Information vs. Transformation

Over the last few years there has been a plaguing thought in my mind - "I wonder how many people just read their Bible aimlessly?" To that end I began to study the, well, study of Scripture. The Lord began to show me so much and after much prayer the Lord led me to prepare a series in youth group about it. Because, let's be honest, the goal of study or knowledge for a disciple of Christ is change...changing to be more like Him and to grow in my relationship with Him. What follows are my notes (condensed) from that series - which was given over a 3 week period.
Let's begin by admitting that because the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore written by God we MUST have the Holy Spirit's help to understand what it says.
1. Place yourself under the authority of Scripture to have your actions and attitudes interpreted by it. (Heb. 4:12-13)
2. Trust your English translation of the Bible:

• There are over 14,000 copies of the New Testament and all of those copies agree completely over 99.5% of the time

3. Do not read into the Scriptures (careful not to read our own agendas and desires into the Scriptures - James 1:22; II Tim. 2:15) rather read FROM them.
4. Interpret the Bible literally...most of the time - just as poetry cannot always be taken literally, so also the Bible. (a resource to help here: www.biblegateway.com then click on "Additional Resources"). However, there is a great portion of the Bible that can be taken at face value.
5. There are descriptive and prescriptive texts of the Bible.(Descriptive texts report what happened whereas prescriptive texts detail what should happen).

• For example Solomon had MANY wives, that does not mean we should do the same.
  

• On the other hand, the Bible includes many texts that tell us to DO SOMETHING, like "love your enemies."

6. Study the Bible intentionally: ask the following questions when reading-

• Who was the author?
• Who was the original audience?
• What was the original cultural context?
• Why was it written?
• What are the units of thought in the book?
• What is the Biblical context - surrounding verses, etc...?
• What is revealed about God (for example, Jesus dies on the cross says that God is LOVE)?
• How does this connect to Jesus?
• What sins do I need to repent of or from?
• What principles need intergration into my life?

7. Don't confuse principles and methods. Principles are timeless and methods are timely.

• Example: Colossians 3:16 commands God's people to sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That is a timeless Biblical principle. To be obedient we need to develop cultural methods by deciding when the church gathers, where it gathers, who leads worship in song, what songs we sing, and so on and so forth.
  
• A small rural town may have only an organ for worship - where as a more urban church may have a different blend of musical styles for Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs - both are obedient to the principle without confusing the method.
  

My prayer is that you all find this helpful...though not an end in itself. For more information about resources available for free please comment.

The Shack: some thoughts

So, I go on vacation and have a fantastic time...you know, just checking out. In ministry there are times when you will be barraged by the onslaught of neediness, and endless activity and sometimes the best remedy is simply to just get out of town, shut off the cell - ignore email and hang with the family. And that is exactly what I did.
I was looking for something to read that was not work related - I read a ton and sometimes its great to grab a work of fiction and just enjoy. The Shack was recommended to me by a friend we saw on vacation not because it was good but because he was upset with it. Now, you're no dummy, you know that negative reviews actually bolster book sales or circulation - you say something and people want to know for themselves. So, to that end, this book review is not to tell you what to think - just read the whole posting and add your comments at the end - good or bad.
I must say that I found the book, at the onset, to be a gripping mystery with a few twists I was not expecting. Or, to put it differently, I liked it until the author began to dive into his understanding of the Trinity.
Here is the basic set-up (without giving it away): Mack is a the main character and essentially goes through some really hard life experiences by the time we catch up with him. He is disenfranchised and unaffected by his walk with Christ. On one particular day he is alone and thoughts are flying, he goes to the mailbox and gets a letter - or an invitation rather - to spend a weekend with God at a Shack in the mountains.
He accepts and shows up at the shack where the Trinity is hanging out (God is portrayed as an African American woman named Papa, Jesus is a middle eastern male carpenter, and the Holy Spirit is a translucent Asian woman named Sarayu).
This is where I try to understand - "hey, its a work of fiction and I need to treat it as such..." but my mind and heart could not wrap around the portrayal of God. You see, God commands us in the Bible not to make graven images (idolatry). When we take God (who is spirit) and make him a woman, or a Santa Claus figure, or what have you - we have just engaged in idolatry. Anything God looks like in our imagination is typically from a construct specific to our experience - simply put: our understanding of what God looks like is subject to our experience, not absolute truth.
As the weekend wears on conversations ensue about life and things Mack does not understand and we are introduced to a concept called modalism. Modalism says that God was revealed at different times in different ways and thus has three "modes" of appearance rather than being One God in three persons. Essentially Papa says that he (or she - for the sake of the book) is "...truly human in Jesus." By this line of logic the problem becomes that God is limited to the particular role being played at the current time.
There are many other areas of concern in the book and I don't want to sit here and tell you what to think or give the book away - but let me just ask you to do a few things:

1. Read the book for yourself. (toward the end of the book, after the author gets done playing theologian, there is actually some really good and sound dialogue that I was pleased and challenged to read) It will challenge some of your long held beliefs and cause you to examine Christian orthodoxy (that just means "right belief").
2. Know that it is a work of fiction. Don't use the book to shape your theology. Know this, the Bible is the first and most authoritative way one can develop a right understanding of God - and that only because the Spirit of God would reveal it to him as he reads the Bible (see Luke 24:27 & 45).
3. Watch the embedded video below.
   

Lost eyebrows

So I was just trying to put Jada (my 3yr old) to bed. Which can be difficult. She tells me she wants to make up a story. Here's what she said: "you know what happened then? (that is actually how she started) She lost her eyebrows." I said, "really." Then she continued, "and she prayed to Jesus and he gave her new eyebrows and she put them on...the end."

That was the whole story. I had to wonder, wouldn't that make me anxious, losing my eyebrows...but I love how she resolved it. She had the little girl pray to Jesus immediately.

I am often an anxious person and have to repent of that. So, in an effort to help us all understand anxiety, I thought I would offer this little resource for free.

CLICK HERE

Walking at Midnight...better make it 2am

We had just finished watching a western, one of the best genres of film to be sure, when Jess gave me a telling look. Its a look I had only seen one other time in our four and a half year marital history...labor! We continued with the evening's proceedings, even to the point of getting in bed, but there would be no sleep.

It all began at about midnight; Jess looked at me and asked me to locate a stopwatch. We began timing her contractions and within a half an hour we called our midwife who quickly hopped in the car and made way to our home. At 1:45 she arrived and took the vitals and assured us things were progressing nicely. So what's the next logical step for a woman 2 hours into labor and her husband? Easy, go for a walk.

Now, Tremont, IL has never been mistaken for a metropolis nor is the night scene what one would expect in say, Chicago. Jess and I know this with utter certainty because we walked the streets of said town and found out for ourselves - from about 2am to 4am. Each half hour we returned to our home for the baby's vitals like a golden retriever with a stick.

The details get fuzzy when sleep is absent but here are the majors: at 8:39am Jessica gave birth to our baby son(or toddler if general size is to be taken into account), at 8:40am we informed the midwife and her assistants that he would be called Oliver (with Biblical symbolism of the olive tree which signifies fruitfulness and dignity) Benjamin (after my deceased youngest sibling) Rumbold, at 9:00am he tipped the scales at 9lbs. 8oz. and was measured at 19.5in.

 

to train or not to train...

To train or not to train? That was the question posed on the 29th and 30th of May at a church in central Illinois by the senior staff of Camp of Champions USA? The answer...TRAIN. Ephesians 4:11-12 is clear - preparing the body of Christ for works of service.
My prayer is that by training the staff of COCUSA they were empowered by the holy spirit to engage in relationships and display the character and priorities of Jesus Christ to children ages 5-12.
Here are the pictures of that training...notice how the "devil" lay tackled and muzzled on the floor by our self-proclaimed intercessor. What a great God-honoring two days of work. The Lord bless you COCUSA as you engage in ministry this summer.

The Man

Some time ago, about three months to be exact, my father returned home from a short trip to South Dakota. This picture shows of his conquest. Now to appreciate him you must understand, my dad - in my humble opinion - is the man. I have never known someone to so selflessly give and train me in a 1 John 2:6 manner - to walk as Jesus walked.

When I saw this picture I was stunned, there is a man kneeling behind a bison...a stinking bison!!! I mean its huge and the benefits of the kill I enjoyed last week while I ate a burger. As I looked closer at the picture and my father I began to ask myself some questions:
1. What makes a man a "man?" 2. Is there a point in a man's journey which he ponies up and decides to be a leader or is it just conferred upon him when he gets married, or becomes a father or whatever? 3. What's it take to STAY a man? 4. Am I a man?...of GOD - like my dad.

"Such a Pretty Face"

Where is it written into law that I must cut myself down? I have often wondered this...primarily because I, like some of you, must always have something to critique or "improve upon."
Sure it's true, God has designed us to be dependent upon Him so as to understand His greatness; but why do I feel the need to do the self-degrading thing when it comes to a weakness I have? Just two days ago I sat across the table from my daughter eating her breakfast. She brushed her hair back and looked at me and said, "dad, Jesus and God made me...and they gave me such a pretty face." Wow, I thought, did "they" see fit to insert any humility?
The more I considered it, the more I thought of II Cor. 3:18 "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being
transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
Tell me, when you read this, what are your thoughts. Do you feel like you reflect the Glory of God? If so, why...if not why? Lets chat about it