It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Paul was absolutely correct. In Christ, we find utmost freedom.
If you don't believe me, or doubt that yourself even a little bit, I'd offer this. Reading through Mark 5, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. When Jesus exorcises these demons, they ask Him:
The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned (Mark 5:12-13)
Now you might say, well, that's not freedom, the evil spirits had to ask permission. Well, that view, no disrespect, is horribly arrogant. I think checking with Jesus for any request or decision is generally a good idea, since He created everything.
Really, think about it. Demons, yes demons asked Jesus to do something, they requested specifically to go into the pigs, and He gives them the freedom to do so.
So if Jesus gives great sovereignty of choice, does that mean He is not sovereign?
Not in the least, I don't think. In fact, I think it enhances His greatness. He doesn't have to be some autocratic, domineering totalitarian over what He created because He knows that love really doesn't exist in that way. He's obviously mature enough to know that the ones He created will rebel against Him and do stupid things.
Does Jesus get mad and quickly snap His created back in line?
No, just the opposite. He loves even more and offers even more grace. It's really quite counter-intuitive for what we're familiar with here on earth.
In a world that is deprived of all sorts of freedoms for all sorts of people and nations, Jesus offers real freedom from sin and the ways of the world.
Jesus means freedom.
1.14.2010
God's will
I was thinking, "God's will" in the context of the Christian church today is somewhat a twisted term. It's probably common to hear, "I wonder what God's will for my life is?" "Is God's will this or that, should I move to this or that place?"
When we say those phrases the way we intend them, and I have said them a great many times, we are acting incredibly self-centered, becoming the center of the universe.
I mean, really, God's will is God's will, the things He desires and the things that His heart cries for result in actions and decisions that course through our space time history.
Our will, when we decide to do this or that, move to there or here, those decisions are OUR WILL.
I was just feeling convicted that I was being quite self-centered when thinking about God's will for MY life. When I do that, I tend to start with me, think about my desires, whether they are wants or needs, and somehow pray about that, think about it, and then end up projecting that whatever it is is somehow God's will.
God's will is God's will. My will is my will.
When my will corresponds to God's will, which I will say, God's will is the unchanging, perfect, without compromise, absolutely pure will, when my will even minimally aligns with the Great Creator's will, then I'm on to something.
When we say those phrases the way we intend them, and I have said them a great many times, we are acting incredibly self-centered, becoming the center of the universe.
I mean, really, God's will is God's will, the things He desires and the things that His heart cries for result in actions and decisions that course through our space time history.
Our will, when we decide to do this or that, move to there or here, those decisions are OUR WILL.
I was just feeling convicted that I was being quite self-centered when thinking about God's will for MY life. When I do that, I tend to start with me, think about my desires, whether they are wants or needs, and somehow pray about that, think about it, and then end up projecting that whatever it is is somehow God's will.
God's will is God's will. My will is my will.
When my will corresponds to God's will, which I will say, God's will is the unchanging, perfect, without compromise, absolutely pure will, when my will even minimally aligns with the Great Creator's will, then I'm on to something.
12.27.2009
alone time
Many people in our culture consider it weird when people want to spend time alone, be by themselves or get away. Something is thought of as not right, or that person has issues because they can't be in community 24/7.
I think it's interesting that the Gospel authors point out multiple times of Jesus' alone time. As in our culture, Jesus' desire to be by himself, to get away from people, was quite strange for that day and age. Especially in a time where robbers free-roamed the territory, wild animals couldn't be defended against with modern weaponry...it was much more dangerous being alone and people didn't often do it.
Yet Jesus did, alot.
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16)
"...Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed..." (Mark 1:35)
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." (Luke 6:12)
"...Sit here while I go over there and pray..." (Matthew 26:36)
The key thing to notice is that Jesus didn't go be alone for the sake of getting away from people. He seems to have gotten away to have deep prayer time with the Father and reflect on His ministry and pray for God's will to be done. Before Jesus made major decisions, He went to be alone.
Ironically, Jesus' alone time seems to have strengthened and fortified Him for the times that He did interact with His community of disciples and the larger crowds full of thousands of people.
And so, just as Jesus was considered a complete weirdo for many of the habits He had and things He did, I think it's safe to say that we can also find intentionality in our times of solitude, for they are necessary to functioning well and living a life full of the Spirit for God.
I think it's interesting that the Gospel authors point out multiple times of Jesus' alone time. As in our culture, Jesus' desire to be by himself, to get away from people, was quite strange for that day and age. Especially in a time where robbers free-roamed the territory, wild animals couldn't be defended against with modern weaponry...it was much more dangerous being alone and people didn't often do it.
Yet Jesus did, alot.
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16)
"...Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed..." (Mark 1:35)
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." (Luke 6:12)
"...Sit here while I go over there and pray..." (Matthew 26:36)
The key thing to notice is that Jesus didn't go be alone for the sake of getting away from people. He seems to have gotten away to have deep prayer time with the Father and reflect on His ministry and pray for God's will to be done. Before Jesus made major decisions, He went to be alone.
Ironically, Jesus' alone time seems to have strengthened and fortified Him for the times that He did interact with His community of disciples and the larger crowds full of thousands of people.
And so, just as Jesus was considered a complete weirdo for many of the habits He had and things He did, I think it's safe to say that we can also find intentionality in our times of solitude, for they are necessary to functioning well and living a life full of the Spirit for God.
12.22.2009
Mark 8
It's great how Jesus asks rhetorical questions to cut straight to issues that really matter. He asks a few of them in Mark 8, and they're quite poignant for the current reality of my life. His questions are good are-you-living-the-gospel reality checks.
Here's one:
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." (Mark 8:12)
(notice Jesus sighed deeply before he said that, as if to communicate...you guys still really don't get it!!) I think a great number of Christians are always looking for a "neon sign" that points us to God's will. In life, we want signs or dreams or messages to tell us which big decisions to make that will properly line up with walking and serving God.
If we think about this for a second, this line of thinking is not really in the heart of God. He gives us an example and His word in Christ to know what His heart deeply cares about. God gives us freedom in our life to decide how to go about fulfilling that gospel magnetism with professed allegiance to Christ.
In this passage in Mark, Jesus just fed about 4,000 MEN the text says (more when adding women and children present)...so maybe about 10,000 people with 7 (SEVEN) loaves of bread. Jesus did this just after his disciples confessed their lack of faith "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"
Their problem is the same one I encounter when it comes to gospel living. I proudly depend on myself, my faculties, my abilities when it comes to trying to live out the gospel.
The same thing happens with Peter later in Mark 8 (8:31-33).
Hence, it's fitting that Mark 8 closes with:
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
notice Jesus said this to the crowd AND the disciples. He wants this to be public knowledge.
He's telling us to get rid of ourselves and our pride. Forget the ways of the world. It's empty tired and broken. Pursuing its rewards is empty and full of despair.
Jesus is challenging us to live a life marked by free gospel living that is based on an everlasting devotion to His name, depending on His power and not ours.
Here's one:
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." (Mark 8:12)
(notice Jesus sighed deeply before he said that, as if to communicate...you guys still really don't get it!!) I think a great number of Christians are always looking for a "neon sign" that points us to God's will. In life, we want signs or dreams or messages to tell us which big decisions to make that will properly line up with walking and serving God.
If we think about this for a second, this line of thinking is not really in the heart of God. He gives us an example and His word in Christ to know what His heart deeply cares about. God gives us freedom in our life to decide how to go about fulfilling that gospel magnetism with professed allegiance to Christ.
In this passage in Mark, Jesus just fed about 4,000 MEN the text says (more when adding women and children present)...so maybe about 10,000 people with 7 (SEVEN) loaves of bread. Jesus did this just after his disciples confessed their lack of faith "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"
Their problem is the same one I encounter when it comes to gospel living. I proudly depend on myself, my faculties, my abilities when it comes to trying to live out the gospel.
The same thing happens with Peter later in Mark 8 (8:31-33).
Hence, it's fitting that Mark 8 closes with:
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
notice Jesus said this to the crowd AND the disciples. He wants this to be public knowledge.
He's telling us to get rid of ourselves and our pride. Forget the ways of the world. It's empty tired and broken. Pursuing its rewards is empty and full of despair.
Jesus is challenging us to live a life marked by free gospel living that is based on an everlasting devotion to His name, depending on His power and not ours.
11.17.2009
failing to eagerly wait
I'm not sure if it's because I'm mostly a pessimist, but I have really been dropping the ball on eagerly waiting for the redemption of both the world and the New Jerusalem and my own redemption.
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:45-51 NIV)
Part of eagerly waiting for the appointed promise is to "give them their food at the proper time...". I take that to mean that we are to constantly be serving and encouraging fellow servants (other believers) as well as non-believers. We are to be in a constant mindset with the gospel on the tip of our tongue...always sharing it in word and deed.
After all, Paul writes that "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." Romans 8:19. The specific 'creation' word in the Greek that Paul uses, ktisis, is taken to mean a "creature" of creation, as in Gentiles, non-believers.
Now that's interesting. Even non-believers are eagerly waiting for the redemption. Which I think makes perfect sense. Non-believers, whether they like it or not, admit it or not, I believe were originally created in the image of God to worship Him and reflect His glory. And when that doesn't happen, something is off and not right ("subjected to frustration"...Romans 8:20).
The point is, as believers in Christ, we have the vision and promise of Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem.
For living out my present faith, I would do good to more eagerly anticipate Christ's return and actually try to believe in His promise and listen to His words.
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:45-51 NIV)
Part of eagerly waiting for the appointed promise is to "give them their food at the proper time...". I take that to mean that we are to constantly be serving and encouraging fellow servants (other believers) as well as non-believers. We are to be in a constant mindset with the gospel on the tip of our tongue...always sharing it in word and deed.
After all, Paul writes that "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." Romans 8:19. The specific 'creation' word in the Greek that Paul uses, ktisis, is taken to mean a "creature" of creation, as in Gentiles, non-believers.
Now that's interesting. Even non-believers are eagerly waiting for the redemption. Which I think makes perfect sense. Non-believers, whether they like it or not, admit it or not, I believe were originally created in the image of God to worship Him and reflect His glory. And when that doesn't happen, something is off and not right ("subjected to frustration"...Romans 8:20).
The point is, as believers in Christ, we have the vision and promise of Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem.
For living out my present faith, I would do good to more eagerly anticipate Christ's return and actually try to believe in His promise and listen to His words.
11.15.2009
can love be understood?
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
I've been thinking a bit lately about love, and what that looks like in our media driven, for-profit day and age. Culture tries to splotter love all over the place, and I think people get de-sensitized to what love really is, at its core.
First, remember that love is something we don't understand well as humans -- that's why it goes in the abstract noun category. But certainly, love is demonstrated or exemplified by certain acts. It's hard to identify love without some sort of concrete, physical, can-be-seen act.
Well, this verse tells us that love comes from God, and that God is love. Can we understand God? I don't think God is abstract, but He's too intense, too vast, too full to understand fully by us and our feeble minds, in my opinion. So if we can't understand God, we can't understand love.
Certainly, love was showcased by the concrete, physical in-the-flesh act of Jesus on the cross. It was a manifestation, or the playing out of love, God's love...but that still leaves us a little in the dark on an absolute definition of love.
There's something else unique that I'm figuring out about love. Acts of love are not earned nor deserved. They result from grace. This is true for my human relationships. The most memorable things I remember about acts of love on me or to me are not done to earn anything back from me -- there is a genuine heart to love me because of the person I just happen to be.
Appreciating someone for them just being them and the way they are. Love doesn't try and instruct or tell, it simply celebrates.
Jesus did the necessary thing to fully celebrate each and every one of His. And driving it was grace -- not anything that Jesus expected to earn or deserve back from the people He saved.
In light of this, I think it frees us up to love in our human relationships like He did -- with freedom, no fear of condemnation, not thinking we have or deserve something in return -- we can simply celebrate.
I've been thinking a bit lately about love, and what that looks like in our media driven, for-profit day and age. Culture tries to splotter love all over the place, and I think people get de-sensitized to what love really is, at its core.
First, remember that love is something we don't understand well as humans -- that's why it goes in the abstract noun category. But certainly, love is demonstrated or exemplified by certain acts. It's hard to identify love without some sort of concrete, physical, can-be-seen act.
Well, this verse tells us that love comes from God, and that God is love. Can we understand God? I don't think God is abstract, but He's too intense, too vast, too full to understand fully by us and our feeble minds, in my opinion. So if we can't understand God, we can't understand love.
Certainly, love was showcased by the concrete, physical in-the-flesh act of Jesus on the cross. It was a manifestation, or the playing out of love, God's love...but that still leaves us a little in the dark on an absolute definition of love.
There's something else unique that I'm figuring out about love. Acts of love are not earned nor deserved. They result from grace. This is true for my human relationships. The most memorable things I remember about acts of love on me or to me are not done to earn anything back from me -- there is a genuine heart to love me because of the person I just happen to be.
Appreciating someone for them just being them and the way they are. Love doesn't try and instruct or tell, it simply celebrates.
Jesus did the necessary thing to fully celebrate each and every one of His. And driving it was grace -- not anything that Jesus expected to earn or deserve back from the people He saved.
In light of this, I think it frees us up to love in our human relationships like He did -- with freedom, no fear of condemnation, not thinking we have or deserve something in return -- we can simply celebrate.
11.02.2009
the example of Mary
Unfortunately, Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been deified by certain lines of the Catholic church. In lines that have not deified Mary, she is thought to have always been a virgin (please explain James and John), and is revered close to, if not more than Jesus.
In some ways, I think Protestant churches and Protestant theology have rebuked Mary a little too much in response to Catholic views towards Mary, by virtually never talking about her example or how faithful a woman she was to the Lord. She submitted faithfully and steadfastly to God's plan for her life, and I think that should be celebrated.
She is a great example of faith to consider, but not the reason for our faith. Jesus alone (includes the Holy Spirit and the Father) is the reason for our faith.
Consider her worship song:
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."
(Luke 1:46-55 NIV)
In some ways, I think Protestant churches and Protestant theology have rebuked Mary a little too much in response to Catholic views towards Mary, by virtually never talking about her example or how faithful a woman she was to the Lord. She submitted faithfully and steadfastly to God's plan for her life, and I think that should be celebrated.
She is a great example of faith to consider, but not the reason for our faith. Jesus alone (includes the Holy Spirit and the Father) is the reason for our faith.
Consider her worship song:
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."
(Luke 1:46-55 NIV)
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