Month: September 2024

ENDOR: WAS IT SAMUEL OR AN IDENTITY THIEF?  (Part 1 of 2)

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  1. The Proof of Prophecy
In his anxious last days, with the drumbeats of an uncertain war looming from across the horizon of the dying day, Saul, the first king of Israel, consulted a medium popularly described as “the witch of Endor.”  He was desperate to know the future: hers was the burdensome task of calling up the dead Prophet Samuel, who would answer his worries. She did, but that event has been trailed by an age-long theological controversy: was it the dead Prophet Samuel that the witch called up, or was it an identity thief? a strange spirit that masqueraded as the prophet of God? (1 Samuel 28:3-25).

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OF RULERS AND LEADERS  (Part 5 of 5)

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  1.  How to Tell Rulers and Leaders
Between many options, it sometimes seems hard whom to choose, especially when divine vision is also unclear.  Simple rule: when you are unsure of whom to stand with; when it seems hard to tell the leader from the ruler, check who is very desperate for the office, who thinks that they must be there by every means; then check the other whom the office seems to be chasing even when they sincerely wish they were rather in their quiet corner; check who are takers and who are givers; check those whose crowd comprises praise singers and bribed servants, and those whose followers do so from their heart.  Check their language: threats or care?  Force or love?  Check their past: how many did they lead out and bring back in?  How many did they betray out there to get where they are now or seek to be at?  What songs do the simple women compose to describe them?  Whom do the sincere singers say that they are, as against bribed headlines?

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OF RULERS AND LEADERS  (Part 4 of 5)

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8.  Leaders as Feeders

Of David it was said, that he “led Israel out and brought them in,” like the shepherd that he was.  He did not lead them “out” and leave them there to wolves and other hazards.  He brought them back “in.”  He was a starter and finisher.  Of course, the speaker in our primary text was referring to how David led the armies out to war and back in triumph, but the remark was emblematic of the shepherd roles of David – the shepherd who often led the sheep out to feed and ‘back home’ to the safety of the sheepfold.

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OF RULERS AND LEADERS  (Part 2 of 5)

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4.  Connections Beyond the Office

Usually, force, inheritance, or a political process produces the ruler.  On the contrary, a relational process produces the leader, and the people follow that person “out” and “in.”  The ruler has an ‘official’ connection to the people, the leader has a heart-connection with them.  One relationship starts and ends in or around the office, the other lovingly and mutually transcends that regimented space into the private recesses of the players.  One relationship is formal, the other is much more: respectfully and cheerfully cordial, unrestricted by the legalities of office.  One leadership style is self-centred, the other is people-oriented.  One is about power and control, the other is about service.  One is about rules, the other is flavoured with grace.  One is founded on fear, the other on love.

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OF RULERS AND LEADERS  (Part 1 of 5)

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“Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.'”
1 Chronicles 10:2; 2 Samuel 5:2, New King James Version.
  1. A Definition
Take one more look at our text: two characters are prominently projected: Saul and David, in apparent contrast.  At the time when one “was king,” the other “led” the nation.  One was ruler, the other was leader; one had the throne, the other had the people; one wielded power over the people, but whom they went along with “out” and “in” was the other.  In other words, a people’s king might not always be their leader, and rulers are not necessarily leaders.

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WHEN SPIRITS DETERMINE VISAS

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That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
Deuteronomy 30:3.

God can bless anybody anywhere, even in the wilderness; and anybody can choose to be somewhere, but sometimes locations can be the function of a supervising curse or blessing, according to our text.  Before Nebuchadnezzar fell out of favour with God, he sat on a throne in his palace.  When divine judgment came on account of his pride, he was “driven” from his throne into the wild.  His new physical location among the beasts was a consequence of a Spirit-Force acting upon him (Daniel 4).  When Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden into an ‘outside’ place of labour.  Their former location of bliss had been sustained by their relationship with God; in the same way was their new location of labour the consequence of their spiritual crisis, an expression of their spiritual state.

How will God Speak to Me? (Part 5 of 5)

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Luke the Researcher

I once asked an audience to tell me which book was more inspired, between St Luke’s Gospel and St John’s Gospel.  There were those who were sure that St John’s Gospel was more inspired, that it was more ‘the word of God’ than St Luke’s Gospel.  A few maturer folks said that both books had equal inspiration as the word of God.  The Introduction to the Book of Revelation clearly shows that Apostle John had an encounter with the Almighty where he was instructed to write; so, the authenticity of that book cannot be questioned (Revelation 1:1, 10-11).  The same apostle wrote the Book of John, which opens in a unique mystical way, almost like Genesis: “In the beginning…”  But St Luke’s Gospel with a different mode of inspiration is part of the same Bible.

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