Der Herr, euer Gott, schafft euch Ruhe und gibt euch dieses Land Josua 1.3

Welch eine Verheissung: Wohlstand und Frieden. Das ist doch genau was wir wollen. Gott gibt dieses Versprechen seinem Bundesvolk durch Josua. Nach 40 Jahren Wüstenwanderung. Nachdem die Vorväter begraben worden sind, welche nicht geglaubt hatten, löst Gott sein Versprechen ein. Auch im Hebräerbrief wird von einer Ruhe gesprochen, in die wir eingehen sollen. Und es wird davor gewarnt, diese Ruhe durch Unglaube, der sich in Ungehorsam ausdrückt, nicht zu verlieren. Unglaube und Unghorsam kann man hier als Synonyme verwenden. Jemand der nicht glaubt, gehorcht auch nicht der göttlichen Eingebung. Gott verheisst seinem Bundesvolk Ruhe und Land. Aber die kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen, die nach der Landeinahme Israels erfolgten, sind ein Indiz dafür, dass Israel nie in diese Ruhe gekommen ist. Auch hat Israel nie das Land vollständig in Besitz genommen. Immer wieder wurden sie von anderen Völkern besetzt . Welche Ruhe und welches Land sollen wir denn im Neuen Bund einnehmen?
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Fry me!

Steve on the patio in bright sunlight, translating the Friday FaxToday was another beautiful day, so I decided to sit on the patio to translate the Friday Fax. It started out pleasant, with a nice breeze, but I was being fried after 45 minutes, so retreated to the cool of the house. (Yes Mary, I used the suncream, so didn’t get burned 🙂 )

Things are hotting up

Clouds in the early morning: blue above, golden brown below, shaped like a horse and chariotThings are hotting up for the conference. The Steeles had a difficult evening yesterday, and are still trying to work out how to respond correctly (no more details here), John White also came under attack yesterday, and the Dales had a significant distraction too. Someone, somewhere does not like what is going on!
Dawn this morning, shown in the photo, was a beautiful contrast to the events.

Let the women be silent!

I was reading 1st Corinthians this morning. This verse linked in with some of the things we were talking about during the meeting yesterday:
1 Corinthians 14:35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

I started to think about this in the context of a few other verses and facts, and believe that he is actually saying “It is shameful for women to chatter in church.”

I was reading 1st Corinthians this morning. This verse linked in with some of the things we were talking about during the meeting yesterday:
1 Corinthians 14:35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

I started to think about this in the context of a few other verses and facts:
Continue reading “Let the women be silent!”

I really do take one photo each morning

Morning on August 29th: blue sky againFor those of you who doubt, the morning photos really are taken each morning! The weather here is very predictable at the moment: it starts out clear, sunny and cool (at least until 8:30), warms considerably during the day, thunders at 3pm, sometimes with very heavy rain, and clears up for the evening. It’s really a climate I could get used to 🙂
This morning, we had breakfast with a couple who heard God calling them to simple church. He handed his ordination papers back to the group he was working with, and they are now waiting for the Lord’s leading. It is very encouraging to see people like that, demonstrating their faith in their actions.

Losung: 29.8.2005 Du bist der Gott, der mir hilft; täglich harre ich auf dich Psalm 25.5

Der Verfasser des Psalm 25 ist David ein Hirtenjunge, der von Gott zum König über Israel berufen wurde. Für David war der Ausspruch: “du bist der Gott, der mir hilft; täglich harre ich auf dich…” kein Lippenbekenntnis, Sondern erfahrene Realität. Woher nahm David diese Zuversicht, dass Gott ihm helfen würde? Woher nahm David diese Überzeugung, dass seine Gebete Erhörung fänden?
Continue reading “Losung: 29.8.2005 Du bist der Gott, der mir hilft; täglich harre ich auf dich Psalm 25.5”

A full house

Today, many of the members of the Steele’s old house churches gathered here, plus a few new friends – all told, around 25 people. We started off with a time of prayer and talking about what Jesus is doing in everybody’s lives and why we do things as we do (to answer questions raised by the people here for the first time). Then came lunch and an afternoon of talking and playing games. I found the number of people and the volume somewhat tiring at times, but the conversations were good. All in all a great day.