Slave of All

In the book of Mark in chapter 10 verse 37, James and John ask Jesus a bold question. The disciples ask to be seated at the right and left hand of Jesus in Heaven. This request comes not so they can have an opportunity to know Christ more; they want the power and recognition that comes with sitting next to the king. Jesus explains to them that the places next to Him are not for Him to grant. He then addresses the real issue at stake which is the condition of the hearts of the disciples. Jesus says, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

In that passage Jesus addresses the disciples understanding of what it means to be great in God's kingdom. Those who are great are not the ones who position themselves the best, or those who make the right friends or the right grades. Those who are great in Heaven are those who humble themselves in this life and serve everyone around them.

As we are surrounded by a culture of entitlement, pride, and isolation, I believe we as Christians are forgetting the call of Jesus. Instead of hurrying into our homes after work so the neighbors won't bother us, we need to hurry to reach out and serve those in need. If the Son of God, the one with the greatest right to be served, can humble himself even unto death for us, how much more should we be willing to humble ourselves and serve our neighbors?

"...And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all."

The gift of repentance

I am constantly amazed by the grace of God. In today's sermon we heard one more outstanding example of this grace. In the book of Revelation, chapter 3, Christ is addressing the church at Laodicea. This church doesn't have much going for it. In fact he explains to them that they are lost souls clothed in comfortable religion. He describes them as wretched, pitiful, blind, and naked. These folks are the worst of the worst in God's eyes. Christ tells them to repent and trust in Him. Now look what he offers in return for that repentance. "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne." The worst of the worst, those who have sinned their entire lives without shame are offered a seat on the throne of heaven. All they had to do was repent and accept Christ's death for those sins they committed. By simply sacrificing their pride, they could gain everything.

God's grace is not for the perfect it is for those who acknowledge their sins and turn to Christ. He wants to invite us onto His throne...let's take him up on that offer.

Tolerance

In Ephesians 4 Paul is discussing how the church can be built up through Christ. He goes on to say in Ephesians 4:14, "Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."

These directions were given so that the church would become a grown up, steadfast instrument of God in Christ. They were given so that people would be guided in love to live in the truth of Christ rather than the lies of man.

Recently I've heard a lot from friends, from different news sources and society in general that the church and in particular the Christian church needs to be more tolerant. In other words just take the "in love" part from the verse above. People choose churches based on how tolerant it's attitudes are towards different practices, faiths and world views.

What does tolerance really mean when you put it into the context of the church? It means that the church is taking on the role of God and in fact claiming superiority to God. The church is now deciding what sin it will tolerate instead of leaving the judgement of sin to God. Some churches are even stepping away from claiming Christ as the only way to God. In these churches the goal is comfort, with the greatest downfall being offending people. Sadly, the comfort they seek will last only a short time as God demands payment for sin. Those who are fooled into thinking they can live in their sin and deny Christ will end up in eternal discomfort without a savior by their side to rescue them.

Churches that water down scripture probably think they're doing so out of love. But, if they truly loved their congregations they would care enough to tell them the truth about what God desires for their lives. God's moral will for people's lives is not to put them in a rigid box of rules, it is to make people more useful instruments for His kingdom and to set them free from the slavery of sin. Those aren't empty words either because I have experienced that freedom firsthand.

It's very convenient to remove truth from scripture because it allows the church leaders and it's members to go on without the persecution that comes with standing up for God's will. However we get a very different picture of faith from the early first century church. Paul and many others were willing to die for what they saw with their own eyes and knew to be true. They were willing to die spreading the good news of Christ because they knew he died for their sins. They knew it wasn't their place to decide what truth best suited their needs.

Jesus said he is the truth and the only way to God. He's the son of God, so I say okay. I don't get to decide if that's too harsh or strict or intolerant. He was God's gift to me, my creator's provision for my sin. And if God says, this is it, this is the way I made for you, take it or leave it. I take it. This is the truth that needs to be taught in love to the thousands that pour through church doors every weekend. To hide that truth is to hide the amazing grace, love and peace given to us in the truth of Christ.

Faith Builder - The Suffering Servant

How would you summarize the ministry of Jesus? Starting with the creed of the early church, and the Gospels, many have summarized his life, his works, his death and his resurrection. Just as other prominent figures in history, the story of his life was recorded. But, unlike other prominent figures in history, his story was actually told well before his ministry on earth began.

The prophet Isaiah wrote around 700 B.C. what we now call the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Inside this book, a very complete summary of Jesus' life and purpose exist. Starting with verse 4 of Isaiah 53 speaking of God's suffering servant:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own ways; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

It goes on to say, "He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? Fore he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth."

"Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

This passage was written 700 years before Jesus walked the earth. When compared with Jesus' ministry in the Gospels, it's unmistakable who this passage refers to. Some have argued these verses were simply added after Jesus' life, which actually gives further testimony that the passage clearly refers to Jesus. This argument died about a half century ago with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among these scrolls was found an entire copy of the book of Isaiah. The latest date carbon dating offers for this scroll is 120 B.C., well before the time of Jesus.

These days the ministry of Jesus draws many critics. Some would say he was a good teacher, a nice guy, someone who cared for the poor, but not the Messiah. Some would equate him with Gandhi or Mother Theresa, but not the savior of their soul. This passage should give pause to any who hold those views. It encompasses his trials, his death, and his resurrection with astonishing detail. This prophecy revealed to Isaiah by God, summarized not only the events, but also the purpose of Jesus' life, 700 years beforehand. The last line reads,"For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors".

Compare these words to the words written shortly after his death and resurrection by those who knew Jesus. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living" 1 Cor 1:15. That passage was written within 5 years of Jesus' death.

Those who knew Jesus, who witnessed his death and resurrection were not saying Jesus was a nice guy or a good teacher. They understood him to be the son of God given as an offering for their sins; a fulfillment of prophecy from ancient times.

So here we are 2000 year later making new claims and new judgements. That's like people living 2000 years after your death saying your family, best friends, co-workers etc. didn't really know you or what you did or what you stood for, and then further claiming that they knew who you really were. Highly unlikely.

The most likely scenario, and what I know to be true, is that Jesus was exactly who he said he was and still is. He is the son of God who died for your sins and mine. Whoever believes in him will have their sins erased and will have the amazing honor of spending eternity in heaven. As stated in the Gospels, God sent Jesus not to condemn but to save.

(If you have any questions please leave a comment!)

Election Day

I have to admit I've been worried over the past few weeks about this election. Worried about the implications for our country and our children. Worried about the chips being chopped away from our freedoms by both parties. But as a Christian, I am reminded by God's word who is in ultimate control of our future. The political parties of this world have control over a limited domain, but scripture tells us God's domain encompasses all things.

Colassians 2:6-10 says, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Chirst, who is the head over every power and authority."

Every power and authority. That just about covers it. So, if you're a Christian today, don't get lost in the philosophies and worries of the world. Find strength in your faith and be thankful for the promises God has given you in Christ. Our country will last for a short time, but God's kingdom endures forever.

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57.

Follow the Evidence

I recently read this excerpt from a pamphlet produced on Intelligent Design and thought it was worth sharing.

"Many critics suggest that ID is an argument from scientific ignorance. This objection caricatures ID as arguing that because naturalists have failed to explain the origin of biological information and molecular machines, a “designer” must be posited to fill the gap in our current knowledge, yet this is not how the design argument is formulated. As ID philosopher of science Stephen Meyer writes, “Design theorists do not infer design because natural processes cannot explain the origin of biological systems, but because these systems manifest the distinctive hallmarks of
intelligently designed systems—that is, they possess features that in any other realm of experience would trigger the recognition of an intelligent cause.” The logical formulation here is positive, rather than negative. It begins with what is known, rather than what is unknown. ID starts with the observation that complex specified information (CSI) and irreducible complexity (IC) are known indicators of intelligent agent causation. Human beings, who are empirically observable designers, regularly produce designed systems such as written texts, computer programs, machines, etc. The technological advances of recent years have allowed scientists to look deep within life systems. To their amazement, the smallest units of life are not the simple blobs of jelly that early evolutionists predicted, but extremely complex IC systems full of CSI. The life systems now known to science are entirely analogous to the written texts, computer programs and machines produced by human designers. Scientists know that intelligent designers produce CSI. It is also known that natural mechanisms have not been observed to produce CSI. Based on what is known, ID theorists argue that an inference to an intelligent cause is the best current explanation for biological CSI and IC. The design inference is thus based on empirical evidence and rational analysis rather than ignorance.

The ID critic may still argue, “Okay, so we do not know how nature can produce CSI or IC on its own, but maybe one day we will.” Anti-ID theorists can argue that eventually we will discover how reams of genetic information arose by purely naturalistic means, and eventually we will show how molecular machines can be built through some sort of Darwinian process; therefore, to posit intelligent design is premature. However, if this is the argument against ID, then it must be understood that it is the naturalist who is making an argument rooted in ignorance and is hopeful for something that is not yet known. It turns out that the gap-argument against ID is itself a gap-argument."

Faith Builder - The Testimony of James

In my first faith builder post I went through the testimony of 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8. In this creed from some of the earliest Christians, we find that the Christian faith about Jesus was not invented over centuries. This creed was given to Paul by the eyewitnesses within a couple years of Jesus' death. If that was all this passage could offer, it would still be a remarkable text. The truth however, is that there is even stronger testimony that I haven't mentioned.

Looking at the passage again, notice the people who claimed they saw Jesus after his death. First Peter, then the apostles, then a group of 500 people, and then James, Jesus' half brother. This last appearance has great significance because we have some interesting information about James and Jesus' family in the gospels.

In what is thought to be the earliest written gospel, Mark, we find the first testimony as to what Jesus' family thought of him. "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."" Mark 3:21. Then in John 7:5, "For even his own brothers did not believe in him". From these passages we begin to understand that Jesus was not accepted before his death by his own family, including his brothers. Fortunately, the story does not end there for Jesus' family.

(Archaeology has shown Luke was one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world. His precise details have time and time again proven to be dead on. Luke not only wrote the gospel of Luke, but also the book of Acts.) It is in Acts that we get a post crucifixion update on Jesus' family, including his brother James. In Acts 1:14 Luke states "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." There's more. In Acts 15 James shows up again at the council in Jerusalem, and this time he's speaking as one who is a leader of the early Christian church. In Galatians 2:9 Paul goes to meet with James because he's a "pillar" of the church. What happened?

First he calls Jesus insane, and now he is leading his church. In disbelief he saw him killed. Following his crazy brother could lead to nothing good. He would be mocked, scorned, and possibly killed for standing up for him. What could change his mind after Jesus had died? By his own admission to Paul, as stated in 1 Corinthians, it was seeing the resurrected Jesus.