Last week we looked at the universal church, which includes all the called-out ones who trust on the name of the One, True God, through faith in His risen Son, Jesus — in all times, from all places.

We have learned that the word church in our English Bibles is often the word ecclesia in the Greek New Testament. Ecclesia means “called-out ones.”

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ (Ephesians 1:3-10).

As I’ve been studying about the church, I’ve been struck by something.

While the ecclesia is huge — mind-bogglingly enormous in time and place — God’s plan to “bring all things… together under one head” is really rather boring.

Small.

Insignificant.

Seemingly unimportant.

It’s called the local church.

God uses ordinary, very imperfect people to carry out “the mystery of his will.”

It almost never looks like what we think.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares YHWH.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God uses people who gather together (from the Greek word sunagoge) to strengthen, encourage, and comfort each other. Everything they do is for the edification of all the body. (See 1 Corinthians 14:1-5.)

Here are the characteristics of local churches in Scripture, so that you can take some time to look them up for yourself:

• Churches are local, made up of gatherings of believers in specific cities and locations. Look up each verse, and write down the specific location in which each church gathered.

• Acts 8:1 __________________________________
• Acts 9:31 __________________________________
• Acts 11:22 __________________________________
• Acts 13:1 __________________________________
• Acts 15:4 __________________________________
• Acts 15:41 __________________________________
• Acts 18:22 __________________________________
• Romans 16:1 __________________________________
• 1 Corinthians 1:2 __________________________________
• 1 Corinthians 16:1 __________________________________
• 1 Corinthians 16:19 __________________________________
• 2 Corinthians 1:1 __________________________________
• 2 Corinthians 8:1 __________________________________
• Galatians 1:2 __________________________________
• Colossians 4:16 __________________________________
• 1 Thessalonians 1:1 __________________________________
• 1 Thessalonians 2:14 __________________________________
• 2 Thessalonians 1:1 __________________________________
• Revelation 1:4, 11, 20 __________________________________
• Revelation 2:1 __________________________________
• Revelation 2:8 __________________________________
• Revelation 2:12 __________________________________
• Revelation 3:1 __________________________________
• Revelation 3:7 __________________________________
• Revelation 3:14 __________________________________
• Churches gather together regularly, for many purposes. List some of the purposes you see in these verses.
  • Acts 11:26 __________________________________
  • Acts 14:27 __________________________________
  • Romans 16:23 __________________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 11:18 __________________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 14:23 __________________________________
• Churches pray together. List some of the reasons the church was praying in these verses.
  • Acts 2:42 _________________________
  • Acts 11:26 _________________________
  • James 5:14 _________________________
• Individuals in local churches were taught. List the kinds of teaching mentioned in these verses.
  • 1 Corinthians 4:17 _________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 12, 19
• Some churches met in homes. Some churches did not. List some of the locations where local churches met.
  • Romans 16:5 _________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 11:22 _________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 16:19 _________________________
  • Colossians 4:15 _________________________
  • Philemon 1:2 _________________________
• Churches kept records of their members. How do these verses show that records were kept?
  • Acts 2:47 _________________________
  • Acts 5:14 _________________________
  • Acts 12:1 _________________________
• Churches had qualified leadership. What kinds of leaders did these churches have?
  • Acts 14:23 _________________________
  • Acts 15:22 _________________________
  • Acts 20:17 _________________________
  • Acts 20:28 _________________________
  • James 5:14 _________________________
• Churches were to judge sin within their membership. How do these verses show that sin was judged?
  • Matthew 18:17 _________________________
  • 1 Corinthians 6:4 _________________________
  • 3 John 1:10 _________________________
• Churches had fellowship with called-out ones in other locations. What was one way in which churches kept in touch?
  • 3 John 1:9 _________________________
• Churches sent out missionaries to preach the gospel in other locations. How were apostles and missionaries sent out?
  • Acts 15:3 _________________________
  • 2 Corinthians 8:19 _________________________
  • 2 Corinthians 8:23 _________________________
• Churches financially supported other believers in hardship. How did churches support others?
  • 2 Corinthians 11:8 _________________________
  • 2 Corinthians 11:28 _________________________
  • Philippians 4:15 _________________________
• Churches were persecuted for their faith in Jesus. How were these believers persecuted?
  • 1 Corinthians 15:9 _________________________
  • Galatians 1:13 _________________________
  • Philippians 3:6 _________________________

This was not an exhaustive list! Can you think of additional Scripture passages that support each statement?)

And here are some important questions:

• How does your local assembly of believers fit these characteristics?
• Is your local assembly missing any of these characteristics?

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:41-47).

P.S. Want to print this post, so you can fill in the answers during your Bible-study time? Click below on the little, green “print” button.

I want to encourage you to plan out some of your own curriculum for the coming year. There are several reasons why you make the best “curriculum planner” for your own children:

1. God has given parents the responsibility to train and teach their own children.
2. You know your children better than anyone else.
3. You are aware of areas in which your children need more training.
4. You have special topics that God has placed on your heart, to teach to your children.

However, it can be overwhelming to think about making your own curriculum.

This is how I begin.

1. I get an empty 3-ring binder.
2. I fill it with a few dividers, plus some inexpensive notebook paper.
3. For a few days (or weeks or months), I brainstorm all over several (or many) sheets of notebook paper.
4. Before I start the official planning, I review our family’s homeschooling philosophy, goals, and methods. I’d bathe all the plans in lots of prayer.
5. Inside the front cover of my binder, I’d keep a running list of books, websites, documents, and materials that I want to include in the curriculum.

Now don’t be overwhelmed! This sounds like a lot, but if you’ll take your time and slowly… over time… give your brain time to mull over things… it’s not hard at all.

At this moment, I have 3-ring binders for many different subjects going: history, science, Bible, character studies, Spanish, Hebrew, typing, math, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, Latin, logic… Seriously! I have a lot of binders!

Okay, when you’ve plotted and planned, it’s time to print out some planning sheets.

>> You can download Do-It-Yourself-Curriculum-Planning Sheets here.

1. Print out 2 “Course Objectives” sheets. One is a rough draft, and the second is your final version.
2. How many weeks per year do you homeschool, or how many weeks do you want this course to last? Print out that many of the weekly planning sheets, plus a few extra for mess-ups.
3. Hole punch these sheets, and insert them into your planning binder.
4. Start filling in the grids — in pencil!

I’d love to hear about the curriculum you’re planning!

Last week, I started a series on the church. I’ve been compiling a long list of Scripture verses that talk about the church and what exactly it is, because I feel that many women are confused and frustrated with church in general. The Bible commands us not to give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), but how can we do that when so much about modern-day church seems messed up?

I found over 250 verses about the church in the New Testament alone. That’s a lot of discussion about this subject! One thing that struck me, though, is that the topic is used in two different senses. First, the Bible speaks about every believer that has ever been called-out of God, at any time, and in all places. Theologians call these believers part of the “universal church.”

However, verses that talk about the universal church only account for about 10% of all the discussion on the church. Everything else is talking about small, local assemblies of believers who gather together for various purposes, known to theologians as the “local church.” That is significant!

Why? Because I often see people taking verses that discuss the Universal Church and applying them to their local assembly of believers. This can really mess things up and lead to some funny ways of understanding the Bible.

So for today, let’s take a peek at the Universal Church, then we’ll start looking at the Local Church next week.

Who the Universal Church Includes

The Scriptures are very clear about who is included in the Church. Last week, we saw that the word church is the Greek word ecclesia, which simply means “called-out ones.” Who are the ones that God is calling out to Himself?

“[Caiaphas] prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (John 11:51-52).

Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:9-10), and the Bible defines these called-out ones as Jews (Israelites from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin), but also the “scattered children of God,” which would include those from the ten northern tribes of Israel and all Gentiles who turn in repentance to the one, true God and are grafted into Him (Romans 11:13-25).

We are living in the “Church Age,” which is just the fancy way theologians have of saying that God is bringing all of these people together into one body and making them one.

• Obviously, this “Church Age” started after (and because of) Christ Jesus, and it will continue until all of the ones that God is calling have been “brought near.”

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13).

• Paul called this a mystery, as we saw more last week.

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:2-6).

• The Universal Church spans nationalities and time. While the “mystery” is that Gentiles are included with Israel, it is important to see that God has been calling out people throughout all generations, not just in the “Church Age.” For this reason, I myself like to think of A.D. 33 until now (A.D. 2012) as the “Gospel Age,” or the “Age of the Gentiles.” But I wouldn’t split hairs about it.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

• We come to God through Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter what period of time in which we live, or what our nationality is. We all come to God the same way — through the blood of Jesus, by faith in His name. It’s as true for me as it was for Adam or Abraham, Moses or David.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).

We Won’t See the Entire Church until the End of Time

Jesus repeatedly said that at His second coming, He would “gather” all His called-out ones from the four corners of the earth.

“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’” (Matthew 25:31-34).

Note: The books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians have lots of good reading about this topic.

The Church Belongs to Christ, Not to Us

Several word pictures are used in Scripture to describe this relationship between Christ and His Church.

A Building: “…I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

A Household: “…know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

A Body: “[Christ Jesus] is the head of the body, the church… his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:18, 24).

So it’s His responsibility to build the Church, to maintain it, to preserve it, to purify it, to plan it, and to nurture it. Really, it’s refreshing to think about this. Building His Eternal Church (all those capital letters are intentional) is His Job and His Worry — not mine. Ahhh… I feel better already. He has given me specific jobs, but figuring out His grand scheme and plan isn’t one of them. Whew.

So in summary…

What the Universal Church Is:

• It is all the called-out ones who call on the name of the One, True God, through faith in His risen Son, Jesus — in all times, from all places.

What the Universal Church Is Not:

• It is not a local group of believers in 2012.
• It is not a denomination.
• It is not up to people to control, lead, figure out, maintain, or sort out the universal church. The head of the Church is Christ. (This is not the same thing as the “local church,” however, so we’ll revisit this point another week.)

What the Universal Church Looks Like to Us:

• We can only see the tip of the iceberg where we live, and we can’t see the “weeds” mixed in. (Okay, I mixed my metaphors.)

What the Universal Church Looks Like to God:

• His Body, dearly loved, and of which He is head and in complete control.

“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:23-32).

Hallelujah! How loved we are…

P.S. To be continued… (or, the practical stuff is still coming…)

You can just pretend that this is a film crew at my house...

We’d see that every home does things a little bit different — and that’s okay! But oh, the great ideas we’d get!

My house is really, really normal, but I thought you  might enjoy “seeing” what school looked like at our house this week.

Minus the camera crews. (My camera is on the blink anyway… whew… off the hook!)

Our homeschooling day usually starts right after breakfast. Dad is still home, so we clear the dishes off the table and get our Bibles out. We start by reading a chapter from the Bible. At the moment, we go around the table, each person reading one verse, because we are wanting some of our children to get more practice reading aloud.

I heard a trick this week to take a 3×5-index card and draw an arrow on the top. My first-grade daughter uses the card to help her follow along as her siblings read from the Bible, so she doesn’t lose her place as easily. When it’s her turn to read aloud, the arrow can help her sound out words. (She wants to read as fast as the “big kids,” so she tries to guess the words rather than sound them out phonetically, by syllable.)

As we read, sometimes we stop to discuss something, and at other times, Dad asks questions at the end. He loves to come up with his own questions, but he also uses our Bible curriculum as a starting point. I often point out grammar, language usage, or vocabulary, because those are things my weird brain notices. Sometimes, if a grammar discussion would take away from the spiritual discussions we’re having, I’ll make a note to myself to discuss it later.

This morning, I saw a verse that had a strange subject-verb order, mixed in with a pile of prepositional phrases. I wondered if the kids could diagram it, but I didn’t want to interrupt the discussion. I decided to write the verse on a white board. My first-grader, who sits next to me, was trying to sound out all the words I was writing, and then she helped me carefully put the white board up on the shelf to show the rest of them later. Only — later never came! I completely forgot about it. It’s still up on that shelf at this moment…

We often have a Bible drill. The kids love these. Even the little ones, who can’t read at all, love to flip open their Bibles and immediately yell, “Found it!” The big kids love to try to race Dad. It’s just fun.

Next we work on our memory verses. Dad reviews a passage of Scripture we’re currently working on, saying a little bit, then we all repeat it back. Then he talks for a minute about the verse we’re going to work on today. We have some pretty lively discussions as we check to be sure we all understand the verse. He then quizzes everyone. Even our two-year-old Little Guy who can’t talk much enjoys trying to say a bit of the verse.

It’s amazing to me how quickly children memorize, especially compared to how s-l-o-w-l-y Daddy and I memorize. Ug…

Next he asks the children to share some of their “homework” from the day before. Almost daily, they choose a “favorite” verse from their day’s work. They write the verse, then they write a bit about why it was so meaningful to them. Of course, we can see a vast difference in writing skill from the younger children who might draw a picture and write a word or two as a caption, and the teenagers whose insights often make me want to cry.

Recently, Lee Binz from the Home Scholar interviewed Andrew Pudewa from the Institute for Excellence in Writing, asking what skills students needed to be able to succeed on SAT or ACT exams. Without a question, essay-writing skills were most important. What better way is there to learn to write effectively than to share what God is teaching us each day in His Word?

Sometimes they share a writing assignment or research project from history or science. For instance, some of them had to research the Tin Islands, while others looked up all the references to Tin and the merchants of Tarshish in the Bible. It sounds a little dull, but it was very interesting when they shared with all of us.

Funny thing was, my oldest son also studied tin, quite by “accident,” in his chemistry reading this week. It’s always “funny” to me how God orchestrates things like that in a way that no curriculum ever could.

Dad finishes up his participation in our school day by doing history. (We’re using our own history curriculum.) I love that he loves history and enjoys teaching this, because I use this time to go in my office and read little Bible stories to the youngest two children, or maybe we start a load of laundry or make a bed or two, or we might just go have some fun together for a few minutes (ie. play in soap bubbles in the sink). These two, currently ages two and four, have been playing quietly for almost an hour now (the little guy likes to play under the table), but I look forward to this special time with just the two of them. Meanwhile, Dad is getting into deep discussions about the Gauls defeating the Romans…

Dad needs to start on his studying for church, or maybe he needs to go visit some people — and we still haven’t done dishes! We take a break now, and the older kids do their house chores and get started on math. I take turns working with the kids, one at a time, on anything they might need in their schoolwork.

• We use A Beka for math, except for our high-school-er who is starting Life of Fred.
• We are using Bible copywork for phonics, handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, and dictation. It works! Having said that, I have been homeschooling for many years now, and I’m more comfortable not having a set curriculum. I have A Beka phonics, All About Spelling, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, the Writing Road to Reading, and Ruth Beechick’s books on my shelf, plus gadzooks of little readers, flashcards, letter tiles, and other gadgets and gizmos. I put them all to good use. “Funny,” though, how well my four-year-old is learning her consonant letter sounds by trying to read the first few verses of Genesis 1. It makes me wonder what I’ll be writing here on my blog in a few more years.
• Each child writes something every day, almost always from the Bible, as I explained above. As they are writing, and before they put it away, I check over it for obvious mistakes that should be corrected.
• Once they’re back at the table, we often have a grammar lesson together.
• They have independent reading assignments, in the Bible, in chapter books (fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, and biography), and in science.
• If they have projects to do in science, I might give a little help, but they do a lot of it on their own. (Except for high school, they all use Jeannie Fulbright’s wonderful science books that are based on the six days of creation.)
• They finish up with more interest-based subjects, such as foreign language, computers, interior design, or crafts. They usually do these on their own.

That pretty well describes our school day at the moment. Oh, sometimes we read aloud from a chapter book at lunch. Not always. When I have the energy.

We are really loving school. It’s simple, and God’s amazing Word is at center stage.

“And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13, KJV).

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>>Click to learn more about Biblical Home Education…

The first of February marks a new season of curriculum “shopping” among homeschoolers. For me personally, I start shopping in February because we get our tax refund soon, so I want to know how much money I should set aside for the coming school year.

I also start shopping now because the gloomy days of winter sometimes make me second guess everything I’m doing.

So I thought I would share a “shopping list” of curriculum must-haves, in case you’re making out your list for next year.

Obedience to God is first.

If my children won’t listen, then how can I teach them? Sorry, I don’t subscribe to the view that all children are born with a desire to learn, or at least I don’t believe they have any desire to learn about God. Since this is the primary reason that our family homeschools, then my primary goal is to teach my children to listen to and obey God.

• For my younger children, I look for curriculum that teach attention skills, order in the home, and respect for parents, siblings, and others.
• For my older children, I look for curriculum that teaches them how to read so that they can read and study the Bible for themselves. I also assign the Bible itself as their main “textbook” for their other subjects.
• For myself, I look for books that help me develop my own obedience to God. Of course, all other books should take a back seat to daily time reading and studying the Bible itself.

Study together is important.

During some seasons of life, independent study is important and practical. In fact, teaching my older children to research and study on their own is very important, just as the Bereans took everything they learned from Paul and searched it out on their own.

However, the book of Deuteronomy encourages fathers and mothers to discuss things with their children all day long. As much as possible, we study together as a family, so that we can share core values and discuss God’s Word together. Studying together also keeps Mom from getting exhausted. When we’re doing “independent study,” we try to at least sit together around the table, so we can discuss things (and I can correct any wrong behaviors quickly).

• For the entire family, we look for curriculum that encourages time to discuss things together, all day long. (As a wife, I also try to ask my husband any questions I have as I am personally learning.)

The Bible needs to be the foundation of all other subjects.

This is especially true for history and science. We want to continually emphasize to our children that the righteous always go to God first for wisdom, then they evaluate everything else they hear in the light of the Word of God.

• We look for curriculum that uses the Bible to study the history of the world, from creation until the present day, emphasizing those parts of history that God emphasizes.
• We look for curriculum that uses a 7-day, literal creation as the basis for the study of science and math.
• We look for curriculum that views the creation around us as a world of which we are stewards.

The Bible is why we are studying in the first place.

My children like to ask me why we have to do our school work. Is it because the government told us we have to? Nope! Sorry, kids. God told us to!

We study reading, grammar, and languages so that we can read the Bible with understanding. We have school each day because we honor the Word of God. If we can’t read, we won’t be able to read our Bibles. What a precious gift literacy is!

We study writing and logic so that we can communicate the Bible to others effectively. We have school each day because others haven’t heard the good news. If we can’t communicate well, we won’t be able to preach to others.

• We look for curriculum that emphasizes strong skills in phonics and reading.
• We look for curriculum that teaches fundamental skills in grammar and logic.
• We look for curriculum that teaches skills that can be used to learn other languages (such as languages that could be used in Bible reading and translations – Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and modern-day languages that God lays on our hearts).
• We look for curriculum that helps us write and speak clearly, concisely, and compassionately.

Curriculum Prayer Requests

Wow, these are tall orders for curriculum! Have we found the perfect ones yet? Nope!

We have the perfect “textbook,” the Bible — but the “lesson planning” needed to discover everything it says, apply it to our own lives, then teach it to our children is a BIG JOB!

• God knows exactly what “curriculum” your family needs, at this time. He knows where it is, and He knows how to provide the money you’ll need to pay for it. So bathe the whole process in prayer, and ask Him to reveal His wisdom to you.
• While you’re shopping this year, pray for the many writers and curriculum developers who are working hard to bring the Bible to you and your children. They need it!
• Will you pray for me, too? I’m working hard to deliver this kind of curriculum to you, but it’s hard to do and still keep my own priorities as a wife and mom in order, as well as be a blessing to all around me. Yet I know families like yours are waiting! Please pray.

What other things do you look for as you shop for curriculum? Practical things? I’d love to hear!

It is always precious to read God’s Word. I especially love when I see myself mentioned in Scripture, though. I certainly sit up and take note!

For instance, I get goosebumps when I hear Jesus pray for me specifically. When He met with his disciples on the evening before His death, He first prayed for each man gathered around that Passover table.

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word… I pray for them… Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one… I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:6, 9, 11, 14-15).

As Jesus prayed over those men, they had no idea of the protection they indeed needed. In the years following Jesus’ return to heaven, they boldly preached the good news of His resurrection throughout the known world. They were cast out of synagogues and harshly persecuted. History records that all but one died a martyr’s death. They gave up everything to proclaim Jesus to all.

But Jesus prayed for me, too.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:2-23).

And His prayer?

“…that all of them may be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

“…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them…”

I receive a lot of email, and I love each one. Over the past few years, I’ve seen a definite trend in the questions I receive, and one trend has really been thumping around in my noggin.

“Anne, we are struggling in our rural area for a body of believers who are like minded. It is so discouraging!”

“Anne, how do we find a good church?

“Anne, what do you do when your family disagrees with your church? When do you know it’s time to leave?”

I’m a firm believer in the Church. I capitalized that word for emphasis. I believe that God is in the business of calling His people out from every nation, language, and people — and I am one of those He has called. I believe He is grafting me into His body, into His people. I believe that the purpose of the age of time in which we live is for God to show His mercy to all and to call… call… call…

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of YHWH rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but YHWH rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm” (Isaiah 60:1-4)

“Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise YHWH:
YHWH looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
So the name of YHWH will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship YHWH” (Psalm 102:18-22).

The word church is how we translate the Greek word ecclesia (Strong’s #1577). It’s a noun that means “those who are called out,” or “called-out ones.”

It’s not a bad word. You “call out” your children for breakfast each morning, or to come quickly because Grandma is on the phone. When you call your children, they become your ecclesia, your called-out ones, your “church.”

God has been calling out His people since the beginning of time.

• He called out Noah from among the wicked of his generation.
• He called out Abram and promised to make of him a great nation.
• He called the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) out from their slavery in the land of Egypt.
• He called the people of Israel to repent of their sin and turn from their idols.
• He called His people back from their exile in Babylon.

And in this age, He is calling all the nations of the world.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And hemade known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spiritof wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church [ecclesia, called-out ones], which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful natureand following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 1:1-22:22).

And I could go on and on. The book of Ephesians is filled with the wonderful truth that God is calling out His own from all nations, both Jew and Gentile, those near and those far.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church [ecclesia, called-out ones]” (Ephesians 5:31-32).

Peter tells us that the day of God’s judgment on the world is coming, when He will destroy heaven and earth by fire because of the ungodliness of mankind — just as He destroyed the world by water in the days of Noah.

God is sure taking His time! In our frustration with the sin and unbelief we see around us, we beg God to come quickly!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

We tend to forget that God was patient with us. Seriously, think how patient He has been!

This is 2012! It has been almost 2,000 years since Jesus prayed protection over His disciples and sent them out to proclaim His resurrection to the “called-out ones.”

God has been very patient. Why? He wanted you and me to come to repentance.

He loves us so much.

So why are we so impatient with others? We want others to see in a moment what it has taken us a lifetime to see.

We lose patience with them very quickly, wanting to turn them over to the eternal judgment of Almighty God — but forgetting the mercy and patience He showed to us, waiting for us to come to repentance (to change our minds).

And so it is in this context that I’m starting a new series here on my blog. You see, the writer of Hebrews had the patience of God in mind when he wrote,

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

What “Day” was approaching? The Day of God’s wrath and judgment.

These words were penned almost 2,000 years ago — and oh, the horrible doctrinal perversions and sin that have crept into the ecclesia.

Jesus told His disciples that this would happen.

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn’” (Matthew 13:24-30).

Jesus says that the Father is calling the whole world to repentance. Sometimes “weeds” get mixed up with his ecclesia. The servants who spread the seed understandably get frustrated, and they ask the Father if they should pull up the weeds.

“No,” He replies. The servants can’t tell which are which, at least not as well as the Father can. He wants us to be patient and let Him separate them at the day of judgment. (See also Matthew 13:47-50 and 25:31-46).

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

So 2,000 years later, the “field” of the ecclesia is filled with weeds and wheat, all mixed together. So should we give up on the whole “meeting-together thing”? No! “Let us not give up meeting together… and all the more as you see the Day approaching!”

Did you see that? Just like Jesus’ prayer, where He prayed for ME, the writer of Hebrews is talking to ME.

“Anne, you’re much closer to that Day of Judgment. Everyone around you will be in the habit of giving up on meeting together — but don’t you do it! Instead, encourage one another. Think about ways to spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

I’m sure this topic will stir up a pot of comments, so let me briefly share what I’ll be writing about in the weeks ahead:

• The universal church and what it pictures
• The local church in the first century
• The history of the church (past the first century)
• The future of the church
• What local church looks like today
• The leadership of the church
• Women in the church
• How to find the “perfect” church

To prepare for this study, I encourage you to download e-sword or visit Blue Letter Bible, and to look up the following Greek words:

• ecclesia (Greek 1577)
• sunagoge (Greek 4864)
• sunago (Greek 4863)
• episunago (Greek 1996)
• episunagoge (Greek 1997)

Until next time,

When we were growing up, our lives were affected by the Cold War. Even though it was mostly over before I was born, the ideologies of the Cold War certainly had an impact on our lives as children.

One part that really affected me was the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis where the Soviet Union was building missile silos on the island of Cuba, giving them the ability to strike most of the continental United States. President Kennedy confronted the Soviets, and the tension was palpable. You could have cut it with a knife.

To prepare for a potential missile strike, many things were done to make people as safe as possible. Families stored food in caves on the edges of their property or built bomb shelters to share with their nearby neighbors. Towns instituted public buildings as nuclear fallout shelters.

Back in Iowa, in the old main entrance to the public high school where I used to work, we could still see the yellow and black sign declaring the school building as a “Nuclear Fallout Shelter.” Now, I’ve been to every part of that school building, and I can tell you that there is nothing there that would protect you from a nuclear attack!

image courtesy of The Detroit News

How many of you took part in a nuclear attack drill in your school? A few times we did (although tornadoes were much more of a constant threat!). We got under our desks and we put our hands over our heads. Now if a nuclear bomb ever hit, that wasn’t going to help much, was it?

It wouldn’t provide much security, would it? In fact, it might provide a false sense of security, making people think that they could actually survive a nuclear catastrophe by getting under a little, metal desk.

As they say, “Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear bombs.” No matter what, if a nuclear bomb hits, you’re done for!

There are many things in life that can bring fear to our minds. Human fear can be a debilitating emotion that

• makes us incapable of doing things.
• takes our focus off God.
• leads us to trust in human understanding (getting under desks).
• focuses our attention on the lies of the world.

1. What We’re Really Fighting Against

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Our threats and our fears are not nuclear bombs, governments or military forces. Not even natural disasters. Those aren’t the things we’re fighting against.

Fear comes from spiritual warfare. It comes from a battle against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

How does this work? So often, in our day-to-day lives, we focus on what-ifs that are completely out of our control.

What if a nuclear war happened? That’s a big thing to think about. You can certainly fear a lot of things about a nuclear war!

We used to live in a very remote section of northeastern Arizona — two hours from the closest Wal-mart, dirt roads everywhere. Part of my administrative duties at the high school there was to make a safety plan in case there was a terrorist attack. We thought it was crazy! Seriously, why would terrorists attack our tiny town in the middle of nowhere?

The reality is that we were saying “what if.” Human experience tries to say “what if” when we have a worldly mindset.

We do this for everything once fear gets into our minds.

• What if I’m in a car accident?
• What if my child is murdered?
• What if my spouse gets a debilitating disease?
• What if the entire world goes through a massive, economic depression?
• What if I’m imprisoned for something I say or believe?

Fear is the focus on what-ifs. It comes from listening to the spiritual powers of this world. Satan wants to make mankind quake through the power of his lies, to therefore take the focus of people from God.

We see this all around. In fact, I think it’s getting worse in our culture. It’s getting worse among those who say they love God. People are what-if-ing themselves into a debilitating fear that keeps them from getting out of bed in the morning. It cripples God’s family.

David wrote Psalm 5 in a time of insecurity. David could have easily started to say “what if.” Saul, his son Absalom, Goliath — his life was filled with numerous things to make him quake in his boots, to cripple him from being able to do anything.

He realized he couldn’t fear what man may do to him. Rather, he chose to focus on God.

Focusing on God breaks the chain that binds us to the fear of this world.

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Psalm 5:7, NKJV).

Fear of God gives us a direction. It doesn’t lead us to panic over what may happen. David didn’t panic about his problems, but instead, he comprehended the sovereignty of God’s hand in all things. He knew all the circumstances of his life were of God.

After all, why was David even a king? Because God sovereignly chose him through the anointing of Samuel.

Samuel said, “Jesse, line up all your sons.
The biggest and strongest ones at the end.
Nope, God isn’t choosing the oldest one.
Nope, not him either.
Is that the Last one? Surely these aren’t all your sons!”

Jesse replied, “No, I’ve got Runt over there, my youngest son David, out in the field.”

That’s the one God sovereignly chose. Because David saw how God had worked in his life in the past, he was confident that circustances were all from God.

“But even though [Jesus] was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient” (Hebrews 5:8, GNT).

Suffering teaches obedience. God allows circumstances in our lives to help us learn to fear and obey Him. We’re not to be focused on what-if, but instead we’re to fear God, to see His sovereign hand that controls everything “for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28, NIV).

God’s purposes are good, for our good, to cause us to be obedient and to fear and honor our sovereign God.

2. Who We Really Are

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37, NIV).

David was more than a conqueror. (How does someone become more than a conqueror? It’s like being more than famous. )

We aren’t the ones who conquer. We’re conquerors because of the One who overcame for us.

“Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

We see where David’s focus was. First, he called “in the morning.” When he woke up and got all the sleep out of his eyes, his first thought was not, “What am I going to do today?” or “What will this day bring?” He prayed to God. His attention was first and foremost focused on God.

It says “in the morning” twice in verse 3, because in Hebrew this is a point of strong emphasis.

There were also specific times of prayer in Israel, morning, afternoon and evening. This was the morning prayer, looking to God for all of His direction in his life.

“God, what is your direction for me today?”

This allowed him to be more than a conqueror.

Second, he knew whose path to follow. He asked God for His wisdom. He wasn’t following after the world or the advice of those around him, but he sought after God’s Words and His ways.

He sought security in the only place security can be found — God.

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Psalm 5:7).

David came to God in fear, and in so doing, he experienced love and mercy in return — in abundance.

One mom we know is having to watch her tiny daughter go through repeated cancer treatments for leukemia. Recently, her daughter was terribly sick, which prevented her from getting her necessary treatments. The mom said, “This is the second time we’ve had to cancel recently. I was hoping it wouldn’t turn out this way, but I have to trust that it’s all in the Master’s hands.”

This is an understanding of Romans 8:37. We can say we hope that this is the way it works out, but in the meantime, we have to trust in God’s plan. As we do that, and as we focus on Him, we feel love and mercy in return.

3. What Is My attitude?

David knew he was more than a conqueror. It affected not only the way he lived but it also affected his day-to-day attitude.

When we face suffering, we must realize that God has already defeated the power of sin in this world. Whether it is cancer or nuclear disaster or someone not stopping at the stop sign at the end of the street, nothing is to be feared.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35, NIV).

That pretty much covers it, doesn’t it? That’s everything I can imagine that I could be dealt with.

Nothing separated David from God’s love, if his focus was on God and Him alone.

“But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield” (Psalm 5:11-12, NKJV).

This is a pretty powerful attitude for David to have, especially since he was in a civil war and his own son was attacking him. This Psalm might have been written before the war took place. Maybe there was dissension among the guards. Maybe David was walking around his palace, hearing guards whisper about wanting to follow Absalom or wondering if David was the right man to be king.

In the midst of all that, we see David’s attitude. Rejoicing. Gladness. He didn’t have to fear anything. He had God.

Verse 12 mentions the “righteous.” Who are the righteous? Those who, like David, focus on God, love His name, and fear Him.

No what-ifs in David’s mind could cloud his judgment and take his focus off God. Instead he could sing and shout for joy.

That’s powerful.

David closes with a note of encouragement to all who hear his story. “Be glad, sing for joy, and rejoice” that God blesses and protects those who love Him.

This is true security. Relief from the what-ifs of this world only comes from focusing on God.

“For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12, NKJV).

Don’t look to the world for protection. Just as hiding under a desk won’t protect you from a nuclear attack, the world’s protection will always fail. Whether presidents, judges, armies, guns, or anything else, the world’s protections are failures.

Our focus must be on God. Learn to fear Him and to come to Him to find love and mercy in your time of need. Your attitude will change from constant worry to rejoicing and praise for our loving God.

Kraig Elliott is Anne’s husband, the father of seven children, and the pastor of a small Baptist church in southeastern Minnesota. (He’s the best pastor Anne ever had!) He loves discussing theology, talking football, and redesigning the living room and anything else that stands still too long. (Oh, and he’s the master coffee barista around our house.) You are welcome to email him at elliott.kraig@gmail.com.

The Elliott kids - December 2011

If you’ve been following along with our current year’s homeschooling plans, you know that we’re homeschooling five children, plus we have two little ones. This gives us a 10th grader, 7th grader, 6th grader, 4th grader, and 1st grader.

Several of you have written to me, wondering how we get everything done in a day.

Well, it’s been a fairly good year! We’re relatively on target.

Except for high school. That’s a tough one! Some of our son’s subjects have been fine, but three subjects have been real bears.

Algebra 2, Chemistry, and Spanish.

Ug.

They’ve been enough to make me want to throw in the towel completely!

Why High School Is Hard

1. It’s been 20 years since I studied these subjects, so I couldn’t remember how to do quadratic equations, I never had a fourth element (plasma) when I studied chemistry, and I couldn’t even remember how to count to ten in Spanish.
2. I tried to keep just a lesson ahead, but I got behind really fast. Then I couldn’t answer questions. I was waking in the night in cold sweats!
3. He’s not the only student I’m teaching. Some days, I’d be switching between 10th grade and 1st grade so many times that I started to feel dizzy (and cranky).
4. I think we picked the wrong curriculum. We started the year using A Beka for each of these subjects, and for the first time, it has not been a good fit for our family.

Some Alternatives We Looked Into

1. We thought about dual enrolling our son at our local community college. Several homeschooling families mentioned that this was an option, but in our district, he’s still too young.
2. We considered learning some of these courses by distance learning, such as the ones offered by Bob Jones University Press. However, we didn’t have the budget for this.
3. We tried to enroll him in Minnesota’s virtual academy, a free public-school option that uses K12′s curriculum. This was not ideal, but we felt he had a good grasp on the Bible, we knew we’d be overseeing him carefully, and we liked the variety of electives they offered. However, in the end, we weren’t happy with the lack of options that gave us as parents — and we were not comfortable having no say in our son’s education. (After all, this is at the heart of all we do. Our children are our God-given responsibility, not the state’s.)

Some Things We Learned

1. We prayed a lot more. Sometimes we forget to pray, so I wonder if that’s why God allows difficulties. Hard times drive us right back to the Source of all knowledge. As usual, He has proven faithful to answer our prayers for wisdom.
2. We thought more about why we home school. At the end of the day, our choices weren’t about what is easy but about why we’re even bothering. Seriously, the easiest option would be to put him on the school bus like normal parents. But we feel called by God to home school, because of direct instruction we read in His Word.
3. We discovered more about our son’s interests and abilities. When these courses started giving us trouble, we realized that they weren’t necessarily required of all careers or lifetime goals. Even though we believe our son is still young enough to be free to change his mind, we were able to evaluate his interests, his learning style, and his current weak areas to come up with a plan that he likes, we approve of, and we feel more capable of doing.
4. We found out that better, easier, and cheaper options abound! We were feeling overwhelmed because we hadn’t really done our own homework. By asking other experienced parents for advice, we discovered new curriculum treasures.

Our New High School Plan

1. Algebra 2 – We narrowed our choices down to three favorites: Teaching Textbooks, Math-U-See, and Life of Fred. In the end, we chose Life of Fred because it is completely self-teaching, a skill that we discovered our son needed more practice in. The texts are fun, however, so he seems to be enjoying it. In addition, because every occupation our son is thinking about requires a very high level of math, we were pleased to know that Life of Fred can continue to teach him for many more levels of math. This was, ironically, the cheapest option as well.
2. Chemistry – One option was to continue using our current A Beka textbook, but combine it with free teaching videos from Conceptual Chemistry. We chose, instead, to get Home School Chemistry in Your Home, another self-teaching curriculum, one that focuses on research skills, another area that showed up as rather weak in our evaluation of our son’s abilities. It gives research assignments and a weekly lab to the student, plus a weekly quiz, so he learns to find out answers on his own. The mother’s guide gives me all the answers, including for the labs. It would cost around $150 if we bought all the lab supplies, but we already own most of these. This author has not yet published a physics text, so I’m still searching for options for next year. (We’ve already done physical science and biology.)
3. Spanish – Even though I started the year with A Beka Spanish, since then we’ve purchased two more curriculum, in a desperate attempt to conquer this subject. Rosetta Stone seems an obvious choice, but since it’s so expensive and since I’ll be needing a language option for 18 more years yet computer software isn’t likely to be compatible with our computers for that many years, Rosetta Stone doesn’t seem to be a good option for our family. (Besides, my next children seem interested in a variety of languages. I’d have to get stock in Rosetta Stone before long!) Imagine my delight to find out that our local library offers Mango, a free language-learning program online. We figure we can get about one semester’s worth of high-school Spanish for free, after which our son should be feeling comfortable enough with the basics to continue learning by himself. (The grammar part is easy for me — the only easy part.) I’m happy to report he is really enjoying it (and I’ve been playing around with their free Hebrew lessons).

In addition, we discovered that while he is interested in engineering someday, he’s also in love with art. I honestly had no idea — and he’s pretty good, even if I’m his mother and biased. He’s saving his money to purchase some digital art equipment for his computer, so maybe you’ll start seeing some of his work on my blog someday.

So all’s well that ends well? Maybe. I’m just thankful for God’s leading and protection. Want to know what verse came up this week on my kitchen-sink perpetual calendar?

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
   I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8, NIV).

My Heavenly Father makes the best guidance counselor!

Joshua told the people of Israel,

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8)

Last week I studied what it means to be holy, set apart, and clean. This week, in my personal Bible reading, I did a lot of meditating on the verses of Leviticus 19, since they start with the words, “Be holy because I, YHWH your God, am holy.”

My goal was to think about each command, to see if it would be possible to obey these things in my life. I wanted to “be careful to do everything written in it.”

During one of my husband’s sermons, God led me to Proverbs 3. It seemed to me that the words echoed the commands of Leviticus 19, so I decided to look up some of the phrases to see where else they might appear in the Bible.

This is my blog post for this week. I hope you profit from it as much as I have! God’s Word is rich…

Proverbs 3

• Scroll down and read all of the blue, bold-print Proverbs 3 first, then go back and read the indented, italicized verses, to see how they elaborate on what Proverbs 3 was saying.

My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity (Proverbs 3:1-2).

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many (Proverbs 4:10).

Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am YHWH (Leviticus 18:5).

…So that you, your children and their children after them may fear YHWH your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life (Deuteronomy 6:2).

YHWH commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear YHWH our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today (Deuteronomy 6:24).

And now, O Israel, what does YHWH your God ask of you but to fear YHWH your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe YHWH’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man (Proverbs 3:3-4).

Love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).

Trust in YHWH with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

O my people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things,
things from of old—
what we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of YHWH,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands (Psalm 78:1-7).

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear YHWH and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones (Proverbs 3:7-8).

If you listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am YHWH, who heals you (Exodus 15:26).

Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of YHWH, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes (Numbers 15:38-39).

Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of YHWH your God (Deuteronomy 12:28).

My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:20-23).

[There are] those who are pure in their own eyes
and yet are not cleansed of their filth (Proverbs 30:12).

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight (Isaiah 5:20-21).

Honor YHWH with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).

“When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to YHWH. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am YHWH your God (Leviticus 19:23-25).

My son, do not despise YHWH’s discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
because YHWH disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in (Proverbs 3:11-12).

Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty (Job 5:17).

Blessed is the man you discipline, O YHWH,
the man you teach from your law [Torah] (Psalm 94:12).

For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching [Torah] is a light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way to life (Proverbs 6:23).

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her (Proverbs 3:13-15).

The law of YHWH is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of YHWH are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of YHWH are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of YHWH are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of YHWH is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of YHWH are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11).

Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who lay hold of her will be blessed (Proverbs 3:16-18).

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30).

And you will be called priests of YHWH,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast (Isaiah 61:6).

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints [set-apart, holy ones] (Ephesians 1:18).

By wisdom YHWH laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
by his knowledge the deeps were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew (Proverbs 3:19-20).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

By the word of YHWH were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17).

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,
do not let them out of your sight;
they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck (Proverbs 3:21-22).

Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am YHWH (Leviticus 18:5).

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8)

Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble;
when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
for YHWH will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared (Proverbs 3:23-26).

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn (Isaiah 8:20).

Praise YHWH.
Blessed is the man who fears YHWH,
who finds great delight in his commands…
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in YHWH.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes (Psalm 112:1, 4-8).

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act.
Do not say to your neighbor,”Come back later;
I’ll give it tomorrow”—when you now have it with you (Proverbs 3:27-28).

Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight (Leviticus 19:13).

Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
Do not accuse a man for no reason—
when he has done you no harm (Proverbs 3:29-30).

Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am YHWH.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am YHWH (Leviticus 19:14-16).

Do not envy a violent man
or choose any of his ways,
for YHWH detests a perverse man
but takes the upright into his confidence (Proverbs 3:31-32).

Do not hate your brother in your heart.
Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people,
but love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH (Leviticus 19:17-18).

The secret things belong to YHWH our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29).

YHWH’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33).

Praise YHWH.
Blessed is the man who fears YHWH,
who finds great delight in his commands.
His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever (Psalm 112:1-3).

Blessed are all who fear YHWH,
who walk in his ways.
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus is the man blessed
who fears YHWH.
May YHWH bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
and may you live to see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel (Psalm 128:1-6).

He mocks proud mockers
but gives grace to the humble.
The wise inherit honor,
but fools he holds up to shame (Proverbs 3:34-35).

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children (Hosea 4:6).

Things to Do with These Scriptures:

• Ponder whether these verses apply to us today. If they only apply to Israel and not to the Church, then why are they quoted in the New Testament and by so many leaders today? If they don’t apply, how can we know which verses to read from the Old Testament and which ones to ignore? If you’d like to study this further, see this post of mine.
• Try memorizing these verses. You might wish to write them out on 3×5 cards and place them in your kitchen window. Another great idea is to listen to them over and over.
• Print out Leviticus 19, and make a list of the ways God says we can “Be holy because I, YHWH your God, am holy” (verse 2). Read my blog post from last week. Note how almost all of these commands are mentioned in Proverbs 3.
• Discuss each of these verses with your children. Have them memorize them, too. Ask them to hold you accountable to be obedient to God’s commands, holy, and set apart from sin.
• Come back and tell me what you learn!

Last week I studied about what it means to be holy, or set apart for a specific purpose. I learned that:

• If I am set apart for a specific purpose, then obviously if I go back to my former purpose, I won’t be set apart any more.
• If I am not set apart and clean, God will not use me.
• If in my old life, my purpose was to live in wickedness and uncleanness, then my new purpose is to be righteous and clean.
• Holiness seems to be comprised of separating from uncleanness.

The apostle Peter wrote that it is urgently important for us to be holy.

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Peter says, “It is written,” to remind his readers that he wasn’t making up a new commandment; rather, he was quoting from the oldest part of the Bible, the Torah (“teaching”). I probably wouldn’t have noticed this myself, except that my Bible has a footnote to tell me where he’s quoting from. (I’m a geek… I like reading footnotes…) The footnotes tell me that he is quoting from Leviticus 11:44-45 and Leviticus 19:2.

The apostle John wrote something very similar in his first letter.

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands… Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard” (1 John 2:3-7).

The message [Greek logos] he is referring to is also mentioned in John’s gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3).

The “beginning” referred to by John is the creation of the world, which is recorded for us in Genesis, the beginning of the Torah.

The message of the Bible never changes from beginning to end. The Word, with a Capital W, is Jesus, the logos “made flesh” (John 1:14) and the One who came to live among us, Immanuel, or “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). Just as Jesus cannot change (Hebrews 13:8), neither do His commands and teachings (Psalm 105:8, Isaiah 40:8).

I have often heard that as a Christian, I am to live a holy life. However, I have also been frustrated by the different opinions of what holiness means. For instance, a simple Google search brought up the following:

• Holiness means to be morally good.
• Holiness means to be unique.
• Holiness means to belong to God.
• Holiness means to live with God.
• Holiness means to be a light.
• Holiness means to be distinct from the world.
• Holiness means to have a right relationship with God.
• Holiness means to study God’s Word and grow in it.
• Holiness means to be a saint.
• Holiness is goodness.
• Holiness is the sum of all God’s attributes.
• “NO man can determine what acts, thoughts and lifestyle are Holy. It is only with the aid of the Holy Spirit we can do this.”

Wow.

Are you with me that this is as clear as mud?!

Exactly how am I supposed to be holy?

It all seems rather vague…

Which is why verses like this make me pause:

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness [hagiasmos] no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

I am guessing I’m not the first person to wonder these things, for in the acrostic poem written to help young Hebrew children learn their aleph-bet, the Psalmist says,

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).

We become holy, pure, and clean by living according to the Word of God. My Google search basically said the same thing, but now I’m wondering if the Torah (or the “teaching” of the first five books of the Bible) gives a specific definition of what it means to be holy, pure, and clean.

I decided to start with the passage in Leviticus that Peter quoted:

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy…“‘” (Leviticus 19:1-2).

God then began a long and miscellaneous listing of commands and rules, some of which bear resemblance to the ten commandments, a few of which are familiar to me, a couple of which are repeated in the New Testament, and many of which seem totally unrelated to my life in 2012.

God ends the 30-some verses with,

“Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:37).

Huh?

So being holy means guys shouldn’t clip off the hair on the edges of their beards or wear clothing woven of two kinds of material?

I was looking for a specific list… and this is specific… but this chapter is written to “the entire assembly of Israel” (verse 1), not to me. Right?

So I looked at the other reference in Peter’s footnote:

“Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud… There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them… Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales… You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening…

“Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

“These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.” (Leviticus 11:1-4, 9, 24, 43-47).

Seriously?!

Again, I was looking for specifics — and this is specific – but… seriously?

My search took me much further, to lists of many more specific things that God defines as “clean.”

• Touching dead animals is unclean (Leviticus 5:2 and 17:15).
• Women are unclean for a number of days after childbirth and during their periods (Leviticus 12:2).
• Contagious skin diseases are unclean (Leviticus 13:3, 46).
• Clothing contaminated by certain types of mildew are unclean (Leviticus 13:59).
• Homes contaminated by certain types of mildew are unclean (Leviticus 14:33-57).
• Various bodily fluids are unclean (Leviticus 15).
• It is unclean for a man to marry his brother’s wife (Leviticus 20:21).
• Places were people have died (such as graveyards and battlefields) are unclean (Numbers 19:14-16).
• Lips can be unclean (Isaiah 6:5).
• Evil spirits are unclean (Matthew 10:1, 12:43).
• A land where idols are worshiped is unclean (Joshua 22:19, Ezra 9:11, Zechariah 13:2).

God was very, very specific when He said,

“For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you” (Deuteronomy 23:14).

He obviously took his specific commands of cleanliness seriously!

We find that God’s people knew what God’s definition of “clean and unclean” were, even before the time of Moses. For instance, Job lived shortly after the Flood, and he understood God’s definition of holiness:

“Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? (Job 14:4, KJV).

“They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean“(Job 36:14, KJV).

Even before that, Noah understood how to tell which animals were clean and which were unclean:

“The LORD then said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth’” (Genesis 7:1-3).

It seems likely to me that this knowledge wasn’t passed on from generation to generation, as it should have been, so that by the time of Moses, the godly line of Israel didn’t know what clean meant any more. (Search sometime for how many times Moses told the people to “remember.”)

As John said,

“Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message [logos] you have heard” (1 John 2:7).

Here we are, thousands of years later, and it seems to me that believers have not been taught any specific definitions of holiness. We have been left to do what is “right in our own eyes.” We’re sincerely trying to obey God — but if the definitions of “clean” in the Torah are correct, we are sincerely missing the mark!

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped… And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it” (Isaiah 35:5, 8).

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor… And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God… They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD” (Isaiah 61:1, 3, 6; 62:12).

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.’” (Matthew 11:4-5, ESV).

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

“‘Therefore come out from them and be separate’, says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you’” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Israel was judged because she refused to “come out from among them” and be clean.

“Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them” (Ezekiel 22:26).

In fact, this was defined as the day that Ephraim (a tribe of Israel) returned to Egypt and ate unclean things (Hosea 9:3).

We have learned before that this world lives according to the system of Babylon, a system which God defines as unclean in every possible way.

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast” (Revelation 18:2).

And so Peter wrote to the first-century believers,

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16).

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:9-12).

God told Aaron and the priests,

“You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses” (Leviticus 10:10-11).

As a member of the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God, I also have a responsibility to distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean. And I must also teach this!

God never changes. Even in the millennium, the priests of God are to “teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 44:23 and Revelation 20:6).

And at the end of time, in God’s Holy City, a city set apart and pure, we see that “nothing impure [Greek koinoō, or unclean] will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). (See also Isaiah 65:17-66:24).

I am thankful for the blood of Jesus, which cleanses me from all my uncleanness:

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:13).

I have been cleansed, but this doesn’t give me license to do things God calls impure.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2).

And so if God’s Word doesn’t change and He is always the same, then Peter’s words make more sense:

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying [hagiasmos] work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood” (1 Peter 1:1-2).

Excuse me while I go back and re-read Leviticus 11 and 19.

Who’s with me?