Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Acts 18

Read Acts 18

During the reign of emperor Claudius all the Jews were expelled from Rome, as is recorded in this chapter. It is quite possible that the expulsion was due to riots that erupted against Christians. At the time, Christians were attempting to set themselves within Judaism. One reason was because the Jews had carried the message of the coming Messiah for centuries, so it was obviously a natural leap for them to faith in Jesus the Messiah. Another reason, though, was that Rome recognized Judaism as a tolerated religion. Many Jews adamantly fought the placing of Christians in Judaism. So it might seem at first that some of the incidents of this passage are marginal in importance. When Christians were expelled from Rome with Jews and when Gallio decided not to treat Christians as a separate religion from Judaism, it was a big deal. Christians were regarded as Jews and therefore would be not come under official Roman persecution.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was no persecution at this time, for many Jews did whatever they could to oppress Christians. And in fact this increasing hatred for Christians forced Roman officials to consider whether Christianity was indeed a Jewish sect. Eventually, they decided they weren’t, and all hell broke loose. However, this period of unofficial persecution allowed Christianity to settle firmly within the Graeco-Roman world. At this time, we see some very prominent individuals teaming up with Paul. There is the couple Priscilla and Aquila, leaders of the Roman church (Romans 16:3),the nobleman Titius Justus, the synagogue ruler Crispus, and the Alexandrian Jew Apollos (who most likely was well trained in rhetoric and philosophy. Alexandria was the intellectual capital of the world in that day).

Christianity was marching on at remarkable pace. But what is most remarkable is that the spread of Christianity was very much a normal lay movement. It did not start with professional clergy establishing institutions of worship. It was started and promoted by typical Jewish, Greek, and Roman individuals of all walks of life. Some were government officials, leaders in the Jewish community, well-trained intellectuals, soldiers, peasants, and even slaves. God didn’t change the world through one specific demographic or through professionally religious people. He did it through normal people whose lives he transformed. And he aided it with typical government procedures.

My point is that God uses everyday, normal events and people to accomplish his purposes. It should be very clear from the Bible, that God is a God of history. He doesn’t do his work apart from the normal events of history. He acts within history, and uses the typical people and events of history to change the world. Everyday life is the medium of God’s saving work. The typical events of our lives, our families, our government, and our society is all very much a part of God’s plan, and thus should should very much be a part of our ministry.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Challenge

Alright, if you haven't already watched the video from my last post, watch it now. Otherwise this will ruin all grand thoughts about music. Trust me. I want to post a challenge. A prize to anyone who can make it all the way through this video. And let me offer an advanced apology for the nightmare fuel.



Quick listen to this to get that tormenting tune out of your head. Contemporary Christian music, in my opinion, still has a long way to go, but thankfully it has already come a long way.

Kauflin on Singing in Heaven

This video was taken in preview of the Power of Words and Wonder of God Conference by Desiring God that is actually taking place at this moment. I cannot wait to listen to the audio of this conference. I love the subject of heaven (duh), and any picture that makes me thirst for it more is worth my time. I think Kauflin provides such a picture.




Here is a quote from Martin Luther that Kauflin used in his address at the DG Conference. Only Luther could say it like this.
When man's natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace. A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Awesome Creator

I've been swamped as of late, so sorry about the lack of posts. Here is a mind boggling, and I think worshipful, multimedia description of our universe and its Creator.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

me Church

The small groups at our church are currently going through Stop Dating the Church by Josh Harris. I thought these videos fit nicely with that study.



Acts 17 and Gospel Contextualization (Part 2)

Sorry it has taken so long to get up the rest of my thoughts on this passage. Hope you find them helpful.

Start With A Creator God - This is where Paul starts and with good reason. If a person doesn’t believe in one true personal God who created everything and thus has authority over everything and everybody, then you have almost no point of connection with them. A major reason our culture so highly values the individual is because it has lost its sense of accountability to the Creator God. I’m not suggesting that you need to get into debates over evolution and creation all the time. In fact, many times such a debate distracts from the gospel. You can believe in evolution and be a Christian. Many do. But you cannot believe in a naturalistic evolution (evolution not started and guided by God but by natural processes) and be a Christian. I’d rather someone believe that God created aliens and then guided them to create this world, then that they believe in naturalistic evolution. So however one wants to account for the origins of the universe, it must be clear that in Christianity God is the ultimate cause.

Don’t Bypass Judgment - Our culture doesn’t like to hear about God’s wrath. Who would? We’re not really supposed to like to hear about God’s wrath and judgment. It seems that many Christians think this was an okay topic back in Bible days. Back then people liked hearing they were going to hell, but now it makes people feel bad. Not likely. Our culture desperately needs to hear that they are accountable for their evil to an all-powerful Creator God who hates their sin and destroys sinners. Not that we should be mean about it, but that truth needs to be clear.

Don’t Leave Out Resurrection - I believe in Jesus because he rose from the dead. If he didn’t, then there would be no point in trusting that he is different than any other great religious thinker. The resurrection is an issue for which every person has to have a good explanation. If it happened, then that changes the entire universe. Natural laws have been broken, death has been defeated, Jesus is God, the universe is turned on its head. It transforms the way you view suffering, death, morality, God, yourself, everything.

Don’t Feel Compelled To Say Everything - Paul’s sermon is fairly general, and leaves out a ton of information about Jesus, the cross, the Church, etc. Many think that once they engage someone in a conversation about God that they have to summarize the whole gospel and bring it to a point of decision. Often this isn’t realistic or necessary. If a person can’t get past a Creator God, then asking them to put their trust in Christ right now doesn’t seem wise. We don’t have to say everything. Sometimes we can and should, but that’s not every time. And the further our culture drifts from a Christian worldview, the more time we’ll have to spend building a foundation.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Acts 17 and Gospel Contextualization (Part 1)

Read Acts 17

This got kind of long so I'll give it in two parts.

Acts 17:16-34 probably more than any other biblical text gives an account of evangelization that most closely parallels our own culture. Athens was a highly pluralistic city that valued philosophical and religious diversity, but which at the same time had low moral standards. It was also a culture totally unfamiliar with the OT Scriptures and the God of the Jews. In this passage, Paul dialogues with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Epicureans were atheistic naturalists (contrary to popular opinion naturalism, even evolution, was not invented by Darwin). Stoics were pantheists. That is, they believed in a divine impersonal life force that guided all things down an inevitable path of fate. Almost every major modern philosophical position outside of monotheism will fit quite well into either Epicureanism or Stoicism. There is nothing new under the sun, right? In reaching these people with the gospel, Paul held firm to his gospel while at the same time contextualizing it to the people with which he was speaking. So what insight can we pick up from Paul about reaching our own culture with the gospel?

Be provoked - Paul saw all the idols in the city, and he was greatly disturbed. Every culture has its idols. Paul had the convenience of looking at a foreign culture and thus enabled him to see their idolatry, which is much more difficult to do when you live and breath the culture. Nevertheless, if you fill your mind with a biblical framework, all you have to do is watch a little TV, read a modern novel, open the newspaper, engage in conversations, and the idols will appear everywhere. In response, we like Paul should be incredibly provoked. This culture worships the self, possessions, entertainment, etc. instead of the true God. We need to be disturbed by that.

Converse - Engage people of different backgrounds in our daily life. Paul used his job as a tentmaker to converse with people in the marketplace. We need to use our everyday life situations to build relationships. Perhaps, we should even put ourselves into contexts where relationships will inevitably happen.

Know Your Culture - Paul, though Athens was a foreign city to him, obviously had a grasp of Stoic and Epicurean philosophy as well as the popular paganism. We need to study and know not only our own position as Christians, but also the thoughts and beliefs of those we engage. What do they value? Where do they find ultimate significance? What biases do they have? What do they have right? What historical events have shaped the way they think (e.g. the early American pioneering spirit as well as the American Revolution have had massive effects upon America's emphasis on the individual)? What are the beliefs behind popular opinions?

Use Language They Can Understand - Paul doesn’t use a bunch of OT terminology. He uses language that his audience can relate to. We should be careful about using church language like “saved.” Furthermore, even the religious language we do use needs to be defined. Words like “God,” “love,” “good,” “sin,” “right,” “wrong,” and many others, have a different meaning to us than to our culture.

Appeal To Popular Culture When Possible - Paul quotes Greek poets in order to make his point. If it works, use it. Find what our culture has right and use examples of popular media in order to make your point. Of course, this requires a very analytical mindset when viewing popular entertainment.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

American Narcissism

First, a parenthetical remark. This video is not intended to belittle the wake of destruction caused by hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

When I was in college I remember watching a news broadcast when at the end of a few reports the newscaster said something like, "Also in Guatemala there are reports of up to 16,000 people killed by mudslides. Now let's kick it over to sports." I was horrified. I went to chapel the next day (my school had a chapel you could attend every day) hoping that something would be said. If sixteen people would have been killed in any kind of American natural disaster, we would have been praying about it. Nothing was said. Nothing was ever said. This satirical video by The Onion, though hilarious, does reveal a sickening American narcissism. By the way, I don't think it is limited to one political party. The party more concerned with social justice in the world also fights against the loss of American jobs to foreign countries. But hungry people don't just need food. They also need jobs, which might help a bit with the food. The party that is willing to employ military intervention to bring democracy and freedom to other countries also seems fairly unconcerned about the tyrannies of Aids, malaria, and starvation. And virtually all Americans care very, very little about the Mexican poor on our own continent. Enough of the rant. Enjoy the video.


Hurricane Bound For Texas Slowed By Large Land Mass To The South

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Acts 16

Read Acts 16

God is on the move again advancing his church. In this chapter he leads Paul and Silas by way of vision and by way of pain. We’re all about the visions, or at least I think we would be if we had them. And God clearly leads his people on occasion through very mystical sorts of means like He does in vs.9 with Paul. But much more often God leads with pain.

So here is how this story plays out. Paul and co. preach the gospel. They see one convert. They are chased by a freaky, fortune teller all around town. It gets really annoying, so Paul commands the “spirit” to leave the girl alone. She was a hot act, so her owners get pretty ticked off. They stir up the crowd and the city officials. Paul and Silas get mauled and land in the clink. Their feet are put in stocks, they are probably in total darkness, rats and vermin crawling all over them, the ground is most likely covered with human waste, and why is this happening? Because they were being obedient. They follow God and go to where he told them to go in a vision, and that grand vision has landed them in a dungeon. So Paul and Silas sing and pray. It sounds crazy, but that is what they do. Unlike you or I, Paul and Silas do not assume God misled, but that this pain is part of the plan. In fact, you kind of get the feeling they almost expected it. They preach the gospel in the city, and they get one convert. They get thrown into a dungeon, and they assume this is where God must want them to preach the gospel. The pain isn’t an obstacle. It’s just a guidepost. It eventually leads to presenting the gospel to the jailer and his family, who are most astonishingly converted. Those conversions would never have been possible had not Paul and Silas been in prison or been willing to sing the gospel.

So the message that I’m preaching myself today is this: “Don’t waste your pain. Your problems and trials are opening doors of opportunity. Don’t just get abused by your struggles. Assume that they are part of God's plan to direct me to places of ministry.”

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Acts 15 and Evangelical Tribalism

Read Acts

It is a sad but true fact that evangelicals are considered by the wider culture to be terribly tribalistic. Some perceptions are due to misunderstandings, but much of the perception is sadly well-earned. There is an arrogance among many in the church that leads them to turn their nose up towards those outside their walls. Many in the church frankly think they are better people than others.

Acts 15 records one of the most remarkable transformations of the early church. Jewish tribalism is replaced with humble acceptance. Just five chapters before Peter needed a divine vision to force him to go to a God-fearing Gentile's home. Peter, and we assume most of the church, were amazed that God’s saving grace even extended to the Gentiles. Now Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas, and the majority of this council of Jerusalem agree that Gentiles can be part of the kingdom of God, and they can be so without following the Jewish laws. These same laws that made Peter even wary of associating with anyone who couldn’t keep them fully (Cornelius probably kept them to a large degree but wasn’t circumcised) are now not even a barrier to God. Most breathtaking is James’ quote of Amos 9:11, 12 (15:16, 17) in which he declares that “all Gentiles called by [the Lord’s] name” are included in the “tent of David.” The tent of David is code for the God’s chosen and called people, but it is a code that is thoroughly Jewish. Jewish and Gentiles believers are put on equal footing.

So how does such a transformation take place? Peter’s words state it perfectly, “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will”(15:11). Grace is the key that tears down the barriers. If grace comes freely through the person and work of Jesus and not through a set of distinctive rules, then Gentiles are as free to take part of that salvation as Jews are. Or to put it more in James’ language, the tent of David, the people of David, is the tent of Jesus. All those in Jesus are in his tent. It is one’s relationship to Jesus and not to specific groups or rules that allows a person to take part in God’s saving benefits.

What we see in this chapter is the total abolition of tribalism and racism. An abolition due solely to grace. The most detrimental aspect of our moral superiority complex, our tribalism, is that it is totally antithetical to the heart of our faith, grace. Grace says it does matter what group you belong to. Groups don’t get you to God, Jesus does. And no one in any group deserves saving grace, thus the designation “grace.” The result is that Christians ought to be the most accepting, non-tribalistic, non-cliquish kind of people. Whatever goods we have are not earned, they are given. And they are given to us in spite of ourselves. This reminder seems particularly appropriate in view of the upcoming elections. Few things are as polarizing as politics, and sadly evangelicals are as partisan as anybody. I'm not saying we should loose our convictions, but we need to maintain them with the humility that saving grace demands of us. Even if our views are right, remember is but grace that enables you to have them.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Evangelical views of abortion

Opposing abortion is a pretty standard position for evangelicals. So why all the talk about the evangelical vote being more divided. After all, there is only one pro-life candidate. I think the answer is demonstrated in the following videos of Donald Miller and John Piper. For those unacquainted with Miller, he has written, among other books, Blue Like Jazz, a best-seller that lays out a hipper, trendier Christian life. Miller actually prayed at the DNC, and this interview was recorded during his time there. Most intriguing is Miller's assessment that abortion isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and so providing the assumed conclusion that evangelicals just need to deal with it. I seem to remember the same arguments given to William Wilberforce and American abolitionists. Slavery isn't going anywhere, just deal with it. They didn't and thank God they didn't. Piper, as you may guess, offers a very different perspective.

Just in case some of you are wondering what exactly is Obama's stance on abortion the last video should give you a fairly good idea.







Thursday, September 4, 2008

Acts 14 and Christian Tribulations

Read Acts 14

Paul’s missionary journey’s were full of trials, rejection, mistreatment, and near death experiences. One can hardly imagine the ups and downs of these early missionaries. They flee for their lives from Iconium. Then they are on the verge of being worshipped as gods in Lystra only to have the same crowd turn on them and stone Paul virtually to death. But what is most remarkable is 14:21: “They returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” They went back?!? Most of us when we encounter opposition and hardship simply conclude that God is closing the door. Paul and friends in response to resistance conclude that the gospel is all the more needed.

What is more is that Paul and Barnabas begin a discipleship class for some of the new Christians, and a major part of the curriculum is the encouragement that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”(14:22). Tribulations and trials are not an incidental part of the Christian life. They are a planned, intentional, and necessary part. What a life changing bit of information. Why aren’t we telling people in our churches? Why isn’t this a part of our discipleship? Why are so many of us stunned by the trials that beset us? They are supposed to happen. They are part of the agenda. You don’t run from them. In response to trials you don’t conclude that God is unhappy with you or guiding you to another path. You assume that no matter the path, as a follower of the slaughtered Messiah, you are going to encounter a lot of pain. The pain should not dictate the course of the church just as it did not dictate the journeys of Paul and Barnabas. As the body of Christ, we must stop running from tribulations or else we will stop running to the kingdom of God, for “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Acts 13 and Some Thoughts on Sensationalism, Evangelism, and the Mega Church

Read Acts 13

In many of the hip Christian circles, mass evangelism is getting a pretty bad rap. The same goes for any kind of sensationalism. Of course, mega churches aren’t going anywhere. Crusades still happen. And TBN continues on. Nevertheless, it seems that more careful and thoughtful Christians (yes, I’m probably a bit biased) have concerns about the use of mass evangelism popular in broad evangelicalism and the sensationalism rampant in more pentecostal and charismatic arenas. Most of these concerns, I believe to be right and proper. However, it is quite clear that the early church successfully and frequently utilized both approaches. So how should the contemporary church view such methods?

In the first section of this chapter we see the sensational. Paul confronts unbelief and opposition to the gospel by casting blindness upon the leader of the resistance. A few things to note. First, God clearly uses the miraculous. While I believe that a fairly strong case can be made for the cessation of revelation, there seems to be no strong biblical argument for the termination of the miraculous. In fact, “power encounters” such as the one recorded here clearly still take place. Our Western-minded anti-supernaturalism does us a great disservice here, for there are well-documented accounts to God’s power triumphing over the demonic powers. Secondly, it is important to note the purpose of this miracle. What makes it so remarkable to the observers is that Paul demonstrates power over a “magician,” a wonder worker. Jesus whips the powers that oppose him. This the point of the miracle. Thirdly, in 13:12 Luke notes that the proconsul “believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” The power encounter was accompanied by the truth of the gospel. The sensational didn’t stand alone. The “magician” manifested the sensational apart from truth, and Luke calls him a “false prophet.” Miracles without gospel are not good. They deceive. The sensational is meant to serve the spread of the gospel and not stand alone. If miraculous becomes the center of attention, then it is no longer an evangelistic tool. It is a demonic one.

In the second section (13:13-52) we encounter mass evangelism. Paul and company’s gospel witness was limited at first to the local Jews, but by the end of the chapter “the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord”(13:44). What is intriguing is that the Jews were quite willing, even desirous to hear Paul’s words about Jesus, but once the crowds started to assemble they became jealous and eventually drove Paul and Barnabas out of town. Now the Jews were probably more worried about nationality than numbers, but it is curious that many Christians, like the Jews, get a little leery of any evangelistic approach that brings in the numbers. Again, much of this concern is warranted. But mass evangelism was clearly an accepted practice in the early church. The simple fact that the crowd is massive does not mean the evangelistic approach is suspect. It is fairly clear here(13:43), as well as in the rest of Acts, that the early church and its missionaries always developed more personal ministry from the masses, but so many times they began with the masses. The problem, as I see it, with the mega church movement is not the size of the crowd. It is making the crowd primary. The entire focus of the church often becomes getting and sustaining a large mass of people. There is often the lack of personal ministry mixed in with the mass ministry. The best churches do both mass and personal ministry as the early Christians did. In fact, the anti-megachurch mentality of some of us is really baffling. We’re questioning the power of the gospel and Spirit to subdue a mass larger than we can handle. But who is sufficient for personal ministry? All evangelism is more than we can handle. We need to be very cautious about determining what God can and cannot do, and very, very cautious about judging the ministries of other Christians. That especially goes for the ministries that are bigger than ours.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Acts 12

Read Acts 12

The whole point of this chapter is to juxtapose the powers of this world and the divine powers available to the Church. Immediately we are confronted with an arrogant, reckless tyrant in Herod who seeks only his own glory and is willing to kill people to get it. He has no severe qualms with Christians, but he knows slaughtering them will get him high regard among the Jews whom he rules. So, he kills James, one of their leaders and arrests Peter. The church of Jerusalem has no response to such power. As king of Judea, Herod could pretty much kill whomever he choses whenever he choses. But a key verse is inserted here: “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” Herod has all the power of the great Roman Empire behind him. Yes, but the church prayed. And that is the turning point. Everything in this section hinges on that verse. Rome verses the church. Who wins the matchup? The church prayed, and so the fight is really not fair. The church appeals to an almighty warrior-king, and all Herod has are prisons, guards, chains, swords, armies, and dungeons. It’s not much of a fight. All the church must do is pray and all heaven is unleashed upon their enemies. And those prayers do not even have to be made with great faith. All the better if they are, but even these prayers, which it seems the church hardly believed would be answered, were answered in might and power.

The story does not end there, for Herod is still in power, and he is still the same scoundrel he ever was. And so it happens that at the moment he attains the glory that he craved, his life is taken from him. Here there is another pivotal statement: “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory . . . But the word of God increased and multiplied.” Herod who has the authority to wipe out every Christian in Jerusalem actually has no power except that which is given to him. As the powerful tyrant breathes his last, the word of God charges onward.

The message from Luke here is clear. What has the church to fear? Take up your weapons of faith. Commit yourself to prayer. Trust the omnipotent, glorious God to make His glory known. No human power, no matter how great or fierce or wicked, can thwart the expansion of his kingdom.