All posts tagged Scripture

  • February 17, 2015

    Lent 2015

    lent_2015Lent comes early this year. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, is tomorrow. Christmas Day is the same day every year on the calendar. Easter moves around…something about the phases of the moon. I’m not sure. Lent has been a part of the Christian tradition for a long, long time; I have only been observing Lent for six or seven years. My mistake.

    Lent has become a regular part of the year for me. I look forward to it, not in the same way I look forward to Christmas or Easter (Have you ever tried frozen peeps!). I look forward to Lent because it has been a time-tested practice of the church to grow in faith and identify with Jesus. Lent is a season on the church calendar the 40 days before Easter that helps us to prepare for Easter. It is designed to be a time of confession, prayer, repentance, fasting, and “giving something up” in order to identify with the sufferings of Jesus. Every Sunday is a mini celebration of the resurrection, but Easter Sunday is the ultimate celebration of the resurrection. For those of us following Jesus resurrection is a BIG deal. So for many of us the season of Lent has become a big deal. Lent is important as a way to prepare for Easter, because…

    You cannot know the joy of the resurrection without enduring the sorrow of the cross.

    Lent gives us a slow, winding, meticulous way to reflect on the sufferings of Christ culminating on his death on the cross. Lent is not convenient. Lent is not comfortable. It does not fit our consumer-driven sensibilities. It does help to form us in Christ-likeness. It does help expose our idols. It does help us to grow up.

    At Word of Life Church, we are venturing out into the Lenten season with four Ash Wednesday Services (7 a.m., noon, 5:30 p.m., and 7 p.m.) and then we are praying every day (except for Sunday) in our Upper Room prayer chapel at 12:15 p.m. These prayer gatherings will follow a Midday Prayer Liturgy that will sound and feel the same every day. We are baptizing people on the first Sunday of Lent and we are offering Lenten Small Groups on Sunday morning immediately following the worship service. We have also put together a Lenten Scripture Reading Guide to focus your Bible reading on the sufferings of Christ.

    For me personally, I am reading three books: Simply Good News by N.T. Wright, Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers compiled by Andrew Louth and Maxwell Staniforth, and Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words by Rod Bennett. I try to pick books to read during Lent with a particular focus on Jesus. This year I wanted to read from some of the writings of the church fathers. I threw in an N.T. Wright book in the mix just because.

    I invite you to join us on this Lenten journey. Pick some meals or days during the week and fast. Give something up. Seek out silence. Repent. Give yourself to prayer. Join a small group. Read. Read slowly. Read contemplatively. Expect things to change. And most of all, look for Jesus.

    No Comments / Life, Ministry /

  • August 18, 2009

    White Paper Bible

    I am always looking for creative ways to engage in the truth of Scripture. God has given his Word to us for nourishment for living in his kingdom. We do not use the Scriptures as much as we eat them. They feed our hearts with the life of God in order to live for God as human beings who are fully alive. The challenge with regularly eating God’s book is an over-familiarity with the Scripture. I love spaghetti. We eat a lot of spaghetti in my home, for obvious reasons: it is quick, easy, and everyone in the house eats it without (much) complaint. I love spaghetti, but I don’t want to eat it every day. I need a little bit of variety. Most followers of Christ like sitting down, opening up the Scriptures and reading from a leather-bound copy of the Bible, but if we are honest, it can become such a routine that we become bored. I know I do.

    A friend of mine has just launched a new user-driven website designed to give us a creative way of entering into the Scripture— www.whitepaperbible.org.

    Here is how it works: Users register and log in and create a “page” that is added to the White Paper Bible (WPB). A page is a list of verses around a certain theme. Users give each page a title, description, and the list of verses. All verses are from the ESV. When creating a page you only need to list the Scripture verse reference. Once the page is created, the site populates the entire verse with each reference.

    You do not have to be a registered user to use the site. You can search by topic or keyword and go to a page where you can quickly find the verse that speak to the specific subject you are interested in. This is an incredible quick way to begin to meditate on the verse you need. I am looking forward to the iPhone app, which is under development. (I will download it to my iPod touch. I still do not have a iPhone, because they have not opened it up to the Verizon network. I am patiently waiting for Verzion to pick up the iPhone, but I digress…)

    WPB is a great entry point into the Scripture, a great way to enter into the text and allow it to enter into your heart, put I would offer a word of caution. There is a subtle danger in collecting together a list of Scriptures. The danger is two-fold.

    First, it is easy to misinterpret a single verse once you remove it from its context. It is possible to pull a verse of Scriptures together and make the Bible say just about anything you want. So as you are compiling a list of verses for a new page, make sure you have read each verse in context so that you are linking together verses that are speaking about the same concept. Make sure you understand the meaning of a single verse in the context of the verses around it.

    Second, when you compile a certain list of verses on a subject you are deciding NOT to list other verses. There are editorial reasons why we do that, but those editorial reasons can be caused by theological biases. We all have biases, but we should not let those biases keep us from hearing the Scripture speak to speak to us in its fullness. We all have a favorite verses of Scripture. The ones we copy and hang on our refrigerator or we highlight in our Bibles. We need to be careful not to ignore the verses that are not underlined in our Bibles. For example, if you are creating a new page on the love of God, it is easy to list the verses that speak of God’s love for us. The temptation is to ignore the verses that define God’s love as following his commands, you know, the verses that demand something from us.

    These are not arguments for why we shouldn’t compile together verses, but a friendly reminder that as we use the WPB to increase or meditation on God’s word that we allow Scripture to speak for itself. We should pursue to know God through the Scripture as he has revealed himself to be by reading Scripture verses in his context.

    Great web tools like www.whitepaperbible.org are great ways to enter into the Scripture, God’s story and so we should use them as just that, entry points into God’s great big, over-arching story, of which we play minor characters. As soon as we begin to view the Scripture as God’s catalogue of promises we miss the point. The Scripture is not a shoppers catalogue as much as it is a pilgrim’s daily bread.

    3 Comments / Life, Ministry, Uncategorized /

  • March 10, 2009

    Biblical Worldview

    The Barna Group has recently review their survey data regarding contemporary Americans and whether or not they have a biblical worldview. They conducted surveys in 1995, 2000, & 2005 and their conclusion is that 9% of Americans have (what they define as) a biblical worldview.

    So what is a worldview, you may ask.

    A worldview is simply how you view the world. More specifically, a worldview is that set of core beliefs and values by which to interpret reality. We all do not perceive things the same way because we interpret what we see and experience through a certain worldview. By way of analogy, it may be helpful to see your worldview like a pair of glasses. I wear glasses. I wear the trendy, rectangular, black kind…how original, I know. My glasses help to shape what I see, because without them, most things far away would look blurry. Eyeglasses help make things clear and understandable. By the time we are adults, we have been formed by a certain set of values, a certain set of beliefs that functions as interpreters of life, as the criteria by which we distinguish right from wrong, and those core convictions we use to make decisions.

    So what is a “biblical” worldview. The Barna Group defines a biblical worldview by these six convictions:

    • absolute moral truth exists
    • the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches
    • Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic
    • a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works
    • Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth
    • God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today

    And only 9% of Americans have such a worldview.

    And here is the kicker: of those who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ (i.e. they claim to be a born again Christian, or evangelical Christian), only 19% have a biblical worldview.

    I wonder which of these six beliefs causes them trouble. For me I think the belief in Satan is maybe of least importance. There other five are non-negotiable essentials for me. I would add something about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus to the fifth statement. I may also add something about the Triune nature of God. Nevertheless, I concur that these six are a fairly good test to see if a person’s worldview has been formed by the Scripture.

    Here are more stats from Barna:

    • One-third of all adults (34%) believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances. Slightly less than half of the born again adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.
    • Half of all adults firmly believe that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches. That proportion includes the four-fifths of born again adults (79%) who concur.
    • Just one-quarter of adults (27%) are convinced that Satan is a real force. Even a minority of born again adults (40%) adopt that perspective.
    • Similarly, only one-quarter of adults (28%) believe that it is impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior. Not quite half of all born again Christians (47%) strongly reject the notion of earning salvation through their deeds.
    • A minority of American adults (40%) are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Slightly less than two-thirds of the born again segment (62%) strongly believes that He was sinless.
    • Seven out of ten adults (70%) say that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today. That includes the 93% of born again adults who hold that conviction.

    So what is the deal here? What is the breakdown?

    Certainly there is a growing epidemic of bible illiteracy in the US. We are at an all-time high of media’s production of Scripture (both print and through digital media) and yet people know less and less about what the Bible teaches.

    More than that, I think we approach the Scripture too often for information and not transformation.

    The Scripture has been given as bread to eat and not a trivia book to be memorized. There is a place for Scripture memorization, but not when we are trying to memorize Scripture in order to kick butt at Bible trivia. What we need is to incorporate the Scripture into our lives and allow the text to wash over us and form us mind and soul. There is a place for in-depth, theological study of the Scripture, certainly. But our main participation with Scripture needs to be one where we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

    Read more here: http://barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years

    9 Comments / Ministry, Theology /

  • March 5, 2008

    Scripture and the Spirit

    After some reflection on my previous post “Theology and ‘the Supernatural’ in the Life of the Church,” I feel compelled to attempt to restate my point in a much more simple way. Last Wednesday, I took my small group through a scaled down version of some of the weighty themes of theology and supernatural experience. It was a disaster. I tried to cover too much material with not enough time and I ended up confusing the issues more than clarifying them. I could kick myself. I will forever remember the blank looks and squinted-eyes when I made comments like “the activity of the Spirit is not irrational, but it is non-rational.” I think I ended up sounding non-rational. Aghhh….

    I got a head full of ideas
    That are drivin’ me insane.

    A much more simple way to make my point would have been to say that we are going to be a church that is devoted to both the Scripture and the Spirit.

    It seems like I have rubbed elbows over the last 18 years with Christians who tend to go to one extreme or the other. Either they embrace the Scripture to the exclusion of the Spirit or they embrace the Spirit to the exclusion of the Scripture. My point is that we need an integration of both the Scripture and the Spirit.

    Furthermore our Christian life needs to be defined in terms of Scripture over the Spirit. Our understanding of the Scripture ought to guide and shape our spiritual experience and not the other way around. Christians who define their faith by mystical, spiritual experiences never end up in a good place. God has given us the Scripture as the vocabulary to define our spiritual experience.

    I am not suggesting that Scripture can be understood and lived out in purely rational terms.
    I am not suggesting that having all the right information from the Scripture about God is sufficient for the Christian life.
    I am not suggesting that the work of theology is only done by the power of reason.
    I am suggesting (and firmly stating) that Scripture, and not the Spirit, is our final authority. This position is the standard for Evangelicals and for most Pentecostal/charismatics who I include within the Evangelical stream. Traditionally, Pentecostals and charismatics have been “people of the book.” Charismatics movements that desire experience over the teaching of Scripture typically burn out or dry up.

    I know there are some who would say, “Are you saying that the Scripture is more reliable than God?” Of course not.

    Here is the issue— I do not doubt the reliability of the Spirit’s guidance, but I do doubt my ability to hear and understand him perfectly. Remember that the Scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Only the biblical writers were so inspired by the Spirit that their writings are unquestionably reliable. I can trust Paul when he says, “The Lord told me,” because God the Holy Spirit was using him to write Scripture. I cannot always trust some guy who says, “The Lord told me,” even if he has big hair, tacky clothes, a big TV ministry, and the title “Prophet” in front of his name. The Holy Spirit does speak, guide, direct, counsel, convict, and prompt people today. He does, on occasion, grant Christians experiences which are mystical, other-worldly, and transcendent. I have cherished the spiritual experiences—the divine encounters—that I have had with the Holy Spirit over the years, but I cannot build my faith on these. Experiences with (in?) the Holy Spirit are signposts on my spiritual journey, but they are not the soil in which my faith is rooted. Scripture as watered by the Spirit is the only fertile ground in which I can grow.

    2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV All Scripture is God‑breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

    …I’m beginning to believe what the scriptures tell…

    2 Comments / Theology /

  • February 27, 2008

    Theology and “the Supernatural” in the Life of the Church

    The local church is the mystical body of Christ made up of various people from various backgrounds. We are Jesus’ body continuing the ministry he began. Throughout the gospel we see Jesus doing three things in one context. He was preaching, teaching, and healing in the context of a community-building mission. The ministry he started was an integration of these functions which are intellectual, supernatural, and social. Therefore the ministry we carry on today through the community of faith is an integration of theology (mind) and the supernatural (spirit). Leading people into an active life with Jesus requires teaching and healing. People who are walking with Jesus need both a new kind of thinking and a new kind of experiencing. Theology and the supernatural become two broad categories in which we look at the ministry of a local church. Both are vital. Both are necessary. We need an integration—and not a bifurcation—of theology and supernatural experience.

    (We also need to integrate a new kind of being and a new kind of living. “Who we are” in relation to the God we worship and “what we do” in response to that relationship are just as vital as theology and supernatural experience. Without them Christian life is incomplete, but for the sake a simplicity I want to consider how theology and the supernatural intersect.)

    The Value of Theology
    Theology, also called “doctrine” or “teaching,” is right thinking about God and reality. Theology is what you believe about God, relationships, the Church, morality, etc. The Scripture is the final authority in forming our theology and so we can rightly call it biblical theology. Our theology is shaped first and foremost by the Scripture, interpreting the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, which the early church called the “teaching of the apostles.” Our theology is also shaped to a lesser degree by tradition (historic theology), reason (systematic theology), and experience (spiritual theology). All Christians have a theology and do theology even if they do not like the process. Typically Christians shy away from theological exploration, because they have seen theology done poorly. The answer to bad theology is not no theology, but good theology.

    References to theology, doctrine, and teaching—
    Matthew 28:18-20
    John 8:31-32
    1 Timothy 1:9-11; 6:3-5
    2 Timothy 3:16-17
    Timothy 4:2-3
    Titus 1:9-11; 2:1

    The Value of the Supernatural
    The supernatural—also described as heavenly realms, spirituality, or spiritual realities—refers to the world of the Spirit. The supernatural includes miracles, signs and wonders, healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, spiritual warfare, spiritual discernment, etc. Christian spirituality, the supernatural, is our lived experience in, with, and by the Holy Spirit. While supernatural experiences and supernatural ministry are not irrational, they are certainly non-rational in that it does not depend on the power of reason. Interaction with the supernatural is absolutely necessary, because the God we serve in not merely a historical figure to study, but a living, present-day being who is not material but spirit. Furthermore, he has sent his Holy Spirit to reside in those who belong to him.

    References to the supernatural, signs and wonders, heavenly realms—
    Mark 16:17-18
    Acts 4:30-31; 5:12-16
    1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 1 Corinthians 2:13-14; 14:1
    Ephesians 1:3; 2:6-7; 5:18-20; 6:10
    Colossians 1:8
    2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

    The Need for Integration of Theology and the Supernatural
    Throughout Christian history, various groups have either chosen theology to the exclusion of the supernatural or chosen the supernatural to the exclusion of theology. Either path leads to a spiritual dead end. Our need is for an integration of both theology and the supernatural, an integration of good thinking and good experiencing, an integration of mind and spirit. God has not made us either a mind or a spirit, but a complex and integrated being of body, soul, creativity, conscience, emotions, relationships and indeed mind and spirit.

    References to an integration of theology and the supernatural—
    Matthew 4:23; 9:35
    Acts 2:4, 42-43; 14:3
    Romans 12:1-2
    1 Corinthians 12:28; 14:14-15
    1 Timothy 4:13-16
    2 Timothy 1:13-14

    Leading in the Integration
    In the dance between theology and the supernatural, the leading partner must be a theology firmly grounded in the Scripture. The word “teaching” is in the NIV Bible people 88 times. The word “healing” appears 28 times.

    (The phrase “signs and wonders” appears 18 times and the word “miracles” appears 37 times. We cannot make too much of the frequency of terms in the Bible. The virgin birth is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament and only once in the Old Testament and it is an extremely important doctrine. Nevertheless, it does seem to say something when we find “teaching” in the Bible more often than “healing.)

    Theology, sound doctrine, and our reasonable understanding of the Scripture must guide us in the supernatural life. Our theology is shaped by spiritual experiences, but they must be subordinate to the teachings of Scripture. Certainly, there are facets to God’s nature that we cannot understand. His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are infinitely higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). We ought to embrace the mysteries of God and incorporate them into our theology. The unknowable aspects of God keep us humble; it keeps our faith living and active.

    The primary problem with allowing the supernatural, especially spiritual knowledge, to be the leader is that supernatural experiences are subjective and are virtually unverifiable if allowed to dominate biblical theology. It is not that the Holy Spirit himself is unreliable or untrustworthy, but rather it is our subjective and fallen perceptibility of what the Holy Spirit may or may not be saying that is called into question. The Holy Spirit speaks perfectly, but I do not always hear him perfectly.

    To allow the spirit to dominate the mind leads us down the road towards one of the early Christian heresies—Montanism (2nd century AD). Montanus was a traveling Christian prophet who was given to visions and the gift of prophecy. His message included the soon return of Christ and the need to connect to apostolic Christianity. Montanus felt that the church had become institutionalized and needed renewal. He felt that he had a direct spiritual connection to the Apostles. He even declared that he himself was the promised paraklete Jesus talked about in the book of John (See John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). He interpreted the Scripture according to his own spiritual interpretations, instead of subjecting his prophecies to biblical and historical theology. (For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montanism)

    Allowing the supernatural to lead, and ultimately trump, theology and reason can lead to a pragmatic hermeneutic–(i.e. interpreting Scripture in terms of what works). Often Christians do this when they feel the Holy Spirit is leading them in a direction that does not fit squarely within biblical revelation and historic Christianity, but they feel like it is God and they feel justified when they see results. A similar hermeneutic is used by Mormons. They tell people to read the book of Mormon and then pray, asking God to give them the “burning of bosom” – a spiritual confirmation of the truth of their book.

    There is no room to discern the truth of a spiritual experience when the supernatural is valued over theology. Division is often the result. Paul urged the church in Rome to beware of those who cause division by not keeping with biblical teaching: I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them (Romans 16:17). The division begins with an argument that has been played and replayed throughout church history.

    Person 1 proclaims, “God told me….”

    Person 2 says, “That doesn’t seem right.”

    Person 1, “Yes it is.”

    Person 2, “No it isn’t.”

    And round and round they go. Without pointing to the objective truth in God’s written word, there is no way to discern the supernatural. Division can certainly happen over different interpretations of Scripture, but without biblical theology we have no standard by which to discern any kind of spiritual experience.

    Such a decline in biblical authority led in part to the 16th century Reformation. One of the essential doctrines of the Reformation was sola scriptura, “by Scripture alone.” Martin Luther and others promoted sola scriptura in a time when mysticism and superstitious had gnawed away at the heart of the Church. Sola scriptura is the first of five “solas” which form the cornerstone of evangelical faith:

    1) Sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)

    2) Sola fide (“by faith alone”)

    3) Sola gratia (“by grace alone”)

    4) Solus Christus (“Christ alone”)

    5) Soli Deo gloria (“glory to God alone”)

    The Pentecostal/charismatic tradition would add Sola Spiritu, “by the Spirit alone.” One of the weaknesses of the Protestant Reformation was their underdeveloped view of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the 5 (or 6) “solas” reveal that Scripture is not the only means by which God communicates his truth, but it is the first, the foremost, and the leading partner in all other means of God’s revelation.

    Good references on an integrated approach to Christian life and ministry

    Word and Power Church by David Banister

    Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem

    Spirit and Power: Foundations of Pentecostal Experience by William & Robert Menzies

    Truth Aflame by Larry Hart

    Surprised by the Power of the Spirit by Jack Deere

    Steams of Living Water by Richard Foster

    Spiritual Theology by Simon Chan

    “The More Excellent Way” (Sermon 89) by John Wesley

    4 Comments / Theology /

  • August 3, 2007

    Sacred Space

    I am preaching through 1 Corinthians and in preparation for 1 Corinthians 3 I have been doing some thinking about sacred spaces, particularly in reference to corporate worship. Our church is known for its casual atmosphere on Sunday morning. I like it that way. I want it to continue, but I have been thinking how we can maintain that casual, warming, accepting atmosphere and yet recreate the sacredness of the sanctuary.

    The Scripture says we are God’s temple (1 Cor 3:16). Not “you are God’s temple” but “y’all are God’s temple.” It is true that the Holy Spirit dwells in each Christian, but that is not the point of Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 3. The context of the verse is the problems of divisions in the local church. By saying “y’all are God’s temple,” Paul is meaning that you all as brick’s in God’s building are the building in which God dwells. God is holy and will only dwell in a sacred space.

    How can we work to recreate sacred space, a holy place for God to dwell?

    Sacred space can easily be lost.
    Culturally we, in the Western world, have lost a sense of the sacred.

    The Poet/prophet writes:
    Disillusioned words like bullets bark
    As human gods aim for their mark
    Made everything from toy guns that spark
    To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
    It’s easy to see without looking too far
    That not muchIs really sacred. ~ BD 1965

    So much of the evangelical world has bought into the pragmatic/market-driven/commercialized/slick produced/plastic/consumer/materialistic values of the Western world and it has eaten up our sacred space. I guess, I want it back. I want to reclaim sacred space…holy places to find God, see him, behold, gaze, worship, reflect…

    I need sacred space.

    Not Americanized sacred space

    Not Evangelical-ized sacred space

    Not charismatic-approved sacred space

    Not emotionally-hyped sacred space

    Not sacramental sacred space

    Not ancient sacred space

    Not emerging sacred space

    I need sacred space

    I don’t need the label and the prefabricated set of values that goes with each of the above sacred space. There is some that each of these traditions has to contribute, but I am not looking for the latest fad in “planning your worship service.” I want to join with others in the pursuit of God, to jump headlong into the cosmic pursuit of the illusive God.

    I need sacred space.

    Here are ten elements that I think are necessary in reclaiming sacredness. I am going to offer them to my congregation Sunday morning.

    Humility :: a recognition of God’s greatness and our smallness

    Sobriety :: a solemn focus on the presence of God

    Contemplation :: a gazing upon the beauty & mystery of God

    Confession :: acknowledging personal sin against God

    Repentance :: rethinking and re-living for God

    Brokenness :: feeling God’s sorrow regarding our personal sins

    Openness :: allowing the Holy Spirit to penetrate our hearts

    Earnestness :: loving God with all your strength

    Willingness :: ready to do what God asks

    Communion :: eating the bread and drinking the juice in memory of Jesus

    8 Comments / Life, Theology /

  • July 19, 2007

    The Sin of the City

    This week, I have been reading about the ancient city of Corinth, Ancient Corinth, Old Corinth, the Corinth that had within it a first century Christian community to which Paul the Apostle wrote a at least three letters…two of which appear in our Bible. I am preparing the longest and weightiest sermon series of my ministry thus far…a 16-week study through the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians, the second known letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 5:9 mentions a letter that he had written before the letter that we call 1 Corinthians. So there are actually three letters that we know about.

    Understanding the letter written to the church in first century Corinth, requires understanding the church in Corinth, which requires understanding the city of Corinth, because as Gordon Fee says, “the church was in many ways a mirror of the city.”

    Corinth was known for its sexual promiscuity. The fifth century dramatist Aristophanes added a word to the Greek language — korinthiazo. It means “to act like a Corinthian” that, is to engage in indiscriminate sexuality activity (Gordon Fee). It is well known that Corinth was the home to one of the largest temples of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and fertility. While the tradition is debated, history notes that 1,000 court maids where present to have ritualistic sex with those who wanted to worship Aphrodite. It became a popular religion as you can imagine. People also came to the port-city of Corinth to worship other gods. There were 26 holy places in the city. There were also Greek philosophers who made their home in Corinth. Sailors were known to stop there and spend all there money. Corinth was a prosperous, sensual, good-time city.

    It could be said that what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth. And so many people draw stark comparisons between ancient Corinth and modern-day Las Vegas. The sins occurring in the city of Corinth were similar in spirit and type to the sins occurring in modern-day Las Vegas, although prostitution is NOT legal in Las Vegas. It is legal in other counties in Nevada, but not in the city of Las Vegas itself.

    The sins of the city are numerous, but the so are the sins of the towns.

    I have served one church for nearly eight years in a rural area. I have found a common “rural life pride” in those who live in small town America. Some people feel like the rural countryside is free from the sins of the city. However, the sins of the city are alive in rural towns and counties.

    I do not want to fall into the trap of saying that sin is more rampant in rural communities than in the past and we have to return to some kind of idyllic kind of so-called small town moral purity. I think sin has always been about of the towns. It does seem however that sin has become more public, more mainstream, more visible thanks in part to the sexual revolution of the 60s and to the advances in technology in the 80s, 90s and the 00s. The advent of cable/satellite TV and the internet has brought the visibility of sin and a hedonistic worldview from the cities into the rural communities so that there is not much difference between the large city and the small town in terms of how they process sin and ethical behavior – particularly sexual behavior. Sexual promiscuity before marriage, adultery within marriage, consensual extra-material relationships and pornography all occur within small towns as in the cities, thanks in part to technological advances.

    Does this mean we should unhook or TVs and PCs and become technological hermits? I don’t think so. The Church’s answer should never be to run and hide from culture. Instead we should be aware, wise as serpents in regards to the way our society processing sexual ethics. We should also engage culture by challenging sexual hedonism with biblical truth. (The Bible is certainly not prudish or embarrassed to discuss the beauty and sexual freedom found in marriage. Have you discovered the rated R sections of the Bible? Here is one.)

    The truth of that the sins of the city live in rural areas like Americus, Georgia make the book of 1 Corinthians applicable. The issues we find in this holy letter are active in our community. Here are some of the issues found in the book:

    Sex
    Incest
    Spirituality
    Fights
    Celebrity Worship
    Lawsuits
    Marriage
    Food
    Pride
    Speaking in Tongues
    Love
    Wisdom
    Death

    And it all begins with “People & Jesus” the title of my message this Sunday. The first message in my chapter by chapter study of 1 Corinthians. All of this historical review of Corinth has fueled my passion to teach through this book. It should be a fun ride. It won’t solve all of our problems, but it will certainly lead us to Jesus, back into a relationship with the triune God, within the gates of Eden where there is no sin.

    The motorcycle black madonna
    Two-wheeled gypsy queen
    And her silver-studded phantom cause
    The gray flannel dwarf to scream
    As he weeps to wicked birds of prey
    Who pick up on his bread crumb sins
    And there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden

    Bob Dylan
    “Gates of Eden”
    Bringing It All Back Home
    1965

    5 Comments / Theology /

  • June 2, 2007

    Eat this Book & Praying the Psalms

    I am working my way through Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book. Christianity Today gave it an Award of Merit for 2007 in the area of spirituality. Peterson is a wonderful writer and if you are going to read one book about spiritual reading (or devotional reading), I would recommend this one.

    Peterson is a master of the English language. He makes me feel like a writing pigmy but excites me at the same time. Eat This Book is the kind of book where I underline entire paragraphs. He has given me a new heart to want to eat the Scriptures and new eyes in which to read God’s holy book. There is too much good stuff to quote everything of value in here. Peterson does have a reoccurring theme that we are to enter into the biblical text instead of using the Scripture for practical insights for living life.

    He really spoke my language when he compared exegesis to football fan discussing the game in a bar after the game (pg. 54). Football fans dissect and discuss every miniscule detail of the football game because they love it and know the rules, plays and strategies so well. Good exegetes do the same. We look at the details of the biblical text with our commentaries, Greek texts and grammars and other Bible lovers because we love it! I recently had a conversation with a pastor friend who was preaching on Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (ESV). I pointed out to him that the Greek word for “in” is not the common preposition en, but eis, meaning “into.” [The ESV has a note to that effect in their translation.] I got really excited as we discussed the difference between en and eis and what that subtle difference makes in the preaching of this text. We are not baptized in the Triune name, that is, by the authority of God’s name. We are baptized into the name, that is, into the triune community of the Father, Son and Spirit. Wow what a difference!

    This morning, I was reading Peterson’s section on oratio within the practice of lectio divina. (These Latin words are pronounced o-rah-tsio and lek-tsio.) Lectio divina is the anctient practice of holy reading that dates back to the early formation of Benedictine monasteries. Oratio is the practice of praying the Scriptures.

    Peterson goes into a wonderful discussion of the importance of praying the Psalms. He quotes Athanasius who said, “Most scripture speak to us; the Psalms speak for us.” Peterson goes on to say:

    And oh, how they speak. They don’t simply say, “Yes, God I agree. Yes that’s right, I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Or “Yes, would you say that again so I can write it down and show it to my friends.” No, the argue and complain, they lament and they praise, they deny and declaim, they thank and they sing. On one page they accuse God of betraying and abandoning them and on the next they turn cartwheels and hallelujahs. Sometime we suppose that the proper posture of response to God as we read the Bible is to be curled u p in a wingback chair before a cozy fire, docile and well-mannered. Some of us are taught to think that reading the Bible means sitting in God’s classroom and tha prayer is politely raising our hand when we have a question about what he is teaching us in his Deuteronomy lecture. The Psalms, our prayer text within the biblical text, show us something quite different; pray is engaging God, an engaging that is seldom accomplished by a murmured greeting and a conventional handshake. The engagement, at least in its initial stages, is more like a quarrel than a greeting, more like a wrestling match than a warm embrace. (pg 104-105)

    Amen and amen! I have that entire sectioned underlined in the book. It really moved me, because it confirmed a conviction that I have had for a long time. In my non-denominational/charismatic/”young-hip-and-cool-church” tradition, we pride ourselves in spontaneous prayers, prayers off the top of our heads or prayers that “bubble up” from our hearts. I typically pray these kinds of prayers, but over the years I have been helped so often by praying the Psalms, reading them in an attitude of prayer. Using the inspired words of David and others to be my words in prayer.

    There was a time a few years ago when I was struggling with disappointment, frustration and anger with my ministry, my family and my life. I was complaining to God in prayer and I felt him nudging me to pray the Psalms of David and when David talks about his physical enemies that I should focus on the enemies of my soul. For six weeks I began to pray the words of Psalm 71 and I can say that I had a major breakthrough. I still fight this tri-fold enemy but when the battle gets fierce, I turn to the words of Psalm 71 to fuel my prayers.

    Here is the Psalm. Read it. Chew on it. Enter into it. Pray it. Eat it!

    Psalm 71:1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;let me never be put to shame!

    2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;incline your ear to me, and save me!

    3 Be to me a rock of refuge,to which I may continually come;you have given the command to save me,for you are my rock and my fortress.

    4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

    5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

    6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.My praise is continually of you.

    7 I have been as a portent to many,but you are my strong refuge.

    8 My mouth is filled with your praise,and with your glory all the day.

    9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;forsake me not when my strength is spent.

    10 For my enemies speak concerning me;those who watch for my life consult together

    11 and say, “God has forsaken him;pursue and seize him,for there is none to deliver him.”

    12 O God, be not far from me;O my God, make haste to help me!

    13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.

    14 But I will hope continuallyand will praise you yet more and more.

    15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,of your deeds of salvation all the day,for their number is past my knowledge.

    16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

    17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

    18 So even to old age and gray hairs,O God, do not forsake me,until I proclaim your might to another generation,your power to all those to come.

    19 Your righteousness, O God,reaches the high heavens.You who have done great things,O God, who is like you?

    20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamitieswill revive me again;from the depths of the earthyou will bring me up again.

    21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

    22 I will also praise you with the harpfor your faithfulness, O my God;I will sing praises to you with the lyre,O Holy One of Israel.

    23 My lips will shout for joy,when I sing praises to you;my soul also, which you have redeemed.

    24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,for they have been put to shame and disappointedwho sought to do me hurt.

    4 Comments / Theology /

  • May 23, 2007

    12 Sayings NOT in the Bible

    I saw this post on Monday Morning Insight. (It originally came from the Blue Letter Bible.) Both of these are great websites. I visit them both at least once a week.

    12 Sayings NOT in the Bible
    1. Moderation in all things.
    2. Once saved, always saved.
    3. Better to cast your seed….
    4. Spare the rod, spoil the child.
    5. To thine ownself be true.
    6. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
    7. God helps those who help themselves.
    8. Money is the root of all evil.
    9. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
    10. This too shall pass.
    11. God works in mysterious ways.
    12. The eye is the window to the soul.

    Here is the list with my commentary:

    12 Sayings NOT in the Bible

    1. Moderation in all things. (I like this one, especially as related to the issue of Christians and drinking wine…you know…like Jesus did.)

    2. Once saved, always saved. (This phrase is not in the Bible….not well worded…but a biblical doctrine that I subscribe to.)

    3. Better to cast your seed…. (I don’t get this one.)

    4. Spare the rod, spoil the child. (My wife and I would say “spare the SPOON, spoil the child.” My wife is famous for her 18 inch wooden spoon….quite effective…)

    5. To thine ownself be true. (C’mon… that is Shakespeare not Solomon!)

    6. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (The exact verse in Matthew reads: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Matthew 7:12…..but that is pretty close)

    7. God helps those who help themselves. (This one is certainly not biblical…this statement is straight up secular humanism….get your worldviews straight.)

    8. Money is the root of all evil. (You have to add “the love of” before “money” to find this one is Scripture. Money is morally neuteral. It is what you do with it. I could use some more.)

    9. Cleanliness is next to godliness. (I would add this one to the Bible if God would allow me, especially since I have two boys who treat my house like a giant trash can.)

    10. This too shall pass. (Good wisdom…but not in the Bible)

    11. God works in mysterious ways. (The concept is in the Bible, but this line is not. God is certainly a mystery, but this line is often quoted with the exclusion of God’s revelation.)

    12. The eye is the window to the soul. (Jesus did say that the eye is a lamp to the soul….so this one is close.)

    3 Comments / Theology /

  • May 3, 2007

    The Promise and the Plan

    God gives a promise and a plan.

    He is able to do this for the entire world and all of the inhabitants therein, because he is both the creator and sustainer of all. He makes promises and plans.

    He is able to make promises because he is sustaining all human activity.
    He is able to make a plan because he is the creator. He is the chief architect of all that is—of everything and everyone who was, is, and will be in existence.

    God is a promiser and planner.

    He is the only perfect promiser and planner, but he is not limited to time and space. By nature he is ETERNAL, existing in a dimension that is not bound by the constraints of history and nature. He is able to SEE the past, present and future and he is able to KNOW the past, present and future, because he EXISTS simultaneously in the past, present and future.

    The very words “past,” “present,” and “future” are completely foreign to the life of the triune God. They are words that we use from our limited, finite, human perspective. We experience these modes of time but God transcends them.

    It is as if God lives in a helicopter overlooking a parade. We are stuck in the parade between the horses and the out-of-tune Junior high marching band. All we can see are the equestrian’s backsides in front of us and the band behind us. God can see all of it. He can see the very front of the parade and the tail end of the parade simultaneously.

    He lives in a dimension that we cannot comprehend.
    He lives in a dimension that makes him the most perfect promiser and planner. Nowhere is he plan better seen than in Romans 8:28-29:

    [THE PROMISE] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)

    [THE PLAN] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)

    In thinking about the promise that “all things work together for the good,” I came across these lines from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon “The True Christian’s Blessedness.”

    He who said, “all things work together,” will soon prove to you that there is a harmony in the most discordant parts of your life. You shall find, when your biography is written, that the black page did but harmonize with the bright one—that the dark and cloudy day was but a glorious foil to set forth the brighter noon-tide of your joy. “All things work together.” There is never a clash in the world: men think so, but it never is so….

    …We must understand the word “together,” also in another sense. “All things work together for good:” that is to say, none of them work separately. I remember an old divine using a very pithy and homely metaphor, which I shall borrow to-day. Said he, “All things work together for good; but perhaps, any one of those ‘all things’ might destroy us if taken alone….

    Remember, it is not the one thing alone that is for your good; it is the one thing put with another thing, and that with a third, and that with a fourth, and all these mixed together, that work for your good…. Too much joy would intoxicate us, too much misery would drive us to despair: but the joy and the misery, the battle and the victory, the storm and the calm, all these compounded make that sacred elixir whereby God maketh all his people perfect through suffering, and leadeth them to ultimate happiness.

    Charles Spurgeon
    “The True Christian’s Blessedness” (Sermon #159)
    Preached October 18, 1857

    These are some of the thoughts swirling around in my head as I get ready for Sunday’s sermon. My sermon, tentatively titled “The Promise and the Plan,” is sermon #334 and will be preached May 6, 2007…if you were interested.

    No Comments / Theology /
← Older Entries