The Blue Church

One of the more intimidating commands in the entire Bible is the first part of Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing.” You can almost hear people, maybe yourself, reply, “Seriously, Paul? I mean, have you met my boss?” Or “Really, Paul, you should have been here when I got back my medical test results.”

The Apostle Paul made clear that his focus was the present. He confessed his self-righteous past, renouncing it for the fellowship and riches of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:13, 14).

Working though Psalm 4, I was taken with how David described his response to his distress (vv. 2, 8). His honor was being questioned by his enemies, he is being lied about, and he is thinking through how to respond. He had asked God to intervene after recounting His previous faithful interventions.

No doubt there are many nights in which we long for the morning, and days we wish were shorter. We look for the day when the trial will pass or the pain subside. We wish this period of time were over so that a better time can come.

We’ve seen that the endless stream of blood sacrifices in our Old Testament implies good and bad news. The bad news is the Awfulness of Sin and the good news is the Acceptability of Sacrifice. On the one hand, we deserve death, but on the other,

Once it settles in upon your soul that the God of Creation takes sin seriously, as seen in the blood sacrifices of His worshipers, the question comes as to how it all works.

When you first wade into the Bible, you realize you are quickly in deep water. Adam and Eve are clothed with the skins of innocent animals to cover their nakedness. In the very next story, Abel is murdered because God was pleased with his offering, which was from the best of his flocks.

The Bible says that all things are to be done decently and in order, which means that all things are to be done. Sometimes there may be no expert available, and our own availability is the greatest gift we can give to others.

Last time we talked about experts, how important they are, and also how all expertise comes ultimately from God’s gifting. Sooner or later we come to appreciate the skills of others because we benefit from them.

Henry Ford’s auto assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan had ground to a halt due to the malfunction of a gigantic generator. When his own electrical engineers were at a loss, he called in General Electric to solve the problem. They sent the “Wizard of Schenectady,”