Isaiah 58: Though people were fasting and praying for God's guidance and deliverance, their own actions were preventing this from happening.  They were oppressing people, they were not helping people's practical needs, they were finger pointing and talking maliciously about other people.


Are you the problem or the solution?

 ³ 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
       'and you have not seen it?
       Why have we humbled ourselves,
       and you have not noticed?'
       "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
       and exploit all your workers.
 ⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
       and in striking each other with wicked fists.
       You cannot fast as you do today
       and expect your voice to be heard on high.
 ⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
       only a day for a man to humble himself?
       Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
       and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
       Is that what you call a fast,
       a day acceptable to the LORD ?
 ⁶ "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?
 ⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
 ⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
       and your healing will quickly appear;
       then your righteousness ^[a] will go before you,
       and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
 ⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
       you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
       "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
       with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
 ¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.
 ¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
       he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail.
 ¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and will raise up the age-old foundations;
       you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
       Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

I was reading 1 Timothy 1 today, where Paul starts off by urging Timothy to stay where he is, in Ephesus. He's supposed to stay there for one reason:

so that you may command certain persons not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work—which is by faith.

My overarching goal with this blog has been a personal exercise in writing and a way to connect with a few friends online who also blog. I've blogged about all sorts of topics, from New Year's Resolutions to politics,  website technology, books I'm reading, theories about comic books, things I want to show my kids, and newspaper cartoons I thought were funny. Comments had never been moderated because so few people ever saw this blog, and even fewer left comments.

My goals have been to share things that were funny, news stories that caught my ear, thoughts as I read through the Bible, or just factual information.

My goal has never been to "promote controversial speculations." In February, anonymous comments were left on a blog post from a month earlier that turned the factual post into a place that promoted controversial speculation. The comments were removed quickly, and within hours I unpublished the post itself.


Paul continues in his letter to Timothy about the "command" Timothy should issue to those teaching false doctrines and getting caught up in myths (perhaps like our urban legends today?) and genealogies:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

When we depart from solid teaching, or get caught up in myths, or promote controversies instead of promoting God's work, we do not have love. The most loving thing to do is to talk to someone if they're caught up in one of these things, even to command them, as Paul said, to stop what they are doing. If you love someone, you don't want them to be stuck in error.

Having had this troubling experience with this blog, I have learned. I have learned that the openness and anonymity of web communication has strong down-sides. Thanks to the clarity of hind-sight, I've turned off real-time comments. Comments are now moderated, requiring approval before they are published.

Any comments that "promote controversial speculations" will be deleted.

If you believe there is anything on this blog that does the same thing, please contact me and I will make appropriate corrections.

I have learned the value of clear and direct communication, and I'm seeking to communicate with people directly when I believe they are in error, as I would like others to do with me.

The goal of this blog remains the same, and firmer than ever. To promote love, to speak the truth, to be real and genuine, and to live life with others.

I blogged on some thoughts about Jesus' teaching on correction. The gist of my take on it is this:

Biblical correction comes from love. You correct someone out of your love and concern for someone's soul.

If you gossip about someone, you do not have love.

If you harbor un-forgiveness against someone, you do not have love.

What would the church look like if we had enough love to obey Jesus, and meet with and talk with our brothers and sisters when we have a problem with them?

I wish that anyone who had a problem with something I did would love Jesus, and love me enough to obey Jesus and talk to me about it. Don't you?

² Oh, that I had in the desert
       a lodging place for travelers,
       so that I might leave my people
       and go away from them;
       for they are all adulterers,
       a crowd of unfaithful people.
    ³ "They make ready their tongue
       like a bow, to shoot lies;

       it is not by truth
       that they triumph in the land.

       They go from one sin to another;
       they do not acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁴ "Beware of your friends;
       do not trust any of your people.
       For every one of them is a deceiver,
       and every friend a slanderer.
    ⁵ Friend deceives friend,
       and no one speaks the truth.
       They have taught their tongues to lie;
       they weary themselves with sinning.
    ⁶ You live in the midst of deception;
       in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
       "See, I will refine and test them,
       for what else can I do
       because of the sin of my people?
    ⁸ Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
       it speaks deceitfully.

       With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
       but in their hearts they set traps for them. 

    ²⁰ Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD;
       open your ears to the words of his mouth.

       Teach your daughters how to wail;
       teach one another a lament. 

    ²³ This is what the LORD says:
       "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
       or the strong boast of their strength
       or the rich boast of their riches,

    ²⁴ but let those who boast boast about this:
       that they understand and know me,

       that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
       justice and righteousness on earth,
       for in these I delight,"
       declares the LORD.