Ezekiel 33 opens with the well-known section about the serious responsibility of a watchman.

So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. (Ezekiel 33.7 – 9, ESV)

It’s tough to warn people because they don’t listen. The chapter ends with precisely that fact:

As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses say to one another, each to his brother, “Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.” And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it…And behold, you are to them like one who sings songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. (Ezekiel 33.30 – 32, ESV)

Chilling. Preaching as entertainment. “You are like one who sings…and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.”

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

Last Sunday night we watched The Sheep Detectives (free with Amazon Prime Video). It’s a light-hearted mystery involving sheep solving the murder of their shepherd. It’s PG, very well done, wholesome in its entirety, with one reference to God that I’m sure some will take offense at. I don’t.

The exchange involves ewes Lily (brown) and Mottle (white) with Sebastian, a black ram who has been out and about in the world. Hence, he’s answering the questions.

The dialog goes like this:

Lily: What is this?

Sebastian: This is the church where someone named God lives.

Lily: Who is God?

Sebastian: It’s a bit confusing. God is a shepherd.

Mottle: So he could be our shepherd?

Sebastian: No, because he’s also a lamb.

Lily: What?

Sebastian: And he’s also invisible. And he’s made of bread. And he damns things?

Lily: Dams things? Like a beaver?

Sebastian: Yes.

Lily: So God is a big, invisible lamb beaver…made of bread?

Sebastian: Yes. And they eat him on Sundays.

Mopple: Poor God.

Has Sebastian heard about God? Yes. Has what he has heard about God true? Mostly. Has he understood anything that he’s heard? No.

I expect we all have not-yet-believing friends and neighbors who have heard all the words, and we think they have rejected Christianity. It may be that they have rejected their flawed understanding of Christianity.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 34.15, ESV)

I am the good Shepherd. (Jesus, John 10.11)

Behold the Lamb of God. (John the Baptist, John 1.29)

No one has ever seen God. (Jesus – John 1.18, ESV)

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (Jesus, John 6.48 – 51, NIV)

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. (Ephesians 4.18, ESV)

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5.20, ESV)

Let’s wrap up the judgments on the nations with three chapters on Egypt, Ezekiel 30, 31, and 32.

A sample from Ezekiel 30. Egypt will be destroyed:

I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 30.25, 26, ESV)

“They will know that I am the LORD” also in verses 8 and 19.

Ezekiel 31: a reiteration of Egypt’s pride problem and resulting judgment:

“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. (Ezekiel 31.10, ESV)

The chapter concludes:

“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. “This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 31.18, ESV)

Ezekiel 32: another lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

A familiar theme:

When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and when the land is desolate of all that fills it, when I strike down all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 32.15, ESV)

Then a list of nations, fallen:

• Egypt (verse 20…)
• Assyria (verse 22…)
• Elam (verse 24…)
• Meshech-Tubal (verse 26…)
• Edom (verse 29)
• The princes of the north (Tyre?)…and the Sidonians (verse 30)

I think this ends the prophecies and laments against the nations which began in chapter 25.

Again, here I am in a beautiful place. Sitting on the patio, looking out over blue sky and trees. I shot this while walking the dog this morning, the full moon setting over Pikes Peak:

And it can all turn in an instant. Nations now have the capability of destroying other nations with nuclear bombs. Building is hard. Destroying is easy. And the US is crumbling from the inside with people voting in socialists. Many great powers in history are now footnotes in history books.

This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? (Isaiah 14.26, 27, ESV)

When I moved back to Colorado from Alabama in 2006, a newly minted Navigator staff member, I had breakfast with a well-connected Navigator colleague. Among the things he told me was:

Navigator Church Ministries are not strategic.

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, and it didn’t sound quite right at the time, but I was new. I wrote it down dutifully…and forgot about it.

My experience, then and now, with people and churches, is that God gives you those he wants you to work with. I don’t assess them for their “strategic” importance.

In WORLD Magazine, Paul Butler reviews Charles E. Cotherman’s Strip Mine Jesus: Hope for the Rural Church, Small Towns, and Overlooked Places, a book he says should be required reading for every prospective pastor. Here’s a key paragraph containing the reviewer’s experience:

Personally, I never imagined I’d end up ministering in the shadow of a coal mine’s castoffs. Yet here I am. During my own Bible college experience, there was a sense that the bigger the gospel vision, the more God-honoring it must be. This idea gets reinforced in many seminary alumni magazines with glossy spreads on the “successful” graduates, while often overlooking the faithful, hidden servants of God working in the quiet corners of the Master’s fields. Cotherman calls believers to join the rolls of that latter group—looking out for the woman at the well, the blind man by the side of the road, and the unclean on the edges of society.

“…faithful, hidden servants of God working in the quiet corners…looking out for the woman at the well, the blind man by the side of the road, and the unclean on the edges of society.” Amen.

Jesus wasn’t “strategic,” ministering to fishermen in rural Galilee rather than to national leaders in Jerusalem. Some Navigators would argue that the Apostle Paul was “strategic,” going for the population centers. But does it matter? Have you heard this story?

A fellow named Bill picked up a hitchhiker one day in southern California. Bill was just coming into town, and the hitchhiker told Bill he should spend the night in the home of Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. Bill spent just that one night in Dawson’s home and left the next day unconverted.

Later Bill began attending Hollywood Presbyterian Church and met Jesus through the ministry of Henrietta Mears, who had mentored Dawson earlier. Once Bill decided to venture into ministry, Mears suggested that he get in contact with Dawson Trotman who is likely the one who encouraged Bill toward campus ministry.

We’re talking about Bill Bright, who later went on to found Campus Crusade for Christ (now called “Cru.”) Bright went to UCLA to do evangelism, conservatively estimating that it would take him a year to see substantial fruit and thereby skimping on his preparedness for discipleship ministry. After a month, 50 students had come to put faith in Christ, and Bright had no idea what to do next. He phoned Trotman, who personally loaned resources, training, and key Navigator volunteers to Cru for the first five years of Bright’s time on UCLA’s campus. Cru is actually built on the framework of Navigators methodology and uses Nav resources to this day. – Portions of this story from an interview with Justin Taylor on the 60th anniversary of Dawson Trotman’s death, June 18, 2016

Bill Bright developed “The Four Laws” method of presenting the gospel. Over a billion people have heard the gospel through his influence.

Was Dawson being strategic that day he hosted Bill Bright? Was Henrietta Mears strategic? Or were they merely following the Spirit’s leading? Even “strategic” Paul’s goal was “everyone:”

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1.28, ESV)

To continue yesterday’s discussion about churches generally not doing a good job teaching skills like How to Have Daily Time with God, here’s another story:

A friend of ours, in her 80s, was talking with June about a new experience she was having. Our friend is politically liberal, and, as nearly as we could tell, theologically nowhere. She and her husband hadn’t participated in church much until they retired and moved to a Colorado mountain town. There, they were going to a church in which they could discuss, as nearly as I could tell, their political causes.

So June was shocked when she said something like this: “We’re not going to church anymore, but we are participating in a discussion group that meets at 7am. We’re reading the Bible and sharing what we’re hearing from God. Have you ever heard of ‘Lectio Divina?’” (Lectio Divina, Latin for “Divine Light” is, at its simplest, a way of reading the Bible to listen for God to speak.)

Then our friend said, “The church has failed us.”

By which she meant, I’m over 80 years old, and I’m just learning how to read the Bible in a meaningful way.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church, said much the same thing in an oft-misunderstood quote back in 2008:

We made a mistake… What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and became Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become self feeders. We should have gotten people (and) taught people how to read their Bible between services (and) how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

Bill discovered that Willow Creek Church, for all the good it was doing, hadn’t been teaching folks to read the Bible for themselves, and in that omission the church was failing its members. It was failing to make disciples. I’m afraid most churches and pastors fall into that trap. Churches have replaced training the people to be in the Word for themselves with never-ending spoon-feeding.

The Apostle John wrote:

I am writing to you,

• little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you,
• fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you,
• young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you,
• children, because you know the Father. I write to you,
• fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you,
• young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2.12 – 14, ESV)

“Little children” need someone to feed them. “Young adults” feed themselves. “Parents” feed others. There should be a progression, not, as I say, never-ending spoon-feeding.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. (Hebrews 5.11, 12, ESV)

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV)

Portions of this blog are adapted from my blog “The Church Has Failed Us,” January 28, 2018

I was participating in a church meeting recently to discuss “Christian Formation” options. I would just say “Discipleship,” but no matter. I wanted to make the point that churches in general don’t do a good job at training (we do better at knowledge than skills). So I told this story about Daily Time with God:

When I was on church staff about 20 years ago, I brought in my long-time Navigator friend Rich Berry for a one-day workshop. Among his teachings were how to have daily time with God (maybe you’ve heard me speak of that before!). Anyway, everyone loved him, and about a year later, he came back for an evening seminar. One of the participants told Rich: “When you were here last year, my wife really enjoyed your teaching on daily time with God. In fact, she put it into practice, and it was a great comfort to her in her last days. She was ill and has since passed away.”

A success story? Yes, of course. I’m glad the lady was able to have quality time with God in the last year of her life. But here’s the sad part. This couple was in their 60s. The husband was a licensed local pastor. Why had someone not taught them this decades ago?

One of the group members disagreed: “We do teach it, but people are in different seasons of life and don’t always hear it.” There’s truth in the “seasons of life” observation, but the fact remains that churches often don’t train people to be “self-feeders.” More about that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 8.34, 35, ESV)

PS Portions of this blog first appeared in my blog Lasting Ministry, May 14, 2019.

Last Wednesday night, I was driving home from a church meeting in Monument, about 10 miles north of where I live in Colorado Springs. It wasn’t raining in Monument, but it was raining pretty hard as I drove south. No rain in Monument meant the setting sun was shining out of the northwest:

And you all know what happens when sunshine mixes with rain:

I was able to shoot this from an exit designed to allow folks to pull off and see Pikes Peak as well as the Air Force Academy. A few minutes later I got his picture from a street near my house:

As I was driving, I consciously brought to mind God’s promise to Noah:

When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9.14, 15, ESV)

Back to Ezekiel. Chapter 28 is an enigmatic chapter that contains one of only two direct references to Satan in the Old Testament that I can think of. One is in Isaiah 14 – the famous five “I will” declarations, buried in a taunt to the “king of Babylon:”

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart,

• ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
• I will set my throne on high;
• I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
• I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
• I will make myself like the Most High.’ (Isaiah 14.12 – 14, ESV)

Ezekiel 28 is similar, opening with a lament for “the prince of Tyre,” a man:

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth.”— (Ezekiel 28.1 – 5, ESV)

The “prince of Tyre:” A man who is proud of his wealth.

But the chapter continues with a lament for the “king of Tyre,” not a man:

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: “

• You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
• You were in Eden, the garden of God;
• every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
• You were an anointed guardian cherub.
• I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
• You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created,
• till unrighteousness was found in you…so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28.12 – 16, ESV)

Both the Isaiah and Ezekiel passages give rise to the idea that there are “principalities and powers:” A hierarchy of demons controlling world cities: “king of Babylon,” “king of Tyre.” The Apostle Paul speaks to it:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6.10 – 12, ESV)

This is serious business: there’s a war on!

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12.7 – 9, 17, ESV)

Author Frank Peretti captured this spiritual warfare in his novels This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness, both available on Kindle. Worth the read if you missed them when they came out in the late 80s.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12.10, 11, ESV)

On July 28, 2026, WMBI, the radio station operated by Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute celebrated its 100th anniversary. A long and fruitful ministry, still going strong. My wife, June, listened to it regularly when she was in Nursing School in the Chicago area. Here’s where I heard about the anniversary – a report from World Magazine in the Daily Sift, July 29:

Past and present employees of the Moody Bible Institute flocked to Chicago on Tuesday for a commemorative chapel service celebrating 100 years of Christian radio broadcasting. Moody Radio Vice President Wes Ward, who spoke with WORLD after the service, said the service commemorated 100 years of God at work and ended with a time of commissioning Moody for another century of ministry. He added that Moody was celebrating the diamond anniversary with special broadcasts, a short film, and a book chronicling Moody Radio’s 100-year history.

Moody Radio needs to continue evolving in order to reach 21st-century audiences, Ward said. He explained how in 1926, some Christians opposed the use of radio for ministry and viewed it as satanic, since Ephesians 2:2 describes Satan as “the prince of the power of the air.” But Moody’s founders wanted to reach as many people as they could with the gospel, so they weren’t afraid of new technology, Ward said. He cited Moody’s early adoption of satellite technology in the early 1980s.

Did you see it? “…in 1926 some Christians opposed the use of radio for ministry and viewed it as satanic…” It’s always the case, isn’t? People are fearful of new technology for one reason or another. Today it’s Artificial Intelligence (AI). I wrote a piece about that recently: Fret Not!

I’m glad Moody wasn’t afraid to adopt the new technology.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43.18, 19, ESV)

For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8.11 – 13, ESV)

How did I miss this? In an advertisement for a retreat ministry, I noticed a book with the tag line: “Find out why 41 is an important biblical number.”

41? Really? I’ve read the Bible many times and never seen a reference to “41.” But it’s an inference, and a good one. Here’s a paragraph from an essay on Bible App, a site about which I know nothing (bullets added):

• After Noah built the ark, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Day 41 came, and the rain stopped.
• After Moses committed murder, he hid in the desert for 40 years. Year 41 came, and God gave Moses a second chance—commissioning him to rescue Israel from slavery in Egypt.
• After the Exodus, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Year 41 came, and a new generation entered the Promised Land.
• For 40 days, Goliath bullied Israel, just begging for someone to come fight him. Day 41 came, and David stepped up and slew the giant.
• For 40 days, Jonah delivered a message of doom and gloom to the city of Nineveh—that God was going to destroy them because of their wickedness. Day 41 came, and God changed his mind and instead extended mercy because the Ninevites had repented.
• After being baptized, Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. Day 41 came, the devil fled, angels showed up, and Jesus launched his monumental ministry.
• During the 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples on several occasions—proving to them that he was alive and breathing new life into them as he explained the Kingdom of God and commissioned them to build it. On day 41, after promising to send the Holy Spirit in his place, he ascended into heaven, leaving the disciples to carry out his plan for launching the church—a church that, by the way, is still prevailing against the gates of hell. 

I like it! I’m a math guy, and I should have discovered this for myself. But it’s OK. I can learn from others, and it’s a reminder that as I approach my 80th birthday, it’s not too late to learn new things.

The Bible App essay concludes:

Whether you’re stuck in the storms of life; in serious need of a second chance; stranded in the wilderness of unexpected circumstances or unfulfilled expectations; facing what seems to be an unbeatable giant; or bearing up against unspeakable temptation, the pattern is clear. The number 41 represents the dawn of a new day—the hope and promise that if you don’t quit, the rain will stop, the giant will fall, and you will enter your “promised land.” 

Amen.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43.18, 19, ESV)

Interestingly, Psalm 41, the last psalm in Book 1 of the five books of Psalms, is about deliverance and new beginnings. Worth the read in its entirety, it closes:

By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 41.11 – 13, ESV)