A Time of Altars

Written by Jack Hayford

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. – Genesis 12:6-9 ...to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord... Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord. - Genesis 13:4, 18

Altars are a memorial to the place where God meets us

Vintage Church

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears (Crossway).

CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Colossians 2:6

Jesus. If one word were to be chosen as the most important word in the history of the world, it would be the name Jesus.

God preached the first gospel to our parents, Adam and Eve, shortly following their sin in Genesis 3; he promised that Jesus would come. From that day onward, God inspired his prophets to reveal in great detail the events surrounding the coming of Jesus.¹Consequently, for roughly a few thousand years God's people longed for Jesus' arrival.

Jesus came into history in the most humble manner. He was born roughly two thousand years ago in a barn to a poor, young virgin woman named Mary. Although he was God, Jesus' first earthly throne was the feeding trough of an animal, which was used for his crib.

Jesus' unparalleled humility is one of his most shocking attributes.² Our culture believes that pride is our greatest friend although it is the reason why Satan himself was kicked out of heaven. Pride covets the success of others and is about self--my glory, my arrogance, and my independence. Our culture, tragically, considers pride a virtue rather than a vice. Conversely, Jesus came in great humility and lived his life in great humility. Before repeatedly and emphatically declaring himself to be God,³ Jesus spent the first roughly thirty years of his life in relative obscurity in a humble town with humble parents working a humble job as a carpenter.

Why Benny Hinn’s Second Wedding Matters More

STEVE STRANG

 

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Benny and Suzanne Hinn were remarried at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla., last Sunday.

I attended Benny and Suzanne Hinn’s first wedding in 1979, so it was an emotional experience to attend their second wedding on Sunday at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla.

I’ve known Suzanne since she was 14 and Benny since he first came to the U.S. from Canada around age 25. I was involved in their courtship when Benny asked me to send Suzanne some flowers to make amends when they broke up once—because I was in Orlando and he was in Canada. (This was before the days of 1-800-Flowers.) I even hosted Benny’s bachelor party in 1979. So I have a unique perspective as a long-time friend of the family.

Over the years, Benny has been on the cover of Charisma twice, including in 1978 when he was largely unknown in the U.S., and I’ve published a couple of his books.

The Joseph Story

Written by John Grant

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18

Recently, we attended a drama presentation of the story of Joseph and his family. The Bible story became alive to me as I witnessed one of the greatest stories of reconciliation.

God prepares His servants in many ways to accomplish His purpose. The story of Joseph is repeated every day in the lives of His people. The circumstances may be different, but the results are the same. God trains His servants through sometimes difficult “boot camps.” When that training is complete, He places them in strategic places to be a provider-both physically and spiritually.

The Ministry of Communion

By Jon Walker 

It is the command of Jesus that none should come to the altar with a heart that is unreconciled to his brother. If this command of Jesus applies to every service of worship, indeed, to every prayer we utter, then it most certainly applies to reception of the Lord’s Supper. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Perfect Love desires communion, the sharing of life together, so it cannot be expressed from a distance. God came in human form to make His love visible. God so loved the world that He came up-close in Christ. 1 John 1:1-3 (MSG)

The Big Idea: Communion is about the sharing of life. It is about knowing others and being known by others, about caring and being cared for on a deep and personal level. And, when we take Communion (the Lord’s Supper) together, we should reflect the life we share with one another because the Life of Christ is active in our hearts.

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We cannot love like Jesus loves us unless we enter each other’s lives in an intimate and personal way. And so Jesus expects us to come up-close to each other. At the Last Supper, he spoke of the deep communion we should have with him and with one another. This is when he tells us, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me” (John 15:6 TEV).

True Faith Looks to God

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE

 

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William Wilberforce

Perhaps the struggles we endure in trying to live for Christ are due to our faulty understanding of Christianity

All the defects of the faith of many people in our day can be traced to a misunderstanding or lack of understanding of the foundational doctrines of the faith they profess: the true state of human nature, the truth of what Christ accomplished on the cross and the transforming influence of the Holy Spirit. Here is the watershed between nominal Christians and those who truly practice the faith that Christ came to make possible. The difference is so critical that I will attempt to further illustrate the problem.

Many people give no serious consideration to Christ and spend their lives drifting along with the culture's ideas of the good life. Then, through some circumstance, these people experience a wake-up call about their faith.

A Time of Altars

by Jack Hayford

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord  appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. – Genesis 12:6-9

...to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord... Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord. - Genesis 13:4, 18

Altars are a memorial to the place where God meets us

Altars represent the occasion and place where we have had a personal encounter with God. We may not always be able to make a physical altar, but there can be one established in our hearts. When we celebrate communion, we are celebrating the grandest altar of all--the Cross of Calvary upon which the Son of God was laid forth as the sacrifice: To reconcile all humankind to God; and to  make possible the infusion of our lives with meaning, the forgiveness of all sins and the promise of eternal life.

Altars appear throughout the Bible in many different forms. They are: 

Wonderfully Made

by Albert Lee

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Psalm 139:1-16

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14

Bible in a Year:
Psalms 67-69

When I was a child, someone close to me thought they could motivate me to do better by frequently asking me, “Why are you so stupid?” I didn’t know how much this had affected me until I was a teenager and heard someone behind me say, “Stupid!” At the word, I quickly turned around, thinking he was talking to me.

Knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord helped me to realize that because God created me in His image (Gen. 1:27), I’m not stupid but am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). God declares that all He has made is “very good” (Gen. 1:31), and the Psalms remind us that we are “skillfully wrought” (Ps. 139:15).

The Ultimate Proof of Total Forgiveness

That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. —2 Corinthians 5:19


The ultimate proof of total forgiveness takes place when we sincerely petition the Father to let those who have hurt us off the hook—even if they have hurt not only us, but also those close to us.


I had come face-to-face with this reality, so I prayed for certain people to be forgiven. However, after a few moments, it was as if the Lord said to me, "Do you know what you are asking Me to do?"


I thought I knew the answer to His question, so I said, "Yes."


He then seemed to reply, "Are you now asking Me to set them free as if they had done nothing wrong?"


That sobered me! I needed some time to think, but while I pondered His words, the Lord reminded me of the many sins for which He had forgiven me. I became frightened of the possibility that He might reveal—or let come out—some of the terrible things I had done.

Say You're Sorry

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.  2 Corinthians 7:10

A friend wrote to tell me of an incident in his home, a scene uncomfortably familiar to many of us. He and his wife had experienced some conflict -- nothing major, just enough to leave the air a bit tense as the breakfast rush ended and the kids disappeared for school.

My friend, Keith, admitted that he had "developed the fine art of winning arguments at any cost, especially when I am in the wrong!" So when his wife began to come down pretty hard on him for what he had done, he was half listening and half preparing his case for a suitable response.

"As I caught my breath," he wrote, "readying my tongue for the task, something happened. Just at that moment, God did one of those surprising things it seems He loves to do. No words came. I watched my wife fall silent in turn, as she waited, girding herself for my self-defense. But in place of my impeccable logic, five simple words came out of my mouth: ‘I'm sorry. I was wrong.'"

Repentance is never easy. We know. It's even bitter at times. But the fruit is sweet: Husbands and wives forgive each other and discover fresh joy, hope and oneness in their relationship. Children regain loving, attentive parents and are raised to fear God and keep His commandments. The estranged are reconciled. The haughty are humbled. The guilty find relief and rebellion. A family reformation begins.

Keith concluded, "Husband, don't argue with your wife from a position of authority or gifting or power or capacity. Don't win just because you can. Simply apologize." And ask for forgiveness.

Don't you love the way that sounds?

Discuss
How often do you repent to your spouse? In what situations do you argue rather than repent when your spouse points out a problem?

Pray
Ask God for a heart that doesn't argue when caught -- that your first thought would not be of self-defense but a desire to see how your actions (or inactions) are affecting your spouse. Pray that you will be quick to admit fault and ask for forgiveness.

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The Way Home

Here are the key elements by which we become reconciled to the Father. Each is vitally important. Any, if absent, could keep our new relationship from being complete.

Our condition: First, we must understand that we are separated from God. The chasm dividing us is both wide and deep. We inherited a fatal defect at birth. As a result, we have lived our lives independently from him. The Bible emphasizes this stark reality: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If we can’t come to grips with the fact that sin separates us from God, we’ll never come home spiritually, for there is no need for a savior.

God’s remedy: Second, we need to be very clear in understanding who Jesus is and what he has done for us, in order that we might confidently place our faith in him. He bridged the chasm separating us from God. In the apostle John’s words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Jesus was not just a good man, a great teacher, an inspired prophet. He came to earth as the Son of God. He was born to a virgin. He led a sinless life. He died. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven where he became both Lord and Christ.

Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf satisfied God’s requirement – complete provision for our sin. This Jesus, and he alone, is qualified to be the remedy for my sin and yours.

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Our response – to repent and believe.

Personal repentance is vital in the transformation process. Repentance literally means “a change of mind.” It is to say to the Father, “I want to turn toward you and away from the life I’ve lived independently from you. I am sorry for who I’ve been and what I have done and I want to permanently change. I receive your forgiveness for my sins.”

Many at this point experience a remarkable “washing” from a lifetime’s accumulation of all that can degrade a person’s soul and spirit. Whether or not we sense God’s forgiveness, if we repent, we can be very certain that we’re forgiven. Our confidence is based on God’s promise to us, not how we feel.

We come into a personal relationship with the Lord when we make life’s greatest decision – the turning point referred to earlier. It is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the One who died for our sins, who was buried and was raised from the dead – and to receive him as our Savior and Lord. When we believe in this way, we become God’s children. This is emphatically promised in John’s gospel: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your savior? If you would, you can pray a prayer like this:

“Jesus, I need you. I repent for the life I’ve lived apart from you. Thank you for dying on the cross to take the penalty for my sins. I believe you are God’s Son and I now receive you as my Lord and Savior. I commit my life to follow you.”

Did you pray this prayer?

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Aaron's Rod that Budded

Scripture Passage : Numbers 17:1-13

INTRODUCTION: The timing of this event is a glorious picture of God’s work in the history of mankind. This lesson occurs after a series of sinful events on the part of the people of God. The people are found complaining and lusting (Numbers 11), Miriam and Aaron get caught up in the murmuring (Numbers 12), the spies deliver an evil report (Numbers 13), they fail to enter the land (Numbers 14), and Korah rebels (Numbers 16).

So what does the Lord do to follow the failures of mankind? He follows with several glorious pictures of His Son, Jesus Christ. The rod of Aaron is one in a series of events that shows us that the only reconciliation for the sins of mankind is found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.