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bible study

Mocha on the Mount - Week 6

by 123pizza on August 6, 2008

Welcome to the final installment of the Mocha on the Mount bible study.

I would like to say that this week was profound and show you lots that I learned but I can’t. One section at the end blew it all away. I have been thinking about it ever since. I’ve been twirling it around in my head and still don’t know what to think.

A few months back I saw an old friend at a funeral. She had left her husband and kids to move in with her lesbian lover–something I had a lot of difficulty understanding, especially because this friend and I once went together on a mission trip to Mexico.

“So what do you believe about the Bible now?” I asked. “What do you do with Romans 1?”

“Ah,” she smiled. “I believe only Jesus’ words–not Paul’s. And Jesus never condemned homosexuality.”

The perceived gap between Jesus and Paul widens when we talk about how people are saved. It’s said that Paul taught salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone and that Jesus taught something different. After all, the Beatitudes don’t exactly sound like “Believe in Me, and you’ll be saved.” (pg124)

That alone caused me to stop and think about what Paul and Jesus taught. Makes me want to read my Bible just so I can come to my own conclusion. What defines us as a Christian? Can we still be a Christian and only believe certain parts of the Bible and discount the rest?

So tell me your thoughts on the above quote. Do you agree? Do you disagree? What was your first thought when you finished reading it? Give me some feedback people I want to hear what you have to say.

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Mocha on the Mount - Week 5

by 123pizza on July 30, 2008


What I’ve learned:

Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I learned this the hard way. I have always been a critical person and quick to judge others. For example, there was a certain boy in our church that was a huge troublemaker. He was violent, defiant, and wouldn’t listen to anybody nor did he care what you did to him discipline-wise. I always breathed a sigh of relief if he wasn’t at church and dreaded it when he was. It was hectic when he was there but nice and peaceful when he wasn’t.

If only his parents would do something about him. They knew he was a handful and they weren’t doing anything about it. Hello! Your child is a terror and we have to devote so much time to him that we aren’t able to teach the other children about God! Get.A.Clue. would ya!

Then came the day that Best Friend and I stepped down from children’s ministry and other people took our place. Enter my son. My son that was violent, defiant, and wouldn’t listen to anybody nor did he care what you did to him discipline-wise. My son that I couldn’t see what was happening because I have this huge log sticking out of my eye and using it to whack others who have only tiny specks. My son was acting the same way but I couldn’t see it.

I was quick to judge the other parent but when it was my own child I didn’t know what to do. I was parenting the best I could but for some reason it seemed as though it wasn’t working. I started dreading going to church because I knew I was being judged and was tired of the teachers telling me about my child’s behavior and expecting me to do something about it. I was tired of people giving me parenting advice and telling me what I needed to do. I was reaping what I had sowed and it sucked.

Matthew 7:7-12 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.”

While reading these verses I was thinking about love. What happened to loving people? What about grace? Where is the grace that I should be extending to others?

Another thing I was thinking was the words ask, seek, and knock. It reminded me of the stages of friendship but I haven’t reflected on it enough to know if it’s correct or not. I was thinking about how Best Friend and I became friends. First I asked for her number to call her. Then I sought (seek) her by calling. Then eventually I knocked on her door for a visit. This became a common practice for us and our relationship grew stronger over the years. I think it’s like this with our relationship with Christ. I don’t know if that’s really the point or not but that’s what I was thinking.

Now it’s your turn. What did you get out of this weeks lesson?

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Mocha on the Mount - Week 4

by 123pizza on July 23, 2008

Matthew 6:25-31 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’

These verses are difficult for me because I feel as though my clothes don’t measure up to others. I am constantly wanting more clothes (although I don’t buy them) and wished I had more fashionable clothes (even though the clothes I own are fashionable). Basically, what it is is that I want to look like someone else. I have this warped thinking that if I were dressed like such and such then I would be like them. (This was just revealed to me so work with me here.)

At one point several years ago God revealed to me that clothes were my idol. What!? However, he was right. Clothes can easily become an idol to me. I put too much importance on clothes. (Just for the record, I don’t judge other people on their clothes, just myself.) I have been known to not go to an event because I didn’t think my clothes were appropriate and upset because I couldn’t buy more. How sick is that?

Here’s the kicker. I’m a believer of looking at the verses before and after when something is revealed to you. So let’s look at the verses before that.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Let’s see…clothes. Clothes can be eaten by moths. Yuck. Clothes can be destroyed by rust. I have this happen quite often with my dryer. Aggravating. Clothes can be stolen. Not fun. So…if my clothes come before my relationship with God and I lose all my clothes…then I don’t really have much left do I? All my treasures would have been destroyed and I wouldn’t have anything stored in heaven because I was too busy with my clothes.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

This is the verse immediately above the clothes verses. What do you use to buy clothes with? Money. If I’m so concerned with clothes then I’m actually more concerned with money than I am God. This was a huge wake up call to me. I don’t know how many times I have read these verses but have never connected the clothes issue to a money issue. But that’s what these verses are really about aren’t they? Money. Money buys food and clothes. Worrying about money could become serving money more than serving God.

Now for the verses after the clothes verses.

Matthew 6:32-34 “For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.”

Well there you go. I have it all wrong. I place clothes above God knowing full well he knows my needs/wants and yet I still neglect him. I don’t pursue him first. Oh sure, I will do fine for a while but what happens later on? Say a month from now. Where will my heart be then? How about when another big event comes up? Heck forget about the event. What about tomorrow when I need to run errands. What will I do then? Will I turn to God first or my clothes?

I don’t see anything wrong with having nice clothes. I’m not saying that we should all dress a certain way to show how righteous we are. Far from that. What I’m saying is that I personally have a problem with the importance I put on clothes and how I view myself. It’s about me. It’s about my relationship with God. It’s about putting God above my clothes and money and trusting him to provide. Which, guess what? He has been providing and taking very good care of me. Go figure.

So tell me. What did you learn this week?

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Mocha on the Mount - Week 3

by 123pizza on July 16, 2008

Thoughts from this week’s study:

“Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)

Think of the person who sweeps into a meeting announcing, “Sorry I’m late; I was counseling someone with a marital crisis,” rather than quietly slipping into her seat. Or the guy who complains that he hasn’t slept in for three weekends because he’s spent his Saturdays working at the homeless shelter. We must have the humility never to use anyone else’s need as a “workshop,” as Eugene Peterson puts it, “to cobble together makeshift, messianic work that inflates our importance and indispensability.” (pgs49-50)

I know I have been guilty of this even though I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time. I was showing people how great, kind, spiritual, blah, blah, blah, I am. What was my motivation for making announcements such as the quote above mentions? Unfortunately, it was for recognition.

…someone else might take credit for what we’ve done. It takes a lot of maturity to stand by and watch while someone accepts applause he or she doesn’t deserve. It’s one thing for nobody to receive praise; it’s much harder when the wrong person grabs the limelight.

When these things happen, it’s helpful to know that one of God’s names is El Roi.(pg50)

…”El Roi” –the God who sees. (pg51)

So we have a choice. We can take our payback now in the form of other’s fleeting praise, or we can delay gratification for a day when our treasures laid up in heaven will pay eternal dividends from the hand of a benevolent multi-zillionaire Father. (pg51)

Not being recognized for your work is hard. I remember basically living at the church running the children’s program and most of what I did went unrecognized. It’s hard when you pour your life into a ministry only to have it dismissed as nothing. One thing I would remind myself is that I’m doing this for God, the children, and the children’s parents. That alone kept me going during the times I wanted to quit.

“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who see in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:5-8)

This one is both difficult and easy for me. Difficult because I don’t like praying in front of others because I’m not as eloquent as they are. I feel like I don’t measure up. It’s easy for me because most of my praying is done in my head or I write it in a journal therefore it’s secret. Also, when I pray I get straight to the point. I don’t mess around with my words because God knows what I’m thinking anyway and he’ll know whether I’m trying to impress others or not.

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13)

This is not to suggest God leads people into temptation. (James 1:13 says God does not tempt anyone.) The phrase is a rhetorical way of asking for victory over sin. (pg58)

I loved the explanation of that verse because it has bothered me for years. This makes sense and gives me something to think about as I decide whether that’s what the verse is talking about or not.

Matthew 6:16-18 talks about fasting. The following quote jumped out at me as it coincides with some things our family has been discussing lately.

“Fasting is the act of temporarily giving up something that is very important to us in order that we may use the time normally given to that thing for prayer and reflection upon the pain of the temporary ’sacrifice’ to better understand the mystery and meaning of Christ’s passion and sacrifice for us….We pray for those who are hungry every day, for those who never know the privilege of a fast because they are forced to starve.” (pg60) (emphasis mine)

What jumped out at me was that their are many people who are starving and are not able to fast. Lately my kiddos have been complaining about the food we give them so my husband decided to implement an idea he got from Whittaker Woman’s blog.

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

All I had really sacrificed to forgive was releasing my pride, letting go of a grudge, and singing on stage when I didn’t feel like it. Big whoop. What had Jesus done to show He forgave? He spent thirty-some years minus the adoration of angels, and He endured mocking, spitting, nakedness, whipping, and nails in His hands and feet. And as if that weren’t enough, He endured the wrath of His Father–the one whose fellowship He had enjoyed since eternity past. I was the one who really deserved that wrath for falling so far short of His standard of holiness. (pg62)

No wonder it offends God when we refuse to forgive. Nothing anyone does to us is worhty of being compared to what we’ve done to Him. If He can forgive us to the point of death, why can’t we forgive when it costs us so much less? (pg62)

Enough said. What are your thoughts?

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Correction on the Bible Study Date

by 123pizza on June 12, 2008

The dates for the Mocha on Mount Bible study are July 2 to August 6.

I wrote down the wrong dates yesterday and when I went to write it on my calendar a few minutes ago I realized I posted the wrong dates. Sorry about that. I guess that’s what happens when I think for more than a few seconds at a time.

Again, the correct dates are July 2 to August 6.

Check out the cute graphic I put in my sidebar! I can’t get it to link anywhere but I’m trying. Never mind, hubby fixed it. So now the graphic takes you to the post that has the bible study info. Yea for hubby!

Have a great evening and try not to think very hard.

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Online Bible Study Starting July 2th

by 123pizza on June 11, 2008


I thought it would be fun to host a Bible study and see how much response I received.

Join me and others as we study God’s Word together. We will be reading Mocha on the Mount by Sandra Glahn. This is a six week course that will run from July 2 to August 6. We will meet on Wednesdays where I share what I have learned this week and you will comment back what you learned.

This is a casual atmosphere and I’m not going to hunt you down if you don’t do your work. Besides, how will I know if you read it or not? I won’t. So don’t be shy and join me for some bible study time.

Just leave a comment saying you’re in, get your book, and have the first chapter read by July 2nd.

See ya.

*The bookcover picture was taken from Sandra Glahn’s website.

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