1.  Try to imagine losing the Constitution. Every copy of it disappears along with the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and the Amendments. There would be some phrases people would remember for a time like “We hold these Truths to be self evident that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and…

This is our final lesson in Exodus and it’s about the building of the tabernacle. I like that it is the account of the people giving to build it. Kings built grand temples but it is people that build the tabernacle. The tabernacle is beautiful but not so much so that it cannot be moved as the people are guided by God through the remainder of their time in the wilderness. It is built with stunning craftsmanship but it is not permanent and does not require the people to travel there to worship. It moves with them. It is where God dwells but it is not fixed in place. May…

1. This morning we are looking at someone who is often overlooked because he falls in the shadow of his brother. We meet Aaron early in the book of Exodus when the Lord speaks to him and tells him to go into the desert to meet Moses. They have not seen each other in 40 years and for both of them this is an extraordinary reunion. From that moment on until he dies 40 years later this is a partnership of brothers – but one that is complicated like many relationships of brothers. Can you think of others? Some are funny – like the Smothers Brothers. Some are tragic, like…

In Exodus 20 and 24 we read about God calling Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai where he is given the tablets of stone with the law and the commandments. During the forty days and nights on the mountain is given not only the tablets but the Lord gives him a tutorial on the commands that are attached to the law. It is not enough to simply have the Ten Commandments but they are also to follow other rules about worship and the observance of the Sabbath. Then, in chapter 32 we read that the people are thinking that Moses has abandoned them completely or been lost on the…

“The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do…

“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.” 1.  We are sometimes confused about what Passover celebrates. It is not the passing over…

1.  It’s hard to believe but it has been almost five years since I first watched Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Lance Armstrong. I’ve never followed the career of Lance Armstrong but for some reason decided to watch his sessions with Oprah. What I saw was disturbing. Arrogance, pride, narcissism, deceit, betrayal, out-of-control desire to win, bullying, disloyal, disgrace and the emotional disconnect. Yes, there was remorse and the realization of what he had done but has still not become sin for him. He used words like “sick” and “flawed” when the one word he needs to understand is “sin”. But, there is nothing in his background that would lead him…

I’ve read many times that Billy Graham preached with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. During times like these it is tempting to choose one or the other. We can stick with Bible and ignore the world around us or we can toss out the text and preach from the newspaper. It’s especially true with Psalms, isn’t it? We can read it exclusively as David’s exchanges with God that have little relevance to our own circumstances and try to understand the grammar and the structure of the Psalm. We can read it as not only meant to be read as David’s struggle with wicked men…

1.  Some of us are prose people. We like things spelled out and clear. We want our truth to be linear and full of facts. Others of us are poetry people. We like to read in the gaps and to guess at the meaning or even make up a meaning of our own. T.S. Eliot said that “genuine poetry can communicate before it can be understood.” That’s not what a prose person would choose. Do you remember the old Dragnet series with Sgt. Joe Friday saying, “Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.” Some of us are like that. But then some of us are more like news reporters today…

On the way home from DFW on Friday night I listened to the latest episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast “Reconstructionist History”. The episode is titled “The King of Tears” and it is about why some music is so emotional and actually brings tears to our eyes and other music is just music with lyrics. But, as Gladwell does so well, he takes a comparison of country western lyrics with rock and roll and comes up with a bigger theory about why there is a split in the country between the elites who don’t understand the lives and values of country western people and the rest of the nation. It’s worth…