January 20, 2010 - A Christian view of the world . . .
To be Christian is to see the world in a different light by peering through an altered lens. Christians are learning to see as God sees and to know what God knows about both the world in which we live and the ways we are to live in the world. There is much benefit is reading about the experiences of those who have gone before us. We see the blessing which came to them through their obedient response to God's love for them. We see as well the brokenness and abandonment they experienced when they insisted on doing as they pleased.
September 15, 2009 - Each Gospel a beginning
We've spent a few weeks looking at the first few words of each of the four gospels. They begin with purpose. In those first acts of Jesus we see a bit of what is coming. As people who believe the gospel, our lives share that structure. So I ask myself, "As people see my first actions do they catch a glimpse which makes them want to hear and see more? Consider this by Edgar Guest: I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear, Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear; And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds, For to see good put in action is what everybody needs. I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done; I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true, But I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do; For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give, But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. When I see a deed of kindness, I am eager to be kind. When a weaker brother stumbles and a strong man stays behind Just to see if he can help him, then the wish grows strong in me To become as big and thoughtful as I know that friend to be. And all travelers can witness that the best of guides today Is not the one who tells them, but the one who shows the way. One good man teaches many, men believe what they behold; One deed of kindness noticed is worth forty that are told. Who stands with men of honor learns to hold his honor dear, For right living speaks a language which to every one is clear. Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say, I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one, any day.
August 23, 2009 - Essential Elements
Slow down, find a quiet place alone and ask yourself this question: "What is the essential element in my faith?" What is it that keeps you in the community of believing people? The church? Your friends? Obligation? Where in your life does gratitude to the Redeeming God fit? Which is better? To be in the community because of what we can get out of it? Or to be in it because of what we have already been given? It's worth pondering.
August 23, 2007 - A First Century Church?
Robert Banks has written an intriguing little book - only 48 pages - titled "Going to Church in the First Century." It is the story, surely fictitious, of Publius Valerius Amicus Rufas. Written in the first person, Banks recounts what it must have been like to have been invited by a friend to attend a service of Christians. You will enjoy reading of his mid-afternoon walk to the home where the service was to be held, and of what happened there. I have the book and you may borrow it if you wish. RLM
July 6, 2007 - I am willing
"Evangelism" is a hot topic right now in American churches. One could walk down the Christian isle of a local bookstore and be overwhelmed by the amount of literature on how to grow your church and evangelize the lost. In the Gospel of Luke, the first charge Jesus gives his disciples to evangelize is found in Luke 5:10. After a miraculous catch of fish, Peter realizes he is in the presence of the divine and is overcome with fear and dread (much like Isaiah's reaction to the vision of God's throne room in Isaiah 6). Jesus assuages Peter's fears and gives him this charge, "from now on you will catch men (NIV)." But Jesus does not stop with a clever analogy as we see in the next story recorded by Luke - He teaches them how to fish. A leper approaches Jesus in humility and declares, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." This man, who has been deemed "untouchable" by society, is at the mercy of his creator. Does this sound familiar? It should because the leper's story is our story. As Christians, we place ourselves at the mercy of our creator asking the only one who can save us to cleanse us of our sins. And God's answer is the same given to the leper. He reaches out his hand and touches the untouchable announcing, "I am willing." Through this action, Jesus teaches his disciples that being fishers of men is about getting your hands dirty in the lives of people. Evangelism, according to Jesus is a simple formula, and yet it is profoundly difficult. When we make a commitment to reach the lost, we commit ourselves to loving our neighbor, which can often get messy. It is more than just a friendly wave and a "how are you today?" Sometimes it calls us to be at our neighbor's side during the great fires of life - those times of awkwardness when we do not know quite what to say. Loving our neighbor is often inconvenient and laborious. And yet we love others because Jesus loved us first and showed us how to love. While we were still sinners, Christ came down and lived a life of self - sacrifice, dying on a cross to redeem us from our sins. There are those around us crying out for healing. As Christ's ambassadors, Jesus asks us, "are you ready to get your hands dirty?" Are you willing to love your neighbor?
May 2, 2007 - "Elect" and "Chosen"
God’s covenant was made with a particular people. God’s people is a chosen race (1 Peter 2:9), that is, a chosen group and not chosen individuals. The people of God is an elect people, a chosen people (1 Peter 1:1— “elect” and “chosen” are alternative English translations of the same word). For the connection between “people” and “election,” note the parallelism in Psalm 105:43, “So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.” God chose a people for his own possession (1 Peter 2:9); note the connection of election and possession in Psalm 135:4: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.” The idea of Israel, or the Church, as a “chosen people” is often offensive, and the doctrine of election has been the subject of much theological controversy through the centuries. Hence, it is important to explore as carefully as we can the biblical doctrine of election. [Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today. pp 78-79
April 26, 2007 - Invitation to Solitude and Silence
Blaise Pascal, the remarkable scientist, theologian and Christian of the seventeenth century, remarked in his *Pensees* (section 136) that “all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own room.” The reason for this inability, he found, is “the natural poverty of our feeble and mortal condition, so miserable that nothing can comfort us when we think of it closely." In order not to “think of it closely,” we turn to what Pascal calls “diversion” to distract us from ourselves. He writes: "hence it comes people so much love noise and stir; hence it comes that the prison is so horrible a punishment; hence it comes that the pleasure of solitude is a thing incomprehensible." [Dallas Willard in the foreword to Ruth Haley Barton’s *Invitation to Solitude and Silence*)