The Richmond Briefing

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders

The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here

Reading – As With the Priest (Luke 7:24-35)

The Old Testament prophet Hosea ministered in the eighth century BC at a time when Israel was guilty of great sin and God, through the prophet, brought his charges against his rebellious people. They were guilty of spiritual adultery, of turning to idols and false gods, of using shrine prostitutes, of sacrificing to pagan deities, of rejecting the knowledge of God.

The priests excused themselves by insisting that they were ministering Israel’s religion and the people justified themselves by insisting they were following the priests but God made clear that the priests were simply going through the motions while worshipping foreign gods and the people were not guiltless but would be held to account and their religion would finally not satisfy or feed them. Because they had rejected true knowledge God would reject them and none would be left with excuse.

“And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their ways.” (Hosea 4:9)

The greatest and clearest knowledge of God is found in Jesus Christ. John tells us:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn.1:1, 14)

The writer of Hebrews wrote:

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being...” (Heb.1:3)

And Jesus said of himself:

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn.14:9)

Yet in this week’s passage we find that, while Jesus demonstrated his identity and authority, “[curing] many diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits and [giving] sight to those who were blind” (Lk.7:21) nevertheless “The Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purposes for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John”. Like the priests in Hosea’s day, they argued their case on a technicality, that is because they had not been baptised by John and therefore were not required to accept God’s purposes in John or Jesus (they were ‘experts in the law’ after all).

Jesus ridiculed these leaders because they rejected John on the basis that he was dangerously zealous and they accused him of being possessed of a demon and then rejected Jesus because he mixed with ordinary folk and looked like everyone else. They had so many rules and so many excuses for why they shouldn’t change. Many people believed Jesus but others rejected him because they saw their leaders reject him. The responsibilities of leaders are onerous and God will hold them to account for how they have handled their stewardship over God’s people. However, everyone will be held to account for how they respond to God and his messengers.

Are we clear and faithful in the way we share the message of salvation and are we honest and challenging in reminding people that each will be accountable for how they respond? Do we pray for our leaders that they will remain humble and faithful and do we encourage them in the ways of the Lord as they encourage us?

Obama's mother posthumously baptized into LDS Church - Salt Lake Tribune

In the wake of his remarkable success it seemed that the world and his wife wanted to claim President Obama as their own with even an Irish connection being dug up. Now the Mormons have got in on the act by posthumously baptising his mother. They have in the past upset the Jewish community, the Catholic Church and now the American President with this wacky and unbiblical practice but there is no indication that they will review it. And, of course, it is always someone else’s fault and they promise a thorough inquiry to uncover the real culprits. Maybe they should try looking in the mirror. President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized posthumously into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last year during her son's campaign, according to Salt Lake City-based researcher Helen Radkey. The ritual, known as “baptism for the dead,” was done June 4 in the Provo temple, and another LDS temple rite, known as the “endowment,” was

Mormon Christians? Whats in a Name?

The Mormon Church, disturbed by the continuing identifying of polygamus sects in the news with the name Mormon, recently issued a press statement aimed at "clarifying" issues. It is interesting to note that if you substitute the name "Christian" where they use the name "Mormon" it makes a very good argument for us against the claims of the Mormon Church. The full press release is reproduced below in italics with each paragraph rewritten in ordinary text to present it from a Christian perspective. SALT LAKE CITY 10 July 2008 On 26 June, Newsroom published a package of information featuring profiles of ordinary Latter-day Saints in Texas. With no other intention but to define themselves, these members provided a tangible depiction of what their faith is all about. They serve as the best distinction between the lifestyles and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Texas-based polygamous group that has recently attracted media attent

The Mormon God’s Dysfunctional Family

You know those moments when you look at something you’ve looked at a thousand times before and suddenly see something new? I was looking at a blog I found via the Google Blog Alerts service and it told the familiar story of the Mormon “ Plan of Salvation”; you can read it here. There really was nothing surprising until I started thinking about what people might think if a family they knew conducted themselves the way the Mormon “family of God” do in this story. People from abusive backgrounds have problems enough with the idea of God as a Father but this story would put anyone off the idea forever! As I recount this story think about what the typical dad would do as his kids are growing up and compare it with this “exalted man.” According to Mormonism “ God created our spirits” and we lived with him in a pre-mortal existence (Mormons say “pre-existence” but it is not possible to pre-exist, i.e. to exist before you exist. The noun “existence” has to be have the prefix “pre” othe

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