Saturday, December 20, 2014
New Blog Site
I've decided to migrate my blog to WordPress. You can now follow me at http://insearchofnewcreation.wordpress.com/ . Thanks to everyone who offers comments, continually encouraging and challenging me in my thinking!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Boring Testimonies
I pray that my kids (and the kids in my youth group) will have a "boring" testimony.
The way this often plays itself out in the church is in the use of the phrase: "He has such a great testimony!"
What we mean by this is: "He has such an exciting testimony!"
It's the stuff of good novels or movies.
It's the stuff of good novels or movies.
But maybe we shouldn't consider "good" and "exciting" to be absolute synonyms in this case. I say this not because the salvation and transformation of a drug addict is not good, but because every single salvation and transformation of a human soul is good... and exciting!
Unfortunately the story of a child who was raised in the church, discipled by their parents, reborn at an early age, and faithful in their walk with God (as much as any believer ever is) does not register with our fleshly minds as exciting. It's mundane. It's every day.
But it's not! It's beautiful... and wonderful... and miraculous!
It is a gift that God would be gracious in preventing such a person from suffering the long-term consequences of foolishness and at the same time immediately plunge them into the depths of the front line fight for the affections of their heart, a battle every believer faces daily.
A "boring" testimony is no cause for boasting on the part of the believer, for all are hopeless apart from Christ, but it does seem wholly appropriate to see such Christians as examples to follow. Young Timothy seems to have had just such a testimony and been such an example (see 2 Tim. 1:5ff).
So I pray regularly that my children are drawn to salvation at an early age. This means that I pray that God would reveal to them the depths of their depravity and their desperate need for Jesus Christ. I also pray that God would help my wife and me to be faithful to disciple our children in the ways of Jesus. Finally, I pray that our children would walk faithfully with Christ, confronting their heart sins with the gospel and daily repenting and believing.
I pray that they will have "boring" testimonies.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
The Sticky Subject of Regeneration
This post has been brewing in my mind for a while now, so in honor of our youth group's recent "Regenerate" youth weekend, I decided that now was as good a time as any to write it.
One of the foundations of evangelical Christian faith is the idea of regeneration (i.e. "being born again," "getting saved," "being changed," "becoming a new creation," and a host of other terms that we use). Regeneration is the belief that, for Christians, there is a moment in time when a person who is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) is drawn by the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 6:44) and spiritually resurrected (Eph 2:5), becoming spiritually alive while still having a physical body and mind which are affected by fleshly desires. There are different ways of articulating this, but this is how I've come to understand it.
Over the years I've run into many folks who have very strong convictions about the doctrine of regeneration. For various reasons, some loath the idea that Christians might somehow be capable of walking in righteousness in ways that are impossible for non-believers. On the other side of the issue, some Christians are arrogant about their supposed "moral superiority." Both of these groups forget that it is Christ's righteousness - both positionally and practically - which is the source of Christian obedience.
The stickiness of the doctrine of regeneration (as in many Christian doctrines) is found in the "already-not-yet" aspect of it. Jesus says in John 3:3 that a person must be regenerated in order to "see the kingdom of God." Paul says, as noted above, that Christians have already been raised up with Christ (Eph. 2:5), and in 2 Cor. 5:17 he famously says that we are, at the present time, "new creations." That's the already. First Cor. 15:2 states that we are in the process of being saved by the gospel, an (depending on how you take Romans 7) the apostle also envisions a great struggle between the flesh and the resurrected spirit. That's the not-yet.
One of the most central passages to the doctrine of regeneration is Ezekiel 36-37, wherein the prophet says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Most theologians that I've read agree that at least the majority of this passage is fulfilled at the moment of a Christian's conversion, yet the last phrase presents a practical challenge: Is God currently causing all Christians at all times to walk in His ways? We know this can't be the case, because we all still struggle with sin (see e.g. 1 Jn. 1:8-10)
There are a couple of ways we could approach answering this question. We could say that the intent of the prophecy was not to say that believers would walk perfectly in His ways but that they simply now do actually walk in His ways to some extent, whereas before regeneration this was an impossibility.
I believe, though, that since Ezekiel 36 is eschatological, and since it is written from the perspective of an OT prophet (looking forward to Christ), it is probably better to see this prophecy as being fulfilled "already-but-not-yet," beginning with the first coming of Christ and being completed with His second coming.
What does all this mean? It means that there are aspects of regeneration that occur in time and space at the moment of conversion. I think most would agree with this. Yet there are also aspects of regeneration that will not occur until we receive our resurrected bodies (i.e. walking in his ways perfectly).
So the question I am wrestling with right now is whether or not (what we call) "sanctification" is a the process by which God takes a Christian from the initial effects of regeneration to its final effects. In other words, is there any sense in which a believer can say, "I've been regenerated (at conversion). I'm being regenerated (through sanctification), and I will be regenerated (through resurrection)?"
I hope I'm not nose-diving into some heresy I've not seen before.
What do you think? Help me out here.
One of the foundations of evangelical Christian faith is the idea of regeneration (i.e. "being born again," "getting saved," "being changed," "becoming a new creation," and a host of other terms that we use). Regeneration is the belief that, for Christians, there is a moment in time when a person who is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) is drawn by the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 6:44) and spiritually resurrected (Eph 2:5), becoming spiritually alive while still having a physical body and mind which are affected by fleshly desires. There are different ways of articulating this, but this is how I've come to understand it.
Over the years I've run into many folks who have very strong convictions about the doctrine of regeneration. For various reasons, some loath the idea that Christians might somehow be capable of walking in righteousness in ways that are impossible for non-believers. On the other side of the issue, some Christians are arrogant about their supposed "moral superiority." Both of these groups forget that it is Christ's righteousness - both positionally and practically - which is the source of Christian obedience.
The stickiness of the doctrine of regeneration (as in many Christian doctrines) is found in the "already-not-yet" aspect of it. Jesus says in John 3:3 that a person must be regenerated in order to "see the kingdom of God." Paul says, as noted above, that Christians have already been raised up with Christ (Eph. 2:5), and in 2 Cor. 5:17 he famously says that we are, at the present time, "new creations." That's the already. First Cor. 15:2 states that we are in the process of being saved by the gospel, an (depending on how you take Romans 7) the apostle also envisions a great struggle between the flesh and the resurrected spirit. That's the not-yet.
One of the most central passages to the doctrine of regeneration is Ezekiel 36-37, wherein the prophet says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Most theologians that I've read agree that at least the majority of this passage is fulfilled at the moment of a Christian's conversion, yet the last phrase presents a practical challenge: Is God currently causing all Christians at all times to walk in His ways? We know this can't be the case, because we all still struggle with sin (see e.g. 1 Jn. 1:8-10)
There are a couple of ways we could approach answering this question. We could say that the intent of the prophecy was not to say that believers would walk perfectly in His ways but that they simply now do actually walk in His ways to some extent, whereas before regeneration this was an impossibility.
I believe, though, that since Ezekiel 36 is eschatological, and since it is written from the perspective of an OT prophet (looking forward to Christ), it is probably better to see this prophecy as being fulfilled "already-but-not-yet," beginning with the first coming of Christ and being completed with His second coming.
What does all this mean? It means that there are aspects of regeneration that occur in time and space at the moment of conversion. I think most would agree with this. Yet there are also aspects of regeneration that will not occur until we receive our resurrected bodies (i.e. walking in his ways perfectly).
So the question I am wrestling with right now is whether or not (what we call) "sanctification" is a the process by which God takes a Christian from the initial effects of regeneration to its final effects. In other words, is there any sense in which a believer can say, "I've been regenerated (at conversion). I'm being regenerated (through sanctification), and I will be regenerated (through resurrection)?"
I hope I'm not nose-diving into some heresy I've not seen before.
What do you think? Help me out here.
Creation, De-creation, Re-creation
The subject of creation has been coming up a lot in my world lately, and I've sort of begun thinking about new (for me) way of telling the story of God: Creation, De-creation, and Re-creation
We learn in Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 that all three persons of the Trinity worked together to create the heavens and the earth. We learn that the Father created by means of the Son (Col. 1:16), and we read also that the Spirit was present (Gen. 1:2).
It is also obvious that from the the beginning it was the intent of Satan to dismantle the created order of God. Yahweh established the rule that "in the day that you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17 ESV), yet Satan stated in Gen. 3:4: "You will not surely die." Satan then questioned the authority and motives of God. Whereas the very heart of creation is life, the work of Satan has always been one of death (Eph. 2:1) - i.e. de-creation.
But the good news of the gospel is that, according to Ephesians 1, the Trinity stepped back in to make a new creation, a re-creation. As in the first creation, the Son (Jesus) is the means by which the Father adopts His "reborn" children (Eph. 1:4-5), and the Holy Spirit seals our redemption (Eph. 1:13-14). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (Jn. 3:3).
At this point in salvation history, re-creation is focused primarily on the spiritual realm. Men and women who come to faith in Christ are being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pt. 1:3). Though our physical bodies are "wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day," (2 Cor. 4:16).
But this isn't the end game. The purpose of God is that humans be resurrected spiritually first, and then physically resurrected (see e.g. 1 Cor. 15 and Rev. 19-20). We will not go off to live as disembodied souls forever in heaven, floating on a cloud in some ethereal land. We are human, and to be fully human as God originally intended, we must be fully redeemed, both spiritually and physically.
Therefore, at this moment, we find ourselves caught in between the times:
God's creative order is still plainly seen (Rom. 1:19-20);
Satan's de-creative efforts are also obvious (1 Pt. 5:8);
And God's re-creative work is happening all around us as people place their faith in Christ.
"Why should this all matter to me?" you might ask. It should matter because looking at things this way helps reveal so much of the intent behind the attacks of Satan today. If you want to identify his work in our world, look for de-creation. Look for philosophies and worldviews and political agendas which seek to undermine the creative order of God; and, in particular, look for mindsets which seek to downplay the necessity and primacy of His re-creative order - i.e. that salvation is found in no other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
May believers stand firm these days (with grace and truth) on the creative order of God, and may we boldly proclaim His re-creative work in the gospel!
We learn in Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 that all three persons of the Trinity worked together to create the heavens and the earth. We learn that the Father created by means of the Son (Col. 1:16), and we read also that the Spirit was present (Gen. 1:2).
It is also obvious that from the the beginning it was the intent of Satan to dismantle the created order of God. Yahweh established the rule that "in the day that you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17 ESV), yet Satan stated in Gen. 3:4: "You will not surely die." Satan then questioned the authority and motives of God. Whereas the very heart of creation is life, the work of Satan has always been one of death (Eph. 2:1) - i.e. de-creation.
But the good news of the gospel is that, according to Ephesians 1, the Trinity stepped back in to make a new creation, a re-creation. As in the first creation, the Son (Jesus) is the means by which the Father adopts His "reborn" children (Eph. 1:4-5), and the Holy Spirit seals our redemption (Eph. 1:13-14). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (Jn. 3:3).
At this point in salvation history, re-creation is focused primarily on the spiritual realm. Men and women who come to faith in Christ are being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pt. 1:3). Though our physical bodies are "wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day," (2 Cor. 4:16).
But this isn't the end game. The purpose of God is that humans be resurrected spiritually first, and then physically resurrected (see e.g. 1 Cor. 15 and Rev. 19-20). We will not go off to live as disembodied souls forever in heaven, floating on a cloud in some ethereal land. We are human, and to be fully human as God originally intended, we must be fully redeemed, both spiritually and physically.
Therefore, at this moment, we find ourselves caught in between the times:
God's creative order is still plainly seen (Rom. 1:19-20);
Satan's de-creative efforts are also obvious (1 Pt. 5:8);
And God's re-creative work is happening all around us as people place their faith in Christ.
"Why should this all matter to me?" you might ask. It should matter because looking at things this way helps reveal so much of the intent behind the attacks of Satan today. If you want to identify his work in our world, look for de-creation. Look for philosophies and worldviews and political agendas which seek to undermine the creative order of God; and, in particular, look for mindsets which seek to downplay the necessity and primacy of His re-creative order - i.e. that salvation is found in no other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
May believers stand firm these days (with grace and truth) on the creative order of God, and may we boldly proclaim His re-creative work in the gospel!
The Mark (part 2)
This is a follow-up to a post from July 5th of last year. You can see that post here. In that post I compared the "sign" of Deuteronomy 6 with the "mark" of Revelation 13. Over the past year, I've continued to reflect on this idea, and today I thought I might offer an update.
What was Israel to bind on their hands and have as frontlets between their eyes?
The Great Shema, or, as Jesus referred to it, the Greatest Commandment.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Dt. 6:4-5).
One thing that I failed to notice and therefore mention in my original post is that this statement is not only at the center of Jewish and Christian piety, but it is also the very heart of monotheism - particularly, the belief that the One and Only True God is Yahweh.
In other words, the Shema, the "sign" that was to mark Israel, was a worldview that centered on worshiping the One and Only True God.
And that sets us up nicely to contrast this sign with the mark in Revelation. Chapter 13, verses 16-18 describe this infamous mark, and this passage states that the mark "is the number of man, and his number is 666."
I'm not into numerology, and I also don't want to speculate about the significance of the hand and the forehead either for Israel or in the case of the Mark of the Beast, but one thing does seem clear to me:
Where as the sign of Dt. 6 is a worldview centered on worshiping the One and Only True God, the worldview of those who accept the Mark of the Beast is centered on worshiping the Beast, and the number corresponding to this Beast is "man's number."
To the point. Could it be that the Mark of the Beast is the secular humanistic (man-centered) mindset that exalt's man's reasoning, man's ability to understand the created order, man's power, and man's "morality" over and against the reasoning, explanations, power, and morality attested to by the One True God in Scripture?
What do you think?
What was Israel to bind on their hands and have as frontlets between their eyes?
The Great Shema, or, as Jesus referred to it, the Greatest Commandment.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Dt. 6:4-5).
One thing that I failed to notice and therefore mention in my original post is that this statement is not only at the center of Jewish and Christian piety, but it is also the very heart of monotheism - particularly, the belief that the One and Only True God is Yahweh.
In other words, the Shema, the "sign" that was to mark Israel, was a worldview that centered on worshiping the One and Only True God.
And that sets us up nicely to contrast this sign with the mark in Revelation. Chapter 13, verses 16-18 describe this infamous mark, and this passage states that the mark "is the number of man, and his number is 666."
I'm not into numerology, and I also don't want to speculate about the significance of the hand and the forehead either for Israel or in the case of the Mark of the Beast, but one thing does seem clear to me:
Where as the sign of Dt. 6 is a worldview centered on worshiping the One and Only True God, the worldview of those who accept the Mark of the Beast is centered on worshiping the Beast, and the number corresponding to this Beast is "man's number."
To the point. Could it be that the Mark of the Beast is the secular humanistic (man-centered) mindset that exalt's man's reasoning, man's ability to understand the created order, man's power, and man's "morality" over and against the reasoning, explanations, power, and morality attested to by the One True God in Scripture?
What do you think?
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
In a Mirror Dimly
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Cor. 13:12 ESV
It's really quite astonishing how much of the information that's on the internet is just plain false. It reminds me of the old telephone game (where information gets distorted with each new person it's passed to) amplified a billion times over. Last night Robin Williams passed away. When I first read the news, I didn't believe it because I'm so used to seeing fake celebrity death announcements on my news feed. Social media has made me into a skeptic, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Yet the skepticism it goes deeper than social media.
We've become skeptical of history because it has been so often revised. We've become skeptical of certain foods because, after years of eating them, we find out what's actually in them. We've become skeptical of government because of the empty promises of generations of politicians. We've become skeptical of church ministers because so many have been found to lack integrity.
The West has bred a culture of skepticism. Our motto has become: "Trust no one; trust nothing."
Now even Christians find themselves questioning whether or not they can really trust the Book (and in turn the God) on which their faith is based.
It's not my purpose today to present an apologetic for the reliability of the Bible. There are others much more equipped for that task than me; rather, I simply desire to remind Christians of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "we see as in a mirror dimly... we know in part."
When a philosopher has his moment of greatest clarity, he is still an almost deaf man hearing mere mumbles and groans of what truly is. When an astronomer discovers a new nebula, she is still a near blind woman trying to make sense of colors and shapes. And when a human being tries to systematize and measure out the infinite God, there seems to be two resulting options: frustration or religion.
I think that we all instinctively know this.
The religious man creates rules and rituals, he puts on self-defined piety along with his robe and hat. And whether it's the religion of ancient pagans or of institutionalized Christianity... or of the academy - they all still put on their self-defined piety, their robe, and their hat. There's just something inside us that seeks to justify ourselves - to claim moral and intellectual superiority.
While the religious man goes his own way, the frustrated man embraces skepticism as a way of life.
Maybe it's possible that some people try to live both religiously and skeptically at the same time... Maybe I struggle daily against becoming one of those people.
The bottom line is that Paul's words here in 1 Cor. 13 should be self-evident to anyone who's gone on the search for truth. We are looking at reality through a mirror which reflects and refracts, which disorients and distracts; and the only two responses which make any sense to us are (1) to give up searching for truth by embracing skepticism or (2) to whittle down truth to a manageable size by embracing religion.
But I think Paul is offering us a better way.
He continues in verse 13, "So now faith, hope, and love abide."
We can wallow in uncertainty, or we can have faith in the One who is sovereign.
We can give up on the future, or we can hope in the One who holds past, present, and future.
We can hold everyone and everything at arms length so as to avoid being misunderstood or belittled or hurt, or we we can love.
We can be humble enough to say that we don't have all the answers... or even many of the answers, while at the same time trusting that God's Word and Spirit has given us and will give us those answer which are necessary. We can admit when we are wrong, while holding to the truth that there is such a thing as right and wrong and that God has told us exactly what the difference is in His Word. We blind and deaf men can hold the hand of the Creator and Sustainer of our lives and trust Him to lead us in the right direction.
We all know that we are looking at reality through a fogged-up lenses.
The question we have to ask is: Will we give up on the idea that there is such a thing as clarity, or will we shrink reality down to size through human religion, or will we let go of our delusion of control and trust in the One True God?
It's really quite astonishing how much of the information that's on the internet is just plain false. It reminds me of the old telephone game (where information gets distorted with each new person it's passed to) amplified a billion times over. Last night Robin Williams passed away. When I first read the news, I didn't believe it because I'm so used to seeing fake celebrity death announcements on my news feed. Social media has made me into a skeptic, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Yet the skepticism it goes deeper than social media.
We've become skeptical of history because it has been so often revised. We've become skeptical of certain foods because, after years of eating them, we find out what's actually in them. We've become skeptical of government because of the empty promises of generations of politicians. We've become skeptical of church ministers because so many have been found to lack integrity.
The West has bred a culture of skepticism. Our motto has become: "Trust no one; trust nothing."
Now even Christians find themselves questioning whether or not they can really trust the Book (and in turn the God) on which their faith is based.
It's not my purpose today to present an apologetic for the reliability of the Bible. There are others much more equipped for that task than me; rather, I simply desire to remind Christians of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "we see as in a mirror dimly... we know in part."
I think that we all instinctively know this.
The religious man creates rules and rituals, he puts on self-defined piety along with his robe and hat. And whether it's the religion of ancient pagans or of institutionalized Christianity... or of the academy - they all still put on their self-defined piety, their robe, and their hat. There's just something inside us that seeks to justify ourselves - to claim moral and intellectual superiority.
While the religious man goes his own way, the frustrated man embraces skepticism as a way of life.
Maybe it's possible that some people try to live both religiously and skeptically at the same time... Maybe I struggle daily against becoming one of those people.
The bottom line is that Paul's words here in 1 Cor. 13 should be self-evident to anyone who's gone on the search for truth. We are looking at reality through a mirror which reflects and refracts, which disorients and distracts; and the only two responses which make any sense to us are (1) to give up searching for truth by embracing skepticism or (2) to whittle down truth to a manageable size by embracing religion.
But I think Paul is offering us a better way.
He continues in verse 13, "So now faith, hope, and love abide."
We can wallow in uncertainty, or we can have faith in the One who is sovereign.
We can give up on the future, or we can hope in the One who holds past, present, and future.
We can hold everyone and everything at arms length so as to avoid being misunderstood or belittled or hurt, or we we can love.
We can be humble enough to say that we don't have all the answers... or even many of the answers, while at the same time trusting that God's Word and Spirit has given us and will give us those answer which are necessary. We can admit when we are wrong, while holding to the truth that there is such a thing as right and wrong and that God has told us exactly what the difference is in His Word. We blind and deaf men can hold the hand of the Creator and Sustainer of our lives and trust Him to lead us in the right direction.
We all know that we are looking at reality through a fogged-up lenses.
The question we have to ask is: Will we give up on the idea that there is such a thing as clarity, or will we shrink reality down to size through human religion, or will we let go of our delusion of control and trust in the One True God?
Friday, July 25, 2014
Miracles and Doubt
"And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief." -Mk. 6:5 ESV
I'm excited to soon begin reading Craig Keener's Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Account. I was compelled to read it after watching these overview videos about the book.
I do believe that supernatural occurrences are happening in our world today, not least because I've experienced a few myself and have also seen others second-hand. I've seen cancer disappear, unexplainable provision in time of need, and the providential arrangement of events and conversations. I even got to rejoice last year with a dear friend whose son's eyes and heart were healed from birth defect.
I have no doubt that most (if not all) of the "miracles" we see touted on TV are fake. I also have little doubt that real supernatural occurrences are extremely rare. That's why we call them "super" natural. They don't happen in the typical pattern of things. Some people may very well go their entire lives and never witness a miracle.
But I do believe they happen, and I do believe that in this passage Mark may be giving us a hint as to why we don't see them as often in the West.
With the dawn of the "Age of Reason" (or Enlightenment) in the 17th century, philosophers and scientists jettisoned the assumptions of thousands of years of human thinking for a purely naturalistic view of the universe. Everything, they said, can eventually be explained through experimentation and human logic. This has become the foundational assumption of many (if not most) in Europe and the U.S; and as human reason has become god, the result has not been all-out atheism in most cases but, rather, skepticism and agnosticism.
Non-committal, all-things-at-arms-length... DOUBT... has become a virtue.
But according to Mark, doubt was the problem in Jesus' hometown. In the words of the Scripture, He could not do supernatural works in Nazareth because of the doubt of the people.
Now we know that God can do anything that can be done and that does not contradict His character. He certainly performed many supernatural acts in Exodus and Numbers in spite of rampant doubt.
Yet for some reason, God providentially ordered the ministry of Jesus in such a way that a faith-response from human beings was key; and we are meant to see that the lack of such faith, at least in this instance, can short-circuit the process of a supernatual work of God.
This is not an apologetic for name-it-claim-it theology... but it is a clear and direct challenge to our culture of skepticism.
I would never deny the miracles of modern medicine that God has graciously given, but at times I wonder if we've exchanged the gift for the Giver (Rom. 1:18ff) and deified our doctors. Are we placing all of our trust in chemistry and biology yet neglecting to cry out to our Maker and Sustainer? Why are we then surprised when He says to us, "Thy will be done?"
"(Jesus) marveled at their unbelief."
I wonder at times if He marvels at mine?
I'm excited to soon begin reading Craig Keener's Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Account. I was compelled to read it after watching these overview videos about the book.
I do believe that supernatural occurrences are happening in our world today, not least because I've experienced a few myself and have also seen others second-hand. I've seen cancer disappear, unexplainable provision in time of need, and the providential arrangement of events and conversations. I even got to rejoice last year with a dear friend whose son's eyes and heart were healed from birth defect.
I have no doubt that most (if not all) of the "miracles" we see touted on TV are fake. I also have little doubt that real supernatural occurrences are extremely rare. That's why we call them "super" natural. They don't happen in the typical pattern of things. Some people may very well go their entire lives and never witness a miracle.
But I do believe they happen, and I do believe that in this passage Mark may be giving us a hint as to why we don't see them as often in the West.
With the dawn of the "Age of Reason" (or Enlightenment) in the 17th century, philosophers and scientists jettisoned the assumptions of thousands of years of human thinking for a purely naturalistic view of the universe. Everything, they said, can eventually be explained through experimentation and human logic. This has become the foundational assumption of many (if not most) in Europe and the U.S; and as human reason has become god, the result has not been all-out atheism in most cases but, rather, skepticism and agnosticism.
Non-committal, all-things-at-arms-length... DOUBT... has become a virtue.
But according to Mark, doubt was the problem in Jesus' hometown. In the words of the Scripture, He could not do supernatural works in Nazareth because of the doubt of the people.
Now we know that God can do anything that can be done and that does not contradict His character. He certainly performed many supernatural acts in Exodus and Numbers in spite of rampant doubt.
Yet for some reason, God providentially ordered the ministry of Jesus in such a way that a faith-response from human beings was key; and we are meant to see that the lack of such faith, at least in this instance, can short-circuit the process of a supernatual work of God.
This is not an apologetic for name-it-claim-it theology... but it is a clear and direct challenge to our culture of skepticism.
I would never deny the miracles of modern medicine that God has graciously given, but at times I wonder if we've exchanged the gift for the Giver (Rom. 1:18ff) and deified our doctors. Are we placing all of our trust in chemistry and biology yet neglecting to cry out to our Maker and Sustainer? Why are we then surprised when He says to us, "Thy will be done?"
"(Jesus) marveled at their unbelief."
I wonder at times if He marvels at mine?
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Happiness: Fill in the Blank
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." -James 1:2-4
Fill in the blank.
"If I could just be like ___________________, I would be happy."
Maybe you think of an actor or actress, a musician, a businessperson, a doctor, a writer, a humanitarian, a great leader, or (if you're a nerd like me) a pastor/theologian like Luther, Bonhoeffer, or Keller.
When we consider the people we admire, it's usually through the lens of pop media or a history book, and neither of these could ever tell the whole story. I don't know about you, but there is always some comfort found when I finally realize that one of my heroes is just as flawed and human as me. It's not that I get pleasure from others weaknesses, but this "real" picture of them gives me hope that I might have a chance at making a similar impact on the world for the Kingdom of God.
The reality is that no matter whose name I fill in the blank, the above statement will simply not... be... true. Becoming like one of my heroes (or envies) will not make me happy, and the same holds true for you.
James, the brother of Jesus, alludes to why this is the case.
He says that God allows or causes trials to come into our lives that we may learn perseverance. But perseverance is not the end game. God's ultimate goal in growing our "faith muscles" (see "Count Trials as Joy" post) is that we may reach PERFECTION.
What?! Perfection?! James couldn't possibly mean what he said.
Well... he does, and he means even more. The word for perfection here means completeness, wholeness, or fulfilling the purpose which you've been given. For James, perfection is all about pressing on to become that which God is making you in Christ Jesus (think Phil. 3:12-14).
And that's why there's only one name that can be filled in the blank above to make the statement true: Jesus.
"If I could just be like Jesus, I would be happy."
If I could be like Jesus, I would be complete, whole, and happy. And this truth is the reason that God is faithful to allow all of our idols and all of our heroes to fall short. It is one of the reasons he allows us to suffer in this broken world: that our affections may turn to another place, a redeemed New Creation wherein we are fully made into the image of Christ.
This is both God's predestined plan (Rom. 8:29) and perfect will (1 Thes. 4:3) for the believer's life.
And this is another great reason to rejoice in trials. God is promising to use them to make us more like Jesus, which is the best thing that could ever happen to us!
Also, it only makes sense that He would use the method of suffering, since our Messiah also completed/fulfilled/made perfect His work through suffering.
Let's rejoice in trials today, knowing that as we persevere in faith, God is forming us into the image of Christ... for our ultimate happiness.
Fill in the blank.
"If I could just be like ___________________, I would be happy."
Maybe you think of an actor or actress, a musician, a businessperson, a doctor, a writer, a humanitarian, a great leader, or (if you're a nerd like me) a pastor/theologian like Luther, Bonhoeffer, or Keller.
When we consider the people we admire, it's usually through the lens of pop media or a history book, and neither of these could ever tell the whole story. I don't know about you, but there is always some comfort found when I finally realize that one of my heroes is just as flawed and human as me. It's not that I get pleasure from others weaknesses, but this "real" picture of them gives me hope that I might have a chance at making a similar impact on the world for the Kingdom of God.
The reality is that no matter whose name I fill in the blank, the above statement will simply not... be... true. Becoming like one of my heroes (or envies) will not make me happy, and the same holds true for you.
James, the brother of Jesus, alludes to why this is the case.
He says that God allows or causes trials to come into our lives that we may learn perseverance. But perseverance is not the end game. God's ultimate goal in growing our "faith muscles" (see "Count Trials as Joy" post) is that we may reach PERFECTION.
What?! Perfection?! James couldn't possibly mean what he said.
Well... he does, and he means even more. The word for perfection here means completeness, wholeness, or fulfilling the purpose which you've been given. For James, perfection is all about pressing on to become that which God is making you in Christ Jesus (think Phil. 3:12-14).
And that's why there's only one name that can be filled in the blank above to make the statement true: Jesus.
"If I could just be like Jesus, I would be happy."
If I could be like Jesus, I would be complete, whole, and happy. And this truth is the reason that God is faithful to allow all of our idols and all of our heroes to fall short. It is one of the reasons he allows us to suffer in this broken world: that our affections may turn to another place, a redeemed New Creation wherein we are fully made into the image of Christ.
This is both God's predestined plan (Rom. 8:29) and perfect will (1 Thes. 4:3) for the believer's life.
And this is another great reason to rejoice in trials. God is promising to use them to make us more like Jesus, which is the best thing that could ever happen to us!
Also, it only makes sense that He would use the method of suffering, since our Messiah also completed/fulfilled/made perfect His work through suffering.
Let's rejoice in trials today, knowing that as we persevere in faith, God is forming us into the image of Christ... for our ultimate happiness.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Ask for Wisdom
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." -James 1:5-8, ESV
Promises from God are a powerful and encouraging thing. When the Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us, we cling to that promise as to life itself. When Romans 5:1 promises the believer that she now has peace with God, she rests in the confidence that the hostility between her and her Maker has now ended.
So when James tell us in James 1:5-8 that if we ask (in faith) for wisdom we will receive it, we should immediately feel both a compulsion and a boldness to make this request often. I would say that the prayer, "God, give me wisdom," is one of the most consistent prayers I pray (second only to "God, please help me!") because of the great promise found in these verses.
Proverbs 9:10 tells us that wisdom begins with a holy fear of God. In the Bible true believers are marked by this fear. Therefore wisdom and faith are closely connected. First Corinthians 1:30 affirms the same when it tells us that Christ Himself is our wisdom. Christ's example, teaching, and gospel are the embodiment of wisdom, and insomuch as we abide in Christ (Jn. 15) by faith, we too will walk in wisdom.
Proverbs 9:11 explains that wisdom preserves life, and Proverbs 4:5 says, "'Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget,...Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you."
Therefore when God promises wisdom to those who ask, He is promising life. He also revealing His desire for us to live and prosper (in the biblical, not materialist, sense of that word). God wants us to be wise, to live, and to flourish!
One reason we so often neglect to ask for wisdom is because of our distorted view of our Heavenly Father. We may have allowed broken circumstances to taint our view of Him. We may have allowed dysfunctional relationships to do the same; but we must understand that the most true and clear picture of who God is comes not from our experiences but from His Word about Himself. So if He tells us in James 1 that He wants us to have wisdom along with all the benefits that it brings, to shy away from this because of our apprehensions is both disobedience and a lack of faith.
As N.T. Wright states in commenting on this passage: "How easy it is for us to imagine that God is stingy and mean. We project on to the maker of all things the fearful, petty or even spiteful character we meet so often in real life, sometimes even when we look in the mirror…Learning who God really is and what he’s truly like – and reminding ourselves of it regularly – is the key to it all.”
Our God is good, just, and loving, and He wants us to ask for wisdom.
Promises from God are a powerful and encouraging thing. When the Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us, we cling to that promise as to life itself. When Romans 5:1 promises the believer that she now has peace with God, she rests in the confidence that the hostility between her and her Maker has now ended.
So when James tell us in James 1:5-8 that if we ask (in faith) for wisdom we will receive it, we should immediately feel both a compulsion and a boldness to make this request often. I would say that the prayer, "God, give me wisdom," is one of the most consistent prayers I pray (second only to "God, please help me!") because of the great promise found in these verses.
Proverbs 9:10 tells us that wisdom begins with a holy fear of God. In the Bible true believers are marked by this fear. Therefore wisdom and faith are closely connected. First Corinthians 1:30 affirms the same when it tells us that Christ Himself is our wisdom. Christ's example, teaching, and gospel are the embodiment of wisdom, and insomuch as we abide in Christ (Jn. 15) by faith, we too will walk in wisdom.
Proverbs 9:11 explains that wisdom preserves life, and Proverbs 4:5 says, "'Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget,...Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you."
Therefore when God promises wisdom to those who ask, He is promising life. He also revealing His desire for us to live and prosper (in the biblical, not materialist, sense of that word). God wants us to be wise, to live, and to flourish!
One reason we so often neglect to ask for wisdom is because of our distorted view of our Heavenly Father. We may have allowed broken circumstances to taint our view of Him. We may have allowed dysfunctional relationships to do the same; but we must understand that the most true and clear picture of who God is comes not from our experiences but from His Word about Himself. So if He tells us in James 1 that He wants us to have wisdom along with all the benefits that it brings, to shy away from this because of our apprehensions is both disobedience and a lack of faith.
As N.T. Wright states in commenting on this passage: "How easy it is for us to imagine that God is stingy and mean. We project on to the maker of all things the fearful, petty or even spiteful character we meet so often in real life, sometimes even when we look in the mirror…Learning who God really is and what he’s truly like – and reminding ourselves of it regularly – is the key to it all.”
Our God is good, just, and loving, and He wants us to ask for wisdom.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Count Your Trials as Joy
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." -James 1:2-4 (ESV)
When we encounter any kind of difficulty that is naturally part of the fallenness and brokenness of this world, James tells us that the emotion and mind-set which should well up inside of us is JOY.
How is this possible? How can difficulty and pain bring joy?
For certain James is not a sadist. His point is not that the struggle itself is a source of joy. Rather, he explains that the believer can rejoice in the midst of trial because he understands that something bigger is going on.
God is allowing his faith to be tested.
Why?
According to James, this testing produces something in the believer that would have not otherwise been.
One look at my physique and you realize that I'm no body-builder, but I do enjoy starting my day with a good workout. When I look around the gym and see guys with arms bigger than my head, I can't help but wonder how many hours they've spent to build those muscles. Day in and day out, they had to be faithful to get up early, drive to the gym, warm up their muscles properly, eat and drink the right things, push their muscles to the point of pain and then push them some more.
It is only at the point of great resistance that tiny tears occur in the muscles and they are ultimately built up. The pain of doing one more push up, one more bench press, one more squat, is the very pain that builds new muscle.
I think this is what James is trying to get at. It's not that Christians seek out suffering or enjoy it, it's that we understand that our God allows it for His glory and our good.
The Apostle Paul says it this way in the famous Romans 8:28: "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
This is not simply a trite, warm, and fuzzy statement to put on a Hallmark card. This is the unshakable truth of the sovereignty of our God.
Our fleshly man needs to suffer. We need to be let down by the promises of this world and disappointed by the desires of our flesh. God is gracious enough to allow this in our lives. He's gracious enough to dash our hopes in this temporal life and in its fleeting pleasures.
I've come to believe that there is, in fact, very little that God teaches the believer apart from suffering, for it is only in taking up our cross and following Him daily that we are able to be conformed to His image (Lk. 9:23). It is only in giving up our lives that we are able to find them (Mt. 10:39).
God is taking the fallenness and brokenness of this world and redeeming it by working all of our circumstances and suffering together for His glory and our good. This grows our "faith muscles." It causes us to lean on Him and trust in Him more. Then He proves Himself faithful in the midst of the trail, and we can't help but rejoice!
When we encounter any kind of difficulty that is naturally part of the fallenness and brokenness of this world, James tells us that the emotion and mind-set which should well up inside of us is JOY.
How is this possible? How can difficulty and pain bring joy?
For certain James is not a sadist. His point is not that the struggle itself is a source of joy. Rather, he explains that the believer can rejoice in the midst of trial because he understands that something bigger is going on.
God is allowing his faith to be tested.
Why?
According to James, this testing produces something in the believer that would have not otherwise been.
One look at my physique and you realize that I'm no body-builder, but I do enjoy starting my day with a good workout. When I look around the gym and see guys with arms bigger than my head, I can't help but wonder how many hours they've spent to build those muscles. Day in and day out, they had to be faithful to get up early, drive to the gym, warm up their muscles properly, eat and drink the right things, push their muscles to the point of pain and then push them some more.
It is only at the point of great resistance that tiny tears occur in the muscles and they are ultimately built up. The pain of doing one more push up, one more bench press, one more squat, is the very pain that builds new muscle.
I think this is what James is trying to get at. It's not that Christians seek out suffering or enjoy it, it's that we understand that our God allows it for His glory and our good.
The Apostle Paul says it this way in the famous Romans 8:28: "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
This is not simply a trite, warm, and fuzzy statement to put on a Hallmark card. This is the unshakable truth of the sovereignty of our God.
Our fleshly man needs to suffer. We need to be let down by the promises of this world and disappointed by the desires of our flesh. God is gracious enough to allow this in our lives. He's gracious enough to dash our hopes in this temporal life and in its fleeting pleasures.
I've come to believe that there is, in fact, very little that God teaches the believer apart from suffering, for it is only in taking up our cross and following Him daily that we are able to be conformed to His image (Lk. 9:23). It is only in giving up our lives that we are able to find them (Mt. 10:39).
God is taking the fallenness and brokenness of this world and redeeming it by working all of our circumstances and suffering together for His glory and our good. This grows our "faith muscles." It causes us to lean on Him and trust in Him more. Then He proves Himself faithful in the midst of the trail, and we can't help but rejoice!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
the change in James
It's high time I started writing again. Invert Student Ministries has just completed a school-year-long series through the book of James, so I'd like to share some of the highlights from our year. Enjoy!
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..." -Js. 1:1
How did James go from not believing in Jesus (Jn. 7:5) to calling him Lord in this verse, to becoming an authoritative voice at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), to (according to church history) dying for the name of his half-brother?
In the words of Tim Keller, "How hard would it be for me to convince you that your brother had been raised from the dead and was God" (paraphrase)? The truth is that James was either part of a movement of mass hysteria and delusion involving hundreds of people, or... he had actually seen his brother die and rise from the dead.
James' encounter with the risen Christ brought him new birth (see Jn. 3), and this new birth set him on the path to becoming the bold witness and leader we see in Scripture.
The truth is that unless we have the same new birth as James, we will not be able to read and understand and obey the words of his letter. James gives many challenging and encouraging thoughts in his book, but to attempt to follow them without the internal change that he experienced will only leave a person frustrated because of failure or self-righteous because of some level of external conformity.
So if you've not experience this internal change, the change that makes it possible for you to live obediently to Christ, I encourage you to seek it out! A great place to start is by reading through the Gospel of John. Ephesians 2:1-10 is also a good, short explanation of the gospel.
The gospel is the truth that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, lived a sinless life, died on the cross on our behalf to take away our sin, and rose from the dead to bring us new life. If you want to talk more about this, let me know. I'd be glad to answer any questions that you may have!
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..." -Js. 1:1
How did James go from not believing in Jesus (Jn. 7:5) to calling him Lord in this verse, to becoming an authoritative voice at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), to (according to church history) dying for the name of his half-brother?
In the words of Tim Keller, "How hard would it be for me to convince you that your brother had been raised from the dead and was God" (paraphrase)? The truth is that James was either part of a movement of mass hysteria and delusion involving hundreds of people, or... he had actually seen his brother die and rise from the dead.
James' encounter with the risen Christ brought him new birth (see Jn. 3), and this new birth set him on the path to becoming the bold witness and leader we see in Scripture.
The truth is that unless we have the same new birth as James, we will not be able to read and understand and obey the words of his letter. James gives many challenging and encouraging thoughts in his book, but to attempt to follow them without the internal change that he experienced will only leave a person frustrated because of failure or self-righteous because of some level of external conformity.
So if you've not experience this internal change, the change that makes it possible for you to live obediently to Christ, I encourage you to seek it out! A great place to start is by reading through the Gospel of John. Ephesians 2:1-10 is also a good, short explanation of the gospel.
The gospel is the truth that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, lived a sinless life, died on the cross on our behalf to take away our sin, and rose from the dead to bring us new life. If you want to talk more about this, let me know. I'd be glad to answer any questions that you may have!
Monday, June 9, 2014
The Gospel and Gender Roles in Leadership
I hope our next President of the United States is a woman. Plain and simple, I think it's about time that we crossed that milestone as a nation. Of course, more than that, I hope we elect the most well-qualified and wisest candidate. I just hope it's a lady.
So I need to start out by saying that I have no bias against women in leadership.
But what should a Christian do with the fact that the Bible teaches that men are to be the heads of their households and the local church?
I've wrestled with this question for years. I've tried to balance the cultural aspects of passages like 1 Timothy 3, Ephesians 5, and 1 Corinthians 14 with my belief in biblical inerrancy, but I've never been able to shake the fact that I believe Paul really does want men to be the leaders in both the home and the church.
Is this because men are always the most qualified? I don't think so.
Is it because they are more naturally gifted leaders? Probably wrong again.
Was Paul's teaching given simply to accommodate the male-dominated societies of first century Palestine and Rome? I believe there is good reason to reject this notion as well.
There is in fact something unique about Christian marriage and about the church that require these particular (even if peculiar in our culture) gender roles. The gospel. Christian marriage is a picture of the spiritual union between Christ and His Bride, the church, and in turn a picture of the gospel.
No biblically faithful Christian would ever argue that anyone other than Christ Himself is the Head of the church. There is no egalitarianism in the Christ-church union. The church submits to Christ as her head without ever thinking to herself, "I only wish I had a more important role." Christ died for her! What else could He do to prove her great worth?!
Not only that, but Christ gave His life as an act of selfless, sacrificial love, the same love that a husband is to have for his wife. There was no thought of insisting on His own way as Jesus was accused falsely, beaten brutally, and mocked bitterly. The witness of the gospel is that the Head of the church consistently suffered loss for the sake of what was eternally best for His Bride. There was not a single shred of oppressive dominance in His love.
Now we could argue for gender-based roles in marriage and the church from other angles, but I believe that this angle helps explain things the most clearly.
In this respect, the roles of husband and wife in Christian marriage and the structure of leadership in the church act very much like baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are all visual pictures of the truths of the gospel.
So if the most qualified candidate for president in 2016 is a lady, I'll be the first in line to vote for her; but in marriage and in the leadership of the church, I still believe wholeheartedly in the model laid out for us in the New Testament.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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