Monday, April 16, 2007
Update on the Rescue
I've read a lot about good intentions lately.
[Saul] waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
Samuel said, “What have you done?”
And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”1 Samuel 13:8-14
And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”I recently heard some comments regarding the second commandment that made me re-think what I was doing with The Rescue. I certainly had the best of intentions - a tool for envangelism. I decided I had best look into this further before continuing. Here's what I found:
And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
And Samuel said,“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.”
1 Samuel 15:17-23
“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.Deuteronomy 4:15-19
Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.Acts 17:29
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things... because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.We are forbidden to make an image of God. Even though I wanted to communicate God's truth through images, I should not have tried to imagine God. There is a much better focus for my energies and talents -- one I know God will bless:Romans 1:21-23, 25
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts...2 Peter 1:19
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.2 Timothy 3:16-17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.Romans 10:17




3 Comments:
Brian,
I've been reading your blog for some months now and I must same I am pleasantly surprised at the realization God has brought you to concerning your latest comic book idea. You can (and are) doing good things without placing yourself in a rather precarious position especially where scripture is very clear and man attempts to make it very gray. Continue on brother in the knowledge of grace and truth...and I just HAVE to say this: your wife has come a long way from the woman who sat on my front porch so many years ago dismissing Reformed Theology (I read her blog too). I still recall your gentle rebuke: "Honey, you're sitting on the WRONG porch to make comments like that!" It sounds like the Lord has blessed you both tremendously!
Dear, dear Doug. I invited you to defend your position, but you wouldn't "argue" with me. You might have converted me sooner! :^)
Doug,
It is SO GOOD to hear from you!
I'm also glad you've been reading my blog. I'd love to get more feedback from you. You've known these doctrines so much longer than I have. I'm still a recent "convert."
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