Reflections from Mark 13

I see people fighting about fights.

I hear of wars and rumors of wars.

Some say the end is coming and is in sight.

Do not be deceived. Many will come in the name of Jesus, claiming "I am he, I am the one that you need to save you from the evil empire" and will deceive many.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. These are just the beginning of birth pangs.

Be on guard. Respond to hatred with love and faithful proclamation of the good news that Jesus destroys evil through his self-giving love at work in us. Proclaim it not just with your mouth, but also with your actions.

Today I am choosing to pray for the violent Christian nationalists deluded by the lies of a man claiming "I am he". When I look into their faces I see what I could have become. When I hear their voices I hear words I spoke as a teenager and young adult. When I see their actions I see something I justified in theory many times throughout my life. When I see their privilege waltzing into the Capitol virtually untouched, I see the privilege that I waltz through life with.

This is us. This is me. This is the fruit of Evangelical Christianity failing to heed the words of Jesus. This is evil.

Be on your guard. May God have mercy.

The Fiery Furnace as Strategic Protest

I lead a noon time prayer Tuesday through Friday on Facebook Live.  Part of this is meditating on the day's passages from the daily lectionary.  Today we looked at Daniel 3:19-30 and Revelation 18:21-24.

The passage in Daniel is about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to bow before the statue of Nebuchadnezzar.  We struggle to envision this story in our own day and assume that if we had been alive then we would have refused to bow like these three men.  I mean, what kind of ruler would display their image and expect people to bow before it, and who would, claiming to be a person of God, bow their knee to such an image?

However, using symbols to solidify national identity and as a test of the allegiance of the people has been normal throughout history.  From Nebuchadnezzar with this statue to Caesar requiring daily sacrifices in his honor throughout the Roman empire to modern day practices of saluting the flag and standing for the national anthem or saying a pledge of allegiance.  On the surface each of these things may appear to be different, but when we consider their purpose the similarities become apparent.  Each uses an easily recognized symbol in order to further a narrative of global greatness, increase patriotic allegiance, and create a simple ritual for everyone to bond together in their trust of their political authorities.

The interesting thing in this passage in Daniel 3, is that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had already been serving the king for a while and had even risen to a level of power and authority within his government, despite the fact that they were always clear on who they were and that they served God rather than people.  They were the same Jewish men who had refused to eat the king's food and, after it was shown that they were healthier on their own diet, the king happily accommodated them.  But here as they defy this ritual of political allegiance, we read, "Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with them, and his attitude toward them changed."  As long as their desire to serve God rather than people, and specifically to serve God rather than the king, benefited the project of the empire, the king was happy to oblige and allow them to live their lives as they saw fit.  But, as soon as they went public, when their act of disobedience called into question the greatness of the king, unmasked the narrative that the empire was the agent of salvation in the world, and had the potential of drawing others to their point of view, the kings attitude toward them changed, and it changed quickly.

We go on to read, "The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot" that the soldiers who carried these men died before they even made it to the fire.

When we say, "Jesus is king", we don't take much heat in our culture because we do not have anyone called "king" that Jesus' authority challenges.  As long as our version of following Jesus doesn't disrupt the ways and methods of the empires we live in, we won't be noticed and might even rise to levels of power and authority.  But when obeying Jesus means disregarding precious symbols of allegiance, such as refusing to stand for the national anthem or refusing to say the pledge of allegiance, the attitudes of those around us can change very quickly.

It is interesting to see in Revelation 18, the second reading for today, how John uses Babylon to refer to Rome and then point forward to every empire that will come after.  In the end, the indictment against each of these nations who strive for supremacy, for greatness, is that they will be totally destroyed because, "By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In [you] was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth."

May we, God's people, not be caught up in the magic spell of empire worship.  May we not ignore the innocent victims of the machine of the empires around us.  May we not bend our knee, may we stand strong without fear, may we worship Jesus alone, the true and only king.

The Un-Christian Desire for a Pre-Trib Rapture

I have been, at the request of my youth Sunday School Class, teaching through the book of Revelation.  The more I read this apocalyptic, prophetic letter (I see Revelation, primarily, as a letter) the more I see the main point being that those who suffer with Christ will also reign with Christ.  It is interesting, then, that a couple recently told me that the main point they got from a study of Revelation is that we should hope for a Pre-Tribulation rapture so that we do not have to suffer.

How is it that we have created a Christianity that truly believes that suffering is something to be avoided at all costs, or that we deserve to not suffer because we have come to believe in Jesus?  Isn't suffering at the very heart of the gospel?  Doesn't Jesus call us to suffer for his name?

Here is a quote from The Believers Church Commentary on Revelation:
"The central message of Revelation is suggested [in 1:9]: those who endure persecution with Christ will rule with Christ.  The word persecution means "pressure" or "tribulation" (John 16:33; Acts 14:22).  John expected immediate persecution for the church of his day (see also Matt. 11:12; 2 Tim. 3:12) because of the imposition of emperor worship."

And the following is a quote from a letter Anna of Rotterdam (preserved in the Martyrs' Mirror) presented to her son, Isaiah, at nine o'clock in the morning, as she was preparing herself to die for the name and the testimony of Jesus:
"Where you hear of a poor, simple, cast-off little flock (Luke 12:32), which is despised and rejected, by the world, join them; for where you hear of the cross, there is Christ; from there do not depart."

May we, with joy, pick up our cross and carry it.  May we, with the help of the Spirit, embrace pressure and tribulation as a mark of God's saving grace in our lives (Rom. 5:3-5, Matt. 5:11-12, Luke 21:10-19, James 1:2-4).  May we not make the "wise" choices that lead to security and success, but instead the "dangerous" choices of loving our enemies and the enemies of the powerful, giving away the wealth that makes us comfortable so that others can survive, and welcoming strangers into our homes and communities trusting that by doing so we are offering hospitality to Jesus himself.  These are the kinds of activities that, when radically lived out, show us that tribulation is a part of our world right now.  Jesus doesn't call us to run from it, he calls us to embrace it.

The Gospel: What Is it and How Do We Share It?

The Bible is replete with metaphors, images, and stories of salvation. When they are all taken together, however, common themes emerge which reveal what is most significant or necessary to understand what is taking place between God and humanity, specifically in the person and work of Jesus Christ. First, humanity is in a situation that is less than ideal. Second, there is an action of God to remedy the situation in which humanity has found itself. Third, humanity moves towards God, whether this is a response to the second, in conjunction with the second, or precedes the second can be argued. Fourth, through the process humans find themselves not only better off than they started, but actually in the best possible situation which could be imagined.

Whether it is pictured as dirt, disease, adrift, naked, guilty, poor, hungry or any other number of metaphors, what is obvious throughout the biblical story is that humans have found themselves in a less than stellar situation. Also, while there is obvious culpability on the part of humanity, pictures such as humans in bondage, specifically to Satan, humanity living in the kingdom of Satan, people at the mercy of unjust rulers, and people living in the midst of darkness at least raise the possibility that the situation people have found themselves in is not entirely or completely their own fault.

However, the picture quickly changes as we see that God is not satisfied to leave people there. God enters the world, in the person of Jesus, incarnating himself in humanity, living, healing, teaching, dieing, rising again, and ascending back into heaven. By doing so God purchases humanity for himself, takes their sin on himself so they can have new life, heals their diseases, liberates them from their oppressors, and defeats death, sin and Satan. God does this for many reasons, one of which is a simple display of power.

Humans participate in the movement from their past misery by ripping their hearts, cutting out the unnecessary pieces that hold to the old situation, drinking the cup of living water offered to them, and following in obedience. Just as a tree sucks up water and nutrients, responds to pruning, and grows towards the sun, humans participate in the work of God that takes them from a dry seed to a full grown, healthy, fruit-bearing tree.

This is where humans then find themselves. Rather than simply inhabiting the same space but with the bad gone, they find that God is creating something more beautiful and perfect than could ever be imagined. He gives them a new heart, captures them from their kingdom of darkness and takes them as spoils of war back to his kingdom of light, enfolds them into his flock, clothes them with the very best of clothing, and makes them his bride.

As we interact with seekers or non-believers it is easy to offer a synthesized or systemitized version of the gospel, such as what I offered near the beginning. You are bad and in a bad place but God has done something amazing and if you simply respond to it everything will be made right. However, it is instructive to realize that the Bible rarely, if ever, offers the call to salvation in this way. Rather, God has communicated with us through story and metaphor which can be both more inviting, easier to connect with, and becomes more deeply implanted within the heart and mind. I can still remember the presentation of the gospel that touched my heart and led to a response. It was the Donut Man talking about how we each, like a donut, have a hole in our heart that can only be filled by Jesus. While this can seem corny and elementary, this metaphor did more to build faith in my elementary heart than any systematic, theological presentation ever could or would.

This causes me to stop and wonder how we could do more to present the gospel as a story. How can our churches paint a picture, perhaps literally, of what it means to be rescued from misery and brought into intimate relationship with God? This ought to be our highest goal.

Seminary Trip to Turkey

You may or may not know that Dana and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Turkey together as part of my seminary education.  We visited Istanbul (Constantinople) as well as the seven cities of the churches of Revelation and the island of Patmos, where John received the vision.  I was asked by Biblical Seminary to write a blurb about the trip for them to use (for promotional purposes).  I'm not sure if I gave them what they were looking for, but in the process of writing a short blurb for the trip I felt like I summarized what the trip meant for me in a way that was worth sharing here as well.

"Turkey was a transformational experience. Interacting with ancient human history, Old Testament biblical history, early church history, and the recent transition from Muslim to secular society all within the same space was sobering, enlightening, and challenging. Two things that stick with me from the trip are 1) sitting in a theater built in 450 B.C. thinking about the number of generations that had passed since that theater had been built and 2) hearing a Polish Franciscan priest tell stories of Muslims converting to Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox). I came back from the trip more convinced than ever that Jesus, God incarnate, rose from the dead and inaugurated a monumental shift in history which we now participate in. The trip encouraged me to listen to the Spirit more and seek Christian community both within my cohort at Biblical as well as in my church and community."

Dana and I could not have gone without the support of many friends and family (we raised $7000 in order to go together) and we truly appreciate having had this opportunity.  We saw the hand of God as we prepared for the trip and throughout our travels.  I'm sure it is not something we will quickly forget.

Setting Goals

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions.  I've found that many people make resolutions at the new year without putting much thought into it, only to break those resolutions within a few weeks and then never think about them again.  Instead I like to take time to evaluate and set goals that can be reevaluated at a later time and revised.  I think that there is a place for resolutions, but these are very serious things and not to be entered into lightly.  I think about Ecclesiastes 5:4-7:

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

So last year Dana and I thought about and set 5 and 10 year goals, but this year I wanted to focus our thoughts a little bit differently.   Rather than starting with what we would like to accomplish in 5-10 years, I devised some questions for us to consider individually about who we want to be (as individuals, a couple, and a family).  In a few weeks we will look over our responses and then reevaluate where we would like to be in 5 years (2020) and 10 years (2025), maintaining some of our goals from last year, adding more, or taking some away.

Since I took the time to write these guiding questions I thought I would share them here.  Feel free to use them as you evaluate your own life, who you are and who you would like to be.
First, I would encourage you to read something our previous pastor, from Christ Community Bible Church, sent out for the New Year as people think about goals and resolutions.

Personal Goals: Who do you want to be?  How do you want people to remember you?  Think of 5 character traits that you want to be defined by and prioritize them (most to least important). What do you want to do?  What impact do you want to have?  Think of 5 things that you do (or want to do) that define you as a person (who do you think of yourself as? Be specific: eg. a runner, a fisherman, a pray-er, a gardener, a reader, etc).  Is there anything that you want to change Physically/Mentally/Emotionally/Spiritually?

Family Goals:

How do you want to live as a family?  If someone were to write a description of your family, what would we want them to say?  Think of 5 descriptions that you would like your family to be known by (eg: busy, accomplished, efficient, loving, etc).

What is a family?  How do you live as a family?  How do you live NOT as a family?

Career Goals:

What does career mean to you?  What place do you see career having in your life?

What do you see yourself contributing to society?  How are you compensated for this (it does not need to be money)?

Is there something that you could see yourself doing that brings enough value to another person (or group of people) that they would be willing to compensate you for your efforts?

What do you create that is valuable?  What do you do that is valuable?

How have you seen God provide for your needs this past year?  Would you rather be defined by what you give or what you receive?  Are you willing to live with less in order to give more away (time/resources)?

Financial Goals:

What 5 items would you like to purchase/replace in the next 5 years?

What are 5 things that you currently spend money on that you could live without (or less of)?

Is it more important to give to those in need or save for your perceived future needs (medical, retirement, etc)?  Of the money that you make beyond your annual expenses, what percentage do you think you should give away and what percentage should you save for future perceived needs (not actual needs like a house, car, computer, etc, but needs that don’t currently exist like saving for a day when you can’t work or for things that could go wrong medically, etc)?  So an example would be saying that of your extra money you should set aside 80% for your future use and give away 20%.  Or perhaps you think you should set aside 30% for your future use and give away 70%.  How does Jesus’ parable speak into this?  How about these verses?

After you've taken the time to consider all of these questions and write them down, you can start to turn your dreams and desires into concrete goals and action steps.  Perhaps some of them will be important enough for you to commit to them as a resolution, perhaps others will be goals that will guide your planning throughout the year but may be cast aside or changed at some point in the future.  In any case, I hope and pray that by considering these things you will be drawn closer to God and desire to be made more in His image.

Adulthood: When Does it Start?

I wrote the following article for our church's newsletter.  I would welcome any feedback.

When does someone enter adulthood?  The obvious answer most would give is, “When they turn 18.”  Those who are a little more thoughtful, or consider their own life, may give a benchmark: When they graduate from high school, when they support themselves financially, when they get married, or for some even, when they have children.  Both fall short, though.  What about the person who never marries, are they not a true adult?  Or if a couple decides not to have children or are unable to have children, do they remain children themselves?  And on the other side, what about someone who, at sixteen years old, is working a full-time job in order to support their single parent and younger siblings: have they not entered adulthood simply because they haven’t reached some magical age?

I have come to see the transition to adulthood as just that: a transition, a process.  So if there isn’t a specific time that you “become an adult”, if adulthood isn’t measured by an age or a benchmark in life, then what is adulthood?  Why do we even differentiate between someone who is a “child” and someone who is an “adult”?  In the simplest terms, our society defines adulthood as the age when an individual can be held responsible for their actions.  So when you are 17 years and 364 days old, you are not responsible for a great number of possible actions.  In fact, not only are you not held responsible, but your parents can actually be held responsible for what you have done.  Rather than looking at it as a day, though, a moment in time, I would suggest that one enters adulthood when they begin making decisions that will affect the rest of their life.

Some may argue that this makes everyone an adult.  A 6 year old can make the decision to jump out of a window or not, and that decision will very well affect the rest of their life.  I would agree and even take it the step further to say, in that small area of their life that 6 year old has more responsibility, and is closer to adulthood, than an infant, who cannot make that decision.  In effect, I am defining adulthood as responsibility.  In our culture we recognize adulthood as a time when a person can be held responsible, so parents allow their child to live under their roof, adding no value to their own life or the lives of others, and then suddenly when that child turns 18 the parents expect them to hold a steady job, pay rent, and make life altering decisions.  But in reality, that “child” was already making life altering decisions, they just weren’t being held responsible.  And since they weren’t being held responsible, they didn’t feel responsible.

So adulthood is responsibility: making decisions that will affect the rest of your own or somebody else’s life.  But I would make a further distinction between adulthood and maturity.  Adulthood is when society allows you to make decisions that affect the rest of your life; maturity is when you realize that the decisions you make are affecting the rest of your life (and others’ lives).  So, the 25 year old who continues to live in their parents’ basement playing video games instead of trying to get a full-time, life supporting job has made a decision that will affect the rest of their life.  They have decided NOT to pursue a life-sustaining income.  However, they do not yet realize that by deciding not to act they are altering the outcome of their own and other’s lives, so they are an adult, but they are an immature adult.  And the 16 year old who takes everything seriously, tries their best at school, and thinks about where and who they want be in 10, 20, and 50 years but whose parents still control every decision that they make: not allowing them to get their driver’s license, choosing their college for them, and perhaps even pushing them into a career, is mature even though not being allowed to function as an adult.  In fact, it is possible to have mature children not functioning as adults because of immature adults who are parents.

Adulthood doesn’t entitle you to anything; in fact, it requires things of you (maturity, wisdom, and caring for those who can’t care for themselves).  Too often we’ve presented adulthood to our children as an age, a point in life, rather than teaching them how every decision they make has consequences.  We shouldn’t teach our children to be adults, we should teach them to be mature; and once we see maturity then they can be rewarded with the responsibilities (and privileges) of adulthood, even if only in some small area of their life.

Regret, Realism, and Hope

When I look back at my life, there are things that I wish I had done differently. I wish, when I was a preteen and read countless books a year, that I had been more interested in learning and read more non-fiction rather than fiction. I wish, when I was a teenager and making money with little to no financial responsibilities, that I had understood investing, finances, and compounding interest more fully. So how do I handle those experiences and my reflection on them? It seems to me that there are two common ways of dealing with past mistakes: we can learn from them and move forward with more confidence and wisdom, or we can wallow in them and live stuck in the past and full of regret.
Recently, I've been finding myself living more and more in that place of regret rather than learning, and today I began to realize that and consider why it was. As I followed the thought processes that went through my head, I realized something I was doing that led to a point of regret. When I considered alternative scenarios, had a made a decision different from the one I made, I only considered the good things that could have come from it. Also, when considering the effects of the decision I had made, I only considered the bad things that had come from it.
But the truth is, every decision that we make brings both good and bad. We are always faced with opportunities, and by the very nature of time we will take some of those opportunities and others we will leave behind. So I am going to work on being more realistic when thinking about where I am at, where I have been, where I will be, and where I could be.
Life will always contain good and bad, but ultimately what defines us is not our situation, but our relationship to our Father. We are not what we could be, but we are what He has made us to be; we are not where we should be, but we are where He wants us right now.
So, may you live out of a love for God, recognizing your faults and failures, not so that you beat yourself up and live in the past, regretful of what you have or have not done, but so that you can accept His love and forgiveness, turning from yourself and your sin, and running into the future that God is preparing for you in Christ Jesus. He is our hope and he is our salvation. Trust in him and you will never be disappointed.

Update: Life and Blogging

I haven't had any time to follow up on my Bible Study plan from the beginning of the year.  I still plan to do an in-depth study through Scripture on the nature of the atonement, but work and seminary have been keeping me pretty busy so far this year.

I always wrestle with what to post on this blog.  My original intention in starting this blog was for it to be a place for me to write things I was wrestling through as I got to know God and understand His mission, but since I now hold a position in a church where my ideas influence the beliefs and lives of others I recognize that it may not be wise to post everything I work through personally and theologically.  Sometimes the path of learning, especially when it comes to hearing and discerning the voice of the Spirit, can take us down some odd trails.

So rather than writing intellectual pondering only, which is what this blog has mostly been up until this point, I may throw in some personal/life updates as well.

I was asked recently where I saw God at work.  Here is how I responded:

God’s really been working on my heart as far as future direction in ministry. Nothing concrete, but wrestling through whether full-time “church work” is the direction I’m heading, or if bi-vocational ministry is more the direction. On Sunday morning I really felt God give me the affirmative that some of the ideas I've been toying with are from Him and not my own. Basically, my idea is to lead a church towards seeing themselves as a missionary outpost in the community rather than a program for their members, and in order to do that I feel that I should be working in the community some rather than spending 50-70 hours per week on “church” things.

Later I was talking with a friend who is really passionate for God but has been very inward-church focused. They told me that God has been completely changing their long-term vision and they're not even sure that they'll be working in a church in the future, but instead they're hoping to be a “community pastor”.

Add onto that, we’re heading towards a series on evangelism, and there have been at least 5 people in the past week who have been very vocal about a new/renewed desire to share the gospel in our local community.

Tell me that’s not all God at work!!

Psalm 62:1-8: A Paraphrase

I did this for youth group tonight and thought it might be worth sharing.  Tried to put Psalm 62:1-8 in words that we would use in everyday speech.  I found it to be moving...I hope you will too.

The only way I have peace inside is in God
He comes through for me.
He’s like a rock for me, I can count on Him;
He’s like a bomb shelter from life; nothing shakes me.

How long are you guys gonna come after me?
Are you trying to push me over –
because I’m already partially broken,
because I’m hurting and weak?

I’m sure they’re out to get me!
Trying to push me down!
They love to lie…
When they’re around me they say nice things,
but inside I know they hate me.

Yes, inside, I only find peace in God,
My belief in a better tomorrow is because of Him.
He is my rock, I can count on Him;
He’s like a bomb shelter from life, nothing shakes me.

You can trust in him for everything too!
Pour out your insides to Him, the things you hide from everyone else.
Because God is a refuge!

Studying the Scriptures: My Approach

I wrote the other day about my goal to read the entire Bible with this question in mind: How is it that Jesus has corrected the problem of sin thereby allowing rebellious people to turn in faith to God?  My goal is to develop an understanding of atonement, the nature of sin and salvation, based on the entirety of Scripture.  Since then I read a post from April 2012 where I suggested that there are two basic questions that the entire Bible is answering: Who is God? and What does He want with me?  While these two questions do not directly relate to the question of how God has accomplished salvation, it seems that they would be appropriate to consider as I read through the Bible asking the question about the nature of the atonement.

So this is how I will approach my goal:
Tuesday and Wednesday I will read a passage of Scripture and begin to reflect on these four questions:
     1) Who is God?
     2) What does He want with me?
     3) What is the nature of sin?
     4) What is the remedy for sin?
Thursday I will write my thoughts in relation to the first question: Who is God?
Saturday or Sunday I will write in relation to the second question: What does He want with me?
Monday I will write in relation to the last two questions: What is the nature of sin? and What is the remedy for sin?

In approaching it in this way I hope to give a full week of thought to each passage before writing my conclusions on what it says about atonement.  Hopefully asking all four questions rather than just the last two will also make the whole exercise more fruitful.

What is Salvation? The beginning of a daunting task

Assuming that a person believes that Jesus is God in the flesh and has committed their life to following Him, it seems that the most important question relating to matters of faith becomes: How is it that Jesus has corrected the problem of sin thereby allowing rebellious people to turn in faith to God?

I recently wrote a five-page biblical plotline paper, and as I tried to strip away everything that is periphery to the Christian faith and consider what constitutes the basic storyline of the Bible, I realized that it is the answer to this very question; so it follows that the way you answer this question will effect the way you read the entirety of Scripture and understand every facet of the Christian faith.

These are not new thoughts, two years ago I began reading the book "Four Views on the Atonement" which centers on this very question, but I have once again realized how important it is for Christians to understand how sin is conquered and communion with God made possible (my basic definition of "atonement").  Not only does this affect how we read and understand Scripture, it has an inestimable impact on how we live each day in a broken world, how we worship the Almighty Creator, and how we approach sharing our faith with those around us.  This question of the atonement, the nature of sin and salvation, is of utmost importance.

So, I have decided to dedicate a series of blogposts to this topic.  I realize from the start that I am biting off more than I can chew, but I will set out to chew it anyways.  My goal is to take a passage of Scripture each week (some weeks that may be 5 verses, other weeks it may be 5 chapters) and consider what implications it has for our understanding of atonement, starting in Genesis and going through Revelation.  There are 1189 chapters in the Bible and 52 weeks in a year, so if I am actually faithful in doing these every week and if I average a chapter each week, it will only take 23 years to complete.  As I said, I'm biting off more than I can chew, but chew I will.

If you've read this blog for any length of time you may realize that, while I am dedicated to thinking and writing, I am not consistent.  I started this blog in order to have a place to write my thoughts about God and life as I walk in faith with Jesus.  There have been times with many thoughts and much writing and times with little thought and no writing.  While I will be writing my findings as I search the Scriptures concerning the atonement, this is ultimately a personal goal to continue to grow in my faith and relationship with God.

May we be near God always, as He is near to us.

Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 2:2-3:3

This was another thought assignment for my Biblical Interpretation class, although I think many of you will find this one much more interesting.  It is based upon 1 Corinthians 2:2-3:3 as well as some specific questions provided by my professor.  Since what I wrote assumes general knowledge of the passage, it may be helpful to read it before continuing to read this post.

We find from 1 Corinthians 2:2-3:3 that when a believer finds sin in their life the only appropriate response is to turn and seek God with all their heart; when they do they will learn that there is always more to find, discover, and love.

Paul begins by stating in very stark terms that the only way we can understand God or the things of God is through the Spirit of God.  There are echoes of Isaiah 55:8-11 where God says that His thoughts are greater than the thoughts of man and then calls people to abandon their own thoughts in order to embrace His.  Paul goes on to contrast the spiritual person, who learns the thoughts of God directly from the Spirit of God, and the carnal person, who cannot understand the wisdom of God but instead hears it as foolishness.  This is a common theme in Scripture that is often forgotten in the modern church.  John tells the disciples in his first epistle that they have no need for any man to teach them because the anointing they received would teach them all things (1 John 2:27).  This seems to be repeating the explanation Jesus gives for the Spirit’s coming in John 16:13 and follows the same themes as James 1:1-8 and Peter’s interpretation of Joel 2:28-29.

If it is only through the Spirit that we learn anything of God, then the only conceivable posture for a Christian, whether a spiritually immature Corinthian believer or Paul himself, is on their knees begging God to reveal Himself.  Once a person understands that they know nothing except for what they have received, it will constantly drive them to God to receive.  This is in line with the common teaching of the New Testament (and indeed the whole Bible) that God is looking for those who will seek Him (Matt 7:7-8, Heb 11:6, Deut 4:29, Is 55:6-7, as a few instances).  Within the context of 1 Corinthians, this concept is further developed in chapter 8 when Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God.”  Clearly, this refers to Paul as much as it refers to the Corinthian believers.  Thus, Paul’s statements regarding the differences between those taught by the Spirit and those who are carnal, worldly, and receive the wisdom as God as foolishness, which could sound pompous, proud, and judgemental (and have often been used by others in such a way), are actually a humble appeal from Paul for those in conflict in Corinth to seek God and the wisdom that He gives.

In the midst of Greek logic and Jewish naturalism, Paul declares that truth comes in neither form.  For Paul, Truth (YHWH) cannot be known through observation or study, rather, He is known when He makes Himself known.  When Paul speaks of spiritual words to spiritual men he is not saying that they are using different words to communicate the gospel, as in a new language or lingo, rather, the spirit (Spirit) behind the words is different, and thus he calls them spiritual words that are communicating spiritual truths to spiritual people.  The reason this can be said at all is because it is not the words that are communicating, but rather the Spirit of God through those words and the people speaking the words (vs 11).  The Spirit must act to reveal God to an individual before that individual can comprehend anything of God.  In this context Paul is showing that this can take place in multiple ways, specifically through the preached word or directly through the teaching of the Spirit.  However, Paul never addresses HOW the Spirit communicates with these “spiritual men”, so the only solid conclusion that we can draw is that there are those capable of receiving from the Spirit and those who are not capable.

Paul then goes on to speak of the carnal man in the beginning of chapter 3.  The carnal man is the one who has not received the Spirit or the words of the Spirit.  He is the one who is a “mere man” and is prone to quarrels, false judgements, and dissension.  There seems to be a dilemma here because Paul refers to the Corinthians as “infants in Christ” while also maintaining that they are “carnal”.  How can this be?  Since we have established that the one who has received the Spirit is spiritually minded and the one who has not received the spirit is fleshly, how can Paul say that they are fleshly but also call them “infants in Christ”?  It would seem that Paul himself is unwilling to completely cast them aside as carnal.  He states it in terms of his own predicament; looking on at them from the outside it appears that they are carnal and not spiritual in any way, but he trusts that they are infants in Christ which is the only reason he still appeals to them as “brothers” at all.  And so he leaves them with a question, “...since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?”  Paul is not yet prepared to make this judgement, so he provides the evidence and asks them to make the judgement themselves.  Based on their actions, Paul is calling the Corinthian church out.  He is saying, in effect, “You know not God nor the things of God.  Your actions betray you.”  And they have no choice but to recognize that what he says is the truth.  Beyond that, Paul is saying to them that he was already aware of it and would have pointed it out to them but their own pride restricted him from doing so.  Conflict was necessary for the real spiritual issues to surface and to allow Paul to address them.

Paul’s warnings here to the Corinthians, as well as his words in Romans 8, show that he considered it impossible to behold God and remain unchanged.  The man who has the Spirit is being consistently given greater revelations of God through the face of Jesus (2 Cor 3:7-18) and is being transformed from one degree of glory to another.  The test as to whether one has received from the Spirit of God is their life, and the warning is to those who think they stand (1 Cor 10:1-13) because the moment one takes their eyes off of Jesus they have already begun to fall, just as Peter began to sink as he walked out to meet Jesus on the sea (Matt 14:22-33).  Like Peter, the only proper response of a spiritual person upon realizing they are falling, is to cry out to God to save them.  In neither context does Paul seem to be suggesting that one ought measure their spirituality against another, rather, he is suggesting that when that person finds areas of weakness they ought to turn but back to Jesus to be refilled, once again, with His Spirit.  Both in 1 Corinthians 2 and Romans 8 Paul is clearly stating that true spiritual transformation will always result in life transformation.  The purpose is not to identify who is spiritual and who is not, but rather to question if I am spiritual or not!

And so, the main thrust of 1 Corinthians 2:2-3:3 is an encouragement for believers in conflict to consider whether they have truly received the words of the Spirit and whether they are living transformed lives.  Whenever a believer sees sin in their heart or life it should cause them to once again fall at the feet of their Savior seeking His Spirit to fill and renew them.

Doctrine of Scripture

This was a "thought assignment" for my Biblical Interpretation class at Biblical Theological Seminary, but I thought some of you might appreciate it as well.

                                                     The Bible’s Teaching on Inspiration

Instructions: On a separate sheet of paper, list what implications the following Scripture passages have for the “doctrine of Scripture.” List as many as you can. Be as specific as you can.

Deuteronomy 18:18-22

·         In context: Because of the request of the people at Horeb to not hear the voice of the Lord but for Moses, instead, to speak for Him, Moses says that God will continue to raise up prophets to speak for Himself.  But Jesus is the final prophet, and now the Word of God is placed into every believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit.  We now, through Jesus, can gaze upon the glory of God and hear from God directly.

·         vs 19 – God speaks through the prophet, but it is still God himself speaking “I myself will call him who does not listen to the prophet to account”

·         God speaking through other means in no way diminishes His Word

Jeremiah 1:4-9

·         These verses could seem to imply that God ordained Jeremiah to speak for Him, placing His “words” in Jeremiah’s mouth so that whatever Jeremiah spoke, God spoke.

o   vs 12 The very next thing God says to Jeremiah is that He is watching to ensure that His word is fulfilled

o   Throughout the book Jeremiah continually says , “The word of the Lord came to me” and during his prophecies seems to interlace “declares the Lord” more often than most.  It would appear that Jeremiah was still very clear as to when God was speaking to (and through) him and when he alone was speaking.

·          

Num. 22:38, 23:5, 12, 16

·         Are Abraham’s descendents God’s only people?  If so I am in trouble, as I am not Jewish.  Balaam reminds us that “the eyes of YHWH roam to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  Our faith is not in Abraham, our faith is in Jesus.

·         I do not understand how this passage has anything to do with the inspiration of Scripture.  Yes, God has spoken through those outside of Judaism, but He has chosen to reveal Himself in certain specific ways through  the line of Abraham (and David).

2 Sam. 23:1-3; Matt. 22:43; Acts 1:16

·         The Spirit of the Lord can, and at times does, inspire people to speak for Him.

·         Jesus and Peter both understood the Old Testament (or at least the words of David) to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.

·         The Holy Spirit was the one speaking, but He was using David as a mouthpiece.  It is fairly specific, though, that the Holy Spirit was the one speaking.

·         Peter uses the test of Deut 18 for Scripture itself.  It must come true.

1 Ki. 17:24

·         This seems to say more about the woman than about Elijah speaking God’s Word.

·         Interesting parallel to Jesus and His miracles.  They were signs that He was speaking the words of God.

2 Chron. 35:22 (?)

·         God is sovereign over everything, He is all-powerful and all-controlling.  Is there ever a time, event, or person through whom God is not speaking?

·         Is this specific revelation or general revelation?  Necho is speaking at God’s command; does that mean he is speaking God’s words?

2 Chron. 36:12, 21-22

·         In order to fulfill the word He spoke through Jeremiah, God moved Cyrus to speak :)

Nehemiah 9:20, 30; Ezra 1:1

·         Same as 2 Chron 36

Isaiah 51:16, 59:21

·         It is the Spirit that empowers Isaiah to speak

·         God can place His Spirit on whomever He pleases

Ezek. 3:27

·         God controls how and when His Word is spoken

Zech. 7:12

·         God speaks through prophets by His Spirit

2 Tim. 3:16

·         We can KNOW that God has spoken in Scripture

2 Pet. 1:19-21

·         We can be assured that God spoke through the prophets in Scripture

·         We are not to treat Scripture as the words of mean speaking for God, rather, we are to regard it as God Himself speaking.

           Also: Exodus 4:10-16

·      God says, “I will help BOTH of you speak”

·      Moses is giving Aaron the thoughts and ideas of God, Aaron is communicating those thoughts and ideas to the people, but in the end it is God who is speaking.

·      vs 11 – Should it surprise us that the one who created human mouths is able to communicate through them?

1)  At many times and in many ways God has spoken.  At many times and in many ways people have presumed to be speaking for God when they assuredly were NOT.  Hence, the value of Scripture is that it is undeniably God’s Word.

2)  When God speaks through people, we are to regard their words as God’s words.  Thus, we ought to regard every word of Scripture as the Word of God

3)  God has spoken through broken vessels many times, even through Moses’ bumbling speech.  Thus, when the process of transcription and translation has contained errors, we can still consider Scripture the undeniable Word of God.

4)  Scripture as we have it today is not without errors, but we should not question whether this or that section is the words of men or the Word of God.  God is clear that He uses His Spirit to inspire men to communicate on His behalf.

5)  We should not expect that Scripture is the ONLY way that God gives special revelation since He has placed His Spirit on people many times throughout history to speak for Him.  However, since Scripture is undeniably special revelation, any future revelation must stand up to the test of Scripture.

Reading Scripture: Is simply reading enough or should we expect more?

At the end of September and beginning of October I posted these two quotes from "God on Fire" by Fred A. Hartley on Facebook.

There is nothing more wearisome, pointless, or boring than trying to carry out church life without the fire of God's presence.
 
Any religious experience that does not lead us to an encounter with the fire of God's manifest presence is a big ripoff. A fruitless vine. A rainless cloud. An idol. It promises great things and yet leaves us empty.

To me, they seemed to echo themes of Scripture:

These people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me

is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Isaiah 29:13 - quoted by Jesus in Matt. 15:8-9

This states that it is possible to worship ("carry out church life" as Fred A. Hartley says) without truly encountering God.

Even to this day when Moses [Scripture] is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. - 2 Cor. 3:15-16

Here Paul states that the Jews read and heard Scripture without truly encountering God in all of His glory.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:12-13

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, his is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him...If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:21, 23

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

These three Scriptures all suggest that there are those who call themselves "the people of God" who have not actually "found God", "been shown Jesus", or "eaten with Him".

- - - - -

Quite unexpectedly to me, the posts from "God on Fire" were met with quite a discussion regarding the nature of Scripture and what we ought to expect when we seek God.  The heart of the discussion seemed to revolve around the question: Is reading Scripture an encounter with God, or is it possible to read Scripture and not have encountered God?  I would affirm that Scripture is, in fact, the words of God, it is God-breathed, and so, in that sense, when one reads Scripture they have heard from God.  However, I would also suggest that, as one can read a letter that a person has written without ever meeting or knowing the person, so it is possible to listen to God speak through Scripture without ever meeting or encountering God, without ever truly hearing God.  The difference is not in the nature of Scripture, as God's words, or in the nature of the experience: an exciting, emotional, supernatural encounter should not be expected; rather, the difference is in the heart of the reader (worshiper, seeker).

I am currently in a course at Biblical Seminary on Biblical Interpretation, which has once again brought this topic to the forefront of my mind.  After a month and a half of contemplation I still was not any closer to a conclusion on the topic.  I knew that I agreed in essence with the argument others were presenting on Facebook: affirming Scripture as the words of God and not requiring some secondhand experience with an "inner light" or emotional experience apart from Scripture.  I knew I also agreed with Fred A. Hartley: simply reading the Bible, praying, and attending services of worship does not necessitate an encounter with God; there are those who worship, but not in spirit and truth; there are those who approach God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him; there are those who seek God, but not with all their hearts.

Today I was reading "Eat This Book" by Eugene Peterson and he said something that brought clarity to my thoughts on this.

"The primary organ for receiving God's revelation is not the eye that sees but the ear that hears - which means that all of our reading of Scripture must develop into a hearing of the word of God."  "Language is essentially oral.  We learn our language not from a book, not from a person writing words, but from a person speaking them.  The written word has the potential to resurrect the speaking voice and listening ear, but it does not insist upon it.  The word can just sit there on the page and be analyzed or admired or ignored.  Just because we have read doesn't mean we have heard it."

And so, these are my conclusions:

1) It is possible to read the words of Scripture without receiving the person of Jesus.  This was true of the people of God in the past: the Jews of Isaiah and Jeremiah's day, the Pharisees of Jesus' day, and the Christians in Laodicea.

2) We ought not to expect some mystical or emotional experience when seeking God.  The fire of God's manifest presence, being filled with the Holy Spirit, is not evidenced by radical moments but by radical lives.  We are not seeking an experience, we are seeking God!

3) Any reading of Scripture that does not come from a heart of seeking God results in listening to the words without hearing The Word.  Hearing The Word will always result in living the words.  Evidence of an encounter with God is transformation; therefore, "church life" and "religious experience" that does not lead to change and transformation has not moved from the realm of human activity to a true divine encounter.

Therefore, I would say that it IS possible to read Scripture without encountering the fire of God's manifest presence.

May we be those who hear and obey.  May we be those who seek with all our hearts.  May we be those who love God and are known by Him.  May we encounter the fire of the manifest presence of the living God.

New Creation: Faith Expressing Itself Through Love

Friday was difficult.  I made some poor choices and found myself feeling guilty, ashamed, and childish.  As I talked to God about it I found myself asking, "What are you doing Lord?  I've tried everything to fix myself.  I've tried changing my environment; I've tried changing my thoughts; I've tried changing my habits; but I just keep finding myself making stupid choices.  What does it mean that you've created me anew, because let me tell you, I sure don't feel like I am.  And how do I live as this new creation?  What does it look like?"
When Paul says in Romans 7 that he does what he does not want to do he ends with "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"  But what about when we're stuck in the wretchedness of the flesh and deliverance seems nowhere to be found?  What do we do?  How do we walk?  What does it mean, in that moment, that we are a new creature?  These are the questions I was asking God.  And I came right out and said, "I've come to the end of myself.  I just don't know how to continue walking this walk.  It seems like everything I try fails."  And I left it at that in His hands.
And the funny thing is, if there's one thing I've learned about God over my life it is that when you honestly ask a question He answers.  And so the topic of our sermon this morning was new creation.  And as we looked at Galatians 6:15 which reads (in the 1984 NIV) "The only thing that counts is new creation" my eye was drawn back to chapter 5 verse 6 which says "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Now these verses are not referencing each other and I don't think we can take it as a direct comparison statement in which Paul is specifically stating that new creation and faith expressing itself through love are equivalents, but at the same time, as I looked these verses over, I felt that in a very real sense we can understand and describe the new creation in this way.  What does it mean that we have been created anew?  It means that we have faith in God, we have faith that He is redeeming us, we have faith that he has and is delivering us from this body of death, even when it doesn't look like it.  And because of this faith, we are able to live out of love, we are able to leave guilt and shame behind and instead operate out of the grace and beauty that we have received in Christ.

And I sat there amazed at how quickly and concisely God chose to answer my direct question to Him.  We serve a great God who "is delivering" us.  Trust Him.

Intimacy with God

I woke up around 4:30 this morning and rolled around restlessly in bed until 5.  Dana warned me multiple times that if I kept moving about I was going to "get the boot".  I finally got up and ate something; I never really had dinner last night so my stomach felt hollow.  Then I headed back to bed.  As I lay there I thought, "Why are you laying here trying to sleep when you know you're going to wake up in two hours more tired and you've been looking for time to pray?  Maybe this is God's way of giving you time with Him."
So, I lay there and fought with myself for a few minutes and finally told myself I was being ridiculous and got up.  Its funny how, when we haven't been regularly taking it, time alone with God can seem like such a chore.  Honestly, it seems like most days anymore I forget how much I need God and how sweet He is.  Father, how I need you!  How I love you!  How I want you!  You are sweeter than any other thing, more present than the world around, but so often my eyes are squeezed so tightly shut that you seem a million miles away.
So, I got up and took a walk.  Prayer is a funny thing, I find it has a lot more to do with creating space to be alone with God than with saying or doing anything specific.  I just enjoyed the beautiful morning with God.  After my walk I watered my garden and then made some coffee and sat out on our "porch" in a light rain.  When it wasn't raining I read "A Praying Life" by Paul Miller, and when it started raining enough to wet the page I would lay the book down and take it as God's cue to just enjoy Him.  So I sat for an hour moving between reading and "praying" and was reminded how important these times are.
So, here's some little nuggets from Paul Miller about prayer which stood out even more to me given the context of the morning.

"Besides asking and believing like a child, learning to pray involves learning to play again.  How do little children play?  If you ask a parent how long a one-year-old stays on task, they'll just smile.  But if you must know, it varies anywhere from three seconds to three minutes.  It isn't long, nor is it particularly organized.  How can that teach us to pray?  Think for a minute.  How do we structure our adult conversations?  We don't.  Especially when talking with old friends, the conversation bounces from subject to subject.  It has a fun, meandering, play-like quality.  Why would our prayer time be any different?  After all, God is a person."

"Jesus is, without question, the most dependent human being who ever lived...When Jesus tells us to believe, he isn't asking us to work up some spiritual energy.  He is telling us to realize that, like him, we don't have the resources to do life.  When you know that you (like Jesus) can't do life on your own, then prayer makes complete sense.  But it goes even deeper than that.  Jesus defines himself only in relationship with his heavenly Father.  Adam and Eve began their quest for self-identity after the Fall.  Only after they acted independently of God did they have a sense of a separate self.  Because Jesus has no separate sense of self, he has no identity crisis, no angst.  Consequently, he doesn't try to "find himself."  He knows himself only in relationship with his Father.  He can't conceive of himself outside that relationship...That's why contemplating the terror of the cross at Gethsemane was such agony for Jesus.  He had never experienced a moment when he wasn't in communion with his Father.  Jesus' anguish is our normal."

May you take time today to be alone with your Father.  Ask Him for things, tell Him things, just be silent with Him.  And may you find the intimacy that we all crave and desire deep within our souls.  May you find rest, peace, hope, and joy.  And overall, may you experience the love of God washing over your heart, soul, and mind, cleansing you of sin and filling you with His presence.

Approaching God as Pilgrims and Disciples Rather than Tourists

I've been wanting to read "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" by Eugene Peterson for a while now.  Today I finally picked it up and started, and only two pages into the first chapter I have something I want to share.  I hope you enjoy this analogy as much as I do; may it encourage you to a life of faith and love for God.

There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.
Religion in our time has been captured by the tourist mindset.  Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure.

...

Everyone is in a hurry.  The persons whom I lead in worship, among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach and teach, want shortcuts.  They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity).  They are impatient for results.  They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points.  But a pastor is not a tour guide!

...

For recognizing and resisting the stream of the world's ways there are two biblical designations for people of faith that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim.  Disciple says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ.  We are in a growing-learning relationship, always.  A disciple is a learner, but not in the academic setting of a schoolroom, rather at the work site of a craftsman.  We do not acquire information about God but skills in faith.
Pilgrim tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace, going to God, and whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ.  We realize that "this world is not my home" and set out for "the Father's house."  Abraham, who "went out," is our archetype.  Jesus, answering Thomas's question "Master, we have no idea where you're going.  How do you expect us to know the road?"  gives us directions: "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life.  No one gets to the Father apart from me" (Jn 14:5-6).  The letter to the Hebrews defines our program: "Do you see what this means - all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we'd better get on with it.  Strip down, start running - and never quit!  No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in"  (Heb 12:1-2)

May we not approach religion as tourists, looking to see the sites for a day here, a month there, in between the regular duties and responsibilities of life.  Rather, may our religion, our experience of God, be our life; may it inform everything we do, say, and think.  Let's not give God a day to transform us, let's give him our lives.

Oh, For a Closer Walk with God

I came across this hymn today in planning for next Sunday's service, and the words struck home in my heart.

Oh, for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb! 

Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word? 

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed, how sweet their memory still.
But they have left an aching void the world can never fill. 

Return, O holy Dove, return, sweet Messenger of rest.
I hate the sins that made thee mourn, and drove thee from my breast. 

The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee. 

So shall my walk be close to God, calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.

We all have moments when we feel distant from God.  Sometimes it seems God has moved far away, and sometimes it seems we have.  When we feel that way, when we feel empty, alone, or with less of God than we've had, this needs to be our prayer, "Help me tear [my idols] from your throne, and worship only you."  There are always things that we make more important than God, but these moments of emptiness, these times when we are confronted with the coldness of the world and the darkness we live in apart from the Spirit of God, these are opportunities to fall more in love with God, not less.  These are times when we learn faithfulness and joy, not because of our circumstances but because of truth.

The truth is that God loves us.  The truth is that God has made a way for us to live in communion with Him.  The truth is that God has brought peace for us and our world.  The truth is that, no matter how we feel, we ought to live lives of peace and love once we know these things.  And the truth is that, if we continue walking and living in accordance with God's word and will and continue to seek Him in all that we do, we will find Him, we will see Him, and we will know Him.

Oh, for a closer walk with God.

Where Do You Go To Pray?

I posted this to facebook back in December on a Sunday morning.  I thought it was worth reposting here.

Went to Walmart this morning around 6 before coming to church and I had the thought "Now THIS is America's temple." What would it look like if we would "Every day meet together in the temple courts, devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Many of us go to Walmart multiple times each week anyways, why not coordinate our trips and take 15-20 minutes to pray together, share what God's teaching us through His Word, and simply be in fellowship. Perhaps we aren't seeing God "add those to our number who are being saved" because we are hiding in our churches rather than meeting in the temple courts.