Ready to burst out

It happens every year, just like clockwork. 

We roll through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and enjoy every minute of it.  The foods, the traditions, the family gatherings, the gift giving, the decorated houses, the celebrations of Jesus’ birth during local church services…the whole thing just feels delightful.  The old song calls it “The most wonderful time of the year”, and it would be really hard to argue with that.

And then January hits.

It’s cold and dark and all the shimmery Christmas lights have been taken down.  Mid-January to mid-February is the worst time of year for me.  Life seems to match the coldness that perpetually hangs in the air.

It’s during this time that I usually quip, “I’ve had my most wonderful time of the year, so now I’m ready to fast-forward into Spring.”  Unfortunately, there is no fast-forward button and the coldness of winter must be endured.  As the days go on and temperatures finally start to rise, there’s no guarantee of exactly when Spring will start – there is neither a definitive change-over from Winter to Spring, nor is there a steady temperature increase.  It feels more like the two seasons have to fight it out – leaving us to experience an unexpectedly warm day that is followed up with days of a frigid blast.  And back and forth it goes.

This past week and weekend was like that for us.  During the week, it was warm enough that all you needed was a light jacket…but Saturday and Sunday?  You had to bundle up in your winter gear to go out because of the icy winds during the day, and the temperature dropped even further at night.   

However, as I was driving around in the coldness of the weekend, I noticed something.  The signs were not everywhere, but there were signs – that Spring really was coming.  You could see dead-stick-looking trees were thickening up with new buds.  There were glimpses of the brilliant spring colors that were on their way, but were currently suppressed.  There was an almost tangible anticipation, despite the chilling winds that whipped through the day. 

I couldn’t help but think of what Paul wrote to the believers in Rome:

Romans 8:19-22
For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly, but because of him who subjected it – in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.

Creation doesn’t just long for the annual Spring season to begin – it is also anticipating the time when sin and decay no longer control the world.  Creation groans, rumbles, and longs to burst out of this deadness and into its new life.

Paul saw a similar longing in us, as well:

Romans 8:23, 26-27
Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies…In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with [our] unspoken groanings.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Those who have placed their faith in Jesus, who believe in Him for eternal life, know this groaning, this longing.  We eagerly look forward to the day when our mortal, sinful bodies are no longer battling with our new life in Christ.  We so want our outside to match our new inside!

The longing for the redemption of our bodies can leave us frustrated as we battle with moments of life contrasted against moments of coldness…and that constant pulling can make it difficult to pray.  How many times have you prayed “God, I don’t even know where to start…”

The good news is that God knows – and understands – our unspoken groanings.  Just like creation eagerly awaits its liberation, so do we.  Believers are part of God’s family now, but we long to see our Father face-to-face.  We eagerly wait for our physical adoption, which will signify our complete victory over sin.  As we long for the day when we burst out with our glorified bodies, we can take heart in the encouragement Paul gave as bookends to this section:

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Taking out the trash

Recently, I saw a thought-provoking Facebook post shared by a friend:

When you throw the trash out, do you go outside later and check how it’s doing? No?
So stop talking to your ex.

Of course, for this to be true, the caveat is that there are no kids from that relationship.  But haven’t we all seen this behavior when a relationship ends poorly?  I knew a guy who struggled like that.  He was on-again-off-again with a girl and even when his friends were telling him to stay away, he’d reply telling us, “I know, but I can’t help but go back.”

In his mind, he was stuck.  He had hitched his wagon to this girl and was going to go wherever she would lead him – no matter how much pain, fighting, grief, and stress would come.  He may not have used this exact wording, but he really was enslaved to her.  He had done it to himself, and he saw no way out.

There is a proverb that goes along perfectly with his situation:

Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit,
so also a fool repeats his foolishness

It’s easy to identify this cyclical self-destructive-enslaved behavior in others.  When you see them go back – yet again – it just boggles the mind.  As soon as a dog throws up, it immediately starts to lick up the vomit.  Similarly, without even thinking about it, a fool jumps right back into his foolishness.  And when that fool is your friend or a family member…you can feel pretty helpless.

If you are fortunate enough to have a good romantic relationship, it can be easy to get a little snooty about those who struggle in this manner.  But the truth is, Christians struggle with this same behavior…not always in an amorous sense, but the same self-destructive-enslaved behavior is often closer than we care to admit.  Ever “slip back into an old habit”?  Ever have a tough day and seek comfort in an old vice?  Ever get caught off-guard or become so embarrassed that you flame-spray whomever bumped you?  Ever get mad enough to threaten violence?

Paul addressed this struggle when he wrote to the believers in Rome.  Although he wrote to a group of people who were already saved and part of the local house churches, Paul took them through the entire scope of a believer’s experience: The failings of humanity (Romans 1:18-3:20), how one becomes right with God (Romans 3:21-5:11), and how to live the victorious Christian life (Romans 5:12-8:39).

It’s in the third section that Paul discusses how we can deal with the conflict inside us – between our new nature and our old nature, the Spirit of God in us vs. our physical fleshly bodies.  The first part to defeating the cyclical self-destructive-enslaved behavior involves our mindset:

Romans 6:6-11
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again.  Death no longer rules over Him.

For the death He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life He lives, He lives to God.  So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

When we believe in Jesus for eternal life, we are identified with Jesus and declared righteous before God.  As a result, Jesus is now our example.  Since we are identified with the once for all time death He died, Paul tells us to shift our thinking about our cyclical self-destructive-enslaved behavior.  He says to consider yourselves dead to sin.  Those old feelings, thoughts, habits, and vices have all been taken out with the trash.  Don’t go back out and check on them.  Instead consider yourselves…alive to God in Christ Jesus.

But practically speaking, our minds aren’t the only battle ground for this struggle.  Sometimes, we still want to be the way we were before.  It felt good (in the moment) and our body craves going back.  That’s why the second part to defeating the cyclical self-destructive-enslaved behavior involves how we use our physical body:

Romans 6:12-13
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.  And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness.  But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.

Once we see ourselves clearly, it’s time to flip the script on how we use our bodies.  I don’t think Paul is being metaphorical here with this “body talk”.  Wherever you struggle, make that a point of emphasis to good things instead:

Has your tongue been used for gossip?  Now purposely be encouraging.
Have your hands been violent?  Find ways to help others. 
Were you sexually promiscuous?  Offer your body only to your spouse. 
Have your feet taken you to places that make you stumble?  Go to places that build you up.

Changing your mindset is not easy.  Physically doing these things is not easy, either.  It takes practice and sacrifice.  However, these changes do not go unnoticed by God.  Later on, Paul adds this:

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Renewing our minds and offering our bodies for good is pleasing to God.  And don’t miss what God gives in return – the ability to recognize the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

The good news is you don’t have to live trapped inside the cyclical self-destructive-enslaved behavior.  Jesus is our example for the way out.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

When the house tears itself apart

I grew up in the Western US, in the Nevada desert.  When I was in my teens, my family realized there was something wrong with our house.  And by “something wrong” I mean something structurally wrong with our house.  There were large-gap cracks appearing in the sidewalk and our living room floor was bowing.  Turns out, one part of the house was slowly sinking, while another section, on the opposite side, was slowly drifting away. 

How could this happen?  Well, the first thing you have to understand about desert soil is that it is very alkaline and it swells when it gets wet.  While the soil in the rest of the US will act like a sponge and soak in any rainfall, the top layer of the desert soil tends to swell shut and not allow additional water to be absorbed.  This is why “flash floods” happen in the desert – too much rainfall too quickly, the top layer of dirt swells shut, and any remaining water rapidly moves to the lowest elevation point it can find.  After the rain evaporates in the desert heat, the ground contracts back to normal.

Further investigation of the cracks and shifts revealed that the house did not have a proper foundation.  Sure, there was a concrete slab and some footers, but not much else underneath.  The house was about 25-30 years old at the time, and who knows what zoning/building laws were in place (or just flat ignored) when it was built.  In any case, we had to do something, because after a couple of decades of the ground underneath settling and the surrounding topsoil being treated like an accordion, the lack of proper foundation meant that the ground was literally tearing our house apart.

This wasn’t something we could patch with plaster or pour concrete over.  Ultimately, the best way to fix the problem was to start over with a new, properly-laid foundation.  Now, it’s one thing to place a new foundation behind an existing house…but it’s a completely different operation to move a house from its current foundation on to the new one.  We brought in and moved into a single-wide trailer on our property.  Next, our home had to be gutted.  Everything was removed, even the bottom layer of sheetrock, exposing the wooden frame.  Then, enormous metal beams were run through the gutted lower layer.  The last step was to have the house picked up by the metal beams and moved to the new foundation.  (It was quite a sight to see my entire home “floating” in the air, being supported by jacks.)  Afterward, my dad rebuilt the gutted portions before we could move back in.

By way of correlation, the same thing can happen to how we interpret the Bible.  The best way to handle Scripture begins with Observation (What do I see?), moves to Interpretation (What does it mean?), and ends with Application (How does it work?).  To use my house analogy, Observation is the foundation, Interpretation is the structure, and Application is the furnishings that make the building useful.  However…no matter how pretty we make the Application, or how much we like the Interpretation, the whole structure will fall apart if the Observation-foundation is not solid.

Perhaps you’ve lived with a particular interpretation you were taught decades ago.  But, over the years, you noticed some cracks in that line of thinking.  Maybe you’ve found that those conclusions don’t quite “fit in” with other clear statements in Scripture or your experience in life.  It’s hard to change your mind when it’s something you’ve “known” for a long time, or if it was taught by someone you respect.  When we realize that our Application is off or our Interpretation doesn’t work, it’s time to take a hard look at our Observation-foundation.  Ultimately, we need to let Scripture speak for itself.

One of the most common mis-interpretations of the Bible comes with the word “save” or “salvation”.  A regularly quoted verse about salvation is found in Paul’s letter to the believers in Philippi:

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose.

“See?” they say.  “In order to be saved from eternal damnation, you have work to do and God has work to do.  Our obedience proves that we’re working out of our ‘saved’ state.”

But if you compare this statement with Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, you find:

Ephesians 2:8-9
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.

So which is it, Paul?  Is eternal salvation proven by us working or is it God’s gift?  Many people try to reconcile these two verses by putting the “work” concept from Philippians into the “faith” concept found in Ephesians.  They would argue that you are saved by grace through faith [which is proven through your continued obedience and work]…the problem with this reconciliation attempt is that anything done as work automatically disqualifies the work-earnings from being called a gift (as Paul states in Romans 4:4-5). 

Notice the cracks in the interpretation structure here?  Does the house look/feel unsteady?  To really address this interpretation problem, we’re going to have to inspect our Observation-foundation.

Our problem stems from the assumption that every use of the word “save” or “salvation” in the Bible refers to being eternally saved from the consequences of our sin.  When, in fact, no Old Testament use of “save” means that, and less than half of the uses of “save” in the New Testament refer to our eternal salvation.  The other uses throughout the Bible refer to being delivered from enemies, or healed from sickness, or delivered from physical death, or other types of “rescue”…all of which can be determined by looking at the context where the word “save” is used.  Let’s be fair here…we do the same thing in English: I saved money.  I saved someone from choking.  I saved you when I gave you a ride after your car broke down.  Lots of saving here…but nothing pertaining to eternity.

If we take the same context-driven approach with our Bible reading, we find that in his letter to the believers in Philippi, Paul used the term “salvation” three times (Philippians 1:19, 1:28, 2:12).  In his chapter 1 uses, the context makes it clear that Paul is talking about an earthly rescue from earthly persecution.  In the verses surrounding 1:19, he talks about his own earthly rescue, and then in the following two uses (1:28, 2:12) Paul is using himself as a pattern for the Philippian believers to follow for their own escape from earthly persecution.

With this new, solid Observation-foundation, our interpretation changes when we read Philippians 2:12-13.  We find that this rescue-from-persecution interpretation is more consistent with the rest of the chapter.  We also realize that those verses are not in conflict with Ephesians 2:8-9, and there is no need to shoehorn one verse inside the other.  When our observations are solid, our interpretations become accurate, and our applications will be more useful.

The same thing happened when we moved our house.  Since there was a new foundation being laid…my dad took the opportunity to add a master bath and other improvements that made the home more pleasant and useful to live in.  However, these extra amenities would have been useless if we had not replaced the poorly-constructed foundation.

Whenever you find an apparent conflict between Bible passages, go back and look at the context.  Rarely does the same word mean the same thing every single time it is used.  Even if it means we need to gut and replace what we’ve been taught previously, we must let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Help! I married my opposite.

At one point, I was very interested in personality traits and tendencies.  I read up on different personality assessments and took a number of assessment quizzes.  The results of one particular Myers-Briggs assessment included pairing of your personality type with others, so that you would know what type of person would be your “best friend”, “marriage material”, or “likely competition”.  Curious, I convinced my wife to take the test.

Three of her four traits were opposite mine…and I couldn’t find our pairing in any of their categories.  Not friend, not foe, not hiking buddy, not marriage partner, not even preferred acquaintance.  Finally, after bouncing around multiple pages on their website, I found their one-word description of a relationship between my set of four traits and her set of four traits: novelty.

According to the personality typing, she thinks I’m oddly intriguing.  I see her the same way.  “Opposites attract” – it’s a culturally accepted norm that all of us have plenty of experience with.  We certainly came from different families, and we’ve had our share of differences to work through over the years.  When you boil it all down…she’s an artist and I’m a nerd…and a prime example of our differences is in how we express and receive love. 

If you’re familiar with the Five Love Languages (Gift Giving, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, and Physical Touch), you’ll probably empathize with what I’m about to say.  My love language is not the same as my wife’s love language…in fact, hers is probably my lowest ranking choice and mine is probably her lowest ranking choice.

I think I’m quite simple to love…after all, as an Acts of Service lover, just do something for me and I feel loved by you.  A clean home, laundry done, and dinner on the table makes me the happiest person on the planet.  Whereas my wife desires Physical Touch – hand held lovingly, hugs, cuddles, closeness.  Problem is…I’m not a touchy-feely person.  If you initiate a hug, I’ll reciprocate, but don’t expect me to go seeking one out.  On the flip-side, my wife’s clue that dishes are today’s priority is when we’ve run out of cups or skillets.

So we run into the constant problem: if I’m not reaching for her hand, giving hugs, etc. then she’s even less inclined to do something for me.  And if she’s not helping me out, I’m even less inclined to initiate loving contact with her.  It’s a vicious cycle, really.  It doesn’t start spiraling down out of spite or meanness…just the normal everyday busyness pulls us away from actively thinking about how the other person receives love.  When we’re distracted, we default to acting out in the way we want love to look like…I keep busy doing things around the house “for her” and she reaches for my hand “for him”…and those actions are easily misinterpreted. 

So, the question is…Who gives in first?  Who makes the first “loving move”?

When writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul spent the first two-thirds of the letter describing the relationship between Jesus and the church.  This relationship was previously a mystery (Ephesians 3:3-4), there is unity (4:4-6), there is diversity of gifts (4:11-13), and it results in a new way of living (4:17-5:21).  Paul wraps up his main discussion by giving the highest earthly example of the relationship between Jesus and the church – marriage. 

Ephesians 5:21-22, 25
Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord…Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

To answer our question, it would be easy to quote the above verses and say “See!  We both should swallow our pride and selfishness.  We need to think of the other person first.”  And I understand that sentiment.  I see the verses above.  Who should make the first move?  Whichever of us is more mature and humble in the moment.

However…I can’t help but notice two things.

1.       When I read the entire marriage section in Paul’s letter (5:22-33), he talks a lot more about how us men need to love our wives than he does about wives loving their husbands.  Paul places the burden on us to love our wife just as much as we love and care for ourselves.

2.       If I look at the timeline of when the church loved Jesus vs when Jesus loved the church – I find that Jesus loved first.  And if I’m to love my wife just as Christ loved the church…again, Paul is placing the first-step responsibility on me.

Then, I am reminded of other verses like these:

1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.

Romans 5:8
But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus loved us before we could do anything to deserve it.  He loved us when we thought ourselves unlovable.  He continues to love us, even when we are unlovely. 

So, fellas…I have to break it to you: we are the ones who should move first and show our wife the love she needs in the way she needs it.  Even if you don’t understand why she likes the kind of love communication that she does.  Get her a little gift, run the vacuum, block out your schedule to do something with her, compliment her, or – as I need to do – take her hand and give her a hug without being asked to.

It’s not wrong if she beats you to the punch and speaks your love language first – just speak hers back.  Opposites do attract, but they stay together only when we’re intentional with how we show our love.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The try-hard Christian

You may or may not have heard of someone being called a  “try-hard”, but I bet you know exactly what I mean.  When our boys were teens, they would almost reluctantly use the phrase to describe classmate that was overtly trying to fit into a particular group or look a certain way.  Oftentimes, the boys would follow up a “try-hard” description with a sigh and say, “I wish they would just relax and be who they really are.”

Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of try-hard Christians.  And if we’re honest, we’ve played the part, too.  We learn the Christian-ese, churchy lingo…we put on our Sunday best and our best Sunday smiley face…never show where we’re struggling…never admit that we have doubts about ourselves, our marriages, or even about God…

You may have been surprised in last week’s blog.  In it, I said the reason I was a jerk to my coworker was not because I needed to work harder at behaving “as a Christian should”.  Maybe you expected me to say that to fix my poor behavior, my next step would be to try harder to “do the right thing” the next time I wanted to sharply correct someone.  Instead, the root cause of my jerkishness was because I had forgotten my identity in Christ, and instead I acted out of my own selfishness.

The New Testament authors routinely refer to our selfishness (or self-centeredness) as “the flesh”, especially when in contrast to “the spiritual” life that God imparts to us when we believe in Jesus for eternal life.  And yet…when we try to live out what we expect life as a Christ-follower to be, we grit our teeth, try hard to gut it out, and forcefully course-correct our self-centeredness.

This is a common approach to attempting to live like a Christian, but it ends in failure.  Even the apostle Paul fought this battle…and lost.  In Romans 7, he described his early Christian experience.  And he kept losing out to “his flesh”:

Romans 7:15, 18
For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but [instead] I do what I hate…For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.

Paul recognizes the desire to do good – it was given to him when he believed in Jesus for eternal life.  But trying to drum up the ability to actually be the way he desires to be has left him feeling hopeless.

Romans 7:21-23
So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me.  For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, but I see a different principle in the parts of my body, waging war against the principle of my mind and taking me prisoner to the principle of sin in the parts of my body.

Paul felt so trapped by this conflict – he could not find a way to make himself accomplish the good things he truly desired.  So much so that he felt like a prisoner to the inability of his flesh.  No wonder he exclaimed:

Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Fortunately, Paul found a way out of his frustrating contradiction…and fortunately, so can we.  A few verses later, while Paul speaks rhetorically to the believers in Rome, he hands over the keys to get out of this prison:

Romans 8:10-11
Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.

Twice here Paul reminds them of their status as believers: he says to them if Christ is in you (implicitly saying “and He is”), and then he says to them if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you (implicitly saying “and He does”).   

The key to getting out of their “inability prison” isn’t to work harder; instead, it is to recognize that the Spirit gives life because [Christ’s] righteousness was attributed to them the moment they believed.  This is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, and as such the Spirit will bring your mortal bodies to life, thus enabling us to do the good we now desire to do.

Don’t think these verses only apply to some day in the future.  Notice that the Spirit gives life to your mortal bodies – that is here-and-now language, not future.  The Spirit of God performs a resurrection of our dead flesh, giving us the power and ability to live this life the way God designed for us.  Which flows to Paul’s conclusion:

Romans 8:12
So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh

I think this is also why Paul tells the Galatian church:

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body [literally: the flesh], I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

We are not obligated to live the life of a try-hard Christian.  We don’t need to muscle-through our circumstances to do the right thing.  Instead, we trust God that He will resurrect our mortal bodies to live out the new desires He has given us when He gave us life through His son. 

The Christian life is a miracle of resurrection.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite - Perspective and a prayer request

I’m back to dealing with health struggles. Different than before, and self-inflicted this time. I developed a case of rhabdomyolysis, aka “rhabdo”, from starting workout classes and going too hard, too soon, when it was too hot. Spent 5-days in the hospital getting flushed with IV fluids, but we caught it early. I’m at home now and healing up, but there’s still recovery to do. And as usual, the only way out is through.

So I thought it best to review a lesson I learned a few years ago relating to our physical health and our eternal perspective.

Perspective and a prayer request
Originally posted on November 15, 2018

Ever see a situation on the horizon, and you know, without a doubt, it’s something that you’re going to have to deal with?  You know you can’t avoid it.  It won’t be pleasant.  It’s probably not what you would have wanted.  But somehow, you just know – that the only way out is through.

Maybe you’ve been there with a relationship.  Maybe it was your friend, a boss, a competitor, or even a government office.  Right now, for me – it’s my health.  I greatly appreciate the emails of concern, consolation, and the offers to pray for me (and I really, really hope you follow up on that!).  I’m on the mend, but this is not the end of whatever is off-kilter in my systems.  There will be more tests to take at a later date, more mysteries to be unraveled.  But for now, I am to rest and recover, knowing full well that the only way out is through.

Just yesterday, God brought a passage to me that helps put it all in perspective.  Near the end of Paul’s recorded ministry, he is on his way to Jerusalem.  He knows what will happen if he goes back.  In fact, everyone knows what he will face.  The devout Jews would turn on this former rabbinical star in a heartbeat.  Paul would be arrested, beaten, and quite likely killed.  So, why go back?  I’ll let him answer that:

Acts 20:17-24
Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.  When they came to him, he said to them:

“You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.  You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.  I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.  But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Oh wow, does that resonate!  But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose…that is a man who has clear eyes and proper perspective.  He sees the value of his life, not in his own comforts and desires, but in his purposeful pursuit of the work God has given him – to testify to [the good news] of God’s grace.

That’s the perspective we need in order to handle the difficulties we see on the horizon.  Stop looking at our immediate circumstances, get aligned with God, see from His vantage point, and then look back down on what we’re facing.  Difficulties can be managed when they have been placed in their proper context.  That doesn’t mean that the difficulties will be removed – Paul knew there were chains and afflictions waiting.  There’s no amount of perspective that makes them go away.  However, looking at life from God’s viewpoint gives us the strength to go through.

So if you choose to petition our Great God on my behalf, I would rather you not pray for healing.  If I fully recover, that’s great.  If I end up worse off, that’s fine.  If I now have a “new normal”, so be it.  Instead, I would ask that you pray I stay aligned with God, keep His perspective on everything, and do the work God has given me.  My prayer is that you also learn to live this way.

Acts 20:24
But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Paper towels and mixed messages

There’s plenty of guilt to go around these days, even when it comes to what I should be using to wipe off my kitchen counters.  Within the last week, I’ve watched a TV advertisement that claimed in order to protect my family from germs, viruses, and food-born illnesses, I need to buy their paper towels.  The convenient single-use paper towel, they claimed, was superior to cleaning with a dishrag that was previously used and now sitting in my sink.  The commercial went on to warn me how a multi-use dishrag was a festering breeding ground for all sorts of nasty bugs, and it also contained bits of food and grease from whatever it was I cleaned up last time I wiped down the counters.  You wouldn’t wipe off the door of your microwave with a slice of pizza would you?  Then, obviously, any responsible adult who desires to protect their family would buy these paper towels.

And then today, when I was flipping through an online list of “Top money wasting purchases when cleaning your home”, what did I come across?  But, of course: paper towels.  This story said a roll of paper towels was too easy for a family to use up quickly and inefficiently.  They did the math, and if you used 2 rolls a week at $1/roll, then that’s over $100 for the year!  And, of course, you should feel guilty for the strain you’re putting on the environment.  Paper towels are tough to recycle, so you’re just filling up your community’s landfill by using them.  Instead, they suggested, I should buy some cheap, reusable microfiber towels.

So, no matter my choice, I am either a poor excuse for a family man or someone who hates the environment.  Talk about getting mixed messages!  You could tie yourself up in knots trying to figure out what is “the best” way to wipe down your kitchen.

We’ve been looking for a new church home, and we recently attended a church on a friend’s recommendation.  To be honest, after over a year of online services from various churches, it was refreshing to be a part of a group worshipping God.  The pastor was an engaging speaker who quoted a lot of Scripture.  His current series centered around the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 4:22-23).  He was spending one week discussing each fruit listed by Paul.  The week we attended, the topic was faithfulness.

While most of his talk was spot-on, there was one part when my ears perked up.  He made a statement to the effect that “We Christians have erroneously combined the ideas of faith and belief.  When in fact, they are two different things.”  And I thought, “Right on. They are different. I’m interested in what he has to say next.”  He then continued to say that believing something isn’t enough, that God expects us to put action to our beliefs and that’s called faith, and that’s what a Christian does.  After repeating a few more times that believing wasn’t enough, he cited a commonly misquoted passage:

James 2:17-19
In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.  Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.  You believe that God is one.  Good!  Even the demons believe – and they shudder.”

“See?” the pastor said, “The demons believe and that’s not enough.  We have to have faithfulness and put action to our faith.”

I winced.  It’s a common misquote, but it’s still a misquote.  To find out what James meant by faith without works is dead, click here to read last week’s post.  The pastor finished his preaching and then another lady came on stage to wrap up and dismiss everyone.  What really worried me was something she said next.  She invited anyone who wasn’t a Christian to join God’s family, and all you had to do was “believe and follow Jesus”. 

If I was a non-Christian or someone who was not used to church-lingo, I would have been very confused.  The pastor just said multiple times that “belief” wasn’t enough, that I also needed some kind of actionable faith.  But then she said all I had to do was “believe and follow”, without giving any explanation as to what that meant, especially in relation to what the pastor said.  Talk about mixed messages!

Our word choices matter, and we have to take into consideration the audience we are speaking to.  I spoke with the lady afterwards and although I knew what they were trying to say, I warned her that between the two of them, there was the potential for a lot of confusion.  We talked through everything and came to a basic understanding.  There would have been a lot less confusion if either of them had clearly stated that the preacher’s message was directed towards those who already believed in Jesus for eternal life, and her invitation was for those who have not yet been convinced of Jesus’ offer.  Here’s a rundown of what else we discussed:

·       What the demons “believe” in James 2 isn’t belief in Jesus for eternal life.  Eternal life isn’t offered to fallen angels, so in context, what the demon “believes” is that there is only one God.
·       Believing in Jesus for eternal life is how a person is “saved” and joins God’s family.  There are no other conditions.  (John 11:25-27; Acts 16:31; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 1:16)
·       All believers are called by God to act out our faith. See the James 2 passage the preacher quoted.
·       Choosing to “follow Jesus” is often our first action based on our new faith in Jesus, but it is not a requirement for salvation.

One last thing to note – a clarification, if you will.  In preparing for this post, I have changed my mind on the idea that belief and faith are two different things.  In Greek, they are different versions of the same word, with the only difference between them is that belief is a verb (pisteuo) and faith is a noun (pistis).  As such, if you say that either you believe in Jesus for eternal life or you have faith in Jesus for eternal life, you are saying the same thing.

I hope that clears things up.  I wouldn’t want to give you any mixed messages.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

You've got questions?

When we attend church – either in person or online – the typical worship service progression is a greeting, a few songs, a message from a pastor, and then perhaps a closing song.  Unless you are able to get the pastor’s attention after the worship service, there is little chance of you asking a question about the day’s message.

Many of our church-gatherings outside of a worship service are either task-focused or event-focused, and neither of which allow us much time for questions or Biblical exploration.  So what is a Christian to do when they have a question and no forum to ask?

Over the last few weeks, I have attempted to hand you tools that you can use to explore Scripture for yourself.  Instead of spoon-feeding you applications that I have found, I have given you the spoon.   Feeding yourself can be a little messy at times, but with practice and submission to what God teaches you – no matter how ‘small’ it may seem – you will grow and mature in ways that won’t happen by just listening to someone else talk about God.  If you missed any of it, here is a link to the start of the series.

You may have been introduced to your spouse by someone else, but the relationship was developed by the times it has been just the two of you.  The same is true with God: Want to be close to God?  Want to live life in a way that honors Him?  Want to know the how or why He does what He does?  Then I suggest you spend time with Him…talk with Him, look for Him in the Scriptures, and be intentionally open to His desire to be a part of your day-to-day life.

Knowing God personally and knowing Him as He presents Himself in the Scriptures will keep you from straying into theological error and will also protect you from mis-representing God to others.  You certainly don’t want to tell half-truths about your spouse to other people…if you did that, how would it affect your marriage relationship?  We need to take our relationship with God just as serious.

So when you hear a teacher say something on the radio that doesn’t sound quite right, or if your own pastor references a portion of Scripture you haven’t looked at before…if you use the process we’ve walked through in the last few weeks, you will be fully equipped to study the passage for yourself.

This process is not something that I have built or developed on my own, either.  I have said many times that the very first lesson Joe taught me was how to study the Bible for myself, and he used a book written by one of his seminary professors to do so.  In the last few weeks, we have walked through a distilled-down version of Howard Hendricks’ Living by the Book.  I highly recommend you pick up a copy…take your time and work through it, because he does a fantastic job of equipping the reader and giving lots of hands-on, practice examples.

Lastly, I want to give you the opportunity to ask questions.  Jesus was often asked questions, by all sorts of people – seekers, adversaries, and even His disciples.  Likewise, Paul made it a habit to have God-focused discussions with both Jews and Greeks.  Here are just a few examples:

In Thessalonica: As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures (Acts 17:2)

In Athens: So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshipped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. (Acts 17:17)

In Corinth: He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18:4)

So, in the spirit of reasoning together, I’d like to make you an offer: Ask me a theological question, and I’ll do my best to answer it in an upcoming blog. 

I have a few ideas on topics to study and explore next; however, I’d also like to give you the opportunity to provide some input.  What Bible topics are you struggling with?  What have you always wondered, but didn’t know who to ask?

Come, let us reason together. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Don't use a commentary like this

One of the rallying cries from the Protestant Reformation was sola scriptura – Scripture alone is our final authority for faith and practice.  That led to a significant development in the history of Christianity: the right to private interpretation.  The combination of the Gutenberg Bible and the Reformation put Scripture into the hands of lay people.  However, with this historical development, we didn’t just gain access to Scripture, we also took on a responsibility.  As R.C. Sproul once pointed out,

“Private interpretation never meant that individuals have the right to distort the Scriptures.  With the right of private interpretation comes the sober responsibility of accurate interpretation.  Private interpretation gives us license to interpret, not to distort.”

Since we are the representatives for the Creator of the Universe, the last thing we want to do is advocate something that God did not say.  So then, how can you avoid distorting God’s message?  By taking the steps we’ve already taken.  First, we observe well – we use our reporter’s hat and our detective’s hat to make observations from the text.  Then we allow context to guide our interpretation and compare Scripture with Scripture to make sure we’re seeing the consistency in God’s message.  Only after taking these steps are we ready to ask for help from someone else.

We never want to become arrogant in our study process to think that the Holy Spirit is only talking to us, that He’s never said anything to anyone else.  If you stop and think about it, thousands of people have traveled this road ahead of us, and some have left behind some valuable helps.  There can be great value in consulting what someone else has already learned, as demonstrated by one of my favorite poems, The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole.

When we properly use a secondary resource, we can leverage what we’ve learned thus far against the contributions of others.  However, do remember that they are called “secondary” resources for a reason…they are to be used only after you have observed and interpreted the biblical text for yourself.  Never forget that order.  To run straight to a commentary without even thinking through the text shows a lack of trust in what the Holy Spirit can teach you.  Scripture doesn’t yield its fruit to the lazy.  While it’s certainly easier to google up an interpretation of a passage, this short-cut will end up short-circuiting your growth and development.    

After we observe and interpret the text, we are ready to see what someone else has to say about the same passage.  You’ll be surprised at how many others came to the same conclusion you have.  You may find another aspect of text or a cultural influence you weren’t aware of, and that may affect your interpretation.  You may also find that you disagree with a commentator’s interpretation – if you do, put on your reporter’s hat and detective’s hat again and see which of you did a better job observing the text!

There are many types of secondary resources out there that can help you with your study of Scripture, but I want to focus on the main two: concordances and commentaries.

A concordance is a tool that enables you to look up terms – think of it like an index to the Bible.  A concordance lists all of the words of the text alphabetically, with references for where they appear, along with a few of the surrounding words to give some context.  Using a concordance is probably my favorite part during Interpretation.  I love finding out the exact meaning of an author’s choice of words.  However, using a concordance goes beyond studying terms:

Suppose you want to study the life of a particular person, and you choose Moses.  Use a concordance to look him up and you’ll see that the bulk of his life is detailed in the book of Exodus.  However, you will also see that Moses is discussed in both Acts and Hebrews – he’s been dead for 1000’s of years at this point, yet there is important information about him presented in the New Testament.  His life is discussed in Acts 7 and he occupies the largest amount of text in “God’s Hall of Fame” found in Hebrews 11.  If you hadn’t looked it up, you may have missed one or both of these passages on his life – and you would not have gotten God’s full picture of Moses’ life.

Another good use of a concordance is if you want to do a topical study.  If you wanted to look up all Scriptural references to money, you’d instantly have a listing of all verses in the 27 books that mention money.  You’d also see that there are a lot of references to money in the gospels – and that’s because Jesus talked about money A LOT.

The other secondary resource we need to discuss are commentaries. 

Have you ever listened to the teaching of someone who is masterfully explaining the Word and thought, Wow, I’d like to have them sitting beside me next time I come to the Scriptures.  Well, a commentary does essentially that.  A commentary offers you the insights of someone who has perhaps spent his or her whole life studying the text.  While a commentary cannot do your study for you, it certainly is an excellent means of evaluating and expanding your own study.

There are a seemingly infinite number of commentaries out there, with many different (and often conflicting) interpretations – so which one should you choose?  If you purchase a written commentary (as opposed to any available online), you want a good, single-volume, general commentary, one that covers both the Old Testament and the New Testament in one, or at the most, two volumes.

You’re looking for a commentary to add detail and insight into the text, but you don’t want a deep dive into the weeds about an individual topic.  Also…don’t spend a ton of money on a 24-volume set!  Lastly, be careful whom you listen to, because at least at some level, we all bring our theological systems and assumptions when we read the text.  Some commentators force their belief systems into the text…but your early work with your reporter’s hat and detective’s hat will help protect you from running off with misinterpretations.

If you are unfamiliar with the author, you need to find out his or her theological perspective – is he conservative or liberal, does she believe in the essential truths of Christianity?  So how do you discover the answer to those kinds of questions?  Two ways, really:

1.       Google them.  You can’t believe everything on the internet, but you can probably find a synopsis of who this person is and what they believe…especially if you find they have a website with a belief statement.
2.       You can turn to a passage that you have studied on your own and know that you have come to a correct interpretation, then compare the commentator’s answer to your own. 

Why is it important that you know the author’s theological perspective?  If you don’t know, then you could be setting yourself up for bad advice.  We find this warning among Solomon’s proverbs:

The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. (Proverbs 13:20)

If you still are unsure if you should use a particular commentary, then the next step is to consult a mature, studied Christian whose opinion you trust.  Ask your pastor or teacher.  Either would be ecstatic to answer that kind of question for you, because it demonstrates that you are studying your Bible and practicing discernment when you do so. 

In the end, commentaries can be both a blessing and a curse.  The downside is the tendency to start depending on them rather than familiarizing yourself with the biblical text.  There’s nothing wrong with commentaries, but remember that ultimately they are just one person’s opinion, and they are certainly not inspired Scripture.  At the same time, a scholar who has spent a lifetime investigating the biblical text can frequently get you past the barriers to understanding.  His comments can also help you evaluate your own personal study. 

REMEMBER: the use of secondary resources should NEVER be a substitute for personal Bible study, but rather a stimulus for it.  Always remember the order: First the Word of God, then the secondary resources.  Additionally…secondary resources are OPTIONAL, you are not required to look up a certain number of words or consult a minimum number of commentaries to have a successful understanding of the text.

Commentaries I recommend:
The Bible Knowledge Commentary
The Grace New Testament Commentary
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary
Tony Evans Bible Commentary

Online concordances:
http://www.studylight.org
http://www.blueletterbible.org

Online commentaries:
https://planobiblechapel.org/soniclight/
https://faithalone.org/ebooks/

Using a resource listed above or one of your own, let’s see what we can find for our Joshua passage:

Concordance – look up important nouns and verbs, those are the most impactful parts of the text.  Some words have a clear, 1:1 translation…other words will have a richer meaning in the original language.  Try looking up strong, courageous, success, and meditate.

Commentary – choose a commentary (or two) and compare the author’s observations with your own.  What did you both see?  Do you differ anywhere?  If so, which conclusion best fits the text?

Joshua 1:6-9
“Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.  Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you.  Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.

This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.  Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous?  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Prosper

Much like the word happy, the word prosper can be surprisingly divisive in Christian circles.  Some believers go so far as to say that if you’re not wealthy, you’re not doing “God’s Will” for your life.  Other believers, at the opposite end of the spectrum seem to begrudge those who are “too successful”.  Typically, we define success in monetary terms…but maybe God has a different definition.

For context:

Psalm 1:1-2
How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked or
stand in the pathway with sinners or
sit in the company of mockers!

Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.

Notice when the psalmist inserts prosperity into the picture:

Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Whatever he does prospers…that is a huge promise!  But is that what it really means?  Whatever he does prospers…literally anything?

In context, this would be as he follows the way of the righteous…remember, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, so his endeavors and goals will be in accordance with that.  This doesn’t mean there is just one linear path for us to follow (i.e. – God wants me to have this specific job and marry this specific person and attend this specific school, and if I don’t…then I’m not in “God’s will”).  Instead, God’s instructions are principles for us to apply as we travel through life.  As we continue to apply His teachings, we are walking the path of the righteous and are rewarded with prosperity.

The Hebrew word for prospers (tsaleach) shows up 65 times in the Old Testament, so this is something God brought up regularly to the Israelites.  The word means to succeed, generally expressing the idea of a successful venture, as contrasted with failure.  The source of such success is God.

The same word is rendered as success in 2 Chronicles 26:5, when describing the best part of King Uzziah’s reign:

2 Chronicles 26:5
He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God.  During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

The same word also appeared as prosper in God’s direction to Joshua, as he was receiving instructions from God just prior to leading the Israelites into the Promised Land:

Joshua 1:8
This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

Do you see the pattern showing up in each of the texts?

meditate on God’s word then do the work given then be prosperous

A godly, prosperous person isn’t a sinless person, they are not someone who does everything right.  Instead, it’s someone who is walking in the counsel of God…and that involves a variety of appropriate actions at appropriate times: confessing sins, serving, learning under sound teaching, putting into action the lessons we learn from God, loving others as we have been loved, and looking at life through God’s perspective.

So far in Psalm 1, we’re finding that the difference between a godly man and a wicked man is the constant input from the Word of God.  Time in God’s Word is their delight and focus – I’m not talking about a 5 minute devotional here – but a primary focus…soaking in the Word, allowing it to permeate his mind and change his actions (take a look at Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 for more examples)

So what is prosperity and success, then?  While the world defines those terms mainly in finances, in contrast, God is telling us that prosperity is something much greater.

The psalmist’s tree analogy defines success as well-timed fruitfulness: your life is producing good things for the people around you, you are achieving your true potential.  A fruit tree was made to produce fruit, because that is what it is designed to do – and if it’s not producing fruit, then it is missing out on what it was made to do.  And it’s the same with us, but as we have seen, fruitfulness only happens when the Word transforms us. (This is similar to the abiding theme we find in John 15 and the apostle’s discussion throughout 1 John)

In Psalm 1:3, we have a promise to claim: That God’s Word will sustain/grow me and there is happiness, delight, and prosperity in doing so.  However, our look at other Scriptures confirmed what we’ve seen in Psalm 1, that there is also a condition to meet in order to have this God-defined prosperity: Intentionally spend time in God’s Word, purposely meditate on it, and delight to do so…knowing that God can/will develop me in the way I was created to grow and mature.  And then I will find happiness and prosperity.

Keep Pressing,
Ken