I started really thinking about Christmas for a little while. I couldn’t help but really pour into reflection on this holiday. I would like to really point out some points about the Christ child and how we should perceive Him. I will start with the Child.

Jesus was born a Jew. I think I should get that out of the way. I can’t help but be sad when people treat the term “happy holidays” as a war on Christmas. The first thing we should see is that logically, it includes Christmas. Secondly, since Christ was a Jew, he celebrated holidays like Hanukkah. Maybe we should be kinder. Instead of seeking how to make Christianity’s Christmas exclusive in America, maybe we should focus on our celebration and honoring the Christ and realizing “Emanuel” (“God with us”). We are the ones who know that Christ is Lord. Since the star appeared overhead (my comrade Benji has said some interesting stuff on his weblog concerning the political nature of the star) we have seen that Christ actually challenges all governments of the world and makes himself Lord of the Church and the followers of God. So let’s focus when as we celebrate Christmas. Are you adamant about the sanctity or worshiping God or the sanctity of being right? It’s your choice.

I also recall also that Christ came into a time of troubled thoughts on the coming of the King. Everyone thought God would send His servant to enter in and conquer. They also that God would literally sent enthroned on Mount Zion. Christ did not defy that in some ways, but he fulfilled promise differently than most specified at His time. I challenge people to start thinking eschatology as they enter into Christmas. This isn’t just about the first coming, though we look back at something that has already happened. It is also about a future coming when God will rule on an entirely new level that is fuller than He rules now. (One of my comrades named Chad also comments on this idea). I hope you consider this as you enter celebrating what has already happened. Let the Spirit exist on you in hope as well as faith and love. One of my professors, Dr. Mulholland, said it perfectly when he said, “Revelation looks back on what Daniel looks forward too.” Daniel looks forward to what we know as the first advent (Christ’s birth so long ago). But what Revelation adds is something of a return as we enter a ultimate time of peace that will end the strife of the current age.

I then challenge you with a new idea. Most of you will celebrate with family. You will buy things over the holidays. I challenge you to buy in such a way that brings honor and dignity to those who produce your gifts and feasts. All the prophets, Christ, and the early Fathers would have said that. This can be a form of ministry. I say that to know financial well being in the basic sense of survival is one step closer to experiencing God in this world. When Christ returns, all the troubles of desiring survival in the midst of the possibility of not surviving will be eradicated and we will ALL HAVE ENOUGH!!! I challenge you to read the beginning of Luke and Matthew and then to read the last two chapters of Revelation. As an old commercial once said, “Something’s Up.”

So I haven’t posted in a good long while. Sorry about that. You’ll be amazed how busy you get sometimes. It’s called prioritizing. Anyways, I have been processing a few things here and there, so I’ll just share those things with you.

I am still very aware of the slavery issue. You would be surprised how rampant it is even in the U.S. I found this sight which labels reports of slavery across the world. The funny thing is that slavery is illegal here. If these are the reported incidents of slavery in our country, how many have NOT been reported. Just a thought and a way for you to be informed.

Another thing is my thoughts on the Word of God. I am still in the middle of processing this, so no one needs to get there panties in a bind yet. So many people say the “Word of God” and immediately hold up the Holy Writ. I can’t help but question this. The Word of God is so much more in scripture. In creation, God speaks his Word of power. Through the prophets he speaks Word of instruction. Even in John, the Word is the Christ. It makes you think. Now, granted, I still am quite conservative in viewing the Bible as final and a great way to judge our callings and actions, but I think that there is something crazy going on when Scripture uses “Word of God” or “the Lord says.” The sometimes do not refer themselves as the Word of God, but record the Word of God. It’s weird. Since we are not really under the Old Covenant there is something strange in this term, but since even Paul says that the Scriptures (the Old Testament in his mind) is good for the community of God even after Christ’s death, I think it’s still good to refer to the Bible as the Word of God, or at least the recording of God’s Word.

Also, I am still struggling with the idea of missions. I could uses prayer for this one. I have many ideas on how to go about this, but I am still trying to see how this flower is blossoming. Only time will tell, and only the Spirit can take to where it needs me.

Anyways, that is the update. I hope you guys have enjoyed the Thanksgiving holidays, unless you are from a place that does not celebrate that holiday, in which case, I wish you the Spirit’s gifts as you live out the Spirit’s fruits.

Grace and peace to you all.

I can’t help but be drawn to the charismatic/evangelical movement at times. I understand that side of Christianity has made its share of mistakes, but I am overjoyed to know them. In case you wonder, not all of them are the crazy people you might think they are. I was listening in my class studying Galatians, where my professor, Dr. Witherington, mentioned the fruit as opposed to the gifts, and I got to preview Gordon Fee’s Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God. He mentions the idea of gifts and how he thinks the idea is portrayed in 1 Corinthians.

I really enjoyed Fee in that he stated that the “gifts” or “manifestations” are not a systematic listing at all and does not cover every base. I can’t help but cringe at the idea of a spiritual gifts assessment (this is more general evangelical as I do not want to put this on the Charismatics) in that most of them are limited and some do not allow for these things to be manifestations of God’s Spirit to His people. It’s hard to define a list of gifts because the lists in the letters are never exactly alike. It must be known that God does not always work in the same way and that he might shell shock our preconceptions of how God gives gifts to His people through His Spirit. Needless to say, Paul would be confused.

Realize that it is not about us having a gift as if it is our own…

but that. supernaturally, it is about God showing us that He is here…

IN POWER…

BEYOND OUR WILDEST IMAGININGS!!!

We get prepared to live out the future reality in this present age.

The other thing to remember is that Galatians 5 shows us the fruit of the Spirit and not the gifts. There is a distinct difference. The gifts are what are given to encourage and prepare us, but the fruit is what is produced by the presence of the Spirit. Paul’s community ethic under the Spirit would have put so much emphasis on the fruit and the gifts have to be secondary and subject to the existence of the fruit. Read the difference. Where one is about the supernatural happenings and the things that are given in affirmation, the fruit is about the life of the community, which is what the letters of Paul are quite repetitive about.

If we forget the fruits of bringing true blessings of God’s love to the community, then the gifts will not matter. “If I do not have love, I am just a clanging cymbal.”

I heard a story once of a woman who led in a ministry. Many were blessed by her musical gifts and she loved what she was doing. She was married to a man, but happened to find romance with another man who was not her husband. She asked her pastor, “Would this require me to give up my musical gifts in this ministry?” The pastor replied with compassion, “Daughter, it is not your gifts that are in question, but your character that is in jeopardy.”

Remember to tend to the fruit (your character) and the gifts will be given to you. And be ready if you live this out. God may give  you a gift that was never in your community before.

And to close, all are gifted.

I say that again with greater emphasis added…

ALL are TRULY gifted BY GOD’S SPIRIT.

Grace and peace to you all.

I usually do not agree with Glen Beck. I’ll go ahead and say that he can seem a little like Alex Jones, and his conspiracy theories seem to promote a political standpoint that can cause people to be scared of any movement out of the norm at all. But he did mention one thing the other night that I couldn’t help but agree with. Among all the talk that I didn’t agree with about money coming from politicians, he mentioned that we should open our wallets and time to those in need directly. What a surprisingly Godly thing to say. I think he was onto something that has been a wish of God since the beginning. If you read Torah, there is a recurring theme of giving those who need (or will need). In the prophets, there is a calling back to that sort of understanding.

In the New Testament, there is a repeat of that same idea (yes, they repeat the same points and are most of the time not novel in there ideas). They pull from the long history of understanding God as a generous One who wishes others to be that generous image to creation.

I take this idea and apply it more specifically. Most of you have credit/debit cards. What you may not know is that every time you use it, there is an extra fee put onto the charge. It’s not a fee that you pay, you pay what comes up on the register. But the company is charged for running that card. Now, for a large company that makes billions, that is something they anticipate and have the funds to cover this, but I shop and eat and drink at a couple local places that struggle with this. Some have had to fight tooth and nail to come up with ways to either deter the use of cards for items under $5 (a slight inconvenience that some can overlook), or start increasing the price of items (an inconvenience that EVERYONE will notice). You should think about this next time you pay with your card.

There are two ways you can remedy this.

1) Pay with Cash at local setups. They truly local places (places that are not made into a chain or make a substantial amount) will greatly appreciate this. For me this has caused a sense of compassion for the worker and sometimes opens a conversation that can lead to witnessing the faithfulness of Christ (Gal. 2:16). Plus, it at least shows you are aware and responsible.

2) If you pay with your card on an item under $10, leave a 25% or more tip. I even say that if it is below $5, then you should leave a 50% tip. That allows extra funds to allocate for these expenses. This depends on how they disperse their tips, since you have to deal with tips as an earning of the people who service the customer, so you might have to be creative. There is always a way to help cover the problems you might be creating. You can’t erase your wrong, but you can fight to undo the coming consequences.

Something that is always helpful is to eat at home. Although this means that you are not paying someone else something, you are also not wasteful in causing extra, unnecessary funds to be spent. Some of you out there might have a better idea on how to handle these things. But I want to start this dialogue from the Spirit inside you so that conviction will take you to look out for the Saints, humans, and creation.

BE RESPONSIBLE.

BE LOVE.

Grace and peace to you all.

As many of you know, I am always pushing for the pro-life stance to be more consistent in their approach to the issue. Although there are many distinctions among abortion, war, murder, genocide, and capital punishment, we can all agree that there is a common theme of death. Some are discriminate and controlled (abortion, murder, capital punishment), while others are merely mass killings with no discrimination (war, genocide). I found that Dr. Witherington III has recently posted an article that some could benefit from. You may not agree with everything, but pay attention to how he attempts to streamline the pro-life stance, making it not only pro-fetus. Another place to look is an early Church Father source. There are quite a few pre-Augustinian Fathers that speak in such a way.

Grace and Peace.

I hear many crazy things, but some things put extra cherries on my ice cream. Here’s a verse to start things off:

“And they will be saved through the childbearing, so long as they persist in faith and love and holiness with modesty.” – 1 Timothy 2:15d (my personal translation).

I know that most of your translations will not place an article in front of childbearing. Let’s explore that for a second. If you say that, from a strictly textual viewpoint, you can see how it seems as if men can be saved when they have faith in Christ, but women would be through childbearing. This seems a little off, however, since Paul has said that there is no male nor female in the kingdom. This doesn’t make theological nor biblical sense.

Look at it in the greek (if you can). There is an article in front of the word for bearing children. Let me give some 101 information on how articles are used in greek. If you do not see an article, there is a chance that the noun could be a general idea, but it can also be specific in idea, but that needs context. Here this is not the case. There is an article. If there is an article, then it has to be more specific. It cannot be general in a syntactical sense.

Here is what I propose. There is a specific birthing idea that Paul wishes to bring into mind. Considering how Timothy was a Christian in leadership, what would be the infamous birth that got the snowball rolling in this era of salvation history? You guessed it, the birth of Jesus the Christ. If you consider that all that Paul has said that although wives are subject to husbands, he is implicit and explicit in greek that women in general are free to participate in Church life. Even Luke in his book “The Acts of the Apostles” seems to imply this as well.

Although this may be what some of us were thinking all along, here is the ammunition you need to do effective ministry.

Grace and Peace to you all.

So I’ve been studying like a madman the past couple weeks, when all of a sudden, I’M SICK. I guess life throws curveballs here and there, but I generally like it when it’s convenient. I am working on Galatians and my Exegesis paper is supposed to be 20 pages long. I’m sure I’ll get it done. My passage is going to be 2:15-20. Everything in the book hangs on this as Paul’s thesis. notice how he identifies as a former Jew what the Jewish mind thinks, and then shows that it is not the Law of Moses that saves us, but the faithfulness of Jesus the Christ. Some of your versions say faith IN Jesus Christ, but I translate that later. In Chapter 3 it begins to start focusing on what the believer does in the relationship, but 2:15-20 focuses on what we cannot do. I’ll probably spell that out some in a simplified way later on this blog.

I noticed everybody has their panties in a bind about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I do agree that Obama hasn’t exactly “accomplished” much according to most standards of accomplishment. But I will say that he is off to a good start on a few things. He did at least get a major conversation going on health care, which was needed. He also tried to make good progress with certain countries when he toured the Middle East. And his infamous stance to block lobbyists while running for president was a good face (there is some murky water about lobbyists while a state politician, but I did enjoy him trying to hold them off in the national political realm). To further this discussion, I will say that he was moreso AWARDED the NPP. We can also look at the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and say that he achieved nothing and that full civil rights was accepted much later (if you want to think that full civil rights was achieved at all). His holiday is mostly considered an african-american holiday and his face mainly shows up during Black History Month. But it stands that he was for Civil-Rights for EVERYONE. He was awarded the prize in the 60’s, and I would say that he was well deserving of it. Many others fall in this line too (I personally am one to be understanding of even Al Gore winning that award for the mere fact of bring attention to the issue of global warming, even if he had his facts mixed up). So be a little more thoughtful before saying Obama is undeserving and then realize that this is something given to someone by a council. Take issue with those Norwegians who award this prize.

Also, I got to see Food Inc. for the first time. I highly recommend it. There is a lot going on in big business when it comes to food that we need to be aware of. It reminded me of the book Serve God, Save the Planet by Dr. Matthew Sleeth. It’s good stuff. I’m extremely moderate and I am not registered with any party, so when it comes to government control of Big Business, I can vote how I think necessary, but in the film, even a Republican has stepped up to say “Enough!” I’ll stop there, since I don’t want to turn this into an emotional rant after seeing Hollywood expose corruption, but I will say to see it. It’s very well laid out for a documentary, and the text at the end of the movie is much more powerful after seeing the film rather than by itself. You begin to hear and see the fate of farmers and consumers and it creates an emotional response that you wouldn’t think is possibly from such a simple line of text. Anyways, go see it and form your own opinions, and then study up to see if you are correct (which means don’t just google it, because that would be stupid).

Grace and Peace to you all.

So we had a minister from the Charismatic Episcopalian Church come in to speak for my first attendance of the Healing Conference put on by the Healing Academy at Asbury Seminary. I’m learning some things. I have always realized that healing is part of Christianity, but I have never really been connected to it in my experience. I can’t help but be intrigued, especially since I’ve expounded on this blog that God, according to scriptures (especially Revelation), has already set us free to act, so healing must be a part of our entire ministry. (Understand that our liberation from the powers that be are partial in that God has ALREADY acted, but has NOT YET completed His act.)

I start off with points of contention that I have so far. He mentioned in his lecture and his book Christian Healing that lay people will have to report certain confessions to the civil authorities. He implies in his book and explicitly stated that clergy are protected from witnessing against people in court. I have a hard time with this proposition since Christ was at times public in his rebuke and even seems to imply that good is more important than politics and traditions (though neither He nor Paul were against traditions; in fact, they were supportive of new ones). Another point is that he seems to read some of modern psychology and medicine into the Scriptures. He is not over the mountain with his use, but I would encourage him to use caution. I also had a hard time following the idea of souls that never depart onto the Lord for there rest or judgement. His experience inclines him to say this, but since my experience with this, and the first point also, is very limited, I will just say that I have a hard time following him in this part of ministry.

I will, however, give him due credit for his comments about liberal and conservatives in politics. He admitted that he prefers the conservative Republican stance, but he has his mind limited on them. He says that they can be quite haughty in there stance and that, in his opinion, they are 99% of the time pro-fetus, and not actually pro-life (see some of my post on Abortion, War and Capital Punishment). He is right in saying that one side will want to keep the fetus alive just they can live in relative poverty (which is not supportive of living well), and the other side will support those that survive the allowances they have to kill them. How many are anti-war and still allow babies to die, and how many want to keep babies alive and support wars that they will grow up to be killed in? There needs to be a full application of the philosophies used in life (like sanctity of life).

He also mentioned that healing ministry is not what he is all about; instead he is about the church’s ministry. That is to say, healing is not the only thing he does. I agree completely. One should seek whole ministry. Too many extremist will focus on one thing or another, but not seek some measure of balance. This is something to consider for any minister, lay or clergy.

As far as his application of what the Lord has already done, I give him kudos points galore. And his view of what is to come is not too bad either.

I am starting off my semester off with a blast. I am taking an interesting mix of classes: Exegesis of Galatians, Theology and Practice of Healing, Life of Prayer, and Non-Canonicals (auditing that one). I can say that the one I am reading for today is the Healing class. The book is Authority to Heal written by Ken Blue. I find it very helpful that he has described the fallacies of theologies of “name it and claim it” healing and the ones that accept sickness as the will of God. (He actually makes a distinction between the words suffering and sickness, which he claims is not the same to the Biblical writers.) He also points out that the modern western world is too “secular” and that our infatuation with science as the savior has dismissed God and the miraculous. His proposition is that science and healing is not incompatible, but that secular humanism and Christianity is. There are many cases where the turn away from death is unexplainable and at this point is only explained as an act of God.

I think he might be wrong in saying that the western world is completely that way, though this was written 1987. There is too much spirituality involved in the current setting (just watch Oprah). I have to say that people still understand that death is a negative thing. The overarching point of the entire Bible is that Death is defeated. It points out that 1) we must seek things that move away from death (healing, peace efforts, medicine, counseling) and 2) we do not use death to push our agenda as Christians (war, abuse, degradation, rape).

My challenge here is that if you believe in a physically risen Jesus, the first of Humanity, and our same resurrection in the end (which is part of the Christian hope), then you must defy death and hope that despite death we have a hope of bodily resurrection (though we will be glorified and will actually rule over the earth in a way becoming of love and peace as commanded by God).

So go out and seek to make life better, despite your urges fed to you by Satan himself to use death.

Grace and peace to you all.

I heard a sermon awhile back at a church where a pastor preached a sermon on the commandment of stealing. You could tell that the man was referring to taxes and that he was implying that the taxing of the top percent of Americans would be stealing. I wasn’t sure how much to agree with him. Sure, taxing is not exactly stealing until you talk about those poor who have been oppressed by stealing, but for the top percent of the country, I’m sure that they have much to spare.

That got me thinking. How does the church view economy and money. I can’t help but think back to acts and the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and how many of us find our feet on the same cliff they were on. Do we give it all, or try to keep some for ourselves? And if we keep some, do we lie or come clean with what we have kept?

How many times have we done that?

How many times should we have died at the feet of God’s throne?

I do believe that the gospel counters much of what any government is. Most tend to say that they will bring hope and change for the better, but with the Christian, that is God. Obama has said “Yes, We Can,” which can be pushed to a level that equals the Tower of Babel at times. But we must remember Bush as he stood on the debris of the twin towers and vowed vengeance, which landed us in two wars, one which most think we should not have stormed into, and a prison which suffers from human rights charges. Being a Christian, I would say that although I voted for both of these men, they have come short in many ways. (I don’t mean to bash them too hard, but I do want to point out the reality of humanity.)

Maybe we should be more attentive to God’s will. You hear many saying this or that about taxes and the economy, but the truth is that our country is struggling, and the Church has a potential for greatness. Crisis has an element of chaos, but also of opportunity.

Where are our old saints who opened hospitals and orphanages?

I hate to say this out of enjoying Capitalism, but the first century Church had some ideas that would lean toward socialism (Though at other times, seems very much like a democratic republic). I think it’s funny that Christians are yelling that they are scared of Obama because he is a socialist, never mind the social security check they will be cashing in (assuming that it will still be there in the future). Plus, they would probably have yelled the same about Peter and the decisions of the early Church for spreading the wealth.

I just think that the Christians need to open their eyes to suffering, and they might not yell so much. Disagree if you like, but there needs to be a solution discussed immediately.

I end by recalling the Rich Man who had an overabundant harvest (Luke 12:13-21, Luke has a tendency to critique the rich). He decided to build bigger barns to hold ever bit of that grain. We must remember that the first century Jew would know to be appalled at this since the man was supposed to keep the same barn and actually leave some grain for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and even the alien. So, in layman’s terms, if the rich find ways to get richer while the poor get poorer, or even cause them to get poorer (remember that we must never look at resources as endless) than something is wrong. And it becomes quite obvious whom God will vindicate when he comes to judge.

Grace and Peace to you all.