Life with No King (Part 2)

This morning we are in part two of our three part series finally Life with No King. This morning we will actually finish the book of Judges, and then next week will try look to summarize some of the main thoughts on what this looks like today. Remember, this final section of the book of Judges gives two stories that are characterized by the statement “There was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Last week we look at the story of Micah, the Danites, and this coveted shrine to God that gave us a great snapshot of the religious climate in the nation of Israel. They were mixing the worship of Yahweh, the one true God, with the worship of the idolatrous nations around them. Their motives were highly self-serving, God we’ll worship you so you will do good things for us.

The story in the passage we’ll cover this week gives us a deeper look at the social climate of the nation of Israel during this time. So last week we focused on how they related with God, this week, we’ll focus on how they related with each other. As we’ll see when God is not the authority, everything can get very twisted

Just as a word of warning, this is an ugly story. I won’t be super graphic, but if you have kids that are of the age of “what’s that mean?” then this may not be the family friendly message for you today.

First, we’re going to read the circumstances behind a tragic story that shows Israel’s

I. Twisted Morality

Let’s start reading in Judges 19:1-2

Judges 19:1–2 ESV

In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.

So again, the author starts out by highlighting that at this time there was no king in Israel which meant that everyone was their own king. They just did what was right in their own eyes. Notice that both last weeks narrative and this weeks story involve a Levite. I believe that that author of Judges was trying to let us know that even those who were supposed to be set apart to serve the Lord had become corrupt during this time period.

Well this Levite had a concubine. Remember a concubine was like a second class wife. Often, these concubines were purchased to be servants and were often used as a sexual slave. From the context, that seems to be the case with the concubine in this story. This practice was not something that God condoned, but it had been prevalent in Israel since the times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When it comes to social issues, we see from jump that human trafficking was something that seemed to be prevalent during this time period.

Well this concubine was an unfaithful concubine. She had an adulterous relationship and ran away back to her father’s house in Bethlehem. Again, this woman probably did not mean very much to the Levite, because he waited four months before he decided to go after her.

Judges 19:3-4

Judges 19:3–4 ESV

Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there.

For whatever reason, after these four months the Levite goes to Bethlehem to bring her back, and he she brings him to her father. Now the concubines father, who is mostly likely the one who sold her to this Levite is extremely hospitable. Perhaps he was just a nice guy, but more than likely he was trying to stay in good graces with the Levite. He probably thought that the Levite was coming to punish his daughter for being adulterous and running away, not to mention, his own reputation was on the line. So the concubines father had the Levit stay for three days and he took great care of him. On the fourth day, the Levite was preparing to leave, but his father-in-law wanted to feed him one more time before he left. So the Levite stays, has another meal, but by the time he prepares to leave it’s late so he stays another night. The 5th day, the Levite starts to prepare to leave, and his father-in-law offers him another meal. The concubines father was trying to drag this out as long as he could because he feared that when they left, his daughter would be in danger. Well this time, after they ate, the Levite turned down the request and started on his way back home to Ephraim.

As they made their journey home, it started to get late. The Levi’s servant suggested that they should turn into the city Jebus for the night and continue their journey the next day. Jebus was supposed to be part of the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, but they had failed to drive out the native Jebusites. The Levite refused to stay in Jebus because it was not a Israelite city. Instead, he thought that should keep pressing forward till the got to the Israelite town of Gibeah to spend the night. I’m sure his thinking was that it would much safer for them to stay in a town that was controlled by their own people.

The custom at this time when traveling was to come into the town square and wait till someone would bring you into their home for the night. Well, when they got to the Benjamite city, Gibeah, they waited a while, but nobody offered to take them in. Finally, an old man from Ephraim who was there working offered to take them in for the night. In verse Judges 19:20, the old man says

Judges 19:20 ESV

And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.”

He’s suggesting that he would take care of everything that they need, but whatever they did, don’t spend the night in square. Now the Levite and his camps antennae should have went up right there. Why was this old man suggesting that it would be a bad idea for them to stay the night in the square? Well, they were about to find out.

Judges 19:22-23

Judges 19:22–23 ESV

As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.

So as they were in this old Ephraimites house having a pleasant dinner, some men from the city start beating on the door and demanding that the Ephriamite send out the Levite so they could rape him. This incident is brings back the memory of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. If you remember the story, two angels came to visit Lot, and the men of Sodom came beating on his door demanding that he turn the two men over to them so they could rape them. I believe it’s on purpose that the author uses similar language and paints a similar picture. He is illustrating just how far into wickedness Israel had fallen. Sodom and Gomorrah was the quintessential picture of wickedness and depravity. Now, a city just as wicked as Sodom was in the borders of Israel.

Well, the old Ephriamite refuses to send the Levite out to them, but her offers a substitute. If you remember Lot’s story, he offered to send his two daughters out to satisfy them men of Sodom. The Ephraimite’s offer we much the same. He offered to send out the Levite’s concubine and his own virgin daughter to be raped instead. The fact that this man would offer these women up to the town perverts to be raped shows another social ill that was prevalent in Israel. Women were often not valued as anything more than just property.

And men, we should never fall into the trap to turn women into objects or servants. Always keep in mind that women are valuable because they are created in the image of God. They should never be used or taken advantage of, they should be valued and protected by men. These guys were trying to save their own skin, so they instinctively decided to offer women up in their place. Men have been doing this from the very beginning. When Awhen God confronted Adam about their sin in the Garden of Eden, Adam immediately threw Eve under the bus. Guys, we have to avoid this passivity and be willing to step and have courage in times of difficulty.

Judges 19:25-26

Judges 19:25–26 ESV

But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

So the Ephraimite spares his daughter, but sends out the concubine to these men in Gibeah. She was brutally gang raped all through the night. With the little strength that she has, she falls down at the door of the old Ephraimite man’s house.

After the Levite had allowed this women to experience the most horrific night of her life, you would expect that he would have some kind of compassion. After all, she had saved his. He was the one that they really wanted. But we can see the callousness that this Levite had toward his concubine.

Judges 19:27-28

Judges 19:27–28 ESV

And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.

The Levite walks out and sees her lying there, and nothing to say but get up, and let’s go. No care, no concern, he just wanted to get on his way. When he realized she was unresponsive he just threw her on the donkey, and went back home. How much colder could this man be? You would expect more care if there was a stranger in this condition, and much more since it was one of his wives. If he cared this little about her well-being, why did he go get her in the first place? Either he desired the sex or he wanted the status symbol of having multiple wives. Or both. Whatever the reason, it was not because this woman was of any importance to him. If this isn’t bad enough, let’s see what happens next.

Judges 19:29-30

Judges 19:29–30 ESV

And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Now, I’ve read this story before but this is the first time I’ve noticed this. We don’t actually know when this woman died. While the men of Gibeah brutally abused her, and probably left her for dead, they did not actually kill her. She was able to make it to the door of the house. When the Levite found her she was unresponsive, but we don’t know if at that point she was already dead. Needless to say, once they got home and the Levite chopped her body up into twelve pieces, she was definitely dead.

So much for a funeral. This Levite wanted everyone in Israel to know what happened, so he severs her body into pieces and sends a piece to every tribe in Israel. Again, we don’t know exactly why he did this. As we already established, it wasn’t like he cared about this concubine. Most likely, he was upset at the loss of property. I’m not sure what they going rate for a concubine slave was, but they were usually reserved for the wealthy.

Chapter 19 is meant to show us just how bad it had got in Israel. There was infidelity, human trafficking, homosexuality, rape, murder, and an indifference to it all. Again, the author painted a picture that Gibeah was now the new Sodom and Gomorrah. The epitome of wickedness in the Bible. But the sin of the Levite who allowed his concubine to be sent out and abused in the most grotesque way is just as reprehensible. As we will see in just a moment, the Levite knows this to be true because he conveniently leaves out some details as he tells the story to others.

Notice that the author doesn’t not use any names throughout this story. While this specific incident may have been one of the more severe cases, I believe that no names are mentioned to help us see that the violence and debauchery that we see here is not just an isolated occurence this was a picture of life in Israel without a king.

Well, let’s continue the story into chapter 20 where we will see

II. Twisted Justice

So the Levite sends out this gory message to get the attention of all the Israelites, and it really struck a chord with the nation.

Judges 20:1-2

Judges 20:1–2 ESV

Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah. And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword.

The entire nation was outraged at what had taken place. The scene may not be hard to picture with the recent protests that we’ve seen. People came from coast to coast in Israel to the city of Mizpah to seek justice for this unnamed concubine. This is the only time that we see Israel really united together in the book of Judges. The author emphasizes throughout the passage that Israel had gathered together as one man. 400,000 soldiers were ready punish those responsible for this woman’s death.

I’m not sure if the Levite was expecting this type of response. He was seeking revenge for the loss of his property, not necessarily justice for the loss of his wife. Nevertheless, he knew how to sell this atrocity to galvanize Israel against Gibeah.

Judges 20:3-8

Judges 20:3–8 ESV

(Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel. Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.” And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.

The Levite adds some things in and takes some things out to make this a better story. He says that it was the leaders of Gibeah that surrounded the house to kill him. In the account that we were told, it was not the leaders of Gibeah, it was some worthless fellows. And the Bible never says they wanted to kill him, they were looking to rape him, but not necessarily kill him. He conveniently leaves out the part of the story when he allows the Ephraimite to send this woman out to be raped so it doesn’t look like he had any fault in the matter.

Well, his version of the story served it’s purpose. It made him look good, and it garnered sympathy and anger from the rest of the nation. The soldiers of Israel said they would not return home until Gibeah had paid for what they had done.

Now I don’t know why Israel was so moved by this tragic incident when there was so many other evil things going on. I guess when you are doing what is right in your own eyes, you kind of pick and choose what sin you want to sin against. Again, something we see today as some will adamantly stand against the lawlessness of some radical protesters, but won’t stand against racism. Others will stand against police brutality, but support the murder of innocent babies. When it’s whatever is right in our own eyes, we can become wildly inconsistent. Nevertheless, our inconsistency shouldn’t keep us from standing for right when we see the opportunity. At this point, it seems that Israel was standing for what was right in this situation.

So they gather the army and go to the tribe of Benjamin. Let’s read Judges 20:12-14

Judges 20:12–14 ESV

And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel.

So I believe that Israel starts out seeking justice the right way. They ask that the Benjamites turn over the men who had committed this dreadful crime that they might be put to death. But the Benjamites refused. We might call this nationalism. They were putting their blood relation to the perpetrators over the moral obligation to turn them in for their crime. They would not let anyone who was an outsider find fault with someone who was “one of us.” This can be one of the most destructive and divisive idols in any society. When people have the attitude of my family, my race, my country, hey, my political affiliation. I will support what they are doing whether it is morally right or wrong. We are making a god of our own people.

I’m glad the God made me black. But if the black community as a whole supports things that don’t line up with God’s Word, I’m not going to hop on board just because I’m black. I’m glad that God made me an American, but when the American government makes policy that is anti-God, I can’t stand for that either. We live in a culture that wants you to choose side and be extreme in one direction. But it’s OK if you back the blue, but also stand against police brutality. We can’t fall into this trap of making idols out of entities. Our number one affiliation is to God, so stand for right when it is right and stand against wrong when it is wrong. But in addition, sometimes mis-applied Christianity can be thrown in this too. No doubt, if these happened in our time there would be people that would say. Well that woman was always sleeping around with other men. She had it coming. She deserved it. This is God’s judgement on her for her sin. Whether that’s true or not. Tragedy is Tragedy. Evil is Evil. Injustice is injustice. It is not for us to sit upon our high religious horse and point the finger. We are to mourn with those who mourn. And seek God’s justice for all evil.

Well, Benjamin would rather go to war than give up their own wicked men. So they start to gather their army. The numbers were going to be lopsided. This was 11 tribes versus one. 400,000 soldiers of Israel against about 27,000 from Benjamin. Although severely outnumbered, Benjamin was not going to be an easy opponent. The Bible tells us that Benjamin had 700 left-handed soldiers who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

Look at verse Judges 20:18

Judges 20:18 ESV

The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.”

So the army of Israel actually went to God and asked which tribe should go first and fight against Benjamin. This is very similar to when Israel first entered into the land to fight against the Canaanites except now, it’s against their own brothers.

Well the army of Israel came to Gibeah to battle against the Benjamites. On the first day, the Benjamites won a great victory, they killed 22,000 Israelite soldiers. The army of Israel suffered loss, but were not altogether defeated. They regathered and this time asked God if they should go fight again against their brothers, and God told them to go. So on day two, they fight against Gibeah, and again the Benjamites won a decisive victory killing 18,000 men.

Now Israel was getting desperate. The entire army goes to the tabernacle at Bethel where they wept, fasted, and made offerings to the Lord. They again asked God if they should go try to fight Benjamin again, or should they stop. This time God told them to go up and the battle would be given into their hand.

Now why God allowed them to suffer these defeats? I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t really tell us. Perhaps this was not the way that God wanted them to handle this situation. When Israel asked God who should go up first and fight the Canaanites, God had already commanded them to go in and possess the land. When Israel asked who should go up first against the Benjamites, God had not commanded them to go fight this battle, neither did they ask God if it was the right thing to do. So maybe God permitted them to go because they were determined to do this whether God said so or not.

Maybe God was just giving us a lesson that even when we are seeking to stand for right. Sometimes things may go wrong.

Maybe God was evening out the body count because their was evil both on the part of the men from Gibeah and the Levite. Again we don’t really know why, but on day three, the Israelite army would finally get their victory. This time they used an ambush technique. They set up their battle line as before, and faked a retreat drawing the Benjamite army out of the city. With the men gone, another company of 10,000 Israelite soldiers came out of the ambush and attacked Gibeah. When the smoke started to ascend out of the city, the Israelite army turned and fought against the Benjamites. In all, about 25,000 Benjamites were killed. Only 600 of them survived and fled into the wilderness.

Now if it had ended with just the soldiers, perhaps this wouldn’t have been so bad. But the army of Israel went into overkill mode. They destroyed every city in the land of Benjamin. Men, women, children, animals - everything was destroyed. Those 600 men that escaped were the only Benjamites left.

Israel’s “justice” turned into genocide. They all but eliminated the entire tribe of Benjamin. The punishment did not fit the crime. Israel was totally out of line in how they executed judgement on Benjamin.

And again, we’ve seen how seeking justice can turn into vandalism, violence, and lawlessness. This is often the result when people feel that they need to take justice into their own hands. But don’t forget, Benjamin illustrated what it looks like to ignore wrong doing in favor of one’s “people.” This is what happens when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Their sense of what is just, what is right, and what is proper can be twisted.

Well this story is not quite over. In chapter 21, there’s

III. Twisted Salvation

When Israel defeated Benjamin they all made a rash vow that none of them would give their daughters to marry a Benjamite. Well that posed a problem. All the Benjamite women had been killed, so there was no one for the 600 Benjamite men that survived to marry. So when those men died, the tribe of Benjamin would become extinct. The people realized this and wept to God, they did not want for a tribe of Israel to disappear. Interestingly enough, the try to pin this on God, but God never told them to wipe out the Benjamites or to make this vow that prevented them from giving them women to marry. This was all the result of their own decisions.

Nevertheless, after destroying Benjamin, they are on a mission to save Benjamin.

They discovered that no one from city of Jabesh-Gilead came up with them to fight against Benjamin. So they took 12,000 men to Jabesh-Gilead and killed every man, woman, and child. The only people that were spared were 400 virgins who were going to be given to the men of Benjamin as wives.

Well they were about 200 wives short. In order to repopulate the tribe, all these men were going to need wives. So the elders came up with another plan. In Shiloh, there was a festival every year and the women would come out into the field to dance. The Benjamites that were still without wives we told to hideout in the bushes, and when the women came out to dance, they were to run out, snatch themselves a wife, and scurry back to the land of Benjamin. So Israel saved the tribe of Benjamin by murder and kidnapping. It sounds terrible to us, but it was great plan in Israel’s eyes. The author ends the chapter and the book with the familiar statement. Judges 21:25

Judges 21:25 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

These three chapters give a great picture of what it looks like when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. You see none of these people felt they were acting wrongly. Not the concubine, not the Levite, not the men of Gibeah, not the Benjamites who defended them, not the Israelite armies the mercilessly slaughtered them, and not the elders of Israel who suggested murder and kidnapping to preserve Benjamin. Everyone was doing what felt right, what felt good, what seemed just. They did what their mind, emotions, and body told them to do. There were no pagans to blame here. The twisted morality, twisted justice, and twisted salvation all came from Israel. From God’s people because they chose to “live their own truth” while still claiming to worship God.

There must be a firm foundation on which we develop our morality, our sense of justice, and our method for helping those who are marginalized and in need. They way that we conduct ourselves must be based on something other than our reason, emotions, and instincts. If that is all that we have, then we are going to be twisted and wildly inconsistent like the nation of Israel here. and Here’s the big lesson that we get from these stories

God must be the foundation of our worldview.

A world view is just that. It is the way that you view the world. It is your basis for truth and morality. It determines what you believe to be right and wrong. What things are worth fighting for and what things we can let go. It informs our philosophy and methodology on how things should be done. And the implications of your world view are endless. It will determine how you treat other people. It will determine what you stand for and against morally. It can affect your politics, your economics, your purpose, your values. Literally the way that you live your life.

A common underlying worldview is that of postmodernism. It’s similar to what we see here in Judges. Everyone does what is right in their eyes. Everyone defines truth by what is true from their experience, their life history, their race, ethnicity, gender and religion. But there is no absolute, universal morals or truth. It’s relativism, it’s subjective. It’s whatever your reason, emotions, experiences, and body tell you is right. And your morality and truth cannot be transferred to others. It’s the you do you, and I’ll do me worldview. There’s no authority other than what you think is right. And everyone should be tolerant of whatever everyone else says is right. That is, until your truth and morality go against the majority, then you may be attacked. This worldview is full of absurdities and inconsistencies. Which explains why Israel, and many in our world today are just all over the place.

As a Christian, we don’t have to try and dig all of this up on our own. Our worldview should be based upon God’s character revealed to us through God’s Word. Right and wrong should be based upon God’s Word not our own preferences. As we form opinions on world events and issues, our opinions should be based upon the truth from God’s Word. The way that we treat others and value life, and conduct ourselves should be based upon the truth from God’s Word that all men are created in His image. Look at Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

God gifted the church with pastors and teachers to build the church so that we wouldn’t be just tossed around by every idea that pops up. So that we could build a firm foundation by speaking the truth in love. So there can be unity in the church. It’s just strange to me that churches are often the place we see the most division when it comes to issues in our world. Now, I’m not saying that every Christian is going to arrive at the exact same opinion on every issue. But I am saying that whatever opinion you hold and whatever stand that you take, it should be able to be backed by the Word of God. There should be some foundational truths that hold us all together as we live in this world.

So how do we do that? How can we be sure that we are God is the foundation of our worldview. Really quick I want to give you three things that can help us to do that.

1. Educate yourself

This has been a popular phrase when people have been talking about the racial tensions in our nation, but I want to say that if we are going to build our worldview upon God we must educate ourselves. We must get into God’s Word and study. We need to look in Scripture for examples in which we can take principles and apply to our current circumstances. We need to see what God has to say about certain issues, about how we should conduct ourselves, about what is right and wrong. I do think it is important to listen to what others have to say, and understand things from different perspectives. But Don’t just rely on what you heard this one preacher say, or what one author wrote, or what your friend posted on facebook, or the personality posted on youtube. Dig into God’s Word and study things for yourself. Educate yourself on what God has to say about how what should think and act while we are here on earth.

2. Submit yourself

After you educate yourself about what God has to say about something, the next step is to submit yourself. Put yourself under God’s authority. This may actually be the hardest step. It’s one thing to know what God says, it’s another to submit yourself to following it wholly. I believe that at this time, this was Israel’s problem. They knew God’s law. They knew what God expected. They were educated, but they did not submit to God. They would rather rely on their own thoughts and feelings that submit themselves to truth of God’s law. Sometimes the way that we think or things we want to do don’t exactly line up with God’s Word. Who wins those battles in your life? If you want to have a God-centered, Christian worldview, we must submit to God in all areas. Even in the areas where we don’t quite agree.

3. Abide in Him

Once you have educated yourself on God’s view, and submitted yourself to His authority, you must abide in Him always. We must stay in close communion with God, so that submitting to His Word is continually our priority. Without a doubt, there will come different ideologies, and temptations that will come along and try to sway us from our God centered life. We must hold the line, be steadfast and unmoveable and never be swayed by popular opinion or cultural pressure. We must abide in Christ. Stay in His Word, be fervent in prayer, be consistent in listening to Biblical teaching and preaching. So that we may have the strength to stand even in the face of opposition or persecution.

Let’s not get things twisted. Let’s not be the people tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Let’s be people that have a worldview that is based in the foundational truths of God’s Word. Because that is going to affect the way that we live and relate to others while we are here on this world.

We have to be careful not to react to situations and automatically write down the first thing that comes to our mind and hit the post button. We need to make sure that our opinions and actions line up with the totality of God’s Word. I want to encourage you this week to just take some time and think on how you have responded to the things going on in our world today. Ask yourself do I truly have a Biblically centered worldview. I encourage you not to just assume that you do just because you are a Christian and you’ve been in church your whole life. Sometimes even in church, traditions and man-centered ideologies can become so deeply entrenched that we hold them as Scripture. This world is not our home Christians, but while we are here we need to practice Micah 6:8 Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

If you don’t know Christ, I encourage you to receive Him today...