God wants us to repent. This chapter makes that clear. The time is near, and we need to act now. I have heard before that “the time is near”, and I really don’t know what that means – a month, a year?. I also think it doesn’t need to be clear for me to act. The things discussed in this chapter are intended to make us realize that we are messed up people. We need to act and change our ways before it is too late.

What does this mean? How can we take action like this? I think the answer comes perfectly in verse 3.

 “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger.”

God has made it clear to us all from the beginning. He wants us to seek Him. I know that this may sound vague, but that’s ok. God knows our heart and as long as we are seeking at the level we are at, He is pleased. It makes me think of my family this past Easter.

My nephew and niece that are about 2 and 1 both had a very hard time finding eggs that were sitting in broad daylight. It was hard for them because they were not good at it yet. They were seeking none the less. Their parents helped them along the way, and because they were simply trying, it was perfect. They found the eggs and the treasure inside, and their parents were thrilled. The same goes for us and God. We just need to try. He will guide us, and we will find the treasure. He will be pleased.

-Seth Gordon, Summer Camp Director

The book announces in the opening a warning…”I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth…” which is characterized as a day of massive, even total, destruction.  It is a day that reverses creation; humans, animals, birds, and the whole world will be swept away. God is going to utterly consume ALL things and man is the subject of divine anger.  Those who didn’t humble themselves under God’s mighty hand would be brought down.  God was angry and was tired of those that professed to worship Him and other idols.  What about us?  Are we the same way today?  We think we can divide our affections and time between God and other things such as idols.  As we sometimes call it…ride the fence!  What kind of relationship can this be and where can we find peace between light and darkness? 

In v.7…“Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near”. This is a major theme in this small book of Zephaniah occurring 23 times.  It describes a time when God will come to His people and destroy the evil as a means to deliver His people.  But in the Day of the Lord’s judgment, it will clearly appear that those who perish fall as a sacrifice to divine justice for breaking God’s law and because they have no interest in the Redeemer’s atoning sacrifice.

This warning of destruction was enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble; it referred to the great day of the LORD, the day in which God would show himself by taking vengeance on them.  What about us? How often do we put God off simply because we know He’s a patient and loving God?  In working with youth over the years I have heard them say “I’m young, I still have time for that later when I’m older”.  This breaks my heart because no one, none of us are guaranteed a day.  We can choose life, life eternal, life of hope and peace, a life with our Heavenly Father, a life that cannot be taken away from us. We have just gone through Holy Week and Easter.  The celebration of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we are reminded that nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us. I love the words by Toby Mac in his song Lose My Soul… “Father God, I am clay in your hands, Help me to stay that way through all life's demands, 'Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me “.  These words are so true!  Life is full of distractions whether it be an idol, a person, a habit, whatever; it will nag and chip at us if we choose to ride the fence.  Let us step away from the fence and give God our heart and soul.

-Kay Kastner, Retreat Manager

Yet, we are flawed humans and our God is a perfect, righteous God.  Who better than He to demand unstained, intelligent, blindly supportive carriers of His truth?  Yet, this is never who He chooses.  He speaks through murderers, adulterers, persecutors.  He speaks through those with terribly blemished pasts.  He surrounds Himself with those who continually miss His purpose.  And, in Habakkuk, He prophesies to His people through a man who questions His motives and methods.

As we saw in Habakkuk 1, Habakkuk asked God how He could allow the sin in Judah to go unpunished.  God answered Him, saying that Babylon would bring punishment to Judah.  But, Habakkuk was not content with that answer.  How, after all, could a God who is so pure and perfect use a nation who was even more repugnant that Judah to bring judgment to them?  But, God again answers Habakkuk, saying that Babylon too will face judgment.

There is certainly much to be learned in these verses both about God’s justice and about God’s sometimes unfathomable ability to use that which humankind means for evil instead for His own greater glory.  But, as I sit reading Habakkuk 2, I am impressed by such a personal story, a relationship between an almighty God and a small, confused man through whom He chooses to reveal His plan, His truth.  Habakkuk, like us, doesn’t always understand.  Habakkuk, like us, often says, “Yes, God, but…”  Habakkuk, like us, is often not content with the first answer, but questions God further.  And Habakkuk’s God, our God, submits to a dialogue with His own creation.

I am humbled by the duality of the book of Habakkuk.  Our God is a God who does not tolerate sin and will bring judgment where it is practiced without repentance.  Yet, our God is also a God who will sit in patient dialogue with us.  He does not choose the perfect – He knows there is none.  He chooses those who ask.

- Tara Bennett

In verse 1:2, the prophet cries out for help, wondering why God has not already stepped in to end the unrighteousness. I have heard my Christian brothers and sisters do the same.  I have heard the leaders of our churches pray for the Lord to move against the sins of our own time.  I wonder what destruction we might be facing.  Verse 1:4 says, "So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.  For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted." I see even today that justice is being perverted. The wicked receive earthly rewards, while the righteous cry out for help.  I see non-believers using this perceived silence of God as fuel to continue to not believe.

One commentary suggests that The Lord allowed the injustice to continue for so long so that Judah’s eventual destruction would leave no confusion – sin does indeed lead to death.  I can’t help but find it frightening as I wonder about the future of our own society, if this is the same case.  What will it take for our country, our leaders, our people to return to the Lord?  How far into sin do we need to go?

But, listening to the radio this morning, the Lord reminds me not to worry.  It seems hard to let go of the anxiety after reading through this parallel. But, we must hold fast and faithful to Him, relying not on how we think it should be, but on what plan He has.  The Lord has a plan, and it is PERFECT!  In the end, this plan will lead to a place with Him, where Holiness reigns and no violence will be set against us.  So I keep my mind on the verse from the radio this morning.  Matthew 6:25: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

It’s funny how I used to quote this verse from Matthew to my mom when I’d be out late in high school and she’d worry about me.  Now, as a father myself, as I wonder about this world that I will be leaving to my own children, it is so much more real to me and so much more a comfort.

-Dave Bennett, Media & LOT Manager

Verse 13 and 14 says, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.

Be on guard – Be alert and watchful for spiritual enemies such as divisions, sin, pride, disorder or erroneous theologies. These can come in your life in very innocent looking packages including friends achievements, and being busy with good things. We must constantly be aware of anything pulling us away from the Lord as our first priority.  (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Stand firm in the faith – Know and don’t waver from the gospel message in God’s word. This is what brought you to salvation and new life. Don’t give in to influences around you that may put a different “spin” on God’s truth.  (Hebrews 12:1-4)

Be courageous – Stand up to others who may criticize your beliefs. Don’t give in to peer pressure and cultural pressure to be like those of the world.  (Joshua 1:9, Romans 12:2)

Be strong – Be filled daily with the Holy Spirit and His strength.  (Ephesians3:16-19)

Do everything with love – Without love for others and for Christ, your actions are meaningless. It’s through love that we are able to be obedient servants of God.  (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13)

If we are able to walk with the Lord in these five areas, we are being obedient to His call. I challenge myself and all of you to put these five things up where you will see them every day (shower, bathroom mirror, fridge, etc.). Pray that the Lord will fill you daily with His Holy Spirit that empowers us to continue fighting the good fight of faith. (1 Timothy 6:12)

-Kim Newton

²¹For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Adam came into the world; fully man, and very much alive spiritually. (Gen. 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.) His sin brought death to him and every one of his descendants, including me. (“…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”) We all know that Adam did not die that day, but rather, lived to be 930 years old. But he died spiritually just as God said he would. By means of Adam’s disobedience, he has handed down that spiritually dead corpse to everyone born after him. This is why we must be born again. (Jn 3:^5-5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.)

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

 The Messiah, often referred to as the second Adam, came into the world; fully man, (“…was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15) very much alive spiritually because of His conception by the Holy Spirit and not by a descendant of Adam, is able to breathe the breath of life into the nostrils of everyone that believes.  As we become His descendants, we put on new life –resurrected life.

Every element of the Gospel is essential and basic. Without one part the rest is silly and useless. Without the conception by the Holy Spirit, the baby Jesus is nothing more than one of us, and that is all. Without Christ’s humanity, He cannot be our priest.  Without a sinless life, the crucifixion is without effect. Without the crucifixion, our sin is not atoned for and without the resurrection; the foolishness of the Gospel becomes utterly foolish.  As we testify of our salvation, let’s identify ourselves with the whole thing. Otherwise, we have nothing to offer –nothing.

-Mike Newton, Facilities Director

Paul points out that the purpose of worship is to instruct, comfort, strengthen, build up (or edify) the church body which ultimately brings glory to God.  We should leave worship with more understanding and knowledge, and no one should be envious of another person at the end because all praise should have been given to God.  Paul gives multiple examples of how speaking in tongues without interpretation, or speaking normally all at once would cause confusion and actually tear down the church body, not build it up.  Not only would it cause confusion among believers, it would also turn away unbelievers!  I love how he paints the picture in verses 22-25 of an unbeliever walking into the church service and trying to figure out what is going on.  If mass chaos is occurring because everyone is speaking at the same time, what is the unbeliever going to think?  How could he or she possibly come away with a better understanding of who Jesus is and why Jesus matters to them, if everyone in the church is “out of [their] mind” as v 23 puts it?  So in vs 26-33, Paul outlines specific guidelines for how a worship service should be conducted to maintain order, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (v33).

Verses 34-35 have caused a lot of controversy over the years about whether women can speak in church.  I’m certainly no expert, but here’s what I’ve come up with so far.  Since the verses prior to and after the statements about women being silent in church all relate to an orderly worship service, I have to think that the women who caused Paul to write these statements were disrupting the service.  There are several instances in Scriptures – in the Old Testament (Deborah in Judges 4), and the New Testament (Anna in Luke 2) – where women are called prophetesses.  What does a prophet or prophetess do?  Speak.  In Luke it even says that Anna “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child (Jesus) to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”.  So she was speaking truth to many people in the temple.  Paul doesn’t go back and condemn these women with his words in 1 Cor 14.  I think Paul is just emphasizing that order needs to be maintained, and the women in Corinth needed to be called out specifically so that they didn’t think Paul’s letter somehow didn’t apply to them.  Paul needed to say, “Yes, women, I’m talking to you.  You are causing confusion, now quit it!”  Paul does this in the same spirit that women are told in 1 Peter 3 to seek beauty from within – a submissive, gentle and quiet spirit, not from braided hair, gold jewelry, and nice clothes.  Peter’s not saying no one can ever braid their hair or wear jewelry, but he is saying that those things shouldn’t distract others from seeing God in us.

Paul is trying to get across the same message – give God the glory – all aspects of worship should point us to God and cause us to know Him more.  Verse 40 wraps it up beautifully, "Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way”.

--Kelli Biles

This is not easy.  As I grow older and experience more, I have learned to take my time when interacting with others.  Especially if I feel correction is needed.  I am not only talking about deep rooted issues but even when asking someone to clean a dish better in the kitchen or to setup a conference room a different way.  I must have words of love and not just try to get the job done.  God calls us to a life of relationships and not productivity.

The chapter addresses that our giving of possessions needs to be out of love otherwise it is a waste.  I take this to mean not only material possessions like money and objects but also our time and attitude.  There are many times I have done things because that is what is expected, but do not have a heart of love and I feel useless.  When I give with a loving heart, God blesses me with a satisfaction of fulfillment only He can provide.

Verses 4-8 are poetic.  Yes they sound good in a sermon or wedding, but take it to heart. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”  Think of these words next time you talk to your parents, siblings, spouse, children or friends.  These verses are talking about our GOD!  Replace love with Jesus and these verses describe Christ to a T and this is who we are to become more and more like every day… convicting isn’t it.

That is what the end of the chapter covers.  Our growth from a new Christian to one who mimics Christ in EVERYTHING we do. This isn’t easy, but Christ doesn’t call us to take the easy path. I don’t have it down and will let you know that I am not speaking about this chapter because I have “checked” it off on my list of becoming more like Christ.  This is a goal that will take a lifetime of chasing after.  We will mess up time to time, but if the goal is to keep striving more and more to have a heart of love and be more like Christ every day. Take the challenge to change one thing today that you haven’t had a heart of love in and make progress toward mimicking Christ.  Then share your experience with someone to encourage them as well.

--Paul Biles, CFO

Spiritual gifts are special equipment that the Holy Spirit gives to believers. They are different than talents as both believers and unbelievers can be talented. Spiritual gifts are a result of salvation. They are under God’s control. He determines what spiritual gifts each person is given. They are to be used for the common good. There are two main categories of spiritual gifts- speaking and serving. There are a variety of ministries where these gifts can be used.

Paul explains how each spiritual gift is important. The church functions as the human body does. The human body is amazingly complex yet unified. The human body cannot be subdivided into several bodies. If it is divided, then the part that is cut off stops functioning and dies. It causes the rest of the body to lose some of its functions and effectiveness. This is true with the church, the body of Christ, as well. When we are not content with our spiritual gift or not willing to use it the way God desires, then the entire church suffers. Often what God is calling us to do will fall on someone else who is not truly equipped as we are for that ministry. I believe that is why we see so much burn out in the church today.

The chapter ends with what appears to be Paul telling us to eagerly desire the greater gifts after he has just told us that each gift is important. He has also challenged us to use the gifts that God has specifically assigned to us for the common good and God’s glory. This seems a bit confusing, but if you look at the original Greek, it is much clearer. The Greek word for earnestly desire is zeloo which has a negative connotation of coveting jealousy. Paul is more likely saying here that you desire gifts that you think are greater, but your focus should really be on loving others by using the gifts God has chosen to give to you. The message is the same for us- choose God’s way which is the most excellent way.

-Jennifer Jones, Discipleship Manager

There are a lot of things in life that we do not like, and we are very used to just avoiding those things because we are free to do so instead of living with and through them. My kids often say, “I’m bored. What can I do?” My response is always, “It’s good to be bored.” I don’t like being bored either, but it’s very good for me to learn how to live through it rather than just avoid it. Boredom often brings about a well needed refocus on what is important in life. It puts us in a position to think for ourselves, visit with the Lord, and spend time without constant pleasure and entertainment, which in fact brings about a much greater pleasure and contentment in the end.

Think of the difficult-to-understand issues in this chapter in same light. Our culture does not look at submission favorably unless it benefits us. For example, submitting to our employer is good thing in order to receive a paycheck each month and therefore pay the bills, etc. But if we are called to submit to something that we have the freedom to avoid without consequence, we will usually decline to submit. We are free to do so, right? This is especially correct in our culture, but not always the best. Just like we need to learn to live in boredom when we have the freedom to not be bored, we need to learn to submit even if we have the clear and open freedom to say no.

God has established multiple principles in His Word for us to understand, learn, and follow, because He is our creator and He knows what we need. What is best for us is all about our needs and not always about our wants. We want to be completely free, but it’s not best for us to be completely free – physically that is. Even though our culture (very selfish culture) does not like God’s order of submission, we are still called to live in it. Because in the end, when His other principles are also followed, we truly thrive! It’s not about men being above women or even more important. It is about what is best for us as the body of Christ. In the end, we learn humility, which then results in true love and true unity.

In Paul’s day, a woman without hair, or even with short hair, was usually a prostitute or wanted to be a man. A woman without a head covering (or a veil) was viewed as not being submissive to her husband. Likewise, a man with a veil or even long hair (really long) was not even seen as a man. In both cases, the lack of submission to these traditions was a substantial distraction in the church and created disunity. They were free to do it, but there were consequences.

The same was true with the Lord’s Supper. The people found a freedom to indulge with the food and wine, but in the end, it was a nasty distraction that ruined any possible worship. And what was the reason for coming together to teach and eat the Lord’s Supper? It was to worship – which can only be done in humility.

-David Jones, CEO