Sunday, September 2, 2012

Ecclesiastes

The Background Story.
King Solomon accomplished much in his life not long after he was throned king the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said "asks what I should give you" -1 Kings 3:5
"O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people so numerous they can not be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?" It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked for this. God said to him," Because you have asked for this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. -1 Kings 3:7-12. Indeed there was no one like Solomon his wisdom was known throughout the land and many sought out his counsel. Solomon's wisdom also brought him a great wealth, and with this he built a temple for the Lord. Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon. "Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my ordinances, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my promise with you, which I made to your father David. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and not forsake my people Israel."- 1 Kings 6:11-13. When Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, There shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel. If you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all the peoples ."- 1 Kings 9:1-7. Solomon had everything he could want he had power, wisdom, and wealth, and God had told him twice that if he would keep his commandments, and walk in integrity of heart he would bless him and all his descendants, Solomon was happy. But there is more to this story. King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, "You Shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods"; Solomon clung to these in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of is father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done.( 1Kings 11;1-6)
Then the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon,"Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my commandments and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your life time; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. I will not however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."- 1 Kings 11:9-13.
Now imagine with me King Solomon standing on a balcony of his palace overlooking his kingdom. His heart is heavy, his mind is troubled, he is desperately searching for something. For what he does not know. All he knows is the emptiness he feels, he asks himself how can I feel so empty, so alone, so depressed when I have everything. I have everything anyone could ever want a grand house, a large family, a kingdom, wisdom that has brought me fame, and wealth. What more is there, what is it that I am missing. What is the meaning of life. With these thoughts whirling around inside his mind and heart, Solomon thinks back on his life, and wonders where did it go wrong, what am I missing. Does life have meaning, or is it simply a meaningless cycle, a cycle you cannot escape. Vanity, all is vanity Solomon sighs. The Hebrew translation of the word vanity is hebel meaning vapor, or breath, unsubstantial, meaningless, lack of value, emptiness, pointless. And with this Solomon vows to find the meaning of life, and as the title of this book states assembled an assembly to discover the meaning of life.
The title Preacher (Ecclesiastes) denotes a function or a profession. It literally means one who assembles or one who gathers people together. Thus the word refers to Solomon as a person who convened an assembly of the wise in order to explore in a formal manner the meaning of life. - Nelson's compact Bible commentary.

The meaning of life.
After a lot of searching, questioning and testing Solomon found his answer, he discovered the meaning of life. Upon finding his answer he realized the need to tell his kingdom, for his discovery open his eyes to what was happening in his kingdom, it gave him new eyes to see with, and he saw how the people in his kingdom where living the same way he was. They were a people use to wealth, and fine things, they were wasting life.They were living a meaningless life. Solomon did not simply want to tell them the meaning of life and risk such an important discovery being forgotten he wanted this important discovery to be remembered for generations to come. This discovery had brought Solomon to his knees in repentance for the destruction he had brought upon his kingdom, because of his disobedience. So Solomon wrote it all down in the book we now know as Ecclesiastes.
Solomon begins by expressing that all is vanity. The word vanity appears thirty- seven times to express the many things that cannot be understood about life. All earthly goals and ambitions lead to dissatisfaction and frustration when pursued as ends in themselves apart from God. - Nelsons compact Bible Handbook Here Solomon does not just mean that life is meaningless but that it is quickly passing by life does not last forever. But life is a gift from God, and it is something to be treasured and enjoyed with him. Next Solomon tested wisdom he discovered that wisdom is not something to be hoarded away for personal use but that it is a gift from God meant to be used and shared with all.Then Solomon tried pleasure, laughter, hedonism, wine, ect. But these things do not bring lasting satisfaction, or happiness, These things do not give life meaning they only bring a tired emptiness. Next Solomon turned to work, women, and wealth. But these also only brought fleeting pleasure, followed by a meaningless,empty life. These are all things of the world they are only things we will have in our short existence here on earth, they are not things of the eternal kingdom. After all earthly things did not die on a cross for you, they did not shed blood for you. It is only when we use these things to bring God's kingdom here on earth that we will find a meaningful life. Think about it have you ever seen the joy or heard the laughter of a new citizen of the eternal kingdom. Have you ever felt the joy of sharing your wealth with someone in need. Have you ever found more satisfaction or joy in work other then work done for/with God for his Kingdom. Partnering with God in this fleeting life he has given us is the only way to give life meaning or value. Solomon also looked at oppression, rivalry, covetousness, power, formalism, empty prayer, and vows. You are probably saying of course these things do not bring happiness, and meaning to life, and you are right. But God still has a place in all of these. If you understand who God is and his steadfast love for you then many of these things will not have a place in your life. But you may be thinking what about oppression, this is something that may even drive people away from God. We find ourselves in pain,and suffering and we are quick to blame God. We ask God why are you letting this happen to me, Why, why, why. The truth is why questions very rarely have answers. So stop asking why questions and start asking where are you God. God is always with you he lives life with you, he feels what you feel he knows your oppression and suffering. So instead of asking why God, look for him, seek him out, and let him help you. Let him comfort and strengthen you.
You are probably starting to see what Solomon discovered in his search for the meaning of life, but there are a few more things I would like us to look at. First I found this contrast in the book as I was studying it and I think it points out the point of the book. For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. - Ecclesiastes 2:16. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it.- Ecclesiastes 3:14. Here Solomon is pointing out that all we accomplish will soon be forgotten, because things of this world do not last. You may gain fame, wealth, or accomplish some unimaginable feat. But these things do not last forever, unless they where gained through God and proclaim his character, and love to the whole world then they are of God and will be remembered forever.
There are two more things Solomon pointed out in his writing the first is to enjoy life. Yes life is short and pleasure does not give life meaning, but that does not mean that God wants us to live a joyless life. Remember what I said earlier about life being a gift from God, well he wants us to enjoy this gift, he just asked that we enjoy life with him, let him be a part of it, and celebrate with him.
The last thing I want to point out is to fear God, Solomon emphasized this several times throughout the book. What does this mean, what is it that Solomon is asking us to do. He is saying be in awe of God. We cannot do this unless we understand who God is, his love, his mercy, everything he is, he is all powerful, all knowing, relational, he is Emmanuel, God with us, he is our eternal hope. This is what gives life meaning, this is the important discovery that Solomon wanted his kingdom to know, and to treasure always, for generations. We will only find the meaning to life when we look above the world to the creator of the world, the creator of life, our source of life, and seek to understand him.That is where we find the meaning and value of life.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

BCC Graduation

After 6 amazing weeks in PNG my team and I flew back to Australia to graduate.



 
Here is a link to a video my teammate made.

 

Teaching at the Bible college.

While in Port Morsby we were invited to teach at the Living Light bible college. We were very excited to be able to teach at this college. Because not only was our whole purpose in coming to PNG was to teach bible seminars, but the bible college students would have a better understanding of English then our past seminar attendees, thus allowing us to go more in depth in our teaching.  This not only allowed us to give the students a greater understanding of the inductive bible study method, but it also helped us to grow in our understanding of the method as well. After this seminar I felt as though I had a better understanding of how the steps of the inductive bible study method all link together, and a greater understanding of each step. Through teaching this seminar I discovered how much I did and didn't understand of the inductive bible study method, and was able to grow in my teaching, and studying skills.



















Helping at a clinic

The church asked us to help at their clinic. The church opened the clinic to offer healthcare for those that could not afford it otherwise.  Every morning before opening, the clinic would have a time of fellowship with the patients. My team and I were asked to give a message during the fellowship time. When the fellowship time ended the clinic was opened. All the patients were given a number, the clinic would see about 200 patients a day.
My team split up and helped at different stations throughout the clinic. Some greeted the patients, others helped give out medications, and I helped with wound care. When patients came through wound care I would help clean and dress sores and wounds. I do not have any medical training but the nurse I was working with showed me how to clean and dress the sores. We would clean the sores with iodine, then dress the sore with some gauze soaked in iodine, then cover that with another layer of gauze, then tape.  Then we would offer to pray for the patient and send them on their way.




Food, Fun, and Funny faces.

Along with teaching at the school we also helped the church with a feeding program they did Tuesdays and Thursdays.  A truck and a couple of volunteers would go to the different settlements and pick up the children and bring them to the church. Children living in the nearby settlements would walk over. Once all the children arrived we started the program with some songs, then continue with skits and bible stories.

 Once the program finished it was time to feed the children. Since there was 200 children we could not feed them all at once. So we played soccer with them until it was their turn to eat.






Meanwhile the children were taken in groups up to the kitchen to get their plate of food.









When the children finished eating they would either go back to playing soccer or pose for the camera until it was time for them to go home.