Gideon Riding A Dinosaur - Cooler Than Fleece

One of the most oft-prayed requests we make (don't any of you even try to wiggle out of this either.  Busted!) is "God, help me do X" or "Lord, help me accomplish Y."  And I'm sure there is a "Please" thrown in there too (especially by us Southerners - we want to pray politely now, don't  we).  "So, what's wrong with that?", you must be asking yourself.  We'll I'll tell you what's "wrong wit' dat".  But allow me first to completely twist around an old Bible story to fit the topic of this admonition.  The story of Gideon.

Gideon, if you recall, was the smallest man, in the smallest family, in the smallest tribe of Israel (which was possibly the smallest country in ancient times - but I really don't know for sure). God sent an angel to Gideon to tell him he was about to have a huge career change.  Farmer to Army general.  (And I can't even get promoted to Assistant to the Manager!)  So Gideon, who is very suspicious of this enormous promotion...and clearly is not afraid enough of this angel, decides to get cute. And test God by asking Him to make some fleece wet (If more angels looked like this there would be way less fleece-wetting...maybe more pants-wetting...actually, I think angels probably DO resemble this.)

Now, let me just say, that for the record, Gideon could have done a lot better in the "Test God" department.  Really, you want God to wet some fleece.  This is what it will take to convince you to leave your farm and go fight an enormous army of Midianites with 300 men.  Lovely.  This is God of all Creation, right? The Beginning and the End, right?  What about ripping a hole in the time-space continuum, send me back through time and let me ride a Tyrannosaurus Rex whilst screaming like a wild Israelite barbarian. Maybe throw in a wild barbarian babe (who would of course be my wife) to ogle my huge muscles as I rip through the Cretaceous rain forest on my crazy man-eating T-Rex. Then maybe let that dinosaur come back with me (the girl has to stay, because I'm already married on this side of the time warp) and I'll ride that reptilian beast all over some stinkin' Midianites.  I bet they don't got no dinosaur!  Now, THAT would convince me to fight an army with 300 men. Well, at least it would have been more interesting.  But fleece it is. 

So, the story goes that God whittles Gideon's army from about 30,000 to a lean 300.  And off they go.  With trumpets and lanterns.  And of course they defeat the Midianites.  I say "of course" because it was not Gideon and his men that did it.  It was God.  It was God's fight.  God's war. It was God that defeated the army.  To be quite honest, God really didn't need Gideon or his 300 men.  But you already knew that. And it's the same way with us.

When we ask God to help us accomplish His will, I wonder if he snickers or gets offended or maybe He is so surprised He spews His water all over heaven.  Maybe what we should be asking is for Him to include us in accomplishing His will.  You know He wants to. He loves us. He loved Gideon. He wants to include us in his plans. His adventures. His accomplishments. His battles.  And we get to be part of something much larger than ourselves, something greater then we could ever ask or imagine.  (Maybe even riding a dinosaur? Probably not).  

So instead of deluding ourselves into thinking that we are so important to the kingdom of God and that the work we do is so high and mighty and holy, let's humble ourselves before our King.  And remember that, in the words of the song by John Mark McMillan and covered by the David Crowder band, [God]" loves like a hurricane and I am the tree. Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy."  Let's never forget how small we really are in His amazing Presence.  And be honored that He actually desires us to help Him.

Tomb of a disciple discovered

Quick prelude.  Phillip, in case you don't recall, was the disciple who told Nathaniel about Jesus.  When Nathaniel responded with "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Phillip replied, "Come and see."  I like biblical archaeology for the simple fact that it reminds us that our faith is based in history, in real people, real places, this person lived and died.  I find it fascinating and comforting.  Enjoy.

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An Italian professor has announced the apparent discovery of the tomb of St. Philip, one of Jesus Christ’s apostles, at the ancient city of Hierapolis in the Aegean province of Denizli.
 The discovery of the grave of the biblical saint, who was killed by the Romans 2,000 years ago, will attract immense attention around the world, said Francesco D’Andria. St. Philip, one of the 12 apostles, came to Hierapolis 2,000 years ago to spread the Christianity before being killed by the Romans, the professor said.
D’Andria has been leading archeological excavations at the ancient city for 32 years.

  
“Until recently, we thought the grave of St. Philip was on Martyrs’ Hill, but we discovered no traces of him in the geophysical research conducted in that area. A month ago, we discovered the remnants of an unknown church, 40 meters away from the St. Philip Church on Martyrs’ Hill. And in that church we discovered the grave of St. Philip,” said D’Andria.
D’Andria and his team have not opened the grave but are planning to do so soon.
 “St. Philip is considered a martyr. In fact, the church built in his name on the Martyrs’ Hill is, for this reason, also called Martyrion, despite the fact there were no traces of the grave of St. Philip. As we were cleaning out the new church we discovered a month ago, we finally found the grave. With close examination, we determined that the grave had been moved from its previous location in the St. Philip Church to this new church in the fifth century, during the Byzantine era. We are extremely happy and proud to have discovered the grave of a saint whose name appears in the bible – this surely is an important discovery for religious tourism, archaeology and Christendom,” the professor said.