Monthly Archives: November 2005

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Our sermon title this morning.

Luke 6:27-36 "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

The first thing - the first line - "to you who hear." Are we paying attention? Are we paying attention?

The Greek word for love here is "agapao" - charity. Not phileos, brotherly love.

Christ's command was to love those who hate you, abuse you, curse you. This is a love that we are to give to those who don't desire it. It removes the possibility of retaliation and it treats others the way you want to be treated.

Our behavior flows from our hearts - is it agapao that flows? phileos? or something else?

"turn the other cheek" means so much more than simply putting up with mistreatment. Agapao turns the tables, responding with charity.

A radical love that declares that we are children of the Most High, merciful and kind.

With the help of the Holy Spirit we CAN love anybody

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1) If you're going to call a business whose phone number uses their name - make sure you know how to spell it (or, in my case, make sure that you know for sure where the letters are on the phone dial).

2) The number for comcast is 1 digit away from a telephone porn number (soft woman's voice: only $5.99 a minute, billed to your visa or mastercard)

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The whole alcohol debate is probably going to be with me for a while, since my dad is a legalistic teetotaler and I'm - well - not.

In the sermon at my church this morning, the text was on the Sabbath (legalism vs. God's law) and how the Jews used hedge laws to "protect" themselves from breaking the law - if you obeyed man's hedge laws, you could never get close to breaking God's real one.

A "hedge law" is an "extra" law that the Jews used to create a hedge around the Law of Moses. For instance - all the Decalogue says about the Sabbath is: "but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates."

So, the Jews took it and ran with it - "what's 'labor'?" - and ended up with a bunch of hedge laws that never appear in Scripture: how far you can walk, how much jewelry (in weight) a woman can wear, etc. These hedge laws were so restrictive that Christ was condemned by the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath.

Christ never broke God's Law - but he did break the law of man - the hedge laws.

And that's what we have today - hedge laws.

If you don't use alcohol at all, you will never be able to break God's prescription against drunkeness.

Would Christ have obeyed this "hedge law"?

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I'll only have three posts this week, but it's been a good week. I think I did okay on the history test, and sure I did ok (meaning "A" on this one) on the psych test.

The psych paper is done - this is the paper that will be my final exam grade. I did the paper on "The Psychology of Deafness" and the subject turned out to be a lot more interesting that I thought it would.

Next up - "The Rise of the Roman Catholic Church - 800 - 1300). I'm learning a lot. This paper is due on Monday.