Jesus Boastin'

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 26th Posting

2011-12-20T09:39:00.001-08:00

Patience.

You'll notice that this post, unlike previous postings, does not have a Bible verse at the top. Well, this one is far more personal for me and I titled it as "Patience" because that is exactly what God is developing in me right now. I have a long ways to go, but I have realized some very important things in the last few weeks about patience. I am really going to open up here and just write to you straight from my personal journal. Below is what I wrote in my journal recently about God's dealing with me and my lack of patience. I did not intend to post this journal entry. I was simply encouraged by my wife to write down the things we talked about in dealing with patience. I journal often, so I went to my journal and what you will read is my conversation with God and myself.

12/20/11

God continues to reveal to me that I am lacking a great amount of patience. All of my sin seems to come back to my impatience. I get frustrated because I am impatient. Angry because of my impatience. I am constantly wanting immediate results in behavior from my children. When I don't get those results, I impatiently explode! What is that teaching them? God is not selling our home yet which also tests my patience. But as I see those truths more and more, I realize I have a lot of patience to gain. The thing about patience is that it has to develop. Patience is a process. You can't just realize you need patience and you're good to go. Patience, by virtue of its definition, requires time to develop in us. So even though I realize that God is not selling my home in order to develop patience in me, that is not enough just to REALIZE it. I actually have to endure the time period of waiting with patience. I have to actually endure to gain patience.

As I look into Scripture about patience, it's almost always connected to suffering. James and Peter mention patience in suffering (James 5:7-12; 1 Peter 3:8-20). The charge in Scripture is always to patiently endure your sufferings. Paul makes the connection of endurance and suffering in Romans 5:3, when he wrote, "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character." Not all sufferings take a lot of time, so how can Paul say suffering produces endurance unless he assumes suffering causes the sufferer to be patient. Some people may not agree that not selling my home is a suffering. But for me and my family right now...it is. So we must endure this temporary suffering and develop patience.

But HOW we endure is also key. Paul says in Romans 5:3, "We REJOICE in our sufferings." Paul's conclusion is that our joy in our sufferings makes perfect sense because the character development in suffering is eternal, though the suffering is temporal. What a great joy that we get to earn eternal hope and character through a pain or suffering that will shortly fade away. So finding joy in difficult times is ESSENTIAL for our development in patience. Part of the reason I am letting my impatience hurt me is because I have no joy! My lack of joy in my difficulties causes me to sarcastically say, "Really God?!?!" My lack of joy for God's development in me through trial is only producing in me a lack of confidence in His sovereign plan for my life. But when I am joyful and rejoicing in my trial and suffering, I am producing confidence in God's good work in me. I can trust Him more and know that the result is for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Asking for patience is asking for trials.

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 25th Posting

2011-06-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2

What do you consider the greatest knowledge you have? If you're a teacher, maybe you learned the best teaching techniques from a prominent university. If you're a carpenter, maybe you learned the most advanced way of reconstructing broken down homes. If you're a salesman, maybe your greatest advantage is knowing how to read people in order to sell your product. Whatever you consider to be the most advantageous piece of knowledge you possess...it pales compared to knowing the truth of Jesus Christ.

That is what Paul is really trying to say to the Corinthians in this text. Paul tells the Corinthians in 2:1, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom." What Paul is really saying, is that he didn't have to sugar coat the gospel. He doesn't need to have a degree in public speaking from the best university in the world to accurately and effectively preach the gospel. All Paul wanted to portray was Jesus Christ and His gospel.

So what does this mean for us? You don't have to be an eloquent speaker to share the gospel. You don't have to be a brilliant communicator to effectively preach the gospel. All you need...IS THE GOSPEL!

But Why? Isn't someone with great speaking ability, like Billy Graham or John Piper, more successful at making disciples or converts? Though men like Billy Graham may be effective in their speaking, it is not their ability to speak that brings about results...it is the power of God's Word that makes the hearers hear!

Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." It is the power that belongs to God that makes His Word effective...not the speaker. Notice how in this verse in Isaiah, God says, "my mouth". Even when His Word is preached from a human, it is God who is doing the speaking. We are simply the instruments that God uses to share His Word. As John Piper said, "To be a conduit of God's grace, you don't need to be lined with gold, copper will do." What great truth! We don't have to be great speakers to tell people of the great grace and gift that God provides in Jesus Christ.

Be encouraged...God is willing to use you in ANY situation to share His gospel. You don't have to be a great speaker or even a preacher...you just need to say what God has already said.

"And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Romans 10:14). It is our responsibility to proclaim the gospel, God has the results covered. Just a few verses later, in 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." Paul is referring to the preaching of the gospel. Paul and Apollos preached and proclaimed the gospel, but the effective results of salvation was wrought by God, not by those who proclaimed.

So do not hesitate to tell the world. Do not be discouraged. According to Romans 1:18-20, God has already begun the work in the hearts of ALL people. They have suppressed the truth. It is our responsibility to tell them about Jesus, His death and resurrection and let God unleash the truth they have hidden away in their wickedness. We should never be discouraged when we share the gospel and people persecute us or don't believe. Our faithfulness is to share, God will deal with the results of the gospel we proclaim. So there are no more excuses for us! Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Please take this last piece of knowledge with grace, it is meant to encourage, not discourage. How willing are you to take responsibility for those you know that don't know Christ? When we don't tell them the truth, we are essentially telling God that we are comfortable with letting them suffer eternally in hell. True love for those people will tell them the truth, no matter how they might respond or how they will think of us after we tell them. Compassion for their lost souls is part of our motivation. If you don't have compassion for their lost souls, what motivates you to share? We desire to see all people worship the True Almighty God of the Universe. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Are we really ok with them falling into an angry God's hands? If you're not, then TELL THEM! Pray that God would create in you a heart of compassion and love for those who don't know God. And then watch as he develops a heart of worship in you that desires to see the lost come to the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 24th Posting

2011-05-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." -Mark 1:14-15

What is the gospel? If you were to share the gospel to someone on the streets or a friend, how would you lay it out for them? That can be a pretty tricky question for some believers. Though they believe in the gospel, it may be hard to clarify exactly what the gospel is. The gospel primarily contains a few key truths that Christians stand on as fundamental truths.

"Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He was born to the virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit. He lived a perfect sinless life. He died on a cross for our sins, was buried and was risen by the power of the Father on the third day. He is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high and will return again one day to capture His people."

This may be a basic gist of what we sometimes share with people as we spell out the gospel for them. But in chapter one of Mark's gospel, Jesus' gospel seems to be a bit shorter. Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four New Testament gospel accounts and certainly the most active. Mark's perspective on Jesus' life (most likely rendered from Peter) is quick and to the point. Mark doesn't spend nearly as much time in discourse or explaining Jesus' actions and words as the other gospels do. Usually, when you find a text in Mark that is paralleled in the other gospels, Mark's is the shortest. However, in Mark 1:14-15, we have the longest version of what Mark calls, "the gospel of God." It is paralleled only in Matthew 4:17 and Matthew's version reads, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Let's build a little context to help us better understand this text. Jesus had recently been baptized. After His baptism, according to Mark 1:12, Jesus was then "immediately" driven out by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He went into Galilee. The next words in Mark's gospel are greatly important. Jesus entered Galilee and was "proclaiming the gospel of God." How often do we say, "We'll know what this means when we get to heaven and ask God"? Don't we long to know what God knows? Don't we long to ask God the tough questions? What are God's thoughts on....?" We are blessed, here, to know exactly what God calls His gospel. The words that Jesus preached in Mark 1:15 IS the God's gospel!

It seems so much shorter than how we would describe the gospel. Yet it is all encompassing of the truth of God's heart. The gospel of God in the words of Jesus are, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." The core command that Jesus preaches in regards to the gospel is that we REPENT and BELIEVE! It is short, but highly effective. Repent, turn from your sins and sin no more! Believe, trust in Jesus Christ as your salvation and place your faith in Him. "Believe" is merely one word, yet it holds so much truth. WHAT must we believe to be saved? The answer is: believe in Jesus. But don't the demons believe? Is it enough just to believe? "Believe in Jesus" may sound too general of a statement to be effective. But look at the words Jesus speaks just before saying "repent and believe in the gospel." Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is at hand." What does that mean?!?! In order to understand that, we must realize what his words prior to that statement mean. Jesus says, "The time is fulfilled."

What is fulfilled? The time of waiting is fulfilled. The time of waiting for God to send the Savior of Israel has arrived. Jesus is saying, after thousands of years of waiting, after all the prophesies about a coming Messiah, after all the preachers and prophets declaring the Way, finally, I HAVE ARRIVED! All the prophesies about the coming Messiah have now been FULFILLED! HE IS HERE! So when Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is at hand," He is saying, "I AM AT HAND." Or in other words, "I AM HERE!" When we put these parts of Jesus' gospel message together (at the risk of putting words in Jesus' mouth), He is saying, "I am the Messiah, the chosen one. The one that all the prophesies declared. I am here now, I have finally arrived to save my people from their sins. Therefore, turn from your sins and believe in me, trust in my work for your salvation. This is the gospel that My Father has sent me to proclaim!"

Why doesn't he just say that then? If you were a first century Roman Christian, as were the recipients of Mark's gospel, or a Jew living in Galilee, as were those hearing Jesus preach, you would have known about the prophesies and you would have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. So Jesus' words are not too brief, but perfectly effective for the listeners. Jesus doesn't shorthand the magnitude of God's gospel, He effectively wraps up the gospel in two powerful words; repent and believe!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 23rd Posting

2011-04-12T11:28:00.001-07:00

"And they glorified God because of me." Galatians 1:24

These are the words of the Apostle Paul. These are Paul's final words on his validation as an apostle called by God. I will admit, when I first read this, I was a bit taken back. They sound almost as if Paul is boasting in himself. Then I thought, "That can't be true...it's PAUL! The same guy who said five chapters later, 'But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'" So what does this mean?

There was a need for Paul to validate that his ministry was from God and not from man. But that was not a selfish need for Paul to show just how important he was. His desire to authenticate his role as apostle sprang from a desire to validate the message he was preaching, the message of the cross. In verses 6-10, Paul says he is astonished that so many of the Galatians were quickly deserting God and the gospel of Christ. So Paul encouraged them with these words in verses 8-9, "If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." Paul repeated that phrase twice in those two verses, emphasizing his point.

The Galatians needed to know that the gospel message preached to them by Paul was THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOSPEL. In order for that to be recognized, Paul obviously felt the need to confirm his role as apostle, therefore verifying the message that he delivered.

As self-focused as Paul's statement appears, it stems from a desire to legitimize the MESSAGE. In order to validate the message, he had to legitimize the deliverer of the message...himself.

Once all these thoughts were cleared up in my mind, I still had to ask, why did they glorify God because of Paul? Can I truly say that of myself? Do people glorify God because of me? Is that selfish to ask?

Here's the reality of Paul's situation and what it means to you and me today. The people who surrounded Paul saw the MASSIVE transformation in his life. Paul, the greatest persecutor of the Church, who has now become the preacher of the gospel of Jesus. Imagine how amazing it would have been to see such a great change in a man like this. But Paul does not use this as an opportunity to magnify himself, rather, he uses it to magnify the work of Christ in His life.

Paul's message here is: This same gospel Paul preached, is the very gospel that transformed him from persecutor to follower. SO...how much more can this gospel be effective in YOUR LIFE?

Is the gospel of Jesus so evident in my life that people look at my life and see, NOT ME, but JESUS CHRIST? Can I say, "They glorify God because of me?" Not because I have done anything of value, but because the God of all creation and power has displayed that power in and through me to show Himself in my life. Therefore causing people to glorify Him because of Him who is in me?

As Paul stated, can you repeat, "they glorified God because of me?" Can you say, as Paul said in chapter 2, verse 20, "It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me"? Can you say, when they see me, they see Jesus?

So let me ask you; is the transforming work of Christ so evident in your life that others see you and glorify God? I think it's time we start praying for some change!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 22nd Posting

2010-10-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

-Matthew 12:33-37

Due to the amount of questions I have recently received regarding the life of a Christian and living as if Christ is your Lord, I found it important to address the issue here. These verses, spoken by Jesus, give us great insight into the mind of our Savior and His perspective on the life and fruit of believers and non-believers. Here is the question that really needs to be addressed here; how do you know if someone is a Christian? The answer seems clear from what Jesus is saying in this text. You will know them by their fruit. In Matthew 7:16 & 20, Jesus says, "You will recognize them by their fruits." In Matthew 7, Jesus is referring to false teachers and the ability to recognize if they are true or false is seen in their lives and whether or not they produce fruit or not. But the same principle holds true for others. What if someone claims to be a Christians but does not live as if Christ is their Lord? Jesus says you will know by their fruit. But this is not a black and white area. It is actually quiet gray. As you think of people you know who claim to be believers but are not "walking the walk" but only "talking the talk," you must not be too quick to judge. We must remember that we too, as they, are lost in our sin in so many ways.

So can we judge someone on their fruit just because they manifest their sin in more profound ways? Is the man who claims to be a believer, yet is sleeping with his girlfriend any worse than the man who is secretly lost in porn? We must realize that even the people who claim to be believers, yet living sin outwardly, may be actual believers. But where is the fruit? Some may be producing fruit in ways we may not see. I remember when I was living in outward sin, there was a young man who I saw needed direction. Of course, with my lifestyle I probably wasn't the best choice for him, but God used me anyways. Though I was deep in my own sin, God used me to help lead this young man to the Lord and lead him to a good church and his life was dramatically changed. Though many would have said that I was showing no fruit in my life, God was still producing little pieces of fruit on some branches in my life, while at the same time, pruning other branches.

As we look at what Jesus said in Matthew 12, we must understand the primary statement in his address is in verse 34, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." When Jesus talks about good treasure bringing forth good and bad treasure bringing forth bad, His reference to "treasure" is the heart. The heart that has the seed of Christ has the treasure of Christ in it. Therefore, when the heart pours out, it pours out the good of Christ. And the heart that does not have Christ can only pour out bad.

It seems a bit harsh that Jesus would judge us based on our words. Think about all the negative, sinful, hateful and spiteful words you have spoken. Will that really be the measure Christ uses when I am judged? The point that Christ is making is logical. He says in verse 33, "for the tree is known by its fruit." Meaning that your actions and WORDS are the fruit. Your words are a manifestation of your heart. So it is not unfair that we should be judged by our words. Because judgment on our words is direct action taken on our hearts. Though we are sinners always and will continue to sin in this life, believers still have the treasure of Christ in their hearts. Though we may say things we regret or say things that are sinful, our manifestation of the heart is still to be the treasure of Christ. We are judged by our words because our words are a gateway to our heart. The one who's words are blasphemy speak from a blasphemous heart, an unbelieving heart. But the one who cherishes Christ, will speak and manifest that love for Christ in many ways. So we are to be encouraged to continue to be careful what we speak because the outpouring of our words is an obvious tell of our hearts. It is also an encouragement to get our hearts right with Christ so that as we manifest our hearts, we are showing Jesus to the world.

But what about those who claim to be believers, yet are living in sin? Treat them as Christ treated sinners...with love and compassion. I think we are so quick to judge those who are living in sin and forget Jesus' words in Matthew 7:3, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Of course we should be encouraging and challenging our brothers and sisters to be free from their sin. But are we too quick to point out their sin without ever evaluating our own? The best way to help a brother or sister in their sin is to come alongside them and show them Christ in your actions, words, in prayer and in God's Word. Remember, just because we don't see fruit does not mean there is no fruit. But also put on discernment which will allow you to see the reality of a persons salvation. With discernment, we will be able to truly evaluate, by the Holy Spirit, whether this person has a loving relationship with Christ. With discernment from the Spirit and the Spirit's guidance in recognizing fruit, we should be able to rightly judge those who claim to be Christians though they are not manifesting it.

Paul said to Judge and judge not. Meaning we can judge people's actions and say, "that action was clearly sin according to the Bible." Yet, we do not know the intentions of the heart which is why Paul also said judge not. So we can judge the actions, but not the motives of the heart. This is why it is important to be like Christ....gracious! We too are like those who manifest sin, we may just be better at hiding it. So come alongside those who are lost in their sin and show them how Jesus, in His grace, had brought you out of your sinful ways and into a life that is pleasing to Him. And you may just see God begin to produce and manifest fruit in their lives. You may just start to see them living as though Christ is their Lord.

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 21st Posting

2009-11-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

"Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction."

1 Thessalonians 1:3-5a

The church in Thessolonica was, at the time Paul wrote this letter, the kind of church we all hope to be. They were living their faith with passion for Christ. They were a young church so they had not yet been infiltrated with the work of Satan, or at least they had resisted him. Paul's love for the Thessalonians is laced all throughout this letter. He has a close attachment to them as is seen in 2:7-12, and also in many other places. After Paul had established this church, he left for Athens. Not because he wanted to leave, but because he knew there was persecution coming his way and for the sake of the Thessalonians, he left. You can read all through this letter that Paul attempts and desires to visit them because he has great love for them and he is greatly encouraged by their faith and walk.

This is why Paul says, "your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope." The Thessalonians were doing their thing, and doing it well! Their faith was being displayed in their work. Their love was obvious because they actually labored to make their Christian love seen and known. This was not because of duty, but because of their love for the Lord. And their hope was steadfast. We see the steadfastness of their hope in 4:13-18, where it is clear that they eagerly awaited the return of Jesus. But Paul goes on from there to make an even stronger proclamation.

He says, "in our Lord Jesus Christ." Though Paul was encouraged by their faith, love and hope, he did not want to see them become arrogant in their works. So, Paul begins a God-centered, Christ-centered explanation of their work and salvation. He does this to keep things in perspective for this young and strong church that he loves so deeply. Paul's reminder to them is that their faith, love and hope was ALL IN CHRIST! They had no rights to claim them as their own work and it seems that they didn't. Paul was just emphasizing this truth to keep them on a Christ-centered track.

Paul continues his God-centered theology to the Thessalonians when he says, "For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you." Paul's theology is right on! And he wants the Thessalonians to be right on also. So, he reminds them that their salvation is not of themselves, but of God, who loved them and chose them. This is Paul's way of continuing to imbed in their minds that, though they are living their faith out well, they are not saved by these works, but they are chosen by God, who loved them. Notice how Paul uses the past tense verb of "loved." The idea here is that, though God STILL loves them, His electing love was at work in them prior to their existence. Therefore, they were chosen. Now that Paul has established the beginning of their salvation in God's election of them, he moves into the manifestation of their salvation played out in their lives.

He says, "because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction." When Paul came to Thessalonica to preach the gospel, some got saved and and Paul led those new converts in the process of beginning a church. Here, Paul explains how their salvation happened. Again, Paul gives no credit to the people of Thessalonica, but to the Holy Spirit. This is Paul's reminder to them that their salvation happened only by the Holy Spirit's conviction in their hearts. With the power of the Holy Spirit convicting them of their sin and bringing them to conversion, they have no claim to salvation in themselves.

Paul lays out a clear picture of God's great saving and sanctifying work in the believer. Granted, the order that Paul describes here is not the actual order of events in salvation for the Christian, but it is not Paul's intent to give them these events in order, but only to encourage them to remain God-centered, Christ-centered and Holy Spirit-centered.

This is Paul's Soteriology(Doctrine of Salvation) in 1 Thessalonians: First, you are loved by God and therefore chosen by God's electing grace. At this point, you are set for heaven. The only thing is that it has not yet been played out in your life. That is where the Holy Spirit comes in. He convicts your heart of sin and a need for salvation from sin in Jesus Christ. This is the actual playing out of your salvation or the manifestation of God's electing grace in choosing you for salvation and heirship with His Son. Once that has happened, all is well, and heaven becomes your home and Jesus, your Lord. However, it doesn't stop there. Paul continues His theology by explaining that God continues to work on us. Our faith, love and hope is necessary and vital to our growth, but it is done, as Paul says, "In our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul's theology is right on. The Father chose us, Jesus died for us and the Holy Spirit convicts and seals our salvation. Notice that Paul's Soteriology involves the entire Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit. Once conversion happens, all three Persons are involved in our sanctification.

So what does this all mean for you? Just as Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians, you too should be encouraged. Our faith in Jesus was not our own work, it was His. Our works after salvation are done only in His power. Paul was reminding the Thessalonians to keep Christ at the center of all that they do. And this is his reminder to us...IT IS ALL ABOUT CHRIST!!! We can not become to elated in ourselves and become arrogant of our Christianity because all that we do is credited to Christ's righteousness on us, not our own. Therefore, be encouraged, God has chosen you, Christ has saved you and the Holy Spirit is at work in you...all for the sake of His name and HIS glory!

God's Sanctifying Work In My Life

2009-10-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

I have been growing SO MUCH lately. My class at Urbana Theological Seminary this semester is Old Testament Survey. I have been reading through much of the OT and the teacher is great! God is revealing more and more of Himself to me. I have always been "Christ-centered" in my theology, and I still am. But through my recent growth, God has revealed Himself to me in new ways other than just through Christ (of course realizing that the revelation of God IS in Jesus Christ, but I mean that He has shown Himself to be more than I had previously known). Of course the OT is all about the coming Messiah, but it's also more than that. It's also about a gracious God who is faithful to His covenant and merciful to His people, ultimately so that they be holy as He is holy so that God can be known among the nations! Through this He has shown me my great sinfulness and His great holiness. As God continues to reveal to me more and more of His holiness and more and more of my sinfulness, I see the gap between myself and God grow futher and further away. In that, I am able to see His grace more and more, as He has bridged that gap in Jesus Christ. What a gracious God!!!

I also read an essay on Matthew Henry by Ligon Duncan about Matthew Henry's theology on prayer. It was great! It showed me my shallowness in my prayer life and the need to focus more on God in whole, character, attributes and all that entails Him. Through this recent "revelation", I have seen my own selfishness in my prayer life and I have begun to focus on the person of God...all three Persons. Another part of my prayer life that has been lacking is my confession of sin. God has prompted me to bring my sin before His Throne of Grace. When these two elements come together in prayer, that gap between us and God that I mentioned earlier, grows in my perspective and I understand His grace more and more. Therefore, in understanding and appreciating His grace more, I find Him more and more worthy of my praise and adoration! Not that He was ever less worthy, but I have personally come to know His worth more. After all this during prayer, I bring my personal petitions and petitions for others to Him. At this point, they no longer become selfish, but purposeful to His glory. It changes my perspective on how I pray for myself and others. These petitions become more Christ-centered and God-glorifying.

I have also grown in many other ways lately. I have been studying eschatology and my theology in that doctrine has grown. God has shown me so much in the Bible about my pride and my need to put Him first. One way that has happend is that I was directed to a website: http://www.iamsecond.com/ . It's a great website. Just a bunch of testimonies from famous people who are Christians and how God has made Himself first in their lives. However, I disagree that we should be second. We should be like...5,827,349,283,743rd place. Because we are to live to please others before ourselves after we please God and we also please God by pleasing others.

I hope this testimony of God's wonderful sanctifying work in my life is an encouragement for you to become closer to Him. I must mention that if you notice, all the growth in my life is initiated by God, NOT ME! But I cannot ignore the personal responsibility I have to yearn after Him and desire Him with all of my soul, heart and mind. RUN after Him! He will feed your soul! He will grow your mind! He will swell your heart with affection for Him! He will give you a love and appreciation of Him and His worth in Jesus Christ!

I cannot begin to mention all the ways that God has dealt with my sin through this time of great growth. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I believe He is talking about eternal rest, but the truth applies that He certainly handles our burdens as we live this life. GOD IS AFTER YOUR HEART! I remember when I was living deep in my sin and though the Spirit was convicting me, I was ignoring Him. Then one night after drinking, I came home while living at my parents house. I saw a single white sheet of paper on the counter. It was from my Dad and it said in all cap's, "MARK, GOD WANTS YOU!"
I will never forget the impact that had on my life. God used my Dad to begin a process of saving me from my sinful ways. To think that He has brought me from that state to become an ambassador of His gospel for Jesus Christ, staggers my mind! What a gracious God! What a merciful God! What a loving God! What a faithful God! What a forgiving God! What a glorious God! What a holy God He is!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 20th Posting

2009-09-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equility with God a thing to be grasped. But made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

-Philippians 2:5-11

Paul begins chapter two by encouraging the readers to understand that they need to be humble. In verse 3, Paul said, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." Paul was trying to get the Philippians to live lives that reflected the attitude and behavior of their God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, Paul starts in verse 5 by describing the humility Christ took on in order to become the exalted King. Humility is a difficult thing live out. We certainly want to be humble, but the actual act of humility is much harder than the concept. However, Christ accomplished this and though we will never measure up to Christ, we should always be striving to be more like Him.

In Philippians 2, we are given the example of Jesus Christ's walk of humility through His life. It's short to say the least, but it is accurate and it magnifies His humility and it's result. Let's quickly walk through Philippians 2:5-11.

2:5 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus."
Paul is encouraging the readers to live lives that reflect Christ in His humility. If in any case they are discouraged, thinking that it is an impossible task, Paul reminds them that they have this in Christ Jesus. What Paul is essentially saying is, Christ took on the ultimate form of humility in our place. We certainly need to strive to be humble, but Christ accomplished ultimate humility for us by being an atoning sacrifice. Therefore, be encouraged, and be like Christ...humble.

2:6 "who(Christ), though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped."
The beginning of Jesus' humility is that of greatest display. Of all people in the history of the world to be certain of their boasting in their rightful place of exaltation, it is Jesus Christ. He IS GOD! He had all the right in the world to stand up and declare Himself King of all. But rather, He made Himself an example as part of His atonement. He counted Himself as low in order to be lifeted up. This should be the attitude of the believer. If Christ humbles Himself and He is God, who are we, as mere humans and creation, to not be humble?

2:7 "But made Himself nothing"
Here, Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, makes Himself NOTHING! How's that for an example. This is step 1 in Christ humbling Himself.

"taking the form of a servant"
Jesus takes another step down. He is the creator of the universe and He is humble enough (for our sake and His glory) to take on the form of a servant to the creation that He created.

"being born in the likeness of men"
Another step down. Jesus takes step after step, making Himself lower and lower to the point of being BORN. He is God and brings Himself to the point of incarnation into human flesh for the sake of His creation. In Genesis 1, He created man in HIS likeness and now, in the incarnation, He humbles Himself enough to be born into the likeness of MEN. Not only that, but Christ is eternal. Meaning that He always was and always will be. So the fact that he was even BORN, is an act of humility.

"and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death."
Christ takes another step down in humility. Not only has He taken on the form of human flesh in order to redeem mankind, our eternal God took on death! It is interesting that the only time Christ is described as "humble" in this text is when it refers to His death. This magnifies the importance of this stepping down in humility. Had Christ been humble in all the previous things but not humble unto death, it would have all been in vein. But instead our Savior, makes Himself and example of humility and a sacrifice on our behalf and suffers death for us in our place.

"even death on a cross"
The final and ultimate step. There was no worse death in Christ's day than death on a cross. It was the most horrible way to die in those days. It involved the most amount of suffering prior to actual death and it was a place that thieves and the crooked died. It was the most disrespectful form of capitol punishment. And Christ took on that identity in the eyes of the world in order to make an atonement for us.

"Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
All these steps down that Christ takes in humility finally pay off. CHRIST IS EXALTED! This is the perfect picture of the results of humility. It is not our own exaltation that makes us great, it is the our humility that allows God to exalt us. And this exaltation is found only in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful display of God's perfect plan for man kind in providing for us a humble Savior, who after being humble is exalted above all. Notice how EVERYONE will declare that He is Lord. In heaven (even the angels will declare His glory). On earth (those who are still alive at His return). Under earth (those who are dead). EVERY tongue and EVERY knee will bow! Think of the person who refuses to ackowledge Christ as Savior and God. That person will one day bow before Christ and declare Him Lord, no matter their relationship to Him. In all this, Christ's greatest display of humility is that He knows it is not His own glory He seeks, but the glory of the Father, who in turn, glorifies the Son!

What an awesome Savior. What an awesome display of humility. We too, need to make less of ourselves, which in turn, makes much of Him and in the end, He will lift us up and exalt us. But our exaltation will be in HIS GLORY, not our own! Thank You Jesus!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 19th Posting

2009-08-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation."

Exodus 34:5-7

Ever wonder what God thinks about God? Well if you would like to know, just read this passage from Exodus 34:5-7. It begins by telling us that the LORD came down on a cloud to speak to Moses and "proclaimed the name of the LORD." The all-capital letters, LORD, is His name. It speaks of His relatable personality and that He is a God who has a name and is personal toward us. Then the passage moves into the LORD actually speaking. The LORD begins to speak of Himself and proclaim to Moses and us who He is and what He values in Himself. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but the fact that He would speak these things of Himself should lead us to lend and ear to what He has to say.

He begins by describing Himself as "merciful and gracious." Remember that this is an Old Testament passage. Most people, when they think about God, think of Him as a God who was a God of wrath and anger in the Old Testament and a God who is gracious in the New Testament. Don't be confused! God's greatest display of His wrath takes place in the New Testament when He pours out His wrath for sin on His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. But here in the Old Testament when God meets with Moses on Mount Sinai, He calls Himself merciful and gracious. It is interesting that He begins His description of Himself with these two terms. Mercy is God not giving us something we deserve. In our case, we deserve the wrath of God for our sins, but because of His mercy, He chooses not to punish us for our sins. Grace is undeserved favor, or God giving us something we don't deserve. In our case, God showed us mercy by not giving us the punishment we deserve and He shows His grace by giving us Jesus Christ as a substitute on the cross to pay for our sins and absorb our punishment. The God of the Old Testament is a merciful and gracious God.

He goes on from there to tell us that He is "slow to anger." God is patient with us! That means that God has a long fuse. He is patient with us in the form of not condemning us in our sin, but waiting to the point of our redemption so that His wrath does not have to be poured out on us. While we are believers His slowness to anger is shown in that He sometimes holds back the consequences of our sin. He waits patiently for as to not arouse His anger against us in our sin. This is all because of His grace and mercy.

Then He says of Himself, "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." The Hebrew word for love here is hasad(with a hard H). This hasad is a loyal love. It is a love that bonds Himself to us. He loves without regret even when we are in the midst of our sin. The Hebrew for faithfulness is emet. In the Hebrew, emet, means Truth. His faithfulness is to Himself and since He is the Truth(John 14:6), He is faithful to Himself. As we learn about His mercy, grace, patience and steadfast love, we see that faithfulness to Himself includes these things and His faithfulness to be these things toward us. What security that brings into the life of the believer! Also, a key word here is "abounding." God's steadfast love and faithfulness is so much that it does not run out. It is a love that is overflowing and we are it's receipients. We can fearlessly know that God will be loving and faithful to Himself and to us forever!

He continues to describe His love by saying, "keeping steadfast love for thousands." The word "thousands" does not describe a number of people, but a number in years. A better translation of this word is to say, "to the thousandth generation." A generation is defined as 40 years. 40 times 1,000 equals 40,000. That is a long time! You may think that it's been a long time since this was written, so it probably has passed by now. God spoke this to Moses about 3,300 years ago. We aren't even close to 40,000 yet! God's love is so steadfast and so unending that it will last throughout all generations. That means that even today, He tells us that His love is steadfast toward us and never ending.

God shows His heart for man when He says, "forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin." There is really no difference between these three descriptive words; iniquity, transgressions and sin. They all describe sin. The idea that God is portraying to us is that His forgiveness extends to all kinds of sin. It does not matter what your sin may be, His forgiveness is enough. In James 5:20, James speaks of God's forgiveness as "covering a multitude of sins." This means that God's forgiveness covers any and all sins no matter their severity. This should bring the believer to a place of worship to think that God would cover all of our sins and forgive in ways that we do not deserve.

Now God shifts into "wrath mode". He says, "but who will by no means clear the guilty." God will punish the unrepentant sinner who does not believe in His Son Jesus Christ. This part of the passage should also evoke praise in our hearts that God would forgive our sins and that we do not have to suffer the consequences of our sin, but that we receive His grace and mercy and love. John 3:36 says, "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." That is a scary thought to imagine that the wrath of God looms overhead as He patiently waits for the sinner to repent and turn to Christ for salvation. For those whom He has not chosen, that wrath will find it's satisfaction in the judgment and death of the sinner. For the chosen, that wrath was already satisfied on the cross.

He tells us of the result of the sin of all men by saying, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation." By speaking of the closeness of a child to the sinner, God is telling us that our sin affects those who are closest to us. This part of the passage is NOT telling us that God will puposely inflict our children and our children's children because of our sin. God does not keep track of sin as to repay our sin with his wrath one for one. Though God certainly knows each of our sins, all he needs to keep track of is whether or not you are connected to Christ. The idea that is being presented is that our sin affects us and even those closest to us like our children. When we are caught in sin, that sin gets naturally transfered to our children. Part of the reason is because we in some non-cognitive way inpose our sins on our children because that sin is such a close part of our lives. When a father is wrapped up in sin, there is no doubt that his child will see that sin and most likely manifest the same stuggle in it's life, therefore affecting the future generations of the father. Don't get caught up in the logic here, the idea is clear; when you sin, it affects those who love you and whom you love.

Ultimately, the whole point of this text is that the LORD is describing the LORD. He is telling us plain as day what He wants us to know about Him. This should move us to worship Him for His grace, mercy, patience, love and faithfulness. This should also move us to worship Him because He has chosen us not be objects of His wrath, but that He patiently waits for us as we are drawn near to Him. This text puts to rest the idea that God was merely a vengful and wrathful God in the Old Testament. We need to read and apply this text to our hearts and our lives and let it draw us close to Him as He is the object of our affections. What a glorious God who love us!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 18th Posting

2009-08-26T14:36:00.001-07:00

"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

2 Timothy 3:1-5

"The world is going to get ugly!" If that is your response to this passage, you may be in for a suprise. Paul is telling Timothy about the outward sinfulness of many as the end of times comes closer. What may suprise you is that Paul is not talking about the world, he is talking about the church! Scary! Do we know people like this in our churches? As I read through this list, I could probably check off a few for myself. The problem though, is that so many in the church are becoming more and more like the way Paul describes here.

I believe there are many reasons why this will happen and is happening. One is pretty obvious; God is sovereign. People's sinfulness in the end of times is part of the story that God tells. Two, there are so many false teachers out there infiltrating the minds of believers and the minds of non-believers causing false conversions and deceiving the believers. Three, the non-false teachers aren't teaching Biblical exegesis. When a preacher teaches his own ideas and has not examined the text to allow the Holy Spirit to develop the sermon and exhort the text, the listeners will be fed mush and will have stunted growth. Four, there is not enough Christian accountability. There are too many Christians doing things that they ought not to and there is no one to tell them they are in sin. So their sin grows and leads to deeper and greater sin. There are many more reasons for this decline in the church as the end approaches, but we will leave it at that for now. Let me make this clear; as many churches are filled with people who live in these sins, there are also many churches being filled with passionate Christians who are truly seeking to be more Biblical and obedient to Christ and His Word.

The question then becomes...in which of these sins do you participate? Of course, our flesh arises and desires to do all of these things, but according to Paul in Galatians 5:17, the Spirit is within us and is at war with our flesh. So the war continues, but for the Christian, Christ is victorious. So though we fall into sin as believers, we must recognize that we cannot dwell too heavily on our sin. Once we do, we come to close to becoming legalistic. We must recognize that God does not require our perfect lives in order to please Him...He requires Christ's perfect life in order to please Him. Once we realize that we will understand what Paul meant when he said in Galatians 5:18, "but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." What Paul is telling us is that, though we battle daily against our flesh, in the Spirit we are free to live lives that produce the fruit described in verses 22-23.

So a warning and encouragement are in need. The warning: be aware of those who do the things that Paul describes to Timothy. At the end of the passage, Paul says, "avoid such people." We cannot associate with those who practice sin without regard for Christ. The encouragement: Though you too may have some of these sins in your life, you must recognize that your sins have already been paid for. Once we begin to grasp that, we will begin to live in the freedom to serve and love Christ that He purchased for us.

Close to God

2009-06-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel far from God?

I think we all do in some ways at some times in our lives. We show up on a Sunday morning feeling like we don't belong because of the sin in our lives. We condemn ourselves because of our sin and therefore feel as though God does not accept us. This is a huge problem! Romans 8:1 says, "There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Condemnation is a guilty judgment. God says that for those who in Christ Jesus there is no guilty judgment because the guilty sentence was placed on the shoulders of Jesus Christ on the cross and nailed there to be buried and left dead. So when we show up to worship and we carry those very burdens that Christ died for, we are essentially saying that Christ's payment for our sins was not enough. We are saying that His grace is not enough. John tells us in 1 John 3:19-24 that though our heart condemns us(because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked-Jeremiah 17:9), God is greater than our hearts. That means that even though we condemn ourselves for our sin, God's gift of freedom in Jesus Christ is greater than our sin. Not only that but John says, "and God knows everything." God knows more about your sinful heart than you do. He knows of sins you committed that you don't even know you committed. Therefore, God has more reason than you to condemn you, yet He doesn't condemn you because Jesus took your guilty verdict. So who are you to condemn youself?

As Christians, we need to start living in the freedom that Jesus purchased for us and stop living as though God does not accept us. He accepts us FULLY, not because of what we have done or not done, but because of what Jesus did for us. Freedom in the Christian life is far too lacking these days. We need to begin to realize that in Christ "we have boldness and access with confidence"(Eph.3:12). We have full access to the Father because Jesus bridged the gap and we have boldness to come to God confidently because we are completely accepted by God at all times because we are IN Jesus Christ.

When we feel as though God is not pleased with us and we feel as though we can't worship Him because of our sin, who are we focusing on? Ourselves! To focus your energy on your sin problem is a selfish act. Instead, God tells us to put on the mind of Christ. We need to focus on Him and not ourselves. When our sin has us down, realize the truth that Jesus set you free from that sin and burden and begin to live TO God. When we begin to realize this truth, we will find so much freedom in Jesus Christ and begin to put away that old man that thinks he is unworthy. We find our worth in Jesus Christ and to approach God as though we are unworthy is a claim that Jesus is unworthy.

Stop focusing on your sin and start realizing, "For freedom Christ has set you free"(Gal. 5:1). Worship God as though He set you free from sin and now gives you freedom to worship Him.

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 17th Posting

2009-02-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty."
-Revelation 4:8

What is God's central characteristic? Most people would say that God is love, referencing 1 John 4:8. Though it is true that God is love; love is not His main attribute. GOD IS HOLY!!! We often find solice in God's love, but rarely do we look to His holiness as a place of comfort. In our culture and society there is such a desire from people to have their ears tickled, that preachers spend all their time preaching on the "easy to swallow" messages about God's love. Yes, Jesus loves you. However, without His holiness, there is no love. God's holiness is the attribute of God in which ALL of His other attributes flow from. Everything about God is funneled through His holiness.

We often hear messages about how God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for us. Again, that is Biblically accurate, but it is not the whole story. Why did God send His Son? To pay or atone for our sins! Why does our sin need atoning? Because God hates our sin! Why does God hate our sin? BECAUSE HE IS HOLY!!! It is God's holiness that caused Him to punish sin. The punishment for our sin lies on our shoulders. We are responsible for our own sin and thus incur the penalty for our sin which is God's wrath. Because God loves us, He was gracious to send Jesus to die in our place and offered Himself to take on the punishment of the wrath of God. It is God's holiness that causes Him to punish our sin, and it is His love that provoked Him to say, "I will pay for you."

Let us not forget that our God is a holy God. Holiness is ascribed to God far more often in scripture than is love. Let us start preaching about God's hatred for sin and His standard of holiness that we cannot achieve without the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Though it is His love that made Him take our place, it is His holiness that moved Him to love. Let us set for ourselves a standard of holiness that causes us to love, not so that love is the end, but that God is glorified in our exaltation of His holiness through our holiness in Jesus Christ. His holiness is a standard we cannot achieve apart from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is One we cannot achieve apart from His grace. Let us begin to grasp the full spectrum of the gospel all wrapped around the glory of His holiness, for our God is holy!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 16th Posting

2009-02-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

"Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."
Proverbs 17:27-28

Are we quick to listen and slow to speak as we are warned in James 1:19? If even a fool is deemed as wise just by keeping silent, how much more wise is a wise man who does the same? The verse begins by telling us that one who has knowledge and understanding will restrain his words. Can a christian be a fool? Well, there are many christians we know that do not keep silent and are quick to give their two cents. Think about all the times you have been accused and have been quick to defend yourself. Or times when you are being taught and instead of listening to the teacher for their wisdom, you are slow to hear and quick to give your "wisdom". Ironically, that is in itself not a display of wisdom, but of foolishness.

It is so easy to be quick to tell others our perspective. But God tells us in Proverbs 17 that there is more wisdom to be gained by being quick to listen. James tells us that when we are quick to speak we are quick to anger. Rapid defense is a form of anger. James 1:20 says, "for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires." Being quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to anger is an example of humility. The reason we are to do this is to be portrayers of Jesus Christ in being humbly submissive to wisdom and not haugty towards our own agenda. James also tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So the next time you are in a situation where you are able to learn from the wisdom of others, LISTEN! Be slow to share and quick to humbly listen to the wisdom of others. Obviously we should be able to share our wisdom with others too, but it is the one of knowledge and understanding that gains his wisdom by listening to others. We often are quick to speak and do not gain a full understanding of situations before we share our perspective. No doubt we all have opinions, but our opinions can be developed by the wisdom of others.

My encouragement is that we begin to listen to the wisdom that God has for us from His Word and from others, so we are able to grow in our knowledge and understanding.

A Biblical Perspective on Homosexuality

2009-01-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sexual ethics includes many different aspects considered from many different perspectives. From an evangelical perspective, sexuality must first be understood in light of the Christian faith. As Stanley Grenz states, “The task of developing a Christian response to the ethical issues surrounding human sexuality must begin with an understanding of our sexuality in the light of the Christian faith.”[1] Sexual ethics within an evangelical perspective includes subjects such as marriage, divorce, pregnancy, dating, human sexuality, and homosexuality.[2] Homosexuality is one of the most debated topics in sexual ethics. Homosexuality can be defined as a sexual or emotional union between two men or two women. From a secular (or liberal Christian) perspective, this relationship is allowable based on rights, morals and ethical standards. From an evangelical perspective, this relationship is not allowable based on Biblical standards. Biblical standards form Christian rights, morals or ethical standards. Though they are based on the same grounds of rights, morals or ethical standards, the evangelical Christians perspective is founded on Biblical principles and texts.

In striving to understand homosexuality, it is helpful to see the natural or physical outcome of the homosexual choice and lifestyle. As John Stott noted, “The American Psychiatric Association Press reports that “30% of all 20-year-old gay men will be HIV positive or dead of AIDS by the time they are 30.””[3] John Stott wrote, “AIDS is not an easily caught infectious disease.”[4] The common thought that AIDS is more ramped in homosexuals is due to the fact that the first cases of AIDS appeared in the male homosexual communities in the early 1980’s. Since the disease is transmitted through body fluids, it is likely to spread among both genders, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual. Even though Africa has a high volume of AIDS, homosexuality is virtually unknown there, which leads to the conclusion that AIDS is not a “gay plague”.[5] Though AIDS is not strictly related to homosexuals, the statistics for those who are homosexual has cause for concern. A 1989 study by Charles F. Turner estimated that 20.3 percent of American males had experimented with a same-gender sex experience by the age of twenty-one.[6] Since then, homosexual communities have “come out of the closet” more publicly in recent years, and it is not hard to imagine that that statistic could have risen in the last twenty years.

From an evangelical perspective it should be easy to point out the wrong in homosexual unions and acts. However, if we are going to base our position on Biblical texts, then we must not single out the homosexual and homosexual sin. For example, there are those who will look at the homosexual couple and be quick to point out their sin, while they themselves have premarital sexual relationships with those of the opposite sex. Homosexuality must be considered within the context of other sexual sin. The apostle Paul often used the Greek word porneia to describe sexual sin. Paul’s usage of this word was directed to those who were in a number of sexual sins. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul uses this word toward the sexual immoral. In this text, a man is accused of sexual immorality for having sexual relations with his stepmother. This was not a homosexual act, yet it was a sexual act that God clearly thinks of as immoral and wrong. Emphasis on the sin in the act of homosexuality must also recognize other sexual sins such as, premarital sex[7], adultery[8], masturbation,[9] and bestiality[10]. These sins are just as sinful as the homosexual acts. Those who engage in these other forms of sexual immorality are just as guilty of sexual sin as those who engage in homosexual acts.

Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is not a choice. They claim that their homosexuality is their nature. Much of the difference in perspectives is rooted in the debate over whether their homosexuality is a learned behavior or natural behavior. This debate is really based on whether homosexuality is a choice or not. Ray Boltz, a Christian recording artist, recently decided to publicly announce that he is gay. He said, “I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”[11] Boltz clearly had a struggle for 30-some years with his sexual preference. He basically asserts that, though he struggled with it, he could not make the decision or choice not to be gay. Boltz’ type of thinking exemplifies Romans 1, where God gives people up to the desires of their hearts because they refuse to honor Him by instead honoring created things. Boltz is an example of how homosexuality has been portrayed as a natural disposition rather than a choice.

Jonathan Wallace asks the question “is sexual orientation a choice?” His answer, “No, human beings can not choose to be either gay or straight. Sexual orientation emerges for most people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience. Although we can choose whether or not to act on our feelings, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed.”[12] The problem with Wallace’s assertion is that he says a person’s sexual orientation is decided by outside factors prior to any sexual experiences. If sexual orientation is decided by outside factors prior to being able to make a choice, then all human choices are based on circumstances that happened prior to our ability to choose and we are then without fault for any of our sinful acts or wrong actions. What Wallace fails to understand is that the human is without the option of choice. Every human makes a choice. If a vegetable and a fruit are placed in front of an eight month old child, is he genetically predisposed to choose one or the other? He can choose the vegetable now and still decide later that he actually likes the fruit better. Even if adolescents are exposed to the conditions that tend to cause homosexual behavior, they still have the ability to choose their sexual orientation as they develop. If someone is predisposed to the conditions that tend to cause an angry personality, that person still has the cognitive ability to avoid that tendency and have a pleasant personality. According to Wallace, such a person would still be an angry person masking his anger with a pleasant personality. Wallace doesn’t realize the truth of Jeremiah 17:9 that says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Since this is true, the only thing that is natural in the human is sinful desire. With sinful desires, all people lust after the things they are not supposed to lust after. Homosexuality is one of the desires that is built up in the nature of the sinner and only defeated by Jesus Christ. For those who are in Christ, that sin nature has been conquered.[13] But as Romans 1 tells us, those who do not have Christ are burdened with their sin and rebel against God and God gives them up to their sinful desires. No one is to blame for their sin but themselves. So the blame for the sin of homosexuality falls on the homosexual. If homosexuality is a sin, then the sinner or the homosexual is to blame for their choice and they will incur the due penalty for their sin.[14]

There are many Biblical texts to consider when trying to grasp a Biblical view on homosexuality. Although some people attempt to argue for the Bible’s support of homosexuality and others can argue for the Bible’s condemning homosexuality. Proper exegesis makes it difficult to support homosexuality in Scripture without misinterpreting the text and God’s intended meaning for the redeemed man.

The evangelical perspective is different from the non-evangelical perspective. However, there are those who claim to be evangelicals but believe that homosexuality is allowable under Biblical standards. This dilemma is resolved by renaming the evangelical perspective as the Biblical perspective. The Biblical perspective is one that looks at a variety of Biblical texts to help support God’s hatred toward homosexuality. In Genesis 2:24, God established His intended order for the male and female relationship. God created Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:27, and in verse 28 He blesses their relationship and then gives the command to “be fruitful and multiply”, showing that God’s intended meaning for the marriage relationship is one between a man and a woman. In Genesis 2, there is a more detailed account of the creation of man and woman. God created Adam and in verse 18 and says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” God put Adam in a deep sleep and took from him his rib and made woman from him. Then God presents to Adam his intended order for a Biblical relationship by giving Eve, the woman, to Adam, the man. In verse 24, God continues to show the blessing that He gives to the male and female relationship when He says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is a Biblical account of God’s intended meaning for a marriage relationship. Those who make the claim that the Bible is pro-homosexual have only twisted accounts of Biblical texts. There is no Biblical text in which God blesses the homosexual relationship as He does the heterosexual relationship.

In Genesis 9 there is the account of Noah and his family after the flood. In verses 20-27, we are told that Noah planted a vineyard, drank the wine and became drunk. He lay uncovered in his tent and his son, Ham, “saw the nakedness of his father.” O. Palmer Robertson states, “Elsewhere in the Pentateuch, the phrase “to see [someone’s] nakedness” serves as a circumlocution for “to have sexual relations with” (Lev. 20:17-19).”[15] It is likely that Ham had seen his father naked and preformed homosexual acts with him and told his brothers, Shem and Japheth. When Shem and Japheth heard this they covered their father without seeing his nakedness. Verses 24-25 states, “When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” Robertson says, “Very possibly Ham committed a homosexual act with his father, evoking his father’s curse. The depravity of Ham’s action would explain the severity of the curse. The fact that Ham’s son Canaan was cursed rather than Ham himself shows the awful impact that a sexual sin can have on future generations. Eventually the Canaanites as descendants of Canaan, the cursed son of Ham, manifested such depravity that they were driven out of the land at the Lord’s command.”[16] This Biblical account of a possible homosexual act shows the depravity of the human heart and the subsequent consequences of those actions. This historical account illustrates the later, explicit command by God that homosexual acts should be punished.[17] Genesis 9 displays God manifesting His plan for redemptive history through the curse that Noah laid on his son Ham.

The narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah is given in Genesis 19. God sent angels to determine the depravity in the area. The angels told Abraham of the coming judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham then pleaded with God to save the city if he could find just a few righteous men. God told Abraham that He would save the city if he could find just ten righteous men. When the angels arrived at Sodom and Gomorrah, none of the inhabitants showed the customary hospitality they should have. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, insisted that the angels stay at his place. When the men of the city knew about this they came to Lot’s house and banged on the door, almost breaking it down to get to the angels. They demanded that he bring out the strangers so they might “know” them. O. Palmer Robertson says, “In this case, the verb “to know” serves as a modest circumlocution for “to have sexual relationships with” (Gen.4:1,17,25).”[18] The argument has been made that Sodom’s destruction was not due to there homosexual desires and acts based on Ezekiel 16:49-50 which says, “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.” Some make the argument that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was due to the things mentioned in Ezekiel 16 and due to their inhospitality. Though that holds true, there is more to their destruction than that. In Ezekiel 16:50 God says, “They did an abomination before me.” That abomination could very well be the homosexual desires of the men when the angels came to Lot. Though the text does not explicitly say that homosexuality was a part of this “abomination”, the Genesis account of the angels, Lot and the homosexual men certainly indicates this strong possibility. To make an even stronger Biblical case for the sexual sin of Sodom and Gomorrah being the cause of their destruction, Jude 7 gives an interpretation of the Sodom and Gomorrah account. Jude writes, “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desires, serve as an example by undergoing punishment of eternal fire.” In this text, Jude is referencing the account of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of the consequences of sexual sin. There is no doubt that Sodom and Gomorrah were bad at the time since God was destroying them. Jude said that much of their sin was sexual sin. It is then likely that part of their sexual sin was the homosexual desires of the men who sought to “know” the angels that visited Lot. Clearly, by Jude’s account, these sexual sins, including homosexuality, were the reason for their destruction. In this text we see part of what Jude calls “sexual immorality” is “pursuing unnatural desires.” In Romans 1 Paul describes “unnatural desires” as homosexual acts. In Jude’s rendering of the Sodom and Gomorrah account, he is clearly speaking of homosexuality when he said “pursued unnatural desires” since Paul states that what is unnatural is to desire the same sex.[19] In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul stated, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor the idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” This text clearly states that, among other sins, God is against acts of homosexuality. Notice the verb prior to “homosexuality” is “practice”. The key to this passage is to know that it makes no reference to those who have thoughts of homosexual activity or those who “struggle” with homosexuality. Those who will not inherit the kingdom of God are those who pursue and practice homosexual acts. Those who actually engage in the act of homosexuality are those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul stated in verse 11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” This reinforces the earlier point that only by the conquering of this sin by Jesus Christ can we be free from such sin.

This also leads to the question: “Can a believer be a homosexual?” Paul tells the Corinthians that they “were” these things in the past but have since been redeemed by Jesus Christ from these sins. So from the text one could make the argument that you cannot be a homosexual and a believer. However, we know from studying 1 Corinthians that the Church in Corinth was perverse and wicked in many ways even though they were Christians. So though there is no strict evidence claiming that a believer can or cannot be a homosexual, it seems worthy to note that those who are in Christ are a “new creation.”[20] Galatians 2:20 says, “It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Is Christ condoning the homosexual behavior of those He indwells? No, considering how Christ handled Sodom and Gomorrah for their sexual sin. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell the Corinthians not to engage in homosexual practices and to tell the Romans the penalty for their homosexual sin. Paul also makes another reference to homosexuality in 1 Timothy 1:10. He claims that the gospel is sufficient to save sinners from their sin. He lists a few of those sins in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. The “practice of homosexuality” is one of those sins from which the gospel is able to save. If the gospel is able to save a sinner from their homosexuality, then God certainly does not condone them going back to their sin after transformation of the heart. In Galatians 5:1, Paul commands the believers not to go back into the practices of sin to which they were once slaves. He states they are to be free from those sins since Jesus has redeemed them from slavery to sin and freed them in Himself.

After looking at some Biblical references from a Biblical perspective, it will be easier to understand God’s plan for the church in the face of homosexuality. Stanley Grenz says there are two facets to the role of the church when dealing with homosexuality. One is prevention and the other is support. He considers both to be ministries of the church to those who are homosexual.[21] In constructing a ministry that helps prevent homosexuality, Grenz says, “Recent findings indicate that the same-sex orientation is not simply inborn, but is in part the product of socialization, especially, parental relations. If this is the case, Christians would do well to seek to strengthen parents in the task of training their children properly.”[22] As part of preventing young children from forming homosexual behavior, it is the responsibility of the parent to see that they have proper role understanding within the home. It is the church’s responsibility to train and equip the parents to be ready and able to raise their children properly.

As the church takes on the ministry of support toward homosexuals, it is not a means for them to better achieve their homosexual desires. Rather, it is the church’s ministry to them as Christ reached out to sinners in His ministry on earth. Grenz says, “We concluded that the expressions of sexuality that take the form of same-sex genital activity are improper. But such conclusions do not mean that the church has no ministry to persons of a same-sex orientation. On the contrary, the mandate given to the church includes reaching out to all persons, regardless of orientation and lifestyle. This mandate extends to ministry to homosexuals as well.”[23] All homosexuals are not out-going activists for their sexual preference. In reality, many homosexuals struggle with this sin and want to be free from homosexuality. Grenz says, “The church can create a climate of assistance. Although some might genuinely prefer the homosexual orientation, many others feel trapped and long for release.”[24] As we reach out to those who are homosexual, it is important to realize that some homosexuals are struggling with their sin and are quietly asking for a helping hand. In Romans 7:15, Paul says, “I do not understand my actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Paul’s statement gives insight to the mind of any sinner and is especially helpful in the church’s ministry to the homosexual. In Romans 5:8, Paul says, “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Those who are not homosexual are still sinners, just like homosexuals, yet Christ died for us. Christ’s death is sufficient for anyone’s sin, even the homosexual. They are not hopeless. It is the church’s responsibility to reach out to them and offer them the grace of Jesus Christ that was given to us.

Homosexuality is a heavily debated topic in today’s society and is becoming increasingly accepted by culture, law-makers, and even the parts of the church. It is important though, as Christians, not to get caught up in the struggle to the point where we become ineffective to fulfill our responsibilities to Jesus, our families, our church and the lost. The battle for a Biblical perspective on homosexuality is the just the beginning. No matter what argument is used in support of homosexuality, Christians need to stand strong on God’s Word and find ways to be like Christ to homosexuals. Homosexuality, from a proper Biblical perspective, is clearly a sin worthy of destruction and eternal punishment.[25] That is why Christ’s church must extend ministry to those who struggle with their sin of homosexuality and reach out to them with the truth of Jesus Christ and His ability to free them from their sin. The church must extend to them the grace that Jesus Christ so mercifully extended to His church.

References
[1] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997; pp.13.
[2] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
[3] Stott, John. Our Social and Sexual Revolution. Grand Rapids; Baker Books, 1999; pp.211.
[4] Stott, John. Our Social and Sexual Revolution. Grand Rapids; Baker Books, 1999; pp.211.
[5] Stott, John. Our Social and Sexual Revolution. Grand Rapids; Baker Books, 1999; pp.211.
[6] Feinberg, John & Feinberg, Paul. Ethics For A Brave New World. Wheaton; Crossway Books, 1993, pp.185.
[7] Genesis 2:24
[8] Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Matthew 5:27, 19:18; Romans 13:9; James 2:11
[9] In my own understanding, there are no specific Biblical texts that forbid masturbation, 1 Corinthians 10:31 commands that we “do all things to the glory of God.” In most cases of masturbation, the agent of the sinner’s desire is usually pornography or at least a mental portrayal of such acts. Therefore, the act of masturbation usually involves some form of sexual immorality. So to the one who claims that masturbation is not a sin, I ask: “When you do this, does it glorify God?” Although I do believe that masturbation within a marital context between a husband and a wife is allowable. In Leviticus 15:16-17, God gives the law about the emission of semen. The first law is directed to the man who emits semen. He is to bathe himself and be unclean until the evening. Then comes the law to man who emits semen while lying with a woman. They are both to bathe and be unclean until evening. This may seem to present God as giving man the right to masturbate since the first law was given to a man who emits semen while alone. Because God makes a law to those who are sinners, does not mean He has approved of their acts. This text does not imply that God has given the law that it is ok for a man to masturbate.
[10] Leviticus 18:23
[11] Christianity Today. http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/09/ray_boltz_comes.html

[12] The Ethical Spectacle. http://www.spectacle.org/0905/hetracil.html

[13] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[14] Romans 1:26-27
[15] Robertson, O. Palmer. The Genesis of Sex. Phillipsburg; P&R Publishing, 2002. pp.121.
[16] Robertson, O. Palmer. The Genesis of Sex. Phillipsburg; P&R Publishing, 2002. pp.121.
[17] Romans 1:26-27
[18] Robertson, O. Palmer. The Genesis of Sex. Phillipsburg; P&R Publishing, 2002. pp.120.
[19] Romans 1:24
[20] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[21] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997; pp.244-245.
[22] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997; pp.244
[23] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997; pp.245
[24] Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: An Evangelical Perspective. Louisville; Westminster John Knox Press, 1997; pp.244
[25] Jude 7

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 15th Posting

2009-01-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."- 1 Corinthians 1:18

I absolutely love the word of the cross. That is the gospel. The message of Jesus Christ's ascension to earth to humbly dwell bodily in order to take our punishment for sin. Then to rise from the dead to display His almighty power. And now He sits on a throne and rules as King, soon to return and establish His promised kingdom!

This gospel message is folly to those who do not believe. Folly is committed by fools, which is why those who don't believe this truth are fools! These fools, Paul says, are perishing. However, to those who believe this truth, we are able to understand and see the awesome power of God to save us from our sins.

What an awesome display of God's sovereignty to choose us to be saved and thus enjoy His great power to believe the gospel message. What an awesome display of God's sovereignty to choose to pass over some in order to display His wonderful gospel as effective for those whom He chooses to love.

As a believer, this verse gives me so much joy! It reminds me to constintly be aware of the great power of God to pull me from the depths of death and breathe life into my dead soul. Romans 6:5 says, "For if we have been united with Him(Jesus) in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His." If I have died with Christ, as He died with my sins, then I am resurrected with Him as He is brought back to life. That is how we become new creations. Christ displays His magnificent power in the resurrection and WE SHARE in that power as we are resurrected with Him into a new creation! That evokes my heart to PRAISE HIM!

What a wonderful gospel we have been saved by and what a wonderful gospel we live by! Praise God for His greatest gift of Jesus Christ.

It's Been A Long Time

2009-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I have posted a blog. Holloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and...Oh, yeah, being a Husband, dad, and pastor does require some of my time.

So, I will soon post a blog....be afraid....be very afraid!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 14th Posting

2008-10-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

"But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Phillipi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict." -1 Thessalonians 2:2

I wonder how you would respond if I asked you if you have ever been shamefully treated and suffered. I think most of us would say that we have been shamefully treated and also suffered. However, I don't think we can compare that to the type of shame and suffering Paul endured in his life. He was beaten beyond recognition, shipwrecked and stoned to the point where those who stoned him thought he was dead (imagine what he must have looked like if they thought he was dead). In spite of all this, Paul still says, "we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God". Notice how Paul still has boldness after enduring suffering. So as we reflect on our own sufferings in our lives; are they bad enough to prevent us from declaring the gospel?

One key, perhaps the greatest, to this verse is in three words; in our God. The gospel they claimed was the gospel of God. Also notice how Paul's confidence or boldness to proclaim the gospel was not given to his own pride or self-righteousness but his boldness was in our God. See how when it is His gospel, He provides the means for it to be preached, BOLDLY. Even after suffering and shame, God gives the messenger the strength, means and boldness to continue to proclaim the Truth.

So what is stopping you? Have you suffered to the point of shedding blood(Hebrews 12:4) or even to the point of death(Philippians 2:8)? These verses in Hebrews and Philippians are in reference to Jesus Christ. He DID suffer to the point of shedding blood and He DID remain obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So, as both of these contexts encourage us to see our own lives in light of what Christ has done, I wonder if we really do. Do we consider the little amount of suffering we face as an excuse to not boldly proclaim the gospel?

Let Paul be an example to us that we are to boldly proclaim the gospel even in the midst of suffering. Let Jesus be an even greater example as He died in suffering for our sins. I often hear people say, "well I don't have the gift of evangelism." True, we don't all have the spiritual gift of evangelism, but we are all charged Biblically to share the good news (or as I call it, the greatest news ever) of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. So again I ask; What is stopping you?

I often try to give Biblical charges as they are in the Sciptures. In fear of leaving you without any equipping for this MOST important task, I will give you a few points to consider before you are done reading.

#1-Pray that God would give you the boldness to share the Truth. Most-likely you have someone in your mind right now that you are thinking about who doesn't have a redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray that God would provide the means and the opportunity for you to share His Truth with that person or persons. Remember our boldness is in Him.

#2-Get the gospel right! We often don't share in fear that we won't have the right answers for their questions. Spend time getting the most important basics down. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. Jesus lived a perfect life which made Him worthy of bearing our sins on the cross. He died with our sins so we wouldn't have to, burying our sins once and for all in His death. Then He was raised from the dead to show His power and thus conquered death by rising to live forever and conquered sin once and for all, for all who believe. Your responsibility is to recognize your sin and see a need for salvation from it's consequences. You must repent(turn towards God in sorrow for your sin). And finally BELIEVE. If the Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts they will begin to believe and realize all this as truth.

#3-What if they say 'yes'? Sometimes we get scared that they may actually accept the Truth and want this salvation in Jesus. Are we prepared to help lead them to this? Prepare, in your mind, how you will respond to them when they accept the Truth. Lead them in prayer. They can pray with you out loud or in their hearts. I was blessed to be an instrument of God when He lead a young boy in my youth group to the Lord. I remember telling him, "this was the first time you prayed to God as your Savior!" What an INCREDIBLE moment when someone communicates to the Lord for the first time and He is IN THEM! I promise, you will be blessed!

So, what else is stopping you?

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 13th Posting

2008-09-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid." Proverbs 12:1

Stupid? Does the Bible really use such harsh language? If you read the original language of the Bible I think you would be surprised at its vulgarity. But, yes, the Bible calls those who hate reproof, stupid! It is hard for me to say that I love discipline, but I would rather be known for that than be known as stupid.

Hebrews 12:3-11 gives us great insight into discipline.

"It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?...For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:7 & 11)

It is God who disciplines us. That is why those who do not love being disciplined are stupid. Because it is God who is working on us (Philippians 2:13). This discipline produces righteousness in us. I know from experience (and I am sure you do too) that being disciplined by God can be a painful process. Have you ever asked God to make you more patient? Or to break you or humble you? Be careful, you may receive what you ask for. I have prayed those prayers before and the process of getting those things is never the plan I had mapped out in my mind. God's plan for our sanctification (spiritual growth) is usually tougher than we may desire. But the hope lies in the fact that this discipline produces good fruit in us and is to our benefit. As Hebrews explains, our earthly fathers discipline us for our own good and we know that it can be painful sometimes. Has your dad ever spanked you? Not fun? I didn't enjoy it myself either. But as I reflect on the discipline I received from my parents, it only allowed me to make wiser decisions in the future. Our Father in heaven does the same. He disciplines us to make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ. Being disciplined by God also shows us that God loves us. Hebrews 12:8 tells us that if we are not disciplined then we are not sons of God, because God disciplines His children.

One of the tough ideas that goes along with God's discipline is discerning whether we are being disciplined by God or attacked by Satan. If you look at the life of Job you can see that Satan was God's instrument (yes, Satan is a tool) in the discipline of Job. We know this because Satan's attacks on Job (which first had to be passed by God) produced a sanctifying praise of God from Job. Satan was God's instrument of sanctification in Job's life and he can be in ours too. Though Satan's plan is for our destruction, God's plan is for our growth and love for Him.

So are you stupid? I know that sounds harsh. I must admit that I certainly have been stupid in my life. Reproof is another word for correction. There have been many times when I have been given correction (mostly from my Dad) and did not heed to it and suffered the consequences of my own stupidity. We need to be more open to correction from others and most importantly open to correction from God.

We need to be in love with the idea that God works on us. And though it may be painful, we have not suffered to the point of shedding blood, even blood on a cross (Hebrews 12:4). Jesus Christ has suffered more than any of us on OUR BEHALF. Who are we to say, "but why me God". We should be saying, "thank You for treating me as you treated Your son". The Apostles had this attitude in Acts 5:41 when they rejoiced at being beaten for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Yes, discipline is painful, but it produces in us the character of Jesus Christ. We must love the discipline of the Lord!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 12th Posting

2008-09-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you-that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." Romans 1:11-12

Paul begins his letter to the Romans as he does in most of his letters. He approaches the original readers not with judgment but with encouragment. Paul has the authority to slam the church in Rome but he chooses, by the will of Jesus, not to begin that way. He shows this also in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and Philemon 8-9. Paul's heart is set on encouraging the believers before bringing to them the hard truths in which they folly.

Paul shows his love for the church as he says "for I long to see you". He continues this idea in verse 13. Pauls desire for visiting the believers in Rome is to use his spiritual gifts to strengthen the church. So I begin the questioning with this; why do you go to church? I think that many people attend church Sunday mornings as a weekly event to show up and leave once the service is over. But scripture paints for us a clear picture of the purpose of church. First of all it is a place of magnifying the glory of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9-11). Second it is a place for us to come and be fed the word of God (2 Timothy 4:2). Third it is place where we go to fellowship with other believers in Christ and to edify and be edified through the use of our spiritual gifts. I will focus on the third purpose. What is your spiritual gift? How do you use it in your church? These are important questions. They will help us better understand our place in the church as a whole and in your local congregation. We need to carry with us the attitude of the apostle Paul and desire to use our gifting of the Holy Spirit to build up and strengthen the believers with whom we have fellowship.

Not only are we to focus on edifying the body with our gifts but also to be edified by others. Paul shows us again that he is not lording over the Romans his authority but is counting himself equal in the fact that he too can be edified by the believers. Verse 8 tells us he is thankful for the believers in Rome for their faith because it is known throughout the world. Verse 9 tells us that he is a gospel-centered man who realizes that the core agreement amongst believers is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 10 tells us that Paul loves to pray for the believers. Verse 11 shows us that he is excited to see them so that he may use his gifts to strengthen the body in Rome. And verse 12 shows us that Paul is not using his authority to slam the believers but to use it as an encouragement to them. Also that he too, may be encouraged by them. So we see that another purpose for the church is not just to feed with our gifts but to be fed by the gifts of others. Paul says he wants to be "mutually encouraged". So I ask you, how are you encouraged in your church? Are we building relationships in the church that are effectively using our spiritual gifts to the edification of the saints? If not, then we need to seek and find a place for ourselves in the church where our gifts can be used, to the glory of Jesus and not ourselves, and a place where we can be strengthened, not to the glory of others but to the glory of Jesus Christ. This is the reason we are called a "body". There is one body but many parts. We, as individuals, are the many parts. The Holy Spirit has given to each of us a gift, or gifts, that will be supernaturally effective for the strengthening and building up of the body as a whole. It is time we become EFFECTIVE! We must seek to find a place for our gifts to be effective. One practical way of knowing your spiritual gift or gifts is to ask a Christian friend. This may not be the most accurate way to understand what our gifts may be, but it will be a good guide into seeing how others may see our gifting. Also, pray to the Lord to reveal to you what your gifts may be. How are we to be effective if we are unsure of our gifting. You may be a teacher, an evangelist, a prophet or have the gifts of service or administration or many other gifts. But we need to know what God has equiped us with before we begin to use what we may not have. Don't get me wrong, just because you don't have the gift of evangelism doesn't mean you shouldn't evagelize. Just because you don't have the gift of service doesn't mean you can't serve. But we have all been uniquely equiped with a gift that God wants to use in and through you.

We need to have a desire to see the Church of Jesus Christ strengthened and built up by the proper use of our spiritual gifts. We need to be an encouragement to each other. Satan loves a divided and discouraged church and he will do all he can to keep or make things that way in your congregation. But the God we serve is greater that the one of this world (Satan). So let us be stong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10) and use our gifts to strengthen, build up and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 11th Posting

2008-09-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." Ephesians 5:11

When I first read this text I immediately thought that it was my Christian duty to go around and point fingers at as many unbelievers as I could and "expose" their sin. Though that did not seem the most tactful way to make sinners aware of their sin, I thought that is what the Bible was telling me to do. I, of course, did not do that, but instead took a closer look at this text. The idea behind exposing the sin of the unbeliever has more to do with "imitating Christ" than anything else. Look at Ephesians 5:1, just a few verses prior, and you see that we are called to imitate God who is best portrayed in Christ(5:2). We are called to imitate Christ as believers. So my first question to you is this; do you imitate Christ? I could spend a lot of time explaining what it means and what it looks like to imitate Christ in many ways. But I will focus on what Paul focused on in Ephesians chapter 5.

As imitators of Christ we are to "take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness". One may argue that Jesus came to save sinners, and that one of the pharisees problems with Jesus was that He hung around sinners. Also that we should always be involved with the unrepentant sinner. I would agree with that. But this text does not tell us to not relate to the unrepentant, it tells us not to participate in their acts of evil or sin. The verse goes on to say "but instead expose them". This is exactly what Jesus did in His relationships with unbelievers. He exposed the reality of their sinful hearts to them to make it more clear and visible their need for a Savior. So our role as Christ imitators is to expose the sins of those who are lost in the dark. Think about being in a room that is pitch dark. That room represents the lost world. We, as Jesus did, are to go into that room and turn on our flashlight. This light we shine is our way of exposing the darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to "expose them". Just as someone would be lost in a dark room, there are people lost in this dark world. And we are the light of Jesus Christ in the midst of the darkness. That is why Jesus tells us not to hide our light under a bushel.

So we do not expose the sins of the lost in order to condemn them. Rather we are to be Christ imitators and expose the darkened hearts of the lost with the light of Jesus Christ which is His perfect gospel. So I ask again, are you an imitator of Jesus Christ in the midst of this dark world? Or do we enter the dark room shouting claims of salvation without ever turning on our light and never exposing their sins that enables them to see their need for Jesus. I must admit that I struggle with this myself and I need to, for the glory of Jesus Christ, turn on my light. We must be the light of this world in the midst of darkness and expose the sins of the wicked by being imitators of our King and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We must be imitators of God through Jesus Christ!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 10th Posting

2008-09-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

“and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Remember Sunday school as a kid? All those old Bible stories that seemed to be, at best, slightly interesting. Now that I have grown and had time to actually read and understand those stories again (without the felt board), they have come to give me a fresh understanding of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15 that the “sacred writings” are able to give Him understanding about salvation. The “sacred writings” used in this text is the Old Testament. We’ve read the stories, sang the songs and recited the verses. We all know the stories about Abraham, Noah and the ark, Moses, David and Goliath, Daniel and the lion’s den and many more. When we look back on these stories we see something deeper than our old Sunday school teachers taught us…we see Jesus.

My students asked me how the people from the Old Testament got saved. Some thought that it was just a matter of behaving and loving God. That can’t be true! Look at the lives of some of our OT Bible heroes. David was an adulterer, Noah got drunk, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (put’s Wilt Chamberlain to shame), and Abraham slept with his wife's servant because he didn’t think God would follow through on giving him a true heir through Sarah. I answered my students with the truth…they were saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. God made a promise that He would provide an heir that would do away with all sin once and for all. We look back to the cross and believe in Jesus, in the same way they looked forward and believed in Christ. We see this in Genesis 15 when God grants righteousness (salvation) to Abraham for believing in the coming heir (Christ).

Also, in all these wonderful Bible stories (not made up stories, but actual historical accounts of God’s work and plan for salvation) we see more than just men who God used, we see Jesus. Every word from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is ALL ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. To give you one example, Moses and his leading the people out of Egyptian slavery into the desert and Joshua’s leading into the Promised Land is a PICTURE. Yes, it really happened and the Bible’s account of the events are accurate. But this is a “physical picture” of a “spiritual truth” that was later accomplished by Christ. Just as God redeemed His people (national Israel) from physical slavery, Jesus redeems His people (true Israel) from slavery to sin (Romans 6). Just as God led His people (national Israel) into a physical Promised Land, Jesus leads us (true Israel) into a spiritual Promised Land (eternal life).

So when Paul tells Timothy that the Old Testament is able to make him wise unto salvation through Jesus Christ, we see that God has Jesus Christ laced all throughout scripture. Let us not neglect the Old Testament. Let’s dive into it and “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). When you study and read God’s Word through the lens of Jesus Christ you will begin to see that God has salvation mapped out for His chosen people from before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:3-14). Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that all of God’s redemptive plan from before the beginning of time was to glorify Jesus Christ. As Greg Laurie says, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” If Jesus is the whole centrality of the Bible and the Bible is our guide and source of Truth, then we must see that Jesus NEEDS to be the centrality of our lives. So I end by posing these questions; is Jesus at the center of your life? Is Jesus the main thing in your life? Do you live life looking through the lens of Jesus Christ?

Are you all about Jesus Christ?

Ithaka Fellowship

2008-08-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

In the heartland of Illinois, where the corn grows taller than the buildings, there is a Christ-centered ministry called Ithaka Fellowship. This ministry strives to bring believers to a hightened awareness and INTERACTION with God's creation. Duane Otto was given this passion from the Lord. He has renovated an old country home into a beautiful place where Christians can meet together. Duane's message is for us to actually take stewardship over the land and creation that God has blessed us with. The house they purchased is on a farm land where they are having work projects such as building a garden and now working on adding a deck. Duane is a Christ-centered man with a strong Biblical theology.
Please pray for Duane, his family and his ministry.
My portrayal of this ministry is limited but you can get a much more accurate and detailed understanding of what goes on at Ithaka Fellowship by clicking of the link at the bottom of this page entitled, "Ithaka Fellowship".

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 9th Posting

2008-07-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Say it out loud. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Now, say it like you mean it, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ!” Now, say it to someone you know. Does it become a difficult passage to repeat…out loud…TO SOMEONE? To be honest with you and with myself, this can be a hard thing to say to some people. It is not because we don’t want to be like Jesus because I am assuming that since you put your trust in Him you want to be like Him. It’s a hard thing to say because we may not be sure we are actually imitators of Him. Remember WWJD? It stands for What Would Jesus Do. We should really be saying WDJD, What DID Jesus Do! We have four gospel books that contain 89 chapters of the life, work and ministry of Jesus Christ. We have no excuses for our lack of desire to do the things Jesus did. He was a lover of sinners (that’s you and me, Romans 5:8). Colossians 1:15 says, “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God.” Jesus was a perfect representation of the Father. Later, in Colossians 3:10, we are called to be the image of Christ. So, as Jesus imitates the Father, we too are to imitate the Father by imitating the Son.

This is not the easiest of tasks considering we are such wretched sinners. It may seem to us that this was a much easier task for Jesus, but that would be wrong for us to think. Jesus was a man too. He operated His sinless life by the power of the Holy Spirit. If every time Jesus was faced with temptation, He tapped into His divine power to overcome the temptation, He would not be worthy to be the lamb that was slain. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus faced the same temptations we face today, the temptations to sin. We know that God cannot be tempted, so it was not Jesus’ deity that was tempted, but His human side. Jesus did not sin in the face of temptation by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why He is able to sympathize with us, because He has been there and offers to us the same road away from sin that He took, by tapping into the Holy Spirit.

It may not be easy to be imitators of Christ in our sinful nature, but Paul claims to have been able to do it, and we should too. Paul also operated by the same Holy Spirit that Jesus did and we too have that same access (Ephesians 3:12).

Beloved, let’s be imitators of Jesus Christ in such a way that we are able to boldly proclaim, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 8th Posting

2008-07-22T23:27:00.000-07:00

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11

If there is one thing I wish to communicate in any message I send; it is the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ. If we are to see Jesus as the sovereign ruler over ALL (Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:3, Romans 11:36), then He must be the target of our affection and desire. In order for that to happen, He must be the foundation, or beginning, of anything we do. Jesus does not desire to be in any place in your life but FIRST!

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians is charging them to change! The Corinthians were a bunch of believers who have not moved onto maturity as Christians. Paul calls them spiritual babies. In 1 Corinthians 3:2, he tells them that they were fed milk instead of solid food and that they still are not ready for the solid food. Paul is using food as a metaphor of their lack of spiritual growth. The author of Hebrews does this also in Hebrews 5:12-14.

The encouragement here is not that they need a new starting point. Paul makes it clear to them that the beginning of their teachings was Jesus Christ. He was and is the foundation for any sort of spiritual growth. Obviously there will be no growth if there is no initial relationship with Jesus. The Corinthians started with Jesus as their foundation but began to build upon that foundation with things that would not last for eternity. He tells us that what we build over the foundation of Jesus will be tested on that “Day”. This Day refers to the Day when we will have to give an account for the things we have done. For believers there will be no day of judgment, only a Day of rewards. These rewards will be granted to us according to what we have built on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ. Our works that do not honor and glorify Jesus will be burnt up as they are tested by fire (3:13). Our works that do honor and glorify Jesus will stand the test of fire and we will receive a reward for them (3:14).

Let me make clear that God is not telling us that we will not keep our salvation if our works don’t add up. But that our works are a reflection of our maturity IN CHRIST. So, though our salvation is secure (3:15), we will still be tested by fire for our works IN CHRIST.

My encouragement to you is this; first recognize that Jesus is our foundation and starting point. We must desire to glorify and magnify Him in our spiritual growth. Second, once we are aware of Christ as our foundation we should see that no matter the magnitude of our works, the foundation still stands through fire and we stand along side Him. Let me encourage you to seek to build upon that foundation with works that, in turn, reap for us rewards in heaven. Our desire should not be for the reward, but to see that Jesus Christ is our reward. Once we understand that, we will be better able to live our lives in a way that is most honoring and glorifying to Jesus. We will all be tested. Let our lives stand the test of fire and glorify Jesus as He should be.

New Application

2008-07-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have added a new application to my blog. At the bottom of this blog you will find my favorite books. These are all recommended reads. I will continue to put more books on this application as I read more and remember more of what I have read in the past. I hope you pick one up and give it a read! God bless you in Jesus Christ!

Jeff Williams Theology

2008-07-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

I was having lunch last week with a couple pastor friends of mine, Grant Armstrong and Jeff Williams. I sat across the table form them as they shared with me some of their perspectives on ministry. Before I get into anything else, I want to share with you the extreme joy I receive while spending time with these guys. They are passionate about God's people and on fire for Jesus. They bless me everytime I meet with them and I am overjoyed to be involved with them at all. Grant is the kind of guy that you talk to and you immediately feel stupid because he is so smart. He doesn't want you to feel stupid, he is actually an incredibly nice guy who loves Jesus and his family. The way Grant processes things blows my thinking out of the water. And Jeff, well, once you meet him, he's just...Jeff. An experienced pastor with a shepharding heart and deep theological roots. You can now see why I am blessed in my time with them. While Jeff and Grant shared with eachother about a book that I have never heard of I began to think to myself; "Self, you don't read those kinds of books, maybe you should." I won't go into the full extent of our conversation. But in short, Jeff challenged me to read something other than what I had described as "theology only" type of books. Normally I only read non-fiction theological books or commentaries or greek lexicons and of course the Bible. Jeff told me I needed to get a hobby. I told him theology is my hobby.

As I now reflect on what Jeff was advising me to do, I have to wonder if his 8 years of youth ministry experience is any sort of indication that maybe I should listen to him. Well, clearly. Jeff was pushing me to expand my horizons. I look at someone like Jeff Williams and he is able to take time to read fables and fun stories and write interestingly fun blogs, and he is so theologically solid.

So I am really just spilling my heart here. I am at a place now where I want nothing more than to learn from God's word through the study of it and using resources that are directly pointing to it. However, I need to read something new! So Jeff, if you are reading this, I have ventured to read a book called "The Shack". I have heard some decent things about it, but mostly bad from men I trust. So I will read this FICTION book with scrutiny and just realize this is one step toward a Mark with a larger arsenal for ministry.

Jeff's blog site is linked at the bottom of this page...Please visit, he is an interesting writer with insight and he clearly communicates joy!

The Joy of Family

2008-07-07T23:03:00.001-07:00

Usually my blogs are centered on a theological thought or a specific Biblical text, but I wanted to take a moment of your time to give you my thoughts on the family.

Everyday I come home from a long day of ministry. Though ministry is an incredible joy for me, it still takes a toll on my physically, emotionally and spiritually. So the joy that is accumulated from a long day of studying, meetings, visiting and other various details, I am able to bring that home to my family. Coming home after spending my days in these different aspects of minsitry, has been one of my greatest joys. Everyday I walk in the door and I hear my wife say to my 3 month old son, "Daddy's home!". Those are the sweetest words to my ears. Those words give me a sense of understanding of what John writes in Revelation, when he says that the prayers of the saints are like a sweet smelling incense to the Lord. I can almost smell the pleasant aroma of love in my household.

One of the greatest joys I have experienced is that marriage is one of God's best ways to sanctify us. Sanctification is the process of us being transformed to be more like Jesus. Basically, it's spiritual growth. For anyone who is married, you know what I am talking about. There is no other relationship on earth that exposes us for who we truely are like marriage. My wife knows me better than anyone, and I know her better than anyone. Though this can certainly cause some problems sometimes, those problems are what makes us grow. However, it is such a joy to know that she knows me so well.

My son, Dante, who is quickly approaching 3 months of age, has been a wonderful joy and addition to our family. I now see my wife, not only as a wife, but as a mother. Having Dante has strengthened our love and marriage. I have seen too many marriages broken because parents focus more on their children than eachother. Certainly children need the love and care of their parents, but the security of a child grows strongest in the security of the marriage between the parents. That is why my wife and I often express to eachother that our marriage will always come before our children. That kind of thinking may sound a bit harsh towards the children, but when the parents are focused on eachother first, there will be security in the family in the minds of the children.

In our house, Jesus comes first, then our marriage, then our children, then our ministries. When those things are placed in order Jesus will strengthen your marriage, Jesus and your marriage will strengthen your children, and Jesus and your family will strengthen your minstry. That is why my family is one of my greatest joys!

Biblical Theology For Transfomation - 7th Posting

2008-07-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

“But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children…For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God.”
1 Thessalonians 2:7, 11-12

To all my fellow pastors out there, I offer to you an encouragement to take on the ministry of Christ in the way Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians. There is a double sidedness to our pastoral ministries. On one hand, we are to be like nurturing mothers, and on the other we are to be like fathers exhorting, encouraging and charging. There are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of both of these calls to ministry. I think part of the lack of strong pastoral ministry today comes in the form of a lack of balance. There are those who focus primarily on the soft, gentle care that the pastor is to give to his people. Then there are those who are strong in their charging the people and often forget about those who need a shepherds gentle care. I must be honest, I struggle with both of these. It can sometimes be hard to tell what kind of role to play in dealing with people. So, I write this with both roles in mind. I want to encourage you to be a charging pastor who cares for his sheep.

Notice in verse 7 how the “mother” is described as “nursing”. Mothers are generally known more for their loving tenderness more so than the fathers. But Paul does not just make the analogy of being a mother, but being a nursing mother. My wife and I had our first born son just over two months ago. As I see her care for him and compare it to the care my mother now shows for me, a 25 year old man, I see why Paul challenges us to be like a “nursing” mother. My wife has a desperate need to care for our son all day everyday. He needs milk, love, caring affection, he needs to be held and needs love all day. I, on the other hand, do not need all those things from my mother anymore. Of course I will always need her love, but my physical growth does not depend on her close comfort to me. So I see why Paul charges us not just to mothering our people but mothering with a sense of urgency and NEEDED care. And Paul say, “taking care of her OWN children.” We are called to love our people with desperate affection as if they were our own children who need the care of a nursing mother. This can be one of the most difficult things to do as a pastor. My son needs his mother and knows it, but people need the care of a shepherding pastor and sometimes don’t know it. That is why we need to seek them out to offer comfort. A baby will not seek out it’s mother, but the mother must seek out the child to care for it. This is what a shepherd does, seeks to find the lost sheep.

Then Paul goes on to charge us as pastors to exhort, encourage and charge our people like a father. Fathers are most well known, not for their soft comforting side, but for their strong guidance. The Greek word for encourage literally means to comfort. The Greek word for exhort actually shares the same root word as encourage. Along with these two we are also to “charge”. The Greek word for charge literally means to “scourge the sin, not the person.” So how does this make out to be a strong father role in the pastorate? We are to scourge the sin in the lives of people by charging them to change. We have seen pastors do this in ways that leave their people feeling hopeless and discouraged. Forcing people to change or they will end up wasted and worthless or even worse, in hell. That is why Paul first tells us to be comforting as fathers, because there is a sense of care and comfort that must accompany the charge. If people are feeling like they have been yelled at they will, as children often do, curl up in a ball and not respond. But when our charges to change our sinful patterns are addressed with care, concern and comfort, people respond. They will feel an actual concern coming from their pastor. I am not one to give fluffy messages or sissy care, but I do know that Jesus was one to truly care about the sinner as He told them to sin no more. In all this we will be better able to equip people to “walk in a manner worthy of God.” If our desire is to see Jesus glorified, then our method must be Biblical. Clearly our method needs to be two sided, comforting and charging. One without the other will leave your people confused and without direction toward true change.

Pastor, we need to care for our people in a nurturing, comforting way that demands change from their sinful lifestyles. We need to be like a nursing mother and a father with his children. In essence, we need to love our people in the most Biblical way possible.

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 5th Posting

2008-06-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 2:2, 4:1

2:2-"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

4:1-"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. "

First of all, it is important to understand what Paul means when he says "mysteries of God". Within the context of the first letter he wrote to the Church in Corinth, Paul is dealing with a Church that is completely out of control. They are not growing spiritually as they should and Paul charges them with this; "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh." (1 Cor. 3:2-3a). With that thinking in mind, Paul addressess the "mysteries of God". This mystery is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul, whether he was speaking to those who are "babies" in Christ or those who are mature, always starts and ends with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He begins his first letter to Corinth by giving thanks to God for the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:4) and end the second letter to Corinth explaining his personal experience of the power of the gospel (2 Cor. 12:9-10). Paul's message is clear: "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul, sets for us THE example of the Christian life. If we are saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we must live by the same gospel. Imagine you are locked up in jail and someone comes to free you from jail. You bolt out of the jail and get to the street where the getaway car is waiting and the one who freed you jumps in the car and takes off leaving you at the sidewalk in front of the jail where the police are there to take you back. You are essentially left on your own. This is NOT what Jesus has done for us. He has not only freed us, but He sustains our walk. If it is His gospel that saves us, it must be His gospel that sustains us. And if it is His gospel that sustains us we must FIRST OF ALL consider ourselves to know NOTHING except the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I encourage you, as well as myself, to live out our walk in a way that is centrally focused on the saving work of Jesus in our lives. There can be nothing good that is produced from starting anywhere else. If our beginning of everything is anything but the gospel, we are headed down a dangerous path that will only leave us with false doctrine and poor Biblical and Christian theology. Theology is the way we think of God. If we start our thinking of God without first thinking of Jesus, it is like trying to start our cars without gasoline. We either get nowhere or we stop short of the desired destination. So my encouragement to you is this; our understanding of God, our spiritual growth and our direction in life NEEDS to start with Jesus and Him crucified. CJ Mahaney wrote a book called "The Cross-centered Life" (one of the most influencial books I have ever read). In his book, he drives home the point that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is the gospel. As I reflect on my own life I notice that I do not always start my thinking with the gospel, and when that occures, I begin to fade from Biblical truth. God's Word, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, always points us to Jesus. So if Jesus is the desired outcome of our Biblical theology or our Biblical thinking, then we must START with the presupposition that Jesus is the desired outcome of ANY text.

As believers, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Having this security(Ephesians 1:13), we can rely on the Holy Spirit to ALWAYS point us the Jesus. With that thought in mind, we HAVE TO ask for the filling of the Spirit in our lives. Ephesians 5:18 tells us, "be filled with the Spirit." The word "be" literally translated means, "be being", this is a continual state of being filled. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit we will see Jesus and have implanted in our hearts the gospel of Jesus Christ in all situations. Romans 8:30 says that we are justified and then glorified and the idea that we are sanctified is implied in the text. Let me help break this down. Justified is the single instantaneous act by God in which he declares our sins, past, present and future, forgiven and takes from us our sin and gives to us the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:21-26). Martin Lloyd-Jones called this the "great exchange". Sanctification is the process that begins the moment after we are justified and continues until our physical death on earth. Sanctification is our spiritual growth, or God working in us to make us more like Jesus (Philippians 2:13). Glorification is what takes place after our lives on earth, when we are finally face to face with Jesus and He gives us our crowns of righteousness to glorify us and we will throw them back at His feet in complete recognition that He alone is worthy of ALL GLORY!(1 Corinthians 13:12). As we see this process played out in the Bible, and also in our lives, we can not help but see Jesus at the center of all three places! He saves us, He grows us and He glorifies us. By which we must respond, "All glory belongs to Jesus!" (Revelation 4:11, my paraphrase).

In Conclusion, this is to be an encouragement. That Jesus be the beginning, the middle and the end of our Biblical thinking, our practical life, and our world view. We, as Paul made clear of his own life and mission, must always carry the gospel with us in the forefront of our minds to see Him magnified and glorified!

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amem." (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 4th Posting

2008-06-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

6/12/08

Ephesians 1:19 “And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might.”

We can sometimes feel so weak in our Christian lives. Our feelings of inadequacy and inability to perform our Christian service keep us from making further attempts at serving Christ. Thoughts of self-doubt and self-worthlessness can often accompany the walk of a follower of Jesus. We look down on our own attempts of service and begin to tell ourselves that we are useless in this fellowship of believers. The result is Christians who do not serve and believers whose lives do not reflect the work of Jesus and His saving grace. I suppose by this time you are expecting me to hand out the encouragement you are being set up for. In your mind you might be expecting some sort of self-motivating scripture and an explanation of how we are supposed to get up in the morning, look ourselves in the mirror and say, “I’m smart enough, I’m good enough and gall-darnit, people like me!”. This is the sort of thinking our culture and world have imposed on those seeking a purpose in life. They want us to believe that real joy and peace come from within. This is where the downtrodden believer gets caught in the snare. If thoughts of self-doubt, self-worthlessness and inadequacy surround your mind, the last thing I want to do is tell you that is wrong. You should doubt yourself. You are worthless and you are completely inadequate to do anything on your own. This is the problem with American thinking, we try to convince ourselves that we are not these things and when we continue to fail at getting away from these downfalls, we think we might as well stop trying and we give up on serving Jesus.

Now that I have completely squashed your hopes of ever accomplishing anything in the name of Christ, the encouragement is this; Jesus is your confidence, Jesus is your worth and ONLY Jesus is adequate. We have to veer away from this self reflecting mentality and start doing some Jesus reflecting. Stop trusting in ourselves and start letting the power of Jesus take hold of our lives and our service. David says in 1 Chronicles 29:14, “But who am I, and what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from You, and of Your own have we given You.” David realized that His service to the Lord was not of his own power and strength but that the Lord worked through David to serve Him.

Ephesians 1:19 gives us great insight on why we need to stop trusting ourselves and start trusting Jesus. You will notice that I put in italics four words; power, working, great and might. These four words, though different in English and also in the original Greek, all mean the same thing: POWER!!!! The original word for power is dynameos. From this word we get our English word “dynamite”. Like dynamite, Jesus’ dynameos is an explosive power. The original word for working is energeian, which is where we get our English word “energy” from. These four different words show the immeasurable greatness of the power of Jesus. Notice that these words are attributed not to YOU, but to Jesus. However, His power is directed towards us. He invests His power into His believers for service to Him so that He may be glorified and magnified. Also notice that of these four words, they are all of immeasurable greatness. That means the magnitude of Jesus’ power goes beyond measure and cannot even be fathomed by our futile minds.

Your encouragement is this; stop the pity party and stop trying to find the answer inside of yourself. As I tell my kids all the time; you are not as cool as you think you are. When we look into ourselves for the answers we will only be disappointed and discouraged. It is when we realize the immeasurable greatness of the power of Jesus at work in us that we can begin to unravel the twisted mess of self-reliance we weaved for so long. Begin every morning with a simple recognition that Jesus is your strength (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10). If your service to the Lord is powered by your own will and power you will end up spinning in a spool of legalism trying your hardest to please God by your own power. YOU CAN NOT DO IT!!!! Jesus is the one who possess the power to do great things and we possess Jesus. Find your power to serve Him, in Him!

Christ-Centered Theology

2008-06-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

There are many joys in ministry as well as many struggles. The greatest joy is to be Christ-centered or Christo-centric in our theology. I call it a struggle because we should toil and strain over every word of God. We should be investing all of our mind into every word of God(2 Timothy 2:15).

I am blessed to be involved in a new ministry through Grace Partners. We have created a ministry called "CCT" or "Christ-Centered Theology". The purpose of our ministry is exactly what it sounds like. We desire to be Christ-centered in our thinking about God. Through careful exegesis we desire, as sound theologians should, to see Jesus in ALL the texts. Our aim in our exegesis is not only to pull Christ out of the text but to see the text in light of Christ. We want to be wearing our "Jesus goggles" when we exegete the text. That is why are purpose statement reads; "Exegeting Jesus to see Him magnified and glorified". If Jesus is the purpose of ALL the texts, then we want to exegete Him through our study of His Word.

Our ministry will contains a few dimesions. We have and will continue to conduct phone interviews with renown pastors, authors and theologians. Currently, we have conducted phone interviews with Philip Graham Ryken and Thomas Schreiner. We have Mark Driscoll lined up for an interview on July 22, 2008 and John Piper on August 12, 2008. We are currently in contact with many more experienced pastors, teachers and theologians to have on the program.

Another aspect to our ministry will be conferences. We have Bruce Ware coming to speak at our conference in December and we will make the audio of that conference available on our website. Since our website is not currently up and running yet, we will temporarily have it on a blog site.

Our website will also contain our writings. They will range from short devotionals to longer theologically constructed articles.

We will attempt to have our sermons and teachings on our site as well.

We desire to equip pastors and those in ministry to be encouraged and built up for their ministry and therefore better able to equip their flock. We certainly gain from this experience ourselves and hope to pass this edification on to others. As young pastors, we want to glean from the knowledge of more experienced pastors and theologians.

Exegeting the text is our starting point and we want to make it our chief-end. We want to see Jesus glorified through careful exegesis!

I Love My Wife!

2008-05-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

I love my wife! Men, love your wives! Wives, respect your husbands. Paul charges us to have love and respect for each other in marriage. It is a picture of Jesus' relationship to us! Represent Him well! Love your wives!
I love you wife!

Exspository Preaching and How It's Applied

2008-05-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

The truth, the message, theology, and clear explanation of the text assembled by the sovereign hand of God are a few things left out of the pulpit in these last days. Part of the problem is that fact that there are “unqualified persons” filling the place of men who should be teaching God’s word. Among these “unqualified persons” are those who should not teach (James 3:1-12) and women (1 Timothy 2:11-14). These are issues that can be addressed on their own and must be given full attention in order to straighten out some of the disorder among the church of Jesus Christ. In order to experience the fullness of God’s word through the exaltation of Jesus Christ by preaching, the qualified teachers need to be addressed as well. For those who fit into this genre of “qualified teacher” (1 Timothy 3:2; “able to teach” and Titus 1:9), there is a huge burden on our shoulders. I read a story of a preacher who walked into the sanctuary one Sunday morning and immediately left the sanctuary, ran into his office, locked the door and hid under his desk as he began to cry. He was overwhelmed by the shear magnitude of the task before him of being called and used to proclaim God’s infallible word as a fallible man. I am not suggesting that we, as preachers, follow his response but I am suggesting that we come to grips with the same burden he felt.

Part of our responsibility as preachers is to proclaim the whole counsel of God. We are not to leave out the “hard texts” or only preach the text’s that are easier for His people to swallow. Our primary responsibility is to teach our people everything about our sovereign God and that requires teaching everything He has provided us in His word. The idea of expository preaching is one left out of the pulpit by even the qualified teachers. For those of you who are ignorant to expository preaching, it is the exaltation of God’s word by teaching through the text. An example would be teaching the entire book of Ephesians from Paul’s opening greeting in 1:1 to his final greeting in 6:24. Not skipping a verse or avoiding the “hard texts”, we are called to give God’s people every word. If we feel the weight of God’s call, like the aforementioned preacher, then we are responsible to how we teach his word.

Topical preaching, though not bad, is the nemesis of expository preaching. There is nothing wrong with preaching a topic at the pulpit as long as it is not done regularly. The problem with preaching topically on a regular basis is that you can easily fall into the trap of missing the context of your text. The context is the core of expository preaching. We had a motto at my old school; context is king. We have to understand the context of the text we are preaching and feed that to our people. There is only one interpretation of a particular text though many applications. In order to accurately preach the text there must be understanding of its context. Its context contains the surrounding passages, historical backdrop, cultural relevance of the time it was originally written, and understanding of the author’s perspective and situation as well the original readers. To abandon the context you are abandoning the interpretation. Once the interpretation is abandoned the application is misapplied. If our desire is to see transformation in the hearts and lives of our people then the application cannot be misappropriated. Which leads us back the beginning where it starts with understanding and teaching in light of the context of the text you are preaching.

I have seen to many topical preachers throw an array of verses at their congregation. The people leave hearing the main topic but have no solid text to stand on. You will find these people arguing their Biblical stances on many misinterpreted texts.

For example:
I had a discussion with a friend who grew up under topical preaching and defended his point of view that God desires everyone be saved using 2 Peter 3:9. The problem with his understanding stemmed from the preacher who tossed out this verse to his congregation while defending this same point without explaining that particular text in 2 Peter. Clearly upon understanding the context you can see that Peter is speaking to believers, he calls them “beloved” in verse 8. Verse 9 continues to say that the Lord is patient toward believers, and wishes that none of them should perish (eternally). If the context of the letter is written to believers then clearly God does not wish them to perish if He has chosen them before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). And as chosen ones, Peter is telling them that God is patient towards them and awaits His return for His chosen few to personally experience a regenerated heart in Jesus.

You can see the damage topical preaching has on the theology of God’s people. And when it affects our theology to that degree it also affects the way we live out our theology. When a preacher teaches topically and uses tons of verses to support his Biblical claim, he is, in essence giving his congregation pebbles for theology and life. He is throwing them stones and each verse he gives without context and or explanation is another pebble he gives into the hands of his people on which to build their theology. When we preach expositional, we focus on one particular text and in essence give our people one large stone on which to build there theology. You can see the problem rising as people build on top of many pebbles and the rains come down, their theology comes crashing down with it and most times there lives follow in catastrophe as well. But the storms of life cannot bring down a house that is built on a solid stone. When their theology is strong, and founded on the rock of well thought out understanding of God’s word by expository preaching, their house withstands the rain. There needs to be a call for preachers to examine, study and explain the text they are preaching. If we want to see true transformation in the hearts and lives of our people then we must give our attention the context of our texts. We must be expository preachers!

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 3rd Posting

2008-05-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Biblical Theology for Transformation 5/16/08

“In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:14

The most important truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel, in Greek is evangelion which is where we get our English word for evangelism. It literally means “good news”. Think about the best news you ever received. I once asked this to a student in my youth group. He told me the best news he ever received was when he found out his mom no longer had cancer. I was like; “WOW!!!” that is good news! However, the greatest news we could ever receive will never compare to the message of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for our souls because that is the greatest news! Now, to you, who are reading this, you already know this great news and have received it. So let me offer this to you. Paul tells the Church in Corinth that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple and those who serve at the alter share in the sacrificial offerings (v.13). So in the same way, those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. The idea is to make the main point the main point. The gospel of Jesus should not be forgotten after we are converted but embraced upon conversion because it is the power of God to save us. We so often forget about the main point—gospel of Jesus. I am encouraging you to embrace, reflect and savor the gospel of Jesus Christ as the power that saved you from your putrid and disgusting sin. We Christians need not to forget the gospel but carry it with us so that the aroma of Jesus protrudes the nostrils of the unsaved world. They need to see that we STILL enjoy and love the gospel of Jesus. Why do we need to do this?
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
If we do not let the glory of God be seen in us through the savoring of the gospel we will fall into what Paul calls, “proclaiming ourselves”. The mark of a Christian is that we LOVE JESUS! So as Jesus lovers we want not ourselves to be seen or magnified, but Jesus to be magnified and glorified through our love of the gospel.

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 2nd posting

2008-05-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

This passage does not need much exegesis being that it is quit clear in its meaning. HELP each other out! But there is a desperate need to reiterate this point. Burdens are the hard things in life that we carry. We try so hard in our lives to carry them on our own. God has NOT equipped us to be supermen and superwomen who carry all our own burdens. He has made us weak in our nature so that He can be strong through us (2 Cor. 12:9,10). Paul is writing to believers in Galatia; hence “Galatians”, and encouraging them in how they treat one another. In this context the “burdens” are those of past sins. For the believer, you and me, our past sins are most often the hardest to deal with and we still carry them around as if Jesus didn’t NAIL THEM TO THE CROSS. Galatians 5:1 says, “For FREEDOM, Christ has set us FREE, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” The yoke was the neck harness they put around the animals that pulled the till on the farms. Once the animal was in the yoke he was a slave to the direction of the one who controlled it. Paul is saying, do not be a slave to sin since Jesus has set you free from sin! Release your old sin burdens that have been PAID FOR! I said earlier that He has made us weak so He can be strong through us, and one of the ways He is strong through us is through other believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul mentions that helping others bear those old sin burdens is so that we “fulfill the law of Christ.” John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The law of Christ is love! We show the love of Jesus to others to make much of Him! To be completely honest, I think because of our desperately wicked hearts, we, in some sick way, enjoy seeing others carry difficult burdens. That is why Jesus tells us to love one another, because we desperately need each other. John 13 goes on in verse 35 to say, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is one of the best ways to evangelize. Show the world the love of Christ by doing for others what Jesus did for us. He carried our burdens all the way to the CROSS and drove a giant stake through them. We had a shirt at the store that said, “Always share the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” Are we being the love of Jesus to our brothers and sisters who desperately need it? Are we showing the love of Jesus to the unsaved world? Will they know we are Christians by our love?

Biblical Theology for Transformation - 1st Posting

2008-05-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

4/19/08

The idea of Biblical theology is to form your theology out of the study of Biblical exegesis. This is opposed to systematic theology, where you form your theology from systems of thinking and attempt to form a philosophy of Biblical thought. Systematic theology is a more broad study as oppose to Biblical theology which is specific to the text. Both are excellent ways of study, however, the need is NOT to impose our thinking into the text (eisegesis), but to impose the text into our thinking (exegesis). That is why I use the word “transformation”. Through careful Biblical analysis of the text in its original context and study of the original language we should strive to be transformed by the inerrant Word of God.

I will be putting together a new “Biblical Theology for Transformation” each week. My prayer is that it transforms our minds into a deeper and greater love for Jesus Christ and His glory! My purpose is to be as Biblically accurate as possible in the study of scripture and to pass this gift on to you. You are receiving this because I love you and care for your sanctification (spiritual growth).

Today’s Biblical Theology for Transformation… 4/19/08
Ephesians 5:25, 33 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (ESV)

There is an obvious point that Paul is making to the men of the church at Ephesus : love your wives. To the women: respect your husbands. But why? Because there is a more important point Paul is making in respects to the institution of marriage. That point is that there is a marriage that is greater than that which we share with our spouses: the marriage to Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:9). Marriage between a man and a woman is meant to serve as a picture of the relationship between Jesus and His church. To the world, we are to represent Jesus well with our marriage. Your marriage is a witness of Jesus’ love for His chosen people. That is why we despise Christian unmarried couples living together. They are not representing Jesus the way He set us up to represent Him. Jesus didn’t give His church half of His devotion; He gave her all His devotion. Jesus didn’t sleep with the church and leave her, He married her.
As you think of your love for your spouse, consider the love that Jesus has for His bride. But if you love your wife more than any other human (as you should, even more than your children), then you should have a greater understanding of Jesus’ love for us. Men, we are called to “love your wife” because we are a picture or representation of Jesus to her and to the world. Women, you are called to “respect your husband” because you are a picture or representation of Jesus’ church to him and to the world. If someone notices you disrespecting your husband, you are showing them that is how the redeemed people of Jesus treat their Savior. Represent Jesus well by representing your husband as a loving and respectful wife, who cherishes and respects the love she receives from her groom.
Get this: Your marriage is a picture of the churches relationship with Jesus Christ. How you act with your spouse and treat them is a manifestation of your relationship with Jesus. Represent Him well to the fallen world, and also honor and glorify Him with love and respect for your husband or wife.

In Christ,
Mark

Thinking Straight

2008-05-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

With all that the internet has to offer, I have decided to take full advantage of it's popularity. So, from now on I will be posting my thoughts and such on my "Jesus Boastin'" blog. This will also be the place where you can find my "Biblical Theology for Transformation" as oppose to emailing it to you each week.
I will be back-posting all the old "Biblical Theology for Transformation" writings on this blog so you can catch up if you are uninformed!
Peace In,
PMB