I don't REALLY mean that title. But in the same way I kind of do, for myself. Everyone has things they really like in the Bible, while everyone has things they don't. I just read in one of my text books about a possible purpose for genealogies in the Bible. It was short and only an example, but it was in there! Some people like the history in the Old Testament, seeing the changing of Israel over time and seeing God's plan come to completion. Other's enjoy prophets, the imagery, the analogies, the message, the points in the text, sometimes obvious other times less evident. Personally I really enjoy the Epistles. They're full of theology and while reading them I take my time to find out what is really being said in the complicated language that it's in. On the flip side, a lot of people have things they don't like in the Bible. Not that they think it's bad, but they just have trouble with it. For me, it's the Psalms. They're very poetic and I have a hard time with that. So to attempt to remedy this I decided to read a Psalm a day with my other reading taking me to one OT chapter, one NT chapter, and a Psalm. I've been doing this for a while now, but I've had periods of not reading, or skipping some, so today I just read Psalm 57.
But the one that I want to look at today is Psalm 39. That was one of the days where I actually got a good bit out of it. I encourage you to go read it now, and tell me if you see this outline that I saw.
This is a Psalm of David, when and why it was written I have no idea.
But in verses 1-3 I saw David saying this: That he is discontent with God. He kept himself mute, trying not to say anything against God, but his anger grew and finally he spoke to God. Verse 4 shows us what he said, which came down to he wanted to be humbled. "Let me know how fleeting I am!"
Verses 5-6 have David acknowledging how men are truly nothing compared to the only thing that matters, that is God.
7-11 shows him confessing that he is absolutely powerless in the grand scheme of things, even in saving himself.
Which takes us to 12-13 where David begs God for his salvation, peace, and joy.
Sometimes when we read, things are plain, other times they make no sense. We take them as they come and trust that God is telling us exactly what we need to hear when we need it.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Behind Enemy Lines
I would have to say that the second biggest OSU rivalry is with Penn State.
My mom went to OSU for a degree.
My brother went to OSU for two.
My dad has worked, and I believe still is working, on OSU's campus for different building projects.
I grew up not 30 minutes from campus. Every Saturday a game was on TV, or the radio if we weren't home.
One can say that OSU is in my blood. I bleed Scarlet and Gray.
But now I'm a campus minister in Altoona, PA, an hour south of State College, the main campus of Penn State, at a Penn State branch campus. Whenever I meet someone in this new town one of the first things they ask me is, "Where are you from?" to which I respond, "Columbus" because no one will know where my home town is. As soon as I say Columbus, I get crap about being an OSU fan, and how I'll need to convert to Penn State.
Where I'm from has given me part of my identity. I am identified here as an OSU fan. Not just a campus minister, or even as myself. I'm the Ohio State fan. And I'm behind enemy lines.
Recently I had a class on the Doctrine of Salvation, and while we're sitting around a table talking about a lot of big concepts, we get on the subject of atonement. Now before this, I haven't thought a lot about what I believed about atonement theories. But I did come to the realization that I never believed in penal substitution atonement.
But there's a lot there and I don't want to get into that. Let's just suffice it to say that I don't believe in that form of atonement.
Instead I believe in Identification Atonement. Or, I identify with Christ, and because of that I am forgiven. And because I identify with Christ, I am counted as righteous as him. I am now his ambassador, a fellow minister with him of the ministry of reconciliation. I am a new creation! And though I am in a world that is broken and full of sin and the consequences of sin, I still identify with Christ. I am behind enemy lines, and I make it known because I am proud of that fact.
I'm proud to be a Buckeye, and I'm more proud to be a disciple of Jesus!
My mom went to OSU for a degree.
My brother went to OSU for two.
My dad has worked, and I believe still is working, on OSU's campus for different building projects.
I grew up not 30 minutes from campus. Every Saturday a game was on TV, or the radio if we weren't home.
One can say that OSU is in my blood. I bleed Scarlet and Gray.
But now I'm a campus minister in Altoona, PA, an hour south of State College, the main campus of Penn State, at a Penn State branch campus. Whenever I meet someone in this new town one of the first things they ask me is, "Where are you from?" to which I respond, "Columbus" because no one will know where my home town is. As soon as I say Columbus, I get crap about being an OSU fan, and how I'll need to convert to Penn State.
Where I'm from has given me part of my identity. I am identified here as an OSU fan. Not just a campus minister, or even as myself. I'm the Ohio State fan. And I'm behind enemy lines.
Recently I had a class on the Doctrine of Salvation, and while we're sitting around a table talking about a lot of big concepts, we get on the subject of atonement. Now before this, I haven't thought a lot about what I believed about atonement theories. But I did come to the realization that I never believed in penal substitution atonement.
But there's a lot there and I don't want to get into that. Let's just suffice it to say that I don't believe in that form of atonement.
Instead I believe in Identification Atonement. Or, I identify with Christ, and because of that I am forgiven. And because I identify with Christ, I am counted as righteous as him. I am now his ambassador, a fellow minister with him of the ministry of reconciliation. I am a new creation! And though I am in a world that is broken and full of sin and the consequences of sin, I still identify with Christ. I am behind enemy lines, and I make it known because I am proud of that fact.
I'm proud to be a Buckeye, and I'm more proud to be a disciple of Jesus!
Friday, August 7, 2015
Communion Part 3- The Party
A month ago today I wrote a post titled, "Sell the Master" which focused on being able to tell others about God because of the great feast we will have at the wedding banquet.
Well today I want to look at the feast.
As we've been looking at, communion was instituted during a feast. So it's like we're still partaking in the feast today whenever we have communion.
Across all cultures the breaking of bread together, the act of eating a meal together is always a time of peace, even if those partaking are enemies. There are of course some exceptions, see Godfather part 1, but overall the breaking of bread together is done with friends, family, people close to you.
A wedding feast is a celebration with friends and family.
A Passover feast is celebrated among family.
A after church lunch is a time of fellowship with family and friends.
Communion is breaking bread, with God in his house. He brings us into his home, and asks us to break bread with him. This is what he does for a friend.
Romans 5 tells us that while we were still enemies Christ died for us, and because of that we now have peace with God. We are no longer in open rebellion or at war with him. And now, having come into the saving grace of Christ, we reap the benefits of his righteousness, and are at peace with God. Because of that he invites us over every week, to come into his house, and take part in the meal that celebrates our freedom from slavery, with which we look forward to our coming resurrection.
Hopefully this week I've given you a lot to reflect on concerning communion, and when you take it on Sunday you don't sit there and think, "What should I be focusing on?" or "Where am I going to lunch afterwards?" Instead, focus on the salvation that comes from Christ, and celebrate it with the bread and the cup, knowing that you are proclaiming the death and resurrection of God's only son, and because of that your sin has been defeated.
Well today I want to look at the feast.
As we've been looking at, communion was instituted during a feast. So it's like we're still partaking in the feast today whenever we have communion.
Across all cultures the breaking of bread together, the act of eating a meal together is always a time of peace, even if those partaking are enemies. There are of course some exceptions, see Godfather part 1, but overall the breaking of bread together is done with friends, family, people close to you.
A wedding feast is a celebration with friends and family.
A Passover feast is celebrated among family.
A after church lunch is a time of fellowship with family and friends.
Communion is breaking bread, with God in his house. He brings us into his home, and asks us to break bread with him. This is what he does for a friend.
Romans 5 tells us that while we were still enemies Christ died for us, and because of that we now have peace with God. We are no longer in open rebellion or at war with him. And now, having come into the saving grace of Christ, we reap the benefits of his righteousness, and are at peace with God. Because of that he invites us over every week, to come into his house, and take part in the meal that celebrates our freedom from slavery, with which we look forward to our coming resurrection.
Hopefully this week I've given you a lot to reflect on concerning communion, and when you take it on Sunday you don't sit there and think, "What should I be focusing on?" or "Where am I going to lunch afterwards?" Instead, focus on the salvation that comes from Christ, and celebrate it with the bread and the cup, knowing that you are proclaiming the death and resurrection of God's only son, and because of that your sin has been defeated.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Communion pt. 2
WARNING: GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS AHEAD
At the end of the finale of this past season on Game of Thrones, Jon Snow got stabbed. A lot. All the major sources are saying, "Yes, he's dead. As sure as Winter is coming, he is dead." Everyone is freaking out, thinking that the true hero is gone, but throughout the show we've seen resurrection.
A note that I've made on some forums about Jon Snow's death is this: You cannot have resurrection without death. This I got from 2 Corinthians 4.10: Always carrying in [our] body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
We carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that we can carry his life as well. But how can we carry both life and death? Doesn't death come after life and death is final? No. Because we have the resurrection. And you cannot have resurrection, a permanent state, without death, turned from a permanent state into an non-permanent state because of the resurrection.
What does this have to do with communion?
Monday we looked at where Communion came from, and we ended with Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 11.26: For as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Connecting this back to what was said on Monday, We proclaim the death of an innocent, a firstborn, we remember the sacrifice made, so that we could have life and freedom from slavery.
But it's more than that. The Passover celebration is a meal, a feast! Think Thanksgiving for Jews, but kosher, and with lamb. For the Jew's it's a time of celebration and anticipation; celebrating their deliverance, but also looking forward to the coming Messiah. For us, Christians, we take part in the feast every week now, and it's an act of remembrance of the sacrifice made for our deliverance, but ti's also a victory meal, still looking back at our deliverance and Jesus' triumph over sin!
So while we proclaim his death each time we take communion, we also celebrate his resurrection and his victory. Today I read 1 Corinthians 15. There are four distinct passages there. Three over resurrection proving that one, Christ is risen, we too shall rise with him, and that we will be given new bodies that will not perish. The final passage is about the victory over sin and death, which comes from the resurrection, from Christ's resurrection. If you truly believe in the Risen Christ then this is a cause for celebration! If you truly believe that you were completely condemned to death because of your sin this is cause for celebration! The resurrection of Christ opened the door for us to life!
And this is what we proclaim every time we take communion.
We remember where we were in our slavery to sin. We remember the sacrifice and death of Christ, which we proclaim by taking the bread which was broken like his body, and drinking the juice which was poured out like his blood. But we also celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which brings new life to us.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Communion Part 1
Just yesterday, Sunday August 2nd, I saw just how habitual and ritualistic the church I go to while in Pittsburgh is. An elder got up to do the communion thing, they don't do meditations, just recite the "On the night be was betrayed he took bread, broke it..." passage. Which can be fine, if done properly. Well it's not at this church. It was easy to tell that the elder had his mind elsewhere while taking communion that day because he ended up in a prayer talking about tithing, and asking God to let others give as we do. Or something like that. I got busy thinking about what I was going to say when I jumped up there to take it over because this guy didn't care.
So this week I want to look at communion. We'll probably just do 3, but there's a lot that can be said about communion.
But today I want to look at what it is.
Communion was instituted by Christ, on the night of the Passover feast. What does that mean?
In the OT, the Israelites escaped Egypt after God had rained down 10 plagues on the country, all of which didn't effect the Jews. The last plague was the killing of the first born. But if the Jews did a certain action, God passed over their house and didn't kill their first born (hence the name "Passover"). Every year Jews would gather together, and still do, to celebrate God passing over their house, allowing their first born children to live, and delivering them from slavery. They do this once a year.
This is the feast where Jesus took bread and broke it, passing it around to his disciples, and did the same with the cup (but he didn't break it apart else juice would get everywhere).
So every week then, when we take communion, we are celebrating God's wrath passing over us, onto a first born, and us coming out of slavery.
Or...
Ever week, we celebrate God unleashing his wrath because of our sin, onto his own firstborn son. And because he unleashed his wrath onto his son, we have a chance to escape the slavery of sin.
Which brings us to the place of, "For as often as you eat of this bread and drink of the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
Wednesday we will expand on this idea more, what it means to proclaim the death of Christ every Sunday. But for today, all I want to leave you with is this:
When we take communion we celebrate the freedom from sin that God has graciously given us by passing over us and pouring his wrath out upon his own firstborn. This is part of what we are to reflect on as we take communion regularly.
So this week I want to look at communion. We'll probably just do 3, but there's a lot that can be said about communion.
But today I want to look at what it is.
Communion was instituted by Christ, on the night of the Passover feast. What does that mean?
In the OT, the Israelites escaped Egypt after God had rained down 10 plagues on the country, all of which didn't effect the Jews. The last plague was the killing of the first born. But if the Jews did a certain action, God passed over their house and didn't kill their first born (hence the name "Passover"). Every year Jews would gather together, and still do, to celebrate God passing over their house, allowing their first born children to live, and delivering them from slavery. They do this once a year.
This is the feast where Jesus took bread and broke it, passing it around to his disciples, and did the same with the cup (but he didn't break it apart else juice would get everywhere).
So every week then, when we take communion, we are celebrating God's wrath passing over us, onto a first born, and us coming out of slavery.
Or...
Ever week, we celebrate God unleashing his wrath because of our sin, onto his own firstborn son. And because he unleashed his wrath onto his son, we have a chance to escape the slavery of sin.
Which brings us to the place of, "For as often as you eat of this bread and drink of the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
Wednesday we will expand on this idea more, what it means to proclaim the death of Christ every Sunday. But for today, all I want to leave you with is this:
When we take communion we celebrate the freedom from sin that God has graciously given us by passing over us and pouring his wrath out upon his own firstborn. This is part of what we are to reflect on as we take communion regularly.
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