From Sampler to Sower

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3, KJV)

I was reminded of this verse recently while listening to a moving speech by a local educator, warning myself and several of my colleagues about the dangers that Nazism and Communism pose to area youth. His concern was that if we allow the foundations to be destroyed, we have no hope.

I was sorely tempted to include this verse in my post about the Top Six Verses that AREN’T in the Bible, as it seems like this verse is so often used in a Chicken-Littlesque warning that the foundations of Western Civilization are crumbling and if we don’t do something fast, the righteous won’t have a prayer (as if, somehow, the foundations of Western Civilization are the footing on which our faith is founded!).

As much as using it this way seems a bit of a misunderstanding at best and blatant proof-texting at worst, I have to admit there is some room for interpretation in this passage. Using the text the way my educator friend did is not as cut-and-dried out of context as the others on the list.

So I’m giving the verse a post all its own.

Before we go any farther, take a second to read all of Psalm 11, maybe even comparing a couple translations. (Don’t worry; it’s only seven verses long.) Then read the rest.
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Weekend Teaching Series: Heroes

Message Title: The Cowardly Warrior

Sermon in a Sentence: Actually, I didn’t have one going in . . . but more on that later.

Text(s): Judges 6-7

Weekend Scale of Difficulty: 12 out of 10,This was one of my toughest nights in youth ministry ever.  The game took a little extra prep, getting audio clips ready for “Name that Tune.”  That  alone would have made it a 7 out of 10.  But what knocked this one out of the park difficulty-wise was an incredible headache, intensified exponentially by our stage lights.  After struggling through the game and music, I had to go to house lights for the teaching time and even then the headache was so bad I couldn’t think straight.  We made it through the night, but I know my teaching was adversely affected.

Message Summary:

We’re in week four of our Heroes series for Junior High. We’re working our way through the Old Testament book of Judges, seeing what we can learn from the people God chose to change their world.  As always we started with a “where we left off” review.  I was impressed at how well my students remembered the heroes from the first three weeks of the series; they even remembered Othaniel, a guy who played only a minor part in week one of the series.

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Weekend Teaching Series: Heroes

Message Title: The Tent-Peg Killer

Sermon in a Sentence: Don’t let fear keep you from being the Hero God is looking for.

Text(s): Judges 4

Weekend Scale of Difficulty: 7 out of 10, I guess the easy weeks had to come to an end.  This was a Murphy’s Law kind of Tuesday night.  Fortunately, with the exception of a slightly late start due to a guitar malfunction, I don’t think any of the chaos effected the service itself.

Message Summary:

We’re in week three of our Heroes series for Junior High. You’ll remember from last week this series is taking a look at the book of Judges. We started with a quick “Where we left off…” review which reminded students of the judges cycle (Rebellion, Retribution, Repentance, Redeemer, Rescue) and of the two judges of whom we spoke so far: Othaniel and Ehud.

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