text: Moses’ most grievous sin was not honouring God’s command. Moses struck the rock to release water, rather than speaking to the rock as God had told him (Numbers 20). We may accuse Moses of sin, but not the sin of murder. His sin was his refusal to honour God in the clinches. Moses was sick of the rebellion of God’s people and it got the better of him.
  Which brings us to Jesus, the one who could stand before the leaders of Israel and ask “Which of you accuses me of sin?” And none could. Not of murder, nor of breaking any of God’s commands. The most rebellious of all generations, yet rather than strike out, he himself is struck, so that the water of life flows to all.
  Hebrews 4 reminds us that Jesus was tempted in every way we are, presumably including the sins of lacking self control; killing his enemies; sexual opportunities that came his way, yet “was without sin!” The older I get the more amazed I am by Jesus. The older I get the more I realise how much I need him as I navigate the sin of my heart and of this world. And, ironically, it’s only when we realise the depth of what Jesus has done in both his life and death, that our sin falls by the wayside; lost as we are in wonder, love and grace.
  No sermon or a poster will ever encourage you that God can use you despite your sin because he used Jesus despite his sin! If such a sermon or poster exists, junk it. And that’s our encouragement as we pick ourselves up – yet again; as we confess our sin – yet again. God uses us, not because we are better than we were before, but because Jesus is better than we could possibly imagine.
  
  Yesterday we went on a return trip to Billie Swamp Safari, which is in the heart of the Seminole Tribe Reservation in southern Florida. Its a fun place to visit, not really “authentic” but not really a “theme park” either. Anyway, we did lots of fun stuff out there, but the movie for the airboat stuff came out the best:
  Author Steve KrausePosted on December 25, 2008 December 25, 2008 Categories Family and Friends, Movies, Travel	
  
  Buttered Rum Hot Chocolate. Less Sugar more Cocoa is the magic of our Double Truffle blend the base for our flavored Hot Chocolates. Mix with hot water, tastes even more special when you use hot milk.
  
  In recent posts Sunrise Sister and Lucy (my wife and her sister) thanked me for a tour of the Iao Valley on Maui, a narrow, steep and lush valley of unsurpassed beauty. It’s an important historical site for many reasons, the most famous of which is the 1790 battle in which Kamahameha I defeated the forces of Maui to begin the march toward an islands wide consolidated monarchy. On the one hand, it was the triumph of tactics, discipline and modern technology over traditional means of warfare. On the other hand, it was the brutal slaughter of human life in which the bodies of Maui’s warriors damed the streams flowing down from Pu’u Kukui. One cannot leave that aside, but there is more, enough that, for me, the valley is also a microcosm not only of Hawaiian history but of humanity itself.
  The Iao Valley channels streams of seemingly inexhaustible clean fresh water from the rains of Pu’u Kukui. Produce grown in it was able to feed many villages without fear of famine. Its upper reaches were (are) sacred ground once reserved for the burial of the elite. In some ways it could be as close to the Garden of Eden as one might get, but the bloody battle of 1790 destroyed whatever pretensions of innocence to which it may have aspired. Waves of immigrants and plantation farming of sugar cane and pineapple resulted in the abandonment of the valley as an agricultural site. The inexhaustible supply of clean mountain water proved to be both exhaustible and easily polluted. The growing town of Wailuku encroached on it with uncontrolled development.
  I don’t know when, but the state stepped in to preserve the valley as a historical site and state park. Today concrete trails take tourists up, down and through it with stops along the way for incredible views and signs describing historical events. Taro and other crops are grown in miniature patches to remind people of what was once there. Sacred grounds are kapu, kept off limits, but one can see into them from a distance. The stream runs free and clear, if not altogether clean. A heritage park displays near life size models of buildings and decorations from each of the major immigrant communities, and from several vantage points one can look down at the industrial harbor of Kahului in the far distance. From nature no longer touched by human presence to shoreline compounds of petroleum tanks and big box stores, it’s all present.
  When I am there I cannot help but meditate on how almost every historical human impact on the goodness of God’s creation is present in such a compact space of great beauty: the good, selfish, evil and redemptive work of human being all there and on display for the thousands who come to marvel at its beauty with unseeing eyes and ears that cannot hear the voices in the wind.
  The burial grounds are kapu (kept off limits). This word kapu is apparently the Hawaiian dialect for the Polynesian word tapu, in Tahiti and elsewhere. This Polynesian word was picked up by anthropologists as \”taboo\” in Engish, (or Tabu@ by perfume makers!), and extended by philologists to the understanding of the ancient languages as equivalent to the concept of the Sacred, sacer-sacrum in Latin, hieros-hieron in Classical Greek, qadosh-qadeshah in Hebrew. The basic idea is the same: off-limits, set aside, forbidden to ordinary mortals for ordinary purposes. (I couldn't resist making one of my boring academic comments, though I tried!) Dr B
  
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