I’ll Take A Bite Of That

posted in: Church, Culture | 11,782

There is a reason we follow recipes, to make something that is good and palatable, and also mostly because certain ingredients do not mix. One may change the type of cheese, or use almond milk instead of cow milk in a recipe. Because some ingredients may be different, they do not ruin the final product. It just gives it a different flavor. However, you may not replace the flower in pancakes with baking soda, because you would not end up with pancakes.

In the same way we must ensure we do not mix in outside worship of idols with the true worship of God. “Well”, one might add, “I only worship God”. Yes, by everything you understand you would believe that, but here lies my point. The worship of idols can sneak into the worship of God without it being obvious to us. Idols don’t always look like little brass statues that you can place on the mantle, though some of them might stick on the car window.

An idol that stands out is easily defeated, but one that slowly works its way in becomes natural and part of a culture. The mixing of idol worship and the worship of God may not seem distasteful to us, but is grossly unpalatable to God. This is where we come to the story of Balaam and Balak. In the book of numbers we find Balak, who was king over Moab, in fear of the Jews. He sends after Balaam knowing that “he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed”(Numbers 22:6). However, God warns Balaam to only speak what he is told. This does not go over well with Balak since Balaam ends up blessing Israel three times. Chapter 24 ends with Balaam telling what was to happen in the days to come and then vs. 25 of chapter 24 says “Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way”.

The next chapter begins with the Israelites playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab, feasting on food sacrificed to idols and bowing to them as well. So the question is what happened? Here was a mighty nation moving along and following God’s plan and all of sudden they are joined to Baal of Peor. We find the rest of the story of Balak and Balaam in Revelation 2:12-17.

Balaam could not curse the people; however at some point he taught Balak how to trip them up. The verse says to place a “stumbling block” in front of them. Balak placed food sacrificed to idols in front of them to eat and enticed them to commit acts of immorality. This false worship and immorality led to Numbers chapter 25 in which the Lord became angry with Israel.

So why did Israel not reject the food and worship of Baal? Simply put, the food looked good and the women were pretty. “And if all I have to do is bow, then I get hot food and hot ladies… I mean this is their culture and I want to be seen as relevant, besides I still observe the Sabbath”. These things don’t seem so wrong, at least after the 3rd and 4th time. The word for “stumbling block” could also mean “snare”. Those that hunt and fish know you don’t catch prey if the bait doesn’t look enticing and the snare or stumbling block is visible. One trips over the “block” because their eyes are focused somewhere else; they don’t see it for what it is.

So what does this mean for us? We are smart people and we have access to more information than a bunch of folks running around in the desert. But knowledge is not as valuable as wisdom. Knowledge knows what it is we do, and where we go, and where we spend our time and money. Wisdom tells us why we do it. Godly wisdom is the key in understanding which items in our lives are idols and which are true worship and which ones need to be prayed about further.

So now we come to the Church in America, which is more accurately the American Church. So what is it, you might ask, that I am getting at? That the idols have crept into the church, which means there are those of us that worship things other than or along with God. The problem is the idols are different for each of us. (James 1:14) We can worship our sexuality, our “cause” be it pro or anti this and that, or even our politics. A person running for office often becomes our savior if we are not careful. “He/she will fix everything, if we can just get them elected.” We can even begin to praise our government, singing its praises in a worship service. We sacrifice our Saturdays to give honor to our favorite sports teams, and spend our weekday nights at ball parks in service to sports.

Now is it wrong to be pro or anti this and that? Is it wrong to want good leaders? Is it wrong to watch sports and let your kids play them? Depends on what you are searching for. You see the problem is not with the meat. All things are made clean and we know that there are no other gods. However, our desire to have those “meats” drives us to compromise and worship the idols that are associated with them. There is nothing wrong with a child playing baseball; it is when the game becomes the desire of our heart, or when we praise our nation as though it is our savior. It is when we miss where the meat comes from that we are led astray. We believe that the idol provides the meat we desire, whether it be peace, justice, happiness, or protection. These things are to be sought from God. Dead idols can do nothing for us.

This brings us back to us, the church. When we are enticed by the things of the world, we must be careful that they do not become the object of our affection. Because when they do, we will mix them in our true worship. The idols will compete with our worship of God and if not thrown down we will bow our knee to them and give Sunday lip service to the one true God.

11782 Responses

  1. UK ID CARD

    Hello, I think your website might be having browser
    compatibility issues. When I look at your blog in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
    I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
    Other then that, awesome blog!

  2. masters of sex Cast

    Not only do they detect when you’ve got transferred new photographs to your difficult drive, but they immediately initiate the add process for you. Create albums and collections on flash drives or CDs by scanning more mature images and preserving them as electronic data files. If you experienced sexual intercourse on your brain when you received to school, you might have considered hookup sites as a way to fulfill people for informal sexual intercourse. Meet in a community spot. Disasters aside, that may look like a reasonably specialised software — outside of scheduling a wedding day or vacation, when was the very last time you essential to know the weather forecast months or months forward? What do you like to see in gay porn scenes? Before getting to be the porn actress, she employed to work as a receptionist, and in 2008, she came to the grownup industry immediately after her shots arrived at Score journal. Unlike the Apple Iphone, which has its personal OS exceptional to the iPhone’s hardware, Google’s strategy was to create an OS that could get the job done on phones developed by diverse companies.

  3. Shona

    Have you ever considered about including a little bit more
    than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and everything.
    Nevertheless think about if you added some great graphics
    or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”!
    Your content is excellent but with pics and videos, this website could
    definitely be one of the most beneficial in its field. Superb blog!

  4. ear sex

    Laptops and desktops are nonetheless important for sure forms of computing, but there could be a working day when you happen to be just as likely to plug your phone into a keyboard and check as crack open up a laptop. While on-line banking can nonetheless be completed on the iPad 2’s Internet browser, a lot of financial institutions now provide reason-constructed purposes, or apps, with which you can handle your accounts from any iPad, Iphone, or iPod Touch. The PS Vita’s previous two wireless attributes, GPS and Bluetooth, will provide the functionalities both protocols are identified for. Set your GPS receiver to “monitoring” or “log” mode. GPS photo tagging can lower down on the quantity of operate it can take to tag images on the Internet. In the primary image display, there are a few primary toggle options immediately obtainable from solitary buttons: entrance/rear digicam, portrait/landscape set up and several flash choices. Whether you’re right after the most recent news, procuring details or a picture of a white rhino, Google’s Vertical Search can get you to the web pages you want speedy. If a computer system or bodily tough drive fails, the information can be downloaded from your cloud assistance to new products. The finest answer is to hold anything you really don’t want to lose in far more than 1 location, and that can make the cloud a fantastic backup alternative.

  5. www.983333.xyz

    The webcam was established up by a collaboration among SeaWorld and the Discovery Channel. Once you have turn into a profitable eBay vendor, you can set your sights on starting to be a PowerSeller, a particular designation which is primarily based on your history of providing higher-excellent goods, offering excellent shopper support, and achieving a selected quantity of accomplished income. But perhaps far more importantly, associates can also display their pics on other Web web-sites by such as a direct backlink, which refers again to the initial pictures stored on Photobucket’s servers. Depending on your sights and ethics, this might not make it most effective for you, even so for hookups we can not deny that the members right here are additional sexually discouraged and keen to come across a a person evening stand compared to other websites. You’re likely to locate some surprises even if you do not live wherever in the vicinity of Tinseltown, and the novelty by yourself will preserve you coming back again for far more. Here you can working experience virtual flirting, conferences with no string at-tached, obtain like-minded people today to enter a polyamorous group, or enjoy erotic written content for an added fee. However, it is not specifically identified as a platform for watching anime or explicit written content. So, is it achievable to glance like your favourite anime character?

  6. porno

    Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely neatly written article.
    I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read extra of your helpful information.
    Thank you for the post. I’ll certainly return.

  7. Business English Lesson Plans

    This piece is top-notch! It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the subject because of your extensive study and clear explanations. Thank you for taking the time to provide such helpful and practical advice. You are doing an excellent job.

  8. 大和 証券 移管

    Critical collectors know that Limoges concentrate on trinket boxes and that those little bins are value more than almost something that might fit inside them.

  9. フィリピン マルコス

    Berners Barnwell Sams ordered his slave Cupid to collect the slaves on the island on the “large landing” to be transported to the mainland, but Cupid and the other slaves instead took to the woods!

  10. 老後資金 保険

    360: You’ve spent a variety of time speaking about speaking science to a lay audience, and during the debate on the Waxman-Markey invoice I couldn’t assist noticing that there have been nonetheless congresspeople calling international warming a hoax.

  11. Best pork carnitas recipe at home

    Reading your essay was a true pleasure for me. Even the more difficult subjects are easily understandable because of how you present them. Thank you for taking the time to provide such comprehensive details. For anyone interested in this topic, this is an excellent resource.

  12. bonanza slot

    Sweet Bonanza Mobile – Play On the Go! Take the fun of Sweet Bonanza with you anywhere! Whether on your phone or tablet, this game is fully optimized for mobile play with the same great features and bonuses.
    slot bonanza

  13. ZolotoeApplemex

    Привет, друзья! Сегодня я хочу поделиться с вами информацией о замечательном магазине Goldapple и его акциях. Я уже давно являюсь постоянным клиентом этого магазина и всегда нахожу здесь что-то интересное и качественное.
    Goldapple – это магазин, который специализируется на продаже электроники, бытовой техники, гаджетов и аксессуаров. Здесь вы можете найти все, что нужно для комфортной жизни и работы. Я всегда радуюсь тому, что в магазине постоянно проходят различные акции и скидки, благодаря которым можно приобрести товары по выгодным ценам.
    Недавно я узнал о том, что в магазине Goldapple проходит акция, в рамках которой можно приобрести смартфоны по очень привлекательным ценам. Я сразу же поспешил на сайт магазина, чтобы ознакомиться с ассортиментом и выбрать себе новый телефон. И, конечно же, я не остался разочарован – выбор был огромный, а цены приятно удивили.
    Кроме того, в магазине Goldapple всегда можно найти различные аксессуары для гаджетов, которые помогут защитить ваше устройство и сделать его использование еще более удобным. Я уже не раз заказывал здесь чехлы, защитные стекла и наушники, и всегда оставался доволен качеством товаров.
    Если вы тоже хотите приобрести качественную электронику по выгодной цене, то рекомендую обратить внимание на магазин Goldapple. А чтобы не упустить ни одной акции или скидки, подписывайтесь на официальный канал магазина в Telegram по ссылке https://t.me/s/zolotoe_yabloko_promokod. Удачных покупок!

  14. sexiest pornstar ever

    Model profile webpages are incredibly thorough, including convert-on facts, restrictions, images, unlockable films, questionnaires, and even offsite social media one-way links – which is something not numerous freemium sexual intercourse webcam web sites are eager to put up. We critique the top 20 very best reside webcam websites that can acquire your personal design conversation to the upcoming stage. As you can inform from its identify, OnlineFreeChat features fully free of charge messaging to all customers, and it does not just take a lot to convert a group chat into a sexting adventure. Overall, LJ is a good web-site wherever you can get your money’s truly worth from all the filth these cam chat performers have to offer. And, like with our other entries, this cam internet site allows you get begun without digging into your pockets. If you are anxious to get your 2023 begun off appropriate, Hanna has the products, so get your heart racing and head more than to her site. Heart defects of numerous sorts have been linked with the syndrome, albeit at unclear prevalence. It is involved with intellectual disability of different severity, characteristic “coarse” facial attributes, heart problems, and skeletal anomalies such as greater height, clinodactyly (incurved pinky fingers), and radioulnar synostosis (fusion of the long bones in the forearm).

  15. best free cam girls

    On 24 May 2011 total amount of registrations for all 3 game servers achieved 3 million players (2 million on Russian server and 1 million on Europe and North America). About sixty whole tanks have been anticipated to be integrated in the full edition. On 17 September 2015, Wargaming introduced at the Tokyo Game Show that World of Tanks would be coming to the PlayStation 4, developed by Wargaming West, the similar studio as the Xbox One and Xbox 360 variations. In June 2013, Wargaming mentioned that they now have 60 million registered customers for World of Tanks. In 2013, the microtransaction profits of World of Tanks surpassed that of World of Warcraft, earning $372 million and ranking fourth best amongst on the net sport revenues. In March 2013, Wargaming declared World of Tanks Blitz, a cellular variation of World of Tanks for tablets and smartphones utilizing Windows 10, Android and iOS. Pc people jogging Windows 10. On nine November 2016, World of Tanks Blitz was produced on Steam. Dean, Paul (29 November 2011). “World of Tanks Review (Pc)”. Rignall, Julian (28 April 2011). “World of Tanks Review (Pc)”.

  16. star wars sex

    It is feasible that Tesla violated its individual privateness plan although prospects grant consent for pictures from the auto cameras to be viewed by staff, this is meant to completely be for testing and products enhancement purposes, not for spreading memes to pass the do the job working day. As a way to streamline the entry to the subway and to really encourage public transit use to the stadium, all tickets for the 1st 30 times also labored as a Metropass, which was the commission’s every month move. Soon Rainbow Farm’s other buildings have been burning: First a wooden booth in which visitors experienced traded $65 for tickets to 3-daylong hemp festivals, then an previous pump home that served as Crosslin’s residence, and a new just one he’d built for his licensed campground and RV hookups. CADSM will then operate with a perpetual license. Users appreciate it, and so will you! From beefy fellas who enjoy BDSM, to lean twinks, daddies, and all-styles in concerning, CameraBoys is the quality Hd-quality cam site that has anything desired for remarkable stay homosexual chat.

  17. Cary

    Hey! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured
    I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or
    vice-versa? My website addresses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I
    feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you happen to be
    interested feel free to send me an email. I look forward to hearing from
    you! Wonderful blog by the way!

  18. gully bet

    This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen

  19. Stefan

    Fastidious answers in return of this question with real arguments and explaining
    the whole thing concerning that.

  20. Shelly

    Simply wish to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your put up is just
    nice and i could suppose you’re knowledgeable in this subject.
    Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with drawing close post.

    Thank you a million and please carry on the rewarding work.

  21. Miquel

    Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely believe that this website needs far more attention.
    I’ll probably be back again to see more, thanks for the
    information!

  22. xxx webcams chat

    Are adult webcams blog site addresses plenty of intriguing subject areas and also highlights some of the main entertainers of our time. Stop squandering time on subpar grownup chats. As a tube middle of whole indian porn videos, have a fantastic time every person. The people today society elevates are held to a better typical, and have a lot additional to drop. That mentioned, if you want to know a Bachelor Pad spoiler but do not want to know the close of the display, below are some Bachelor Pad spoilers that won’t spoil the clearly show for you. 8. I want to tear your apparel off the 2nd I walk in the door. Again I mean no disrespect to Vector, I just didn’t want a challenge like this to by no means see the gentle of day. Calvert has explained her job as: “just like owning any other job, except you’re naked on the Internet”. This can be employed for a wide range of motives, this kind of as making an individual seem extra like the reverse gender or building someone’s voice sound much more high-pitched. Strobel, Warren P. “Obama, McCain shift discussion to additional troops – for Afghanistan.” McClatchy Newspapers. Barone, Michael. “Polls present the race between Obama and McCain is tightening.” U.S.

  23. bokep indo

    Hi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 3gs!
    Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all
    your posts! Keep up the fantastic work!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *