This week The Pew will take some time to look at the meaning and significance of the phrase in the Bible, “Let there be light”. The phrase let there be light comes from Genesis1:3 in the Bible. “God said, let there be light, and there was light”. It’s the first recorded spoken word of God in scripture, and it marked the beginning of the creation narrative. So, let there be light is of biblical origin, in Genesis light appears before the sun, moon and stars showing it is something of independent reality rather than a celestial object, which is no more than a fancy way of simply saying it was God’s will that there be light. God brings into reality light, emphasizing his authority and sovereignty. Light in the Bible is not just a physical illumination, It represents goodness, order, truth, and God’s holiness. There’s a separation and order here. God separates light from darkness, and he named them day and night, thus establishing a rhythm and structure in creation, we find in the New Testament that light is linked to Christ as an example, “in him was life, and that life was a light of all mankind”and that is from the book of John 1: 4–5. I believe that would not be out of order to ask why light first? It has been written that placing light in the creation sequence shows that all understanding, more order, and life sustaining energy flow from God.(Bible Hub.) in reality the “Good Book” as we sometimes refer to the Bible set the stage for the rest of scripture’s themes of revelation, salvation, and guidance. But also has become a motto for different organizations, symbolizing new beginnings, enlightenment, and the power of knowledge. So the phrase let there be light is both a literal account of creation and a theological statement about God’s nature, the origin of order, the symbolic role of light as life, truth, and divine presence. The exact phrase “let there be light” appears only once in the Bible and that of course is in the book of Genesis 1:3 so the exact phrase let there be light has only one occurrence but the word light in the Bible appears 236–433 occurrences across the old and new testament, those figures being the courtesy of the Online Bible.

Some quick reminders as we move through this week’s blog. God and Jesus are referred to his light. The Bible states that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.  1John 1:5 simple meaning for those of us that want to pursue this further is that He is entirely holy pure and true. Jesus calls himself the light of the world in John 8:12, stating that whoever follows him will not walk in darkness because he brings spiritual sight and eternal life. When we look to the word of God for guidance in truth, scripture is described as a light that directs a person’s daily choices, we can read about that in psalm 119:105, “your word is a lamp to my feet.” Light has another very understandable quality it exposes hidden actions and reveals things as they truly are. Ephesians 5:13. And I think we could most likely say with some assurance that it is also the call of believers. It reflects God. Jesus tells his followers in Matthew 5:14 “they are the light of the world meant to let their good shine so others will honor God.”

This week’s block is another example of short, sweet, to the point. Matthew 5:14 Jesus tells and confirms to each one of us that we do have a place in his kingdom and in the kingdom to come. We close this week’s blog with a question…will you answer the call?

Life is Good

jk

Fair Time / Festivals of Worship Rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name… Deuteronomy 16:11

Thanks for joining us in The Pew this week. If you’ve been traveling along with us, you know that we’re kind of keeping up and looking for The Good Way in this life that we live here on this earth. As we travel along this road of The Good Way, we’ve written about the bumps and things we run into and now we’re going to write about those detours that pop up every now and then and kinda get us off the road, The Good Way.

I have never thought about this, Revisionist culture, new thing to me. It refers to “a social or intellectual environment that prioritizes re-examining, challenging, and actively changing long-accepted traditions, cultural narratives, and historical records. Instead of taking the status quo or traditional heritage for granted, a revisionist culture views established norms through a critical, modern lens to correct perceived past errors, systemic biases, or structural inequalities.” I also would like to add the advancement of social justice agendas.

Revisionist culture in the Christian faith refers to the movement to reexamine, reinterpret, or alter traditional Christian doctrines, historical events, and biblical texts. This approach often seeks to align Christian theology with modern social values, scientific understandings, and progressive cultural norms. It is very controversial and not something that really truly mainline denominations are willing to talk about. When we look at biblical texts through historical and critical lenses or modern social frameworks like feminism are LBGTQ+ we find ourselves unknowingly entering into the world of political thought and social agendas. There are also some other outcomes like we find ourselves, questioning long held orthodox traditions, such as the nature of salvation, hell, or even original sin. The things that I think we need to really consider is that shifting church stances on social issues, which would include the LGBTQ+, marriage, general rules, and environmental justice, years of doctrinal teachings biblical truths, moralizing them to fit a particular situation. It doesn’t stop there either. It even goes into the historical revisionism, like reevaluating church history to highlight marginalized voices or critique past intuitional failures. Leaving our faith to take  a real hard hit when we’re told our beliefs must evolve to stay relevant and meaningful to modern society. 

I really don’t think it will take that many words to express a very serious concern that many Christians have today. When we alter foundational doctrine, it compromises the ultimate authority of the Bible. When we view revisionism, we see a surrendering of timeless spiritual truths to temporary secular trends. And when we modify core creeds, this leads to division and a loss of unified Christian identity across the denominations. Let’s encourage each other to know what we believe, and why we believe it. Let’s once again lift up the Bible as the word of God and the source from which we acquire our knowledge and draw our strength. I encourage each of you who are reading this wherever you might be, to stay on the Good Way.

Life is Good

jk

The Spirit And Heart of A Pastor…An Emulation of Worth… I Thessalonians 3: 1-10

This week the Pew will take some time to look closely at the verses from John 14:5–11. In these verses 5–11 Jesus expresses a deep sorrow that after three years of traveling everywhere with Him and being with Him every moment, the disciples still do not know who he is. What is even more disturbing to our savior was the fact that after seeing all those things that he did in the Father’s name and speaking to them the words that God gave Him they still are at a loss about who exactly he is. I believe that it’s probably one of the overlooked problems that we have in our faith today, we don’t really understand or appreciate who Jesus Christ really is, that was then, is now and always will be. 

I may be out of line, but I’d like to refer to John 14:5–11 as being the great confession. It’s in these verses that Jesus reveals His Divine identity and his absolute oneness with God, the Father. 

It prompted questions from his disciples Thomas and Philip. Jesus Christ establishes himself as a physical manifestation of God here on earth. We sometimes refer to that as God incarnate. All of it got started when Thomas admitted that the disciples had no idea where Jesus was going or how to get there. It’s at this point that we get one of Jesus’s most famous statements “I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus makes it very plain to the disciples that He is the destination, the source of the ultimate truth, and the provider of eternal life. As I continue through this review or summation of what went on there in those verses Phillip asks Jesus to physically show them God, the Father, believing that would be enough to satisfy them. This is the point at which Jesus was definitely grieved. Jesus in his usual manner, simply, gently rebukes Philip for his not recognizing His true nature after spending so much time together, and then Jesus makes a statement that wraps it all up “anyone who has seen me has seen the father.”Jesus, very patiently explains to them that He, Jesus, exists in the Father and the Father exists  in him. He is pointing out that they are completely unified in essence. These messages that Jesus is preaching are not his own inventions, but the words given by the Father dwelling inside of Him. And then, in my opinion, in a very Humanistic Way, Jesus tells the disciples that if they struggle to believe in His spoken words, they should look at the works  He performed as a physical proof of his divine authority.

Now not to dwell on this too much and create a great deal of confusion, but let’s kind of break this down by the verses. Thomas asked the Lord, where are you going and how can we know that way? Thomas views Jesus’s upcoming departure which we know is his death, resurrection, and Ascension, in the literal mindset of Thomas it is purely a geographical location. Thomas’s question exposes that the disciples are still missing the spiritual reality of Jesus’s mission, despite hearing Him speak of his departure multiple times. When we get to verse six, it begins to kind of spread out so to speak Jesus has answered them in this way. He simply said “I Am”, which is a divine expression for “Yahweh”, to claim the three absolute concepts that expose his personal identity. Jesus simply tells him “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, and then he makes a very the exclusive claim “except through me”. It is with this revelation that he positions Himself as a soul mediator between God and man. Then Jesus in verse seven revealed some concepts. The first thing the transition, Jesus skips from the concept of a location to a relationship. Next, the Revelation, to know Jesus is to know God there is no hidden secondary vision of God, waiting to be discovered beyond Jesus. Verse eight addresses Phillips blindness. Philip, he wants a spectacular Old Testament style manifestation of God’s glory like Moses experienced on Mount Sinai. The irony is that Phillips fails to recognize that the ultimate manifestation of God is already standing directly in front of him. Now some research refers to verse nine as being the rebuke. Jesus speaking to Philip said, “don’t you know Me Philip even after I have been among you for such a long time anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father how can you say, show us the Father?” Now I find this very interesting. It’s here that we see a brief moment of grief in Jesus’s heart it’s hard for him to bear the burden that after three years of such intimate fellowship, they are still blind to his true identity. But we should hear that Jesus leaves no room for misunderstanding. To look at Him, is to look directly at the character, heart and presence of God. Verse 10 we approach the foundation of the Trinity, it describes a perfect, ever continuing union between Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus takes the time to clarify that His spoken words are actually the Father, speaking, and his physical actions the Father working through Him. Here’s perhaps one of the hardest things for us today to understand. In verse 11 I’m trying to understand the two fold basis for faith. 

“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

We should be encouraged to take the higher path. Jesus prefers that we as followers, believe Him simply based on the truth of His character and his verbal testimony. And then, of course, there is a mercy path if their faith is too weak for that He offers a safety net: look at the historical supernatural miracles, the blind seeing, the dead raised as the undeniable proof of his authority.

Do not make the mistake believing that your Father in heaven cannot be hurt. God grieves daily for our lack of faith and love for one another, it could well be that we have never really known the way that he has made very plain to his disciples and to us through biblical text and history…“I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” And that folks is what we are seeking…The Good Way.

Life is Good

jk

 

 

 

A few years ago I shared this message and for some reason in preparation for this weeks blog I was looking at all that is going on in the Christian world today and it came to mind. It has not been posted as a blog to the best of my memory. So…..back in the day it went this way.

Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. In faith we know that the Lord sustains our lives and watches over us in every moment. Faith is not a matter of accepting certain doctrinal teachings, but rather a trust that God can bring transformation. In the Wesleyan tradition, the journey of faith includes an expectation of transformation, change and holy living. “are you going on to perfection?” We come together as a community of faith, believers who share the joy, hope, love and peace of the faith. For many of us when we leave our church, walk outside these walls and drive off, we then come face to face with the stark realities of life. The world we live in today is one of many uncertainties. The church,  and our christian faith is under constant attack. The things that provide some sense of sanity in this uncertain world, home, family, faith and church are at risk. Homes are lost; families torn apart and churches are being closed as others face a decline in membership and support.  A nation that once called out to God …..now whispers his name so as not to offend anyone; one nation under God has now become a nation which must first debate when and where or even if his name may be evoked. This is indeed a world of many uncertainties in which we see each day a loss of faith, a people who should be on their knees, but instead are running from the faith seeking to grab something to hold onto in these uncertain times.

I was a young man voting in his first national election when Barry Goldwater was the nominee of the Republican party.I remember him saying… “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Boy did that get him in trouble. He was from that day on labeled a war monger, a man of uncertain temperament. Those words cost him the election. Well, I am no Berry Goldwater, but we can no longer continue doing as we do. We must defend the faith. Extremism is a harsh word and in its simplest form means to go beyond the norm. Faith has often been answered by those who disagree with our faith with extremism.

Our lord was beaten in such a manner that the flesh was torn from his body. He was spit on, ridiculed, and made to carry his cross through the streets to the place of his crucifixion. Six inch nails were driven through his hands and feet. Nailed to a cross while solders cast lots for his clothes and challenged him; “come down off that cross, are you not the king of the jews? With agonizing breath He said “father forgive them.” While he was still known as Saul, Paul held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen. He obtained letters authorizing him to go to Damascus and bring those known as “people of the way” back to be imprisoned. Then there are those who took up the cross. The Apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead. He got up and went back into the town and continued to preach the good news.  At the council in Jerusalem Peter spoke in defense of the faith on behalf of Paul and Barnabas. James the brother of jesus defended the need to take the faith to the gentiles.

We have lost our faith to religion. The jews lived and died by the law. Peter reminded them that day that no man could possibly keep all the law. It is the faith that believes Jesus Christ is the son of the living God and through him only can we come to the Father……this and this alone….grace freely given… that is our salvation. In the OT the word faith in the sense of belief occurs only five times. OT faith was never mere assent to a set of doctrines or outward acceptance of the law, but absolute confidence in the faithfulness of God and a loving obedience to his will. We find that in the NT the words faith or believe occur almost 500 times. Jesus offered himself as the object of faith and made plain that faith in him was necessary for eternal life.

Going back to what Barry said, I believe another word would better communicate a christian like attitude. Boldness……“the trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger” Yes, I like that word better…..Boldness in the defense of the faith is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of the faith is no virtue. We must return a sense of boldness to the faith, we only need to look to the boldness of our missionaries who daily take the faith of our fathers to others in all kinds of circumstances.

So what is this faith we are called to defend? Faith has both an active and passive sense in the bible. The first relating to one’s loyalty to a person or commitment to a promise; the other being confidence in the word or assurance of another.  Faith is not merely what a person believes, as example, an accurate doctrine or creed, but also and more importantly, that the object of our faith is valid. The empty  tomb validates our faith. I believe it to be a reasonable statement that we are governed by our thoughts; we ultimately become what we dwell most upon in our minds. The Apostle Paul gave these instruction to the romans:

Romans 12:2 “do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what god’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

One of my favorite passages, one I have shared many times:

Philippians 4:8 finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What is the value of faith?  2 Chronicles: 20-20……… As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the lord your god and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

We are established as a people through our faith. Isaiah 7-9 …………“if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

Our faith is a gift of god

Luke 17: 5  The apostles said to the lord, “increase our faith!” Romans 12: 3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

Here is a passage we all know well……8 “to one there is given through the spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same spirit, 9 to another faith by the same spirit?” The purpose of our faith is to gain understanding and truth.

John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Faith helps us to grow in God’s grace

Hebrews 4:16 “let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

We are able to rejoice through our faith.

Philippians 2: 17-18 “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 so you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

We can use our faith to strengthen ourselves

Romans 6:13-14 “do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 for sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Through faith we become transformed into the image of Christ, a people strong in the faith.

Ephesians 3: 12 “in him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

Boldness in the defense of the faith is no vice. The distractions are many and many mean well; but I would say to you that the removal of a nativity scene, the objection to a cross in the desert, the obsessions and honors given to people of questionable Christian behavior are regrettable distractions to people of faith.

We need………

-the bold faith of our lord that would allow him to do no less than the father’s will, even if it meant his death.

-the bold faith of Paul having been stoned and left for dead, he got up, went back and continued to preach the good news.

-the bold faith of Peter rising to speak on behalf of Paul and Barnabas’ ministry to the gentiles.

-the bold faith of James who challenged the church at Jerusalem, knowing that there were those who opposed the gentile.

We need a boldness in our faith that says ….come as you are. The faith belongs to all who seek Jesus Christ.

The church has lost its boldness. We must put aside the distractions of this world and come together in defense of the faith. To defend the faith is to defend Jesus Christ.  “I am the way”

Don’t leave your faith here in the pew. Take it with you and share with all……jk

July 2016

Do you consider yourself a Christian of faith or one of convenience? I think we all at one time or another in our lives and probably will in the future bend every now and then from doctrine or beliefs in order to fit in need of a particular moment. I can’t speak for all of you, but I can speak for myself by saying I am not proud of it, but I certainly don’t consider myself above everyone else. So what do you believe and why do you believe it? That is the question that the Elephant in the pew wants an answer for. Last week we looked at two of those legs on what I’m going to refer to for this particular blog as my stool of faith. We looked at the theologian, and we looked at the theological views of an issue that has not only torn our denomination apart, but many many others. So I’m sure you’ve already guessed it by now. I have a little bit different opinion of what’s going on in our churches today. And it’s only fair that I at least share with you why I believe what I do. What is the platform or basis of my belief? Simply put the Bible, God’s word. And I’m using these scriptures… 2 Timothy 3:16, which states that all scripture is God breathe and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Let us break that down just a little bit. Let’s look at what the verse says about:

Teaching-it shows what is true

Rebuking-it shows what is wrong

Correcting-it helps fix mistakes

Training in righteousness-it guides us to live right

The purpose in verse 17 of that scripture states that it prepares a person for every good work and it helps believers grow and mature, and be fully ready.

For myself and for the pew, it’s time to come forward and just speak up. I did not want this to be a confrontation of politics or selfish agendas, I wanted it I guess you might say to be standing on solid ground. There is nothing more solid than the word of God. Many years ago there was a person at a church that I attended, who became a very good friend over the years. Their family lost their oldest son who was studying to enter the ministry, and she wrote a book called “Standing on the Promises.” Now all these years later I find myself standing on the promises. The incident with Asbury seminary and the United Methodist Church only emphasizes even more by disappointment and hurt for what has happened to the church I grew up in. So I openly declare today that I believe as the story in Genesis tells us God made a man and a woman. There are only two genders that are made by God. As a Christian I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. Let’s get down to the core issue of all of this. I’ve spent a lot of time reading researching and trying to develop a reasonable position around this Elephant. One of the practices that always surfaces in these discussions, of course would be biblical passages. I’m not gonna overwhelm you with all of those passages. I’m simply going to use the ones that came up in the research that I was doing. So here’s the list. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 state that a man should not lie with another man as with a woman calling the act detestable or an abomination. And of course there’s always Genesis 19 Solomon, Gomorrah, which traditionally is interpreted as a judgment against same-sex act, though it must be stated as some scholars argue, the text focuses primarily on violence and attempted sexual assault. These of course from the Old Testament, next the New Testament and we’re looking at Romans 1:26–27 which describes same sex female and male sex act as contrary to nature and places them within the context of idolatry. In first Corinthians 6:9–10 and first Timothy 1:9–10 there is a use of specific Greek terms and they’re often translated as men who practice homosexuality or men who have sex with men, and it is in a list of behaviors, considered contrary to God’s kingdom. As I have said and continue to maintain, this is not a blog of condemnation. It’s one of just simply speaking up for what I believe and what I believe many many Christians believe to be true. And if we want to be fair I found during my research before I wrote this blog, I run across a section entitled modern interpretations. There is a traditional view that maintains these texts clearly define all same sex sexual behavior outside of a traditional marriage between a man and a woman as country to God’s design. But there is an opposing view that argues that these passages, target specific historical practices, like exploitative pederasty, temple prostitution, or rape rather than modern, committed, and loving, same-sex relationships. We follow this up by writing  that Jesus never specifically , mentions homosexuality in the Bible, probably because it wasn’t even a word at that time, however, he defined marriage exclusively as a union of a man and a woman, and he also condemned porneia, which is a Greek term for all sexual immorality outside of biblical marriage, and upheld the Old Testament moral law.

Once again, we feel it necessary to balance all this out with this. There is an ongoing theological debate about how these teaching apply today, with the views differing across Christian traditions. When we look at the traditional view, many   argue that Jesus’s definition of marriage as strictly male, female, combined with his condemnation of porneia, implicitly, prohibits, homosexual act and same-sex marriage. But as we traveled today’s world, we find a progressive view. There are other scholars that emphasize that Jesus, explicitly focused on love, compassion, and justice. There are many who say that he never directly condemned, same-sex relationships, his core teachings do not inherently exclude or condemn LGBTQ + individuals. Well here I feel like I have to insert the fact that LGBTQ+ was not recognized in that day and time and I will go even further to state that this is a good example of faith by convenience.

So I complete that three Legged Faith Stool of mine with a third leg that believes quite simply…there are only two genders created by God and marriage, Christian marriage is between a man and woman.

Life is Good

jk