This message isn’t about whether or not you hide and search for eggs, or enjoy sweet treats on this holiday. Frankly, hiding things, searching for things, finding things, and tasting something sweet are all enjoyable things to do. My question is, “What are we focused on as we perform our activities on a daily basis, not only at Easter, but year round”?

Are you hiding something? From others, from God? What in our lives should we be bringing into the Light of Day, to be given to God and forsaken and forgiven? What should we be freed from that has a hold on us?

Are you searching for something that you haven’t yet found? Perhaps you attend a church, but you don’t yet feel like a member of the body of Christ? Perhaps you have walked with the Lord for many years, but you are struggling right now under the weight of this world and its attacks? Perhaps you are looking for a friend or companion to help and encourage you.

Have you found what you are looking for? Do you know that you have it, and that it will never leave? Are you assured that you have it, secure in that knowledge, and growing every day into His image?

If you are secure, walking in the Lord, growing with Him every day… are you taking JOY in the journey? Is there a song in your heart and on your lips? Can others not help but see the joy of the Lord shining through your eyes and in your life?

Too many times we are overtaken by the “here and now”, the temporal; but the power that raised Christ from the grave is ours, and it guarantees those that are saved that they will be with the Lord forever. Think about that for a moment: the power that raised Christ from the dead.. is yours. I don’t just mean the power to resist eating that extra Cadbury egg (trademarked), the power to avoid saying that short word to your spouse, or the power to deal with a child that is emotional at the moment, or even the power to overcome every sin on this earth; I mean, the awesome, heavenly power that brought our Lord back from the dead. (Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 1:3-7, Ephesians 1:17-21)

Technorati Tags: bunny, easter, he is risen, open tomb

Concentric Circles of Importance

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“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35

“..if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

I am convinced that we – as Christians – make the central nucleus of theology far too complicated. The fact that we have many churches, and that they – most often purposefully – do not “get along”, is proof enough of this.

The verse in Romans above sums up the critical things needed for salvation, and the body of Christ is all those who are “in Him”. Would we not be better served to unite around these simple, joyful, things rather than concentrating on the beliefs where we are different? Keep the necessary core (salvation), and embrace each other in Christian love (as Christ commanded) and see what happens in the body of Christ.

At our Thursday evening Men’s Bible Study this week, I drew the circles you see in the graphic above, and printed out 50 or 60 Christian beliefs and doctrines on pieces of paper. We each took 5 or 6 of these and took turns around the table placing them in the circle where we felt they belonged, having discussions on several (most). This was an invigorating exercise and promoted a lot of discussion and thought around central tenets of the faith.. very heady and healthy stuff. We should know why we believe what we believe.

Here is the way I described the circles:

Essential for Salvation: These are the things that are – without question – required to become saved, according to Scripture. Hint: The verse from Romans  above sums it up fairly well.

Essential for Orthodoxy: These are the well-accepted beliefs of the Christian church. Think of these as the beliefs that one might hold in order to hold office in their local church. I am aware that churches have differing views of “orthodoxy”, but 80% – 90% of beliefs that end up in this circle are commonly accepted by Christian churches.

Important but not Essential: These are beliefs that a Christian really should hold (because they have a good base in Scripture) but they are not required for orthodoxy.

Not Important: These are beliefs that may or may not be common and have little bearing on Christian life and walk.

Pure Speculation: These are things that we think up and are not generally refuted by Scripture but certainly have no Scriptural base.

I would urge each reader of this post to think about each of the beliefs I’ve listed below, and think about where you would place them on the continuum of importance, and why. Don’t complicate the center circle with your current understanding of theology, with personal bias, or with the way you were raised; look at Scripture, study, and then – perhaps – move your beliefs in accordance with what you find.

• God is perfect
• God is omnipotent
• God is omnipresent
• There is only one God
• Trinity (three in one)
• God is sovereign
• God has always existed
• Christ was 100% man
• Christ is 100% God
• Christ came to earth
• Christ was born of a virgin
• Christ died
• Christ descended into Hades
• Christ was raised from the dead
• Christ ascended
• Christ will judge the living and the dead
• We cannot earn salvation
• We will be resurrected in the body
• Existence of free will
• Sin separates us from God
• Sin came into the world through Adam (and Eve)
• Christ will return to take us home
• We are all sinners, in birth and action
• We should attend church regularly
• We should express love one to the other
• Baptism
• Communion
• Existence of Paradise (where saints go when they die)
• Hades (where non-saints go when they die)
• Hell (the ultimate end of unsaved sinners)
• Heaven (where God and Christ are and where we will someday be)
• Living a good life
• Bible is inerrant in the original language
• Bible is inspired by God
• Avoid divorce
• Be a virgin when you marry
• Temperance in the body
• Demons exist and are numerous
• Spiritual warfare happens
• Role of women in the church
• Necessity of prayer
• Necessity of Bible study

Technorati Tags: love, salvation, unity

———

Let me say that I am more comfortable writing than speaking, but that the puppet show we just saw gives me an idea.. I can hide behind something and speak… solving the stagefright issue; I think they have it right!

Before I get into my little ‘talk’ here, I’d like to introduce my wife, Justina. There are two ways you can get to know Justina; just ‘be there’ after any event she’s in to chat with her, or read Proverbs 31. Either one will give the same picture and result.

So, how did a big, anti-social, biker-looking guy get involved with bioethics and the Sanctity of Human Life? My parents did not have children the old-fashioned way, and decided instead to adopt. I don’t know much about my birth mother, except that she gave me the gift of life, and that she also prepared me for eternal life by requesting that I be given to a Christian family. She gave me up at birth, and – after I had a two-week bout with jaundice – my parents picked me up from Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, CA in <mumble mumble>. They had the next baby boy put into the adoption system; two others were added the day I was born. We were one redhead, one blond, and one brunette. My parents, being blessed with the gift of discernment and having deep wisdom, picked the cutest; the redhead, yours truly. The joke was on them, when I was 8 months old, all my red hair fell out and I was bald. It grew back in blond, and as you can see, history does – indeed – repeat itself. I don’t expect it will come back this time; red, blond, brown or otherwise. Being adopted was the first step on my way to being an advocate for the unborn. Fast-forward a few decades and I attended a banquet for Hope here in town, and God’s time was ripe.. I signed on with Hope as a Board Member. I know that you’ve just heard an overview of Hope and its services, but suffice it to say that I believe that the staff and volunteers at Hope are devoted and faithful servants on a difficult battlefield. My hat is off to each of them.

[prayer], Father, help my words to be true and if in my human weakness I stumble and they are not, help them to fall on wise ears. Send each of the people in this room who submit to your will out into the world to hold up a banner that says, “every life matters, because each life is yours Lord”. In the name of Your Son, amen.[/prayer]

I’d like to talk about a hundred different things today, but because I respect you all more than that, I’d like to – instead – give an overview of the term “pro-life”, a construct for us to use as we think about this ideal we support and how to interact with others about our belief.

What does it mean to be “pro-life”? Do you have to be a Christian to be pro-life? There are some secular humanists that claim to be pro-life, so our ranks are broader than “Christians”. Sadly, there are also Christians that are not pro-life, so being a Christian is not a litmus test for a pro-life ideal. If we look at the pro-life movement through human eyes, we see a landscape that is confusing and complex. The issues don’t seem to have clear edges and much confusion exists around the fuzzy lines between ‘good’ and ‘bad’. We hear questions like:

·      Isn’t it better not to come into the world at all than come into it as an unwanted child? There are children that are born into drug addiction in the womb, and they go through terrible pain through withdrawal. Other children are born into terrible circumstances with parents that are unprepared. It is clear however that humans desire to live on, even if their circumstances are poor or lowly. We fight to survive. It is clear that living is preferable to almost all people than dying.

·      When does “life” begin? Can you prove that? Many theories abound about when ‘life’ begins. Some assert that it begins even before conception. Others say conception, more every day assert that implantation is the time ‘life’ begins. Some say that the date of viability or the time of birth is ‘obviously’ the time ‘life’ begins. Most with an answer agree that this is the place a slippery slope exists, but they still have an opinion.

·      On the topic of viability: What does ‘viable’ mean? Able to take in nourishment and process oxygen into carbon dioxide? Able to survive on their own? If this is the measure, there are 29 year-old men in Momma’s basement, playing an Xbox, that are not yet ‘alive’.

·      We admit that human life is more valuable than other forms of life, but human life cannot be there until the neocortex is fully formed (at 13 weeks). It is true that the neocortex is not fully formed until this date, that this structure only exists in mammals, and that the human neocortex is the most complex of all animals… this is a difficult argument to counter.. even if the timing seems a bit arbitrary. We’ll come back to that.

·      Even if we say that ‘life’ begins early on, it only matters when ‘personhood’ happens. Even if a thing is ‘alive’, it isn’t ‘important’ until it is a person. This cannot be early in the process. Again, this is an incredibly difficult timing to figure out, isn’t it? When does a fetus become a ‘person’? Is that timing the same with babies that all develop at slightly different rates?

·      We agree that both the baby and the mother are humans, but the mother’s right over her body is the overruling right. Her right ‘wins’. This idea is – frighteningly – widely held, even though a Founding Document of our country states that we are “created equal”, implying that our rights are equal.

·      When should life end? This is another – currently popular – topic in bioethics. There is a group – called Extropians – that believe that death should be conquered and that we should live a very long time, perhaps forever. They seek to do this through advances in science and medical technology.

In these short few questions, can you see how difficult the waters are through which we chart our course? If only there were a map, a beacon that would cut through the night and show us our way. A book perhaps, that holds the answer to how we are to view our world and how we should act. Folks, I suggest that this is that book [raise the Bible].

Folks, our society today is in trouble. Economic decay is beginning to hit home for us, even here in Wausau, WI with layoffs and company shutdowns. More important to solve than our economic blight, however, is our moral decay. More and more stories hit our front page every day that indicate we have lost our moral compass. Ex-husbands knifing ex-wives to death, a man gunning down an ex-girlfriend in a parking lot at work. How did we slide from the overt and purposeful protection of women through apathy into an active attack on women in so short a time?

The answer of course is sin and turning our face from God. God created us ‘tselem ‘elohiym, in the image of God. Satan hates God and wants to kill him. Since he cannot, he kills those made in His image, His children, and when he can, he targets the innocent, the helpless, the unborn.

If we replace our complex and rationalized worldviews with the word of the Lord, the points above become incredibly clear.

·      The first issue we covered… Isn’t it better not to come into the world at all than come into it as an unwanted child? Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. (Matt 10:29) Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you (Jer 1:5)  God wants each of His children and nothing happens here on this earth that He does not see. 

·      When does “life” begin? Ephraim’s glory • shall fly away like a bird— no birth, • no pregnancy, • no conception! (Hos 9:11) Behold, • you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. (Judges 13:3) By faith Sarah • herself received power to conceive, (Hebrews 11:11). In these verses we see conception, pregnancy, and conception all tied together, equal in the eyes of the Lord, as the creation of ‘life’.

 ·      On the topic of viability: Back to Jeremiah 1:5. It seems that God knew us – and therefore valued us – well before conception. In His eyes, we already exist (did exist). We are ‘viable’ from the perspective of the One that does not change.

·      We admit that human life is more valuable than other forms of life, but .. In Scripture we see – clearly called out – that human life is set apart from other life. Adam was created differently and he was given dominion over the rest of life.  As far as the neocortical argument goes, the neocortex of any given baby already exists in God’s mind, and therefore that life is sacred to us.

·      Even if we say that ‘life’ begins early on, it only matters when ‘personhood’ happens. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you (Jer 1:5). For someone else to ‘know’ you, you must be knowable, you must be a person.

·      We agree that both the baby and the mother are humans, but the mother’s right over her body is the overruling right. Her right ‘wins’. 

In Romans 9:21 Paul explains that we are the clay and that God is the potter. Does not the potter have rights over the clay? The Creator over the created? With a Christian worldview our ‘rights’ mean nothing. We act to bring glory to God and to Him forever. God’s will overrides whatever ‘right’ we think we have.

·      When should life end? Well, I stand with the Extropians on this one, and you may be shocked to know that God does too. We all believe that life should be eternal; we just believe that this comes through a confession of faith in the God become Man who died for us.

So, to truly understand the depth of value that life has, we must understand life from God’s perspective. He knew us before we were conceived, He has a plan for each of us, and He desires that we be with Him forever.

 So, do we then ignore our short and difficult time on this earth and focus only on the eternal? Retreat into the mountains as an ascetic? In John 10:10 we hear Christ’s words as He says, “I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly”.  Christ intends for us to have an abundant life as a believer. This doesn’t mean worldly riches; in fact, John goes on to describe the life of a shepherd, giving up his life for his sheep and explaining that His sacrifice would mean eternal life for His disciples. An abundant life is an eternal life.

I consider it a victory to be involved in the process of helping a mother decide to keep a baby’s heart beating for nine months of pregnancy until it is born, but I consider it an honor of the highest regard to share the gospel with the mother and father of that baby in the hopes that they will share with me in the ‘abundant life’, the life that is eternal.

Finally, as I close, I want to talk about what it means to be a Christian; a winsome Christian with a heart of service. People with other perspectives on this issue accuse us of having hatred for the mother, of wishing to ‘punish’ her. They say that we are very interested in a baby until it is born, and then could care less about its circumstances. Are they right? How then do we prove them wrong? Public prayer is one way, the chain for life is a wonderful visible reminder to people, apologetics and debate are another way, but Christ told us that others would know who we were – and by corollary what we stood for – “by our love”. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Wherever you go, preach Christ; and if necessary, use words”. By our gentle, deep, and accepting love for those involved in a situation where the sanctity of human life is concerned, we will affect people for eternal life.

Thank you for giving me your attention this afternoon, and may God go with each of you as you carry His message of life to others.

Technorati Tags: apologetics, christian, discussion, forum, link

Country Church

Yep, sure do. At least that’s the answer I give when a Christian asks me the question. I will sidestep the arguments around what “a church” means, if “home churches” are ‘okay’ or not, and if “mega-churches” have the Spirit at all, and focus on the idea that Christians need to meet with, lean on, and support other believers.

Another question I get is, “If I don’t go to church can I be saved”? This question is usually asked because people don’t want to associate with Christians, or just don’t like other people very much at all. Of course, we can do exactly nothing to move us even one iota closer to salvation, church or no church. We are asked to associate with other believers though, and we’re told to like it! Don’t believe me? Check out John 13:35 and let me know what you think?

So, we will love one another when we follow Christ. If He loves us, and we love Him, then we will love His family. What is the earthly church if it isn’t the family of believers? It stands to reason that if you love people, that you will want to be with them some of the time. It seems impossible – to me – that a person could say “yes” to Christ, but “no” to His church.

Let’s examine some of the analogies that describe the church in Scripture:

• The church is a building and Christ is the foundation. Who could say “yes” to the foundation and “no” to the building that sits on it?
• The church is His bride. Who can say “yes” to the groom and “no” to the bride?
• The church is His body. Who can say “yes” to the head, then “no” to the body?

To love the Lord is to love His church. One final point on ‘church attendance’ is this; when Saul was persecuting the church (arresting Christians), the Lord appeared to him in a blinding light and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Rejecting the church is rejecting Christ just as logically as persecuting the church is persecuting Christ.

So, what does this all mean practically? It means to stop projecting the weaknesses of believers onto Christ as an excuse for non-attendance. It means to stop rationalizing your reasons for staying home on Sunday (or Saturday). It means to cast off the earthly reasons why you might not want to go, and realize that – as believers – we come together with the local body on a regular basis, and we love them. (Again, I won’t go into the rare occurrences like, “I live on an island and there are four other people here”. Meet with the four then and if they aren’t Christians, witness to them.) I am talking to the other 99% of believers who – with varying frequency – use the weaknesses of other believers to rationalize church non-attendance. Stop it, just stop it.

If your excuses sound pale and hollow here on earth, what do you think they will sound like in an infinitely large space in front of the throne at the end of time?

Technorati Tags: christ, church, church attendance

I pondered our family and the real meaning of Christmas, and I reflected on the last year. We’ve pulled together as a family quite well, and we scaled back Christmas this year. We gave a lot of clothing gifts and other practical things (like favorite snacks and so on). One thing that stands out is that we visited with some friends of ours last month who had sold all of their possessions in order to take a ministry opportunity far away, and then God showed them that this opportunity was not for them. Their kids were going to have a Christmas without gifts, and while Christmas isn’t solely about gifts, young children find it hard to understand why they have nothing under the tree. My wife took the mother of this family to her present closet and split our children’s presents down the middle, giving half to the other family. Our children supported this, even without knowing what was in each package. We also were able to give many new and hand-me-down clothes to the family to help them in the short-term.

So what’s my point? Christmas isn’t about getting… it isn’t even really about giving. Christmas is a time when we give gifts to commemorate the greatest gift of all. God gave His Son.. His only Son, that we might have a path to Him through that gift. God cared about us enough to provide a sacrifice that would get us back to Him, even though it cost Him everything. Our God cared about us enough that He would allow His own Son to be killed to cover our sins so that we would someday see Him face-to-face. Even when we give “big” gifts, we cannot come close to the sacrifice that God has made for us.

Won’t you take time to thank God for His Christmas gift to us right now?

Several things struck me about the trip, and I’ll relate just a few here. First, when we found our seats, the fans around us were incredibly nice and everyone talked together, laughing and joking.. very good natured. By the 3rd quarter however, the mood had changed. Now there were braggarts, loud folks – men and women alike – that were throwing curse words around, yelling at the coaches, and generally misbehaving. This was with the Packers winning the game. So,what might make a person act this differently? The answer is simple; a lack of temperance and the ready presence of alcohol. The game is every bit as fun to watch with one beer in you as it is with five. The difference is, with one beer in you, the game might continue to be fun to watch for everyone around you!

The second thing I’ll comment on is a comment RJ made to me when we first arrived; “Dad, are you sure that’s the right field? That doesn’t look anywhere near as big as the one on TV”. Isn’t it that way with many things in our lives? We desire and pant after a thing that we think will make such a HUGE difference to us, and when we finally get it, we find that wanting was so much better a thing than having. We, rather, should stand with Paul who said that he was always comfortable because he had learned to be content in all circumstances (Phil 4:11).

Finally, the Packer began this game “shaky”. Brett Favre was not “on” with most of his early passes and it seemed almost like pure luck that we got a couple of first downs. Once a few series were behind the Pack however, their confidence increased and they established the run and began throwing the long ball. As the game continued in their favor, they picked apart the pass defense of the Vikings and ran the ball right over them in addition (first 100-yd game allowed by the Vikings all season). It’s the same in our spiritual lives. We cannot expect to “throw the long ball” until we have established a relationship and pattern of success in our Christian lives. We cannot expect to see results on one big prayer if we haven’t given God the opportunity to build our confidence and faith in Him by praying again and again about little things, and looking for the answers to those prayers.

As we look forward to the ride down with a couple of other guys, and begin to look forward at the matchup between the two teams, we see the parallels between the game and our spiritual walk…

Disclaimer: These parallels have little to do with the personalities and team affinity we each may have. Ignore those aspects please.

The Packers have a wily old veteran who has clearly lost a step in his speed and footwork, and those were slow to begin with. This veteran has a rocket arm however, and a couple of fair receivers. He has played more games, thrown more touchdowns, and had more victories and defeats than possibly anyone else on either side of the ball. The Packers have a strong run defense with an anchor defensive end and good linebackers.

The Vikings have a rookie running back that is full of talent. He has already broken a rushing yardage per game record and has incredible potential.The Vikings however, are even more one-dimensional than the Packers. While the Packers have run the ball a few times this season, no fantasy player would start the Vikings QB unless they were playing in a “point per handoff to the RB” league. The Vikings can only run the ball. Add to this the fact that the Vikings pass defense is porous and ranks near the bottom of the NFL.
This means that the Vikings will run their strength against the strength of the Packers, and that the Packers will be attacking the weakness of the Vikings. Which do you think the devil does? It is true that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; and this means he certainly can attack us in our human strength and win. It is also written, “resist the devil and he will flee”, which seems to indicate that we can stand and fight the devil in the strength of the Lord and be victorious, but I’d like to suggest that the devil most often works against us in those things that we are most vulnerable to. That is, Satan takes our natural weaknesses and uses those to manipulate us. He often uses these things to cause us to sin, but he can also use these things to make us feel unworthy and depressed, and in that state, we cannot take joy in and glorify our Lord, and that’s what Satan desires. You see, Satan wants God dead, and since he can’t do anything to God, he comes after his children, those created “in His image”. Satan wants to separate us from God, and it really doesn’t matter to him how he gets that done, as long as he gets it done.

I’d suggest that we take the high ground early. Study, pray, fast, journal, meditate, have an accountability partner; do all the things necessary to train for battle. Then, when confronted on a battleground not of your choosing, or in an area where you are particularly weak, don’t fight, RUN! Avoid fighting on ground where you are at a disadvantage. Put plans in place to avoid those battlegrounds. If you are an alcoholic, don’t go to parties where there will be alcohol. If you are prone to lust, don’t go to witness on a beach in south Florida.

If you don’t know what “spiritual discipline” is, or how to start; drop me a line and I’ll be happy to chat you through my basic knowledge of it or seek out your pastor or priest, and ask him about training, instead of trying.

Oh, and, GO PACK!

I have opinions on each of these, but none are doctrine and I am willing to stand by few of them in defense of the faith. I will clearly state that my view is orthodox; that is, I believe God the Father, the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit to be one God in three parts. I don’t pretend to know how that is possible.

I do not believe that we are “exactly like” God. Genesis states that we are “created in the image” of God, but this does not state that our form is the same, or that our minds work the same way, or whether or not the spirit He breathed into Adam is the part that is “in His image”. It is not reasonable (or necessary) for me to assume that God is flesh and blood, and there is no Scriptural reference to back that assertion. Indeed, there is evidence to the contrary (Exodus 13:21 with the pillar of fire, the last part of Exodus 19 doesn’t sound like a man of flesh and blood being described, Revelation does not talk about a man of flesh and blood but a being with glowing robes in midair, and so on)

Whether or not Christ loses His power to save if He is a “created being” is not a concept I’ve often interacted with mentally, and the reason is simple; I’ve always thought it a foregone conclusion (and obvious) that He has always been. Why? Because if Christ were created, than Lucifer has a legitimate “beef” for not being in spot number one! Lucifer wanted to be like Christ, and God threw him out of heaven for it. If Christ were created (and so was Lucifer), they were “equal” and should have both been “considered for the son position”. Indeed, since Satan tempted Eve in the garden, this great controversy must have taken place “before time began”, for those that assert that Christ existed before time but deny that He was “always” there.

Here’s the deal… I don’t know what God looks like, in fact, until I have completed my adoption (have a perfect body) I don’t WANT to look at Him because I’d look like overdone toast. The fact that we were created in God’s image should give us a sense of identity, but we shouldn’t go beyond that and assign all kinds of weird little specifics to that action. We are thus recreating God in OUR image, and I think that when we meet Him that our picture of God will be a bare and pale representation of His ultimate glory and being.

What do YOU think?

There are three primary steps in an orthodox method for getting meaning from Scripture. I say orthodox because there are obviously infinite numbers of ways that one could get knowledge from Scripture. I am outlining a way that is reasonable, has some Scriptural base, and that will yield consistent results time after time.

Exegetical Statement – Meaning to the Ancient Audience
The first step is to extract the meaning of the verse to the audience to whom it was written. Some books of the Bible record events (historical/descriptive), some tell us how to act and live (prescriptive), some record error after error (Ecclesiastes), and many books were written to specific audiences (many epistles). With these varied intents, we must be careful to clearly understand to direction and intent of the writing. This is not an impossible task – especially with modern Bibles – and the effort is well worth it. In this step we would study the history and setting of the writer and the intended audience. We would interpret the grammar and context, and we might perform some literary translation as well. All of these efforts in this phase lead to an exegetical statement. That is, a statement borne out of the text and its real meaning, not a meaning I’ve read into it.

Theological Statement – Timeless Truth
When we have the meaning to the ancient audience, we then extract from this meaning the timeless principle that is being taught. Scripture does not “only” record history, but it contains truths for us that don’t decay over time. Before we study how our lives should be changed daily by a passage, we must understand the timeless truth that the writer was inspired to record. One of the most important methods for doing this is to compare this passage with other Scriptural passages. This is especially useful when dealing with a passage that seems to say something outside the norm. Find passages that speak on that same topic in a plainer way. Once we have extracted the timeless principle, we have what we refer to as a theological statement. We are now ready to discern how this should alter our daily lives.

Homiletical Statement – Application
We’ve all heard the assertion that the Bible “was for them back then” and that it does not apply to us today. As with all dangerous error, there is some truth in that statement. I cannot take a promise that was directed at Israel and claim that for the modern church, but the principles recorded in the Bible are intended for us and certainly should change our behavior and our beliefs. This step takes the theological statement from the previous session and contextualizes it for our world today. It is important to note that this does not mean to “water it down”. It means that we apply the principle to our world today in a relevant way, in a way that honors God by honoring the intent of the writer to the original audience.

Fallacy of Ancient Audience Alone
Some people translate only the message to the original audience and they are easy to spot because they have no life change, a pile of head knowledge, and are likely very legalistic.

Fallacy of Theological Statement Alone
Some take only the timeless truths, but skip the step that draws these truths from scripture and carefully unwraps them in context to the original audience. This gives their theology no base in fact and further means that they do not experience life change. These are the classic folk theologians. They know what the know, but they don’t know why and the knowledge has no power to change them for the better.

Fallacy of Application Alone
Here I am trying to change my life but on principles that are not timeless truths and do not come from a Biblical base. This is the result of a post-modern world that tells us that there either is no truth, or that truth cannot be known. Here we have life change with no system of morality, to be blown by the winds each time a new crystal or Kabbalah comes around.

Short-Circuit
Some people do careful exegesis on the original audience and then skip the timeless truth step on the way to application. These people truly are living thousands of years in the past, blindly applying messages intended for another audience into their own lives today. This is called irrelevant theology. Sometimes partly orthodox, other times more than is needed, and always less than truth.

Other folks will take the timeless truths without the step of exegesis and jump into application. This results in folk theology and/or tradition. We don’t know why we do these things, we just always have and they seem to “work” (sound like any church you’ve been to?)

So, without all the references and such (because I haven’t figured a good way to show those), let’s jump into a passage that’s given some of my friends pause over the past few months and let’s see if this stuff really works!

1 Corinthians 11:1-16 has been interpreted many ways over the years and most of us will recognize this as the “headcovering passage”. Let’s first understand the setting. Paul writes this epistle in A.D. 55, near the end of his 3-year stint in Ephesus and he writes to the church in Corinth, a city with hundreds of thousands of people, a crossroads of commerce, and the city had 12 temples to Aphrodite. The number one issue this city had was loose morals. There was no self-control, in fact, life was made to be enjoyed by the upper classes and immorality was the main course of “fun” to be had. With 250,000 citizens and 400,000 slaves, there was enough “fun” for most citizens to live for themselves (sound like anywhere you know?). Paul writes the letter to correct some specific “faction action” that is splitting the church, and he dedicates most of the rest of the letter to morality issues (heart issues that aren’t changing lives). It is in this morality section that we find ourselves in Chapter 11.

Paul begins the passage by outlining the relationship of Christ’s saving power to us as humans. He is saying less about our structure of misogyny than he is about Christ’s view of how He has laid His Spirit and presence on us. There is an “order” to this outpouring, God to Christ, Christ to man, man to woman (this is also a reason that men are said to be responsible for the spiritual state of their family). Paul then tells us something we recognize today, that is dishonors God for a man to prophesy with his head covered. What do we do today before prayer? We ask all men to remove their hats. Nice to know this is a very ancient tradition eh?

Paul now discusses the traditional and historical reasons for covering and not covering and these verses spin feminists and pastors alike into a frenzy that is – in my view – just wholly unnecessary. Paul is dealing with a church in which there are declining morals and Christian freedom is being taken too far. Paul is saying that we should recognize our place in the created order and our place relative to God. Men should love their God and their wives, and women should love God and respect their husbands. We are to do all things to the glory of God, and we are not to exert our “freedom” just because we “want to” or think we “can”. We are to submit to Christ.

So, we have a historical setting and a basic theological statement. How do we apply the ideas of morality, respect for God, respect for husband, and submission to Christ in today’s church? It is clear that hairstyle and headcovering for a woman have little to no bearing on her respect for God or man in today’s average North American church (within certain cultural bounds). An analog today might be to wear clothes that are decent and convey clear ideas about good morality, and to be quiet with head bowed or hands raised during prayer. Men and women alike are to be participative without outburst or interjection during the sermon and we all honor Christ through this worship and hearing of the word as well as Christian fellowship before and after the service.

Finally, this example wasn’t the best, and I gave no references. Perhaps I will find out how to link to a Word document so that you can see this done in a proper outline with references one day. I just wanted to give a perspective on Bible translation and application to today in an effort to clear up misunderstandings and to motivate you to pull from God’s word the truths that you need to change your life today. Open His word and read it anew!

In the Army we talk about “Be” and “Do”. that is, what character traits should a warrior have and develop, and then how should those affect their actions? We see the same thing in our Christian walk. As we come into contact with the Savior, we see His love, his mercy, and His grace that saves us and we feel the love He has for us, being better able then to pass that on to others. As we study our Lord, we see what He demands of His followers and how we are to communicate with Him to become closer in relationship and “being” to Him.

Why then are we always so focused on one or the other? In this case, I was focused on being a “good Board Member” for Hope Pregnancy Resource Center. I wanted to pray – even setting myself aside a little – and worship for a spell, but then I wanted to set that all aside and “get some work done”.

This conference has made clear to me that “BEing” prefaces “DOing”. I mean, that since we do not pray our will to be done in heaven, but God’s will to be done on earth, we must discern what His will is and we cannot do that unless we know Him. In order to know Him, we must spend time with Him. More than this, we must spend time with Him together, in community with others of faith. God has told us that He will be with us in community… do you understand what that means? I know now that God means that we can understand His heart if we seek Him together, setting ourselves aside, gathering together in agreement to seek His heart in a matter. Once the Spirit of an Almighty God descends on us and gives us each a part of His truth, we can fellowship one with the other and piece together a fuller view of what He desires for our ministry.

Rather than praying a short prayer after a 5 minute devotion, we need to worship our Lord, praising Him and thanking Him together for His work with us. After this, we can pray His answers back to Him in a corporate setting, piecing His will for us together, in community with Christ at the center of that effort. With that level of intersection with the power of an Almighty God, we cannot help but be more effective and on fire for His work.

It is time to put the Lord back on the throne of our lives and back onto the throne of our various ministries. In Psalms 46:10 God says to , “.. be still and know I am God”. We need to set ourselves aside, be transparent one with the other, and connect with Christ as our Lord and Savior.

I praise Him and thank Him for the opportunity to be at a conference with so many faith-filled people in daily contact with a Living God.

Then, I began a study in Sunday School entitled “Introduction to Theology”, and the course material in the class posits a theory about this crisis of faith; to wit, we do not know why we believe what we believe and therefore falter in our walk of faith when our walk intersects with a world that is actively humanistic in method.

What I mean is, most Christians know what they believe, but not why they believe that particular what. Why is this? I think the basic reason is because we don’t take the time to teach and we don’t take the time to learn theology. We have a large base of belief, mostly predicated on what we’ve been told since we were very young and “know by heart” (folk theology) and that which we’ve heard that’s very sensational or new (tabloid theology).

When we struggle past puberty and begin to engage our rational mind again, we are at a phase in our lives when we are thrust into a world that is filled with “reason” and seemingly rational people. This is especially true of people who attend university. Suddenly, others are asking us questions that are penetrating and argumentative, and with a ready set of beliefs, but no structure or argument, we are unprepared to answer, and therefore listen to other arguments, rather than defend a position of faith.

This is a huge disservice to the faith because it then affirms the argument of the atheist or humanist that a life of Christian faith is futile and unnecessary. It is wholly untrue that the Christian life is a baseless life full of chosen fears and beliefs in fantasy beings, rather it is a life of purpose and focus in service to a perfect Master that ends in an eternal life taking our joy in Him.

The question is not whether or not we will be theologians; anyone who has wondered about any fundamental life question is a theologian. The question merely is, “Will you be a good one or a lousy one”?

It is important to know what we believe, it is time well spent to study the method of theology and the way we can study to correctly get from the Scripture what God would have us know of Him and His ways. It pays even more to be able to defend that belief and prepare ways to discuss these beliefs with others in such a way that they will see that reason is applied to your belief structure, not just blind tradition or deep emotion.

Investigating each, we see that same time / same place is met by face-to-face Bible study, different time / same place is met by a library or similar physical repository of sermons and knowledge, and different time / different place is met by blogs, discussion boards, and email.

The opportunity – I think – comes when we interact with others at the same time in different places. Right now we have chat and phone for that, and that’s not enough.

I solved this same problem at a previous company) through a T.120 / H.323 sharing network. This took video conferencing, application sharing, and threaded chat and added them to the already existing discussion boards and other online repositories (knowledge management). Then, to bridge cultural gaps, we added human beings with subject matter knowledge and who had lived in the cultures they were bridging.

I see that this same method could be effective with same time / different place Bible study. Online resources available to everyone in that study, simultaneous study using the same resources with voice, video, and typed chat all recorded and moderated by someone well-versed in the topic at hand. These moderators could be volunteers and we could build the system and charge a nominal amount for access… running a 501(c)3 perhaps.

I honestly think this vision can “move” today and will be immediately relevant in bridging the Atlantic, and could perhaps result in a worldwide church study system and theological information sharing across languages and class barriers.