28 October 2008 by Brian.

I’ve been reading in the book of James lately and was reminded of just how relevant the book is today.  Many Biblical scholars believe that James was written during a time of economic crisis in the first century.  Specifically, the Roman Empire was experiencing a famine, putting extreme pressure on the Jewish community.  Of course, Jewish followers of Christ were seen as traitors and idolaters by the Jewish religious and political establishment, making them even more vulnerable.  Simply put, these were extremely difficult times which could make it difficult to stay faithful to God and His ways, rather than to take matters into their own hands and attempt to provide for themselves, even if it meant acting in un-Christlike ways.  Sound familiar?  You can see the evidence of the pressure that the original readers of James were under and you can see how James drove the message home by using so many agricultural images while speaking to members of an agrarian society during a famine.

Try reading James again with this background in mind.  I think we may find it easier to put ourselves into the shoes of the original readers and to really understand what God is trying to teach us through this powerful little letter.

Posted in Naturalism, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Humanism, Community, Leadership, Politics, Inductive Bible study, Inductive study method, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Spirituality, Morals, Bible study, Morality, Secularism | No Comments »

5 September 2008 by Brian.

I was reading Psalm 50 and was struck by the statement God makes at the end of this selection:

17     For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.

18     You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.

19        “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.

20     You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.

21     These things you have done and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.

The passage describes a community made up of people who have no regard for the righteousness of God.  They live according to their own rules, satisfying their appetites, and obeying their whims.  They disregard God’s corrective action in their lives, they disregard the moral law and freely accept injustice among them.  They speak evil, even of those to whom they should be most loyal - their own family.  So, they speak up in matters they shouldn’t and keep silent when they should speak up in opposition to evil.

God states definitively that He is completely different from this society of His supposed people.  God does not keep silent in the face of evil, but opposes it.  He does not speak evil, but doesn’t back down from the truth, even when it is uncomfortable to the hearer.  As His people (I refer to believers here), we are expected to glorify Him by living His character by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

So, if this is true, then why do I so often hear those who speak up against evil, injustice, or sin referred to as “mean” and those who keep silent and go with the flow as “nice”?  People tend to feel guilty for trying to do the right thing or requiring others to hold to a standard, whether it is simply a business policy that is the standard or its an issue of right and wrong.

We must be careful, always realizing that our judgment isn’t perfect and that humility and grace should always be present in the believer’s life.  But, there are many issues in our society about which God would have us speak up on behalf of Right and righteousness.  If God is who He says He is, then we should be faithful to do so.  The weak and vulnerable in our society need our voices.  People need to see us living the life of Christ at work, in our families, in politics, and, yes, even in church!

Do we dare to ask God to show us just how far short we fall and then trust Him to re-mold us in His image whether it’s comfortable or not?

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8 May 2008 by Brian.

When Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me.”, does it disturb you?  If not, you’ve probably allowed yourself (as I often have) to sanitize “your” Jesus.  Let’s be clear, there is only one Jesus and he is the person who actually existed and who continues to exist.  (In reality, our perception of him doesn’t change his actual character and nature in the least.)

Todd Agnew’s, “My Jesus” is an excellent challenge to see Jesus as He is and to follow Him, regardless the cost.

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Then why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet would stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despised the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like my Jesus

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9 April 2008 by Brian.

It drives me nuts when I hear people use emotional terms when describing their thoughts about an objective, fact-based issue:

Question:  “What do you think should be done in order to prevent Social Security from going bankrupt?”  Answer: “I feel like privatization is the best option.”

What?!?  Nobody asked which flavor of ice cream you prefer today or your emotional reaction in the face of such a daunting challenge.  The question is one that needs rational analysis of a variety of facts and the consequences of the various potential solutions to the problem, producing a well thought-out decision.  Now, the decision could be wrong…nobody expects that the respondent will provide THE definitive, correct answer.  However, the question is one which requires and intellectual response, not an emotional one.

Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  Our language betrays the fact that our generation has lost faith in objectivity, rationality, fact, and truth.  People rarely “think” or “believe” anything about anything anymore.  Now, they “feel like” everything from the sum of 2 plus 2 to their favorite flavor of ice cream to the results of their monthly budget or the existence or non-existence of God.

As believers, we should be aware that a rational, objective approach is insufficient for 100% of life, but this approach is foundational to reality because a Constant exists in the universe and He is the source of reality, the moral law-giver.  We should never be so arrogant as to believe that we perfectly understand everything and that we cannot be wrong about an issue.  However, we shouldn’t back away (nor slip into our culture’s habit) of speaking as if everything were up to personal choice.  This, I believe.

Posted in Humanism, Abortion, Homosexuality, Community, Naturalism, Eurabia, Bible study, Inductive Bible study, Social Justice, Social Injustice, Politics, Social Medicine, Missions, Missionaries, Europe, Christmas, Evil, Environmentalism, Taxes, Trinity, Trinitarianism, Israel, Religious fanaticism, Sex, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernism, Postmodern Philosophy, Contemporary Christianity, Relativism, Sanctity of Life, Islam, Marriage, Postmodernity, North Korea, Morality, Religion, Radicalism, Radicals, Morals, New Age Spirituality, Spirituality, New Age, False Doctrine, Secularism | No Comments »

7 January 2008 by Brian.

I have a ton of respect for the type of leader you’re about to read about.  It takes a an incredible amount of humility for any person to admit that they are wrong.  When you’ve spent 30 years of your life, convinced you’re running you’re church in the best possible way, it takes the kind of humility that only comes from a deep relationship with God.  A lesser man (or a less Christ-like one) would’ve argued that the research was flawed, the sample size too small, or manufactured some other comforting excuse to continue along the same path he trodden thus far.

Follow this link to the post on Willow Creek’s apology.  Here’s an excerpt to let you know what to expect:

“Speaking at the Leadership Summit, Hybels summarized the findings this way:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.
Having spent thirty years creating and promoting a multi-million dollar organization driven by programs and measuring participation, and convincing other church leaders to do the same, you can see why Hybels called this research “the wake up call” of his adult life.
Hybels confesses:
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
In other words, spiritual growth doesn’t happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships. And, ironically, these basic disciplines do not require multi-million dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage.”

Posted in Trinity, Community, Trinitarianism, Missions, Missionaries, Inductive Bible study, Bible study, Contemporary Christianity, Biblical Worldview, Spirituality, Religion, Marriage | 2 Comments »

21 December 2007 by Brian.

I’ve started reading a couple more books. Today’s quote comes from, “The Cross of Christ“, by John R. W. Stott.

“All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to His, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell deserving sinners’, then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before.”

Christianity in a secular humanist age. This is our challenge.

Posted in Quotes, Naturalism, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Bible study, Inductive Bible study, Humanism, Homosexuality, Missionaries, Europe, Missions, Evil, Politics, Trinity, Religion, Morality, Biblical Worldview, Postmodernism, Sex, Contemporary Christianity, Sanctity of Life, Relativism, Postmodern Philosophy, Postmodernity, New Age Spirituality, Morals, False Doctrine, New Age, Spirituality, Secularism | 1 Comment »

6 November 2007 by Brian.

Last Sunday our pastor preached on blind spots.  The problem with blind spots is, of course, that one isn’t aware of one’s own blind spots (hence, the name).  Of course, if those around us were willing to be perfectly honest with us, they could probably enlighten us with two or three before we knew what hit us!  In reality, most of us rarely even consider the fact that we DO have blind spots.  It’s a lot more comfortably to go through life assuming that we’re aware of all our flaws and are conscientiously working to remedy them.  Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

Wait a minute!  Ignorance is NOT bliss, biblically speaking.  The Holy Spirit leads us into truth.  Jesus challenged Pilate (John 18) with the fact that he came into the world to testify to the truth and that, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  This truth co-existed perfectly with the Father, the One who “is love”.  Truth and love are perfect partners, inextricably woven together at the foundation of reality, in the person of God, Himself.

With that said, why is it that one of my greatest blind spots is my failure to express the love of God as I attempt to conform my life to His truth and to live out my relationship with God in my family and in my vocation?  I can only surmise that I’ve taken the active role in determining how to express the truth of the Word of God, rather than asking God to guide me in doing so each day.  Once again, I’m confronted with my own tendency to self-sufficiency (sin!) and I realize how desperately I need Christ to rule every moment of my day.

Back to the cross I go, thankful for the grace of God that daily covers all of my sin and makes me acceptable to Him.  I could never, on my best day, deserve the tiniest fraction of His love or acceptance.  Instead, miraculously, He chose to give it all to me and to anyone else who chooses to accept it.  What an amazing God!

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25 September 2007 by Brian.

It’s too bad the Church of Sweden isn’t vigilant on matters of more theological significance. In a “Church” where atheists have often served as priests, we certainly can’t have “foreign and sexist” customs being perpetuated! So much for tolerance and understanding in this case, huh?

Check out the article if you want to see what the fuss is about on this bride’s special day.

This scenario does offer us a chance to evaluate our own choices of where we take a stand. Are we more concerned with our own preferences and/or defending our own cultural standards? Or are we committed to understanding and applying the Biblical principals which God would have us apply within our particular cultural framework? Let’s be careful, lest we find ourselves taking a stand to defend our own cultural preferences against the onslaught of Biblical truth!

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18 September 2007 by Brian.

Okay, okay…I sensationalized the headline, but I read Hebrews chapter 12 today and was blown away by just how profound, challenging, and encouraging this chapter is.

So often, we get caught up in the excitement of chapter eleven’s “heroes of the faith” and think of the awesome things they did for God.  In doing so, we usually forget two things: that we’re meant to live out the same faith in our own lives and that each of these heroes faced impossible situations and incredible trials.  The fact is that their lives were far from easy ones and their only assurance that things would turn out well for them was their faith.  As the author of Hebrews makes clear in 11:35-38, many of the faithful met with rather horrible ends in this world.  Now, on to chapter 12….

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NRSV)

Verse one grabs us and diverts our attention from the fine examples of chapter 11 and forces us to apply this faith to our own lives.  As I pondered the verse, I realized that each of us has a “race marked out for us”.  Each of us has our own set of challenges, our own opportunity to exercise faith, experience God’s providing and sustaining grace, and thereby glorify Him.  Verse two redirects us once again, but this time it is to Jesus that we look.  Why?  Because he is the One who went before us, perfectly modeling the walk of faith.  Not only that, but He is the One by whose Spirit we are made increasingly holy as we walk by faith.  Chapter 11 had some great Old Testament examples to follow, but Jesus is the ultimate example to follow.  The Chapter 11 “heroes of the faith” exercised their faith imperfectly,  but served to prepare the way for Jesus, just as the Old Testament law (i.e., Judaism) could not provide salvation, but served to bring awareness of sin and to point the way to the One who would die for the sins of the world.  In doing so, Jesus dealt with sin once and for all.  He is the ultimate High Priest, the ultimate sacrifice, and the initiator of the new and perfect covenant.  That’s great stuff!

Continuing in verse two of chapter 12, Jesus’ walk of faith is explicitly spelled out for us, so there is no mistaking the type of example we are to follow.  First of all, the joy that was set before Jesus was not the opportunity to acquire great wealth, fame, or worldly power.  Instead, his joy was in expressing the love of God for his enemies (sinful mankind) and by laying down His own life, redeeming them and offering them life in relationship with the Father.  To gain this joy, He endured (a key word in the book of Hebrews) the most humiliating death which one could face, not to mention the fact that it is a  physically tortuous way to die.  In choosing to obey His heavenly Father, Jesus didn’t consider the shame of it (He IS God, Himself, after all!).  Instead, he faced the trial and passed through it to the position of honor at the right hand of the throne of God!  What an amazing savior!

The question I must ask myself, and I hope you’ll join me in asking it, is, “What shame or what trial has God asked me to face in order to glorify Him and accomplish His plans and purposes in my life?”  If I’m making my decisions based upon their impact on my own ego, my own reputation, or my own comfort, I’m probably not following the path of Christ.  I’m certainly not following His example by doing so.  Where is my focus?  Is it on the trial?  Or is it on the glory that can be brought to God as I trust Him through it and the blessing that might accrue to others as a result?

If you plan on reading further into chapter 12, be forewarned: the remainder of the chapter gets even better.  You will be challenged and blessed.  If you want to get the most out of it, read the book of Hebrews from beginning to end in one sitting.  I promise, you won’t regret it!

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26 August 2007 by Brian.

“Very few really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds – justification, explanations, forms of consolation without which they can’t go on. To
really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the
questioner.”

Spoken by the Vampire Marius in
Ann Rice’s book The Vampire Lestat
Ballantine Books. New York, NY. 1985.

(Remember, Ann Rice became a Christian late in life…interesting what happens when you dare to really take a look at reality!)

I found this quote at http://tchriscrain.blogspot.com/2007/07/critical.html .

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