Todays blog requires an additional question. Are there Pharisees among us today? Many believe that the Pharisees somehow are looked at a bit to harshly. Here is what we know. The Pharisees were an influential religious sect within Judaism in the time of Christ and the early church. The name, Pharisee, comes from a Jewish word meaning separated. They included the oral tradition in addition to the written law and they insisted that all Jews must obey all 600 plus laws in the Torah, along with the rituals contained in the purification ceremony. These men were mostly middle-class and held leadership positions in the synagogues. An interesting point is that they were a minority in the Sanhedrin as to the number of positions they held as priests, yet they also seemed to be able to control the decision-making of the Sanhedrin because they were popular with the people. Fast forward to today. There are many things that are contrary to our faith values today along with   questionable leadership which yet seems to flourish simply because it is popular with the people. I have included the Pharisees in other writings in the past but here is a fact that has eluded me until my recent readings. Among the Pharisees were two schools of thought, based on the teachings of two rabbis, Shammai and Hillel. No need to delve into that at this time but is interesting that after a period of time these two schools within Pharisaism became so hostile to each other that they would no longer worship together. Sound familiar? Think the of church splits that happen in today’s Christian community. You can find much more information about the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin in other books and study material.  

We are using scripture from Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. Most of us have always been taught that the Pharisees and Scribes were self-righteous hypocrites, the bad guys in the narrative. Jesus himself calls them out as such. Are we to question our Lords spoken words, of which Mark has noted in these scripture readings? I don’t think so but I also believe that motive and intent are reasonable qualifiers in any situation and are pivotal to understanding the scripture fully. Sometimes good intentions can blind people and cause them to not trust God. Remember motive and intent? It is important that we at least consider the intent and motive of the Pharisees when reading these scriptures. Before God gave the law he told the people that they were to be a holy nation, priestly in their behavior among the nations around them. These men understood that God was calling them to be His people. They believed that the law was a gift to bring order into their lives as God’s people. For them to observe that law was a witness to the nations around them and  gave glory to God. I do not want to burden you with details and there are many but rather present a few facts for you to consider in future discussions about the Pharisees. One thing we all have in common with the Pharisees would be our attachment to traditions. They believed that the laws concerning the priests serving in the temple applied  to all of God’s people and all aspects of their lives. The fact that the priests had to wash their hands before entering the temple or offering a sacrifice was the basis of interpreting the law to mean that all Jews must wash their hands before a meal, making it a sacred time. The Pharisees intent was to bring all aspects of life under the canopy of God’s law. Their motive of protecting these traditions was their way of protecting the Jewish faith and way of life amid the Roman occupation. One of the best examples of this protective attitude is found in Mark 7:1-8. The real issue here was not proper hygiene. The Pharisees looked upon it as a neglect of tradition and undermining of God’s law. 

These Pharisees may have had some legitimate concerns in their day and time. It is my opinion that they acted with closed minds and sought to undermine anything that challenged what had become the tradition of Jews living out their lives and worshiping their God. There is one other factor that we must include….Power…Power to control God’s people and influence their religious life with the Law being first and foremost in all their life actions. In Mark 7  Jesus makes it very plain why he is so displeased with the Pharisees.

Mark 7:6-8, 14-15, 21-23 

⁶ He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; ⁷ in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” 

¹⁴ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

 ²¹ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

There is no tradition that can protect us from the evil behavior of others or ourselves. The Pharisees got to the point where they thought themselves to be a rung above everyone else. They used the law as a leverage to separate themselves from those they deemed not worthy of God’s love. The Pharisees built a wall of law and tradition to keep others out. Now what about that other question? Are there Pharisees among us today? Yes, most definitely and here is a thought to take with you. The gospel shows us that true faithfulness is going among those considered unclean, loving those who are unloved and serving and giving our lives, time and resources to all people —

Matthew 25:35-36 New International Version (NIV)

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Sharing the word with you is an important part of my life for which I am most grateful. I am also grateful for the numerous authors, commentaries and articles that provide the material for these blogs. They, prayer and the Holy Spirit are my guides through this wonderful world of God’s word. As always I will endeavor to acknowledge the sources that provide these insights into the gospel each week.

Life is Good

Jk

Resource material for today’s blog is from an article written by Elisabeth Johnson, Professor, Lutheran Institute of Theology.

 

 Once again a murder committed by an illegal alien has awakened the passions of both sides of this debate. I am of a small majority and there is the possibility, I may be the only one who believes that immigration is an issue of its own and the Church does not need to be involved in it. Say that again….The Church does not need to be involved in the immigration issue. It is fine for christians to bring their Christian Values to the debate and at this time in our nations history it is sorely needed. The church needs to direct its resources to the needs of those who are the victims of this ongoing immigration problem. As always another loss of life involving an illegal alien and down the same road we go. Here we see this identity trend pop up, more on that later.

As always in situations of this nature,  the narrative centers on the perpetrator and not the weapon, I make this distinction to make a point that the loss of life is overshadowed by the rush to gain political or social credit and to boost personal or organizational agendas. Because church today is influenced more than in past days by the pressure of social relevance, this is indeed a subject that resonates in the pew. Almost all denominations have issued position papers by leadership that explains their stance on immigration. Not everyone in every pew agrees totally with these particular statements, they differ from denomination to denomination. It is my opinion this has become a difficult issue because of an unintended turn of events surrounding immigration. We have been hearing about the evils of identity politics, which in turn has found its way into the immigration debate. This is taking us down a winding road that leads to no solution. Immigration has become a problem, why? People from all over the world have been coming to the United States from its very inception. I believe it is because we have assigned other factors to it, that complicate a very simple definition of immigrant as a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence and does so as prescribed by law. Notice that no where in this definition is there an identifier that makes one immigrant different from another. There are just to many labels being ascribed to those people caught in this dilemma, consider this list:  immigrant, alien, illegal alien, illegal alien/immigrant or that shortened description uttered in total frustration, an illegal. Here is another one to add, it is a bit milder and strangely enough, the least used. Migrant…but “there’s no one simple description of a migrant. Across the U.S. political spectrum, politicians and activists present Central American migrants as either dreamers or law-breakers; those fleeing violence or those abusing immigration loopholes; crying toddlers or MS-13 gangsters. These labels force migrants into rigid categories, losing the diversity of their reasons and their wide-ranging demographics and backgrounds.”  I continue to quote from the article listed below. “The face of migration has also changed. Back in 2000, Mexican nationals made up 98 percent of the total migrants and Central Americans referring to Honduran, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran migrants only one percent. Today, Central Americans make up closer to 50%.”(lawfareblog.com  June 23 2018) 

The road we are on has more turns than the “yellow brick road” and there will be no Oz and no Wizard to make things right at the end of our journey. Conservatives favor the term “illegal immigrants,” which hardliners often shorten to “illegals”; immigrant advocates prefer “undocumented immigrants,” a phrasing that they say prods the conversation back toward the humans in question, but “Unauthorized” often shows up as a neutral alternative. That is a brief history or background of where we are today. Now, what about the Church? 

I have a rule when writing that it is important the information you share is as accurate as possible. I also believe that I don’t know everything. I have an opinion about everything but knowledge does not dwell in opinions. I have researched this immigration thing quite a bit. Churches have always been involved in humanitarian ministries, it is the Christian calling and we of the church are to lift up, protect the helpless, feed the hungry and oppose the injustices that marginalize those less fortunate than ourselves. There is a small detail that we often get wrong. We are to serve God’s people. Who are God’s people? We agree I am sure, that God created all things…. Here we find that detail, we sometimes pass over, all.  All people are God’s people, period. Back to my earlier statement “The Church does not need to be involved in the immigration issue.” The church does need to be cleaning up this mess created by Governments and organizations, also people with personal agendas as well as political parties who seek to strengthen their voting bases. The church needs to be on the people side of this issue, trust God to deal with the rest. The secular world is a good example of why the church needs to remain true to its calling. There are those, outside the church, who believe making placards, marching and chanting or screaming obscenities at those you disagree with or in general becoming a mob with an opinion does nothing to deal with or relieve the human suffering caused by this issue. In my research I have found two excellent articles that are well-balanced and I believe worth the read. Scott Rae is Professor of Ethics at Talbot School of Theology and author of numerous books on Christian ethics. The link to his article is posted below. The other author is Lynne Bollinger for which I do not have a direct link to. You will find her article “The Church as a Place of Belonging” included in a book by Dan Boone “A Charitable Discourse, Volume 2.” I have listed the publishing house below.

If you have read this far I encourage you to follow-up by reading the suggested material. We must as the church look beyond the issue of immigration as a social and political issue and do all we can to make it a “people” issue, “God’s People”. Pray, seek to be informed, become involved in your community through the many church programs that serve this immigrant community and remember 

Matthew 25:34-36 New International Version (NIV)

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

We must do the Kingdom’s work.

Life is Good

Jk

https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/bible-immigration/

Boone, Dan. A Charitable Discourse, Volume 2: Uncomfortable Conversations (Kindle Location 1361). Nazarene Publishing House. Kindle Edition. “The Church as a Place of Belonging –  Lynne Bollinger”

We all very different, or so we like to believe. Most know the story of  Job, his descent into a world of misery he never imagined was possible for him.  Job is a wealthy man living in a land called Uz with his large family and extensive flocks. God counts him as“blameless” and “upright,” always avoiding evil (1:1).  Satan comes to God who has boasted about Job’s goodness and argues that Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Satan challenges God that, if given permission to punish the man, Job will turn and curse God. God allows Satan to torment Job to test this bold claim, but he forbids Satan to take Job’s life in the process. Many different writings make note of the fact that the Satan in the book of Job is not the same as the one in the NT. This Satan at this time is one of the heavenly minions.

Job finds himself in dire straights, one disaster after another which of course brings to mind a question that is asked often by all of us. Why Me Lord? Job does not know the answer to that question but there are others who believe they know, according to the customs of the day. We  often ask ourselves when things go wrong, “What have I done wrong or what could I have done differently?” There is a turn in this account of Job that I have overlooked in the past and it is possible you may have also.

We see in the early going conversations between Job and his friends they believe that God blesses the good and punishes the guilty, so they felt Job must be guilty of some terrible sin and should repent.  Job, does not believe that, which we as readers of the first chapter, know to be true. His friends continue to press him to admit his sin, then we encounter Elihu who grows weary that no answer has been presented by any of the four involved in this conversation. Elihu leans more toward divine providence, which he insists is full of wisdom and mercy. It is possible that suffering may be decreed for the righteous as a protection against greater sin, moral betterment and warning, causing us to have a greater trust and dependence on a merciful, compassionate God in the midst of adversity. Reasonable thought, how often has a crisis moved us closer to God? Job has endured a number of setbacks and his friends while distraught at his situation continue to push Job to repent of his sin, believing still it is responsible for where he finds himself at this moment in time. It is at this time (chapter 32) that Elihu, who by the way is not an elder joins the conversation with a lengthy speech. It is thought that his not being an elder, he waited out of respect for those older than him to have their say. It is here that we encounter that turn I spoke of earlier. We all seek answers as to why this or that has happened to us. Job was no different and the treatment he received, one more of judgement than comfort in his time of distress and from his friends no less, most likely drove him even lower. He was driven to revisit the good things he had done, the stature he had attained in living a good life…..he sought the presence of God. Then came the turn. We might expect Job, in chapter 38, to answer Elihu. What we get is God’s response to Job which is all questions. The paradox of a question becoming an answer, allowing Job to take these facts and make the connection of Why. 

Why do good people have to suffer? The book of Job raises many questions and leaves us searching for the answers. We can become confused, angry, scared and yes…demanding in our times of trial. In chapter 38, verses 1-11, the majesty, glory and authority of God are put before Job with questions. Consider… God answers Job, but I am sure it was not as he expected. God has some questions for Job, a quick look at 38: 1-11

Verses

-1-3 God makes his presence known in many ways. The questions start, not what Job wanted, he wanted to address God directly. He wanted to know the charges against him and win justice for himself. Instead he gets questions he can’t answer.

-God invites Job to prepare for confrontation.

-Job 13: 21 Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. 22 Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me.

-4-7 These verses are to impress upon Job that he can’t even begin to understand the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge.

-8-11

8“Or who shut up the sea with doors, 

when it broke forth from the womb, 

9when I made clouds its garment, 

and wrapped it in thick darkness, 

10marked out for it my bound, 

set bars and doors, 

11and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. 

Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’”

So tell me Job, can you do any of these things? Did you see me do these things? Point is Job, if not, who are you to be seeking a confrontation with the Almighty to bring your case to and receive vindication?  These questions are not to marginalize Job but to hopefully show him the majesty of God and to glorify God. 

As I bring this weeks blog to close I still ask WHY? In these first eleven verses we see how ordinary we are.  Job must come to the realization that he lacks the knowledge to ask such a question….he is mortal, just a man. So what is the Job Syndrome? I think it is taking too much for granted, no, better said, taking God’s blessings for granted. Then when things don’t go our way we want to know why. Ponder on this….no person receives salvation by doing good things or having nice things……..Why?

 

I hope to keep this as simple as possible. The early church was pretty much made up of Jews who had accepted Christ as the Messiah. There was of course the new and major acceptance by these Jews that Christ was the promised Messiah and that salvation was found only in Him. They continued to worship in the Jewish fashion for several years in some places but in time added a few things to distinguish themselves as followers of Christ. People of the way as we became to know them in later writings. Added were the Lord’s Supper, they gathered daily for prayer and fellowship, preaching and teaching. A major change was the moving of the worship services from the Jewish Sabbath to the first day of the week because it was the day of the resurrection. An interesting fact here is that from the very inception of this new Christianity the synagogue was in full power of its various functions. There came a time that Christians were no longer allowed to worship in the synagogues. The early Christians had always viewed themselves as a Jewish sect and this set in motion some changes in the order of worship. They did maintain the same rites as their Jewish counterparts with changes coming as Christian Scripture became available. To fully understand the changes that occurred over time, go to the link at the end of this blog. While the New Testament does not offer many details on the order of worship or leadership in the churches earliest days there are some things we do know. When the time came that they were no longer able to worship in the synagogues, they began to meet in homes. We are able to find some order of worship in the books of Acts, Corinthians, Colossians to name just a few. There would be singing of Hymns and psalms, prayer, vocal thanksgiving and instruction.   

Paul, in his writing to the church in Corinth, describes two types of Christian gathering – one is the Lord’s Supper (cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17; 11:20-29) or the ceremonial community meal; a second gathering was the Prophetic Assembly, which included both singing and thanksgiving in unknown languages, with interpretation (for purpose of edification), and prophecy (cf. 1 Cor 14:1-33).(Dr. D W. Ekstrand)

Some things never change, we might enhance them some, to better preach and teach the word but the core of it all is the church being called, our calling, to take the word to the people of God. Do not pass lightly over the phrase people of God, for He is the creator of all things and people of God means just that. We are to go to all people not just those who we are comfortable with or places that are convenient for us. Back to last weeks blog. Can we even perceive how difficult we have made this church thing in today’s world? All the groups, labels and social pressure that confronts our planning, going forth with the word and serving the needs of our communities. Time never makes anything   simpler. We can reduce decades to X, Y, Z but take several paragraphs to turn a scripture to our needs. The church has grown beyond what we read about in the New Testament, we still celebrate the Lord’s Supper and it is true that we seek to add to His Kingdom by proclaiming the Word of God and looking to Jesus Christ as the way to our salvation. 

So to sum up….we need more than religion. Salvation is not a group activity. It requires a personal relationship between the person and God, and through His son Jesus Christ. I am trying to stay away from the buzz words of today’s religion and are calling you back to The Way. The church has indicated these past years that it is becoming more and more fluid in its interpretation of scripture and is finding itself a captive of societal changes that are weakening its ability to respond to its calling.  

Matthew 18: 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Remember to sing the hymns, psalms, pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to guide, giving thanks for everything, study the word and celebrate the Lord’s Supper often…. Jesus Christ has risen! Every thing else is just details that will change…It is the way we do church… 

Thank you for joining me in the pew this week. Please take time to read the excellent article that was a source of the information in today’s blog. Go to the link below

http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/miscellaneous-studies/-worship-in-the-early-church

Life is Good

jk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is another of those blogs I have started over a number of times. I have spent the week and part of last week reading about church membership, what works and what doesn’t. One thing I discovered from my point of view is a modern-day church quandary. I think that part of the problems of todays’ shrinking membership is because of the fixation on XYZ. Great article by WJSchroer got my attention, very informative and interesting. As I usually do please refer to the link at the end of the blog, good read, seven different generations beginning from 1912 to 2012. My first question, is this a generational thing? Whenever you go searching you will always find things that conflict or muddy the waters so to speak. Now each one of these generations saw a change in direction, expanding or limiting their role in society and changing doing church as we used to. I wondered how involved as a church are we into this generational thing. When we add demographics, PC and local culture the church is hard pressed to find a message that fits its immediate environment without offending someone. Because we are so intent on putting a label on people, placing them conveniently in a box, their humanness becomes secondary to the statistical information many organizations look to for guidance. A good example of this practice can be seen in an article by Jeremy Steele in the United Methodist Communications publication. The article specifically written to a specific population of the church also has a host of turn offs that could put off other generations as well. This is a well written article, informative and except for a few points could be speaking to any of us. Go to the link at the end of the blog. At this point I would add minimizing our humanness to a statistic as a problem for the church.

So what has happened to make this church thing so difficult? People are different and their concept of church does vary as to its importance and place in their lives. The early church was less complicated but far more challenging.  I never really considered the fact that not only do we label people but it seems that we carry that habit over to our church communities. Here are a few of those labels. There is the Institutional Church, the House Church, which really took off in the 70’s and continues even today. Of course we have the Main Line Denominations, followed by the rise of the independent Charismatic churches that have grown in such large numbers. What did the early church worship services look like? Since the first Christian community in Jerusalem was almost exclusively Jewish, it accepted the Old Testament as the Word of God and continued to worship in the Synagogue with the Jews. What distinguished the early Christians from the Jews was their belief that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that salvation was found only in Him. It is within these largely Jewish–Christian Synagogues that the order of worship began to change. They did for a while continue to worship in that Jewish order of worship of Scripture, prayer, the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, later adding the Lord’s Supper (cf. Acts 2:42, 46) and prayers in the name of Jesus (cf. Acts 4:24-30). The Christians gathered daily for prayer, fellowship, preaching, and teaching (cf. Acts 2:46; 5:42), They did change from the Jewish Sabbath to the first day of the week almost from the beginning, because it was the day of resurrection. There is a lot of history here and to me while it helps to bring into perspective the churches’ struggle over time with the why, way and how to do church it can become confusing. I take away from the article “WORSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH”  by Dr. D. W. Ekstrand that the Synagogue was still in power as a place of worship. Dr. Ekstrand notes:

 “The New Testament refers to it fifty-five times. Our Lord taught in the synagogues of Nazareth and Capernaum; Paul preached in the synagogues of Damascas, Salamis of Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus.”

There is so much here that I believe I will return to the subject of the early church next week. So far my thoughts are moving toward a rejection of the generational, statistical and PC approach to reaching out to people. I am becoming more scripture conscious and embracing the core values of the faith and not being driven by societal and culture changes. How do we do this in a world that wants to know “what’s in it for me”? Don’t mean to leave you hanging, hoping you will ask yourself, if X,Y, and Z are a bit to simple?

Hope you come back next week…Life is Good

jk

 (http://socialmarketing.org/)

 (http://www.umcom.org/learn/top-10-church-faux-pas-that-turn-off-millennials)

 Sometimes the silence is deafening and here in the pew it has become to quite. I do believe that as christians we need to express our real sentiments on the subject of religion more often than we do. My dictionary defines religion as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices or a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” Saw a church sign some time ago “you have tried religion, now try Christ.”  Truth is I have always considered religion and faith to be two entirely different things. Continuing the written definition as given are these added points. “ Archaic, scrupulous conformity, conscientiousness to the point of being very careful about doing what you are supposed to do and wishing to do what is right, to do one’s work or duty well and throughly.”   

Religion is ever-changing, evolving and is to some degree shaped by the need to remain relevant to the ever-changing social conscience of society. The church and its desire to stay relevant has given over to a careless practice of inclusiveness. This has promoted a reckless and dangerous acceptance of once questionable behaviors that have challenged our discipline to scripture and God’s will in our lives. To some folks questioning being inclusive is not correct and in some ways stifles the growth of the church. To others the gospel of inclusion is simply the old heresy of universalism. I won’t take up space with the definition of such but you will find it in the dictionary. I try in my writings not to overburden you with scripture, however I do encourage you to know what is contained in God’s word. You must know and believe in your heart having studied, prayed and sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit that which is expected of you for salvation. What? We don’t like being held responsible for our actions but the truth is that in conjunction with salvation is repentance and that friends is scriptural correct. Call it hard-line, unreasonable or old fashion but salvation is offered to all and repentance is expected of all. To repent is to turn from those things that separate us from God. To be a person of the Way we must follow the teachings of Christ. I worry about this silence in the pew. Silence, the complete absence of sound. I would ask, has the need for inclusiveness driven by the need to be relevant brought  acceptance of such behaviors of these days to be the new norm?  Has God rethought this or have we simply rethought the scripture to meet todays changing norms as if it will not affect us or our church. Is the continuing tolerance of abortion simply because we have given it a new definition and it is now not an act that God would find abominable but a right that through its inclusion in the laws of the land is now acceptable? Then there is the same-gender issue that all denominations are struggling with under the banner of inclusiveness. The church becoming involved in social issues that drain its resources and lessen its ability to do the ministry it is called to do. God said we are to be Holy, as He is Holy. How is it that those things which are in conflict with God’s word have now become acceptable under this gospel of inclusion and the re-writing of scripture to fit the ever-growing number of societal changes becoming a daily practice? I just listed two of the many issues that confront Christians today and I did that for a reason.

That old saying between a rock and a hard place could become a Christian mantra if we let it. God, through His Son our Lord and savior has removed the rock but the way is still hard. The message and the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ is for all people. There are no prerequisites as to with whom, where or how the message is shared and the old hate the sin and love the sinner does not convey the urgency of salvation and repentance. I believe that God will judge the sin. We are to love the sinner and bring them to the foot of the cross so that they receive salvation and repent of their sin. Sin is anything that separates us from God, not just the two that have become the golden idols on societies altar of causes, we are all sinners.  At the top of todays’ agenda of social change are, abortion which involves the interruption of the process of creation as God intended it to be and the other, same-gender life style is clearly and abomination in God’s eyes.One of the largest denominations in the world lists seven deadly sins that if left unchecked will result in a host of other sins. Proverbs 6: 16-19 lists seven things that are detestable to God. When was the last time you ever heard these addressed from the Pulpit?  The omission of what is sin from the conversation allows for the unacceptable to become acceptable. When I was growing up my parents never said anything about race or the injustice of segregation. The result of which was that the unacceptable became acceptable. The absence of civility in our conversations about the issues of the day seems to me has left only the screamers and agenda driven people at the table. As trite as it may sound 

Matthew 22: 37-40

 ………..’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The silence in the pew is a reflection of the silence in the Pulpit. Love God first, with all your heart, then you neighbor and do not allow the gospel of inclusion to rewrite the Scripture.

Life is Good

Jk

Pax Romana simply means “Peace of Rome” and refers to the tranquility and security that the Roman Empire brought to the Mediterranean world. The Pax Romana lasted from the reign of Caesar Augustus (27 BC–AD 14) to that of Caesar Marcus Aurelius (AD 161–180). At the time of Christ and during the first generation of the church, much of the world was unified under Roman authority and enjoyed a relative peace. (gotquestions.org)

The above is from one of my favorite study sites. Pax Romana, came across it while doing research for another project and wrote it down to come back to later.After reading it again I had an idea that it could plausibly be linked to an often repeated phrase. We often in times of stress and difficult situations will find comfort in saying, God is in control. While we may apply this to these days and times, I believe we often forget that and allow the culture of the day to overpower our faith. This Pax Romana is important to the history of the early church because all of the land surrounding the Mediterranean was at peace because everyone was under Roman Law. So at the time of Christ and during the first generation of the church, the world as understood to be then, was under Roman authority and was pretty much at peace.

While it is perceived that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor that  was not the case. A general dislike or distrust of Christians was most likely due to their refusal to worship the gods or take part in sacrifice, which would be expected from anyone living in the Roman Empire. God could have chosen to spread the gospel in many different ways or forms but He chose ordinary people, empowered by the Spirit to spread the message. So out went the gospel on the feet of spirit led people who had become God’s messengers. Consider if you will these facts.

–Pax Romana provided an environment that allowed safe travel throughout the Roman Empire. 

-Roman discipline cut down on crime on the roads and piracy on the Mediterranean Sea, making travel safer.

These are just a couple of the results of this Pax Romana. A better system of roads over time improved the ease of travel for missionaries, improved business between towns and many Christian business men took the gospel with them on their commercial trips. The largest impact may have been in language. Greek became the common language used throughout the Roman Empire. All throughout the empire people could still communicate with each other, and Paul’s epistles could make their rounds to the churches and be understood by all. It gets even more amazing when you consider that Roman Justice protected Paul many times in his ministry. Pax Romana was really simple. Citizens and residents of the empire, as long as they were not considered a threat to Pax Romana, were quite safe in sharing an unpopular message. We know that over time Paul was accused of disturbing the peace, endangering this Pax Romana but was protected  by the Roman Authorities. All of these things allowed the gospel to spread quickly among those people in the civilized world of Pax Romana. 

Now none of this is to say that God’s people had it easy, we know different. God was in control, God had a plan! Today more than ever we must believe that God has a plan, He is in Control.

Stay the Course

Life is Good 

Jk

I have written this opening sentence several times and have come to the realization that I might be over thinking this subject a little too much. So to keep it simple here is a fact of life. If your faith is such that it has a heavy influence on your actions, you might be a Christian, a follower of the way or a disciple of Jesus Christ. If this be the case it is inevitable you will be called on to defend the faith. To take this to the next step it is your faith that has placed you in this position and in reality you are defending or better said, presenting “an Argument for Christ.” Peter has set down acceptable ways to enter into this mode of Christian defense. 

1Peter 3:15b-16A

…always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence.[c] Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 

We must start off being reasonable, which in this present world of discourse is not easily done. It must be inspired by the word of God. It must be an intelligent, clear and applicable statement of position and of divine reasoning. It should contain an element of intelligence that conveys the message that you have prepared yourself through study and prayer to defend your faith; always remembering that you are defending Christ Jesus. This approach requires that you have come by your faith through first hand experience and not another’s story. William Barclay writes,

“It is one of the tragedies of the modern situation that there are so many church members who, if they were asked what they believe, could not tell, and who, if they were asked why they believe it, would be equally helpless. Christians must go through the mental and spiritual effort of thinking out their faith, (Barclay, DBS…1 Peter Pg 266)

Our defense must be given with gentleness. Our attitude must not be one of arrogance. We must not be of  the temperament that those who do not agree with us are stupid or they are unreliable. We must not do as some others with differing opinions and try to shove our beliefs down the throats of those who disagree with us. We must present our Christianity with love and tolerance while maintaining the scripture as written with divine discernment. We must understand that we cannot bully anyone into The Way. We can only lead them to the foot of the cross and allow the Holy Spirit to bring them to Christ. Most any debate today can easily become an argument. There are many debates within and outside of the Christian community that are just a word or two away from becoming an argument. Christians can become engaged in discussions that move to debates and then to full-blown arguments especially concerning theological differences. I wrote earlier that an argument for faith is an argument for  Christ. Any presentation of a case for Christian faith or beliefs must be presented with reverence, the tone and language must be pleasing to God’s ear. There is no room for rancor of any kind. Love for Christ and his love for all people must guide our behavior. As Christians our lives need to be a compelling and a living example that makes it easier for others to believe the message……makes it easier for others to believe in God, Jesus Christ and salvation.

Thanks for coming by, hope to see you in the pew next week.

Life is Good

jk

You will find that people in the pew have many different opinions but on one thing almost all agree. Folks are tired of the lack of civility, the inability of people to express their differences without disrespect and in many cases these days, out-right displays of hate in words spoken and actions taken. Seriously, we all need to take a step back and see what we are doing to each other and our nation. Of note there is the fact that this type of behavior is not confined to those not in the Christian community.

 John 13:34-35  

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 As shown by these verses There are certain characteristics that make Christians different from others, traits that point to the fact we are his disciples. Here in these verses from 1 Peter are more of those behavior traits that mark a Christian life. Today’s blog looks at  1 Peter 3:8-15a. It would be helpful to read these verses and then return to the blog. 

The Christian community is not immune to the current lack of Civility when addressing different opinions, beliefs or new directions. It seems this type of behavior has found a foothold within our community. Peter gives some great qualities for living a Christian life. He starts with the need for Unity. There are many great passages in the New Testament that encourage unity. We are divided as a community of faith by denominational beliefs, inner-denominational conflicts and in some cases a move to reinterpret scripture to meet the changing societal needs and trends. Even the Apostle Paul pleads for a unity of mind in the church. Throughout the NT there is this plea for unity. To some commentators and bible scholars it is more of a realization that people cannot live a Christian life unless in their personal relationships there is unity and the Church cannot meet its’ Christian call when there are divisions within it. The next being Sympathy. Again we are urged in NT writings to see this as a duty. 

Romans 12:15

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  

Just as evil cannot exist in the presence of our God, neither can selfishness exist where sympathy prevails. With Christ in our hearts sympathy will reign there. From here we move to Love. Peter sets out with what can be literally translated as brotherly love. The love we have for one another and Christian charity for others, all of God’s creation. Here again we see the indisputable fact that love of God requires love of others and also applies to the Church. Neither an individual or the Church can meet the reality of Christianity if they cannot love one another and their neighbors. Peter continues with  a much-needed attribute in this world. Compassion……something we  see less of in this day. In our books, movies, theater, social media and all this world of digital expression allows, we see a disturbing trend of insensitivity to adverse events in our daily lives. There can be no Christianity without compassion. The next attribute. Humility ……… We might measure up well against others but the real test for Christians is…..how well do we measure up to Christ? We know we can never obtain his sinless perfection. We must constantly remind ourselves of our utter dependence on our God. We must strive to be humble in his presence and in the presence of others. The last to share with you would be Forgiveness. We seek God’s forgiveness and it is our calling to extend forgiveness to others.

Ephesians 4:32 

32 and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

 We now go to verse 13 and the remaining verses in today’s scripture. To have written this passage (13-15a) we can tell by his words that although he does not quote directly the OT, it is obvious that his knowledge of it is firmly on his mind. From the very first of these verses Peter insists that you must have a passionate love for Goodness. It is when we seek the goodness of things in this life that the wrong things lose their pull on us. There are some things here that are a part of all people’s lives. Seeking to walk the walk, taking the good way does not exempt us from the human suffering that from time to time comes our way due to circumstances in our lives. Our humanity leaves us open to the trails of life. We can become absorbed with the importance of stuff, money and position. We depend on these things for our comfort and pleasure in this life. This places us in a very vulnerable position, scripture tells us that the things of this life are only temporary. There is then the fact that there can be hardships brought into our lives simply because Jesus Christ holds a unique place in our lives. None of us can escape the sufferings of this life but we as Christians know that suffering for Christ and the faith, it will never touch the things which matter most. 

Thank you for coming by the Pew this week. Next week join me as we lay out an argument for the faith. 

Life is Good

Jk

Good to be back in the pew and sharing with you. Ah, cotton candy, a familiar sight and part of fairs, circuses, carnivals and Japanese festivals.  Cotton candy (also known as fairy floss in Australia and candy floss in South Africa, the UK, New Zealand and Ireland) is a form of spun sugar. Faith and cotton candy, is not the easiest choice for a blog but interesting and plausible. The process that takes the sugar and small amounts of food coloring to that big mass of joyful fun that disappears in a poof, when placed in your mouth, is simple. The final cotton candy product contains mostly air, with a typical serving weighing around 1 ounce or 30 grams. To me the thing that I noticed first when reading about the process was the use of hot air, turning the sugar to a liquid and then spinning it through small holes where the mixture then solidifies and becomes that magical substance that melts in you mouth. Poof, it is gone! 

It is impossible for most of us to assimilate the events of these days, they happen so fast, encompassing every aspect of our lives. The issues that are driven by an ever-changing culture and the pressures they put on our work, home and family financially and the things we value are at times overwhelming. Life today is kinda like a midway. There are so many things to do, some of value and worth and some are just distractions we escape to for time away from the demands of life itself. There was a time when the church was a constant in an ever-changing world but even the church today is being distracted by the ever-growing glow of the Midway of societal change in values and practices. It could be that I am a bit over zealous here but it seems to me we are turning God’s Word into cotton candy. The word as shared by the church today is much like cotton candy, containing mostly air and when ingested…..Poof, it is gone! 

2 Timothy 3:16-17   (NIV)

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

To teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, must be added the necessity of preparation for serving God. Unfortunately for many Christians today, It has become a matter of convenience. I wish to be on record that I’m at fault sometimes in regard to that convenience thing and finding fault with others does not help our calling. What might we do instead? Let’s turn to our pew bible and the Book of James, chapter 1, verse 1.

James 1:1 GREETINGS 

James, the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes who are scattered throughout the world. 

Following James as an example might be one of  “The Good Ways”  to go. There is a lot of the good way in this first verse. Right off in this verse James makes it plain that the only description of who he is or was, would be to know him as the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Quite a tall order in these days. How will people describe us, you and I and the church in conversations around the water cooler. Paul, who holds a place of great respect in the church also referred to himself as a slave but always added and his apostle when writing or introducing himself. 

It is as if James put a period after slave, no need to go any farther. James implies absolute obedience. What does it mean to be a slave? You have no rights of your own; you are the absolute property of your master and unquestioning obedience is required. That definition alone takes us off the midway and sets us down squarely in the reality of service to God, Christ and the Church. James doesn’t stop there. He implies that absolute humility is necessary. In what way? You become a person who thinks of duties not privileges, of obligations not rights. You become someone who places self  last and service to God first. The verse continues on to suggest absolute loyalty. Personal gain or preference should not influence decisions. 

James found his freedom and peace and  glory in perfect submission to the will of God. All of us in this world of cotton candy need to avoid the sugar, hot air and spin that ends in  a Poof……the best we can seek is to be a slave of God,Christ and the Church. 

Life is Good

jk

 Reference Materials     Wikipedia / DBS William Barclay