The Rambling Disciple

This last Sunday I preached a sermon entitled "Torah, Torah, Torah" which focused on acquiring a new understanding and appreciation for those sections of the Bible we typically call the "Law." A main point that I made was that the word "Law" actually isn't a good translation of the Hebrew word "Torah." Rather the word "Torah" better means "instruction, guidance, or teaching." Now I have written about this before on this blog, so I won't go at length here. Suffice it to say that looking at Leviticus and Deuteronomy through the lens of "instruction" rather than "Law" makes a big difference. It changes our perspective from "Wow, look at all the stuff God made them do" to "Wow, look at all the wisdom God gave his people." It's a change of focus that helps us better approach that part of the Bible. Let's be honest, we say that the whole Bible is inspired and authoritative, but

This is a sermon I preached on 11/28/2021.   In the beginning God, perfect, almighty, and triune created the cosmos. The universe was a place of beauty and growth, conceived in wisdom and accomplished by divine power. The crown of this new realm was none other than God’s own image, human beings. Given authority to rule as vassals in God’s Kingdom we humans had the responsibility and joy of faithfully cultivating the earth in the name of God. Alas, such perfection did not last. There was a rebellion against the Kingdom of God led by dark, spiritual powers that we human beings, through deception and our own greed, joined. The cosmos, the beautiful tapestry of God’s wisdom and love, was subjected to the futility and pain of Sin. The human race, once the pinnacle of creation, instead of finding some sort of independence from God instead were enslaved by foreign, hostile invaders.              You see, our rebellion resulted in our enslavement to three forces bent on our destruction: th