The UnSafe Bible

God called Hosea to marry a harlot. His wife, Gomer, was a prostitute and was repeatedly unfaithful to their marriage covenant. This resulted in multiple children by unknown fathers. Yet, Hosea remained faithful to her. This relationship offered a real-time analogy for the relationship God had with Israel. As Pastor Ken will explain in today’s message, the children of God chose to be unfaithful to Him, choosing idols and lifestyles that served their own desires, but God remained faithful. 

“God helps those who help themselves…” Do you hear that and assume you’re hearing Scripture quoted? This concept is often attributed to the Bible, but it’s not theologically sound. As Pastor Ken will point out in today’s message, this is a man-made concept, and it relies on the strength of man to do something that’s impossible. We’re incapable of helping ourselves on a spiritual level. We can work hard and experience some earthly success, but spiritual success is only found through Christ. 

As we dive into the book of Hosea, we may find a lot that we can relate to in our modern culture. Sexual promiscuity, materialism, and idolatry in many forms are pervasive in our culture, just like they were for Hosea. These things have been normalized, and most of us feel like the odd ones out when we resist these things. As Pastor Ken continues our study of this minor prophet, we can find some not-so-minor guidance and reassurance for how we need to live our lives as believers in a hostile culture.  

Have you encountered anyone today who claims to be a prophet? Oftentimes, they make claims about the future, attributing their wisdom and knowledge to a Divine source unique to them. But what makes a prophet a prophet? As Pastor Ken will clarify in today’s message, this is only a part of the role of a Biblical prophet. Ultimately, their main job is to point people back to God. When the focus is on one person’s ability to tell the future, their focus is not on God, and they aren’t truly a prophet.

God spoke our world into existence. He took nothing and made something incredible. He breathed life into humanity. As Pastor Ken will point out in today’s message, God doesn’t need us to accomplish His will. He could destroy all of this in a second and start from scratch. Yet, He chooses to involve His Creation in His work. He gives us purpose and value and He loves us. Yet, instead of embracing that and pouring ourselves into His service, we’re quicker to question Him and doubt His motives.

Why are the “Minor Prophets” called “minor”? As Pastor Ken will clarify in today’s message, it has nothing to do with their weight or value in the grander scope of Scripture. As we begin our study of these rich, theological, and historical texts, we’ll find truths that are just as crucial to our understanding of God and His dealings with Israel as the books of Isaiah, Daniel, or Ezekiel. God inspired these books to be a part of our Bible and as we’ll find in our study, they can have a serious impact on our spiritual lives.

There is a battle going on at all times for the souls of people. Satan is the enemy that we’re at war with. He is trying to lead people into darkness, and they are following Him blindly. Today, Pastor Ken will encourage you to be engaged in the battle. There are people being led astray. You have the truth that can lead them back to the light. Think of yourself like a soldier on a mission from God, because that’s what you are. You’re on a rescue mission. Get engaged in the battle for people’s souls.

Do you have peace? Not just a surface-level absence of hecticness in your life, but do you have peace in the biblical sense? Do you have shalom? In today’s message, Pastor Ken will explain how shalom encompasses so much. When you accept Jesus in your life, He has made peace with you. When you were broken and lost in your sin, He made a way to be reconciled to Him. Even when life seems to be unsettled and difficult, you have eternal peace because of the hope you have in Jesus.

We often want to fit God inside a box, don’t we? Maybe it’s that we think we can understand or even control Him that way, but God doesn’t fit in our boxes. We try to keep God in the box of a Sunday morning in our church building. In his message today, Pastor Ken will challenge you to accept that God is so much bigger than Sunday morning. God doesn’t just exist when you go to church, and your worship of Him shouldn’t exist only on Sunday mornings. Worship God everywhere and every day.

Can you imagine a life without pain and sorrow? If you find yourself in a city and stop to listen, you’ll hear the buzzing of activity and the persistent wailing of sirens. There’ll be car alarms, fire alarms, ambulance sirens, fire sirens, or police sirens. At times, all those sounds will be combined into a dissonant declaration of brokenness. As Pastor Ken will encourage us in today’s message, God is preparing a perfect city for us in the New Jerusalem, where all that pain and suffering will be gone.