Statues

It's been forever since I've posted. Recently racial violence has erupted in the US because White Southerners don't want statues honoring their Confederate ancestors to be removed. I understand they are grieving the loss of something that has been there for their whole lives. It's normal to grieve.

However, most of those White Southerners would also identify as Christians, and Christians are called to deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. Grief and giving up your rights is one of the core attributes of a real Christian.

I wrote this on Facebook:

Statues.

I don't get how people who read the Bible can be such big proponents of saving statues.

The Old Testament is full of stories of the godly tearing down altars, shrines, and idols. A literal idol is a statue that represents a god or goddess. In the ancient world, a god or goddess was a representation of an ideal or a power.

Shrines are statues or memorials to an ancestor. (whether that ancestor is Hebrew, Egyptian, Chinese or Confederate).

Gideon got in trouble with the Baal-worshipers for tearing down a statue.

Aaron sinned when he built a statue.
Jeroboam sinned when he built statues.

The ungodly kings left the statues. The godly kings tore down the statues, and dealt with backlash from the people whose heritage was being offended.

Jewish people around the time of Jesus were so concerned with idolatry that they didn't even like the Olympics because of handing out little humanoid trophies.

Not all statues are bad--that is misunderstanding the goodness of the material world.

But, anytime you value a statue and what it stands for more than the vocation of humans to be shalom-makers, you're committing idolatry in the most literal way possible.


"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles." Romans 1:22-23

Group Think | Do not conform to the pattern of this world. (God and guns part 1)

In the past year or two, I've found myself completely change positions on what became a hot-button issue after the Sandy Hook shootings in December.

I never have really enjoyed shooting guns--I do have a BB gun for trying to kill the gophers in my backyard, but I don't have that "Wow, this is so cool!!" feeling that a lot of other men (and women) get when shooting something more powerful.

However, I used to be really supportive of people who owned guns, and wanted to defend their viewpoint.  Here's why:

I used to be a pretty conservative Republican (today I'm a moderate independent).  Why? Because I'm an evangelical Christian raised in the 1980s and 90s, and that meant you were a Republican.  I used to be in favor of people owning guns because I was a Republican.

Even after I became a political independent, I was still in favor of people owning guns because most vocal American Christians are Republicans, and thus support gun rights.  I know that's a little over-simplified, but hang on with me, and I'll try to demonstrate causation.

My default way of thinking was "guns are fine. Self-defense is fine. Pre-emptive use of drones or snipers is fine if the person is really a threat to society."

I thought so because the people around me thought so.

On the internet, sometimes people talk about "group-think."  Group-think is when everyone on a message board has the same opinion regarding an issue because everyone on that message board has the same opinion (kind of circular logic).  In the outside world, there could be a much better opinion being discussed, but because of the bubble of that message board, the whole group has the same opinion.

My old views on guns, weapons, and such was group-think--group-think of my friends, the religious right, whatever.

What the internet refers to as "group-think" the apostle Paul refers to as "conforming to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2).

In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrased Romans 12:2 "Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking."

When I first heard that sentence, it blew me away.  I think it's my favorite verse in The Message.  I had always assumed that I could stop conforming to the pattern of "this world" by avoiding things like sexual sin, anger, lying, bribery--you know, those clear-cut sins we love to talk about in America.

When I heard The Message, and thought about the word "culture," I realized how much of what I believe is based on how I fit into the group-think of those around me without even thinking.

What shapes your culture?  Your parents, family, childhood friends and experiences, religious background, ethnicity, social status, schooling, finances, TV, movies, songs, current friends and experiences, work environment...

The most overlooked way Christians fit into culture without thinking is by fitting into the group-think of the church.  Look, the church is made up of flawed people who are often deceived or distracted simply because they are people.  

I know (now) that not every evangelical Christian had the same view on guns that I did, but the majority of the people I knew in the church at that time had pretty similar opinions on this issue.

Just because everyone else thinks it doesn't mean it's right--even if they're Christians.

There are so many things that each of us believe because of group-think.  I'm going to dedicate a couple of blog posts to unpacking how to get out of group-think and stop fitting into culture as we are commanded to do in light of Romans 12:1-2.  Then, I'm going to spend some time looking at the issue of guns/weapons as an example of how I have applied Romans 12 to my own life and seen myself faced with the reality that my old way of thinking was rooted in group-think and often countered the very teachings of Scripture.  

Does God Judge Nations? My Response to Christians claiming the recent shooting was God's judgment on America

God does not judge nations collectively, with one exception: when they attack other nations, especially His covenant people.  Things were different in the Old Testament, but we can learn a lot from that time, if we study how He dealt with His covenant people, and how He dealt with the other nations.  But, we need to keep in mind who God's covenant people are today, and what constitutes a nation.

_________________

I don't blog too much these days, so I'd better give some context for whoever reads this in the coming years.  Last week there was a shooting in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, which lead to the deaths of 27 people, including 20 first grade children.

Like most disasters (natural or man-made), some Christian leaders responded by saying this was a form of God's judgment on America.  James Dobson, for instance, said that the shootings were God's judgment for America accepting abortion and gay marriage.  

Well, I happen to be working through studying the minor prophets of the Old Testament, and recently studied Jeremiah in-depth.  When reading the Prophets, it's clear that neither of those issues is the sort of thing for which God judges nations.  Maybe individuals, but not nations.  

Right now I'm studying the book of Amos, which provides a concise, clear description of what God judges nations for.  

In Amos 1-2, God delivers judgments on several of the nations surrounding Israel and Judah, then hones in on those two nations, with whom God had a special covenant.  

The nations of Syria, Tyre, Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Ammon were judged by God.  Each of them were judged for things like attacking other nations or helping exile people (which may or may not refer to an attack on Israel--God's chosen people in the Old Testament).  

Judah and Israel were judged for specifically turning away from the LORD (YHWH), their God.  They were held to a higher standard because they were God's covenant people.  

Amos 3:2 makes it clear that the Hebrew people were the only family God would punish this way.  Throughout the Prophets, Israel and Judah were judged guilty of breaking God's covenant by doing two things: mistreating the poor (particularly through ignoring them) and worshiping false gods.  

So, what does this show us about how God deals with nations?

1. The only nation God judges for issues of righteous living is his holy nation.  In the Old Testament, that was Israel (Exodus 19:6).  We as Christians believe we are the holy nation today (1 Peter 2:9).  So, the only nation that God collectively judges for sin issues today is the Church (some people may include modern Israel, but that's the only other possibility).  When it comes to righteous living, God deals with the others as individuals.

2. God deals with other nations based on how they treat other nations, especially his chosen people.  The judgments in Amos deal with how the nations were treating other nations.  In Jeremiah 50-51, God judges Babylon for its degree of violence, even though He chose them as an instrument of justice!  In the Prophetic books, God especially cared how nations treated Israel, His Old Covenant chosen people.  If we believe that the Church is God's chosen people today, then all that matters for national judgment is whether a nation persecutes Christians or not.  God still will judge individuals within each nation and leaders of each nation based on their actions (righteous living included). 

3. America (and most modern countries) aren't "nations" in the biblical sense at all.  In both Hebrew and Greek, the principal word used for "nation" also means "family."  In Amos 1, Edom is specifically judged for sinning against its "brother" (Amos 1:11).  Edom, Moab, and Ammon all descended from relatives of the line of Israel (Edom from Esau; Moab and Ammon from Lot).  God says that Israel is the only "family" he has known in chapter 3.  

The nations God was judging in Old Testament times were ethnic groups.   The Bible presents a clear picture of federal sin and federal guilt--if someone in your extended family (your ethnic/linguistic nation) sins, then you are guilty.  Romans 5 goes so far as to say that we are all guilty because of the sin of humanity, not just our family-nation.  We can't just say "my ethnicity is good/bad," we must say "all people are sinners, therefore we experience judgment."  

However, under the New Covenant, we can be acquitted of the sins of our ethnicity and all humanity--we can be set free by becoming federated to Jesus himself.  This idea is hard for us Americans to understand, since we don't think this way culturally.  However, this is exactly the point of Romans 5:12-19.  

4. God always warns before He judges.  The whole reason we have the prophetic books in the Old Testament is because God spoke through the prophets regarding what He was about to do.  God has always clearly warned a society that He was about to judge, and how He was about to judge.  Unless someone can produce a record of a prophecy foretelling the specific tragedy in question, they can't retrospectively declare it was God's judgment.  

_________________________

So, anyone who says that the Newtown massacre was God's judgment on America is wrong on many accounts.  First off, since most or all of the people who died were of varying European descent, we would have to say that God was judging those various nations.  It's either that, or you can say that God was judging all of humanity.  You can't say "God was judging America," because it just doesn't make sense in light of the theology of federal sin (Romans 5).  

If we do look at the USA as a nation, then the only thing it is accountable for (as a corporate entity) is how well it treats God's chosen people--the Church (not the nation of Israel, which most Christian Zionists claim without thinking about verses like 1 Peter 2:9 and Hebrews 8:13).  Every person starts off equally guilty because of the sin of the human race.  Leaders within our government and each individual in our society are then individually accountable to God for their actions.

Finally, whoever claims that something was a judgment of God, when it wasn't is taking God's name in vain, and attributing the work of Satan to God.  That seems like something pretty serious--like something that might be worth God's judgment.

*A friend pointed out something, which I want to clarify: I can't be 100%  sure that no one prophesied the events of last week, so I can't be 100% sure that my fourth rule applies to the current situation (you'll notice I didn't apply it in the 2nd and 3rd-to-last paragraphs).  It's also the most generally discerned biblical principle, so I hold it the most loosely of the four (which is why it's number 4).  The first three points clearly do apply to the recent events.  

Thoughts on Psalm 33:12 -or- One of the Problems With Christian Products

I'm in the middle of reading a book at work (church) and I went in the kitchen to get some hot water for my french press.  I noticed the calendar on the wall.  Yesterday I saw that the calendar had a picture of a mustard field for the month of July and a verse:


"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.  Psalm 33:12"

When I saw the picture yesterday I thought about how the calendar implies that any nation which turns to the Lord will be blessed.  This creates poor theology.  Americans think that if we turn back to God we will be blessed.  Truthfully, that verse was specifically in reference to Israel and the promise in it was for those people.  In New Testament times, it applies to Christians as the kingdom of God, not to organized nations.

Today, when I went back in the kitchen, I thought, "this verse must be one of the least applicable verses to us in the New Testament."  I gave it a little more thought and saw that this verse is actually incredibly important for us today.  Here's a quick look at what this verse means:

I know that the word used for blessed here (ashre) means "blessed/happy."  Ashre means that our lives are successful and pleasant when we follow God.  This type of statement is a brief foray into proverbial wisdom, in which righteousness leads to happiness and wickedness leads to being cursed.  We know the world is much more complicated than that, and the Bible accounts for this other statements all throughout it.

"The nation whose God is the LORD" refers to the nation which worships the LORD (or YHWH).  The only earthly nation which worshiped YHWH was Israel.  In ancient thought, a god and a nation went together.  In Exodus 6:7, YHWH says to the nation of Israel, "I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."  


Ancient people believed that Ba'al was the god of the Philistines, Che'mosh was the god of the Moabites, Ra was the god of the Egyptians, and YHWH was the god of the Israelites.

So this whole statement is simply saying "Blessed/happy is Israel because their God is YHWH."

Unfortunately, the calendar in our kitchen made three crucial errors.
1. They uncapitalized LORD, which we use to denote the name of God (YHWH), and simply turned it into Lord, which more or less we use to mean "God."  So all the calendar says is "blessed is the nation whose God is God."  This is really not a very meaningful phrase.

2. They implicitly applied this verse as an invitation to all nations to make YHWH into their national deity.  The only way outsiders can choose to follow YHWH is as individuals through the blood of Christ.  When we do this, we become part of a new nation.  1 Peter 2:9 says about all Christians, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  I as a Christian am no longer primarily identified as an American or as ethnically Japanese, Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Italian (or any of my other ethnic groups).  I am part of God's holy nation.

3.  The error that allowed the misinterpretation of this verse is the way the calendar makers took this part of the verse severely out of context.  The whole verse says:

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance."

The point is that God chose Israel.  Israel did not choose God.

Earlier I thought this verse was pointless for New Testament times.  The reverse is true.  This verse shows us that even if an entire nation chose YHWH as their God, it wouldn't matter.  He has to choose that nation.  The first nation God chose was Israel.  This was the first covenant (Old Testament).

In the New Testament (new covenant), God has chosen a different nation to be his inheritance.  Ephesians 1:18 says that Jesus' inheritance is "in his holy people."  This is the Church!  We as the holy nation are the people chosen by God.  

So Psalm 33:12 today means "blessed/happy is the Church."  We worship the God of Israel, and we have been chosen to be the inheritance of Christ. 

Now only if Calendar makers could fit all of that over a pretty picture.  

Incidentally, I think the picture they chose (of a mustard field) is quite fitting for a discussion about a proper theology of the Kingdom of God and how it interacts with nations.  I have briefly written before about how mustard grows within other fields, just as the Kingdom of God grows within existing nations.  

The Two Shall Become One Flesh

I just wanted to follow up on the last blog, and share the reasons why I started thinking about these things. Right after the phrase "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" is introduced in Genesis 2, the author writes, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24 ESV).

This shows that the situation described of the first couple is also prescribed to every married couple. This is what God commands of a marriage: two becoming become one.

The Practical Side:

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time working on Christmas presents with Julie. Usually if I'm working on stuff on my computer or wasting time on facebook, I am doing things that we don't partake in together. For the last six weeks though, the vast majority of our free time has been spent together as we have been creating stuff or coming up with ideas or buying things or wrapping gifts. It has been really great and got me thinking about how I like this time of year because it's so busy.

The reason I like being busy is because we are doing a lot together. I don't like the busyness itself, but I love that I am forced to do things with her, which I should usually be doing anyway.

I want to find ways where my things and hobbies and ministries can become ours, and where her things and hobbies and ministries can become ours.

Julie was pointing out a few months ago that we still have "my car" and "your truck," and we still even think of our computers or furniture as "yours" or "mine," when really we legally co-own all of it, and we want to work on thinking of our stuff and time that way.

Why does any of this matter anyway? - The Theological Side

This is all incredibly significant, not just practical.

The idea of two becoming one is meant to symbolize the Trinity. Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are individual persons but one God, in a marriage we are meant to see two souls with one flesh. It's incomprehensible, and it's priceless as a representation of the nature of God.

"Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" - thoughts on marriage from the Bible

Lately I've been thinking about the phrase "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." By "lately" I mean since right before I got married a couple years ago. This phrase is found in Genesis 2:23, right after Eve is created. Adam says, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."

At first glance, you might think he is just saying that he finally has another human being with him, since he had been looking at the animals to find a "suitable helper," but couldn't find one until Eve was created.

However, it's pretty clear in Scripture that there is something more to it than that.

A few years ago I read the book Sex God by Rob Bell, which explores the connections between Christian Spirituality and Sexuality. I think Bell made some minor points into a bigger deal than they ought to be, but the book did have some good ideas in it. He said that "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" refers to the idea that where one spouse is weak, the other is strong, and vice versa.

While that is a great idea, I don't think that is the primary intent of the phrase "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."

I was listening to Genesis 29 today, and heard in verse 14 when Laban says to his nephew Jacob upon meeting him for the first time, "surely you are my bone and my flesh!"

Laban is saying "we are related!" when he says they are bone and flesh. So to say "You are bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" is to say "we are more intimately connected than any other human relationship--we are more connected than blood relatives are."

So I think the point of "bone of my bones & flesh of my flesh" is to say "we are so connected that we have everything in common. Sure, there are areas where one of us is strong and one is weak, and in those areas, we have each other's back. In the areas where we have a choice, though, we are devoted to one another completely."

Many couples do not choose to live in this type of marriage, which is the way marriage was meant to be in its perfect design. This shows up practically when couples choose to do things that separate rather than draw together. For example, I don't think a Christian couple can keep their finances separate if they really want to have a marriage that reflects God's best intent for them. Or, if your hobbies are taking up more of your time individually than together, it's time to get a new hobby you can do together. You can figure out a bunch of other ways this principle can apply.

If you're married or want to get married, think about it.

Thoughts on Glenn Beck from a "Social Justice Christian"

A few weeks back Julie and I got a new TV and plugged it into our cable. We found out that suddenly we were getting 100 or 150 channels instead of the 18 or so we had before. Last week I was at home for a little while and for some reason thought I would watch the political talking heads. I don't like political TV, and for some time I've been pretty unsatisfied with both Republicans and Democrats (see point 3 in my list below).

Glenn Beck happened to be on, and I watched him for 10 minutes or so and came away with the idea that really what he has is a religious following. I know a lot (most) evangelical Christians are conservative, and I know of a few who were/are pretty ardent fans of Beck.

I thought, "This guy would make a really good cult leader or TV Preacher." I decided that it would be a good blog if I wrote about how so many people put their trust in politics rather than Jesus.

Oh the irony.

I later found out that the day before Beck had told people to leave their churches if the church taught anything about "social justice" or "economic justice." Here's some info on that. Here's why I call it ironic: most responses I've heard in defense of Beck have run somewhat along the lines of: yes, I as a Christian do believe in caring for the poor, but I believe it's the Church's job, not the government's.

So, what they're saying is "people should trust in Jesus, not the government." I agree with that. In fact, that's the most common argument against liberal politics if you're a Christian. In an ideal world, it's a solid argument, too. But we don't live in an ideal world, and I think this statement is a rationalization and weak excuse for most people who say it (see points 2-3 in my list below).

And what I'm saying is "people should trust in Jesus, not politics." That's why I dislike it when people are way into politics. If you spend more time watching Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann (just naming one conservative and one liberal) than reading your Bible and talking about Jesus, then you're showing more emotional and intellectual attachment to a political opinion than to the message of Jesus.

_____________________________

So my responses to Glenn Beck's statements about leaving your church because it teaches social justice are this:

1. Jesus should be the center of every facet of life.

In Isaiah, we read that "the government will be upon his (the Messiah's) shoulders." If you believe Jesus is the Messiah, you believe that all government and politics are broken until they come under the definitive control of Jesus. For the meantime, humans are never going to get it right, and we are responsible to let our faith rule our politics, not the other way around.

2. Christians who help the poor understand the role that government plays.

When you start helping the poor, you become aware of the governmental/political systems that contributed and/or caused their poverty. You ALWAYS will ultimately be changed politically. Your stances will soften. You will begin to see that God works in mysterious ways, and His work cannot be described in legislation.

Most Christians who say "Helping the poor is the church's job, not the government's" aren't helping the poor. And if they are, they aren't really living justly, just with token compassion. Unless you are choosing to give away more than you're keeping for yourself, it's hard to consider you an expert on this topic. I'm sure not doing that, and I don't know of many people who are.

In the Old Testament God made it clear that nations have a responsibility to care for everyone and that justice is part of the government's responsibility.

3. Being a party-line Republican or a party-line Democrat is an unwise stance for a Christian.

I've written a blog about this before. It's a bit more detailed, but here's a short version:

Let's revisit the person who says, "Helping the poor is the church's job, not the government's."
On one hand, people who say this will say that the government should not legislate the helping of the poor. On the other hand, the same people will usually say that the government should legislate the illegalization of abortion and gay marriage.

Sorry, but if you're consistent, you have to be a person who believes that everything in the Bible should become law, or that people should have the right to do whatever they want and that the Gospel should spread first and then the Holy Spirit will change the way people live (I guess this is Libertarianism). The first option means that Christians should support codifying social justice and moral behavior into law. The second option means that Christians should not try to legislate justice or morality, but seek to engage individuals on a heart level instead of a legal level. Personally I'm pretty into number 2, since Jesus seemed to enjoy building relationships with those who were breaking the moral laws of his day.

4. Christian social justice is extraordinarily different from socialism

Karl Marx came up with the idea of mandatory redistribution of wealth, but the disciples of Jesus came up with the idea of voluntary redistribution of wealth (Acts 4:32). There is a vast chasm between the two concepts. One is forced by unjust tyrants, and one is empowered through the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 4:33).

But possibly more relevant to this topic, God created a system of economics in the Old Testament called Jubilee. It was neither socialism nor capitalism, and you can read about it in Leviticus 25.

5. If anyone loves Glenn Beck (or anyone else) more than they love their church, I hope they do leave their church.

That kind of person has their priorities in the wrong place, and is hurting the health of their church in indescribable ways. By leaving, maybe they'll get a better picture of how valuable the church is and return to it changed, with the right values. Or maybe they won't, but the church will be better equipped to reach people who are less opinionated on trivial matters and disgusted by those who are so opinionated.

It's fine to be a fan of some talking head, but not if you love their voice more than you love God's. That is idolatry. And it's as big an issue today as it was 4000 years ago.

6. Churches and Pastors (like me) should not endorse specific bills or politicians, but should share how they personally apply their faith to politics.

This is incredibly risky. A few years ago, I wrote a blog saying that I was going to vote for Obama. I don't want to talk about what I think about him now, since that's off topic. But the reason for writing the blog was to demonstrate how I personally used my worldview to determine who to vote for rather than just voting for the Republican candidate as I had always done before.

I enter blogs like that one and this one kind of nervous that someone will misread it or write me off because I am more liberal or conservative than they are. But the benefit of doing life together and sharing how we each come to decisions through our faith outweighs the risk for me.

I don't care who or what you vote for and against. I do care that you use your faith to make those decisions instead of just voting how you want to and then distorting your faith to support your decision.

Jesus is God

OK, all this answering of Jehovah's Witnesses that I've been doing lately has been really good for me.

It's forced me to think. It's led me to passages I haven't read in a long time. It's made me use my mind to investigate how well I have things thought-out.

But, I also highly value the church as a body. So, I pay attention to what other Christians are thinking and saying. I recently came across this:

There is no issue in the Bible of greater importance than the identity of the one who died for us to be our Savior -- Jesus Christ. We must therefore be sure that we are accepting Jesus for who He really is, because if we are not, we are following a false Christ (2 Cor. 11:4,13). Therefore, we will examine the biblical evidence that Jesus Christ is not only fully man, but also fully God.

Is God the Savior of the world? "Before me there was no God formed and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and there is no savior besides Me," God tells us in Isaiah 43:10,11. This verse teaches several significant things:
1. There always has been and always will be only one true God.
2. There is no Savior of the world except for this one true God.
3. Therefore, the Savior of the world must be the one true God.

Is Jesus the Savior of the world? I do not think that anyone who has read the New Testament would dispute this. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation (NWT) refers to Jesus as the Savior: "...and of the Savior of us, Christ Jesus" --Titus 2:13. Therefore, since: 1. The one true God is the only Savior of the world (Isaiah 43:10,11), and 2. Jesus is the Savior of the world (Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1), 3. Jesus must therefore be the one true God. To deny that Jesus is the one true God, one would either have to deny that Jesus is the Savior, or say that God is lying to us in Isaiah 43:11. Neither alternative fits with Scripture.

The above quote is taken from this site, where the author's discussion continues for a few more paragraphs.

The author also further discusses the misuse of Greek translation by JW "scholars."

The existence of the New World Translation further illustrates the need for scholars who disagree with each other to work on translations. This prevents one group's theology from hijacking the intent of the Holy Spirit in the translation process.

But, poor scholarship aside, I want to focus on the main thing: Jesus is God.

Although Jesus never said, "I am God," he pretty much did.

A number of times, people said, "You are God," or something to that effect (e.g.) John 10:33. Jesus, even if he's just a good teacher, would have clearly denied that if it wasn't the case. But he never did.

More significantly, Jesus claimed to be God in a way that was plain as day to the Jewish audience he was speaking to. Check it out in John 8:57-59:

⁵⁷"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"

⁵⁸"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" ⁵⁹At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Obviously, undoubtedly, irrefutably (by anyone who approaches this passage without bias) Jesus is claiming to be "I AM." In Exodus 3:14, God reveals that His name is "I AM."

I love that name. I love the rich meaning within it. I won't go into it here, because it's kind of off-topic. Maybe later.

The point is that we know God's name is "I AM." In John 8:58, Jesus says, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

It takes either a serious abuse or lack of logic to miss the point that Jesus claimed to be God. Often pre-conceived notions of who Jesus is and isn't fuel these abuses of logic.

Answers to Jehovah's Witnesses -part 2-

A few posts ago, I wrote briefly about the Jehovah's Witnesses. This led to a few comments, which I'm responding to here and in the previous post. The second comment on my blog (two posts ago) said this:

jessica said...

What about Jw's message do you find harmful and misleading?

It's unfortunate that you feel that way, but we can be grateful to Jehovah God for the gift of free will which enables you to think on your own.

I'd be curious to know if its because we teach the resurrection hope, the fact that dead loved ones will come to life in the near future - Acts 24:15 and John 5:28,29

or that God's Kingdom (that Jesus told us to pray for) will soon bring untold blessings to faithful mankind- Matt 6:9, 10

or lastly because we don't engage in politics or fight against our fellow man in wars because Isiah 2:2-4 prophesied about true Christian's beating their swords into plowshares and spears into shears

Feel free to review our beliefs at www.watchtower.org along with your copy of the bible.

Let me say this last thing if your conscious really bothers you as you print those materials why don't you take a stand for what you in believe in. Because of our faith in Jehovah and Jesus Christ and God's word the Bible, we certainly do!

I quickly discussed my main beef with Jehovah's Witness theology (doctrine, really), in the last post.

But, let me address each of these ideas briefly.

First, regarding the idea that we can each think on our own. I fully agree with this idea. God gave each of us a mind to use. We shouldn't just accept things without carefully considering them. And once we do accept them, it is important to revisit them from time to time and ask "Why do I believe what I believe?"

Unfortunately, every single one of us is gullible. To varying degrees, we just believe stuff without investigating it. It is so easy for many Christians to point the finger at Jehovah's Witnesses, but in fact, most Christians do the same thing.

Let me address each camp:
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus and Michael (the archangel) are the same guy, and that he is the only archangel.

Daniel 10:13 says, "Then Michael, one of the chief princes..." This obviously means there are at least 2 beings on the same level as Michael. He is not on his own level of importance.

No one who just picked up a Bible on their own and read it from start to finish would come up with the idea that Jesus and Michael are the same guy. Why? Because Michael has others at the same level as Him, whereas Jesus is on his own. In Philippians 2:9, the Father "gave him (Jesus) the name that is above every name."

That is just a quick example of Jehovah's Witnesses not using their free-thinking minds, and accepting what has been spoon fed them.

Now, Christians (especially American Evangelicals, like myself) do exactly the same thing. We're told that we can be perfect little middle-class suburbanites, entitled to our nice house, gym memberships, a couple of cars, etc. On the other hand, the way Jesus lived was quite different. I write about this all the time on my blog.

Let me address the other things Jessica wrote. I do believe in the resurrection. I do believe that those who believe in the sacrifice that Jesus (who is fully God) made, will be raised to live with Him forever. However, I don't think we will care much that our loved ones are with us (cf. Matthew 22:23-30), when we are in the midst of a glorious God. So, I have to disagree with the emphasis that both the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons put on the resurrection being about family. It's more about our relationship as a single bride with our groom (Jesus) (Rev. 21:9, 22:17).

Next, Jessica mentioned the JW belief that God's Kingdom will bring untold blessing to faithful mankind, and we are to pray for it. I agree with that one. Jesus said we should pray to our Father that His Kingdom would come. And I have to compliment the Jehovah's Witnesses for doing a great job in displaying glimmers of what the Kingdom of God looks like when they go into impoverished places and commune with the poor, who have a special place in God's heart, as we see throughout the whole Bible. However, it is only a glimmer of the Kingdom, because it comes laden with false teaching.

Lastly, Jessica wrote that Jehovah's Witnesses do not engage in politics or wars, because "true Christians" will beat their swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:2-4).

If you read my blog frequently, you know that I recently wrote a blog called, "Christians Should Be Politically Independent." However, Christians should engage in politics. Jesus said we are to be "the salt of the earth" (Mt. 5:13), and salt works its way throughout food. When we read about the prophet Daniel, we see that he not only loved God's Kingdom, but served his nation as well. I wrote another blog a couple months ago called "Don't love the USA, just serve it." Unfortunately, the predominance of the religious right has confused many people, who think that all Christians believe in the Republican Party Platform. I do not (well, I do in some areas, but not most). I also don't believe in the Democratic Party Platform in most areas.

As for war...The Bible doesn't talk about "true Christians" beating their swords into plowshares. Isaiah is writing about "the day of the Lord (Yahweh)." This is usually understood to mean the full manifestation of the Kingdom of God upon the Earth. He is saying that at that point, there will be no more war. Now, I personally believe that war should be the exception, and not the rule. I would call myself a most-of-the-time-pacifist.

However, check out Jesus' encounter with the Centurion in Matthew 8. He says, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith" (Mt. 8:10). Perhaps he's calling the Centurion a "true Christian." Or consider Paul's encounter with Cornelius (Acts 10). Cornelius is undoubtedly a "true Christian." God appeared to Him. And nothing was said of leaving his career as a soldier.

Yes, peace is always best. But I do believe in just wars. Romans 13, when taken in context, explains that while it is not appropriate for us as individuals to take vengeance, it is the role of the government to do so. That firmly establishes a biblical justification for war. However, most Christians should not be soldiers, but there is definitely biblical basis for there to be exceptions.

As for the phrase at the end of Jessica's comment about taking a stand for what I believe in, I have thought this through quite a bit. Perhaps I will post it another time when there is more space. I'll put the tag "ethics" in there to make it easier to find.

Christians Should be Politically Independent

In my last blog, I wrote that Christians should love the Kingdom of God and serve whatever nation they are in.

I've come to realize that most Christians have an inconsistent theology of politics.

Perhaps the best way to explain this is to look at stereotypical Republican Evangelicalism.

The theology behind the beliefs of the religious right looks like this:
1. Abortion and Homosexuality are wrong from a biblical perspective.
2. Christians are to be the salt of the earth and influence the world around them.
3. Therefore, it is good for Christians to promote our moral beliefs through the laws of the land.
4. Christians fight for laws banning abortion and gay marriage.

I would break this thought process down like this:
1. Christians believe ____________.
2. Christians are to influence the world.
3. Christians are to take their belief in __________ and try to introduce it to the legal system.

Many evangelical Christians (if not most) also believe that it is good to look after the poor. The Bible teaches this. However, most evangelicals do not think that is the government's responsibility.

I have a question: is this because you think that it's the church's job and not the government's? Or, is it because you have been so influenced by the Republican party that you are more loyal to the party platform than the Bible?

It really doesn't matter. Let's take the system of applying Biblical truth to politics (that I laid out earlier) and apply it to the issue of caring for poor people.

1. The Bible teaches that we should care for the poorest and "least" in our society.
2. Christians are to be the salt of the earth and influence the world around them.
3. Therefore, it is good for Christians to promote our moral beliefs through the laws of the land.
4. Christians should introduce legislation to help poor people through the resources of the government.

If you agree with my logic, which I think is pretty solid, then you have to ask if it's possible to attach yourself to the party platform of either the Republicans or the Democrats.

So, I feel that it is wise for Christians to be unaffiliated with either political party. And I believe that if you claim to be an intellectual Christian who values thinking and logic, then you must think about this issue and make that decision.

A side note, if you insist on picking a party....

Rick Warren points out that the Bible has 100 times as many verses about the poor as it does about homosexuality (see the most recent issue of Relevant magazine).

So, if you have to pick a party based on the Bible, you should consider being a democrat. Especially, if you are an evangelical, who believes in sola scriptura--Scripture is the only rule for faith and practice.

I mostly say that because most of us Evangelicals are Republicans--and tend to listen to their political ideas instead of God's commands for our lives.

The fact is that the Democratic agenda isn't God's either. Both are wrong. Both are incomplete. That's why I'm independent, and why I recommend making that same decision.

Mustard Seed Part 4: The Kingdom of God grows and grows and grows

One of the coolest things about mustard is that not only does each plant grow quickly, but it can spread so fast and so extensively that it can wipe out whatever plant is supposed to be growing in a field.

This picture is just one field that I happened to be driving past.


All around Santa Rosa right now, mustard is in bloom. It is a great reminder that the Kingdom is growing, and also a reminder to live for that Kingdom today.

I wonder if we would live more like Jesus taught if we were putting ourselves in situations that are like the parables more often. Does living near mustard help me? Would watching sparrows help me?

Incidentally, I saw a sparrow perched in that mustard field, but we were driving, and I couldn't take another picture. Too bad. The Bible makes a point of the fact that the mustard plant grows large enough for the birds to sit on it.

I'll keep my eye out for more interesting mustard pictures or facts, but for now, that's what I know about mustard.

Mustard Seed Part 4: The Kingdom of God grows in other kingdoms

One interesting thing about mustard being a weed is that it grows in the midst of other crops. I've read places that because it grows so fast and spreads so fast and so much that it can actually choke out planted crops.

Here (as in Israel, where Jesus was when he told the story), the mustard will grow in the middle of the rows of grapes in vineyards. Here are some examples:



Above is a normal one, here's an edited one:



So, my reminder is that the Kingdom of Heaven (as represented by the mustard) grows in the midst of other Kingdoms (represented by the fields). Sometimes, it's not supposed to grow in those fields, but it does.

I don't think Jesus was making this point when he told the parable, but it's still a good thought, and it is true.

And, here is the most Christian picture of all time. I'm glad I got to take it:


1. Mustard (Mt. 13)
2. Vineyards (a lot of parables Jesus told)
3. Mustard is a weed, Jesus told a lot of Parables about weeds
4. The road at the bottom: The narrow and wide roads
5. Streams of light coming down from the Heavens
6. The wires at the top signify the power of God.
7. This is getting ridiculous

But, I bet if Jesus was walking around with some disciples and came to this spot, he would tell 4 or 5 parables.

Mustard Seed Part 3: The Kingdom of God grows like crazy (tons of pictures)

First off, please don't steal my pictures. Ask if you want to use them!

This is part 3 of my Mustard Seed series based on Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed" in Matthew 13.

Today I want to focus on how quickly Mustard grows. Mustard can go from being just a tiny sprout to being 2 or 3 feet tall in just a couple of weeks.

Not only that, but it can spread throughout a field quickly. Here are a bunch of pictures I took last weekend of the mustard fields in Sonoma County (in Alexander Valley). None of these were planted. These are all weeds.



Above: A pretty huge field full of mustard. There will be a panorama in a few posts to show you the scope of how much mustard there was there.


You can get an idea of how expansive this mustard field was, based on the size of that old Oak tree and barn in the background

This picture doesn't have as much artsy processing going on, so you can see what the mustard fields look like. This shot is taken from the top of a nearby mountain (we had just come out of the snow), and you can see just how much the yellow mustard has spread throughout the vineyards.

Clearly, mustard not only grows quickly as an individual plant, but rapidly spreads throughout its environment. It reproduces faster than it can be controlled.

In the same way, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed.

Mustard Seed Part 2: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a weed

Click to enlarge

This is part 2 of my Mustard Seed posts. Yesterday, I was over at my parents' house, picking up a rivet gun for a little electrical project I had to do at church with my friend, Eric. I got out of my truck and noticed there was a little mustard plant growing in the rocks in front of their house.
Here's a picture I took with my phone:

You can see that there is a small yellow area at the top, in the middle of the plant. That's where the flower (and eventually the seed), will develop. This stuff just sprouts up wildly and randomly.

There were 2 more little sprouts nearby.

The first lesson to be learned from Jesus' parable is that mustard is a weed.

The kingdom of heaven is like a weed. It sprouts up wherever, seemingly without organization. It isn't planted in neat, orderly rows. It starts off in all sorts of places, as a plant or two, here and there.

Stay tuned for more facts about mustard, more pictures, and more of my thoughts on what exactly it means for the kingdom of heaven to be like mustard.

Mustard Seed: Part 1

Click to enlarge

This is the first of what I hope will be many blogs about the parable of the mustard seed.

This parable, even though it is so short (Just 2 verses--Matthew 13:31-32), is loaded with meaning.

Parables are meant to be simple analogies that serve to educate those who want to learn, and to confuse those who don't want to listen.

We can only take them at face value and shouldn't delve too deeply into looking for more hidden meanings.

But, in the case of this parable, Jesus simply says, ""The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

So, we know we can learn a lot about the kingdom of heaven through researching mustard seeds and mustard plants.

Here in Sonoma County, CA, we have the same climate as Israel. We have tons of grapes (this is a wine-grape growing region), much like Israel. Another result of our similar climate is that in the late winter/early spring (now), we have mustard growing everywhere.

In the next few blogs about the mustard seed, we'll explore the biology of the mustard plant, and I'll share some pictures I took today as I went for a nice drive with my wife for Valentine's Day.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for

This week has sucked. Plain and simple.

It began with a criticism I wasn't expecting, continued with allergies all week, and ended with a day of many minor car troubles.

You know how sometimes you receive advice from someone who you didn't ask? That's always lame, especially when it comes from someone you don't know very well. Sometimes, depending on the situation, you can ignore their statements, but other times, you have to think about the way you've been operating, and evaluate if it's good or bad. And then, if you find out you still firmly believe in what you're doing, you have to find a way to communicate that without seeming proud and stubborn. I've been trying to figure out how to do just that in this particular situation, and it's been bugging me all week.

Another thing that was unexpected was allergies. I usually don't have allergies, but all week, my throat has been scratchy, and I've gotten a cough and stuffy sinus in the last couple days.

Then, today, I went to get my car smogged. I was feeling good because I remembered to do it. Then I found out the smog place I was going to was closed already (it was 3 PM). So I went to get my oil changed, which was overdue. That was going to cost a little bit of money, but thankfully, I pretty much got out of debt yesterday (which hadn't been true for about 6 months).

At the oil change place, one of the guys noticed I had a screw in my tire. I've been needing to change my tires for awhile, but I can get a few more miles out of them, so I was going to wait until late this summer. I was really bummed out about the screw. Then, I noticed I have a crack in my windshield. It's only about 1/4 inch long, but you know how windshield cracks go.

So, then after spending a bunch of money at the oil place (which costs more than I had remembered), I went to Les Schwab to get my tire fixed. One bright spot is that they fixed my tire, even though they were about to close, and it was free.

That wasn't the end of my day, but that's enough for public knowledge.

I wish there were 12 easy steps to stress free living. But there aren't.

I don't believe in a Bible that is an owner's manual. If I hear people say that I just want to scream. How self-centered!

I do think there are some things I can do to be less stressed. Keep praying. Read the Bible more. Get more sleep. Fast.

But I also agree with Bono. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is about the fact that when we come to faith in Jesus, we don't have perfect little lives with bows on top that are painless.

Life still is hard. It's just that we now have Jesus. We still have questions. In fact, we have more questions than before.

I do think that I so easily neglect the gracelets in my life when the little bad things pile up. I should look at things with new eyes and see what good things are allowed in my life. But at the same time, I highly value authenticity, and I am going to be straight-forward about things that aren't so great.

I've been really moody. One moment I am excited about the fact that Julie is moving back to California next week, and then something crappy will happen, and I get down again.

I am so discouraged right now that I am constantly questioning if I really want to go into ministry. I've been working at church for just 3 1/2 months, and in the time I've been there, I've faced numerous challenges much bigger than I expected. I feel like I'm on the edge of burn-out.

I will not/cannot let my own personal relationship with Jesus be put at risk because I am burned out in ministry. But if I'm thinking about that already, then why am I pursuing licensing to be a pastor? And why did all this crap escalate once I started that process?

I think you can look at it 2 ways:

1. This is a series of temptations to quit. I am being attacked by Satan.
2. God is testing me. He is making sure that I am true to Him. He is preparing me for either
a. dealing with worse tests down the road (which I hope is not the case, but it probably is), or
b. a life with few conflicts, so I need to go through crap now so that later I have experiences to talk about and relate with normal people.

I really need encouragement right now in the things that I feel called to. I'm not going to say what those are. I don't want to manufacture sympathy or pity. I just wish the people of God actually showed love to each other. And right now, I need some to show it to me.

Of course my family and Julie does, but I expect that.

In 2006, I was on Conquest, the missions team leader training for Simpson, and Nathan Edwardson wrote me a note that said he saw me going into a season where I would have to be like David, and "encourage myself in the Lord." I think I'm there right now.

But where is Jonathan?

I'm ready for that other part of the story where David and Jonathan encouraged one another in the Lord.

I've heard a few encouraging words lately, and I've taken them to heart, but I am going through such a hard time right now that I need even more. And prayer is always great, too. I don't know when people are praying, but I'll feel it, and I'll look back on this time (now that it's written about) and I'll be thankful.

MySpace blog: This is bad. I'm already blogging excessively again.

Current mood: hungry

Woohoo!!!! I'm most excited that I actually got to see this momentous number. The reason it says I have 5 posts today and this week is because of the problems with trying to post that last blog. the 152 total posts is accurate. But, if you will kindly gaze upon those 5 consecutive zeros. This is much like watching a car roll over the 100,000 mile mark. It means it's old. I feel as though I have watched my life roll over into something new, and now I need to eat special motor oil.

OK, it's fun, but not a big deal. I just wanted to share the moment, since you all are what made it happen.

I'm hungry, but mostly, I just really like this smiley: .

Here are some other things I thought of.

For some reason, I thought of the phrase "autumnal tree leaves," during my Genesis class, and it became a little joke with my friend Renee. I think it fits well with the current picture of me on myspace, so here's the short poem I wrote later in the same class:

Come away to the world of autumnal tree leaves
The elegant new world of beauty

The world of crimson and amber
Of falling
Of crackling beneath the feet.

Let us embark.

I wrote that poem for no one in particular. I just wanted to incorporate the phrases "autumnal tree leaves," and "elegant new world" in a poem, but consider it as an invitation to all of you to enjoy the great outdoors. It will brighten your day and put a smile on your face. It will warm your heart and still your soul. It will take your breath away and make you fall in love with your Maker.

______________________________

On a recent Monday morning, I was sitting outside at the McConnell Foundation (Lema Ranch). I gazed at the willow trees--their green leaves augmented by strands of yellow. I was in a place where I needed to be with God, and He met me in a way different than He had before.

I came up with a new way to read scripture when I encountered Lamentations 3, and it basically works like this: you read a line at a time and paraphrase it for your situation. This can be really dangerous, since it lets you take things out of context, so be careful! (In fact, I'm not sure if verse 19 is meant to be saying that the author is going to continue remembering his pain, or just currently remembers it, but I definitely took it to mean that he was going to be intentional in remembering what pain he went through, so if that's out of context or inaccurate, sorry God). Here is what I did with Lamentations 3:

I can't let go of the affliction
I will remember my wandering
I will never forget the bitterness
I will ever taste the gall

As I reflect on these things, how can my soul help but be weary?
How can I escape melancholy?

But it hits me like lightning!
Like a flash to my mind.
And therefore I have hope

Because of love,
Because of a great love,
Because of the Lord's great love,
I am not consumed.

For his compassions never fail.
They never cease
They never are silent
In the midst of any sorrow, He is merciful
His compassions never fail!

They are new every morning
every day, in every struggle

Great is your faithfulness.
You hold up my arms
When I am weak like Moses,
you come and lift my hands as Aaron and Hur.*

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion,"
not anyone or anything else
He is all I need.
The Lord is my portion.

Therefore, I will wait for Him.

Speak, O Lord, for your servant is listening

_________________

*The Hebrew word for faithfulness is Emunah, and in the Old Testament, there is a story of the Israelites fighting a battle under Moses' leadership. As long as he kept his hands lifted, they were succeeding in battle. He grew tired though, and began to lower them. As he did, the Israelites began to lose the battle. But, Aaron and Hur came alongside Moses and held his arms up. The actual word used is emunah, and it means that they held his arms steadily. That's what faithfulness is--coming alongside and holding someone steady. My God loves to just hold me steadily, and so as the leaves fell, I fell for Him again.

Currently listening : In Between Dreams By Jack Johnson Release date: 01 March, 2005

MySpace blog: second half of that blog...work please!!!

I memorized Lamentations 3:19-24. It’s a powerful section and I am going to cling to it.

I remember my affliction and my wandering
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them
and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind

and therfore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "the Lord is my portion."
Therefore, I will wait for Him.

I think it says a lot that it’s OK to remember your hard times and let your soul be downcast, but turn to the LORD, and let Him be your portion. I almost wrote potion. Sweet, dude. Potion.

I changed a lot of my pictures because there were a few occasions for picture-taking this month. A few of those pictures are from Thanksgiving Day, with my family. I love them so much! But, they’re not the only people I’d give my life for. I think there are about 40 people I’d take a bullet for. I think I’ll make a little list someday.

I love kids, so I’m really thankful for my cousin Emily, who is 4. On Thanksgiving Day, I was helping her with some homework from her preschool. She’s just learning how to write, and it’s the sweetest thing ever. She has a Disney Princesses backpack, and my Aunt asked me which of the Princesses was my favorite. Usually I wouldn’t have an answer, but the night before, I strangely had a dream that I was Aladdin. Specifically that I was Aladdin from the Disney movie. So, of course, I said Jasmine was my favorite princess! Thanks for providing me with a timely answer, God!

My mom is Asian, and my Aunt is Hispanic, so when we have Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner with my Dad’s side of the family, it’s a lot of fun, because we sit at the table of diversity! Someone in my family needs to marry someone who’s black, and another person needs to marry someone who is Native American, and then when we have our holidays, it will be like the United Nations. So, if you’re a black or native American girl who also has the perfect personality for me, please inquire within. Just kidding. I mean, maybe, but….aw, crap. I’m just going to quit while I’m ahead. I mean, I’m just going to quit since I’m so far behind that I should just quit.

I love sweaters.

I’m really happy right now. I’m not sure why. Oh crap, I’ve had some tea sitting in some water for about 45 minutes. Dang it.

Peet’s Gunpowder Tea tastes a bit like tobacco. Or gunpowder. Seriously. It’s a green tea. If you want to try it, come visit me, and I’ll give you some. Or, if you’re not one of the 40 people I’d die for, I’ll just let you sniff it, and move on. I want to write a dance song called “Sniff it and Move,” but that sounds like it would be drug-related.

I want to learn to play the harmonica. I want to learn to play the mandolin well enough that I can play Italian love songs for someone someday. If you’re a guy that can handle it, maybe I’ll play them for you! I want to learn to play the lap steel guitar. I want to learn to play the banjo—not that much, but maybe someday.

My life is like a book. God’s writing my story. Someday, He might write you into a bigger role. Someday, He’ll write in some new characters. Someday, He’ll write a love story. Someday, He’ll write in some serious conflicts. Someday, He’ll write in a resolution, and I’ll meet the Author and Finisher of my faith. Right now, I’m really excited about the next chapter and eagerly anticipating. I suppose that’s the reason for the happiness.

I listened to Damien Rice, Sigur Ros, Jack Johnson, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Hot Hot Heat while I wrote this.

But I was wearing my Switchfoot shirt. They’re about to be on TV (Leno). I don’t know why, but I also want to say I am wearing my clogs. Now I’m laughing at myself.

I posted this 7 times, then it finally worked. Then, it erased everything after the first verse of Lamentations, and included the last word of the blog, which was "ridiculous," so it looked like I was saying the verse was ridiculous, which I was not saying at all. Anyway, I ended up listening to the Switchfoot CD while I re-posted this. They were really good on Leno.

Currently listening : Nothing Is Sound By Switchfoot Release date: 13 September, 2005

MySpace blog: Biblical Evidence for a "new" perspective

Romans 1:18-23 and 2:17-28 speak a lot about revelation, worship, and sin. I don't want to talk about revelation, because that is a huge topic that myspace is insufficient for. I would have to write a chapter, not just a blog to explain that. I would love to dive into this with further with some of you (who think along the same lines as me), and I have/will let you know who you are. For the others, sorry.

I'll just give you a part of this that is not tied to revelation as much.

First off, would you not agree that honor and dishonor both say how much we value things? That is what a statement of worth is.

Read Romans 2:23. Dishonor is tied to sin. Dishonor is a statement of God's worth. That means that dishonor is a kind of worship (a negative statement of worth).

Really my whole issue still comes down to our misuse of the word worship. We should use words like magnify, glorify, praise, or exalt, because "worship" is vague. I cannot magnify, glorify, praise, or exalt God through sin. My sin is the opposite of all those things. However, sin is worship, but is opposite of those other words, which are also worship.

Re-enter the coin analogy. One side of the coin is called "heads," and the other "tails." But, the whole thing is called "coin."

The problem with the modern, Western Church, is that we call what is just the heads side "coin," but that is a misnomer. "Coin" refers to both the heads side and the tails side.

The problem with the modern, Western church is that we call what is just the glorify/magnify/praise side "worship," but that is a misnomer. "Worship" refers to both the glorify/magnify/praise side and the sin side.

Now, this is the key issue that God has been showing me through my head. However, He has been speaking it through Scripture for nearly 2,000 years. We must at least agree that sin dishonors God, and that God is the primary reason we should not sin.

My personal vendetta against the meaning of the word "worship" in the American Church should not pollute your understanding of sin as dishonoring to God. If it does, I apologize. Just ignore my words and continue to honor God. I know that for many of you, my explanation and way of thought was helpful, and because it was, I feel like all these hours and words have been worth it.

I know I'm not going to stop thinking about my new approach, because it opens up so many new doors for me (and some of you). I have a lot more going on in this head of mine regarding all the issues opened up by the tie-in with revelation, but I will never write about those on myspace. If I ever write a book on worship, you can bet they'll be in there.

MySpace blog: An exposition of Hebrews, the Limitation of Language, and the Use of Deductive Reasoning

This blog is really long (4 pages single-spaced). Take that however you want to :)

A friend of mine has encouraged me to not defend the truth, but to let the truth defend itself. I agree with that thought. However, the truth must be exposed before it can defend itself. God has already revealed the truth in a number of ways—through General Revelation (logic, language, and analogy) and Special Revelation (as found in His word and His Son). So, all that remains is the illumination of that revelation—we must be exposed to what God has already made known. These thoughts on revelation have been accepted throughout almost the entire Church (my theology prof. estimated 85ast week), throughout history. I know that most readers do not have a theological background, but it would take a long time to explain a sufficient amount of the theology of revelation, so you’ll just have to take my word for it for now.

All of this is to say, I do not care to convince you I am right. I simply care to illuminate the truth that God has already revealed through His word, and through the simple structure of logic that He gave to us when He created us with a rational mind. I will probably keep writing on this until people understand what I’m saying, regardless of whether they agree with it (though I don’t see how one could disagree with this concept, once it is correctly understood, because of its simplicity). It actually seems that a few of those who “agree” with me are still not quite getting the point. Yes, I know that it is possible to worship other things, but I think we all know that, and that is not the point of this discussion. So, here is what the point is, in a very long form:

The book of Hebrews was written to the Jews of the early church, who believed in Christ already. In the same way, I write to you, my brothers and sisters, who already believe in Christ. Unbelievers need not concern themselves with the finer points of theology until they have come to belief that Christ came to save us from our sin.

Hebrews was written to more-closely examine the nature of Christ. Throughout the book, the author (who is unknown) makes a number of comparisons between good things and Christ. In chapter one, he says, “he (Jesus) became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs”(v. 4). In other words, Christ is better than the angels.

In chapter 3, Christ is greater than Moses—“Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself”(3:3).

In chapter 7, Christ is compared to Melchizedek, who was a priest in the time of Abraham. The point of the chapter is that Christ, like Melchizedek, is greater than the Levitical Priests (the Priests of the Hebrew community). (Side note: nothing is said comparing Christ to Melchizedek, which is significant in my mind, but completely irrelevant here).

I bother to examine Hebrews, because I think it is a Biblical proof of what I’m about to say…

Worshiping Christ, while we live on the Earth, is limited by language to comparison of Christ to other things.

Our limitation to comparison is rooted in the nature of language. Language is flawed. It is insufficient. My own inability to communicate what I mean by sin being a type of worship is a good example (clarification: sin is worship in the sense that sin is a type of worship—a negative statement of worth).

I really do not care to convince anyone to see things the same way I do. I do want everyone to understand what I am really saying. Those of you who disagree with me and some of those of you who agree with me are leaving me comments that indicate that I am not communicating what I mean.

I know people will object to the notion that language could limit worship. But, that is widely accepted by the intellectual community within the Church. So, how could language possibly limit our worship of God? Calvin speaks of Total Depravity—that everything is tainted by the Fall. This is widely supported throughout Scripture (e.g. James 2:18, which says that we are the firstfruits of redemption in all creation, which implies that all creation is fallen because of man’s sin).

Consider what we can learn from the classical Greek model of Symbols. A word is a symbol. The symbol (referred to as “a” from here on out) stands for a true thing in the mind of the speaker (referred to as “b”). When the speaker says “a,” he is thinking of “b,” however, the listener has her own interpretation of “a,” which we will call “c.” For instance, if I say the word “dog,” I might be referring to my family’s dog, Cody. But, when I said, “dog,” you probably thought of your own dog or a generic canine. You see, language is flawed.

David Crowder has a lot to say about language. His new CD shows an atom on the cover due to the electron model proposed by Enrico Fermi. That is still how we draw atoms, but, in Crowder’s words, “this model is improper in its depiction of particle matter. We know in fact that electrons do not circle in elliptical paths around a nucleus. And this is the difficulty with symbols. They are never quite proper. They are always a bit broken.” In the same way, our symbols for God, our words to describe Him, are broken.

Another way to view the problem with language is to say that every descriptive word we have is simply a comparison. Even if I use a generic adjective to describe something, it is still a comparison. If I say my door is white, the only reason you understand what white looks like is because you have seen white before. Therefore, you automatically compare my door, at a very basic level, to whatever else you have seen that is white.

If I say, “God is wonderful,” I inherently say, “God is wonderful compared to this, and this, and this.” Hopefully, I mean that “God is wonderful compared to everything in my life.” Hopefully, I mean, “God is more wonderful than anything.” Hopefully, I mean, “God is better than everything,” which is the point of Hebrews.

We know that worship is not only about what we say, but is about how we live (which includes what we say). Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Our actions (not just our words) must always say, “God is better than everything else,” or we are not worshiping Him correctly. Implicit in that statement is its counterpoint: incorrect worship of God is when we say, “God is not better than every other thing.” However, that is still a type of worship, because it is still a statement of worth, which, as I have said before, is the meaning of worship as defined in the English language. (For this discussion, looking at the Greek and Hebrew is simply tedious because in the Hebrew, there are many words translated “worship” that also mean many other things, and in the Greek, there are many words that are translated as “worship.” The reason the translators translated these words as “worship” is because it means “worship”—a statement of worth. I could use the Hebrew, at least, to defend myself, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to defend myself, but rather, explain what worship is really about).

There is a significant difference between God’s worth and a statement of God’s worth. God’s worth is not worship; it is simply God’s worth. He is worthy. That can never change. As Juan said, He does not need us to worship Him. In other words, He does not need us to tell Him how much He is worth, because He knows that He is worthy beyond comparison—that He is beyond description. The problem is that worship has been misunderstood by the modern Church. Our generation, which is called “the worship generation,” especially doesn’t get it. Worship really is us saying “God, you are worth ________ to me,” through the way we live our lives.

Here’s some deductive logic. Here comes the bare bones version of this whole deal. Ready? OK.

Premise 1:
When I sin, I make a statement of God’s worth (I say He is worth less than my own pleasure).

Mathematical version: sin= one type of a statement of God’s worth

(Very important: Sin is only one kind of statement of God’s worth, and it is the wrong kind of statement, because it says something else is worth more than God).

Premise 2:
The meaning of the word “worship,” from the Old English weorth and scipe is “a statement of worth.”

Mathematical version: Worship=a statement of God’s worth

For those of you who do not have a background in logic or deductive reasoning, let me just say that it works very much like math, hence my “mathematical versions.” You have some premises, and when you add them together, you have the logical result. So long as your premises are correct, your conclusion must be. If the conclusion can be disproved, then one of your premises is inaccurate. I hope I have clearly defended that my premises are accurate through these blogs.

So, let’s add the two true premises together and see what comes out

Sin= one type of a statement of God’s worth
a statement of God’s worth=Worship
Sin= one type of Worship.

And, that, my friends, is why I believe that sin and true worship of God are polar opposites. What? That’s all I’m saying? Yeah, that’s all I’m saying. But, by recognizing that sin is a negative version of worship, our motive for not sinning is changed.

If we stop sinning for our own benefit, then we have stopped sinning for the wrong reason. We should stop sinning because we really believe, in our heart of hearts, that God is worth more to us than anything else. In this way, we even say that God is the only worthwhile reason to stop sinning, which is yet another statement of worth, and is a huge aspect of worship that I missed out on for the first 20 years of my life until this past April when this whole thought hit me and changed me completely.

So, back to the Bible—where it all is firmly anchored. In Hebrews, after all the focus on “Christ is better than x,” the author immediately turns to the issue of sin and salvation in Hebrews 9-10. Biblically, then, it is obvious that after a discussion comparing Christ to other things, the next step is to examine the sin issue. Why? Because sin makes a comparison of God to other things, and that is the same thing true worship does. Why? Because they’re the same thing. That does not mean that sin is good. That has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. What this issue is about is that sin is the other side of the coin when it comes to worship.

As Kenny said, this really isn’t a new idea. However, it is a new way to talk about things. I’m not sure why Kenny thinks that’s a waste of time. Isn’t that what all theologians do? Simply take the truth within the Bible and think about it in a new, right way that revolutionizes the way we live? Augustine, Luther, Calvin, the list goes on… They were simply people who used the minds God gave them and wrestled with the implications of what the Bible says and what they knew from the world around them that God made.

Theology is only worth your time if it helps someone praise God. If it increases the worth you place in Him, it’s obviously a beneficial venture. If it helps someone else to praise Him, it can be used in discipleship. Since this is an issue that may or may not revolutionize the way you see things, I would advise that if it doesn’t help you, then try to understand where I’m coming from, and then leave it. If you understand it, and it helps you, then praise God! I have learned to communicate!

I think there will be a future writing on the theology of language, and maybe one on the theology of revelation, too.

Note: I’m sure I will continue to use the word “worship” in its traditional sense most of the time (only referring to the positive side—the praise of God for His worth), but hopefully I will always be aware of the two sides of the coin.