Daniel - Chapter 6

In attendance: Kevin, Justin, Amy, Natalie, Lydia, Dave, Thom

We had the opportunity to discus King Darius and his unconscionable, un-thought out law, but law none the less.

It was my great honor to introduce John Stott into the discussion by writing the following quote on the board at the beginning of the night:

"The law must be upheld, its dignity defended and its just penalties paid."

This drew questions as to which law it was referring or whose law it was referring, as well as explanation of law and the importance of defending it, even when we may not agree.

The discussion was very interesting and we welcomed all the insight into the subject.

Natalie made the comment that God's law was removed when the curtain was torn in two in the temple at the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is correct, however, we must discard the moral law in that case. For this reason we realized that we must continue to refine our understanding even more.

Once again I borrow from John Stott as he cites Henry Wace, dean of Canterbury from 1903-1924, for a clearer understanding law:

"A law which has no sanction, in the technical sense of that expression-in other words, a law which can be broken without an adequate penalty, is no law at all; and it is inconceivable that God's moral law can be violated without entailing consequences of the most terrible kind..."

As we read through Daniel chapter 6, we discovered the jealousy of Daniel's adversaries, the naivety of King Darius, and the dedication, faith and courage of Daniel.

While most of us, I assume, know the story of Daniel in the lion's den, I think we took quite a bit away from our discussion. We talked about how Daniel was faithful to God even after the King made a new law. We discussed King Darius' respect for Daniel...after realizing what he had done, he tried everything he could to repeal the penalty of the law for Daniel's sake, but could do nothing.

This led into deeper discussion that if the law that Darius decreed was upheld and defended, how much more should God's moral law be upheld and defended.

In turn, Kevin pointed out Daniel's respect for the King's authority. Daniel declared to Darius "I was found innocent in [God's] sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." (Daniel 6:22 NIV)

We learn from Daniel that even though we may not agree with a law and/or it's sanctions, it must be upheld and defended. However, we must always uphold God's word. If, only in obedience to God's word, we knowingly, yet respectfully and honorably, feel we must disagree with man's law, then we must also be prepared nonetheless to receive just punishment for not adhering to that law. This does not, in any way, give us the right to act dishonorably, selfishly or conduct ourselves immorally.

Have a great week!

Dare to be a Daniel - Week 3

Week 3 in the study of “Dare to be a Daniel”:

Thanks to everyone that came tonight: Luke, Kevin, Justin, Dominic and Dave. I think we all had a great discussion on some of the difficulties of sharing our faith.

This week was the 3rd time we’ve gone over the 1st chapter in Daniel and because I couldn’t determine how the intended focus from the study guide was related to the passage in the Daniel, it has been decided that we will put a hold on the study guide and just continue discussing the book of Daniel itself.

Tonight we talked about sharing our faith and our hope in Christ with others. We started off with a game of “Who am I?” We each had a turn to have a sticky-note stuck to our foreheads with a name of a person or object written on it and everyone else had to act out what we were without saying anything. The person with the note stuck to their head then had to try and guess who or what they were.

The point of the game was to try and comprehend the difficulty for a non-Christian to understand what it means to be a Christian. If I were asked the question, “Who is Jesus?” I suppose I could give the following answer:

- Jesus preexisted the formation of the earth, and was incarnated in human form by a virgin, and suffered a substitutionary death, and then was resurrected and ascended into heaven and is coming back again to save us.

...or, I could give this answer:

- As a Christian, God has helped me understand who Jesus really is. As you probably already know, people have a tendency to hurt one another sometimes on purpose, but sometimes just because we're human. There may be a lot of reasons we do this. Sometimes because of selfishness, or greed, or envy, or jealousy, or any other reason we can come up with. If left up to us, I think we would drive each other into complete chaos and madness and sooner or later we’d all be dead. But because God loves us, the Bible says that He sent His son, Jesus, to save us from that.

Personally, I like answer #2. It explains Christ in a real way...in a personal way. People who question their own beliefs don’t need some legalistic explanation.
They just want someone to understand what they’re going through and give them real answers.

We also did a faith and trust building exercise that I think might have scared a couple people. The exercise helped us understand how vulnerable and fragile we really are as humans. When we get to heaven our sins will be laid in front of us, and God will know what we’ve done. There’s nothing we can hide from Him. We have to trust God that He will work on people’s hearts and help them understand their own sins just like He’s done with us.

We can’t take advantage of other people’s faith and trust. We can’t take advantage of their vulnerability.

When people open up about their feelings and ask questions, that’s an opportunity to share Christ’s love, not an opportunity to showcase our knowledge.

Don’t forget to pray about the people you see around you. Someone’s name or face may come to mind at any particular time, and at that very moment, remember to take time and pray for them.

Week 2 Daniel 1:5-16

Thanks for coming this week everyone: Katie H., Sarah (welcome to 3rd Night), Amy, Pastor D., Katie K., Luke, Justin, Kevin, Lydia, Maddie (my oldest daughter) and me. :o)

This week we continued in the book of Daniel and talked about faithfulness and obedience to God.

How can we be faithful when there are so many things that can draw our attention away from how God really wants us to live?

We read in this passage that after King Nebuchadnezzar had chosen these gifted young men, that he set aside for them a portion of the king’s food and wine to eat and drink.
(that would be like someone giving us a buffet of pizzas and burgers and pop and candy and chocolate and ice cream and everything we could possibly imagine.) But Daniel and his friends go and do something that most of us probably wouldn’t consider doing. Instead of eating all this food given to them by the king, Daniel and his friends insisted they only be given vegetables and water. Everyone else can have the king’s food.

Daniel and his friends were able to confidently and respectfully make their request to the king to test them, because they knew that God would be faithful.

Katie H. pointed out that so many times we feel like we immediately have to get defensive when someone does or says something that we know or feel is completely wrong. Like when Amy said she went off on one of her friends when she thought that they were being rude to someone else.

How should we act? What’s the right thing to do? How do we find the right words? And then, how do we follow up our words with right actions?

There was something here in this passage that got my attention in regards to how Daniel responded to the king. It wasn’t that Daniel just told the king “No” and refused to eat the food. What stuck out in my mind was that Daniel wasn’t rude or rebellious about any of it. He was respectful and humble when he declined the king’s offering.

How do we know how God wants us to live our lives, and how do we live the way He intended us to live? In the New Testament, if we read John 13:12, it says that after washing the disciples feet, Jesus asks them if they understand what He has done for them?” Then He says, blessed are you if you do this.

What Jesus is saying here is that it’s good to know the truth, but you will be blessed if you live in truth.

I don’t think that it’s a matter of just KNOWING how to be a Christian or knowing what the Bible says, but it’s knowing and DOING what the Bible says that matters when you’ve committed to living your life as a Christian.

You might see people all the time who say they are Christians and who say they believe that the Bible is God’s word, but do they act like it?

Sometimes situations can be so difficult to deal with when they’re happening right now. It’s like when I’m driving down the road and the guy in the car next to me swerves and cuts me off. It makes me so angry, but at the same time…I have this choice. I can either scream at him (which may make me feel better, but it does nothing to help the situation), or I can just let him get past and stay out of his way.

As we read our Bible, God gives us understanding that He is in control of what is happening. Jeremiah 27 says, “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.”

God was in control of everything that happened to the Israelites. God is also in control of everything that happens in our own lives.

I was listing to something today that reminded me of the discussion we had last night. I was listening to a speaker named David Cook, a Scottish Apologist, and he was talking about the story of the rich young man who all his life had kept God’s commandments. He asked Jesus what he should do to gain eternal life, and Jesus tells him to sell everything he has, give to the poor and follow Him. Then the rich young man turned and sadly walked away. Even this man who spoke directly with Jesus felt free to say “no” to Him.

So remember, that if people felt free to say no to Jesus, they will also feel free to say no to me and to you. Jesus gives people the freedom to reject Him. God gives people the freedom to say no to Him. We too should understand that people have the freedom to reject what we say and what we do. That’s OK.

See you next week!

Purpose

Wednesday Night Gathering is a component of the EQUIP function in student ministries @ nwc ( nwc = Northwest Chapel). The equip function is the intention to prepare students for life and ministry. It is a rest stop or oasis for any believing student during the middle of the week to get encouraged, re-energized, re-focused to live out their commitment to follow God everyday. I see it this way. I want students to say, "3rd Night relates my life to God's truth found in the Bible." That would be ideal. Students would read the Bible and study it in a small group according to a three-step process: (1) Observation--what do you see in this section of this study? (2) Interpretation--what significant questions can you ask to understand this better?; and (3) Application--how can you apply this to your life?. That is the hope of gathering on Wednesday Nights together around God's Truth preserved for anyone in the Bible.

Brainstorm session
A few of the other names suggested, written on my white board, submitted by myself and Thom were:
midweek, refuge, foundations, vertical, upwards, peak, horizon, summit, hope, edge, branches, awaken, always true, this way, biblia, & logos. I wonder if you students have a brainstorm of possible names for Wednesday Night.

Thanks to everyone that was there last night: Kevin, Justin, Luke, Katie K., Katie H., and Amy. I think we had a exciting 1st discussion about what it was like to be Daniel.

Tonight (week 1) we had the opportunity to talk about Daniel 1:1-8.

Out of these 1st few verses we discussed the characteristics of the men in captivity that were chosen by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel was one of those chosen). And how they were not unlike people we look up to in our own lives. The description given in the NKJV of those chosen was:

- young men in whom there was no blemish
- good-looking
- gifted in all wisdom
- possessing knowledge
- quick to understand

Nebuchadnezzar chose individuals who he thought would be the most influential and representative of the leadership of Babylon to the people of Jerusalem. I don't think it was an accident that Daniel and his friends were included in this group of chosen young men.

Instead, I believe that God chose Daniel and his friends because they would be representative of Godly living to the people of Jerusalem during their captivity.

We also discussed the Babylonian names that were given to Daniel and his friends. They were given these new names in order to attempt to refute their religious loyalties and link them to the local Babylonian gods.

But in verse 8 we see that Daniel’s commitment to God was stronger than the influence that was seemingly forced upon him and the others in captivity. He knew that God was with him and so he purposed in his heart to stay committed to God.
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As we discussed this type of forceful influence in our own lives, Katie H. shared a personal experience of when her commitment to God was tested. She felt that she had to defend her own faith in a moment when no one else would step forward.

I think this is what we’re trying to understand. Do you have enough faith in yourself to continue your commitment to God when everything around you is trying to force you in the other direction?

We did not create God. We must always remember that God created us. We can experience an abundant life, if we will only live our lives the way God intended.

Additional verses to read, think and pray about: Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5.

Have a great week, everyone!

Welcome to Third Night
Tonight is the first night of the study of the book of Daniel. We covered Daniel 1:1-8. The main point was God gave the Jews over to Nebuchadnezzar. Then Neb gave them new names like Rack, Shack, & Benni. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the food and wine.

Be willing to live the way God planned. Daniel knew God's Word before Captivity transpired. He knew God was in control. Daniel made up his mind, he purposed in his heart, to stay committed to God.

The Bible verses cited on your bookmark are: Romans 12:2; Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 1:5. I wonder which verse speaks to you.