Are any of you worn out? Do you feel like the pace of your life has become to fast? Are you overwhelmed by responsibilities and TO DO lists and emails and commitments? Maybe you need Sabbath. In his book The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel describes this ancient, holy day saying:

        “He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering
        commerce, of being yoked to toil.  He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the
        nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life.  He must say
        farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will
        survive without the help of man.  Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the
        earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.  The world has
        our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else.” *

Does your soul crave rest and refreshment?  I invite you to join us this Wednesday night as we examine the fourth commandment to discover what it means for us today to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 

The Wednesday Night Bible Study meets each Wednesday in the Capital Café at 7:00pm.  Children and youth ministry provided.

As I prepared for this weekend’s message from 2 Samuel 11 and 12, I came across a beautiful and honest prayer from Walter Brueggemann in his book Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth.

     We yearn, in every season, for your presence
     We know that our hearts will be restless, until they rest in you;
     We are like deer who seek a watering hole in the drought;
     We hear invitations for “all who are weary and heavy-laden…”
                             And approach to you seems ready and easy.
     Truth to tell, we do pant restlessly,
                 but not always for you.
                             Sometimes, instead for security
                                                     or sex and beer and sports,
                                                     or power and success,
                                                     or beauty and acceptance… not seeking you.
     Truth to tell, we know you to be no easy mark,
                 with your rigorous entrance requirements
                             of blamelessness, truth-telling, no bribes,
                             and all manner of neighborliness.
     We yearn for you in every season,
                 making you too easy, imagining you too difficult,
                 bewildered and unsure until you give yourself concretely to us…
                 as you have done and as you do.  Amen.

This weekend we continued our series Chasing After God by taking a look at the life of Saul in contrast to David.  In the process, we observed God’s command in 1 Samuel 15 to “utterly destroy” the Amalekites.  God demands the destruction of all persons and animals—everything!  The harshness of the command scrapes against our contemporary understanding of who God is—especially in light of our modern experiences with such “holy wars.” 

There are no easy explanations for texts like these.  Scholars continue to debate their interpretations in commentaries and academic settings.  You may find helpful this accessible explanation from Eugene Peterson, who writes:

        “One way to account for [these commands] is that God does not stand aloof from our moral
        conditions, but enters them and works with us where we are, working out salvation among us with the
        cultural materials at hand… God’s sovereign purposes are worked out in the most depraved and brutal
        of conditions by God’s descending into them, not criticizing them from above.” (1)

If you would like to study this subject in greater detail, I recommend one of Zondervan’s Counterpoints books.  This series of books provides a forum where opposing theological viewpoints are respectfully debated among some of today’s best Christian scholars.  The edition that covers the topic in question is Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide.  Here’s an excerpt from the back cover:

        September 11, 2001, brought us face to face with the stark reality of jihad. But holy war is neither new
        nor the invention of Islam. The Old Testament writings record what amounts to Canaanite genocide in  
        the name of Yahweh. How do we reconcile this with the teachings of Jesus, who commands us to love  
        our enemies and overcome evil with good? If our theology bears its fruit in our behavior as Christians,
        then we cannot ignore the question of violence in the Bible. Is there continuity or discontinuity              
        between the Old Testament concept of holy war and New Testament ideals? Do we serve the Lord of    
        Hosts or the Prince of Peace—or is God both? How should our actions reflect his character in these      
        dangerous desperately needy times? The four views presented in Show Them No Mercy are quite          
        different, yet all lie squarely within the evangelical tradition. This book gives each view a forum for      
        presentation, critique, and defense. It allows you to compare different perspectives on holy war, divine
        judgment, and the use of deadly force to arrive at your own conclusions on what the Bible teaches.

May God continue to reveal himself to you as you wrestle with these difficult areas of theology.  Grace & Peace!

Some months ago, I shared with you one of my favorite books from last year—Organic God by Margaret Feinberg.  It’s rare to find a book written about our God with such fresh insight and expression.  After reading the book, I invited Margaret to be a guest speaker at our weekend services at Capital.  We’re thrilled that she has accepted our invitation.  Margaret and her husband Leif will join us October 25-26 at all three of our weekend services.

Margaret has written a new book The Sacred Echo.  Here’s an excerpt from the back cover:

        ”When God really wants to get your attention, he doesn’t just whisper something once.  He echoes…

        “You’ve probably experienced it.  The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself
        surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work.

        “As you learn to listen for the sacred echoes—God’s persistent voice—in your life, you can walk more
        confidently and fully into all that he has for you.  The Sacred Echo challenges you to prayerfully
        consider how God is at work in your life as well as in the lives of those around you.  It’s an invitation to
        spiritual awakening and a deeper relationship with God.”

Margaret was recently named by Charisma magazine as one of the “30 Emerging Voices” who will help lead the church in the next decade.  Check out her website at www.margaretfeinberg.com.

Psalm 16:8 – I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

As you consider last weekend’s message, I encourage you to begin putting in place practices to keep him always before you.  There are many books I could recommend that might assist you.  However, my favorite book on the spiritual disciplines is John Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted.  Ortberg writes this refreshing and humorous book with a contemporary audience in mind.  I personally owe a great debt to this work for its impact on my spiritual life.  I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you…

Some of you have asked about the book I recommended at the weekend message.  Boundaries, written by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, has sold over 2 million copies.  If you are struggling with a relationship with a difficult person (and who isn’t?!), I highly recommend this book along with its companions Boundaries in Dating, Boundaries in Marriage, and Boundaries with Kids.  This August, Dr. Cloud will release a new book called The One-Life Solution that covers boundaries in business and leadership.  I received an advance reader copy, and I’ve seen its amazing relevance in my own life.  I highly recommend its purchase upon release.

Recently I came across a book of prayers from Walter Brueggemann. Brueggeman is Professor Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary where he served for many years as Professor of Old Testament. In my years as a student, both in and out of school, I’ve found his works to be some of the most intellectually satisfying—and often poetic. Earlier this year I picked up Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth—a collection of his prayers. I’ve found them to be an inspiration on my journey, and I thought you might enjoy them as well. The following is a prayer prayed during an Old Testament theology class on November 12, 1998:

God before and God behind,
God for us and God for your own self,
     Maker of heaven and earth,
     creator of sea and sky
     governor of day and night.
We give thanks for your ordered gift of life to us,
     for the rhythms that reassure,
     for the equilibriums that sustain,
     for the reliabilities that curb our anxieties,
          We treasure from you,
               days to work and nights to rest.
          We cherish from you,
               days to control and nights to yield
          We savor from you,
               days to plan and nights to dream.
Be our day and our night,
     our heaven and our earth,
     our sea and our sky,
          and in the end our true home. Amen.

Some of you have asked me about the book from which I read during last weekend’s message. The book is Organic God by Margaret Feinberg, one of my favorite books from 2007. The author does a brilliant job of giving the reader a glimpse of the wonder and majesty of God, while keeping her prose humorous and accessible. I recommend it be read devotionally in the midst of your ongoing conversations with our fascinating God.