After the exodus from Egypt, Moses was feeling the heavy burden of having to lead an entire nation of people by himself. Jehovah God instructed Moses to select seventy older men to help him shoulder the load. The seventy were brought before the tent of meeting where God’s spirit came down upon them and “they proceeded to act as prophets”, but this ecstatic prophesying was just a one time event to affirm that God had indeed anointed them and his spirit was upon them. The account states, “they did not do it again.” (Numbers 11:24,25)
However there were two men, Eldad and Medad, who were numbered among the seventy that had not gone to the tent but had stayed in the camp. God’s spirit came to rest upon them as well and they proceeded to act as prophets within the camp. This caused quite a stir because it was viewed as a possible affront to Moses’ leadership. Certain young men ran to report to Moses how Eldad and Medad were acting as prophets. Joshua urged Moses to restrain them.
Moses’ response shows the depth of his humility. He asks Joshua, “Are you feeling jealous for me? No, I wish that all of Jehovah’s people were prophets, because Jehovah would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29)
Throughout the Old Testament prophets are found. In many accounts they appear in groups or are collectively spoken of as “the prophets”. (1 Sam 10:5; 2 Kings 4:38) Certain prophets who Jehovah’s spirit was upon in extraordinary ways are specifically mentioned and distinguished from the general company of the prophet such as Samuel, Nathan, Elijah and his companion Elisha. Later prophets wrote their messages directly down such as Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Often times when we hear prophecy or prophet we have the tendency to think of a prediction about a future event. However in the Bible prophecy was more general in that it encompassed whenever God spoke to a human whether about a contemporary or future event. God used these prophets in various ways for the benefit of the nation.
The prophets therefore were the voice to God among the people. Sometimes their word was sought when the nation was facing a decision and they needed God’s say on the matter. (1 Kings 22:5,6) At other times they were used to deliver reproof when the nation or a leader was in error. (2 Samuel 12:1-12) On occasion they gave foreknowledge of future events such as the coming of the Messiah.
The prophets were instrumental in the compiling and writing of the Holy Scriptures. Prophets such as Moses, Samuel, and Nathan composed historical books. Many of David’s psalms speak prophetically about the coming Messiah. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others wrote their prophetic messages down in the books that today bear their name. In a general sense all who penned down the Scriptures can be spoken of as prophets since all the entire Holy Word was formed under Divine inspiration. (2 Timothy 3:16)
With the advent of the Christian congregation in 33 CE, Moses’ desire that Jehovah’s Holy Spirit touch all of God’s people was realised. Holy spirit was poured out upon a group of congregated believers in a wonderful way. This was in fulfillment of another prophecy spoken by Joel where God says, “I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams.” (Joel 2:28)
Unlike the former days where the prophets were limited to a group or individuals within the nation, the entire Christian congregation was spirit anointed and able to prophecy, to receive and speak the word of God. Even the young women were gifted in this regard as was true with Philip’s four daughters. (Acts 21:9) Paul also acknowledged the role that women played in prophesying in the congregation of Christ. (1 Cor 11:5)
While the Holy Spirit imparted gifts to all believers not all had the same gift and not all acted as prophets. (1 Cor 12:29). Yet the gift of prophecy was not off limit to the entire congregation for Paul encouraged them to “keep zealously seeking the greater gifts” (1 Cor 12:31). In seeking these greater gifts Paul preferred that all in the congregation would be able to prophecy because of the upbuilding effect that it had on the assembled body. (1 Cor 14:1,4)
How were the Christian congregations to view those who prophesied? Paul instructed the congregation of the Thessalonians to, “not treat prophesying with contempt” (1 Thess 4:20). Prophets were to be listened to attentively so that those assembled could “discern the meaning” of what they spoke (1 Cor 14:29) Prophecy encouraged the congregation; therefore, those who were gifted with prophecy needed to use that gift to for the benefit of the body of Christ. (1 Cor 14:31; Romans 12:4-6)
While prophesying is not to be held in contempt the congregation needed to exercise caution because Jesus said, “that many false prophets will arise and mislead many.” (Matthew 24:11) The apostle John confirmed that this becoming true within the Christian congregation. He wrote, “Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
The congregation then is implored to not accept every prophecy but to test them to see if it is indeed a word from God. In a vision, Jesus commended the congregation of Ephesus for putting to test those who made claim to be apostles. (Rev 2:2) Similar judgment needed to be used in evaluating prophetic utterances. The discernment of spirits then is a necessary and beneficial gift to the congregation. (1 Cor 12:10)
As with many aspects of the Christian life, prophecy then is a gift that is to be exercised within the context of the Christian congregation. While some may wish to pattern themselves after the Old Testament prophets such as Ezekiel to do so is to ignore the fact that God’s spirit now operates corporately within a body of believers. Those with gifts such as prophecy are not meant to dominate over other Christians. Paul instructs them to yield and keep silent if a revelation is given to another during their prophesying. (1 Cor 14:30) The hearers of such an inspired expression are meant to evaluate it and test it out. (1 Cor 14:29; 1 John 4:1)
We need to keep in mind that even those with a powerful gift of prophecy are nothing if they do not manifest love. (1 Cor 13:2) Having love causes us to know that our various gifts are provided for the “building up of the body of Christ”. (Ephesians 4:11,12) Love would prevent someone with a spiritual gifting not fall into the trap of becoming puffed up or self-centered in their attitude. (1 Cor 13:4,5)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Choose the Good Portion
"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:28-32
I was meditating on this passage the other day and I got a new perspective. In the past I had just considered the obvious physical application. For instance we shouldn't allow the various things in life, such as household responsibilities, jobs, etertainment distraction from spiritual pursuits. Yesterday, though, I was thinking about how even in spiritual pursuits we can neglect the best part, or the good portion - Jesus Christ.
I was thinking about Martha. Certainly she felt she was keeping Jesus in mind as she hurried about the kitchen fixing food for him. I'm sure the meal that she was preparing to feed him would have been fabulous and praise worthy. However such a thing had to be secondary to focusing directly on Jesus and listening to the Great Teacher.
It could happen easily to us. We may do a bunch of charitable works in the name of the Lord but in the process lose focus on Jesus himself. Or purely in terms of learning we can get distracted with doctrine, theology, history, or eschatology. These things may be done with Jesus in mind but in chasing after them we always run the risk of gradually losing sight of our teacher.
I think about what a powerful apostle Paul was. Being a disciple of the esteemed teacher Gamaliel he had a great background education. Being filled with holy spirit he was given extensive wisdom and revelation. These qualities are certainly reflected in his letters but the primary thing that stands out is his near constant focus on Jesus. I'm mindful of what he told the Corinthian congregation, "And so I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come with an extravagance of speech or of wisdom declaring the sacred secret of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him impaled." - 1 Cor 2:1,2
In my personal study I'm often left wishing Paul had went into more details on such subjects as the "man of lawlessness", "the resurrection of the dead", and "third heaven". However, I'm beginning to appreciate his brief treatment of these intriguing subjects is intentional. As he told them Corinthians he decided, or made the conscious decision just to proclaim Jesus Christ.
Later on in that letter to the Corinthians Paul puts it all into perspective:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding [piece of] brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all. - 1 Cor 13:1-3
Paul here highlights a danger. We can focus on pursuing spiritual gifts, discerning divine mysteries, gaining knowledge or being charitable at the expense of losing out on love. And we don't have love we don't know our Heavenly Father or Jesus. (1 John 4:8; John 13:35)
Frank Viola in his article The Deep Ecclesiology makes this personal observation regarding how by persuing things such a doctrinal correctness that we can lose sight of love. He writes:
"But during that season, I made another discovery. Namely, that Christian doctrine can make a person downright mean! I observed that the men who were the most schooled in Christian doctrine and the most concerned about “sound theology” did not resemble Jesus Christ at all in their behavior. Instead, they seemed to center their lives on making the unimportant critical. The spirit of the Lamb was altogether missing. They were harsh personalities who appeared to almost hate those with whom they disagreed. Granted, there is a doctrine in the New Testament. But majoring on Christian doctrine and theology can turn Christians into inquisitors."
The Corinthians congregation that Paul wrote to was racked with division. (1 Cor 1:11) Since this is the first thing he mentions in his letter we may conclude that was the primary purpose for his writing to them on that occassion. One specific divisive area that is mentioned is how different ones were developing camps around certain spiritual teachers. (1 Cor 1:12) However that wasn't the only problem dividing this congregation. Reading through the letter we see that there were may other divisive areas:
Paul provides the appropriate remedy to this divisive situation. He says that they should be "united in the same mind and in the same line of thought." (1 Cor 1:10) What mind is this? It is the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16) Our unity is in Jesus Christ and in order to have unity all must have the "mind of Christ" and focus on him.
Maybe like Martha we have our hands full with many things, physically or spiritually. If so perhaps we just need to set it aside for a season and like Mary position ourselves at the feet of Jesus, the good portion, focusing just on him.
I was meditating on this passage the other day and I got a new perspective. In the past I had just considered the obvious physical application. For instance we shouldn't allow the various things in life, such as household responsibilities, jobs, etertainment distraction from spiritual pursuits. Yesterday, though, I was thinking about how even in spiritual pursuits we can neglect the best part, or the good portion - Jesus Christ.
I was thinking about Martha. Certainly she felt she was keeping Jesus in mind as she hurried about the kitchen fixing food for him. I'm sure the meal that she was preparing to feed him would have been fabulous and praise worthy. However such a thing had to be secondary to focusing directly on Jesus and listening to the Great Teacher.
It could happen easily to us. We may do a bunch of charitable works in the name of the Lord but in the process lose focus on Jesus himself. Or purely in terms of learning we can get distracted with doctrine, theology, history, or eschatology. These things may be done with Jesus in mind but in chasing after them we always run the risk of gradually losing sight of our teacher.
I think about what a powerful apostle Paul was. Being a disciple of the esteemed teacher Gamaliel he had a great background education. Being filled with holy spirit he was given extensive wisdom and revelation. These qualities are certainly reflected in his letters but the primary thing that stands out is his near constant focus on Jesus. I'm mindful of what he told the Corinthian congregation, "And so I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come with an extravagance of speech or of wisdom declaring the sacred secret of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him impaled." - 1 Cor 2:1,2
In my personal study I'm often left wishing Paul had went into more details on such subjects as the "man of lawlessness", "the resurrection of the dead", and "third heaven". However, I'm beginning to appreciate his brief treatment of these intriguing subjects is intentional. As he told them Corinthians he decided, or made the conscious decision just to proclaim Jesus Christ.
Later on in that letter to the Corinthians Paul puts it all into perspective:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding [piece of] brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all. - 1 Cor 13:1-3
Paul here highlights a danger. We can focus on pursuing spiritual gifts, discerning divine mysteries, gaining knowledge or being charitable at the expense of losing out on love. And we don't have love we don't know our Heavenly Father or Jesus. (1 John 4:8; John 13:35)
Frank Viola in his article The Deep Ecclesiology makes this personal observation regarding how by persuing things such a doctrinal correctness that we can lose sight of love. He writes:
"But during that season, I made another discovery. Namely, that Christian doctrine can make a person downright mean! I observed that the men who were the most schooled in Christian doctrine and the most concerned about “sound theology” did not resemble Jesus Christ at all in their behavior. Instead, they seemed to center their lives on making the unimportant critical. The spirit of the Lamb was altogether missing. They were harsh personalities who appeared to almost hate those with whom they disagreed. Granted, there is a doctrine in the New Testament. But majoring on Christian doctrine and theology can turn Christians into inquisitors."
The Corinthians congregation that Paul wrote to was racked with division. (1 Cor 1:11) Since this is the first thing he mentions in his letter we may conclude that was the primary purpose for his writing to them on that occassion. One specific divisive area that is mentioned is how different ones were developing camps around certain spiritual teachers. (1 Cor 1:12) However that wasn't the only problem dividing this congregation. Reading through the letter we see that there were may other divisive areas:
- Some were "going beyond the things written." 4:6
- Some were showing favoritism. 4:6
- Some were prideful. 4:18
- They were tolerating gross immorality. 5:1
- Some were taking their brother to court. 6:7
- There was conflict over the eating foods sacrificed to idols. chap. 8
- They were observing the Lord's Supper without consideration of others and with excess. chap. 11
- They weren't giving consideration to all members of the body of Christ. 12:14-18
- Their meetings were a free-for-all as the members were unyielding to one another. 14:26-33
Paul provides the appropriate remedy to this divisive situation. He says that they should be "united in the same mind and in the same line of thought." (1 Cor 1:10) What mind is this? It is the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16) Our unity is in Jesus Christ and in order to have unity all must have the "mind of Christ" and focus on him.
Maybe like Martha we have our hands full with many things, physically or spiritually. If so perhaps we just need to set it aside for a season and like Mary position ourselves at the feet of Jesus, the good portion, focusing just on him.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Of Note
My sister passed this on to me this morning and I'm passing it on to you.
Tonight @ 7:00pm eastern, CNN is airing a special program called After Jesus. It promotes itself as a look at the first Christians and the history of the Church. Church history fascinates me so I'll take a look.
Also ...
Kristin Hersh does guest blog entries at Powells from time to time. I just had a chance to take a look at her December 15th entry Vodka and Chocolate. It was very touching piece about loss and love. Kristin humbly denies that she is a writer but these entries reveal such a talent. Would it be wrong to suggest she put down her guitar for a spell and pick up a pen? These days I find her writings to be more compelling than her music. Though I certainly won't hesitate to pick up her new album Learn to Sing Like a Star when it comes out in January.
Tonight @ 7:00pm eastern, CNN is airing a special program called After Jesus. It promotes itself as a look at the first Christians and the history of the Church. Church history fascinates me so I'll take a look.
Also ...
Kristin Hersh does guest blog entries at Powells from time to time. I just had a chance to take a look at her December 15th entry Vodka and Chocolate. It was very touching piece about loss and love. Kristin humbly denies that she is a writer but these entries reveal such a talent. Would it be wrong to suggest she put down her guitar for a spell and pick up a pen? These days I find her writings to be more compelling than her music. Though I certainly won't hesitate to pick up her new album Learn to Sing Like a Star when it comes out in January.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Killing In The Name Of ...
The only thing worse than killing people in a video-game is doing so in the name of Jesus.
The new "Left Behind" video-game is seriously in error.
What would Jesus say to the "Tribulation Force"?
Maybe something like this:
“Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword."
The new "Left Behind" video-game is seriously in error.
What would Jesus say to the "Tribulation Force"?
Maybe something like this:
“Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword."
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Give Me Jesus
I'm tired. Prayers have been said and my child is tucked into bed. I was on my way but then remembered that I was going to write a blog entry tonight.
I spent tonight writing. I've been working on a book. I have it all outlined and it just seems like it should be simply fill-in-the-blanks but more often than not I find myself studying for hours just to crank out a sentence. Tonight I was really productive and put down a couple of paragraphs.
What I really wanted to share though was an article written by Frank Viola,The Deep Ecclesiology of the Body
This is is one of those articles that I find myself shaking my head in agreement with quite a bit. I enjoyed reading about his perspective have changed throughout his religious experiences. He warns:
"Attention young Christians: You can get ridiculously obsessed with rapture fever! I was taught, “This is important. We have to know prophecy. We must study prophecy. 90% of the Bible is prophecy. We have a duty to understand it.” Let me confess. I was pathetically into eschatology. So much so that I could discuss it for hours with wild-eyed fascination."
"But I made a discovery. That all of those hours I spent pouring over Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation . . . trying to put the end-time puzzle together . . . did not help me one iota to come to know my Lord better. It was largely an academic, intellectual exercise. And a sterile one at that!"
Frank admits that he stopped studying end-times prophecy. I'm not quite ready to give it up but I do know where he is coming from. Every Sunday afternoon I get together online with friends and we churn through this stuff. And in my personal studying for a long time I was constantly going through Revelation and Daniel. I've learned a lot and there have been some specific instances where God has given me direct insight into certain things so it hasn't been a completely fruitless endeavor. However my experience is that too often we can so bogged down in the details and questions that we can't see the forest for the trees. The forest is Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says that "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"
Frank's journey seems to have lead him though to the same place I've found myself - Jesus.
"I made the striking discovery that I don’t need an it. I have never needed an it. And I will never need an it. Christian it’s . . . no matter how good or true . . . eventually wear out, run dry, and become tiresome.
I don’t need an it . . . I need a Him!
And so do you!
We do not need things. We need Jesus Christ!"
When I was in a religion I was taught that the theme of the Bible "The vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty by means of the Messianic Kingdom." It may be true - and it's truly a mouthful. I wonder why can't the theme just be "Jesus"?
Jesus was absolutely central to the early Church. The saddest thing in religions in how Jesus is minimized, just given lip service, and pushed to the side. We have spiritual ADD and can't focus on the most important element to our faith - Jesus.
We were talking to some friends recently from the same religious background as us. They were talking about their experience with one of the local mega-churches. They remarked how it had a club for everything, like "kayaking for the Lord". I've got no problem with kayaking but I just wonder about the ratio between kayaking and Jesus that the group provides.
One of the most common charges leveled at Jehovah's Witnesses is "You don't believe in Jesus". Ask a JW if this is true and they will scoff and say, "Of course we believe in Jesus." I know I used to. Afterall our religious literature had numerous references to Jesus.
But one of things I'm seeing is that while we did speak about Jesus he kind of got hidden in the mixed. It is almost like there was a fear of giving too much attention to Jesus. The general focus was on the organization, organization, organization. We focused on the body so much that we practically beheaded the Christ. What is worse is that we supplanted the leadership of Christ with some Frankenstein head construct called "the Faithful and Discreet Slave".
Christianity without Christ is a very empty faith indeed. What's the point?
You can keep your religion just give me Jesus.
Good night Friends.
I spent tonight writing. I've been working on a book. I have it all outlined and it just seems like it should be simply fill-in-the-blanks but more often than not I find myself studying for hours just to crank out a sentence. Tonight I was really productive and put down a couple of paragraphs.
What I really wanted to share though was an article written by Frank Viola,The Deep Ecclesiology of the Body
This is is one of those articles that I find myself shaking my head in agreement with quite a bit. I enjoyed reading about his perspective have changed throughout his religious experiences. He warns:
"Attention young Christians: You can get ridiculously obsessed with rapture fever! I was taught, “This is important. We have to know prophecy. We must study prophecy. 90% of the Bible is prophecy. We have a duty to understand it.” Let me confess. I was pathetically into eschatology. So much so that I could discuss it for hours with wild-eyed fascination."
"But I made a discovery. That all of those hours I spent pouring over Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation . . . trying to put the end-time puzzle together . . . did not help me one iota to come to know my Lord better. It was largely an academic, intellectual exercise. And a sterile one at that!"
Frank admits that he stopped studying end-times prophecy. I'm not quite ready to give it up but I do know where he is coming from. Every Sunday afternoon I get together online with friends and we churn through this stuff. And in my personal studying for a long time I was constantly going through Revelation and Daniel. I've learned a lot and there have been some specific instances where God has given me direct insight into certain things so it hasn't been a completely fruitless endeavor. However my experience is that too often we can so bogged down in the details and questions that we can't see the forest for the trees. The forest is Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says that "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"
Frank's journey seems to have lead him though to the same place I've found myself - Jesus.
"I made the striking discovery that I don’t need an it. I have never needed an it. And I will never need an it. Christian it’s . . . no matter how good or true . . . eventually wear out, run dry, and become tiresome.
I don’t need an it . . . I need a Him!
And so do you!
We do not need things. We need Jesus Christ!"
When I was in a religion I was taught that the theme of the Bible "The vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty by means of the Messianic Kingdom." It may be true - and it's truly a mouthful. I wonder why can't the theme just be "Jesus"?
Jesus was absolutely central to the early Church. The saddest thing in religions in how Jesus is minimized, just given lip service, and pushed to the side. We have spiritual ADD and can't focus on the most important element to our faith - Jesus.
We were talking to some friends recently from the same religious background as us. They were talking about their experience with one of the local mega-churches. They remarked how it had a club for everything, like "kayaking for the Lord". I've got no problem with kayaking but I just wonder about the ratio between kayaking and Jesus that the group provides.
One of the most common charges leveled at Jehovah's Witnesses is "You don't believe in Jesus". Ask a JW if this is true and they will scoff and say, "Of course we believe in Jesus." I know I used to. Afterall our religious literature had numerous references to Jesus.
But one of things I'm seeing is that while we did speak about Jesus he kind of got hidden in the mixed. It is almost like there was a fear of giving too much attention to Jesus. The general focus was on the organization, organization, organization. We focused on the body so much that we practically beheaded the Christ. What is worse is that we supplanted the leadership of Christ with some Frankenstein head construct called "the Faithful and Discreet Slave".
Christianity without Christ is a very empty faith indeed. What's the point?
You can keep your religion just give me Jesus.
Good night Friends.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Crash
This morning I was involved in a crash on the Interstate. Wrecks are scary enough but are frightening at 65 mph. I was in morning rush hour traffic which had come to a slowdown. The guy coming up behind me didn't stop in time and plowed into me causing my car to bump the guy ahead of me.
I pray every morning for protection because some days those angels really come in handy.
I pray every morning for protection because some days those angels really come in handy.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Wii
Rebekah and I celebrate our 10-year anniversary today!! That's a decade!! It's been a good run that's for certain. We don't really exchange gifts but we splurged on a Wii a couple of weeks ago so we have been having fun with it. Tomorrow we will get to enjoy a nice night out. I'm taking Rebekah to her favorite restaurant then we'll probably go see a movie that we'll end up leaving half-way through.
If anybody has a Wii and wants to add us our console code is: 6164 4778 8914 2690. Reply with yours.
And when we aren't getting sore muscles playing with the Wii I got a bunch of new books that have kept me busy:
The Apostolic Bible Polygot - The printed version of a new Greek/English interlinear translation of the Septuagint and the Christian scriptures that has been available online. The publication quality is kind of flimsy but the content is wonderful. I've been having fun cross-referencing using the built in Strong's number concordance. This will probably become my primary study Bible.
A Short History of the Early Church - Harry R. Boer
Saint Saul; A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus - Donald H. Akenson
The Twelve; The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary - C. Bernard Ruffin
Life Everlasting - in Freedom of the Sons of God, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.
Rethinking the Wineskin - Frank Viola
I love books. I don't celebrate Christmas but I gleefully accept books all year round. Check out my wish-list! But if you think I should read something that is not on the list I'll take it too! *nudge *nudge *wink *wink
'Tis a silly blog posting - I know.
Love,
Anthony "Anathema" Mathenia
If anybody has a Wii and wants to add us our console code is: 6164 4778 8914 2690. Reply with yours.
And when we aren't getting sore muscles playing with the Wii I got a bunch of new books that have kept me busy:
The Apostolic Bible Polygot - The printed version of a new Greek/English interlinear translation of the Septuagint and the Christian scriptures that has been available online. The publication quality is kind of flimsy but the content is wonderful. I've been having fun cross-referencing using the built in Strong's number concordance. This will probably become my primary study Bible.
A Short History of the Early Church - Harry R. Boer
Saint Saul; A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus - Donald H. Akenson
The Twelve; The Lives of the Apostles After Calvary - C. Bernard Ruffin
Life Everlasting - in Freedom of the Sons of God, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.
Rethinking the Wineskin - Frank Viola
I love books. I don't celebrate Christmas but I gleefully accept books all year round. Check out my wish-list! But if you think I should read something that is not on the list I'll take it too! *nudge *nudge *wink *wink
'Tis a silly blog posting - I know.
Love,
Anthony "Anathema" Mathenia
Friday, November 17, 2006
On Relationships
"Consequently many more believed on account of what [Jesus] said, and they began to say to the woman: “We do not believe any longer on account of your talk; for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man is for a certainty the savior of the world.” - John 4:41, 42
I realized last night that I'm kind of getting to that point in my relationship with Jesus.
When I originally put faith in Jesus it was faith by proxy. I believed in the things I heard about Jesus through what the Bible said about him. My faith was first in the Bible and through it I had faith in Jesus. While this vicariously introduced me to the persona of Christ and it didn't allow me to know him directly.
It has only been by experiencing him personally that I have been able to grow my faith in him and start to get to really get to know him.
I believe the difference can be illustrated by two translation approaches to John 17:3
"This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ." - NWT
"And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" - NRSV
These two approaches to the text may seem interchangable on a surface level but look closer and the difference is evident. You can take in knowledge about a person all your life and still never really know them. "Taking in knowledge" is done indirectly; whereas, knowing a person comes from a direct relationship.
At this point in my life I hate to continue to harp on my past experience within the Watchtower organization. I only do so now because it provides a convenient reference point - maybe in the same way Paul discusses his pre-Christian past in his letter to the Phillipians. (3:5,6)
I used to pride myself that my religion and "faith" was based on knowlege and grounded in systematic study. I considered other religious experiences hollow ecstatic, emotional affairs. I remember a time when as a teen I brought a school-mate to my congregation for our annual observance of the memorial of Christ's sacrifice. For a Christian, commemorating the passion of our Lord should be a hugely compelling and moving event. At the Kingdom Hall it traditionally had all the affectivity of a lecture on home economics. After the meeting ended I asked my guest how he enjoyed the memorial. He said it wasn't like other churches and commented that the service reminded him of school. What shames me now brought me great satisfaction back then. I thought, "Wow! We are not like other churches - we are like school! Awesome!"
But a faith that is all head and no heart is anemic and powerless; because, in the hierarchy that Paul sets out in 1 Corinthians "heart" trumps all. As he writes, "If I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ... there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:2,13
Love. For me that's what started this process of moving from head knowledge to heart experience. All my life I never knew how to love, really love, and yet I felt like I knew a lot about God. Yet little did I realize that I while I could endlessly recite scriptural factoids regarding God and his ways and his dealings I couldn't even claim to say I knew him. Because as John writes, "He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8) Furthermore it is through love that we can even begin to know the invisible God, "At no time has anyone beheld God. If we continue loving one another, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. ... God is love, and he that remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him." - 1 John 4:12,16
Being in union with Jesus and in turn his Father is such a powerful thing and it works like a marraige in that you continue to grow into it. Along these lines Paul writes about the relationship between Christ and his Church saying, "For this reason a man will leave [his] father and [his] mother and he will stick to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This sacred secret is great. Now I am speaking with respect to Christ and the congregation." - Ephesians 5:31,32
In thinking about this marraige relationship we return to the earlier contrast between "taking in knowledge" and "knowing" someone. We can illustrate it like this. You may have a favorite actor. You may take in a lot of knowledge about them by reading magazine articles and biographies written on them. You may have seen all their movies. You may have even met them once in person. But can you really say you know them as well as their wife? Certainly not.
Again we look at it like a marraige. When you first get married it is something that is foreign to your core personality - something that is external to you. You wake up and say, "Wow. I'm married" and there is great joy and excitement that comes from that. Yet as the days, weeks, months, and years pass by, "married" moves internal and it becomes who you are. You less indentify with yourself - as you merge into this new unit - the "one flesh" with your spouse. The excitement transitions to a lovely comfort and you find that you know your husband so well that you can finish his sentences. You know what pleases him and you know what pains him.
Oh, to have that kind of relationship with the Lord! To know him so well that we could we could have his thoughts! Indeed this is entirely possible for Paul assures us, "we do have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) And imagine not having to constantly search the scriptures for direction in our daily affairs! We can know what is pleasing and displeasing to our Lord and follow. Hebrews 8:10 calls attention to this where it quotes Jeremiah, ‘I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I shall write them.'
Lately I've been reading some information by scholars who attempt to get to know the "historical" Jesus - which seems to mean any Jesus other than the Jesus that is presented by the Scriptures. In this quest each historian seems to find the Jesus that supports their personal feelings or thesis, be it, Jesus the peasant, Jesus the rabbi, Jesus the magician, Jesus the Essene, Jesus the homosexual philospher, or Jesus the Egyptian mystic. It seems there are no shortages of different Jesus' you can conjure out of pulling select passages of Scripture, ignoring others, mixing in worldly wisdom and inserting a dubious dose of fraudulent texts.
To the contrary Peter writes, "No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we acquainted you with the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was by having become eyewitnesses of his magnificence" (2 Peter 1:16) By their approach, these so-called "Jesus Questors" will never know Jesus. Rather those of us who are "eyewitnesses of his magnificence", who have seen and experienced him will be blessed to know the man. But, even those of us who shun "empty speeches" and stick to the recorded Gospels are at risk of missing out on Jesus.
The Gospels are a blessed gift from Heaven and have served us well for these hundreds of years. They are a wonderful way to introduce us to Jesus and cause us to put faith in him. As John writes regarding the purpose of his gospel account, "To be sure, Jesus performed many other signs also before the disciples, which are not written down in this scroll. But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name." (John 20:30,31) With personal relationships we are first introduced to someone and then the relationship grows from there. Like with a marraige the day you met your husband will always be special and hold a dear place in your heart but that is just the start of lifetime relationship. It the same way with Jesus. We are introduced to Jesus through the Gospels and put faith in him. From there we can begin to develop a first-hand relationship with Christ. However just reading the Gospels is like being introduced to someone but not progressing any further in personally knowing them.
What is interesting is that if you look at Paul's letters to the Christian Congregation, unlike the Gospels you find that he speaks very little about Jesus' teachings and even less about his miracles. The gospel he preached was mainly focused on Jesus' dying for our sins and being raised from the dead.
"For I decied to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified" - 1 Cor 2:2
"For I handed on to you, among the first things, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, yes, that he has been raised up the third day according to the Scriptures;" - 1 Corinthians 15:3,4
What strikes me about Paul's letters is you don't really see him looking back at Jesus' life as some dead historical figure fading from glory into antiquity. Rather Paul is seized with the present-day reality of Jesus raised from the dead and exalted at the right hand above all majesty! He writes to those in Ephesus, "God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." - Ephesians 1:20-23
Paul's letters existed in the present in the first century and likewise they still speak to us in the present in the twenty-first just as, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) Through his epistles, Paul is telling us, the Christian Congregation, what it means to be living in the reality of Jesus Christ. They speak about knowing and experiencing Jesus through first-hand unity with him rather than just learning about him from secondary sources.
"I am impaled along with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but it is Christ that is living in union with me. Indeed, the life that I now live in flesh I live by the faith that is toward the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me." - Galatians 2:20
Consequently if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away, look! new things have come into existence. - 2 Cor 5:17
Yet the question remains, how can we develop a personal relationship with someone who left this earth nearly two-thousand years ago? Jesus assured us before he went back to the Father, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper, to be with you forever." (John 14:15) In saying that the Father would give another helper Jesus is indicating that the Father had already sent one previous. This first helper was none-other then Jesus himself. What about the second helper?
Jesus indentifies the second helper as the Holy Spirit saying, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." The Holy Spirit then comes in the absence of being with Jesus "face-to-face".
At John 6:40 Jesus says, This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day." But how is that we today can "see the Son" who went back to the Father so long ago? It is through revelatory Spirit of Jesus that opens the eyes of our heart toward him toward him. (Ephesians 1:17,18) The Spirit is still with us today, even as it will be with us forever. (John 14:15) It is through this Spirit that we know that we are in unity with Jesus as John writes, "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit." (1 John 4:15) And it is through seeing and experiencing Jesus by the indwelling of spirit that we are assured of our ressurrection to eventually be with him face-to-face, forever. Accordingly Paul writes,
"However, you are in harmony, not with the flesh, but with the spirit, if God’s spirit truly dwells in you. But if anyone does not have Christ’s spirit, this one does not belong to him. But if Christ is in union with you, the body indeed is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life on account of righteousness. If, now, the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his spirit that resides in you." - Romans 8:9-11
The gift given to those who develop a relationship with Jesus through his spirit in this world is to be able to see him as he is and be with him in the world that is to come. The apostle John writes, "When [Jesus] is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is." (1 John 3:2) Jesus gives his word of truth promising, "I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14:3
Like with every marraige our relationship only will get deeper as the years pass by. We can be assured that our relationship will continue to grow with he who loved us on through eternity. This then is our hope, sure and steadfast like an anchor for the soul. (Hebrews 6:19) Today we press upward and onward to the goal of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection as Paul says, "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own ... I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:10,12,14) We press on putting faith in Jesus not on the account of the saints before us who believed and wrote about him, but because we are ourselves have come to know him through his spirit that dwells in all fullness within us as he is being formed in us. (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 4:13; Galatians 4:19)
I realized last night that I'm kind of getting to that point in my relationship with Jesus.
When I originally put faith in Jesus it was faith by proxy. I believed in the things I heard about Jesus through what the Bible said about him. My faith was first in the Bible and through it I had faith in Jesus. While this vicariously introduced me to the persona of Christ and it didn't allow me to know him directly.
It has only been by experiencing him personally that I have been able to grow my faith in him and start to get to really get to know him.
I believe the difference can be illustrated by two translation approaches to John 17:3
"This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ." - NWT
"And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" - NRSV
These two approaches to the text may seem interchangable on a surface level but look closer and the difference is evident. You can take in knowledge about a person all your life and still never really know them. "Taking in knowledge" is done indirectly; whereas, knowing a person comes from a direct relationship.
At this point in my life I hate to continue to harp on my past experience within the Watchtower organization. I only do so now because it provides a convenient reference point - maybe in the same way Paul discusses his pre-Christian past in his letter to the Phillipians. (3:5,6)
I used to pride myself that my religion and "faith" was based on knowlege and grounded in systematic study. I considered other religious experiences hollow ecstatic, emotional affairs. I remember a time when as a teen I brought a school-mate to my congregation for our annual observance of the memorial of Christ's sacrifice. For a Christian, commemorating the passion of our Lord should be a hugely compelling and moving event. At the Kingdom Hall it traditionally had all the affectivity of a lecture on home economics. After the meeting ended I asked my guest how he enjoyed the memorial. He said it wasn't like other churches and commented that the service reminded him of school. What shames me now brought me great satisfaction back then. I thought, "Wow! We are not like other churches - we are like school! Awesome!"
But a faith that is all head and no heart is anemic and powerless; because, in the hierarchy that Paul sets out in 1 Corinthians "heart" trumps all. As he writes, "If I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ... there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:2,13
Love. For me that's what started this process of moving from head knowledge to heart experience. All my life I never knew how to love, really love, and yet I felt like I knew a lot about God. Yet little did I realize that I while I could endlessly recite scriptural factoids regarding God and his ways and his dealings I couldn't even claim to say I knew him. Because as John writes, "He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8) Furthermore it is through love that we can even begin to know the invisible God, "At no time has anyone beheld God. If we continue loving one another, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. ... God is love, and he that remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him." - 1 John 4:12,16
Being in union with Jesus and in turn his Father is such a powerful thing and it works like a marraige in that you continue to grow into it. Along these lines Paul writes about the relationship between Christ and his Church saying, "For this reason a man will leave [his] father and [his] mother and he will stick to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This sacred secret is great. Now I am speaking with respect to Christ and the congregation." - Ephesians 5:31,32
In thinking about this marraige relationship we return to the earlier contrast between "taking in knowledge" and "knowing" someone. We can illustrate it like this. You may have a favorite actor. You may take in a lot of knowledge about them by reading magazine articles and biographies written on them. You may have seen all their movies. You may have even met them once in person. But can you really say you know them as well as their wife? Certainly not.
Again we look at it like a marraige. When you first get married it is something that is foreign to your core personality - something that is external to you. You wake up and say, "Wow. I'm married" and there is great joy and excitement that comes from that. Yet as the days, weeks, months, and years pass by, "married" moves internal and it becomes who you are. You less indentify with yourself - as you merge into this new unit - the "one flesh" with your spouse. The excitement transitions to a lovely comfort and you find that you know your husband so well that you can finish his sentences. You know what pleases him and you know what pains him.
Oh, to have that kind of relationship with the Lord! To know him so well that we could we could have his thoughts! Indeed this is entirely possible for Paul assures us, "we do have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) And imagine not having to constantly search the scriptures for direction in our daily affairs! We can know what is pleasing and displeasing to our Lord and follow. Hebrews 8:10 calls attention to this where it quotes Jeremiah, ‘I will put my laws in their mind, and in their hearts I shall write them.'
Lately I've been reading some information by scholars who attempt to get to know the "historical" Jesus - which seems to mean any Jesus other than the Jesus that is presented by the Scriptures. In this quest each historian seems to find the Jesus that supports their personal feelings or thesis, be it, Jesus the peasant, Jesus the rabbi, Jesus the magician, Jesus the Essene, Jesus the homosexual philospher, or Jesus the Egyptian mystic. It seems there are no shortages of different Jesus' you can conjure out of pulling select passages of Scripture, ignoring others, mixing in worldly wisdom and inserting a dubious dose of fraudulent texts.
To the contrary Peter writes, "No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we acquainted you with the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was by having become eyewitnesses of his magnificence" (2 Peter 1:16) By their approach, these so-called "Jesus Questors" will never know Jesus. Rather those of us who are "eyewitnesses of his magnificence", who have seen and experienced him will be blessed to know the man. But, even those of us who shun "empty speeches" and stick to the recorded Gospels are at risk of missing out on Jesus.
The Gospels are a blessed gift from Heaven and have served us well for these hundreds of years. They are a wonderful way to introduce us to Jesus and cause us to put faith in him. As John writes regarding the purpose of his gospel account, "To be sure, Jesus performed many other signs also before the disciples, which are not written down in this scroll. But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name." (John 20:30,31) With personal relationships we are first introduced to someone and then the relationship grows from there. Like with a marraige the day you met your husband will always be special and hold a dear place in your heart but that is just the start of lifetime relationship. It the same way with Jesus. We are introduced to Jesus through the Gospels and put faith in him. From there we can begin to develop a first-hand relationship with Christ. However just reading the Gospels is like being introduced to someone but not progressing any further in personally knowing them.
What is interesting is that if you look at Paul's letters to the Christian Congregation, unlike the Gospels you find that he speaks very little about Jesus' teachings and even less about his miracles. The gospel he preached was mainly focused on Jesus' dying for our sins and being raised from the dead.
"For I decied to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified" - 1 Cor 2:2
"For I handed on to you, among the first things, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, yes, that he has been raised up the third day according to the Scriptures;" - 1 Corinthians 15:3,4
What strikes me about Paul's letters is you don't really see him looking back at Jesus' life as some dead historical figure fading from glory into antiquity. Rather Paul is seized with the present-day reality of Jesus raised from the dead and exalted at the right hand above all majesty! He writes to those in Ephesus, "God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." - Ephesians 1:20-23
Paul's letters existed in the present in the first century and likewise they still speak to us in the present in the twenty-first just as, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) Through his epistles, Paul is telling us, the Christian Congregation, what it means to be living in the reality of Jesus Christ. They speak about knowing and experiencing Jesus through first-hand unity with him rather than just learning about him from secondary sources.
"I am impaled along with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but it is Christ that is living in union with me. Indeed, the life that I now live in flesh I live by the faith that is toward the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me." - Galatians 2:20
Consequently if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away, look! new things have come into existence. - 2 Cor 5:17
Yet the question remains, how can we develop a personal relationship with someone who left this earth nearly two-thousand years ago? Jesus assured us before he went back to the Father, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper, to be with you forever." (John 14:15) In saying that the Father would give another helper Jesus is indicating that the Father had already sent one previous. This first helper was none-other then Jesus himself. What about the second helper?
Jesus indentifies the second helper as the Holy Spirit saying, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." The Holy Spirit then comes in the absence of being with Jesus "face-to-face".
At John 6:40 Jesus says, This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day." But how is that we today can "see the Son" who went back to the Father so long ago? It is through revelatory Spirit of Jesus that opens the eyes of our heart toward him toward him. (Ephesians 1:17,18) The Spirit is still with us today, even as it will be with us forever. (John 14:15) It is through this Spirit that we know that we are in unity with Jesus as John writes, "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit." (1 John 4:15) And it is through seeing and experiencing Jesus by the indwelling of spirit that we are assured of our ressurrection to eventually be with him face-to-face, forever. Accordingly Paul writes,
"However, you are in harmony, not with the flesh, but with the spirit, if God’s spirit truly dwells in you. But if anyone does not have Christ’s spirit, this one does not belong to him. But if Christ is in union with you, the body indeed is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life on account of righteousness. If, now, the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his spirit that resides in you." - Romans 8:9-11
The gift given to those who develop a relationship with Jesus through his spirit in this world is to be able to see him as he is and be with him in the world that is to come. The apostle John writes, "When [Jesus] is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is." (1 John 3:2) Jesus gives his word of truth promising, "I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14:3
Like with every marraige our relationship only will get deeper as the years pass by. We can be assured that our relationship will continue to grow with he who loved us on through eternity. This then is our hope, sure and steadfast like an anchor for the soul. (Hebrews 6:19) Today we press upward and onward to the goal of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection as Paul says, "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own ... I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:10,12,14) We press on putting faith in Jesus not on the account of the saints before us who believed and wrote about him, but because we are ourselves have come to know him through his spirit that dwells in all fullness within us as he is being formed in us. (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 4:13; Galatians 4:19)
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
You Can Leave Your Past Life Quicker Than It Will Leave You
I awoke this morning and looked at my e-mail. Amazon had sent me a little sales note proclaiming
"Save 34% on "Clerks II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)"
Amazon informs me because I purchased the original Clerks on DVD than surely I might like to indulge in the sequel. I guess there's some truth to that. There was a time I would've leapt at their discount offer.
I used to love Kevin Smith movies - but that was the old me. The old me used to revel in vulgarity. The old me used to be quite the sharp wit and when it came to tossing out a well-timed, off-coloured quip I was deadly. But in the beginning of my walk with God I really put forth an effort to leave that behind and so I had say adieu to Mr. Smith and his penchant for blue humour and four letter words.
In truth I still have the tendency toward this - though reduced considerably. Sometimes profane words still come into my mind (but thankfully not as often). Sometimes profane words come out of my mouth (but just when I bash my head into something). Sometimes I think of a really funny joke that I know would just kill but I have to bite my tongue. And sometimes a part of me looks at the advert for Borat and thinks briefly about going to see it. But I'm getting better day by day, year by year with a little help from above.
You can leave your past life quicker than it will leave you.
I look at my Amazon "Clerks II" e-mail and wonder if it is a temptation by the Devil.
You laugh and call my a religious nut-case.
I tell you this story:
I'm not going to go to the sordid details but I used to have a major addiction to pornography. It was a serious addiction that lasted for over ten years and I couldn't stop. But a couple of years back when I started having a relationship with my heavenly Father things changed. One day I just committed myself to leaving it behind and my Father blessed me with his spirit and there was no turning back. The addiction melted away - I mean vanished - overnight. I still had the occasional desire come into my mind but it wasn't overpowering. I just prayed for the holy spirit and I was able to push it way. I've learned many important lessons while growing in the Christ but one of the first was the truth to what is written at Galatians 5:16 -"Keep walking by spirit and you will carry out no fleshly desire at all."
When I was a couple months into my new porn-free, spirit-filled life UPS delivered a big, unmarked box to my front door. Do you know how exciting it is to get a package you didn't order! You think, "Wow! A Present! From who?" I quickly opened to box to find that it was full of pornographic magazines, books, and videos. I checked the address label and it was supposed to have been delivered to the next street over. I turned my head, closed the box and then took it over to the house it was supposed to have gone to.
You think that the Devil does not try to tempt us? I'm sorry but I'm a believer.
Now I'm really wondering why I just shared that little embarrasing story. I guess by being candid and sharing my struggles and victories I might be able to encourage others? Or is it to appease Rebekah who has been lamenting that I don't ever update my blog anymore?
I still do quite a bit of writing for my blog but I seldom publish my entries to the Web. It seems like I can never complete a Blog entry and I have so many entries in draft form that are like five pages long and still not complete. I think I'm unintentionally writing a book or something.
Rebekah asked me what the book was about.
"Sonship ... I think"
"Sun Chips?", she asked.
Sonship - it seems like all these half-written Blog entries are leading toward this idea of what it means to be God's children. This idea about being children of God seems rather ho-hum. Most people just take it as a given that we are all God's children without understanding exactly what this implies. But as I read and research and learn more about it I'm just awestruck. I'm floored by it. So I continue to plug away on the writing - trying to somehow take all these glorious, heavenly concepts it put them in writing. My Father is spoon feeding me though so it is going slow. There are some ideas that I feel he is leading me to but he hasn't quite revealed to me yet. Like I know there is something there that I can't quite get my mind around. I think sometimes he just drips little bits so that our head doesn't explode or something. "I have many things yet to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at present." - John 16:12
I guess I will conclude this with some sad news. It does seem like the elders of my old congregation have turned their attention toward my wife for some reason. They had already abused my family quite a bit when they persecuted and expelled me and now they are attacking Rebekah. Perhaps they feel like their job is unfinished?
You can leave your past life quicker than it will leave you.
I'm sad not so much for my family because I know this persecution is only to fulfill Jesus' words, "A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20) Rather, I'm sad for our persecutors because their actions reveal that they do not know or love the Father. "But they will do all these things against you on account of my name, because they do not know him that sent me." (John 15:21) That is a sad thing.
Additionally, after they were done excoummunicating me I kind of wanted to hold onto the hope that perhaps they felt some regret over what they had done and would leave Rebekah alone. I honestly prayed for their forgiveness and will continue to do so but it is difficult when they want to compound their judgment by repeating their sin. I wish they knew just how strongly God feels about what they are doing. Jeremiah speaks God's Word against the shepherds,
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasturage!” is the utterance of Jehovah.
Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said against the shepherds who are shepherding my people: “You yourselves have scattered my sheep; and you kept dispersing them, and you have not turned your attention to them.”
“Here I am turning my attention upon you for the badness of your dealings,” is the utterance of Jehovah." - Jeremiah 23:1,2
Wood River Body of Elders I'm going to use this opportunity then to speak directly to you since I know you continue to keep tabs on me by reading this blog. I ask you to stop and think about what you did to me and what you are doing now to Rebekah. Do not intesify your error and your guilt. You are being judged by Heaven. My family is not a threat to you or your congregation. We just want to be left alone. You have abused, hurt, betrayed, and lied to us enough. Now let us heal in peace. Nevertheless, I ask in Jesus' name that your sin against us and Heaven not be charged against you.
"Save 34% on "Clerks II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)"
Amazon informs me because I purchased the original Clerks on DVD than surely I might like to indulge in the sequel. I guess there's some truth to that. There was a time I would've leapt at their discount offer.
I used to love Kevin Smith movies - but that was the old me. The old me used to revel in vulgarity. The old me used to be quite the sharp wit and when it came to tossing out a well-timed, off-coloured quip I was deadly. But in the beginning of my walk with God I really put forth an effort to leave that behind and so I had say adieu to Mr. Smith and his penchant for blue humour and four letter words.
In truth I still have the tendency toward this - though reduced considerably. Sometimes profane words still come into my mind (but thankfully not as often). Sometimes profane words come out of my mouth (but just when I bash my head into something). Sometimes I think of a really funny joke that I know would just kill but I have to bite my tongue. And sometimes a part of me looks at the advert for Borat and thinks briefly about going to see it. But I'm getting better day by day, year by year with a little help from above.
You can leave your past life quicker than it will leave you.
I look at my Amazon "Clerks II" e-mail and wonder if it is a temptation by the Devil.
You laugh and call my a religious nut-case.
I tell you this story:
I'm not going to go to the sordid details but I used to have a major addiction to pornography. It was a serious addiction that lasted for over ten years and I couldn't stop. But a couple of years back when I started having a relationship with my heavenly Father things changed. One day I just committed myself to leaving it behind and my Father blessed me with his spirit and there was no turning back. The addiction melted away - I mean vanished - overnight. I still had the occasional desire come into my mind but it wasn't overpowering. I just prayed for the holy spirit and I was able to push it way. I've learned many important lessons while growing in the Christ but one of the first was the truth to what is written at Galatians 5:16 -"Keep walking by spirit and you will carry out no fleshly desire at all."
When I was a couple months into my new porn-free, spirit-filled life UPS delivered a big, unmarked box to my front door. Do you know how exciting it is to get a package you didn't order! You think, "Wow! A Present! From who?" I quickly opened to box to find that it was full of pornographic magazines, books, and videos. I checked the address label and it was supposed to have been delivered to the next street over. I turned my head, closed the box and then took it over to the house it was supposed to have gone to.
You think that the Devil does not try to tempt us? I'm sorry but I'm a believer.
Now I'm really wondering why I just shared that little embarrasing story. I guess by being candid and sharing my struggles and victories I might be able to encourage others? Or is it to appease Rebekah who has been lamenting that I don't ever update my blog anymore?
I still do quite a bit of writing for my blog but I seldom publish my entries to the Web. It seems like I can never complete a Blog entry and I have so many entries in draft form that are like five pages long and still not complete. I think I'm unintentionally writing a book or something.
Rebekah asked me what the book was about.
"Sonship ... I think"
"Sun Chips?", she asked.
Sonship - it seems like all these half-written Blog entries are leading toward this idea of what it means to be God's children. This idea about being children of God seems rather ho-hum. Most people just take it as a given that we are all God's children without understanding exactly what this implies. But as I read and research and learn more about it I'm just awestruck. I'm floored by it. So I continue to plug away on the writing - trying to somehow take all these glorious, heavenly concepts it put them in writing. My Father is spoon feeding me though so it is going slow. There are some ideas that I feel he is leading me to but he hasn't quite revealed to me yet. Like I know there is something there that I can't quite get my mind around. I think sometimes he just drips little bits so that our head doesn't explode or something. "I have many things yet to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at present." - John 16:12
I guess I will conclude this with some sad news. It does seem like the elders of my old congregation have turned their attention toward my wife for some reason. They had already abused my family quite a bit when they persecuted and expelled me and now they are attacking Rebekah. Perhaps they feel like their job is unfinished?
You can leave your past life quicker than it will leave you.
I'm sad not so much for my family because I know this persecution is only to fulfill Jesus' words, "A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20) Rather, I'm sad for our persecutors because their actions reveal that they do not know or love the Father. "But they will do all these things against you on account of my name, because they do not know him that sent me." (John 15:21) That is a sad thing.
Additionally, after they were done excoummunicating me I kind of wanted to hold onto the hope that perhaps they felt some regret over what they had done and would leave Rebekah alone. I honestly prayed for their forgiveness and will continue to do so but it is difficult when they want to compound their judgment by repeating their sin. I wish they knew just how strongly God feels about what they are doing. Jeremiah speaks God's Word against the shepherds,
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasturage!” is the utterance of Jehovah.
Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said against the shepherds who are shepherding my people: “You yourselves have scattered my sheep; and you kept dispersing them, and you have not turned your attention to them.”
“Here I am turning my attention upon you for the badness of your dealings,” is the utterance of Jehovah." - Jeremiah 23:1,2
Wood River Body of Elders I'm going to use this opportunity then to speak directly to you since I know you continue to keep tabs on me by reading this blog. I ask you to stop and think about what you did to me and what you are doing now to Rebekah. Do not intesify your error and your guilt. You are being judged by Heaven. My family is not a threat to you or your congregation. We just want to be left alone. You have abused, hurt, betrayed, and lied to us enough. Now let us heal in peace. Nevertheless, I ask in Jesus' name that your sin against us and Heaven not be charged against you.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
So, Are You Gonna Celebrate?
So, are you gonna celebrate?
Yesterday, I turned thirty and the question on everybody's mind was, "So, are you gonna celebrate?" (When I say everybody, I really mean two people. Stay with me - I'm building toward something.)
Today members of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (The official Corporate name of the religion) obstain from birthday celebrations. Being raised as a "Witness" it has been common in the past for me not to celebrate my birthday. Now that I am no longer under the yoke of the Watchtower organization I guess these ones were wondering if I would start celebrating. It's a good question.
First I should explain why "Jehovah's Witnesses" do not observe birthday celebrations.
As explained by their topical Bible guidebook Reasoning from the Scriptures the Bible only references two birthday celebrations and in both cases they are held in somewhat of a negative light. The accounts are that of Pharaoh's birthday where his chief of Bakers is hung (Gen 40:20-22)and Herod's birthday where in the aftermath John the baptizer is executed. (Matt 14:6-10) They reason then that this constitutes God's statement on birthday celebrations and officially shun them as a result. Origen, writing in 245AD reached a similar conclusion. (Note: The Witness injuction on birthday celebrations is not binding on Baby showers which are celebrated festively, but I digress.)
Now certainly I can understand that a person may not wish to celebrate their birthday or that of others based on these two accounts; however, because birthdays are not directly condemned in God's word it would be hard for me to support some sort of blanket ban on them. (Additionally it may be that the Bible does reference another birthday celebration in the book of Job where it speaks of his children feasting on each one's "appointed day". [Job 1:4-5] However whether this "appointed day" should be read as "birthday" cannot be said with any certainty.)
A second reason that "Jehovah's Witnesses" reject birthday celebrations is that certain reference works point out that the early Christians did not observe birthdays. For example Augustus Neander writes "The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general." (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries)
It should be noted though that while birthday celebrations are common place in the general populace today, in the early-Church era birthdays were not universally observed, by Christians or otherwise. In the past only kings, nobles, and other creatures with God-complexes feasted and celebrated on their birthdays. Though in time the birthday celebration was introduced to the common Roman-world through soldiers influenced by the Persian cult of Mithras who held personal birthday celebrations. Birthday celebrations lost popularity as Christianity gained ground in Rome; however they would later experience a resurgence with the Protestant Reformation as a way of supplanting the celebration of the various "Saint's days". And thus concludes a brief history of the birthday celebration courtesy of the contributors at Wikipedia.
Well now you are getting somewhere with me because on a personal level I make an effort to follow the customs of the early Church to the best of my imperfect knowledge, understanding, and ability. The difficulty is that because our culture is very different from theirs we have to make certain judgment calls as to how exact we follow their example. For instance it would have been uncommon for a Christian in the first or second century to wear a wedding ring (particularly a gold one) however Jehovah's Witnesses today routinely keep that practice. So once again I would find it very difficult to have a blanket ban on birthday celebrations based on the practises of the early Church.
So did I celebrate?
Yes.
It is my custom these days to celebrate each and everyday. My current practise is that the first words out of my mouth upon waking up - generally my first waking thoughts - is a word of praise and thanks to my God for giving me another day. As Stuart Murdoch sings in If You Find Yourself Caught In Love, "Say a prayer to the man above - Thank him for every day you pass - Thank him for saving your sorry ass!"
Yeah, personally I cannot see making much of a fuss over my birthday; because, ultimately what am I? Nothing really. Nothing special. As Paul writes to the Church in Rome, "For through the undeserved kindness given to me I tell everyone there among you not to think more of himself than it is necessary to think; but to think so as to have a sound mind, each one as God has distributed to him a measure of faith." - Romans 12:3
Too I feel that it would be particularly fleshly of me to celebrate the day of my physical birth and pay little mind to the day of my spiritual rebirth. I can almost hear Paul now, "So what say we? Should I honor myself on my born again day? Never may that be so!"
What of my born again day?
Well in Paul's inspired terminology it is an "undeserved kindness" (grace) on God's part that he "saved [my] sorry ass", as Murdoch says in the French. Really I didn't do much of anything but just sit there and someway, somehow God saw fit to give me a Spirit baptism. Glory, glory, glory to Him and none to me! Give him the cake and the gifts!
So how did I spend my birthday?
My sister came over and we had a lovely meal of white chili. We then went into the living room and played some songs including the new love song I wrote to the Lord. After that we watched some videos on Church (humorous and serious). Then we shared from God's Word about inviting people to the marraige feast. (The real celebration I'm dying to be a part of!) We next shared a nice plate of chocolate chip cookies and spoke of about practical ways we could bless others. Finally we joined together in thanking God for all he is doing in our lives.
I'll take that over a cake, balloons, and an off-key, throaty rendition of "Happy Birthday©" any day!
Should you celebrate your birthday?
My buzz-word this entry has been personally, and personally I don't care if you celebrate your birthday.
But as for me on my birthday, well I'm ... I'm just happy to be here. Glory and Praise to Almighty God on Highest!
Yesterday, I turned thirty and the question on everybody's mind was, "So, are you gonna celebrate?" (When I say everybody, I really mean two people. Stay with me - I'm building toward something.)
Today members of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (The official Corporate name of the religion) obstain from birthday celebrations. Being raised as a "Witness" it has been common in the past for me not to celebrate my birthday. Now that I am no longer under the yoke of the Watchtower organization I guess these ones were wondering if I would start celebrating. It's a good question.
First I should explain why "Jehovah's Witnesses" do not observe birthday celebrations.
As explained by their topical Bible guidebook Reasoning from the Scriptures the Bible only references two birthday celebrations and in both cases they are held in somewhat of a negative light. The accounts are that of Pharaoh's birthday where his chief of Bakers is hung (Gen 40:20-22)and Herod's birthday where in the aftermath John the baptizer is executed. (Matt 14:6-10) They reason then that this constitutes God's statement on birthday celebrations and officially shun them as a result. Origen, writing in 245AD reached a similar conclusion. (Note: The Witness injuction on birthday celebrations is not binding on Baby showers which are celebrated festively, but I digress.)
Now certainly I can understand that a person may not wish to celebrate their birthday or that of others based on these two accounts; however, because birthdays are not directly condemned in God's word it would be hard for me to support some sort of blanket ban on them. (Additionally it may be that the Bible does reference another birthday celebration in the book of Job where it speaks of his children feasting on each one's "appointed day". [Job 1:4-5] However whether this "appointed day" should be read as "birthday" cannot be said with any certainty.)
A second reason that "Jehovah's Witnesses" reject birthday celebrations is that certain reference works point out that the early Christians did not observe birthdays. For example Augustus Neander writes "The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general." (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries)
It should be noted though that while birthday celebrations are common place in the general populace today, in the early-Church era birthdays were not universally observed, by Christians or otherwise. In the past only kings, nobles, and other creatures with God-complexes feasted and celebrated on their birthdays. Though in time the birthday celebration was introduced to the common Roman-world through soldiers influenced by the Persian cult of Mithras who held personal birthday celebrations. Birthday celebrations lost popularity as Christianity gained ground in Rome; however they would later experience a resurgence with the Protestant Reformation as a way of supplanting the celebration of the various "Saint's days". And thus concludes a brief history of the birthday celebration courtesy of the contributors at Wikipedia.
Well now you are getting somewhere with me because on a personal level I make an effort to follow the customs of the early Church to the best of my imperfect knowledge, understanding, and ability. The difficulty is that because our culture is very different from theirs we have to make certain judgment calls as to how exact we follow their example. For instance it would have been uncommon for a Christian in the first or second century to wear a wedding ring (particularly a gold one) however Jehovah's Witnesses today routinely keep that practice. So once again I would find it very difficult to have a blanket ban on birthday celebrations based on the practises of the early Church.
So did I celebrate?
Yes.
It is my custom these days to celebrate each and everyday. My current practise is that the first words out of my mouth upon waking up - generally my first waking thoughts - is a word of praise and thanks to my God for giving me another day. As Stuart Murdoch sings in If You Find Yourself Caught In Love, "Say a prayer to the man above - Thank him for every day you pass - Thank him for saving your sorry ass!"
Yeah, personally I cannot see making much of a fuss over my birthday; because, ultimately what am I? Nothing really. Nothing special. As Paul writes to the Church in Rome, "For through the undeserved kindness given to me I tell everyone there among you not to think more of himself than it is necessary to think; but to think so as to have a sound mind, each one as God has distributed to him a measure of faith." - Romans 12:3
Too I feel that it would be particularly fleshly of me to celebrate the day of my physical birth and pay little mind to the day of my spiritual rebirth. I can almost hear Paul now, "So what say we? Should I honor myself on my born again day? Never may that be so!"
What of my born again day?
Well in Paul's inspired terminology it is an "undeserved kindness" (grace) on God's part that he "saved [my] sorry ass", as Murdoch says in the French. Really I didn't do much of anything but just sit there and someway, somehow God saw fit to give me a Spirit baptism. Glory, glory, glory to Him and none to me! Give him the cake and the gifts!
So how did I spend my birthday?
My sister came over and we had a lovely meal of white chili. We then went into the living room and played some songs including the new love song I wrote to the Lord. After that we watched some videos on Church (humorous and serious). Then we shared from God's Word about inviting people to the marraige feast. (The real celebration I'm dying to be a part of!) We next shared a nice plate of chocolate chip cookies and spoke of about practical ways we could bless others. Finally we joined together in thanking God for all he is doing in our lives.
I'll take that over a cake, balloons, and an off-key, throaty rendition of "Happy Birthday©" any day!
Should you celebrate your birthday?
My buzz-word this entry has been personally, and personally I don't care if you celebrate your birthday.
But as for me on my birthday, well I'm ... I'm just happy to be here. Glory and Praise to Almighty God on Highest!
Friday, September 22, 2006
Anthony in Disney Dilemma
"If a brother or a sister is in a naked state and lacking the food sufficient for the day, yet a certain one of you says to them: “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them the necessities for [their] body, of what benefit is it?" - James 2:15,16 NWT
If you know us then you know that we are Disney World nuts. A highlight of our last four years has been our annual one week trip to "the World". About a month ago we began planning a 2007 Disney vacation. Everything seemed favourable for us going. Usually we are struggling to pay our property taxes well down to the deadline which leaves little time for saving for a February trip. But this year we were a little more fiscally reponsible and payed our property taxes on time and had gotten an early start on tucking aside some dollars in savings for vacation.
Rebekah takes care of our finances and she mapped out our budget for the next few months. She wrote down how much we could spend each week on groceries, fuel, utilities, etc. and how much we would be setting aside each week for the trip. And like every year I'm amazed at just how much we are able to save when we buckle down and watch our spending.
The other night Rebekah asked me something about the trip. I can't really remember what - probably because I had my nose in a computer screen or a book. I said something like "I don't know if we'll be going - something just seems off about it." But I brushed it away and said that we should continue to save and see what happens.
Now when I say that something was "off" about it I was referring to my conscience that has been giving me some grief about going. However, for me when I really, really want something I will sometimes not listen to what the spirit is telling me. So I do what I can to ignore the voice; yet at times the sound grows too loud and you just want some relief. ("here, here! -- it is the beating of his hideous heart!")
Well here is the problem that we are facing. As Christians, our eyes are being opened to the obligation that we have within our community and neighborhoods to provide for the needs of others. Yes, this is primarily their spiritual needs but just as Jesus taught AND fed, healed and had a money box for the poor, we have a duty as well to take care of the physical needs of others -- "especially toward those related to us in the faith." (Galatians 6:10)
There have been time recently when I have felt compelled to provide some aid to others or perhaps just give them some small token as brother or neighbor. That is the good impulse of the Spirit. However then the Flesh comes in and says well we need to be saving that money for the vacation. After all, we have a budget!
And quite recently I ran across a situation where someone I know is falling upon a difficult financial situation and out of work. We have been making sure to include them in our prayers. In speaking with the individual I mentioned that we were praying for them and their difficult circumstances. A short time thereafter I was doing some thinking about this person's situation and what I had said to them. God then put in my head the scripture from James that I started this blog entry with.
In reflecting on that scipture I believe that it was exactly what I was doing. I was basically wishing somebody well and not offering some measure of practical help that I could easily provide. What good is it to offer prayer and ask for God's help when you are unwilling to give the assistance that is within your power?
Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that praying is powerless or useless. To the contrary James later writes, "A righteous man’s supplication, when it is at work, has much force." (James 5:16) I guess the question is how are prayers answered? Well God certainly uses us to answer some prayers. When the unexpected check comes in the mail it is sent by someone. And not just anyone - someone who was moved to do something good and did not allow fleshly desires (greed) to smother the pure spiritual impulse.
So this is where we sit right now. I've talked it over with Rebekah and she has been feeling the same way. I really think that we need to make the sacrifice this time round and give up the vacation. There are just so many places where we could be using our unrighteous riches per Luke 16:11.
"So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
(Even Mina last night mentioned that we should be sending money to China to the people that make her toys and don't get paid very much.)
We haven't come to a conclusion yet but are in the middle of the thought process. As I find that writing helps me to clarify things in my mind I'm sharing this with you.
If you know us then you know that we are Disney World nuts. A highlight of our last four years has been our annual one week trip to "the World". About a month ago we began planning a 2007 Disney vacation. Everything seemed favourable for us going. Usually we are struggling to pay our property taxes well down to the deadline which leaves little time for saving for a February trip. But this year we were a little more fiscally reponsible and payed our property taxes on time and had gotten an early start on tucking aside some dollars in savings for vacation.
Rebekah takes care of our finances and she mapped out our budget for the next few months. She wrote down how much we could spend each week on groceries, fuel, utilities, etc. and how much we would be setting aside each week for the trip. And like every year I'm amazed at just how much we are able to save when we buckle down and watch our spending.
The other night Rebekah asked me something about the trip. I can't really remember what - probably because I had my nose in a computer screen or a book. I said something like "I don't know if we'll be going - something just seems off about it." But I brushed it away and said that we should continue to save and see what happens.
Now when I say that something was "off" about it I was referring to my conscience that has been giving me some grief about going. However, for me when I really, really want something I will sometimes not listen to what the spirit is telling me. So I do what I can to ignore the voice; yet at times the sound grows too loud and you just want some relief. ("here, here! -- it is the beating of his hideous heart!")
Well here is the problem that we are facing. As Christians, our eyes are being opened to the obligation that we have within our community and neighborhoods to provide for the needs of others. Yes, this is primarily their spiritual needs but just as Jesus taught AND fed, healed and had a money box for the poor, we have a duty as well to take care of the physical needs of others -- "especially toward those related to us in the faith." (Galatians 6:10)
There have been time recently when I have felt compelled to provide some aid to others or perhaps just give them some small token as brother or neighbor. That is the good impulse of the Spirit. However then the Flesh comes in and says well we need to be saving that money for the vacation. After all, we have a budget!
And quite recently I ran across a situation where someone I know is falling upon a difficult financial situation and out of work. We have been making sure to include them in our prayers. In speaking with the individual I mentioned that we were praying for them and their difficult circumstances. A short time thereafter I was doing some thinking about this person's situation and what I had said to them. God then put in my head the scripture from James that I started this blog entry with.
In reflecting on that scipture I believe that it was exactly what I was doing. I was basically wishing somebody well and not offering some measure of practical help that I could easily provide. What good is it to offer prayer and ask for God's help when you are unwilling to give the assistance that is within your power?
Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that praying is powerless or useless. To the contrary James later writes, "A righteous man’s supplication, when it is at work, has much force." (James 5:16) I guess the question is how are prayers answered? Well God certainly uses us to answer some prayers. When the unexpected check comes in the mail it is sent by someone. And not just anyone - someone who was moved to do something good and did not allow fleshly desires (greed) to smother the pure spiritual impulse.
So this is where we sit right now. I've talked it over with Rebekah and she has been feeling the same way. I really think that we need to make the sacrifice this time round and give up the vacation. There are just so many places where we could be using our unrighteous riches per Luke 16:11.
"So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
(Even Mina last night mentioned that we should be sending money to China to the people that make her toys and don't get paid very much.)
We haven't come to a conclusion yet but are in the middle of the thought process. As I find that writing helps me to clarify things in my mind I'm sharing this with you.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
An Update - Yes I'm Still Alive
I have nothing world changing or life altering or even interesting to say . . . but I would like to add this update to let my friends know that I'm still alive and running the race.
During the month of August leading into early September I fasted for various reasons - but a part was the desire to move on from the past and enter into a new phase of my personal ministry.
Now for two weeks we have been blessed to be able to open our home up for a tiny fellowship. It wasn't really something that was planned - it just kind of sprung up. (I really need to quit trying to plan anything and just let my Father do His work.)
I have been inviting people and think tonight we may have someone new with us. (YAY!) My prayer now is that we will be able to grow spiritually and that God will lead us to the purity of the agape feasts of the early Christian Church. I also hope that I can be good friend, brother, and shepherd to those who God is bringing into our lives.
I can say this road that I'm on has been really, really crazy - but never, ever dull.
I really hope to begin writing some more soon but really we have quite a bit going on with the planting - please bear with me.
Yours in the Christ,
Anthony
During the month of August leading into early September I fasted for various reasons - but a part was the desire to move on from the past and enter into a new phase of my personal ministry.
Now for two weeks we have been blessed to be able to open our home up for a tiny fellowship. It wasn't really something that was planned - it just kind of sprung up. (I really need to quit trying to plan anything and just let my Father do His work.)
I have been inviting people and think tonight we may have someone new with us. (YAY!) My prayer now is that we will be able to grow spiritually and that God will lead us to the purity of the agape feasts of the early Christian Church. I also hope that I can be good friend, brother, and shepherd to those who God is bringing into our lives.
I can say this road that I'm on has been really, really crazy - but never, ever dull.
I really hope to begin writing some more soon but really we have quite a bit going on with the planting - please bear with me.
Yours in the Christ,
Anthony
Monday, August 28, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Outside the Camp - Part 1
In the law of Moses a protection was arranged for the purity of the people who lived within the camp of Israel. For example:
And yet an anomoly exists in the book of Exodus - because outside the camp is also where Moses pitched the "tent of meeting", the sacred place where an individual had to go in order to commune with God. (Exodus 33:7) It is interesting to see just how this situation developed.
Jehovah had lovingly lead the children of Abraham out of Egyptian bondage, displaying His awesome power in a way never before seen by them, first through the ten plagues and later at the Red Sea where he delivered them from Pharoah and the army of Egypt. He lead them to the base of Mt. Sinai and revealed His pleasure to conclude a contract with them to make them His special people.
"And now if you will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then you will certainly become my special property out of all peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me. And you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." - Exodus 19:5,6
The Israelites responded unaminously in agreement to enter into this sacred covenant with Jehovah saying, "All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do." (Exodus 19:8) Preparations were then made before Jehovah - with everyone sanctifying themselves and becoming clean. (Exodus 19:10,14,15)
On the third day of the preperation Moses ascended to the top of Mt. Sinai. It was there that he received the ten commandments and law of Jehovah which he relayed to the People and again the people again answered, "All the words that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do" - Exodus 24:3
Since the people had accepted the Law that Jehovah had put before them it was His will to set up a very special arrangement by which He could spiritually dwell directly in their midst. Jehovah again called Moses to the mountain in order to transmit instructions for the building a special structure called the "tabernacle" or "tent of meeting" where he would reside in among them.
In Exodus 29:45,46 Jehovah says, "And I will tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will prove to be their God. And they will certainly know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I may tabernacle in the midst of them. I am Jehovah their God."
While Moses was yet a top the Mountain receiving instructions for this wonderful provision from God the people below grew restless feeling that perhaps Moses had perished. The account reads, "So the people congregated themselves about Aaraon and said to him: "Get up, make for us a god who will go ahead of us, because as regards this Moses, the man who led us out of the land of Egypt, we certain do not know what has happened to him" - Exodus 32:1
Aaron relented and constructed an idol in the form of a golden calf saying "This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt." He then built an altar before it and declared: "There is a festival to Jehovah tomorrow". (Exodus 32:4,5) Earlier the next day the people got up and began offering sacrafices before the calf statue and celebrating.
Jehovah was incensed at this rebellion. His anger was so great that He told Moses that He was desiring to destroy all of the sons of Israel and start a new promised line from the sons of Moses. (Exodus 32:10) Moses pleaded with God not to do such a thing and to keep his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. This served to momentarily abate Jehovah's great anger.
Moses descended down the mountain carrying the two "tablets of Testimony". These tablets were a gift given to Moses directly by God who made them as it reads, "and the tablets where the workmanship of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved upon the tablets". - Exodus 32:16
As Moses got near the camp he heard the celebration of the people's idolatrous revelry. (Exodus 32:18) Upon coming near enough to see the calf image and the people dancing about it Moses' anger blazed like Jehovah's had before. Moses' anger was manifested in his throwing down the tablets. The second commandment written upon them expressely condemned the making of "a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth." (Exodus 19:4) In as much as the people had broken this command the stone tablets shattered in symbolism at the base of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19)
Moses then took his stand before the camp and "Who is on Jehovah's side? To me!" With this the Levites seperated themselves to Moses' side and after receiving divine instruction put to death 3,000 men who were engaged in the idol worship." (Exodus 32:26-29) By doing so they became dedicated as priests. "Moses said, 'Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day'" - Exodus 32:29, NRSV
Moses then attempted to intercede on behalf of the people who had sinned because they were under a death sentence for their disobediance. Jehovah affirmed that they would die saying "I shall certainly bring punishment upon them for their sin". It was then that a plague manifested itself in the camp." (Exodus 32:30-35)
Sin carries consequence, in this case a plague. However, as bad as the plague was what was worse was that people had lost their special privilege of being able to dwell right in the midst of God. Their lawlessness caused Jehovah to withdraw from them. He no longer indentified them as "my people" and instead began referring to them as "your people" when talking to Moses (Exodus 7:1; 33:1) Ultimately, Jehovah declares that he will not continue with the people saying, "I shall not go up in the midst of you." - Exodus 33:3
The Israelites are cut to the heart over this; thus, the people began to mourn over their sin and would not put on their gold ornaments. Jehovah in his graciousness took note of this turning around and outlined that this action needed to be taken by the entire people to show their repentance. He said through Moses. "So now put down your ornaments off yourself." (Exodus 33:4-6) The people obeyed.
[We may wonder how is it that removing these ornaments show repentance for their earlier idolatry? For one thing it was similar pieces of jewerly that were used to mold into the calf image. In ancient times jewelry was often linked with false gods and worship. (Compare Genesis 35:1-4; Ezekiel 16:17; Hosea 2:13) These pieces of jewelry may have been taken from the Egyptians as the Israelites were leaving Egypt. (Exodus 12:35)]
Before God had purposed to pitch his tent directly in the middle of the camp but now the Scriptures have this tent being place far outside the camp.
We read: "As for Moses, he proceeded to take his tent away and he pitched it outside the camp, far away from the camp; and he called it a tent of meeting. And it occurred that everyone inquiring of Jehovah would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp." - Exodus 33:7
By putting the tent outside the camp it served as a visible symbol as to how Jehovah had distanced himself from the nation. Their uncleaness was severe and God could not dwell with them. Yet complete approach to God was not blocked off from the people. Due to their repentance and His great love, He didn't turn away from the totally. They were gifted a provision to speak with Him; but in order to do so they had to seperate themselves from the camp and seek him outside the camp.
It would take another intercession by Moses before God would agree to accept the Israelites back again as His people and continue with them. (Exodus 33:12-17) Later on in the recorded record the tabernacle of God was placed in the center of the camp and God's presence was manifest there as a cloud by day and fire by night. (Numbers 2:17; Exodus 40:33-38) Jehovah had returned to dwelling with them!
- The physically "unclean" such as lepers were excommunicated and had to dwell outside the boundaries of the camp. (Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 12:14,15; 14:3)
- Individuals who were defiled by running discharges or infection were quarantined outside the camp. (Numbers 5:1-4)
- The unused remains of sacrificial bulls and animal waste was disposed of outside the camp. (Exodus 29:13)
- Criminals and law breakers were executed outside the camp. (Leviticus 24:14; Numbers 15:35,36)
- Outside the camp was where human excrement was buried. (Deutoronomy 23:12,13)
And yet an anomoly exists in the book of Exodus - because outside the camp is also where Moses pitched the "tent of meeting", the sacred place where an individual had to go in order to commune with God. (Exodus 33:7) It is interesting to see just how this situation developed.
Jehovah had lovingly lead the children of Abraham out of Egyptian bondage, displaying His awesome power in a way never before seen by them, first through the ten plagues and later at the Red Sea where he delivered them from Pharoah and the army of Egypt. He lead them to the base of Mt. Sinai and revealed His pleasure to conclude a contract with them to make them His special people.
"And now if you will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then you will certainly become my special property out of all peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me. And you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." - Exodus 19:5,6
The Israelites responded unaminously in agreement to enter into this sacred covenant with Jehovah saying, "All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do." (Exodus 19:8) Preparations were then made before Jehovah - with everyone sanctifying themselves and becoming clean. (Exodus 19:10,14,15)
On the third day of the preperation Moses ascended to the top of Mt. Sinai. It was there that he received the ten commandments and law of Jehovah which he relayed to the People and again the people again answered, "All the words that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do" - Exodus 24:3
Since the people had accepted the Law that Jehovah had put before them it was His will to set up a very special arrangement by which He could spiritually dwell directly in their midst. Jehovah again called Moses to the mountain in order to transmit instructions for the building a special structure called the "tabernacle" or "tent of meeting" where he would reside in among them.
In Exodus 29:45,46 Jehovah says, "And I will tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will prove to be their God. And they will certainly know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I may tabernacle in the midst of them. I am Jehovah their God."
While Moses was yet a top the Mountain receiving instructions for this wonderful provision from God the people below grew restless feeling that perhaps Moses had perished. The account reads, "So the people congregated themselves about Aaraon and said to him: "Get up, make for us a god who will go ahead of us, because as regards this Moses, the man who led us out of the land of Egypt, we certain do not know what has happened to him" - Exodus 32:1
Aaron relented and constructed an idol in the form of a golden calf saying "This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt." He then built an altar before it and declared: "There is a festival to Jehovah tomorrow". (Exodus 32:4,5) Earlier the next day the people got up and began offering sacrafices before the calf statue and celebrating.
Jehovah was incensed at this rebellion. His anger was so great that He told Moses that He was desiring to destroy all of the sons of Israel and start a new promised line from the sons of Moses. (Exodus 32:10) Moses pleaded with God not to do such a thing and to keep his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. This served to momentarily abate Jehovah's great anger.
Moses descended down the mountain carrying the two "tablets of Testimony". These tablets were a gift given to Moses directly by God who made them as it reads, "and the tablets where the workmanship of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved upon the tablets". - Exodus 32:16
As Moses got near the camp he heard the celebration of the people's idolatrous revelry. (Exodus 32:18) Upon coming near enough to see the calf image and the people dancing about it Moses' anger blazed like Jehovah's had before. Moses' anger was manifested in his throwing down the tablets. The second commandment written upon them expressely condemned the making of "a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth." (Exodus 19:4) In as much as the people had broken this command the stone tablets shattered in symbolism at the base of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19)
Moses then took his stand before the camp and "Who is on Jehovah's side? To me!" With this the Levites seperated themselves to Moses' side and after receiving divine instruction put to death 3,000 men who were engaged in the idol worship." (Exodus 32:26-29) By doing so they became dedicated as priests. "Moses said, 'Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day'" - Exodus 32:29, NRSV
Moses then attempted to intercede on behalf of the people who had sinned because they were under a death sentence for their disobediance. Jehovah affirmed that they would die saying "I shall certainly bring punishment upon them for their sin". It was then that a plague manifested itself in the camp." (Exodus 32:30-35)
Sin carries consequence, in this case a plague. However, as bad as the plague was what was worse was that people had lost their special privilege of being able to dwell right in the midst of God. Their lawlessness caused Jehovah to withdraw from them. He no longer indentified them as "my people" and instead began referring to them as "your people" when talking to Moses (Exodus 7:1; 33:1) Ultimately, Jehovah declares that he will not continue with the people saying, "I shall not go up in the midst of you." - Exodus 33:3
The Israelites are cut to the heart over this; thus, the people began to mourn over their sin and would not put on their gold ornaments. Jehovah in his graciousness took note of this turning around and outlined that this action needed to be taken by the entire people to show their repentance. He said through Moses. "So now put down your ornaments off yourself." (Exodus 33:4-6) The people obeyed.
[We may wonder how is it that removing these ornaments show repentance for their earlier idolatry? For one thing it was similar pieces of jewerly that were used to mold into the calf image. In ancient times jewelry was often linked with false gods and worship. (Compare Genesis 35:1-4; Ezekiel 16:17; Hosea 2:13) These pieces of jewelry may have been taken from the Egyptians as the Israelites were leaving Egypt. (Exodus 12:35)]
Before God had purposed to pitch his tent directly in the middle of the camp but now the Scriptures have this tent being place far outside the camp.
We read: "As for Moses, he proceeded to take his tent away and he pitched it outside the camp, far away from the camp; and he called it a tent of meeting. And it occurred that everyone inquiring of Jehovah would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp." - Exodus 33:7
By putting the tent outside the camp it served as a visible symbol as to how Jehovah had distanced himself from the nation. Their uncleaness was severe and God could not dwell with them. Yet complete approach to God was not blocked off from the people. Due to their repentance and His great love, He didn't turn away from the totally. They were gifted a provision to speak with Him; but in order to do so they had to seperate themselves from the camp and seek him outside the camp.
It would take another intercession by Moses before God would agree to accept the Israelites back again as His people and continue with them. (Exodus 33:12-17) Later on in the recorded record the tabernacle of God was placed in the center of the camp and God's presence was manifest there as a cloud by day and fire by night. (Numbers 2:17; Exodus 40:33-38) Jehovah had returned to dwelling with them!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
The Winged Lions of Babylon
“The first one was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I kept on beholding until its wings were plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth and was made to stand up on two feet just like a man, and there was given to it the heart of a man." - Daniel 7:4
In the prophet Daniel's vision of four world powers represented by beasts, Babylon is described as a winged lion. In the Babylonian religion the winged-lion represented their chief diety Bel/Marduk. Sculptures of winged lions, such as the one pictured to the left, were present in ancient Babylon. It is said that the winged lion was the national symbol of the empire. Therefore, in the vision given to Daniel the winged-lion was an appropriate representation of ancient Babylon.
In the prophet Daniel's vision of four world powers represented by beasts, Babylon is described as a winged lion. In the Babylonian religion the winged-lion represented their chief diety Bel/Marduk. Sculptures of winged lions, such as the one pictured to the left, were present in ancient Babylon. It is said that the winged lion was the national symbol of the empire. Therefore, in the vision given to Daniel the winged-lion was an appropriate representation of ancient Babylon.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Jesus and the Divine Name
Righteous Father, the world has, indeed, not come to know you; but I have come to know you, and these have come to know that you sent me forth. And I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them.”- John 17:25,26
On the night prior to his execution Jesus prayed those words. Taken as a whole they are a beautiful reminder of the way that we can come to know the Father through the Son. This thought is detailed in John chapter 14. Verse 6 well sumarizes it, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
However the purpose of this discussion is to key in on Jesus expression, "I have made your name known to them and will make it known".
A Brief History of the Divine Name
God's Name appears thousands of times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the original Hebrew text it appears as four consonants, commonly called the the Tetragrammaton -- YHWH when transliterated into English. In the original Hebrew writings vowels were not used and it was up to the reader to supply the vowel sounds.
Sometime after the Babylonian exile and before Jesus came to earth (during Alexander the Great's reign according to Rabbinic tradition) God's Name was held to be too sacred to pronounce and it dropped out of common usage. The Hebrew word Adonai, or Lord, was used as substitution for the name of God.
Thereafter the original Divine Name was only pronounced once a year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Pronoucing God's Name outside these times carried severe penalties. It was considered blasphemy and any who pronounced it were subject to death by stoning.
With the destruction of the temple in 70AD the priestly services were forcibly discontinued and the Divine Name was no longer invoked. Thus overtime the original pronunciation of the Name was lost with only the four consonants of the Tetragrammaton remaining in the Scriptures as a clue to the original pronunciation.
Eventually the Tetragrammaton was removed from the common Greek translation of the Bible called the Septuagint where it was generally replaced with the Greek word Kyrious or Lord. This translation tradition has carried over to English Bibles where God's Name is rendered as The LORD.
There is evidence that in the early Christian communities the Name of God still remained in the Hebrew writings. The oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagint contain the Hebrew Tetragrammaton. The Hebrew Tetragrammaton appears in the Christian Scholar Origen's Hexapla - a parallel version of the Hebrew Scriptures in six versions. Additionally Jerome writing in the late fourth century commented that the name of God was still around in certain Greek volumes.
What about the New Testament? The Christian Greek Scriptures contain numerous references to the Hebrew Scriptures. For the most part these citations suggest the Septuagint as the source material. In the available texts of the Greek Scriptures we find the Greek word Kyrious, or Lord, used as a substitution.
However there is one interesting text available that suggests the early use of the Divine Name in Matthew's Gospel. Christian tradition has it that Matthew was originally written in the "Hebrew tongue (Hebrew or possibly Aramaic) as testified to by Papias, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome.
In Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew the Divine Name appears twenty times as "The Name". Use of "The Name" is not limited to just scriptural citations where the Tetragrammaton appeared. It also is used in phrases such as the "the House of The Name" and "an angel of The Name". Additionally it is used when scriptures are introduced, "All this was to complete what was written by the prophet according to The Name". There is debate as to whether or not Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew represents the original Hebrew version of Matthew. However the appearance of "The Name" in the text suggests that Shem-Tob's Matthew may have roots with an early pre-Greek version.
Did Jesus Use The Divine Name?
While there are no explicit references to Jesus uttering The Name in the Greek Scriptures there are hints and suggestions that he probably did so.
In the Greek Scriptures Jesus referred to God as Father and Abba. However he often made reference to God's "name". From these we can see that God's Name was very important to Jesus and essential to his ministry.
The Lord's prayer begins, "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified." Matthew 6:9
"Father, glorify your name." John 12:28
At John 17:6,26 Jesus prays, "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world ... I have made your name known to them."
"I have come in the name of my Father" John 5:43
These scriptures do much to suggest that Jesus made use of God's Name. However further scriptural proof is found in the charge that was used to condemn Jesus to death, namely, blasphemy. From a legal standpoint, blapshemy was pronouncing the Tetragrammaton for some forbidden purpose. The fact that Jesus was declared guilty of blasphemy strongly appeals to the idea that he used it in some fashion.
In a Jewish retelling of the gospel account Toledot Yeshu it is stated that Jesus performed wonders by abusing the powers of God's name. Further in the Talmudic Sanhedrin is found an account of Balaam, which later Jewish interpreters feel is a codified name for Jesus. Regarding Balaam Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says, "Woe to him who makes him to live with the name of God." Some understand this to mean that Balaam resurrected himself by pronouncing the ineffable name of God.
Granted these Jewish works were written with the intent of smearing Jesus however the Bible does seem to harmonize with the idea that Jesus did use the Name of God, that he peformed miracles in the Name of God, and that he was charged with blasphemy because of it.
First we consider Jesus words at John 10:25 that "The works that I am doing in the name of my Father testify to me."
So here Jesus says that he is performing miraculous works in the name of his Father. Now we may feel that when he says he is doing something in the name of his Father it is only in a representative sense that his works had the backing of his Father. However there seems to more to this account as we pick up at John 10:31-38.
"Once more the Jews lifted up stones to stone him. Jesus replied to them: “I displayed to YOU many fine works from the Father. For which of those works are YOU stoning me?” The Jews answered him: “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy, even because you, although being a man, make yourself a god.” Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “YOU are gods”’? If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came, and yet the Scripture cannot be nullified, do YOU say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son? If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing them, even though YOU do not believe me, believe the works, in order that YOU may come to know and may continue knowing that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father.”
Now we consider that when the Jews attempt to stone Jesus he asks them if they are stoning him in response to his works and they say they are stoning him for blasphemy. Once again we call to mind that strictly speaking blasphemy was uttering God's Name for a forbidden purpose.
If it does prove to be true that Jesus made use of the Divine Name when working miracles the egnimatic account of Jesus accusing the Scribes blapheming against the Holy Spirit takes a greater meaning. We read in Mark 3:22,28-30
Also, the scribes that came down from Jerusalem were saying: “He has Beelzebub, and he expels the demons by means of the ruler of the demons.” ... Truly I say to YOU that all things will be forgiven the sons of men, no matter what sins and blasphemies they blasphemously commit. However, whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of everlasting sin.” This, because they were saying: “He has an unclean spirit.”
If we imagine that Jesus was expelling demons by means of God's Name and the scribes took offense and said that Jesus was instead expelling demons by means of the ruler of the demons then they would be in effect calling God, Satan. Furthermore if he was being accused of blasphemy for using God's Name when expelling demons he is here turning it around and saying that Scribes are the ones who are really committing the blasphemy, first by denying the power of God and second by saying that it orginates with the Devil.
Another interesting account where Jesus is charged with blasphemy in connection with performing miracles is at Mark 2:5-7 which reads:
"And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now there were some of the scribes there, sitting and reasoning in their hearts: “Why is this man talking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except one, God?"
Earlier on we spoke the only occasions in Jesus day where the Divine Name was allowed to be spoken and that was on the Day of Atonement - the ceremonial day linked with the annual atoning of sins for the people. On that day the High Priest presided over the offerings and spoke the ieneffible Divine Name after each offering. Hence in Jesus' day the Divine Name was specifically linked with the forgiveness of sins. Indeed only in this connection and on this one day of the year was it spoken.
The simplest straight forward meaning to this account is that by forgiving sins the scribes felt that Jesus was making himself God. However once again if it holds that blasphemy was making use of the Divine Name then we have to consider whether or not Jesus made use of The Name in connection with forgiving sins and healing the paralytic.
In Mark is found another intriguing incident. Mark 11 & 12 records Jesus' run-ins with the religious teachers of Judea who are trying to trap him wih their questionings. The focus of the narration is on Jesus successfully overturning these tricks with his wisdom, first to the priests & scribes (11:27-32), then the Pharisees and party of Herod (12:13-17), and then the Sadducees (12:18-27). Our specific focus is on the account of the priests & scribes found at Mark 11:27-32.
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the older men came to him and began to say to him: “By what authority do you do these things? or who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them: “I will ask you one question. you answer me, and I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism by John from heaven or from men? Answer me.” So they began to reason among themselves, saying: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why is it, therefore, you did not believe him?’ But dare we say, ‘From men’?”—They were in fear of the crowd, for these all held that John had really been a prophet. Well, in reply to Jesus they said: “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them: “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
Now what we have to consider is what kind of damning response did the priests and scribes wish to solicit from Jesus and why did Jesus not give them a straight answer. As we considered previously there is the idea that Jesus healed and forgave sins by use of the Divine Name. So when the priests and scribes asked Jesus by whose authority did he do those things where they trying to get him to commit "blasphemy" by uttering the Divine Name? It seems quite possible.
Now for the sake of completing this study I would like to look at John 8:58,59.
"Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am" So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple."
When reading this account we have to ask what was it that caused the Jews to attempt to stone Jesus. John 8:58 finishes up a lengthy passage where Jesus judges the Jews in no uncertain terms calling them among other things liars. So perhaps they were so angry with Jesus words that they attempted to physically attack him. That is certainly feasible.
Alternatively we can consider whether or not it was Jesus using the phrase "I AM" as a reference to the Name of God as found in Exodus 3:14 and since this was perceived as blasphemy they attempted to stone him. What we have at John 8:58 is a Greek translation of what Jesus originally spoke in Aramaic. Thus we can't be sure of whether or not Jesus did refer to the Divine Name in his expression and John chose the equivalent Septuagint phrasing of the Name recorded in Exodus 3:14.
With this in mind we consider Jesus arrest as recorded in John 18:4-6
"Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked the, "Whom are you looking for?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." When Jesus said to them, "I am" they stepped back and fell to the ground."
We have to consider what was it about Jesus expression, "I am" that literally caused these men to fall to the ground? It doesn't seem likely that they were so stunned by Jesus forthrightness that they fell to the ground. If we do interpret this as Jesus saying God's Name then the reaction of the men and their falling to the ground seems very likely.
Continuing to Jesus' trial as recorded at Mark 14:61-63:
"Again the high priest began to question him and said to him: “Are you the Christ the Son of the Blessed One?” Then Jesus said: “I am; and YOU persons will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” At this the high priest ripped his inner garments and said: “What further need do we have of witnesses? YOU heard the blasphemy. What is evident to YOU?” They all condemned him to be liable to death."
Once again we have Jesus being charged with blasphemy. Casually looking at it this scripture we may assume that his blasphemy was saying he was the Messiah (Christ) or that he was the Son of God or the Son of Man. However legally neither of these technically constituted blasphemy. So why is that what Jesus said that so enraged the High Priest that he said, "you heard the blasphemy". Well once again we may have Jesus making reference to the Divine Name when he said "I am."
In conclusion we can summarize the evidences that Jesus used the Divine Name that we have considered.
1.) Jesus' words that he had made God's Name known.
2.) Rabbinic and Jewish sources that said that Jesus worked magic by using God's Name.
3.) That Jesus was repeatedly charged with blasphemy which was literally using God's Name in any way.
4.) The possibility that Greek expression "I am" eigo eimi is a codified form of the Divine Name and a reference to the Septuagint rendering of Exodus 3:14.
On the night prior to his execution Jesus prayed those words. Taken as a whole they are a beautiful reminder of the way that we can come to know the Father through the Son. This thought is detailed in John chapter 14. Verse 6 well sumarizes it, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
However the purpose of this discussion is to key in on Jesus expression, "I have made your name known to them and will make it known".
A Brief History of the Divine Name
God's Name appears thousands of times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the original Hebrew text it appears as four consonants, commonly called the the Tetragrammaton -- YHWH when transliterated into English. In the original Hebrew writings vowels were not used and it was up to the reader to supply the vowel sounds.
Sometime after the Babylonian exile and before Jesus came to earth (during Alexander the Great's reign according to Rabbinic tradition) God's Name was held to be too sacred to pronounce and it dropped out of common usage. The Hebrew word Adonai, or Lord, was used as substitution for the name of God.
Thereafter the original Divine Name was only pronounced once a year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Pronoucing God's Name outside these times carried severe penalties. It was considered blasphemy and any who pronounced it were subject to death by stoning.
With the destruction of the temple in 70AD the priestly services were forcibly discontinued and the Divine Name was no longer invoked. Thus overtime the original pronunciation of the Name was lost with only the four consonants of the Tetragrammaton remaining in the Scriptures as a clue to the original pronunciation.
Eventually the Tetragrammaton was removed from the common Greek translation of the Bible called the Septuagint where it was generally replaced with the Greek word Kyrious or Lord. This translation tradition has carried over to English Bibles where God's Name is rendered as The LORD.
There is evidence that in the early Christian communities the Name of God still remained in the Hebrew writings. The oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagint contain the Hebrew Tetragrammaton. The Hebrew Tetragrammaton appears in the Christian Scholar Origen's Hexapla - a parallel version of the Hebrew Scriptures in six versions. Additionally Jerome writing in the late fourth century commented that the name of God was still around in certain Greek volumes.
What about the New Testament? The Christian Greek Scriptures contain numerous references to the Hebrew Scriptures. For the most part these citations suggest the Septuagint as the source material. In the available texts of the Greek Scriptures we find the Greek word Kyrious, or Lord, used as a substitution.
However there is one interesting text available that suggests the early use of the Divine Name in Matthew's Gospel. Christian tradition has it that Matthew was originally written in the "Hebrew tongue (Hebrew or possibly Aramaic) as testified to by Papias, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome.
In Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew the Divine Name appears twenty times as "The Name". Use of "The Name" is not limited to just scriptural citations where the Tetragrammaton appeared. It also is used in phrases such as the "the House of The Name" and "an angel of The Name". Additionally it is used when scriptures are introduced, "All this was to complete what was written by the prophet according to The Name". There is debate as to whether or not Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew represents the original Hebrew version of Matthew. However the appearance of "The Name" in the text suggests that Shem-Tob's Matthew may have roots with an early pre-Greek version.
Did Jesus Use The Divine Name?
While there are no explicit references to Jesus uttering The Name in the Greek Scriptures there are hints and suggestions that he probably did so.
In the Greek Scriptures Jesus referred to God as Father and Abba. However he often made reference to God's "name". From these we can see that God's Name was very important to Jesus and essential to his ministry.
The Lord's prayer begins, "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified." Matthew 6:9
"Father, glorify your name." John 12:28
At John 17:6,26 Jesus prays, "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world ... I have made your name known to them."
"I have come in the name of my Father" John 5:43
These scriptures do much to suggest that Jesus made use of God's Name. However further scriptural proof is found in the charge that was used to condemn Jesus to death, namely, blasphemy. From a legal standpoint, blapshemy was pronouncing the Tetragrammaton for some forbidden purpose. The fact that Jesus was declared guilty of blasphemy strongly appeals to the idea that he used it in some fashion.
In a Jewish retelling of the gospel account Toledot Yeshu it is stated that Jesus performed wonders by abusing the powers of God's name. Further in the Talmudic Sanhedrin is found an account of Balaam, which later Jewish interpreters feel is a codified name for Jesus. Regarding Balaam Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says, "Woe to him who makes him to live with the name of God." Some understand this to mean that Balaam resurrected himself by pronouncing the ineffable name of God.
Granted these Jewish works were written with the intent of smearing Jesus however the Bible does seem to harmonize with the idea that Jesus did use the Name of God, that he peformed miracles in the Name of God, and that he was charged with blasphemy because of it.
First we consider Jesus words at John 10:25 that "The works that I am doing in the name of my Father testify to me."
So here Jesus says that he is performing miraculous works in the name of his Father. Now we may feel that when he says he is doing something in the name of his Father it is only in a representative sense that his works had the backing of his Father. However there seems to more to this account as we pick up at John 10:31-38.
"Once more the Jews lifted up stones to stone him. Jesus replied to them: “I displayed to YOU many fine works from the Father. For which of those works are YOU stoning me?” The Jews answered him: “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy, even because you, although being a man, make yourself a god.” Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “YOU are gods”’? If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came, and yet the Scripture cannot be nullified, do YOU say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son? If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing them, even though YOU do not believe me, believe the works, in order that YOU may come to know and may continue knowing that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father.”
Now we consider that when the Jews attempt to stone Jesus he asks them if they are stoning him in response to his works and they say they are stoning him for blasphemy. Once again we call to mind that strictly speaking blasphemy was uttering God's Name for a forbidden purpose.
If it does prove to be true that Jesus made use of the Divine Name when working miracles the egnimatic account of Jesus accusing the Scribes blapheming against the Holy Spirit takes a greater meaning. We read in Mark 3:22,28-30
Also, the scribes that came down from Jerusalem were saying: “He has Beelzebub, and he expels the demons by means of the ruler of the demons.” ... Truly I say to YOU that all things will be forgiven the sons of men, no matter what sins and blasphemies they blasphemously commit. However, whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of everlasting sin.” This, because they were saying: “He has an unclean spirit.”
If we imagine that Jesus was expelling demons by means of God's Name and the scribes took offense and said that Jesus was instead expelling demons by means of the ruler of the demons then they would be in effect calling God, Satan. Furthermore if he was being accused of blasphemy for using God's Name when expelling demons he is here turning it around and saying that Scribes are the ones who are really committing the blasphemy, first by denying the power of God and second by saying that it orginates with the Devil.
Another interesting account where Jesus is charged with blasphemy in connection with performing miracles is at Mark 2:5-7 which reads:
"And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now there were some of the scribes there, sitting and reasoning in their hearts: “Why is this man talking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except one, God?"
Earlier on we spoke the only occasions in Jesus day where the Divine Name was allowed to be spoken and that was on the Day of Atonement - the ceremonial day linked with the annual atoning of sins for the people. On that day the High Priest presided over the offerings and spoke the ieneffible Divine Name after each offering. Hence in Jesus' day the Divine Name was specifically linked with the forgiveness of sins. Indeed only in this connection and on this one day of the year was it spoken.
The simplest straight forward meaning to this account is that by forgiving sins the scribes felt that Jesus was making himself God. However once again if it holds that blasphemy was making use of the Divine Name then we have to consider whether or not Jesus made use of The Name in connection with forgiving sins and healing the paralytic.
In Mark is found another intriguing incident. Mark 11 & 12 records Jesus' run-ins with the religious teachers of Judea who are trying to trap him wih their questionings. The focus of the narration is on Jesus successfully overturning these tricks with his wisdom, first to the priests & scribes (11:27-32), then the Pharisees and party of Herod (12:13-17), and then the Sadducees (12:18-27). Our specific focus is on the account of the priests & scribes found at Mark 11:27-32.
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the older men came to him and began to say to him: “By what authority do you do these things? or who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them: “I will ask you one question. you answer me, and I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism by John from heaven or from men? Answer me.” So they began to reason among themselves, saying: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why is it, therefore, you did not believe him?’ But dare we say, ‘From men’?”—They were in fear of the crowd, for these all held that John had really been a prophet. Well, in reply to Jesus they said: “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them: “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
Now what we have to consider is what kind of damning response did the priests and scribes wish to solicit from Jesus and why did Jesus not give them a straight answer. As we considered previously there is the idea that Jesus healed and forgave sins by use of the Divine Name. So when the priests and scribes asked Jesus by whose authority did he do those things where they trying to get him to commit "blasphemy" by uttering the Divine Name? It seems quite possible.
Now for the sake of completing this study I would like to look at John 8:58,59.
"Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am" So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple."
When reading this account we have to ask what was it that caused the Jews to attempt to stone Jesus. John 8:58 finishes up a lengthy passage where Jesus judges the Jews in no uncertain terms calling them among other things liars. So perhaps they were so angry with Jesus words that they attempted to physically attack him. That is certainly feasible.
Alternatively we can consider whether or not it was Jesus using the phrase "I AM" as a reference to the Name of God as found in Exodus 3:14 and since this was perceived as blasphemy they attempted to stone him. What we have at John 8:58 is a Greek translation of what Jesus originally spoke in Aramaic. Thus we can't be sure of whether or not Jesus did refer to the Divine Name in his expression and John chose the equivalent Septuagint phrasing of the Name recorded in Exodus 3:14.
With this in mind we consider Jesus arrest as recorded in John 18:4-6
"Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked the, "Whom are you looking for?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." When Jesus said to them, "I am" they stepped back and fell to the ground."
We have to consider what was it about Jesus expression, "I am" that literally caused these men to fall to the ground? It doesn't seem likely that they were so stunned by Jesus forthrightness that they fell to the ground. If we do interpret this as Jesus saying God's Name then the reaction of the men and their falling to the ground seems very likely.
Continuing to Jesus' trial as recorded at Mark 14:61-63:
"Again the high priest began to question him and said to him: “Are you the Christ the Son of the Blessed One?” Then Jesus said: “I am; and YOU persons will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” At this the high priest ripped his inner garments and said: “What further need do we have of witnesses? YOU heard the blasphemy. What is evident to YOU?” They all condemned him to be liable to death."
Once again we have Jesus being charged with blasphemy. Casually looking at it this scripture we may assume that his blasphemy was saying he was the Messiah (Christ) or that he was the Son of God or the Son of Man. However legally neither of these technically constituted blasphemy. So why is that what Jesus said that so enraged the High Priest that he said, "you heard the blasphemy". Well once again we may have Jesus making reference to the Divine Name when he said "I am."
In conclusion we can summarize the evidences that Jesus used the Divine Name that we have considered.
1.) Jesus' words that he had made God's Name known.
2.) Rabbinic and Jewish sources that said that Jesus worked magic by using God's Name.
3.) That Jesus was repeatedly charged with blasphemy which was literally using God's Name in any way.
4.) The possibility that Greek expression "I am" eigo eimi is a codified form of the Divine Name and a reference to the Septuagint rendering of Exodus 3:14.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Remember The Poor
When the apostle Paul and Barnabas were separating from the Church in Judea, in order to continue missionary work among the people of the nations, they were given an additional instruction by the Judean overseers to "remember the poor". Paul reports in his letter to the Galatians that, "this very thing I also was eager to do." (Galatians 2:9,10 NIV)
It is interesting, on reading this account, that this was the only specifically-mentioned instruction these "pillars" of the faith sought to give to Paul. It is even more remarkable when you think about all the missionary instructions that could have been provided and recorded in God’s Word. It really encapsulates just how highly giving to the poor is esteemed in the Holy Scriptures.
Regrettably, the poor can sometimes be lost in the mix whilst we are fulfilling our Christian activities and ministry assignments, or even worse, neglected all together. As Christians, though, we do well to consider deeply, just how well we are doing in our obligation to remember the poor.
For starters let us consider the nature of the God whom we worship, since we are called to be holy in imitation of him. (1 Peter 1:15,16) The Scriptures show that our Heavenly Father cares very much for needy ones. Psalms 68 beautifully declares of Jah,
“A father of fatherless boys and a judge of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.”
The Law that God gave the nation of Israel illustrates his care and concern for the poor. Therein, God instructed, "you must not harden your heart or be closefisted toward your poor brother." (Deut 15:7) Furthermore The Mosaic Law regulated different ways that the poor should be provided for. For example:
• The poor were allowed to glean the leftovers in the fields after a harvest. (Deu 24:19, 21)
• If they had to sell their possessions because of poverty they received them back during the Jubilee year. (Lev 25:28)
• The poor had a share in the tithes given to the priests. (Deu 14:28)
To the Hebrews, such action was not seen as charity, it was considered an act of justice and righteousness. To them the poor were owed a portion of the provisions of those richer than them by right. Thus, we find that righteousness, justice and almsgiving share the same Hebrew word tzedakah. The Hebrew Scriptures, consequentially, characterize the righteous by their willingness to give to the poor and to lend without interest. (Ezekiel 18:5-9)
The importance of taking care of the poor was something that carried over from the Jews to the Christians through the teachings of Jesus. Jesus as a perfect reflection of his Father too had deep compassion for the poor. (Hebrews 1:3)
In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Give to the one asking you, and do not turn away from one that wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:42), he also tells us that, "there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving,"(Acts 20:35) and when speaking on giving, Jesus said, "But when you spread a feast, invite the poor people, crippled, lame, blind; and you be happy because they have nothing with which to repay you." (Luke 14:13-14)
Jesus told his followers to be "perfect, as [our] heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) Now in order to be perfect, or complete, we need to care for the poor just as Jesus told a young rich man, "If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.” (Matthew 19:21) Sadly the rich man would not do this but other disciples of Jesus answered this call to give their possessions to the poor. One notable example is the tax-collector Zacchaeus who declared “Look! The half of my belongings, Lord, I am giving to the poor" (Luke 19:8)
Jesus stressed that our everlasting reward would have basis on our treatment of the poor. In the 16th chapter of Luke Jesus provided parables to his disciples to illustrate the eternal rewards of using our "unrighteous riches" to provide for others. Jesus instructed them, "Make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous riches, so that, when such fail, they may receive you into the everlasting dwelling places." (Luke 16:9)
The account continues that the Pharisees who were "money lovers" sneered at Jesus' teaching. So Jesus provides them another parable of comparing them to a "certain rich man" who did not help the plight of a poor beggar named Lazarus. At the time of their death the poor beggar received his reward of being considered righteous by being placed in the bosom position of Abraham; however, the rich man found himself in a position of anguish and judgment. (Luke 16:19-31)
Similarly, in his Olivet discourse Jesus equates righteousness with providing for the poor and shows that judgment is dependant on our taking care of their needs. Jesus says that when he arrives to judge mankind, the righteous "sheep" will be characterized by their providing for the needs of the poor, the least of his brothers. (Matthew 25:34-40) By giving to these ones they are in turn giving to Jesus. (Compare Proverbs 19:17)
Jesus not only taught giving but he put his words into action. While Jesus' primary purpose was to care for the everlasting spiritual needs of the people, he didn't hesitate to provide for their immediate physical needs. Recorded in the Gospels are two separate occasions where Jesus provided food for thousands. (Mark 6:40-44; Mark 8:6-9). The Scriptures bring out that he carried a moneybox to collect alms for the poor. (John 12:4-6; 13:29)
The Christian Scriptures continue to show that those taking the lead in the early Church, such as the apostle John, followed Jesus' example. They taught giving and made sure that the material needs of the poor among them were being met. Thus, in a letter, the apostle writes, "But whoever has this world's means for supporting life and beholds his brother having need and yet shuts the door of his tender compassions upon him, in what way does the love of God remain in him?" (1 John 3:17)
The Acts of the Apostles provides a remarkable example in the openhanded giving of the early Christian Church. It records how "all those who were possessors of fields or houses would sell them and bring the values of the things sold and they would deposit them at the feet of the apostles. In turn distribution would be made to each one just as he would have the need." This giving was so generous that it is boasted that, "there was not one in need among them." (Acts 4:34-35) The apostles also appointed the first servants (deacons) in the Church to oversee that all of their widows were receiving a share in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1-3)
Supporting this, James, an overseer of the Church in Judea, characterizes true and pure religion as, "looking after orphans and widows in their tribulation" (James 1:27) He illustrates that true faith would be evidenced by charitable works when he says, "If a brother or a sister is in a naked state and lacking the food sufficient for the day, yet a certain one of you says to them: "Go in peace, keep warm and well fed," but you do not give them the necessities for their body, of what benefit is it? Thus, too faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself." (James 2:15-17)
The apostle Paul likewise couples the Gospel message with charitable giving in his letter to the Corinthians saying, "the ministry of this public service is not only to supply abundantly the wants of the holy ones but also to be rich with many expressions of thanks to God.” He further complimented their obedience and bigheartedness saying, “you are submissive to the good news about the Christ, and you publicly declare you are, and because you are generous in your contribution to them and all." (2 Cor 9:12,13)
[It is interesting to note Paul’s use of the Greek word leitourgia (public service) in the aforementioned scripture. This word is used three other times in the Christian Scriptures in relation to the priestly service. (See Luke 1:23; Hebrews 8:6; 9:21) So by using it here Paul equates giving to the needy with the sacrifices that the Jewish priests offered to God. Since the entire Christian Church is called to be priests (1 Peter 2:9) our priestly service is to give thanks to God and provide for the needs of others. (Compare Hebrews 13:15,16).]
Paul gave pastoral instruction to Timothy in taking care of the needs of needy widows. (1 Timothy 5:9, 10) He also wrote to the Church in Ephesus regarding the need to work hard so as "have something to distribute to someone in need" (Ephesians 4:28) Furthermore he wrote to two congregations regarding his personal desire to hand carry their material gifts to poor Christians residing in Jerusalem. (Romans 15:25,26; 1 Cor 16:1-4)
With the passage of the first-century Church era giving to the poor did not end. The writings provided by 2nd century Christians show that they continued to "remember the poor" in apostolic tradition.
Regarding such, Christian apologist Justin Martyr wrote, "The wealthy among us help the needy. . . . Those who are prosperous, and willing, give what each thinks fit. And what is collected is deposited with the president, who gives aid to the orphans and widows." (Justin, Apology, chap. LXVII)
Likewise Tertullian in his apology wrote, "Though we have our treasure chest, it is not made up of purchase money, as of a religion that has its price. Rather, on the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation. . . . to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons now confined to the house. These gifts also help those who have suffered shipwreck. And if there happens to be any of us in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons - for no reason other than their faithfulness to the cause of God's Church - they become the nurslings of their confession." (Tertullian, Apology, chap. XXXIX)
Sadly though, the extreme generosity in taking care of the needy that marked the early Church diminished over the next centuries turning for the worse when Roman Emperor Constantine granted State favor to Christianity. Because there were no “church” buildings or salaried clergy in the early Christian congregation all of the money donated by the congregants could be used in the caring of others, particularly the poor. Under Constantine things would change.
Originally the Christians met in private homes; however, in order to legitimize and popularize the Christian religion Constantine started constructing “church” buildings. These were built over the burial sites of Christian martyrs and were far from modest. Porphyry, a pagan critic of Christianity, noted that these buildings were "worthy of an Emperor".
Among the early Christians for an elder to receive a salary for his ministerial duties was seen as a heresy. [Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, vol. V, chap. XXVIII] However Constantine would institute a salaried clergy whose wages came in part out of the church funds. Originally the funds that were earmarked for the poor were not encroached upon, however later the clergy would dip in there as well.
Also at the time of Constantine many new converts that were not fully committed to the Christian way of life inundated the church. Some of these individuals only converted to Christianity in order to share the religion with the head of the State and have all the privileges thereof. As such they did not fully embrace the kind of radical giving that was the hallmark of the early Church and required by Christ. Over the centuries giving and taking care of the needy, while not being abandoned totally, diminished to something of lesser importance.
Today we are left with this legacy of misappropriation of donated funds and an overall lack of generosity in taking care of the needy. Even if Christians would return to selling all of their superfluous possessions and donating the receipts to their denomination only a portion of these moneys would be given to the poor. A large, or even the majority of congregation receipts would be used to sustain bigger and better “church” buildings and maintain salaried clergy. We have to look at this situation and see if such misappropriation could be considered outright theft from the moneybox for the poor, exactly in the same manner that Judas stole from the poor. (John 12:6)
As Christians we too need to examine our giving and see if our attitudes reflect that of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus as well as the early Church. Are we conscious of the needs of the poor? Are we generous with our unrighteous riches? And whether we are giving half of our possessions or only two small coins of little value we need to consider if our donations are being used to really help the poor. Upon close scrutiny we may find that our money is being used to maintain “church” buildings and salaried clergy, practices that have no basis in Christian Scripture or the early Church example.
--
This is an article that I wrote during July. It appears in the August 2006 Common Truth newsletter.
It is interesting, on reading this account, that this was the only specifically-mentioned instruction these "pillars" of the faith sought to give to Paul. It is even more remarkable when you think about all the missionary instructions that could have been provided and recorded in God’s Word. It really encapsulates just how highly giving to the poor is esteemed in the Holy Scriptures.
Regrettably, the poor can sometimes be lost in the mix whilst we are fulfilling our Christian activities and ministry assignments, or even worse, neglected all together. As Christians, though, we do well to consider deeply, just how well we are doing in our obligation to remember the poor.
For starters let us consider the nature of the God whom we worship, since we are called to be holy in imitation of him. (1 Peter 1:15,16) The Scriptures show that our Heavenly Father cares very much for needy ones. Psalms 68 beautifully declares of Jah,
“A father of fatherless boys and a judge of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.”
The Law that God gave the nation of Israel illustrates his care and concern for the poor. Therein, God instructed, "you must not harden your heart or be closefisted toward your poor brother." (Deut 15:7) Furthermore The Mosaic Law regulated different ways that the poor should be provided for. For example:
• The poor were allowed to glean the leftovers in the fields after a harvest. (Deu 24:19, 21)
• If they had to sell their possessions because of poverty they received them back during the Jubilee year. (Lev 25:28)
• The poor had a share in the tithes given to the priests. (Deu 14:28)
To the Hebrews, such action was not seen as charity, it was considered an act of justice and righteousness. To them the poor were owed a portion of the provisions of those richer than them by right. Thus, we find that righteousness, justice and almsgiving share the same Hebrew word tzedakah. The Hebrew Scriptures, consequentially, characterize the righteous by their willingness to give to the poor and to lend without interest. (Ezekiel 18:5-9)
The importance of taking care of the poor was something that carried over from the Jews to the Christians through the teachings of Jesus. Jesus as a perfect reflection of his Father too had deep compassion for the poor. (Hebrews 1:3)
In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Give to the one asking you, and do not turn away from one that wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:42), he also tells us that, "there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving,"(Acts 20:35) and when speaking on giving, Jesus said, "But when you spread a feast, invite the poor people, crippled, lame, blind; and you be happy because they have nothing with which to repay you." (Luke 14:13-14)
Jesus told his followers to be "perfect, as [our] heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) Now in order to be perfect, or complete, we need to care for the poor just as Jesus told a young rich man, "If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.” (Matthew 19:21) Sadly the rich man would not do this but other disciples of Jesus answered this call to give their possessions to the poor. One notable example is the tax-collector Zacchaeus who declared “Look! The half of my belongings, Lord, I am giving to the poor" (Luke 19:8)
Jesus stressed that our everlasting reward would have basis on our treatment of the poor. In the 16th chapter of Luke Jesus provided parables to his disciples to illustrate the eternal rewards of using our "unrighteous riches" to provide for others. Jesus instructed them, "Make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous riches, so that, when such fail, they may receive you into the everlasting dwelling places." (Luke 16:9)
The account continues that the Pharisees who were "money lovers" sneered at Jesus' teaching. So Jesus provides them another parable of comparing them to a "certain rich man" who did not help the plight of a poor beggar named Lazarus. At the time of their death the poor beggar received his reward of being considered righteous by being placed in the bosom position of Abraham; however, the rich man found himself in a position of anguish and judgment. (Luke 16:19-31)
Similarly, in his Olivet discourse Jesus equates righteousness with providing for the poor and shows that judgment is dependant on our taking care of their needs. Jesus says that when he arrives to judge mankind, the righteous "sheep" will be characterized by their providing for the needs of the poor, the least of his brothers. (Matthew 25:34-40) By giving to these ones they are in turn giving to Jesus. (Compare Proverbs 19:17)
Jesus not only taught giving but he put his words into action. While Jesus' primary purpose was to care for the everlasting spiritual needs of the people, he didn't hesitate to provide for their immediate physical needs. Recorded in the Gospels are two separate occasions where Jesus provided food for thousands. (Mark 6:40-44; Mark 8:6-9). The Scriptures bring out that he carried a moneybox to collect alms for the poor. (John 12:4-6; 13:29)
The Christian Scriptures continue to show that those taking the lead in the early Church, such as the apostle John, followed Jesus' example. They taught giving and made sure that the material needs of the poor among them were being met. Thus, in a letter, the apostle writes, "But whoever has this world's means for supporting life and beholds his brother having need and yet shuts the door of his tender compassions upon him, in what way does the love of God remain in him?" (1 John 3:17)
The Acts of the Apostles provides a remarkable example in the openhanded giving of the early Christian Church. It records how "all those who were possessors of fields or houses would sell them and bring the values of the things sold and they would deposit them at the feet of the apostles. In turn distribution would be made to each one just as he would have the need." This giving was so generous that it is boasted that, "there was not one in need among them." (Acts 4:34-35) The apostles also appointed the first servants (deacons) in the Church to oversee that all of their widows were receiving a share in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1-3)
Supporting this, James, an overseer of the Church in Judea, characterizes true and pure religion as, "looking after orphans and widows in their tribulation" (James 1:27) He illustrates that true faith would be evidenced by charitable works when he says, "If a brother or a sister is in a naked state and lacking the food sufficient for the day, yet a certain one of you says to them: "Go in peace, keep warm and well fed," but you do not give them the necessities for their body, of what benefit is it? Thus, too faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself." (James 2:15-17)
The apostle Paul likewise couples the Gospel message with charitable giving in his letter to the Corinthians saying, "the ministry of this public service is not only to supply abundantly the wants of the holy ones but also to be rich with many expressions of thanks to God.” He further complimented their obedience and bigheartedness saying, “you are submissive to the good news about the Christ, and you publicly declare you are, and because you are generous in your contribution to them and all." (2 Cor 9:12,13)
[It is interesting to note Paul’s use of the Greek word leitourgia (public service) in the aforementioned scripture. This word is used three other times in the Christian Scriptures in relation to the priestly service. (See Luke 1:23; Hebrews 8:6; 9:21) So by using it here Paul equates giving to the needy with the sacrifices that the Jewish priests offered to God. Since the entire Christian Church is called to be priests (1 Peter 2:9) our priestly service is to give thanks to God and provide for the needs of others. (Compare Hebrews 13:15,16).]
Paul gave pastoral instruction to Timothy in taking care of the needs of needy widows. (1 Timothy 5:9, 10) He also wrote to the Church in Ephesus regarding the need to work hard so as "have something to distribute to someone in need" (Ephesians 4:28) Furthermore he wrote to two congregations regarding his personal desire to hand carry their material gifts to poor Christians residing in Jerusalem. (Romans 15:25,26; 1 Cor 16:1-4)
With the passage of the first-century Church era giving to the poor did not end. The writings provided by 2nd century Christians show that they continued to "remember the poor" in apostolic tradition.
Regarding such, Christian apologist Justin Martyr wrote, "The wealthy among us help the needy. . . . Those who are prosperous, and willing, give what each thinks fit. And what is collected is deposited with the president, who gives aid to the orphans and widows." (Justin, Apology, chap. LXVII)
Likewise Tertullian in his apology wrote, "Though we have our treasure chest, it is not made up of purchase money, as of a religion that has its price. Rather, on the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation. . . . to support and bury poor people, to supply the needs of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons now confined to the house. These gifts also help those who have suffered shipwreck. And if there happens to be any of us in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons - for no reason other than their faithfulness to the cause of God's Church - they become the nurslings of their confession." (Tertullian, Apology, chap. XXXIX)
Sadly though, the extreme generosity in taking care of the needy that marked the early Church diminished over the next centuries turning for the worse when Roman Emperor Constantine granted State favor to Christianity. Because there were no “church” buildings or salaried clergy in the early Christian congregation all of the money donated by the congregants could be used in the caring of others, particularly the poor. Under Constantine things would change.
Originally the Christians met in private homes; however, in order to legitimize and popularize the Christian religion Constantine started constructing “church” buildings. These were built over the burial sites of Christian martyrs and were far from modest. Porphyry, a pagan critic of Christianity, noted that these buildings were "worthy of an Emperor".
Among the early Christians for an elder to receive a salary for his ministerial duties was seen as a heresy. [Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, vol. V, chap. XXVIII] However Constantine would institute a salaried clergy whose wages came in part out of the church funds. Originally the funds that were earmarked for the poor were not encroached upon, however later the clergy would dip in there as well.
Also at the time of Constantine many new converts that were not fully committed to the Christian way of life inundated the church. Some of these individuals only converted to Christianity in order to share the religion with the head of the State and have all the privileges thereof. As such they did not fully embrace the kind of radical giving that was the hallmark of the early Church and required by Christ. Over the centuries giving and taking care of the needy, while not being abandoned totally, diminished to something of lesser importance.
Today we are left with this legacy of misappropriation of donated funds and an overall lack of generosity in taking care of the needy. Even if Christians would return to selling all of their superfluous possessions and donating the receipts to their denomination only a portion of these moneys would be given to the poor. A large, or even the majority of congregation receipts would be used to sustain bigger and better “church” buildings and maintain salaried clergy. We have to look at this situation and see if such misappropriation could be considered outright theft from the moneybox for the poor, exactly in the same manner that Judas stole from the poor. (John 12:6)
As Christians we too need to examine our giving and see if our attitudes reflect that of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus as well as the early Church. Are we conscious of the needs of the poor? Are we generous with our unrighteous riches? And whether we are giving half of our possessions or only two small coins of little value we need to consider if our donations are being used to really help the poor. Upon close scrutiny we may find that our money is being used to maintain “church” buildings and salaried clergy, practices that have no basis in Christian Scripture or the early Church example.
--
This is an article that I wrote during July. It appears in the August 2006 Common Truth newsletter.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
When You Fast
Two times in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, "When you fast . . ." and proceeds to give instruction regarding fasting. What is interesting is that Jesus does not say "If you fast" as if fasting was an option. (Matthew 6:16-18) The text assumes that the disciples would fast in the same manner that was expected that they would give to the needy (v. 2-4) and they would pray. (v. 5-8)
Yet today in the Church, unlike prayer and charitable giving, fasting is not a familiar element of the Christian lifestyle. This is strange because Jesus said that his disciples would fast, saying: "But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." - Luke 5:35
As Christians we are in a constant spiritual war "against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 4:12) We recognize the absolute necessity the role that prayer plays in aiding us in this battle because we are told to, "pray in the Spirit on all occassions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (v. 18) Fasting can further equip us in times of great trial or particular challenge.
A interesting variant reading of Mark 9:29 says that "prayer and fasting" were required to expel the toughest of the demons. It is certainly true that supplementing our personal prayers with a period of fasting can be highly effective in our stand against the evil forces around us. By example, when Jesus was preparing himself for his ministry and readying himself to face the tempations of the Satan, the leader of the demons, "he fasted forty days and forty nights". (Matthew 4:1,2)
The Acts of the Apostles records that the apostolic Church fasted as a course of religious observance, in preparing for ministerial assignment, and seeking God's direction. Acts 13:2,3 reads, "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Baranabs and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."
(Likewise the writings of Clement from Alexanderia & Tertullian document that fasting, particularly on Wednesday and Friday, was routinely observed by the Christian Congregation in the 2nd century.)
Yet today in the Church, unlike prayer and charitable giving, fasting is not a familiar element of the Christian lifestyle. This is strange because Jesus said that his disciples would fast, saying: "But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." - Luke 5:35
As Christians we are in a constant spiritual war "against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 4:12) We recognize the absolute necessity the role that prayer plays in aiding us in this battle because we are told to, "pray in the Spirit on all occassions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (v. 18) Fasting can further equip us in times of great trial or particular challenge.
A interesting variant reading of Mark 9:29 says that "prayer and fasting" were required to expel the toughest of the demons. It is certainly true that supplementing our personal prayers with a period of fasting can be highly effective in our stand against the evil forces around us. By example, when Jesus was preparing himself for his ministry and readying himself to face the tempations of the Satan, the leader of the demons, "he fasted forty days and forty nights". (Matthew 4:1,2)
The Acts of the Apostles records that the apostolic Church fasted as a course of religious observance, in preparing for ministerial assignment, and seeking God's direction. Acts 13:2,3 reads, "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Baranabs and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."
(Likewise the writings of Clement from Alexanderia & Tertullian document that fasting, particularly on Wednesday and Friday, was routinely observed by the Christian Congregation in the 2nd century.)
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