To Whom Little is Forgiven, The Same Loves Little

I’ve thought about Luke 7:47 a number of times in my life. It says, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

This is the sinful woman who dumped the expensive ointment on Jesus while Simon, the righteous Pharisee, didn’t even wash Jesus’ feet.

I actually wrote about this verse on here back in 2010 and don’t agree with my point! The “for she loved much” is not the reason she was forgiven, which is what my old post said. I see how I got there but from all accounts, that’s not the right way to take the words.

My bad.

The NIV, although doing a little interpreting, probably has the right interpretation, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

However, there is a problem I have with how this verse is often discussed.

The point seems to be that this woman has sinned more than the Pharisee and because of that she loves Jesus more than the Pharisee.

A side note: it should be noticed that Jesus’ idea of love, or proof for love, is in observable service. Pharisee didn’t wash his guest’s feet; sinful woman pours out expensive stuff and washes his feet with her tears and hair. Service is Jesus’ work He uses to judge whether there is love present. Judgment Day is coming. You should note this carefully; it’ll probably come up then.

There was a guy I used to know who was quite the sinner. Pretty much every terrible sin you can think of, minus that one, he was doing. Not just had done at some point in his life, but was currently doing at the time I knew him and tried talking to him about faith numerous times.

He claimed to love and fear God more than me.

He would use this passage as a justification for his sin.

Whatever Jesus’ point is here, it’s not that sin is virtuous.

The amount of sin isn’t the issue; forgiveness is the issue. How much sin has been forgiven?

The way this guy lived, constant sin and weird justifications of it, makes me think he didn’t love Jesus very much. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” This guy routinely told me he didn’t have to keep any commandments because “Jesus did it all” for him.

I don’t think this guy was forgiven simply because he didn’t find his sin all that troublesome. Hard to imagine how a guy can sincerely love Jesus and yet make peace with a sinful lifestyle.

Having a lot of gross sin doesn’t make you love Jesus. In fact, not loving Jesus would be a major requirement for having a lot of gross sin.

Getting sins taken care of, fully forgiven, will lead to love of Jesus. Love of Jesus will lead to serving Him, not continuing in rebellious, gross sin.

Whether you have massively gross sin in your life of not (and no, I don’t think all sin is equally gross, the Bible makes it clear that some are worse than others), forgiveness is desperately needed. Pretending sin isn’t bad will limit your view of forgiveness, which will then limit your love toward the forgiver.

All sin is bad. All sin needs forgiveness. When your sin is forgiven, that’s a lot of sins forgiven! Deal with your sin before the Lord. Then demonstrate your love for the one who forgave you a lot with a lot of service.

How in the World Does Someone Delight in the Law of God?

One of the weirdest things about Psalm 119 is that the psalmist is completely thrilled, happy, delighted, and blessed by God’s word, and the only word he had at the time were the books of Moses and maybe a couple others.

But he repeatedly says words that indicate he’s specifically rejoicing in God’s Law. He uses many synonyms, all of which seem to refer to the law: statutes, judgments, commandments, precepts, etc.

He seems really happy to have the Law.

My entire life in Evangelical circles I’ve been told how lucky I am to not be under the law. How the law condemns. How the only reason God gave you the law is so you would know you’re a sinner and how terrible you are.

It’s the law of sin and death. The law of condemnation. Heavy. Weighty. Yuck.

Yet the psalmist seems oblivious to this and can’t stop saying how happy he is to have the law. What’s his problem?

Or perhaps, what’s our problem?

It is possible we’re missing something. Maybe we’ve pressed a truth out of place and stretched it into heresy.

Here’s an interesting fact: in both the KJV and the ESV, the word “delight” is only used one time in the New Testament. The word “delight” is used ten times just in Psalm 119!

Do you know what the one time usage of “delight” is in the NT? It’s in Romans 7:22, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man.”

That’s so cool to me. The one time “delight” is used in the NT it’s in relation to delighting in the law; a huge point of Psalm 119.

“After the inward man” is a key too.

In Romans 7, Paul says the law stirred up sin in him. When the law said, “Don’t covet;” he wanted to covet. When the law said, “Don’t steal;” he wanted to steal.

In Romans 8 Paul does call it the law of sin and death and directly relates it to our condemnation.

But also in Romans 7, Paul says the law is holy, just, and good. In Romans 8 he calls it “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”

There’s only one law as there is only one lawgiver. So, Paul has to be talking about the same law.

But why such divergent descriptions of the same thing? What gives?

Paul’s larger point in Romans 7 and 8 is the contrast of life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. Flesh and spirit see things differently. The main illustration in those two chapters is how they see the law of God.

When the flesh hears God’s law, it only hears condemnation. It hears “No fun, so many rules, get off my back.” It’s weighty and burdensome. Yuck. Sin and death.

When the Spirit hears God’s law, it hears righteousness, peace, holiness, and goodness. It sees guardrails of protection, a guide to keep from shipwreck.

The inward man delights in the law of God. If your flesh is hearing the law of God it’s just weight and judgment.

That’s why 1 John 5 says if you love God then God’s commands are not grievous. Rather than a weighty burden of oppression, we know they are the solid rock of truth to build life on. They lead to life.

When you read Psalm 119, are you confused? Do you not get how a person could be thrilled to have God’s law? Do God’s commandments freak you out and make you bummed out because it’ll ruin your fun?

That’s a good indication as to whether you’re in the flesh or in the Spirit. Perhaps you’re not saved; maybe you don’t have the Spirit. Or, perhaps your flesh is still hanging on to old patterns it doesn’t want to let go of.

Either way, deal with it. Know that God’s word is holy, just, and good. God who spoke those words loves you and wants the best for you. He isn’t telling you harmful things.

Learn to love God’s Word. Even more key to that, make sure you’re born again, that you’ve been made a new spiritual creation that can discern spiritual things.

Without that, you’ll never delight in the law of God.

Delighting In God’s Word Might Not Mean What You Think it Means!

Whoever wrote Psalm 119 was pretty enthused about God’s Word. He uses many happy words in relation to his experience with Scripture.

One word he uses frequently is “delight.” This one English word translates a number of Hebrew words.

One of my pet peeves is how English translations will use one English word for numerous Greek or Hebrew words in the same context. It totally misses the nuance of word choice.

Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

Cool. When we hear the word “delight” in this context we probably think along the lines of enjoying something. But wait until you hear what the Hebrew word behind this means!

I double checked it with both Strong’s Definitions and Brown, Driver, and Briggs’ Hebrew Lexicon. Both said the same thing, so therefore, it must be true.

The Hebrew word translated “delight” in this passage means, and I kid you not, and I quote, “to fondle, stroke, or pet.” What in the world?!

This same word is also used in Isaiah 11:8 when it says the nursing child will play over the hole of the adder. Little kids will play with snakes. The word “play” is the word translated “delight” in Psalm 119:16!

How does that make you feel?! Do you play with God’s word? Do you pet it?

What could he possibly be saying with the use of this word?

A child delights in their little toy. A little girl with her cute pet kitten. There is adoration, familiarity, enjoyment, almost like being enraptured with it.

Do you have this relationship with the Word of God? Like a little kid blocking out all of existence, lost in their own little world with their new play thing?

This is also beautiful in light of desiring the sincere milk of the word like a new born baby longs for food.

Perhaps we are missing something since we rarely have this feeling toward the Word of God. Perhaps that’s why two verses later in Psalm 119 he says, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

Maybe we’re missing something the psalmist had. A familiarity and love for the precious word of God. Ask God to help you see more wonders in His word and perhaps, just maybe, you’ll end up petting your Bible!

Going Off On Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites

In Matthew 23, Jesus goes off on the scribes and Pharisees and calls them all hypocrites. The whole chapter He just torches them.

The Gospel of Luke has a condensed version in chapter 11. He goes off on them for three verses or so, then some lawyers say, “Hey, we’re kind of offended by what you’re saying.” So, then Jesus goes off on them for three more verses.

Brilliant stuff. Should serve as a warning for all ages about religious leadership.

Here’s the really cool thing about Jesus torching the Pharisees in Luke 11, which I’m not sure if it’s the same context as Matthew 23. Guess where He says all this stuff about the evil Pharisees?

Luke 11:37 fills you in, “a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.”

Jesus is a guest at a Pharisee’s house when He goes off on them!

Oh, I love Jesus. I cannot wait to spend eternity with Him.

There are two things that powerful people in our world would do if asked to visit someone’s house they can’t stand:

1) They would refuse because why would they on their high level associate with lowly losers they don’t like?

2) Be a politician and say whatever they feel will win the people over to their side. They won’t offend, they will tolerate and then rip on them on the car ride home.

Jesus doesn’t do either of these things! He doesn’t mind eating with people He doesn’t like and are “beneath Him.” At the same time, when He sits down to eat He doesn’t mind calling them out!

I just love that.

There’s no ego, no kissing up, no backing down. He just says what He sees.

Now you and I need to be careful with this! We don’t know people’s hearts. Going into someone’s house as a guest and torching them probably isn’t a good idea (although everything has its season!).

Typically when I’ve gone off on people I’ve been wrong. My flesh got carried away and I made judgments about things I clearly didn’t know. I learned later how wrong I was.

We have to be careful here. We shouldn’t always do what Jesus did!

We should remember though that there is a time to confront people and call things how we see them. We also need to remember our pride, confront people considering ourselves first, lest we also be tempted.

The Lord is the best judge; we should let Him do His work. And boy howdy do I love reading about Him doing His work!

The Bible Helps You Make Decisions; It Doesn’t Make Decisions Harder

Decision making is probably an area where Christians say the stupidest stuff.

Most decisions in your life matter none at all, yet some Christians mope under the pressure of eternity over simple decisions. I’ve seen people ruin their lives by not making a common sense decision for fear they will be “out of the will of God.”

So much blather and consternation. God gave us His completed Word, His Holy Spirit, and a brain.

If God gave a guy a watch, do you think God would want that guy to ask Him all day “What time is it?” If God gave a sailor a compass, do you think God wants the sailor to constantly ask Him what direction he’s going?

Use what God gave you.

Instead, people use the Word of God and twist it all up, making the thing that was supposed to give you clarity into a thing that confuses you even more.

Psalm 37:23 is a classic example. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

People will twist this verse into meaning that if God is directing you, every decision will bring you delight. The way you know your decision was God’s will is because everything was easy and happy, just fell into place.

And, of course, if your decision leads to bad things happening, clearly you were outside of God’s will.

Context is always a good thing. Here’s the very next verse, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

It’s possible to be a good man, have the Lord direct you, and also have terrible results from your decision!

All this, “God opened the door and everything just worked out great.” That means nothing. Everything has worked out great for lots of sinners. Many of the other Psalms are about how wicked people always have everything work out great for them.

Ever read the lives of the prophets? Ever read the Gospels and Acts? Things rarely worked out well for the good guys in the temporal realm.

In the long run, in eternity? Yeah, God had their hand and took care of them.

Do not use temporal pleasure as a measure of whether you’re in God’s will.

Use what God gave you. Be a good man (a requirement worth considering). Pray. Think. Do the best thing you know at the time. Then go do it with all your heart and don’t worry about it.

Are You Listening to God? Probably not, Few Ever Have

I wonder what would happen if we actually believed the word of God.

Hard to say, not sure we’ve done that.

Oh, we think we are believing His word. We even say we follow Sola Scriptura, that the Bible is our sole authority for life and doctrine.

But I’ve attended church for 50 years, and I’ve read the Bible many times, and well, there’s not a whole lot of listening to God going on.

John 5 has some words we don’t believe. John 5:24 we believe, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.”

But by the time we read John 5:29 we’ve checked out. “those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Nope, we’re not going to believe that one.

Why not? Because our tradition has told us works have nothing to do with salvation. All our Sola Scriptura noise has been canceled by our Sola Fide tradition. The Sola Scriptura never teaches Sola Fide (James 2:24).

Yet in my years of experience in the church, the one pointing this out is the heretic.

It’s an astounding thing.

If you listen to the greater context of John 5, Jesus is talking to the religious folk of His day, those who “search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39).

Most times I’ve heard this verse brought up it’s to warn people not to study the Bible too much, which is totally not His point. His point is that they twist the Scriptures, look for things that prove they have eternal life instead of simply believing what God is saying. They were focused so much on justifying themselves from Scripture, they missed the whole part about the One who would come and justify them!

For instance, their Scriptures of the day were the Old Testament, primarily focused on the books of Moses. Were they studying Moses too much? Were they so studious in reading Moses that they were lost? Hardly.

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:46).

They read Moses for justifications, for proof texts, for confirmation bias. They read the Bible like we do: not to understand it and conform to it, but to find verses that back up what we already believe, which is mostly about how we are fine, get off our back.

This is the word of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in John 5. Every quote above is His words. Words we claim to believe. Words we claim Sola Scriptura to.

Instead of listening to God’s word, we’re busy justifying ourselves and our kids and our grandparents and whoever else. We’re trying to convince ourselves everyone is saved and the only way we can do that is by not listening to the Bible, because if we did that we’d know hardly anyone is saved, which is what the Bible says incidentally.

You know you’re not the judge though, right? Who is the judge? John 5:22 lets you know who the judge is: “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.”

John 5 is the word of the Son, the Judge, the Judge of your soul and everyone else’s.

What would it look like if we actually thought these words were true and binding?

Being Annoyed with Peter’s Denials of Jesus

I’ve read the Bible quite a few times now. Each time through I cover the four Gospels and their account of the life of Jesus.

Every time Jesus is in the garden and tells Peter to watch and pray. I hope that Peter finally does.

When Jesus asks sleeping Peter, “Could you not watch for one hour?”

I think, “Come on, Peter, just once, stay awake. Watch and pray, man.”

But Peter never does. And then the servant girl asks him if he follows Jesus, and I think, “Oh man, come on Peter, just this once, learn from the past, don’t deny Christ”

But Peter does.

Every time.

And every time my heart sinks. The scene where the cock crows and Peter’s eyes meet the eyes of Jesus, and he runs out and cries.

Oh, that gets me.

It could have been avoided, but it wasn’t and no matter how many times I read it, it still isn’t avoided. He falls every time.

I’m very glad my life and my errors were not written in Scripture.

Why Did Jesus Tell People to Keep Quiet About Him?

After Jesus asks the disciples who the people think He is, He asks them who they think He is. Peter gives the answer, “You are the Christ.”

It’s recorded different ways in the Gospels. In Matthew Jesus compliments Peter on his answer and says the Father revealed that to Peter. Mark and Luke skip that and instead tell us that Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone who He was.

Mark 8:29-30 says,

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

That’s fascinating. Jesus finally has a disciple who talks some sense, and He responds by commanding silence!

You’ll notice this throughout the Gospels, Jesus will do a miracle and then tell the recipient of the miracle not to tell anyone.

Mark 5 has an exception to the rule. The guy who had the legion of demons that went into the pigs wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus tells him he can’t follow, but he should go home and tell his friends what a great thing Jesus did for him (Mark 5:18-20).

Even more amazingly, the guy did! In other places Jesus tells people to be quiet and they tell everyone anyway (Mark 7:36 for example).

It seems odd. What’s going on with this?

Obviously I don’t know the full answer since the Bible never explains it directly. But I have a theory. I believe it has something to do with Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus was doing some incredible stuff. There’s no way He could do this stuff in a corner, the news would spread.

Part of Jesus’ instructions might be to downplay attention. He’s not doing these things for publicity. Don’t turn His ministry into a marketing campaign, let His words and deeds speak for themselves. When He multiplied food to feed the crowd, He later chastises them for only following Him for food and a show. Miracles seem to get in the way at times, a distraction from His words.

In Matthew 13, Jesus explains that He addresses Jews in parables so they don’t get His point. This fulfills the prophecy spoken by Isaiah that although they have ears, they won’t hear, and although they have eyes, they won’t see.

Jesus came with a bit of a death wish. He came to fulfill His Father’s will, which ultimately was to die for the sins of the people.

The one guy He told to broadcast the miracle was a Gentile. A careful reading of the Gospels will show you that the people who understood who Jesus was the most clearly were usually Gentiles. The Gentile woman who said she would eat the crumbs like a dog and the centurion who didn’t even need Jesus to come to his house, just say the word. Those powerful examples of faith were from Gentiles. Meanwhile, Jewish people, including the disciples, seemed to miss what He was talking about.

Jesus was hiding things from the Jewish people even while revealing things.

Paul explains the idea in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8;

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;  the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

God knows that people mess up stuff! If Jesus had fully revealed Himself with all the possible power and glory and spectacularness, there’s no way they would reject Him. So when He does spectacular stuff He tells them to keep it quiet.

Unless it’s a Gentile, because Gentiles believing won’t make any difference about His own people, Jews, not receiving Him. In fact, Gentiles calling Jesus the Christ might annoy the Jews even more, which it seemed to do. Paul talks about this further about Gentiles provoking Jews to jealousy.

It’s possible there’s more to this, but this seems the most reasonable explanation for His commands of silence.

Marcus Aurelius and Christian Persecution

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and also a Stoic philosopher. Stoicism calls for an unemotional view of life, calm and steady. It has lots of fine things to say actually, some find it compatible with Christianity to some degree.

Unfortunately, many Christians were persecuted and martyred under his reign.

Some historians claim he did not have an active part in the persecution, and some claim he may not have ever known it was going on.

Whatever the case, Christians were persecuted. And I don’t just mean that Disney said some stuff that upset them. I mean they were killed in evil, nasty ways.

One man in particular suffered greatly.

A Christian man named Attalus was put in an iron chair over a fire. If you do the physics, the iron would heat up and basically grill the person while alive. After this, he was given a chance to recant, but he did not. He remained faithful in his testimony.

So they threw him to wild beasts in the amphitheater, but for whatever reason, some claim divine intervention others say the beasts were already full from previous eatings, the wild beasts did not kill him!

So, the decision was made to stab him in the neck. And, if that wasn’t enough, he was then beheaded.

Reading about these things is often hard to believe. I would encourage you to find a couple books on Christian martyrs and read their stories. Some are hard to imagine.

Thank the Lord we have not had to face such things. But also ask Him for the faith that would withstand such trials if called to do so.

Did God Create the Alphabet?

We all know Genesis 1:1. We can quote it, been hearing it since Sunday School days. But do you know you don’t know all of it?

This isn’t a trick question either. There’s a Hebrew word left out of our English translations. After “In the beginning God created” there is the Hebrews word ayth, a combination of the Hebrew letters Aleph and Tav.

This word, or some say it’s more of a symbol, denotes completion and is often placed close to the Hebrew word Yahweh. In other words, whatever it’s talking about in the context, God did it fully.

Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s a word that encompasses the whole alphabet, as the Greek idiom puts it, “Alpha and Omega.”

If you include this word in the translation it would say “In the beginning God created A-Z.” He created all things to a point of perfection.

So, that’s one way to look at it.

Another way is the Hebrew traditional view that the first thing God created was the Hebrew alphabet! Now, that might sound weird, but is it?

This all sounds intriguing when you include John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word!” Or Hebrews 11:3, “The worlds were framed by the word of God.”

These verses could support the idea that the ayth in Genesis 1:1 might actually be talking about letters in the alphabet, God creating all things with words.

The alphabet is the building block of words and thus language. Creation had to start somewhere, and the Bible is clear that it started with the words from God’s mouth.

I don’t know that this is definitely the case, but is cool to contemplate. Goes to show you that even the verses you already know everything about you don’t know everything about!

Wonder what else we’re missing?!

Malachi and How Many People in Church are Annoying God

Malachi is a great little book. It’s a series of questions clearly showing God’s irritation and frustration with Israel.

In 2:17 God says He is wearied by their words. Particularly when they say, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them”

We’re doing this today also. Lots of “peace, peace” when there is no peace being preached to people who are doing evil. What we do matters. I know we like to talk about faith alone and emphasize grace and love, but what we do matters, and it matters hugely.

Two verses later, in 3:2, we’re told, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.”

The reason why what you do matters is because God is coming to judge and His judgment burns up non-eternal, non-spiritual things.

We like to ignore God’s judgment. We’re more happy and at peace when we talk about His love and mercy, rightfully so since we need that so desperately. His judgment is still a thing though, and He takes that job seriously. Get a load of Malachi 2:3

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

Yup, He will do the judging and if you’re on the wrong end of it, it’s not going to be fun. He takes the excrement produced by their religious feasts to wipe on their faces. I love God. I really do!

Lest we think this sort of judgy talk is only for the Old Testament, Malachi makes sure we know this isn’t some isolated incident, maybe we won’t be judged. “For I am the Lord, I change not” he says in 3:6. If He judged His people then, I’m pretty sure He’ll judge people today.

The dividing line of who gets His judgment and who doesn’t is pretty clear, consistent, and has also not changed. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re told what the judgment is based on in 3:18.

Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Hm, who knew? Anyone who seriously reads the Bible knew.

You can either come to God and do good, or you will ignore Him and do evil, yet while doing evil you will tell yourself and everyone else that they are fine. You will conclude everyone is in heaven and all is well even for people who are set on evil continually.

Don’t do this. Sober up. Get a vision of God that is actually real and biblical. He has always wanted a people who would love and serve Him. Always, from Genesis through Revelation this is what He’s wanted. Nothing has changed. Nothing is going to change.

God is gracious to the humble, merciful to the merciful, loving to those who love Him. It’s all pretty simple. Don’t confuse it and don’t play games.

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

–Malachi 4:1,2

How I Failed At Expecting Less From People Today

Yesterday’s post had a quote about how to enjoy your faith and life more by expecting less from people and possessions, and expecting more than just temporal fixes from God.

I said I’d give it a try.

Today I had two checks on my behavior; two times I got caught not doing this!

One was I rolled my eyes at my wife and she totally caught me doing it. I tried for a second to get around it, but then I just admitted it. We have an ongoing discussion about a matter that has to do with other people. She said a thing that I disagreed with and rolled my eyes.

It wasn’t a subtle roll either, it was the kind where your eyes kind of hurt. Oops. Don’t do that. I expect her to think just like me. She doesn’t. So then I rolled my eyes. Violated the first rule.

The second one was also a violation of the first rule. I was talking to a friend about someone I struggle with and how they said something stupid. I kind of went off. Afterwards I went and rechecked what was originally said and I didn’t hear it right. If I had heard it right it would not have been as bad as I made it out to be.

So, that was gossip and not giving the benefit of the doubt. I expected the other person to say things how I say them. I heard them say a thing way worse than they said it because I assumed their disagreement.

I think expecting too much of people, setting the bar too high, and then judging and being resentful is one of my major hang-ups.

I will fail at this one a lot, but I’d like not to.

I have to watch those emotional reactions and getting carried away in the faults, or perceived faults brought on by doubt of other people. It’s ok if people don’t say and do things like me. It really is.

I apologized to my wife and the guy I was talking to. Not that all is well, but at least I recognized it and tried to set it right.

I shall try again tomorrow!

Want to Enjoy God, Life, and Faith more? Here’s a Start

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you’d be surprised at how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you’d be surprised how much you like spending time with God.”

I like this quote. This might be one of the most geniusy quotes I’ve read in a Christian book for quite some time.

If you expect perfection from people, that they won’t be wrong, or sin, or let you down, you will be disappointed. Your disappointment will make you become a resentful jerk because now you think you have reason to not be perfect toward the other person.

God is perfect. That’s it. He’s the only one. Don’t look for anyone else to be. If you do, not only will you be kept from spiritual growth, you will keep the other person from it too, because they will fail and when they do, you will grind them into the dirt. This helps no one.

Material things work the same way. Commercials promise you a perfect, happy life if you get their product. Life doesn’t work that way. Get off the treadmill of buying more stuff. None of it is going to fulfill you or complete you.

God can fulfill us, yet we hardly scratch the surface of what that means.

Instead of taking all that is available from Him and through the Gospel, we settle for health and money problems, surface issues, all things on the material/physical level.

We ask for money and for no health problems and yet we still have health problems and still not enough money. Therefore, we doubt God, doubt His love, and quit praying since it doesn’t work anyway.

You would enjoy prayer more if you used it for more than talking about everyone’s problems most of which are reaping what was sown and are not going to be magically removed.

It’s like we think prayer was invented just for that. Church prayer lists are 90% health and money requests. Maybe 10% is spiritual requests. We’re so far off in understanding what it’s all for.

So, the conclusion of these three sentences in the quote is this:

Expect less from people: no one is perfect including you. When you truly grasp this you will become more loving and forgiving and less judgy and lonely.

Expect less from material possessions: nothing will satisfy you and the more junk you have the more space you need. All is vanity. Unplug from the materialism around you. Learn contentment and peace, which only happens by letting go of material things.

Expect more from God: He is perfect. He doesn’t just exist to fix problems and make you healthy and rich. He exists to prepare you and equip you for eternity. Love Him for who He is—Your Creator, Savior, and Father.

All of this may seem trite, but it’s quite deep. The more you expect from God the less you’ll expect from people and possessions. It’s pretty much what Ecclesiastes is about.

How does one do this though?

Be kindly affectioned one toward another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Walk with lowliness, meekness, forbearing one another in love. All of this stems from having a right view of humanity in its fallen state, including your part in it.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and He’ll take care of you. The love of money is the root of all evil. You can’t serve God and mammon. Lay hold on eternal life. Live like Ecclesiastes is true.

Getting people and possessions in their right place will create better worship of God. We don’t worship the creation, but the Creator. It’s Christ who lives in us, no longer us. Present your body a living sacrifice unto God. Walk in love as He also loved us.

It’s a package deal really. I imagine life would be way better if we actually did this. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

There Are Conditions for Getting Grace, Mercy, Love, Goodness, and Forgiveness

There are several words in the New Testament that are indeed great words, but they also get twisted.

They are all “happy” words. They evoke positivity and encouragement.

All of them have been stretched so far into happy talk that they cease to mean anything anymore except license and guilt-free sinning.

Grace, mercy, love, goodness, forgiveness, and words like that are what I’m talking about.

Again, these words represent great things, and I am in no way against them. I am against using them in unbiblical ways, however.

I’ve heard many people stress these words so much they eliminate any sort of qualifiers on how to get them. It’s as if God is just throwing them out there to anyone without any reason why.

This isn’t some Calvinism thing either, where God irresistibly forces you to take His grace. I mean people don’t think there is any cost or responsibility associated with these words.

Yet each of these words has verses that let you know they are gotten by meeting conditions. If those conditions aren’t met; you don’t get those happy benefits.

Meeting conditions does not mean earning these things. It means meeting a condition. Conditions determine who gets these things. So, unless you are a universalist and think everyone will be saved, there has to be some reason why some people get grace, mercy, and love from God while others don’t.

Here are some other verses about these words that should factor into our talk about them. All of these verses have conditions in them:

Grace:

“God gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

“Grace be with all them who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Ephesians 6:24).

Mercy:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

“And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy” (Galatians 6:16).

Love:

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father” (John 14:21).

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love” (John 15:10).

Goodness:

“Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (Romans 11:22).

Forgiveness:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).

Now, I know these aren’t the only verses about these words. There are plenty of other ones. I think we’ve heard those ones a lot. I think they have been stressed to the point of meaninglessness.

These verses are in the Bible too, and they are in there for a reason: to keep people from going to ridiculous and illogical places!

The whole Bible is profitable for doctrine, I suggest we use it and use it correctly. When we do this, it has a way of keeping us from error and that’s a great thing.

Be Careful: People Say Weird Things About Grace

“Grace” is the most misused word in Christianity, in my opinion.

Anytime a Christian starts talking about grace, you can expect some error to come pretty quick.

Take the recent book I’m reading for instance. I got to a chapter on grace and read the following sentences:

“The grace of God means forgiveness has preceded repentance in our lives.”

[When they understand God’s grace] “they come to realize that repentance isn’t something they do in order to earn God’s forgiveness; it’s a heartfelt response of those who realize they have been forgiven.”

The whole section was on the Prodigal Son. He came home and didn’t even get words out of his mouth before his father forgave him. Instead the father threw a party.

There was no discipleship by the father and there was no repentance on the part of the son.

This sounds like a nice, happy theory, but the son coming home was the repentance. If the son had never come home there wouldn’t have been a party.

Yes, the father was ecstatic his son came home, but the son did come home!

The author of this book makes it sound like the son was forgiven while out doing all the weird stuff, so even if he never had come home he still would have been forgiven.

The son was eating with pigs. He came to himself. He knew he had messed up and decided to return home. That whole process was his repentance. “Repent” means to turn and go a new way. Going home was the new way.

This sort of nonsense gets passed off as biblical doctrine by way too many Christians.

In case you think I’m just railing on something I don’t like, my immediate thought was to look up verses using “repent” and “forgive.”

Guess what? There are eight of them in the New Testament (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; 17:3, 4; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 8:22) . Every single one says repentance comes before forgiveness. Go ahead, look it up.

The most devastating one is Acts 8:22 about Simon wanting to buy spiritual power.

“Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.”

Get a load of that verse! This verse seems to imply that even with repentance God still might not forgive him! Sincerity of heart is the main issue (8:21).

Goodness. Be careful out there. Please read the Bible. You’ll be able to tell when people are teaching bad doctrine and you will cease saying it yourself.

The Great and Terrible God

In Daniel 9, the prophet Daniel is praying to God with sackcloth and ashes, pouring out his heart and making confession to God for the sins of his people.

At the beginning of his prayer (9:4) he says, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God.”

Wow. What a way to open a prayer.

We’ve been told our whole Christian life that we have a personal relationship with God. It’s, in fact, not a religion; it’s a relationship.

There is truth in this to an extent, but not to the extent that we forget who we are talking to.

The New American Standard, NIV, and ESV soften it to “awesome” God. That’s pretty cheap.

The root word means fear, affright, afraid, terror. In this form, it means that which makes you afraid. I suppose back in the day “awesome” meant that, but it doesn’t anymore.

I’d prefer the recent translations to use a word that conveys the fear and terror, rather than how we cheaply use “awesome” in our day to basically mean, “Cool, or impressive.”

There is terror here. Daniel is calling upon God’s authority to enforce the covenant. He admits that they have sinned terribly, blown apart the covenant, and have no rightful basis to approach Him.

He’s afraid.

Daniel, a righteous guy who has nothing negative said about him in the Bible.

Contrast that with us, who have no testimony near Daniel’s, flippantly addressing the terrible God as some guy we know.

And yes, I know we have boldness to enter through grace and I know we are sons of God and can cry out “Abba.” I got it.

But flippancy may reveal we aren’t really sons; maybe we’re presuming too much.

Yes, Christ has changed the covenant, and yes as members of the new covenant we are not under God’s wrath. But does this imply a lack of respect for who God is?

Does your sin bother you? Do the sins of the church bother you? How about the sins of our culture we’re a part of and watch and take pleasure in?

Shouldn’t we have a little bit of humility and perhaps fear of God since that is the case?

We can overdo grace and love and end up blaspheming God. Presumption is a sin we should be mindful of. Perhaps a little sackcloth and ashes might be appropriate for us in our flippant day.

Maybe a little awareness of sin and God’s role as Judge should temper some of our flippancy.

Something to seriously consider.

Daniel, Lion Mouths, and Free Will

Daniel got thrown into a lion’s den because he prayed to God toward Jerusalem with his windows open. Seems a silly reason for the death penalty, but alas, equally silly things are coming our way soon I imagine.

Remember that Daniel was praying toward Jerusalem with his windows open before they made it illegal. In fact, it was him doing this that gave them the idea for the prohibition.

Daniel had guts to keep his daily meetings with God.

The king was genuinely bummed that he got played by the guys who hated Daniel. He stayed up all night worried about Dan and how he was doing with the lions.

Early in the morning he opened the den and called to Daniel. He received a response! Shock number one. Shock number two is that Daniel said the Lord sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions.

Was this the same angel that appeared in the fiery furnace with Daniel’s three friends? Seems likely. Was this a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, THE angel of the Lord? Could be, no further details are given.

I like the picture of an angel coming to shut lion mouths!

How did he do that?! Duct tape?

The lions, left to their own devices, would have devoured Daniel in a few seconds. Their free will was removed.

Does this imply that every time a lion opens its mouth it’s God making it do that? No, not at all.

Just like when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, does that mean that every time a person disobeys God it’s because God hardened their heart? No, there would be no reason to conclude that.

Lions do what lions do. The reason we know this was a miracle, the reason the king knew it was a miracle, is because for once lions didn’t do what lions do.

For instance, when the creepy guys who set up Daniel were tossed into the same den with the same lions, the lions crushed them before they hit the floor.

Was that a miracle? Did God have to override their free will to make them eat the bad guys? Nope, just lions being lions, plus they were extra hungry going a whole night without food.

Be careful not to extrapolate weird notions out of biblical accounts. Read them for what they say. Doing so will keep you from blaspheming the name and character of God. That’s a good thing.

If however you do, understand this is your own stupidity; God did not make you do it!

Loving God Implies Loving His Word

A recent book I read said our relationship with Jesus should be one of “passionate, romantic love.”

Which, first of all, gag.

But secondly, his illustration was a young man engaged to a woman. He tells her he loves her. She responds with how she studied the word love in the Greek and Hebrew and read a treatise on love.

His conclusion from this is that this is how too many Christians’ relationship with God is. Instead of loving Him we just read His book and study it.

This reasoning nauseates me. I’ve heard it many times.

The obvious flaw in the reasoning is that God isn’t sitting there talking to you, but He did write you a book. If you love Him, you will indeed study that book. Yes, you will do more than that, but you have to do that at least.

This is also highly ridiculous in this age when our biblical literacy is so low. The odds someone will study the Bible too much is very, very low.

Psalm 119:88 says, “In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.” Seriously? Doesn’t David know that a loving relationship with God has nothing to do with obeying God’s Word?

Psalm 119:97 says, “Oh how I love your law; I meditate upon it all day long.” Shame on David! How evil of him! He shouldn’t waste his days like that! He should be out reveling in the passionate romance of God’s love.

Psalm 119:124 says, “Deal with your servant according to your love; and teach me your decrees.” Doesn’t David know that romantic love does not involve teaching and learning? How does he not know this?

Psalm 119:159 says, “See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, Lord, in accordance with your love.” Come on, man! Love has nothing to do with precepts; it’s all about the feels.

The Bible says that if we love God we should keep His commandments. His commandments are not grievous.

Anyone who belittles God’s word (and remember that “in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God”) does not understand God’s love for us and it’s doubtful whether they love God.

This isn’t my judgment upon them; this appears to be the teaching of the word, which they would know IF THEY READ IT MORE.

But they don’t.

They think it’s all feels.

No one needs a warning that they are paying too much attention to God’s word. No one.

“But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.”
–1 John 2:5

One Way God Judges Sinners

God is a God of righteousness and judgment, among other things. In our day, I think we stress His love, grace, mercy, and other “positive” attributes to the exclusion of what we consider to be His “negative” attributes.

His judgment sure doesn’t get air time in the modern church.

God does get upset with sinners over their sin. He promises He is paying attention and will set things right. You may get away with some stuff for a while, but you’ll get your comeupins.

The prophets are the best at showing God seemingly reveling in judgment. Although we are told that judgment is God’s strange work (Isaiah 28:21), when He gets around to doing it, He’s all in.

Nahum is a great example. Nineveh is a nasty place. About 140 years prior to Nehum’s warnings, Jonah visited the town. At that point they repented. Some have thought Nineveh’s repentance must have been fake since Nahum calls them out.

But I wouldn’t say that. God isn’t fooled by false repentance. What happens is that people repent and then have kids. As generations pass, old repentance doesn’t count.

Children are not held responsible for their parents’ sin, and they aren’t granted benefits because of their parents’ righteous deeds either. Ezekiel 14 is pretty clear on this issue.

Nineveh repented. About 4 generations pass and Nineveh is back to their evil ways. Consider America 140 years ago. We’ve slipped a bit too by any measure.

Nahum is torching Nineveh, calling them out for their violence and sinfulness. We get to Nahum 3:5-6 and hang on to your hats when you read this one!

“I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
    “I will lift your skirts over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness
    and the kingdoms your shame.
 I will pelt you with filth,
    I will treat you with contempt
    and make you a spectacle.

I have to tell you, this is awesome!

Everything about this makes me happy, I mean, ok, I’m not happy for those people who were sinning, but it is nice to see sinners get judged! The description of this judgment is so explicit, so clear, it’s almost as if there is a certain emotional fulfillment taking place in describing how terrible the judgment will be.

Lifting skirts over their heads is pretty self-explanatory. All your naked bits are seen, which is humiliating. All the nations will see their shame.

And then, and then! Get this! God is going to pelt them with filth! Oh man, I love God.

They will be a naked, shamed spectacle with God throwing dirt on them.

Oh Lord, even so, come quickly. I can’t wait to see all sin and evil be judged and put down and eliminated. I can’t wait for evil people to get theirs. I can’t wait for righteousness to reign under Christ’s authority.

Some people get nervous about this sort of talk. Not me! Bring it on! I love this stuff. If God enjoys writing about His wrath this way, I think we should at least enjoy reading about it!

Don’t mess with God. You can’t fool Him. He is keeping track and if you’re not in Christ, you are heaping up wrath for yourself for the Day of Wrath and God knows how to show wrath.

Don’t be an object of God’s wrath.

The Purpose of a Vine

Ezekiel 15 says that vine wood is useless. You can’t make stuff out of it because it’s not strong. It makes terrible wood for burning because it burns so quick it doesn’t give off heat.

Therefore, it’s useless. All they do with it is throw it in trash heaps and burn it up.

Ezekiel uses old vine wood as an illustration for the people of Israel as God drops judgment on them.

But I thought Jesus said He was the vine and we were the branches? If vine wood is useless, why does Jesus say He’s the vine?

There is one thing vine wood is good for: being a vine!

When a vine is healthy, it’s pretty tough, even Tarzan can swing on them!

A living vine is not worthless because living vines bring forth fruit.

Vines that don’t bring forth fruit are dead, and dead vines are burned up since their wood is now worthless.

Jesus said you will know His disciples by their fruit. Our whole job as followers of Christ is to bear fruit. This was also the whole job of the people of Israel.

When Israel obeyed their God they would be a witness to the nations. When believers in the New Testament bear fruit, we help people glorify out Father who is in heaven.

If there is no spiritual fruit then there is no spiritual life. The Bible really can’t be more clear on this point.

“But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

—Luke 3:9

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

–John 15:2

I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

–John 15:5

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

–John 15:8

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

–Romans 7:4

The point of being in the vine is to bear fruit. If you’re not bearing fruit then you are not connected to the vine. Fruit is always the test of whether life exists or not.

Bear fruit. It’s why you’re here.

Don’t Be Worthless

The prophets have a great way of expressing God’s problems with humanity. Ezekiel 15 is a great chapter; it’s only 8 verses long. You should read it.

Wood from a vine is the illustration for the people of Jerusalem.

Vine wood is worthless, you can’t even use it for a peg. You can’t make anything out of it. In the fire it just gets consumed right away. In sum, vine wood is not good for anything.

“Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!”

–Ezekiel 15:4

Because of its worthlessness, it just gets burned up in a junk pile.

This is how God views the people of Jerusalem.

As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem

–Ezekiel 15:6

So, why is God destroying the people? Because they are good for nothing! They have no value because they don’t do anything.

It’s always good to remember that the New Testament tells us that the Old Testament was written for our learning.

We like to bash on the failings of the Old Testament people of God, but the Bible sure seems to be saying that the New Testament people will fail the same way.

We’re good for nothing because we don’t do anything.

Many in the modern church have even made this their leading doctrine.

“Christ said, ‘It is finished!’ We don’t have to do anything. There’s no need to pursue righteousness of holiness; that might even be dangerous as it will make you trust yourself and not God’s grace.”

So, here we are. Modern people playing Christianity don’t do anything. Oh sure, we sing some songs and spout some nice clichés, but we don’t actually do anything. Well, I mean, we do some church things, some busy activity we do to pretend we’re serving God. But we’re not actually seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The Book of Revelation tells us this world will be burned up. The fire will consume a bunch of worthless vine wood that can’t be used for anything.

Don’t be that. Be the exception to the rule. Be like Noah. Build something helpful that will free you and others from going through judgment.

Using the Historical Context of a Verse to Deceive People

As much as I think it’s vital to understand the context of a Bible passage to know its meaning, there is a popular idea that we also need to know the historical context of the audience it was first written to.

I get the idea and probably mostly agree with it. I’ve also heard it used in weird ways that deny the obvious meaning of a passage.

If I have to understand the historical context, the actual thoughts, feelings, and lives of the original audience, to understand any verse in the Bible, I need to be a history and sociology major to understand the Bible.

History changes as well. Whose history are we going with? We’re pretty good at rewriting history. In my years of listening to Christians I’ve heard a lot of theories about what people did in Bible times that were later proven to be wrong.

A recent example of this historical context deception I heard was a theology professor being told that when Paul says an elder should be the husband of one wife this clearly means elders should be men and not women.

He denied this interpretation. Why? Well, he said it’s only because we live in this time that we view the passage as meaning that. If you were in Africa in the first century you would have known the emphasis of that verse was forbidding polygamy.

How does he know what first century Africans thought of a verse in 1 Timothy?

And even if he was talking about polygamy, it still says the elder is to be the husband of one wife. It still says the elder is a husband.

How come when the professor interprets the verse his way he isn’t also swayed by his culture? No major voice in church history thought women should be pastors until the last hundred years or so. This leads me to believe that women being pastors is a societal emphasis.

Although it sounds good to tell people they need to know the historical context to understand a verse, and sometimes it is, you should also be aware that this idea is being used to deceive people in a biblical sounding way.

Satan can twist the best of ideas to mess us up. Don’t fall for his devices.

Read the Word and ask for wisdom from God. You’ll be fine.

God Inhabits the Praises of His People

Came across a phrase from a verse in a theology book that I thought was cool. It’s in Psalm 22:3

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

The book talking about it said that God has chosen to inhabit the praises of His people. When they worship correctly, according to how God says to do it, God is praised and dwells in those praises.

Huh. I never saw that one before.

Usually Psalm 22 is all about verse one, maybe verse 3 just slipped by while contemplating how Jesus quoted “My God why have you forsaken me?”

This is the King James translation, most other ones use the word “enthroned” instead of “inhabits.”

Keil and Delitzsch, premiere Hebrew commentators, say about this verse, “The songs of praise, which resounded in Israel as the memorials of His deeds of deliverance, are like the wings of the cherubim, upon which His presence hovered in Israel.”

Most other commentaries skip over it, probably because they don’t know what to do with it either.

Pretty cool to think of God inhabiting praises from His people though. It probably has to do with the temple, the place where God dwelt among the Israelites. When they praised Him in the temple He was present with them.

In our day, each believer and the assembly of believers are the temple. Christ told us that all believers are in Him and He is in them. So, whatever Psalm 22:3 is talking about in relation to Israel, the idea has to be heightened in the New Testament sense of being in the Body of Christ.

Either way, I have no idea what all to do with this phrase, but it’s a cool one to think about. If nothing else I will tuck it away in my memory and bring it out at some small group discussion and really wow people with my cryptic humble brag quotation.

And aint wowing people in small group really what it’s all about anyway?

You Should Probably be More Concerned About Your Eternity than You Are

I’m always amazed at the flippancy with which Christians talk about salvation.

“Oh yeah, well he’s saved.”

“I know she’s in heaven.”

“I can’t wait to be with Jesus.”

I can’t wait either, but maybe you should examine if that’s actually a real expectation for you.

Whenever I bring up such things I’m always accused of being judgmental. “Who are you, God is the judge.” I know. I understand that.

Here’s the thing though: I’ve read the Judge’s book quite a few times now and He does a lot of explaining about who is saved. One of the points the Judge makes several times is that not many people are.

You wouldn’t know that by how Christians talk. Everyone they know is saved.

I’m fine if a person can’t wait to see Jesus, but I’ve heard this from people who have no desire to listen to Jesus.

If you don’t want to do what He says here, what makes you think you’ll enjoy being with Him there?

Paul says some amazing things in Philippians 3. Several verses in Philippians 3 are said frequently and flippantly by lots of Christians.

Have you ever noticed the phrases in this chapter about Paul seeming a little concerned about his eternity? Have you ever noticed his determination to make sure he is good? No? I’m not surprised.

We all know Paul is saved, he’s an apostle, wrote half the New Testament, of course he’s in, what does he have to worry about?

I don’t know, but he seems a little concerned about it, way more than most of us are concerned about our salvation.

We’re familiar with Philippians 3:10

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Do you remember the next verse?

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Huh, what a verse. If you look this up in commentaries they will very quickly tell you Paul isn’t worried about missing the resurrection. Ok, maybe not. But even if he’s not, he’s still saying something. He’s doing everything he can to be part of the resurrection.

He’s not flippant about it like we are. There’s no, “I know I’ll be resurrected because that whole Damascus Road thing. Just gonna coast in now.”

Yet most Christians I’ve met say they aren’t worried about their salvation because of something they did in the past once. Hm. Weird how Paul is concerned but we aren’t.

Verse 12 says he is following hard after Christ so that he might apprehend what he’s so far been unable to apprehend.

Verse 14 he says he’s pressing toward the mark, stretching out with energy to attain the final goal.

Verse 17 we are told to follow Paul’s example.

Why are we so assured of everything so easily and flippantly? I wonder if we’re missing something. I wonder if on Judgment Day many will be shocked.

If only there were some verses about lots of people being shocked on Judgment Day that they really aren’t saved even though they thought they were.

I’m not here to make people doubt their salvation; I’m here to get people to listen to the Bible that seems way more concerned about our salvation than we are. I imagine that means something.

The Judge awaits you. Will you be ready?

People Don’t Need a Cool Take on Christianity; They Need the Gospel

I recently read a book written by a fairly popular religious writer. The premise of the book is that he befriended a guy who is secular and has secular friends and they wanted him to write a spiritual book that would appeal to their non-religious upbringing and lives.

So, he wrote this book making an appeal to secular people.

It was awful.

He used spiritual, angsty, floaty words, goofy metaphors, obviously trying to be cool, being down to earth and real and hip while simultaneously sharing his cryptic views from above.

As I was reading it I was thinking, “This book is not hitting the mark at all. This means nothing and is saying nothing.”

In the Epilogue he shared the response from the secular guy and his friends to his manuscript. None of them liked it! They all said it missed the mark.

He published it anyway and apparently people bought it. I didn’t, someone gave it to me.

While trying to avoid Christian lingo, he missed Christianity entirely. He never once brought up the Gospel. In the end, when you suck the life out of Christianity, you’re left with a quasi-spiritual pile of goo.

No one wants a quasi-spiritual pile of goo. At least hit them with the Gospel. If they don’t have any interest in that, at least you communicated it.

They now think they have rejected Christianity. They are right to reject his mess, but man, it breaks my heart that they reject Christianity because of how this guy portrayed it.

He was pleased with his book and all his flowery ideals he worded so well. He was bummed it didn’t work for his friend. But now he has made lots of money by foisting it upon the world.

There are people who like to feel religious and in the clouds while completely missing the entire point of Christianity. Those people will eat this book up and say it’s the most profound thing ever written.

OK, I just looked. It has 2,400 reviews on Amazon, 80% of which are 5 stars. Many said it was the most profound book written.

Christianity is in huge trouble.

If you’re going to communicate Christianity with people, here’s a tip: share the Gospel and drop your angsty, floaty attempts at being cool. Just share the Gospel.

Yes, the world thinks the Gospel is foolishness and the world will be way more receptive to your watered down angst, but the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Your watered down angst is the power of you trying to be cool.

No one needs that.

More Answers to Why Bad Things Happen to People

There are three answers most often given for the question: Why do bad things happen to people?

1. We live in a fallen world because of Adam’s rebellion against his creator. All creation is deteriorating and thus, bad things happen.

2. Suffering exists to bring glory to God. The Calvinist answer: all things exist to give glory to God and even if babies are raped by terrible guys, God is glorified somehow.

3. God chastens His children whom He loves.

These are the top three reasons given. I know this because I read a book that said so.

I can go with 1 and 3, 2 I’m a little skeptical about. Yes, I do believe a believer can bring glory to God by how they deal with suffering, but I’m not convinced God is glorified simply by humans suffering. Guess I’d need a little more explanation on that one.

One I do see missing is that suffering is really, really good for us!

Romans 5 says tribulation leads to patience, experience, and hope. We are also told that if we suffer with Him we will also be glorified with Him. It’s almost as if suffering has to come before glorification.

Psalm 119:71 says beautifully, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Suffering is a fantastic teacher.

This isn’t just in God chastening us either. Life is suffering. In this world you will have tribulation. CS Lewis said pain is God’s megaphone to get our attention. It wakes us up. Makes us think of eternity. Makes us reconsider our choices. It certainly humbles us and reminds us of our mortality.

I suppose you could also say another reason suffering is here is because we are idiots. I’ve added layers of suffering to my life just from being dumb.

Life has enough suffering on its own, it doesn’t need our help to add more, yet for some reason we seem bent on creating more anyway.

I do believe there are many reasons why there is suffering in the world. Another reason is so we are massively impressed with the glory that is to come.

Another is because the Gospel is all about suffering, dying, and being resurrected and there’s something deep going on there. God becoming human and joining us in our suffering. Perhaps it is there to facilitate the Gospel and God’s love.

Next time you are in a group talking about this issue, skip the cliché answers, the top three, and go for one of these other answers, just to change things up, have a little fun. Maybe even drag the conversation on so long that it provides suffering that will teach people.

Your Biggest Hurdle to Understanding the Bible

I was listening to the author of a book on statistics for the layman. He talked about how a little bit of education is a dangerous thing.

There is a new movement to have statistics taught in high schools to supposedly help people recognize fake news better. The author said more than likely these classes are taught by people who don’t know statistics, and all they are doing is making students think they know what they are talking about.

Therefore, they become even harder to show the truth to. They already think they know, so to teach them accurately you have to unteach what is in their head and then reteach them. The blank slate is gone. He basically thinks it’s impossible to reteach something to someone who already thinks they know it.

He then, and this is a secular author, likened it to people who know the Prosperity Gospel and thus can’t deal with the real Gospel.

I thought that was fascinating for him to go there!

Because that’s where my head was going!

The hardest people to teach right doctrine to are people who grew up in church.

Everyone who grew up in church thinks they have right doctrine, “I’ve been in church my whole life, of course I know what I’m talking about.”

It’s easier to teach an atheist or agnostic or just someone who is outside the sphere of Christian influence correct doctrine than those who’ve been in Christianity their whole life.

Even harder to convince are those who are now in positions of leadership in Christianity who have taught others. They arrogantly think that obviously they know what they are talking about or else they wouldn’t be teachers. On top of that, now lots of people know what the teacher believes. The teacher’s reputation is now on the line. They have to be consistent. They’d have to eat lots of crow if they changed.

If you want to understand the Bible, you seriously have to forget everything you’ve ever heard about it.

There’s a guy I listen to who talks about the Bible a lot who doesn’t claim to be a Christian and has no real Christian background. Yes, some of his takes on the Bible completely miss the point.

Yet I’ve learned more insightful and practical truths from him about the Bible than from any pastor I’ve heard.

I’m not kidding.

This isn’t just a theory either. Many years ago I became convinced I didn’t know what I was talking about doctrinally. I was unable to coherently defend what I thought I believed. It got to a sleep loss kind of state.

So, I acted as though I had no idea what was going on in the Bible, which wasn’t entirely an act. Then I just began to read it and read it and read it. Much of this blog tracks my thoughts as I read and read.

My doctrine changed immensely. But now I fight the urge to claim I know it all now. What else am I missing because I think I know it all now?

I encourage you highly to forget everything and inundate yourself in the Bible.

This will be the best thing you’ll ever do. It’s scary to admit you don’t know, to perhaps go against your past stands, or against the family or church doctrine.

But you’ll learn so much and probably, for the first time ever, learn who Jesus Christ is. You might even end up getting saved. I did.

Conversations, Control, and Free Will

I listened to a podcast about conversations and how many of them turn into arguments. The Conversation Expert said the reason arguments happen is because people want control.

They want to control the conversation, but they also want to control the other person and what they believe. When two people are like this, arguments ensue. He said seeking control is a fundamental characteristic of human behavior.

This got me to thinking.

Our desire for control, which we all have due to pride, is clear evidence that we have free will. When we know we are not in control we have a reaction, often a reaction that attempts to reassert control.

How would humans have this incredible drive for control in them if they were fully controlled to the point of not having free will?

Furthermore, I’m always curious about why Calvinists argue so much. If God has ordained everything, why are most Calvinists so argumentative? I know their answer is because God ordains the means and the ends, but that explains nothing.

Why do they get so angry? Anger is not something someone with no free will would do. God has free will. God gets angry.

Perhaps people who want to believe in a God who is in meticulous control of all things are people who really like control.

That has been my experience.

I know many Calvinist dads who rule their little roosts and their kids go nuts. Their hyper-control authoritarianism drives the kids away in the end, even though the kids may be in fearful subjection while at home. Or, if they don’t rebel, they remain unhealthily submissive to the guy they are terrified of.

People who go all in on Calvinism are people who like to be in control. I think that’s why Calvinism has become so popular recently—our world is spinning out of control. We feel lost, so it helps us to remember that “God is on the throne” and “there’s nothing happening down here that He’s not doing.”

It might soothe you in the moment, but long term you’re undermining Scripture and the character of God, which will lead to much bigger problems.

Our desire for control, to assert our pride, is what drives people apart. People who truly trust God will deny themselves; they will let their rights get trampled. The will relinquish control. Read the Sermon on the Mount and pretend Jesus meant it.

People who argue and fight and cause drama are proud people desiring control. Don’t be one of those. Study to be quiet. Work with your own hands. Pray for those in authority. Fear God. Keep the commandments of Jesus Christ.

Submit yourself to Him and watch how love, joy, and peace enter your life.

The Resurrection of Jesus Changes Lives

When people question the reality of Christ’s resurrection, Christian Apologetics says at some point, “Look at the disciples before the crucifixion. They were afraid and confused; they never seemed to know what was going on. But after the resurrection these guys totally changed! They lived new lives with confidence and boldness completely absent before the resurrection.”

In other words, one of the prime proofs for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the changed lives of the disciples.

I agree. Their lives were changed completely because of the resurrection.

What amazes me is that in all the sermons I’ve heard about the resurrection and when Christians talk about it, very few if any have ever said that the resurrection of Jesus Christ continues to change people.

Some have even said a person can be saved without any change or proof showing up in their life at all.

So, let me get this straight, the resurrection only changed the lives of the disciples, no one else?

If you read Romans 6 you very clearly hear Paul saying that the resurrection of Jesus Christ raises the believer up to newness of life where the believer will now yield the members of his body to righteousness and not sin.

He can’t say it any clearer. The resurrection continues to change the lives of people.

Many people say “He is risen;” very few live like He is risen.

One of the proofs that you believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that your life has changed.

If it hasn’t, have you really believed that Christ rose from the dead? Do you understand the power of the resurrection?

Christians make two points about why Christ rose from the dead:

1. it showed God approved of Christ’s sacrifice and

2. now when you die you will live again.

Neither of these is wrong, but oh, it’s so much more than that.

Paul says in his long chapter on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, that if Christ didn’t rise from the dead then our faith is vain and we are yet in our sins (15:17). Later in the same chapter, all about the resurrection, he says to awake to righteousness and sin not (15:34).

Christ did rise. You are not in your sins. So don’t sin!

Where is this part of our resurrection talk?

Why do we make it all about when we’re dead?

Romans 6 says if I truly believe the Gospel I am already dead, buried, and raised up to new life in Christ. My new resurrection life has already begun at the point of salvation.

We really don’t like the implications of the resurrection. Oh sure, we’re glad Jesus did all that suffering and dying stuff, and we like happy thoughts about us being in heaven someday, but when it comes to this life, we’d rather the resurrection of Jesus Christ just leave us alone.

I find this sad and troubling. We’re missing a huge aspect of the Gospel’s power.

In Philippians 3:10 Paul says he wants to know Christ, the fellowship of His sufferings, the power of His resurrection, and be conformed to His death. He follows that with this:

“If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

Before we go making bold statements about how because Christ rose from the dead I will go to heaven after I die, perhaps we should make sure we actually are going to.

If we were sure, the humility of what Christ has done for us would make us desire to experience as much Christlikeness as possible before we get there.

You don’t have to wait to see Christ to start being made like Him. He gives you the power of His resurrection right now. You can use it. It’s there. It’s why He rose from the dead. Not to leave you alone losing against sin until you croak, but to transform your life so that when you croak your transition into eternity is seamless.

It’s a beautiful thing. Don’t undermine the power of the resurrection.

Don’t Forget the Resurrection!

It’s Easter season, so Christians are posting lots of inane things on the internet. I’m always glad when Christian holidays are over.

Sheesh.

Here’s one I saw this morning:

Christ drank the cup of God’s wrath, offering his blood on the cross, as our propitiation declaring our sins “paid in full!” This is the gospel.

I’ll skip over the “cup of God’s wrath” deal since I’ve dealt with that before.

I’ll skip the “paid in full” thing simply because it’s probably right, just horribly worded. Not sure how sins are paid for, or who gets paid. But, alas, I’ll move on.

The reason I’ll move on is because there’s a much more glaring problem with this statement.

“This is the Gospel” is firmly stated and yet leaves out the biggest part of the Gospel. The part that Paul said if it didn’t happen, our faith is vain and we are still in our sins.

Paul wrote his longest chapter on this aspect of the Gospel.

The Resurrection. Like, the whole thing that happened on Easter Sunday.

I notice this a lot. Several years ago I noted it the first time, how often the resurrection is left off the Gospel. Since then, I’ve paid more attention to it and concluded that there are two groups who drop the resurrection most frequently when they talk about the Gospel:

1) Calvinists

2) Easy Believism people

Here are my theories as to why both do this.

1) Calvinism/Reformed Theology is just a slightly reduced Catholicism. Calvin just copied Augustine and Augustine is considered the father of Catholicism. Catholicism likes to leave Jesus on the cross. Crucifixes are a great way to inspire guilt in people. They like the death, the blood, the wrath, the guilt. Calvinism jumps on board that train. Puritans, the most serious of all Calvinists since Calvin’s day, are dour, judgmental people who like to talk about wrath and such things. Calvinism removes love from the Gospel and makes it all about wrath and justice. They miss the point completely. Resurrection stuff is too happy. Oh sure, they bring it up. Calvin wrote about it. They will mention it. But listen when they off the cuff talk about the Gospel, often the resurrection is just tacked on as an afterthought. The big deal is the wrath and death and blood and aren’t you a terrible, rotten sinner who should feel terrible? Indeed, I am a terrible, rotten sinner, but thank God the resurrection gives me a new life in Christ that will end in glorification. That’s a nice thought.

2) Easy Believism says that salvation is gotten by simply mentally agreeing that you think Jesus died and rose again. As long as you have faith, you’re good to go. Again, they will mention the resurrection, but listen when they off the cuff explain the Gospel. They won’t make much of the resurrection. The reason why, I think, is because the resurrection implies new life for the believer. It implies a life giving power at work in the believer. It implies a new, Spirit given, righteousness pursuing new life in Christ. Can’t make too much of new life, that sounds like works! They like to think any old sinner is saved as long as they said some words once. There’s no power in the Gospel, it just leaves you right where you were, which is fine with them because they do like their sin. No need to shed that old man; I kind of like what the old man does. I said the prayer, let me sin, I still get to go to heaven. They don’t like the resurrection because it implies that faith is always evidenced by a new life.

Those are my takes. You can disagree if you want. Doesn’t bother me. These are my theories I’ve come to after observing people for a long time. Just theories. My brain trying to make sense of people.

Again, all Christians will say they like the resurrection. If pressed, they will all state how important it is. But listen to people’s off the cuff statements of what the Gospel is and notice if the resurrection makes the cut.

You’ll be amazed how many times it gets left off. Ask yourself why. Why would this person keep forgetting to mention it? Hmm. My guess is they are in one of these two groups of people, and maybe even in both.

The resurrection is a big deal, both for this life on earth and the life to come. Emphasize the resurrection. Plenty of people were crucified back in the day; only one raised Himself from the dead. That’s the hard bit to believe. And believing the resurrection will change you fundamentally into a new person!

This is a great thing. Believe it. Then watch a new life grow in you!