Dear Fellow Members of the Body of Christ,
Wow, these two shows are fantastic. I love them. Not only is this a teaching on Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, it's a great inspiration for us concerning how much God takes care of us, and how thankful we ought to be.
Show 12 starts with contrast between Hebrews and Paul's letters to the body of Christ.
Hebrews 4:1 says, "We may be afraid..."
Yikes, this is not our gospel. This is why you can't just hand someone the Bible and say, "Here, read this." That's a huge mistake. You have to show them WHERE to read (Paul's letters, obviously) and why it might not be a great idea to start in Leviticus, or the Psalms, or Hebrews, or Revelation.
I love this quote from the first show: "We're busy gauging our surroundings instead of gauging the promises of God." This was certainly the
case of Israel in the wilderness.
Show 12 ends with the spies going into Canaan, coming bad with "good news and bad news." The good news, of course, was that the land was plentiful, with grapes the size of volleyballs. The bad news was that the land was occupied by the sons of Anak, who were giants of a most foul disposition. Kinda easy to be afraid and not trust God. That's exactly what Israel did, and God promptly send them wandering in the wilderness for forty years.
Then
there is the Wilderness of Zin. Show 12 ends with it and Show 13 brings it up. This is where Israel complained bitterly against Moses and Aaron. Well, God had led them into a desert land that not exactly accommodated the most basic needs of food, water and shelter.
All along, I draw analogies between Israel and us that we can all benefit from. These shows are really inspiring along this line.
The funniest thing in Show 13 (I had completely forgotten about it, having not
listened to these shows in twelve years) is my imitation of Moses' sister Miriam singing the Victory Song after having come out of Egypt. OMG. I couldn't help but laugh.
Israel was always saying to God, "Yes, but what have you done for us LATELY?" Sometimes we do the same thing. But really, I think that God has given us more faith than Israel. After all, our blessings are mainly invisible (besides the blessings of food, clothing, and shelter) and yet we are all still hanging in
there.
Thanks for watching this production, put together by our brother Rodney Paris of Texas. He labors faithfully every weekend for the body of Christ. Yes, he is the inspiration for these videos, and without him they simply would not exist.
And without all of YOU, I would not exist either. This work would not exist. From Day 1 on October 1, 1993, this has been an effort supported by the body of Christ. Thanks to all those who generously support this work financially,
keeping the worker going and producing the work. God provided for Israel in the wilderness, and you provide for me in the wilderness known as The Final Years of Millennium 6. God bless all of you---for everything.
--Martin