I'm just back from South Dakota and just over being sick. The internet is down at our village. So I'll post something on South Dakota soon, because I do want to say something. Maybe, though, I'll post it at http://www.rosecreekvillage.com rather than here.
For now, I just wanted to mention that my wife told me today that my blog page is awful pink and reminds here of Pepto-Bismol. She asked if that's because some of the things I write are so hard for some people to stomach.
I think I'll change the color as soon as I have time.
Until then, merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Help for the Weary
I am sitting in a South Dakota living room for the kingdom of God this morning. Weather underground says it's 4 degrees outside. Just last week I was sitting in Yangon, Myanmar, where it was at least in the 80's and where it is 7:00 in the evening rather than 6:30 in the morning, like it is here. I've been up since 4:00, because I still can't get over the time change. 16 hours in the car two days ago didn't help.
Why am I doing all this? It's not that I'm suffering much. In fact, I'm not suffering at all. I'm happy, healthy, and I have great friends around me every day. But I must be hopping all over the world for some reason. It's not tourism, because I stay too busy to see anything in any of the places where I go.
I thought about the missionaries I met in Myanmar. I thought about the people I traveled to Myanmar with. I am thinking about the people I'll meet today here in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, and the people I've talked with for the last two days. Why do I talk to them? What do I want in all the traveling and speaking I've done?
I want everyone to know the fullness of the Gospel, and almost no one does. This includes the Pentecostals and charismatics who refer to themselves as "full gospel" churches. They do exactly what everyone else does, and they get the same results that everyone else gets. They can be 'confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it in about 10% of them...maybe.'
The Gospel is all about grace. Grace is the wonderful power of God that those under the Law did not have. It is the power to overcome sin (Rom. 6:14). It is the power to fulfill the righteousness that the Law set out to describe (Rom. 8:3,4). It is the inexplicable effluence that trains us in godly living and makes us zealous for good works (Tit. 2:11-14). It is the wellspring of spiritual power that produces the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (1 Pet. 4:10-11).
But so few know how to stay within that grace, because they don't know where it is found. The reason that they don't know where it is found is because they don't know where Christ, the source of grace, is found.
Where is Christ to be found? He is to be found in the same place you are to be found: in your body!
Sigh...there's so much to say. If I just blurt it all out, it will be confusing and boring. Let's take this one step at a time.
Where is Christ?
He's sitting at the right hand of the Father, right? Okay, sure he is, but that won't do you any good. You're sitting at the right hand of the Father, too (Eph. 2:6), but if your spouse asked me where you were and I told her that, your spouse would be mad at me. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus when he was struck down by light and blinded. Despite the fact that Jesus, the head, was right there in front of him, visible to him, Jesus did nothing for Saul. "Go to Damascus," he said.
It was there that Paul really met Christ, not on the road in Damascus. And it happened through Christ's body. Ananaias laid hands on Paul and baptized him, and thus Paul had his sins forgiven, his sight restored, received the Spirit of God, and was commissioned for his future mission.
This, I'm certain, is at least part of the reason that people came to Christ through baptism in the Bible, not through a sinner's prayer, that can be done alone in your room with a tract.
The Gospel, as I said, is all about grace, and there is one place where great grace can be found, and that is in Christ's body. Not only does Acts tell us that great grace was on the disciples when they were "of one heart and one soul" (4:32,33), but Psalm 133 tells us that it is where brothers are living together in unity that God commands the blessing of eternal life. There's reasons for all of this, my brothers and sisters. The Scriptures aren't wrong when they tell you that you and the head won't cut it. You really can't say "I don't need the eye" or "I don't need the hand." You are likely to perish without your brothers and sisters, despite your Bible and your relationship with Christ. At least, that's what your Bible says (Heb. 3:13).
We have spiritualized John 15, and we have suffered for it badly. There, our Master tells us that we have to remain in him if we are to bear much fruit. So therefore we attempt to spiritually meditate on him as though we were Hindus and not Christians. No, no, no! It's much simpler and harder than that. He is found in his body. Remaining or abiding in Christ is as simple as staying in the church, remaining in fellowship with your brothers and sisters on a daily basis. You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in the vine, the vine is Christ, and Christ, according to the Scriptures, consists of many members, not just the one in the heavens sitting at the right hand of the Father (1 Cor. 12:12).
The Church and Christ
Jesus never meant to separate himself from his church. When Saul saw Jesus, Jesus asked Saul why Saul was persecuting him. He didn't ask Saul why he was persecuting the church, but why he was persecuting Jesus himself. Jesus is as possessive of his body as you are of yours.
Look at 1 Cor. 12:12. It says that just as a body has many parts, but all those parts remain one body, so also is Christ. That's an important sentence. Notice that it does not say "so also is the church." We all know the church is composed of many members, but we are not used to thinking of Christ as being composed of many members. We need to get used to it, because the reason we fail so badly is because we are looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. He is found in his body.
Don't miss the fact that Jesus himself sent Saul to Ananias in Damascus. It is not what we would do today. In fact, it is the exact opposite. We, as members of the body of Christ, sit in front of people and tell them to close their eyes and attempt to envision the invisible head of the body and ask him into their heart. Not only did the apostles not do such a thing, but Jesus himself didn't, either! He didn't tell Saul to ask him into his heart, despite the golden opportunity. The head was not invisible to Saul, he was visible. Nonetheless, Jesus sent him to Ananias to have his sins forgiven by washing them away in baptism (Acts 22:16).
The Power of the People of God
I don't know about you, but I grew extremely tired of being confident that about 10% or less of the people I "went to church" with would continue maturing in Christ. Paul was confident that the whole church would! You can be, too!
How can I be confident what I'm telling you works? Because I see it work every day. I am confident that he who has begun a good work in the members of his body will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. In fact, God continually renews my amazement at his power to transform people without missing anyone. It's really happening, right here in these good ol' United States, right in the midst of enough decadence, pride, individuality, and wealth to corrupt even the best of souls.
The growth of the church was always meant to be together. The Scriptures say that the growth of the body happens as each part does its share (Eph. 4:16). But it doesn't only say that such growth depends on every part doing its share, it also says that the growth of the body happens "together." We grow up together into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ (Eph 4:11-16).
Here's the catch. There's a pretty hefty cost involved.
#1: Nothing I'm saying works for those who limit themselves to the "ask Jesus into your heart and get your sins forgiven, then go to heaven" gospel. What I'm saying is only true for disciples, who deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow him.
#2: Nothing I'm saying works for those who consider the church to include those who limit themselves to the "ask Jesus into your heart and get your sins forgiven, then go to heaven" gospel. What I'm saying is only true for disciples in fellowship with other disciples, and anyone who will not deny themselves and take up their cross daily cannot be Christ's disciple and thus cannot be part of the church.
#3: I'm not talking about a Christian club, where people who perhaps are open to, or enjoy, or are attempting to follow Christian teachings and ideas get together a couple times a week to have a meeting to sing and talk and collect hefty membership dues that are as stiff as ancient Israelite taxes. I'm talking about a family, where disciples don't just say they are brothers and sisters, but actually live like they're brothers and sisters, being willing to share lives, possessions, and to take care of one another should any of them be in trouble. It actually has to be disciples together enough that when one hurts, they all hurt.
#4: If you even begin moving in that direction, you'll probably be thrown out of your "church" (Christian club), banned from most other Christian clubs, called a cult member, and persecuted in ways you never dreamed of by people you'd have never suspected.
#5: You'll never be able to do it alone. You'll probably need our help. It seems likely that will get us called a cult one more time, but I'd be lying otherwise. People attempt to be together in the way we see in the book of Acts all the time in the U.S., but it almost never lasts. I wish we could point you to dozens of other thriving churches, full of disciples, where we are confident that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, but since that's not the Gospel preached in the United States and since the devil thoroughly persecutes and seeks to destroy any place that begins to get light on the church, churches are RARE. If you know any, tell us about them, and we'll send others to get help from them. Of course, you'll probably still be getting help from us, because real churches love one another and stay in fellowship with one another, so you can hardly tell the difference between them.
Well, that's what I'm doing in South Dakota. I'm hoping that everyone who hears about Christ will get to grow up inside of Christ and know that remaining in Christ means remaining in his body, because that's how you bear much fruit and continue to the end...with the help of your brothers and sisters, who are really your brothers and sisters, not just in name only.
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Why am I doing all this? It's not that I'm suffering much. In fact, I'm not suffering at all. I'm happy, healthy, and I have great friends around me every day. But I must be hopping all over the world for some reason. It's not tourism, because I stay too busy to see anything in any of the places where I go.
I thought about the missionaries I met in Myanmar. I thought about the people I traveled to Myanmar with. I am thinking about the people I'll meet today here in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, and the people I've talked with for the last two days. Why do I talk to them? What do I want in all the traveling and speaking I've done?
I want everyone to know the fullness of the Gospel, and almost no one does. This includes the Pentecostals and charismatics who refer to themselves as "full gospel" churches. They do exactly what everyone else does, and they get the same results that everyone else gets. They can be 'confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it in about 10% of them...maybe.'
The Gospel is all about grace. Grace is the wonderful power of God that those under the Law did not have. It is the power to overcome sin (Rom. 6:14). It is the power to fulfill the righteousness that the Law set out to describe (Rom. 8:3,4). It is the inexplicable effluence that trains us in godly living and makes us zealous for good works (Tit. 2:11-14). It is the wellspring of spiritual power that produces the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (1 Pet. 4:10-11).
But so few know how to stay within that grace, because they don't know where it is found. The reason that they don't know where it is found is because they don't know where Christ, the source of grace, is found.
Where is Christ to be found? He is to be found in the same place you are to be found: in your body!
Sigh...there's so much to say. If I just blurt it all out, it will be confusing and boring. Let's take this one step at a time.
Where is Christ?
He's sitting at the right hand of the Father, right? Okay, sure he is, but that won't do you any good. You're sitting at the right hand of the Father, too (Eph. 2:6), but if your spouse asked me where you were and I told her that, your spouse would be mad at me. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus when he was struck down by light and blinded. Despite the fact that Jesus, the head, was right there in front of him, visible to him, Jesus did nothing for Saul. "Go to Damascus," he said.
It was there that Paul really met Christ, not on the road in Damascus. And it happened through Christ's body. Ananaias laid hands on Paul and baptized him, and thus Paul had his sins forgiven, his sight restored, received the Spirit of God, and was commissioned for his future mission.
This, I'm certain, is at least part of the reason that people came to Christ through baptism in the Bible, not through a sinner's prayer, that can be done alone in your room with a tract.
The Gospel, as I said, is all about grace, and there is one place where great grace can be found, and that is in Christ's body. Not only does Acts tell us that great grace was on the disciples when they were "of one heart and one soul" (4:32,33), but Psalm 133 tells us that it is where brothers are living together in unity that God commands the blessing of eternal life. There's reasons for all of this, my brothers and sisters. The Scriptures aren't wrong when they tell you that you and the head won't cut it. You really can't say "I don't need the eye" or "I don't need the hand." You are likely to perish without your brothers and sisters, despite your Bible and your relationship with Christ. At least, that's what your Bible says (Heb. 3:13).
We have spiritualized John 15, and we have suffered for it badly. There, our Master tells us that we have to remain in him if we are to bear much fruit. So therefore we attempt to spiritually meditate on him as though we were Hindus and not Christians. No, no, no! It's much simpler and harder than that. He is found in his body. Remaining or abiding in Christ is as simple as staying in the church, remaining in fellowship with your brothers and sisters on a daily basis. You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in the vine, the vine is Christ, and Christ, according to the Scriptures, consists of many members, not just the one in the heavens sitting at the right hand of the Father (1 Cor. 12:12).
The Church and Christ
Jesus never meant to separate himself from his church. When Saul saw Jesus, Jesus asked Saul why Saul was persecuting him. He didn't ask Saul why he was persecuting the church, but why he was persecuting Jesus himself. Jesus is as possessive of his body as you are of yours.
Look at 1 Cor. 12:12. It says that just as a body has many parts, but all those parts remain one body, so also is Christ. That's an important sentence. Notice that it does not say "so also is the church." We all know the church is composed of many members, but we are not used to thinking of Christ as being composed of many members. We need to get used to it, because the reason we fail so badly is because we are looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. He is found in his body.
Don't miss the fact that Jesus himself sent Saul to Ananias in Damascus. It is not what we would do today. In fact, it is the exact opposite. We, as members of the body of Christ, sit in front of people and tell them to close their eyes and attempt to envision the invisible head of the body and ask him into their heart. Not only did the apostles not do such a thing, but Jesus himself didn't, either! He didn't tell Saul to ask him into his heart, despite the golden opportunity. The head was not invisible to Saul, he was visible. Nonetheless, Jesus sent him to Ananias to have his sins forgiven by washing them away in baptism (Acts 22:16).
The Power of the People of God
I don't know about you, but I grew extremely tired of being confident that about 10% or less of the people I "went to church" with would continue maturing in Christ. Paul was confident that the whole church would! You can be, too!
How can I be confident what I'm telling you works? Because I see it work every day. I am confident that he who has begun a good work in the members of his body will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. In fact, God continually renews my amazement at his power to transform people without missing anyone. It's really happening, right here in these good ol' United States, right in the midst of enough decadence, pride, individuality, and wealth to corrupt even the best of souls.
The growth of the church was always meant to be together. The Scriptures say that the growth of the body happens as each part does its share (Eph. 4:16). But it doesn't only say that such growth depends on every part doing its share, it also says that the growth of the body happens "together." We grow up together into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ (Eph 4:11-16).
Here's the catch. There's a pretty hefty cost involved.
#1: Nothing I'm saying works for those who limit themselves to the "ask Jesus into your heart and get your sins forgiven, then go to heaven" gospel. What I'm saying is only true for disciples, who deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow him.
#2: Nothing I'm saying works for those who consider the church to include those who limit themselves to the "ask Jesus into your heart and get your sins forgiven, then go to heaven" gospel. What I'm saying is only true for disciples in fellowship with other disciples, and anyone who will not deny themselves and take up their cross daily cannot be Christ's disciple and thus cannot be part of the church.
#3: I'm not talking about a Christian club, where people who perhaps are open to, or enjoy, or are attempting to follow Christian teachings and ideas get together a couple times a week to have a meeting to sing and talk and collect hefty membership dues that are as stiff as ancient Israelite taxes. I'm talking about a family, where disciples don't just say they are brothers and sisters, but actually live like they're brothers and sisters, being willing to share lives, possessions, and to take care of one another should any of them be in trouble. It actually has to be disciples together enough that when one hurts, they all hurt.
#4: If you even begin moving in that direction, you'll probably be thrown out of your "church" (Christian club), banned from most other Christian clubs, called a cult member, and persecuted in ways you never dreamed of by people you'd have never suspected.
#5: You'll never be able to do it alone. You'll probably need our help. It seems likely that will get us called a cult one more time, but I'd be lying otherwise. People attempt to be together in the way we see in the book of Acts all the time in the U.S., but it almost never lasts. I wish we could point you to dozens of other thriving churches, full of disciples, where we are confident that he who has begun a good work in them will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, but since that's not the Gospel preached in the United States and since the devil thoroughly persecutes and seeks to destroy any place that begins to get light on the church, churches are RARE. If you know any, tell us about them, and we'll send others to get help from them. Of course, you'll probably still be getting help from us, because real churches love one another and stay in fellowship with one another, so you can hardly tell the difference between them.
Well, that's what I'm doing in South Dakota. I'm hoping that everyone who hears about Christ will get to grow up inside of Christ and know that remaining in Christ means remaining in his body, because that's how you bear much fruit and continue to the end...with the help of your brothers and sisters, who are really your brothers and sisters, not just in name only.
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Meditate on his Promises
I put this on my web site at http://www.oldoldstory.org as well. I'm not sure it's edited well enough to be on the web site, but oh, well. I wrote this on the plane on the way back from Myanmar.
Today I read, "I stay awake through each watch of the night, to meditate on your promise" (Ps. 119:148, Holman Christian Standard Bible). This came right after verses about crying out to the Lord in order to keep his statues and testimonies. There are indeed promises about keeping the commandments of Christ. This verse in Psalm 119 tells us that one way to obtain the provision of those promises is to stay awake at night thinking about them.
Many of us struggle with sin all the time. We want to do the will of God in everything. We want our eating, our entertainment, the use of our time, our speech, and our finances to be under his control. We are told that no useless word should proceed out of our mouth, but that we should say only what is needful for building up at that moment. Yet, who can obey such a command? James tells us that we all sin in many ways, but if anyone can control the tongue, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. Oh, what a delight that would be! How can it be obtained?
This issue is on my mind because of my trip to Myanmar. I am writing on the plane on the way back. I am stricken about my inability to control simple things like how much I eat. Never mind my weight. That is not the issue. If I hunger, immediately I'm stricken with the need to rummage through the cabinets or run from work to the store for the snack, or at least to drink a cup of coffee. On a previous trip, David Servant tells me that he asked when lunch was, and a Myanmar man said, "Oh, we are not like you Americans. If there is food, we eat. Otherwise, we don't think about it." Ouch!
I have returned from Myanmar wondering if I am even a Christian. I would like to be able to say with Paul, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will NOT be brought under the power of any." I would like to be able to tell those who hear me, "I buffet my body, and I bring it under subjection." Unfortunately, too often my joke about the word buffet there meaning a banquet is only too true! May God grant me to be a doer of his word, making no provision for the desires of this body, my temporary dwelling place in this world.
The Psalmist tells me that one of the provisions for receiving the benefit of the promises is to stay awake meditating on them. So be it! But today I want to talk about the greatness of those promises.
The Scripture expressly calls those promises great. "His divine power has given us...exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:3,4). Yes, this is exactly what I want!
The promises of the New Testament are awesome. American Christianity is prone to "dumbing down" the promises of the New Covenant. American Christianity tells us that grace will allow us to continue in sin, but we'll go to heaven anyway. This is not the mind of the apostles. The apostles conceived of great and precious promises that would deliver us from sin's power, allowing us to boast with Paul that "I have lived to this day in all good conscience before God and man." This was such a shocking claim even to the religious and Law-keeping Jews that the high priest commanded Paul to be slapped for saying it. The high priest did not have Paul's, nor our, exceeding great and precious promises.
We are told in the letter to the Romans that sin won't have power over us because we are under grace. We are told that Christ died for us specifically so that what the Law could not enable us to do, his death would enable us to do; that is, to fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law by the power of the Spirit. It is something we must do. If we live according to the flesh, we will die, but if, by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body, then we will live. Those exceedingly great and precious promises are given to us so that might happen.
Brothers and sisters, who are bombarded daily with the self-serving advertisements and lifestyle of the outrageously rich western world, we are not just exhorted to strive for holiness, though we are exhorted to do so. We are told that we can use the promises to be partakers of his divine nature! Christ used his divine nature to overcome the desires of the flesh, which tempted him just as they tempt us. He does not need to have an advantage over us. He is offering his advantage. You can become a partaker of his divine nature! You can be not mere men, but gods, as it were!
We are horribly frightened of such wording, but our ancestors were not. The church fathers commonly quoted Jesus' statement that God himself called them gods, to whom the Word of God had come. Justin Martyr made the claim to the Greeks that Jesus Christ could 'make mortals immortals, make mortals gods, and transport them to the realms above Olympus' (Discourse to the Greeks, ch. 5, c. AD 150).
Brothers and sisters, let us meditate on his promises. Let us stay awake through the watches of the night, considering what he has promised. Let us reject the dumbed down Christianity of the masses and find the narrow way that leads to life. I am not speaking of something easy! I am speaking of something impossible for man. It will take the intervention of God. If God is not real, and if our Gospel is not the power of God to salvation, then we will not succeed. We must fail. But if Jesus Christ is really the Son of God, then his statement is true that what is impossible with man is possible with God, and even the outrageously rich, like you and I, can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven! The life of American Christians makes us doubt, but there have been Jim Elliotts, Amy Carmichaels, C.T. Studds, and others--some whom I know and live with today--who make it known to us that it is possible.
To God be the glory! Let us stay awake through the night watches, considering his promises to give us divine power and make us sons of God, younger brethren to Jesus Christ, the Word of God and Lord of all. Such promises are so great that they make the ministry of condemnation--the Law, which caused Moses' face to glow so brightly that it had to be hidden--seem inglorious by comparison.
Brothers, meditate on these things.
Today I read, "I stay awake through each watch of the night, to meditate on your promise" (Ps. 119:148, Holman Christian Standard Bible). This came right after verses about crying out to the Lord in order to keep his statues and testimonies. There are indeed promises about keeping the commandments of Christ. This verse in Psalm 119 tells us that one way to obtain the provision of those promises is to stay awake at night thinking about them.
Many of us struggle with sin all the time. We want to do the will of God in everything. We want our eating, our entertainment, the use of our time, our speech, and our finances to be under his control. We are told that no useless word should proceed out of our mouth, but that we should say only what is needful for building up at that moment. Yet, who can obey such a command? James tells us that we all sin in many ways, but if anyone can control the tongue, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. Oh, what a delight that would be! How can it be obtained?
This issue is on my mind because of my trip to Myanmar. I am writing on the plane on the way back. I am stricken about my inability to control simple things like how much I eat. Never mind my weight. That is not the issue. If I hunger, immediately I'm stricken with the need to rummage through the cabinets or run from work to the store for the snack, or at least to drink a cup of coffee. On a previous trip, David Servant tells me that he asked when lunch was, and a Myanmar man said, "Oh, we are not like you Americans. If there is food, we eat. Otherwise, we don't think about it." Ouch!
I have returned from Myanmar wondering if I am even a Christian. I would like to be able to say with Paul, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will NOT be brought under the power of any." I would like to be able to tell those who hear me, "I buffet my body, and I bring it under subjection." Unfortunately, too often my joke about the word buffet there meaning a banquet is only too true! May God grant me to be a doer of his word, making no provision for the desires of this body, my temporary dwelling place in this world.
The Psalmist tells me that one of the provisions for receiving the benefit of the promises is to stay awake meditating on them. So be it! But today I want to talk about the greatness of those promises.
The Scripture expressly calls those promises great. "His divine power has given us...exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:3,4). Yes, this is exactly what I want!
The promises of the New Testament are awesome. American Christianity is prone to "dumbing down" the promises of the New Covenant. American Christianity tells us that grace will allow us to continue in sin, but we'll go to heaven anyway. This is not the mind of the apostles. The apostles conceived of great and precious promises that would deliver us from sin's power, allowing us to boast with Paul that "I have lived to this day in all good conscience before God and man." This was such a shocking claim even to the religious and Law-keeping Jews that the high priest commanded Paul to be slapped for saying it. The high priest did not have Paul's, nor our, exceeding great and precious promises.
We are told in the letter to the Romans that sin won't have power over us because we are under grace. We are told that Christ died for us specifically so that what the Law could not enable us to do, his death would enable us to do; that is, to fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law by the power of the Spirit. It is something we must do. If we live according to the flesh, we will die, but if, by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body, then we will live. Those exceedingly great and precious promises are given to us so that might happen.
Brothers and sisters, who are bombarded daily with the self-serving advertisements and lifestyle of the outrageously rich western world, we are not just exhorted to strive for holiness, though we are exhorted to do so. We are told that we can use the promises to be partakers of his divine nature! Christ used his divine nature to overcome the desires of the flesh, which tempted him just as they tempt us. He does not need to have an advantage over us. He is offering his advantage. You can become a partaker of his divine nature! You can be not mere men, but gods, as it were!
We are horribly frightened of such wording, but our ancestors were not. The church fathers commonly quoted Jesus' statement that God himself called them gods, to whom the Word of God had come. Justin Martyr made the claim to the Greeks that Jesus Christ could 'make mortals immortals, make mortals gods, and transport them to the realms above Olympus' (Discourse to the Greeks, ch. 5, c. AD 150).
Brothers and sisters, let us meditate on his promises. Let us stay awake through the watches of the night, considering what he has promised. Let us reject the dumbed down Christianity of the masses and find the narrow way that leads to life. I am not speaking of something easy! I am speaking of something impossible for man. It will take the intervention of God. If God is not real, and if our Gospel is not the power of God to salvation, then we will not succeed. We must fail. But if Jesus Christ is really the Son of God, then his statement is true that what is impossible with man is possible with God, and even the outrageously rich, like you and I, can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven! The life of American Christians makes us doubt, but there have been Jim Elliotts, Amy Carmichaels, C.T. Studds, and others--some whom I know and live with today--who make it known to us that it is possible.
To God be the glory! Let us stay awake through the night watches, considering his promises to give us divine power and make us sons of God, younger brethren to Jesus Christ, the Word of God and Lord of all. Such promises are so great that they make the ministry of condemnation--the Law, which caused Moses' face to glow so brightly that it had to be hidden--seem inglorious by comparison.
Brothers, meditate on these things.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Back from Myanmar...sort of
I'm in Bangkok, in a hotel room waiting to go to bed so I can get up less than six hours from now. We arrived from Myanmar this afternoon. After the in and out, very slow internet we had there, the connection seems to fly here in Thailand!
I was able to get on this blog page one time in Myanmar, while I was at Yangon, thus the two posts from Nov. 26. The next time I was able to link to my blog from the Rose Creek Village home page, but I was not able to post on it. After that, I couldn't even go to it. Their "filter" system is very effective over there.
Kalaymyo, Myanmar was my favorite place I have ever visited. I loved the town, and the people were as nice as I've found them to be in all poor countries. Kalaymyo, or Kalemyo or Kalay Myo means "a city surrounded by four mountains, one on each side" according to one of our translators there. I told him that's a lot of meaning for three syllables. After he had told me that Myo is the part that means city, I asked him if Kalay basically meant "diamond," and he said yes. I found that exact translations were as hard to come by in Myanmar as they are in Africa.
Some things that stood out: people wearing sweaters, jackets, and even coats because the temperature dropped into the 70's; people wearing scarves and winter hats when they rode their bikes in the mornings with the temp in the 60's; lighters hanging on string from the ceiling in restaurants so people could light their cigarettes; restaurants with no walls and dirt floors with all the food cooked over a fire; people who had never ridden in a car in their lives; and the orphans...
The orphans are why we went over there, of course. We were wanting to see the work of Heaven's Family, and they support a lot of orphans in Myanmar. Noah, Chashaq, Chasah, and I went with eleven people, four of them from David Servant's family, who run Orphan's Tear, the branch of Heaven's Family that takes care of orphans. The people were wonderful, hard-working, and they loved God. It was a blessing to be with them. Ok, back to the orphans.
It was awesome to see all the happy children, none of whom even have beds and some of whom get only one meal a day. Orphan's Tear, despite sending thousands of dollars to Myanmar every month, has not raised enough to sponsor all the orphans in the few orphanages they are aware of and can help. If you think it's awful that a child should be eating one meal a day in an orphanage, you might want to sign up to sponsor a couple orphans, which will raise the standard of living of the whole orphanage. Just go to http://www.orphanstear.org, or you can sponsor children through Mercy Homes in India, which we have also visited. In both cases, ALL your money will get to the orphanage.
Anyway, we learned--once more--that money really can't buy happiness. The fact is, those orphans are significantly happier than American children and more secure. Admittedly, they wouldn't be if they were alone and starving, as many were before being brought to the orphanage, but they are happy and grateful now just for a subsistence living and balloons to play with at Christmastime. We brought a soccer ball to an orphanage with 90 children, and they all cheered when we tossed them the ball. 90 children, and there was no money for just one soccer ball. Yet the children were happy, and they had prepared for our coming by learning songs and dances, including a very impressive bamboo pole dance. It was awesome to watch a small boy conducting the other children as they sang. He was good!
Chashaq and I watched the gratefulness of the children and the love and self-sacrifice of the missionaries who take care of them while devoting their lives to the Gospel, and we were ashamed of our American ways. We discussed it several times, talking about what it would be like to be a real Christian like the people we were meeting.
Coming back from one of the orphanages one day, something came up about heaven. I told the several people in the back of the truck with me that if God let a rich slob like me into heaven, it would reflect badly on God. I told them I figured it was a waste of time for me to worry about heaven; I just want to get busy helping the people who really are worthy to go to heaven with the work they're doing, and that would be enough for me.
I know, I know...none of us are worthy. Bull! Read Rev. 3:4,5. Some are worthy, some aren't, and the unworthy won't make it.
Sorry, I didn't write the rules, I just tell people about them.
Everyone in the back of the truck agreed. I told them that the people the Bible says entered heaven were surprised they were going there, anyway. When Jesus told them they were going to heaven and why, they asked him what he was talking about (Matt. 25:31-46). I told them if we were actually busy helping, we might end up real Christians after all. Chashaq said it was the best sermon I ever preached.
I could give a good, solid Bible lesson about how none of that is good theology, but let me give you some things to think about. When we talked about being rich, fat Americans with no right to enter the kingdom of heaven, we were thinking about things like hanging out in Burger King overeating, or indulging in our "right" as Americans to $40 meals that could feed three hungry children for a month. I mean, hey, those terrible sinners who smoke and damage their "temples of the Holy Spirit" can be written off as carnal, but fat preachers polishing off dessert after a steak are spiritual.
It's not that kind of thing that makes me wonder if I'm a real Christian. What I ask God is if I'll go back to America, then slowly forget about what I've seen and decide "I deserve a break today." It's happened before. Thank God for all the wonderful and real Christians who don't slip into the American Way. They're rare. It was Jesus who said that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. If you eat three meals a day, and you know you'll eat three meals a day tomorrow no matter what, you're rich, my friend, and your satisfaction and wealth are a risk to your soul. It'd be easier to run a rope through the eye of a needle than for you to go to heaven. Yes, you.
Jesus doesn't leave it at that. What's impossible with man is possible with God, you know. What makes it possible, asking Jesus into your heart? Do you really think it's hard for a rich man to ask Jesus into his heart? Heck, no, it's impossible for a rich man to call nothing his own and share and be generous. It's so impossible that the rich, young ruler couldn't do it when Jesus asked him to. It's so impossible that you, the average American Christian, can't even believe Jesus told you to do it, much less actually do it. He only told the rich young ruler to do that, right? No, my friend, he said that to us all. Look at Luke 12:33.
Then, when you're done, look at the next verse, too. I'm telling you that America's treasures steal my heart away from God all the time.
Should every trip to a restaurant be foregone and the money sent to help the poor or shared with a more needy brother? Maybe not. Of course, how many trips to a restaurant have you foregone for the needy? How many meals have you skipped and spent the saved money on those with nothing to eat? How many meals have you cut back on, "suffering" through a meal of rice and beans or bread and water--a meal that others, some of them that you claim are your brothers and sisters in Christ, beg and grovel for, but which you consider difficult to bear--how many times have you cut back to such a meal and given the shared money to a good cause? In the early church, it was standard for all Christians to do that during daylight hours every Wednesday and Friday. The Jews did it, too, but on different days.
Now you may consider what I just said harsh; I don't know, but I'm not talking to you, anyway. I'm talking to me. May God give me the amazing, miraculous grace that would allow a rich American like myself to be a real Christian. I consider eating three meals a day of beans and rice to be suffering, too. Shoot, I get disappointed when I have one such meal a week. It's "hard" for me when there's no cereal or nuts in the house to snack on before I go to bed.
Again, I don't think the occasional snack is a sin. I don't think eating Thanksgiving dinner and walking away gorged is a sin. I think the American lifestyle is sinful. Rich Americans don't know any better. Christians ought to. It would be awesome to be a real Christian. Chashaq had a picture taken of him and me so that he can put it up in his house to remind him that we're going to try to actually be Christians when we get back to the states.
It'll take a miracle.
I was able to get on this blog page one time in Myanmar, while I was at Yangon, thus the two posts from Nov. 26. The next time I was able to link to my blog from the Rose Creek Village home page, but I was not able to post on it. After that, I couldn't even go to it. Their "filter" system is very effective over there.
Kalaymyo, Myanmar was my favorite place I have ever visited. I loved the town, and the people were as nice as I've found them to be in all poor countries. Kalaymyo, or Kalemyo or Kalay Myo means "a city surrounded by four mountains, one on each side" according to one of our translators there. I told him that's a lot of meaning for three syllables. After he had told me that Myo is the part that means city, I asked him if Kalay basically meant "diamond," and he said yes. I found that exact translations were as hard to come by in Myanmar as they are in Africa.
Some things that stood out: people wearing sweaters, jackets, and even coats because the temperature dropped into the 70's; people wearing scarves and winter hats when they rode their bikes in the mornings with the temp in the 60's; lighters hanging on string from the ceiling in restaurants so people could light their cigarettes; restaurants with no walls and dirt floors with all the food cooked over a fire; people who had never ridden in a car in their lives; and the orphans...
The orphans are why we went over there, of course. We were wanting to see the work of Heaven's Family, and they support a lot of orphans in Myanmar. Noah, Chashaq, Chasah, and I went with eleven people, four of them from David Servant's family, who run Orphan's Tear, the branch of Heaven's Family that takes care of orphans. The people were wonderful, hard-working, and they loved God. It was a blessing to be with them. Ok, back to the orphans.
It was awesome to see all the happy children, none of whom even have beds and some of whom get only one meal a day. Orphan's Tear, despite sending thousands of dollars to Myanmar every month, has not raised enough to sponsor all the orphans in the few orphanages they are aware of and can help. If you think it's awful that a child should be eating one meal a day in an orphanage, you might want to sign up to sponsor a couple orphans, which will raise the standard of living of the whole orphanage. Just go to http://www.orphanstear.org, or you can sponsor children through Mercy Homes in India, which we have also visited. In both cases, ALL your money will get to the orphanage.
Anyway, we learned--once more--that money really can't buy happiness. The fact is, those orphans are significantly happier than American children and more secure. Admittedly, they wouldn't be if they were alone and starving, as many were before being brought to the orphanage, but they are happy and grateful now just for a subsistence living and balloons to play with at Christmastime. We brought a soccer ball to an orphanage with 90 children, and they all cheered when we tossed them the ball. 90 children, and there was no money for just one soccer ball. Yet the children were happy, and they had prepared for our coming by learning songs and dances, including a very impressive bamboo pole dance. It was awesome to watch a small boy conducting the other children as they sang. He was good!
Chashaq and I watched the gratefulness of the children and the love and self-sacrifice of the missionaries who take care of them while devoting their lives to the Gospel, and we were ashamed of our American ways. We discussed it several times, talking about what it would be like to be a real Christian like the people we were meeting.
Coming back from one of the orphanages one day, something came up about heaven. I told the several people in the back of the truck with me that if God let a rich slob like me into heaven, it would reflect badly on God. I told them I figured it was a waste of time for me to worry about heaven; I just want to get busy helping the people who really are worthy to go to heaven with the work they're doing, and that would be enough for me.
I know, I know...none of us are worthy. Bull! Read Rev. 3:4,5. Some are worthy, some aren't, and the unworthy won't make it.
Sorry, I didn't write the rules, I just tell people about them.
Everyone in the back of the truck agreed. I told them that the people the Bible says entered heaven were surprised they were going there, anyway. When Jesus told them they were going to heaven and why, they asked him what he was talking about (Matt. 25:31-46). I told them if we were actually busy helping, we might end up real Christians after all. Chashaq said it was the best sermon I ever preached.
I could give a good, solid Bible lesson about how none of that is good theology, but let me give you some things to think about. When we talked about being rich, fat Americans with no right to enter the kingdom of heaven, we were thinking about things like hanging out in Burger King overeating, or indulging in our "right" as Americans to $40 meals that could feed three hungry children for a month. I mean, hey, those terrible sinners who smoke and damage their "temples of the Holy Spirit" can be written off as carnal, but fat preachers polishing off dessert after a steak are spiritual.
It's not that kind of thing that makes me wonder if I'm a real Christian. What I ask God is if I'll go back to America, then slowly forget about what I've seen and decide "I deserve a break today." It's happened before. Thank God for all the wonderful and real Christians who don't slip into the American Way. They're rare. It was Jesus who said that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. If you eat three meals a day, and you know you'll eat three meals a day tomorrow no matter what, you're rich, my friend, and your satisfaction and wealth are a risk to your soul. It'd be easier to run a rope through the eye of a needle than for you to go to heaven. Yes, you.
Jesus doesn't leave it at that. What's impossible with man is possible with God, you know. What makes it possible, asking Jesus into your heart? Do you really think it's hard for a rich man to ask Jesus into his heart? Heck, no, it's impossible for a rich man to call nothing his own and share and be generous. It's so impossible that the rich, young ruler couldn't do it when Jesus asked him to. It's so impossible that you, the average American Christian, can't even believe Jesus told you to do it, much less actually do it. He only told the rich young ruler to do that, right? No, my friend, he said that to us all. Look at Luke 12:33.
Then, when you're done, look at the next verse, too. I'm telling you that America's treasures steal my heart away from God all the time.
Should every trip to a restaurant be foregone and the money sent to help the poor or shared with a more needy brother? Maybe not. Of course, how many trips to a restaurant have you foregone for the needy? How many meals have you skipped and spent the saved money on those with nothing to eat? How many meals have you cut back on, "suffering" through a meal of rice and beans or bread and water--a meal that others, some of them that you claim are your brothers and sisters in Christ, beg and grovel for, but which you consider difficult to bear--how many times have you cut back to such a meal and given the shared money to a good cause? In the early church, it was standard for all Christians to do that during daylight hours every Wednesday and Friday. The Jews did it, too, but on different days.
Now you may consider what I just said harsh; I don't know, but I'm not talking to you, anyway. I'm talking to me. May God give me the amazing, miraculous grace that would allow a rich American like myself to be a real Christian. I consider eating three meals a day of beans and rice to be suffering, too. Shoot, I get disappointed when I have one such meal a week. It's "hard" for me when there's no cereal or nuts in the house to snack on before I go to bed.
Again, I don't think the occasional snack is a sin. I don't think eating Thanksgiving dinner and walking away gorged is a sin. I think the American lifestyle is sinful. Rich Americans don't know any better. Christians ought to. It would be awesome to be a real Christian. Chashaq had a picture taken of him and me so that he can put it up in his house to remind him that we're going to try to actually be Christians when we get back to the states.
It'll take a miracle.
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