A Message for Misfits A wise man once said, one of the problems Christians have is trying to be more holy

than God himself. We forget who we are where we came from. In time we start to judge people by standards we could never attain and God never placed on us. At the heart of the problem is the tendency to embrace the values of the world. The world judges people on three things: 1. What you have. 2. What you do. 3. Who youre with. Thats how you catagorize. Problem with all three is they are external. Dont really see the heart issues. And in our defense I dont know how we could. Maybe thats why God says to leave the judging to him. God looks at something quite different. He examines the heart. And as a result of this he often uses people you would never imagine. Jepthah is a glaring example! I mean glaring! Jepthah was a man with a dark past and a sordid present. And yet when the God went to recognize his greatest servants Jepthah made the top ten list. Best of the best. Hebrews 11. Gods hall of fame. Right there, sandwiched between Samson and David, was this man jepthah. Story is found in Judges 11. Really starts in 10:6 Verse 6. See the cycle again. Verse 7. Philistenes were on the southwest plain. Sons of Ammon were across the Jordan to the east. Ammonites. Remember the Lord promised the land west of the Jordan. But he made an exception for the tribes of Gad and Reuben and Mannassah. When they came into that area they decided they wanted to stay. God allowed it on condition that they enter the land with the Nation of Israel and help them dispossess the people West of the Jordan. That done they resettled East of the Jordan in Land that used to belong to the sons of Ammon. So there is a long standing feud here. Verse 8. 18 years. Remember Viet Nam only lasted 11 or 12 years. We fought WWII for 5 years. 18 years is a long time to be at war. Verse 9 the Ammonites even crossed the Jordan and waged war on Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. The sons of Isreal cried out to the Lord again for deliverance. This time God isnt so quick to deliver. See a growing trend here. God is getting fed up with their tactics. Sure they seek him in trouble but they wont follow him in prosperity. I thnk the test of faith is prosperity not adversity.

Need to realize that there are consequences to the cycle of rebellion. Proverbs 29:1 A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. God finally says enough. Verses 11-13. That is the judgment of God. Not that he condemns but that he stops caring. This led them to a crisis. They would have to do more than mouth their repentance they would have to act. Verses 15-16. True repentance. Different than being sorry. Micah bit a little boy in nursery last week. Amy bit Micah. Micah was really sorry he bit Tyler. But Im not sure it was true repentance. True repentance is a change of heart and actions. Ill. . . Corinthians. Had a man living with his fathers wife. Paul rebuked them. They repented. Put the man out of the church. Church discipline. Still practiced in many churches today. 2 Corinthians he writes to commend them for their determination to repent. Opens our eyes to what God is looking for. 2 Corinthians 7:9[8] For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it-- for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while-- [9] I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. [10] For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. [11] For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. Two kinds of sorrow. According to the world leads to death. According to God leads to repentance and life. The nation finally repented. God started to work. Before the writer tells of the victory he has to tell you about the man. Extraordinary circumstances.