I'm pretty thankful for my blatantly sinful past, and I'm pretty thankful for the "good life" I had (by the world's standards) when I was rescued by Jesus Christ. I know that sounds weird. That's probably because I'm a little weird. But allow me to explain.
I'm thankful for my blatantly sinful past, because it allows for a grand marker to be placed right in the middle of my life. If you drew my life out on a timeline, the first part would be labelled the hell bound old man and the second part would be labelled the heaven bound new man. I do not remember the date I cried out to Jesus Christ to save me, but I remember the day. I remember that before that day that I wanted to just fill my life with more pornography (the kind that makes Playboy look like the Conservative Amish Dress Catalog) and Mario Kart (5 hours a day at times) and was proud of all the time and money I was able to waste on absolutely nothing. I remember that after that day I wanted to just know about God more and more, and then I wanted to serve God more and more, and I'm in the spot where I want to know God more and more. I can without a doubt say that I was born again of the Spirit of God and am a new creation.
What could my life have looked like if I had been going to church since I was much younger? I might learn "moral deism" -- I'd know all the "right stuff" and stay away from the "bad stuff" and think I'm saved. I would learn how to speak "Christianese" and do the "Christian church stuff" and think I'm so awesome. How terrible! I would then unwittingly put salvation in my own hands and crap on the cross of Christ. I'm not saying that happens to everyone, but it happens to a lot of people -- people who may have good doctrine, may look like they live moral lives, may memorize a ton of scripture, may go to the Bible study, and so on -- but have no clue about the amazing grace of the gospel. I pass no judgment on the poor man or woman in this situation -- I say it so that you may check yourself and see if that's you. If it is, get out and run straight for the cross! The truth is, we're all a mess, even if we don't see it.
I'm also thankful for the "good life" I had (by the world's standards), because it took away my excuse for turning away when things "got better". Let's say I was in serious debt, or had lost my job, or my kid died, or some other terrible thing happened to me that I needed God to help me with. Say he did and I threw up a "yay God!" I might follow God for a while, sort of, doing the "Christianese" thing, and then fall away. Why? Because I might care more about the temporal gift than the eternal gift. I'd be happy God saved me from my debt, or got me a job, or eased my pain -- but I'd fail to realize what I really needed him to save me from was my sin. The fact that I had it "good" by the world's standards left no opportunity for that -- Jesus came in and ripped me away from sin and from sin alone.
Don't get me wrong on these. God works in amazing and different ways in everyone's life. Someone else could easily be in my "what if" and come out just fine in Christ, with their own marker standing on something I have just put to the side. Praise God for that! Being able to look at my incredible brokenness and lack of worldly need work well for me to mark the time of my transformation -- your story may be very different.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Connected
I've said before what an awesome thing it is to have the ear of God who created the universe. But you know how things go sometimes. Sometimes you start to doubt yourself or doubt God. Sometimes you're not sure if you're being led by the Spirit or just making something up in your head. Sometimes you're not sure that you believe some of the things you say.
So check this out.
Last week I got this push from the Spirit to give the "I Dare You To Pray This" post I printed out to this woman at work. I thought that was kind of weird and tried to ignore it. Not really a good idea. I said to God, "Look, that seems weird; I don't have a Bible with my story like I like to give out and so on." Trying to get off the hook you see. "Go get one out of your office." Oh bother.
Turns out I did have one Bible left sitting in my office. So I brought the Bible, my printed out story, and the "Dare Prayer" to this woman and shared a little bit with her, stumbling and bumbling through it per usual. I found it difficult to talk to girls in high school and not much has changed. She thought that was nice and thanked me and I left for home.
On the way home, something I listened to the man Francis Chan talking about -- related to what I said up at the top -- just how awesome it was to see answered prayers, and not just pie in the sky could be anything answered prayers, but specific answers to specific prayers. With that going in my head, and some doubts running around as well, I went to God. I said something like "If this is really from you, would you please show me something real out of it? Just give me something from this woman that it wasn't all in my head."
Fast forward to the next day. When I walked into her building she told me that she hadn't read the Bible for some time and she started reading it again and that it was very nice of me to share that with her. I thought "Thanks, God, you did it!" I went home and bragged about my God to Jamie, as if she didn't get already what takes me a good thwomping in the head.
I thought that was it and was happy with the answer. I didn't ask for much, but I did ask for something specific.
Now fast forward to this morning. I walked into her building again. You know what she told me? One of her friends passed away over the weekend, and that the reading in the Bible she had been doing prepared her for it, as she never lost someone close and young like that before. And not only that. She told me that she wanted to share that with me to confirm that what I felt was real and that it was the right thing to do.
Holy Spirit, Batman. Don't you tell me my God isn't real or doesn't speak to me or doesn't listen to me. I'll take the ever increasing pile of evidence in my own life over whatever you've got.
So check this out.
Last week I got this push from the Spirit to give the "I Dare You To Pray This" post I printed out to this woman at work. I thought that was kind of weird and tried to ignore it. Not really a good idea. I said to God, "Look, that seems weird; I don't have a Bible with my story like I like to give out and so on." Trying to get off the hook you see. "Go get one out of your office." Oh bother.
Turns out I did have one Bible left sitting in my office. So I brought the Bible, my printed out story, and the "Dare Prayer" to this woman and shared a little bit with her, stumbling and bumbling through it per usual. I found it difficult to talk to girls in high school and not much has changed. She thought that was nice and thanked me and I left for home.
On the way home, something I listened to the man Francis Chan talking about -- related to what I said up at the top -- just how awesome it was to see answered prayers, and not just pie in the sky could be anything answered prayers, but specific answers to specific prayers. With that going in my head, and some doubts running around as well, I went to God. I said something like "If this is really from you, would you please show me something real out of it? Just give me something from this woman that it wasn't all in my head."
Fast forward to the next day. When I walked into her building she told me that she hadn't read the Bible for some time and she started reading it again and that it was very nice of me to share that with her. I thought "Thanks, God, you did it!" I went home and bragged about my God to Jamie, as if she didn't get already what takes me a good thwomping in the head.
I thought that was it and was happy with the answer. I didn't ask for much, but I did ask for something specific.
Now fast forward to this morning. I walked into her building again. You know what she told me? One of her friends passed away over the weekend, and that the reading in the Bible she had been doing prepared her for it, as she never lost someone close and young like that before. And not only that. She told me that she wanted to share that with me to confirm that what I felt was real and that it was the right thing to do.
Holy Spirit, Batman. Don't you tell me my God isn't real or doesn't speak to me or doesn't listen to me. I'll take the ever increasing pile of evidence in my own life over whatever you've got.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 12 Through 14
Abram, later Abraham, great man of faith in God. What's the first thing recorded that God said to him? "Go." He didn't even tell Abram where to go, he just said to "a land that I will show you." How often do we want God's plan laid out before us? And how often is that totally not God's way?
Close to my temporary home here we've got the earthly birthplaces of Calvary Chapel and Cornerstone church. You think God showed Chuck Smith or Francis Chan the whole plan up front? Ask them. The answer is a resounding no. Great works of God don't start with some well thought out plan and system to make it happen, but godly men and women following the prompting of Spirit and stepping out in faith. Our command is not "know", but "go."
Next verse. Look at why God says he blesses Abram -- so that he will be a blessing. When we think "there's no harm in enjoying the blessings of God," we're right -- unless. Unless our enjoyment of God's blessings becomes a hindrance, something that comes between us and him. Remember how Jesus said things like "What's greater, the gold on the temple or the temple that makes the gold sacred?" So what's greater? The blessings of God or God who gives them? The more we think the former, the more we hoard and keep for ourselves, building up our own little kingdoms. The more we think the latter, the more we give and share with others, building up God's universal kingdom.
God told Abram that through him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I just noticed something I never paid attention to before -- the inclusion of the word families. I get that. I am definitely blessed myself through Abram, for through his line came my savior Jesus Christ. But my wife and children are also blessed, through their own faith in Christ, but also through mine -- as much of the crap in my sinful past that beat down my wife and kept the light of God from my kids is gone. Sure I'm a huge work in progress still, but I'm going in the right direction. Likewise, I am also blessed through my wife's own faith and shared purpose, as she encourages me, inspires me, and is used to show me my own sinful failings and directions for improvement. The way I see it when God saves an adult in the family, either the family is going to get fairly screwed up and possibly split apart, or the family as a whole is going to move closer to Christ. Maybe that's not true, but it sure seems like it, especially in light of verses like "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your whole household." The salvation of one person in the family doesn't mean the others are automatically saved, but it sure provides a good opportunity for the others to have the light of Christ and turn to him.
I like how when Abram gets to his promised land, there are people in it. How often do we expect God's plan to be completely free of obstacles? What a great opportunity to exercise more faith in God! What? You raise an eyebrow and that and don't believe it? If that's the case, I know why. It's because you're like me. When I run into this sort of thing, I typically I cry out to God, complain to God, argue with God, counsel God, reason with God, and so on, rather than just trust God.
Do you like how Abram lies? I do. This great hall-of-faither fails to trust that God has his back and comes up with his own plan. I love it. I love it because it encourages me. If Abram had this lack of trust at times, yet is spoken of so well in the Word, it gives me some peace -- as Abram, like Elijah, was a man just like me.
Refer to what I said about about God's blessings and then look at Abram and Lot. These two had a lot of material blessings from God -- they had so much stuff they had to split up. Look at what we can see of Abram and Lot's hearts -- Abram gave up the decision to Lot because he didn't want there to be any trouble, but Lot went in the direction that would give him best land and opportunity for profit for himself.
Let's also be careful when we look to biblical heroes like Abram and use them to justify statements like "God wants me to be rich." Balance the riches God gave to people with Jesus' words "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" There's nothing wrong with riches, unless. And we have a very, very, difficult time seeing that we're in the "unless" side of it.
Remember that Lot's greedy decision brought him closer to the sinful city of Sodom, even though he himself did not engage in the wicked practices of the city. Even so, when the battle came, he was swept away with the rest. Let that be a lesson to us about flirting with sin -- if we try to get so close to it, yet not do it, we're just going to get taken away by it also. So often we try to draw this line in the sand and ask "how close can I get to the line and still be good with God" when the right attitude we should have is found in our hero Joseph, who ran away from sin.
Melchizedek popping into the picture is a bit interesting. There's some speculation about Melchizedek, but a big take away from this I think is that Abram and his family were not the only people worshiping the LORD at this time in history. What we have recorded in the Bible is the path from Adam to Christ; details of other believers frankly are not relevant for telling that story. In the same way, in the New Testament, we have some accounts of the gospel spreading like wildfire through parts of the ancient world -- but those accounts are only a sliver of the big picture of the spread of the gospel. I think that indicates an important question to ask might be "why these particular accounts?"
I love how Abram rejects the king of Sodom's offer to take some of the spoils -- so that there is no way anyone else could say Abram's success was their doing. It reminds me of the story of Gideon, where God helped Gideon to win a battle with so few men that the victory could only come from God. It's the same thing all throughout the Bible -- God using weak and ordinary people to do crazy things that the people could in no way do own their own. It may be a bit cliche by now, but "God doesn't call the equipped, but rather he equips the called" still applies!
Grace and peace friends.
Close to my temporary home here we've got the earthly birthplaces of Calvary Chapel and Cornerstone church. You think God showed Chuck Smith or Francis Chan the whole plan up front? Ask them. The answer is a resounding no. Great works of God don't start with some well thought out plan and system to make it happen, but godly men and women following the prompting of Spirit and stepping out in faith. Our command is not "know", but "go."
Next verse. Look at why God says he blesses Abram -- so that he will be a blessing. When we think "there's no harm in enjoying the blessings of God," we're right -- unless. Unless our enjoyment of God's blessings becomes a hindrance, something that comes between us and him. Remember how Jesus said things like "What's greater, the gold on the temple or the temple that makes the gold sacred?" So what's greater? The blessings of God or God who gives them? The more we think the former, the more we hoard and keep for ourselves, building up our own little kingdoms. The more we think the latter, the more we give and share with others, building up God's universal kingdom.
God told Abram that through him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I just noticed something I never paid attention to before -- the inclusion of the word families. I get that. I am definitely blessed myself through Abram, for through his line came my savior Jesus Christ. But my wife and children are also blessed, through their own faith in Christ, but also through mine -- as much of the crap in my sinful past that beat down my wife and kept the light of God from my kids is gone. Sure I'm a huge work in progress still, but I'm going in the right direction. Likewise, I am also blessed through my wife's own faith and shared purpose, as she encourages me, inspires me, and is used to show me my own sinful failings and directions for improvement. The way I see it when God saves an adult in the family, either the family is going to get fairly screwed up and possibly split apart, or the family as a whole is going to move closer to Christ. Maybe that's not true, but it sure seems like it, especially in light of verses like "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your whole household." The salvation of one person in the family doesn't mean the others are automatically saved, but it sure provides a good opportunity for the others to have the light of Christ and turn to him.
I like how when Abram gets to his promised land, there are people in it. How often do we expect God's plan to be completely free of obstacles? What a great opportunity to exercise more faith in God! What? You raise an eyebrow and that and don't believe it? If that's the case, I know why. It's because you're like me. When I run into this sort of thing, I typically I cry out to God, complain to God, argue with God, counsel God, reason with God, and so on, rather than just trust God.
Do you like how Abram lies? I do. This great hall-of-faither fails to trust that God has his back and comes up with his own plan. I love it. I love it because it encourages me. If Abram had this lack of trust at times, yet is spoken of so well in the Word, it gives me some peace -- as Abram, like Elijah, was a man just like me.
Refer to what I said about about God's blessings and then look at Abram and Lot. These two had a lot of material blessings from God -- they had so much stuff they had to split up. Look at what we can see of Abram and Lot's hearts -- Abram gave up the decision to Lot because he didn't want there to be any trouble, but Lot went in the direction that would give him best land and opportunity for profit for himself.
Let's also be careful when we look to biblical heroes like Abram and use them to justify statements like "God wants me to be rich." Balance the riches God gave to people with Jesus' words "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" There's nothing wrong with riches, unless. And we have a very, very, difficult time seeing that we're in the "unless" side of it.
Remember that Lot's greedy decision brought him closer to the sinful city of Sodom, even though he himself did not engage in the wicked practices of the city. Even so, when the battle came, he was swept away with the rest. Let that be a lesson to us about flirting with sin -- if we try to get so close to it, yet not do it, we're just going to get taken away by it also. So often we try to draw this line in the sand and ask "how close can I get to the line and still be good with God" when the right attitude we should have is found in our hero Joseph, who ran away from sin.
Melchizedek popping into the picture is a bit interesting. There's some speculation about Melchizedek, but a big take away from this I think is that Abram and his family were not the only people worshiping the LORD at this time in history. What we have recorded in the Bible is the path from Adam to Christ; details of other believers frankly are not relevant for telling that story. In the same way, in the New Testament, we have some accounts of the gospel spreading like wildfire through parts of the ancient world -- but those accounts are only a sliver of the big picture of the spread of the gospel. I think that indicates an important question to ask might be "why these particular accounts?"
I love how Abram rejects the king of Sodom's offer to take some of the spoils -- so that there is no way anyone else could say Abram's success was their doing. It reminds me of the story of Gideon, where God helped Gideon to win a battle with so few men that the victory could only come from God. It's the same thing all throughout the Bible -- God using weak and ordinary people to do crazy things that the people could in no way do own their own. It may be a bit cliche by now, but "God doesn't call the equipped, but rather he equips the called" still applies!
Grace and peace friends.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 10 And 11
That's a lot of sons. Gomer sticks out, but only because of that "Well surprise surprise surprise!" guy. Tarshish sticks out because of where Jonah ran off too. Cush, Egypt, and Canaan stand out because of the same named land areas. Havilah sticks out because of some bars we sold in the Jewish style deli. Nimrod sticks out, but the connotation I am used to doesn't mean "mighty man". :-)
I never really noticed 10:5 before -- "From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations." The part that got me was "each with his own language", and it got me because of the account in chapter 11 where God confused the language and disperses the people. At first it seems to be conflicting and out of place, but that's because I incorrectly expect the Bible to read chronologically as I go through. Much of chapter 10 and 11 are in parallel, talking about the same time period. We have a more general account of the people and division in 10, and then we zoom into God's hand in it and the line leading to Abraham in 11.
I think that's pretty cool that God's sovereignty in dividing the people and the path to Abram are grouped together. That probably means something more significant than I get.
"In his days the earth was divided" (10:25) also sticks out. If you go with the whole Pangaea theory, then this could refer to the time there was some massive continental movement. That's bringing extra stuff back into the text though; really, I just don't know. I don't think we can be sure on what that means, but that's okay.
Since my first reading of it after being pulled in and flipped around by Jesus Christ, the account of the Tower of Babel was, and still is, the weirdest part of the Bible for me. It's surely no coincidence that it is one of the stories my dear brother I turned to with questions mentioned this one off the cuff when I was a baby Christian like it was nothing strange at all. And that's absolutely true -- God working in miraculous ways is not strange or abnormal -- it is the norm of the day, and, really, everything is a miracle. It just strikes me as odd anyway, much more so than pillars of salt or fire, big fish, floating axe heads, talking animals, and so on. It's God's creation; he can operate in and on it however he wants!
I had to look up some commentary for 11:6 because I just didn't get it. But then again I wasn't paying attention to the context (a common, but bad, mistake). The people have just had a taste of the product of pride and ambition, and they liked it -- thus preparing them for all kinds of crazy selfish sin. God in his wisdom and mercy stepped in to save people from themselves, as he so often does -- like in my own life!
And now we're caught up to the father of many!
I never really noticed 10:5 before -- "From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations." The part that got me was "each with his own language", and it got me because of the account in chapter 11 where God confused the language and disperses the people. At first it seems to be conflicting and out of place, but that's because I incorrectly expect the Bible to read chronologically as I go through. Much of chapter 10 and 11 are in parallel, talking about the same time period. We have a more general account of the people and division in 10, and then we zoom into God's hand in it and the line leading to Abraham in 11.
I think that's pretty cool that God's sovereignty in dividing the people and the path to Abram are grouped together. That probably means something more significant than I get.
"In his days the earth was divided" (10:25) also sticks out. If you go with the whole Pangaea theory, then this could refer to the time there was some massive continental movement. That's bringing extra stuff back into the text though; really, I just don't know. I don't think we can be sure on what that means, but that's okay.
Since my first reading of it after being pulled in and flipped around by Jesus Christ, the account of the Tower of Babel was, and still is, the weirdest part of the Bible for me. It's surely no coincidence that it is one of the stories my dear brother I turned to with questions mentioned this one off the cuff when I was a baby Christian like it was nothing strange at all. And that's absolutely true -- God working in miraculous ways is not strange or abnormal -- it is the norm of the day, and, really, everything is a miracle. It just strikes me as odd anyway, much more so than pillars of salt or fire, big fish, floating axe heads, talking animals, and so on. It's God's creation; he can operate in and on it however he wants!
I had to look up some commentary for 11:6 because I just didn't get it. But then again I wasn't paying attention to the context (a common, but bad, mistake). The people have just had a taste of the product of pride and ambition, and they liked it -- thus preparing them for all kinds of crazy selfish sin. God in his wisdom and mercy stepped in to save people from themselves, as he so often does -- like in my own life!
And now we're caught up to the father of many!
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 9
There's that whole "fruitful and multiply" thing again, just like before.
But now we have something new -- there's no happy relationship between man and animal any longer. The fear of man is now in them, which goes along with the other new thing -- man is now permitted to eat the animals, but not their blood. I've heard it put this way -- "why bother with finer commands like 'don't eat the animals' when man is still having trouble with weightier moral concepts like 'don't murder each other'". I don't find direct support for that, but it's an interesting thought.
I think it's interesting that God does not permit the eating of animals with the blood still in them. I take that to mean "don't eat them raw" though I suppose you could still drain the blood out and not cook the meat. I don't know why the command was given. Raw meat really could cause a person some internal trouble, so perhaps there is a dietary motive behind it from a compassionate God who knows that people don't know a thing about bacteria and other really small things yet.
The next part is one of the places people jump to when drumming up support for the death penalty -- "whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." One could spin this a couple of ways, but the straightforward reading to me seems that we're talking about justice here -- though it also seems to me that God is more saying how it is going to be rather than issuing a hard command. I.e. "Because you are made in my image, you have this sense of justice inside, and will therefore dole out punishments that fit the crime." I could be off the mark, but it seems reasonable.
God's promise that the earth will not be destroyed by flood makes me at ease about the polar ice caps melting. Not really, that was just a bad joke. :-) It however seems to say something about God when he makes a promise with "all flesh" -- not just man, but every living creature. God does care about his creation.
The whole "Ham saw his dad naked" thing puzzles me. There's a lot of theories, but if I just start with what I read and try to draw solid conclusions from that, I come up a fair bit short. Ham did something he shouldn't have and Noah cursed his kid for it. I started to read some detailed commentary on this, and my head hurt. But I did notice this -- the Bible doesn't say that God cursed anybody here, only that Noah did. Could it be possible that we read too much into the account, and what we have here is a drunk guy waking up and getting ticked off at his kid for doing something stupid or outright sinful? I don't know, but it seems there is an awful lot of speculation around these parts in scripture.
Really I think God just puts up with a lot of our silly ideas (including my own) and just lets them be as he works on more important things in our lives. Just flip ahead and look at the way Jesus speaks to various groups, including his own disciples and the religious leaders -- the way they ask some things speaks to "weird" ideas about God, and Jesus just kind of glosses over it and tells it like it is9
But now we have something new -- there's no happy relationship between man and animal any longer. The fear of man is now in them, which goes along with the other new thing -- man is now permitted to eat the animals, but not their blood. I've heard it put this way -- "why bother with finer commands like 'don't eat the animals' when man is still having trouble with weightier moral concepts like 'don't murder each other'". I don't find direct support for that, but it's an interesting thought.
I think it's interesting that God does not permit the eating of animals with the blood still in them. I take that to mean "don't eat them raw" though I suppose you could still drain the blood out and not cook the meat. I don't know why the command was given. Raw meat really could cause a person some internal trouble, so perhaps there is a dietary motive behind it from a compassionate God who knows that people don't know a thing about bacteria and other really small things yet.
The next part is one of the places people jump to when drumming up support for the death penalty -- "whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." One could spin this a couple of ways, but the straightforward reading to me seems that we're talking about justice here -- though it also seems to me that God is more saying how it is going to be rather than issuing a hard command. I.e. "Because you are made in my image, you have this sense of justice inside, and will therefore dole out punishments that fit the crime." I could be off the mark, but it seems reasonable.
God's promise that the earth will not be destroyed by flood makes me at ease about the polar ice caps melting. Not really, that was just a bad joke. :-) It however seems to say something about God when he makes a promise with "all flesh" -- not just man, but every living creature. God does care about his creation.
The whole "Ham saw his dad naked" thing puzzles me. There's a lot of theories, but if I just start with what I read and try to draw solid conclusions from that, I come up a fair bit short. Ham did something he shouldn't have and Noah cursed his kid for it. I started to read some detailed commentary on this, and my head hurt. But I did notice this -- the Bible doesn't say that God cursed anybody here, only that Noah did. Could it be possible that we read too much into the account, and what we have here is a drunk guy waking up and getting ticked off at his kid for doing something stupid or outright sinful? I don't know, but it seems there is an awful lot of speculation around these parts in scripture.
Really I think God just puts up with a lot of our silly ideas (including my own) and just lets them be as he works on more important things in our lives. Just flip ahead and look at the way Jesus speaks to various groups, including his own disciples and the religious leaders -- the way they ask some things speaks to "weird" ideas about God, and Jesus just kind of glosses over it and tells it like it is9
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 8
"God remembered Noah" seems to be more of that human language barrier thing going on. Since God made Noah, I'm pretty sure he didn't forget him.
And of course there is some barrier, look at the power of God again. He made a wind to blow on the earth to dry up all this water. "Okay, wind, so what?" No no no. He MADE WIND to blow on the earth that HE MADE -- the earth that sits in a pile of billions of stars in a universe that HE MADE. What's the best we can do? Make a wind to blow out our birthday candles or to clear the room after we eat beans? And the only reason we can do that? God allows it, because he is sovereign and in control. That's crazy, but that's God. We often make him seem smaller than he is, but we could never make him seem bigger than he is.
Did you get the location of the ark? Ready to search for it? Have fun, send me a post card. It's probably best we don't find it. As a friend and brother guesses, a bunch of people would probably start worshiping it.
I'm sure there is some significance to sending out the raven before the dove. I don't know what it is.
I don't know the origins (maybe here!) but I recall the olive branch being a symbol of peace. Is this an indicating that Noah now has peace with God through the symbolic new birth he had? Maybe.
This isn't the first time I've read the phrase "be fruitful and multiply". I've only thought of it as "go, have a bunch of kids and fill up the place". I'm not saying here it means anything more, but it does remind me of a story Jesus told -- this dude gives three servants 10 talents, 5 talents, and 1 talents. The first two multiply their money and are rewarded. The last doesn't do anything worthwhile and is punished. What did Jesus say? "By your fruits you will know them". What are we supposed to do as God's children? Be fruitful and multiply, making more of God's children -- i.e., disciples of all nations.
More offerings to the LORD. It seems from early on, in many other cultures as well, this notion of sacrifice was prevalent. It's like it's wired in us or something!
"The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" -- a very early statement of our big problem, our own sinful nature that we're born with. We're not sinners because we sin; we sin because we're sinners.
I don't remember ever noticing the last verse before today. I think we gloss over it a lot.
And of course there is some barrier, look at the power of God again. He made a wind to blow on the earth to dry up all this water. "Okay, wind, so what?" No no no. He MADE WIND to blow on the earth that HE MADE -- the earth that sits in a pile of billions of stars in a universe that HE MADE. What's the best we can do? Make a wind to blow out our birthday candles or to clear the room after we eat beans? And the only reason we can do that? God allows it, because he is sovereign and in control. That's crazy, but that's God. We often make him seem smaller than he is, but we could never make him seem bigger than he is.
Did you get the location of the ark? Ready to search for it? Have fun, send me a post card. It's probably best we don't find it. As a friend and brother guesses, a bunch of people would probably start worshiping it.
I'm sure there is some significance to sending out the raven before the dove. I don't know what it is.
I don't know the origins (maybe here!) but I recall the olive branch being a symbol of peace. Is this an indicating that Noah now has peace with God through the symbolic new birth he had? Maybe.
This isn't the first time I've read the phrase "be fruitful and multiply". I've only thought of it as "go, have a bunch of kids and fill up the place". I'm not saying here it means anything more, but it does remind me of a story Jesus told -- this dude gives three servants 10 talents, 5 talents, and 1 talents. The first two multiply their money and are rewarded. The last doesn't do anything worthwhile and is punished. What did Jesus say? "By your fruits you will know them". What are we supposed to do as God's children? Be fruitful and multiply, making more of God's children -- i.e., disciples of all nations.
More offerings to the LORD. It seems from early on, in many other cultures as well, this notion of sacrifice was prevalent. It's like it's wired in us or something!
"The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" -- a very early statement of our big problem, our own sinful nature that we're born with. We're not sinners because we sin; we sin because we're sinners.
I don't remember ever noticing the last verse before today. I think we gloss over it a lot.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
I Dare You
I dare you to pray one or more of these. If you take the dare, it should probably be ended with "Please help me to really mean what I just said." I know I have to do that quite often. Lips are cheap, but hearts are priceless.
1) Take away ANYTHING in my life that is keeping me from growing closer to you and experiencing the full joy I could be in our relationship.
2) Show me the sin in my life and do WHATEVER IT TAKES to remove it.
3) Always keep me humble before you, NO MATTER WHAT.
4) If it brings you greater glory with it than without it, BRING SUFFERING into my life.
5) Help me to always both boldly speak the truth, and speak it in love, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.
6) Give me the desire to go ANYWHERE you want, ANYTIME you want, to do ANYTHING you want.
7) Help me to be more and more like Jesus, AT ANY COST.
8) Help me to ALWAYS be a witness for you, NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE THINK.
9) Help me to see the world through your eyes, NO MATTER HOW IT CHANGES ME.
10) Help me to love ALL people like you love them, NO MATTER WHAT THEY'VE DONE.
For the record, I have foolishly been too chicken (read selfish and sinful, among other things) to pray these as written. It's pretty easy to figure out which words I change or omit. Yet, I know in my mind that this is the kind of attitude we should have, and it is the one that brings God the most glory and us the most joy.
Grace and peace brothers, sisters, and friends.
1) Take away ANYTHING in my life that is keeping me from growing closer to you and experiencing the full joy I could be in our relationship.
2) Show me the sin in my life and do WHATEVER IT TAKES to remove it.
3) Always keep me humble before you, NO MATTER WHAT.
4) If it brings you greater glory with it than without it, BRING SUFFERING into my life.
5) Help me to always both boldly speak the truth, and speak it in love, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.
6) Give me the desire to go ANYWHERE you want, ANYTIME you want, to do ANYTHING you want.
7) Help me to be more and more like Jesus, AT ANY COST.
8) Help me to ALWAYS be a witness for you, NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE THINK.
9) Help me to see the world through your eyes, NO MATTER HOW IT CHANGES ME.
10) Help me to love ALL people like you love them, NO MATTER WHAT THEY'VE DONE.
For the record, I have foolishly been too chicken (read selfish and sinful, among other things) to pray these as written. It's pretty easy to figure out which words I change or omit. Yet, I know in my mind that this is the kind of attitude we should have, and it is the one that brings God the most glory and us the most joy.
Grace and peace brothers, sisters, and friends.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 7
I find it interesting to see a distinction between clean and unclean animals already. I wonder if God had already made that distinction to Noah, or if he listed them off by name -- and then when Moses penned Genesis, he substituted "clean and unclean" because he knew what groups they were in. The answer doesn't really matter, but I thought it was curious.
Seven pairs of clean animals is interesting, as seven typically stands for perfection or completeness.
And speaking of numbers, now we have seven days until 40 days/nights of rain, where 40 typically stands for judgment. So, God's perfect judgment?
You know how a lot of people in ancient times (and some today, less legally) had multiple wives? Got sure permits a lot, even though Jesus seemed to make it clear from the beginning the design was one man, one wife (see Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:5). Look at Noah's family -- Noah and his wife, 3 sons, and 3 wives. Righteous Noah's family was following the design. In fact, now that I think about it more, those multiple wife situation I read about just seem to cause trouble. Perhaps God's design is better, and in more areas than this one?
Related to the last comment, even the animals were paired up evenly, one male, and one female. :-)
Hey, wait a minute! What about the fish? My kids gave me the "duh" look -- in the water. But then you get people moaning that the salt water fish can't survive in the fresh water and vice versa. Okay, but we're really supposed to know what the world looked like back then in the first place? And if we did, wouldn't there be less salt in the ocean water anyway? And even if they got mixed up, would all the fish die? No. I put salty water in my fresh water fish tank on accident, and I've still got fish in it. Not as many as before I did that, but there were survivors and they were fine!
Think the flood was local? "...all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered." That sounds world wide to me. The "Answers in Genesis" folks wrote about more evidence than I care to read about. The main point -- just read what God's Word says and don't try to get too clever with your own twists. Being born again of the Spirit of God first help with that whole illumination thing.
And, the most important thing I think there is to take out of the chapter -- God provides a way for his people to be saved from judgment. Remember in chapter 6 that "Noah walked with God". Noah's family wasn't "good people". Rather, they were "God people".
Now, did Noah get saved because of his own efforts? No, God provided the means. Does that mean Noah could sit on his butt and be lazy? No! He still had to do what God said, or perish. That's not salvation by works, that's evidence of faith. Well then, could Noah boast about the ark project later? No! Who do you think was in his heart and mind, keeping him on task for all those years? Tinkerbell? Or should we look ahead to Philippians 2:13, which says "for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose." All credit and glory to God!
Think about the alternative here, if Noah was one of those Sunday-only walk-with-Godders. A century passes. "Noah, where's the ark?" "Uh, I don't have one. But I memorized what you told me to do. And then my family did a 5 week study with the neighbors about what it would look like to build the ark. And then I learned how to repeat your instructions in Greek." "Okay Noah, but you, your family, and all those animals aren't going to fit into that big head of yours..."
Seven pairs of clean animals is interesting, as seven typically stands for perfection or completeness.
And speaking of numbers, now we have seven days until 40 days/nights of rain, where 40 typically stands for judgment. So, God's perfect judgment?
You know how a lot of people in ancient times (and some today, less legally) had multiple wives? Got sure permits a lot, even though Jesus seemed to make it clear from the beginning the design was one man, one wife (see Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:5). Look at Noah's family -- Noah and his wife, 3 sons, and 3 wives. Righteous Noah's family was following the design. In fact, now that I think about it more, those multiple wife situation I read about just seem to cause trouble. Perhaps God's design is better, and in more areas than this one?
Related to the last comment, even the animals were paired up evenly, one male, and one female. :-)
Hey, wait a minute! What about the fish? My kids gave me the "duh" look -- in the water. But then you get people moaning that the salt water fish can't survive in the fresh water and vice versa. Okay, but we're really supposed to know what the world looked like back then in the first place? And if we did, wouldn't there be less salt in the ocean water anyway? And even if they got mixed up, would all the fish die? No. I put salty water in my fresh water fish tank on accident, and I've still got fish in it. Not as many as before I did that, but there were survivors and they were fine!
Think the flood was local? "...all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered." That sounds world wide to me. The "Answers in Genesis" folks wrote about more evidence than I care to read about. The main point -- just read what God's Word says and don't try to get too clever with your own twists. Being born again of the Spirit of God first help with that whole illumination thing.
And, the most important thing I think there is to take out of the chapter -- God provides a way for his people to be saved from judgment. Remember in chapter 6 that "Noah walked with God". Noah's family wasn't "good people". Rather, they were "God people".
Now, did Noah get saved because of his own efforts? No, God provided the means. Does that mean Noah could sit on his butt and be lazy? No! He still had to do what God said, or perish. That's not salvation by works, that's evidence of faith. Well then, could Noah boast about the ark project later? No! Who do you think was in his heart and mind, keeping him on task for all those years? Tinkerbell? Or should we look ahead to Philippians 2:13, which says "for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose." All credit and glory to God!
Think about the alternative here, if Noah was one of those Sunday-only walk-with-Godders. A century passes. "Noah, where's the ark?" "Uh, I don't have one. But I memorized what you told me to do. And then my family did a 5 week study with the neighbors about what it would look like to build the ark. And then I learned how to repeat your instructions in Greek." "Okay Noah, but you, your family, and all those animals aren't going to fit into that big head of yours..."
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 5 And 6
Genesis 5
I was looking forward to this chapter, only because something hit me when I listened to it (at BibleGateway.com, very cool). There's something about hearing the Word as well as reading it. From what I understand, some of the text in the Bible was written with the intent of being read aloud to an audience.
Read it aloud. What do you keep hearing? "Blah blah blah, and he died." "And he died." "And he died." Over and over again, a bunch of people living for some number of years and then dying now that sin and death have been brought into the world.
But look! "Enoch walked with God" and no "he died". That's weird. And it's repeated. "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." I've heard this taught as a foreshadowing of the rapture. Maybe, maybe not. What I see here is that if you "walk with God", you don't die.
Genesis 6
I really don't get the "sons of God" versus "daughters of man" part. I looked it up. There's a lot of speculation. I had my own theory based on sonship in the Bible dealing with inheritance. So men following God marrying women who did not, Samson style? Maybe that's a stretch. We'll just put it on the "ask God in heaven" list; of course as soon as we take our first breath in the presence of God, we'll not care about that silly list.
When I first read the Bible I thought the 120 years referred to what the post-flood lifespan of man, but after some re-reading (and math) it became clear that it referred to the amount of time until the flood. Imagine, Noah building a huge boat over 120 period when there wasn't any rain. Talk about trusting the LORD among a bunch of ridicule. Noah rocks!
Verse 4 goes on "the list" too.
When you believe God to be omniscient (which I do), verses that say things like "The LORD saw that" and "the LORD was sorry" seem strange, because you think "Huh, you're God! You knew what would happen!" But when we run into things like that, we have to remember that the Bible is God's truth communicated through human authors. Really, if you were given the task of writing down the story of an infinite God as a finite person with an inadequate language, what words would you use?
There's that "walked with God" phrase again with Noah. Yeah he dies later, but he escapes the flood, God's judgment on the world a that time, and a symbol of God's final judgment to come. Walking with God seems to still be a good thing. :-)
What does that "walking with God" phrase bring to your mind anyway? It reminds me of that "footprints" story where Jesus (or does it say the LORD?) carries the dude during the storms of his life. To me it implies a solid relationship and a deep connection with each other. Like the line goes, "no religion, just a relationship".
Bottom line about the ark: it was big, and the animals and their food could fit. I'm sure the "Answers in Genesis" people have some analysis on their website if you're not convinced.
There are no unicorns today because Noah didn't listen to God and ate them on the ark. No. He "did all that God commanded him". How much better is that than what we do? Don't we often do some of what God commands us, but not all of it? Egregious enough and we get whapped in the head with the rolled up newspaper of conviction.
I was looking forward to this chapter, only because something hit me when I listened to it (at BibleGateway.com, very cool). There's something about hearing the Word as well as reading it. From what I understand, some of the text in the Bible was written with the intent of being read aloud to an audience.
Read it aloud. What do you keep hearing? "Blah blah blah, and he died." "And he died." "And he died." Over and over again, a bunch of people living for some number of years and then dying now that sin and death have been brought into the world.
But look! "Enoch walked with God" and no "he died". That's weird. And it's repeated. "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." I've heard this taught as a foreshadowing of the rapture. Maybe, maybe not. What I see here is that if you "walk with God", you don't die.
Genesis 6
I really don't get the "sons of God" versus "daughters of man" part. I looked it up. There's a lot of speculation. I had my own theory based on sonship in the Bible dealing with inheritance. So men following God marrying women who did not, Samson style? Maybe that's a stretch. We'll just put it on the "ask God in heaven" list; of course as soon as we take our first breath in the presence of God, we'll not care about that silly list.
When I first read the Bible I thought the 120 years referred to what the post-flood lifespan of man, but after some re-reading (and math) it became clear that it referred to the amount of time until the flood. Imagine, Noah building a huge boat over 120 period when there wasn't any rain. Talk about trusting the LORD among a bunch of ridicule. Noah rocks!
Verse 4 goes on "the list" too.
When you believe God to be omniscient (which I do), verses that say things like "The LORD saw that" and "the LORD was sorry" seem strange, because you think "Huh, you're God! You knew what would happen!" But when we run into things like that, we have to remember that the Bible is God's truth communicated through human authors. Really, if you were given the task of writing down the story of an infinite God as a finite person with an inadequate language, what words would you use?
There's that "walked with God" phrase again with Noah. Yeah he dies later, but he escapes the flood, God's judgment on the world a that time, and a symbol of God's final judgment to come. Walking with God seems to still be a good thing. :-)
What does that "walking with God" phrase bring to your mind anyway? It reminds me of that "footprints" story where Jesus (or does it say the LORD?) carries the dude during the storms of his life. To me it implies a solid relationship and a deep connection with each other. Like the line goes, "no religion, just a relationship".
Bottom line about the ark: it was big, and the animals and their food could fit. I'm sure the "Answers in Genesis" people have some analysis on their website if you're not convinced.
There are no unicorns today because Noah didn't listen to God and ate them on the ark. No. He "did all that God commanded him". How much better is that than what we do? Don't we often do some of what God commands us, but not all of it? Egregious enough and we get whapped in the head with the rolled up newspaper of conviction.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 4
I like how Eve still gives the LORD praise for her son even after that whole garden incident.
It doesn't seem totally clear why the LORD didn't like Cain's offering but liked Abel's based on the text I read. It's almost certainly a heart issue, which is all over the Bible. The way my kids and I talk about is that "God wants your best". No leftover crap. I have to be really careful about that in my own life and put God first, not on the back burner. I'm sure I screw that up a lot more than I think.
See how God warned Cain first? He does that so often with us before we stubbornly choose to sin anyway. Then we get convicted and cry out to God. We don't even need an "I told you so. Listen next time, smart guy." We have to be vigilant. Sin just wants to devour us whole, and once it gets its claws into us, it's trouble.
The answer to Cain's question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" is "Yes, you are." Romans 14:21 says "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." Paul was very willing to deny himself freedoms he had for the sake of his brothers.
Trinity pointed this one out to me. She's a smart cookie. God showed mercy to Cain by putting a mark on him instead of outright killing him or allowing others to kill him. I never thought about that before. I need to stop more often and think about what certain actions show about the character of God. He certainly is merciful and gracious, both of which are shown in spades through Jesus Christ!
But notice what happened with Cain. He "went away from the presence of the LORD." That's exactly what sin does, separates us from God, and that's a terrible thing.
This is a fun one people ask sometimes: "So where did Cain's wife come from?" Well it seems pretty obvious that if you start with two people, you have some brother/sister relationships going on, or God started by creating more than two people. I don't really see the second one in anything I've read, so we'll assume the first.
The end is cool, I forgot about it -- "at that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD." I don't know any more than what those words say, but it definitely reminds me that we have this innate desire to worship and fill our lives with something greater. We all worship and fill up our lives with something -- who or what that something is fairly important. If its not the one true God, it's a false one!
It doesn't seem totally clear why the LORD didn't like Cain's offering but liked Abel's based on the text I read. It's almost certainly a heart issue, which is all over the Bible. The way my kids and I talk about is that "God wants your best". No leftover crap. I have to be really careful about that in my own life and put God first, not on the back burner. I'm sure I screw that up a lot more than I think.
See how God warned Cain first? He does that so often with us before we stubbornly choose to sin anyway. Then we get convicted and cry out to God. We don't even need an "I told you so. Listen next time, smart guy." We have to be vigilant. Sin just wants to devour us whole, and once it gets its claws into us, it's trouble.
The answer to Cain's question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" is "Yes, you are." Romans 14:21 says "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." Paul was very willing to deny himself freedoms he had for the sake of his brothers.
Trinity pointed this one out to me. She's a smart cookie. God showed mercy to Cain by putting a mark on him instead of outright killing him or allowing others to kill him. I never thought about that before. I need to stop more often and think about what certain actions show about the character of God. He certainly is merciful and gracious, both of which are shown in spades through Jesus Christ!
But notice what happened with Cain. He "went away from the presence of the LORD." That's exactly what sin does, separates us from God, and that's a terrible thing.
This is a fun one people ask sometimes: "So where did Cain's wife come from?" Well it seems pretty obvious that if you start with two people, you have some brother/sister relationships going on, or God started by creating more than two people. I don't really see the second one in anything I've read, so we'll assume the first.
The end is cool, I forgot about it -- "at that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD." I don't know any more than what those words say, but it definitely reminds me that we have this innate desire to worship and fill our lives with something greater. We all worship and fill up our lives with something -- who or what that something is fairly important. If its not the one true God, it's a false one!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 3
Man, look at what the serpent, the evil one, Satan, whatever name you want to use, does here -- he starts by twisting God's words and then calls God a liar. He uses the same old, yet effective, tricks when he tempts Jesus in the desert. He succeeded with the first people, bringing sin and death into the world. He failed with Jesus Christ, the one who conquered sin and death once and for all.
He's also not a complete liar when he calls God one. After all, after Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they knew good from evil. And they didn't die either, at least not physically, right away. But that's how sin is, isn't it? It doesn't look horrible and nasty most of the time. It looks pleasant and pleasurable. It might even look good or holy -- a shiny facade surrounding death and decay.
I noticed that Eve's eyes were not opened until after they both ate. It's interesting to think of what it would be if that was not the case -- what if Eve's eyes were immediately opened? There would be two possible outcomes as far as I see. The first is that she would knowingly drag Adam down into sin with her, which is quite a common effect of sin, isn't it? To quote a character in a film I wouldn't recommend watching -- "when you dance with the devil, the devil don't change -- the devil changes you." The second is that she would see the terrible thing that she did and try to prevent her husband from following, at all costs. I'm not sure how that second scenario would pan out. Obviously it doesn't matter because that's not what really happened -- it's just an interesting thought.
For this next one, I won't pretend I would have ever noticed this on my own -- but let's say that Adam and Eve's nakedness represents their sin. Becoming aware of it, they try to cover it themselves in making loincloths out of fig leaves. But we can't cover our own sin, can we? Absolutely not. God is the one who does the covering, with animal skins -- meaning blood had to be shed to cover their sin. That's a pretty awesome picture of the redeeming work Jesus did on the cross.
Notice how God says "Where are you?" and "Did you eat what I told you not to?" I hope no one actually reads that and thinks that God didn't really know. I read it and think of it like this -- say my kids ate some cookies from the cookie jar (that we don't have, but let's just say...) and I knew it. It was just before dinner time. There were crumbs on the counter and chocolate on their mouths. "Girls, did you any cookies from the cookie jar?" What, like I'm stupid? I'm just making a point with the question.
It's also kind of interesting they hid when they sinned. That's so like us, and it's even like my dog when she poops on the carpet. She's an idiot like us. "Gee, I know pooping on the carpet is going to bring all kinds of trouble down on me, but, man, I really want to poop on the carpet, so I'm going to do it anyway!" Then she hears me coming and puts herself in timeout in her box! Just don't poop on the dang carpet in the first place! But then, we, I, don't learn very quickly either...
I don't really get the whole cursing the snake thing. Some sort of symbolism over my head? Or maybe snakes were just a lot more awesome back in the day. I think the first is more likely.
But right after that is what appears to be the first promise of the plan to fix the whole mess Adam and Eve just made. An offspring of Eve crushing the serpent's head while the serpent bruises his heel. Well, let's see, crushing one's head pretty much kills them. Bruising one's heel, not so much. And the two go together. Could it be that Jesus defeated Satan completely with his death on the cross -- a fatal blow for the evil one that came at a price?
I think the next part where God talks to Eve gets misread a lot. Maybe I'm wrong, but telling the woman "and your husband shall rule over you" isn't some sort of command that says "hey dudes, you're the boss and your wife has to do what you say." Yeah, that makes for a great marriage. I think it's more God looking into the future and seeing what men are going to do because of their own sinful nature. Now don't get me all wrong here. I'm not saying their aren't different roles for men and women, nor I am saying that men are not to be the spiritual leaders of their own homes. I'm just saying that this doesn't look like a command saying how it must be, but rather a statement of how it's going to be.
I think the next part where God talks to Adam is pretty clear cut. The lesson here is "don't listen to your wife". Just kidding.
I talked about this "to dust you shall return" idea with my kids the other day. Smarties said, "Well you don't turn into dust!" So I asked them what happens when you stick a body in the ground. "It rots" my little one told me. "But there's bones!" I'm glad they're thinking. :-) Leave them long enough and it all gets mixed together. Dust.
There's that "us" part again with God. I guess it wasn't a fluke in the first chapter.
My kids were thinking about the next part too. "What if they ate the tree of life, and what if they ate it first?" they asked. That's cool they're asking questions, especially ones that God addresses in his Word. Now that they've sinned, he doesn't allow for it.
One thing I just noticed is that it seems man wasn't created automatically living forever. If they ate of the tree of life, yeah, but they didn't. And what do we see in revelation when all things are restored and made new? "To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." That's so cool. The tree of life, eternal life, at the beginning and end of God's story. The wrong choice made right.
And for those of my LDS friends reading this -- it's such nice tight wrapping up and closure of the whole big story in the Bible that makes me further baffled about why you hold dearly to the Book of Mormon. You have the whole story of God wrapped up from creation to new creation in the Bible. It's done, that's it, nothing more! I say this not meaning to turn you away from reading my posts -- I just want desperately for all junk "around" Jesus to be stripped away so that all that's left is him, because he is all we all need. The same goes for my Catholic and protestant friends as well -- if you've got a bunch of junk you don't need bolted on to Jesus, whatever it is, get rid of it!
He's also not a complete liar when he calls God one. After all, after Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they knew good from evil. And they didn't die either, at least not physically, right away. But that's how sin is, isn't it? It doesn't look horrible and nasty most of the time. It looks pleasant and pleasurable. It might even look good or holy -- a shiny facade surrounding death and decay.
I noticed that Eve's eyes were not opened until after they both ate. It's interesting to think of what it would be if that was not the case -- what if Eve's eyes were immediately opened? There would be two possible outcomes as far as I see. The first is that she would knowingly drag Adam down into sin with her, which is quite a common effect of sin, isn't it? To quote a character in a film I wouldn't recommend watching -- "when you dance with the devil, the devil don't change -- the devil changes you." The second is that she would see the terrible thing that she did and try to prevent her husband from following, at all costs. I'm not sure how that second scenario would pan out. Obviously it doesn't matter because that's not what really happened -- it's just an interesting thought.
For this next one, I won't pretend I would have ever noticed this on my own -- but let's say that Adam and Eve's nakedness represents their sin. Becoming aware of it, they try to cover it themselves in making loincloths out of fig leaves. But we can't cover our own sin, can we? Absolutely not. God is the one who does the covering, with animal skins -- meaning blood had to be shed to cover their sin. That's a pretty awesome picture of the redeeming work Jesus did on the cross.
Notice how God says "Where are you?" and "Did you eat what I told you not to?" I hope no one actually reads that and thinks that God didn't really know. I read it and think of it like this -- say my kids ate some cookies from the cookie jar (that we don't have, but let's just say...) and I knew it. It was just before dinner time. There were crumbs on the counter and chocolate on their mouths. "Girls, did you any cookies from the cookie jar?" What, like I'm stupid? I'm just making a point with the question.
It's also kind of interesting they hid when they sinned. That's so like us, and it's even like my dog when she poops on the carpet. She's an idiot like us. "Gee, I know pooping on the carpet is going to bring all kinds of trouble down on me, but, man, I really want to poop on the carpet, so I'm going to do it anyway!" Then she hears me coming and puts herself in timeout in her box! Just don't poop on the dang carpet in the first place! But then, we, I, don't learn very quickly either...
I don't really get the whole cursing the snake thing. Some sort of symbolism over my head? Or maybe snakes were just a lot more awesome back in the day. I think the first is more likely.
But right after that is what appears to be the first promise of the plan to fix the whole mess Adam and Eve just made. An offspring of Eve crushing the serpent's head while the serpent bruises his heel. Well, let's see, crushing one's head pretty much kills them. Bruising one's heel, not so much. And the two go together. Could it be that Jesus defeated Satan completely with his death on the cross -- a fatal blow for the evil one that came at a price?
I think the next part where God talks to Eve gets misread a lot. Maybe I'm wrong, but telling the woman "and your husband shall rule over you" isn't some sort of command that says "hey dudes, you're the boss and your wife has to do what you say." Yeah, that makes for a great marriage. I think it's more God looking into the future and seeing what men are going to do because of their own sinful nature. Now don't get me all wrong here. I'm not saying their aren't different roles for men and women, nor I am saying that men are not to be the spiritual leaders of their own homes. I'm just saying that this doesn't look like a command saying how it must be, but rather a statement of how it's going to be.
I think the next part where God talks to Adam is pretty clear cut. The lesson here is "don't listen to your wife". Just kidding.
I talked about this "to dust you shall return" idea with my kids the other day. Smarties said, "Well you don't turn into dust!" So I asked them what happens when you stick a body in the ground. "It rots" my little one told me. "But there's bones!" I'm glad they're thinking. :-) Leave them long enough and it all gets mixed together. Dust.
There's that "us" part again with God. I guess it wasn't a fluke in the first chapter.
My kids were thinking about the next part too. "What if they ate the tree of life, and what if they ate it first?" they asked. That's cool they're asking questions, especially ones that God addresses in his Word. Now that they've sinned, he doesn't allow for it.
One thing I just noticed is that it seems man wasn't created automatically living forever. If they ate of the tree of life, yeah, but they didn't. And what do we see in revelation when all things are restored and made new? "To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." That's so cool. The tree of life, eternal life, at the beginning and end of God's story. The wrong choice made right.
And for those of my LDS friends reading this -- it's such nice tight wrapping up and closure of the whole big story in the Bible that makes me further baffled about why you hold dearly to the Book of Mormon. You have the whole story of God wrapped up from creation to new creation in the Bible. It's done, that's it, nothing more! I say this not meaning to turn you away from reading my posts -- I just want desperately for all junk "around" Jesus to be stripped away so that all that's left is him, because he is all we all need. The same goes for my Catholic and protestant friends as well -- if you've got a bunch of junk you don't need bolted on to Jesus, whatever it is, get rid of it!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 2
The first part of the chapter makes it sound like God created the world in six literal days, since he rested on the seventh day and made it holy. There's this whole argument about whether "day" was "24 hours" or "a really long time" and the Hebrew word used means "day" and not "day-age" or something like that. But just think about it -- if each "day" was "a really long time", God did what with the seventh day? Set apart and made holy "a really long time". I don't think so.
I remember when I was a new believer and read through Genesis the first time. I thought it was weird there were "two accounts" of creation. It's not really two accounts though. Genesis 1 (and the first part of 2) goes through all of creation at a high level, while Genesis 2 focuses on creation of mankind on the sixth day. Though if that day was really just 24 hours long, a whole lot of stuff happened on that day to Adam -- getting the rule about the tree, naming the animals, going into a deep sleep, etc.
What's the deal? I've no idea, but scratching my head for a long time trying to figure it out precisely seems to distract from the larger truth of God creating everything!
It's pretty interesting that the Bible specifically mentions the beauty of the trees as well as their usefulness for food. I often discount "pretty" things, especially man-made "pretty" things, but God didn't just make a practical world, he made a beautiful world, and he did it for a reason. Perhaps I shouldn't be quick to ignore that aspect of God.
I wonder how the four rivers mentioned line up with anything we can see today. Really if this world started out with the continents together (Pangaea I think they call it) and there was also this great catastrophic world wide flood, they probably wouldn't line up at all. Yet the names Tigris and Euphrates in Genesis do line up with what I remember from geography/history in school. Interestingly, isn't the that area known also as the (or a) "cradle of civilization" in the secular world as well?
Man had a job from the beginning. God put man in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. But since this was God's perfect world still, I'll bet there was only joy in this work, no toiling and suffering yet.
Notice how many rules God gave man? One. One stinking rule. I bet the fruit on that tree looked really really good. Isn't that how sin is? It looks like a pleasurable thing, and the knowledge in the back of your head that something isn't right just attracts you to it more! I know this to be true from my B.C. days when I reveled in my own wickedness -- with idleness, greed, and lust ruling my mind and heart. I knew it wasn't right, and that made me like it more when I was sin's slave.
"It is not good that man should be alone" is so true. Just having my wife on the bed next to me as I write this is a blessing. I would be very lonely and incomplete without her. Even though Dog could teach man loyalty and Cat could teach man humility, he really needed Woman. :-)
It might seem odd that the chapter talks about leaving father and mother and becoming one, when there were no other people yet. Remember the words were written down a long time after creation actually happened. I think the greater point here is that this was God's original design for marriage. One man and one woman, joined together and faithful to each other -- no divorce. This is emphasized when we learn much later in the Bible that the marriage between husband and wife is supposed to be a picture of Christ's love for his church.
I'm not advocating the whole nudist thing, but it had to be pretty freeing that they were both naked and not ashamed. After all, they were brand new and innocent. On top of that, there were no other naked people to lust after, were there? Just the first husband and the first wife together in paradise. Awesome. Yeah, there seems to be this whole other symbolic layer on top of that also that obtuse guys like me don't get without listening to others. I'll get into that next time.
I remember when I was a new believer and read through Genesis the first time. I thought it was weird there were "two accounts" of creation. It's not really two accounts though. Genesis 1 (and the first part of 2) goes through all of creation at a high level, while Genesis 2 focuses on creation of mankind on the sixth day. Though if that day was really just 24 hours long, a whole lot of stuff happened on that day to Adam -- getting the rule about the tree, naming the animals, going into a deep sleep, etc.
What's the deal? I've no idea, but scratching my head for a long time trying to figure it out precisely seems to distract from the larger truth of God creating everything!
It's pretty interesting that the Bible specifically mentions the beauty of the trees as well as their usefulness for food. I often discount "pretty" things, especially man-made "pretty" things, but God didn't just make a practical world, he made a beautiful world, and he did it for a reason. Perhaps I shouldn't be quick to ignore that aspect of God.
I wonder how the four rivers mentioned line up with anything we can see today. Really if this world started out with the continents together (Pangaea I think they call it) and there was also this great catastrophic world wide flood, they probably wouldn't line up at all. Yet the names Tigris and Euphrates in Genesis do line up with what I remember from geography/history in school. Interestingly, isn't the that area known also as the (or a) "cradle of civilization" in the secular world as well?
Man had a job from the beginning. God put man in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. But since this was God's perfect world still, I'll bet there was only joy in this work, no toiling and suffering yet.
Notice how many rules God gave man? One. One stinking rule. I bet the fruit on that tree looked really really good. Isn't that how sin is? It looks like a pleasurable thing, and the knowledge in the back of your head that something isn't right just attracts you to it more! I know this to be true from my B.C. days when I reveled in my own wickedness -- with idleness, greed, and lust ruling my mind and heart. I knew it wasn't right, and that made me like it more when I was sin's slave.
"It is not good that man should be alone" is so true. Just having my wife on the bed next to me as I write this is a blessing. I would be very lonely and incomplete without her. Even though Dog could teach man loyalty and Cat could teach man humility, he really needed Woman. :-)
It might seem odd that the chapter talks about leaving father and mother and becoming one, when there were no other people yet. Remember the words were written down a long time after creation actually happened. I think the greater point here is that this was God's original design for marriage. One man and one woman, joined together and faithful to each other -- no divorce. This is emphasized when we learn much later in the Bible that the marriage between husband and wife is supposed to be a picture of Christ's love for his church.
I'm not advocating the whole nudist thing, but it had to be pretty freeing that they were both naked and not ashamed. After all, they were brand new and innocent. On top of that, there were no other naked people to lust after, were there? Just the first husband and the first wife together in paradise. Awesome. Yeah, there seems to be this whole other symbolic layer on top of that also that obtuse guys like me don't get without listening to others. I'll get into that next time.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Joe Dude's Bible Thoughts: Genesis 1
I got convicted of something the other day. That happens a lot with me. It's a good thing. Change and growth and all that.
What I got convicted about is not really getting into the Word for myself as I should. I like to listen to a lot of teaching and I like to listen to a lot of preaching, but I haven't been reading or listening to the Bible for myself as I ought. After all, we've been given a book that we can read and understand for ourselves.
It's kind of funny because God used a pastor I like to listen to and watch online to point out to me that it is beneficial to do more than listen to what others have to say. As part of getting into the Word myself more, I thought I'd throw out my thoughts as I read/listen to it, starting with the beginning...
In the beginning there was God, and only God. I don't hear anything in here about stuff or spirits existing before God. The whole explanation about creating the heavens and the formless earth, and then manipulating the earth, make it sound like the account doesn't line up too well with the whole big bang or expanding universe theories, even though such theories do point to a universe with a finite beginning that demands a supernatural beginner to kick it off.
The first day is interesting. You've got the light, day, and the darkness, night, created. And then you have evening and morning, the first day. There's no sun going around the earth yet. Maybe evening and morning refer more to time periods than the earth's rotation. After all we're talking about ancient literature here, not a modern day science book.
The "separate the waters from the waters" action is also interesting. It's like there used to be a whole bunch of water above us somewhere -- either surrounding the earth, possibly providing the source of water for the flood and shielding the planet from nasty stuff, or beyond the edges of what we know as the universe -- as later the sun and moon seem to be put in the expanse between the waters.
God has crazy power we just can't understand. He just says things and and they happen. "Let this appear" and it appears. "Let that do this" and that does this. What can we do? Nothing! Go ahead, try to make a blade of grass. Now make life from non-life. Now make atoms from nothing. Good luck.
The phrase "let us make man in our image" is interesting. Looking very far ahead to the idea of the Trinity, this seems to be the first hint that there's more to the nature of God than meets the eye. Though the LORD is one, you still have Father, Spirit, and Son.
Mankind is a special creation. We're created in God's image, which is very different than all the rest of his creation. God is not a man or a woman, but spirit, and man and woman were both created in his image. That means traits, not physical looks.
Mankind was also put in charge of the rest of creation. That brings to mind the idea of stewardship -- this is God's world, but we are to take care of it. That doesn't mean go insane and elevate nature in general and/or animals to the level of false idols or preach the Gospel of Greenpeace. But we shouldn't wreck the place willy nilly either.
The end of the first chapter is also interesting. Apparently men and animals originally were vegetarians. "I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." That reminds me of a verse in Isaiah that says "the wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox." That sounds a little strange, but then again, it's not my creation, is it?
What I got convicted about is not really getting into the Word for myself as I should. I like to listen to a lot of teaching and I like to listen to a lot of preaching, but I haven't been reading or listening to the Bible for myself as I ought. After all, we've been given a book that we can read and understand for ourselves.
It's kind of funny because God used a pastor I like to listen to and watch online to point out to me that it is beneficial to do more than listen to what others have to say. As part of getting into the Word myself more, I thought I'd throw out my thoughts as I read/listen to it, starting with the beginning...
In the beginning there was God, and only God. I don't hear anything in here about stuff or spirits existing before God. The whole explanation about creating the heavens and the formless earth, and then manipulating the earth, make it sound like the account doesn't line up too well with the whole big bang or expanding universe theories, even though such theories do point to a universe with a finite beginning that demands a supernatural beginner to kick it off.
The first day is interesting. You've got the light, day, and the darkness, night, created. And then you have evening and morning, the first day. There's no sun going around the earth yet. Maybe evening and morning refer more to time periods than the earth's rotation. After all we're talking about ancient literature here, not a modern day science book.
The "separate the waters from the waters" action is also interesting. It's like there used to be a whole bunch of water above us somewhere -- either surrounding the earth, possibly providing the source of water for the flood and shielding the planet from nasty stuff, or beyond the edges of what we know as the universe -- as later the sun and moon seem to be put in the expanse between the waters.
God has crazy power we just can't understand. He just says things and and they happen. "Let this appear" and it appears. "Let that do this" and that does this. What can we do? Nothing! Go ahead, try to make a blade of grass. Now make life from non-life. Now make atoms from nothing. Good luck.
The phrase "let us make man in our image" is interesting. Looking very far ahead to the idea of the Trinity, this seems to be the first hint that there's more to the nature of God than meets the eye. Though the LORD is one, you still have Father, Spirit, and Son.
Mankind is a special creation. We're created in God's image, which is very different than all the rest of his creation. God is not a man or a woman, but spirit, and man and woman were both created in his image. That means traits, not physical looks.
Mankind was also put in charge of the rest of creation. That brings to mind the idea of stewardship -- this is God's world, but we are to take care of it. That doesn't mean go insane and elevate nature in general and/or animals to the level of false idols or preach the Gospel of Greenpeace. But we shouldn't wreck the place willy nilly either.
The end of the first chapter is also interesting. Apparently men and animals originally were vegetarians. "I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." That reminds me of a verse in Isaiah that says "the wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox." That sounds a little strange, but then again, it's not my creation, is it?
Monday, September 5, 2011
No Poo Poo
I know I've written about this before, but I have it on my brain to write about it again -- probably because the first example I have is pretty cute.
We have guests staying with us for a while. One of them is a toddler who is not potty trained yet. I was walking down the stairs in our home and saw him in the family room. I said "hi" to him and he got this look on his face, shook his head, and said "no poo poo!" His dad's response was pretty funny -- "kid, when you confess to something we didn't even ask you about, there's probably crap in your pants."
I asked his dad later a question I already knew the answer to -- "So did you teach your kid to lie?" I wasn't being a jerk, as he knew already I was making a point based on the context of our conversation. Of course he didn't teach his kid to lie, he tries to teach his kid NOT to lie.
No one taught me to steal. Yet when I was a kid, I was a thief. I'd raid my mom's dresser where she kept money hidden to spend it on video games at the mall. I don't recall anyone teaching me that I should get obsessed with something so much that I would resort to theft to keep feeding my desires.
No one taught me to lust after women either when I was a bit older. When I first saw pictures of naked women, no one had to explain the different possible reactions to me, and that doing the eye-popping, jaw-dropping, tongue-rolling-on-the-floor thing you see in the cartoons thing was the response I should go for.
Come to think of it, no one taught my kids to think of themselves and fight when they don't get their way. I certainly don't recall having a sit-down with one of my daughters and telling her, "okay, be selfish in the game, and when your sister doesn't like what you're doing, whine at her, try to manipulate her, and then refuse to play with her unless she gives in."
Why do this things not have to be learned? Because they are IN us. There is no such thing as a "good" person, just like the Bible teaches. "As it is written: 'None is righteous, not one.'" (Romans 3:10). Don't believe Paul? How about Jesus? "No one is good except God alone." (Luke 18:19b).
If you have one, throw away any notion that we come into the world pure and clean, and the world wrecks us. Rather, know that we come into the world impure and defiled, and Christ fixes us. When we see the hopeless state we're in without him and turn to him, we become right with God. We're still a mess, but we're in good standing -- ready for a lifelong makeover from the inside out.
We have guests staying with us for a while. One of them is a toddler who is not potty trained yet. I was walking down the stairs in our home and saw him in the family room. I said "hi" to him and he got this look on his face, shook his head, and said "no poo poo!" His dad's response was pretty funny -- "kid, when you confess to something we didn't even ask you about, there's probably crap in your pants."
I asked his dad later a question I already knew the answer to -- "So did you teach your kid to lie?" I wasn't being a jerk, as he knew already I was making a point based on the context of our conversation. Of course he didn't teach his kid to lie, he tries to teach his kid NOT to lie.
No one taught me to steal. Yet when I was a kid, I was a thief. I'd raid my mom's dresser where she kept money hidden to spend it on video games at the mall. I don't recall anyone teaching me that I should get obsessed with something so much that I would resort to theft to keep feeding my desires.
No one taught me to lust after women either when I was a bit older. When I first saw pictures of naked women, no one had to explain the different possible reactions to me, and that doing the eye-popping, jaw-dropping, tongue-rolling-on-the-floor thing you see in the cartoons thing was the response I should go for.
Come to think of it, no one taught my kids to think of themselves and fight when they don't get their way. I certainly don't recall having a sit-down with one of my daughters and telling her, "okay, be selfish in the game, and when your sister doesn't like what you're doing, whine at her, try to manipulate her, and then refuse to play with her unless she gives in."
Why do this things not have to be learned? Because they are IN us. There is no such thing as a "good" person, just like the Bible teaches. "As it is written: 'None is righteous, not one.'" (Romans 3:10). Don't believe Paul? How about Jesus? "No one is good except God alone." (Luke 18:19b).
If you have one, throw away any notion that we come into the world pure and clean, and the world wrecks us. Rather, know that we come into the world impure and defiled, and Christ fixes us. When we see the hopeless state we're in without him and turn to him, we become right with God. We're still a mess, but we're in good standing -- ready for a lifelong makeover from the inside out.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Love Like God
I heard an account of some missionaries who received a package. It was a nice looking care package with smiley faces on it, which turned out to be a bomb. The missionaries weren't at home, but their 16 year old was, and he got blown across the room and injured badly. They eventually found the guy. He has four kids. The dad carries a picture of the man who made the bomb in his Bible with him to remind him to pray for the guy every day, because he loves him. The 16 year old, after finding out the guy has four kids, asked his dad if there was anyway they could help support those kids.
That's loving like God.
I heard another account of a guy who got mugged by three guys. He had his laptop stolen and was forced at gunpoint to take some money out of the ATM. He was able to tell one of the muggers that he forgave them and was able to share the gospel a little bit with him. His biggest regret? That he was not able to share more of the gospel with all three of them. His biggest hope out of the event? That they went through the contents of the stolen laptop, because there is a lot of Christian material on it, and God could use that to change their hearts.
That's loving like God.
I heard another account of missionaries who were imprisoned and tortured. Some of them ended up dying because they would not deny Christ. A report from those who were released talked about how one of the group volunteered to die first, but a number of members in the group kept one-upping each other to explain why they should die first instead, laying his life down for his friends.
That's loving like God.
I've also watched a movie before called Amish Grace. It's based on a true story of a man who came to an Amish school and shot a number of girls there, killing some of them. The most shocking parts of the story? The forgiveness the community showed to the man who shot the girls, and the compassion they showed to his wife, who couldn't believe they cared so much about her pain in the midst of their own.
That's loving like God.
These stories just blow me away, and they are just a drop in the bucket. Crazy acts of forgiveness that are beautiful pictures of the love of God for the world -- sending his son Jesus to die to pay the price for the sins of a world full of people bent on rebelling against him.
That's loving like God.
I heard another account of a guy who got mugged by three guys. He had his laptop stolen and was forced at gunpoint to take some money out of the ATM. He was able to tell one of the muggers that he forgave them and was able to share the gospel a little bit with him. His biggest regret? That he was not able to share more of the gospel with all three of them. His biggest hope out of the event? That they went through the contents of the stolen laptop, because there is a lot of Christian material on it, and God could use that to change their hearts.
That's loving like God.
I heard another account of missionaries who were imprisoned and tortured. Some of them ended up dying because they would not deny Christ. A report from those who were released talked about how one of the group volunteered to die first, but a number of members in the group kept one-upping each other to explain why they should die first instead, laying his life down for his friends.
That's loving like God.
I've also watched a movie before called Amish Grace. It's based on a true story of a man who came to an Amish school and shot a number of girls there, killing some of them. The most shocking parts of the story? The forgiveness the community showed to the man who shot the girls, and the compassion they showed to his wife, who couldn't believe they cared so much about her pain in the midst of their own.
That's loving like God.
These stories just blow me away, and they are just a drop in the bucket. Crazy acts of forgiveness that are beautiful pictures of the love of God for the world -- sending his son Jesus to die to pay the price for the sins of a world full of people bent on rebelling against him.
Friday, September 2, 2011
It's Just A...
There's a message by Francis Chan I really liked where he had one of his boys with him in his arms. His purpose in that was to show us that's what it should feel like to be in God's arms. So safe, so secure, so dependent. Not just Father. Not just Dad. But Daddy, holding us safe and close.
Getting that kind of thought in my head makes it more difficult to think that sometimes it's him who sends people out into hostile territory where Christians are terribly persecuted, tortured, and killed for the goods new of Jesus Christ. Ask those who have faced such situations and came out unscathed -- so many, perhaps all, will tell you how willing they were to die for the sake of the gospel, and how they never felt closer to God than in those moments.
But that's just it, isn't it? We're not bodies with a soul, but rather we're souls that happen to have a body. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling."
So what's our response when our Daddy sends us out into the fray, and what should it be?
Think of how kids might response when you tell them to do something that's a little sketchy for them. "But by shirt will get messed up." "But my hands will get dirty." "But I'll miss my toy." "But it's scary." And so on...
What do we tell them in those cases? "It's just a shirt. It's just a little dirt. It's just a toy. It's just a little dark. It's just a, it's just a, it's just a..."
Well doesn't God say the same thing to us?
"It's just a chunk of money that won't buy happiness anyway. It's just a silly distraction that will not edify. It's just a body that will rot in the end. It's just a life on earth that's not everlasting. It's just a, it's just a, it's just a..."
There's a whole lot more than the things of this world and living for the few years we have on the earth. Pursue that.
Getting that kind of thought in my head makes it more difficult to think that sometimes it's him who sends people out into hostile territory where Christians are terribly persecuted, tortured, and killed for the goods new of Jesus Christ. Ask those who have faced such situations and came out unscathed -- so many, perhaps all, will tell you how willing they were to die for the sake of the gospel, and how they never felt closer to God than in those moments.
But that's just it, isn't it? We're not bodies with a soul, but rather we're souls that happen to have a body. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling."
So what's our response when our Daddy sends us out into the fray, and what should it be?
Think of how kids might response when you tell them to do something that's a little sketchy for them. "But by shirt will get messed up." "But my hands will get dirty." "But I'll miss my toy." "But it's scary." And so on...
What do we tell them in those cases? "It's just a shirt. It's just a little dirt. It's just a toy. It's just a little dark. It's just a, it's just a, it's just a..."
Well doesn't God say the same thing to us?
"It's just a chunk of money that won't buy happiness anyway. It's just a silly distraction that will not edify. It's just a body that will rot in the end. It's just a life on earth that's not everlasting. It's just a, it's just a, it's just a..."
There's a whole lot more than the things of this world and living for the few years we have on the earth. Pursue that.
Askin' God
I love a story that a pastor I like told before about his conversation with a man in another religion with a different concept of God. He told the man about how awesome it is to just have this close connection with God, and that when he talks to God, God listens to him. He asked the man if he had the same experience with his god, and the man said yes. This completely baffled the pastor and really bothered him. About 5 minutes later when the conversation had drifted into something else, the man fessed up and admitted that he was lying. He didn't know what that was like.
That got me to thinking this morning. Do I believe like that? I ask God for stuff, and he does answer. But I still pray in that "safe" way and I still talk to people in that "safe" way, where I know God CAN answer someone's prayer, but I don't necessarily believe that he WILL. I'm still detached and don't have that same kind of confidence and closeness of just going "hey Dad, would you". And that bothers me, because time and time again I have seen God answer my prayers.
God reminded me of the story with the possessed boy that Jesus healed. The boy's father told Jesus "If you can do anything, pelase help us." What did Jesus say? "IF you can?! Everything is possible for one who believes!" And the boy's dad said "I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!"
And that was my prayer this morning on the way to work -- "Dad, help my overcome my unbelief! Help me to have that closeness and that trust where when I pray I really do believe you're going to answer." He say "try me". Now I know the Bible says you don't test the Lord, so if that was in my head, it was in my head, but I did it anyway. I said "Well, I really like this one song and haven't heard it for a while. Can I hear on the way to work?"
So the radio station plays a few other songs I like and then the hosts start talking, which I never particularly care to listen to, so I switched stations. I was listening to this guy talk about his imperfections and tell a story about how he ate the whole pie and hid it from his wife or something. It was quite entertaining. Had all the station not gotten all staticy, I wouldn't have switched back.
When I did, I heard the last minute of the song I asked for. I couldn't help but just laugh and laugh, and you know what God said to me? "See, and you almost missed it because you were listening to a guy talk about pie!"
God is faithful in the big things and in the little things. Ask him to increase your faith, and he will -- but you have to be talking to the right God.
Have a great day all.
That got me to thinking this morning. Do I believe like that? I ask God for stuff, and he does answer. But I still pray in that "safe" way and I still talk to people in that "safe" way, where I know God CAN answer someone's prayer, but I don't necessarily believe that he WILL. I'm still detached and don't have that same kind of confidence and closeness of just going "hey Dad, would you
God reminded me of the story with the possessed boy that Jesus healed. The boy's father told Jesus "If you can do anything, pelase help us." What did Jesus say? "IF you can?! Everything is possible for one who believes!" And the boy's dad said "I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!"
And that was my prayer this morning on the way to work -- "Dad, help my overcome my unbelief! Help me to have that closeness and that trust where when I pray I really do believe you're going to answer." He say "try me". Now I know the Bible says you don't test the Lord, so if that was in my head, it was in my head, but I did it anyway. I said "Well, I really like this one song and haven't heard it for a while. Can I hear on the way to work?"
So the radio station plays a few other songs I like and then the hosts start talking, which I never particularly care to listen to, so I switched stations. I was listening to this guy talk about his imperfections and tell a story about how he ate the whole pie and hid it from his wife or something. It was quite entertaining. Had all the station not gotten all staticy, I wouldn't have switched back.
When I did, I heard the last minute of the song I asked for. I couldn't help but just laugh and laugh, and you know what God said to me? "See, and you almost missed it because you were listening to a guy talk about pie!"
God is faithful in the big things and in the little things. Ask him to increase your faith, and he will -- but you have to be talking to the right God.
Have a great day all.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Every Little Thing
The more you fall madly in love with the God of the universe, the more you grow closer to Jesus Christ, the more you want to please him and just do what's right in his eyes. And when you're all in for God, you're going to do what his Word says -- "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." The more we do that, and the more our gardener prunes us and cuts out the junk in our lives, the more these words stand out in our minds -- "all things are lawful, but not all things build up" and "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
That's right, everything. John Piper had a great blog post some time back (wow, 25 years!) about drinking orange juice to the glory of God:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/how-to-drink-orange-juice-to-the-glory-of-god
Alright, what's the quick cheat sheet for grading the test then to make sure we're doing things for the glory of God? God put one in my head today, and I think it's pretty good.
Boasting.
Yeah I thought that would sound weird, but hear me out. Let's just say we had license to boast about the things we think, say, and do. We don't, but let's just play pretend for a minute. Would you boast about something to your friends. Would you boast about it to the LORD? Or would you excuse it?
Let's throw some examples out there. Buying a meal for something who is hungry. Helping a lady at the store pick up some of the things she dropped. Returning a wallet you found. Cutting something out of your life to make more time for God or other people. Praying with someone from the heart.
And we'll flip it. Yelling at the TV because you got clobbered in a video game. Take a second longer look at the girl with the short shorts. Singing halfheartedly in church and texting your friends during the message. Shying away from an obvious opportunity to witness to someone. Watering down the truth and being wishy washy about salvation. Faking it for years so all your friends think you're going to heaven when you're not.
Yeah, you get it by now. We know when looking at something we've done whether or not we could tell somebody about it with joy or with shame.
I do things I could boast about, if there was this made up license for boasting. I also do plenty of things that I would either make excuses for. or rationalize away -- but in the back of my head, or heart, I'd know I was full of crap. Even writing this I've left things out to make myself look better than I really am -- not so much by the "good things" I chose to list, but by the "bad things" I chose to leave out.
Praise God for his grace and the fact that salvation is not based on performance!
If we carry this idea forward into everything we do, we should more and more clearly see our true nature. Really, would we boast about every purchase we make, every minute we spend our time on, every word out of our mouths, everything we look at, every place we go, and so on? Or would we excuse much of it? I certainly would have to excuse much of my thought and actions if I took a good long look at them and really thought about it. I'm sure we all would. I don't say this to make anyone feel beat down, but rather to get everyone, including, maybe especially, myself, to at least think about it, to spur us on to make better choices, and to realize just how gracious and wonderful God really is.
Praise God again for his grace and the fact that salvation is not based on performance!
Grace and peace friends!
That's right, everything. John Piper had a great blog post some time back (wow, 25 years!) about drinking orange juice to the glory of God:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/how-to-drink-orange-juice-to-the-glory-of-god
Alright, what's the quick cheat sheet for grading the test then to make sure we're doing things for the glory of God? God put one in my head today, and I think it's pretty good.
Boasting.
Yeah I thought that would sound weird, but hear me out. Let's just say we had license to boast about the things we think, say, and do. We don't, but let's just play pretend for a minute. Would you boast about something to your friends. Would you boast about it to the LORD? Or would you excuse it?
Let's throw some examples out there. Buying a meal for something who is hungry. Helping a lady at the store pick up some of the things she dropped. Returning a wallet you found. Cutting something out of your life to make more time for God or other people. Praying with someone from the heart.
And we'll flip it. Yelling at the TV because you got clobbered in a video game. Take a second longer look at the girl with the short shorts. Singing halfheartedly in church and texting your friends during the message. Shying away from an obvious opportunity to witness to someone. Watering down the truth and being wishy washy about salvation. Faking it for years so all your friends think you're going to heaven when you're not.
Yeah, you get it by now. We know when looking at something we've done whether or not we could tell somebody about it with joy or with shame.
I do things I could boast about, if there was this made up license for boasting. I also do plenty of things that I would either make excuses for. or rationalize away -- but in the back of my head, or heart, I'd know I was full of crap. Even writing this I've left things out to make myself look better than I really am -- not so much by the "good things" I chose to list, but by the "bad things" I chose to leave out.
Praise God for his grace and the fact that salvation is not based on performance!
If we carry this idea forward into everything we do, we should more and more clearly see our true nature. Really, would we boast about every purchase we make, every minute we spend our time on, every word out of our mouths, everything we look at, every place we go, and so on? Or would we excuse much of it? I certainly would have to excuse much of my thought and actions if I took a good long look at them and really thought about it. I'm sure we all would. I don't say this to make anyone feel beat down, but rather to get everyone, including, maybe especially, myself, to at least think about it, to spur us on to make better choices, and to realize just how gracious and wonderful God really is.
Praise God again for his grace and the fact that salvation is not based on performance!
Grace and peace friends!
The Really Real World
Here's an interesting spin on Romans 6:23a -- want to see the wages of sin? Look at the affluent world around us and then look at the conditions of many hungry and dying children in Africa. Something about this lifestyle and wealth difference is bothering me more and more.
I know in my head it's not going to go away, and I know there are people in need in many other places in many other ways as well. But when someone doesn't have the food and water they need to stay alive, it tears at my heart, especially considering that I spend so much on things that are frivolous by comparison. I pray that my eyes and my heart stay open to the needs of others globally, not just locally. It's so easy to forget about hurting people so far away.
But there's more to the story. I need to do more than just keep my eyes open -- I have two little girls that I'm responsible for, and my most important job is to give them the proper spiritual foundation. Part of that includes opening their eyes as well -- and it became clear to me that I was lacking in this area. Sure, I've taught them that we need to be generous givers, have a heart for God, and have a heart for people. Sure, I've told them about persecuted Christians in other parts of the world. Sure, I've told them about poor conditions elsewhere.
Talk is cheap. It's a lot different to SHOW them.
I played a video showing some hungry kids in Africa for the girls. They asked some questions about the children, and when Trinity grasped the horror of what she was seeing, she cried out "Don't people see this?!" What could I counter with but "Don't WE see it?!" I'm so glad she had compassion for those poor kids, but I also wanted to drive the point home that it's not only about "someone else," but us and how we manage what God has given us.
So Christian, teach your kids the Bible. Teach them to trust God and love him. Teach them proper morals and build up their character. But please, in addition to all that good stuff, to keep them from turning into something totally warped by the materialistic culture in which we live, really get it into their heads what the rest of the world is like. I know I need to get that into my head myself much more than I have it now -- and there's no app for that.
Kids can handle and understand a lot more than we think, and sheltering them in a nice happy suburban bubble really isn't going to help anything.
Grace and peace friends.
I know in my head it's not going to go away, and I know there are people in need in many other places in many other ways as well. But when someone doesn't have the food and water they need to stay alive, it tears at my heart, especially considering that I spend so much on things that are frivolous by comparison. I pray that my eyes and my heart stay open to the needs of others globally, not just locally. It's so easy to forget about hurting people so far away.
But there's more to the story. I need to do more than just keep my eyes open -- I have two little girls that I'm responsible for, and my most important job is to give them the proper spiritual foundation. Part of that includes opening their eyes as well -- and it became clear to me that I was lacking in this area. Sure, I've taught them that we need to be generous givers, have a heart for God, and have a heart for people. Sure, I've told them about persecuted Christians in other parts of the world. Sure, I've told them about poor conditions elsewhere.
Talk is cheap. It's a lot different to SHOW them.
I played a video showing some hungry kids in Africa for the girls. They asked some questions about the children, and when Trinity grasped the horror of what she was seeing, she cried out "Don't people see this?!" What could I counter with but "Don't WE see it?!" I'm so glad she had compassion for those poor kids, but I also wanted to drive the point home that it's not only about "someone else," but us and how we manage what God has given us.
So Christian, teach your kids the Bible. Teach them to trust God and love him. Teach them proper morals and build up their character. But please, in addition to all that good stuff, to keep them from turning into something totally warped by the materialistic culture in which we live, really get it into their heads what the rest of the world is like. I know I need to get that into my head myself much more than I have it now -- and there's no app for that.
Kids can handle and understand a lot more than we think, and sheltering them in a nice happy suburban bubble really isn't going to help anything.
Grace and peace friends.
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