Birthdays and beheadings

So last night we talked about Matthew 14. Since I never did get around to posting the scripture to the blog, and since none of our lawyers were able to make it, I thought I'd give a brief summary of some of the topics we discussed.

Verses 1-12:
Herod has sinned by seducing and marrying his brother's wife. Besides making things awkward at family reunions, it causes John the Baptist to condemn Herod, and since nobody likes a complainer, Herod eventually has John beheaded at the behest of his step-daughter. Now, when Herod hears about Jesus, his first thought is "It's John the Baptist come back to life!" It's funny how rarely my first thought in any given situation is that someone has come back from the dead, but that's right where Herod goes. We discussed how this is evidence of his paranoia--a common response to knowing you've done something wrong and haven't paid for it. Also, note how Herod's first sin (seducing his brother's wife) leads to his next sin (imprisoning John) and his lust (I'm assuming his step-daughter was a naughty dancer) and his pride lead to his killing John. Sin snowballs.

13-21:
We spent most of our time discussing this section of the text. Note how the disciples barely have enough bread to feed themselves, five loaves and two fish. As such, they want to send the people away to fend for themselves. Jesus, however, takes from the disciples what little they have, gives thanks for it, then gives it back to the disciples who give it to the people. Note that when they're done, there are twelve basketfuls left--a basket for each disciple (thanks, Danny). The Disciples start out with less than enough for themselves, but because they're willing to offer the little they have to Jesus, and then offer it to the people, they're left over with an abundance for themselves.
In the same way, I often feel like I barely have enough life in me to get by, let alone to give to other people, but when I give the little I have to Christ, and let Him direct me to give it away, I wind up with more than enough. Mark illustrated how giving his work to God, especially those tasks he finds tedious, makes it fulfilling rather than draining. Though he's given away, he ends up with more than he began with because he gave what he had to God.

22-36:
Since Peter walking on the water is one of the most common Sunday School lesson themes, we didn't spend a whole lot of time on this. We did note however, that Peter began to sink "when he saw the wind." Not the waves, mind you; the wind. In other words, he looked at nothing; with Jesus there before him, Peter focused his eyes on the air, and so he sank. Wendy pointed out how we've noted in the past that Satan is "the prince of the air," which brought up again the image from The Great Divorce of Heaven as a profoundly substantial place, while Hell is ghostly, immaterial. Just as, while Jesus wore it, even the edge of his cloak could heal the sick, so, in this case, while Jesus touched it, the water was substantial enough to hold him up.

We ended the night with prayer for exams, for the willingness to submit everything to God, and for an awareness of how fleeting life is, and how pressing the kingdom of God is. After that, we ate cake to celebrate the birthdays of Michael F. and Wendy. A joyous time was had by all.

Parables

Tonight we'll be looking at Matthew 13. In this passage, Jesus tells several parables about the kingdom of heaven and discusses why He teaches in parables.
As you read this chapter, I hope you'll consider the nature of the blindness and deafness that affects those who do not understand the parables. We'll discuss that tonight. I look forward to seeing you there!

Redeemer Winston-Salem

I don't know if you guys remember when I asked if we could jump out of Matthew for a week and instead look at John 15:1-11, but the sermon that inspired that, and a lot of thought from me, is finally online. You can link to it here. This sermon provoked me in a very good way and continues to guide my thinking about what it means to be a child of God. I hope you'll make time to listen to it.
The sermon is about 8.3 megs and is 47 minutes long. If you have any traveling to do, that's a great time to listen to it. If anybody needs a copy on CD, I'm more than happy to make one for you. Just let me know.
Finally, click here for the scripture.

House church was small tonight, but we still had a good time of discussion and prayer. Congratulations to Rosie on her resident alien status; In the midst of all the protests, she's one foreigner we're all glad to have around. Law students, you're in our prayers.

Next week: Matthew 13.

I never...

I know I put this in my blog, but I thought that it also belonged in our house church blog.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but we played The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" after a message about Israel's adulterous relationship with God. Kinda ironic, eh?

Memory problems

I know I mentioned this to Wendy, JP, and Michele tonight, but for anyone else who reads this, then I had one thought tonight during Reunion.

The Israelites had to celebrate Passover once a year, right? Which itself was a celebration of The LORD's delivering them from the Egyptians. And, throughout the wilderness, they could not stop complaining. Even after celebrating the Passover, they would go right back to complaining. ("God is terrible. God is terrible. God is terrible. God is good. YAY! God is terrible. God is terrible. God is terrible.")

This leads me to think about the ramification of my thoughts and actions. Even if I worship God with my actions, this story alone shows me the even the actions won't change my heart's true condition or state.

I agree with you, JP. Reading about the Israelites and the disciples makes me really understand (or maybe "visualize" is a better word) how God loves us through times when our faith is really grinding gears.

Scripture for Tuesday, March 27th

This coming Tuesday, we'll be discussing Matthew 11. In it, we see John the Baptist (who recognized Jesus as the coming messiah, it seems, while both were still in-utero) seemingly doubting Jesus. I love that Jesus, rather than chastising John through his disciples, merely tells them to tell John what He's doing--that should be answer enough. Then Jesus goes on to say, "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist..." It encourages me greatly to know that we serve a God who loves us even when we doubt.

Jesus goes on to criticize his generation and then to attack specific cities that He and his disciples have visited. It seems strange to me that he goes after entire cities when we, in all our modern individualism, tend to think only of individuals who may respond to God, or not, as they choose. Jesus here presents an idea that, while salvation is always an individual matter, one's community also plays a major role. This works at least two ways, as far as I can tell:
1) It's incredibly hard to be godly or raise a godly family in a corrupt community.
2) God's people should influence their communities in such a way that the whole community should be blessed, and more virtuous as a result.

For me, though, the real kicker comes at the end when Jesus offers rest for the weary. Allow me to pause and say that when I think of rest, I think of sitting by a pool or a fire, sipping a drink and maybe half-heartedly reading something of no consequence. Jesus' prescription for rest, however, is to "Take [His] yoke upon you and learn from [Him]." There seems to be a contradiction here. If I invited you for a weekend of rest, and then asked you to do my laundry and clean out my basement I think you'd be rightly vexed. The idea that it is restful to labor under Jesus, however, is an interesting one, and on that I'll be thinking more about in the coming days. Please share your thoughts on this--I'm looking forward to discussing it with you all on Tuesday.

Prayer tonight

We're meeting at Wendy's tonight at 7:30 to go somewhere and pray somehow. If that's too much uncertainty for you, focus on the fact that we are definitely praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us to remain in Christ and that, through His work, we will bear abundant fruit.

I also think it might be beneficial if everyone posted some reflection on the time after we've done it. Like our discussions, I know these posts will be honest and not a bunch of empty feel-good crap. Of course, I also hope they are uplifting, and reflect God's work in our hearts.

Scripture for Tuesday

I trust everyone enjoyed their Spring Break massively. Now, as you look back on that time, it's my prayer that you'll bring that sense of fun and relaxation back with you and let it diffuse throughout everything in your life. If that's asking too much, then I'll make due with you all smiling widely on Tuesday.

Now, for a little change of pace, I hope you guys don't mind me switching this up, but I heard an amazing sermon this morning on John 15:1-11, so I'd like to discuss that on Tuesday rather than the next chapter of Matthew. I'll just go on and paste the text here for you.

John 15
I Am the True Vine
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

This passage combined with the message really got me thinking. I guess we'll find out what it does for you on Tuesday.

Spring Break house church

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that, despite Spring Break, we'll still be meeting--same bat-time, same bat-channel. The scripture for tonight will be Matthew 9 . I look forward to seeing you all.

I'll try to be clever later.

Fat Tuesday

It occurs to me, since tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and since Wendy is busy preparing to take folks to France, it would be cool if you'd like to bring some foodstuffs to feast upon. Mark said there was a possibility of hummus, but no pressure. We'll still have chips, salsa and coffee, and if you're broke or don't have time, or just don't want to, no problem. However, if you feel inclined to bring some food to house church, I'll help you eat it and praise God for it.

Scripture for Tuesday

Wendy, Danny, Michelle and I visited Christ Church with Mark and Rosie on Sunday, where the pastor's sermon focused on having a heart for God's house, for God's word--essentially, for God. He suggested that members find out what scripture the pastor would be preaching on the following Sunday so that they could prepare their hearts and minds to feast on God's word on Sunday. In keeping with that idea, here's this week's scripture along with some questions to get you thinking before you arrive.

Scripture: Matthew 7

Questions:
(verses 1-2)
1) Paul writes in Romans 14:10 "...why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat." Does all judging imply a looking down? What is the difference between 'judging' and correcting our brothers?
2) Just from personal experience, how are people who are judgmental received in society?
(verses 3-5)
3) If we are to pluck from our own eye the plank before helping our brother with his speck of dust, just how sanctified do we need to be before correcting or seeking to lead our brother?
(verse 6)
4) I've always taken this verse pretty literally, and never really considered its context. Looking at it now, is it possible that Jesus is being a little ironic? Is it possible that our 'pearls' are our corrections and sniping criticisms? If so, it certainly makes sense that they would be received with violence.
(verses 13-29)
5) The rest of the passage seems centered around receiving the kingdom of Heaven. What theme is central to achieving that?

Now, don't feel the need to answer all of these just because I put a tremendous amount of work into them and formatted the post ever-so-thoughtfully. Seriously, I do suggest at least a quick look at the scripture before we meet up tomorrow because, hey, God's word is good.

Love thoughts

I had some thoughts to share on love and Valentine's day last night, but things just didn't really go in that direction, so I thought I'd post them here.
I think the core idea of Valentine's Day is a good one--show by your actions and words how much the ones you love mean to you. Of course, Valentine's Day restricts this almost entirely to romantic love, about which the Bible has surprisingly little to say. Valentine's Day, while technically a Christian holiday, appears far more worldly than spiritual. Of course, of course, there's the blatant, crass materialism, but to focus on that is to ignore the more fundamental flaw in our celebration of this holiday. Our celebrations of Valentine's Day center around the people to whom we feel strong affection: husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, parents and children. Yet this holiday of love bears almost no relation to God's commands concerning love, specifically Matthew 5:46-47: "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"
The love we celebrate on Valentine's day is the love with which the world is totally familiar--eros, desire--not necessarily lust, but the desire to be around people whose company we enjoy, who make us feel good, people who build us up and care for us. We all like that. Heck, who minds buying a card for someone who makes us feel good? But the love to which Jesus calls us asks more than that--to love our enemies.
To get another great kick in the teeth, flip on over to 1 John 4:10- "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." To drive the point home, you can turn to Romans 5:8- " But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
When I think on these things, my love seems so paltry. As I've said many times, it's easy to love Wendy, and most of you guys for that matter, but would I die for your sins? Well, that's okay, I'm not asked to do that, but I am asked to love my enemies... That's really, really hard. Getting to Art's post, I'm not sure how to even begin to get to that point. I clearly can't do it on my own, but can I blame God for not getting me there sooner? That seems unlikely. For now, I'm going to suggest one more bit of scripture and leave you all to have a lovely day.

ps-Sorry if this post is a bit disjointed; I'm due for a nap.

Tonight (Valentine's Day)

Hey all, just a little reminder about tonight's activities. We'll be meeting, as usual, at Wendy's apartment at 7:30 and departing for Fuddruckers shortly thereafter. If you can't make it to the apartment by 7:45, feel free to head on over to Fuddruckers. We're going to set aside Matthew for this week to talk about pretty much any love-related theme, which actually includes much of Matthew, so that's ok, too.

What Now?

I saw a quote once that claimed "If you educate a bastard, all you get is an educated bastard." That rang true for me. Self awareness does not change our situation outside of bringing us to repentance. When I gained self knowledge I found out I really need Jesus, my moment of “self awareness” clarity was a picture of me trying to nail myself to the cross. The fruitless venture brought me to the one true realization that has had any real lasting profound effect in my life, the gospel is not about what we do, but it is about what the Lord has done and what he is doing. The law gives us a certain amount of self realization however, that we are sinful, and that we are incapable of achieving the standard of absolute perfection that only the Lord has done. So, if there was any room for self knowledge, self knowledge only serves us as far as "I can not do it, I need Jesus". The law serves this purpose coupled with our own experience. The law sets the mark, and our experience will show us, when we are honest, that we miss the mark again and again. However, I want to look a little further into our situation (if there is any further to look). If we agree that we are flawed and helpless within our own means, what does it look like to fully walk in the spirit and not in the flesh? Must we wait until the resurrection? What is going on here? Why is it, in my completely saved position, that “what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do?”

I do not believe that salvation can be lost. I think that to loose it would imply control over the situation, and that control would negate any need for the cross in the first place. In fact, I don’t know about coming to the Lord, I think He comes to us. Basically, I don’t see our part in anything. However, Paul seemingly speaks to our part directly in the Epistles. My view of no control can leave me a little confused at times, where we are asked to exercise self control and yet we hold a position as “slaves to sin”. Paul says: “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” I do not base my salvation on my actions, but I do wonder why Paul describes this position of slavery to righteousness. I believe we are spiritually what we are not physically and things are not as they appear. We are spiritually full in Christ and therefore fully perfect in him, yet we are physically in the world. So, while I accept that the Lord has taken care of all for all time (“It is finished”- from the cross), I still see the force of sin working in my life. Paul says “thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” (Rom). I see the form of teaching as this: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph).

Someone once told me that "Because of Jesus, the requirement is not a perfect life, which, for all intensive purposes, would look like walking in the spirit fully and completely.” I agree with this. I also believe the Lord does it all and any morally right actions are a result of the works of the Lord through us. But, what about when Paul says things like: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the [people committing a list of sins] will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.”(Cor). Does this not apply to believers? Does this mean that once we were these things (sinful) but now in Christ we no longer are, even if the behavior is still exhibited? Is it that something more fundamental has changed, but if it has why do we not see it coming out from the core of our being and flowing into our behavior? I know we are covered by the blood, but shouldn’t the power of the Holy Spirit be enough to work this sin out of our lives in the here and now? To me the big question of Christianity is: "We are saved- what now?"

Here's a brief selection from an email I sent to Wendy today. The context is my own thoughts about being health-conscious.

That's cool and all, but I was struck by a frustrating irony. I read the Abs Diet book for about an hour last night, taking notes and designing my workout. That's good, right? Well, yeah, except that I'd just finished delivering a sermon about human excellence and PRIORITIES. I actually woke up this morning thinking about the Abs Diet--not about how I could love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Still, through some combination of factors, I am in a really good mood, and that has led to my being fairly loving toward my students, so that's a plus.

This was Wendy's wise reply:

About priorities, I'll reiterate something we've said before, and that is that feeling tension between your fleshly self and your spiritual self is a good thing. Yay that it even occurred to you that something might be in danger of becoming too much of a priority.

That said, it doesn't seem to me that it _has_ become too much of a priority. As long as your health prospects (and any other prospects you have) can contribute to your ultimate goal of living for God, then do your best at those prospects. Maybe a way to make sure they're not getting in the way is to pray earnestly that they will somehow bring glory to God. It may seem like a trite sort of prayer because you're asking for something so seemingly unspecific, but on the contrary, I think it's an important one and one that is unspecific because we really can't know how God would be willing to answer it. All of this is to say that we can trust God to help us make good out of our earthly decisions. Does that make any sense?

Do you guys have any thoughts about earthly priorities and where they fit into a Christian's life? To address Michael's post--if one is a lawyer, how much effort/energy should one devote to being a lawyer? Is it even right to care about one's weight, re: Matt 6:25? It may be that this is a discussion that has come up before, perhaps even often before, but it's one that continues to confuse me. Please feel free to comment, or bring your thoughts to house church tomorrow night--Blur has promised to be especially loud.

Gaelic Storm update

If you still wanted to go to the Gaelic Storm show, but didn't want to drive to Charlotte, or you didn't want to pay $12 for a ticket, you're in luck. They're playing this Wednesday (01 Feb 06) at Headliners. Doors at 7, and it's only $10!

My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away last night. She was over 80, and was living with advanced Alzheimer's in a nursing home. Still, her death came rather suddenly, and none of us really got the chance to say a proper goodbye. It's really fallen at an awkward time--my mother closed on her house last night and has spent the past two nights trying to get everything out of the house and ready for the new owners. She hasn't slept either of the past nights. All she's done is packed and cleaned. Now she's preparing to drive to North Carolina. Please pray for my mom. Her name is Jewel, as was her mother's. Please also include my grandfather, Ishmael.
Because of all this, Wendy and I won't be able to make the Gaelic Storm show on Saturday, but I hope the rest of you will still attend. I'd like to think that my friends, at least, will be celebrating even as my family mourns.
I'm not concerned about my grandmother, she loved Jesus like few other people I've known. She's doing very, very well right now.

Gaelic Storm

There were only two good parts in the movie "Titanic"--one was Leonardo DiCaprio's icy corpse sinking into the fathomless deep and the other was the awesome Celtic band playing below the ship for all the drunken Irishmen. That band was Gaelic Storm, and they're playing this Saturday in Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theatre. Wendy and I will be there and we'd love to have you join us. The show starts at 9:00 so we'll be leaving around 7:00. There are directions to the theatre on the website, as well ticketing information. Tickets are $12, by the way. Contact Wendy or I for more information.

Valentine's Day

According to whoever is in charge of calendars and thst sort of thing, Valentine's Day falls on February 14th this year. Additionally, February the 14th falls on a Tuesday, which, as you know, is when the good people of Pendleton's End meet. In order to honor this holiday o' love, we'd like to invite you to the

Screw My Figure, it's Valentine's Day at Fuddruckers dinner.

We'll be meeting at our normal time (7:30) and from there heading over to Fuddruckers for large slabs of meat slathered with condiments. If you can think of a better way to celebrate this holiday, you're invited to offer it, but let me say that Michael, Wendy and I all thought of Waffle House first, but we didn't think we'd all fit--certainly not at one table.

See you there!

Matthew 4- The Temptation of Jesus

Tonight at house church we'll be discussing Matthew 4, which includes the temptation of Jesus in the desert and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, including the calling of the first disciples. It would probably greatly benefit me as well as the group if I actually owned a Bible commentary, but I don't, so here are some thoughts that I had on this passage.

To begin, the devil comes after Jesus when he's profoundly physically weakened. The devil is evil, but he's also clever. Human beings do tend to be weak spiritually when we're physically weakened. This idea relates back to the last post about sleep; it is harder to obey God (particularly those pesky commands about love) when we're sleep-deprived. The devil knows it and is prepared to exploit that fact. It's also worth noting that the devil begins by offering to fulfill what must be, by this point, one of Jesus' most profound desires--the desire for food. This is only one aspect of the first temptation, but I don't think it's insignificant.

The second thing that occurs to be is the structure of the devil's temptation.

• He begins by tempting Jesus to test his own identity, "If you are the Son of God..."
• He next tempts Jesus to test God's identity. Specifically, this temptation asks Jesus to both test his identity as God's Son, and also God's faithfulness to do what he has said.
• Finally, he tempts Jesus to weigh both his identity and God's identity against Satan's identity. Satan promises that which is not his to give (all the kingdoms of the world), in exchange for that (misplaced worship) which would cost Jesus the very world that he is to inherit. I think it's exactly that sort of twisted boldness that makes Satan so interesting to writers.

The twisted rhetoric of the devil's temptation then contrasts starkly with Christ's replies to him. Scripture--that's it. Jesus does not reason with the devil, he just quotes his Father.

The conclusion to this passage is angels coming to minister to Jesus. When I think of this scene, I tend to think of Frodo waking up in Rivendale after being stabbed by the ringwraith. It's terribly geeky, but I think Tolkien brings home the sense of indescribable comfort, care and warmth that we will only know in the world to come beautifully. Attended by angels--compare that with what the devil was offering--formerly-rock-bread.

That's all I have time for right now, so if you want to comment on this, or on the following verses, please feel free.