All for King Jesus...

Last night Jenni and I were looking at the stars and talking about God's promise to Abraham. Rich Mullins always said that one of those stars was lit just for us. We talked about God's promise to Abraham, that through him many nations would come.

This morning I started thinking how that promise really did not come about through Abraham, nor through Isaac, but it came through Jacob. Each of them was promised that the covenant made with Abraham would be fulfilled in them.

We do not hear this type of covenant again from God until David comes onto the scene and then it is promised again a very similar type thing, that his kingdom shall pass down and never be removed.

God has been playing this game of chess with the end game in mind all along. The entirety of Israel's history was deliberate strategy on the part of God to bring the messiah Jesus into the world to deliver mankind from the bondage of sin. Understanding this we can see why it was Jacob's direct lineage and not Isaac or Abraham's (both had sons that were not part of the fullfillment of God's promise - Abe had Ishmael, Isaac had Esau but all of Jacob's children became the nation of Israel) was the lineage through whom God choose to bring forth the nation of Israel. David was chosen because the DNA he carried was the DNA of the savior.

It makes me wonder how God is directing the flow of humanity in our world in order for Christ to return again.

Quotable Quotes from the book "In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson

So I've been reading this book and here are few ideas or quotes from my reading today that really challenged me and inspired me:

"Maybe a relationship with God doesn't simplify our lives. Maybe it complicates our lives in ways that they should be complicated.
All I know is this: Marriage complicates my life, Kids complicate my life. Pastoring a growing church complicates my life. Wealth will complicate your taxes, and success will complicate your schedule. Thank God for complications." (pg 85)

Speaking about Corrie ten Boom a Nazi concentration camp survivor:
"Corrie used to speak to audiences about her horrific experiences in the concentration camps, and she would often look down while she talked. She wasn't reading her notes. She was actually working on a piece of needlepoint. After sharing about the doubt and anger and pain she experienced, Corrie would reveal the needlepoint, She would hold up the backside of the needlepoint to reveal a jumble of colors and threads with no discernible pattern. And she'd say, "This is how we see our lives." Then she would turn the needlepoint over to reveal the design on the other side, and Corrie would conclude by saying: "This is how God views your life, and someday we will have the privilege of viewing it from His point of view." (pg. 98)

New Testament - Old doubts...

Last night I was thinking about the New Testament. I was thinking just how outlandish it all is. The idea that God would put on skin, that He would walk around, that He died and that through that our sins are forgiven and we are redeemed from an afterlife spent in hell. I thought about the idea that He was then raised back to life after being for 3 days, I mean, His heart had not beaten for three days, rigamortis had set in, he was , . It is all so unbelievable. What I started thinking about is how there are so many other documents that record events that are just as spectacular or at least similar in their miraculous nature, that we simply discount as frauds. The book of Mormon is one that comes to mind readily.
Here is what I realized. The New Testament is different from all other Manuscripts of this type. It is a set of documents that were all written in the same span of time that the events took place. Let me explain it this way. People live for 60-90 years. Jesus died in the early 30 AD's. The new Testament was all written before or up to about the 80's. This means that a maximum of 40 years had surfaced between the latest writings of the New Testament and the of Jesus. THIS MEANS: that the reports of the New Testament were testable. Individuals could have read the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and simply gone and talked with Nicodemus or Zacchaeus and asked if they had really witnessed Jesus in the manner the gospels record. No other document that I can think of has this same kind of "testability" to it. Joseph Smith wrote about things that had supposedly happened in the past. There is no way we can go and ask someone, did this happen. But early observers of Christianity had this luxury. It is no wonder the church grew by leaps and bounds in those early days. People in Jerusalem had seen all that had happened, they had heard reports and they were asking themselves, "what does this all mean?" Along comes Peter, he does a bit of preaching and explains the "Good News" and THOUSANDS accept Christ. It is no wonder. They accepted because it filled in the blanks for what they had witnessed.

Uzziah & Esau. to the cross.

I have been thinking about these two guys in Israels history. Esau gave up his birthright for a single meal. The present moment seemed so important and enticing that he gave up all the future held for him for a bowl of soup...
Uzziah had lived a righteous life. He was a good king for Israel, yet towards the end he became so proud of himself that he assumed the responsibility of the Priests and went himself to sacrifice before God. He was given a skin disease for his foolish pride.
It is so easy to look from the outside of this history and make judgemental calls. I imagine it is much harder to be in the situation. I wonder if Paul was able to identify more with the broken participants of Israels history as much as he was able to identify with the giants of the faith (2 Corinthians 12). I feel the need to constantly remind myself that there are meals out there that will tempt, but the birthright is worth too much, the battles that have been won in my life are not due to my own diligence and fortitude, but they are all the power of the Cross. I am worthless, Christ gives me worth...

Ezekiel Ramblings

I have been reading Zeek lately.  Some of it fly's right past me, but other parts are really sticking.  Last night, I was really struggling, I didn't really want to read the Bible.  I just wanted to read the books I've been getting into.  I was just about to give in and leave the Bible on the night stand, when I thought, "why would I read Bill Gates or Andy Stanley, when I could read the God of the Universe?"  So, I opened up Zeek and started reading.  I read about how God was fed up with the shepherding that the Israelites leaders had been doing and how He Himself was going to come and be their shepherd.  I began thinking about Jesus being the "Good Shepherd", about how Matthew said that Jesus had compassion on people because they were helpless and like sheep without a shepherd, and how Jesus asked Peter to feed His Sheep.  I could see Jesus being the direct fullfillment of this prophecy spoken in Ez. 34.  How God Himself showed us how to lead, how to love, how to have compassion.  It was just super interesting and a really cool study.  When it was all done with, I realized that if I had given in and not read, I would have missed it.  I would have missed seeing my savior fulfill a prophecy that was way before His time. 

Boy, I know I have missed so many other things because my mind has been distracted or my heart was just in other places.  I want to be sold out.  I want to be a world changer through Jesus.  As a teen I thought all of those things, I desired them all, but it was in immaturity, not really knowing what it takes, how hard it is, how life can subtly turn you.  Now I think them and think, "the only way is through the strength of Jesus".  I am not much by myself...  Not much at all...

A philosphical question and a question of philosophy...

As Christians, we are constantly trying to get rid of those elements of society that function in an immoral manner - porn on the web, violence in video games, sex in TV and movies, etc. My question is for those "free willers" out there, those Armenian brothers:
If God is a God of choice, desiring that individuals chose him, then why do we try to rid an individual of choice? Let me clarify, why do we try to rid ourselves of the negative choices in life?
Do we make for stronger Christians if we remove any possibility of sin?
Do we make for better Christians if we take away any chance of falling away?
Will grace abound? Is our job to clean up society and remove temptations? (I am not talking at a personal level, I am talking at a corporate level).
Someone might well then say, "what choice do we have but to get rid of immoral things, they corrupt, kill, maim and smell bad." Of course they do, they are immoral because they are in direct opposition to the things of God (which tend to smell quite peculiar and tantalizing). But is getting "rid" of this societal corrosion really the answer? Even God left Adam & Eve with a choice, he left them the chance to be immoral. It has always boggled me how much time we Christians put into banning, badmouthing, and breaking down immoral activities only to have five more pop up in their wake. I have long felt that, if anything, we loose ground in this fight. Perhaps, we do not gain ground because our struggle is not meant to be against imoral "things". Perhaps, God has never desired a moral nation or people, but an obedient, loving community. Perhaps, He cares much more about the condition of our souls than the language on our lips (fixing the first will lead to a rebirth in the former).
This is why Christians being involved in the working of politics and schools, homes and businesses, is of the utmost importance, because we must find a way to give a choice to the masses. We must make sure that the world not only has sex, drugs, and rock n' roll to chose from, but that they are able to see and chose the grace that can be found in a relationship with Jesus... If we make clear what is wrong but leave out what is right, we only make for moral people. I am about changed lives, not moral people...

FWD: I feel so... Dirty.

by: Emily Dangdiddilydo Dodge
" the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being"
-Genesis 2:7

When I read the first few chapters of Genesis it's quite similar to me watching one of my favorite movies.
I love watching Robin Hood Men in Tights. I well never grow tired of it... ever. In fact.. now that I've mentioned it, I'll probably watch it tonight.
Anywho... While I watch that movie it's easy for me to just let everything fly by me.. because it's so redundant and I almost have every line memorized.
It's the same when I read Genesis. It's a story that I've been told since I can remember. I've read over the chapters several times. It's easy for me to just think.. "why, this is pleasant, I enjoy it". And not really pay attention.
But last night when I was reading, Genesis 2:7 popped out at me, and it really hit me. Harder than any Mel Brooks Quote... believe it or not. :0)
"formed the man from the dust of the ground" Are you kidding me??? Dust isn't even good enough to be dirt. Atleast people like dirt... you can do stuff with dirt, grow things and plant and walk on it. Dust is just there, an annoyance.
How easy it is for me to forget just where I came from, and who I am.
Why is it so easy to forget who God is? To blotch out all that God has done and continues to do. As if it's not a big deal.
It's hard for me to get over myself. Wether I'm complaining about how bad things are, or taking pride in something I've accomplished. It's stupidity.

Without God, I am nothing but Dust.

Not Who I Am...

I woke up early this Christmas Eve. My thoughts were not on gum drops and little babies but on what I have become. I don't know if Christmas is a good time to take personal inventory or not, normally a thing left for New Years, but I have and so I will.
I couldn't stop thinking that my spirituality has been beaten and bruised and because of this brutality I have not been the man I should be, not for God, not for Jenni, not for the students in my ministry (I am not looking for accolades so please don't tell me how wrong I am). It is not as though I have abandoned any of those three or others, it is more like I have been choosing easy routes. Churches can be messy places, having people in them an all. Sometimes what should be is a far cry from what is, and when you are young and idealistic and run into those walls of resistance and messiness, it can really throw you off course. I have literally not done things in my youth ministry in the past few years because I have said "it is not worth it". Not, "it's not worth the time," or "worth the effort", "money", "sacrifice", etc. the "it" is the putting my neck on the chopping block in order to maybe share the gospel with a few kids. Doing something that might rock the boat a little bit, not for the sake of rocking but for the sake of the gospel.
Realizing that my bruises have left me a bit broken is one thing, but beginning to choose the path less trodden is another. I want every area of my life to be centered around Christ like compassion and service, often times it is centered around Kent like desires and complaining... I need the renewal of the Spirit of God, I need the Christ Child to smile on me and heal my brokenness. I need the self-control and servant heart that only God can deliver. I don't know that big changes are necessary, rather, small changes - after all, life is lived in the details with rare moments of grandness and beauty.
Well, how is that for confession and repentance.

It would be so nice, to grow old with you...

Last night I preached on the story surrounding the birth of John the Baptist. I realized shortly before I got up that the last time in the history of Israel when an elderly couple got pregnant was with good ol Abraham & Sarah. Through their child Issac and his child Jacob, would come the whole nation of Israel. The first covenant between God and man came from the birth announcements sent out by this old couple. We fast forward a couple thousand years and again we have a barren elderly couple who has faithfully followed the Lord. Except this time their child will usher in the new covenant not through his bloodline, but by his preaching and pointing people towards the messiah. I think it is as if God is saying, "this covenant I am now bringing will be similar in form to the old but will far surpass it in every way..."

Author's Intended Meaning?

I was reading a book for my greek tools class last night and the gentleman (Alan Black) was discussing doing good exegesis. One of the things that he was stressing, as all good bible college professors do, was the need to find the Author's Intended Meaning (AIM). I have always struggled with this idea. I struggle because there seems to be a dichotomy between our means of interpretation and our stance on the source of biblical literature. What I mean is this. When we talk about scripture, defend it, etc. we express the idea that these are not man made works but Spirit of God driven, divine masterpieces. Yet when we study them our goal is to find out what "Paul" or "Matthew" meant. We would argue that they are divine in origin and yet study them as though they were any other piece of literature. I guess the question I am struggling with, is if the Spirit of God is big enough to create within the scripture itself nuansces that even the hand that was writing them did not fully grasp. Is it possible that Paul was being carried along by the Spirit and wrote things that amazed him? If so, what would his intended meaning have to do with anything? I hope this makes sense.

The Purpose of Prayer

If there is one thing I struggle with as a believer it is the discipline of having a personally devoted prayer life.

I think Jesus gets me best in Matthew 6 when he says...

"6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."(emphasis mine)

When I pray I suffer from the knowledge that the Father already knows what I need before I ask him. I think many Christians have a nagging feeling about this knowledge that keeps them from having a devoted prayer life. I have wondered if it is my definition of what prayer is that keeps me from being motivated by it. I assume that prayer is a communication between God and I where I tell Him about me. What if prayer has very little to do with me (As far as providing God information of what I want, how I feel, etc. - he already knows, remember, he's God)? What if prayer has much more to do with me alligning myself with what Gods will is, what Gods heart beats for. What if it is about me seeking the coming of God's kingdome, and forgiveness of those I need to forgive as I am being forgiven. What if?

I Pose a Question or Three.

Is the Catholic History, my history?

Am I a part of Apostolic succession?

Thoughts anyone?