Well, application, yeah. Colorado Christian University has these ID cards that they use for just about everything. If you want to eat, you need your card. If you want to have your attendance count, you need your card. To attend chapel, you need your card. What is next, using the card to get in and out of apartments? I saw that at the University of Idaho. All I am saying is that if being tracked like this is okay in a Christian university…we need to calm down a little or be concerned that so many students have taken ‘the mark.’
Actually, that has nothing to do with my application. I just thought it was ironic.
Last year my pastor at The Crossing did a series of talks on Revelation 1-3. Therefore most of his talks were on the letters to the churches.
Ephesus: recognized for its works and endurance but had lost its First Love.
Apply to my own life. Apply to your life.
Symrna: recognized in its suffering and encouraged to remain faithful.
Apply to my own life. Apply to your life.
Pergamum: recognized for faithfulness to the Name and told to repent, listen to the Spirit, and conquer.
Apply to my life. Apply to your life.
Thyatira: recognized for faith, love, service, and patient endurance and promises reward to those who conquer.
Apply to my life. Apply to your life.
*skipping Sardis for now…will come back, I promise
Philadelphia: recognized for faithful endurance and encouraged to continue with the promise of being saved.
Apply to my life. Apply to your life.
Laodicea: the lukewarm church that God will spit out of His mouth if they remain in the middle.
Apply to my life…I wish that this one was easy to change. Too often I find that I want to be acceptable in both places…in man’s eyes and in God’s eyes. How is that even possible? Why do I try to justify what I do for humans? One lesson that I learned this year was this one. I hope I can do better in the future. You see, I was trying to get a good grade. A good grade would be approval in the teacher’s eyes and the university’s eyes. How in God’s eyes though? Thankfully I got a C on that assignment. It could have been worse. At that moment I realized my fault in wanting approval from humans. I stopped doing assignments for the instructors. Overall, most of my assignments were done for God; especially those for my two Bible and two Literature classes. Unfortunately, my philosophy class is another issue.
Sardis: recognizes that works are being seen but says that it is dead. Sardis is told to wake up. This has been my theme idea that God has continuously reminded me of all semester long. Actually, this goes back for about a year now.
I see God moving in Colorado Christian University’s campus! He has worked within people and I know that He is about to do more! I look forward to everything that He has for us next semester and onward!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Revelation Blog 1
Traditionally, the author of Revelation has been given to John the Evangelist who wrote from Patmos in the 90s AD (Tafoya). Craig S. Keener says, however, that scholars today argue about the authorship because it does not seem likely that the possible author of John and the author of Revelation could be the same author, but at the same time the vocabulary of Revelation is very similar to that of John (757). Keener also states “that one writer would use the same vocabulary but write entirely different kinds of works from different perspectives seems more probable…than that two allied writers would differ in perspectives buy share vocabulary” (758). Keener also states that Revelation could have been written as early as the late 60s AD but overall supports the 90s AD date (758). M. Eugene Boring states this about the authorship of Revelation, “the author makes no claim to be an apostle or personal disciple of the historical Jesus; rather he distinguishes himself from the ‘twelve apostles,’ referring to himself simply as ‘John’ and as a ‘brother’—that is, a fellow Christian, a servant/slave—of Christ who writes prophecy” (2211).
Revelation is an occasional epistle, but mostly it fits into apocalyptic literature. The framework is that of a pastoral letter (Boring 2211) written to the seven churches: Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Ephesus, and Laodicea. The seven churches could mean all churches (Tafoya). The purpose of Revelation was to reveal what was really going on beyond Domitian’s rule. It is a pulling back of the curtain (Tafoya). Keener adds the word ‘prophetic’ to its genre (758). The sequence of John is in logical sequence rather than chronological sequence (Keener 759). The theme of Revelation is that God is the Alpha and Omega, Christ is the Lamb who was slain, and the sovereignty of God (Tafoya). Other themes of the book include tribulation(s) and justice (Tafoya).
Craig S. Keener gave ways of interpreting Revelation which are:
1) Revelation predicts in detail the course of human history till the Second Coming.
2) Revelation reflects the general principles of history.
3) Revelation addresses only what was happening in John’s day.
4) Revelation addresses only the end time.
5) Combinations of the above approaches.
These can be found on page 760 of the work cited below.
My favorite verse in the Bible is, “for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17
I think it was my second time that I had read the Bible all the way through when I determined that of all the verses that I had read, this was the one that would be called favorite. Because it is in Revelation, I do know that I picked it out in December simply from the fact that in a Bible plan, Revelation is always read at the end and I had started on January 1st.
The reason that this verse struck me so hard was because there was so much going on in my life during that time. I was dealing with family issues, school stuff, and friend problems. The only friend who never hurt me during that year was Christ. I shed a lot of tears and I told God that I accepted His promise here “God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” The most important word in this verse is God. Who will wipe away tears? God Himself. Not an angel or a cool human or whatever. No, God will.
This semester, likewise, has been difficult. Last year I went to the University of Idaho and lived at home with my parents and brothers. I went to a church that I fell in love with. The pastor is a man whom I have listened to since I was in seventh grade. I have friends there that I have known for years and we have grown close. Colorado had very little. I have an aunt here that I barely know. Thank God for her, I have a home away from Idaho because of her. There was nobody at this university and I had many fears.
After a full spring semester of praying to God for direction, God told me Colorado was where He wanted me. During the semester I questioned that a little bit. Yet even while going through various things, I knew that everything that I was going through would make no sense if God was not in it. But even in that realization everything got harder and I know that I resisted what God was trying to do for a long time. God is faithful. He has proven to be so and that means that He will one day fulfill this promise that He made in Revelation 7:17.
WORKS CITED
Books:
Boring, M. Eugene. “The Revelation to John.” Pages 2211-2213 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Keener, Craig S. “Revelation,” Pages 747-821 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Class Lecture:
Tafoya, Stace. “Intro to Revelation.” Bible 114 Early Christian Literature. Colorado Christian University. 8 and 10 Dec 2008.
Revelation is an occasional epistle, but mostly it fits into apocalyptic literature. The framework is that of a pastoral letter (Boring 2211) written to the seven churches: Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Ephesus, and Laodicea. The seven churches could mean all churches (Tafoya). The purpose of Revelation was to reveal what was really going on beyond Domitian’s rule. It is a pulling back of the curtain (Tafoya). Keener adds the word ‘prophetic’ to its genre (758). The sequence of John is in logical sequence rather than chronological sequence (Keener 759). The theme of Revelation is that God is the Alpha and Omega, Christ is the Lamb who was slain, and the sovereignty of God (Tafoya). Other themes of the book include tribulation(s) and justice (Tafoya).
Craig S. Keener gave ways of interpreting Revelation which are:
1) Revelation predicts in detail the course of human history till the Second Coming.
2) Revelation reflects the general principles of history.
3) Revelation addresses only what was happening in John’s day.
4) Revelation addresses only the end time.
5) Combinations of the above approaches.
These can be found on page 760 of the work cited below.
My favorite verse in the Bible is, “for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17
I think it was my second time that I had read the Bible all the way through when I determined that of all the verses that I had read, this was the one that would be called favorite. Because it is in Revelation, I do know that I picked it out in December simply from the fact that in a Bible plan, Revelation is always read at the end and I had started on January 1st.
The reason that this verse struck me so hard was because there was so much going on in my life during that time. I was dealing with family issues, school stuff, and friend problems. The only friend who never hurt me during that year was Christ. I shed a lot of tears and I told God that I accepted His promise here “God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” The most important word in this verse is God. Who will wipe away tears? God Himself. Not an angel or a cool human or whatever. No, God will.
This semester, likewise, has been difficult. Last year I went to the University of Idaho and lived at home with my parents and brothers. I went to a church that I fell in love with. The pastor is a man whom I have listened to since I was in seventh grade. I have friends there that I have known for years and we have grown close. Colorado had very little. I have an aunt here that I barely know. Thank God for her, I have a home away from Idaho because of her. There was nobody at this university and I had many fears.
After a full spring semester of praying to God for direction, God told me Colorado was where He wanted me. During the semester I questioned that a little bit. Yet even while going through various things, I knew that everything that I was going through would make no sense if God was not in it. But even in that realization everything got harder and I know that I resisted what God was trying to do for a long time. God is faithful. He has proven to be so and that means that He will one day fulfill this promise that He made in Revelation 7:17.
WORKS CITED
Books:
Boring, M. Eugene. “The Revelation to John.” Pages 2211-2213 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Keener, Craig S. “Revelation,” Pages 747-821 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Class Lecture:
Tafoya, Stace. “Intro to Revelation.” Bible 114 Early Christian Literature. Colorado Christian University. 8 and 10 Dec 2008.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Jude Blog 2
“But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.” Jude 20-23
Pray in the Holy Spirit. I have heard to ask God what He wants us to pray for at certain times. By asking Him if there is somebody or some situation that needs prayer, we are allowing Him to help us pray. Prayer is a strong weapon and God knows who and what needs prayer when. Keep yourselves I the love of God. See previous blogs. Love God, and love others. The Gospel is about God who is love (1 John 4:8). This love includes helping somebody who is questioning the faith. This includes going after them and praying for them.
Right now I have several friends from high school who have since graduation (or shortly before graduation) who have turned away from God. I have prayed for them. I have tried to keep communication open with them so that they know that I want to listen to them. At one point, one of them turned back to the Lord and we all rejoiced. However, distance has separated us and my prayers have continued for her because I think she may have lost the passion for Christ again.
Pray in the Holy Spirit. I have heard to ask God what He wants us to pray for at certain times. By asking Him if there is somebody or some situation that needs prayer, we are allowing Him to help us pray. Prayer is a strong weapon and God knows who and what needs prayer when. Keep yourselves I the love of God. See previous blogs. Love God, and love others. The Gospel is about God who is love (1 John 4:8). This love includes helping somebody who is questioning the faith. This includes going after them and praying for them.
Right now I have several friends from high school who have since graduation (or shortly before graduation) who have turned away from God. I have prayed for them. I have tried to keep communication open with them so that they know that I want to listen to them. At one point, one of them turned back to the Lord and we all rejoiced. However, distance has separated us and my prayers have continued for her because I think she may have lost the passion for Christ again.
Jude Blog 1
This “letter essay” was possible written by Jude, the brother of James and of Jesus. Because the author dose not specify which Jude he is it make it “probable that the letter was genuinely written by Jude. At the same time, his lack of clarifications s to which Jude he is and the fact that he seems to be already known to his readers suggest that he is the most prominent Jude, brother of the most prominent James—the younger brother of Jesus” (Keener 752). Jude is a letter used as a sermon (Keener 753). The letter “exhorts it recipients to remain unwavering in faith and tot lead virtuous lives, while rejecting the immoral lure of false teachers who are preying upon the community” (Senior 2207) with sexually immoral lifestyles and teaching arrogance (Keener 752). The author wants the recipients to remain faithful until the end (Senior 2207).
“Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Jude 3
One thing that I am learning this month is that faith is something that each person has to fight to keep. I don't mean that somebody is going to come at take it away. Remember that parable of the sower? We need to keep taking in the water and nutrients from the Scriptures and from God in order to keep growing strong. Contend for your faith and for the faith of others around you.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “Jude,” Pages 734-746 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The Letter of Jude.” Pages 2195-2196 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
“Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Jude 3
One thing that I am learning this month is that faith is something that each person has to fight to keep. I don't mean that somebody is going to come at take it away. Remember that parable of the sower? We need to keep taking in the water and nutrients from the Scriptures and from God in order to keep growing strong. Contend for your faith and for the faith of others around you.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “Jude,” Pages 734-746 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The Letter of Jude.” Pages 2195-2196 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
1, 2, 3 John Blog 2
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves I born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:7-13
“But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning –you must walk in it.” 2 John 5-6
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 11
To accept God's love and love Him back means that we well love each other. If we do not love each other, how can we say that we love God. If you love somebody you love their work and we all are created in God's image by God. Therefore we cannot just not love each other because then we are insulting God. This is especially true because God loved us before we loved Him. We deserve nothing from Him yet He has given so much. And how do we tend to repay Him? We do not love others...ouch.
There is this girl who I have a really hard time getting along with. Honestly, I do not understand what went wrong, but it is very obvious that she does not like me. Yet I am supposed to love her? Yep. I have been trying to deal with frustrations at her all semester and it is not easy. I have tried smiling at her and saying 'hi' when I pass her. I have also tried ignoring her when I see her and avoiding her when I can. Nothing is working. As I read through these verses, I thought of her.
“What am I supposed to do, God?” I asked. He said that I could try praying for her and praying for encounters with her.
Honestly, I don't like that answer. She has said somethings to me that have hurt me. But that has always been God's answer when I have a problem with people who I don't get along with who have hurt me. Pray for them. And it really has worked when I have listened. Prayer puts your mind on God and His heart. If His heart radically beats with love for that person you don't like and you are praying for them, it really is hard to keep not liking them.
“But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning –you must walk in it.” 2 John 5-6
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 11
To accept God's love and love Him back means that we well love each other. If we do not love each other, how can we say that we love God. If you love somebody you love their work and we all are created in God's image by God. Therefore we cannot just not love each other because then we are insulting God. This is especially true because God loved us before we loved Him. We deserve nothing from Him yet He has given so much. And how do we tend to repay Him? We do not love others...ouch.
There is this girl who I have a really hard time getting along with. Honestly, I do not understand what went wrong, but it is very obvious that she does not like me. Yet I am supposed to love her? Yep. I have been trying to deal with frustrations at her all semester and it is not easy. I have tried smiling at her and saying 'hi' when I pass her. I have also tried ignoring her when I see her and avoiding her when I can. Nothing is working. As I read through these verses, I thought of her.
“What am I supposed to do, God?” I asked. He said that I could try praying for her and praying for encounters with her.
Honestly, I don't like that answer. She has said somethings to me that have hurt me. But that has always been God's answer when I have a problem with people who I don't get along with who have hurt me. Pray for them. And it really has worked when I have listened. Prayer puts your mind on God and His heart. If His heart radically beats with love for that person you don't like and you are praying for them, it really is hard to keep not liking them.
1, 2, 3 John Blog 1
The authorship was attributed to the author of the Gospel of John until the twentieth century (Keener 734). Some scholars believe that 1, 2, 3 John were written by a disciple of John (Keener 734). Robert Kyser says that some people calls these “general letters” but look like sermons (Kyser, 2195). Keener says that often when the books were compiled, the greetings were taken off which may be why 1 John does not have a greeting (Keener 735). Second John “has the classical form of an ancient letter, with a salutation, a thanksgiving, and a farewell...soon connected with 1 John ” (Kysar, 2203). Third John is a letter of recommendation for Demetrius, who was a traveling missionary (Keener 750). Kyser says that these letters were probably written between 90-110 AD (Kysar 2203). The purpose of 1 and 2 John were probably for defense against false teachers. Other ideas are that “if the setting of 1 John is the same as that of the Fourth Gospel, it is mean to encourage Christians expelled from the synagogues”...”tempted with heresy of compromise elsewhere, including compromise with idolatry advocated by false prophets...” (Keener, 735).
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10
God is in light because he is light and there is no darkness. That was a fun thing for me to think about as I read this verse. If we are in Christ, then we should not continue in darkness. I really enjoyed the logic of these verses. Also, at the same time we cannot be arrogant thinking that we have not sinned, rather we should confess that we have sinned and confess those sins. God will forgive.
“Be on guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward.” 2 John 8
The Christian life is not easy and it is not supposed to be easy right now. Faith is something that we have to keep along with the hope that we have in Christ.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 4
I thought of my pastor back in Idaho when I read this verse. I can see people like him, who are teaching Christians, feel such a closeness to the people they are teaching that they rejoice when they see that people are following Christ and walking in the truth.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “1 John,” Pages 734-746 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
--------. “2 John,” Pages 747-749 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
--------. “3 John,” Pages 750-74551 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Kyser, Robert. “The First Letter of John.” Pages 2195-2196 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
--------. “The Second Letter of John.” Pages 2203 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
--------. “The Third Letter of John.” Pages 2205 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10
God is in light because he is light and there is no darkness. That was a fun thing for me to think about as I read this verse. If we are in Christ, then we should not continue in darkness. I really enjoyed the logic of these verses. Also, at the same time we cannot be arrogant thinking that we have not sinned, rather we should confess that we have sinned and confess those sins. God will forgive.
“Be on guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward.” 2 John 8
The Christian life is not easy and it is not supposed to be easy right now. Faith is something that we have to keep along with the hope that we have in Christ.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 4
I thought of my pastor back in Idaho when I read this verse. I can see people like him, who are teaching Christians, feel such a closeness to the people they are teaching that they rejoice when they see that people are following Christ and walking in the truth.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “1 John,” Pages 734-746 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
--------. “2 John,” Pages 747-749 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
--------. “3 John,” Pages 750-74551 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Kyser, Robert. “The First Letter of John.” Pages 2195-2196 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
--------. “The Second Letter of John.” Pages 2203 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
--------. “The Third Letter of John.” Pages 2205 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
2 Peter Blog 2
“But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years...” 2 Peter 3:3a.
A man had an opportunity to ask God three questions. He walked up to God smiled and greeted Him. The Lord then nodded and greeted the man back. Next the man asked his first question, “God, how much money is a million dollars to You?” God smiled and replied, “A million dollars is like a penny.” “Wow,” said the man, “What, then, is a second to you?” “A second is like a thousand years.” God replied. The man was impressed, and for his final question, he asked “Can I have a penny?” God nodded, “Sure, just a second!”
So obviously the time proportion got changed a little to make the joke a little funnier...but I love that joke!
Okay, so my application for 2 Peter actually starts now.
“...you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!'” 2 Peter 3:2-4
When I was in 12th grade, I was working on my government final and I stumbled across an atheist website. I decided to read the proof that God did not exist based off of the Bible. One of their points was that God has broken His promise, and therefore He must not really exist. That promise is that He has not returned and many Christians have died...yet God has not returned...
Many of their other arguments were not even using full Bible verses. You can make the Bible say just about anything if you twist it out of context. So, of course because God is waiting to return, He must not exist.
Anyway, my application is this: Read the Bible (it helps to remember what you have read if you actually read it)...Remember what you have read whether it is from Moses, Isaiah, Amos, or Paul. Remember also what the Lord has spoken to you. Constantly remember what God says. At the same time, keep seeking the Lord, because God is always thinking and speaking. Finally, do not follow in those scoffings, indulgings and lustings. Do not act like this time thing is just going to keep on going as it has since the days of creation.
That is my prayer for myself right now.
A man had an opportunity to ask God three questions. He walked up to God smiled and greeted Him. The Lord then nodded and greeted the man back. Next the man asked his first question, “God, how much money is a million dollars to You?” God smiled and replied, “A million dollars is like a penny.” “Wow,” said the man, “What, then, is a second to you?” “A second is like a thousand years.” God replied. The man was impressed, and for his final question, he asked “Can I have a penny?” God nodded, “Sure, just a second!”
So obviously the time proportion got changed a little to make the joke a little funnier...but I love that joke!
Okay, so my application for 2 Peter actually starts now.
“...you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!'” 2 Peter 3:2-4
When I was in 12th grade, I was working on my government final and I stumbled across an atheist website. I decided to read the proof that God did not exist based off of the Bible. One of their points was that God has broken His promise, and therefore He must not really exist. That promise is that He has not returned and many Christians have died...yet God has not returned...
Many of their other arguments were not even using full Bible verses. You can make the Bible say just about anything if you twist it out of context. So, of course because God is waiting to return, He must not exist.
Anyway, my application is this: Read the Bible (it helps to remember what you have read if you actually read it)...Remember what you have read whether it is from Moses, Isaiah, Amos, or Paul. Remember also what the Lord has spoken to you. Constantly remember what God says. At the same time, keep seeking the Lord, because God is always thinking and speaking. Finally, do not follow in those scoffings, indulgings and lustings. Do not act like this time thing is just going to keep on going as it has since the days of creation.
That is my prayer for myself right now.
2 Peter Blog 1
Of all of the New Testament Epistles, 2 Peter’s authorship is one of the most disputed. Its style differs so much from 1 Peter that it seems highly unlikely that the same person could have written both. Peter is one of the people who are thought to have written it though (Keener 723). The author claims to have been a witness to the Transfiguration in 2 Peter 3: 15-16 (Senior 2189). Donald Senior this on the authorship of 2 Peter, the “probable use of the Letter of Jude as a source are all arguments against Peter’s having been the actual author and the probability that, as with 1 Peter, this is a pseudonymous work that cites the authority of the apostle but was written by a later generation in his name” (2189). Senior also says this about 2 Peter, “The formal style and stiff polemical tone of this brief book help to rank it among the least read of the biblical canon. Yet it grapples with profound and enduring theological issues such as God’s providence and the destiny of the world” (2189). On the genre, 2 Peter is an epistle meant to have a large audience and has elements of a “testamentary” (Keener 724).
“His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, though the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3
I was frustrated the other day as I flipped through the channels at the dorm. The Trinity Broadcasting Network was playing Joel Osteen. How can a Christian channel play Finger of God Film one night, a life of Jesus film the next, and Joel Osteen the next? HOW? Finger of God Film is all about God. The Jesus films out there show us the Gospel (JESUS), and Joel Osteen does none of that.
I do not hate Joel Osteen. I just do not listen to Joel Osteen anymore. I do not think that the Gospel is about what I deserve.
Look at 2 Peter 1:3. It says, “His divine power...” who is He? God is. God. Not anybody else. “has given us...” we had nothing without God. Therefore, God is higher than we are. Yet God still has given. “everything we need” not everything we want...not a promotion that we feel that we deserve, not that luxury car. Now wait, God did provide riches for us to spend on stuff like that, but that is not our purpose. No, our purpose is far greater than sitting in a mansion getting fat off our junk food and then going to the doctor...now which car should I take? Our purpose is greater. Anyway, “everything needed for life and godliness” what does stocking up our houses full of junk have to do with godliness? What does anything that makes the flesh happy have to do with godliness? “through the knowledge of him who called us” again, it is about God. Not me, not you, not anybody but GOD. Through the knowledge of God....everything. Through the knowledge of God...we have everything that we need. “by his own glory and goodness.” Again...God. God. And, more God. Did you see humans able to do anything apart from God in that verse anywhere? That is how 2 Peter opens (after the opening greeting). Ta-da, it s about God, people.
This even is hard for me to grasp at times. God does not need any of my help. God does not need your help. God does not need anything that any of us could do.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “2 Peter,” Pages 723-733 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The Second Letter of Peter.” Pages 2189-2190 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
“His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, though the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3
I was frustrated the other day as I flipped through the channels at the dorm. The Trinity Broadcasting Network was playing Joel Osteen. How can a Christian channel play Finger of God Film one night, a life of Jesus film the next, and Joel Osteen the next? HOW? Finger of God Film is all about God. The Jesus films out there show us the Gospel (JESUS), and Joel Osteen does none of that.
I do not hate Joel Osteen. I just do not listen to Joel Osteen anymore. I do not think that the Gospel is about what I deserve.
Look at 2 Peter 1:3. It says, “His divine power...” who is He? God is. God. Not anybody else. “has given us...” we had nothing without God. Therefore, God is higher than we are. Yet God still has given. “everything we need” not everything we want...not a promotion that we feel that we deserve, not that luxury car. Now wait, God did provide riches for us to spend on stuff like that, but that is not our purpose. No, our purpose is far greater than sitting in a mansion getting fat off our junk food and then going to the doctor...now which car should I take? Our purpose is greater. Anyway, “everything needed for life and godliness” what does stocking up our houses full of junk have to do with godliness? What does anything that makes the flesh happy have to do with godliness? “through the knowledge of him who called us” again, it is about God. Not me, not you, not anybody but GOD. Through the knowledge of God....everything. Through the knowledge of God...we have everything that we need. “by his own glory and goodness.” Again...God. God. And, more God. Did you see humans able to do anything apart from God in that verse anywhere? That is how 2 Peter opens (after the opening greeting). Ta-da, it s about God, people.
This even is hard for me to grasp at times. God does not need any of my help. God does not need your help. God does not need anything that any of us could do.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “2 Peter,” Pages 723-733 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The Second Letter of Peter.” Pages 2189-2190 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
1 Peter Blog 2
“But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” 1 Peter 3:14-18
The most important being in the world is God. When Jesus came to earth, he suffered yet had done nothing wrong. He told His disciples that those who followed Him should expect the same things that He experienced.
Jesus was questioned numerous times by the religious leaders and also other people. He gave an answer every time and therefore the Bible can ask us to be able to do the same thing.
Jesus also suffered for doing nothing wrong. Therefore the Bible can also tell us that we should be willing to suffer for doing what is right.
However these can be hard because, I don't know about you, but I have trouble looking past time. Here we are on this earth and we are living our lives and those lives are bound with in time. Even though death is not the end, it feels like it. There I go again with feelings...this is another reason we can't depend on our feelings. The time that we are on this earth is nothing compared to what is after time.
So we need to live with no reason to be condemned. We need to follow the example that Jesus set in both word and works. We need to remember, first of all, that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to save us. We should not be afraid of those who can harm us because they can do nothing with our soul.
The most important being in the world is God. When Jesus came to earth, he suffered yet had done nothing wrong. He told His disciples that those who followed Him should expect the same things that He experienced.
Jesus was questioned numerous times by the religious leaders and also other people. He gave an answer every time and therefore the Bible can ask us to be able to do the same thing.
Jesus also suffered for doing nothing wrong. Therefore the Bible can also tell us that we should be willing to suffer for doing what is right.
However these can be hard because, I don't know about you, but I have trouble looking past time. Here we are on this earth and we are living our lives and those lives are bound with in time. Even though death is not the end, it feels like it. There I go again with feelings...this is another reason we can't depend on our feelings. The time that we are on this earth is nothing compared to what is after time.
So we need to live with no reason to be condemned. We need to follow the example that Jesus set in both word and works. We need to remember, first of all, that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to save us. We should not be afraid of those who can harm us because they can do nothing with our soul.
1 Peter Blog 1
There is some debate on the authorship of 1 Peter, but many scholars say that the apostle Peter wrote it. In fact early Church tradition gives authorship to Peter by the 2nd century (Keener 705). Most scholars date it to “the last quarter of the 1st century” (Senior 2181). Craig S. Keener says that “First Peter implies an atmosphere of severe repression, but not the official court prosecution of Trajan’s time” (706) which helps to set the date that 1 Peter was written. According to Donald Senior, Rome is where the letter was written (Senior 2181) and it was written for the Christians in the northern part of Asia Minor and included both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. The genre is a general letter that encouraged Christians who were dealing with being outcasts because they were seen as atheists and cannibals, who were incestuous (Keener 707).
“In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 6-9
It is not anything that a human does that redeems them to God apart from accepting Christ. I really like the translation in The Message Bible which says,
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
Our faith becomes God’s glory! Our faith is also what makes us seen as righteous before God. Yet, it is not the choosing of faith that saves us because that is still righteousness based on works, but rather it is us having faith that God “reckons to us as righteousness” just as He did with Abraham’s belief.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “1 Peter,” Pages 705-722 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The First Letter of Peter.” Pages 2181-2182 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
“In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 6-9
It is not anything that a human does that redeems them to God apart from accepting Christ. I really like the translation in The Message Bible which says,
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
Our faith becomes God’s glory! Our faith is also what makes us seen as righteous before God. Yet, it is not the choosing of faith that saves us because that is still righteousness based on works, but rather it is us having faith that God “reckons to us as righteousness” just as He did with Abraham’s belief.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “1 Peter,” Pages 705-722 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Senior, Donald. “The First Letter of Peter.” Pages 2181-2182 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
James Blog 2
“What is good my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, an done of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no woks, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless persons, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” James 2:14-26 (NRSV)
These verses and Hebrews 6:9-10 and Matthew 7:15-20 inspired the following lyrics:
Screen Door
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your left hand, one is your right
It'll take two strong arms to hold on tight
Some folks cut off their nose just to spite their face
I think you need some works to show for your alleged faith
Well there's a difference you know
'tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow the other one just make you sleep
Talk about it
But I really think you oughtta take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith comes from God and every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart so you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice
Otherwise....
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works, baby, it just ain't happenin'
One is your right hand, one is your left
It's your light, your guide, your life and your breath
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works, like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
I was raised on Rich Mullins music. For the longest time, I did not understand this song. Of course, part of it has to do with the fact that most three and four-year-olds do not learn song lyrics correctly. Only God remembers my original lyrics to this song, and I am sure that He laughs when He thinks of them. Anyway, that really has nothing to do with James.
Where is the balance between faith and works? Galatians states that it was faith that God reckoned as righteousness to Abraham. Here it is works. Of course I definitely understand how both are needed. Works cannot get you into heaven and faith does not make your righteous if you pass by things that need help. Rich Mullins states that “there's a difference you know/ 'tween having faith and playing make believe/ One will make you grow the other one just make you sleep/ Talk about it/ But I really think you oughtta take a leap off of the ship/ Before you claim to walk on water/ Faith without works is like a song you can't sing/ It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine.” So I suppose the question is Is my faith making me grow? Because if it isn’t then I do not have genuine faith. Have I taken that leap off of the ship?
WORKS CITED
Mullins, Rich. “Screen Door.” By Rich Mullins. Songs. BMG Songs, Inc. 1987. http://www.kidbrothers.net.
These verses and Hebrews 6:9-10 and Matthew 7:15-20 inspired the following lyrics:
Screen Door
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your left hand, one is your right
It'll take two strong arms to hold on tight
Some folks cut off their nose just to spite their face
I think you need some works to show for your alleged faith
Well there's a difference you know
'tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow the other one just make you sleep
Talk about it
But I really think you oughtta take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith comes from God and every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart so you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice
Otherwise....
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works, baby, it just ain't happenin'
One is your right hand, one is your left
It's your light, your guide, your life and your breath
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith without works, like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine
I was raised on Rich Mullins music. For the longest time, I did not understand this song. Of course, part of it has to do with the fact that most three and four-year-olds do not learn song lyrics correctly. Only God remembers my original lyrics to this song, and I am sure that He laughs when He thinks of them. Anyway, that really has nothing to do with James.
Where is the balance between faith and works? Galatians states that it was faith that God reckoned as righteousness to Abraham. Here it is works. Of course I definitely understand how both are needed. Works cannot get you into heaven and faith does not make your righteous if you pass by things that need help. Rich Mullins states that “there's a difference you know/ 'tween having faith and playing make believe/ One will make you grow the other one just make you sleep/ Talk about it/ But I really think you oughtta take a leap off of the ship/ Before you claim to walk on water/ Faith without works is like a song you can't sing/ It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine.” So I suppose the question is Is my faith making me grow? Because if it isn’t then I do not have genuine faith. Have I taken that leap off of the ship?
WORKS CITED
Mullins, Rich. “Screen Door.” By Rich Mullins. Songs. BMG Songs, Inc. 1987. http://www.kidbrothers.net.
James Blog 1
The Letter of James has two major candidates for authorship. The first is James, the son of Zebedee. According to Craig S. Keener, the more likely author was James, the brother of Jesus. The setting of the letter was probably before 66 AD and since James was killed around 62 AD, if he was the author, then it was written by 62 AD. The time frame between 62 AD and 66 AD “would allow for insufficient time for this letter to be a pseudepigraphic composition” (Keener 687). The Genre is an essay letter (Keener 687), adapting the diatribe (Perkins 2171) and is not addressed to a specific church. In the letter, James “attacks any form of partiality shown toward the rich. Arrogance and self-confidence can separate the rich from God and lead to callous injustice” (Perkins 2171). “Pride of the rich,” “persecution by the rich,” “pay withheld by the rich,” temptation to “retaliate with violent acts…or words” (Keener 689) are all reasons that the letter of James was written. The audience is predominately Jewish Christians, or even Jews in general, who had been “caught up in the sort of social tensions that eventually produced the war of AD 66-70” (Keener 689).
“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:2-8
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy in to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” James 4:7-10.
The cool thing about joy is that nobody can take it away from you. Happiness is fleeting. One wrong word or gesture and—where did the happiness go? Situations come and go making one happy or sad or whatever emotion. Joy is not an emotion though. I like to think of joy as a pure knowledge of God being, no matter what is going on inwardly or outwardly.
Christians cannot be “baby Christians” forever. God has greater plans than simply saving a person. After salvation, the Christian is supposed to learn and grow in the faith. One way faith is tried and refined is through trials. And it is so true that when a person goes through trials their faith produces endurance.
When growing up at church, we sang a song that was based off of James 1:17 and it is one of my favorites to sing to God. I love to call God by different attributes and names of His. Here, God is called the Father of lights. Does not that name make you smile? It is beautiful! Anyway, from the Father of lights comes every good and perfect gift. Anything that you receive that is good is from God! How amazing a God we serve who would give so much to His Church!
In times when I cannot feel the way I want to, I love to remember that God is beyond emotion. It is interesting, but when God feels far away, odds are He is closer than ever. Why? Because God is not known to pack up and leave during the night in an evil act of abandonment. One of the last things that God wants is for us to rely on emotion. What would come of that? I think that there would be a lot of spoiled Christians thinking that God somehow owed it to them to keep them happy at all times. There would be a world of “baby Christians” and maturity would be a foreign term.
This semester I have gone through some refining. There were days that God felt close and days where I wondered where He had gone. Yet, calling on Him proved that He was there because He answered each prayer. I just pray that I can keep on trusting when again God does not feel close.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “James,” Pages 686-704 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Perkins, Pheme. “The Letter of James.” Pages 2171-2172 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:2-8
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy in to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” James 4:7-10.
The cool thing about joy is that nobody can take it away from you. Happiness is fleeting. One wrong word or gesture and—where did the happiness go? Situations come and go making one happy or sad or whatever emotion. Joy is not an emotion though. I like to think of joy as a pure knowledge of God being, no matter what is going on inwardly or outwardly.
Christians cannot be “baby Christians” forever. God has greater plans than simply saving a person. After salvation, the Christian is supposed to learn and grow in the faith. One way faith is tried and refined is through trials. And it is so true that when a person goes through trials their faith produces endurance.
When growing up at church, we sang a song that was based off of James 1:17 and it is one of my favorites to sing to God. I love to call God by different attributes and names of His. Here, God is called the Father of lights. Does not that name make you smile? It is beautiful! Anyway, from the Father of lights comes every good and perfect gift. Anything that you receive that is good is from God! How amazing a God we serve who would give so much to His Church!
In times when I cannot feel the way I want to, I love to remember that God is beyond emotion. It is interesting, but when God feels far away, odds are He is closer than ever. Why? Because God is not known to pack up and leave during the night in an evil act of abandonment. One of the last things that God wants is for us to rely on emotion. What would come of that? I think that there would be a lot of spoiled Christians thinking that God somehow owed it to them to keep them happy at all times. There would be a world of “baby Christians” and maturity would be a foreign term.
This semester I have gone through some refining. There were days that God felt close and days where I wondered where He had gone. Yet, calling on Him proved that He was there because He answered each prayer. I just pray that I can keep on trusting when again God does not feel close.
WORKS CITED
Keener, Craig S. “James,” Pages 686-704 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Perkins, Pheme. “The Letter of James.” Pages 2171-2172 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Hebrews Blog 2
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NRSV
“It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 The Message
I seem to go through random times of doubting. I think every Christian also goes through the same thing. This past week has been one of those randomly-finding-thoughts-of-doubt weeks. While the seem random, they are placed right before worship at chapel or during a Bible class. They are not strong doubts. Actually, most of them have started off with the words “What if...” you know. “What if there is nothing after this life?” “What if people have twisted God into what we believe today as a loving God?” There have even been some like “What if I am unable to keep believing?”
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving I sat in chapel and was really happy just to be there. As the music started up and the people were shifted into a time of musical worship to God I got those random doubts. I closed my eyes and sang along with the songs. I had learned not to allow thoughts to take over what is supposed to be a time about God. But then the speaker got up and began to talk. Overall, the talk was frustrating because he too was kind of doubting. And by the end of his talk there was nothing positive coming out of his mouth. He ended the talk in a very negative way. And, bam, chapel was over. I sat there and shook my head. No matter what we are feeling, God is still in control, couldn't the guy have said that? God is still on His throne! God is still sovereign! God is still alive and moving! Faith is not about how I feel or how you feel.
Last December I sat in the Pray Room at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City allowing myself to ask the Lord of All questions that sounded “stupid.” They were not stupid, but I felt stupid having to ask them. One of the questions was, “God, what is faith?” I was reading a book by Bill Johnson called When Heaven Invades Earth and as I read Bill gave this verse:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 NRSV.
At that I closed the book and switched to my Bible to read on in Hebrews. I found the whole chapter rich in the answer to the question I had asked.
I wish that I could say that I remembered Hebrews 11 after chapel, but I did not. I went to lunch and found out that my semester had just gotten more stressful. Then I took some time alone with God. I was not reminded of Hebrews 11 as I struggled with doubt because I struggled more with stress and instead God reminded me of Philippians 4:6 and 4:13.
However, the fact that I sought out God was very positive. My point of this blog is that faith is not a feeling anymore than love is simply a feeling. You just have to have faith through random doubt because even small thoughts of doubt can turn into perseverance...but that is for my next blog or two.
“It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 The Message
I seem to go through random times of doubting. I think every Christian also goes through the same thing. This past week has been one of those randomly-finding-thoughts-of-doubt weeks. While the seem random, they are placed right before worship at chapel or during a Bible class. They are not strong doubts. Actually, most of them have started off with the words “What if...” you know. “What if there is nothing after this life?” “What if people have twisted God into what we believe today as a loving God?” There have even been some like “What if I am unable to keep believing?”
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving I sat in chapel and was really happy just to be there. As the music started up and the people were shifted into a time of musical worship to God I got those random doubts. I closed my eyes and sang along with the songs. I had learned not to allow thoughts to take over what is supposed to be a time about God. But then the speaker got up and began to talk. Overall, the talk was frustrating because he too was kind of doubting. And by the end of his talk there was nothing positive coming out of his mouth. He ended the talk in a very negative way. And, bam, chapel was over. I sat there and shook my head. No matter what we are feeling, God is still in control, couldn't the guy have said that? God is still on His throne! God is still sovereign! God is still alive and moving! Faith is not about how I feel or how you feel.
Last December I sat in the Pray Room at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City allowing myself to ask the Lord of All questions that sounded “stupid.” They were not stupid, but I felt stupid having to ask them. One of the questions was, “God, what is faith?” I was reading a book by Bill Johnson called When Heaven Invades Earth and as I read Bill gave this verse:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 NRSV.
At that I closed the book and switched to my Bible to read on in Hebrews. I found the whole chapter rich in the answer to the question I had asked.
I wish that I could say that I remembered Hebrews 11 after chapel, but I did not. I went to lunch and found out that my semester had just gotten more stressful. Then I took some time alone with God. I was not reminded of Hebrews 11 as I struggled with doubt because I struggled more with stress and instead God reminded me of Philippians 4:6 and 4:13.
However, the fact that I sought out God was very positive. My point of this blog is that faith is not a feeling anymore than love is simply a feeling. You just have to have faith through random doubt because even small thoughts of doubt can turn into perseverance...but that is for my next blog or two.
Hebrews Blog 1
In the Second Century AD, the authorship of Hebrews was attributed to Paul, however, both Craig S. Keener and Donald A. Hagner agree that Hebrews was not written by him. Hagner gives no other options for authorship besides saying that the author could have been in the Pauline circle (Hagner 2151), while Keener says that there are similarities between Luke-Acts, but says that the style is not completely Lukan. Keener does say that the top candidate for authorship is Silas and that the date of the text is around AD 64. Silas was a Jewish Roman citizen and likely a scribe who would have had the education to write a work such as Hebrews (Keener 648). Hebrews is probably a sermon letter-essay. The audience of the letter-essay is “predominately Jewish and are under pressure to give up their Christian distinctives (Keener 648). If Hebrews was not written in 64 AD then it was probably written closer to 68 AD because Paul is not mentioned. However, Hanger says that Hebrews was probably written around 65 AD and not after the Temple's destruction in 70 AD because there is no comment on the destruction. Another issue on dating the text is whether or not Nero had begun his persecution of the Church. Specifically, Hagner says, “If Nero's persecution had not yet taken place, then a likely date for Hebrews is c. 65 CE” (2152).
“About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” ~ Hebrews 5:11-14
Ouch. Let's face it, that was meant to convict the Christians who read it. Really, it should convict Christians today. No, not every Christian, but many of them. I would even go as far as to say “most of them” because every Christian has more to learn and has in some way failed to do their part at various times, and instead have a acted as if they were new in the faith.
Or maybe there are Christians who are only followers one day a week. Monday through Saturday they live for themselves without a second thought to God at all. I know that I do not think of God as much as I want to. Yeah, I have things that I do daily that remind me of why I am alive. Yeah, I go to a Christian school and some classes pray before they begin. I have been a Christian for years now. Yet sometimes I wonder how many of us have been Christians for years now and nothing more. I mean we have the title...but we should by now know enough to be involved in intelligent conversation teaching and learning at the same time instead of just 'learning.'
WORKS CITED
Hagner, Donald A. “The Letter to the Hebrews.” Pages 2151-2153 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Keener, Craig S. “Hebrews,” Pages 647-685 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
“About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” ~ Hebrews 5:11-14
Ouch. Let's face it, that was meant to convict the Christians who read it. Really, it should convict Christians today. No, not every Christian, but many of them. I would even go as far as to say “most of them” because every Christian has more to learn and has in some way failed to do their part at various times, and instead have a acted as if they were new in the faith.
Or maybe there are Christians who are only followers one day a week. Monday through Saturday they live for themselves without a second thought to God at all. I know that I do not think of God as much as I want to. Yeah, I have things that I do daily that remind me of why I am alive. Yeah, I go to a Christian school and some classes pray before they begin. I have been a Christian for years now. Yet sometimes I wonder how many of us have been Christians for years now and nothing more. I mean we have the title...but we should by now know enough to be involved in intelligent conversation teaching and learning at the same time instead of just 'learning.'
WORKS CITED
Hagner, Donald A. “The Letter to the Hebrews.” Pages 2151-2153 in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible with the Apocrypha. Edited by Walter J. Harrelson et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Keener, Craig S. “Hebrews,” Pages 647-685 in The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
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