And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. 1 Kings 3:3

Solomon frustrates me. On one hand he loved the LORD and wrote one of my favorite passages, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Solomon had great knowledge, wisdom, and largeness of heart to carry out the will of the Lord. Yet, on the other hand he burns incense on high places, breaks all three specific commands to kings by multipling gold, horses from Egypt, and wives. The wives lead him into sin to where he began to build temples to foreign gods even around Jeruslalem.

It all started with the confusion of worship at the beginning of his reign. He "loved the LORD" but followed the religious practices of the world. Do we confuse people with our actions? Do we say we love the LORD, wear the T-shirt, buy the bumper sticker, even go to church on a Sunday, but somehow our life's testimony, our internet pages, or our conversation around the kettle at work portray something different?

I personally believe Solomon repented at the end of his life. I believe we will see him in heaven. But what about all those he led into sin, perhaps even unintentionally by his confused testimony? What happened to them? A hard thought, but one to meditate on as Jesus said we are the light of the World. May our WHOLE life light the way into the arms of Jesus the only Saviour.

...so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 2 Co2:7

We discussed 2 Corinthians 2 in our bible study on Tuesday night. This scripture reminded us of the importance of reaffirming someone after their repentance from sin. The Corinthian church decided to drop the hammer in discipline, but didn't want to welcome the repentant back into the church. What a shame to the cause of Christ when this happens! Jesus has forgiven and welcomed us back time and time again, but so often there are those who follow the older brother in the prodigal son story Jesus told. They don't deserve the grace and mercy! No, they don't, but neither do I.

What causes someone to hold on to their hurt? Personal grievances can be hard to forgive. The man in the chapter hurt a lot of people by his immorality, and they found it hard to offer grace after all the hurt he caused. Yet, Christ died for that sin as well.

How do we let it go? The only way is to look at Jesus and remember that His sacrifice is not only for you and your failings toward Christ, but also for someone else's as well. By not forgiving, we are really saying that Jesus' suffering and death wasn't enough for their sin against you. May we be a church that forgives and forgets, and see what God can do with one that He has restored!

...from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

We gathered together Sunday night to have our annual discussion about CC Mansfield- past, present, and future. One of the key thoughts for the night revolved around the idea from the above verse, "knit together". What does it mean to be knit together, and how does that look practically?
We spoke about the knitting together of a body and how that body functions best and is most fruitful when it is joined together. My Achilles Tendon injury was brought up as example of what happens when a body is not joined together. My tendon no longer knit my calf muscle with my foot which resulted in pain, inability to walk, and hindered my entire body. A telling picture of a church that is made up of individuals who are not knit together in Christ. The Church is The vehicle that God wants to use in a community. The local church has such potential as we hold to the Word of God in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. God desires to move through His body- the Church, but if we are not knit together, we end up like I have been these past two weeks- desiring to be used by the Lord, but actually sitting on the sofa watching reruns of college basketball waiting for my body to be knit together again.
The thought of being knit together means something different practically to each of us. For my life, it means that I focus most of my energy, time, thoughts, and prayers here in this body and less in other good ministries or necessary Christian activities that do not directly affect the body of Christ here in Nottinghamshire.
What does it mean to you? Are there activities, ministries, meetings that you are invovled in that are quite possibly good, necessary, and even beneficial, yet somehow you don't have time to connect with the body of Christ that God has called you to love and serve? Perhaps this is why the church makes little impact in communities up and down the country. Activity is not usually the problem in a Christian's life, but perhaps we all give a little to a lot instead of a lot to a little.
What does it look like when a church is knit together? The church in Jerusalem, described in Acts 2, exampled this for us. They simply met together daily in the temple and in homes, continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrice, broke bread together, shared fellowship, and prayed. It was as they remained faithful to the basics that God added daily to the church those that were being saving. Perhaps we need to focus on these simple fundamentals of faith, and trust the Lord to bring the increase through the witness of a local church made up of individuals who love each other, love being with each other, and love to serve one another. I think this kind of Church would again see God add daily to the church those who are being saved.

"...for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven..." I Cor 5:7b,8a

On Good Friday we celebrated with a Jewish Seder dinner. CMJ led us through an eye opening celebration as we saw Christ in a fresh way. It really reminded me to cast out the old leaven and serve Jesus with a fresh sincerity and energy because of His great sacrifice for me.

1 Samuel 12:20
"Then Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart."

Nahash ("serpent"), the king of the Ammonites, was flexing his muscles on Israel's Eastern border. Israel, with her tribal militias and farming implements used as weapons didn't have a chance against Nahash's battle hardened army with their swords and armour, or so they presumed. So the nation rejected God's order of a theocracy (God ruling) and asked for a monarchy. They wanted a king they could see, who to lead them out into battle. Instead of trusting God and remaining a "special people", they wanted to be like the other nations. Israel didn't realise their weakness and vulnerability came not from their lack of a human ruler, but because they weren't trusting in their God.

An all too common story. We are afraid to trust God when we see the "serpent" rising against us. We look around and see others living life differently and seemingly happy, so we desire the same things despite the Bible's warnings. A Christian chooses to have sex outside of marriage and becomes pregnant, or decides to marry a non-believer against God's design. A Believer can't believe God will provide so they cheat on their taxes or take a compromising job. Someone else can't wait for God to work so they birth an "Ishmael" into their ministry which causes innumerable problems. The list can go on and on as we bite at the way of the world to create our own safety, happiness, or satisfaction, but soon find we are hooked and we can't escape.

In our text, Samuel doesn't excuse this kind of sin, but calls it what it is, "wickedness". We have chosen our own way over God's perfect plan. We need to realise that when we turn from trusting God, we sin. When that happens we may find ourselves dealing with difficult consequences, so what do we do?! That is when the amazing truth hits home. We can ask God for forgiveness and know He will be with us in that very situation of our own making! Yes, you may find yourself in a difficult place where temptation or trouble will be harder to resist, BUT God still gives you a chance to follow Him in the very situation you find yourself. When Israel doubted God's ability to give them the promised land, yes they spent 40 years in the wilderness, but their shoes didn't wear out, bread rained down from heaven, and water flowed from rocks. He was always with them, never forsaking them no matter what. Yes, it will be harder to follow God in that situation, but it is still possible, as we trust Him on a daily basis and allow Him to straighten out our way. We just need to trust Him!

"Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation." 1 Samuel 3:1

When Samuel began to serve the Lord, there was no widespread revelation. The word "widespread" means "to break through". The Word of the Lord did not break through. My question is, "break through what?" Why wasn't there widespread revelation? One the hardest materials to break is man's heart of pride. The people were a stiff necked people who wanted to do their own things. That went for the priests as well as the people, because the priests were using their privileged position to eat the fat of the land that belonged to the LORD. No wonder when prophet, priest, and people are set to do their own thing that God's voice wasn't heard openly. People were listening!
What made Samuel different? No doubt there was the calling of God upon Samuel's life as evidenced by the rest of the book. But, would God have used Samuel as much as He did if Samuel wouldn't have had the character to match? I think not. Samuel followed Samson in judging Israel. Samson was used by God, but not to His full potential as he only began to deliver the nation from the Philistines, but because of his character flaws, didn't finish. I think the secret to Samuel's success was the first sentence of chapter 3, "...the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli." Samuel served Eli the high priests, but his true master was the LORD. He would open the Temple and perform other "minor" tasks at Eli's request. He had "the keys" and would arrive before everyone else to make things ready for others to worship the Lord. Is that really a minor task for the LORD? I think not. Too many believe that these kinds of "small things" are beneath them, they want to be the one who gives the "widespread revelation". Yet, God proves a person first, because if someone doesn't see that opening the doors of the house of God is serving the Lord, than they won't see that giving the Word is an act of service as well.
Yet, having said all that, it is also true that God is looking to and fro for someone whose heart is perfect before Him. When He finds that person, He will use them to the uttermost to accomplish His will, which is illustrated by 3:21- "..For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. After that people began to listen to Samuel as the one who had God's revelation. What a testimony to what God will do with a person who is faithful in the small things.