Scripture: All or Nothing
In reading commentaries for lessons, preaching, or classes, it is not uncommon to find someone who doubts the originality, authority, or accuracy of some portion of Scripture. In New Testament studies it is all the rage to argue why this or that book wasn’t written by Paul. All sorts of arguments are made, “This piece of teaching doesn’t agree with what Paul says elsewhere,” “The words here are not like the words he uses elsewhere,” and for those who are most honest with themselves, “If this is true then it means radical things for me that I don’t like.” On these and other grounds they dismiss the portion of Scripture they don’t like.
In Old Testament studies, books are carved out based on countless reasons to be by different authors, written at later dates, and so on and so on… The gist of it all is that we don’t have to hold this or that piece of Scripture as authoritatively God’s word, but just a reflection of later redaction.
One example will suffice. A common argument is that the story of Genesis about creation is nothing more than a parable or idealized story, and not a true reflection of how the world really began.
Those who argue these points often make powerful, long-winded, and fancy arguments. But one problem exists with all of them. That problem is that no matter the final reason, determining that some portion of God’s word is somehow less authoritative, inaccurate, or flat out wrong undermines all of it. The one who argues in this way sets himself over the Word as its judge able to determine what thousands of believers before him were not and able to negate the very Scriptures themselves. And once in this position, what is to stop this person from declaring other parts of Scripture un-authoritative. Or for that matter, why not negate the whole thing? After all, isn’t that what they want in the end, to have their word taken as authoritative while discrediting God’s?
Iraneaus
Start the new year with a short reading I wrote some time ago on one of the early church fathers – Iraneaus.
Nineveh: The Rest of the Story
For this Advent season, I have been reading through the Minor Prophets. The book of Nahum tells the rest of the story of Jonah. Jonah was called by God to preach to the pagan, Gentile city of Nineveh. After his disobedience, he does, and the city repents, turning to God. Jonah sinfully is upset with God that he would show mercy on this pagan city when they repent. Ironically, at the end of Jonah, Nineveh has repented, and Jonah in rebellion to God. However, it did not stay this way. The city of Nineveh soon turned back to their sinful ways. Nahum prophecies Nineveh’s judgment and destruction. The Assyrian Empire will fall.
There are two powerful contrasts that Nahum makes:
- God is avenging, wrathful, powerful, and creation itself trembles before Him (1:2-6), YET He is good and a refuge for those who seek Him (v. 7). When all the world seems to be coming apart, God is a shelter to those who seek refuge in Him.
- The bad news of destruction and the end of the Assyrian Empire is foretold (1:12-14), YET it is Good News that will come that God is faithful in judging sin and restoring His people (1:15, 2:2). Judgement of sin is the worst of news for those who stand in sin, but for those who have come to Christ for their righteousness, judgment of sin is the Good News that God will set all things right and one day do away with sin entirely.
Discussion Questions: Matthew 2:1-16
Introduction
What is one of the best gifts you have received?
Come to Worship – Matthew 2:1-2
What drew the Wise men to come and visit Jesus? What difficulties do you think they may have encountered on the way?
What draws people to Jesus today? What difficulties do people face as they are drawn to Him?
Seeking to Destroy – Matthew 2:3-8; 16
Why do you think the Wise men, who were not Jews, were seeking Jesus, yet Herod, who claimed to be “king of the Jews” himself, did not even know where He would be born?
What motives did Herod have in seeking Jesus? What are some different motives people have for seeking Jesus?
What does verse 16 reveal about Herod’s statement about wanting to worship Jesus? Do people today put on a front of “religion” or “devotion to Christ” in order to make themselves seem better to others?
What is Herod’s fear? How does his fear compare to the fear some people have today that cause them to reject Jesus?
Worshipping and Giving – Matthew 2:9-12
What is worship? What is the impact of worship on the worshipper?
How are acts of service and giving of one’s resources acts of worship?
Special Application
What dangers are there in having an attitude that says “I found Jesus years ago, what more is there?”
What implications does Jesus’ lordship have on your life? The life of your unbelieving friend or neighbor?
Can giving of your time to care for another be an act of worship?
Road Blocks to Church Planting
Without a doubt, planting churches is absolutely key to the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. For decades, churches in America have championed the cause of global mission. Only recently, it seems, are we discovering that missions is not something needs to be done “over there,” but is desperately needed “right here.” We are in desperate need of church planters in our own nation. However, there are several road blocks that tend to hinder these endeavors:
1. Large-church mentality – This mindset says that it is better to grow on large church in an area than several smaller ones. However, bigger is not always better, and the ministering power of several churches can often out weight that of one large church. Large churches are not bad, but they are not the goal either.
2. Parish-church mind-set – Closely tied to the large-church mentality is the parish-church mind-set. This approach limits church planting activities by geography. Often the fear is that if there is more than one church in an area of a particular denomination or style, then they will “compete” against one another. However, the mission of the church is to reach the community with the gospel, and another church working in the field is an ally, not the competition.
3. Professional-church syndrome – Those with this mind-set believe that all pastoral staff must be seminary trained, or highly educated. But this is impossible, not only because of the limited number of pastors, but also because smaller churches cannot usually support those with this level of education (and education debt!). Seminary training is not bad, it is needed for many, but it is not required.
4. Rescue-the-perishing syndrome – This approach says that instead of planting churches, we should work to save the dying churches. But too often, like a smoker who is told to “quit or die”, a dying church would rather stay with their traditions than make needed changes. Church revitalization can happen, but church planting is usually faster, cheaper, easier, and more fruitful. A dying church should not be an excuse to not plant a church.
5. Already reached myth – This myth says that the West, and especially the United States, or the South, or wherever has already been mostly reached. But this simply is not true. While we are certainly blessed with many Christian resources, the number of churches being planted each year fails to even keep pace with the population growth. The Great Commission is not finished, no matter where you are.
6. Indifference – This is the most poisonous trap to church planting. Having little or no concern for those without the Gospel reveals a lack of sincerity of the heart or a failure to understand the true depths of the Gospel.
7. Fear – Fear can stand in the way of many church planting endeavors. Whether it be on the part of the planter(s), the church(es), or the mobilizer(s), fear can kill church planting. Fear, however, can be overcome by faith in God’s promises and confidence in the power of the Gospel message to change lives.
Do you find any of these road blocks in your own heart? In your church?
(Adapted from Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer)
Free Kindle Books
Here are several books that are being offered for FREE for the Kindle. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still get them and read them online or from your smart phone, or other device with the Amazon app.
Randy Alcorn – Money, Possessions, and Eternity – Link
R.C. Sproul – The Holiness of God – Link
Martin Luther – Concerning Christian Libery – Link
The Bible – HSCB Version – Link
The Bible – ESV Version – Link
Also, a couple of bargins -
Ted Tripp – Shepherding a Child’s Heart – $1.79 – Link
John Piper – Brothers, We are Not Professionals – $1.99 – Link
Discussion Questions: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38
Matthew 1:18-20
Imagine you are Joseph. What would you have done? What were Joseph’s options?
Luke 1:28-31
What reason did Mary have for rejoicing? Had she earned God’s favor?
Why do you think the angel told both Mary and Joseph not to fear? What reasons Mary and Joseph would have been afraid?
Do we ever fear what God may call us to do? How can we do to prepare to confront our fears with courage?
Luke 1:34-37
How does this passage teach about the virgin birth? Why is this truth of the virgin birth important for understanding Jesus’ identity as fully God and fully man?
What is the difference between asking questions of God and questioning God? Which of these did Mary do? How can asking questions of God be a catalyst for growing one’s faith?
Matthew 1:24-25 and Luke 1:38
What do Joseph’s and Mary’s response and actions show about their character? About their faith in God? How do our actions demonstrate our faith in God?
Where did Mary and Joseph find the strength to go in the way God called them to? Do we have the power and strength to do what God calls us to on our own?
Christmas Songs
A re-post from last year. I’ll get back to regular posting over the next week as I finish up this semester of classes.
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One of my favorite things about the Advent and Christmas time is the music that fill the air. Here is a taste of the music that is filling our home. I’d love to hear what you are listening to, so feel free to leave a comment!
Sojourn – Advent Songs – Link
With revisions of classic hymns and several new songs of their own, this group that is made up of members of the Louisville, KY Soujourn church, this album will bring a reflectiveness you your spirit.
Andrew Peterson – Behold the Lamb of God – Link
A great folk singer (think Caedmon’s Call), Peterson retells the story of Scripture leading up to the birth of Christ in this album. Meant to be listened to from beginning to end. Here is their song, So Long, Moses
Josh Groban – Noel - Link
One of the most well know classical singers today, Groban sets the standard for classically sung Christmas music.
Casting Crowns – Peace on Earth – Link
Pop/Rock Christian band. You can watch/listen to I Heard the Bells on Chrismas Day here.
Straight No Chaser – Holiday Spirits – Link
An A cappella group that brings fun, levity and excitement to your ears. Watch their comical 12 Days of Christmas! No, the songs on the album are not all like that, but it’ll give you a taste!
Chris Tomlin – Glory in the Highest – Link
The prince of contemporary Christian music doesn’t disappoint with this album filled with Christmas classics, all done up in usual Chris Tomlin fashion.
So what are you listening to this holiday season?
Discussion Questions: Numbers 20:1-13
Grumbling and Self-Pity – verses 1-5
What criticisms and complaints did the people of Israel have? What does their complaints reveal about what they truly care about?
What complaints and grumblings have we had about situations we find ourselves in? What are we really wanting from others when we complain?
What do our complaints reveal about where our trust and hope lies? What effect does trust in God have our self-pity?
What kind of impact can our complaining and blaming have on our leaders? Pastors? Loved ones?
Anger and Self-Glory – verses 6-11
What instructions did God give to Moses? How did Moses respond to the people’s complaining? In his anger, what did Moses want from the people?
If complaining can sometimes get us what we want (like it did for the Israelites here), why is it not an acceptable solution to our difficulties?
Examine Psalm 106:32-33. What does this passage reveal about Moses’ response to the people?
What does this passage reveal about the significance of the things we say?
How does loosing one’s temper and loosing control of one’s tongue go hand in hand? How can we guard our tongue in these moments? What are we wanting from others when we are angry?
Self-Pity, Self-Glory and the Glory of God – verses 12-13
What sin did Moses commit?
How are the sin of the people (complaining, self-pity) and the sin of Moses (anger, self-glory) similar?
How does trust in God counter our propensity toward grumbling or anger?
Job: A Story of God’s Love
When I read the story of Job, part of me always is very sympathetic. Oh, poor Job, I say to myself. He lost all his stuff and his children and his health. Mean old Satan was after him. But then we find that it wasn’t Satan who brought up Job when he and God were conversing. And, we read, it was God himself, who gives permission for the tragedies that Satan is about to unleash in Job’s life. Our understanding deepens with this knowledge. As Jobs friends try to convince Job he finds himself in such a miserable condition because of his sin, Job maintains that he has been upright. Job, meanwhile, demands a hearing with God. “Why am I suffering so?” he wants to ask of the Lord.
Well, God answers Job, but not like Job expects. Rather than listening to Job’s complaints, God has one question to ask of Job which he poses over and over in dozens of ways – “Job, just who do you think you are to ask this of me?” The last few chapter of Job always break me as God goes on and on – “Where were you when I formed the world? How many stars did I put in the sky? What are all their names? Tell me, Job, surely you know…”
But this is not the arrogance of the despot God. It is instead love unbounded.
You see, we all are have the natural propensity to put other things before God and worship them. In the story of Job, Job is reduced to nothing, with nothing but God himself left for him (indeed, that is why it so cruel when Job’s wife says to curse God and die). For Job, through good and unspeakable evil, God is Job’s treasure.
Indeed, God is the greatest treasure, our purest joy, the one whom we were made for. So ironically, it is when Job is reduced so low that God is able to come and speak to him and remind him that He is everything Job needs!
That is why it is loving for God to humble him… and to humble us. When we are broken, it is then we find that God is everything, God is our all in all.
Or as the Apostle Paul says, “When I am weak, it is then that I am strong. Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness.”
Lord, teach us to worship none of the things of this world before you. Guard our hearts from making idols of self. Let our greatest satisfaction be found in you for you alone fully satisfy. Remind us that our brokenness is never meant to crush us, but to draw us ever closer to you, the great comforter and fountain of joy. Amen.
Links 11-13-2011
Half of all Christian publishing will now come from one source (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. no less) with the merger of Harper Collins and Thomas Nelson.
File this one under “Interesting Trivia”: A majority of Democrats seldom or never go to church. Of course the stats for Republicans isn’t that hot either. Worse still 46% overall said they seldom or never went. That is a good reminder that the mission field is quite close to home.
The Art of Manliness (a fantastic blog for real men) has a great design for a table that I see myself building in the near future.
The Unheralded Gains of the Pro-Life Movement
Ed Stetzer on dealing with “Issue Christians”
Joel Olsteen – Does he not know, or does he not care?
Lady Gaga – Selling something short of true hope
Suffering for Good
“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” – 1 Peter 3:17-18
This passage is sitting heavily on me tonight. Here are some things it tells us:
1. God wills. That may be a simple sentence, but realize the profound implications of it. God wills that something be, or that it not be. God wills and it is, or it is not. When we “will” something, we mean by that, that we as humans “strongly desire” something, or even “take action that something be so”, but not God. God’s will is all encompassing, definitive, sovereign.
2. God wills suffering. Verse 17 says, “…if that should be God’s will…”, what is that? Suffering. A couple of things come out of this. First, realize that suffering is not out of God’s control. God has not been blind sided by it. Second, realize that God permits, yes, even wills that suffering be. But we must remind ourselves that this is neither in such a manner as to be the author of sin, nor an indifferent deity. Many would ask, if God is love, how could He allow suffering, but that understanding confuses love with comfort. Love is much deeper than the removal of pain, grief, and sorrow. Yes, that comes, but only in its proper place, on the other side of the tears.
3. God wills that we suffer for doing good. God does not only will suffering in a response to evil and sin. Sometimes, God permits suffering to come in response to good, even the greatest good of all. Verse 18 tells us that Christ suffered. The one who did not wrong, but only good suffered. And why did he suffer? That through His suffering He might deal with our sin, and bring righteousness to all of us who are unrighteous. Through suffering came salvation, peace, comfort, glory. God is not out to harm us, but instead, through suffering He wills to bring about greater good, greater glory. We just cannot always see it through our tears. But when every tear has been wiped away, we will find that we stand before a loving Lord who has suffered infinitely on our behalf, and has worked in us, through sufferings of our own, the greatest glory and joy.
Discussion Questions: God’s Calling of Moses and His Calling in Your Life
God’s Calling: Exodus 3:1-6
What had happened that had Moses in Midan keeping his father-in-law’s sheep? What has happened in your life that God may be using to prepare you for his purposes?
To Moses, this would have been another ordinary day, but God intervened. What does this tell you about God’s plan for your life?
What emotions did Moses experience? How do these compare to your own?
Why was the place Moses was standing “holy ground”?
How old was Moses when God called him? Do we ever retire from serving the Lord?
Does God have a calling or purpose for only a select few?
How should we live in preparation for God’s calling?
God’s Presence: Exodus 3:10-15
What does Moses’ first questions reveal about him? Have you ever felt unworthy or unqualified for a task? How does God reassure Moses? How does God reassure us?
Does God’s promise to be with us mean that what He has called us to will be easy?
Why did Moses ask for God’s name? What does God’s name say about him?
God’s Equipping: Exodus 4:10-12
What excuse did Moses give God? How did God respond?
What are some excuses we give God? Why do we give these excuses?
Why do we find it hard to trust God’s promises and power?
How does a person get from recognizing God’s help in the past to regularly depending on His help in the present?
How is God calling you to serve Him? Are you able to do so on your own? What excuses are you tempted to give?
Jesus: Not a Nice Man
“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” – John 5:18
It is very common to meet someone who likes Jesus as a person, likes his teachings, and likes his morals. But to encounter someone who likes the qualities about Jesus, but who rejects him as Lord and as God, reveals that they, in fact, do not know who Jesus was, what he taught, or what true morality is. You see, Jesus did not leave open to us the possibility of only accepting some “nice teaching” from him without accepting the reality of who he was.
Jesus was not put to death because he was a good teacher, no, had he been that, he would have been widely accepted and adored by the religious and political leader of his day. Jesus was executed on the cross because to the Jews he was a blasphemer (Mark 114:62-64), and to the Romans he was making himself out to be a rival king to Caesar (John 19:15, 19).
You see, Jesus forces us into a position that either we accept his claims to be Lord and God, and bow before Him, adoring Him. Or, we must be like those of Jesus’ day, appalled at his claims and ready to execute such a crazy and wicked man.
Discussion Questions: John 6:1-13; 35-40
Introduction
Why do we like to eat?
6:1-13 Jesus Provides
What was the significance of the Passover for Israel? What is significant about this time Jesus chose to perform this miracle (notice verse 4)?
What is different about the responses of Philip and Andrew to the problem of so many people needing to eat? How are Philip’s pessimistic reply and Andrew’s attempt to find a solution reflected in believers today?
How are we sometimes like Andrew, with little to offer toward solving such a big problem? What does this story teach us about what we should do in such situations?
What does Jesus’ miracle teach us about His ability to meet our needs and satisfy our longings?
6:35-36 Jesus Satisfies
Review the events that take place in verses 14-34. Why do the people follow Jesus? What do they want? What does Jesus want them to understand about what he has done?
How is Jesus the bread of life? What does Jesus offer?
What evidences of spiritual hunger do you see in people today?
6:37-40 Jesus Saves
What promises does Jesus make in this passage?
What conditions are placed on these promises? In other words, how does one receive these promises?
