“On the Road”

By Jeff Curtis

Willie Nelson, a country music singer, has performed one of his song’s multiple times, called “On the Road Again.” Just as the Israelites were “on the road” – constantly traveling for almost forty years (Numbers 33:1-49), so Christians are “on the road,” traveling through this world. We should be looking forward to settling finally in our real home, heaven.

The Christian’s life has often been compared to a journey. For example, Pilgrim’s Progress, a famous 17^th century novel by John Bunyan, pictures the life of a Christian as that of a pilgrim on his way to the “Celestial City.”

In the New Testament, the church is compared to Israel in the wilderness. The inspired writers used Israel’s experience to warn Christians against apostasy (1Corinthians 10:1-2; Hebrews 3&4). Also, Jesus said that His followers are to be “in the world” but not “of the world” (John 17:11,16). Paul mentioned, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), not on the earth; and Peter wrote that Christians are “aliens and strangers” in this world (1Peter 2:11). Christians should believe, as the song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing thru” – and we should act accordingly.

How would we who are Christians live if we embraced the truth that we are “on the road” as long as we are on the earth? (1) We would accept the idea that our primary task is to do the will of our heavenly King, acting as ambassadors on His behalf (2Corinthians 5:20). (2) We would realize that our standards are not set by any worldly authority or by the views of those around us, but by God Himself. (3) We would value the spiritual realities of Christ above the goods of this world. We would not busy ourselves accumulating “treasures on earth,” but focusing on laying up “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20).

Your Spiritual Summer Bucket List

by Joshua Welch

Most have heard of a “bucket list.” Often, a bucket list consists of things people want to do before they “kick the bucket” and die. Maybe they want to visit a dream destination, jump out of an airplane, or scuba dive with the sharks. Yet, for our sakes today, we want to think about our summer bucket list. Some have a bucket list of things they would like to do over summer break - get a tan, visit a theme park, or catch up with friends. However, have you thought of any spiritual summer goals? Consider keeping this checklist handy...

1) Work so you can give. Paul writes of how we should “labor, working with hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28). Teens, don't just sit at home and do nothing all summer. Work. Support yourself by working but also work to put money aside to help fund a spiritual work or effort of an individual or of the church. Additionally, kids need to pitch in around the house and help their parents who are working (Ecclesiastes 9:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:10).

2) Read the Scriptures. Some seasons are busier than others and it cuts into our reading time. But when we have a slower season be intentional about reading the Scriptures so you might be edified and enlightened by the Word. What’s on your spiritual reading list to tackle this summer? How about Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts? If you’ll read just one chapter a day you should be able to cover it in a couple months (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

3) Plan a spiritual edification trip. Maybe it’s a VBS, a gospel meeting, or youth series, or a song leader workshop. However, make plans with someone to visit a group or church that is hosting a speaker or series and be edified while encouraging others (Acts 15:35-36; Romans 1:9-10). While you’re at it invite your friends to our summer series too!

4) Share a meal. If you have more time to cook and entertain, consider putting extra effort into hospitality this summer. It can be as simple as an ice cream cone after Sunday night services or a cookout on the back porch. But hospitality is an encouraging tool to grow relationships and build bonds of togetherness with one another (Acts 2:46; 16:15; 1 Peter 4:9).

5) Visit someone lonely. James calls us to “visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). The book of Hebrews says we should “strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees…” (12:12). While we encourage those who are discouraged by our visits, we often leave feeling uplifted too! Who can you make time to visit this summer?

Keep this list handy as a spiritual motivator this summer! Let’s grow.

The Innocent with the Guilty?

By Jeff Curtis

The Old Testament contains the idea of group accountability. That is, the guilt of one person could contaminate a whole group of people; and the guilt of the group made individual members guilty, even though they may not have been directly involved in any wrongdoing. When “corporate guilt” is punished, the whole group is punished, even though not all are equally guilty. For example, in Joshua 7, God punished Achan’s individual sin by causing Israel to lose a battle at Ai, with the loss of thirty-six Israelite lives. The whole nation of Israel shared Achan’s guilt, and his punishment included the death of his whole family.

In a sense, the idea of community responsibility also applies today. When an individual breaks the law and goes to jail, everyone in his family pays a price for his wrongdoing. A member of the church who sins may suffer personal consequences, but his sin also hurts the entire church.

This concept may explain the destruction of the Midianite camp, including some who were innocent. They were all part of a guilty nation; therefore, all those in the Midianite camp were collectively guilty and deserving of punishment.

Another important factor in this event is the element of influence. If the Midianite male children had been allowed to live among the Israelites, they may have influenced the Israelites to turn away from God. Perhaps even at a very early age, they had become so engrossed in the Midianites’ false religion and low morality that their presence among the Israelites would have posed a continuing threat to Israel’s standing with God. Destroying the Midianite children, then, was like cutting out an infected part of the body in order to keep the infection from spreading.

The best view regarding the destruction of the innocent Midianites is simply to say, “God did it, and that means it was right and fair and just!” Too often, when questions are raised about God’s behavior, we try to solve the problem backward. We ask, “How can we show that God is just, fair, loving, and right.” Instead, we ought to proclaim that God is God: That means He is just, fair, loving and right – whether or not we can explain His actions.

Of course, the fact that God required the destruction of a group of people because of their sinfulness in Old Testament times doesn’t mean that He approves of the employing force to destroy unbelief or unbelievers today. Christ’s kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36). The only weapon Christians are authorized to use in their war against Satan, sin, and error is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

When we say that God is unfair, we are like a lump of clay complaining because the potter hasn’t made it the way it wants to be. What right does the clay have to tell the potter how to go about his business? (Notice Romans 9:20-21). Saying, “I’m not going to believe in God because He allows or causes bad things to happen” is like saying, “Since the weather has caused damage to my home or my crops, I won’t believe in the weather anymore.” We can’t control the sun or the rain; but we cannot pretend they are nonexistent when they displease us. Similarly, we can’t dismiss God as nonexistent when He does not meet our expectations.

The thought of judging God is ridiculous. God is the source of our sense of fairness. We don’t need to presume to know more about justice than our Creator