Welcome to this first message on the life of David, but we have to warn you that if you grew up just hearing about his stories in Sunday School, then this adult version may be a whole lot different than what you expect. David will not turn out to be the hero in this story, but rather a living example of how our pride, passions, and priorities can lead us far from the life that we desire the most. Sermon begins at 11:19.
www.northcoastchurch.org.
History has pivoted on ordinary people who when faced with extraordinary circumstances drew on some deeply submerged essence of their humanity and were, in those most harrowing of moments, transformed into extraordinary people. There are those who held themselves of no accord who stood in harm’s way or entered the dangers of the fray and turned the tide of events that more than once turned the tide of history. These people sought no glory and would of themselves admit that they would have wished themselves to some safer place. But something about the unfolding horror that personifies crisis stripped their humanity of the plague of selfishness and incited them to abandon themselves to something other than themselves.
There are those common folk who unexpectedly found themselves in the center of some life crisis they did not create, fighting a battle they did not expect, finding no recourse but to assemble a courage from bowels of the very fear that had always stalked them. These people knew that they were not designed for this moment, but in fact it was their moment. They realized that true courage and the purest heroism is not something that one finds, rather it is something that finds them. And once it does, there is no alternative but to perform the task in front of oneself and hope that once it is completed the spotlight will turn to the one saved and not the one who did the saving.
False Heroes
These characteristics are the mark of true heroes. And in fact, we have lost this understanding. We have raised up those who have incessantly clamored for the spotlight and who have attempted great feats while sheltered by protective buffers of innumerable sorts. We have played to the players. We have fallen prey to the scripts of playwrights, the spins of political pundits, and the Botox of those who sought to reinvent themselves to popularity and power. We have followed heroes crafted by media slight-of-hand and sprayed flawless by the airbrush of deception. And I would contend that none of these are heroes, for heroes are not made. Rather they arise.
911
Many individuals of questionable repute brazenly market themselves as heroes. When we have discarded content for pabulum and character for compromise we would be well advised to realize that we have traded lesser scripts for greater people. And heroes are not made of scripts such as these.
Might I propose that one of the greatest yet most sacred honors we can bestow upon the events of 911 would be to give attention to the ordinary people who found themselves in extraordinary situations and performed feats unimaginable in the inferno of both flame and death. Some of these walked away once the carnage subsided, being left to sort out the scourge of trauma that was to haunt them. Others perished in the very carnage that they saved others from. No one embarked from their homes that day expecting to be heroes or charting out the course of their day so that the opportunity might present itself. But life ordained that circumstances would raise them up as heroes, as in the chaos and maelstrom born of terror they would lay themselves down.
For that is the beauty of a hero. And that is the beauty which we witnessed over and over on that fateful day. A true hero does not seek acclaim, but rather seeks anonymity. A hero seeks the best for others because circumstances of such gravity do not permit that he or she have space or right to consider what might be best for himself or herself. A hero will face fear because to face the specter of walking away from great need can do nothing other than break fear and birth courage. A hero is labeled a hero, but they will not accept the title for they realize that the enormity of such a title is beyond anything they could ever truly be except that a situation itself raise them to that for a moment. And these are the very things that represent the men and women who stepped up on that fateful day and did the impossible because there was no alternative but to do exactly that.
The True Heroes
Might we take time to intimately reflect upon the heroes of 911 even though they would forgo the title and shy away from any such attention. And as we do, may we raise up the real heroes all around us who repeatedly step in the gap quietly and without pretense. The teacher who comes alongside a troubled student to grant hope to one who has none. The mother who forgoes the dream of her own career in order to abandon herself to the dreams of her children. The first responders who without hesitation walk into the very situations others run from. The businessman who sacrifices a job because sacrificing his ethics is simply too implausible. The victim of injustice who refuses to live as a victim or let injustice define them. The person who feeds the homeless, coaches the team, becomes a father to the fatherless, who stands by their faith even when the scathing criticism of a culture bent on immorality pummels them bloodied and bruised. The everyday man and woman who faces the looming specter of cancer, prays for their neighbors, wrestles with a handicap, fights an addiction, works a second job for a college-bound child, buries a father and cares for a mother.
These and so many more are our heroes. And as we remember the heroes of 911 may we not be so crass as to embrace those who discard content for pabulum and character for compromise in their pursuit of self-proclaimed heroism. Instead, might we honor the true heroes of 911, and in the same way may we celebrate those everyday heroes who live and work among us in ways that raise our world up when so many other forces would tear it down. And I believe that recalling and reverencing all of this might very well be the best and most meaningful way to honor the men and women of 911.
A lifetime of influence always reflects a person of character. A pastor or spiritual leader is not a job description, it’s a life that’s shaped in a certain way. We are all shaped by our environments. To try and model yourself after someone else is almost always a mistake.
Being a pastor is the most context-specific vocation there is. As a pastor, your life is your vocation. As a pastor, I knew what I wanted to do but didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t want to be an “entertainment” pastor. I didn’t want to be Presbyterian, that was like doing bookkeeping. I wanted to makes sure people knew about God and that they knew each other.
If you have a Holy God, you will develop a holy congregation. I knew I needed to be insistently local, because the congregation is a local place. It has to be personal, you have to have relationships with all of the people. In my own case, there was still a church building to be built and funds to be raised. I realized I had an adrenaline addiction… I liked to compete. I also realized I didn’t really know how to be a spiritual pastor, but realized my congregation didn’t know what was a pastor was either.
That was the first step. I was proactive to make sure they knew who I was as a pastor so I could determine who they were as a church. I didn’t want to run a church, I wanted to be a pastor. All of us learn how to do what we are doing while we’re on the job. None of us are exempt from learning how to be a pastor on the job and to trust the people who are with us on the job.
We need to let other people be ministers along with us. You need to give people responsibility and authority to create a holy community. Determine not to look at people as problems to fix. Do not look at people as resources to use. Doing either of this is dehumanizing. Treat people with dignity and as eternal souls, not as ways to make a living.
Most of the leadership models we have given to us in our secular culture have to do with getting something done. Making money, building something, going on a mission, etc. tend to make us feel that we are spiritual because we are busy doing spiritual things. A pastor’s chief job is not to get something done but to pay attention to what’s going on and to be able to name it and to encourage it.
We live in a secularized world where leadership positions almost entirely do with having to get something done and figuring out how to do it. A pastor has a unique position in the church of Christ to be on the ground and local in a community, paying attention to what God is doing and helping people see it through the exposition of Scripture and teaching.
People pay more attention to listening. The Bible is our Story. The pastoral vocation has to do with being available to people, to lead them into maturity and in the life of Christ without mimicking you. People also need to grow in Christ in the context of who they are, in their vocations, etc. Being a pastor is a modest job. We are not important in the economy of the world… we are, however, important in the economy of the Kingdom of God.
Worship, teaching, silence and being present are major disciplines of a spiritual leader. Spiritual formation doesn’t mean getting a bunch of disciplines together and doing them, it means paying attention to what’s going on in your life. The caution: don’t let culture define our position and our vocation. Secular culture infiltrates the church… we live in a sea of secularity, it’s hard not to be influenced by it. Think deeply, pray deeply, read widely in the literature of pastors.
Steep yourself in the community and company of pastors. This is a unique vocation and we can learn from a lot of people and we need to pay attention to the people who have done it well. Understand the inner-workings of the pastoral life. Steep yourself in the literature of the life of faith. Keep your guard up against the secular stuff going on around us. There is a lot of pessimism in the church today. We’ve been in this position so many times … for 2,000 years, and for 2,000 years before that as a Jewish community. We’ve never been truly and completely successful at it. Israel was only faithful every once in awhile… All throughout it, though, salvation is still working out in spite of us.
You must be a spiritual person if you want to be a spiritual leader!
Notes from timschraeder.com.
The classic story of David and Goliath answers the question, “What does real courage look like?” David’s heart surfaces in this story of fear and faith. “David showed us that when the odds truly are against us and re feel overwhelmed, the single most important thing we can ever do is to remember what is most real-the character, power and rule of God.” (Becky Pippert, “A Heart for God.”)
Preached at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. www.gospelforlife.com/freesermons
Courageous commitment doesn’t make sense and it never will. It didn’t in Daniel’s day and it doesn’t in ours-but as we learn in the unusual suspect of Daniel, because of his courageous conviction and commitment, we are still talking about him today! This kind of courage could change your life, your family and your legacy!
Preached at Hope Fellowship Church, Used by permission.
There are two words in the Greek language that could be translated as Greeks – Hellenistoi and Hellenes. Both refer to Greek affiliation. John uses here the latter word. The difference between the words is usually understood as the following: Hellenistoi is used for Greek-behaving people, like Greek-speaking Jews (Hellenized Jews); while the second word refers to ethnic Greeks (in this case probably the Greek God-fearers that we meet in the book of Acts). However, in John’s Gospel, we are faced with an interesting dilemma. John does not seem to use hoi Ioudaioi (usually translated as the Jews) as others use it. He has his own use that is particular to his Gospel, given his unique audience and situation. (The use of hoi Ioudaioi meant something to his audience that it does not mean to others).
NOTE: To read posts on all previous chapters of John, please, click “The Jewish-Samaritan Journey” banner that appears on the right bar. To express your provisional interest in taking the “Jewish Context of the New Testament course”, click HERE.
Thinking along the same lines it is entirely possible that John has his own use of Hellenes as well. Whereas others use the term Hellenes for ethnic Greeks, John may be using it in a different way. But this of course is only a possibility. The burden of proof is upon those who would like to argue that these were Hellenized Jews and not God-fearing Greeks. We must however think of both possibilities with the first still being the most probable one.
Whether Hellenized Jews are in view or Greeks God-fearers (probable version), who were seeking out Jewish religious leader for a meeting, Jesus’ following had reached the farthest corner of Jewish influence! (If one looks at the Israelite umbrella of various Jewish movements, the Gentile God-fearers who had not fully joined Jewish community, but in many ways affiliated themselves, can be viewed as occupying the furthest corner of Jewish communal influence.) Now that Jesus has followers not only in Judea, Galilee, Samaria, but also in the Diaspora he declares that the time for the Son of Man to be glorified has finally come (something that he denied number of times before).
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
What is very intriguing here is that the Gospel does not tell us if Jesus actually met with the Greeks. Instead the author switches his emphasis to the words of Jesus where he spoke of his coming death and sacrifice. It is likely that Greeks were invited in; and what comes in the following verses may constitute a summary of that conversation. Jesus’ point is simple. Unless he dies, his ministry will not bear much fruit. Those who sanctify God’s name might also be required to die with him, but his Father will honor them.
NOTE: You can sign up for research updates (if you don’t get them already) on any page of this site or invite your friends to do so by typing into the box their email address (http://JewishStudies.eteacherbiblical.com)
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”
The words of Jesus speak deeply of his full humanity. It is not natural for a human being to want to suffer and die. Jesus, understanding the core of his mission, is willing to do so.
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.
The connection between God’s voice and thunder is important here. We read in Ex.19:16-19: “16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.” The voice of God in speaking of the glorification of Jesus is, therefore, set in the same glorious context.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
As I discussed in the previous section, while it is traditional to assume that the ruler of this world is Satan, the enemy of God’s purposes on this earth, it is also possible (though this is only a possibility) that a particular evil leader of the hoi Ioudaioi in fact was in view instead.
The Qumran community speaks of a wicked priest as a towering evil figure in the Qumranic imagination. While one cannot simply draw quick conclusions, we are justified however in entertaining the possibility of such a figure. It is noteworthy that every known case of persecution against Jesus and the Jerusalem believers in Jesus, especially their leaders, “was taken when the reigning high priest was one of those who belonged to the powerful Sadducean family of Annas.” Caiaphas, Annas’ son-in-law condemned both Jesus and Stephen. James the Son of Zebedee was executed and Peter was arrested by Agrippa I; while Matthias, son of Annas, was probably a priest.
In Acts 12:3 we are told that the king was motivated to gain the favor with “the Jews,” that is to “placate the high priest Mathias and his family” since some time before Agrippa had humiliated Annas’ family by deposing Theophilus, brother of Mathias. Another son of Annas, Ananus II, put James to death taking advantage of being Roman Emperor’s before the appointment of the next leader of the Empire. The above shows that we are justified to speak of a case of family vendetta against “the followers of a man whose movement Caiphas (as a member of Annas priestly family) had expected to but failed to stamp out”.[1]
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
It was clear to Jesus that he would be crucified and would be lifted up on the Roman cross for criminals. When this dying/sowing of the seed happens, it would produce much fruit and all men (in this nearer sense, Israel, though certainly not only) would be drawn to him.
[1] See Bauckham, R. 2007. James and the Jerusalem Community. In Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries. Edited by O. Skarsaune and R. Hvalvik. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 75.
www.eteacherbiblical.com. Used by permission.
Dear Roger,
Do you have to publicly become a Christian or can you do it in private?
Sincerely, Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
When I was growing up every worship service ended with a call for people to “surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.” People were invited to walk to the front of the congregation and publically declare their commitment to Jesus. They were thus identified as “new Christians”! The impetus for giving this type of invitation to follow Christ was Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 10:32-33: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Again and again I heard our pastor say, “Every disciple Jesus called, He called publicly. There is no such thing as a secret disciple. If you come forward now Jesus will confess to His Father that you are one of His children. But, if you don’t come forward He will deny that He knew you!” My pastor was on the right track, but his focusing on walking the church aisle and on the now or never moment was quite obviously off the track.
I believe that my pastor was on the right track, but He didn’t carry the meaning of Christ’s words far enough. Walking down the aisle of a church never made anyone a Christian! Becoming a Christian is a deeply personal, carefully considered decision of life-time devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. This decision is made privately in the deep recesses of the human heart.
Following Christ is both a private and a public affair. Of course, the internal decision may be followed immediately by walking the aisle of a church and openly declaring faith in Christ. But, not necessarily. The internal decision may be expressed in a multitude of ways.
Jesus’ point is that the decision to follow Christ will not stay private. Following Christ results in an inner transformation which produces outward behaviors that reflect Jesus and His Kingdom on Earth.
If the private encounter is real, and our surrender to Christ is indeed a life-changing commitment, then Jesus will gladly declare to His Father that we are truly His children and welcome us into the eternal Kingdom. On the other hand, if the inner commitment is faulty or incomplete, then outside religious behaviors will not fool Jesus. With a broken heart He will tell His Father that we are not His. We will enter into an kingdom where we really don’t want to spend eternity at all!
The primary context of Matthew 10:32-33 is persecution. Jesus taught His followers that they would be called on to testify before powerful authorities to declare whether or not they followed Christ. On that day, true Christians will declare their surrendered relationship with Christ—even at the cost of their lives.
In practical reality, living under the iron fist of the Roman Empire, things were not nearly so clear-cut. There is little doubt that under intense torture the one being pressured can be made to say anything.
A problem arose in the church during the first and second centuries. Some of the Christians broke down and denied Christ under torture. Many in the churches “kicked out” of their churches those who denied that Christ by declaring that true believers would never for a moment deny Christ. Others wanted to forgive them and welcome their return. The issue was never resolved.
The Roman Empire in the early centuries was held together through the institution of Emperor Worship. People throughout the empire could worship as many gods as they wanted as long as they bowed down once a year and declared publically, “Caesar is Lord,” thus submitting themselves to the power and authority of the Roman emperor.
The persecution was merciless for those who instead declared, “Christ is Lord.”
I am reminded of Hebrews 11:32-40:
“And what more shall I say? … There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
PERPETUA was a young married aristocrat who lived in Carthage, North Africa. At the age of twenty-two she was tried before the procurator who asked, “Are you a Christian?”
“I am” she answered.
Her diary is preserved: “Then he passed sentence on the whole of us, and condemned us to the beasts…. Then, because my baby was accustomed to take the breast from me, and stay with me, I asked my father for my baby. But my father refused to give him. And as God willed, neither had he any further wish for my breasts, nor did they become inflamed; that I might not be tortured by anxiety for the baby and pain in my breasts.”
Then, she summoned her brother and spoke to him: “All of you stand fast in the faith, and love one another; and be not offended by our sufferings.”
The story is finished by an early Church father named, Tertullian: “For the young women the Devil made ready a mad heifer… Perpetua was tossed first, and fell on her loins….Then, having asked for a pin, she fastened her disordered hair. For it was not seemly that a martyr should suffer with her hair disheveled, lest she should seem to mourn in her hour of glory.”
Public Christianity may be costly but glorious! Private Christianity doesn’t cost much and is quite an ugly thing.
When we read of what they went through, our persecutions, if we have any, seem quite insignificant.
Well, Anonymous, thanks for asking the question. I hope my answer is helpful to you. May you shine like a city on a hill in the darkness of night.
Love, Roger
How many of you have had the experience of being stripped naked before a room full of strangers? Anyone here this morning ever been strip-searched?
You have if you’re a frequent flier. You have if you’ve recently flown through any of the sixty-plus airports that now use “full body scans” as part of their security procedures. Just as the “shoe bomber” made it a requirement for all of us to pad around barefoot on grungy airport floors, the “underwear bomber” has led to the use of these virtual strip-down scanners.
If modesty or indignation prompts you to refuse to let a total stranger fix on you with a “naked gaze,” you can opt for an extended “pat-down” instead. In that case rather than just being looked at by a total stranger, you get to be touched all over, including your private parts, by a total stranger – of the same sex, no less.
Since body-cavities are not revealed in either the body scan or the pat down, one wonders what voyeurist thought this up. But ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do and die.
Some groups are advocating an organized protest against full body scans .The hope was that by opting for the more time consuming “pat-down” procedure, security checkpoints would become clogged to the point of being non-operational. Air traffic would be disastrously disrupted, and security forces would “give up” these embarrassing and invasive procedures.
Right. This year, the week before Thanksgiving a homeland security spokesman assured travelers that they all had complete freedom to choose whether they wanted to go through a full body scan or pat-down or “not.” Of course, if we choose “not” then we would “not” be allowed on the airplane.
Thanks to digital technology, full body scans strip us bare without our having to remove a single stitch of clothing. It is only through the power of its light that we are revealed right down to our skin. The intensity and wavelength of the light allows nothing on our body to remain hidden. It is a different kind of intensity and wavelength of light that Paul is talking about in our text for this morning. But it is a similar kind of scan: except in this case it’s a full soul scan rather than a full body scan.
Truth be told, I suspect that the reason a lot of people refuse a full body scan isn’t because a stranger will get an embarrassingly good look at our body. It’s because we are afraid that a stranger will think we don’t look good or snicker at our looks. Supermodels and body-builders don’t have any qualms about showing off their bodies. It’s those of us who are lumpy, bumpy, flabby and dumpy, or pot-bellied and saggy bottomed, who worry about being revealed without the comforting camouflage of clothing.
However much the airport’s full body scans lay bare, they still are only skin deep. The light they emit cannot penetrate into our cavities, our mind, our heart, our spirit. Nor can they reveal the intentions, the desires, the hopes, the fears, the virtues or the vices we harbor within ourselves.
It takes a different kind of light to get under our skin and into our soul. Living fully exposed in that light is what Paul urged the Roman Christians to do in this week’s epistle text. Jesus’ followers are to live and leg it in the light of a new day, a new reality where the redemptive work of Christ illumines a dark world. Christ-light reveals everything. No compulsion is dark enough, no desire is buried deep enough, no motive is masked thick enough, to escape Christ-light.
Likewise, no act of love is too small, no words of forgiveness too soft, no feelings of compassion too subtle, not to caught in the gleam of Christ-light.
The light of Christ lays bare everything within us. Both the good and the bad.
And yet, Christ’s response to that full soul scan is not to declare judgment, pronounce doom, or laugh hilariously. When we allow the light of Christ to scan our souls and dare to bare our faults and blemishes, Jesus offers us forgiveness, redemption, salvation.
Why is it when we look at others we either look up or look down? Our tendency is either to look down on people, or look up at them. We size each other up, do a first impression scan, and quickly decide whether we are impressed by their looks, or their money, or their power, or whether we disdain their plainness, dismiss their poverty, or despise their lack of status.
The truth is what we see in others is mostly dependent upon what we want for ourselves.
What would happen if instead of looking at others with our self-centered stare; what would happen if instead of looking up or looking down at others: what would happen if we let Jesus throw a new light, give us a new view, a new perspective on people?
Paul told the Roman Christians that in order for them to see the light of the new day that was approaching they must “put on” Christ. What would happen to our vision of others if we “put on” Christ like a pair of respect spectacles. That word “re-spect” means to look again. Re-spect means for us to look again and again until we see the full picture. Jesus teaches us to look again at each other, beyond our critical sizing up and breaking down, and to use respect spectacles to receive every person as a gift to be celebrated rather than a specimen to be critiqued, dissected and dressed down.
Jesus didn’t look up or down at anyone he met. Instead Jesus treated every person he met with respect. In other words, Jesus looked at, Jesus looked into, and Jesus looked with each person he encountered.
He looked at the earnest, yet wealthy young man, and immediately saw his love for money overwhelmed everything else in his life. Yet Jesus loved him.
He looked into the cheating heart of the woman at the well and discerned the parched condition of her soul. Yet Jesus loved her.
He looked with the eyes of everyone he met, and he saw in us all the neediness of a child, a sponge for attention and nurture and encouragement. Yet Jesus loved children above all.
To put on Christ is to re-spect everyone. Instead of critiquing the shortcomings of others the re-spect spectacles offer compassion and companionship. Instead of finding failure the respect-spectacles focus our gaze forward onto a horizon of hope and possibility. Instead of condemnation, the respect-spectacles offer vistas and visions of forgiveness.
Even though none of us is perfect in every way, or has it all together, we together constitute in the Master’s hands a powerful force for good and light in the world.
An old fable tells of trouble in a carpenter’s shop. The tools were in a tizzy. “Brother Hammer, you’re too noisy.”
“Me? Brother Plane’s work is all superficial. No depth.”
“Me? Brother Rule is always telling others what to do, measuring us all by his own standards.”
“Me? It’s Brother Screwdriver who drives us all crazy going round in circles.”
“Me? Sister Sandpaper always rubbing the wrong way.”
“Me? Sister Saw goes back & forth endlessly.”
Suddenly the bickering ceased, for everyone heard the carpenter coming. When he entered the shop, he put on his apron, went to his bench, and began to make a table. He picked up Brother Rule, then Brother Plane, then Brother Hammer and Sister Screwdriver, then Sister Saw, and lastly Sister Sandpaper, whom he used to smooth all the rough edges.
To make a table on which to spread food for a hungry world, all the tools were necessary. None was more important than the others.
When you put on re-spect spectacles, and look at, look into, and look with the eyes of everyone you meet, then all of life becomes one Big Advent.
Leonard Sweet Sermons, Leonard Sweet, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., 2010, 0-000-1415
Lot’s selfishness, misplaced priorities and spiritual dullness cause disaster. He and his family barely escape certain death because of God’s amazing acts of mercy and grace. The lesson for us is to be vigilant, to keep our hearts pure and to focus our lives on God’s plan and purposes.
