What Happened?

A few weeks ago Facebook did one of those updates, but unlike the previous ones, this one actually seemed to do some good. It actually made it easier to use. And with this change I found some things on Facebook that I had long forgotten about. Back in the day there was, and actually still is, an application called, "Notes" it's sort of like a blog on your Facebook. I stopped writing them and forgot about them when I started this blog.

Today something prompted me to go back and read through some of them. As I read memories of the events came back to me, things I had forgotten until now, but fortunately they were persevered in type. And as I read I started to ask myself "What happened?" So much of that doesn't sound like me now. So much of it points to a guy who had a closer and deeper relationship with God, a more utter dependence upon Him, and a lot more hope and faith that He would do incredible things.

I thought about the post I wrote a few days ago, and I'm just amazed at how negative and angry bits of it are. That guy back then would have never written that for the world to read. So what's changed in the last half decade? How, when I'm supposed to be growing closer to, and more like, Christ daily does that college student seem to be so much farther ahead than I am now?

If I'm honest, he was.

That guy was closer to God than I am right now. That guy couldn't put the Bible down. That guy knew both how to pray and how to hear from God. That guy knew how to worship. That guy KNEW God.

So what happened?

I think it began with a loss of community. Instead of having the constant support and friendship, he had to set out into the world on his own, literally alone. He got into the Church and started to see what it had become. He got distracted by things that He allowed to become more important, that filled up the time He spent with his closest Friend. It happened slowly, and he just sort of never fully recovered.

There were times when things seemed to get back to where they were. A powerful Sunday, a few days of retreat with brothers, but it wasn't the same, it wasn't permanent. Now he's trying to figure out who he is. Now he's trying to figure out how to love and lead a wife. Now he's trying to figure out what God wants from him, but he's sort of forgotten how to communicate with Him.

Writing this really isn't that embarrassing or humiliating, I'm kind of surprised. None of this is meant to point fingers at people or blame them for not being there. And none of this is trying to make excuses.

I had an intimacy with God that I desperately miss and want back. And the question is, am I willing to pay the price that I was back then? It's defiantly more of a battle now, life is so much simpler for a single college student, but it's also so much more crucial now. This battle must be fought and it must be won.

And so I guess I'm asking for your prayers. Pray for discipline to not be distracted by the worthless things that want to fill my time. Pray for community and fellowship for my wife and I. Pray for an intimacy with God that far surpasses what I once had.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

One of those random posts

I have a lot of different thoughts going through my mind right now, no one thing really dominate, and so this is one of those occasional posts where I just start writing on a variety of subjects, edit at the end so I don't say something that gets me in trouble, and see where we end up.

First the idea of burning bridges. It's been something I've thought about over the last few years, and a lot over the last few weeks. I'll be the first to admit that occasionally I'd love to burn a few with a lot more spite than I should, but I never do because I really do want to reflect Christ. For years my parents have told me not go burning bridges. To a point I understand that. If all you do is burn bridges it won't be long before you're standing alone on an island with no where to go. But sometimes the only way to move forward is to burn the bridge behind you so that you aren't dragged back across it.

Sometimes we aren't the ones who burn the bridge, others drive us to the other side by their absence or lack of involvement, or by breaking trust, and then they go back across to leave us alone permanently on the other side. And sometimes we make a decision to end a relationship. Right now I'm at the point where I contemplating a pretty significant change as a result of being driven across a bridge. Right now it's about weighing the pros and cons and deciding where does this change leave me.

I've thought about death some recently. Yesterday I heard a song that I wanted to have played at my funeral, and I wondered who would be there if it was tomorrow? I don't feel like I've made a very big impact in the lives of people I've known, and part of me doesn't feel like I'd be missed by many or that most people would notice or care (I'm not suicidal just to throw that out there).

Part of the death thought comes from the violent events of the last few months. It's only a matter of time until there is another public shooting, no law is going to stop that, and actually some of the laws they have tired to pass could make them worse by taking guns away from law abiding citizens who step up to stop shooters. As I've been places with my wife I do a lot more observing than I usually do. I try to be aware of what's going on and who's around me at all times. The other day I told her, "If we are ever somewhere and someone starts shooting this is what I want you to do..." Last night we were somewhere and I just asked her, "What do you do if you're here and someone starts shooting?" Just trying to build the memory so in the event that it happens she's ready.

Along with this comes the thinking of what it is like to die. The reality, and inevitability, of it has been on my mind, especially this morning. I've thought about what it will be like to be in the presence of God. I've thought some about Heaven, wondering what it will be like.

I've dealt with some anger and frustration over the last couple days. One day it was really cold in the morning, I had to leave at 5:15 am and my vehicle was frozen. The door handle snapped off when I tried to open it, and I saw yesterday that the passenger side door handle was cracked. It was just one of those little things that I didn't really need right now. I've watched another job slip away, going to someone whose had the opportunity to get experience in a large church setting, and it's just driven into me the fact that those who have had the opportunity to be successful continue to get the opportunities to be more successful, and the rest of us never get a chance. It's made me really sick of Church politics and it all being about who you know, which it really is, and I tend to be on the opposite end of that because I don't have any family that has been denominational leaders or pastors of huge churches.

I've wondered a lot recently if I'm done with ministry. No one is calling, even after listing that I'm willing to volunteer in the right setting. I don't want charity, I don't want to be handed something because of who I know. I want to earn it. I want to be given a chance that has the potential to go well and see what I'm made of, see what I am able to do, see if there really is anything to the potential that everyone has always told me I have. But I've really felt that that chance is something I'm never going to get. And it drives me nuts.

I'm so restless right now. I'm working a job that doesn't test me, that doesn't excite me, that doesn't have any eternal value right now, and that I really don't want anyone to know about because it's a bit humiliating (just realized that one this past week when a pastor friend randomly bumped into me at work). I've got years preparing for a calling that I'm not getting the opportunity to fulfill.

And in all of this I still want to praise God. I'm not trying to make myself sound super righteous, because I'm not, and I'm not trying to make myself sound super humble, which again, I'm not. But yesterday as I got to work a few minutes early I sat in my vehicle and pulled up the song "10,000 Reasons" on my phone. Those words, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name" hit me. That is what I want my response to be.

And as I listened to those words I read these in Psalm 6, "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of You in death; in Sheol who will give You thanks? I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries. Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed."

Verses 2 and 3 are really how I feel, and I'm just wondering, "God, how long?"

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Ephesians 3.20-21

I know I've mentioned this verse a lot recently (some of it in conversations), but I can't stop thinking about it.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

These two verses tell us some incredible things about God and about us. Recently this verse has been a huge source of hope for me. It tells me that God is working in me. God's power is at work in my life. He is using me to bring about His Kingdom. He is molding me into the image of His Son. And He is using me to help others see who He is and how to become like Christ.

That in itself is an incredible blessing. That in and of itself is more than enough. But that information is second in this verse. It begins with the statement that God, who is working in us, is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Not simply what we ask and think, but far more. And not just far more, but far more abundantly.

That word, abundantly, means, "present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient". In Greek the word is huper, and it means, "in behalf of, for the sake of; over, beyond, more than; more, beyond, over". God isn't able to just meet our needs, but to far exceed them in ways that go beyond what we would ever hope to imagine. And since He is at work in us already, God wants to do far more than we ask or think.

God wants to do great things in my life. God wants to do greater things than I could ever begin to think of in my life. And God is at work to bring them about. And He is doing the same thing in you. God wants to do far more abundantly beyond all that you ask or think. He wants to be oversufficeient. He wants to go over and beyond what you could ever ask Him for.

This thought just came to me. I had a friend who died of cancer almost six and a half years ago, (that's hard to believe it's been that long). So many people prayed for her healing. And God answered those prayers in a way that was greater than we had asked. He took her home, and healed her permanently. That was greater than anything we had asked for. Rather than giving her more time here, where countless illnesses and injuries could come, God took her to heaven, where she will never experience pain or sadness again.

Right now in life I'm focusing on these two verses. I have plans that have seemed perfect, but they haven't worked out. But I'm reminded that God has something far greater in mind. It might require some big changes, but it will be better than anything I could ever have imagined. That is the God I serve. He is God who doesn't do the minimum, but goes above and beyond. He doesn't hold back, but is incredibly generous. And so that leads to the question, why aren't things better?

Maybe you are imagining enough. Maybe you aren't asking. Maybe you're focused on the wrong thing or with the wrong motive. And maybe you're withholding praise.

This statement about God also comes with instructions to us. To God who is able to do far more abundantly than what we ask or hope for, "to Him be the glory". God must be glorified for what He has done, and more than that, simply for who He is. It isn't my job to make things happen. It isn't my job to complain when things don't work out. It is my job to glorify God, dream big, pray big, and watch Him work wonders beyond all of that. And for that I glorify Him all the more, and until it gets to that point, I glorify Him now.

God will do great things, and God will be glorified for the great things He does. Christianity is not about a God who does enough to get by. Look at salvation. There was a system in place that worked. For every sin a sacrifice had to be offered to pay for it. The Jews did it for thousands of years, and it was enough. But God went above and beyond. He became a man and offered Himself as the final sacrifice for all sin. That is how God works, that is who God is.

Glorify God, dream big, pray fervently, watch Him do incredible wonders.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Ancient Social Custom

As part of the class I did for the Israel trip I had to read a book. I was smart and ended up re-taking the class I took for my undergrad on the trip four years ago, this time for master's credit. I had kept one of the books from the previous class and had the chance to re-read it this time. It's mentioned off to the right under my suggested reading.

Jesus and the Land by Charles Page, something about it had hit me on the first read through that I decided to keep it, and for some reason I also thought it was good enough to recommend that other people read. I had all of this in mind as I started it again, and at first I wondered what I had been thinking. There isn't much in the first chapters that hit me as significant or important. Until recently I didn't do much underlining in books, so I had nothing marked in it and had no way of knowing what had inspired me to keep it.

But then I got to the chapter on the Galilean ministry of Jesus, and one of the most thought provoking statements I've read hit me. "To be offered a drink and then to receive that drink of water was like a social contract in that this act of hospitality would require both the giver and the receiver to be friends for one year. There was also an implied social contract between people who ate together, requiring that they be friends for the rest of their lives."

This simple insight into the cultural protocol of the first century reveals a deeper meaning to so many statements and actions of the New Testament. There is the woman at the well in John 4, Judas at the last supper, and the first thought that hit me, Paul in Romans 12.20, "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." The knowledge of this ancient social custom casts all of this in a new light.

The woman at the well was a Samaritan woman of questionable character, and yet Jesus publicly talks with her, and asks her for a drink. He is offering her His friendship for one year by receiving the physical water, but then offers her living water, eternal friendship.

To Judas, His betrayer, Jesus shares His final meal before the cross. He and Judas share a moment when Jesus hands him a morsel (John 13), that came with the offer of lifelong friendship. Knowing what Judas was about to do, what he would leave to do as soon as the morsel was eaten, and yet friendship is the final thing Jesus offers to Judas as he leaves to betray Him to death.

And the words of Paul to the Roman Church, "if your enemy is hungry feed him, and if he is thirsty give him a drink" turn your enemy into your friend. Offer him lifelong friendship, offer him friendship for a year, and "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12.21).

Today if you visit Israel, as well as some other Middle Eastern countries, when you enter some hotels and businesses you will often be offered a beverage. In Israel I've been given juice, Egypt soda, Turkey tea and one carpet store owner bought our group lunch. I don't know that these signs of hospitality still carry the same meaning, but they might. As you enter a place to stay or do business the owner offers you his friendship.

Christianity is a about love. With this insight we again see that Jesus was teaching His followers and those He interacted with, what God is really like. We have been offered friendship with God. In the Church we celebrate the sacrament of Communion together. We eat the bread which symbolizes the broken body of Jesus, we drink the juice (in some cases wine) which represents His shed blood. We share a meal together, we commit to a lifelong friendship, and if this is the case why is there so much in the Church that isn't done among friends? That's all I'm going to say on that, at least for now.

The message of Christianity is the love of God. It is a message that turns enemies into friends. And as we see another aspect of the cultural world of the Bible, we see even more clearly who Jesus was, what He really said and taught, and more clearly of how to become like Him.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

God Loves You, and So Do I

I never thought that writing two blogs would be as difficult as it is. Part of it might just be having no routine in life. Usually what I write about is the stuff I'm thinking and working through, which lately has been mostly stuff about becoming the man God made me to be, and I'm not going to write the same thing on two blogs. But I do want to keep this one consistent, and I am hoping for a change soon that will give life a little more structure.

A few days ago something came to my mind that I haven't thought about in years. My last semester of college I had to take one final, I guess gen ed course, called Senior Colloquium. Don't really remember much of the class aside from doing a sweet project that involved more time and energy than any other school assignment I had ever done (and we did all that work by choice, ironically in our final semester of school). But even the specifics of the project I don't fully remember.

But there is one thing from class I do remember quite clearly. Every day at the start of class the professor would stand up, get our attention, and share some devotional thought. At the end of that, every day without fail, he would say, "Has anyone told you today that you are loved? If not let me be the first. God loves you, and so do I." Each of his students has heard every day of class that they are loved.

I don't know what made me think of that, but it is the one thing I remember most clearly about him. And if you asked any of his students to tell you one thing about him I guarantee it would be the same thing. Every day he told me I was loved.

What if we all had someone like that? I am blessed with a wife who tells me everyday that she loves me, but when I was single, living on my own, I would go weeks without being told that. I don't know the last time I heard those words from anyone other than my wife to tell you the truth, and that isn't a complaint just a statement.

There are people out there who don't hear those words, who don't feel loved, or that they are lovable. A few weeks ago my wife came home from work upset, I could see she had been crying. She told me about a lady who worked at the store she's at, who had died suddenly over the weekend. My wife is the kindest person I have ever met, and she began to tell me about this lady. She worked as a custodian at the store, was a single mom with an autistic son. She used to come to work early just to be able to talk to my wife and not get in trouble with management. My wife was a friend to her.

The thing that really hit me was when my wife told me that one day she had told this lady that she looked really pretty with the way she had done her hair that day. She told my wife, "That's the first compliment anyone has ever given me." That hit me so hard. This lady had lived her whole life without being told she was beautiful. She had lived her whole life not knowing that she was loved, feeling unlovable and that she didn't matter.

And as I listened to my wife tell me about the last few months I was able to give her some comfort by showing her that because of her this woman's last months on earth were the best she had ever lived. For the first time someone had shown her love, some one had shown her that she was lovable.

We all meet people everyday who are like that lady. Most of them we don't know and will never see again. Some of them we have known for years but have never realized this side of their lives. Everyday my professor stood in front of students, many who would probably never see him again after the semester, but every day he told them that they were loved by him, but more importantly by God.

We can all be like my professor. We can all be like my wife. All of us have the ability to show love. You never know when you might be showing someone love for the first time in their life. You never know when you might be there loving someone at the end of theirs. So today, tell someone that they are loved. Show someone the love of God.

Has anyone told you that you are loved today? If not let me be the first. God loves you, and so do I.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Confession

What I'm about to say is going to challenge a few hundred years of thinking and tradition. And so with that said, I am not stating this as final fact, more offering a thought based on the Bible. Sunday at Church the pastor reminded me that my job is to preach the Word, not tradition, but the Word. And so with that, let's look at this thought.

A few months ago a pastor friend posed a question on Facebook about the Bible saying we needed to confess our sins and ask God to forgive us from them in order to be saved. I didn't give it much thought at the time because it was something different than what I had been taught, and there was a lot of other stuff going on so I didn't dive into the Bible to look at it much. And then I forgot about it until a few weeks ago.

My wife and I were at a Jason Gray and Andrew Peterson concert, and as Andrew introduced one of his songs he shared his story of being saved by Jesus. His dad was a pastor and at the end of every service would ask if anyone wanted to enter into a relationship with Jesus. When a person would come froward He would lead them in a confession and then baptize them then and there. He shared about the time he went forward, was lead in confession. His dad lead him in a personalized form of Peter's words from Matthew 16.16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

"I believe He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. My Lord and my Savior."

What if that is all it takes? In Romans 10.9-10 we are told, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

As I look at the Gospels, I don't see people coming to Jesus seeking forgiveness of sins. I see people coming to Him for healing, believing that He was sent from God, and Jesus declaring that their sins were forgiven and that their faith had healed them. I see people who believed, came to Him, and were given more than they asked for. Their faith in Jesus' power to heal brought them forgiveness of sin.

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Confess and believe. Acknowledge who Jesus is, and declare Him as the Lord and Savior of your life. According to the Bible this is all you have to do in order to be saved.

Now this does come with some stipulations, after making this confession you can't continue to live life as you did before. By declaring Jesus as your Lord, you have given Him ownership of your life, you have committed to live according to His standards. This declaration is a pledge of loyalty and allegiance. It is a declaration of surrender and submission.

"I believe He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. My Lord and my Savior." What if that statement is all that it takes? Does it change our thought process? How does it affect how perception of repentance? Does it change anything? Honestly, I think it simplifies a lot. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Declare Him as the Lord and ruler of your life. Acknowledge Him as the one who saves you.

I don't think God complicates something as crucial as Salvation. I believe it is as simple as a heart felt statement, "I believe He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. My Lord and my Savior."

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Abandoned by God

That's how I've felt, in some ways for most of the past year. Dead end ministry with no help, attacks from those within the Church, stuck in a very undesirable place to wait, and all of this with the silence of God. I felt like God didn't care, because if He did He'd at least give me something to go on. Instead things went from worse to impossible to hopeless. And we felt alone. I'd watch my wife cry and know there was nothing I could do to fix it, and that's about the most worthless I've ever felt.

I shared with a pastor friend how I felt like my wife and I were Sam and Frodo struggling up Mount Doom alone, while everyone else was enjoying life in the Shire. We have been very much alone through most of this, and that's made it even harder. People we thought would be there for us have been no where in sight. Some people who have been there haven't been able to do anything. Some offered help that we weren't able to accept. And all of it had left us asking God "Why?".

During this time I have made the statement, "I hate my life" more than a few times. I'm a 26 year old who is living in his parent's basement with his wife and dog. For a long time I hadn't been able to find any job, even with a college degree. I got turned down at Toys-R-Us during Christmas. I looked at Navy Chaplaincy, Hospital Chaplaincy, Hospice Chaplaincy, not to mention just about every Church staff position remotely related to my areas of giftedness. Most of the time I didn't even get a reply, and the times I did where "Thank you for applying, unfortunately we've decided to pursue other candidates."

We were stuck in the last place I wanted to be, with no way to get out, and no one to walk this stretch of road with us. My parent's house hasn't been a place where God and I have connected in recent years. It really doesn't feel like home anymore, because it isn't. I'm a guest here, sometimes I feel more like a stranger if I'm honest. And I wondered a lot why God would send me here, of all places, during this time when I needed Him most. But I've come to see that this is exactly where I needed to be.

My wife and I have both felt a calling on our lives to work with young people. One of my strongest passions is leading boys into manhood, showing what a man of God is, and helping them to become one. My wife shares the same passion for girls. As she sees them no realize their beauty, feel the need to conform and change themselves in order to be beautiful in the world's eyes, her heart breaks for them. I'm not sure where God is leading us to serve in that capacity, but we've started now in the one way we can.

I've mentioned my new blog, "Man of God", and shortly after I started that I felt like my wife needed to do something similar. I mentioned it to her, and she said she had been thinking the same thing. It was a few weeks, and conversations with various other people, later that "the true marks of a woman" was created. There are links to both blogs at the bottom of the page.

As I have began this aspect of ministering to boys and men, God has started to reveal why we're here, why this is exactly where I needed to be. All men carry a wound that has been aimed to take out there strength. For years I have tried, and failed, to identify mine, because I've been protecting the people who have wounded me. Because of that the wound could never heal. And so God had to bring me back to this place, in a situations where I had no one else to turn to, in order to bring about healing.

Looking back, I now see that God never abandoned me. He simply had to get me to the place where I was willing to let Him work. Unfortunately for me I'm stubborn and it took losing a lot to get to this point. A few weeks ago my wife and I were at a concert featuring Jason Gray and Andrew Peterson. We heard a song that night that hit us both. Jason got up and began to introduce the song, and then we listened to him sing:

The hurt that broke your heart
And left you trembling in the dark
Feeling lost and alone
Will tell you hope’s a lie
But what if every tear you cry
Will seed the ground where joy will grow

And nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

It’s from the deepest wounds
That beauty finds a place to bloom
And you will see before the end
That every broken piece is
Gathered in the heart of Jesus
And what’s lost will be found again

And nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

From the ruins
From the ashes
Beauty will rise
From the wreckage
From the darkness
Glory will shine

Nothing is wasted in the hands of God. Everything that He does is done out of His love for us. You may be in a similar situation, let me assure you, God has not abandoned you. In college I took a class on Job and Psalms, about the only thing I remember is my professor saying, "God's silence does not equal God's absence." God does not abandon His people.

The future still has no real direction. We are still waiting and I am still restless for a Church job, but I have started to find contentment in knowing that I will only ever be what God allows me to be. And for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I can honestly say that I'm ok with that.

And at the same time I'm holding on to hope. Ephesians 3.20-21 says, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." God will do more in my wife and I than we could ever ask or imagine. And because of that I have hope. And with that in mind I want to focus on the second part, "to Him be the glory". Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" has been on my mind, and that message:

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

is what I want to be the declaration of my life. Whatever happens each day, I want to be singing His praise at the end of it. God is at work, nothing is wasted, God does not abandon His children. So may you be filled with hope, and may you give glory to God.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, 1 Timothy 3

"I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth." 1 Timothy 3.14-15

This is the final passage in the Bible where the word "Church" is used with instructions. This passage is one that I have written and taught on countless times before. And this section may be the most inclusive of all of the passages mentioned. I love this section of 1 Timothy because of its clarity and directness, and this is a fitting place to end this study.

Paul is writing here to Timothy, and chapter 3 of this first letter is focused on church leadership. Paul closes the section with the hope of coming to see him soon, but knowing his situation realized that journey could be delayed. So he has given these instructions so that one knows how to conduct himself, and then goes into some incredible instructions for the Church.

First we see that the Church of the living God, is the household of God. The Church is to be a family, not just a family, but God's family. Those who make it up are brothers and sisters because of Christ. God is the Father, the head of the family. He loves and disciplines; He comforts and corrects. God is the head of this family, He is the one who sets the standards and upholds them. God is the one who is given the praise and glory. He alone is worshiped.

The church of the living God uses a word in Greek that refers to a town assembly. In those days when town meetings were held an call would go out through the city inviting all members of the city to attend. The Church is a place where all are welcome. You do not have to be a believer, part of the family of God, to enter a Church service. And at the same time simply attending a Church service does not make you a member of the family of God. The Church is to be a place where all feel welcomed.

One of the things I hate about old Churches is how intimidating they are. I have been to some that I have been hesitant to enter. I don't think that is how Church should be. Yes, there is the sense that we are going there to worship God, which does mean humility and reverence, but the image I see here, and at Calvary, is God who comes and meets us in a way that welcomes us to Him.

Finally we have this phrase "the pillar and support of the truth." They may sound like the same thing, but to a first century reader they would have seen the difference instantly. A pillar was a display, it stood tall for all to see and was ornately decorated to stand out. The Church is to be a pillar of truth. It is to display truth for all to see, and the truth is to draw others to it.

A support is something that holds something up. It supports it and stands firmly beneath it. The Church is to uphold the truth. Not only do we display it but we live by it and hold up the standard of truth. It is something that we alone have, and it is something that we cannot afford to let fall. We must stand firmly upholding it and not backing down.

The world is to be drawn to the truth we display, because of the love we show as all are welcomed in. As we display the truth and support it people's lives are transformed by the Spirit of God, and they enter into His family as His sons and daughters. That is God's Church.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, Colossians 1

"He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." Colossians 1.18

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions." Colossians 1.24

The Church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head, and verse 18 tells us that He is the beginning. The Church starts with Christ. He is the one who leads it, guides it, and instructs it. Christ is the standard that the Church is to follow. Christ is to be the focus of the Church, not Mary, but Christ.

In verse 24 Paul says, yet again, that he rejoices in his sufferings, doing his share on behalf of the body. Suffering is part of following Christ. We will suffer because Christ, the head suffered, and when the head suffers the whole body is affected. Paul rejoices, as we all should, because the suffering is done for Christ's sake, to make him more like Christ.

This thought just came to me, but when part of my body has been injured, I am constantly aware of it from that moment on. I had a wrestling accident about ten years ago where I had three of my teen broken. Every time I bite something I think about them. I have had other injuries (some self-inflicted stupidity ones) that have left scars I see daily. I wear glasses, something that wasn't a result of injury, but something that doesn't work as it should, and I am constantly aware of my poor vision.

When part of the body suffers the head is immediately aware of it. Nerves send messages to the brain to let it know that there is pain. The body of Christ works the same way. If you are part of the body of Christ, God knows your paid the moment it happens. The moment you feel pain, for any reason, God feels it with you. And the Church is to feel their pain as well. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12, the chapter on Spiritual gifts, "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (verse 26).

The Church is the body of Christ. All those who call are believers make up the body. Paul says we are individual members of it (1 Corinthians 12.27). Each member is essential, each member has a function that must be carried out. When one part suffers they whole body is to feel for them and support them. And when one part rejoices all are to rejoice with it. We are one body, with Christ unifying us and holding us all together.

We are the body of Christ, literally His hands and feet. So let us live as Christ leads. Let us look and be like Christ. We are His body, let's act like it.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

The Bible on Church, Ephesians 5

As we pick back up with this study of the Bible on Church, current events may have a slight impact on this post simply due to the subject of the text. In my last post I talked about how posting different Bible verses doesn't help the discussion. In a society that has no real regard for God or His standards, the Bible is quickly thrown out when it comes to standards of holiness that infringe on our desires and lifestyles.

I am usually one who doesn't share my opinion unless it is asked for. I was very reluctant to start this blog three years ago for that very reason (I also didn't feel like I really had that much to say that was really worth saying, which is where the Blog name and URL came from). But for those who take the time and actually read these, it shows that you do care what I'm thinking and saying, and in a way you're asking for my opinion. All of that being said, I don't want to create more division, but I also am called to preach the truth in love. Not fully sure where this is going yet, so I don't know how much of a heads up this gives, but let's see where we end up.

Ephesians 5.22-31, is a passage that has been used in almost every wedding I have ever attended. It was used in my own and my mentor broke it down to two words, one for both my wife and I, to remember. My word was "cherish", and I believe her's was "honor" or something along those lines (I'm not positive because it wasn't mine to remember, but I know she could tell you). But more important than all of that is the idea that the Church is the bride of Christ.

The union that exists between a husband and wife is a mirror for the relationship that Christ desires with the Church, His bride. As a husband my job is to love, protect, and cherish my wife. I am captivated by her as she unveils her beauty. I am to lead her into a deeper relationship with Christ, and guide her in the paths of righteousness and holiness. It is my job to help her see who God is, a strong warrior who will fight for her, and who is captivated by her.

I am to love her as I love myself. That means I provide for her and take care of her. I build her up and encourage her, and again, I am captivated by her so that she can unveil her beauty. She is able to live to her fullest because I provide a foundation in God for her to stand upon. I am not God, nor am I taking His place in her life, but I am to help her see and be all that He created for her to be.

A wife is to honor her husband, and follow his leadership as he leads the family closer to Christ. Today, many women hate the idea of submission, of being led, and being guided. I have met so many, of different ages, that feel this way. This role of "being subject" as the test has it, is not saying to be a door mat that is walked all over. But it is saying to be subject to the Godly leadership of your husband, just as you would be to God. This can get complicated when the leadership isn't Godly, but I am not diving into that right now.

In a marriage relationship God has placed the man as the head, and it is the responsibility of the man to love his family as God does. It is the responsibility of the man to protect his family as God does. And it is the responsibility of the man to guide his family in righteous living.

And it is in this husband and wife marriage relationship that we see the relationship the Christ desires with the Church, His bride. Christ is the head, and He will love His Bride more passionately than anyone else ever could. He will protect her more fiercely than anyone else ever could. He will lead her into holiness, and cleanse her in order to present her righteous, in a way that nothing else ever could. And Christ will delight in her more than anyone else ever could. The Church is to submit to Christ, to honor Him, and follow Him. And the Church is to be one with Christ.

The primary purpose of marriage is not procreation, as has been the key argument in defense of traditional marriage. The primary purpose of marriage is the unity of two different people coming together as one, in a way the shows the relationship that Christ desires with each of us. Life giving power is a result of that union, just as the Church has new life because of Christ.

And in marriage a husband and wife are able to reflect the full character of God. I've said many times that men and women are different, that they bear different parts of the image of God. I am strong, and I have a warriors heart. I can stand up to opposition and I can defend what is right. My wife is gentle and kind. She is honestly the kindest person I have ever met. She has a heart for people that genuinely cares for them on a deep level. I'm rugged, she's sensitive (not in a negative way). We are different, and we bear different parts of the image of God.

When a man and woman come together and become one in marriage the two halves of the image of God come together again and are able to show what God is like to the world. You have the power of God and the nurturing side of God. You have His strength and His compassion. And it is only when the two halves come together that they can make a whole. And it is the full image of God that gives life.

In marriage we see the relationship that God desires with each of us. God desires to love me, comfort me, and nurture me in ways far greater than my wife ever could. And God desires to protect my wife and be captivated her in ways I could not ever do. God desires intimate unity with each of us. And to help us understand that He gave us marriage. To help us see who He is, and to see the relationship that He desires with each of us, God has given marriage to a man and a woman. That is what marriage is about.

I realize that sex happens outside of marriage, that children are born to unwed parents. This wasn't God's design either. The reason sex is for married people is to seal their unity, it is an intimacy that the two of the share with each other, and it is the thing that makes them one flesh. It is from this unity that children come from, and they are born to a mother and a father. They are born to a family unit that has both halves of the image of God together. This is why God gave sex to married couples, to create life, to be uniquely united together, and to delight in each other.

Anything outside of this violates God intentions. An extra marital affair breaks that unity of one flesh. Pre-marital fornication does the same thing. Both of these don't show God because it shows a limited unity, it is intimacy with no commitment. It is simply a search for pleasure. A homosexual relationship takes two of the same halves of God's image, and is unable to do what God created marriage to do. All of these violate God's design of marriage.

I'm not sure how to bring all of this back to the initial point of the Church as the Bride of Christ. This post has gone places I didn't expect it to go. God created us for intimate relationships with Him and each other, but the purpose of intimacy is to show the relationship that God desires with each of us. As a husband and wife marriage involves, love, commitment, honoring and cherishing, along with delight in each other, so God desires that with us. Love, commitment, honor, cherish, delight, these are His creations and part of the relationship He wants with each of us.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you