Calming the Storms of Life—Mark 4:35-41
There has been a lot of storms in the last few weeks—not everyone has recovered from them. Many people went to work one morning and didn’t have a home to go to at the end of the day.
It reminded me of the theme song to Gilligan’s Island talks about a group of people taking a Three Hour Tour—a short boat ride around Hawaii, when the weather started getting rough. They ended up stranded for several seasons.
We can be sailing along with everything going great, and all of a sudden, a storm hits that can shipwreck our life, or at least throw us off course.
Have you ever experienced storms in your life? Those times where things just didn’t make sense. Times where your problems seemed so big and your faith seemed so small. Times where you felt so swamped and so afraid that you were going to be taken over by the storm.
Turn to Mark 4:35
After a long day of teaching crowds on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asks to be taken to the other side of the lake. The disciples obey his directions, as do several other boats.
Did Jesus know the storm was coming? And He asked them to get out on the lake anyway? He must be doing it on purpose.
Along the way, He decides to rest and sleep, yes He’s physically tired, but I believe He also wants to see how they will respond.
During this time, when the Disciples have a few moments “to themselves” a storm erupts which they cannot control. It is beyond their power to do anything about it despite the fact that they are experienced boatmen. Nothing in their experience could save them from the power of the storm.
It seems as if they tried to do everything they could before going to Jesus. We’ll let Jesus sleep and try to take care of this ourselves. “Let’s not bother Him. It’s not that big of a deal. I/We can handle this.”
Too often, when the storms of life come, the last place we turn for help is Jesus. We only go to Him after we’ve tried all we can. “We’re all going to die!!” Jesus, if you just get us out of this I’ll do anything you want.
1. The Normal Life
a. The disciples weren’t really all that different from us. They had lives, families, jobs. They had friends, hardships and joys. And then the met Jesus and He began changing their life.
b. Understand, up to this point, it had been fairly easy for the disciples to follow Jesus. He called, they followed—Jesus was still growing in popularity—people liked Him.
c. They listened to what Jesus said as He spoke and taught. They had watched Jesus heal people. They had witnessed Him raising the dead. They had seen Him cast out demons, and do other mighty works in the context of that preaching and teaching.
d. But all this activity never really required anything of them until Jesus said, "Let us cross over to the other side." Those men had no idea what was coming next. Their faith had to move up to the next level. These men had to cross over in their hearts from having control over their own lives to placing their lives into the hands of Almighty God.
e. Being a disciple was going to get harder to the point that their lives were in danger. And Jesus was leading them to that point. Following God’s directions, His will for your life is not a guarantee of Safety & or Prosperity.
f. Our walk with Jesus is NOT going to be all sunshine and rainbows. And there are times for that—necessary times of green pastures and still waters—so your soul can be refreshed.
g. But so many times when our lives are going along good and easy, we rely more on ourselves than we do God. We pretend that life is going to continue on like this—we become content, comfortable and complacent.
h. The Normal Life is often a great danger to the life of Faith.
i. If you were here one Sunday night last month, we went over Psalm 23. According to that Psalm, we are not designed to stay in the green pastures and by the still waters—those moments are Pit Stops on the Paths of Righteousness that our Shepherd wants to take us on. And in many cases, those paths of righteousness lead us directly into the Valley of the Shadow of Death—where our very lives are on the line.
j. God upsets our Normal Life so we can Live the Life of Faith.
2. Storms Hit us Unexpectedly & Shake our Complacency
a. This passage talks about a “furious squall” hitting them. That was life on the Sea of Galilee, the mountains all around, the cool Mediterranean Sea, with the hot deserts caused storms to hit hard and fast. They are unexpected and even the experts can get caught in them.
b. Life throws a lot of curves. Many of which are beyond our control or ability. Despite all our skills, and experience, we are often unable to deal with the problems of life.
c. And God wants you to know that. He doesn’t want you to forget that you need Him. Wants you to look to Him—wants you to Walk by Faith & Not by Sight--
There are various types of storms in life.
• Literal Storms – we’ve seen this recently—the power is knocked out, the house is damaged, the house and property is destroyed. Your normal life is suddenly altered.
• Situational storms. This is when circumstances seem to plot against you and everything seems to go wrong at once. Murphy’s law is in full force.
Financial Storms Health Storms
• Relational storms. These are when you have tension between people. When a relationship is strained to the breaking point - parent and child, husband and wife, friends. These are the cause of many storms in life.
• Emotional storms. These are often hidden under the surface. We have a nice smile, but inside we’re seething and boiling in distress. People pass us by without realizing that a storm is raging within. You might become Paralyzed by fear. Overcome by guilt. Raging with anger. Consumed with worry or jealousy.
One or more of these storms might describe you this morning. The Bible says three things about the storms of life that I want to discuss before we continue.
• Storms in life are inevitable. Everyone will experience them. If you’re not in a storm right now, just wait. You will be in a storm. They are a part of life. In James 1:2 it says "When you face trials..." It does not say “If you face trials.” So you can Count on it!
• Storms are unpredictable. They come suddenly. They come unexpectedly. They are unpredictable. Matthew’s account uses the word “suddenly” that, "Without warning a furious storm came up". Try as we may, we cannot predict the things that will happen to us. None of us can predict when a simple test at the doctor’s office can bring life-changing news. We experience storms that are very short and ones that last for weeks, months, even years. They are unpredictable.
• Storms are impartial. They happen to good people, they happen to bad people. They happen to believers, they happen to unbelievers. They happen to all of us. Matthew 5:45 says, "He sends the rain on the just and the unjust." Being a Christian does not exempt us from being in storms.
• In many cases, Storms are Intentional
There is a misconception that people have, that the only time they have tough times is when they’re disobeying God. Sometimes that’s true… bad choices have consequences.
But it’s not always true.
In the passage we’re looking at today, Did the disciples get into a storm because Obeyed or Disobeyed Jesus? They were in the center of His will. And they were right in the middle of a storm. When you’re going through a tough time, don’t automatically assume, “I must be out of the will of God.” You may be exactly where God wants you to be
3. Jesus challenged the Disciples in an area of strength. How many of these disciples were fishermen used to working the Sea of Galilee? Many of them were skilled boatmen.
4. Unfortunately, just like the disciples, we often try to fix everything ourselves first, we try everything we can think of to solve the problem. We rely on our own abilities. Most of the time such efforts only bring anxiety and worry.
a. The message that Jesus presents to us in this Gospel account today is borne out in a recent stress management survey. Experts say that only 2 % of our "worrying time" is spent on things that might actually be helped by worrying. The other
98% of our "worrying time" is spent as follows:
40% is spent worrying about things that never happen
35% is spent worrying about things that can not be changed
15% is spent worrying about things that turn out better than expected
8% is spent worrying about things that are so petty that they don’t matter at all.
b. While we are trying to solve all the problems ourselves we like to carry Jesus with us without making Him an active part. We let Him sleep while we do all the work ourselves. We know Jesus is there “sleeping” waiting to be called upon but we do not until we know we can’t handle the storm.
c. As a last resort we go to God and we ask Him to help us. Sadly however, we often come with an attitude that the Disciples had… “Don’t you care if we drown?” “Aren’t you paying attention God, don’t you care what happens to me? Why haven’t you taken care of this already?” We act surprised and hurt by the fact that God hasn’t fixed everything for us already. We cry out and blame God for all that is going wrong. “Do something, ANYTHING” we complain.
This attitude is wrong. This is the Normalcy Jesus wants to Shake us from! God is waiting for the opportunity, waiting for us to do things His way and in ways that will glorify His name.
5. Step out of the Normal Life into the Life of Power
a. When we go to Jesus, we can witness Amazing things!
b. He had the authority to rebuke the storm and tell it to be quiet. Lot’s of people have tried to pit their wills against the forces of nature and we’ve considered them foolish. Not this time.
c. The storm obeyed Him. As the words came out of Jesus’ mouth, the “winds died down and it was completely calm”.
d. Storms may be short term or long lived, but they respond to the command of God. This demonstrates that…
e. All situations are under His control. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Even the created world was under His authority. He restores peace and calmness. This is the hard thing for us to understand…
f. Sometimes we cry out to God and the storms do not disappear. God, we know You can do it, so why aren’t you?
But let me tell you with absolute truth….
g. Whether or not the storms disappear, He is still in control. He is more than enough of what you need.
h. In all these things that He does and allows—the intent of all of it is to draw you closer to Him and grow your Trust & Reliance on Him.
i. Perseverance means nothing if it has never been put through a trial. People endure and persevere through hardship—when someone says, “I persevered when I was captured in Vietnam and made it through my time as a Prisoner of War”—we know that means something.
When they say, “I persevered my trip to Disneyland”—we know that—for the most part—that’s a joke.
The normal life is not always the Friend of the Life of Faith.
j. It’s the unexpected, the disruptions, the storms that reveal our faith and our character.
k. Why does it take a crisis to get us to keep our faith in the forefront?
l. Why do we repeatedly exhaust ourselves, thinking we have the power to Control our Lives? To overcome the Storms of Life? That if we can just work harder, we can do it ourselves?
m. He Promises to be Faithful in our hardships—gives peace to each of us in spite of our troubles. Do not let your hearts be troubled… cast all your cares upon Him… take my yoke upon you…
n. The peace of God can transcend all understanding, all circumstances, all storms. The winds may be blowing around you, the rain may be falling, the floodwaters rising. You may feel that you are in the deepest, darkest valley away from God. But in reality, that is when He is closest—it may not always feel that way, but it is true.
But you cannot escape Him. LYRICS—Valleys Fill First
This is the valley that i'm walking through
And if fells like forever since
I've been close to you
My friends up above me don't
understand why i struggle like i do
My shadow's my only,only companion
and at night he leaves too
Down in the valley, dying of thirst
Down in the valley, it seems that i'm at my worst
My consolation is that you baptize this earth
When I'm down in the valley, valleys fill first
6. Questioning the Disciples
a. When Jesus comes and brings peace, He usually has some questions for us. As I said earlier, the disciples needed to be taken to the other side, they needed to move their understanding of Christ to the next level—to get their life out of the Normal and into the Supernatural. Changing how they know Jesus and Who they think He is
b. Their understanding of Jesus had to get bigger than the storm. Our understanding needs to Grow!
We need to change From seeing Him as a powerful teacher and healer, to one who is truly God Incarnate, One into whose hands we can trust our everyday, normal life and our Storms.
c. Jesus asks you and me the same questions that He asks them. Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Do you not really trust me? Do you not really know who I AM?
d. After all that you have seen in me, all that we have been through, do you still not believe that I AM the one in control?
e. When we go through storms, do you know what He so often asks us?
What took you so long to come to me? Why am I your last resort?
f. Come to me first, and let me give you rest, then, though the storm is raging, the winds will be calm and still in your heart and mind.
g. Peace in the Storm , Strength to endure it…is just as big a miracle as Calming the Storm.
h. In each case… we are often surprised. We respond with awe to who Jesus really is—Terrified—Who is this? We always seem to be amazed when God does something. Each time, we come back and say, “I don’t believe what just happened”. The “Mountains often look so big, but [our] faith just seems so small”. If you truly have faith in an awesome God, we can rejoice at His miracles without being surprised by them.
7. He wants us to come to Him, He wants to calm the storms in our lives. He may do it on the outside—changing the situation, He may only do it on the inside—calming your heart while the wind continues blowing.
• Both are miracles.
8. Jesus wants to move you out of Normal—it causes you to seek Him, to rely on Him and makes opportunities to See & Experience His Mighty Hand.
9. Are you ready to go Sailing in the Storm with Him?
Psalm 107:28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
107:29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
107:30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
107:31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
The Pursuit Life
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Thursday, May 05, 2011
The Importance of the Christian Heritage of the United States
I was recently sent a video by David Barton pointing out some of the religious influences of that can be seen in a simple tour of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. To some degree, the video was promotional and trying to increase awareness of the group producing it—a video commercial. But the video itself was highlighting a greater program of the evidences of our Christian history that even our Federal Government was not unwilling to hide in the past.
The email with the video was sent out to a large email list. One person chose to “reply to all” with a criticism. His main points were that our country has not always lived up that faith and therefore attempts to “restore” this heritage are misguided and impractical considering modern America and how we have progressed beyond the intentions of the Founders.
I took the “reply to all” response, rather than a private email to the sender, as an invitation to discussion and replied. I realize that I’m only showing my response and that may be considered unfair, but I have not asked for permission to print his words.
I responded with the following (and yes, it’s long). My point is not arguing contemporary issues of Church & State but rather the foundation of our freedoms and how the erosion of that foundation jeopardizes every freedom we have today.
There’s a lot to respond to.
I think the overall point of the video is sadly lost. Whether or not efforts are made to “return” to our Christian roots is presumed by the watcher and he is presuming the motives and goals of those who would agree with the perspectives. No one is proposing turning America into a Theocratic state with mandatory church attendance or state sponsored church—that too is a straw man used to denigrate the opposing view.
Rather, the greater point is how the history and influence of Christianity in America has been systematically removed from public knowledge. Influence enough to be beautifully painted and hung in the halls at great expense, which, until the last century was taught as part of our collective national identity.
Without that heritage, the freedoms we now enjoy have lost their context and make no sense as to how and why they were derived. The effort to secularize our history and downplay that influence is perpetuating ignorance at best and disingenuous at worst. I do not believe it is done innocently, nor without some malicious intent.
In my opinion, the removal of this history from the public knowledge is just as dangerous (if not as revolting) as those who dismiss and deny the Holocaust. People like the Iranian President deny the Holocaust for one primary reason; their own perspectives are discredited and impugned if the true history is known and accepted.
In the case of our national freedom, a people’s rights can be systematically removed if the basis for making them “inalienable” is undermined. These rights were considered inalienable because they are derived from a source that is greater than the government itself and are imparted as part of the design and image of God. Governments do well to recognize those inherent rights, they do not merely grant them. If they are merely granted or tolerated, then they can be removed when the mood suits them or public opinion changes.
The foundation of our rights and freedoms which are for all people, is God. That is how they understood and argued them. That is the source of authority which gave them confidence to oppose the greatest nation of the day. We are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights”: rights that are irremovable, rights that are inseparable, rights that are inherent regardless of what government is in place. If the knowledge of the source of our rights is ever removed from our public conscience and awareness, then the government has greater ability to manipulate, distort and remove the rights we enjoy and many men and women fought and died for.
Here is an example of the systematic removal of religious influence. In searching for “Who wrote the Bill of Rights?” many of the returns echo an answer like the following:
Who Wrote the Bill of Rights?
James Madison, is the one who has written the bill of rights. However, it is George Mason who is known as the 'Father of the Bill of Rights' as his ideas in the Virginia Declaration of Rights had a great influence on James Madison, the one who wrote the bill of rights.
It is true that James Madison has written the bill of rights, but there are a few factors which make his status as the writer, a little complicated. Firstly, James Madison was never in support of a bill of rights and wanted the constitution to be ratified without any such amendment. This is because he believed that the federal government was not strong enough to become a powerful government and would fall in some time. It was Thomas Jefferson who tried hard and eventually succeeded in convincing Madison to support the formation of a bill of rights. Certain rights mentioned in the First amendment were considered to be heavily influenced by Thomas Jefferson's ideas and thoughts. It is also believed that George Mason's thoughts in the Virginia Declaration of Rights formed the base for the bill of rights. These thoughts were mainly influenced by the works of John Locke, a European philosopher. The free speech protections written in various state constitutions, are also considered to have inspired the language of the bill of rights.
While this description is not inherently inaccurate, it is historically misleading. There is no mention of a religious influence at all in this answer. I expect that most school textbooks and history museums reflect this “religion free” history. It is true that Madison first opposed the necessity of a BoR and that Jefferson was an influence. However, it was not until Madison was opposed in an election process by a Baptist minister, John Leland, that Madison relented. Leland was a third party candidate opposed to the Constitution that had no guarantee of freedom of religion. Leland’s presence in the race siphoned votes away from Madison that made him vulnerable to defeat. It was not until the two candidates met and Madison conceded to add a Bill of Rights that Leland dropped out of the race and Madison won. Leland’s religious convictions compelled him to move in the political arena—something considered abhorrent by today’s secular society.
An Abstract from the Penn State and Pepperdine University School of Law (April 2009) titled John Leland and James Madison: Religious Influence on the Ratification of the Constitution and on the Proposal of the Bill of Rights says this:
Abstract:
Itinerant Baptist preacher John Leland (and Baptists generally) strongly influenced James Madison's elections to the Virginia ratifying convention and to the First Congress, with possibly substantial effects on American history. New insights include evidence making it seem nearly certain Madison had a key letter concerning Leland in hand at a critical time and evidence showing that George Eve's famous defense of Madison at a Baptist church meeting was in pivotal Culpeper County, rather than Orange County. The paper also notes Leland's relationship with Thomas Jefferson; Leland's consistent advocacy of religious liberty for all persons; his criticism of slavery; and the unusual accessibility of his straightforward and humorous prose. Leland deserves more attention, especially now that his works are very easily accessible on Google Books. As L.H. Butterfield (an editor of the papers of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) put it, Leland "was as courageous and resourceful a champion of the rights of conscience as America has produced." Leland (in Philip Hamburger's phrase, "Jefferson's friend and ally, the irrepressible John Leland") is worth getting to know.
Regarding the first amendment, I had always wondered why so many topics: religion, speech, press, assembly; were all lumped into one amendment. Could they not make up their mind which was the most important and just take the “we’re all winners” approach?
Not at all. The Establishment and Freedom clauses are separated from the remaining subjects by a “;”. This minor punctuation signifies that what follows is a list of abuses that have been enacted at various times by various governments to stifle religious expression. Speech in the form of preaching was denied to minority ministers, many of which were thrown in jail. Press is referring to more than newspapers. Rather, it is referring to individuals (often ministers) going to the local Kinko’s (Printing press) and printing flyers expressing their beliefs or invitations to an event. If these were not approved by the local or ecclesiastical authorities then those pages could warrant arrest and confiscation. The British had prohibited English Bibles to be printed in America and allowed only imports from England (from which they could tax), which is why it is significant that one of the first acts of our Congress was to order the printing of Bibles here in America as mentioned in the video. The peaceable assembly is not only referring to protests, marches or clubs, but church gatherings that were meeting without licenses from or payment of fees to the local government.
In other words, the entirety of the First Amendment deals with religion and limits the power of the government to silence and repress its expression. Now it has been expanded to other issues of speech, assembly and press, and rightfully so, let us not teach a false history that they have no connection to religion. Sadly, I would guess that 90% or more of the public sees the issues raised in the first amendment as separate from religion and in many cases excluding religion (e.g. – “freedom from religion” is not the government’s job).
A strong, historical argument can be made that the climate of revolution in our pre-independence was shaped in the hearts of the people by the preaching in the churches. While not perfect in its expression, the moral foundation of Christianity upon the Founders and the general population is what made the revolution a success in stark contrast to the Libertarian philosophy dominant in France. Their revolution was bloody & corrupt, the people spiraled into anarchy and the revolution failed quickly. France returned to the dictatorship of Napoleon who promised a return to order.
Many saw the revolution not just as means to political freedom but to a religious freedom as well. “No taxation without representation” also meant a freedom from a mandatory state/church tax for which one did not claim membership. They did discuss religious freedom in terms which included Jews, Hindoos (as spelled then) and Mohammedans or Turks (as called then). You can see that in samples like “The Rights of Conscience Inalienable” – by John Leland.
Many people were recruited to fight the British from the pulpit. Many ministers led the men of their congregation with their rifles. The Presbyterian, Rev. James Caldwell, took part in the Battle of Springfield, NJ by passing out hymnals so his soldiers would have wadding for their muskets—portrayed in the painting of the battle and the phrase, “Give ‘em Watts” (in reference to the hymn writer Isaac Waats). Of the signers of the Bill of Rights, the top was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, himself a Lutheran minister
The case for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state is clearly there in our early history. Separation in the understanding of that day is necessary and vital for a free people. Today’s understanding of Separation is wholly different: that being the removal of public expressions of faith. Many levels of our governments have moved from creating a climate of freedom to a stifling and suffocating climate. In doing so, they are trampling on the “prohibition” line of the First Amendment. There are now serious discussions regarding people who hold to serious religious conviction being unfit for public office or appointment as a federal judge or tenure as a professor in a public university.
The new favored religion has become a secular, non-religious one. Under the guise of tolerance and progressivism, the foundations of our freedom has been eroded to the point that we do not even recognize when they are being trampled upon.
The primary goal of this particular video is to awaken an awareness of where our freedoms came from, where that evidence can still be seen, and the danger of losing that knowledge.
To paraphrase a famous line about history:
Those who forget the foundation of their freedom are doomed to be deprived of it.
The email with the video was sent out to a large email list. One person chose to “reply to all” with a criticism. His main points were that our country has not always lived up that faith and therefore attempts to “restore” this heritage are misguided and impractical considering modern America and how we have progressed beyond the intentions of the Founders.
I took the “reply to all” response, rather than a private email to the sender, as an invitation to discussion and replied. I realize that I’m only showing my response and that may be considered unfair, but I have not asked for permission to print his words.
I responded with the following (and yes, it’s long). My point is not arguing contemporary issues of Church & State but rather the foundation of our freedoms and how the erosion of that foundation jeopardizes every freedom we have today.
There’s a lot to respond to.
I think the overall point of the video is sadly lost. Whether or not efforts are made to “return” to our Christian roots is presumed by the watcher and he is presuming the motives and goals of those who would agree with the perspectives. No one is proposing turning America into a Theocratic state with mandatory church attendance or state sponsored church—that too is a straw man used to denigrate the opposing view.
Rather, the greater point is how the history and influence of Christianity in America has been systematically removed from public knowledge. Influence enough to be beautifully painted and hung in the halls at great expense, which, until the last century was taught as part of our collective national identity.
Without that heritage, the freedoms we now enjoy have lost their context and make no sense as to how and why they were derived. The effort to secularize our history and downplay that influence is perpetuating ignorance at best and disingenuous at worst. I do not believe it is done innocently, nor without some malicious intent.
In my opinion, the removal of this history from the public knowledge is just as dangerous (if not as revolting) as those who dismiss and deny the Holocaust. People like the Iranian President deny the Holocaust for one primary reason; their own perspectives are discredited and impugned if the true history is known and accepted.
In the case of our national freedom, a people’s rights can be systematically removed if the basis for making them “inalienable” is undermined. These rights were considered inalienable because they are derived from a source that is greater than the government itself and are imparted as part of the design and image of God. Governments do well to recognize those inherent rights, they do not merely grant them. If they are merely granted or tolerated, then they can be removed when the mood suits them or public opinion changes.
The foundation of our rights and freedoms which are for all people, is God. That is how they understood and argued them. That is the source of authority which gave them confidence to oppose the greatest nation of the day. We are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights”: rights that are irremovable, rights that are inseparable, rights that are inherent regardless of what government is in place. If the knowledge of the source of our rights is ever removed from our public conscience and awareness, then the government has greater ability to manipulate, distort and remove the rights we enjoy and many men and women fought and died for.
Here is an example of the systematic removal of religious influence. In searching for “Who wrote the Bill of Rights?” many of the returns echo an answer like the following:
Who Wrote the Bill of Rights?
James Madison, is the one who has written the bill of rights. However, it is George Mason who is known as the 'Father of the Bill of Rights' as his ideas in the Virginia Declaration of Rights had a great influence on James Madison, the one who wrote the bill of rights.
It is true that James Madison has written the bill of rights, but there are a few factors which make his status as the writer, a little complicated. Firstly, James Madison was never in support of a bill of rights and wanted the constitution to be ratified without any such amendment. This is because he believed that the federal government was not strong enough to become a powerful government and would fall in some time. It was Thomas Jefferson who tried hard and eventually succeeded in convincing Madison to support the formation of a bill of rights. Certain rights mentioned in the First amendment were considered to be heavily influenced by Thomas Jefferson's ideas and thoughts. It is also believed that George Mason's thoughts in the Virginia Declaration of Rights formed the base for the bill of rights. These thoughts were mainly influenced by the works of John Locke, a European philosopher. The free speech protections written in various state constitutions, are also considered to have inspired the language of the bill of rights.
While this description is not inherently inaccurate, it is historically misleading. There is no mention of a religious influence at all in this answer. I expect that most school textbooks and history museums reflect this “religion free” history. It is true that Madison first opposed the necessity of a BoR and that Jefferson was an influence. However, it was not until Madison was opposed in an election process by a Baptist minister, John Leland, that Madison relented. Leland was a third party candidate opposed to the Constitution that had no guarantee of freedom of religion. Leland’s presence in the race siphoned votes away from Madison that made him vulnerable to defeat. It was not until the two candidates met and Madison conceded to add a Bill of Rights that Leland dropped out of the race and Madison won. Leland’s religious convictions compelled him to move in the political arena—something considered abhorrent by today’s secular society.
An Abstract from the Penn State and Pepperdine University School of Law (April 2009) titled John Leland and James Madison: Religious Influence on the Ratification of the Constitution and on the Proposal of the Bill of Rights says this:
Abstract:
Itinerant Baptist preacher John Leland (and Baptists generally) strongly influenced James Madison's elections to the Virginia ratifying convention and to the First Congress, with possibly substantial effects on American history. New insights include evidence making it seem nearly certain Madison had a key letter concerning Leland in hand at a critical time and evidence showing that George Eve's famous defense of Madison at a Baptist church meeting was in pivotal Culpeper County, rather than Orange County. The paper also notes Leland's relationship with Thomas Jefferson; Leland's consistent advocacy of religious liberty for all persons; his criticism of slavery; and the unusual accessibility of his straightforward and humorous prose. Leland deserves more attention, especially now that his works are very easily accessible on Google Books. As L.H. Butterfield (an editor of the papers of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) put it, Leland "was as courageous and resourceful a champion of the rights of conscience as America has produced." Leland (in Philip Hamburger's phrase, "Jefferson's friend and ally, the irrepressible John Leland") is worth getting to know.
Regarding the first amendment, I had always wondered why so many topics: religion, speech, press, assembly; were all lumped into one amendment. Could they not make up their mind which was the most important and just take the “we’re all winners” approach?
Not at all. The Establishment and Freedom clauses are separated from the remaining subjects by a “;”. This minor punctuation signifies that what follows is a list of abuses that have been enacted at various times by various governments to stifle religious expression. Speech in the form of preaching was denied to minority ministers, many of which were thrown in jail. Press is referring to more than newspapers. Rather, it is referring to individuals (often ministers) going to the local Kinko’s (Printing press) and printing flyers expressing their beliefs or invitations to an event. If these were not approved by the local or ecclesiastical authorities then those pages could warrant arrest and confiscation. The British had prohibited English Bibles to be printed in America and allowed only imports from England (from which they could tax), which is why it is significant that one of the first acts of our Congress was to order the printing of Bibles here in America as mentioned in the video. The peaceable assembly is not only referring to protests, marches or clubs, but church gatherings that were meeting without licenses from or payment of fees to the local government.
In other words, the entirety of the First Amendment deals with religion and limits the power of the government to silence and repress its expression. Now it has been expanded to other issues of speech, assembly and press, and rightfully so, let us not teach a false history that they have no connection to religion. Sadly, I would guess that 90% or more of the public sees the issues raised in the first amendment as separate from religion and in many cases excluding religion (e.g. – “freedom from religion” is not the government’s job).
A strong, historical argument can be made that the climate of revolution in our pre-independence was shaped in the hearts of the people by the preaching in the churches. While not perfect in its expression, the moral foundation of Christianity upon the Founders and the general population is what made the revolution a success in stark contrast to the Libertarian philosophy dominant in France. Their revolution was bloody & corrupt, the people spiraled into anarchy and the revolution failed quickly. France returned to the dictatorship of Napoleon who promised a return to order.
Many saw the revolution not just as means to political freedom but to a religious freedom as well. “No taxation without representation” also meant a freedom from a mandatory state/church tax for which one did not claim membership. They did discuss religious freedom in terms which included Jews, Hindoos (as spelled then) and Mohammedans or Turks (as called then). You can see that in samples like “The Rights of Conscience Inalienable” – by John Leland.
Many people were recruited to fight the British from the pulpit. Many ministers led the men of their congregation with their rifles. The Presbyterian, Rev. James Caldwell, took part in the Battle of Springfield, NJ by passing out hymnals so his soldiers would have wadding for their muskets—portrayed in the painting of the battle and the phrase, “Give ‘em Watts” (in reference to the hymn writer Isaac Waats). Of the signers of the Bill of Rights, the top was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, himself a Lutheran minister
The case for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state is clearly there in our early history. Separation in the understanding of that day is necessary and vital for a free people. Today’s understanding of Separation is wholly different: that being the removal of public expressions of faith. Many levels of our governments have moved from creating a climate of freedom to a stifling and suffocating climate. In doing so, they are trampling on the “prohibition” line of the First Amendment. There are now serious discussions regarding people who hold to serious religious conviction being unfit for public office or appointment as a federal judge or tenure as a professor in a public university.
The new favored religion has become a secular, non-religious one. Under the guise of tolerance and progressivism, the foundations of our freedom has been eroded to the point that we do not even recognize when they are being trampled upon.
The primary goal of this particular video is to awaken an awareness of where our freedoms came from, where that evidence can still be seen, and the danger of losing that knowledge.
To paraphrase a famous line about history:
Those who forget the foundation of their freedom are doomed to be deprived of it.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
The Death of Bin Laden and the Spirit of Celebration
I remember where I was on 9/11. My family and I had driven to Mt. Home, AR for my grandmother-in-law’s birthday. It was a tiring drive into the late night. That morning, I was in bed. My wife came in and told me that a plane had crashed into the first tower. My thought was, something like a Cessna—single engine plane. Not good, but not really worth getting out of bed for—I turned over and tried to go back to sleep. A frustratingly few minutes later (when you’re tired constant interruptions make you irritable) she came back in loud and fast. A second plane flew into the other tower, “We’re under attack!” That cleared the cobwebs and I jumped up quickly. We spent the rest of the day in the room watching the news. My son, then 1 yr old, kept trying to get us to play and not many of us adults were in the mood for it.
Like many of you, I’ve long wondered why it was taking so long to catch Bin Laden. I’ve wondered what kind of help he’d been getting, where he would be hiding, and wondering if he died would we ever know.
I looked forward to the idea of justice catching up to him at the hands of the US Military. Now that Bin Laden has been killed in an assault by our military, I must say I have mixed feelings. There is a great relief and satisfaction that a guilty person (self-confessed) who is responsible for killing thousands of Americans and even Muslims around the world has not escaped.
The Bible is full of moments in Psalms and Proverbs of the people of God calling out for Justice, calling out for the evildoers to be held accountable. There are numerous questions why the wicked go unpunished or even prosper and then the pleading with God to set things right. There is relief and a sense of joy at the thought (Proverbs 21:15 "When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." & Proverbs 11:10 "When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy."—these are observations more than commands).
I also experience a sense of sadness in the sense that by all evidence, Bin Laden is now in a Christ-less eternity where he will have no Advocate on his behalf before an Almighty & Holy God. Because even a monster like Bin Laden also bears the Image of God and Hell was not created for him but for Satan and his demons. The way Satan hurts the heart of God is by deceiving those whom God loves and died for and keeping them from a saving faith. The wages of sin is death, and death has found him. God does not want anyone to perish but all to come to repentance.
As much as Bin Laden was an enemy to America and to believers in Jesus (and even his own faith), he was a pawn for our true enemy. Jesus died even to save murderers like him. Is not the Blood of Christ powerful enough to Atone and cover over sins as great as Bin Laden’s? Scripture says yes, but this power is a gift that must be received. The Blood of Christ is Available for all, even if not taken advantage of. I truly believe there is no sin too powerful to overpower the Blood of Jesus—rejection of that saving power is the cause of that.
It is always tragic when a sinner dies in their sin, no matter who it is. That does not mean the person is not deserving, nor that justice or death is not warranted.
When someone is a killer and sheds the blood of men, Genesis says by men his blood will be shed. I’ve read somewhere recently that the idea of the death penalty within a deliberate system of justice does not diminish the image of God in humanity, it defends and upholds it. The New Testament in Romans 13 reminds us that the government does not bear the sword for nothing. As imperfect as human governments can be, they are instituted by God to be a calming influence on the human population and also at times as an instrument of God’s judgment.
What has disturbed me (and others) in the whole death of Bin Laden affair has been the celebratory attitude many of us have exhibited. I was similarly disturbed when after coming out of a movie (Transformers 2--the movie was bad enough) I heard people rejoicing at the news of Michael Jackson’s death.
With Bin Laden, many are throwing a party, in essence “dancing on his grave”. I can understand on some levels, but it reminds me too much of how I was offended at seeing the celebrations in the Middle East when the tower fell. To me, the people celebrating exemplify a spirit of vengeance and not a spirit of justice. Justice is necessary because it means that something terrible has happened. But justice does not take pleasure in it. Vengeance revels and takes pleasure from the suffering of the person in question especially when they are guilty.
This difference between vengeance and justice is especially dangerous for the victims of heinous crimes, and yes we as Americans, as a people, were victims of this man to some degree, some more than others. But when we cross the line into vengeance and take pleasure in the suffering of the perpetrator—we become more like them. We become more capable of doing something heinous because our own sense of pleasure has been corrupted by enjoying someone else suffer.
That is why one of the signs of psychopathic behavior is the mutilating of animals. It can be seen as a cry for intervention in children at a young age. It is a symptom of a greater problem—a lack of empathy for the suffering of others.
I am afraid that Bin Laden’s death reveals the lack of our humanity. When we are corrupted by sin inflicted on us—the more it corrupts us and we give in to vengeance, the more influence over our heart, mind and spirit we really give to the perpetrator—in essence increasing our victimhood.
The power of forgiveness breaks the power of our victimhood—breaks the power of the evil done to us and prevents that person from continuing to inflict hurt upon us.
Make no mistake what I’m saying—justice was served—as best as we could make it. In some sense I would have preferred a capture and trial, but I can understand the mess that would be and the years that would drag on (especially considering how the lawyers got involved with prisoners in Guantanamo—can you imagine the anguish and fighting going on over people who would want to give O.B.L our Constitutional rights?).
But let us remember several verses from the Bible on such issues:
Proverbs 24:17-18 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them."
Ezekiel 33:11 "Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
Ezekiel 18:23 "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"
Ezekiel 18:32 "For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!"
All of these passages speak to the desire of God for even the wicked to repent. He does not shy away from Judgment of sin, but He would rather see them turn, would rather give Grace.
Remember: Justice is getting what we Deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting above and beyond what you don’t deserve.
When Jesus approached Jerusalem, He looked over the city and wept, knowing full well there were wicked people in the city, some people who would kill him just a few days later. He wept because people were unwilling to come to Him. He longed to gather them together under His wings, but their unbelief and hard hearts would keep them from doing so. It broke his heart.
Bin Laden was similarly unwilling. And though we may think BL was undeserving of God’s grace, it still breaks His heart that OBL held out to the end in the deception of the enemy.
God is OBL’s judge, let us leave that to Him. Let us also follow His leadership and not rejoice over the death of the wicked let us through the power of the Holy Spirit, love our enemies and pray for them above what they deserve. Because that says more about us.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Passover and the events of Good Friday - Partial
Many people are confused by the events of the Last Supper and the night that Jesus was arrested.
What cups are they talking about and what do they mean?
Why is Jesus so hard on His disciples who are tired?
Why did they come to arrest Him at night?
How did the leaders get so many people together for a rowdy crowd during the trials?
Why would they conduct a trial at night and violate normal judicial procedure?
Much of these can be understood if you take into account the practices during the Jewish Passover.
The Jewish days start at 6 PM, so the day the Passover meal is eaten continues through the night until 6 PM the following day. All of the events of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion happen on the same “day” in the Jewish mind.
I’ve always wondered about these questions until my wife and I found something to explain the custom of the Jewish people on the day of Passover. It stems from Exodus 12:42—“If was a night of vigil in honor of the LORD, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the LORD, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.”
After the Passover meal, they were supposed to stay awake all night. So when Jesus comes back from prayer and finds the disciples sleeping, they are supposed to be awake, not just because He had asked them to, but because of the Passover. Incidentally, Peter and John were the ones sent ahead to prepare the Passover meal so they had been working through the day to get it ready—I’m sure they were wiped out.
The fact that they were supposed to be awake explains in part why the guards were there to arrest Jesus and they expected to find him awake. It explains how the Jewish leaders were able to rouse a sympathetic crowd at such unusual hours since they were supposed to eat the meal, not in their pajamas, not ready for bed but with their clothes on, their belt tightened, their shoes on. They were symbolically ready to move out and leave, but it also meant they could go and be anywhere at a moment’s notice.
It explains why the leadership would be able to hold a trial at night—all of the people necessary would be awake and available. Normally, it would not be proper to conduct such a trial at night, many people unavailable, many others still sleepy and not ready for the day, but this was not an ordinary night. Enough people were awake and present to conduct these events—the normal routine beginning at dawn—all giving enough time to have Jesus up on the Cross by 9 am. He was taken down off the Cross not long after the 9th hour (according to Mark) which is 3 pm. That makes all these events of Messiah occurring on the same day as the Passover (by Jewish reckoning).
The Jewish Passover ceremony with it’s four cups is also why Jesus was praying about “cups” in the Garden of Gethsemane. The cup of Sin & Judgment and Wrath was the cup that was about to be poured out on Him. It was this cup that makes the next cup of the feast, the Cup of Redemption possible. Jesus’ blood was poured out to cover over, to atone for our sin. The wrath passes over us when the Blood is seen.
There are several other points that I may make about the Passover at in a later post
What cups are they talking about and what do they mean?
Why is Jesus so hard on His disciples who are tired?
Why did they come to arrest Him at night?
How did the leaders get so many people together for a rowdy crowd during the trials?
Why would they conduct a trial at night and violate normal judicial procedure?
Much of these can be understood if you take into account the practices during the Jewish Passover.
The Jewish days start at 6 PM, so the day the Passover meal is eaten continues through the night until 6 PM the following day. All of the events of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion happen on the same “day” in the Jewish mind.
I’ve always wondered about these questions until my wife and I found something to explain the custom of the Jewish people on the day of Passover. It stems from Exodus 12:42—“If was a night of vigil in honor of the LORD, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the LORD, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.”
After the Passover meal, they were supposed to stay awake all night. So when Jesus comes back from prayer and finds the disciples sleeping, they are supposed to be awake, not just because He had asked them to, but because of the Passover. Incidentally, Peter and John were the ones sent ahead to prepare the Passover meal so they had been working through the day to get it ready—I’m sure they were wiped out.
The fact that they were supposed to be awake explains in part why the guards were there to arrest Jesus and they expected to find him awake. It explains how the Jewish leaders were able to rouse a sympathetic crowd at such unusual hours since they were supposed to eat the meal, not in their pajamas, not ready for bed but with their clothes on, their belt tightened, their shoes on. They were symbolically ready to move out and leave, but it also meant they could go and be anywhere at a moment’s notice.
It explains why the leadership would be able to hold a trial at night—all of the people necessary would be awake and available. Normally, it would not be proper to conduct such a trial at night, many people unavailable, many others still sleepy and not ready for the day, but this was not an ordinary night. Enough people were awake and present to conduct these events—the normal routine beginning at dawn—all giving enough time to have Jesus up on the Cross by 9 am. He was taken down off the Cross not long after the 9th hour (according to Mark) which is 3 pm. That makes all these events of Messiah occurring on the same day as the Passover (by Jewish reckoning).
The Jewish Passover ceremony with it’s four cups is also why Jesus was praying about “cups” in the Garden of Gethsemane. The cup of Sin & Judgment and Wrath was the cup that was about to be poured out on Him. It was this cup that makes the next cup of the feast, the Cup of Redemption possible. Jesus’ blood was poured out to cover over, to atone for our sin. The wrath passes over us when the Blood is seen.
There are several other points that I may make about the Passover at in a later post
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Reflections on James 1:23-24 - Man in the Mirror
James 1:23-24—“Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was.”
I think I like this translation even better than “immediately forgets what he looks like”. James is speaking very practically and not hypothetically so I realize this is probably not exactly how James meant it. With that disclaimer, I think this is still accurate.
When we look into a mirror, we are not just looking for the physical traits—is my shirt wrinkly, my hair brushed. We are also really looking at the kind of image or persona we want to convey.
Professional, clean cut, confident.
Tough guy with the unshaven look and muscle shirt.
How we look also says something about the kind of man we want to be and the message we want to convey to the people we meet.
In this sense, when James says we are looking in the mirror, we are supposed to be putting on the persona of the person of faith. But if this persona stays in the mirror and does not exist anywhere but in the mirror—in other words does not go with us into our life as defined by our actions, then our faith is no more real and tangible than the man in the mirror.
Why bother putting on the costume of faith and spend time trying to make things look right if as soon as you step away from the mirror—that costume and appearance you don’t try to live?
It’s like having a part in a play—say, you are Quasimodo—the Hunchback of Notre Dame. You spend weeks on your costume, over an hour on your makeup. You’re supposed to walk with a limp, bent over at the waist. You’re supposed to speak with a heavy lisp which you’ve practiced since you got the part. Then on the night of your first performance, you leave your dressing room with all of the costume in place, but forget to act the part on stage--no limp, no lisp, no hunched back or bend at the waist. The costume does little at that point to convince the audience that you actually are Quasimodo
Here’s another level that is amazing:
2 Corinthians 3:18—“We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory (progressive glorification); this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. (from the Spirit of the Lord).
We are supposed to be in the process of transformation—from looking like ourselves to looking like Jesus. We are to Reflect Him. In our mirror, our reflection is to look more and more like Jesus.
So do you look in the mirror and see Jesus at all?
Do you look in the mirror, see Jesus, then walk away and forget who He is? Is that even possible?
In your mirror, you need to see more of Jesus and not forget that He is who the world is supposed to see everywhere we go. Our image, our reputation is not nearly as important as His. Our lives not only reflect on our reputation but His.
Who do you see in your mirror? Are you putting on Christ even more than a clean shirt? Have you forgotten what kind of man He was… or do you remember and so live in such a way that changes your life and impacts the world?
I think I like this translation even better than “immediately forgets what he looks like”. James is speaking very practically and not hypothetically so I realize this is probably not exactly how James meant it. With that disclaimer, I think this is still accurate.
When we look into a mirror, we are not just looking for the physical traits—is my shirt wrinkly, my hair brushed. We are also really looking at the kind of image or persona we want to convey.
Professional, clean cut, confident.
Tough guy with the unshaven look and muscle shirt.
How we look also says something about the kind of man we want to be and the message we want to convey to the people we meet.
In this sense, when James says we are looking in the mirror, we are supposed to be putting on the persona of the person of faith. But if this persona stays in the mirror and does not exist anywhere but in the mirror—in other words does not go with us into our life as defined by our actions, then our faith is no more real and tangible than the man in the mirror.
Why bother putting on the costume of faith and spend time trying to make things look right if as soon as you step away from the mirror—that costume and appearance you don’t try to live?
It’s like having a part in a play—say, you are Quasimodo—the Hunchback of Notre Dame. You spend weeks on your costume, over an hour on your makeup. You’re supposed to walk with a limp, bent over at the waist. You’re supposed to speak with a heavy lisp which you’ve practiced since you got the part. Then on the night of your first performance, you leave your dressing room with all of the costume in place, but forget to act the part on stage--no limp, no lisp, no hunched back or bend at the waist. The costume does little at that point to convince the audience that you actually are Quasimodo
Here’s another level that is amazing:
2 Corinthians 3:18—“We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory (progressive glorification); this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. (from the Spirit of the Lord).
We are supposed to be in the process of transformation—from looking like ourselves to looking like Jesus. We are to Reflect Him. In our mirror, our reflection is to look more and more like Jesus.
So do you look in the mirror and see Jesus at all?
Do you look in the mirror, see Jesus, then walk away and forget who He is? Is that even possible?
In your mirror, you need to see more of Jesus and not forget that He is who the world is supposed to see everywhere we go. Our image, our reputation is not nearly as important as His. Our lives not only reflect on our reputation but His.
Who do you see in your mirror? Are you putting on Christ even more than a clean shirt? Have you forgotten what kind of man He was… or do you remember and so live in such a way that changes your life and impacts the world?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Is God Your Co-Pilot?
We like the phrase: “God is my Co-Pilot” because it means that we’re the ones still driving, still the ones in control.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Co-Pilot is usually not as good or less experienced than the Pilot. And for God to take that role of Co-Pilot really means that:
• We own the car—it’s our car to drive—i.o.w.—it’s my life…
• We are the better Pilot for our car—i.o.w.—we know better than God
We want God in our car only so long as we’re the ones still driving—we don’t want to consider ourselves as the passenger to our own life. If there’s an emergency, then we’ll let God take the wheel for a while. But in many ways, He’s more like our Chauffeur until we can get back in the driver’s seat.
I hate to break this to you, but God shouldn’t be your Co-Pilot, He needs to be your Pilot. And He is not your Chauffeur taking you where you want to go, He is the one who determines the destination and the speed. And He doesn’t always fly around the turbulence.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, He gets frustrated with Back-Seat Drivers just as much as you do!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Co-Pilot is usually not as good or less experienced than the Pilot. And for God to take that role of Co-Pilot really means that:
• We own the car—it’s our car to drive—i.o.w.—it’s my life…
• We are the better Pilot for our car—i.o.w.—we know better than God
We want God in our car only so long as we’re the ones still driving—we don’t want to consider ourselves as the passenger to our own life. If there’s an emergency, then we’ll let God take the wheel for a while. But in many ways, He’s more like our Chauffeur until we can get back in the driver’s seat.
I hate to break this to you, but God shouldn’t be your Co-Pilot, He needs to be your Pilot. And He is not your Chauffeur taking you where you want to go, He is the one who determines the destination and the speed. And He doesn’t always fly around the turbulence.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, He gets frustrated with Back-Seat Drivers just as much as you do!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Feeling Like Peter - Movie Review of Prince Caspian
Originally Written 7/2009
I’m beginning to feel a lot like Peter. And I’m not talking about Peter, the Apostle.
I’m talking about Peter in the movie Prince Caspian.
I never did a review of the movie so much of that will be covered here. Overall, I liked the movie, though the moral was not as clear as in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I know that many people did not like the movie, particularly for its focus on fighting and its portrayal of Peter.
I really like the portrayal of Peter for several reasons. In the book, the Pevensie children transition back and forth from Narnia without much emotional exploration. Given that Lewis was writing children’s stories, it’s not surprising nor is it a failure that he does not go into this emotional depth. As an adult reading the story, however, it always felt lacking. What reason could there be for the older children not seeing Aslan when Lucy did? How do you go from a 30+ year old High King to a nobody teenager again, man that’s gotta be tough.
In the movie, this is explored, especially in Peter’s character. Starting out, he is angry, even bitter towards Aslan because he does not understand what Aslan is doing. “It’s been nearly a year…” complains Peter as he wonders why they haven’t been taken back into Narnia. He preferred Narnia to this world, preferred being King. He resented being thrust back into a boy’s role with no power or influence.
In many ways, he believed it was a mistake that they ever stumbled out of Narnia. But for reasons he didn’t understand, Aslan had not fixed the problem. A year later, Peter is confused and angry, hence his willingness to fight anyone. Susan had seen it all before and Edmond was instantly in support of his brother.
Back in Narnia, Peter is back in his element. Immediately he resorts to his command authority and it often conflicts with Caspian’s leadership. But something is different—he’s not all that interested in Aslan—he is fighting to restore what he sees as his kingdom—early on, Peter fights only “for Narnia”. You hear his battle cries during the castle onslaught. He’s trying to “do it on his own”, something which the White Witch tempts him with later on after his failure—“you know you can’t do this on your own.”
I believe Peter doesn’t see Aslan when Lucy does because—one, he is angry and resentful towards him, and two, he no longer trusts Aslan nor relies on him—Peter’s reassertion of command authority brings with it an “I can only depend on myself”. Because Peter didn’t understand Aslan, he stopped looking for him—stopped waiting for him. Despite his experience with Aslan, Peter lives and acts much more like Trumpkin, who doesn’t believe in Alsan at all—Peter has become a functional atheist.
Peter’s situation influenced those around him who followed his lead. Edmond didn’t see Aslan in part b/c he was taking his cues from Peter and falling back into that role. Susan didn’t see Aslan in part b/c she really didn’t want to be there at all. At the end of the Narnia stories, she is the only one who doesn’t come back b/c she is no longer a ‘friend of Narnia”.
Peter even influences Lucy, who did see Aslan—she follows Peter anyway—in this way, the blind was leading the seeing. Lucy still had a childlike faith and a love for Aslan—but she let the pressures of others stop her from going to him. This is something that Aslan mildly rebukes her for when he says, “and why did that stop you from coming to me”, after Lucy had said the others didn’t believe her.
Peter is like many Christians. Time elapses in our walk with Jesus and we forget. We build up certain expectations of what we think God is doing or should do—we assume we know His will—and then it doesn’t happen like we think it should. Prayers seem unanswered—we step out on faith and it feels like God isn’t holding up His side of the venture. And so we get frustrated, confused, resentful and sometimes angry. We’re tempted to lose hope, we’re tempted to become functional atheists who try to do it all on their own strength. We pray less often, we read the Word less and don’t get as much out of times of fellowship and worship. It saps the strength out of us. Our spiritual vitality drains away.
This is why, in many ways, I feel like Peter. Last year, about this time, my family and I stepped out on faith, jumped off the high dive, in stepping down from my pastoral position in Macomb, IL. We didn’t have a position already lined up, we didn’t know where we were going. We believed God would provide. Provide a short-term job; provide a buyer for our house, provide a new pastoral position.
Early on, it looked like God would do it all. I got a temp. job for $10/hour that very week. We had some early showings of the house. Our search was up and rolling. We thought we knew the will of God and were seeing it played out. Then, things began to change—He wasn’t working on our timetable anymore. I was laid off from that job on Dec. 23rd and couldn’t find another one until March. The house has yet to sell and has become like a rope holding us back. We feel led into church planting and He gave us a location and a vision but there have been delays and frustrations.
I still believe we correctly discerned God’s will in stepping down from my pastoral position. But now we are asking the questions… “how long Lord?” When will these steps of faith we’ve taken come to pass? For me, like Peter, “It’s been a year” how long are we going to have to wait? Have we missed something in His will? Are we not listening?
I honestly don’t have an easy answer for this type of question.
Unfortunately we are strained, emotionally, spiritually, physically. My current job is overnights at Wal-Mart. While I am thankful to have it, it doesn’t come near to supporting our family, especially with the house payment. If not for the love and generosity of family and a good couple of friends, we would not be making it.
God may very well use the Wal-Mart position as a blessing as I should be able to transfer up to a local store in Shorewood. However, the longer it takes, the less likely as they are in a hiring crunch. We are now trying to sell our house “By Owner” and we’ve dropped our price. Hopefully it will move soon.
It’s hard not to get frustrated. It’s hard to keep the lines of communication open when you begin to sound more like a complaining record that keeps skipping back over the same material over and over again.
But here is where I believe faith is proved genuine. When you don’t know. When you don’t have all the answers. When things are not easy. The light shines in and through the darkness. His word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. In times like this, He is more like a flashlight than the sun. He is lighting the next step or two ahead, not a mile ahead. We may see the destination or the horizon, but not all the twists, turns and valleys in between. We must walk with Him and trust Him. We must yearn and seek after Him in spite of the uncertainties. And be honest with Him about what you’re thinking and feeling (He knows it anyway). But trust Him anyway—trust what He has shown you and who He is and keep walking.
To quote Caedmon’s Call—we have to realize that when we are down in the valley and the flood of God’s grace and presence comes, it’s the valleys that fill first.
Update: 3/18/11
Wow, I never finished this or posted it that I can find. It’s been almost two years and things have not resolved. The house never sold in our possession. We moved onsite to Shorewood, IL to plant The Pursuit. A month later our funding was pulled. A month after that, we had to move to Murray, KY with family where we’ve been for over a year.
Jobs have been hard to find. The first job I found was serving at a brand new restaurant—wasn’t making much money… and then it burned to the ground not even 6 months into its opening. I have been recently hired on permanently at Collegebookrenter.com doing customer service. This has proven a great blessing.
My search for a new Ministry position has also proven challenging. I’ve made it to several churches’ last cut, but never been the one called. Many times the enemy likes to use that against me and my confidence.
Not even supply preaching is happening like I thought it would. Last fall, my wife and I took on the college ministry at our church, using our church plant material to provide some identity.
In any event, it’s been almost 3 years since my family and I stepped out on faith and very little has gone “according to plan”. There are days I feel more like Peter than ever. But there are many others in which I am compelled to trust and wait that His plans have always been better than mine and that there are things I must be faithful at doing in the meantime.
I have certainly had opportunities for the Kingdom of God that I never would have had if things worked out my way. I’ve met and hopefully influenced people in a way that honors my Savior.
I have had the opportunity to do some writing that I have been led to do but never had the time to do. I’ve made good progress into a book on the life of Jacob.
I’m reminded reading this again—Who’s Kingdom am I fighting for? Mine or His?
Have I been acting like a Functional Atheist trying to do everything by my own strength, power and wits?
Is my confusion and struggle in this walk steadfast through the struggle? Am I leading my family accordingly, my wife and kids, to see God as Lucy did even in the midst of the uncertainty?
Lord, I want to confess my confusion. My expectations have not been met because my understanding of You is too small and limited.
I know You are here with me wherever I go for You have promised never to leave or forsake me.
I call out to You for resolution, a light for my path. Help me be faithful wherever the path goes. Help me discern Your voice and leading. Help me depend on You and not my own strength or wisdom.
Help me to be a light especially to my family. I pray that my wife is not discouraged. I pray my children do not lose heart because of our uncertainty. I pray this experience strengthens their ability to trust You even when nothing makes sense. Even when things don’t “work out” when we’re trying to be faithful.
Help me not to relate to You with the attitude, “I’ll do this for You so You will do this for me.”
You are my portion and great reward—if I have nothing else but You, I have all I will ever need.
Help me to live this way every day—drive away despair from me. Give me a renewed hope and strength.
Thank you for sustaining me in all this experience.
Help me be more like Peter from the Bible. Help me be like Peter from the movie in that I have courage to fight and trust in Your deliverance.
May You be exalted.
I’m beginning to feel a lot like Peter. And I’m not talking about Peter, the Apostle.
I’m talking about Peter in the movie Prince Caspian.
I never did a review of the movie so much of that will be covered here. Overall, I liked the movie, though the moral was not as clear as in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I know that many people did not like the movie, particularly for its focus on fighting and its portrayal of Peter.
I really like the portrayal of Peter for several reasons. In the book, the Pevensie children transition back and forth from Narnia without much emotional exploration. Given that Lewis was writing children’s stories, it’s not surprising nor is it a failure that he does not go into this emotional depth. As an adult reading the story, however, it always felt lacking. What reason could there be for the older children not seeing Aslan when Lucy did? How do you go from a 30+ year old High King to a nobody teenager again, man that’s gotta be tough.
In the movie, this is explored, especially in Peter’s character. Starting out, he is angry, even bitter towards Aslan because he does not understand what Aslan is doing. “It’s been nearly a year…” complains Peter as he wonders why they haven’t been taken back into Narnia. He preferred Narnia to this world, preferred being King. He resented being thrust back into a boy’s role with no power or influence.
In many ways, he believed it was a mistake that they ever stumbled out of Narnia. But for reasons he didn’t understand, Aslan had not fixed the problem. A year later, Peter is confused and angry, hence his willingness to fight anyone. Susan had seen it all before and Edmond was instantly in support of his brother.
Back in Narnia, Peter is back in his element. Immediately he resorts to his command authority and it often conflicts with Caspian’s leadership. But something is different—he’s not all that interested in Aslan—he is fighting to restore what he sees as his kingdom—early on, Peter fights only “for Narnia”. You hear his battle cries during the castle onslaught. He’s trying to “do it on his own”, something which the White Witch tempts him with later on after his failure—“you know you can’t do this on your own.”
I believe Peter doesn’t see Aslan when Lucy does because—one, he is angry and resentful towards him, and two, he no longer trusts Aslan nor relies on him—Peter’s reassertion of command authority brings with it an “I can only depend on myself”. Because Peter didn’t understand Aslan, he stopped looking for him—stopped waiting for him. Despite his experience with Aslan, Peter lives and acts much more like Trumpkin, who doesn’t believe in Alsan at all—Peter has become a functional atheist.
Peter’s situation influenced those around him who followed his lead. Edmond didn’t see Aslan in part b/c he was taking his cues from Peter and falling back into that role. Susan didn’t see Aslan in part b/c she really didn’t want to be there at all. At the end of the Narnia stories, she is the only one who doesn’t come back b/c she is no longer a ‘friend of Narnia”.
Peter even influences Lucy, who did see Aslan—she follows Peter anyway—in this way, the blind was leading the seeing. Lucy still had a childlike faith and a love for Aslan—but she let the pressures of others stop her from going to him. This is something that Aslan mildly rebukes her for when he says, “and why did that stop you from coming to me”, after Lucy had said the others didn’t believe her.
Peter is like many Christians. Time elapses in our walk with Jesus and we forget. We build up certain expectations of what we think God is doing or should do—we assume we know His will—and then it doesn’t happen like we think it should. Prayers seem unanswered—we step out on faith and it feels like God isn’t holding up His side of the venture. And so we get frustrated, confused, resentful and sometimes angry. We’re tempted to lose hope, we’re tempted to become functional atheists who try to do it all on their own strength. We pray less often, we read the Word less and don’t get as much out of times of fellowship and worship. It saps the strength out of us. Our spiritual vitality drains away.
This is why, in many ways, I feel like Peter. Last year, about this time, my family and I stepped out on faith, jumped off the high dive, in stepping down from my pastoral position in Macomb, IL. We didn’t have a position already lined up, we didn’t know where we were going. We believed God would provide. Provide a short-term job; provide a buyer for our house, provide a new pastoral position.
Early on, it looked like God would do it all. I got a temp. job for $10/hour that very week. We had some early showings of the house. Our search was up and rolling. We thought we knew the will of God and were seeing it played out. Then, things began to change—He wasn’t working on our timetable anymore. I was laid off from that job on Dec. 23rd and couldn’t find another one until March. The house has yet to sell and has become like a rope holding us back. We feel led into church planting and He gave us a location and a vision but there have been delays and frustrations.
I still believe we correctly discerned God’s will in stepping down from my pastoral position. But now we are asking the questions… “how long Lord?” When will these steps of faith we’ve taken come to pass? For me, like Peter, “It’s been a year” how long are we going to have to wait? Have we missed something in His will? Are we not listening?
I honestly don’t have an easy answer for this type of question.
Unfortunately we are strained, emotionally, spiritually, physically. My current job is overnights at Wal-Mart. While I am thankful to have it, it doesn’t come near to supporting our family, especially with the house payment. If not for the love and generosity of family and a good couple of friends, we would not be making it.
God may very well use the Wal-Mart position as a blessing as I should be able to transfer up to a local store in Shorewood. However, the longer it takes, the less likely as they are in a hiring crunch. We are now trying to sell our house “By Owner” and we’ve dropped our price. Hopefully it will move soon.
It’s hard not to get frustrated. It’s hard to keep the lines of communication open when you begin to sound more like a complaining record that keeps skipping back over the same material over and over again.
But here is where I believe faith is proved genuine. When you don’t know. When you don’t have all the answers. When things are not easy. The light shines in and through the darkness. His word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. In times like this, He is more like a flashlight than the sun. He is lighting the next step or two ahead, not a mile ahead. We may see the destination or the horizon, but not all the twists, turns and valleys in between. We must walk with Him and trust Him. We must yearn and seek after Him in spite of the uncertainties. And be honest with Him about what you’re thinking and feeling (He knows it anyway). But trust Him anyway—trust what He has shown you and who He is and keep walking.
To quote Caedmon’s Call—we have to realize that when we are down in the valley and the flood of God’s grace and presence comes, it’s the valleys that fill first.
Update: 3/18/11
Wow, I never finished this or posted it that I can find. It’s been almost two years and things have not resolved. The house never sold in our possession. We moved onsite to Shorewood, IL to plant The Pursuit. A month later our funding was pulled. A month after that, we had to move to Murray, KY with family where we’ve been for over a year.
Jobs have been hard to find. The first job I found was serving at a brand new restaurant—wasn’t making much money… and then it burned to the ground not even 6 months into its opening. I have been recently hired on permanently at Collegebookrenter.com doing customer service. This has proven a great blessing.
My search for a new Ministry position has also proven challenging. I’ve made it to several churches’ last cut, but never been the one called. Many times the enemy likes to use that against me and my confidence.
Not even supply preaching is happening like I thought it would. Last fall, my wife and I took on the college ministry at our church, using our church plant material to provide some identity.
In any event, it’s been almost 3 years since my family and I stepped out on faith and very little has gone “according to plan”. There are days I feel more like Peter than ever. But there are many others in which I am compelled to trust and wait that His plans have always been better than mine and that there are things I must be faithful at doing in the meantime.
I have certainly had opportunities for the Kingdom of God that I never would have had if things worked out my way. I’ve met and hopefully influenced people in a way that honors my Savior.
I have had the opportunity to do some writing that I have been led to do but never had the time to do. I’ve made good progress into a book on the life of Jacob.
I’m reminded reading this again—Who’s Kingdom am I fighting for? Mine or His?
Have I been acting like a Functional Atheist trying to do everything by my own strength, power and wits?
Is my confusion and struggle in this walk steadfast through the struggle? Am I leading my family accordingly, my wife and kids, to see God as Lucy did even in the midst of the uncertainty?
Lord, I want to confess my confusion. My expectations have not been met because my understanding of You is too small and limited.
I know You are here with me wherever I go for You have promised never to leave or forsake me.
I call out to You for resolution, a light for my path. Help me be faithful wherever the path goes. Help me discern Your voice and leading. Help me depend on You and not my own strength or wisdom.
Help me to be a light especially to my family. I pray that my wife is not discouraged. I pray my children do not lose heart because of our uncertainty. I pray this experience strengthens their ability to trust You even when nothing makes sense. Even when things don’t “work out” when we’re trying to be faithful.
Help me not to relate to You with the attitude, “I’ll do this for You so You will do this for me.”
You are my portion and great reward—if I have nothing else but You, I have all I will ever need.
Help me to live this way every day—drive away despair from me. Give me a renewed hope and strength.
Thank you for sustaining me in all this experience.
Help me be more like Peter from the Bible. Help me be like Peter from the movie in that I have courage to fight and trust in Your deliverance.
May You be exalted.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Art of Storytelling and Mark's Gospel
How would the story be changed? How differently would the story be told if…
Once upon a time, Sleeping Beauty was awakened by a kiss from Prince Charming.
A Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star.
Knowing how the story ends takes away a lot of the tension. You don’t have to worry as much about the characters or the success of the heroes. When they are in danger, you know they will make it through because you already know how it ends.
Not knowing how something resolves or how it ends creates a tension and uncertainty. It makes you want to know more, keeps your attention until it resolves. Will the heroes survive and make it out of the tough situation? It is the unknown, the unexpected that keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat.
One of the best devices to aid in creating audience tension is the Cliffhanger. You put the main character in some precarious setting and then stop the show before the moment resolves. Then you have to tune in at the “Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel” in order to see what happens next.
Today, many TV shows have a season finale that involves a cliffhanger. People then have to frustratingly wait until next season. One of the most famous cliffhangers spawned a whole national discussion that gave the nation an escape from the news of a presidential election, an ongoing hostage crisis, and a gas shortage.
The characterizing phrase from this moment was, “Who Shot JR?” back in 1980.
One of the Gospels about Jesus does this same thing; the Gospel of Mark.
It is the shortest of the gospels but tells the story in the best way. It is actually meant to be read in one sitting.
It moves very quickly using words like “immediately” or “suddenly”. It is filled with movement, displays of power, emotional responses.
Jesus is the main character and you as the audience learn who is He is in chapter 1 verse 1. The demons that Jesus encounters also know who He is. The only ones who don’t really know are the Disciples, the twelve men selected to follow Him.
Of the disciples, the story focuses on Peter, the second most important person in the story. He is the first disciple mentioned by name (Simon), he is the last disciple mentioned.
The question becomes for the audience… will the disciples, will Peter, ever figure it out? Will they ever see Jesus for who He really is?
Chapter 8 is the pivotal point. Jesus chastises the disciples by saying, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened? ‘Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?’” 8:17-18
After this, Jesus heals a blind man by touching him twice. The first time, the man’s sight is partially restored, he sees things blurry, like wearing someone else’s glasses. Then after the second touch, the man sees Jesus clearly.
Jesus then asks the disciples the most important question: “Who do people say that I am?” He wants to know how well they see Him. Are they seeing things blurry or clearly? The people are a bit confused about His identity, but Peter says boldly, “You are the Messiah!” 8:29
Peter and the disciples see clearly for one moment. But then Jesus changes course and begins to teach about His eventual crucifixion and death. And Peter, who just 3 verses earlier proclaimed Jesus the Messiah begins to rebuke Jesus and Jesus calls Peter “Satan” for not seeing clearly.
Chapter 9 lets Peter see Jesus in His glory, called the Transfiguration, but they still don’t keep the focus very long.
The fast moving story covering several months slows down when they reach Jerusalem. Now the story goes day by day. In these days, Jesus promises a betrayer to which Peter says he never will but is willing to die for Jesus.
The last time a disciple is active in the story is when Peter denies even knowing Jesus in 14:66-72. He can no longer see Jesus clearly, he is afraid.
Now if you were in the first century, this story would have been read to you. Mark, the writer of the story is historically tied to Peter, traveling with him and attending him.
I believe this gospel was written while Peter was still alive. People would have come to the church gathering to hear the great Peter speak. While Mark or someone is reading this story, Peter would be on the front row listening to all his stories of failure with Jesus. Really? The man who denied Jesus isn’t the legend we’ve been hearing about.
Then the last day of Jesus’ life, when He is crucified goes hour by agonizing hour; starting at the 3rd , then the 6th, finally dying at the 9th hour at the beginning of a lunar eclipse.
This is an unexpected ending for the hero of the story if this was the first time you’ve ever heard it. A true tragedy.
None of the disciples are mentioned in the rest of Mark. On the day of Resurrection, it is the women who go to the tomb. The scene is disturbed, the women are getting more and more concerned when they are given a message: “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.’”
Notice how Peter’s name is specifically mentioned again, to bring him back into the story. Then the story ends with the greatest cliffhanger possible. The women are afraid, afraid to tell anyone. THE END
That’s where Mark ends. In the various manuscripts that have survived from antiquity there is evidence of 4 different lengths of endings, the one preserved in many Bibles today is the longest. But it has a different style, different vocabulary and some questionable statements. It is not from the same source.
But the cliffhanger ending, I believe is intentional. As a storyteller, the audience (who’s been sitting for an hour) is now primed and ready to hear the “Rest of the Story” as Paul Harvey says. It serves as an introduction for Peter who can then stand up and share his eyewitness testimony, how he now sees Jesus clearly and how Jesus has forever changed his life.
This follows closely his own descriptions in the books he wrote for the New Testament.
Some of my favorite verses 1 Peter 3:15-16, I believe reminisces from his own experiences of denial and unwillingness to answer when asked about Jesus. 15-16—“set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (an answer) to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect.”
He says in 2 Peter 1:16—“For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
Mark’s missing ending is a classic literary cliffhanger to introduce the eyewitness Peter. When Peter died in Rome (traditionally crucified upside down), this closure of the story was lost.
The problem is that the cliffhanger is unsettling until it is resolved. So the endings are attempts to finish the story.
Nothing is more frustrating for a modern TV show to end a season with a cliffhanger, but have the next season cancelled before that story is completed. That’s what is happening here.
Once upon a time, Sleeping Beauty was awakened by a kiss from Prince Charming.
A Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star.
Knowing how the story ends takes away a lot of the tension. You don’t have to worry as much about the characters or the success of the heroes. When they are in danger, you know they will make it through because you already know how it ends.
Not knowing how something resolves or how it ends creates a tension and uncertainty. It makes you want to know more, keeps your attention until it resolves. Will the heroes survive and make it out of the tough situation? It is the unknown, the unexpected that keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat.
One of the best devices to aid in creating audience tension is the Cliffhanger. You put the main character in some precarious setting and then stop the show before the moment resolves. Then you have to tune in at the “Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel” in order to see what happens next.
Today, many TV shows have a season finale that involves a cliffhanger. People then have to frustratingly wait until next season. One of the most famous cliffhangers spawned a whole national discussion that gave the nation an escape from the news of a presidential election, an ongoing hostage crisis, and a gas shortage.
The characterizing phrase from this moment was, “Who Shot JR?” back in 1980.
One of the Gospels about Jesus does this same thing; the Gospel of Mark.
It is the shortest of the gospels but tells the story in the best way. It is actually meant to be read in one sitting.
It moves very quickly using words like “immediately” or “suddenly”. It is filled with movement, displays of power, emotional responses.
Jesus is the main character and you as the audience learn who is He is in chapter 1 verse 1. The demons that Jesus encounters also know who He is. The only ones who don’t really know are the Disciples, the twelve men selected to follow Him.
Of the disciples, the story focuses on Peter, the second most important person in the story. He is the first disciple mentioned by name (Simon), he is the last disciple mentioned.
The question becomes for the audience… will the disciples, will Peter, ever figure it out? Will they ever see Jesus for who He really is?
Chapter 8 is the pivotal point. Jesus chastises the disciples by saying, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened? ‘Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?’” 8:17-18
After this, Jesus heals a blind man by touching him twice. The first time, the man’s sight is partially restored, he sees things blurry, like wearing someone else’s glasses. Then after the second touch, the man sees Jesus clearly.
Jesus then asks the disciples the most important question: “Who do people say that I am?” He wants to know how well they see Him. Are they seeing things blurry or clearly? The people are a bit confused about His identity, but Peter says boldly, “You are the Messiah!” 8:29
Peter and the disciples see clearly for one moment. But then Jesus changes course and begins to teach about His eventual crucifixion and death. And Peter, who just 3 verses earlier proclaimed Jesus the Messiah begins to rebuke Jesus and Jesus calls Peter “Satan” for not seeing clearly.
Chapter 9 lets Peter see Jesus in His glory, called the Transfiguration, but they still don’t keep the focus very long.
The fast moving story covering several months slows down when they reach Jerusalem. Now the story goes day by day. In these days, Jesus promises a betrayer to which Peter says he never will but is willing to die for Jesus.
The last time a disciple is active in the story is when Peter denies even knowing Jesus in 14:66-72. He can no longer see Jesus clearly, he is afraid.
Now if you were in the first century, this story would have been read to you. Mark, the writer of the story is historically tied to Peter, traveling with him and attending him.
I believe this gospel was written while Peter was still alive. People would have come to the church gathering to hear the great Peter speak. While Mark or someone is reading this story, Peter would be on the front row listening to all his stories of failure with Jesus. Really? The man who denied Jesus isn’t the legend we’ve been hearing about.
Then the last day of Jesus’ life, when He is crucified goes hour by agonizing hour; starting at the 3rd , then the 6th, finally dying at the 9th hour at the beginning of a lunar eclipse.
This is an unexpected ending for the hero of the story if this was the first time you’ve ever heard it. A true tragedy.
None of the disciples are mentioned in the rest of Mark. On the day of Resurrection, it is the women who go to the tomb. The scene is disturbed, the women are getting more and more concerned when they are given a message: “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.’”
Notice how Peter’s name is specifically mentioned again, to bring him back into the story. Then the story ends with the greatest cliffhanger possible. The women are afraid, afraid to tell anyone. THE END
That’s where Mark ends. In the various manuscripts that have survived from antiquity there is evidence of 4 different lengths of endings, the one preserved in many Bibles today is the longest. But it has a different style, different vocabulary and some questionable statements. It is not from the same source.
But the cliffhanger ending, I believe is intentional. As a storyteller, the audience (who’s been sitting for an hour) is now primed and ready to hear the “Rest of the Story” as Paul Harvey says. It serves as an introduction for Peter who can then stand up and share his eyewitness testimony, how he now sees Jesus clearly and how Jesus has forever changed his life.
This follows closely his own descriptions in the books he wrote for the New Testament.
Some of my favorite verses 1 Peter 3:15-16, I believe reminisces from his own experiences of denial and unwillingness to answer when asked about Jesus. 15-16—“set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (an answer) to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect.”
He says in 2 Peter 1:16—“For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
Mark’s missing ending is a classic literary cliffhanger to introduce the eyewitness Peter. When Peter died in Rome (traditionally crucified upside down), this closure of the story was lost.
The problem is that the cliffhanger is unsettling until it is resolved. So the endings are attempts to finish the story.
Nothing is more frustrating for a modern TV show to end a season with a cliffhanger, but have the next season cancelled before that story is completed. That’s what is happening here.
Friday, March 04, 2011
The Shame we Try to Hide
At the BCM here in Murray last night, the topic was shame and how that can paralyze us.
It’s amazing to think that ever since the days of Adam & Eve, we have responded the same way to our shame—we try to cover it up, or we try to hide.
That’s what they did in Genesis 3. They tried to cover up their nakedness and when God did show up, rather than rush to meet Him, they hid from Him.
One of the joys of my day is when I come home and the kids are excited to see me home. They often rush to meet me.
But there are days I can tell when one or both has gotten in trouble. They’re not too enthused to welcome Dad home because I’m going to find out about it.
I believe that’s a lot of what was going on with them in the Garden, but we still act very much the same way.
We put on a public mask, we try to hide and pretend everything is alright. Our greatest fear becomes being discovered and we go to great lenghts to keep our shame from becoming known.
We may know and it eats us up inside, but we try to keep it in the dark—hide it in the depths where the light of day cannot penetrate.
But God does not want us to stay in the darkness. It is why He sent us the Light of the World.
But when it comes to our shame, we are more comfortable with our darkness than we are with the light. Shame keeps us afraid. But God knows that Victory never comes in shame and secret, but only when the light exposes what we try so hard to hide.
John 3:19-20—“This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.”
Our shame will keep us from the light and from the only source of victory and power over it. We love our sin more than we love the redemption.
But Jesus came on a rescue mission to deliver us from darkness and shame.
Colossians 1:13-14—“He has rescued us from the dominion (power) of darkness (shame) and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption (victory), the forgiveness of sins.”
The last thing our shame wants to do is be exposed, but it is the thing we need the most. Jesus will cover your sin with His righteousness. Do not love your darkness but let the Light of Christ rescue you.
It’s amazing to think that ever since the days of Adam & Eve, we have responded the same way to our shame—we try to cover it up, or we try to hide.
That’s what they did in Genesis 3. They tried to cover up their nakedness and when God did show up, rather than rush to meet Him, they hid from Him.
One of the joys of my day is when I come home and the kids are excited to see me home. They often rush to meet me.
But there are days I can tell when one or both has gotten in trouble. They’re not too enthused to welcome Dad home because I’m going to find out about it.
I believe that’s a lot of what was going on with them in the Garden, but we still act very much the same way.
We put on a public mask, we try to hide and pretend everything is alright. Our greatest fear becomes being discovered and we go to great lenghts to keep our shame from becoming known.
We may know and it eats us up inside, but we try to keep it in the dark—hide it in the depths where the light of day cannot penetrate.
But God does not want us to stay in the darkness. It is why He sent us the Light of the World.
But when it comes to our shame, we are more comfortable with our darkness than we are with the light. Shame keeps us afraid. But God knows that Victory never comes in shame and secret, but only when the light exposes what we try so hard to hide.
John 3:19-20—“This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.”
Our shame will keep us from the light and from the only source of victory and power over it. We love our sin more than we love the redemption.
But Jesus came on a rescue mission to deliver us from darkness and shame.
Colossians 1:13-14—“He has rescued us from the dominion (power) of darkness (shame) and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption (victory), the forgiveness of sins.”
The last thing our shame wants to do is be exposed, but it is the thing we need the most. Jesus will cover your sin with His righteousness. Do not love your darkness but let the Light of Christ rescue you.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
How Well do you know the First Christmas
Not meaning to skip past Thanksgiving but since I'll be starting with Christmas stuff this Sunday, I thought I would get this discussion started.
Starting this weekend, The Pursuit College class at Westside Baptist Church will be taking a closer look at the story of Jesus' birth.
Here's a few questions to think about. Send some answers back here if you know or come on Sunday prepared to talk about it--9:30 AM.
Be ready to explain the traditional Christmas story—
stories found in Matthew 1&2 & Luke 1&2
1. Why did Mary and Joseph even need to go to Bethlehem?
2. What time of year was it?
3. Were Joseph and Mary alone traveling to Bethlehem?
4. How long of a trip was it from Nazareth to Bethlehem?
5. Did Mary give birth to Jesus the night they arrived?
6. Did Mary & Joseph know anyone in Bethlehem?
7. Which Inn had No Vacancy? Ramada Inn or Red Roof Inn?
8. What verse mentions the “inn”? Could it be anything other than a motel type business?
9. Was it a good or bad thing that Mary and Joseph went to the stables with the animals? How?
10. Why did the angel go to shepherds and not people more important?
11. Why were the shepherds afraid of the angel?
12. How do you think Joseph reacted when strange men showed up at the door in the middle of the night?
13. When did the Wise Men notice the star: before Jesus was born, the night Jesus was born, after Jesus was born?
14. Why would the Magi first go to the King’s palace?
15. When did they arrive in Bethlehem? The night Jesus was born or after? If after, by how much?
16. How long did Mary & Joseph stay in Bethlehem after Jesus was born?
17. Why would the king want to kill all the boys in Bethlehem?
Before the Journey & Other Questions
1. How big of an issue was it for Mary to be pregnant before getting married?
2. How do you think Joseph felt about the situation? What was he doing to do when he found out? (see Matthew’s gospel)
3. How do you think Mary & Joseph were treated during her pregnancy?
4. Why did Mary rush off to her cousin’s house? How long was she there?
5. Why is the concept of the Virgin birth/conception so important?
6. Did other people have questions about Jesus’ “questionable” birth situation? See John 8, particularly 8:19
7. Are there any passages from the Old Testament that speak about Jesus’ birth?
Starting this weekend, The Pursuit College class at Westside Baptist Church will be taking a closer look at the story of Jesus' birth.
Here's a few questions to think about. Send some answers back here if you know or come on Sunday prepared to talk about it--9:30 AM.
Be ready to explain the traditional Christmas story—
stories found in Matthew 1&2 & Luke 1&2
1. Why did Mary and Joseph even need to go to Bethlehem?
2. What time of year was it?
3. Were Joseph and Mary alone traveling to Bethlehem?
4. How long of a trip was it from Nazareth to Bethlehem?
5. Did Mary give birth to Jesus the night they arrived?
6. Did Mary & Joseph know anyone in Bethlehem?
7. Which Inn had No Vacancy? Ramada Inn or Red Roof Inn?
8. What verse mentions the “inn”? Could it be anything other than a motel type business?
9. Was it a good or bad thing that Mary and Joseph went to the stables with the animals? How?
10. Why did the angel go to shepherds and not people more important?
11. Why were the shepherds afraid of the angel?
12. How do you think Joseph reacted when strange men showed up at the door in the middle of the night?
13. When did the Wise Men notice the star: before Jesus was born, the night Jesus was born, after Jesus was born?
14. Why would the Magi first go to the King’s palace?
15. When did they arrive in Bethlehem? The night Jesus was born or after? If after, by how much?
16. How long did Mary & Joseph stay in Bethlehem after Jesus was born?
17. Why would the king want to kill all the boys in Bethlehem?
Before the Journey & Other Questions
1. How big of an issue was it for Mary to be pregnant before getting married?
2. How do you think Joseph felt about the situation? What was he doing to do when he found out? (see Matthew’s gospel)
3. How do you think Mary & Joseph were treated during her pregnancy?
4. Why did Mary rush off to her cousin’s house? How long was she there?
5. Why is the concept of the Virgin birth/conception so important?
6. Did other people have questions about Jesus’ “questionable” birth situation? See John 8, particularly 8:19
7. Are there any passages from the Old Testament that speak about Jesus’ birth?
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Mission - Burden or Privilege
Imagine that you wake up in the morning to the United States in a time of great need (a big stretch over the last 10 years I know!). You turn on the news to see the President addressing the nation before cameras and reporters. "And now," he says, "I'm going to call the one person I need to help accomplish and fulfill the mission before us--the task of saving the people of our great nation."
From off camera, one of his staffers hands him a phone. He starts dialing. He puts it to his ear.
And your phone starts ringing.
Caller ID says: Washington D.C.
It's him. He's calling you.
What is going through your mind in this moment?
OK, here's the deal--If the President were ever to call me, I would first think it was a joke. Then I would be stunned and flabergasted that the President would call me for anything. Then I would consider myself totally unqualified and I ...would try to find a way out of it.
Among other things. I would be intimidated, I might be tempted to avoid answering the phone, but I would neverbe rude to the President, never hang up on him or pretend I can't hear him because of a bad cell connection (whether I like the current guy or not). Would you have the nerve to hang up on the President? I wouldn't.
Above all, I hope I would have the courage to do what was asked of me.
The connection in this scenario is that we have someone who has called us that is far bigger and more important than the President: the Creator of the Universe. He has a Mission to be accomplished and it is very important to Him. He wants to save people and give them an eternity with Him.
When God wants to save someone, He SENDS someone. The best example of that is Jesus. Read John 3:17 (everyone knows 3:16). When God wanted to save us, He SENT His Son. God is a Mission Sending God.
And He wants to include us as a vital part of His Mission. God wants to save people now by Sending You. He calls you, maybe not on the phone, but He is calling you to fulfill a great need.
Is this a burden or a Privilege? Do you think God only calls a few select people to this mission? Would you rather God call someone else to do it? Do you want to be left out of it?
Too many believers in Jesus see this mission as a burden and not a responsibility much less a Privilege and a joy. They don't want God to include them--when He calls they refuse to answer the phone or even hang up on the Creator of the Universe.
If it is wrong to do so to the President, how much more to our Creator?
When you become a believer, you given a Mission. How big is your mission? Do you really want the most menial, insignificant and least satisfying mission? Do you really want to go AWOL to the One you call Savior?
You will never understand your faith as well until you become someone who is fulfilling your mission and actively sharing your faith--Philemon 1:6 (NIV especially)
This is more than Smokey the Bear saying, "Only You can prevent forest fires." It's more than just a suggestion--it is a command and a privilege.
Begin seeing your mission as a Privilege and not a burden.
From off camera, one of his staffers hands him a phone. He starts dialing. He puts it to his ear.
And your phone starts ringing.
Caller ID says: Washington D.C.
It's him. He's calling you.
What is going through your mind in this moment?
OK, here's the deal--If the President were ever to call me, I would first think it was a joke. Then I would be stunned and flabergasted that the President would call me for anything. Then I would consider myself totally unqualified and I ...would try to find a way out of it.
Among other things. I would be intimidated, I might be tempted to avoid answering the phone, but I would neverbe rude to the President, never hang up on him or pretend I can't hear him because of a bad cell connection (whether I like the current guy or not). Would you have the nerve to hang up on the President? I wouldn't.
Above all, I hope I would have the courage to do what was asked of me.
The connection in this scenario is that we have someone who has called us that is far bigger and more important than the President: the Creator of the Universe. He has a Mission to be accomplished and it is very important to Him. He wants to save people and give them an eternity with Him.
When God wants to save someone, He SENDS someone. The best example of that is Jesus. Read John 3:17 (everyone knows 3:16). When God wanted to save us, He SENT His Son. God is a Mission Sending God.
And He wants to include us as a vital part of His Mission. God wants to save people now by Sending You. He calls you, maybe not on the phone, but He is calling you to fulfill a great need.
Is this a burden or a Privilege? Do you think God only calls a few select people to this mission? Would you rather God call someone else to do it? Do you want to be left out of it?
Too many believers in Jesus see this mission as a burden and not a responsibility much less a Privilege and a joy. They don't want God to include them--when He calls they refuse to answer the phone or even hang up on the Creator of the Universe.
If it is wrong to do so to the President, how much more to our Creator?
When you become a believer, you given a Mission. How big is your mission? Do you really want the most menial, insignificant and least satisfying mission? Do you really want to go AWOL to the One you call Savior?
You will never understand your faith as well until you become someone who is fulfilling your mission and actively sharing your faith--Philemon 1:6 (NIV especially)
This is more than Smokey the Bear saying, "Only You can prevent forest fires." It's more than just a suggestion--it is a command and a privilege.
Begin seeing your mission as a Privilege and not a burden.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sermon - 2 Timothy 1:6 - God's Fire - Lighter Fluid or Fire Extinguisher
Now that summer is winding down—a debate rages every weekend—
“To Grill or Not to Grill? That is the question.”
And within that debate rages another one—Propane or Charcoal?
How many Propane advocates do we have? Charcoal?
Those of you who love Charcoal should listen carefully—because today, we’re talking about a fire.
In order to offer up sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God, the Israelites were commanded to set up a big fire. When God’s presence came down on the Tent of Meeting, He was the one who started the fire (Lev. 9:24). Later, in 2 Chronicles 7 when Solomon was dedicating the temple and the altar, again it was God who started the fire that consumed the first sacrifice.
They had some instructions to go along with this fire—they were supposed to maintain it and not let it go out.
Leviticus 6:12-13--12 The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. 13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
Even things like the lamps had to be maintained and kept burning.
Lev. 24:1-4--The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.
How do you think they would respond if someone came running up to the fire with a large bucket of water to put it out? That person would be stopped at all costs. It would be an act of blasphemy—and spiritual terrorism.
This was not an obligation that they took lightly? I would hate to be that guy who didn’t take it seriously.
Picture it like someone leading a tour group through the temple grounds and they introduce everyone to an important person—“And next I’d like to introduce you to Jason—his job is to make sure that the fire of the altar remains burning at all times. That’s because this fire which has been burning continuously for the last 50 years after originally being started by God Himself. “
A small kid tugs on their parent’s sleeve and says, “I don’t see any fire”
Southwest Airlines has an ad campaign that expresses this moment: “Wanna get away?”
I would not want to be that guy who let the fire go out. Would you?
And yet you and I are capable of it—not just passively letting it go out, but actively putting out the Fire of God in your life, in the life of those around you, and even your church.
In 2 Timothy, Paul gives a great encouragement to his son in the faith. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Keep this gift ablaze in your life—keep the fires burning, keep the altar burning in your heart, in your life that God started because you are charged with keeping it lit.
How else are you to offer yourself as a Living Sacrifice as Romans 12 calls us to do?
If you neglect, ignore, stop using your gift—if you ignore, don’t listen to, put off the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit, then that fire which was started in you will die down, the light and heat that it gives off will diminish and weaken and eventually your passion and your effectiveness as a believer in Jesus Christ will wane.
Paul says that you cannot let that happen. Instead you must deliberately and attentively keep that fire alive—more than that—you must “fan” that fire into flame.
Have you seen anyone do that? Get a roaring fire going from a few smoldering embers? You stir up the coals a bit, add a little more fuel and start to blow.
Maybe you even have one of those fancy Fireplace Bellows that give a great directed air to get a fire going again.
Or maybe for those die hard grillers, you just pull out the Lighter Fluid and spray it on to get the biggest flame possible.
Who here has done that in the last month? Sprayed lighter fluid directly on a fire? The last week? Yesterday?
God started a fire in you when you believed—the gift of the Holy Spirit is described as coming down on the early church in Acts 2 as a fire—filling the people of God—filling those who are His Temple. He is taking up residence, not in a building—but this time a people.
God does not want your gift that He has given you to use… He does not want the fire the Spirit inside you to be a mere flicker—a smoldering pile of ash that does nothing but give evidence that something once was happening here.
But Paul feels the need to say that you must, MUST, MUST keep this fire ablaze—your very life depends on it
When we talk about grilling on the weekend—it’s optional—our life is not on the line—our next meal may come from it—but fire wasn’t so easy to come by and start like it is today.
you must fan it into flame again because I’m sure that he had seen many people’s fire for life, for ministry, for serving, for worship, for praying fizzle out.
As tragic as it is to let the fire go out, you’ve got to realize that it more tragic to sabotage and to deliberately put the fire out.
Instead of grabbing the lighter fluid—you pull out the FIRE EXTINGUISHER.
Do you think you would be capable of taking a Fire Extinguisher to the Temple and putting out the fire of the Altar?
Then why would you be willing to do that in Your Life? In Someone else’s Life? In the life of your church?
When the Spirit of God moves in your heart? How do you respond?
When an opportunity arises to use your gift? Do you follow through? Talk yourself out of it?
There are 2 ways you can respond to the leading of the Spirit—Lighter Fluid or Fire Extinguisher
You Can be an Extinguisher in Your Own Life
When you refuse to use your gift and it is neglected—it loses its power and effectiveness. You lose your light and heat and your power. You’re an extinguisher.
When you Ignore or Put Off or Explain away the leading of God—your fire dies down-- love for Him goes cold, your responsiveness to Him is lessened and your usefulness Him. You’re an extinguisher to your own altar
There are so many more I could think of here—I’m sure you can think of a few that you’ve used—a few fires that you’ve put out.
You Can be an Extinguisher in the Lives of Others
When someone comes to you seeking answers and you set up an appointment with someone else so because you’re uncomfortable—that’s an extinguisher.
When someone with a rough past has given their life to Jesus and in their enthusiasm they want to serve and you tell them—“I don’t think we have anything right now.”—that’s an extinguisher
When someone thinks they might be called into the ministry and you tell them that’s a bad career move b/c they’ll never make any money—that’s an extinguisher.
You Can Be An Extinguisher In Your Church
We can have Extinguishers In the church
When you Oppose Everything
When You Gossip or Complain
Hold on to Bitterness
When you are not Welcoming to new or different people
When you are not Praying
A church that has no vision—vision for the lost, for the Mission and Kingdom of God—that’s an extinguisher
A church that is more concerned about what people are wearing or how they look is an extinguisher
A church that refuses to grow, refuses to adapt, refuses to reach out is an extinguisher—rightly standing on the unchanging message but inflexible with methods
Such a church is in danger of what happened to the church in Ephesus—losing your first love—your fire going out and your lampstand removed.
Most churches safety reasons have lots of fire extinguishers at strategically placed locations in order to put out any fires that may pop up—and rightly so.
But what we also need is lighter fluid in strategic places where we can make the movements of God even bigger.
As great as it is to have Firefighters like Justin in our church—who’s job it is to put out fires—we need more men and women willing to start spiritual fires and fan them in to a great flame.
The People Extinguished -- The Church Extinguished
The People on Fire -- The Church On Fire
The church needs people who are not carrying around fire extinguishers but lighter fluid
We need more Power Plants not more Surge Protectors
What purpose for the gift?
No fear—boldness
Power in witness
Love and compassion for the lost
Self- Control
Sound judgment—discernment—opportunity of how and when
How do you Fan into Flame or Keep Ablaze this gift?
• Fuel
o Word of God—this is your spiritual food—if you’re going out to eat after church today—how crazy would it be to have all this food placed before you, but never eat it—
o Worship—praise God in your life—not just on Sundays or when someone else is leading you
o Fellowship with other Believers—we strengthen each other
o Serve—you build muscles by working them—you add fuel to your fire in serving the church
o Don’t get burned out
• Wind or Breath
o God breathed onto the dust He had formed and the man became a living being. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit”
o Jesus said, “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8
o When the Spirit moves—you must hear Him, Recognize Him and Respond to Him in faith and obedience
o Learn His Voice, Recognize His Leading
Opportunity to respond—how is the fire of your altar? Are you an extinguisher in your own life? Can you offer yourself as a living sacrifice with the fire and passion in your heart?
Maybe you need God to start your fire today.
“To Grill or Not to Grill? That is the question.”
And within that debate rages another one—Propane or Charcoal?
How many Propane advocates do we have? Charcoal?
Those of you who love Charcoal should listen carefully—because today, we’re talking about a fire.
In order to offer up sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God, the Israelites were commanded to set up a big fire. When God’s presence came down on the Tent of Meeting, He was the one who started the fire (Lev. 9:24). Later, in 2 Chronicles 7 when Solomon was dedicating the temple and the altar, again it was God who started the fire that consumed the first sacrifice.
They had some instructions to go along with this fire—they were supposed to maintain it and not let it go out.
Leviticus 6:12-13--12 The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. 13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
Even things like the lamps had to be maintained and kept burning.
Lev. 24:1-4--The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.
How do you think they would respond if someone came running up to the fire with a large bucket of water to put it out? That person would be stopped at all costs. It would be an act of blasphemy—and spiritual terrorism.
This was not an obligation that they took lightly? I would hate to be that guy who didn’t take it seriously.
Picture it like someone leading a tour group through the temple grounds and they introduce everyone to an important person—“And next I’d like to introduce you to Jason—his job is to make sure that the fire of the altar remains burning at all times. That’s because this fire which has been burning continuously for the last 50 years after originally being started by God Himself. “
A small kid tugs on their parent’s sleeve and says, “I don’t see any fire”
Southwest Airlines has an ad campaign that expresses this moment: “Wanna get away?”
I would not want to be that guy who let the fire go out. Would you?
And yet you and I are capable of it—not just passively letting it go out, but actively putting out the Fire of God in your life, in the life of those around you, and even your church.
In 2 Timothy, Paul gives a great encouragement to his son in the faith. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Keep this gift ablaze in your life—keep the fires burning, keep the altar burning in your heart, in your life that God started because you are charged with keeping it lit.
How else are you to offer yourself as a Living Sacrifice as Romans 12 calls us to do?
If you neglect, ignore, stop using your gift—if you ignore, don’t listen to, put off the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit, then that fire which was started in you will die down, the light and heat that it gives off will diminish and weaken and eventually your passion and your effectiveness as a believer in Jesus Christ will wane.
Paul says that you cannot let that happen. Instead you must deliberately and attentively keep that fire alive—more than that—you must “fan” that fire into flame.
Have you seen anyone do that? Get a roaring fire going from a few smoldering embers? You stir up the coals a bit, add a little more fuel and start to blow.
Maybe you even have one of those fancy Fireplace Bellows that give a great directed air to get a fire going again.
Or maybe for those die hard grillers, you just pull out the Lighter Fluid and spray it on to get the biggest flame possible.
Who here has done that in the last month? Sprayed lighter fluid directly on a fire? The last week? Yesterday?
God started a fire in you when you believed—the gift of the Holy Spirit is described as coming down on the early church in Acts 2 as a fire—filling the people of God—filling those who are His Temple. He is taking up residence, not in a building—but this time a people.
God does not want your gift that He has given you to use… He does not want the fire the Spirit inside you to be a mere flicker—a smoldering pile of ash that does nothing but give evidence that something once was happening here.
But Paul feels the need to say that you must, MUST, MUST keep this fire ablaze—your very life depends on it
When we talk about grilling on the weekend—it’s optional—our life is not on the line—our next meal may come from it—but fire wasn’t so easy to come by and start like it is today.
you must fan it into flame again because I’m sure that he had seen many people’s fire for life, for ministry, for serving, for worship, for praying fizzle out.
As tragic as it is to let the fire go out, you’ve got to realize that it more tragic to sabotage and to deliberately put the fire out.
Instead of grabbing the lighter fluid—you pull out the FIRE EXTINGUISHER.
Do you think you would be capable of taking a Fire Extinguisher to the Temple and putting out the fire of the Altar?
Then why would you be willing to do that in Your Life? In Someone else’s Life? In the life of your church?
When the Spirit of God moves in your heart? How do you respond?
When an opportunity arises to use your gift? Do you follow through? Talk yourself out of it?
There are 2 ways you can respond to the leading of the Spirit—Lighter Fluid or Fire Extinguisher
You Can be an Extinguisher in Your Own Life
When you refuse to use your gift and it is neglected—it loses its power and effectiveness. You lose your light and heat and your power. You’re an extinguisher.
When you Ignore or Put Off or Explain away the leading of God—your fire dies down-- love for Him goes cold, your responsiveness to Him is lessened and your usefulness Him. You’re an extinguisher to your own altar
There are so many more I could think of here—I’m sure you can think of a few that you’ve used—a few fires that you’ve put out.
You Can be an Extinguisher in the Lives of Others
When someone comes to you seeking answers and you set up an appointment with someone else so because you’re uncomfortable—that’s an extinguisher.
When someone with a rough past has given their life to Jesus and in their enthusiasm they want to serve and you tell them—“I don’t think we have anything right now.”—that’s an extinguisher
When someone thinks they might be called into the ministry and you tell them that’s a bad career move b/c they’ll never make any money—that’s an extinguisher.
You Can Be An Extinguisher In Your Church
We can have Extinguishers In the church
When you Oppose Everything
When You Gossip or Complain
Hold on to Bitterness
When you are not Welcoming to new or different people
When you are not Praying
A church that has no vision—vision for the lost, for the Mission and Kingdom of God—that’s an extinguisher
A church that is more concerned about what people are wearing or how they look is an extinguisher
A church that refuses to grow, refuses to adapt, refuses to reach out is an extinguisher—rightly standing on the unchanging message but inflexible with methods
Such a church is in danger of what happened to the church in Ephesus—losing your first love—your fire going out and your lampstand removed.
Most churches safety reasons have lots of fire extinguishers at strategically placed locations in order to put out any fires that may pop up—and rightly so.
But what we also need is lighter fluid in strategic places where we can make the movements of God even bigger.
As great as it is to have Firefighters like Justin in our church—who’s job it is to put out fires—we need more men and women willing to start spiritual fires and fan them in to a great flame.
The People Extinguished -- The Church Extinguished
The People on Fire -- The Church On Fire
The church needs people who are not carrying around fire extinguishers but lighter fluid
We need more Power Plants not more Surge Protectors
What purpose for the gift?
No fear—boldness
Power in witness
Love and compassion for the lost
Self- Control
Sound judgment—discernment—opportunity of how and when
How do you Fan into Flame or Keep Ablaze this gift?
• Fuel
o Word of God—this is your spiritual food—if you’re going out to eat after church today—how crazy would it be to have all this food placed before you, but never eat it—
o Worship—praise God in your life—not just on Sundays or when someone else is leading you
o Fellowship with other Believers—we strengthen each other
o Serve—you build muscles by working them—you add fuel to your fire in serving the church
o Don’t get burned out
• Wind or Breath
o God breathed onto the dust He had formed and the man became a living being. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit”
o Jesus said, “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it’s sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8
o When the Spirit moves—you must hear Him, Recognize Him and Respond to Him in faith and obedience
o Learn His Voice, Recognize His Leading
Opportunity to respond—how is the fire of your altar? Are you an extinguisher in your own life? Can you offer yourself as a living sacrifice with the fire and passion in your heart?
Maybe you need God to start your fire today.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Core Beliefs - Part 1 - Creative God
These Core Beliefs are intended to help tell the story of God's work in history.
Today I'm writing about the first, but I want to start by listing all of them.
1. Creative God
2. Damaged Humanity
3. Restoring Jesus
4. Transforming Holy Spirit
5. Privileged Mission
6. Infallible Word
7. Glorious Future
With that list, here's the discussion from this past Sunday on our Creative God
1. Creative God
a. God is creative and has a great imagination. Just look at the diversity of creatures and wonders of nature. From deep sea creatures to nebulae in deep space—all of it finds their origin in the creativity of God.
b. “In the Beginning, God created” is one of the most debated and controversial topics in today’s culture and philosophy. Many times, science begins with Carl Sagan’s axiom, “the universe is all there is or ever will be”. This is a total materialistic universe according to them and God is not even a necessary concept as Stephen Hawking has published recently
c. This is partially in response to the fact that the Big Bang Theory as it is popularly known, in the minds of many, supports the biblical concept of creation because based on observation, the universe as we know it had a definitive beginning and is not a static, eternal universe with no beginning as argued in the previous theory.
d. This universe and all the heavens “declare the glory of God”—in other words—the complexity and design of everything points to a designer. Paul goes further to say in Romans 1 that just by the testimony of creation itself, human beings are without excuse in acknowledging God’s existence. Instead of worshipping the Creator, we would rather, in our sin, worship the created thing—but which is greater? By far, the Creator.
e. God is THE creative Creator with an amazing imagination for diversity, complexity and beauty. Genesis 1 records the systematic way He builds layers upon layers in order to make His work of art. Starting in Day 3, He begins stepping back and taking a look at what He has just done and He sees that it is “good”. Good in the artist’s sense of—“that part is done and I like it, I’m ready to move on to the next part of my work of art.”
f. The last step that God adds to His creation is Adam & Eve—the only part of creation that is described as made in the image of God--It is not until God creates Adam & Eve—as the crowning achievement of what He is doing that we see Him step back and declare that it is all “very good”.
g. We have a special and unique place in God’s creation—and in relationship with out Creator. No other part of creation can claim the stature of human beings—all the previous creative work was building a background canvas for His masterpiece. That’s how we are described in Ephesians 2:10—we are God’s “worskmanship”—the word there is Poema—similar to poem—it can also be translated, “masterpiece”.
h. God is creative and He has poured His creativity into creating a world for those made in His image. And this creativity is something that God has designed and built into the very fabric of our being. Because He is creative we too are creative.
i. You can see that pointed out in various places in Scripture. In Exodus 31 God says of a man named Bezalel “4-- I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-- 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”—Bezalel was given these gifts for the building of the first Tabernacle—the housing of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tent of Meeting with God. God does not want things shoddy or cheap—He understands beauty and how things that please the eye often please or soften the heart. Bezalel’s gifting improved the worship of God’s people and strengthened them as a community.
j. Later in 1 Corinthians 12, you see—“ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1CO 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
k. The continuing discussion of spiritual gifts come with this understanding—God now gives gifts to His people, His church for the building up and magnification of His name and the strengthening of His people. Each person has a different set of gifts and a different calling of service. We are not uniform, exchangeable cogs in some great wheel—but specially created and gifted to serve His Kingdom in a uniquely creative way.
l. Just as Bezalel was beautifying the Tabernacle, what would become the future Temple of God, so too our gifts build up His Temple that is the Church
m. God has ingrained His creativity in our design—too often growing up I used my creativity to discover ways to get myself in trouble—but God wants us to use our creativity for His glory and to strengthen the worship of His people. As a believer, God has given you a gift for you to use—do not let it sit idle but instead fan that gift into flame by use. Also, given you are uniquely gifted, don’t just do anything and plug yourself into something for the sake of doing what someone else needs or wants (though that may very well be necessary for a season) but instead cultivate your gift and use your creativity to find new ways of bridging the ancient faith to modern life.
Today I'm writing about the first, but I want to start by listing all of them.
1. Creative God
2. Damaged Humanity
3. Restoring Jesus
4. Transforming Holy Spirit
5. Privileged Mission
6. Infallible Word
7. Glorious Future
With that list, here's the discussion from this past Sunday on our Creative God
1. Creative God
a. God is creative and has a great imagination. Just look at the diversity of creatures and wonders of nature. From deep sea creatures to nebulae in deep space—all of it finds their origin in the creativity of God.
b. “In the Beginning, God created” is one of the most debated and controversial topics in today’s culture and philosophy. Many times, science begins with Carl Sagan’s axiom, “the universe is all there is or ever will be”. This is a total materialistic universe according to them and God is not even a necessary concept as Stephen Hawking has published recently
c. This is partially in response to the fact that the Big Bang Theory as it is popularly known, in the minds of many, supports the biblical concept of creation because based on observation, the universe as we know it had a definitive beginning and is not a static, eternal universe with no beginning as argued in the previous theory.
d. This universe and all the heavens “declare the glory of God”—in other words—the complexity and design of everything points to a designer. Paul goes further to say in Romans 1 that just by the testimony of creation itself, human beings are without excuse in acknowledging God’s existence. Instead of worshipping the Creator, we would rather, in our sin, worship the created thing—but which is greater? By far, the Creator.
e. God is THE creative Creator with an amazing imagination for diversity, complexity and beauty. Genesis 1 records the systematic way He builds layers upon layers in order to make His work of art. Starting in Day 3, He begins stepping back and taking a look at what He has just done and He sees that it is “good”. Good in the artist’s sense of—“that part is done and I like it, I’m ready to move on to the next part of my work of art.”
f. The last step that God adds to His creation is Adam & Eve—the only part of creation that is described as made in the image of God--It is not until God creates Adam & Eve—as the crowning achievement of what He is doing that we see Him step back and declare that it is all “very good”.
g. We have a special and unique place in God’s creation—and in relationship with out Creator. No other part of creation can claim the stature of human beings—all the previous creative work was building a background canvas for His masterpiece. That’s how we are described in Ephesians 2:10—we are God’s “worskmanship”—the word there is Poema—similar to poem—it can also be translated, “masterpiece”.
h. God is creative and He has poured His creativity into creating a world for those made in His image. And this creativity is something that God has designed and built into the very fabric of our being. Because He is creative we too are creative.
i. You can see that pointed out in various places in Scripture. In Exodus 31 God says of a man named Bezalel “4-- I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-- 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”—Bezalel was given these gifts for the building of the first Tabernacle—the housing of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tent of Meeting with God. God does not want things shoddy or cheap—He understands beauty and how things that please the eye often please or soften the heart. Bezalel’s gifting improved the worship of God’s people and strengthened them as a community.
j. Later in 1 Corinthians 12, you see—“ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1CO 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
k. The continuing discussion of spiritual gifts come with this understanding—God now gives gifts to His people, His church for the building up and magnification of His name and the strengthening of His people. Each person has a different set of gifts and a different calling of service. We are not uniform, exchangeable cogs in some great wheel—but specially created and gifted to serve His Kingdom in a uniquely creative way.
l. Just as Bezalel was beautifying the Tabernacle, what would become the future Temple of God, so too our gifts build up His Temple that is the Church
m. God has ingrained His creativity in our design—too often growing up I used my creativity to discover ways to get myself in trouble—but God wants us to use our creativity for His glory and to strengthen the worship of His people. As a believer, God has given you a gift for you to use—do not let it sit idle but instead fan that gift into flame by use. Also, given you are uniquely gifted, don’t just do anything and plug yourself into something for the sake of doing what someone else needs or wants (though that may very well be necessary for a season) but instead cultivate your gift and use your creativity to find new ways of bridging the ancient faith to modern life.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Lesson From Nature - Full or New Moon?
It's amazing to think how the moon can cast a shadow because it is so bright. The moon is not the source of the light, it merely is reflecting light from a greater source... the sun. The moon is functioning as a giant mirror in the sky reflecting the brightness of the sun that is shining on the other side of the world.
However, as you can see above--the moon is not always full. It waxes and wanes depending on the time of the month and it's position around the earth.
Sometimes the moon will be so bright it can cast a shadow. Other times, you'll barely be able to see it at all.
All of that got me to thinking. Which would I rather be? The Full moon or the New moon?
As believers in Jesus, we are supposed to be more like the Full moon--fully reflecting a glory that is not our own. We are not a source of the light, we merely reflect the glory that belongs to and comes from God.
2 Corinthians 3:18-- "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
We reflect a glory that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:3 - "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."
The more we are like Christ, the more we reflect His glory. The more we allow ourselves to be conformed into the image of Jesus, the greater light that shines from us--or more accurately reflects from us.
My problem is that some days, I am more like the New moon than I am the Full moon. I am like one of the phases--I reflect some light, but am darkened in other areas.
The world is covered in a darkness and it needs the light of our Savior reflected in our lives.
How about you? What kind of moon are you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)