Trebuchet MS - Probably the most common phrase associated with the Bible is to say that somebody has the patience of Job. Certainly, other phrases do come from the Bible, but few have been inspired by the people of the Bible. I learned a new one. To say that somebody is like Korah is to say that he or she has squandered their potential.

If you study the rabinical teachings on this OT trouble-maker, you will soon learn that he was one of the two richest men back in the day. He was the leader of his family's clan. He was also in charge of moving about the ark of the covenant. It was no small honor, but it wasn't enough for him. This natural born leader caused a couple hundred people to take his side as he challenged Moses, the leader whom God had chosen. He carefully questioned Moses concerning the law and then he accused him of inventing the law. Korah surrounded himself by people who agreed with him that he was in the right.

The rabbis say that Korah decived himself when he forsaw his descendant Samuel into thinking that he could get off scott-free. He learned the hard way that when you challenge leadership set up by God, you're really rebelling against God himself. The only thing he didn't have was Moses' position, but it was already filled.

I find it interesting that towards the end of Samuel's day, the people came to him and told him that they wanted a king. God told him that it was not him they were rejecting, but Him.

Squandered potential indeed. Of course, Korah wasn't alone in his rebelion. Dathan and his brother Abiram were fellow co-conspiritors. Think of them as the left and right hand inciters. Whenever they had an opportunity, they made trouble for Moses. They were always nearby to lead the people into grumbling and complaining. They were also skilled at insulting, but masterminds they were not. So when Korah challenged Moses, they fell in within his fold quickly. 

So when Korah challenged Moses, they fell into the ground with him just as quickly. Korah's sons, however, survived. They probably watched in horror as the rebellion came to a swift end. They probably mourned for their mistaken father.

You have to give the rabbis credit for bringing something extra to the story. When they really want to tell a story, they know how to weave a good one together. Let us not forget though, that Korah, Abiram, and Dathan were actual figures in their history. Just as historic as Aaron and Moses, though not in a good way. There is much to learn from this tragic tale. The best of which is not to squander your potential like Korah did.

Tahoma - You are walking down the aisle of the movie theatre. Suddenly, a man puts his foot in your path and causes you to trip over it. You spill your large popcorn all over the floor and are glad that you weren't carrying your large drink. You look to see who tripped you. To your utter surprise it's the guy who lives two houses down the street, Bill. He sincerely apologizes and says he won't do it again. You get up go on your way. The next week, you're returning movies to the movie rental store and are tripped up again by none other than Bill. The clerk helps you up. He quickly apologizes and says he won't do it again. That Sunday, a friend of yours happens to invite Bill to your church. For the third time, Bill trips you, causing a carpet burn. He apologizes once more and says he won't do it again. Your friend helps you up. Since you're in your church, you accept the apology and go to tend to your knee. However, you're thinking that you'll never give the guy an oppourtunity to trip you up if you could help it ever again.

I want to use the above illustration to talk about repentance. It's not likely we'll run into people who'll maliciously trip us up, but there are some who cause us to stumble in other ways. Repentance is not only being sorry, but also turning away from the wrong-doing and choosing to do right things instead. Otherwise you'll have a peanut butter sandwhich or a jelly sandwhich, but not a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich.

That doesn't remove our obligation to forgive him each time he sins against us. Jesus said we are to forgive seventy time seven. After all, aren't we like the unmerciful servant whose debt was canceled but chose to beat up another servant for a much smaller debt he owed us? I don't know about you, but I don't want to be an unmerciful servant, his story does not come to a pleasant ending. Neither will ours if we refuse to forgive.

Do you truely repent if you refuse to turn away from your wrongdoing? Is it repentance if you do good but don't apologize? I think not. Repentance is both turning away from wrongdoing and apolozing for it. When you look at repentance in the New Testament, the people are instructed to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So repenting isn't the end of it,  but rather, it's the beginning.

Luke 3:7-14, "7John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

 10"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

 11John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

 13"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told

   them. 14Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"
      He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.""

Sylfaen - Which is a worse sin: Lying or Adultry? Stealing or Being Disrespectful of Your Parents? Perjury or Bribing a Judge?

Throughout the centuries, people have studdied the Bible most thoroughly. They argue about the meaning of this or that or how it applies to everyday life. Some people created a theory of beliefs concerning the Bible. The more people bought into it, the more it needed a name. The earliest name attributed to Christianity was The Way. You know, from that passage, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life." Soon, it's followers were called Christians in Antioch. It was first meant to be derogatory in nature,  but christians owned it as a badge of honor. Eventually the way organizes into an Orthodox Church System.

Hundreds of years have passed since the formation of the Catholic Church. One monk is having difficulty with the texts and the way the others teach it. He spends some serious time reading through it and decides that the church has erred on its teaching of several points. He makes a list and nails it to the church door. He was hoping that the church would read through the texts, come to the same conclusion, and made the neccessary changes. They do not. Lutheranism is born. Weslyanism follows. Soon there are schisms left and right. One denomination becomes hundreds with hundreds more sub-denominations. Each of them with their own theory of belief.

Some churches treat sin as if Adultry is worse than Lying, Stealing is worse than Disrespecting Parents, and Bribing Judges is worse than Perjury. So people who admit to these things must tithe a little more, volunteer their time on behalf of God, or Pray a certain prayer five to seven times. Other churches refuse to teach on the subject of sin saying "People have been told turn or burn for hundreds of years, we're just going to teach that if people seek the kingdom of God first, everything they needed will be given to them later on."

1 John 5:16-17 tells us: "16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death."

So this is how the Bible ranks sin:
It's either (1) The sin that leads to death, also know as the unpardonable sin, blasphemeing the Holy Spirit, which cannot be forgiven or (2) everything else, sins that do not lead to death that can be forgiven and prayed for so that God will restore life to a brother or sister in the faith.

Lying, adultry, stealing, being disrespectful of parents, perjury, and bribing a judge are all equally bad and equally forgivable. If you think you're good enough to seek forgiveness for lying, but not good enough to seek forgiveness for adultry, I've got news for you, you are good enough after all. The only way you'll never be good enough is to not seek forgiveness, ever. The good news is that they're all forgiven in the same way, tell God you're sorry and don't do it again.