Learning Transparency

May 24, 2017

Learning Transparency

I will teach you hidden lessons from our past — stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.

Psalm 78:2b-3

As I read Psalm 78, I was remembering one of my mission trips to Cuba. We drove to the beach for our Sunday worship service which included baptizing twenty-nine persons in the Caribbean Sea. At the close of the day, we traveled back to Camaguey. Two of the pastors in our group rode in a big truck with approximately forty members of the congregation. The truck had benches down the sides and the middle. To pass their time, they played a Bible game with the children. If the person did not answer correctly they had to duck-walk down the aisle. My friends had to make the duck-walk more than all the kids. Our church in Cuba is taking seriously their responsibility to pass their faith on to the next generation.

The psalmist in Psalm 78 remembered much of the history of Israel in their exodus from Egypt. His history included more than just listing events. He also revealed the moral history of Israel as they experienced God’s judgment for their failures, as well as God’s redemptive mercy and forgiveness.

The lessons of Psalm 78 stress the importance of personal accountability groups. These groups provide a safe setting where we can learn to share our failures and weaknesses with brothers and sisters in Christ who love us. By learning transparency, we can then truly pass on to the next generation our experiences in needing and receiving God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.