Snow

It had been snowing off and on when I had gone to bed.  Earlier in the evening while I was on the phone with my niece, I sat and looked out the window at the falling flakes.  The snow was coming down ever so softly and I could see it in the street light in the middle of the parking lot. The flakes would fall and then some would catch a current and seem to dance and pirouette.  Then the next batch would fall slowly straight down only to be followed by more dancing flakes.  The show was mesmerizing.  But it was not yet cold enough for the flakes to remain once they had come in contact with the ground, so they would disappear into the wetness of the pavement.

I knew that once it got cold enough we would have a layer of snow on the ground, with that in mind I went to bed hoping for a white morning when I got up. Getting out of bed, the first thing I did was go and look out the window.  Sure enough, everything was covered in a layer of newly fallen snow. This is my fifth winter up here on the Rez, but I still get excited to see this world covered in snow.  It completely changes how everything looks.  What once was just dirt is now a fairyland of confectioners’ sugar, what is broken and ugly is hidden and what is beautiful is even more beautiful.

As I look at what is now beautiful, I think to myself, this is how we are supposed to look at one another, because this is how we are seen by our heavenly Father. Jesus’ grace comes and covers us with His Holiness. No longer is the ugly and broken seen, only the Son is seen.  We are promised in the Bible that when we believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He came to bring us new life and we confess that with our mouth that Jesus comes to dwell in us.  And not only that, but we are then in Christ and no longer in Adam and the world.  In other words, He is in us and we are in Him.  And there is nothing, nowhere, no how that can take that away from us because of His love.

Back to the snow picture, now we can look at someone and see them as being beautiful, there may be dirt and garbage and broken pieces under the snow, but what we are to look at is the beauty of God’s love for them; white and pure.  We are not to go digging in the snow to see what lies underneath, that is Holy Spirit’s job but we can be there for them when the winds of adversity try to blow away that covering.

I do not want to take the analogy too far as it will fall apart with too much scrutiny, but the fact remains, we are not to judge those around us, that whole splinter in their eye and log in ours thing, but to look at them with the eyes of love and compassion that can only be there because of Holy Spirit.

This People Has Thrown Away Their Future!

This People Has Thrown Away Their Future!

It is early morning; the sun should be up in a few minutes. The roosters have already started their crowing to welcome in the new day. I have gone for a walk to be alone for there are hard decisions that need to be made and the hustle and bustle of waking children and my wife preparing breakfast would interrupt my thoughts.

You may wonder what it is that I am in need of getting alone to think about. I will tell you what is on my mind. I am a prophet in the land of Israel. You may think that is a pretty easy job. All I have to do is sit around all day and listen to see what the gods have to say. Then when someone asks me for advice, I tell them what I have heard and they give me money. The better the news, the better the money. And if they ask me something I haven’t heard then I can just give them a general answer that will satisfy them and send them on their way.

Well that would be true if I were a prophet for the local baals but I am a prophet of the One true Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God that delivered my people out of the hands of the Pharaoh and brought them to this land that was once one flowing with milk and honey. But the people I am sent to tell the words of this Almighty God no longer listen to what He has to say. They may observe some of the old Holy days but they have no idea why they are celebrated and they certainly do not follow the Law that He personally gave to us through our most beloved prophet Moses. They hate to hear what God has to say to them and usually shun me in favor of the prophets that give them the good news.

So I wander thinking what do I do with my family. My friend Hosea has prophesied that soon Israel will be conquered by our enemies the Assyrians and I know him to be a true prophet. Besides that, the word resonates in my heart as being true. God has confirmed it personally to me. Israel will soon face annihilation. Do I leave and try to make a new life for us in Judah or should I go somewhere else? But where?

My mind goes back and forth between the alternatives. Where is a son of Abraham to go where I can worship my God and bring up my children in the truth of His Law? The sun is now up and already it is beginning to get hot, I sit under a tree to rest and pray. Lord, what is Your will for me this day? I sit quietly and wait. As I sit there I hear a tiny muffled cry. I wonder what kind of animal would make such a cry. I get up and look on the other side of the tree, the ground slopes downward towards what has become an ash heap for the town and at the bottom of the slope something is moving slightly. I stare trying to make it out and to my horror realize that it is a baby.

A baby! What in the world? Why would there be a baby down there? I look around and there is no one else in the whole countryside. I walk slowly down the hill, almost afraid at what I will see and also trying to be careful not to send rocks and dirt down on the tiny bundle. An old piece of cloth is lying over the infant and as I pull it back I can tell that the child is only hours old. The cord had not even been cut and the child had not been cleaned off after being born. I remember back to when my children were born and what a joy it had been. How the women fussed over my wife and they laughed and sang as they cleaned up the baby and wound them in clothes and then presented them to me the proud Papa to see my new son or daughter. Each time we had a joyous celebration and dedicated the child to the Lord at the proper time. But here this child has not been wanted or cared for. She has been brought out to this place of refuse and left to die. And dieing she was. Her cries were even weaker than when I had first heard them.

I take off my cloak and gently place the child inside the material. I wrap her and as gently as I can I pick her up. I do not know what to do so I look around. I remember that I had brought some water with me and I had left it under the tree. As carefully as I can I climb back up the hill. No sounds are coming from my precious package and I am afraid that I was too late. Even when I stumble and almost fall there are no sounds. I finally make it back to the tree and gently sit down putting the child carefully on my lap I unwrap her a bit so I can see her face. She is still breathing but only shallowly. I take my gourd and then wonder how I can give her water; she is a baby after all and not a lamb. I decide to put my finger in the water and then rub my finger against her mouth. There is no response; I do it again and again. Finally the child opens her mouth a little and takes in a drop or two. That seems to be all she is capable of doing.

Lord, my heart cries out. Please protect this child, give her a chance. I will take her home and she can be part of my family…my wife will know what to do…..just please give her the strength to live. Gently a breeze stirs and ever so lightly lifts the hair on the newborns head. A gentle caress but the words that come to me are sad. “My son, I wanted you to be here for her so that she could feel love before death comes for her. What you see here in this place is what my people have come to. They offer their sons in the fires of their lustful gods and they throw away their daughters. Their only desires are for their own appetites and they care for nothing else. You have spoken My words faithfully to this people but they will not listen. You and your family are free to leave this place and to go to a new place. I have a place prepared for you in Judah. I will be with you so there will be no need to fear. But for now sit here with the child and weep with me for my beloved.”

I do not know how long I sat there holding the child next to my heart, weeping. I know it could not have been too long but it seemed like an eternity. I tried a few times to give her water, but she was now too weak to even open her mouth for a drop of the precious liquid. I looked deeply into her eyes and knew that this was the end. A sigh escaped her lips and that was it. A cloud came over the sun and I sat there and watched as all color drained from her tiny body. I wept until I could weep no more. My heart was broken for all the might have beens.

For the first time since I had found her, I took a good look at her. She was perfect, she would have been a beautiful child but that chance had been denied her. I laid her out in my cloak and gently wrapped her up. I then knelt by the base of the tree and began to dig. When the hole was big enough I placed her inside of it and began to cover the precious bundle with the dirt. I then went and gathered rocks to lie over her grave. No animal was going to dig her up. She had been left to the elements and the predators by someone else but I was going to make sure that she was protected here in the shade of the tree.

Slowly I rose from my knees and looked to heaven. Dear God what has happened to my people? Why have they forsaken You and become like the pagans? They even sacrifice their own children, even the animals take care of their young. I then felt the comfort of the Lord as He again spoke to my heart, “My son, she was loved by you for a short while but she has always been loved by me. Speak my words, for there will be those that will hear and turn back to life”.

Jeroboam...spiritual adultery in Israel

Jeroboam

Spiritual Adultery is introduced to the Northern Kingdom part 1


When Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam is made king. Now Solomon had caused great prosperity to come to Israel. He expanded the kingdom, built the Temple along with other magnificent buildings, explored deep into Africa, traded around the known world, put in roads and was wealthy beyond compare. But the people were tired of all the taxes and all the work even though they too had prospered.

So when his son decides to raise the taxes even more there is rebellion in the land. That is when Jeroboam is picked by the discontented to lead them. The land is then divided between Northern and Southern kingdoms. This is when things go from bad to worse. In order to keep his subjects from visiting Jerusalem every year to offer sacrifices to the Lord, Jeroboam decides he will make two holy sites in his kingdom.

For today I want you to read the Scripture that deals with this crossroads in Israel’s history. And then I want us to use our imaginations and flesh out the characters.

Read: 1 Kings 11:26-12:33 and if you have time, the mirroring passage, 2 Chronicles 10.

Wow, talk about political intrigue, fighting for a cause, listening to bad advice and religious servitude all rolled into one.

I am going to tell you how I see Jeroboam and then I want you to take a turn at making him flesh and blood.

My name is Jeroboam and I am from the tribe of Ephraim. We are a proud lot, having been home to the Ark of the Covenant up until the time that King David took it to Jerusalem. And of course we know what a fiasco that was at first, what with a man dieing because they do not know how to move the Ark correctly. But eventually, King Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem and the Ark is there to stay.

Now I know King Solomon personally. I am strong and intelligent so I had been chosen by him to lead in a building project. Of course, with my natural talents at leadership, it is no wonder that Solomon begins to fear my popularity. What can I say, even as a youth, people have been drawn to me and are always asking me what should be done. It’s a curse to be so popular.

And then to make matters even trickier with the King, the old prophet comes to tell me that I have been chosen by God. You may well wonder what I had been chosen to do. With my talents it could have been anything, lead an army, become top advisor to the wisest king ever, become a mighty man of God. But I was even blown away when he tore his new clothes and told me to take 10 of the 12 pieces. I waited for him to explain as he told me I was to be king over 10 parts of Israel. Me! Even I could not have wished so highly. I could not wait to tell everyone what I had been promised. Maybe I should have kept it quiet, because King Solomon did not like the news nearly as much as I did.

That is why I went to Egypt for awhile. I sure like Egypt. What a wild life I had there and what friends I made while waiting until the King was dead and his son had started to rule. I was called back by the men that had served under me. They were so happy to see me and anxious about what the new king would do. So, as the leader I am, we set off to Shechem to meet with King Rehoboam. Being wise, I tell the king if he is fair with me and my followers we will serve him. And being not one to rush things I allow him to take 3 days to think it over.

Well I can tell you, King Rehoboam listened to the wrong people. The young guys he grew up with liked the rich and easy life, so they talked him into raising our taxes and making life even harder on us. Of course, I could not stand for that, so we are separating ourselves from Judah and forming our own kingdom. And who do you think is king of this kingdom? You are right…it is me! The prophet’s words are coming true.

But now I have my own decisions to make. I do not want us to be so intertwined with Judah. How do I keep my followers from going back to Jerusalem and following Rehoboam? If only the Temple were not there! As an Israelite we must worship God, but if I could change a couple of the rules, I would have more control of the people.


Now it is your turn. Write it any way you like. A list of attributes, a list of decisions made, compare Jeroboam to people you have known in leadership. Have fun!



Some questions to ponder and answer:
Who called Jeroboam to lead the 10 tribes?

Why was God angry with Solomon?

Why did Rehoboam not listen to his father’s advisors?

What is so enticing about listening to his peers instead?

God had said he would bless Jeroboam, if he followed His ways, why do you think Jeroboam set up his own form of worship?

Could time in Egypt (world) have led to some of the decisions that Jeroboam made?

Why were the people willing to follow Jeroboam even after he started the false worship?


Now we have the background to why there were 2 kingdoms in the time of Hosea. Not a very good start for either the Northern or Southern Kingdom. But God still has a plan to work out through these two separate kingdoms.

Solomon started out good, for that matter Jeroboam started out good and Rehoboam had a chance to start out good but they all failed to follow the Lord with their whole heart.

Any decisions you need to make today….Let’s lay them out before the Lord and seek His guidance in all things. Let’s end well!!!

Mercy for Judah

Mercy still shown to Judah

Hosea 1:6-7
And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:
“ Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,
For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,
But I will utterly take them away.
7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
Will save them by the LORD their God,
And will not save them by bow,
Nor by sword or battle,
By horses or horsemen.”

This is the second child that is born to Gomer, a girl. Her name literally means “no mercy”. God here explains that He is through with showing mercy to the house of Israel. They have had their chance, but now is the time for them to be conquered by the Assyrians and taken away as captives. But the part of the verse we are going to look at today is how God is still willing to deal with Judah.

The very army that defeats the northern tribes of Israel, decide to go south and do the same with Judah. They are successful in taking much of the area but then they get to Jerusalem. Arrogant over their defeat of the north they start taunting the God of the Jews, not understanding that God had used them to chastise His people.

There is a great story about what goes on in Isaiah. It is two chapters long and goes into great detail about how all the sides involved were feeling and thinking. Either read or listen to Isaiah 36 &37 then answer these questions.

How are the promises to Judah made in Hosea 1:7 fulfilled?

What is Sennacherib’s attitude about God?

Who is sent to fulfill Sennacherib’s order to conquer Israel?

What does the Rabshakeh (love this name) say about the God of Judah?

What proof does the Rabshakeh offer that he can fulfill his threat?

How do the emissaries react to the threat?

What does Hezekiah do when he receives the threat?

What happens to the Rabshakeh?

What does Hezekiah do with the new letter he receives from Sennacherib?

What does Isaiah tell them?

What does God do?

How does Sennacherib die?

Why do you think God did it this way?

I’ve asked you a lot of questions about this story because I want you to think about what is really going on. It’s a great story about God’s might and ability to save those that turn to Him but it also shows us that sometimes our enemies come against us simply to show everyone around us what power God has. But it is also a warning to not become too complacent in God’s deliverance, for in the next two chapters Hezekiah blows it and God tells Judah that they will be conquered by the Babylonians in the future.

It also tells us not to expect God’s mercy to always be there for us. How often we hear someone say that now they are going to have fun, but in the future they will think about God. Israel no longer had that future and in 70 years or so, Judah would not either. I think that is why in Hebrews we are warned not to put off our relationship with the Lord. We have no idea what our future holds.

Hebrews 3:13
13But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.


Take some time to write out for yourself why it is important for you to stay close to the Lord daily.

Remember

Week? Day? Remember

How often the Bible tells us to remember. There are important milestones in our lives, and we are to stop, build an altar and remember what has been done. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan and entered into the Promised Land, a stone to represent each tribe was to be taken from the river and piled on the other side as an altar of remembrance to the following generations. They were told to do this so that when the children would see the stones they would ask, “What do these stones mean?” It would be the perfect opportunity for the parents to then teach their children about how God had delivered them and brought them into the Land of Promise.

We all have those stories that we like to tell. Maybe how we met our spouse, when a child was born, or something cute the kids would say and of course, how much harder we had it as children than our kids or grandkids do. But the stories that God wants us to tell over and over are about how we have been given freedom, how our enemies have been defeated, how we were bought and paid for with an extremely high price. We are to tell the stories that give God the glory and we are to add new stories as the Lord does new and marvelous things in our lives. Our testimony of how we were saved is wonderful, and worth the retelling, but there also needs to be current stories so others can see that God is indeed working in us daily.

Let’s see what we are to remember in Hosea.

Hosea 2:7

7 She will chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘ I will go and return to my first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.’

It is interesting to note what is going on in this section of Scripture. God is telling Israel why she is being punished. It is because of the blatant idolatry and spiritual harlotry that is rampant in the land. We will look at that in another place. The point I want to emphasize today is there can come a time when the sinner comes to their senses and realizes that it was God that took care of them and had been such a great blessing to them and that even if they returned and were treated like God’s slave it would be better for them than the life they are leading now as a slave to their sin.

The New Testament counterpoint to this verse is found in the parable of the prodigal son. We have all heard this parable over and over so let’s look at the similarities between it and Hosea’s wife.

Read Hosea 2-3 and Luke 15

Let’s list some similarities:

Both the prodigal son and the harlot wife wanted similar things. They wanted to live life on their terms and not follow the one that had authority over them, whether a father or a husband.
• They left home
• They wanted a life of sin and debauchery
• They spent everything they had on sinning
• They ended up as slaves
• They were so low that the pigs had it better than they did
• They finally realize that where they came from was not so bad
• Their blessings had come from the person they had run away from (father or husband, as the case may be)
• True freedom was serving their father or husband not their own selfish desires



Now let’s look at Hosea and the father…how are they similar?
• Both loved the one that had left
• Both are a portrait of God the Father
• Both were willing to give their all to get them back
• Both looked for the one that was lost
• They were not afraid to look silly when they welcomed back the one that had strayed.

This last point is very important. As they both represent God the Father. In Middle Eastern society for a man of status to lift his robes and run to greet his son would have been very undignified. And for a man to buy back the wife that had made a fool of him would have been unheard. Both Hosea and the father are setting themselves up to be a laughing stock for many years to come in their community but their love was more important to them that what the gossips would say about them later.


Look at the two sections of Scripture again and see if you can find any other similarities (either between Gomer and the Prodigal or Hosea and the father) and jot them down here.


I want you to take a moment and write out how you think Gomer would have felt to be bought back by her husband that she had shamed.


Can you identify with these feelings?


Even if you have never lived a life like the prodigal or Gomer, can you admit that there have been things you have allowed in your life that could have caused your destruction?

Take the time now to write out your thankfulness to God the Father for paying the price to redeem you from a life of self defeat. This can be your altar of remembrance!


If you do not feel that you have been welcomed back by the father/husband of your soul yet, now would be a good time to realize that the only way to freedom is to turn back to Him and repent. There is a feast waiting for you! All you have to do is tell God how sorry you are for the life you have led and ask Jesus to come into your life right now.

Or maybe you are already a believer, but do not feel you are living the victorious life…these stories should inspire you to know that God is there watching for your return so He can throw a feast in your honor and he has already done everything necessary for you, just turn back to Him and accept His forgiveness.

Week 2 Day 1 Gomer

Week Two Day One Gomer, a harlot

Read again the first few verses of Hosea.
Hosea 1: 1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:
“ Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD.”
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Let’s take a few minutes to see what we can discover about Gomer in the first three verses of Hosea 1.

1. What was Gomer?____________________
2. When did Gomer live?(during which kings)________________________
3. Gomer was the daughter of whom?__________________

Now let’s take a quick look at what some of the names mean in these verses to get a better understanding of the story. (Names usually mean something in the OT. We will see this more clearly when we get to the names of Hosea’s children.)

Hosea means the same as Joshua, the Lord saves, salvation
Beeri means a source of water such as a spring
Diblaim means double raisin cakes…the raisin cakes were offerings made to the idols
Gomer is usually a man’s name and means to finish or complete
Looking at the two families and their names, what importance do you think these names may have? (This is just our own ideas and not to be found in Hosea—so no wrong answers)




Remember when Hosea was written, this is at the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel’s rule. During the life of Hosea, Israel is conquered by the Assyrians and taken away as captives. Could this be the end that Gomer’s name refers to? Also, we see that her parent, Diblaim is named for something that was associated with idol worship, and this idol worship is the main reason for the judgment that is coming on the Northern Kingdom.
On the other hand we have Beeri, a source of water and Jesus is called the living water and Hosea which is salvation. Even though Israel was soon to be destroyed, God still promises that there will come a time when Israel will be redeemed.

Gomer as a prostitute

There were two different types of harlots or prostitutes mentioned in the Old Testament. One is your everyday prostitute that sells her body in exchange for material gain, whether money, food, clothing, shelter or some other kind of perceived need. The other type is called a cult prostitute, and they could be male or female, and they did what they did as part of the religious practices of idol worship. Part of the worship of these idols included sexual practices that would stimulate the false idol to give fertility to the land and the people that worshipped them.

Being honest about human nature, why do you think these practices have had such widespread success?



Tomorrow we will take a more in depth look at how Israel had fallen into these cultic sexual practices, but for the rest of today let’s think specifically about Gomer.

We do not know Gomer’s background specifically from what Hosea wrote, but by looking at other parts of the Bible and historical documents we can know pretty much what her life was like. There were only a couple of reasons for a girl to become a prostitute. She could have been sold into prostitution by her family or master, if born a slave. She could have been left for dead after her birth and picked up by the Temple priests to become a prostitute or she could have been born to a prostitute, so this was basically the family business. Since we have the name of a parent, we can guess she had not been left for dead as a newborn. And because of the name, Diblaim, referring to raisin cakes, I would dare to guess this was the family business and more than likely they were not ordinary prostitutes but those in Temple service to one idol or another. Girls raised in an idol’s temple would see a lot that we as parents do not want our children to see. Sexual practices would be taught to her from a very early age and how to please the idol that was being worshipped. As stated, these temples had both male and female prostitutes as well as many other deviant forms of sexual activities. Her whole life she would be surrounded by blatant immorality.

How would growing up in an atmosphere such as this affect the child?


Do you think Gomer’s idea of marriage could have been affected by this life?


Without getting into any specific sexual sins, what would this lifestyle teach a young person about who they were and what was expected of them?




Is there any way to change this self image?



Many of us have been exposed to sexual immorality, either through how we were raised, or by sins that we have gotten into on our own. Whether we realize it or not, it will affect how we act in our marriage and other inter-personal relationships. That is why pornography is such an insidious sin. These sins take the joy away from our lives and can cause us to go looking elsewhere for our satisfaction.

Right now take a moment to write out a prayer that repents of this dis-satisfaction and ask God to help you enjoy your life to its fullest, whether single or married. If you are single then sex is not to be a part of your life and if you are married, then only sex with your spouse is what God has intended. In both cases, God intends for us to have a life of joy and satisfaction.

Prayer:

My Reason for doing this study

What I am thinking about the Book of Hosea

We are called to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, body and spirit. So why do I feel like I need to be digging into this idea of spiritual adultery to present at retreat? Why is my emphasis on not turning, looking, going back? If we simply love the Lord the way we are supposed to, won’t we avoid any of the pitfalls I am studying about?

What is being impressed on me is that we are unable to do the things that we should or even want to because of our nature. We do not remember from moment to moment, let alone from day to day, what the Lord does for us. We may be thanking God one minute for healing us, but then the next we are trying to figure out how we are going to put food on the table. What had happened to our realization that everything comes for the Lord. That even our ability to work was a gift from Him.

And then there is the problem of sin and idolatry. We cannot go very long without falling into one or the other. We either say something that should not have been said. Think about something that should be avoided or we allow something to come between us and our love for Jesus, usually ourselves. We need constant reminders to get our eyes back on Jesus.

And now we add spiritual adultery into the mix. At first it seemed to me to be the same thing as idolatry and even though there are similarities, I am finding that there are subtle differences. They go hand in hand, but there is an attitude that is different. This is part of what we will be studying.

But again, why do I feel like this is necessary to study in such detail? What are the practical implications of this study and others we have or will do for our retreats? I am feeling that God has called us to get into the details, the minutia, and then share that with others so that they will have a foundation to work out their everyday living; that there will be an understanding for them as they try to love the Lord each and every day but fail. That God’s unfailing love will manifest in their lives and they will know that this is a lifelong process that can only be lived one day, one moment, at a time. There are no quick fixes, only eternal security in the one who created us.

Everything is the way it is in order for God’s glory to shine in every situation. We need Him constantly throughout the day to do and work in us. And when that happens, we and others see His glory. When we fail, we see His glory in His love for us. When we repent we see His glory in His forgiveness. When we are delivered we see His glory in His victory. When we go through difficulties we see His glory in His steadfastness and promises.

God created the world and humanity in such a way that things have to be the way they are; there is no way around it. There can never be a human utopia and we can never reach perfection while we live on this earth. It is completely and utterly impossible. That is why Jesus’ life is soooo unique. He lived a sinless life! We cannot even live a sinless day, unless of course, we are in a coma with no brain activity, but not much gets accomplished that way.

So I am feeling that some of us are called to get into the details and then share them with others. They then take a quick look, in comparison, and then can live their life more effectively for the Lord. Just as the Prophets were called to speak out the truth, the people had the choice then to believe and change or continue doing what they had been doing.

Our ministry is then similar to that of the prophets. To find the truth, to speak it out and pray for the results. We can do no more, and certainly we can do no less. This is a solemn responsibility, to be taken very seriously.