. Hurt over his own children’s actions toward other people. Hurt to see people at the margins of society trampled on by the rich and haughty. That is the spirit behind the first five verses of chapter 4. There is deep hurt and intense pain throughout these verses. It’s almost like God is saying: “Fine! Just do what you want! I don’t care!”

But God does care. And so cries out to them over and over again. He tries to get their attention time after time, only to be ignored. And so God decides to show Himself.

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel...prepare to meet your God. He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness and treads the high places of the earth–the Lord God Almighty is his name.”

God takes the same approach to get our attention too. When our minds and hearts are far from God, we find the consequences of our behavior close at hand. The natural ups and downs of life take their toll on us even more. A death in the family and we feel abandoned and lost. A relationship is broken and we feel hurt and rejected. We worship ourselves and hide away in our entertainment or in the latest craze. We sin and lose ourselves in our drug of choice.

But all the while God is calling us to repent. Calling us to see the error of our ways, to return to God and be saved. God shakes us up to get our attention, to see the relationship restored, and to push us in the direction we should be going.

Let us now be like obstinant children. Let us lift up our heads, hear God calling to us in the distance, and rise to meet the God who showers us and all the world with hugs and kisses.

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...
1. Where is God calling you to repentance? Where have you fallen off the path?

2. What events have happened in your life that have turned your attention back to God? What would it take to turn your attention back to God now?

3. How does knowing God from verses 12-13 change things in your life?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...
Forgiving God, you call us back to yourself over and over again throughout our lives. Use the events in our life to remind us of you. Forgive us when we stumble off the path and embrace us in your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See you next week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 3

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's get started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 1. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“The lion has roared–who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken– who can by prophesy?” Amos 3:8

Sand castles in the Shores of Life

A few weeks ago, my family went and had the time of our lives at a wedding! Jenny and Jon Steffenson, two friends of ours, were married outside Columbus here on the banks of the Yellowstone river. After the wedding and eating, my children busied themselves by making sandcastles in the sand along the shoreline. My kids got really into it, especially Matthew our middle child, who spent hours and hours building his castles.

Of course those castles would, with the rain the next day, all be a faded memory. The waters of the river will rise up and all their work, all their labor, will be washed away down the river. One day soon there will be nothing left of all the work and sweat they spent there one fateful day in July.

This is what Amos sees happening to Israel. Listen to what Amos says here:

- Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt... An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.
- On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
- I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house;
- The houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished...

The Bible repeats this theme again and again. All the mansions of the world, all the gold and finery, everything that we treasure in this world will all be turned to dust. Everything we materially invest our lives in will return to the earth again. It came from there. It will return there someday. Our summer home and our winter home both will fall and be abandoned. There is nothing on this earth that will last. All will be torn down.

That is because these things don’t last. They don’t remain. The computer you bought today that you’ll treasure for the next couple years will soon become obsolete. The truck you bought and showed off to your friends will soon rust and break and be replaced by something newer. The clothes you bought will be eaten by moths. These are all just sand castles, made on the shores of life. They may remain for a time. They may last through your lifetime, but they will not live past you and at your death they will pass into the hands of another, leaving you just as poor as the next man.

The thing that lasts is the love and compassion you show others. That remains! That lasts! A single action you take will be remembered for years to come. And that action will inspire other actions and other actions down the road. Until you’re never sure where the line of action started or where the love originated from. It’s just there! “Who started that tradition,” they will say. And they will never know. For the love that was given and passed and given and passed sustains others long after you’ve passed through the years.

This love remains. This love lasts. This love will be around long after the people have passed away and gone their own separate ways. The homes these people lived in will all be owned by others or demolished or abandoned. The possessions they clung to will have passed into the hands of others or be turned over in some garbage pit. The treasures they cherished will all be garbage. But the love shared one to another will last. This is the treasure Jesus spoke of in Matthew.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

God in Amos challenges us. In his judgement against Israel we are called to repent. To repent of our own materialism. To repent of our own consumerism. And to realize that in the end all the things we surround ourselves with are just sand castles made in the shores of life. Amen!

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...
1. How much stuff do you really need to live life? Look around your home: What do you really need?

2. Is there anything you are working toward that is pointless? Or whose novelty will fade with time? How could that money and time be channeled in more productive ways?

3. What treasures are you storing up for yourself here on earth? What would happen to it all if you died today? What treasures might you store up for yourself in heaven?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...
Eternal God, we live in a temporal place where the only certain thing is change. May we rest in your changeless grace and love, reaching out to our neighbor in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See you next week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 2

Welcome to this week's Virtual Bible Study! Let's Get Started!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 1. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed...” Amos 2:4

How Bad Is It?

My daughter is known to exaggerate. Everything is drama for her. She either loves us SO much or she hates us and wants us to go away or die. It all depends on her mood. She can love us one moment more than anything, and she can want to kill us the next. It just depends. And everything is an exaggeration! Especially when we’re not doing what she wants.

Most of us don’t exaggerate as much as we did when we were four years old. We do the opposite. We downplay what is happening or find reasons and excuses for our own actions. We see a homeless man on the street or in the park, assume he is mentally ill or just lazy, and pass him by. We see our neighbor in pain across the way, their shoulders slumped down in sorrow, and we pass by the other way, thinking its none of our business. We hear of another’s surgery or illness, think about them once or twice, but never reach out in compassion toward them.

We downplay much in our life, especially as it relates to other people.

God however doesn’t. At least not in Amos. In fact, in Amos God sounds more like a four-year old, exaggerating the oppression and injustice in society! These are the words God uses in Amos to describe the actions of Israel against the poor and distressed...

- They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
- They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground.
- They deny justice to the oppressed.
- Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.
- They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.
- In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.

Now I’m not sure which of these things you could say ACTUALLY happened just as they are described. I don’t know how many fathers and sons used the same girl or how many heads were actually trampled upon. I think there is a little poetic license here. But still the point remains. Injustice against the poor is NOT ignored by God. It is seen in all its sinfulness, in all its stain, in all its horribleness. There is no way to get around it. There is no excuse.

God sends His messengers with words of warning to the oppressors. “I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel?... But you made the Nazirites drink wine and command the prophets not to prophesy.” But the people do not listen. They fail to heed God’s warning. They fail to see the poor standing at their gates.

So, as Amos concludes in the final verses of chapter 2, God must shake the people up. The scales have been turned over. The poor are brought up. The rich made low. Even their massive armies cannot stand against the power of God as he turns the world on it’s head. This is the same reversal that happens in Mary’s Magnificat as she glorifies God after hearing of she is pregnant with Jesus.

“He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”

So what does this say to us? How do these words affect our lives? Or do they? Are these words relevant today? Or are they just the ramblings of a poor ancient shepherd that have nothing to do with how we live?

We, twenty-first century Christians and people of faith need to hear these words from Amos in all their seriousness. This is not an exaggeration. God cares about the poor! He cares about those who are at the bottom of society. And He wants you to care for them too! Even today, on your block there are people in need. People struggling to make ends meet. There are people on the street corners of every major city, sitting with small cardboard signs, crying out for help in more ways than one. There are abused people in every city and in every land. Standing in line with you at the grocery store. Sitting next to you in church. It’s time we wake up and pay attention!

It’s time we stand up for what is right. It’s time we quit ignoring them or making excuses for our own behavior around them and speak up for them against their injustice. It’s time we say we’re sorry we can’t help more than we do! The least we can do for those at the bottom of society is realize the gravity of their situation and understand, at least intellectually, how hard it must be to be living in their shoes. That’s a start. It’s a start of compassion. The start of love. And God can do amazing things with just a little of this. Look what God did with the sacrifice of one man, Jesus Christ! Over a billion people worship him. What can God do with your life given to the poor and needy?

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...
1. Confession time: How have you diminished the suffering of others? What excuses do you tell yourself when you are confronted with the needs of others on the street corners

2. Who living near you needs your compassion? How can you change their world through your own acts of kindness?

3. Even Jesus realized the poor would always be here. Still how can your heart go out to the needy? How can you be on the side of the poor and oppressed in this world?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...
God of the poor, you weep and mourn over how our world treats the least, the little, the lost, and the poorest. Help us to reach out in compassion and love toward those in need. Break our hearts that we may feel what you feel and know the extent of your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See you Next Week!

Virtual Bible Study: Amos 1

Welcome to the this week's Virtual Bible Study!

This week we're starting in on the book of Amos. This ancient prophetic book written almost 3000 years ago was penned by a shepherd in anciety Israel. Though the words are themselves the message it brings from God speaks to us today. It is just as offensive and just as critical of our society as it was back in Amos' day.

So... are you ready to see what Amos says? Ready or not...here he comes!

First Step: Read the Text. (This doesn't take too long). This Week’s Reading is Amos 1. You can read it here.

Second Step: Lesson/Focus Text

“The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of Carmel withers.”

God Takes Sides!

“God bless America! My home sweet home!”

We just finished celebrating the most sacred of all American holidays: the 4th of July! An awesome day to come together, grill outdoors, and celebrate the freedom we all so enjoy! To remember those who gave their lives to secure that freedom. And to celebrate all that we are as a nation! And what’s not to enjoy! We have parades down main street. Carnivals in the park. Not to mention fireworks! My dogs might not like them...but my kids sure do!

Despite all our separation of church and state talk, there is a deep seated connection in America between the blessings of God and our own nation. When our nation prospers, we call ourselves blessed by God. When tragedy happens, we turn to God again for answers. We have always believed we were special somehow. Set apart from the rest of the world. Years ago this notion, called “Manifest Destiny”, led many in our nation to commit terrible actions against the native tribes and the land because they believed God blessed their actions.

So whose side is God on? Our side? Is God a good American? Or does God take another nation’s side? Is God an Israelie? Or a German? Or a good Scandinavian? And if he’s not on our side, then whose side is God on? Does God take one side or another?

Our lesson from Amos answers this question. Amos, that shepherd-turned-prophet from ancient Israel, comes to us to say: Yes! God does take sides! Only...not the sides that you think God should be taking. God is taking the side... of the outcast, the transient, the homeless woman in the park, the abused woman and her children, the orphan, the abandoned one, the widow, the developmentally disabled, the starving. God is standing with the poorest of the poor, the AIDS victim in South Africa and Chicago, the jobless in Los Angeles and Mexico, the migrant, the illegal and the legal immigrant, and those at the bottom of society.

God is taking their side! And there’s more. God is fighting with them against their oppressors whomever they may be. The Book of Amos begins with a litany of curses and plagues sent from God on the various nations and regions around Israel. We might think God is cruel and mean in this chapter. How could God say such things and do such things to people... But we must read closer.

God is calling the nations to account for their sins. Only its not the sins we think of...

God punishes Damascus... “Because she theshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth.”
God punishes Gaza... “Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom...”
God punishes Tyre... “Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding the treaty of brotherhood.”
God punishes Edom... “Because he pursued his brother with a sword, stifling all compassion, because his angfer raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked.”
And God punishes Ammon... “Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders.”

Do you notice something here? God is handing out justice to those who hurt the less fortunate. In fact, as we will see next week, God deals justly even with his own people when they ignore the people that God loves and cares for. God deals harshly with those who do not show compassion on the helpless and the needy.

So where do we fit in? Where do we stand with God? We are too individualistic not to disassociate ourselves with the nation, but we too are a part of the problem and the solution. How we govern ourselves in our daily lives reflects how the nation governs itself. What we do with our time reflects what the nation does with it’s time.

Matthew’s parable from Matthew 25 speaks here I believe. In it, the Son of Man judges between the NATIONS on his right and the NATIONS on his left. And the judgement comes down on how the INDIVIDUALS in those nations acted. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat...I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...I was a stranger and you invited me in...” And if you notice, all the actions the nation is punished for or commended on are actions of the individual. Think on this the next time you pass by the homeless shelter, the food bank, or your on your next big expensive vacation. How does your life reflect your commitment, and God’s, to the less fortunate in our midst? Or does it?

Third Step: Questions to Ponder...

1. Imagine that you are a refugee, thrown out of your homeland, or a homeless person who feels abandoned by the country that you served. How might these words from Amos bring you hope?

2. In what ways can you as an individual or family influence just one person and change one less fortunate person’s life?

3. What is God calling you to give up in order to follow him?

Fourth Step: Email(if you like) your responses. You can just reply to this email or email it to craznluv@msn.com.

Fifth Step: Close with prayer...

God of the poor, we do not understand the depth to which humanity can fall. We do not know the pain of hunger or the want for decent housing and clean water. But others do. Unbind our hearts that we might reach out in love and compassion to those in need, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Next week: Amos Chapter 2. Are you excited??