Our Kinsmen Redeemer

So it has been a while since my last post. Life has been crazy but, this rocks my world!

There are arguments that say the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. I beg to differ. The Old Testament shows many prefiguring’s of the New Testament Savior. My case in point will observe the book of Ruth. This is the same true One and Only God who has always been displayed. The kinsmen redeemer named Boaz was a prefiguring of the redeemer to come. There are several aspects that enlighten one to see this resemblance. Culturally there were certain criteria to be met to ensure that the kinsmen could redeem a particular piece of property. If a family member died another member of the family could take ownership of a particular piece of property to ensure that it did not leave the family. The same is true today when a family member leaves something in their will, but back then they did not have such a thing. Instead a piece of property could be claimed by the closest member of the family without a contract.

The same is true with God and His redemption of His property that was cut off from Him by sin. God owns this universe and it was put do death by sin. He had to have a kinsmen redeemer that could claim the right to His property. Several things must be taken into consideration for this to happen and we see this from the story of Ruth.

The kinsmen redeemer must be -

Related to the individual by blood (Mat 26:28 represents the blood of Christ which represents His poured out life. Rom. 3:25, 5:9) Jesus had to be related to us or connected to us by blood that is why He took on human form. It was not a heritage identification it was a human blood connection. Just as OT sacrifice needed and unblemished animal to sacrifice, we needed His perfect blood.

Free, not a slave – Jesus was not in debt to sin and He was not a slave to sin (John 8:46, Heb 6:15) this is why we can’t save ourselves. (Romans 3:23, 6:16)

Able to pay the price of redemption – (Mat. 28:18) Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. His perfect blood could cover the cost of sin. (1 Cor. 6:20) Tells us we were bought at a price and Jesus paid that bill. He even tells us that through Him is the only way to redemption. (John 14:6)

Willing to pay the price – Back in the story the first redeemer didn’t want to pay the price. (Mat. 26:42) Jesus cries out to the Father for another way out and how does He respond? Not my will but yours. In other words, I’ll do it if it is the only way. Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price.

Prepared to marry the widow – (Rev. 19:7) prepares us for when the bride (church) and the bridegroom (Lamb) will be united. This was the reason that the closer redeemer in Ruth didn’t want to redeem the estate. He didn’t want to endanger his own estate by marrying a foreigner. Christ has taken the final position of bridegroom and fulfilled the requirements of the redeemer.

Christ was not a physical redeemer that allowed us to keep an earthly estate. He is the redeemer that allows us to claim our heavenly estate with the Father. The thing that blows my mind more than anything is that Christ didn’t have to redeem us if He didn’t want to. This is what makes this so meaningful. He could have backed out at anytime. But Mat. 16:23 shows us where His heart is. Jesus Christ was willing to lay down His life and pay the ultimate price for sin. I don’t think that we will ever be able to fully comprehend the love of God.

So who do you belong to? Are you willing to accept the kinsmen request to be brought back into the family? Will you venture out on your own and see where it lands you? God is willing to take you back, are you willing to enter into His offer?

The Living Parable

When Jesus taught His disciples He often spoke in parables. This is a parable that God used to teach me with an encounter I had with Him. Years ago I was trying to figure out what God wanted for my life and what I should do career wise. I was praying and asking God what He wanted for my life, but never heard anything back. I had graduated the police academy and was looking for a job with an agency and was also being offered a job in the church as a student pastor. I wanted to make the right choice career wise so that I would be in the center of God’s will and direction for my life, but was not sure what to do so I decided to go on a prayer walk for my quiet time and seek God.

I opted to do what I like to call walking in God’s garden. I love nature and am completely amazed by how creative God is in the creation of the universe we live in. I decided to take the day off work and go to Honeymoon Island and walk their nature trail. On my way there I meant to stop and get bug spray because it was the middle of the summer and I knew that the mosquito’s would be out, but forgot to do so. As I began to walk the trail I started to get bit by mosquitos. I walked faster but could not get away from them. I was now frustrated not only by the fact that I was getting eaten up but was itchy, sore and mad because they were distracting me from my time alone with God.

I was fixated on the idea that I came to get close to God but could not because of the bugs that were biting me. I became even more frustrated because this was supposed to be a solemn time alone with me and God and could not understand why God would allow these pesky bugs to attack me when I was trying to spend time alone with Him. I finally made it through the trail and was pretty mad and found a picnic table out of the woods alone and sat down and opened my Bible thinking this would be the time when I would be left alone to hear God speak to me. I was not there for a minute when I got bit again. Frustrated, I slammed my Bible closed and left to go get bug spray so I could concentrate.

After dousing myself with bug spray I entered the trail again hoping to be left alone so I could admire God’s creation and hear him speak to me. I begin to walk the trail again and it is late afternoon and the sun is going down and the bugs are really starting to come out. I stopped to watch this owl family up in the tree for a minute. There was a baby with the mom and dad. It was a pretty cool scene. But before I moved on I looked around and it was like a mosquito wall surrounding me. I reached my arm into the wall of mosquitoes and they would move away. I was as if I had a force field around me that they couldn’t penetrate. This is when God began to speak to me. He said I have been trying to talk to you this whole time but you couldn’t hear me because you have not been protecting yourself from sin like you knew you needed to. Just like you knew you needed the bug spray to protect you from the mosquitoes and didn’t and got eaten alive. You also knew that you should be protecting yourself from sin and you haven’t and you have been letting yourself get eaten alive by sin.

This was like a punch right between the eyes. I remember thinking “wait a second God. I didn’t come here so that you could call me out on my sin. I came so you could give me direction.” This was a very harsh reality for me to come to and to this day I will never forget it. There much more to this story but the question I have is what are you doing to protect yourself so that you do not get eaten alive by sin. What is it that you know you need to do but are not doing and is this hindering you from hearing God speak to you? For me I honestly say that it was. Are you in the same boat? If so what will you do? God spoke to me clearly and I heard His voice of direction when I finally put the defenses back up His voice was not muzzled by the world. Maybe you have been there or maybe you are there now. Stop and put on the full protection/armor of God so that you can hear Him lead you where He wants you to be.

Honesty... it can make or break you... stepping out on a limb

So my grandmother had a heart attack this week and can no longer live alone. She needs supervision, but she owns a house that is close to Orlando FL. My parents asked me if I would like to live there for security purposes to make sure the house does not get broken into. My first reaction was heck no! But is this a new opportunity for me to reach a new community? Is this what God wants for my life? Can I honestly say I am confused? Can I post all the questions revolving in my head?

I don’t think I can, but the question is what does God wants for me? So confused! Anyone ever been there? I think I may be a missionary overseas. I also think I may be a missionary to my Jerusalem. I wish God was clearer and didn’t rely on faith. Life would be so much easier.

Retribution Theology Fails

In my years of schooling I have become all too familiar with retribution theology. The idea says that if something bad happens to a Christ follower it is because you are out of bounds with God and that is His punishment on you. The only problem with that is it is not a Biblical concept. It is easy to come to the conclusion that bad things happen to those who are at odds with God but scripture does not teach that at all. While sometimes it can mean punishment for a repetitive action that is not always the case. Those who are strict legalists say that when something bad happens it is because you have done something wrong, but that does not answer the question as to why bad things happen to people who are chasing after God with all their heart.

The Bible does teach that when a Christ follower is in sin they can expect punishment from their Father. The bible says that Christ followers are adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ and we are His children and just as a parent disciplines their children, so does God. But is that always the case? I beg to differ. I think of Job who was considered righteous in God’s eyes yet, he went through a very rough time that cost him his family. Job was confronted by three friends who said that he must have sinned against God and this was his punishment. They persisted to patronize him and tell him to confess this hidden sin so that God would redeem him.

The dialogue goes back and forth for quite some time before a man named Elihu comes on scene and rebukes Job’s friends. (With friends like that who needs enemies) In Job’s frustration of his friend’s accusations and his redemption from Elihu he demands God give him an answer for his problems. A long story short, God puts Job back in his place and restores him with a new family. How often do we do this with members in the church today? “Oh something bad happened; you must have done something wrong…” Not so much in my opinion and my studies of what the Bible teaches. While this may be the case it is not an absolute truth.

I say all of this because of a horror story I heard from my dad who recently conducted a funeral and was confronted by a person who challenged as to why he could offer hope to people because this was clearly God’s judgment on the person and family who lost a loved one. The victim was an infant that slipped and fell and died. It absolutely rips me apart to say this, but this person said that this was God’s judgment on the person and family because they were not living a life that brought God glory. It hurts me even more because I know them personally.

If retribution theology is indeed God’s judgment on those out of bounds with Him then I am in bad shape and you might be too. My truck died recently and I had to replace the engine, I had to shut down my business because the economy went south, I work at a job that I can barely get by, I broke my toe last week and missed some work, I feel numb in my relationship with God, He seems so distant and I want to yell at Him… I could go on but I kinda feel like Job. I want to scream and yell at God and demand an answer. He owes it to me, right? Not so much. Is it because I am out of bounds with Him? Or simply something He is putting me through something like He did Job?

The problem with retribution theology is that it is based on actions and Jesus says that it is not what you do but what you believe that gives you hope. Those who focus on actions are Pharisees. They focused on what you looked like and not what was inside. Jesus even called them out and called them white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones. We cannot impose the doctrines of man on people and expect them to live up to God’s standards. Jesus said follow me. That means even in the hard times but that does not mean that when bad things happen you are not following Him.

We must stop this pharisaic attitude and stop judging people by what is happening in their life. If you do then you are one of Job’s friends and you can expect God to call you out for your wrong accusations. (hopping off my soap box)

Being Mission's Minded

I spent two 2 days at the mission’s conference at Trinity College Of Florida talking to mission’s organizations and missionaries. I love hearing about what God is doing around the world and opportunities to partner with people who are reaching out to those who have never had a chance to hear the Gospel. There were different workshops to go attend from various organizations all talking about different ways they were reaching out to the lost, the particular people groups they were focusing on and how God was working through them to break down ethnic/racial/cultural barriers to further the Kingdom.

The main speaker was Gary Peterson from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Their goal is to translate the Bible into every language so that all have the opportunity to hear and read about salvation through Christ. He is an amazing man of God and unfortunately put some things out there that are true about Christianity today. Not all Christians share this same passion to reach out to those who have never heard the Gospel. They are selfish and fixated on themselves and their own circumstances. Gary said that he could not count the times that he has heard people say “I just wish Jesus would come back today and get us out of this mess so all the problems would just go away.” Essentially saying “It’s all about me and how bad I have it, I don’t care about the rest of the world, and I want my life to be rainbows and sunshine.”

Don’t get me wrong. I look forward to the day Christ returns. That is the hope I live for and the promise that He gave us. But until that time comes I want to make the most of every opportunity I have to share the Gospel with those who are lost and doomed to judgment on the day Christ does return. I don’t want to think about how bad I have it because I know what my eternal destiny has in store for me. I want to be focused and centered on those who have no hope and offer it to them. I actually don’t want Christ to come for a while because we have a lot of work to do in taking the Gospel to every tribe and nation. There are also friends and family that I want to see in the Kingdom. Until everyone has a chance to hear and respond I don’t want Christ to come.

We have to get past ourselves and realize that it is our responsibility to bring reconciliation to this world. Christians have a hope that allows us not to be concerned with our circumstances because we know where we will be when it is all said and done. Let us leave this selfish attitude behind and begin to focus on the work God has called us to do. The problem today is no different than in Luke 10. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Quit worrying about your earthly problems and focus on the eternal judgment that is coming to this world. Christ has come and He is coming again. Let us not hope for His second coming until we have completed the work He has given us.

Authorial Intent

When it comes to reading the Bible one has to be very careful not to use it as book of pithy statements that you choose from to offer comfort to someone who is struggling with something. Context is the key to understanding the Bible. The problem is that in order to understand context most of the time you have to read the entire book. The writers of the Bible were not writing random thoughts that came to mind. They were writing a story and the only way to understand a story is to read the entire thing. Let’s be reasonable. Imagine you picked up a 50 page book (very small for a book) and randomly opened it and read a paragraph and concluded that within that paragraph you knew what the book was about. That is complete nonsense. Yet somehow we do this with the Bible.

One of the best ways to understand context is as you read and you see a recurring theme or idea make note of it and trace it through the entire book. As you read the Bible you will see things being repeated over and over again because the author wants you to pay close attention to them. They are keys to understanding what he wants to say and you to understand. Once you have traced the theme through a book you will begin to see breaks in thought and transitions into other concepts or ideas. After you have done all this you can make a purpose statement about why the author wrote this book based on the themes you have traced through it. Once you have a purpose statement you can compliment it by emphasizing the reason you chose this purpose based on the themes you have seen throughout the book.

To help illustrate what I mean I have gone through the book of Mark and traced 3 themes, outlined it, and made a purpose and compliment statement. Since blogger will not let me insert rows and columns you will have to click on the picture to enlarge it.


Outline of Mark
Introduction 1:1-20
1. John the Baptist’s ministry 1-8
2. Jesus baptized and tempted 9-12
3. Jesus calls His first disciples 13-20

Beginning of Jesus’ ministry, His authority and majesty unveiled 1:21-3:19
1. Cast out demon and heal many 1:21-34
2. Jesus gets alone with the Father in prayer 1:35-39
3. Healing of leper and paralytic 1:40-2:12
4. Call of Matthew 2:13-17
5. Pharisees confront Jesus 2:18-6
6. The crowds come to Jesus for healing 3:7-12
7. Jesus selects the 12 Apostles 3:13-19

Jesus takes His message to the multitudes 3:20-6:56
1. Teaching with parables 4:1-34
2. Supreme power and authority revealed 4:35-5:43
3. Disciples sent on first mission 6:6b-13
4. 500 fed and walking on water 6:30-56

Jesus on His second mission to take His message to all 7:1-10:52
1. Rebuking of Pharisees for religious practices 7:1-23
2. 4000 fed and faith of apostles challenged 8:1-21
3. How to enter the kingdom 10:13-31

Surrender to God 11:1-14:42
1. Jesus ransacks the Temple 11:12-25
2. What are you willing to pay 12:1-44
3. The end is coming 13:1-37
4. Christ surrenders His life to the Father 14:32-42

Death, burial, and resurrection 14:43-16:20
1. Jesus arrested 14:43-51
2. Jesus on trial 14:53-15:20
3. Crucifixion 15:21-41
4. Burial 15:42-47
5. Resurrection 16:1-20

Epilogue 16:9-20
1. Jesus reunited with disciples 16:9-14
2. Jesus sends them to preach to the nations 16:15-20


Subject compliment statement for Mark

Purpose: To show the deity of Jesus through teachings and miracles and the faith required to enter the Kingdom of God.

Several times Jesus calls His disciples out for their lack of faith. These men traveled with Jesus and saw the amazing things that He did and they still lacked faith at times. (Mark 4:40, 16:14) Jesus emphasis on faith is shown clearly as to be the source of healing. (Mark 1:40, 2:5, 9:23) These verses show that the key principle to enter the Kingdom of God is faith. The people had to believe Jesus could do what they were asking Him to do. All this was done to show the deity of Christ and His authority to rule the earth. These miracles were the key to Christ’s deity. If He were not Christ He would not have been able to do or say what He did. Even the demons recognized who Jesus was and He shut their mouths as to not spoil His ministry. (Mark 1:24-25) Jesus came to show His authority, teach the way to Heaven, and show that the key to the door is faith.

Looking Out For The Needs Of Others

I recently posted a blog about a situation I was dealing with and my frustration with God. My truck died and was going to cost about $3500 for the mechanic to replace the engine. I did not and still do not have the money to fix my truck but had a friend who read the post and has been an answer to prayer. I was asking God to provide a way for me to get to work and back until I was able to have my truck fixed and God has shown His provision in answering my prayer.

My friend recently had to leave the country due to unexpected circumstances. They read my post and have generously offered to let me use their vehicle in the states until my truck gets fixed. It immediately reminded me of Philippians 2:3-4 which talks about looking out for the interests of others and not only our own circumstances. My friend is having a very hard time dealing with the fact they had to leave the U.S. without any say in the matter and the chance of them coming back is going to take a long time for paperwork to be processed. Regardless of how hard they seem to have it they have modeled this concept in Philippians. They are not just looking out for their own interests but also of others. They could have been so fixated on how bad their circumstance is that they overlooked the need of someone else.

When this person contacted me I was floored at seeing God provide, but even more so by the fact that they overlooked how bad things were for them. If only we could see more of this in the church today. Not that it is not happening today, but what if it was more evident, especially in the dire times that we seem to be in economically? One thing that has spoken to me is that God’s provision is not limited to border lines or continents but extends and reaches beyond what we could think. God has answered my prayer and provided for me from a place I never even thought of looking. How often do we look at what is in front of our and question whether God is there? Things seem dim and no hope can be seen, but God has shown His power to be able to break racial and continental barriers before. Why can’t He still do it today? My challenge in all of this is this. Where and to who are you looking to provide for your needs? Are you fixated on your own circumstances and not looking out for others when you can provide what they need. My friend has really been a blessing to me and it was not because they wanted to be put on display so they could be seen as a great person, but because they were doing what the Bible tells us to do.

Who is in your life that needs help and you can help them? Are you willing to look past your circumstance and help them without reciprocation?

Thanks friend (who will remain anonymous) for being an answer to prayer! Will you be the answer to someone else’s need? I hope I can say yes when the time comes and look past how bad I think I may have it to be a blessing to someone else and be what God has called the church to be.

Women Leaders Or Not? Part 2

Jeanene Reese says that there is a partnership between men and women in ministry and when you look at this from a historical perspective you will begin to see and understand that God intended for men and women to work together. You see this from the very outset of creation when both male and female were created in the image of God. Adam had no participation or knowledge of the creation of Eve. He was asleep when God formed her from one of his ribs and when he saw her he was amazed, not by the differences but the likeness that was so striking (Reese 106-107). He wasn’t a overbearing domineer who commanded her to be in submission to him, as if to say “Well I was here first so you have to obey me.” It was a partnership that they shared together. This theme can be seen in the Old and New Testament. Deborah was a key figure in Judges and played a role that would have been equivalent to an elder. But more importantly when you look to the New Testament which is closer to the context which we are dealing with you see many women serving in different capacities of leadership.

In almost every aspect it can be seen that a woman has served in that particular type of leadership baring that of elder/overseer (Ibid 107). In Luke 8:1-3 Mary, Joanna, and Susanna are seen with Jesus and the disciples providing for their needs. Tabitha who was called a disciple was doing all kinds of good works and fell sick and died. The people were so distraught that Peter resurrects her from the dead so she can continue her good works (Acts 9:36-41). In Acts 46:14-15, 40; Lydia was worshipping on the Sabbath and after she heard the gospel her entire household was baptized, which she was the head of. Priscilla and Aquila correct Apollos false teaching and are with Paul as co-leaders (Acts 18:24-28; Rom. 16:3, 4; 1 Cor. 16:19). Philip an evangelist had 4 unmarried daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). Phoebe is a deaconess in Romans 16:1 and Paul admonishes her for the work and in verse 7 Junia is considered outstanding among the apostles (Ibid 113).

This evidence of women serving and being commended by Paul certainly has some very significant meaning. It is not so clear after all that women are not to be serving in the capacity of authority. If that is the case then Paul seems to be contradicting himself if we are to believe that 1 Timothy 2:12-15 is the final authority on women in leadership. If you are to take Timothy by itself you will win the argument. But when you look to scripture as a whole you will find it very difficult to say that this one passage and the 2 others that allude to this concept of exempting women from leadership are the final authority. If that is the case you will see a contradiction in God’s word. Therefore, careful exegesis and hermeneutics are required to find out what Paul is hinting at in this passage. With that said, we turn to a literary analysis of the passage.

Because the Bible is so dense and complex it is natural that certain passages seem to keep coming about for reevaluation and since this seems to be one of the most important topics for today it almost appears as if this text “has in a way chosen us instead of vice versa (Pierce 344).” There is definitely something going on here and because this text keeps surfacing it seems that we are missing something. There are three traditional interpretations of this passage. 1) You read it literally and apply it to all women and therefore ordination of women is excluded. 2) You say this doesn’t apply to us today because it carries no authority. In other words, Paul didn’t write such a thing. 3) Paul was only referring to women in the first century. It was a cultural issue. The major problem that comes about when interpreting 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is placing it next to Colossians 3:11; Eph. 2:14; 5:21; 1 Cor. 11:11-12; Gal. 3:18; which seem to contradict what Paul was saying (Spencer 315).

Within reading this in its literary context it is important to note several things. First, Paul is not simply addressing woman because they are women. Second, we must understand that as readers of this letter we are analyzing the interaction of the author with receivers of the letter. We are working with one side of the dialogue and must infer from the one side what inspired the writer to say what he said. Third, it requires a “Hermeneutic of hearing that encourages a careful listening to the text (Heidebrecht 171-173).” What the writer says and how he says it are huge keys to proper interpretation.

So what are the possibilities of Paul calling women to be silent in Ephesus, because he is clearly not making this as a blanket statement to all the churches? Spencer points out that in 2 Timothy 3:5b-7 the Greek word used is for “weak women” who were deceived and who listened to the wrong persons. It is possible that because of the false teaching some of the women had believed it and were now propagating it; indicating what Paul was trying to do away with in his first letter to Timothy. Thus Paul is telling the women to stop teaching because what they are teaching is false because they were deceived by the false teachers. This would also add emphasis to Paul’s reference to Adam and Eve serving as a reminder of how Eve was deceived and brought Adam into sin through her deception (216).

The entire context of this particular letter has to deal with Timothy correcting the false teaching. Paul begins the letter by informing us of what the false teaching was 1 Tim 1:3; 6:3. The people were proclaiming a different gospel. He then alludes to the fact that this false teaching is going on inside the church and people are being led away (1 Tim 1:4-6; 4:1; 6:21, 2). This false teaching was also causing division among the church. This false teaching was meaningless talk (1 Tim. 1:6; 6:4). Finally the false teaching looks to have been influencing entire households (Titus 1:11) (Heidebrecht 173-174). We can get a pretty good picture of what the scene looked like. And with the freedom that women now have we can see how easily things could have gotten out of hand. The church is just beginning to grow and develop and you have pagans coming from cults where they exercised authority and are now trying to exercise that same authority in the church. What Paul may have specifically been trying to combat is women aggressively trying to take the leadership from the already established leaders of the church. Women were frequently associated with the worshiping within the fertility cult in which they were extremely dominant. So as they enter into the church they very well may have been trying to gain power in the ranks of the church (Pierce 353). In the pagan worship of the fertility god you had to engage in sexual intercourse and the women played the dominant role of whether that happened. Either you did what they said to have sex with them or they denied you the privilege excluding you from worship. With that type of power the new female converts may have been trying to exercise the same dominance but under false teaching because of what they heard from the false teachers that Paul is having Timothy address. That is why Paul excluded then from teaching. Not because they were female but because they were deceived by false teaching.

When you compare this with Gal. 3:18 you see Paul doing something radical, but this is not a universal timeless truth that was being communicated. It was to address a particular phenomenon that was taking place in Ephesus. The temporary aspect can be illustrated by turning to 1 Cor. 11:2-16; where women had to wear coverings and men’s hair lengths were addressed. We do not demand that women today wear head coverings and pull out rulers to check men’s hair length. So why must we also enforce the timeless aspect on the women in Ephesus (Pierce 347)? There is clearly a particular phenomenon taking place and special action needed to be taken to correct the problem. But that does not mean that we must enforce those same rules today.

What Paul seems to be hinting at with the use of Adam and Eve is not so much a reminder of what happened back in Genesis, but is illustrating what was happening in Ephesus with language borrowed from the fall (Perriman 140). He saw something happening and it reminded him of the fall because it was the exact same thing that was happening in Ephesus. Women were being deceived and were deceiving men. So at this point Paul used his best judgment on how to combat the situation and the best option was to silence the women until they could learn the true doctrine. This is why Paul worded the statement by saying “I am not allowing/permitting” not “I will not let or never allow (Spencer 219).”

Some say this passage has nothing to do with men and women but is actually speaking of the husband and wife (Hugenberger 342). This passage has nothing to do with the church and leadership but is dealing with wives being submitted to their husbands. Fee argues that “the ‘full’ probably has a larger front in view which includes younger widows going from house to house saying things they ought not to (Fee 72).” So it is not very promising that this has the marital relationship in view.

It is my argument that we cannot be as dogmatic as we have been for the past two millennia. There is good Biblical support and evidence to prove that women have been in places of leadership and to put a dogmatic “no” based on 1 Timothy 2:12-15 is an interpretive fallacy. We must realize that culture and time have changed and there were certain things that needed to be done within the early church that do not necessarily apply today. Is that to say that scripture changes? No. It is to say that time changes and we live in a different day and age when things that were applicable several thousand years ago are not going to fit comfortably in society today. Is that to say that if the Bible is not comfortable to us we change it or conform it so it is? No. It is to say that we need to read, analyze, use proper hermeneutics and exegesis and see what truths are timeless and which ones are not.

We do not conform the Bible to our world and life. The Bible conforms us to it. As time changes so will some of the application. The truth will remain the same but the application will be different. There are a lot of Biblical passages that need to be revisited and looked at through the lens of 2009. To me personally it appears that this traditional understanding seems to sound like the man is losing something if the female is given any right in leadership. It appears as if pride is a big issue and we need to humble ourselves and reevaluate where we stand on certain doctrines. Are we imposing doctrines of man on people or doctrines of God? That is where I think we need to start the investigation. What are your motives and presuppositions that you use to interpret scripture? Because if you do it for any other reason than for God to illuminate you to His truth in scripture, then you will find it to say anything you want it too. You will be the best eisegete ever. J.I. Packer said that “The burden of proof regarding the exclusion of women in the office of teaching and ruling within congregation now lies on those who maintain the exclusion rather than those who challenge it (Pierce 353).” I think they need a lot of evidence to put on the table if we are to exclude females from leadership.

My opinion after much research is that there is something to say about man being created before woman, but do we exclude them from a lead position? I still do not know. Something inside me says no from my personal experience and what scripture teaches. It must be my fundamentalist upbringing, but I am wrestling with it. Do they have the right to be in a position of authority Yes. Can they speak in a public worship setting? Yes. Does that mean they stay in the nursery? No! I strongly encourage women to get up and speak in a public worship setting. One of the professors at my school who is a woman spoke in chapel and her message about parenting absolutely rocked my world. We need to give women who show themselves approved just as much right to speak to the church as the men who do the same.

1. Bible. NIV.
2. Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook Of Theology. Moody Publishing, 2008.
3. Fee, Gordon D. 1 And 2 Timothy, Titus. Peabody, MA: Hendriksen Publishers, 1984.
4. Greene Oliver B. The epistles of Paul the apostle to Timothy and Titus. Greenville, SC: The Gospel Hour Inc., 1964.
5. Heidebrecht, Doug “Reading 1 Timothy 2:12-15 In Its Literary Context.” Biblical Schloarship 33 no 2 (2004): 171-184.
6. Hendriksen, William. The exposition of the Pastoral Epistles. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1957.
7. Hugenberger, Gordon P. “Women In church Office: Hermeneutics Or Exegesis? A survey of approaches To 1 Timothy 2:8-15.” Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society. 35 no 3 (1992): 341-360.
8. Kent Jr., Homer a. The Pastoral Epistles Studies in I and II Timothy and Titus. Chicago: Moody Press, 1958.
9. Liddon, H. P. St. Paul’s first Epistle to Timothy. Minneapolis, MN: Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, 1978.
10. McGee J. Vernon. I & II Timothy Titus Philemon. La Verne, CA: El Camino Press, 1978.
11. Perriman, Andrew C. “What Eve Did, What Women Shouldn’t Do: The Meaning Of Authenteo In 1 Timothy 2:12.” Tyndale Bulletin 44 no 1 (1993): 129-142.
12. Pierce, Ronald W. “Evangelicals And Gender Roles In The 1990s: 1 Timothy 2:8-15: A Test Case.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36 no 3 (1993): 343-355.
13. Reese, Jeanene P. “Co-workers In The Lord: A Biblical Theology Of Partnership” Restoration Quarterly. 45 no 1-2 (2003) 106-114.
14. Spencer, Dina Besancon “Eve At Ephesus.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 17 no 4 (1974): 215-222.
15. Trentham, Charles a. Studies in Timothy. Nashville, TN: Convention press, 1959.

Interpretation

After much consideration after my last post on whether women should be leaders in the church and from what God has been speaking to me I feel it necessary to say a few things before I post the other side. I have also got some very interesting emails from people on this topic.

1. I know this is a very controversial topic and the reason I talk about it is to not prove anyone wrong or me being right. It is simply me researching this on my own time trying to understand a very controversial topic in scripture.

2. If you are offended by what scripture teaches then you need to check your heart.

3. You must understand the context of what was going on culturally to be able to have an accurate understanding of what Paul and the writers of the Bible are trying to say.

4. Research does not mean a literal interpretation.

5. Paul and other writers use some very foundational Old Testament passages to affirm their argument.

6. I do not intend to argue with people on what scripture teaches, but to list the facts.

7. If you cannot handle the facts of context then you need to re-think what the author meant…. (might not want to do that)

8. (almost feels like I am making a top 10 list)

9. (last one cause I do not want to make a top 10 list) Is a literal interpretation the best method all the time?

The reason I throw all these things at out is because one of the things I have learned from my professors at Trinity College of Florida is that if you want to learn the most then you have to ask questions. If you cannot respond then it means that you have not thought through it all the way. These questions are to help you think your way through the process of drawing a final conclusion of what scripture teaches with the help of the Holy Spirit as you listen to Him and He guides you through scripture. My prayer is this “May God open our eyes and ears to see and hear what he has to say to you through His word. God have mercy on us and grant us Your wisdom. Speak to us now. Amen”

Women Leaders Or Not?

Whether women should be able to be a leader in the church has been something of controversy over a long period of time. After much consideration and research I will post both sides of the argument as this is a huge debate.

My final opinion will be drawn at the end.

1 Timothy 2:12-15 it is hard passage to draw a conclusion on because it is hard to understand what exactly Paul is trying to communicate. There are a number of interpretations and because of the difficulty in understanding the passage I find it very hard to be as dogmatic as the traditionalist are in their interpretation. After further investigation in the passage I find myself agreeing with Ronald Pierce who says that he “experienced a significant change of mind (344)” when he completed his study on the text. The traditionalist or conservative say that with absolute certainty we know what Paul is telling us in the text. But how can we be so certain with such an obscure passage? This new perspective will investigate both sides of the argument excluding and permitting women to teach in the public worship setting. We begin with the exclusion.

From the text itself it is easy to deduce what Paul meant when he referred to the creation account. Women are to play the role of the learner and not the teacher. This is the problem in Ephesus and is why Paul returns to the first instance of when a woman tried to teach a man (Trentham 34). According to Trentham and others like Moo, Mcgee, and Greene it is perfectly clear that what Paul is trying to communicate is a subordination of the sexes. Man is superior to woman. The reason for this instruction from Paul was to show that Adam was formed first and then Eve which shows man as being dominant over woman (Liddon 18). This is what God had intended by creating man first and then woman. The woman is to be subordinate to the man because he not only came first, but because she was created from him.

Therefore, when it comes to the public assembly as Paul is referring to in 1 Timothy it is the man who is to teach not the woman. She is to remain subordinate to him because of her mistake in trying to teach man from the beginning and leading him into sin. Greene says that it is the man’s job to lead in public prayer and speak and the woman is to sit in silence and accept the doctrine being taught. The office of a teacher was that of an authoritative office. These teachers are exercising their God-given authority to proclaim the truth of the gospel message (Acts 13:1; Eph 4:1). But this public proclamation was denied to women (Kent 113). Women are forbidden to teach in any public gathering and are to learn in quiet submission. 1 Cor. 14:34, 35 clearly states that women are not allowed to speak in a public setting. They are to learn from their husband in the home if they wish to learn anything (Greene 95).

The man has a God-given authority to lead and the woman is not to try and take that away from him. It may sound like these are harsh words but they are actually very comforting. They refer to letting a woman be a woman. Let her be what she was created to be. Don’t let her try to be something she is not. Don’t let her dwell in a place that she should not. “Let a fish not live on land. Let a bird not dwell under water. Let not a woman yearn to exercise authority over a man by lecturing in public worship.” For her own sake and the sake of the congregation let not a woman mingle with that which is forbidden (Hendricksen 108). Why let women try to be or do something that they were not created for? It would be like trying to glue something together with Vaseline. They are completely incompatible. The comfort in these terms is being used in a way in which she will be fruitful.

Women find their satisfaction and joy in life when they devote themselves to what they were created for. So what were they created for? They were created to be housewives and give birth and raise children. When God leads a woman to be a housewife she will find no greater joy than fulfilling the work she was called to especially not endeavoring to become a leader within the church (Trentham 35). Tradition has it that aside from the charge in Deut. 31:12 for women to learn, they were not allowed to study the Torah. The reason behind this was that women were viewed to not be as intellectually capable of learning and they were not expected to be able to learn because they were to be a housewife. Rabbi Hisda interprets the book of Turubin from the Talmud as saying “This teaches that the Holy one, blessed be He, built Eve in the shape of a storehouse (Spencer 217).” As a framer makes a storehouse narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, so also did God do with Eve. He made the womb of a woman wide so as to be the storehouse of the embryo. The woman is so clearly described as a housewife that even her body was built in such a way as to make that possible. Because of this it was natural to see that it is the job of the man to study and learn and not the woman (Ibid 218).

However, this does not completely eliminate women from all teaching and learning in every aspect. If there were no godly women in the churches then most churches would be forced to close their doors. Obviously the woman plays a very important role in the rearing of their children and it would be travesty to say they could not teach their children. In this context these verses refer to a woman usurping their authority over men (Greene 93). No where does it say that a woman is not allowed to teach Sunday school or a small group Bible study. Nor does this forbid women in the mission fields so long as they are not the representative authority figure. Women are fully capable of teaching as long as they are not the ultimate authority figure. Paul gives two reasons why. Man was created first and the chronological implications of this are clear. The other is in the fact that it was Eve who was deceived not Adam (Kent 114-115). There are several places one can turn and see that God uses a woman to teach and they are commanded to teach certain people. Acts 18:22 shows a husband and wife in private correcting Apollos in his false teaching (Greene 100). It was not just the man but also the woman who was participating in the correcting. But this was not in a public worship setting. It was in the privacy of the home. That is the integral point of the passage in Timothy. It is dealing with the corporate public worship setting not the privacy of the home or a small group setting.

Every woman has the right to be in the mission field, teach Sunday school, small group Bible studies as long as they are not taking the authority of the man in charge and going over his head. The woman has certain liberties but they are in no capacity to demand the right to fill an office of authority. There are no grounds for a woman to say they have scriptural support for taking a role in leadership in the public worship. No where does it even allude to this in the Bible (Greene 94-95). “No woman has the right to stand up in the public assembly and argue with the pastor, the deacons, or those who are in the seat of authority (Ibid).” She is to sit in quiet submission learning; not trying to take man’s God-given authority. This is the God ordained and instituted hierarchal chain of command.

But is that the true meaning of this text? Is it really so clear in its meaning? Can you boldly say that this is absolutely the meaning Paul intended when he wrote this letter? This is one of the toughest passages to interpret and yet so many say that “it simply means this.” I beg to differ. I don’t see this as being a simple passage to interpret. It is one of the hardest if not the hardest aside from eschatological prophecy. There are several other alternatives to understanding this passage and the danger of following one of those interpretations is being categorized as a complementarian or an egalitarian. The complementarian says that in the eyes of God women are equal to men and hold just as much importance in the family as in the church. The egalitarian says that women are equal to men in all aspects regardless of redemptive status (Enns 624). I consider myself a fundamentalist but with new insight on a very difficult passage to interpret.

The otherside will be posted later. I will also post the bibliography at the end of the second post for both arguments.

Asking Or Demanding?

The story of Job is becoming all too familiar and I feel like I am in danger of encountering the same experience with God. Job had everything going for Him and then had it all taken and cried out to God as to why all this happened. God’s response happens in chapter 38 and as I read through this again in my circumstances I hear God asking me the same questions.

I recently had to shut down my painting business because of economic depression. I have a job now which I am thankful for, but it barely lets me get by. I will not get into a huge sob story of how bad I think I have it right now but will cap things off with this. Last night on my way home my truck died. This morning at the shop they told me that my head gasket had blown and would need a new engine. I don’t know why all these things are piling up on me right now and I am asking God all kinds of questions and all I can hear is His response to Job.

“The Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind and said ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man and I will ask you, and you instruct me! Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have any understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know…”

We can come to God and cry out to Him in tough times in our life and there is nothing wrong with that. The book of Psalms is an interaction between David and God with Him crying out to Him in dire circumstances. The problem is in how we cry out to Him. Job was crying out demanding answers for why he was going through his situation as if God owed him an explanation. God doesn’t owe us an explanation for what we go through. The pressure of life can become a heavy burden that we can try and carry on our own, but the promise that Jesus offers to us can relieve of this burden. He says to “Come to me all you are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” Matt. 11:28.

I will say with all honesty and humility that I feel weary and heavy laden. My prayer is this. “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me for thinking you owe me an explanation for things that happen in life. God would you please give me and all those who are overwhelmed rest. We don’t need answers to why things are the way they are, but would you come through in such a way that You would be put on display and Your power would be made known. Amen.”

The Time Is Now

After Israel had been released from the Babylonian captivity they were instructed to rebuild the Temple. This account can be found in the book of Ezra 1-5 and Haggai 1-2. The problem is that the people did not rebuild the temple, but instead used the materials that had been given to them from the Babylonian king Cyrus to build very nice houses. Haggai who is a prophet at this time speaks out under God's direction and says something that shocks me to the very core. Haggai 1:2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says’, ‘the time has not yet come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be built.” God had given Israel instructions and the people ignored them looking out for their own interests and instead of God calling them “my people” He calls them “this people.” There is a severe disconnect between God and His people, so much so, that they are no longer “my” people. It is one thing to claim to be God’s people and it is another thing to actually be it. God’s people follow and do what He tells them to do. When you do not do what God has called you to do you fall out of the “my” people category and into “this” people.

The call that God has given us today and that we need to be doing is found in Matt. 28:18-20. Unfortunately I do not think we are living up to this right now and it scares me because I fear that God may be calling the church today “this” people and not “my” people. We have moved away from what God has called us to do and are doing what is more convenient and easy. Jesus picked a few guys and poured into them for about 3 years knowing that He could not be here forever and someone would have to take His place. The same thing needs to be happening in the church today. Jesus said “follow Me” in other words do the things that I do, yet we are not doing what Jesus did. Albeit we are doing some of the things Jesus did, but we are not following through with all that He did. We are doing the easy stuff and leaving out the making disciples of His command. He says that “All authority has been given to Him… Go,” which means that He is sending us with the same authority that He Himself possesses. Sadly I do not see this happening. The question then is this. Are you part of the “my” people or “this.” Haggai 1:2 “this people says the time has not yet come.” However, Jesus said John 5:25 “a time is coming and the time is now.” I think I will get on board with the time is now. I don’t want to be “this” people.

"Jesus Wept" (Updated)

When I hear people talk about this passage I hear things like “look Jesus was showing that He was just like us and is sad to lose a friend. See even Jesus was human, he cried, He experiences human emotions and can relate to us.” but is that really what these 2 words contain? While you could draw simple conclusions like this I believe there is much more going on here that is never talked about. In John 11 there is a story of a man that was a good friend of Jesus and died. But before Lazarus died his sisters sent a messenger to Jesus telling him to come because Lazarus was sick. Interestingly enough Jesus does not come right away to help His friend but waits a couple of days resulting in Lazarus’ death. Jesus arrives on the scene after Lazarus had been in the grave for a couple of days and the reaction of the people is what brings about the shortest verse in the bible that everyone likes to quote. But what does this simply mean that Jesus wept? Was it tears of sorrow for a lost friend or tears of indignation toward people and the condition that sin has brought about in their lives?

From the very outset Jesus says that this will not end in death. So what is the problem with the people and their view of Jesus? Some key things to note about what Jesus has already said about Himself. John 10:10; 28 “a thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so they may have life and have it abundantly. And I will give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 8:12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” There are also many other passages that affirm Jesus’ dominion over life and death. While these passages speak of a spiritual reality the same implication can be brought into the physical. If someone is capable of sealing someone’s spiritual destiny how much more can he do so over the physical? John 1:1-3 the Word/Jesus was with God in the beginning. All things came into being through Him/Jesus. Apart from Him/Jesus nothing came into being that has come into being. Jesus is the creator and sustainer of all physical and spiritual realities. Even after all that Jesus had said about Himself the closest people to Him could not fully understand it. This does not make them bad people, but shows that sin plays a very manipulative role in our understanding of God.

The problem here is that they do not truly believe that Jesus is and can do what He claims to be and do. You can see this in Jesus’ interaction with Martha. She was looking merely at the spiritual and not the temporal condition of her brother. When Mary met with Jesus she had the same response of her sister “if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This family that summoned Jesus was not an acquaintance. They were very close friends it says “the one you love is sick.” With that type of intimacy their unbelief of Him being Lord over all life and death brings Him to tears. Not tears of sorrow but indignation. Jesus becomes angry when He sees all of the people mourning over the death of Lazarus. Jesus is filled with indignation toward sin and its outcome. This anger moves Jesus to shed tears over the people who did not grasp who He was. The resurrection of Life was in front of them and they did not believe. Imagine that you are Jesus and you claim to be the Son of God giver and taker of life. You have performed all the miracles He had up till this time and has told you this sickness will not end in death. Then, you encounter some of your closest friends and they say if only you had been here earlier you could have done something. As if the creator and sustainer of all had missed His opportunity to perform a mighty work. Sort of like a paramedic who arrives after the body has been deceased for an hour. Oh, if only you had gotten here earlier. The fact that Satan can manipulate us and sin has played such a rampant role in keeping us from God insights anger in Jesus over the control sin has in our lives to the point of Him shedding tears.

One of the things this story brings out is that weeping, suffering, and death are presented as facts of life. But there are other facts than these. Jesus is hope in the presence of death and a hope that continues after the death of those we care about. This is why Jesus wept. The people did not have any hope. They thought all was lost when the only hope they had to live for was right in front of their eyes. The people didn’t get it completely wrong. The people had it right by referencing the healing of the blind man and Jesus being able to heal Lazarus. But the fact that they made this statement shows they were puzzled and confused by the situation. The fact that they questioned this shows their unbelief in what Jesus is capable of.

Jesus is the light of the world and no one comes to the Father but though Him. How often do we make Jesus weep still today? If the light of the world has been given to us and we do not take it into the darkness I believe it grieves Jesus to the point of tears not out of sorrow because people are dying, but out of anger because we have the hope of the world and we are not doing anything about it. This is an emergency because Christ is coming again and if we do not bring His light into dark places they face the same condition as Lazarus except they will be spiritually dead, separated from God for eternity. If we know this fact and do nothing about it I believe that Jesus weeps. The problem today is the same as then. The light of the world has made Himself known and people still do not believe. If we are selfish enough to do nothing about it I believe it frustrates our Lord because essentially we are doing what Jonah did. Not wanting to share the Good News of Christ because we know God is gracious and will have mercy on them. When we do this I believe Jesus weeps. There is hope in this world and that hope is in Christ. Let us be the ambassadors that He has called us to be and let Him respond with well done my good and faithful servant and not in tears!

2 Types Of Leaders In The Church

When think about the leaders in the church 2 types come to mind pastoral and administrative. A pastoral leader is one who is in charge of growing and developing the church and the administrative is in charge of meeting the needs of the church. But one is not better than the other based on the role that is being played. Philippians 2:19-30 gives a good description of what each of these leaders looks like. Paul and timothy would be examples of a pastoral leader and Epaphroditus would be the administrative one. It is interesting to see how Paul describes the two. He places them on the same field. Both are equally necessary and important. I would like to point out some key points about both from this passage.

The Pastoral Leader
We as leaders should have some type of desire to send out workers to do the work of the Lord. Our hope to fulfill this role is found in the will of the Lord.
i. Christ’s plans and purposes are center.
ii. Everything that we do must be centered in Christ.
iii. Your desire is that it would be the Lord’s desire also.
iv. The question you ask to figure that out is; would God approve of this?
Our sending people out is not just for the good of the people but for our own good.
i. The workers will be a blessing because they will be able to assess situations and bring about resolve to problems
ii. Seeing the fruit within your ministry is a great encouragement.
iii. We need to be looking for the growth and development in the church.
iv. We need to be looking to assess problems and needs and address them.
We need to assure those whom you are sending workers to, that they are qualified. The needs of the church must be handled in a genuine manner.
i. You must qualify yourself as a shepherd of the flock.
ii. The needs of the church are not subordinate to your own desires.
Most people do not qualify as a true shepherd to the flock.
i. They lack the right spirit.
ii. They look out for their own desires.
iii. They lack a self-sacrificial attitude.
iv. They only help when Christ’s gain is compatible with theirs
v. They don’t have genuine unselfish devotion to the church.
vi. They use God’s gifts for their own advancement.
vii. They are unfit to carry out the task.
We must prove ourselves worthy of this task.
i. We need to be focused and withstand the test of character.
ii. Our virtue will show us approved.
As soon as everything is in place is the time when we send those who have shown themselves approved.
i. You must be strategic in the use of workers.
ii. Even in the face of trouble we must not be completely focused on our own situations.
iii. Paul was in prison facing the death penalty and was still looking for the “right time” to send Timothy.
We as leaders have to have the desire to go out and do the work of the Lord. We don’t just send those who have shown themselves approved, we go too.
i. Once you have established yourself some where does not mean that you detach yourself from everything else you have done.
ii. We are one family that needs to be looking out for each other regardless of distance between locations.
iii. The Lord’s will and permission should be the determining factor of whether we act.
iv. The work of the Lord does not start and end in your church.
v. You are the example to those under you and they are to model what you do. This is the core essence of discipleship.

The Administrative Leader
Sees or hears about a need in the church and steps up to get it done.
i. This does not make them any less important.
ii. They are described as brothers. They are part of this adopted family.
iii. They are on the same team working for the same goal but with a different responsibility.
iv. They are soldiers on the front lines.
v. They have been gifted to minister to specific needs and perform special services within the church.
Even in the task of serving the church there will be opposition.
i. Simple service to the church will bring hardship.
ii. We have been stopped several times by police because we were handing out water bottles for free on the street corner.
iii. But God is faithful to those in service to Him and will have mercy on them.
God’s mercy is not isoltaed to pastoral leaders. It encompasses many.
i. It brought mercy upon Epaphroditus
ii. It brought mercy upon Paul.
iii. It brought mercy upon the church.
How do we respond to workers when they return from their task?
i. We are to rejoice in the Lord.
ii. We are to hold them in high regard.
Because they have risked their life for the service of the church and because the church had a need that they could not fulfill and the worker stepped up to fulfill it.

So the question is this. Who are the Timothy's and Epaphroditus' in your ministry? If you cannot think of anyone, then i would like to know what you are going to do about it?

This is my first time posting a video and not sure how often i will do it, but this sends chills down my spine. Absolutely amazing chorale performance of Immanuel with children, youth, and adults. WOW!!!

If you cannot view the video click here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE_tuMpIOho

Seeing little kids sing out so passionately rocks my world! Hope you enjoy this.

Making Observations As You Read

One of the most important things you can do when reading the Bible is make observations. This is the key to understanding the context without adding to the meaning from what you have read elsewhere. One of the biggest problems people make when trying to interpret what the Bible is saying is by bringing their presuppositions to the text and not letting the text speak for itself. Part of the reason for this is because the Bible is not easy to read and it takes time if you truly want to understand it. There are essentially 4 stages that you need to go through as you read the Bible 1. Observations – this is probably the most time consuming because it takes diligence to think about what you are reading without giving up. 2. Interpretation – Here you pull together a coherent meaning. What does God mean and what did the human author mean. 3. Application – Here you look for commands to obey, promises to proclaim, examples to follow, sins to avoid, truths and principles about God. 4. Correlation – Here is where you connect the passage with other parts of scripture. (Usually this is the first step people take to understand the passage and usually why they misinterpret it.)

Since the observation process is the hardest, most demanding, and time consuming let me give you an example of how to make observations in the text.

John 5:24-25 NIV
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned: he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”

1. We not only need to hear the words of salvation we need to believe them.
2. If we hear the words of salvation and believe them we have eternal life.
3. Eternal life does not have an end.
4. The words we hear and believe keep us from condemnation.
5. The words bring spiritual life to the spiritually dead.
6. We are being told truth.
7. “Whoever” means this is open to anyone not s specific group of people.
8. The living will pass on the words to the dead to give them life.
9. The time is coming.
10. The time is now.
11. We must believe God sent Christ to give eternal life.
12. We all begin spiritually dead.
13. The Son of God has already come and given the words of salvation.
14. We are no longer dead because of what Christ said.
15. We need to be listening to hear the words.
16. Condemnation is judgment on the dead.
17. There is no judgment on the living.
18. The son of God brought words that bring freedom from judgment.
19. God doesn’t want to judge anyone so He sent His Son.
20. God judges those who reject the Sons words.
21. Your judgment is because you chose not to believe.
22. The reason we live is because we heard the voice of the Son of God.
23. The voice of the Son of God is powerful.
24. The Son of God has already spoken.
25. We don’t have to wait for life we can have it now.
26. The reason you are still dead is because you are not listening or you have not believed.

I am sure given more time you could add to this list but this is not supposed to be completely comprehensive just an example. (It took me about 2 hours to come up with this list… it is very time consuming and demanding) Since the observations have been made you can now begin to go through the other stages of interpretaion, application and correlation. Now that you have seen what it looks like to make observations I challenge you to take the next 3 verses John 5:26-29 and see how many you can come up with. If you are willing to spend the time in deep thought and meditation prayerfully reading you will begin to hear God speak and the text will become alive right before your eyes. After all, this is the living breathing word of God. Hope this helps someone out there in their pursuit to read and understand the Bible more clearly.

Discipleship Or Lack There Of

So I am sitting here contemplating what it means to truly disciple someone and the only thing that I can think of is duplicating yourself. This was Jesus’ entire goal in what He was doing with His disciples. So the question I have is why aren’t we doing this in the church? This is not to point out any church in particular because I believe this is an epidemic not an isolated infection.

Several observations will illustrate my point. If you were to ask the average member in a church how their time alone with God is they will more than likely say they struggle because the Bible is hard to understand. Ask them to pray and it will probably sound like something from Meet the Fockers. Ask them when the last time they shared their faith or to explain the Gospel and they will probably say never or they are not sure. Ask them how their prayer life has been and they will say it could be a lot better. Ask them who they are discipling and there will be no one because they are not even sure what that means.

I think the church is doing a pretty good job at introducing people to Jesus but once that commitment to follow Him has been established we leave them on their own to try and figure out how to know God intimately and deeply. After all, it is a “personal” relationship so our responsibility is over. It’s sort of like “Hey bob this is Jesus, Jesus this is Bob. Alright see yall later.” I think this is where the church needs to rethink their responsibility in how to grow their congregations. We need to be teaching people how to read the Bible and pray and how to share their faith and help new believers know God more intimately and pour into others what has been poured into them. But here is the kicker, this does not happen from the pulpit! Discipleship does not start and finish with the pulpit; it begins and ends in a personal relationship. That is how Jesus did it and that is how we need to do it.

The problem that I see is that leaders are too busy with other things to invest the time it takes to disciple someone or they have become lazy. Excuses like I have a wife and family or I already spent 40 hours in the office this week or I just don’t have the time begin to surface. Regardless of the excuse we must be making time to spend alone with one or two people pouring into them like Jesus did the disciples. This is not easy to do and I believe it is why leaders are no longer doing this. It takes time and sacrifice and they just aren’t willing to sacrifice anymore.

We need to be sitting down with people and teaching them how to listen when they read the Bible. After all, it is more than just the words on the pages that speak to us. We need to teach them how to make observations and connections in the text. One of the helpful Bible study methods that I have been introduced to is called “Lectio Divina.” It means holy or divine reading. It is the process of reading a passage over and over listening and observing different things you are hearing while praying for God to speak to you as you contemplate what you are reading. My professor from Trinity College of Florida introduced me to this. Over the semester at the beginning of class we would read Luke 11 and everyone would have to point out something they heard God speaking to them. 30 times we read that passage over the semester with 15 students’ making new observations every time. It was a very spiritually challenging semester for me.

Leaders have an obligation because of the position they are in to reproduce themselves and they must be investing time in someone else’s life in the so they can in time let that person go so they can do the same thing to another. It may sound cheesy but it is the pay it forward method. It may take time for this to be effective but we have to start somewhere. So the question is this. Who are you investing time in teaching how to read the Bible, pray, evangelize, disciple, do missions…?

The Importance Of Teaching On The Sacraments

When I hear people talk about the sacraments of the church. I often hear them talk about what they are not. Very rarely do I hear someone explaining what is happening in the sacraments. We want to keep things as simply a memorial tribute to something that Jesus said to do. I believe this is why people are often confused or do not have a very high view of the sacraments. We emphasize that they are very important but never tell them why. We simply leave it at Jesus said to do it and therefore it is important. While I do not disagree with that statement I think there is more happening that we never talk about for fear of being to spiritual and not completely capable of explaining the spiritual dimension of grace being imparted through the sacraments. What I mean by sacraments specifically here is baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but my attention will be on the Lord’s Supper.

The Bible calls Christians ambassadors for Christ (II Cor. 5:20). An ambassador is someone who stands in place of the authority figure who cannot be physically present but is treated as if he is the ruler because he comes as a representative of ruler. If you disobey or disrespect the ambassador it is as if you have disobeyed the ruler himself. When we apply this to the Lord’s Supper we understand that the person leading the Church in the Lord’s Supper is representing Jesus Christ. This does not elevate the person to a special status; it just simply means that this person is standing in the place of Christ because He is not able to be present physically. He is Christ’s representative. His role is to facilitate revealing Christ as a reminder of Christ’s continuous saving grace which is being celebrated.

The one who is leading the Lord’s Supper stands before the body as a representative of the body’s faith and therefore, he represents the head of the Church which is Christ It is the binding nature of the Spirit that makes this possible. It is the Spirit that acts not as separator of the priesthood of Jesus from the priesthood of believers, but as the mediation that binds the two. In this capacity it is the representative that shows eyes of faith, the work of the Spirit that brings about the work of Christ. The facilitator is reminding the Church of the redemptive power of the Spirit which is the work of Jesus. Therefore, in remembrance of Christ’s death and continuous saving grace, it is the role of the representative to distribute the bread and wine and repeat the words of Christ. He is acting as Christ did in the upper room when He gathered the disciples and invited them to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

I believe this is how the disciples viewed the Lord’s Supper when they practiced it after Christ’s death. This was very close to home for them and they would not have simply viewed this as just a remembrance of Christ’s death. When the bread was broken, they would have had a visual stamp in their mind of when Christ had done this. As they took the bread they would not have viewed it as coming from Peter, or Paul, or whoever else might have distributed it. They would have seen it as coming from Christ through this person.

So what makes this so significant? It is because Christ is spiritually present and we fellowship with Him. John 11:56 says, “They kept looking for Jesus in the temple area and asked one another ‘What do you think? Isn’t He coming to the feast at all?” While Jesus was alive there were festivals and celebrations that He did not attend because His time had not yet come. Well friends, His time has come and He wouldn’t miss out on attending His feast for anything. While He cannot be here physically, He is here spiritually and we can be confident that He is there because the feast is His. If Christ were to be absent then the partaking of the Lord’s Supper is done in vain. Christ also promised in Matthew 18:20 that “For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” If it were possible for us to see beyond the temporal I believe that we would see Jesus Christ standing next to His representative responding like the master did to the servant in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:18, when the master says “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

The Spirit also plays a key role in the Lord’s Supper. Since Christ’s death on the cross, the Spirit’s role has been modified. It is the Spirit that draws us into the sacrificial attitude of Christ. It is the Spirit of Jesus that marked His life and it is that same Spirit that marks our lives within His story. Our faith is shown by our participation in His faith which was a sacrificial faith that was characterized by His human acts of love towards God and His neighbors. As we observe the Lord’s Supper we are being molded and transformed into the likeness of Christ. This is not so much a spiritual thing as it is a free-will choice. As you grow in your relationship with God you have a choice to draw close to Him or draw away from him. Part of the sacrificial attitude that the Spirit places in us is that of self sacrifice. Just as Christ was willing to sacrifice everything for the will of God, so also we need to sacrifice our own desires to those of the Father’s. If that is not grace then I have no idea what is.

And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. All that the Lord’s Supper means cannot be conveyed in a blog post so I will leave it at this… We need to do a much better job communicating to our churches the significance of what is happening in the sacraments and quit talking about what they are not and start telling people what they mean.

Sell Out To God

If being “sold out” to God means you are all in, then being a “sell out” means that when things get a little shaky we go after what looks convenient. I think about the rich ruler in Matthew 19. He came to Jesus asking Him what “good” thing he had to do to get to heaven. A lot of times people want to know what they have to “do” to get to heaven. We like to “do” things because they are convenient and accomplishable, but this is not what secures our eternal destiny with God. You can do nothing to save yourself. Jesus told the man to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and he walked away upset because he was willing to “do” good things but not sacrifice anything. A sell out turns and runs when they are required to sacrifice things they like to follow God. This is why so many people walk away from God. They are told of things they need to “do” but when it costs them something they turn and walk away upset and mad because they don’t want their relationship with God to cost them anything.

A relationship with God is one of self sacrifice. It costs you everything you could ever want because it recognizes that submission to God and His ways are much better than anything this world has to offer. When you look at Jesus’ life He did not live a life fixed on what He wanted to do, but one of complete submission even submission to death on a cross. In the garden the night before He was hung he prayed to the Father asking if there was another way for his death to occur, but if not He would go to the cross.

What is God asking you to do that you are looking to accomplish by means other than He is asking you to? This is a tough pill to swallow even for me but we were never told that a relationship with God is easy or convenient. It costs you more than you can imagine. So are you going to be all in or a sell out when it gets tough and costs you more than you thought it would.

Sold Out To God

When it comes to being “sold out” to God there is one king who always comes to mind and inspires me and it is not David. II Kings 22 talks about a boy who is 8 years old when he became king. I can’t imagine the pressure this would put on an 8 year old when all I would be thinking about is Tom and Jerry and my play station. I can imagine the conversations going something like this “So your majesty, any edicts you want to pass today? Yeah everyday after lunch everyone has to play video games (if they had video games back then) for an hour. This is mandatory. Anyone who will not submit goes to the lions.”

In Josiah’s late 20’s he has the people go and rebuild the temple of God and in doing so the high priest Hilkiah found the Torah. When he brought it to Josiah and read it to him he was utterly dismayed. He found out how far out of bounds the nation was with God and knew that wrath was coming. Josiah had a decision to make. He could either continue in his ways knowing that wrath is inevitable or he can change and hope for God to have mercy on him. Josiah opted for the later and made a commitment to follow after God, but he didn’t stop there. Josiah recognized that everyone needed to turn back to God. This was not just for him but for everyone.

Josiah was passionately chasing after God and when someone does that they take the message of judgment to all so all can turn from their ways to God. Josiah gathered all the people together and they all made a commitment to reenter into the covenant with God. The story says that Josiah went throughout the entire kingdom and destroyed the high places of idolatry and slaughtered the priests. This is not someone who is a “ho hum” follower of God. This man is on fire and has a message of deliverance if you will turn and follow God.

So the question is this. Are you sold out to following after Christ? When you find yourself out of bounds with God do you turn to Him or just keep heading down the same path. Do you find yourself seeking to deliver a message of deliverance to all so they can avoid God’s coming judgment? Three key things I see in Josiah are 1. he was devoted to God 2. he was passionately following God. 3. he was delivered because he turned to God. Does your life look anything like Josiah? If it does then I would say you are sold out to following after Christ.

Discipling in prayer

Whenever I hear someone try and teach another how to pray I always hear things like “It’s just a conversation… don’t be wordy… keep it simple… just act like your talking to a friend… don’t use big words,” but is that how God wants us to communicate with him? I understand that this is a good place to start but do we ever go beyond this in teaching people how to talk and communicate with God? I don’t know about you but I like to engage in intellectual and deep thought with my friends and I would say that God wants us to do the same with Him. I think that this is why if you asked the average person in your church to pray in a group of people they would be hesitant to do so. Telling someone to keep it simple or to act like they are talking with a friend or just having a conversation gives them no instruction in how to talk to God. This is not how Jesus taught His disciples how to pray when they asked Him.

I think God wants more than just a simple conversation for several reasons. The first is that God is more than a friend He is our Father and as a parent wants more than just simple conversation with their children so does God. Second is that as you grow in a relationship you open up more to each other revealing more of yourself and going into deep discussions about life. The same is true with God. As you grow closer to Him you open up and your discussions are no longer simple and easy. Third is that as you become more like Christ you will begin to communicate like He did with the Father. I would venture to say that Jesus did not have simple conversations with the Father and it is evident when you look at Jesus’ interactions with the Father. Before Jesus went to the cross He was praying to the Father so intently that His sweat become blood (Luke 22:39-46). That is not a simple conversation with small words, acting like you are talking to a friend, and not being wordy. That is intense communication!

One of my favorite church fathers Augustine said “He who sings prays twice.” The idea that he is trying to get across is that words are one type of prayer and when combined with harmony/music and you have created another aspect to prayer. What Augustine is getting at is being creative and elaborate in your communication with God. While it can be simple communication it can be so much more if you want it to be and I would say that God does want it to be more. We need to be communicating to our churches that prayer begins simple but as we grow closer to God the way we talk and communicate with becomes more intense and intimate.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us for not teaching your children how to have intimate fellowship with you.

Dealing with guilt and addiction part 2

The biggest lie that Satan uses when you are trying to recover from guilt and addiction is that God walked away from you because you walked away from Him. He will not accept you back. You blew it too big this time. But when you look at scripture this is not the case. The struggle to recovery lies in two arenas. The first is that you are trying to deliver yourself from your addictions and guilt under your own power not asking and trusting God to deliver you. The second is not believing God will accept you back because you have screwed things up too bad this time.

In knowing that you can do nothing to save yourself God sent Jesus to save you. When He came he recognized that life in this world is hard. He experienced it first hand, so He extended His arms out and said “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest… For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matt. 11:28, 30).” Jesus recognized that the yoke of the law was a huge burden and not easy to carry/live up to. This is why He came so that He could offer His yoke which was to follow Him and learn from Him.

But what does this mean for the already Christ follower. It means that you can walk away from God and when you do the yoke that you are carrying will begin to way down on you. You no longer have God’s assistance in carrying it for you. You are carrying it on your own. But the same principle that applies to the non-believer of coming to Jesus for rest also applies for the already Christ follower who has walked away. You have to turn back and ask Him for assistance. When the world weighs down on you and things are out of control you must turn your eyes to the one who is in control of everything and has promised that if you come to Him you will find rest. It begins by falling on your knees and crying out to God for deliverance. The road to recovery begins by recognizing that you cannot free yourself from your addictions on your own. You must cry out to God for deliverance.

The second lie is that God will not accept you back. The only problem is that God is a jealous God and not a big fan of His children walking away. He won’t stop you, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t want anything else to do with you when you do walk away. There is a story in Luke 15 which I am sure we all know. A very wealthy man had two sons. One son wanted nothing to do with his father and asked him for his inheritance early. Basically what this son was saying to the father is “I wish you were dead can I have what you owe me.” As if he deserved anything in my opinion. But the father accommodated the sons request and gave him half of his estate which the son went off and wasted on huge parties which probably involved lots of sex, drugs, and drunkenness. The son squelched his entire inheritance on parties until there was nothing left and he was forced to find a job feeding pigs. The son recognized his error in judgment and decided to go back to the father and work as a slave. It is interesting how the father responds. When the father saw the son in the distance “he ran to his son and embraced him.”

This is how God responds to you when you recognize your error in judgment and decide to come back to Him. God doesn’t walk away from you He is right were you left Him. He waiting and looking into the distance for you to return and when He sees you way off in the distance He runs to you and embraces you. He doesn’t bring up the past He looks ahead to what the future will become. When it comes to addictions you must cry out to God for deliverance and you cannot be afraid that He will not accept you back. Do not believe Satan’s lies. There is hope if you will “Come to Me all you are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Dealing with guilt and addiction

So I had a friend come and talk to me about the times he has failed God. He felt guilty coming back to church. He thought people would make fun of him. He did not feel worthy to come back to church for fear of ridicule. He felt guilty. Oh how I wish I could say that I never felt that pain. I tried to tell him that these were Satan’s lies. Only he would use such things against a person. God loves you! It doesn’t matter how far you stepped out of bounds. Jesus said “Come to me all you are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Was He speaking to non-believers??? Yes! But was this principle only applicable for them? No! Jesus said for ALL to come to Him. If you are wrestling with things that are out of your control…come to Him knowing He can deliver you.... More to come on this.

Strategic and focused ministry

After almost 10 years of volunteer work in the church I have observed two things that are unhealthy habits and hinder growth. The two things that keep us from being successful in ministry are lack of focus and strategy. If we are not focused on what we are doing we become distracted and fail. If we are not strategic there is no plan and we just “wing it” hoping that everything works itself out. This may sound simplistic but these two things are very things that can hinder church growth. Distractions come in many forms. It can be ridicule, a physical attack, slander, someone purposely pulling you away so you fail, or lack of strategy… Fill in the blank. It can be anything.

Too often we also approach things without fully understanding/researching all that will be needed to accomplish something. We know what we want to happen but never put the full effort into understanding the best and most successful way to accomplish the goal. Without strategy and detailed plans our efforts will always come up short and we will create even more distractions than we had when we started.

I would like to say that after observing these things that I have never fallen victim to either of these bad habits but what I do know is a man who has provided many ways to overcome these bad habits. His name is Nehemiah. His story is a model of how to be focused and strategic in serving God. Nehemiah faced many distractions from verbal abuse to physical threats. He was so focused on serving God that nothing could distract him from the work he was doing, not even threats on his life. So the question is how do you respond to the people and things that try to pull you away from serving God and accomplishing what He has called you to do with your life? Check out Nehemiah if you need any help.

Nehemiah was also very strategic in the work he was trying to accomplish for God. The city walls had been broke down and instead of just making bricks and stacking them together; Nehemiah went and surveyed the land to see what he was dealing with. We naturally think that building a city wall is as easy as stacking bricks but there is more to it than that. Nehemiah put the extra work in researching his project before beginning it. He knew the importance of successfully building the city walls. So how do you approach what God is calling you to do? Do you put the time into researching your work and making sure you know everything about it? Check out Nehemiah if you need some pointers on how to be strategic. So two very basic things you need to be aware of to be successful in ministry and service to God is focus and strategy. These two things can make or break you.

taking it easy for round 1

I am starting this blog to motivate others to pursue discipleship and the ministry to others. This is just a test so stay tuned for a more in-depth post. We as leaders have become lazy and are no longer teaching people how to grow closer in their relationship with God. We keep things simple so people can understand or so they can comprehend them. But is that what Jesus did? Were not his parables beyond comprehension for the normal person? Are we short-changing our churches?