Shooting the Wounded? Hope not...

It has been said that the church is the only army which shoots its wounded...

I pray that this isn't true... but sometimes i'm forced to stop and think...

Please pray for Ted Haggard today.

GP

http://www.gphintz.com/

There's Hope in the Snare

Oftentimes, when I'm reading the Bible I come across different scriptures that seem to rise from the page, rear back and smack me silly across the face. They are either verses I've heard that I'm seeing in a new way or a verse that I may have not consciously stumbled across that seems to speak to me. Today, I found the former in Matthew.

"Woe to the world because of the things which cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" Matt. 18:7

Now, there are certain things I understand. Sin is out there. Sin is bad. Sin has consequences. Sin can put you into bondage. Sin can steal God's plans from you. Sin can destroy you. I know all of these things. They are foremost on my Christian mind. However, I often overlook the repercussions that come from one who births sin and influences others to do the same.

The word 'woe' is simple to understand for it means to put in a place of suffering or misery resulting from infliction. So, in other words, it means 'Things are not good' or 'Bad things are a coming'. Let me put it this way - if the sentence starts with 'woe' in the Bible, you don't want to be between that word and the period which ends it. Comprende?

Now, here's where it's gonna get interesting. The word for 'sin' in the NT is 'hamartia'. Whenever you find the word 'sin', this is the Greek you find. However, you will not find 'hamartia' in this verse. Instead you find the Greek word 'skandalon' which is rooted in the definition 'a trap or a snare', but looking at this verse it can be defined as 'any person or thing by which one is trapped or ensnared or drawn into error or sin'.

For those of us who draw breath and have fought the good fight and felt the pull of sin understand this trap or snare perfectly. There are things which are out there that are strategically placed and are consistently calling our names. Unfortunately, those who set out the traps rarely understand the severity of their actions. Their goal is normally to get your attention and your money - little do they know that their actions are bringing on themselves a greater consequence.

Now, I believe that it's important that we are consistently searching our own life and our own actions to assure that we're not setting up traps or snares for our friends by our actions, but that's not the main point I received from this text. Instead, I saw that there is a world system that is in full motion today and I saw that Jesus said that "the system and the traps and the snares 'must come'". I saw that He was not ignorant about them and even 2000 years ago He spoke about them. Sure, in many ways they've changed throughout the centuries, but their goal remains the same.

We, in turn, should not be ignorant about them. We need to continue to reach out to those who are setting up traps due to their ignorance and share with them the good news. We need to continue to pray for those who are trapped and ensnared and struggling. We need to be patient with those who desire so much to be free but feel like they are in quicksand. We need to love until it hurts and believe until it comes true.

Sin is a trap and those who are caught need someone who's broken free from the trap to show them how to open it. They need someone who has mastered the lock to show them the way. That someone is you and your day is today. You know right now who God has put in your life that's struggling with a snare. Don't wait - reach out today and help pull them out!

And maybe you're in the snare. You're in the trap. Some days it feels like you're not going to make it. Some days you sense the quicksand is going to pull you under. Well, let me tell you about one of my favorite quotes by Francis Assisi. He said, "Be patient with everyone, but above all - yourself." In life, the one we have the hardest time with is our self. Don't give up and don't quit, but remember that God loves you and His plans for you are great!

GP
http://www.gphintz.com/

The Lineage of Jacob

As I read my Bible, I am so pleased with the honesty and transparancy that I find in so many of the central Bible characters who make up my faith. I am as equally disgusted as I am pleased because I begin to realize that the highlighted stories that so many people hear about often overshadow the darker, seedier stories which still shine so brightly in scripture when you read it. The purpose behind the dark side of scripture is not to tear down the central characters, but to show the humanity and the frailty and the sin and God's grace.

The character I want to look at today is Jacob. You know... Jacob's ladder (the angels ascending and descending), deceiving his hairy brother Esau so he could get the blessing, wrestles an angel, God changes his name to Israel, father of Joseph and the technicolor dreamcoat, father of the 12 tribes of Israel, etc. This guy is central. This guy is foundational. This guy was human.

My antenna was raised as I was reading in Genesis 29 and started checking out Jacob's love life. Here he was in love with Rachel, is deceived into marrying her sister Leah and eventually gets them both in a 14 year work program with their dad Laban. But here is where it gets weird - kids were important in this time because they carried the legacy and helped around the homestead. Boys were very important and a sign of great things for the mom who could produce them. Well, are you ready? Fasten your seatbelt cause here we go...

Leah is the first to get prego with Reuben and then shortly later has Simeon. She doesn't stop there - next comes Levi and Judah. She has had four kids and they're all boys! Wow, does she have to feel good about herself or what? Now, Rachel wants to produce, but can't. So, she gets the great idea of giving her slave, Bilbah, to Jacob to impregnate. So, twisting his arm, he sleeps with her and gets her prego. She has Dan. Well, Jacob must've enjoyed himself because he goes back and the next baby to come out is from Bilbah and it's Naphtali. And the saga continues.

Now, Leah can't be outdone so she ends up giving her slave, Zilpah, to Jacob to impregnate. Twisiting his arm again he ends up sleeping with her and she has a son named Gad. Again, Jacob must've enjoyed himself because she ends up pregnant again and produces another boy who they name Asher.

Now, it's time for Leah to start earning her keep so she pops out three in a row - Issachar, Zebulun and a daughter named Dinah. The first one, Issachar, actually happened when Rachel wanted some mandrake root that Leah had. Rachel tells her that if she gives her the root than she can sleep with Jacob. Rachel gets the root and Leah heads out to meet her man when he gets home from work. She goes up to him and says, "You must sleep with me. I've hired you with my son's mandrake roots." (NIV) Quite a steal! Jacob relented and slept with her, producing Issachar and then the babies keep coming!

The good news for Rachel is that even though Jacob had produced 11 children from 3 different women, he didn't give up on her. Finally, after years of trying, Rachel gets prego with Joseph and then, to her demise, brings Benjamin into the world. Four women and thirteen kids later, Jacob's sitting in the middle of a family that is absolutely huge!

Now I understand that things were different in the time of Jacob and I understand that families were different and I know that God's plans are perfect and I think that's where I want to sit for a minute. God's plans are perfect. God used Jacob who was a deceiver. God used Jacob who was a horn ball. God used Jacob who was very carnal to usher in the 12 tribes of Israel. God used him.

In our culture I believe that we are too quick on writing people off and forgetting that God can work through weaknesses and God can work through mistakes and God can incredibly impact a generation through one person - you! It's easy to not give up on God sometimes, because He's so big and so awesome. The one that we have the hardest time giving up on is ourself. Draw the truth from this scripture that even in the midst of Jacob's weaknesses, God used him. Even in the midst of his lies and deceit, God used Him. Even in the midst of his infidelity, God used him (these slave women were not his wives even if we use the case of Biblical polygamy being alright).

God has a plan for you and it's bigger than your weaknesses! Don't let these things get you down and, more than anything, don't ever give up on yourself because God sure hasn't given up on you.

GP