So Much Depends on Leadership

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Micah 3:1-12.  Let’s go!

Micah 3:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice,
2  you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;
3  who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?”
4  Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.

On verses 1-4: God wants leaders to “embrace justice” (v1), but instead Micah finds that the leaders of Jacob (another name for Israel) “hate good and love evil” (v2).  Micah uses cannibalistic imagery to describe how Israel’s leaders take advantage of and abuse the people (v3).  Micah says that because of their evil ways, the Lord will not listen to them when they cry out (v4).

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窗戶上的兩滴眼淚

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「希伯來書10章23節  也要堅守我們所承認的指望，不致搖動，因為那應許我們的是信實的。

昨天教會的線上敬拜邀請了兩位意想不到的來賓，就是幾年前被中國抓去關起來的一對加拿大夫婦。我還記得那時教會和臉書上有些機構都呼求為他們禱告。看到他們本人現身，讓人迫不及待想知道他們的經歷。(以下是簡錄)

Kevin 和 Julia Garratt原本住在溫哥華，讀多倫多大學時相識，相戀。一結婚就接到去中國的大學教英文的邀請，成為中共在文革後第一批邀請的當中的兩位外國教師。那時他們十分年輕，自嘲像他們那樣單純的人最不可能被當成間諜了。可是事情的發展超乎他們意料之外。

神給了他們兩人有同樣的感動，兩人都希望到中國去服事，他們在中國工作了卅年，除了教英文之外，還參與各種援助工作，教育和社會事業，例如幫助孤兒院和傳福音。在2008-2014年間，他們在靠近朝鮮邊境的一個地方丹東開了一間咖啡店，為中國和朝鮮的邊緣化社區提供一些援助。

在2014年八月的某一天晚上，他們和朋友在一家餐館吃飽飯後，兩人出電梯後分別被不同的警察帶走，罪名是：“你是間諜！” Julia害怕極了，在心裡不停地禱告。後來她被推入一間當地稱的”黑房＂(black jail) 因為那是外界不知道的地方)。 牢房很小，24小時開燈，室內一直有兩個警衛監視她。她開始迫切禱告：「神啊，祢在哪裡？在這樣被隔離中，祢對我有怎樣的計劃呢？」

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Whom You Listen To Affects How You Live

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Micah 2:1-13.  Let’s go!

Micah 2:1-5 (NIV) 
1  Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
2  They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.
3  Therefore, the LORD says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.
4  In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.'”
5  Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.

On verses 1-5:  God plans disaster (v3-5) for those who plan disaster against others (v1-2).  Move over Captain America and Iron Man.  The ultimate avenger is Yahweh who says, “It is mine to avenge.  I will repay.” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19)

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蝙蝠與蝗蟲相互消長的意義

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「不可吃的……蝙蝠」(利未記11:13、19)

學生問道：「老師，你有沒有想過為什麼上帝創造了蝙蝠，卻叫人不要吃蝙蝠？這是不是為難人？」

上帝叫人不要吃蝙蝠，沒有為難人，是叫我們不要為難蝙蝠。

上帝的創造也不是都要給人吃，例如上帝創造太陽，祂沒有要人把太陽，當太陽餅，拿來吃。

讓我先介紹早期的「客家人」，有種很棒的知識，他們將蝙蝠當成祝福的象徵。有蝙蝠，就等於作物、果樹有豐收。甚至在房子的牆壁，畫上蝙蝠，當成期盼蒙福的記號。

蝙蝠，在世界六大洲都有。熱帶、亞熱帶、溫帶、寒帶，夜間的天空，都有蝙蝠在飛。蝙蝠不怕冷熱，與牠們披著一身毛絨，可以隔熱有關。

普世昆蟲不能生長過多，蝙蝠是主要的調控者。會飛的昆蟲，例如蚊子、蚱蜢、蝗蟲、夜蛾、白蟻、螳螂、蟑螂等，蝙蝠都吃，而且大吃。蝙蝠一個晚上可以吃體重十分之一的昆蟲。

蝙蝠會發出高頻率的音波，不只偵察昆蟲，而且會相互呼喚，一群蝙蝠會吃一大群的蝗蟲。

蝙蝠大都在日落前三十分鐘，出來覓食，清晨休息。蝗蟲白天飛翔，大都是為了吃。晚上飛翔，是為遷移，那剛好是蝙蝠尋找食物的時候，減少蝗蟲最好的方法，是蝙蝠多一些。

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The Sin That Derailed Us and The Son That Redeemed Us

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Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Micah.  Written by a prophet called Micah (short for “Micaiah” meaning “who is like Yahweh”), this book prophesies about the destruction of Israel (the northern kingdom) at the hands of the Assyrians and the takeover of Judah (the southern kingdom) by the Babylonians, but also points to the day when both Israel and Judah would be restored.  Micah himself was from Moresheth, a town in the southern kingdom of Judah who ministered as a prophet in Judah during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  This suggests that Micah’s ministry – and this book – took place between 750 and 686 B.C.

Today’s passage is Micah 1:1-16.  Let’s go!

Micah 1:1 (NIV) 
1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah–the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

On verse 1:  Samaria was the capital city of Israel (the northern kingdom) and Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah (the southern kingdom).  When Micah refers to Samaria, here he means the entire kingdom of Israel.  When he refers to Jerusalem, he means the entire kingdom of Judah.

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