Matthew Henry was a smart man!

The following is taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible. This man lived long ago when not everyone had easy access to scripture, and even less of the education required to gain the deepest insights from the written word. I find his insights and imagery into the familiar story of Moses and the burning bush helpful, even refreshing. I hope you find a few minutes to chew on this man's manna for today.

I especially like his vision of the burning bush being a symbol of the ongoing bondage of Israel (he considers Israel the early expression of the church). Ongoing heat without consumption or  resolution. What a tortuous life! Some still live that way today, unaware of the freedom that comes with truth. That's another blog!

I also love his statements about the nature of fire. I write often about the limitless subject of truth and I use fire as the best metaphor to understand it's many expressions and functions :light, heat, destruction, cleansing, healing, protecting and teaching.

My next book struggles to lasso the issues surrounding truth and apply them to our choices of how we can live with integrity, character and honesty. Hopefully coming soon to a bookshelf near you!

Enjoy this today and see what the Spirit shares with you through both Logos and Rhema revelation.

Blessings!

The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending sheep. This seems a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment, for which he is more noted in sacred writ, than for all his learning. Satan loves to find us idle; God is pleased when he finds us employed. Being alone, is a good friend to our communion with God. To his great surprise, Moses saw a bush burning without fire to kindle it. The bush burned, and yet did not burn away; an emblem of the church in bondage in Egypt. And it fitly reminds us of the church in every age, under its severest persecutions kept by the presence of God from being destroyed. Fire is an emblem, in Scripture, of the Divine holiness and justice, also of the afflictions and trials with which God proves and purifies his people, and even of that baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which sinful affections are consumed, and the soul changed into the Divine nature and image. Matthew Henry

Blog Perspectives...

Are you tired of all the things about Christianity that only seem to work for super saints or hyper saints? I am too. This blog makes statements and adds outside thoughts in any format because they  make sense to me.

If we could be perfectly honest (we can't) the TRUTH will make enough sense to people who hurt but find little comfort in the cliches usually associated with loss or defeat. Truth also speaks to those who question reality, only to get slapped down by those annoying types who have bags full of easy, scripted  answers, ready, and eager to distribute indiscriminately on anyone unfortunate enough to listen.

We may eventually find the light, our light, but we also understand we may never know the answers or the reasons behind our most challenging issues.  This is anything but a one-size-fits-all blog. It's supposed to make people think HONESTLY about the things that bug and baffle us about the  journey, and also to motivate us to share what's deep down inside, not just join the hoards who spew what they have been told to spew.

Ken Gire says that God is not indiscriminately intimate, and C.S. Lewis says the best things God does for us He does in us. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Join in. Enlighten me.

Blessings of Grace and Peace.

Read this poem if you have kids...:=}

I Learned to Swear by Pam Vap I learned to swear twenty minutes before my first child was born. Since then, it's been a handy habit to have around, and I expect God to turn his head. After all, he owes me one. It's a trick to make babies look so good. The truth is they leak. And of all horrors, they grow. They only speak whine; they cry and complain and wipe snot on their sleeves. They spill dinner. They stir pasta into their milk cups and squish spinach between their teeth. They eat crayons and toothpaste. They call constantly. They call constantly. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mo-om. They inhale money, bang down stairs, and store dirty socks and sandwich crusts like hidden treasures in their closets. They lipstick walls; they swallow marbles. They break things. Yet, God (no doubt in his wisdom) has ordained that these crude creatures should sleep incognito: gentle quiet warm. I am fooled easily. Each night as I tuck covers around them and bend to kiss their sweet, sleepy faces, I don't care that they used all the silverware in the garden. Let's fill the house with angels, I whisper to my husband as I slip between the sheets

Choosing Spiritual Health - by Dr. Colin Harris

Let’s imagine a fictitious scenario in which a person is asked, “Do you want to be healthy, or not?”  Kind of a no-brainer of a question, isn’t it?  But let’s think for a minute about what it involves.

I think most would quickly answer, “Why, healthy, of course!” – and the decision is made; we have made the choice.  But now we come to what this response involves.  First, we have to identify things in our personal behavior pattern that are detrimental to good health.  The range of possibilities is pretty broad – features of our diet that are less than healthy, ingestion of substances that may be harmful, patterns of work and other activities that are out of balance with what the body needs to function at an optimal level, relational dynamics that are toxic and stress producing, emotional stress that “weighs us down” and interferes with the balance of good maintenance. – the list could go on.  Often our choice for health requires adjustments on a number of levels that remove or reduce the ill effects of other choices that respond to  powerful needs and influences.  “Choosing health” is not as easy as it might have seemed.

Then our fictitious “chooser” is faced with another challenge.  Not only do we have to deal with those things that might be detrimental to our health, we find that we have to embrace a rather rigorous pattern of positive disciplines.  We no longer can just eat what tastes good, but we have to learn and embrace a diet of nutritious nourishment that will optimize our physical functioning.  This requires both knowledge and the discipline to follow what we know.

Along with diet, we learn that an appropriate level of physical exercise is necessary to maintain the best functioning of the complex systems that make up our physical being.  Like diet, this is a somewhat personal pattern – not everyone will be an athlete, but everyone will have a level of physical activity that is conducive to good health. 

Beyond that, we find that we have to balance the life patterns of work, rest, and recreation, so that the extremes of workaholism, sloth, and “party-animal-ism” are avoided.

Next, we find that finding and nourishing a community of healthy relationships has an impact on our health.  On the close personal level, and in the larger context of community life, all indications point to the benefits of supportive engagement with others – both giving and receiving -- as a factor in overall health.  The balance of privacy and community will differ for everyone, but finding that balance is an important part of the process of health.

Then we enter the more nebulous realm of other factors that have an impact.  We soon find that things like “meaning” and “purpose” are factors that influence health on a deeper level, and we engage the dimension of life we call “spiritual” or “religious.”  This dimension has many frameworks and expressions, some more traditional than others; but the function of this part of life seems pretty consistent.  It provides a frame of reference for life in its most comprehensive context.  Sometimes it is noted that this dimension is the realm of the ultimate “reason for living.”

It is here that our fictitious scenario connects with the affirmations of the lesson text.  The writer of Colossians is observing that the Christian path is an easy one to choose; but, like the choice of health, it is more complex than it might seem at the beginning.  There are things that must be abandoned and avoided (fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed  - v.5 – anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language, lying – v.8).  And there are things to be embraced with discipline (compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, and harmony – vv. 12-13).

We have noted many times how easy it is to think of our Christian faith as “getting one’s ticket to heaven punched” and being “saved and secure.”  The early Christians struggled with, and provided us help with, the idea that following Christ has more to do with “following” than with “believing” – embracing a life that is focused on “things that are above, not on things that are on earth” v.2.

Let’s think about the “health profile” of our Christian journey – about the things that are detrimental to it, and the things that characterize the discipline (note the two words “discipline” and “disciple”) that is conducive to good “spiritual health.”

A poetic view on living for this day by Mary Oliver

Poem - The Summer Day

I don't know exactly what a prayer is 

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, 

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day. 

Tell me, what else should I have done? 

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? 

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

with your one wild and precious life? 

Mary Oliver

Dealing with Loss

A dear friend who experienced a crippling loss of a child asked me if I ever view my loss as a blessing in disguise. My short answer is below. The long answer is what led me to write two books. One listed on this site, the other still in process.

My favorite quote about the potential value of personal loss comes in the form of a quote from Brennan Manning (I paraphrase): "Grace teaches us that the worst thing that ever happens to us is the best thing that ever happened to us".

To me that means it takes time for grace to complete its work in us. Immediate grace gets us through a crisis with relative sanity. Ongoing grace, however, does the hard work of patiently transforming us to accept, even embrace, a new reality that is not preferred at first. Grace leads to an eternal perspective with greater tolerance toward the thing (s) that once killed us with doubt and pain.

C.S. Lewis is the master of the discussion about the stages of loss. He felt his pain intensely, so much that he doubted his faith openly, in writing.  “We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.” ― C.S. Lewis,  A Grief Observed.

He goes on to say: “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”  

Grace is the ultimate healer. It is not a quick fix, but an ongoing process that alters everything about us before it rests naturally in us. Gentle grace? Sometimes, but not always. It is a function of TRUTH that never rests until we embrace it, finding ourselves whole in a completely new way, His way. Until that happens, however, we think Manning's words are complete nonsense.

JG

Humility

Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. CS Lewis.


“Some suggest humility forces people to ingest nasty things like humble pie or crow. From those images, you might think it’s something to avoid, like castor oil, not embrace. The humility that comes from the Spirit, however, is an assertive response of mature faith from people who hold to the demands of God’s truth and continue to trust in Him, despite circumstances. John Dryden captures the nature of humble faith when he says, “Trust on and think tomorrow will repay.”
Whether we ingest humility like candy or choke it down like crow, we can only enter into an effective prayer life through that act. Upon the completion of the magnificent first Temple in Jerusalem, God came to Solomon in a dream and spoke about the importance of humility. Knowing the Temple’s magnificence could easily create national arrogance, God reinforced the value of humility with this reminder: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). This if/then proposal was His solemn promise, but also a warning: be humble or perish in your pride.”

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks. See Blog for link to purchase.

This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/praying-when-prayer-doesnt/id489829837?mt=11: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks.

Faith. Substance or Scam?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your  ways my  ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts".

As I read the words of Isaiah 55:8-9 this morning,  a snippet of courage welled up in me to share a few lingering contrarian thoughts about the nature of faith. Briefly, I expect no self-respecting Christian to agree, but maybe some simple followers of Christ will.

First look at the orthodox position on faith. The Bible unceasingly stresses that faith is the fuel that makes the motor run. Without it, there is nothing but empty blather about theology, and in extreme cases, cynicism about God Himself.  Faith is said to be the one thing that moves God to forgive us, and it alone generates the power necessary to move God to indwell us with His Spirit.  All the great heroes were faith people and all of their victories are attributed to faith that God would be good to His word.

No faith?  No experience. No experience? No faith?

So far I agree, except those last two clever lines, which I just coined. It's the experience piece that seems to baffle me. I hear people speak about their experience with God all the time, and I see it plastered all over Facebook, as if making public statements about one's faith will influence others to: 1) Convert or  2) Congratulate them on their amazing faith.  It seems that wearing faith badges for everyone to see is a good way to passively "witness",  but if not judiciously done , it's also a subtle way to elicit much needed admiration.

Since my first book, Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work (See link on this blog), I have operated on the premise that much of what we hear others say about Christianity is more about dogma than experience. I have said for years that I seemed to have missed the boat when it comes to receiving all the spiritual kickbacks that others so readily claim they have in abundance. "The Lord said to me" is a classic, as is all that about Jesus being our best friend and constant companion. I grew up wondering why He didn't walk and talk with me and tell me I was His own.  It seemed like people heard voices all the time, that I missed hearing. I know one sane man who said He heard God's audible voice call him to ministry. I have another very sane friend who sees angels and auras around people. I can't doubt them because I am not them, but I can wonder why on the Faith-Experience continuum, I seem to be stuck at one end.  Funny enough, it's the faith end.

Now, I already know most , if not all the easy knee-jerk fundamentalist answers to my statements. They include, "You need to get saved, boy!"; "You need to spend more time seeking God"; "You need a good baptism of the Holly Gost!" (Phonetic writing).

All sound answers I'm sure, but it's odd the time I was the lowest spiritually and weakest carnally, I spent hours daily in prayer and Scripture reading, weeping and seeking something from above.   I was excepting a kick back, but got more silence.

The great ones say silence is not a sign that God is absent. Take Mother Teresa who says she spent six years hearing nothing from God. How about St. John the Divine, Brother Lawrence, Corrie Ten Boom and Jesus, all who witnessed to feeling forsaken at times? I guess C. S. Lewis also fits that category as well. His conversion was a logical choice, not a Damascus Road experience.

In my book I quote Ken Gire,  holding tightly to his words that "God is not indiscriminately intimate". Okay, I can understand that.  It's at least reasonable, and it doesn't  accuse me of spiritual sloth or ignorance because Jesus doesn't blow in my ear every twenty minutes, or "Mysteriously" show up when I  yield to the manipulations of public worship.  It makes sense that God's ways are not my ways, and when He's ready to speak or show me some angels, He will.

Until then? "Faith, boy, you need more faith".

The notion of faith being a scam relates to the underlying assumption of how so many speak of their faith.  Follow this trail of circular logic: The Bible says in order to find God, I must have faith.  How do I get faith? Believe the Bible is true when it speaks about getting faith. How do I know I can believe the Bible? Because it says it's true.

This reminds me of a Far Side cartoon that shows a Viking ship.  On one side there are four muscle bound brutes, on the other, three skinny wimps. While all are rowing hard, one of the brilliant leaders observes: “I’ve got it too Omar...a strange feeling like we’ve just been going in circles”.  

Obviously, faith is not something one can prove with words or equations. Faith is only proved in experience and told through personal witness. The faith of others may inspire us, but only our own faith experience carries the weight of credibility when it comes to what we say to others. That's why I have trouble with the "He walks with me and talks with me" saints. He doesn't do that with me, at least not that I'm aware of.  I think God is mostly silent, not warm and fuzzy. After all, if He lives in my pocket, I have no need for faith. Faith is only necessary when we can not see, not when we a BF's with the Almighty.

Remember, Paul teaches that faith and hope do not abide, only love. Why? What need is there for faith and hope in heaven where we will see completely all that is dark to us now.

The ubiquitous (and glib) promises of prayer coupled with all the amazing nuggets of pedantic or easy wisdom that I see flowing around Facebook from the super saints,  calls me to question my faith. Those people so easily create a dogma that explains God's silence and absence by saying that's the best part of being a believer – nothing happens. You know, that's when faith grows.

Again, why do we need faith? Top believe God is there, even when He doesn't appear to be active today with little hope for anything new tomorrow.

Isn't that circular logic?  Don't most of us believe the foundational tenet of my old teacher's college training that positive behavior needs to be rewarded with positive feedback?  So why doesn't God reward our positive demeanor with more holy vibes from above? Some say He does, every single time they pray, and even when they don't.  But I have both read the Bible and prayed and got the ever-inspiring silence that I'm suppose to regard as God's best reward. That's okay for awhile, but six years, Mother T?

I guess God's ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are much higher than mine. I admit, by Facebook standards,  I have no faith at all.  Maybe we all need to limit our super-saint faith talk to only that which comes from experience, not what we ought to be saying. Keep it real, and the millions who have wandered from the "faith of their fathers" will take notice.  

I may have more to say about this later. What do you say?

A Real Gutsy Saint! (Copied From Christianity Today)

Teresa of Avila, First Woman Doctor

Dan Graves, MSL

Church History Timeline

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Avila sits almost exactly in the heart of Spain. Teresa, who was born in 1515, was molded by the throb of this most fiercely Catholic of European nations. The passion of Spain with its romances, saints, conquistadors, and knights appealed to the headstrong girl. The Moors still held bastions of power. As a child, perhaps only five, she talked her older brother into sneaking out of town with her, determined to enter Moorish territory and become martyrs for Christ. An uncle found them and brought them back. Later she ran away to a nunnery. Reading St. Jerome, she had been swayed to long for a deeper, more austere life. But as she herself admitted, she came to the nunnery less for love of Christ than hope of a quick entrance into heaven.

While still young and new to the nunnery, she became seriously ill. No remedy worked. After several years of worsening health, she fell into a coma and was thought by the sisters to be dead. They would have been buried her had not her father forbidden it, swearing life still remained in her. For four days she was unconscious, waking to severe pain and paralysis. Only after three years of suffering did she regain the full use of her legs.

In the convent she found herself frittering her life in chatter. While teaching others to pray, she found she herself could not commune with the Lord for a long time because she felt herself a hypocrite, living a life displeasing to the Lord. Aware of the frivolity of her course and its baneful effect on her prayer life, she groped closer to Christ. She began to see visions. Some attributed them to demons. Others encouraged her to trust them. During this time she mentored the ecstatic mystic, St. John of the Cross. Together they are the founders of the discalced (shoeless) Carmelites.

Teresa was no idle visionary, however. Practical at heart, she became a leader of reform in the Carmelites and founded many nunneries dedicated to a deeper walk with Christ. No one was to enter these houses except women devoted to spiritual living. Other nunneries were places to deposit women who had no other home. Heavy managerial duties fell on Teresa. It was a struggle to find enough for her nuns to eat; their living conditions were sometimes deplorable. Teresa did her best to overcome these limitations. In addition she wrote religious and meditative books. One, her autobiography, she wrote at her superior's order. Other titles are Way of Perfection andMeditations on the Canticle. She transcended the ideas of love she had imbibed from romances as a child. "...Real love of God does not consist in tear-shedding nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which we usually long...but in serving God in justice, fortitude of the soul and humility."

Her mystical writings won her enduring fame. On this day, July 18, 1970, Pope Paul VI stated that he was going to name Teresa of Avila the first ever woman doctor of the church. He officially did so some months later and she took her place beside such great names as St. Augustine and St. Jerome.

Bibliography:

1. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Editor Tim Dowley. Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion Publishing, 1977.
2. Hamilton, Elizabeth. The Life of St. Teresa of Avila. Westminister, Maryland: Christian Classics, 1982.
3. "Religion." World Topics Year Book, 1970.
4. Zimmerman, Benedict. "St. Teresa of Avila." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

Last updated April, 2007.

Larry Moretz Passed Today

This is a very sad day for me. This man was someone who always respected me, even when I was not respectable. He wasn't always easy to work with, but he never failed to give me time and love, especially when I was down, the only top leader to overtly do that. 

He was in my corner, allowed me to write for Priority!, treated me like a brother and never stopped believing in me. I was able to get a "love note" to him through Nancy last week, which made me feel good.

He was creative, a head strong Dutchman (like me), and able to put up a good fight when I didn't like what he did. I fought him for several days about going to Minnesota, but when I got there and saw how amazing it was, I was able to put my head on his shoulder at the Divisional Program Review and playfully say, "Thank you for sending us here!". He smiled, knowing our long battle was over. We spent several days on a mini vacation in northern Minnesota where we went to antique shops, art stores and many restaurants. While there I managed to get a free birthday dessert for myself every night about a week. He just shook his head with disbelief each time, but he laughed as well. 

Had he remained our boss,  our lives would have taken a dramatically different course, but, that's all past. Redemption and restoration mattered to him, for me, and for the world. He loved the song "Rescue The Perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grace. Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save". Then his and my favorite words: "Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings lie buried that grace can restore; touched by a loving hand, wakened by kindness, CORDS THAT WERE BROKEN WILL VIBRATE ONCE MORE". Those words mattered to him.  

If ever people lived out of their  values, as seen in this song, it's Larry Moretz and Nancy. 

Thank you for indulging me for a few minutes. I don't do funerals any more, but this one will have my whole heart.  Love to Nancy and the family.

Larry Moretz will always be revered in this home. 

It hurts today, however. It hurts allot. 

Book Series Review: The Jesus Chronicles - LeHay and Jenkins

Jerry Jenkins and Tim LeHay, the writers of the popular Left Behind Series, produced another series of four books to their stable of Biblical novels. They're called The Jesus Chronicles. They created a short novel for each of the Gospels, depicting possible scenarios that could have led to the writing of each book.

I have completed the series and, as my dad used to counsel me, eat the meat and spit out the bones. Generally speaking the books all presented interesting scenarios that were plausible, if not historical. At times the plots were less than compelling, especially in John's story, but in each case I learned things about the context of the process, which produced the books.

Some things I learned:

While banished on Patmos, John was subjected to extremely hard work in the marble quarries. At his advanced age, his survival was nothing short of miraculous. His survival of the Emperor Domitian's extreme cruelty was balanced by the clemency and enlightened reforms of Nerva allowing John to recover, see his revelation produced and die in bed. He was the only apostle to die a normal death.

Matthew was a tax collector who probably gave up more than anyone to follow Christ. His official capacity allowed him to work a territory at will, as long as he paid Rome their contracted amount. He would have to have been schooled in all matters of commerce, the Hebrew religion, languages, trade, mathematics and cultural diversities to succeed. Following Jesus cost him, but he had to be a great asset to The Lord.

Luke was a physician, schooled for years in medicine with a heart for people - since physicians were not necessarily wealthy.  The most likely scenario  regarding his faith story was the he learns about Jesus from Paul, his friend and spiritual mentor. Since neither Paul nor Luke ever knew the man Jesus, their collaborative efforts were
required to write the Gospel. The writers suggest that Luke spent valuable time with Jesus' mother, Mary, before she died. That would explain detail of the birth narratives found in his record. He was not an apostle, but was an influential voice in the generation following Jesus death. It makes perfect sense that he wrote Acts as Paul's scribe.

Mark was a boy who spent a good deal time with Peter, his big brother and spiritual mentor. To read anything he says comes from his exposure to the apostles and Jesus, not as an apostle, but as one of the many who followed Jesus, almost exclusively in Jerusalem. I suspect he wrote everything for Peter since it took a significant education to write and fishermen probably did not get that kind of education.

These snippets are far from profound, but they help me understand the context of the gospels. Each book contains the actual gospel record in the back of the book. I

My grades:

John C
Luke A
Matthew A
Mark A

The books are elementary in nature, but that may be why they have some good value for seekers of truth to read them. I bought them all on Amazon for very little money.

Revelation made plain - Part Two - Dr. Colin Harris

A New Heaven and A New Earth

Revelation 21: 1-6

Having the book of Revelation accompany our journey during this Easter season has reminded us of several important features of this often puzzling book:

1.   It is apocalyptic literature, which means that is message is coded in images and metaphors that have a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface.  To read it literally is to miss its point.

2.   It calls itself a prophecy, which means in the biblical sense it is quite different from a prediction.  Rather than being a foretelling of what God is going to do at the end of history, it is a proclamation of what God is always doing in the midst of history.

3.   Its sometimes bizarre symbols are vehicles for telling the Gospel story, connecting the covenant faith of Old Testament history with what God is revealing through Jesus Christ.  It is a creative re-telling of the testimony of God’s people.

4.   It is a theology of history – an affirmation of the relation of God to humanity and the historical process.

Our lesson text for this week is part of the final vision that portrays this theology of history.  A new heaven and a new earth bring renewal to all of creation.  Let’s look briefly at a few of the details:

The “holy city” – the “new Jerusalem” – appears to take the place of the first heaven and the first earth.  A new reality comes as a gift from God, “as a bride adorned for her husband.”  Note the relational emphasis: this new reality is a relationship, not a location or a political entity.

The first thing the voice from the throne (remember who this is) says is this: “Look, the dwelling place of God is among people.”  Think about what this is saying, and what its listeners would hear.

The gospels proclaim in various ways that the Kingdom of God is not only something that would be fulfilled at the end of history, but also a reality that is present in history and among those who embrace it.

As Matthew introduces Jesus’ public ministry (4:17), he says, “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’” He instructs his disciples, “Proclaim the good news: news: the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:7) In Luke’s sermon on the plain, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20) When the Pharisees asked when the Kingdom of God was coming, he replied, “You won’t see it coming, because it is among you.”  (Luke 17:21) And, we would not forget the line in Jesus’ model prayer, “Thy Kingdom come ... on earth as it is in heaven.”  (Matthew 6:10)

The clear affirmation of this text is a reminder of Jesus’ teaching that the new order of God – God’s Kingdom – was a reality already among God’s people.  The implication is that they should not wait around watching for the Kingdom to come, but to realize that it already has and live as its faithful citizens in the here and now.  The new heaven and the new earth are not things to anticipate in the future, but things to embrace and proclaim in the present.

The Enigma of John's Revelation Explained

Thoughts from Dr. Colin Harris - A friend and mentor from Atlanta... JG 

Revelation is an example of what we call apocalyptic literature.  The word itself means to “reveal” or “disclose” much in the way that a shroud is removed from a statue at its dedication, enabling those gathered to see the finer features of the sculpture, where only the bare outline of its shape was seen before.  It is often presented as a vision or dream, usually with a high level of symbolism, numerology, and metaphorical images, designed to connect the reader/listener with deeper ideas and concepts.  There is also a hidden level to the communication, as well, since the uninitiated would not “get it” when the symbols are described.  It would simply sound weird. 

We also noted last week that the book calls itself a “prophecy,” which is significant for how we read it.  The word “prophecy” usually creates a sense of prediction of something that will happen in the future; and because of this is it important to note that biblical prophecy is quite different from fortune telling.  In both the Old Testament and here and other places, prophecy is not so much a word about what God is going to do as it is a word about what God is always doing.  The future focus of a prophetic word points to the consequences of God’s work already evident in history.  It is profound theological insight rather than magical prediction.

An important principle for studying biblical literature is every kind of literature deserves to be read in terms of what it is.  That means we read a gospel as a gospel, not as a biography; we read a letter as a letter, not as a universal rule for all times and places; we read a symbolic, metaphorical message as a pointer beyond itself to a deeper meaning, not as a literal description of something that will happen just as described.  This is especially important for apocalyptic literature and for the Book of Revelation.

The coded language of chapter 5 of the book lends itself well to an examination of this principle.  Chapters 4 and 5 together present the heart of the gospel message in a way that would be clear to the “insiders” and obscure to “outsiders” such as Roman guards and others who might be seeking out the Christians for persecution.

The book is thought to have been written during the last years of the first century, when the church was suffering severe persecution under the Emperor Domitian, whom many thought to be a reincarnation of the hated emperor of a previous generation – Nero.  Open communication of Christian beliefs would be risky, so symbolic communication of basic features of the gospel message proved to be quite useful.

Let’s look briefly at some of the symbols employed in our lesson text.  If you could read the 14 verses of chapter 5 first just get a sense of the imagery, our analysis of the images will probably make more sense.

Chapter 4 has established pretty clearly that the “one seated on the throne” is God, and he has in his right hand a scroll written on the front and the back, sealed with 7 seals.  A “mighty angel” asks with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”  ( Who is able to reveal to the world what God’s agenda is?) No one is found who can do that, and the writer is grieved that no one can.

Then one of the “elders” (note the 24 elders who sit on thrones around the high throne:         2 x 12 = 24 ---- 12 patriarchs/tribes of Israel + 12 apostles) speaks: “Weep not, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered and can open the scroll.”

Who is the Lion of Judah, the Root of David?  We’re beginning to pick up clues, but the “disclosure” continues: Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders (note the imagery of the location) the writer saw a “Lamb standing as if it had been slain” and this lamb is able to open the scroll and break its seals one at a time.

For those of us who know the imagery, the message is clear: If you want to know what God’s agenda for the world is, that agenda is being made clear by the “lamb that was slain, but yet lives.”  And, there is little doubt as to whom it is talking about.  But note that the word “Christ” has not been mentioned, nor has the idea of his sacrificial openness to God as the key to understanding spiritual truth been said explicitly.  Anyone listening in from the outside would hear about elders sitting on thrones, but wouldn’t hear the connection with the covenant faith of Israel and the first generation of Christian apostles; he would hear about weird multi faced creatures, but wouldn’t know that this was a reading from the book of Ezekiel; he would hear about a wounded lamb that can open a scroll, but wouldn’t have a clue that the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah or the risen Christ was being described.

What we have here is the Christian community gathering for worship in a hostile environment, singing hymns of praise and telling the gospel story, all in coded language of symbols and metaphors, perfectly consistent with the rest of the New Testament message.  In keeping with its nature as aprophecy, it is not so much a word about what God is going to do, but more a word about what God is already doing.

The surest way to miss that message is to literalize the symbols; and unfortunately that is what many people do, encouraged by folks who get rich writing books that tell  them that is the way to read it. 

As we have seen in many other areas of biblical study, it is easy to get sidetracked by questions like “Did this really happen?”  Or “Is this really going to happen?”  And miss the more important question: “What truth is this text calling us to see?” 

Dr. Colin Harris

2013 -Atlanta

Comforting thoughts for those in their Golden Years...

                                                                               
You know. . . time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is... the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise...How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey...they move slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me...but, I see the great change...Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be. Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so...now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last...this I know, that when it's over on this earth...its over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done...things I should have done, but indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet...let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you              think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not! You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life...so, live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember...and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!! "Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

Unknown

LIVE IT WELL!
ENJOY TODAY

DO SOMETHING FUN!
BE HAPPY !
HAVE A GREAT DAY!

All this tax talk isn't new! Neither is this poem! Enjoy!

The Tax Master

“Zacchaeus, come down from yonder tree,

And show me to your house for tea.”

Imagine Jesus in that house,

Munching figs with such a louse!

It will taint His pristine name,

Humiliate and bring Him shame.

It could wreck His reputation,

In this hero-seeking nation!

What’s He doing locked inside?

Would He with Zacchaeus confide

The secrets of His Kingdom plan,

With such a small and greedy man? 

But after tea, the man reviled

Took on the nature of a child

With newborn presence,  like a saint,

He rectified each tax complaint!

Soon wealth within his town increased,

And every citizen could feast

Because that gluttonous little jerk

Showed everyone how tax-cuts work!

Jack C. Getz

Tucker, GA

July 1, 2008

What to Say when You don’t Know What to Say

Library - Helping a Friend: What to Say when You don’t Know What to Say - Dignity Memorial

Learn where your Bible came from...

What's in a Revised Version?

 By Dan Graves

A Bible version long in use can become cherished through familiarity. Today, when we have a plethora of versions it is difficult for us to understand the excitement the revision of the Authorized version evoked. Three million copies of the revised New Testament sold within a year and the text was printed in full in two Chicago newspapers within two days of reaching the United States. Such interest could the Word of God generate back then!

When the King James version was first made, it was based on the Latin Vulgate, on early English translations, all of which traced back to Tyndale's translation, whose New Testament was in turn made from the Greek text of Erasmus and some comparison with Luther's translation. King James required the translation committee to follow several rules which were designed to ensure accuracy and readability. Each tranlator's section was carefully reviewed by the other translators. The authorized version adopted the verse markings of the Geneva Bible, a translation done by Puritan exiles.

After the making of the King James version, several Greek texts came to light, all older than Erasmus' manuscript. Among these were the Sinaitic, Vatican and Alexandrian manuscripts. A manuscript of the Septuagint (the early Jewish translation into Greek of the Old Testament) also turned up. Each of these finds underscored the need for revisions in the accepted text to bring it into closer conformity with the original writings.

Although scholars agreed that the King James was inaccurate in some details (although not any essential doctrine or important emphasis), laymen were loath to part with its familiar wording. Not forgotten were the fierce battles by which the Bible had been won, often over the ashes of martyrs. In a way the opposition was ironic, for the King James itself had been greeted with just such grumbles in its own day. Those who used the Geneva or Coverdale versions did not wish to relinquish phrasing which was familiar to them! But the King James' musical prose soon earned it the status of a literary masterpiece. No one can say how greatly its cadences have molded the English tongue.

As a concession to those who loved the beauty of the old, the revisers retained much of the archaic language of the King James. In fact, they sometimes opted for idioms predating even Shakespeare. The revised translation was not a modern language version by any stretch of the imagination! It had, however, solved some textual problems. Despite criticism, tens of thousands of copies were sold at once. On this day, February 10, 1899 its use was authorized as the standard for the Church of England. Coverdale's translation of the psalms remained in the English psalter.

Bibliography:

1. "Bible (English Version)." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. "Bible, the. Section 17." Encyclopedia Americana. Chicago: Encyclopedia Americana, corp., 1956.
3. "English Revised Version 1891-1895." February, 2001. 2006. .
4. Goodsped Edgar J. How Came the Bible? Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1940.
5. McGrath, Alister E. In the Beginning: the story of the King James Bible and how it changed a nation, a language, and a culture. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.
6. Various web sites such as http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=22.

Last updated May, 2007.

This makes me believe bigger! Speechless.

Tsung Tsung 5-Year-Old Piano Prodigy

Our favorite worship experience...

Dogma Part 2 - Cherry Picking Theology

Let’s look at the word dogma. First, you need to understand that it doesn’t appear on my favorite word list. I see dogma as the misguided efforts of the corporate Body of Christ and some educated but confused individuals to drag the nature of mystical divinity down to levels of human understanding. Dogma results from a creature need to define the indefinable Creator and to conform everyone to approved doctrine, to validate and protect church polity, and to corral everyone by fencing them into systems of acceptable belief and practice. 

Someone defined dogma as Deadly orthodoxy”, a definition I warm to in my soul. Sadly, the fear of rocking the theological boat causes many to either adopt the shallow, rote answers they have been told are correct, or they ask the right questions but fear the answers will alienate them, and cause their brothers and sisters to cast doubt on their spirituality.

The Bible is the most obvious target for questioning, but before a serious debate can take place, canned or proof-texted answers are used to bludgeon the truth-seeker back into orthodoxy.  For example, many use the Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality to prove that the condition is a sin, an abomination to God, and they quickly jump to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy to validate that position. The problem with that is that homosexuality is in both cases one item in a longer list of sins or approbations that carry the same weight of scripture, but some are ignored, or overlooked. For example, the same book that speaks against homosexuality in the Old Testament prohibits wearing mixed fibers in clothes, yet that, and many other laws, are not embraced.

In Timothy it says women should not speak in church, but it also says they should not wear jewelry or have their hair done. Most denominations have complete theologies against the ordination of women, even the use of women in worship, yet few say anything to their ladies who wear jewelry, nice clothes or make-up. (1 Timothy 2:8-15). 

This type of cafeteria theology is what causes confusion, and repels those who are unlike us, away from us. 

The irony is that 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, a phrase that has four fundamentally different meanings and creates the maze of denominations that confuse and divide the Body of Christ. The fundamentalist claim that God literally dictated every word. (Verbal Inspiration). The problem with that view is far too complex to address now, and if I did, I fear I would be hailed upon with names and accusations of heresy, or worse, pity, by my brothers and sisters in Christ. (Maybe some other time).

The point is not about that single verse, but the book itself which many scholars consider to be a letter written in Paul’s name by one of his followers. The practice of surrogate writers, for the record, was not unusual in that era with men who had significant followings. The point is that If there is any doubt about the veracity of the book that prohibits women in ministry, speaking in church, or wearing jewelry, there may also be questions about other things it says. 

So, if you put all your eggs in the basket that the Bible is Verbally Inspired, and it does prohibit the ordination of women and homosexuality, why do mixed fibers and jewelry get a pass? How about the use of alcoholic beverages? The ban on pork? Taking your neighbors grapes and grain without permission? 

Clearly, not every word in the Bible is to be taken as literal universal truth, some is regional by nature, some is time-bound, other is culturally relevant and much is metaphorical or allegorical in nature. While some will not admit it, we all “cherry pick” what we believe is the truth, an discard that which is not relevant to us. The problems come when we center in on that which supports our dogma, and ignore that which doesn’t. 

Taken as a whole, I see the Bible as the finger that points to God’s truth, the story that reveals His nature, and the guide that teaches us how He works with people. The Bible is not an object of worship, but is a revelation that can lead us to an inspirational knowledge of the truth that underpins it, Jesus, the Christ.

I finish with a story. One Sunday I reached for the pew Bible at church and noted that someone, probably a child, wrote the word “God” on the top edge of it. I was so moved that I bought that Bible and it sits in front of me right now on my desk, reminding me that the book is not the point, but the One who lives in it is. The beauty of a child, without pretense, deciding that while they can’t understand most of what’s in there, they know Who is in there. It’s the the story and the message of God. Simply put. In fact, enough said...for now.