Thursday, August 18, 2005

Good Morning!

Again, just an fyi that I won't be at church on Sunday -- I've had an unexpected business trip to come up. But we will still have class and a discussion, so please come if you can make it.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Ezekiel 28:1-7

Today's Discussion:

-- a trip to the Old Testament today. This passage is part of a prophesy by Ezekiel against the King of Tyre. Just as background, Tyre (the capital of Phoenicia) and Jerusalem (the capital of Judah) were rival cities who competed strongly to be the leading trading city in the world. When Jerusalem fell to the armies of Babylon, Tyre rejoiced at the fall of their rival, and felt that they would prosper even more not with Jerusalem out of the way. God's judgement came down on Tyre because of their gloating, and there is a specific prophesy about the destruction of Tyre in the previous chapter. In our reading, Ezekiel has turned his attention specifcially to the ruler of Tyre.

-- the attitude of Tyre and their king was rooted in their success in business, particularly trading. What Ezekiel is calling their king out about is that he considers himself a god, because he has been so successful in accumulating wealth. This is a perfect example of what we discussed earlier this week about the "deceitfulness of wealth". We all have run into to people who feel like they have wisdom on any number of subjects, because they have been successful in business and wealth building.

-- there is a humility, an understanding that God is the source of all wisdom and forgiveness and blessings, that money and wealth battle against. I'll go back to something from earlier this week

-- we always ask each other -- if were to become suddenly wealthy -- through a lottery or inheirtance or stardom -- do we think that the money would change us? We recognize that it can change us. This week's lesson gives us some insight into how it would. But we shouldn't forget or overlook the idea that it isn't just sudden wealth -- the same thing can happen to us if we simply have some degree of financial success over time.

Question for Sunday:

do you know anyone who changed because of their wealth or money? do you know anyone who used the fact that they were wealthy as reason to believe that they were above others?

Today's prayer request: Amanda and David Edwards' daughter Kasey.

Amanda emailed me yesterday and asked that we pray for Kasey. She isn't sick, but she is having a terrible time adjusting to school -- she's been acting up a great deal, and Amanda and David have been called to school once already, and the school has said that they will suspend Kasey for a week if it happens again. Kasey has been diagnosed with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), and they are still trying to find medication that works for her in treating this. This has been a very trying situation for all of them, and Amanda said that they could really use all of our prayers.

Today's class member prayer:

Jay Waters

Have a great day.

Jay