theologer

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer." - 1 Peter 3:12

There were suggestions flowing in like crazy from my last post and I appreciate it. I did a search for prayer on my blog and was impressed how much I have addressed the topic. One thing I found useful for a time was a schedule for payer, I addressed it almost a year ago today see my post - Contemplating Death Further.

But God's ears are open to their prayer. The righteous. I'm just thinking today about how I will often begin my prayer for others with "Lord, make me clean, forgive me of my sins and make me a righteous man so that you will hear this prayer and give heed." I have this fear that because of something in my life my prayer will be less powerful than if prayed by a truly righteous man (I know Jesus is the only way any of us are righteous), and so I pray to be seen as righteous before continuing my prayer.

This is one of the reasons I secretly long for the prayer of children. I think they have a particular gift for righteousness, and so I seek their prayers for while they may be simple, the Lord's ears will be open.

But in this, don't fail to see the gospel. We have no hope of righteousness and then to have our prayers heard and answered - not by our own strength that is. It's only because of what Christ did for us on the cross that we have any hope of righteousness, and then heard/answered prayers.

Carving out time for repentance is significant to our prayer life and why many people suggest starting there before personal petition.

"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" - Luke 9:23

I'm staying with a group of guys while I'm down here in Orlando and yesterday I noticed pasted on one of their doors what looks like a little kid's Sunday School project. It's a man with a cross pasted on his arms with Luke 9:23 written on it.

I don't know why it has never occurred to me before, but every time I've ever read this passage it seems so obvious to me what it means... because I know Jesus died on a cross. I know he took up a physical cross and carried it to Calvary.

But today it occurred to me, that Jesus is the one who said this - and before he died to boot. Has this been obvious to all of you? Am I alone in being clueless to this?

Imagine Jesus telling you to take up your cross and not knowing about what was coming and then trying to understand this... How would you understand it?

It seems so much more obvious to me that we must take up our cross because I know Jesus did it. He knows what its like because he took up a physical cross and a MUCH bigger spiritual cross than I will ever carry.

Thank God he took up a real cross. Now I just have to figure out what it looks like for me to live this verse and then we'll be good.

"Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God." - Jeremiah 3:25

I wrote the other day about shame and guilt and I've been thinking about it since. In the shame based culture where I've been spending my time these days, we've had to really re-think the way we do evangelism. Now there are experts who know these things but I found it fascinating.

The thing is, in America we would read this verse and then think, "we have sinned." That is, we have done something wrong that needs to be made right. We will even share the gospel with people as "you have sinned, and the only person who can make things right is God Himself, you do want to be forgiven don't you? What you did was wrong!"

But in a shame based culture they would read this verse completely differently and think, "Oh my gosh, we sinned AGAINST the Lord! We have shamed God!" And then to apply it in evangelism a whole new approach must be taken, as this person would not care if what they had done was wrong, turning to Jesus would bring shame to their family. Therefore the approach of "You have shamed God, your creator, the only way you can bring back the honor he deserves is to turn to Him and He will choose to forget how you have wronged Him. What you did was shameful!"

Then people wake up, "Oh my gosh," they say, "I shamed God!" And then this becomes the vehicle by which they turn to the Lord.

Anyhow, I just found this fascinating. We read sin and think wrongdoing. They read sin and think dishonor.

"Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!" - Psalm 105:4

It took me nearly twenty years to learn that this is the essence of the Christian life. I heard it over and over again but I almost never saw it lived out. In retrospect I think my father and few other people successfully modeled trying to seek the Lord, but we're all just so bad at it.

My ESV Bible titles this Psalm "Tell of all his wonderful works," which is a good summary of what it says. I appreciate the Psalm because David pretty systematically praises the Lord and sings of the freedom the Lord has given him and his ancestors.

As a father I lay my hand on my daughter's head everyday and I beg the Lord that she would know Him and that she would know the joy which comes from seeking Him. I was so old before I learned life was not about me. I was so old before I learned I alone could never find satisfaction, hope, and love. I was always sooooo close (or so I thought) because I could find fleeting things. But I never experienced true joy, and the freedom that comes from it, until I learned to seek the Lord's strength and dwell in His presence.

Childhood was hard because I didn't understand this. I hope it's more obvious to my kids. I hope I can model a life saved by grace and not always make it seem like I'm the one who will really bring myself salvation. I want to model seeking the Lord's strength instead of my own, and seeking Him instead of the things of this world.

I should also mention, in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret at one point someone asks Hudson Taylor if it's hard to constantly remember that he dwells in the Lord. His answer was something along the lines of "If you stay the night at a friends house, and forget that you're staying there, does that mean you're no longer in the house?"

We can forget we're in the presence of the Lord, but we're still there.

"But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." - Genesis 9:4

One time I was at a table with a bunch of people speaking a language I did not know, and eating food I was not familiar with. In order to be culturally acceptable I attempted to eat whatever was set before me and most of it was fine if you nibbled around the edges. But then there was this one dish served, it was red, sort of spongy looking.

Without thinking I had picked up a piece and was about to eat it before the guy sitting next to physically slapped it out of my hands. He laughed and told me, "that's blood tofu."

Ew.. I have also almost eaten congealed cow's blood once by accident, but was saved in a similar fashion.

There is something particularly disgusting to me about blood. I think it is more cultural than religious. We don't eat blood in America maybe because of our Biblical roots, but probably because it's just not part of our culture.

But to the Lord blood is significant. Extremely significant.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life." - Leviticus 17:11

It is blood that is the life of the flesh. It is blood that made atonement for he Israelites. And it is blood that has made atonement for us.

We are washed clean because blood is life, and life was shed for us.

I've no application for this, except that next time you bleed, maybe remember what it the Lord did for you. It's no little deal to bleed out your life.

"And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all." - Luke 6:19

At the risk of sounding repetitive I'm going to talk again about just how awesome our savior is. I know I've been touching on this a lot lately, and I think it might be because I'm trying to beat it into my own head. I'm surprised at how I'll look back at some of the blog entries I wrote a year ago and think "that was a really good lesson, I wish I had learned it by now."

The truth is, our savior Jesus is more awesome, more beautiful, bigger, stronger, and far more loving and powerful than we will ever comprehend. This doesn't mean I wont try... This morning this verse struck me. Power was emanating from His body. People pressed in just to touch Him.

Remember King Midas? Everything he touched turned to gold. That would be a cool power until you wanted to hold your child (or even a TV remote). Shel Silverstein wrote a poem about a guy who everything he touched turned to strawberry jello (or something like that).

Imagine if everything you touched was made right? Imagine knowing that person and walking around with him? People would definitely press in and touch him. I've been seeing a chiropractor for back pain for about a month, I'd kill to be able to touch the Lord and see instant healing.

My point here is God is awesome. Everyone He touched -- and more -- everyone who touched Him, was instantly healed. I want to know, walk with, commune with, and love, this powerful God. I'm so happy I serve an all powerful God "for power came out from him," and not some lame person with emotional problems (or whatever other problems we often project on our Lord).

 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;  
for my eyes have seen your salvation  
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,  
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.” - Luke 2:29-32

I don't know if you were a Matrix fan. Most people loved the first one and then saw the next two because they had to (you know the whole rules of society thing) and then were incredibly disappointed. I was in said category.

That said, the first one really was amazing. Today when reading this passage in Luke, I thought, Simeon was the Morpheus of the Bible. Rather, Morpheus was the Simeon of the Matrix. Morpheus was told he would not die until he met the chosen one. Simeon was told he would not die until he met the Christ. The difference is, Morpheus is excited he's found the chosen one, but Simeon was far more so.

Simeon knows the minute he sees Jesus this is the biggest deal of his life. He says "I may now depart in peace because your word has been fulfilled." He knows Jesus is salvation, he knows Jesus will change everything for the Gentiles and bring glory to Israel. He is so happy from this sight that he is willing and ready to die.

That is awesome. What were you like when you first met Jesus? Especially when He had already died for you?
When I meet Him in the morning I want this attitude. Sheer overwhelming joy at having known the Lord's Christ.

"They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out." - John 9:34

This whole section (John 9) about the man born blind is awesome for a few reasons. First because Jesus proclaims he was born blind so God may be glorified. Second because Jesus heals a man, he could not see and then he could, this is an AMAZING gift to receive.

Finally I like it because the Pharisees get so worked up over the healing and the man handles it so well. First they call him in to challenge that he was indeed originally blind (because they don't believe). Next they ask how Jesus did and establish clay should not have been made on the sabbath (looking for grounds to call it false). Then they go to the man's family and question them about his vision (they still do not believe) and the final section when they call the man back in is by far the best.

Them: "Give glory to God because this Jesus you talk about is a sinner and therefore should have had no power to heal you"

Man: "What do I care if He's a sinner, all I know is I was in utter darkness and now I see the beauty of the world around. I can walk without a guide, I can see the sun set and rise, I can gaze at the stars and trees whenever I want to!"

Them: "Tell us how he healed you."

Man: "Are you deaf? Have I not already told you? Maybe you need healing in your ears like I had in my eyes. Or maybe you want to become His disciples."

Them: "Don't even associate us with this man. We are disciples of Moses, we know he is great, we know nothing about this Jesus, not even where He came from, he must be a nobody, why would we follow a nobody."

Man: "That is amazing. You are the scribes, the teachers, the wise men, and ya'll have never heard of Him. Yet I was only a blind man and he thought me worthy of knowing Him. Even though you claim He is a nobody He had the power to heal my eyes! God wouldn't heal through Him if He was a sinner. God must have thought Him worthy of some power. No one has ever heard of blind man healed from his blindness and yet Jesus did it. If that's not from God what is? If ya'll don't want to be associated with this man, who DO you want to be associated with?

Them: "Woa there, WE are the the teachers, the scribes, the wise men, and YOU would presume to lecture us?"

And they threw him out....

I love this story because this guy was in their face, calling them morons for not tuning into the power of Jesus and where it must come from. I love when the Lord uses the weak to shame the wise. And this man's personality is something I can totally relate to. He is a biblically famous smart-alec.

*please take my interpretation of the verse with a grain of salt and understand I'm illustrating the situation, not re-translating it.

"A person hearing these words should recognize that they have no authority as authentic words of Jesus," he said. Christians who are reading the story, he said, should give it the same authority as any other unsubstantiated early Christian teaching about Jesus."
- DTS Professor Daniel Wallace on John 7:53-8:11

I read this article over at Christianity Today and was shocked this was the conclusion drawn.

Basically the article is about how, as my ESV puts it, "[The earliest manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11]," and how most lay Christians who read this will just assume they were placed in the Bible or accepted by the translators because they have some merit.

Admittedly this is the position I took/take. I assume someone along the lines thought it important enough to be included, and lean towards to the view presented by another professor:

"There is no reason to pull this out," said Craig Evans, a professor at Acadia Divinity School. "Nothing about it says Jesus didn't have this encounter." All of the stories about Jesus began orally — it was a few decades before they were written down — so it is possible that this story just did not get written down until much later, Evans said."

I've heard this section of the scripture be disputed in the past but until I know more about it I assume I'll continue to read this as the words of Christ.

I tend to think when it says "all scripture is breathed out by God," that God had some idea what the Bible ending up in our hands would look like, he knew this would be in, it is compatible with other teachings by Christ and probably should be taken as equal to the rest of the scripture. Take a gander, its not a long article, and quite fascinating.

Edit (4/28/08): This has been carried on here by Tim Ricchuiti, and here by me.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
- Matthew 24:45-51

Now this is the part that scares me. It's not only hard to live like Christ will be returning soon, its also dangerous if we don't. It doesn't even say "the master" will be angry but it says he will "cut him in pieces." I think this appropriately scares me.

But what does it look like to live like we're ready for Him to return? What do we change in our lives? If I knew the Lord was coming back this weekend I would legitimately get ahold of everyone I know and I love who isn't a believe and be begging them to reconsider their faith. I would not care if they never wanted to see me again. I would not care if I was suddenly considered crazy and was a plight to my neighbors. I would not care because their eternal life would be decided within the week.

How can we live like that when it's likely that we have a few more years? It's likely we can pray for our friends for years and set a model with our lives which they'll desire to imitate. It's likely some of our friends who we've shared with before will become believers before they die or the Lord returns.

How do we live with what we're ordered to do, and what the reality seems to be? What about your life should and can legitimately change in light of the immanent second coming?

"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." James 5:14

When I was in High School my father was a pastor and all of a sudden had a fascination with anointing people with oil. I asked him about it and he said he honestly didn't really understand, he said the only place in the Bible he knew of that mentioned it was just one verse in James. I remember that he kept bottles filled with olive oil in his church office and would anoint people whenever he prayed for them. Mostly just a dab on the forehead or hair, but he told me that occasionally he felt led to dump whole handfuls on people until it was dripping off of them (I hope and assume they weren't wearing suits).

Turns out this word is actually all over (Mar 6:13, Mar 16:1, Luk 7:78... among others).

Well this morning I was studying Psalm 2 for a class I'm taking on the poets. He mentioned in verse 2 where David says,

"The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, ..."

This word for anointed is where we get our root for Messiah. And this passage is even quoted in Acts 4:26, and in this verse the word is Χριστός (Christos, where we get Christ), but it can be translated anointed.

Doing a word study on it, I got this, "anointed; Septuagint for משיח, Messiah, a term applied to every one anointed with the holy oil, chiefly to the High Priest."

This makes me rethink the significance of anointing someone with oil. The Lord Jesus was the anointed one... with the oil. I guess I always read it as appointed one, but thats not what its saying.

Have you considered using oil when you pray for someone? To anoint them? What do you think about the connection to David the King, and to our Christ? Are we sharing something with them when we are anointed?

"O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" - Romans 7:24

You know when your sin is right there in front of you? You look back on a lie and realize the ramifications it will have, or you realize how your own vanity has kept you from walking with the Lord... and you think, "Wow, thats a bummer, I wish I'd handled that better."

I wish my sin hurt me in the same way Paul looked on his and called out for rescue from his "body of death." I am unwilling to dwell on the depths of my sin and be horrified at who I am, who I can be. I get by with a "I'm a pretty good guy," so often that I begin to believe I don't need the saving power of grace every day.

God forbid we should believe ourselves to be sinless and make him out to be a liar. I take comfort in the next verse and the answer of who will deliver us. I repent, I am a wretched, wretched man.

"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - verse 25

Pastor Chad wrote today about hospitality. He talks about Jesus cleaning the disciples feet and explains how dirty of a job this really was. He goes on to say that we need to put aside our weirdness and fears over such things and be willing to love people.

But it is so hard to wrap your hands around a dirty dirty man. There is a guy I see regularly whose job is to dig through trash with his hands and sort out what can be recycled (he is paid by the neighborhood to do so) but he makes so little money that he hardly ever showers and never washes his hands.

I shake his hand everytime, but its hard and I immediately go home and wash my hands.

There is another man I know who isn't fully there mentally and when I lay my hand on him to pray for him he will reach out and touch me. He never cleans himself and will often drool on me. It's hard, but sometimes we have to be willing to wash people's feet. Even if they're caked in filth.

Its hard to remember that we're spiritually caked in filth. Our best is still going to be disgusting to the Lord, but he loves us nonetheless and is even willing to wipe us clean.

I've been gone more than a month from home now... It's really quite hard to believe that I was ever gone except its freezing here and I have been in 80+ degree whether for a month. Two weeks of which I spent on a beach on a small island off a little Asian nation.

The food was delicious. The sun was undeniably spectacular. And the beach is something I can't imagine ever being sick of. I come home to heavy jackets, wool socks and stocking cap and I wonder where I went wrong... Why wasn't I called to one of these spectacularly warm places?

I also wonder what on earth possessed me to leave my beautiful Colorado... I had no I dea what I was missing until I lived somewhere that boasts only 14 days of sun annually.

Then I buy some food at a local business and wonder if those people will ever hear the name of Jesus. And if they do... who is going to tell them?

I'm afraid at least this time... it wasn't me.