NO Harm, NO Follow?

Reader: Got a Question for you. Read Luke 10:19 Jesus said he would not allow anything to harm them and yet everyone of them but John died a martyrs death? Can you explain that on to me? WOW!! That really hit me! Pastor Wayne Claybaugh. Founder In The Garden Ministries. See ITGM link below.

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JG:  This was about the time that Jesus sent His followers out to evangelize in a sometimes hostile environment.  My first thought is that this is not a universal promise but a temporal promise. 

We know that we can't mess with snakes and drink poison etc. without paying the price and He isn't saying "Throw aside all caution and common sense friends." He is saying, however, in this particular time I empower (ordain) you with powers  you may never receive again, nor will most others have them.  This ordination may have carried a special dispensation from all harm, but when that task was complete, they needed to watch their asps. 

The other possibility is that someone in the many layers of translation placed this idea in the text to elevate the disciples to an exalted place, above mere mortals. Thus when they or their appointed successors speak, it carries the authority of Christ Himself.  The same thing happened in the last chapter of Mark where some uncharacteristic commands about snakes and poison were not part of the oldest texts/codices.  

I know that scares fundamentalists, but when we can't reconcile the big truths of the Word with the small ones, we need to consider other possibilities. Yes, some monks had agendas, as did most of the early Church Fathers.  

It's also possible that this was, hyperbole, a statement made to encourage his fearful followers. Hyperbole need not be untrue,  but a colorful way to speak the truth, with a sometimes exaggerated tone. "Oh stop whining! Go out there and do your job. And don't worry about the boogey man or even snakes".  Jesus used hyperbole in His parables too, but that's another subject. 

Is it your personal experience that nothing harmful ever came your way while faithfully following Christ? Probably not. Therefore, if you choose to be rigid, you may say one of two things: 1) God's word is not true, or 2) You are such a terrible hypocrite that His promises don't apply to you. Neither is true. So, you must go to a third, or fourth, or fifth option and consider things like: 1) the context of the promise, is it temporary/localized, or  eternal?  and/or 2) is the text itself suspect because it does not resonate with the great body of Christian witness?  and 3) What can you glean from the text as the greatest truth, and cling to it?    

Clearly it doesn't mean anyone who is an evangelist is always immune to decay, demise or destruction. We only remember those who lived a long time but many died too young as well, and are unknown or forgotten by humankind. 

Obviously, there are many more explanations ranging from the far right to the far left of the theological scale. For me, the further I get from the extremes the easier it is to understand such things. As I age, I loosen the grip of dogma and superstition that characterized me for so long, and snuggle up to things that sound like, look like and feel like Jesus.  Remember, we don't worship the scripture, we worship the God and the Truth behind it. 

When one teaching supersedes another, choose the strongest, most sensible and closest to the nature of Christ and go with it. 

Maybe this helps? 

Blessings. 

Gestalt Prayers

It wouldn’t be right to ignore the fact that there are also some less admirable reasons why people pray. One is a desire to entreat God to make life fair, level, and tidy. David often prayed what I call leveling prayers, where he asked God to dump some painful justice on his enemies, much like kids do to their dads when a bully bothers them. When pressured by people who sought to destroy or slander him, he called upon God to vindicate him (see Psalm 3).

That kind of praying involves what psychologists call gestalt, which is a theory that people have an image of how things ought to be, and they can’t rest until that image becomes reality. So if something is awry, make it right. We saw gestalt in action once when my parents were visiting us for the holidays. One day Barbara asked if anyone knew where the yardstick was, and my Dad said, “Yeah, it’s hanging in the basement where it belongs.” In his mind, yardsticks didn’t belong in kitchens, but in basements, so he found a good place to put it somewhere near the washer and dryer, and there it hung.

I suspect many praying people run to Poppa to see if He’ll level their playing field or solve their latest problem. Such praying isn’t necessarily bad, but sometimes the problem’s fix isn’t God’s responsibility. Or it represents a lesson that requires your perseverance and trust.

Gestalt also works its way into what I call global prayers. This is when people piously entreat God to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or enforce world peace. While such prayers make the supplicant feel good about their investment in the world’s problems, I fear their efforts are mostly futile because they pass all the responsibility for justice to God. It’s easy to say you’ll pray for someone, or to humbly boast about your keen insight into the plight of the world. But if you’re burdened by the world’s starving masses, don’t dump that on God; send money to those who feed hungry people. If you worry about the homeless, volunteer in a shelter. If turmoil in other lands bothers you, live peacefully in your own world. As long as you can put hands and feet on your prayers, do it before you ask God to get involved. Only then can you be certain that your concern and faith are real (see James 2:14–19).

Invariably, prayer becomes more urgent as personal power over a circumstance diminishes. When you get the bad news that cancer has invaded your body, you intuitively know how to rush the gates of heaven with passionate petitions for health. Conversely, when you have control over your life and things go well, does prayer become more perfunctory than passionate? Such a reaction is automatic, instinctual, even understandable, but it’s also regrettable. Why? Because that kind of praying limits the potential of prayer to immediate needs and overlooks the long-term values that build character, integrity, and faith.

When General William Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army, heard that there were hoards of home “homeless people sleeping under bridges in the cold, his orders to the troops were simple and direct: “Well, do something!” While simplistic on the surface, he understood that spiritual concern begins with compassion and extends into practical assistance. His expectations were high, but his was vision simple. He might have just as easily said: “Don’t wring your hands about the world’s hungry people; feed someone. Don’t worry about people dying in the cold; give them shelter. Don’t pray about world peace; be a peacemaker.”

Let’s be clear. It’s wonderful that God’s people care about the suffering of others, and it’s just as wonderful to pray about it, but all of that is useless gestalt if you don’t do something about it as well. So if prayer isn’t about obtaining things, what’s it about? One thing we know for sure: prayer isn’t a game of spiritual persuasion where the biggest lobby groups carry more weight than individual saints. If you doubt that, note that James 5:17 teaches how one single person is enough to move God to action: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (NKJV)

Jesus’ answer to those who worried too much about all the things of life was also simple yet direct: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). In other words, pray to gain a relationship with Him, and then allow Him to share His nature with you before worrying about things like fairness, leveling, or personal justice. Completely entrusting your circumstance and providence to Him takes more will power and spiritual work than anything in life. But when you learn to do that each day, you’ll never again need to worry about getting all those other things.

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/praying-when-prayer-doesnt/id489829837?mt=11

Try reading this important secret about prayer...

“Through the ages, millions of sincere practitioners have attempted to corral the “secrets” of prayer, and countless more have attempted to teach others “how to” pray. Because praying is personal communion with God, contrived prayers using other’s words can leave you feeling frustrated and empty, not alive and brimming with faith. Martin Luther understood this when he prayed, “Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.”

Pay close attention to the words Jesus’ disciple used when asking Him for help with prayer: “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of His disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’” (Luke 11:1). It’s not a great leap to suggest that the disciple’s desire was to learn to pray, not how to pray. He didn’t want a primer on techniques; he wanted to understand the desire that drove Jesus to pray as He did. Contrary to common belief, prayer isn’t an art form to learn, it’s an association to pursue. We need to activate personal motivations that cause us to want to pray more than learn “how to” pray[…] we need less information and more inspiration about heightening spiritual desire to do whatever it takes to spend time with God.”

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/praying-when-prayer-doesnt/id489829837?mt=11

Some interesting words about Matthew

/ Church / Church History / Timeline / AD 1-300 / Matthew, Christ's Biographer

Matthew, Christ's Biographer

Dan Graves, MSL

Church History Timeline

6000-1 BCAD 1-300301-600601-900901-12001201-15001501-16001601-17001701-18001801-19001901-20002001-Now

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Little enough is known of any of the apostles. Of Paul, Peter, and John we have the most detail. Regarding those apostles who bring up at the tail of the apostolic lists, we have the least. Matthew is somewhere between.

His name was originally Levi. We know that Matthew and Levi are one and the same person because the gospels of Matthew and Luke record a feast at which Jesus was criticized for association with publicans: Luke attributes this banquet to Levi; The Gospel of Matthew attributes it to Matthew.

In his gospel (if it is his), Matthew tells that Christ approached him as he collected taxes and said, "Follow me." Immediately he arose and followed. Perhaps he had had one too many arguments that day. Perhaps he had been cursed by an irate taxpayer one name too many. Since he worked a booth near Capurnaum, he had, no doubt, heard of Christ. For all we know, Matthew may have been one of the tax collectors converted by John. Although tax collectors were generally hated by the Jews as rapacious instruments of the oppressive Romans, nothing says Matthew was dishonest. Tax collectors came to John the Baptist and asked what they should do. "Collect no more than is owed you," replied John.

At any rate Matthew rose immediately and followed Jesus, leaving his past behind. His humility is everywhere shown by his allusion to himself. "Matthew, the publican," he calls himself, branding himself with the profession the Jews most hated.

His original name, Levi, suggests that he was a man of the priestly tribe. When he wrote his gospel, after years of exposure to the teachings of Christ and days of fierce persecution, he was the only one of the four who directly addressed the Jews. Matthew showed deep interest in the priestly and scribal functions of his class. His gospel more than any other focuses on law and the fulfillment of scriptures and on genealogy and detail which reflects his Jewish background. Christ's fierce denunciations of the Pharisees and his prophecies of the end of the temple are most fully recorded in the writing of this apostle.

Matthew's interest in money finds expression, too. The parable of the talents is found only in his account along with many other beautiful passages of great richness. Herbert Lockyer notes that Matthew uses more words for money than any other gospel writer.

Matthew was well-to-do. As soon as he came to Christ he threw a party and invited others of his unsavory profession. He wanted to share Christ with them. No doubt similar concerns motivated him when he wrote his gospel in an attempt to share Christ with the whole Jewish race. We have nothing but legend about Matthew's death. His feast in the Roman Catholic Church is on this day, September 21.

Bibliography

1. Bell, Mrs. Arthur. Saints in Christian Art. London: George Bell, 1901 - 1904.
2. Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. Westminster, Maryland: Christian Classics, 1981, 1956.
3. Jacquier, E. "St. Matthew." Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Appleton, 1914.
4. Lockyer, Herbert. All the Apostles of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1972.
5. McBirnie, William Steuart. The Search for the Twelve Apostles. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1973.
6. Vigeveno, H. S. Thirteen Men Who Changed the World. Glendale, California: Regal, 1966.

Last updated April, 2007.

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St. Matthias

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Praying Backwards

Praying Backwards

“The actions of the godly always begin with trust and progress through willful choices toward God’s best for them, not settling for what’s merely good. 

Take a minute to think about the critical moments in your life. Did you respond or react? What were the consequences of your decisions? Did you make a good choice, or did you veer off into darkness? Remember, using prayer triggers and trusting in God always gets you safely home.

Ineffective praying, with its resultant spiritual restlessness, thrives on reactions and bad choices made in the outer ring of circumstances, not in discerning responses that lead you Godward. Staying in the problem means you disregard God’s invitation to draw near toward the vortex of home. 

Every circumstance has associated feelings that try to get you to remain in them, or worse, retreat backward toward the problem for a solution. Had the Prodigal Son chosen to “make the best” of his pigpen, he would have missed the incredible joy awaiting him at home. Leaving that dirty sty didn’t mean he was running away from his problems, but that he was heading home to ultimate solutions. Clearly, he made the best decision.

The old hymn still says it best: “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks.  This material is protected by copyright. 

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Carl Sandberg's great insight about us!

"There is an eagle in me who wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." Carl Sandberg

Laughing at our friends and allies!

John Cleese has it about right: 

"The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person.