Hosea

Before I begin, by the grace of God and if He wills it, I will be writing an ongoing series of blog posts on the book of Hosea.

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; 
 his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, 
 as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3

“For he has torn us.” More often than not when we feel torn down rather than looking to God as the one who has ripped us (directly or indirectly), we either, consciously or subconsciously, think that somehow God lost control. I do this often. Seeing circumstances that I want to go a certain way, but knowing it could very well go the opposite way, and worrying about it. This is unbelief and disobedience (sin). Unbelief that God is sovereign and disobedience to have faith in what He will do. Unbelief that what He will do will be the best for me (even though my past speaks clearly to God being in control and good coming from pain) and disobedience to act in accordance with His sovereignty. I can’t help but think of Hebrews 3:19, “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” ‘They’ are the Israelites who were freed from Egypt. Their unbelief led to their disobedience, and because of their unbelief and disobedience they could not enter God’s rest. The same is true for us.

“That he may heal us.” Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Let’s be honest: we’re jacked up and need healing. We, apart from God, don’t know up from down; we are blind; we are deaf; we are dead. For proof look at the Word Romans 3:10-20,23. And if that’s not enough (which it ought to be, God said it) then look at the world. Man’s (yours and mine) proclivity to do disastrous things/acts. Murder, rape, pedophilia and racial hatred to name a few; these things comprise the world that surrounds us, yet they do not shock us… We either need help and healing or to get our butts kicked for being so downright bad. So how can God heal us from our desperate state? Or better, why should He heal us?

Let’s answer the second question first. Why should God heal us? In an effort to be brief we’ll stay within these verses. “That we may live before the Lord. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord.” So, why should God heal us? So that we can live before the Lord, and press on to know Him. Does this mean that God is lonely and needs us to keep him company so he saved us? No! If we, as believers, are pressing on to know him, praise will happen. Our natural response to awe-inspiring things is to praise them. But here praise is different because this praise is holy (set apart), all other praise is praise to things, creation (idolatry), but praise that is given to God is right praise, it is God-glorifying. So the fundamental answers to why should God heals us, is not because of our value to him, but because His praise and glory are at stake.

Back to the first question; how can God heal us from our desperate state? “On the third day He will raise us up.” Ephesians 4:8-11, “ Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)” Since we’re on the honest bend, I’ll be frank. Jesus is how God heals us. We’re screwed, and getting exactly what we deserve unless we have Jesus. No ifs, ands, or buts; no Jesus, no healing. So how do we get Jesus to heal us??? Answer: Belief. Plain and simple. Belief in the Gospel, that Jesus became a man, lived a perfect life (the life you and I can never live), died the death we ought to be eternally dying, and then rose from the dead defeating sin (our biggest problem), death and Satan. Leading us, the captives from our former slavery.

-Fight the good fight of faith,

Sam Morris (Romans 7:24-25)

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Two things to remember when discussing the Church

I believe it is important to remember two things when discussing the Church.

First, that the Church is a whore, a bunch of saved sinners, like Hosea's wife, and she will always be a whore until Christ comes, yet Christ loves the Church to the point of death on a cross. Therefore as a believer I must love her, though I am the worst whore of them all.

Second, we must remember the Gospel. The good news of Jesus becoming a man, living, dying brutally (murdered) on a cross for our sins, raising to life, and now making intercession for believers in heaven.

Though it does piss me off to see churches destroy those people trapped in sin, rather than loving them, and walking alongside them, and getting to know them, and becoming their friend so that at some point to teach truth lovingly to them. We ought to build relational bridges that are strong enough to bear the weight of truth. For God uses sinners, to teach the Gospel.
So, yes, the Church is a jack-up whore; and, yes, she does an awful job at loving; but Christ loves her, therefore so must I.

~Sam

Romans 7:24-25

New Contributors

With all that is going on with Journey The Way you may have noticed that I haven't been able to post as much as I would like. It isn't that I don't have anything to say, but that I have been busy with receiving the blessings of God. So it is my pleassure to introduce you to some new contributors to the Journey the Way Blog. Sam Morris, Anthony Fiorillo, and David Campbell will be contributing on occasion to this blog. I (Chad) will still act as editor and contributor, but you will now benefit from these guys as well. Our format will be to sign off on each post. That will show you who wrote what.

Please continue to pray for us as we move forward with the Church Plant. Pray for Tuesday nights as Journey the Way now leads a worship service in downtown Wichita at Mead's corner. Pray that God continues to move and that we follow His leading.

For the praise of His glory,

Chad Pearce