I remember sitting in Dr. Brian Richardson's class, while attending Bryan College, and being asked a question about the persecution of Jesus. It was similar to this, “Is Jesus still being persecuted today?” My initial response was “No, how can Jesus be persecuted today while He is seated beside God the Father in Heaven.” I want to encourage you to carefully consider this matter, because it bears great consequence on every relationship among believers.
In Acts chapter 9 we find the account of Saul's conversion. In verse 5 there is a special statement made to Saul by the Lord, who appeared in a light which flashed around Saul. Jesus said, “I am Jesu, whom you are persecuting.” G. Campbell Morgan writes of this situation, “Then there broke upon his consciousness, dimly and indistinctly, more perfectly apprehended in after days, the great truth that Christ and the Church were one.” Saul recognized his sin, repented and confessed allegiance to the Lord. Because of his conversion he became known as the Apostle Paul.
This persecution of believers being directly related to the persecution of Jesus is incredibly significant. First, this truth is evidenced in the rest of Paul's writing. I think that it must have been one of those foundational truths that so convicted, transformed, and impacted him, that he included it in most of his letters. Second it should challenge us in relationships today. We should be slow to accuse and persecute others, whether through words or by actions for these are believers we fellowship with and part of the body of Christ. Allow me to quote Morgan again, “It is as though Christ had said to him, Those men and women whom you have haled to prison have suffered; but it is I Who have suffered in their suffering, Saul. The brutal stones you saw hurled upon Stephen, cutting into his flesh, and giving him physical pain, reached Me, hurt Me. I felt every throb of Stephen's pain.”
So to put it simply: when believers suffer, so does Christ.
The instructions are not just about the suffering of Jesus. It is as important to note that Saul was attempting to thwart the march of God through human history. It is great news to recognize that march can't be halted.
Allow me to encourage you to ask an evaluative question in order to check your motives, words, actions, and attitudes. Ask, “Will what I am doing, potentially harm the body of Christ and/or its members – thus bringing suffering to Jesus himself?” If the answer is not a definitive no, then evaluate another approach, consider your true motives, continue to pray and seek the Lord regarding His will for the matter instead of your own.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Like People, Like Priest
The last 4 weeks I have been teaching through the prophecy of Hosea. It has been incredibly rich, much more than I ever imagined. In chapter 4 there is a verse that struck me as most profound during my studies. In verse 9 we read this short statement, “And it shall be like people, like priest;” (Hosea 4:9 ESV) How telling that is for our times. We live in an age when Pastors and Teachers compromise the truth and people are compromised in the truth.
Though there are a lot of incredible ministries and pastors who acknowledge there is a need for expository and exegetical preaching, the move to topical teaching has overtaken our modern churches. In seminary, one of the Greek phrases that I learned was "keruson ton logon," translated, "preach the word." I recognize that Scripture can be utilized in topical preaching, howeve, it does present difficulties and the temptation of proof texting - making the text mean what you want it to mean.
Over the course of the last several years I have become more convinced that there is a need for pastors to return to biblical exposition over and above topical messages. This doesn't mean that we exclude topics from our teaching, but we must teach the Word of God, as it is the power by which lives are transformed.
I was listening to a podcast of Alistair Begg, when he said the following:
It's interesting that the shepherd's responsibility is not actually to feed sheep in the sense of taking grass and sticking it in their mouths. You don't find shepherds, sitting with big ewes on their laps, sort of moving their horns out of the way so they can read the newspaper. Saying, "Come on now, eat your grass, eat your grass." The responsibility of the shepherd is to lead the sheep into the pastor, and they eat, they eat. So the real question is whether the shepherds in this church are leading you into the pastures. Then the question is, "Are you eating?" He goes on a bit further and says, "The real question is, "Is the message that is being proclaimed, the ideas of a man, or the very truth of God's Word?"
Let's return now to Hosea. "Like people, like priest." As the pastors of churches compromise on the Word of God and fail to teach it appropriately, the people will be compromised. If we are going to be a church that is full of healthy people, then we must be a people led to the best pastures, the best pastures will be the Word of Truth. My prayer is that you find your strength from God's Word and it transform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ!
Though there are a lot of incredible ministries and pastors who acknowledge there is a need for expository and exegetical preaching, the move to topical teaching has overtaken our modern churches. In seminary, one of the Greek phrases that I learned was "keruson ton logon," translated, "preach the word." I recognize that Scripture can be utilized in topical preaching, howeve, it does present difficulties and the temptation of proof texting - making the text mean what you want it to mean.
Over the course of the last several years I have become more convinced that there is a need for pastors to return to biblical exposition over and above topical messages. This doesn't mean that we exclude topics from our teaching, but we must teach the Word of God, as it is the power by which lives are transformed.
I was listening to a podcast of Alistair Begg, when he said the following:
It's interesting that the shepherd's responsibility is not actually to feed sheep in the sense of taking grass and sticking it in their mouths. You don't find shepherds, sitting with big ewes on their laps, sort of moving their horns out of the way so they can read the newspaper. Saying, "Come on now, eat your grass, eat your grass." The responsibility of the shepherd is to lead the sheep into the pastor, and they eat, they eat. So the real question is whether the shepherds in this church are leading you into the pastures. Then the question is, "Are you eating?" He goes on a bit further and says, "The real question is, "Is the message that is being proclaimed, the ideas of a man, or the very truth of God's Word?"
Let's return now to Hosea. "Like people, like priest." As the pastors of churches compromise on the Word of God and fail to teach it appropriately, the people will be compromised. If we are going to be a church that is full of healthy people, then we must be a people led to the best pastures, the best pastures will be the Word of Truth. My prayer is that you find your strength from God's Word and it transform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Breath, Bread, and Being
I have been thinking about several things over the course of the last week. Reading Jesus Among Other Gods, by Ravi Zacharias, prompted these thoughts with the weekend's events at the Tomato Show in Fredericktown, Ohio bringing it to the forefront of my attention.
At the Tomato Show, Mark Raley and I pushed Lou Jarratt, the church planter of New Song Community Church, who was seated in a porcelain tub mounted onto a steel frame which formed a cart. We sprinted a 40 yard course around a cone and back, taking about 38 seconds. By the last 15 yards my legs felt so heavy that I couldn't lift my feet to run; they felt so heavy that I was merely dragging them over the asphalt with every bit of effort I could manage just to cross the finish line. When we finished, the only thing I could think about was regaining my breath. As we were representing New Song in this race my mind also stayed on Jesus in an effort to maintain a witness for Him in the midst of a seemingly silly event. My thoughts went immediately to this, Jesus is the giver of "life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25)."
As I mentioned earlier, I have been reading this book by Ravi Zacharias and noted that there was a section for me to blog about. In the chapter I was reading he refers to the difference between the heart of world religions and that of Christianity.
This is what he says:
There comes a bifurcation, or a distinction, between the person and the teaching. Mohammed, to the Koran. Budda, to the Noble Path. Krishna, to this philosophizing. Zoroaster, to his ethics.
Whatever we may make of their claims, one reality is inescapable. They are teachers who point to their teaching or show some particular way. In all of these, there emerges an instruction, a way of living.
By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message. "In Him," say the Scriptures, "dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He did not just proclaim the truth. He said, "I am the truth."
Having read this prior to the weekend, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this as I reflected on the events. You see, I had a desperate longing for breath after that race. Though it was a physical longing, I realized very quickly, how much more I am desperate for the breath of life in my life in a spiritual sense. Sin is debilitating, like that run, it weighs me down and inhibits me in every way. I am desperate for something transforming, that I might worship God in a manner that is deserving of Him.
Ravi Zacharias continued:
In a very simple way Jesus drew the real need of His audience to that hunger which is spiritual in nature, a hunger that is shared by every human, so that we are not human livings or human doings but human beings.
It is no accident that Ravi Zacharias uses this terminology. Paul identifies this very concept in Acts 17:28, when he quotes a Greek poet in his apologetic to the crowd in Athens. He says, "In him we live and move and have our being." You see, it is our spiritual hunger that must be fed, it is that aspect of being that can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him. That is why we must partake of Jesus, the Bread of Life, that sustains eternally. This doesn't mean that we are to eat once and find that enough. It does mean that we continue to sup, nourishing on the Word of God so that we possess an ongoing communion with Him.
Now, I must ask this of myself and of you, will we be more than human livings and doings? Will we instead be transformed in our hearts and in our wills to do the will of God and thus become human beings fulfilling what we were originally designed to be, worshipers of God? (For further study you might look at Romans 12)
At the Tomato Show, Mark Raley and I pushed Lou Jarratt, the church planter of New Song Community Church, who was seated in a porcelain tub mounted onto a steel frame which formed a cart. We sprinted a 40 yard course around a cone and back, taking about 38 seconds. By the last 15 yards my legs felt so heavy that I couldn't lift my feet to run; they felt so heavy that I was merely dragging them over the asphalt with every bit of effort I could manage just to cross the finish line. When we finished, the only thing I could think about was regaining my breath. As we were representing New Song in this race my mind also stayed on Jesus in an effort to maintain a witness for Him in the midst of a seemingly silly event. My thoughts went immediately to this, Jesus is the giver of "life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25)."
As I mentioned earlier, I have been reading this book by Ravi Zacharias and noted that there was a section for me to blog about. In the chapter I was reading he refers to the difference between the heart of world religions and that of Christianity.
This is what he says:
There comes a bifurcation, or a distinction, between the person and the teaching. Mohammed, to the Koran. Budda, to the Noble Path. Krishna, to this philosophizing. Zoroaster, to his ethics.
Whatever we may make of their claims, one reality is inescapable. They are teachers who point to their teaching or show some particular way. In all of these, there emerges an instruction, a way of living.
By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message. "In Him," say the Scriptures, "dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He did not just proclaim the truth. He said, "I am the truth."
Having read this prior to the weekend, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this as I reflected on the events. You see, I had a desperate longing for breath after that race. Though it was a physical longing, I realized very quickly, how much more I am desperate for the breath of life in my life in a spiritual sense. Sin is debilitating, like that run, it weighs me down and inhibits me in every way. I am desperate for something transforming, that I might worship God in a manner that is deserving of Him.
Ravi Zacharias continued:
In a very simple way Jesus drew the real need of His audience to that hunger which is spiritual in nature, a hunger that is shared by every human, so that we are not human livings or human doings but human beings.
It is no accident that Ravi Zacharias uses this terminology. Paul identifies this very concept in Acts 17:28, when he quotes a Greek poet in his apologetic to the crowd in Athens. He says, "In him we live and move and have our being." You see, it is our spiritual hunger that must be fed, it is that aspect of being that can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him. That is why we must partake of Jesus, the Bread of Life, that sustains eternally. This doesn't mean that we are to eat once and find that enough. It does mean that we continue to sup, nourishing on the Word of God so that we possess an ongoing communion with Him.
Now, I must ask this of myself and of you, will we be more than human livings and doings? Will we instead be transformed in our hearts and in our wills to do the will of God and thus become human beings fulfilling what we were originally designed to be, worshipers of God? (For further study you might look at Romans 12)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Prayer: Following Message on Sunday, August 24th
The goal of this blog is to expand the thoughts about praying by the Holy Spirit. Sunday I referred to the "How" of praying being built on the relationship to the divine. That we pray to the Father, through Jesus, the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
The question arose in my mind, "What does it mean to pray by the Holy Spirit?" I am going to answer this but will use some terms interchangeably: "by the Holy Spirit" and "in the Holy Spirit." Here is a brief summary statement of the meaning of this term, "to pray in a manner that the Holy Spirit is the moving and guiding power. In other words, when you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is "moving" you to pray. That is, He is the one who motivates and enables and energizes your prayer. And when you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is "guiding" how you pray and what you pray for. We pray by His power and according to His direction."1
In Ephesians 6:18 Paul concludes the teaching on the armor of God by saying that all prayers should occur by this method, "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." (ESV). Therefore, praying by the Holy Spirit is not one method among many, it is the essential form or means for every prayer.
Sunday I referred to the necessity of prayer being done in faith. Romans 8:26 further emphasizes this dependency on our part in the area of prayer. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." It is because of this verse that we must admit that without the help of the Holy Spirit we could not pray as we ought to. This emphasizes the earlier point about the necessity of the Holy Spirit guiding us in our prayers as well.
In Galatians 3:1-5 Paul addresses the conflict of the flesh versus faith. "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?" It is easy for us to identify from this passage the need for us to respond in faith in what God is doing through the person of the Holy Spirit, rather than build our prayers with an an attitude of independence, trusting our own abilities. The flesh will leave us wanting.
There is one final encouragement that I want to share about praying by the Holy Spirit. It is essential to pray in conformity with the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit inspired. So the goal is to meditate on the Word of God, day and night, memorizing portions so that you can carry it with you all day. This affords the Holy Spirit the opportunity to shape your thoughts by that Word, moving you and guiding you. Then when we find this economy at work in our lives we take what we know of God's will from the Word and saturate our prayers with it.
So my appeal to you is this. In your prayers, wherever you are, pray by the Holy Spirit, counting on His help as you live out the teachings of the Bible. It means you will need to stay in study of the Bible and time in prayer.
Thanks for checking out my blog! Know that I love you all and look forward to the next time we are together.
1. John Piper, January 7, 2001: Learning to Pray in Spirit and the Word - Part 2
The question arose in my mind, "What does it mean to pray by the Holy Spirit?" I am going to answer this but will use some terms interchangeably: "by the Holy Spirit" and "in the Holy Spirit." Here is a brief summary statement of the meaning of this term, "to pray in a manner that the Holy Spirit is the moving and guiding power. In other words, when you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is "moving" you to pray. That is, He is the one who motivates and enables and energizes your prayer. And when you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is "guiding" how you pray and what you pray for. We pray by His power and according to His direction."1
In Ephesians 6:18 Paul concludes the teaching on the armor of God by saying that all prayers should occur by this method, "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." (ESV). Therefore, praying by the Holy Spirit is not one method among many, it is the essential form or means for every prayer.
Sunday I referred to the necessity of prayer being done in faith. Romans 8:26 further emphasizes this dependency on our part in the area of prayer. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." It is because of this verse that we must admit that without the help of the Holy Spirit we could not pray as we ought to. This emphasizes the earlier point about the necessity of the Holy Spirit guiding us in our prayers as well.
In Galatians 3:1-5 Paul addresses the conflict of the flesh versus faith. "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?" It is easy for us to identify from this passage the need for us to respond in faith in what God is doing through the person of the Holy Spirit, rather than build our prayers with an an attitude of independence, trusting our own abilities. The flesh will leave us wanting.
There is one final encouragement that I want to share about praying by the Holy Spirit. It is essential to pray in conformity with the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit inspired. So the goal is to meditate on the Word of God, day and night, memorizing portions so that you can carry it with you all day. This affords the Holy Spirit the opportunity to shape your thoughts by that Word, moving you and guiding you. Then when we find this economy at work in our lives we take what we know of God's will from the Word and saturate our prayers with it.
So my appeal to you is this. In your prayers, wherever you are, pray by the Holy Spirit, counting on His help as you live out the teachings of the Bible. It means you will need to stay in study of the Bible and time in prayer.
Thanks for checking out my blog! Know that I love you all and look forward to the next time we are together.
1. John Piper, January 7, 2001: Learning to Pray in Spirit and the Word - Part 2
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Shouting Out To Eric Reed
Eric,
You have inspired me to finally go for this. I am in the midst of taking an E License for Soccer Coaching so I will get back to this sometime this week. May this provide hours of enjoyment for you and the many others across this wonderful planet who have nothing better to do than think about the things I am thinking about.
You have inspired me to finally go for this. I am in the midst of taking an E License for Soccer Coaching so I will get back to this sometime this week. May this provide hours of enjoyment for you and the many others across this wonderful planet who have nothing better to do than think about the things I am thinking about.
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