WEDNESDAY, September 17th, 2008

Well, what do you think of the new header? That is the group of teenagers that won our first Devotaional reward activity! Today is another Wednesday and it is the final night of our NINJA WARRIOR SERIES!!! Make sure that you come and be a part of the exciting events that we will be taking part in tonight! You will not regret it!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Mrs. W: I am thankful that you come on here each day!
Michael: I would be glad to pick you up for church ANYTIME you need a ride, just call me and let me know!
Josh: I am glad that you are back on here to STAY!!! Now get Alex on here TO STAY!!!
Jessica M: Very Beautiful Pictures! Where are the rest, I only saw like 2.
AMY!!!! YOU BETTER BE IN CHURCH TONIGHT!
Jonathan, sorry that you had a bad day yesterday! Just remember: MAGIC KINGDOM IN JUST 3 DAYS!!!!!!
Ryan: I need to talk to you about something tonight! Dont leave until you talk to me... it is a good thing, not a bad thing!
Mallory:" WHAT IS THIS MAYBE ALL ABOUT?!?!?!?!?! YOU BETTER BE HERE!!!!!! (if you know what is good for you)
Rachel: We love you and several of us have been praying for you!

Genesis 34 [Wow! I bet you would have never expected to read a story like THIS in the Bible]

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.
4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.
6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.
9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.
10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.
12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”
13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.
14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised,
16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”
18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.
19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying:
21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
23 Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.
26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.
28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field,
29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

Wow! Where do we begin? Lets start at the very beginning... So we see Dinah, the daughter of Jacob is out walking around and a man named Shechem saw her and took her away, and raped her.
Shechem was wrong in this decision OBVIOUSLY, but he wanted to make things right and go back to her father and her fathers family and ask them to allow Dinah to be his wife... Well what happens?

Jacob and his family agrees that it would be ok, as long as every male is Circumcised. Let me discretely explain why this is important. This is a practice that some people have done to their baby boys whenever they are born, God also used this practice for hHis people to show that they were dedicated to Him... Well, the sons of Jacob knew that this was an EXTREMELY PAINFUL practice... I mean, lets just say, once they were circumcised they were down for a while...

Well, two of Dinahs brothers, Simeon and Levi, decide that this is a perfect opportunity to get back at Shechem and all of his people. They decide to wait three days after the circumcision, and then they both go into the city and kill every male and destroy all of the city, taking the wives and children captive.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?? How dishonest! What a poor testimony of God.

Let me tell you the lessons I learned from this passage...

1. Schechem made ONE WRONG CHOICE and that choice led to the destruction of his entire city!

We too make choices every day, and when we choose to sin, or to live for ourselves, many times we are one poor choice away from destroying our future. I have talked to 3 different people in the last 24 hours who have made one bad choice that has the potential to change/destroy their life. Dont Sin! You WILL NOT WIN!

2. Jacob was willing to forgive these people as he had been forgiven, but his sons, jhowever had other plans in mind. Simeon and Levi did not respect their fathers wishes, they took matters into their own hands and they caused big problems.

Do you see... they were JUST AS GUILTY OF WRONG as the Rapist was... I think many times we as Christians are quick to judge others and justify our own wickedness. We are quick to "hate" the sinner instead of Hating the sin, we are so quick to think highly of ourselves, as we think low about everyone around us... We must understand something that Simeon and Levi did not get: "When we justify our wickedness we are just as sinful as people who do not claim to know Christ."

Dont live like the lost! Live like you are saved by the blood of Christ!!!!