Ezekiel 33:17-20

17 "Yet your countrymen say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just. 18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. 19 And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. 20 Yet, O house of Israel, you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways."

This is a compelling and interesting passage from the prophet Ezekiel. He ministered for 22 years in Babylon 7 years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and 15 years after. God called him to warn the nation of Israel about the Judgment that was coming upon them because of their disobedience to God and His law. Then after the destruction of Jerusalem he speaks about God's plan for the Jewish nation to cast a vision of hope for restoration to the Jewish nation.

The book is logically divided into 3 sections:

1. Judgments against Israel (1 – 24)
   
2. Judgments against other nations (25-32)
   
3. Restoration for Israel (33-48)
   

So now we jump headlong into the 3^rd section of this fascinating book. Chapter 33 is the beginning of this new section, and we see a renewal of the call upon Ezekiel's life to be a faithful watchman for the Lord – to warn the people about what God has revealed to Ezekiel (33:1-9). We have recorded for us a sobering picture of the responsibility it is to warn people of coming danger. Ezekiel took this responsibility seriously. And so should we.

A certain question is on the minds of the Jews in exile. That question is recorded in verse 10 and answerer in verses 11 – 20. The question is:

"Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" NIV

"If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?" KJV

"Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and
we rot away because of them. How then can we live?" ESV

The idea here from the Jewish people is that their sin as a nation from generations past has put a debt of sin upon them, that all they will ever experience in life is more of God's judgment. How they lived today was not going to make any difference because they were damned by the sins of their parents. They felt as if they had no hope as a nation or as individuals to live a life of meaning and purpose. Would they be able to move back to their land? They questioned God's faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham – had God rejected them as a people forever? Ezekiel speaks words of hope to the people looking for sincere answers to this all important question.

The next 15 chapters give hope and direction to the nation of Israel – but here we are only looking at this one fundamental issue in 33:10-20. What we see is the Jew living in Babylon is NOT condemned to death because of his nations past, but based on his individual life right now. Ezekiel is exhorting them to look at their life today and live a righteous and holy life that is pleasing to God. To administer justice, to follow God's Law and do right, this is a good definition on righteousness – "doing right".

When the word "death" is used in this passage we have no alternative but to understand it literally as death. The judgments decreed by God upon Jerusalem for their sinful practice was death. The Babylonian army physically came to Jerusalem took their swords and ended the biological existence of many Jewish people. By contrast the word "life" means biologically alive.

Application

The answer to the question "How then can we live?" is to stop using your life and your heritage as an excuse for continuing in personal sin. Don't blame God for judging you unfairly – when you are rationalizing your choice to live in sin, and experience pain and even death because of your own bad choices.

God is just to judge each of us for our sins. Ezekiel reminds Israel if they sin God is just to punish them. Paul reminded the Church of this in 1 Cor. 11:30. Sin always has consequences. If we put our trust in Jesus Christ and his complete and finished work on the cross as payment for our sins we are forgiven and made spiritually alive forever, according to God sovereign plan. One consequence of my sin is that Jesus had to go to the cross and die for me – my sin required death.

As a forgiven follower of Jesus I still experience the consequences of my sins each day, and so do you. We feel pain of broken relationships because of the sin of pride, or gossip. We pay for the sin of speeding through the ticket fee and higher insurance rates. We pay for the sin of greed when our homes are foreclosed on because we over extended our finances. We pay for the sin of adultery by our marriage dissolving. God forgives us from the eternal penalty of our sin, but we still face the just consequences of our sin.

God judgment has a dual role in the lives of His people, first to discipline us and second to make us holy. His judgment and his love go hand in hand.

Do you find yourself under a burden of sin so heavy you ask yourself "how can I go on living?" God's Word gives you hope even today – stop sinning and live a righteous life. Experience the joy of living the way God has told us. Be sanctified! Find your satisfaction in bringing glory to God and trusting in his Word.

Other Reflections

It is imperative we understand this passage is not speaking to the issue of our salvation or eternal forgiveness of our sin by God. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly reminds us that our salvation is by grace through faith – not by our works.

It is backwards, and dangerous to take any single passage of scripture out of its context and use it to prove our point. We must value all of God's Word enough to do the hard word of digging into it and taking it for what it says.

Dan Sterken
12/30/08

Word to Youth Leaders

Christian Author David Wells was asked this question in an interview.  It is wise and it is a good statement of what we are attempting at our church in the teen ministry.

 If you were to address a room full of youth workers and you had the opportunity to communicate one message to them, what one message would you communicate?

DW: It is time to get brave. Let's stop the pandering. Kids see right through it. Let's give them the real thing. They are looking for it. No one has demanded anything of them; let us tell them that if they come to Christ, he bids them die. No one has told them that they can know truth as something other than their own private perspectives; let us tell them there is Truth and those who know it, lose their lives. No one has told them that there is a different way of life. What many churches have done has been to run after the kids fearing that they will be lost irretrievably to MTV, rock, sex, and drugs. So, better to give them small, undemanding doses of Christianity that won't interfere too much with their lives and which they will be willing to accept, than none at all, we think to ourselves. Wrong! If we tell them that they can have Christ on their own terms, we are selling them down the river. They instinctively know that. So, let us not make fools of ourselves anymore.

Thankfulness Test

Are you thankful? Here is one objective test to asses your thankfulness. What are you going to do on Friday? You know black Friday or UNthankful day.

1. Are you leaving your family early so you can wait in line all night in order to get a big screen TV at half price, or to buy some gadget to resell on e-bay?
   
2. Are you going to grab, horde and fight for all the extra flannel sheet sets or item you "need"?
   
3. When you family wants to talk about how they are so blessed on Thursday are you consumed by the ads and making plan about how to get that 60% off piece of junk that you don't really need?
   

Now to score the test – if you answered yes to any of the 3 questions you are not thankful. Our homes are filled with so much junk already; do we really need a bunch of new junk? Stuff can not give us joy – it only comes from understanding the free gift of Jesus Christ and trusting Jesus alone for our eternal relationship with God. This is why we can be thankful. Enjoy your family and sleep in Friday.

Thankfulness

This past year has been difficult. Time at home with my family was at a premium and when we were all home, care for Lauren took a lot of time. When she was 1^st home we would hold her and feed her for as many as 16 hours out of 24 hours. The greatest burden of this investment of time fell on my wife. Most of that time was spent bouncing on an exercise ball to keep her calm. Most of the time when we would feed her it would take 1 hour to get the milk in, then 30 min. to hold her to help her not throw up all the milk that just went in. After the 1.5 hours of feeding and holding she would often throw up all the milk anyway, and we would start over. If she kept in down we would need to start feeding her again after a 1.5 hour break.

Then at her weight checks the doctors would question why she gains weight so slowly. As I think back to those days, I do not remember much at all – We were really tired! I am thankful that feeding Lauren has gotten WAY better. She has a G-tube and an electric pump to give her food, and she gets formula continuously all night at a slow rate. We (mostly my wife) feed her 3 – 4 times a day and that takes a total of 4-5 hours.

I am thankful that she can sleep through the night and is happy a lot of the day. I am thankful too that she seems mentally aware and even bright, in spite of her body not doing what her brain wants her to do. I am thankful for Abby being such a good big sister through all this, she loves her sister and helps her and plays with her. Abby is so smart (she knows all Lauren's doctors and what kind of doctors they are – like pediatric gastroenterologist) and she is fun to be with. Most of all I am thankful for my wife who is a faithful servant to both our kids and her husband – she has a big load to carry and she does it without complaining.

With my busy schedule and ministry obligations she finds herself alone with the kids too often. Our church family and friends have been great helping out every way they can. Our strength comes from the Lord, which is rather obvious because we sure don't have it. Psalm 112 has been encouraging to both of us over the last year and to others facing hard times. I am thankful that this life is not all we have to look forward to, and I am thankful we do not walk this road alone. Have a great thanksgiving!

Sub-contracting in the church

An unhealthy trend I have noticed over the last few years is something I call "church sub-contracting". This is where people, as a practice pick and choose individual ministries between multiple churches to participate in. I'll take the worship service here, the mid-week ministry here, and the small group over there, the men's, women's, single or married group at a different church and so on. In doing this they do not serve, give or commit to any church – and they avoid relationship that lead to accountability and growth.

This is not helpful to the church or the family. What are we teaching our kids when we pick and choose our favorite church ministries? Does this help them understand the importance of the local church? Do the hard work of building relationships and working our problem in your church and you and your family will be stronger for it.

Finishing up in Moricetown

We had a good weekend in Moricetown. We passed out more tracks and had lots of people to share the gospel with. In church today we did a drama Natalie adapted from Acts 16. Several new people were in church Sunday whom we had contacted. It is great to preach the gospel with the Andersons. We packed up our campsite and are saying goodbye to many of the people we will miss. Tonight we are going to Rock Nest Ranch so we can help the other guys finish up a few projects. We head back home Tuesday morning and should be in Wausau at 2 AM on Wednesday morning. We are all tired and ready to get home. Today Kallia and Ruth ran in the Moricetown mud bog foot race. You will have to see the pictures of this! It was a big messy mud hole they race through and Kallia took 4^th, she had 2^nd but fell at the very end and a few people passed her. Please pray for a safe Monday working at the camp, travel back home and for me as I seem to be developing a cold??

Dan

Staying in Moricetown

Our plan was to go over to Rock Nest Ranch today but God had a different plan. The attendance at the camp dropped to 2 and we felt our impact here will carry a far greater eternal impact. Kids club ended yesterday with about 40 kids + leaders packing out the meeting room. Our campsite has become the biggest event in town each night, drawing over 30 people each night for games and campfires. We are seeing what a huge need the kids here in Moricetown have and are amazed at the change in just a few days. We have made a strong connection with many kids and they have all heard the Gospel multiple times. One boy who was not willing to sing and participate, by the end of the week he asked forgiveness from the song leaders and expressed his desire to follow Jesus and start going to church. I thank the Lord that we have all had many opportunities to tell others about Jesus. We are very impressed with the job the Andersons are doing with the people in this area. We are not very busy the next few days, but will be helping the Andersons with a few projects and spending time with people. I plan to go out to the camp tomorrow to visit the guys working out there. Thanks for your prayers! Lord willing we will see you in a few days!

Dan

Notes to Mom…

I know how important it is for Mom's to know what is going on so here is a quick note from the teens in Canada to let you know how we are doing…

Pastor Dan – I am getting my sleep and wearing clean socks every other day. It is a lot colder than we planned but I am staying warm enough. Thanks for taking care of my girls, have a great week!

Jess – Hi Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you lots, DUH!!!!!!!!! Campings not too bad, I know, hard to believe, but there is running water and we're right next to the bathrooms, yayayayay!!! Ok love you bunches, you know it! Eh? Hehe

P.S. (for Jess) Found the man of my dreams, his name is Cameron. Apparently Alberta is the Vegas of Canada. I'll show you my gorgeous ring when we get back. It's sooo exciting!!!

Rea Rea - yo yo yo homie dudeness. =p hows life back home? I miss you guys…kinda. Lol. No, I do. I am having an awesome time up here and have gotten really close to this girl named Justice. I cant wait for tomorrow. Me jess and Rachel are going to the Anderson's to just hang out while everyone else is going to hike up a mountain. I gotta go. Love you lots! Tell dad and phil and Nicole I say hello.

P.S. (for rea) Lost passport…not coming home for 6-8 weeks. Love you!

Matt R - Hi Mom, it is going to be three degrees Celsius tonight. It is sunny from 4:30 am to 11 pm. You would love working up here dad. We saw idiot's rock…there were a lot of idiots. I met a lot of kids. That's it. Bye bye, love you.

Ruth – Hi Mom (and family), I am still being a manly tripper. We got some salmon today and I helped to gut it and cut it up (we got help from a native guy who knew how a lot betterJ). Kid's club is fun, but it keeps raining. It's rather cold here, thanks for convincing me to pack so many sweatshirts and jackets. I love you.

Renae – Hi mom, dad, Julie, and pets. Things are going very well here. It is pretty cold, but I won't complain about that. It's beautiful here, so many mountains and rivers. I hope things are going well back at home, thank you for your prayers. Love you!! J

Andrew - Hello mother, I am having a great time and Kallia is encouraging me to eat new foods it is some what working. Dad I hoped you survived the night with the girls. Emily and peter I hope you are having fun with out us.

Jesse- Hi mom, winds low, rain moderate, food good. Beautiful mountains and views. Andersons say "hi". Patience…running low. Work of God, HIGH. Feed Julia a treat for me and say hi to dad. Love you, bye.

Kallia- Hi mom and dad, the mountains are gorgeous. We are hiking one tomorrow. I ate a ton of salmon and I saw a bear. It has been raining a lot here. The first day of Kidz club went good. Love, Kallia

Natalie- Hi mom (and dad), it is very beautiful here the only thing I don't like is the cold weather. Please water my plants. Thanks, Love you.

Rachael- Hi Mom (and everyone) Hope all is going well for you. Things have been going well here, a little cold but refreshing! I was able to try some Moose meat (tastes like venison) and fresh salmon(very good!) The canyon, mountains and landscape are beautiful! I have taken many pictures to show you. Postcards are on the way! Love you!

I hope that helps all the Mom's sleep a little better – Thanks for your prayers

In Moricetown

Our team arrived safely in Canada and we are getting settled into ministry in British Columbia. We met another youth group staying at the same camp ground we are, but working in a different city. They are leaving Sunday AM and have been a blessing from the moment we arrived. They started a fire and brought us dinner, this morning they made us breakfast and it was impressive! The brought 3 vans and a moving truck to hall all their gear which includes 2 full size refrigerators and a deep freeze. They have car ports for shelters and quite the set up for a campsite. They even brought a portable water filter to attach to the camp water taps. They made a mean cup of coffee too. We went to Canadian Tire today and now we have "Canadian Tire Bucks". We shared the gospel with a grandfather and his grandson who were willing to listen and talk but the grandfather sad to say thinks he is good enough to stand before God on his own terms. We also had a big gathering at the Andersons home with about 35 kids from the area and several parents and other teens. We look forward to seeing these kids throughout the next week. Thanks for your prayers!

Dan

Atheists are afraid of education.

The state of Louisiana passed a law allowing public schools to critically examine controversial issues like evolution, human cloning and other issues which are currently only presented from a narrow humanistic perspective. The bill states "to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open objective discussion of scientific theories being studied" It also clarifies in the bill that religious ideas are not to be promoted, and discrimination must be carefully guarded. The atheists tried to block this bill and the ACLU is looking into legal action to over turn a nearly unanimous vote of the elected officials. Why are they so against critical thinking and logic? It is clear they know that facts and evidence are not on their side and when students (even 1^st graders) logically look at the evidence they will reject humanism. Truth is hard to argue with.

Commitment

The church and the family are two institutions God has ordained in His word. For a marriage to last it does not simply take two people who love each other (or have that tingly feeling) - it takes commitment to stay in the marriage no matter what. Biblical divorce is allowed because of the hardness of the human heart (Matt 18:19). I used to think Moses allowed divorce in the case of adultery, but that can't be true based on the laws of that day (Lev. 20:10). Divorce happens when commitment breaks down and one or both people become hard hearted and selfish. The best situation for both people in the marriage is to stay committed to the marriage and deal with your selfish heart.

Now on to the church. Commitment is a key to a healthy church. We live in culture that is HIGHLY me focused, or selfish. We feel our preferences (often we wrongly call them convictions) are right and everyone else in the church should do what we want or we will leave the church. It sounds so ugly said that way, but it is common. The other phrase that is misused by people who leave a church is "God led me to leave". How do you respond to that? God led you to walk away from a commitment you made to His church? I would personally be very careful what I said God led me to do. This is a problem in almost every church in America. God's way is always the best and when he calls us into relationships with others with selfless commitment as the foundation it is for our best. As a person commits to a church that church also commits to them to disciple them, to encourage them, support them in crisis and confront them on sin. These are good things that may be painful at time but will cause us to grow to be more like Christ (Phil. 2). Commitment is a good thing and is not based on what I want, what I like, my needs or my style. It is a blessing to be part of the lives of other people for the glory of God!

Dan

Getting Started

I am working on getting this blog up and running so please bear with me. My free time has been non-existent for some time as I work to be a good husband, father and pastor. I look forward to the benefit this may be to my own spiritual life and hope it will be of some encouragement to those reading. I welcome any suggestions to this Blog from those with more experience. Thank you Roger for your help setting this up and your encouragement (over coffee) to post.

The title of this blog comes from via a youth group naming project a friend is helping me with it is based on this verse...

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

We are all on one journey through life, we seek to follow Jesus as the only way to God and we do this in community loving each other with the love God has placed in our hearts.

For His glory.