John Tillman - The Park Forum

November 22, 2022November 20, 2022

Deceit Hardens Hearts

Scripture Focus: Hebrews 3.15-19
15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Reflection: Deceit Hardens Hearts
By John Tillman

The teacher of Hebrews repeats a warning twice in just a few verses: “If you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.” Why does the writer feel we need this message so deeply? Who was it that hardened their own hearts? It was not unbelievers or those who had never heard from God. It was God’s own people.

The teacher is quoting from Psalm 95, which references events in Deuteronomy. (Psalm 95; Deuteronomy 1.27-36) Those who hardened their hearts had been brought out of Egypt through miracles and victory. The elders had seen his physical presence and dined with God on Sinai. (Exodus 24.9-11) The people who rejected God were the ones God stayed with day and night as a pillar of fire that gave light at night and a pillar of cloud that gave guidance by day. (Deuteronomy 1.33)

We may think of non-believers as hardhearted and there may be a few hardhearted atheists or unbelievers in the world. The Pharoah they escaped is the biblical prototype of hardheartedness. (Choices and Hard Hearts) The teacher, however, is not writing to hardhearted unbelievers. The greater concern is that believers might have their hearts hardened by “sin’s deceitfulness.” (v 13).

Sin hardens our hearts by deceit. That deceit is often about the character of God. The Israelites believed a lie and hardened their hearts out of fear of God’s treatment. “If we trust God, he’ll bring us harm.” (Deuteronomy 1.27)

Whatever sin you are tempted by, there is a lie about God’s character at its root. The more deeply we believe the lie, the harder our hearts can grow.
“If I follow God, I’ll never be happy.”
“If I follow God, I’ll never be fulfilled.”
“If I follow God, I’ll never be successful.”
“If I follow God, I’ll never be ________.”

What lie is in the blank for you?

The psalmist restates God’s decision to not allow the rebellious and hardhearted people into the promised land: “they shall never enter my rest.” (Psalm 95.11) The truth is: “If I don’t follow God, I’ll never find rest.”

Sin’s deceit will leave us wandering in the desert of desire and want. God’s rest leads to well-being beyond any thing we fear the lack of. When we rest in God’s goodness and follow him, we’ll find greater things that God has in store for us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory. — Psalm 50.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Daniel 5 (Listen 5:47)
Hebrews 3 (Listen 2:25)

Read more about Weighed and Found Wanting
“Writing on the wall,” has become a worldwide idiom that shows up in countless cultural references…it comes from the Bible.

Weighed and Found Wanting

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Your donations can help provide biblical content to people across the world for free with no ads and no agendas.

Supporting our Work

November 21, 2022November 20, 2022

Fully Human

Scripture Focus: Hebrews 2.14-18
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Reflection: Fully Human
By John Tillman

Hebrews describes the power of death as a weapon wielded by the devil. Fear of death fuels sinfulness. Greedy obsession with possessions, prideful pursuit of prominence, insecure demands for recognition…these temptations are defenses we raise against death.

The death and resurrection of Jesus strike at the root of this power. We don’t need to race death to make ourselves significant or raise ourselves to prominence. Our significance is in his sacrifice for us and, like Jesus, we will be raised from death in the same way and by the same power.

The teacher is emphasizing Jesus’ humanity because early Christians had difficulty with the idea. The first heresies the early church dealt with were ones which diminished (or completely denied) the humanity of Jesus.

Some, even today, struggle with the idea that Jesus could be human enough to be tempted by sin. They theorize about whether Jesus could have chosen to sin or not. Scripture, however, confirms that not only was Jesus tempted, but that he “suffered” in it. It is Jesus’ experience of suffering temptation that, according to Hebrews, makes him uniquely qualified to help us in our temptations.

Paul said that if Jesus was not raised, Christians are most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15.17-19) But if Christ was not fully human and fully experienced in the suffering of temptation and death, then what is his resurrection other than a meaningless stunt by an untemptable, unkillable God? Jesus is not a not-quite-human God who laid down for a few days to trick everyone. No. There is no hope in that for us.

Our hope rests in Jesus who was human enough to touch, to bleed, to have dirty feet that needed washing, and hands willing to dirty themselves washing the feet of others. Our hope is not in his invulnerability, but that his vulnerability leads us on a path to victory.

We need not fear death or temptation. Jesus has suffered them and defeated them both. When we fear death, the answer is not piling up security but resting in Jesus. When we suffer temptation, the answer is not surrendering to longing but resting in Jesus. Our high priest, Jesus, despite being human, remained God, remained faithful, and won every battle that was impossible for us to win.

When fear comes or temptation comes, turn to him who knows and cares and can help us endure and conquer.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; wash me, and I shall be clean indeed. — Psalm 51.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Daniel 4 (Listen 7:27)
Hebrews 2 (Listen 2:47)

Read more about Humbling Nebuchadnezzar
Humility will save you and your nation. Pride will destroy you and your nation. If only kings had ears to hear.

Humbling Nebuchadnezzar

Read more about Supporting Our Work
The Park Forum strives to provide short, smart, engaging, biblical content to people across the world for free with no ads and no agendas.

Supporting our Work

November 18, 2022November 17, 2022

A Generation of Exiles

Scripture Focus: Daniel 1.17-29
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

Reflection: A Generation of Exiles
By John Tillman

The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth began in 1971. 5,000 intellectually talented 12-13 year-olds were identified and tracked over their lifetimes to identify ways education for all students could be improved.

At a similar age to the SMPY participants, Judah’s children were not just “identified” or “tracked.” They were captured, enslaved, and transported to a foreign capital. They were forced into a culture hostile to their values. They were educated in things that conflicted with their beliefs. The system of indoctrination went so far as to force them to change their identities. Their names were stripped from them and they were assigned names that honored false gods. Many were made eunuchs, although the Bible is silent on whether this happened to Daniel’s group.

Despite the Bible not holding all the data we would like to know, we can still learn from Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These young men, or children as we would call 12-year-olds today, are good subjects for our study.

Like the SMPY subjects, Christians have long tracked Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We comb through the data of their lives for proof that faith can stand times of fiery testing. We long to learn from them how to live under cultural pressure. We look to them for examples of excellence amidst exile.

Looking around us today, some Christians have little more than disparagement for younger generations. They are called weak, lazy, entitled, and unprincipled. They are called out for uninformed idealism, lack of conviction, or unrealistic goals.

We could say similar things about Daniel and his peers. They assimilated, at least partially, into the culture around them. They took foreign names. They learned forbidden topics. Instead of disdaining what they were taught, they learned it better than anyone else. But when it came time to take a principled stand, they proved beyond any doubt that their idealism had a backbone that stood strong, even against threats of death.

Arguably part of their backbone came from their mentors in the scriptures. Daniel read Jeremiah and Ezekiel, finding hope and strength. What are younger generations reading from us? Insults? Sarcasm? Or loving, supportive truth?

If we hope for Daniels in this generation, younger Christians need guidance from elders who speak truth to them with humility and hope, not disdain or disgust. The next generation of the church will soon be in their hands.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus said: “Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” —Luke 10.22

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Daniel 1 (Listen 3:21)
2 Timothy 4 (Listen 2:48)

Today’s Readings
Daniel 2 (Listen 8:45) Jude (Listen 4:12)
Daniel 3 (Listen 5:56) Hebrews 1 (Listen 2:15)

Read more about Undefiled at Heart
Pastors and teachers regularly turn to Daniel as an example of how to live undefiled in a culture that is radically opposed to faith.

An Undefiled Heart

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Daniel doesn’t succeed by doing what all the other strategists and forecasters did. He doesn’t resist by deception, by violence, by falsehoods.

Resisting in Faith

November 17, 2022November 16, 2022

The Lord is There

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 48.35
“And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”

Reflection: The Lord is There
By John Tillman

All the architectural details and the descriptions of artistic embellishments in the temple, lead to one final detail that would have excited Ezekiel’s exiled audience. “The name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”

We might at first be confused. Ezekiel, after all, has been transported in a vision back to Israel to “a high mountain”. The city is Jerusalem, right? Why would God change the name of the city?

Names in the scripture are vitally important and God often changes someone’s or something’s name when significant happens. He adds to Abram and Sarai’s names, making them Abraham and Sarah indicating their closeness to his Spirit. He changes Jacob’s name to Israel, going from a negative of grasping for status to a positive of holding tight to God. Names tell a story. The name God gives this city is a truth that the exiles needed and a truth that we need today. Where God’s people are, God is there. Where God is worshiped, God is there.

God’s presence, in a theological sense, is a given. He’s omnipresent. Even if we wanted to flee from God’s presence we could not. But in a spiritual and psychological sense, we need reminders.

Some of those reminders can be physical. In a church building, the architecture of the space or the architecture of the liturgy can remind us. In a familiar spot—a favorite chair, the kitchen table, our seat on the bus, a bench in the park—familiarity and history can remind us. A physical activity or posture—kneeling, closing our eyes, raising our hands, dancing, singing, hiking, running, or stretching—can remind us.

We can even remind ourselves of God’s presence through specific mental exercises, such as the Prayer of Examen or Christian meditation practices.

Whether through physical or mental means, remind yourself regularly that God is with you. The temple Ezekiel describes was never built. Jesus, however, builds his temple in and through us. The City and Temple with the name “the Lord is there” is the church and wherever Christians are gathered, Jesus is among us.

Wherever you go, as a Christian, you take with you the spirit of the city of God. Practice remembering that “the Lord is there.” Walk like it. Talk like it. Treat people like the God who loves them is standing with you. Because he is.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me… — Psalm 101.6 – From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 48 (Listen 6:15)
2 Timothy 3 (Listen 2:21

Read more about Time Tested Devotion
Pray the Examen regularly and it will tutor you in practicing the presence of God.

Time Tested Devotion

Read more about The Practice of Meditation — Tea
The tea analogy is helpful to explain the contrast between Christian meditation and other meditative practices.

The Practice of Meditation :: Tea

November 15, 2022November 13, 2022

Remembering Relationships

Scripture Focus: 2 Timothy 1.3-6
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Reflection: Remembering Relationships
By John Tillman

One of the best things about Facebook is how it reminds us of our relationships. Cynically, we could grouse about how this is solely an attempt to increase engagement, but that’s not the point…

On birthdays, Facebook often recommends that we share memories in the form of previously tagged photos as part of a birthday greeting. (I expect a few on my birthday.) Most of these photos are not only reminders of the relationship but of happiness and joy.

Much of the first chapter of Paul’s final letter to Timothy contains this kind of reminiscence. Paul calls to Timothy’s mind the key moments of their relationship and the key moments of Timothy’s relationship with Christ. Images flash by:
The faithful women who taught him the faith, his grandmother, Lois, and mother, Eunice…
Paul laying hands on Timothy…
The spark of spiritual gifts in young Timothy’s life…

But the memories are not all positive. There is also the image of Timothy’s tears the last time he was with Paul. There are images of Paul’s sufferings: the many beatings, stonings, arrests, and trials. The most concerning image that arises is of Paul alone—abandoned by everyone in a situation in which Timothy was powerless to help.

The life of faith, if lived rightly, is one of great highs and great lows. At times we may feel powerful, as if the very river of life was bursting out to bless those around us. At times we may feel weak and dry, as if we cannot summon enough spit to swallow. In the highs and the lows of the Christian life, it is helpful to share our burdens with others. Paul shared them with Timothy. They both shared them with Christ himself.

We, if we are followers of Christ, can bring to mind images of precious or difficult moments in our life of faith. Let some of those rise to your mind now. When a prayer was answered… When a friend chose faith… When a blessing surprised you… When a mentor or leader set you up for success or gave you the opportunity you needed…

Even when we feel alone, like Paul, Jesus never leaves us. And even then, we can reach out to others in Christ’s name. Reach out today to a friend. Remind yourself, and them, that they are not alone on the journey of faith.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me. — Psalm 66.14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 46 (Listen 4:49)
2 Timothy 1 (Listen 2:37)

Read more about The Gospel and the Year of Freedom
Scripture challenges and convicts all man-made systems, governments, and economic practices of their errors and hubris.

The Gospel and the Year of Freedom

Read more about Christ, Our Double Portion
When Christian heroes, mentors, or friends pass, we often have an emotional and a spiritual reaction.

Christ, Our Double Portion