harlotry and hosea...

"When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, " Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD."

Hosea 1:2 (NASB)

And so here I find myself once more, it is Monday night and I am too tired, with too much work to do, on too little of a time frame. But I trust the Lord will work through my incoherent ramblings to produce something of value, and if not I apologize in advance.

This past week I wrote a paper on Hosea for Old Testament Literature. Most of you have probably some vague idea of Hosea, and the symbolic relationship that takes place between Hosea and Gomer that represented God and Israel. But once you get past that story you realize you have 80% of the book left. The remaining 12 chapters contain Hoseas address to the Israelites, condemning sin, calling out leaders.

Frankly, by chapter seven - I'm ready for these Israelites to be smotten in some spectacular fashion. 'Cause lets face it, none of us are that bad.

Right?

If we dig deeper we find that the two main areas of sin Hosea address are idolatry and unauthorized/unsanctioned kingship. Whew, good thing we don't struggle with those things...

Yea, right...

Mark Driscoll once told of a story when he was in India of a conversation he had with a pastors wife planting a church down there. Mark had just come from a rural community filled with literal idols and blood of animals. When Mark asked this pastors wife if she would ever come to America, she replied, " I did once - but I cannot stomach the idolatry."

One of the great lies from the enemy right now in North America is that idolatry is a sin found only in Biblical narratives, or in third world countries.

Secondly, we see the sin of unauthorized kingship permeate Hoseas rebuke. And again, what appears to be solely the problem of those living in Eighth Century (B.C.) Israel, is very much ours.

Who are the rulers of our lives. Are they sports stars, politicians, comedians...your girlfriend, your wife. Maybe they are people who don't even want to be put in that position, a pastor, a mentor. I know personally this year I have struggled with reading more "Christian literature" - than the Bible.

And as I read this I say to myself, "Lord, kill these people...", thus in reality I am saying, "Lord, kill me."

It is a dangerous thing - to turn Biblical narratives into an "us" vs. "them". Seldom is that true.

So when all hope seems lost for the Israelites, when there sins seem to be too staggering to compensate, Hosea chapter 14 happens. And this is where I will end my blog. It is hard to read that chapter and not leave with an overwhelming sense of hope; faith in the One who redeems us.

Love you guys,

Jake

as i stumble out of the week...

“Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.”

- Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)

I have had the privilege in my lifetime to live with a Rockyholic. In case you are unfamiliar with this term (don’t worry, so is Webster’s), this is someone who not only quotes Rocky quotes but who can incorporate them into real life as if they were that persons original words – spoken for the first time.

This is my best friend Warren.

Now, although I have only managed to see bits and pieces of Rocky, I feel as if I am an owner of the limited edition box set. There is something truly remarkable about the lessons learned from one man who literally rises out of nothing to become a hero to the underdog. As Christians, although I am most definitely not replacing scripture, there is a lot we can learn from Rocky.

This week I had the privilege of directing (along with two other lovely ladies) a film embodying the Old Testament. This was an entire class project – and so early on the stress of accommodating twenty four differing opinions weighed very heavily. Between chopping up scripts, finding locations, and struggling to find some continuity, I found myself dead by Tuesday afternoon. The picture below is of me directing the opening scene (obviously creation).



But – I must digress for a moment. You see, I have talked a lot on this blog about how God has been graciously redeeming me. How he has been changing my desires into His desires. So here I am, in a room full of people talking about the necessity for more fight scenes in the movie and I can just walk out and say, “screw it” right then and there.

Or.

I can surrender to God. I can stop being a prideful arrogant jerk and pass of responsibilities to more my than capable co-directors. I can smile; I can genuinely laugh as I watch some genuinely funny people perform.

I have been training all year – and all I want to do is go the full twelve rounds to prove that I’m not the same bum of a kid who left Newmarket six months ago.

In his letter to the church in Corinth Paul writes, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13)

Act like men.

I can just picture Paul yelling this. The church in Corinth, although known for their debauchery, was experiencing tremendous growth. Congregations full of prostitutes, tax collectors, and...

Bums from the neighbourhood.

As much as I want to tell you I went the full twelve rounds this week - I can’t.
As much as I want to stand with my feet on the turnbuckle and hear the crowd chant my name – I can’t.

Because we know that when Paul says, “be strong”, he does so knowing what David wrote.“The LORD is my strength and my shield.” (Psalm 28:7)

So in the midst of that chaotic room I gave it up to God; desperately wanting to prove myself, like Rocky, that I wasn’t some shmuck. But without God I am a shmuck – and that’s the truth of it.

Long story short, movie gets completed, and once again God proves his awesome majesty and grace in my life. He has been so good. I ask that you would continue to pray that I would be obedient to the calling of God on my life.

Oh, one more thing – Happy Birthday Warren.

Jacob

p.s. the movie I just spoke about “The O.T.” will be up shortly on the main Kaleo Six blog, www.kaleosix.blogspot.com

dear friends.

“Maybe that’s what he means when he says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The “do this” part is our lives. Opening ourselves up to the mystery of resurrection, open for the liberation of others, allowing our bodies to be broken and our blood to be poured, discovering our Eucharist. Listening. And going. Because when we do this in remembrance of him, the world will never be the same; we will never be the same.”
-Rob Bell & Don Golden (Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile)

I have a feeling that I might get more responses for the source of my quote (Rob Bell), than for the content of this blog – oh well. Lately I have been feeling that I have become impersonal and stand offish in my blogs, for that I apologize.

It’s been a really hard week for me. Now, my tone when I say that is not “woe is me” but, “praise the Lord.” As I mentioned in last week’s blog, God has been making it continuously obvious to me where I fall short in the area of faith. And now, as I go through the Old Testament (for OT Lit class), I find myself studying a God who couldn’t possibly be the one I worship. Could he?

I tried for the longest time to suppress those doubts – covering them with some lame rational I conjured up in my mind using reason – always reason. Millard Erickson wrote, in one of his introductory level Christian doctrine books, about the gift of reason that distinguishes humans from all other creatures.

Ironic.

That very thing that has been bestowed upon us as a gift is the very thing that deters us from acknowledging the Giver.

An area where a lot of my (very finite) “brain power” has been allocated recently is in the understanding of the Eucharist. One of the blessings I am finding of attending an Anglican Church this year is the weekly observance of the Eucharist. And in that book quoted above, Rob and Don speak on the importance for the Eucharist to not only permeate into a momentary state of remembrance, but into our lives. Paul tells us to, “follow him as he follows Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1).

I wonder how literal Paul took his following of Christ. Surely we are not called to follow Him to the point of embarrassment, to the point of death?

And so it is beginning to dawn on me, that as I eat of His body and drink of His blood – a feeling of gratitude should be met with an equal feeling of conviction, of encouragement, of sorrow for the oppressed. In the book, Rob and Don told the reader to try and partake in the Eucharist with those who you are holding grudges against – those feelings of animosity wouldn’t last long.

Like other blogs past, I feel as if this blog is best written in few words. So I thank you, for your prayers – I ask that you would continue to persist in your prayers with me before God, come on – I’m quoting Rob Bell – obviously I need them.

Just a joke.