I number of years ago a pop group called the Culture Club lead by Boy George wrote these words. “I am a man without conviction; I’m a man who doesn’t know; how to sell a contradiction” Karma he sang “it comes and goes, it comes and goes”.
Karma is a concept associated with Hindu and Buddhists belief. It has been defined as “an action bringing upon oneself inevitable results for good or bad.” As it applies to this life Karma is very much like the Biblical concept of sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Karma is not a chameleon but a sure and tested spiritual law. It is understood that way by Bible believers and many others who populated the earth.
When applied to human character a person who is a chameleon is “fickle or inconsistent” Those who are fickle and inconsistent, are those without conviction and who do not know. There are several reasons why someone would not know a thing. They are incapable of knowing, they are ignorant and need education, or they may choose not to know. Karma or sowing and reaping is not so much related to thinking or understanding but to doing. The Biblical admonishment is to
Set forth in Galatians 6:10 is “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
The spiritual law associated with sowing and reaping is consistent. They are like math, 1+1=2 in any language and any culture. In Deuteronomy 30:15 the Lord says to his people. “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” Each person on earth has been given this choice. Life and prosperity or death and destruction, what that means may be defined differently in different places and in different generations but God has always wanted to give people “Good Karma”
The scripture define doing evil as sowing to the flesh. It is like trying to make 1+1=3. It will not work. The consequences are serious, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction;” The flesh is a counterfeit. It offers happiness but brings about destruction in every area of life. May chose this path to their ultimate demise.
However, the opposite is also true, “whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” The Lord knows that this is not easy. We are told to “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6.
Culture club did not know how to sell a contradiction. Fortunately we are called to sell truth. I pray you are buying seed from the right table and sowing in the right field.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/culture+club/karma+chameleon_20034651.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Karma
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Chameleon
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Prophecy For Our Generation
“:Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:10-12
The fulfillment of prophecy is one of the great rocks on which believers can build their faith. Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 6 that the wise builder builds his foundation on rocks or solid ground and not on sand. Peter, the one Jesus called the rock, tells us that the prophets pointed to and predicted the suffering of Christ and when they did so they did it for our generation. The two great passages that reveal this suffering are Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. I am sure that Jesus referred to these passages when he said to them “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24: 25-27
Psalm 22 among other things says; “they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing”. Psalm 22 is written by King David nearly 1,000 years before the crucifixion of Jesus. Each verse in the psalm has great significance. His pierced hands and feet clearly speak of his death on the cross. The casting of lots for his clothing was seen among the roman soldiers and is witnessed by those who saw and recorded the events of the Lord suffering and death.
Isaiah 53 tells us why this suffering had to occur. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
When the Lord wanted to extend the Gospel into Africa it was through a passage in Isaiah 53 that he did it. An Ethiopian official when reading this passage asked Phillip this question, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” Acts 8 where we read about this incident tells us that it was an angel that directed Phillip to the Ethiopian official at just that time. Peter told us earlier that “Even angels long to look into these things.”
It may be that an angel is directing you to this blog at just this time, not for the blogs sake, not even for the scriptures sake but that you may be introduced to Jesus and the prophecies that were fulfilled in him for our generation in order that you would be saved.
The fulfillment of prophecy is one of the great rocks on which believers can build their faith. Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 6 that the wise builder builds his foundation on rocks or solid ground and not on sand. Peter, the one Jesus called the rock, tells us that the prophets pointed to and predicted the suffering of Christ and when they did so they did it for our generation. The two great passages that reveal this suffering are Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. I am sure that Jesus referred to these passages when he said to them “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24: 25-27
Psalm 22 among other things says; “they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing”. Psalm 22 is written by King David nearly 1,000 years before the crucifixion of Jesus. Each verse in the psalm has great significance. His pierced hands and feet clearly speak of his death on the cross. The casting of lots for his clothing was seen among the roman soldiers and is witnessed by those who saw and recorded the events of the Lord suffering and death.
Isaiah 53 tells us why this suffering had to occur. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
When the Lord wanted to extend the Gospel into Africa it was through a passage in Isaiah 53 that he did it. An Ethiopian official when reading this passage asked Phillip this question, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” Acts 8 where we read about this incident tells us that it was an angel that directed Phillip to the Ethiopian official at just that time. Peter told us earlier that “Even angels long to look into these things.”
It may be that an angel is directing you to this blog at just this time, not for the blogs sake, not even for the scriptures sake but that you may be introduced to Jesus and the prophecies that were fulfilled in him for our generation in order that you would be saved.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The Cherokee: Worshippers in the Harvest
The Cherokee through their festival season represent a group that reinforced monotheism among a people group that lived in the Americas and they have additional interest for me because of a rich cultural memory that was contained in their festival season. “Writing in 1701 William Bartman said of the Cherokee … were no by no means idolaters, …So far from idolatry were they that they had no religious images among them, or any idolatrous rights rite or ceremony that he could observe. Instead they adored the Great Spirit, whom they described as the giver and taker away of the breath of life, with the most profound and respectful homage.” Their festival season was a great source of religious observance and cultural memory but “the aged Plains holy men lament that because of white pressures, vital parts of their national ritual life were put aside in historic times, are now irretrievably lost, and the people have suffered greatly because of it”
Thomas Mails has captured what he can of this great culture and the Cherokee festivals through research of what source documents are available. “James Adair and Irish trader who lived among the Cherokees for forty years, decided the Indians were indeed one of the lost tribes of Israel…He used as evidence such topics as their festivals, feasts, and religious rites; their absolutions and anointing; their laws of uncleanness, their avoidance of unclean things; their practices of marriage, divorce, and punishment for adultery; their ornaments…Adair views reflect those of other writers in the 1600 and 1700 they include Gregorio Garcia, Bartolome de las Casas, Thomas Thorowgood all writing between 1607 and 1660, and Cotton Mather, Roger Williams, William Penn and Charles Beatty writing circa 1770. Mails list the 6 Cherokee festivals as The First Moon of Spring Festival, the New Green Corn Feast, The Mature or Ripe Green Corn Feast, The Great New Moon Feast, The Propitiation and Cementation Festival and finally the Festival of the Exalting, or Bounding Bush. As I did with the Jewish Festivals I will go through each of the festivals observing for patterns of honoring God in creation and reflecting God in the examination of the Cherokee conscience.
The First Moon of Spring Festival
Immersion, fasting from food and sleep accompanied by dancing, sacrifice and then feasting, were consistent with the rituals of the Cherokee. There were specific aspects of the ceremonies of the Cherokee that were inconsistent with Biblical precepts. Consulting with divining crystals in particular, this however does not negate the numerous cultural parallels in this one feast alone. Immersion and each one of the other spiritual disciplines has well known equivalents in the Scriptures. Further more the society had other redemptive gifts that were in large measure lost to the church of the last 17th and early 18th century church including the type of future projecting prophecy practiced by Agabus and Paul and others in the New Testament.
The New Green Corn Feast
This feast was one that determined the time to plant. Planting was monitored closely by elders in order to ensure just distribution of food among the seven clans of the Cherokee. A six day fast would precede the planting in order to ensure that God’s blessing would be upon the planting. Additionally the feast had offering made to the Lord, and again sacrifices. The application seems very similar to the admonishment given to believers in Proverbs 3: 9-10. “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over…”
The Ripe Green Corn Feast
This feast is again done in consultation with the elders of the clans. Glory to God is given in forms of exuberant praise that is just being recaptured by the church now through contemporary forms of music and expression. The celebration is described in the following manner.
“This was a time of unmeasured exultation, and the people burst into enthusiasm of joy. While the women and children watched, men took turns performing the festival dance peculiar to the commemoration, and when in the morning the men met in the sacred square, each on held above his head in his right hand his green bough, As the leader struck up the music with his rattle and started the movement, the other men fell in behind him with rapturous expressions on their faces as they imitated the green corn that filled the fields of those who were virtuous. They ran, leaped, sang, and exulted, Even though they appeared to be in wild disorder, they followed ancient rules and were guided by their leader, who during each of seven dances lead them seven times around the tree trunk and under the shade of branches that represented the sheltering arms of the creator.”
Within this quote there are several redemptive elements that can be drawn out. The first being that the worship is lead by men, much of modern preaching and music is catered toward women. It included a physical from of dancing that is exemplified by the warrior- poet David son of Jesse, King of Israel. The festival was a celebration of work and that was seen as sacred. Work and worship have been dichotomized in most of the church word today. Nancy Pearcey, a visiting scholar at Biola, states in her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity, “industrialization forced men to seek work away from home, in factories and offices, which created a split between the public and private spheres of life. The public sphere became secularized through the new values of competition and self-interest, and the private sphere came to represent the old values of nurturing and religion, Pearcey said. Thus, religion came to be seen as for women and children and not as relevant to the “real” world of business, politics and academia.”
The Cherokee Ripe Green Corn Feast also had an association in tradition that was ancient and reinforced traditional roles. Among men in the church this is known as discipleship. Among the Cherokee it was a bonding of men with generation past, present and future. The church needs such a plan. In the 1700’s and 1800’s looking to Cherokee as a keeping of redemptive gifts was not on any missionaries mind even if they did believe they were the lost tribes of Israel. This is unfortunate because following the Cherokee example could have captured the for Americans a form of honoring God in an agricultural environment that moved beyond the four walls the church building and literally brought it into the harvest field as God prescribed the ‘to Jew first and then to the’ ….Cherokee.
The Great New Moon Festival
The Great Moon Festival repeats the cycle of immersion, fasting from food and sleep, accompanied by dancing, divination is also attached to this festival through the use of Crystals.
The Propitiation and Cementation Festival
This festival is built around the bonding of two men in perpetual friendship one that represented the union between the ‘Cherokee on the earth with the Creator Who Dwelt Above”
The Exalting or Bounding Bush Festival
This feast confronts the difficulty men have in honoring God with offerings and how this reluctance can be overcome with community support. This was demonstrated through a dance in which men held tobacco in their hands ‘at intervals they would suddenly pull back their hands back, as if reluctant to sacrifice the offering. When at last they reach the fire, they as one person threw their offering into the fire.’ The ceremony captures the collective nature of our struggle with selfishness and again could have meaning for the church, certainly the Church of the Cherokee if such rituals were retained in the church proper. Numerous Christian churches are named among the Cherokee at this time. Some of what I am talking about has been maintained other aspects have been lost.
“In 1900 an ever growing majority of Cherokee attended Christian churches, but sermons were in Cherokee and there were strong elements of traditional cosmology in religious practices, … By 1913 there were ten churches on the Qualla Boundary reservation in North Carolina, all but two with Indian preachers preaching in their native tongue; some of these were traditional medicine men and ceremonial leaders who saw no conflict between traditional religion and Christian teaching. Council meetings always opened with a Christian prayer.”
When Jesus says go into all the world and make disciples and teach the nations he did not say usurp their culture. If a people group is still on the planet God has retained in them the understanding of who he is at some level. This is often found within the rites and ceremonies of the people. This was certainly true of the Cherokee. Its application for today is the understanding that God involved in every part of our life. The Cherokee teach the Church several important things. Festivals are markers that return us to an appreciation of who God is and what He has done for us. They involve the whole community. Men are to worship enthusiastically and reverently seeing their work as sacred as their Sabbath. The selfishness of mankind can best be overcome when generosity is expressed as a community and Holiness unto God remains a community concern.
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 141
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 161
Ehle, John. Trails of Tears, The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation.Doubleday, 1988, pg 1
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 164
Pesanmbbee, Michelene E –“When the Earth Shakes: the Cherokee Prophecies of 1811-12.” Journal Title: American Indian Quarterly. Volume: 17. Issue: 3. Publication Year: 1993. Page Number: 301. http://www.questia.com/read/95213574
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 172
Pivec, Holly “The Feminization of the Church, Why its Music and Message are Driving Men Away.” http://www.biola.edu/news/biolamag/articles/06spring/feminization.cfm
Pivec, Holly “The Feminization of the Church, Why its Music and Message are Driving Men Away.” http://www.biola.edu/news/biolamag/articles/06spring/feminization.cfm
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 173
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 175
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 183
“Cherokee Religion” Philtar Religion, A Division of Religion and Philosophy University of Cumbria http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/nam/cherok.html
Thomas Mails has captured what he can of this great culture and the Cherokee festivals through research of what source documents are available. “James Adair and Irish trader who lived among the Cherokees for forty years, decided the Indians were indeed one of the lost tribes of Israel…He used as evidence such topics as their festivals, feasts, and religious rites; their absolutions and anointing; their laws of uncleanness, their avoidance of unclean things; their practices of marriage, divorce, and punishment for adultery; their ornaments…Adair views reflect those of other writers in the 1600 and 1700 they include Gregorio Garcia, Bartolome de las Casas, Thomas Thorowgood all writing between 1607 and 1660, and Cotton Mather, Roger Williams, William Penn and Charles Beatty writing circa 1770. Mails list the 6 Cherokee festivals as The First Moon of Spring Festival, the New Green Corn Feast, The Mature or Ripe Green Corn Feast, The Great New Moon Feast, The Propitiation and Cementation Festival and finally the Festival of the Exalting, or Bounding Bush. As I did with the Jewish Festivals I will go through each of the festivals observing for patterns of honoring God in creation and reflecting God in the examination of the Cherokee conscience.
The First Moon of Spring Festival
Immersion, fasting from food and sleep accompanied by dancing, sacrifice and then feasting, were consistent with the rituals of the Cherokee. There were specific aspects of the ceremonies of the Cherokee that were inconsistent with Biblical precepts. Consulting with divining crystals in particular, this however does not negate the numerous cultural parallels in this one feast alone. Immersion and each one of the other spiritual disciplines has well known equivalents in the Scriptures. Further more the society had other redemptive gifts that were in large measure lost to the church of the last 17th and early 18th century church including the type of future projecting prophecy practiced by Agabus and Paul and others in the New Testament.
The New Green Corn Feast
This feast was one that determined the time to plant. Planting was monitored closely by elders in order to ensure just distribution of food among the seven clans of the Cherokee. A six day fast would precede the planting in order to ensure that God’s blessing would be upon the planting. Additionally the feast had offering made to the Lord, and again sacrifices. The application seems very similar to the admonishment given to believers in Proverbs 3: 9-10. “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over…”
The Ripe Green Corn Feast
This feast is again done in consultation with the elders of the clans. Glory to God is given in forms of exuberant praise that is just being recaptured by the church now through contemporary forms of music and expression. The celebration is described in the following manner.
“This was a time of unmeasured exultation, and the people burst into enthusiasm of joy. While the women and children watched, men took turns performing the festival dance peculiar to the commemoration, and when in the morning the men met in the sacred square, each on held above his head in his right hand his green bough, As the leader struck up the music with his rattle and started the movement, the other men fell in behind him with rapturous expressions on their faces as they imitated the green corn that filled the fields of those who were virtuous. They ran, leaped, sang, and exulted, Even though they appeared to be in wild disorder, they followed ancient rules and were guided by their leader, who during each of seven dances lead them seven times around the tree trunk and under the shade of branches that represented the sheltering arms of the creator.”
Within this quote there are several redemptive elements that can be drawn out. The first being that the worship is lead by men, much of modern preaching and music is catered toward women. It included a physical from of dancing that is exemplified by the warrior- poet David son of Jesse, King of Israel. The festival was a celebration of work and that was seen as sacred. Work and worship have been dichotomized in most of the church word today. Nancy Pearcey, a visiting scholar at Biola, states in her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity, “industrialization forced men to seek work away from home, in factories and offices, which created a split between the public and private spheres of life. The public sphere became secularized through the new values of competition and self-interest, and the private sphere came to represent the old values of nurturing and religion, Pearcey said. Thus, religion came to be seen as for women and children and not as relevant to the “real” world of business, politics and academia.”
The Cherokee Ripe Green Corn Feast also had an association in tradition that was ancient and reinforced traditional roles. Among men in the church this is known as discipleship. Among the Cherokee it was a bonding of men with generation past, present and future. The church needs such a plan. In the 1700’s and 1800’s looking to Cherokee as a keeping of redemptive gifts was not on any missionaries mind even if they did believe they were the lost tribes of Israel. This is unfortunate because following the Cherokee example could have captured the for Americans a form of honoring God in an agricultural environment that moved beyond the four walls the church building and literally brought it into the harvest field as God prescribed the ‘to Jew first and then to the’ ….Cherokee.
The Great New Moon Festival
The Great Moon Festival repeats the cycle of immersion, fasting from food and sleep, accompanied by dancing, divination is also attached to this festival through the use of Crystals.
The Propitiation and Cementation Festival
This festival is built around the bonding of two men in perpetual friendship one that represented the union between the ‘Cherokee on the earth with the Creator Who Dwelt Above”
The Exalting or Bounding Bush Festival
This feast confronts the difficulty men have in honoring God with offerings and how this reluctance can be overcome with community support. This was demonstrated through a dance in which men held tobacco in their hands ‘at intervals they would suddenly pull back their hands back, as if reluctant to sacrifice the offering. When at last they reach the fire, they as one person threw their offering into the fire.’ The ceremony captures the collective nature of our struggle with selfishness and again could have meaning for the church, certainly the Church of the Cherokee if such rituals were retained in the church proper. Numerous Christian churches are named among the Cherokee at this time. Some of what I am talking about has been maintained other aspects have been lost.
“In 1900 an ever growing majority of Cherokee attended Christian churches, but sermons were in Cherokee and there were strong elements of traditional cosmology in religious practices, … By 1913 there were ten churches on the Qualla Boundary reservation in North Carolina, all but two with Indian preachers preaching in their native tongue; some of these were traditional medicine men and ceremonial leaders who saw no conflict between traditional religion and Christian teaching. Council meetings always opened with a Christian prayer.”
When Jesus says go into all the world and make disciples and teach the nations he did not say usurp their culture. If a people group is still on the planet God has retained in them the understanding of who he is at some level. This is often found within the rites and ceremonies of the people. This was certainly true of the Cherokee. Its application for today is the understanding that God involved in every part of our life. The Cherokee teach the Church several important things. Festivals are markers that return us to an appreciation of who God is and what He has done for us. They involve the whole community. Men are to worship enthusiastically and reverently seeing their work as sacred as their Sabbath. The selfishness of mankind can best be overcome when generosity is expressed as a community and Holiness unto God remains a community concern.
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 141
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 161
Ehle, John. Trails of Tears, The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation.Doubleday, 1988, pg 1
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 164
Pesanmbbee, Michelene E –“When the Earth Shakes: the Cherokee Prophecies of 1811-12.” Journal Title: American Indian Quarterly. Volume: 17. Issue: 3. Publication Year: 1993. Page Number: 301. http://www.questia.com/read/95213574
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 172
Pivec, Holly “The Feminization of the Church, Why its Music and Message are Driving Men Away.” http://www.biola.edu/news/biolamag/articles/06spring/feminization.cfm
Pivec, Holly “The Feminization of the Church, Why its Music and Message are Driving Men Away.” http://www.biola.edu/news/biolamag/articles/06spring/feminization.cfm
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 173
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 175
Mails, Thomas, The Cherokee People, (Council Oak Books, 1992) pg 183
“Cherokee Religion” Philtar Religion, A Division of Religion and Philosophy University of Cumbria http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/nam/cherok.html
The Choice of Consensual Sex
All sex is a choice. The great debate around human sexuality has lead to a great deal of discussion around sex and its relationship to the Christian church. The debate is much too limited and does not get to the heart of Biblical understanding of sexuality. All consensual sex is a choice. We make a choice about where, with whom, and when and how often we have sex.
The Biblical model for sex is a simple one, one man for one woman for life. Men and women have ignored this admonishment throughout the history. Some of those individuals are called ‘men after God’s own heart.’ Sexual sin is not an unpardonable sin. It is however a different kind of sin.
1 Corinthians 6 speaks to this issue. It tells us to “Flee from sexual immorality.” It does so because of the power of sexual temptation. It tells us why, “All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” It prompts us to believe the physical body is more than just a shell and that it is more than just biological. It calls us to believe that it is the place where God himself can dwell. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” It reminds us that the price that was paid for our bodies was the cost of Christ physical body. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
If you don’t believe in sin then ‘it is all good’. However, you can not claim to be a Bible believer and not believe in sexual sin and you can not claim to be a Christian and not believe that God has made sex Holy.
It is the choice to make sex Holy that the Church is called to. What a non believer does with their choice of sexuality is their business, but what the Church does is the Churches business. God wants to dwell in the physical body of the believer. The sexual union between a husband and wife has a direct connection to the relationship between Christ and his Church. One is a reflection of the other. Ephesians 5: 31-32 read, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
The Biblical model for sex is a simple one, one man for one woman for life. Men and women have ignored this admonishment throughout the history. Some of those individuals are called ‘men after God’s own heart.’ Sexual sin is not an unpardonable sin. It is however a different kind of sin.
1 Corinthians 6 speaks to this issue. It tells us to “Flee from sexual immorality.” It does so because of the power of sexual temptation. It tells us why, “All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” It prompts us to believe the physical body is more than just a shell and that it is more than just biological. It calls us to believe that it is the place where God himself can dwell. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” It reminds us that the price that was paid for our bodies was the cost of Christ physical body. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
If you don’t believe in sin then ‘it is all good’. However, you can not claim to be a Bible believer and not believe in sexual sin and you can not claim to be a Christian and not believe that God has made sex Holy.
It is the choice to make sex Holy that the Church is called to. What a non believer does with their choice of sexuality is their business, but what the Church does is the Churches business. God wants to dwell in the physical body of the believer. The sexual union between a husband and wife has a direct connection to the relationship between Christ and his Church. One is a reflection of the other. Ephesians 5: 31-32 read, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
United In Love
The Missing Ingrediant or the Tie that Binds
The making of a universal Body of Christ is the heart cry of God. Paul said, “There is one body one Spirit, just as you are called to the one hope of your calling one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God the Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” When we look at the church today we see many different denominations or what I call tribes in Christianity. There is a good deal of unity within these tribes. It is pretty easy to get together a bunch of Charismatic believers, it is not very hard to bring together folks from a traditional Evangelical background. (Baptist and Calvinistic kind of folks) It is not even hard today to bring together a Roman Catholic and an Episcopalian. This is a type of unity but it is unity within kind and not unity within the Body of Christ.
Chuck Swindoll has pointed out that people love to universalize their experiences. If I speak in tongues, everybody should speak in tongues, if I believe in the pre wrath rapture everybody should believe in the pre wrath rapture. If I celebrate the sacraments everybody should celebrate the sacraments! These kinds of statements come from people who want to take their spiritual experience and universalize it to everyone else. They may even be right about their position. However, if the church is going to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power we are going to have to learn from each other.
There are three types of Christians that I have listed. One I will call the Beatitude or good works Christians, Spiritual Gifts Christians and Doctrinal Christians. Each one reflects the nature of God. The late Mother Theresa was a Beatitude kind of Christian, Chuck Swindoll is a Doctrinal kind of Christian. Benny Hinn is a Spiritual Gifts kind of Christian. The differences between these Christian leaders may seem profound but the differences that we have are not a problem. The Gospels are written with these differences in mind. Matthew for good works, Mark for power, and Luke to measure the mind. Many people are surprised to learn the Body of Christ agrees on almost all the major doctrines of the church, especially the nature of God and the person of Jesus Christ.
So why are we so loosely bound together? The problem is a Love problem. We don’t value the gifts that are in each other. The Church will continue to be broken until we grow into the fullness of faith together. 1 Corinthians 12:25 says God has arranged the body so, “there may be no dissensions within the body, but the members may have care for each other. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
1 Corinthians 13 says, “If I speak with the tongues and have not Love I am a clanging cymbal” this applies to spiritual gifts people. “If I understand mysteries and have all knowledge but have not Love I am nothing” this applies to Evangelical teachers. “If I give my possessions to the poor and have not Love I am nothing” this applies to beatitude or good work Christians. Let us begin to come together as tribes following the simple command of our savior. “Let us Love one another.”
The making of a universal Body of Christ is the heart cry of God. Paul said, “There is one body one Spirit, just as you are called to the one hope of your calling one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God the Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” When we look at the church today we see many different denominations or what I call tribes in Christianity. There is a good deal of unity within these tribes. It is pretty easy to get together a bunch of Charismatic believers, it is not very hard to bring together folks from a traditional Evangelical background. (Baptist and Calvinistic kind of folks) It is not even hard today to bring together a Roman Catholic and an Episcopalian. This is a type of unity but it is unity within kind and not unity within the Body of Christ.
Chuck Swindoll has pointed out that people love to universalize their experiences. If I speak in tongues, everybody should speak in tongues, if I believe in the pre wrath rapture everybody should believe in the pre wrath rapture. If I celebrate the sacraments everybody should celebrate the sacraments! These kinds of statements come from people who want to take their spiritual experience and universalize it to everyone else. They may even be right about their position. However, if the church is going to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power we are going to have to learn from each other.
There are three types of Christians that I have listed. One I will call the Beatitude or good works Christians, Spiritual Gifts Christians and Doctrinal Christians. Each one reflects the nature of God. The late Mother Theresa was a Beatitude kind of Christian, Chuck Swindoll is a Doctrinal kind of Christian. Benny Hinn is a Spiritual Gifts kind of Christian. The differences between these Christian leaders may seem profound but the differences that we have are not a problem. The Gospels are written with these differences in mind. Matthew for good works, Mark for power, and Luke to measure the mind. Many people are surprised to learn the Body of Christ agrees on almost all the major doctrines of the church, especially the nature of God and the person of Jesus Christ.
So why are we so loosely bound together? The problem is a Love problem. We don’t value the gifts that are in each other. The Church will continue to be broken until we grow into the fullness of faith together. 1 Corinthians 12:25 says God has arranged the body so, “there may be no dissensions within the body, but the members may have care for each other. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
1 Corinthians 13 says, “If I speak with the tongues and have not Love I am a clanging cymbal” this applies to spiritual gifts people. “If I understand mysteries and have all knowledge but have not Love I am nothing” this applies to Evangelical teachers. “If I give my possessions to the poor and have not Love I am nothing” this applies to beatitude or good work Christians. Let us begin to come together as tribes following the simple command of our savior. “Let us Love one another.”
The Glory of Jerusalem, It once was lost but is now being found
The Glory of Jerusalem, It once was lost but is now being found
“In this "fullness of time" there were 3 prominent cities; Jerusalem, Athens Greece), and Rome. From Jerusalem we have the story of salvation history. We get the Old Testament, we learn about the family of God. In Greece, humanity learned to ask the most penetrating questions about the most important issues such as: What is just? Does might make right? How do we know what something is? How can we know the truth? From Greece we also are provided with our Christian vocabulary, i.e., Logos (Jn. 1:1). From Rome we get the social structure through which all of this flows into our own time. It is the basis of secular law and even the organization of our Church from its earliest beginnings with the apostles.
The richness and strength of Greco-Roman culture was its philosophy and order. Both would be incorporated into the church over time through the theologians and administrators of the church. To this day Roman Catholic divisions are called dioceses; a Roman geographic division and Priest continue to have an educational experience steeped in Greek philosophy. The break from Judaism however meant the loss of much of the Biblical instruction contained in the Torah and the road map to a great deal of Biblical living. It was not a complete break with Biblical understanding. It was in fact a partial application of Paul’s model in Acts 17:26. But partial applications are incomplete applications and sometimes 2 out is 3 is bad and in this case it was tragic. The church fathers developed and theological frame work around Greco-Roman cultural truths, but they loss the Glory of Jerusalem, and what it meant for Jesus to fulfill the law and the prophets. Jesus stands of a hill to look over his great city, his future home and cries,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Matthew 23:47
Many have thought that Jesus was only weeping for the Jewish people in this lament, but he was lamenting for all people. For the scriptures say of that temple, “I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7
The destruction of the temple was not just the removal of the sacrificial system for the Jew but it was the removal of the living object for the Gentile world that “it is finished.” Ephesians 2:14 says, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,” He speaks he of the separation that was between Jew and Gentile. If they were open to Rabbi Paul the Apostle the church fathers might have heard him say, “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Un-circumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”Ephesians 2:11-13
The church fathers were not wrong in retaining Greek philosophy or Roman order. These in face are part of the redemptive gifts that the Lord wanted to incorporate into his church. It was part of the ‘fullness of time’ plan as referenced Galatians 4:4. It speaks of the Christ, the Anointed one who had come into the world to Jew and Gentile alike. But the fathers also lost Paul’s zeal for evangelism as expressed in Romans 1:16. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
In the fullness of time, meant that the Glory of Jerusalem could be seen, the wisdom of Athens could be contemplated and that strength of Rome would allow us to live at peace. It was the expression of God’s desire for us to worship him with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our strength. It highlights the predominance the redemptive gifts found in the cities of that age.
The church fathers error was not just in what it lost in rejecting its Jewish roots but in what it retained. Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. What this mean is that there was not a limited priesthood but a priesthood of all believers. It was the fulfillment of Mosses prayer that ‘all would prophecy’ It is what Peter told the Jewish witnesses on the day of Pentecost. ‘I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” Acts 2:18. It was the removal of the sacrifice incorporated in the church father’s Mass when each priest and congregation declare “Lord accept the sacrifice of your hands… for our good and the good of all the church.”
It is impossible to over state this sin and the open rejection of the Jewish culture and by extension Biblical culture that was practiced and taught by the church fathers. Consider this quote by Justin Martyr stated in a dialogue with Trypho, between 138A.D. and 161 A.D and John Chrysostom circa 380 AD as it relates and cultural feast as described in a previous blog. He said,
“We too, would observe your circumcision of the flesh, your Sabbath days, and in a word, all your festivals, if we were not aware of the reason why they were imposed upon you, namely, because of your sins and the hardness of heart."
His wrong conclusions then are built upon by wrong justifications.
"The custom of circumcising the flesh, handed down from Abraham, was given to you as a distinguishing mark, to set you off from other nations and from us Christians. The purpose of this was that you and only you might suffer the afflictions that are now justly yours; that only your land be desolated, and you cities ruined by fire, that the fruits of you land be eaten by strangers before your very eyes; that not one of you be permitted to enter your city of Jerusalem. Your circumcision of the flesh is the only mark by which you can certainly be distinguished from other men…as I stated before it was by reason of your sins and the sins of your fathers that, among other precepts, God imposed upon you the observence of the sabbath as a mark.”
Martyr could not have been more wrong. Bad theology always leads to bad doctrine, stated another way, bad thinking always leads to wrong doing. Other church fathers would carry their anti-Semitism even further. John Chrysostom (344-407 A.D.) – One of the "greatest" of church fathers; known as "The Golden Mouthed." A missionary preacher famous for his sermons and addresses stated,
The synagogue is worse than a brothel…it is the den of scoundrels and the repair of wild beasts…the temple of demons devoted to idolatrous cults…the refuge of brigands and dabauchees, and the cavern of devils. It is a criminal assembly of Jews…a place of meeting for the assassins of Christ… a house worse than a drinking shop…a den of thieves, a house of ill fame, a dwelling of iniquity, the refuge of devils, a gulf and a abyss of perdition."…"I would say the same things about their souls… As for me, I hate the synagogue…I hate the Jews for the same reason.
To the church father’s mind there were both cultural and theological reasons for creating a Christian festival season separate from the Jews. The one could have been done without it being at the expense of the other. Then Jew and Gentile would have been blessed together. There were questions of authority and ethnicity that drove much of their thinking. Isaiah Gafni points out that the early church that kept the Jewish calendar were dependent upon non believing Rabbis to set. Initially the remembrance Christ death burial and resurrection were kept based on the Passover and the Passover date was set by the Rabbis.
Over time the church has become much better at asking the questions of how the culture of a newly evangelized people group can be incorporated into the church. The below quote represents very good thinking around this issue;
“Given that popular or cultural traditions can sometimes be invasive of the Sunday celebration and deprive it of its Christian character, "There is a need for special pastoral attention to the many situations where there is a risk that the popular and cultural traditions of a region may intrude upon the celebration of Sundays and other liturgical feast-days, mingling the spirit of genuine Christian faith with elements which are foreign to it and may distort it. In such cases, catechesis and well-chosen pastoral initiatives need to clarify these situations, eliminating all that is incompatible with the Gospel of Christ. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that these traditions and, by analogy, some recent cultural initiatives in civil society often embody values which are not difficult to integrate with the demands of faith. It rests with the discernment of Pastors to preserve the genuine values found in the culture of a particular social context and especially in popular piety, so that liturgical celebration above all on Sundays and holy days does not suffer but rather may actually benefit"
If this standard had been applied to Jewish life as well as other evangelized groups the church would have been blessed by not just the wisdom of Athens and the order of Rome but also the glory of Jerusalem, Then the mission statement of cultural memory would have been truly seen in the Catechism as it is expressed below.
“As defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Liturgical Year is "The celebration throughout the year of the mysteries of the Lord's birth, life, death, and Resurrection in such a way that the entire year becomes a 'year of the Lord's grace'. Thus the cycle of the liturgical year and the great feasts constitute the basic rhythm of the Christian's life of prayer, with its focal point at Easter”
Within the cultural traditions of the Jewish people is found the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Within the philosophy of the Greek is found the Word of God that would become flesh. Within the order to the Roman is found the discipline that would be necessary to keep the church holy and free from sin. The church has historically maintained two out of three, but sometime two out of three is bad! May we return to a rich understanding of his word and see the glory in all peoples of the earth, to the Jew first and then to the entire world.
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/francis_schaeffer_catholics_greek_philosophy_in_the_bible.htm
http://www.romanrite.com/j030802.html
http://gatesofpraiseministries.blogspot.com/2011/05/jewish-holidays-creation-celebrated.html
Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
“Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
“Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
Gafni, Isaiah, Great World Religions, Judaism, The Teaching Company, 2010, CD http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=6103
“The Feast of the Liturgical Year, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.wf-f.org/LiturgicalCalendar-info.html
“The Feast of the Liturgical Year, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.wf-f.org/LiturgicalCalendar-info.html
“In this "fullness of time" there were 3 prominent cities; Jerusalem, Athens Greece), and Rome. From Jerusalem we have the story of salvation history. We get the Old Testament, we learn about the family of God. In Greece, humanity learned to ask the most penetrating questions about the most important issues such as: What is just? Does might make right? How do we know what something is? How can we know the truth? From Greece we also are provided with our Christian vocabulary, i.e., Logos (Jn. 1:1). From Rome we get the social structure through which all of this flows into our own time. It is the basis of secular law and even the organization of our Church from its earliest beginnings with the apostles.
The richness and strength of Greco-Roman culture was its philosophy and order. Both would be incorporated into the church over time through the theologians and administrators of the church. To this day Roman Catholic divisions are called dioceses; a Roman geographic division and Priest continue to have an educational experience steeped in Greek philosophy. The break from Judaism however meant the loss of much of the Biblical instruction contained in the Torah and the road map to a great deal of Biblical living. It was not a complete break with Biblical understanding. It was in fact a partial application of Paul’s model in Acts 17:26. But partial applications are incomplete applications and sometimes 2 out is 3 is bad and in this case it was tragic. The church fathers developed and theological frame work around Greco-Roman cultural truths, but they loss the Glory of Jerusalem, and what it meant for Jesus to fulfill the law and the prophets. Jesus stands of a hill to look over his great city, his future home and cries,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Matthew 23:47
Many have thought that Jesus was only weeping for the Jewish people in this lament, but he was lamenting for all people. For the scriptures say of that temple, “I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7
The destruction of the temple was not just the removal of the sacrificial system for the Jew but it was the removal of the living object for the Gentile world that “it is finished.” Ephesians 2:14 says, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,” He speaks he of the separation that was between Jew and Gentile. If they were open to Rabbi Paul the Apostle the church fathers might have heard him say, “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Un-circumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”Ephesians 2:11-13
The church fathers were not wrong in retaining Greek philosophy or Roman order. These in face are part of the redemptive gifts that the Lord wanted to incorporate into his church. It was part of the ‘fullness of time’ plan as referenced Galatians 4:4. It speaks of the Christ, the Anointed one who had come into the world to Jew and Gentile alike. But the fathers also lost Paul’s zeal for evangelism as expressed in Romans 1:16. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
In the fullness of time, meant that the Glory of Jerusalem could be seen, the wisdom of Athens could be contemplated and that strength of Rome would allow us to live at peace. It was the expression of God’s desire for us to worship him with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our strength. It highlights the predominance the redemptive gifts found in the cities of that age.
The church fathers error was not just in what it lost in rejecting its Jewish roots but in what it retained. Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. What this mean is that there was not a limited priesthood but a priesthood of all believers. It was the fulfillment of Mosses prayer that ‘all would prophecy’ It is what Peter told the Jewish witnesses on the day of Pentecost. ‘I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” Acts 2:18. It was the removal of the sacrifice incorporated in the church father’s Mass when each priest and congregation declare “Lord accept the sacrifice of your hands… for our good and the good of all the church.”
It is impossible to over state this sin and the open rejection of the Jewish culture and by extension Biblical culture that was practiced and taught by the church fathers. Consider this quote by Justin Martyr stated in a dialogue with Trypho, between 138A.D. and 161 A.D and John Chrysostom circa 380 AD as it relates and cultural feast as described in a previous blog. He said,
“We too, would observe your circumcision of the flesh, your Sabbath days, and in a word, all your festivals, if we were not aware of the reason why they were imposed upon you, namely, because of your sins and the hardness of heart."
His wrong conclusions then are built upon by wrong justifications.
"The custom of circumcising the flesh, handed down from Abraham, was given to you as a distinguishing mark, to set you off from other nations and from us Christians. The purpose of this was that you and only you might suffer the afflictions that are now justly yours; that only your land be desolated, and you cities ruined by fire, that the fruits of you land be eaten by strangers before your very eyes; that not one of you be permitted to enter your city of Jerusalem. Your circumcision of the flesh is the only mark by which you can certainly be distinguished from other men…as I stated before it was by reason of your sins and the sins of your fathers that, among other precepts, God imposed upon you the observence of the sabbath as a mark.”
Martyr could not have been more wrong. Bad theology always leads to bad doctrine, stated another way, bad thinking always leads to wrong doing. Other church fathers would carry their anti-Semitism even further. John Chrysostom (344-407 A.D.) – One of the "greatest" of church fathers; known as "The Golden Mouthed." A missionary preacher famous for his sermons and addresses stated,
The synagogue is worse than a brothel…it is the den of scoundrels and the repair of wild beasts…the temple of demons devoted to idolatrous cults…the refuge of brigands and dabauchees, and the cavern of devils. It is a criminal assembly of Jews…a place of meeting for the assassins of Christ… a house worse than a drinking shop…a den of thieves, a house of ill fame, a dwelling of iniquity, the refuge of devils, a gulf and a abyss of perdition."…"I would say the same things about their souls… As for me, I hate the synagogue…I hate the Jews for the same reason.
To the church father’s mind there were both cultural and theological reasons for creating a Christian festival season separate from the Jews. The one could have been done without it being at the expense of the other. Then Jew and Gentile would have been blessed together. There were questions of authority and ethnicity that drove much of their thinking. Isaiah Gafni points out that the early church that kept the Jewish calendar were dependent upon non believing Rabbis to set. Initially the remembrance Christ death burial and resurrection were kept based on the Passover and the Passover date was set by the Rabbis.
Over time the church has become much better at asking the questions of how the culture of a newly evangelized people group can be incorporated into the church. The below quote represents very good thinking around this issue;
“Given that popular or cultural traditions can sometimes be invasive of the Sunday celebration and deprive it of its Christian character, "There is a need for special pastoral attention to the many situations where there is a risk that the popular and cultural traditions of a region may intrude upon the celebration of Sundays and other liturgical feast-days, mingling the spirit of genuine Christian faith with elements which are foreign to it and may distort it. In such cases, catechesis and well-chosen pastoral initiatives need to clarify these situations, eliminating all that is incompatible with the Gospel of Christ. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that these traditions and, by analogy, some recent cultural initiatives in civil society often embody values which are not difficult to integrate with the demands of faith. It rests with the discernment of Pastors to preserve the genuine values found in the culture of a particular social context and especially in popular piety, so that liturgical celebration above all on Sundays and holy days does not suffer but rather may actually benefit"
If this standard had been applied to Jewish life as well as other evangelized groups the church would have been blessed by not just the wisdom of Athens and the order of Rome but also the glory of Jerusalem, Then the mission statement of cultural memory would have been truly seen in the Catechism as it is expressed below.
“As defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Liturgical Year is "The celebration throughout the year of the mysteries of the Lord's birth, life, death, and Resurrection in such a way that the entire year becomes a 'year of the Lord's grace'. Thus the cycle of the liturgical year and the great feasts constitute the basic rhythm of the Christian's life of prayer, with its focal point at Easter”
Within the cultural traditions of the Jewish people is found the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Within the philosophy of the Greek is found the Word of God that would become flesh. Within the order to the Roman is found the discipline that would be necessary to keep the church holy and free from sin. The church has historically maintained two out of three, but sometime two out of three is bad! May we return to a rich understanding of his word and see the glory in all peoples of the earth, to the Jew first and then to the entire world.
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/francis_schaeffer_catholics_greek_philosophy_in_the_bible.htm
http://www.romanrite.com/j030802.html
http://gatesofpraiseministries.blogspot.com/2011/05/jewish-holidays-creation-celebrated.html
Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
“Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
“Anti-Semitism of the Church Father’s” http://www.yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm
Gafni, Isaiah, Great World Religions, Judaism, The Teaching Company, 2010, CD http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=6103
“The Feast of the Liturgical Year, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.wf-f.org/LiturgicalCalendar-info.html
“The Feast of the Liturgical Year, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.wf-f.org/LiturgicalCalendar-info.html
Monday, May 23, 2011
Jewish Holidays: Creation Celebrated, Conscience Trained
“Each holiday has a body and a soul. The commandments and customs of each holiday are its body; the breath of life is infused into this body by the soul of the holiday, the spiritual message it conveys.”
The Sabbath
The Sabbath is the most consistent cultural memory marker for the Jewish people because of its frequency and the easiest to identify with creation. The Sabbath communicates to the Jewish people that the God of Creation is sovereign over time. It reinforces the redemptive gift of work that we will explore in further detail later in this work. The purpose of the Sabbath is to remind man that he can trust God to take care of him. Six days you must work but on the Seventh you are to trust God to provide for your provision and for your rejuvenation. I believe there is a continuity that extends from the Garden to the present as it relates to the Sabbath, but it is not consistently manifested across cultures. Robert Beckwork’s work Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian: Biblical, Intertestamental and Patristic Studies states, “Assuming that God’s decree was known from the beginning there is little reason to think humanity quickly realized its implications. If the seven day week and Sabbath…had been institutionalized…one would expect to find traces of the fact among ancient nations. Yet those who have looked for such traces have failed to find them.” The People of Israel’s observance of it communicates God’s faithfulness to them before watching nations. In the same manner the observance of a day of worship within the context of Christianity, or Islam reflects the same trust in God.
Judaism
“Though all Jewish Holidays commemorate events in our history, they enable us not only to recall these experiences, but also to relive them. At the same time every year, the very same spiritual forces which brought about the event commemorated by a holiday are again expressed.”
A source concerned about the affects of intermarriage on the modern Jewish community in the United States, sites the following statistics, “even among those in the "intermarried/Jewish" category—namely, interfaith couples who decide to identify as Jewish—only 65 percent attended a Passover Seder on a regular basis, while more than 90 percent of in-married couples do so.” The short term concern among Jewish leadership about intermarriage between Jews and non Jews is understandable, but when 90% of the people within the community keep the major festivals after 4,000 years it would seem God is still directing the hearts of his people.
God ordained 7 great feasts for the people of Israel in order to remind them of his sovereignty over creation and to prick their conscience through seasons of self examination. The power of keeping these festivals has caused the Jew to remember the work of God despite the absence of land or formal power in the governments where they lived. “Over three hundred years ago King Louis XIV of France asked Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher of his day, to give him proof of the existence of miracles. Without a moment's hesitation, Pascal answered, "Why, the Jews, your Majesty-the Jews." The ‘miracle of the Jew’ is also attached to the Jewish experience of keeping their Biblical festivals. I will consider the feasts based on their efficacy to direct men toward God’s creation and the toward their own consciences The feasts are the Sabbath, Passover/The Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, these feasts have bound together the Jews for nearly four thousand years.
Passover/ Feast of Unleavened Bread
Passover is a meal that is prepared in haste, which contains a specific liturgy that provokes memory of the God of creation, who is also the God of Israel. The connection is made each time the God creates a miracle for their deliverance. These are better known as the ten plagues. Within the Passover meal there is a recitation of each one of the miracles. Haggadahs, which contain the liturgy of the Passover meals, are standard possessions in most Jewish homes to the present time. The miracles are recited three times, beginning with ‘blood, blood, blood, and ending with ‘death of the first born’. A finger is dip into a cup of wine, reminding the participant of the sacrifice of the lamb and the blood that covered the doorpost of the Jewish homes in Egypt. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen, felt, and experienced within the meal for Christians who participate in a Passover celebration. Each one of the plagues has a parallel in idolatrous religious system of the Egyptians. Which gods represent which plagues are a matter of debate, one correlation with false religion and the God of the Egyptian’s is as follows.
Hapi, the god of the Nile Water Turning to blood
Heket, goddess of Fertility Plague of Frogs
Geb god of earth Plague of Lice from dust the earth
Khepri, god of movement and creation Plague of Flies
Harthor, goddess of love and protection Plague upon livestock
Isis, goddess of medicine and peace Plague of Boils
Nut, goddess of sky Plague of Hail
Seth, god of storms and disorder Plague of Locust
Ra, god of sun Plague of three days of darkness
Pharaoh Plague of the death of the first born
It could be argued that the plagues capture the digression of men into false religion, beginning with their most personal needs such as nourishment from the Nile. Then ultimately leading to the proclamation that a man is a god, in this case Pharaoh, along the way the earth, the sky, storms, and the sun are all worshipped. In other words they worship the created things instead of the creator. They give credit to an idol made by the hands of man for fertility. The redemptive gift of children is fought eighty years prior to Israel’s deliverance at the birth of Moses. The Israelites and the midwives women each were blessed with fertility because of the favor of God the creator. More importantly the plagues point the people of Israel to a God who has power over all of creation and all forms of idolatry. The Lord then begins to add festivals that direct Israel to his work in creation and their work in developing their God given consciences.
The Feast of First Fruits
“First Fruits is celebrated in Spring to acknowledge the early crops. It was a wave offering. “This rite, together with that of "heaving" or "raising" the offering was an inseparable accompaniment of peace offerings. In such the right shoulder, considered the choicest part of the victim, was to be ("heaved," and viewed as holy to the Lord, only eaten therefore by the priest: the breast was to be "waved," and eaten by the worshiper. The scriptural notices of these rites are to be found in Ex 29:24,28; Le 7:30,34; 8:27; 9:21; 10:14,15; 23:10,15,20; Nu 6:20; 18:11,18,26-29 etc. In conjecturing the meaning of this rite, regard must be had that it was the accompaniment of peace offerings, which were witnesses to a ratified covenant --an established communion between God and man.””
The connection of the First Fruits Festival is frequently and rightfully connected to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, “The Feast of the First Fruits began the harvest.” Any harvest festival is a commemoration of creation’s bounty being brought forth from the Earth. People groups do not always give credit to the Lord for his work in the world, but that is the purpose of the First Fruits Festival. It reminds Israel specifically of his blessing on creation as evidenced by the harvest. First Fruits is an offering to the Lord. They would offer the first of the grain that was harvested, and then return to work and the harvest would be continued. The symbolism of the First Fruit related to Christ are found in 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 states. “Those who have and will believe in Jesus Christ for salvation since that time are the harvest.”
Shavu'ot, Feast of Weeks, Pentecost
“The period from Passover to Shavu'ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu'ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. See The Counting of the Omer. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu'ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu'ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality.”
The Feast of Weaks or Shavu'ot is the connection between the God of creation, the God who is worshipped in sacrifice and the God of history. Each reinforces the cultural memory of the Jew. The first is seen in the agricultural nature of the festival, the second relates to sacrifice because it was brought to the temple where sacrifices were completed, and lastly the people of Israel believe that the Torah was given on this day as well. The festivals fulfillment as a teacher of conscience is in the giving of the Torah and on the call of the crowd on the day of Pentecost, that asked “what must we do to be saved” Acts 2:20
Feast of Trumpets
The feast of Trumpets is a call for the gathering of the people, Sam Nadler list the following reasons why the trumpet blast may have been used in the scriptures, they are a call to assemble, a command to move, a call to war, preparation for an announcement, warning of judgment, and a call to celebration and worship. Each of these can be used to condition men to examine their hearts or consciences. Nadler adds, “Because so little is said about this feast in the Hebrew Scriptures, there has always been a sense of mystery regarding what the Feast of Trumpets refers to.” The Rabbis have conjectured the feast as a cultural memory marker. They have applied it to many different events, including the giving of the Torah and the sacrifice of Isaac. The church looks forward to the blowing of the Trumpet as the call that is associated with the rapture of the church. It relates most directly in this work to the arresting of the soul, the call to attention, the anticipation of a great moment.
All of the Jewish festival season is a reminder of the deliverance from the bondage and their freedom from the Egyptians. The Feast of Trumpets reminds the people that God obtained it for them through miracles in creation but that they must maintain it through the fortitude of a trained conscience that is reinforced through the honoring of the festival seasons.
The Day of Atonement,
"This shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year."—Leviticus 16:34.
The Day of Atonement “is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year.” This obviously requires an examination of conscience. It is a day that is associated with the awesomeness of God. The idea is to get a sense of the awesome potential for judgment and to receive awe inspiring mercy, for truly God has “not treated us as our sins deserve.” It is a day fasting. The day is embraced with a solemn liturgy that has different forms of liturgical confession. It includes sins of commission and omission, “the things we have done and the things we have failed to do” is the manner in which Roman Catholics would express it.
“There are two basic parts of this confession: Ashamnu, a shorter, more general list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been slanderous...), and Al Cheit, a longer and more specific list (for the sin we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed in these prayers. There's also a catch-all confession: "Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us."
The Feast of Tabernacles
Sam Nadler describes the Feast of Tabernacles as “the culmination of all the feasts on God’s redemptive calendar”. For the purposes of this work that would the union of expression found in creation and conscience. Victory Buksbazen quoting the ancient Rabbis says, “He who has not seen Jerusalem during the feast of Tabernacles does not know what rejoicing means” “The feast is agricultural in nature. It is a joyous occasion. …It was a time in which the temple treasury was emptied only to be filled again by the faithful, so that the poor and the needy, throughout the land could be satisfied.” When glory is given to God for his bountiful harvest in the correct spirit the worship automatically leads to the provision for the poor and the accomplishment of justice in the land. Each citizen becomes aware of the grace of God in their lives. They come to understand a God who has dealt with them generously and therefore in like manner they listen to their conscience and deal with other men generously. When this dynamic is active in a community God truly ‘Tabernacles’ or dwells with the people because his character is reflected in their conduct.
Schneerson, Menachem, Timeless Patterns of Life (Kehot Publication Society, 1993) pg viii
Beckwith, Roger T. Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian: Biblical, Intertestamental and Patristic Studies (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2001) iii, Questia, Web, 18 Oct. 2010. http://www.questia.com/read
Schneerson, Menachem, Timeless Patterns of Life (Kehot Publication Society, 1993) pg viii
Rosner, Shmuel, “The Passover Test, What the Passover Seder Reveals about Interfaith Couples, Slate, April 17, 2008 http://www.joi.org/bloglinks/Slate%20-%20What%20the%20Passover%20Seder%20reveals%20about%20interfaith%20couples..htm
In the Doghouse, “Ten Egyptian Plagues for Ten Egyptian Gods” http://hubpages.com/hub/Ten-Plagues-For-Ten-Gods
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
Rich, Tacey R. “Sav u ‘ot: Level Basic”, Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm
Rich, Tacey R “Shav u’ot; Level Basic”,Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Rich, Tacey R, Yon Kippur; Level Basic http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
Rich, Tacey R, Yon Kippur; Level Basic http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 153
Buksbazen, Victor, The Gospel in the Feast of Israel, (The Friends of Israel, Gospel Ministry Inc. 1954) pg 46
Buksbazen, Victor, The Gospel in the Feast of Israel, (The Frie
The Sabbath
The Sabbath is the most consistent cultural memory marker for the Jewish people because of its frequency and the easiest to identify with creation. The Sabbath communicates to the Jewish people that the God of Creation is sovereign over time. It reinforces the redemptive gift of work that we will explore in further detail later in this work. The purpose of the Sabbath is to remind man that he can trust God to take care of him. Six days you must work but on the Seventh you are to trust God to provide for your provision and for your rejuvenation. I believe there is a continuity that extends from the Garden to the present as it relates to the Sabbath, but it is not consistently manifested across cultures. Robert Beckwork’s work Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian: Biblical, Intertestamental and Patristic Studies states, “Assuming that God’s decree was known from the beginning there is little reason to think humanity quickly realized its implications. If the seven day week and Sabbath…had been institutionalized…one would expect to find traces of the fact among ancient nations. Yet those who have looked for such traces have failed to find them.” The People of Israel’s observance of it communicates God’s faithfulness to them before watching nations. In the same manner the observance of a day of worship within the context of Christianity, or Islam reflects the same trust in God.
Judaism
“Though all Jewish Holidays commemorate events in our history, they enable us not only to recall these experiences, but also to relive them. At the same time every year, the very same spiritual forces which brought about the event commemorated by a holiday are again expressed.”
A source concerned about the affects of intermarriage on the modern Jewish community in the United States, sites the following statistics, “even among those in the "intermarried/Jewish" category—namely, interfaith couples who decide to identify as Jewish—only 65 percent attended a Passover Seder on a regular basis, while more than 90 percent of in-married couples do so.” The short term concern among Jewish leadership about intermarriage between Jews and non Jews is understandable, but when 90% of the people within the community keep the major festivals after 4,000 years it would seem God is still directing the hearts of his people.
God ordained 7 great feasts for the people of Israel in order to remind them of his sovereignty over creation and to prick their conscience through seasons of self examination. The power of keeping these festivals has caused the Jew to remember the work of God despite the absence of land or formal power in the governments where they lived. “Over three hundred years ago King Louis XIV of France asked Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher of his day, to give him proof of the existence of miracles. Without a moment's hesitation, Pascal answered, "Why, the Jews, your Majesty-the Jews." The ‘miracle of the Jew’ is also attached to the Jewish experience of keeping their Biblical festivals. I will consider the feasts based on their efficacy to direct men toward God’s creation and the toward their own consciences The feasts are the Sabbath, Passover/The Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, these feasts have bound together the Jews for nearly four thousand years.
Passover/ Feast of Unleavened Bread
Passover is a meal that is prepared in haste, which contains a specific liturgy that provokes memory of the God of creation, who is also the God of Israel. The connection is made each time the God creates a miracle for their deliverance. These are better known as the ten plagues. Within the Passover meal there is a recitation of each one of the miracles. Haggadahs, which contain the liturgy of the Passover meals, are standard possessions in most Jewish homes to the present time. The miracles are recited three times, beginning with ‘blood, blood, blood, and ending with ‘death of the first born’. A finger is dip into a cup of wine, reminding the participant of the sacrifice of the lamb and the blood that covered the doorpost of the Jewish homes in Egypt. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen, felt, and experienced within the meal for Christians who participate in a Passover celebration. Each one of the plagues has a parallel in idolatrous religious system of the Egyptians. Which gods represent which plagues are a matter of debate, one correlation with false religion and the God of the Egyptian’s is as follows.
Hapi, the god of the Nile Water Turning to blood
Heket, goddess of Fertility Plague of Frogs
Geb god of earth Plague of Lice from dust the earth
Khepri, god of movement and creation Plague of Flies
Harthor, goddess of love and protection Plague upon livestock
Isis, goddess of medicine and peace Plague of Boils
Nut, goddess of sky Plague of Hail
Seth, god of storms and disorder Plague of Locust
Ra, god of sun Plague of three days of darkness
Pharaoh Plague of the death of the first born
It could be argued that the plagues capture the digression of men into false religion, beginning with their most personal needs such as nourishment from the Nile. Then ultimately leading to the proclamation that a man is a god, in this case Pharaoh, along the way the earth, the sky, storms, and the sun are all worshipped. In other words they worship the created things instead of the creator. They give credit to an idol made by the hands of man for fertility. The redemptive gift of children is fought eighty years prior to Israel’s deliverance at the birth of Moses. The Israelites and the midwives women each were blessed with fertility because of the favor of God the creator. More importantly the plagues point the people of Israel to a God who has power over all of creation and all forms of idolatry. The Lord then begins to add festivals that direct Israel to his work in creation and their work in developing their God given consciences.
The Feast of First Fruits
“First Fruits is celebrated in Spring to acknowledge the early crops. It was a wave offering. “This rite, together with that of "heaving" or "raising" the offering was an inseparable accompaniment of peace offerings. In such the right shoulder, considered the choicest part of the victim, was to be ("heaved," and viewed as holy to the Lord, only eaten therefore by the priest: the breast was to be "waved," and eaten by the worshiper. The scriptural notices of these rites are to be found in Ex 29:24,28; Le 7:30,34; 8:27; 9:21; 10:14,15; 23:10,15,20; Nu 6:20; 18:11,18,26-29 etc. In conjecturing the meaning of this rite, regard must be had that it was the accompaniment of peace offerings, which were witnesses to a ratified covenant --an established communion between God and man.””
The connection of the First Fruits Festival is frequently and rightfully connected to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, “The Feast of the First Fruits began the harvest.” Any harvest festival is a commemoration of creation’s bounty being brought forth from the Earth. People groups do not always give credit to the Lord for his work in the world, but that is the purpose of the First Fruits Festival. It reminds Israel specifically of his blessing on creation as evidenced by the harvest. First Fruits is an offering to the Lord. They would offer the first of the grain that was harvested, and then return to work and the harvest would be continued. The symbolism of the First Fruit related to Christ are found in 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 states. “Those who have and will believe in Jesus Christ for salvation since that time are the harvest.”
Shavu'ot, Feast of Weeks, Pentecost
“The period from Passover to Shavu'ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu'ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. See The Counting of the Omer. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu'ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu'ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality.”
The Feast of Weaks or Shavu'ot is the connection between the God of creation, the God who is worshipped in sacrifice and the God of history. Each reinforces the cultural memory of the Jew. The first is seen in the agricultural nature of the festival, the second relates to sacrifice because it was brought to the temple where sacrifices were completed, and lastly the people of Israel believe that the Torah was given on this day as well. The festivals fulfillment as a teacher of conscience is in the giving of the Torah and on the call of the crowd on the day of Pentecost, that asked “what must we do to be saved” Acts 2:20
Feast of Trumpets
The feast of Trumpets is a call for the gathering of the people, Sam Nadler list the following reasons why the trumpet blast may have been used in the scriptures, they are a call to assemble, a command to move, a call to war, preparation for an announcement, warning of judgment, and a call to celebration and worship. Each of these can be used to condition men to examine their hearts or consciences. Nadler adds, “Because so little is said about this feast in the Hebrew Scriptures, there has always been a sense of mystery regarding what the Feast of Trumpets refers to.” The Rabbis have conjectured the feast as a cultural memory marker. They have applied it to many different events, including the giving of the Torah and the sacrifice of Isaac. The church looks forward to the blowing of the Trumpet as the call that is associated with the rapture of the church. It relates most directly in this work to the arresting of the soul, the call to attention, the anticipation of a great moment.
All of the Jewish festival season is a reminder of the deliverance from the bondage and their freedom from the Egyptians. The Feast of Trumpets reminds the people that God obtained it for them through miracles in creation but that they must maintain it through the fortitude of a trained conscience that is reinforced through the honoring of the festival seasons.
The Day of Atonement,
"This shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year."—Leviticus 16:34.
The Day of Atonement “is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year.” This obviously requires an examination of conscience. It is a day that is associated with the awesomeness of God. The idea is to get a sense of the awesome potential for judgment and to receive awe inspiring mercy, for truly God has “not treated us as our sins deserve.” It is a day fasting. The day is embraced with a solemn liturgy that has different forms of liturgical confession. It includes sins of commission and omission, “the things we have done and the things we have failed to do” is the manner in which Roman Catholics would express it.
“There are two basic parts of this confession: Ashamnu, a shorter, more general list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been slanderous...), and Al Cheit, a longer and more specific list (for the sin we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed in these prayers. There's also a catch-all confession: "Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us."
The Feast of Tabernacles
Sam Nadler describes the Feast of Tabernacles as “the culmination of all the feasts on God’s redemptive calendar”. For the purposes of this work that would the union of expression found in creation and conscience. Victory Buksbazen quoting the ancient Rabbis says, “He who has not seen Jerusalem during the feast of Tabernacles does not know what rejoicing means” “The feast is agricultural in nature. It is a joyous occasion. …It was a time in which the temple treasury was emptied only to be filled again by the faithful, so that the poor and the needy, throughout the land could be satisfied.” When glory is given to God for his bountiful harvest in the correct spirit the worship automatically leads to the provision for the poor and the accomplishment of justice in the land. Each citizen becomes aware of the grace of God in their lives. They come to understand a God who has dealt with them generously and therefore in like manner they listen to their conscience and deal with other men generously. When this dynamic is active in a community God truly ‘Tabernacles’ or dwells with the people because his character is reflected in their conduct.
Schneerson, Menachem, Timeless Patterns of Life (Kehot Publication Society, 1993) pg viii
Beckwith, Roger T. Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian: Biblical, Intertestamental and Patristic Studies (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2001) iii, Questia, Web, 18 Oct. 2010. http://www.questia.com/read
Schneerson, Menachem, Timeless Patterns of Life (Kehot Publication Society, 1993) pg viii
Rosner, Shmuel, “The Passover Test, What the Passover Seder Reveals about Interfaith Couples, Slate, April 17, 2008 http://www.joi.org/bloglinks/Slate%20-%20What%20the%20Passover%20Seder%20reveals%20about%20interfaith%20couples..htm
In the Doghouse, “Ten Egyptian Plagues for Ten Egyptian Gods” http://hubpages.com/hub/Ten-Plagues-For-Ten-Gods
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
“The Feast of Israel, Feast of First Fruits” Bible Truth Web Site http://www.bible-truth.org/Feasts-Firstfruit.html
Rich, Tacey R. “Sav u ‘ot: Level Basic”, Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm
Rich, Tacey R “Shav u’ot; Level Basic”,Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 112
Rich, Tacey R, Yon Kippur; Level Basic http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
Rich, Tacey R, Yon Kippur; Level Basic http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm
Nadler, Sam, Messiah in the Feast of Israel, (Word of Messiah Ministries, 2006) pg 153
Buksbazen, Victor, The Gospel in the Feast of Israel, (The Friends of Israel, Gospel Ministry Inc. 1954) pg 46
Buksbazen, Victor, The Gospel in the Feast of Israel, (The Frie
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Childlike Faith meets Adult Responsibility
“Jesus called a child over and had the child stand near him. Then he said:
I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4
Matthew 18 does not speak of all children but a particular child and a particular attitude. Proverbs 20:11 says “even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.” The attitude that Jesus was promoting was one of humility, and I would add vulnerability. I am sure that there were children with other attitudes in that crowd. Children full of pride, there to mock even as some of their adult counterparts. Jesus request was not a complicated one for the child to fulfill nor is are his commands hard for us today. He says 'come' to all who are heavy burdened 'come'. Some are not heavy burdened with problems but with toys. To those he says 'follow me' but the riches of this world are too much to give up for those who love their stuff more than they love God. However, some do come and others have followed. They have embraced faith like that child and then were given adult responsibilities.
In Matthew 19 the Apostle Peter says these words. “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” “So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Now this promise of thrones is particular to the Apostles however the scriptures also say that if we are faithful in few things we will be placed in charge of many things. Matthew 25:23. Let the Lord determine what those things are. He knows how me made you and how he fashioned you. He knows your gifts and talents. He knows the indispensable place he wants to give you in this world and in the kingdom to come. Sometimes you just have to stand up and be an object lesson for Jesus.
I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4
Matthew 18 does not speak of all children but a particular child and a particular attitude. Proverbs 20:11 says “even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.” The attitude that Jesus was promoting was one of humility, and I would add vulnerability. I am sure that there were children with other attitudes in that crowd. Children full of pride, there to mock even as some of their adult counterparts. Jesus request was not a complicated one for the child to fulfill nor is are his commands hard for us today. He says 'come' to all who are heavy burdened 'come'. Some are not heavy burdened with problems but with toys. To those he says 'follow me' but the riches of this world are too much to give up for those who love their stuff more than they love God. However, some do come and others have followed. They have embraced faith like that child and then were given adult responsibilities.
In Matthew 19 the Apostle Peter says these words. “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” “So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Now this promise of thrones is particular to the Apostles however the scriptures also say that if we are faithful in few things we will be placed in charge of many things. Matthew 25:23. Let the Lord determine what those things are. He knows how me made you and how he fashioned you. He knows your gifts and talents. He knows the indispensable place he wants to give you in this world and in the kingdom to come. Sometimes you just have to stand up and be an object lesson for Jesus.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Really!!!... Resurrected ???
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.” Acts 17:1-4
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17 30-34
Perfect model for evangelism.
In Acts 17 the Apostle Paul provides the perfect model for evangelism for the followers of Jesus. His message is the same but his audience is different. The first group have some familiarity with the scriptures and the stories contained within. Paul spoke with these folks within the context of their religious expression by meeting with them on the Sabbath and he reasoned from the scriptures. Now he did not get caught up in why following Jesus would make your life better, heal your body, or make your children obey you. He explained the death burial and of Jesus Christ. Some were persuaded other were not.
There are many people in our day who are admires of the bible and practitioners of religion. However they have not been persuaded about the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our duty is to take what opportunities we are given and explain this central aspect of our faith. Those that admire the scriptures and practice religion are all around us. Will you be bold enough to share your faith? Not all will be persuaded, but don't let that discouraged you, be encouraged some will be persuaded and believe. It might even be a great multitude with leading women among them.
I live in New England, a section of the United States with many people who admire the bible and practice religion. However they are not been persuaded that Jesus died for their sins, was buried and rose again, according to the scriptures. Many of the creeds they have recited say these exact words. The problem is that have only recited they have not been confronted to the reality of how the Gospel effects them personally.
The second group is very interesting as well. They have no connection to the Bible. You can not reason with this group from the bible because they don't believe the Bible. That is ok,...it is just fine. Tell them Jesus is alive anyway and that he died for their sins and that he rose from the grave. Some will mock you, that is ok too, because every person on the earth knows that they are going to die someday. Most believe that we will have to give an account of our lives somehow. Every human being is aware that not only can't we meet the standards of gods, goddesses or the spirit in the sky we know we can't meet our own standards for human goodness and kindness,. We fall short of our own glory not just the maker's glory. Some of these who do not know the bible do know that there is a day of judgment and hearing they may come to believe.
You might be familiar with the bible, you might not. Let us reason together. If there is a judgment day appointed by the maker of all things might he have been kind enough to make the way plain and simple. I believe he did by sending his son in the form of a man that we might know God. He demonstrated this by raising him from the dead. The scriptures testify of this truth but so does the human heart that sees blessing and judgment manifested in the world every day. I pray that you come to believe!
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17 30-34
Perfect model for evangelism.
In Acts 17 the Apostle Paul provides the perfect model for evangelism for the followers of Jesus. His message is the same but his audience is different. The first group have some familiarity with the scriptures and the stories contained within. Paul spoke with these folks within the context of their religious expression by meeting with them on the Sabbath and he reasoned from the scriptures. Now he did not get caught up in why following Jesus would make your life better, heal your body, or make your children obey you. He explained the death burial and of Jesus Christ. Some were persuaded other were not.
There are many people in our day who are admires of the bible and practitioners of religion. However they have not been persuaded about the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our duty is to take what opportunities we are given and explain this central aspect of our faith. Those that admire the scriptures and practice religion are all around us. Will you be bold enough to share your faith? Not all will be persuaded, but don't let that discouraged you, be encouraged some will be persuaded and believe. It might even be a great multitude with leading women among them.
I live in New England, a section of the United States with many people who admire the bible and practice religion. However they are not been persuaded that Jesus died for their sins, was buried and rose again, according to the scriptures. Many of the creeds they have recited say these exact words. The problem is that have only recited they have not been confronted to the reality of how the Gospel effects them personally.
The second group is very interesting as well. They have no connection to the Bible. You can not reason with this group from the bible because they don't believe the Bible. That is ok,...it is just fine. Tell them Jesus is alive anyway and that he died for their sins and that he rose from the grave. Some will mock you, that is ok too, because every person on the earth knows that they are going to die someday. Most believe that we will have to give an account of our lives somehow. Every human being is aware that not only can't we meet the standards of gods, goddesses or the spirit in the sky we know we can't meet our own standards for human goodness and kindness,. We fall short of our own glory not just the maker's glory. Some of these who do not know the bible do know that there is a day of judgment and hearing they may come to believe.
You might be familiar with the bible, you might not. Let us reason together. If there is a judgment day appointed by the maker of all things might he have been kind enough to make the way plain and simple. I believe he did by sending his son in the form of a man that we might know God. He demonstrated this by raising him from the dead. The scriptures testify of this truth but so does the human heart that sees blessing and judgment manifested in the world every day. I pray that you come to believe!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Darwin and Racism
The Inuit of North America
We now move in this series of blogs from the heat of Africa to the snow of Alaska to the tip southern tip of South America. However the application of the truth remains the same. God retains gifts within people groups that prepare them for the coming of the Gospel. “When the Anglicans began to work among the Eskimos in 1820, they found them more than ready for Christianity.” Like any people group when indigenous leaders are raised up, as a general rule more people come to Christ. The tragedy of this story is that the first Anglican deacon was not ordained until 1959. Almost 140 years removed from the initial contact with the people. The Inuit deacon wrote to his church leaders. "Eskimos are come more to our services now after I ordained, even those who not used to come I do not know why” It is not the writers broken English that should cause us to lament but are unwillingness to raise up indigenous leaders as Christ himself did among the fishermen of Galilee. The absence of native leadership among the Inuit’s is especially troubling when the communities’ redemptive gifts and evangelistic zeal are clearly present.
“The missionaries also found that the Eskimo easily identified themselves with Biblical situations…Eskimo themselves do the main job of spreading Christianity. "The Eskimos has a fantastic memory," says Bishop Marsh. "He memorizes everything—most of them have memorized at least one book of the Bible. When a missionary comes in contact with a family, the Eskimo remembers what the missionary tells him and carefully repeats it word for word when he meets up with another family in his travels.''
I believe that the reason that Inuit leaders were so slow to being integrated into church leadership is because of inherent racism that has affected the church that is directly attributed the Darwinian thinking. This was especially true among missionaries that worked in the 1800’s. Darwin own positive observations of Fuegian’s people, for example their skill in language acquisition, is largely ignored by him when he draws his conclusions about the people group in his writing of the Descent of Man. His prejudices become normative within much of western thought because of our predisposition toward prejudicial thinking. When they become institutionalized thinking, their sinfulness leads to policies and law that bring forth death.
The Fuegians
It is impossible to overstate the pervasiveness of Darwinian thought on the world and even the church. Its influence pervades even in this work. When we use terms such as primal religions, primitive people we are embracing a Darwinian concept, and not a Biblical one, any term that makes distinctions intrinsic to the biological differences in men that has a hierarchy attached to it is embracing a Darwinian concept of man. It is a move away from biological truth found in; “Acts 17.26 From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” When we do this we are devaluing both man and the scriptures and in so doing we are devaluing God. What is terribly troubling about institutionalization of Darwinian thought is how little scrutiny it receives in regards to its overt racism. The implication of this racism on 20th history includes the well documented eugenics of Nazism. It also has its equivalents in the United States. The wages of sin truly are death. There is no root of the popular pluralism of today in the following words excerpted from the Descent of Man. There is only disdain for a people group made in the Image of God.
“In chapter 21 of his Descent of Man, “General Summary and Conclusion”, Darwin wrote, “We thus learn that man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped probably arboreal in its habits and an inhabitant of the Old World.” He continued, “The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely that man is descended from some lowly organized form, will, I regret to say, be highly distasteful to many. But there can hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians.”
In support of this Darwin then reiterated his assessment of the Fuegians. He wrote, “The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of Feugians on a wild and broken shore will never be forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my mind—such were our ancestors. These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what they could catch; they had no government, and were merciless to everyone not of their own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey … or from that old baboon … as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.”
Captain Robert FitzRoy of the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin to The HMS Beagle was not a Darwinian but an Evangelist.
“On 27th December 1831, FitzRoy again left England aboard the Beagle on a research journey around the world. Another purpose was to return the three surviving Fuegians to their own country, where FitzRoy hoped they would be missionaries to their own people. With them was “their minder”, Richard Matthews, a trainee missionary himself”.”
The success of evangelist among the tribal groups of the Southern tip of South America would not take effect for another 35 years, “In 1862 Waite Hockin Stirling established contact with the Yahgan and other Fuegian tribes. By 1869 “over four hundred Indians had been baptized into the Church of our Lord and Saviour”. Darwin failure to see the Image of God in the Fuegian people is the same as many today. It is the consequence of rejecting the Genesis version of creation and the acknowledgement of Adam as the first man. It must be said that if Christians reject the notion of a literal Adam they must reject the need for a savior. Adam is the reason for our fall, Christ is the reason for our redemption. There were many redemptive gifts among the Fuegian people, language and social engagement seems to be among them.
“Incredible though it may appear, the language of one of the poorest tribes of men, without any literature, without poetry, song, history or science, may yet through the nature of its structure and its necessities have a list of words and a style of structure surpassing that of other tribes far above them in the arts and comforts of life.” And on another occasion he wrote, “Owing to the eminently social life of the people who spend so large a part of their lives in talking and, both men and women, in giving lengthy harangues … they perfectly keep up the knowledge of their language and early learn to speak it well.”
They will be named among the tribes and tongues that will be listed in heaven. For those that have eyes to see the glory of God in a people group, the glory can be seen. “Darwin’s fellow countryman, English explorer William Parker Snow, visited Tierra del Fuego in 1855 and, without Darwin’s racist and evolutionary presuppositions, came to some very different conclusions about the Fuegians. While noting their unkempt physical appearance and primitive habits, he wrote … many of the Fuegians on the Eastern Islands were fine and some of them even handsome fellows. This I know to be rather different to what Mr. Darwin says of them: but I can only speak as I found, and thus mention what I myself saw.” He further observed that they “reside in families”, and said, “I saw many instances of warm love and affection for their children and for each other”. Snow wrote,
“that the modest conduct of the women was very remarkable, and all of the Fuegian mothers were much attached to their babies. He continued, “I believe they have a sort of property right amongst them, and I have seen one of the oldest women exercising authority over the rest of her people.…
Snow concluded, “The actual difference between a savage and a civilized man is simply the degree of cultivation given to the mind. In all other respects the savage at home is identical with the savage abroad.” And, “In speaking of these savages, I cannot help saying that I do not consider them so degraded as many persons do. I look from effect to cause, and thus trace their present condition to the nature of circumstances.”
The Fuegian people have passed from the face of the Earth. This does not appear related to the Judgment of God but to the exposure to European diseases, “their lack of immunity to epidemics of smallpox, measles, influenza and other diseases brought by European whalers, sealers, gold miners, farmers and others, coupled with the effects of colonization, the Yahgan (another name for Fuegian) have become virtually extinguished as a people.” Henry Morse would state that the time and boundaries of the nation had been fulfilled. I would be more inclined based on the premises that I am setting forth to say that their redemptive gifts and absorbed into the people groups of their local geography and expressed differently in a new generation. The Amorites are also a people group that is no longer listed in the table of nations. They were a nation of influence and power. There contribution in the area of law continues to be discussed to this present date. They will be discussed later in this series. Next I discussion the role of festival keeping as a means of cultural memory and its role in reinforcing faith in the God seen in of creation and experienced in conscience.
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“The Truth About Margaret Sanger” First Published in Citizens Magazine, January 20, 1992 http://www.blackgenocide.org/sanger.html
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Morris, Henry M. God of the Nations, (Master Books, 2002) pg 59
We now move in this series of blogs from the heat of Africa to the snow of Alaska to the tip southern tip of South America. However the application of the truth remains the same. God retains gifts within people groups that prepare them for the coming of the Gospel. “When the Anglicans began to work among the Eskimos in 1820, they found them more than ready for Christianity.” Like any people group when indigenous leaders are raised up, as a general rule more people come to Christ. The tragedy of this story is that the first Anglican deacon was not ordained until 1959. Almost 140 years removed from the initial contact with the people. The Inuit deacon wrote to his church leaders. "Eskimos are come more to our services now after I ordained, even those who not used to come I do not know why” It is not the writers broken English that should cause us to lament but are unwillingness to raise up indigenous leaders as Christ himself did among the fishermen of Galilee. The absence of native leadership among the Inuit’s is especially troubling when the communities’ redemptive gifts and evangelistic zeal are clearly present.
“The missionaries also found that the Eskimo easily identified themselves with Biblical situations…Eskimo themselves do the main job of spreading Christianity. "The Eskimos has a fantastic memory," says Bishop Marsh. "He memorizes everything—most of them have memorized at least one book of the Bible. When a missionary comes in contact with a family, the Eskimo remembers what the missionary tells him and carefully repeats it word for word when he meets up with another family in his travels.''
I believe that the reason that Inuit leaders were so slow to being integrated into church leadership is because of inherent racism that has affected the church that is directly attributed the Darwinian thinking. This was especially true among missionaries that worked in the 1800’s. Darwin own positive observations of Fuegian’s people, for example their skill in language acquisition, is largely ignored by him when he draws his conclusions about the people group in his writing of the Descent of Man. His prejudices become normative within much of western thought because of our predisposition toward prejudicial thinking. When they become institutionalized thinking, their sinfulness leads to policies and law that bring forth death.
The Fuegians
It is impossible to overstate the pervasiveness of Darwinian thought on the world and even the church. Its influence pervades even in this work. When we use terms such as primal religions, primitive people we are embracing a Darwinian concept, and not a Biblical one, any term that makes distinctions intrinsic to the biological differences in men that has a hierarchy attached to it is embracing a Darwinian concept of man. It is a move away from biological truth found in; “Acts 17.26 From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” When we do this we are devaluing both man and the scriptures and in so doing we are devaluing God. What is terribly troubling about institutionalization of Darwinian thought is how little scrutiny it receives in regards to its overt racism. The implication of this racism on 20th history includes the well documented eugenics of Nazism. It also has its equivalents in the United States. The wages of sin truly are death. There is no root of the popular pluralism of today in the following words excerpted from the Descent of Man. There is only disdain for a people group made in the Image of God.
“In chapter 21 of his Descent of Man, “General Summary and Conclusion”, Darwin wrote, “We thus learn that man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped probably arboreal in its habits and an inhabitant of the Old World.” He continued, “The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely that man is descended from some lowly organized form, will, I regret to say, be highly distasteful to many. But there can hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians.”
In support of this Darwin then reiterated his assessment of the Fuegians. He wrote, “The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of Feugians on a wild and broken shore will never be forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my mind—such were our ancestors. These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what they could catch; they had no government, and were merciless to everyone not of their own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey … or from that old baboon … as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.”
Captain Robert FitzRoy of the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin to The HMS Beagle was not a Darwinian but an Evangelist.
“On 27th December 1831, FitzRoy again left England aboard the Beagle on a research journey around the world. Another purpose was to return the three surviving Fuegians to their own country, where FitzRoy hoped they would be missionaries to their own people. With them was “their minder”, Richard Matthews, a trainee missionary himself”.”
The success of evangelist among the tribal groups of the Southern tip of South America would not take effect for another 35 years, “In 1862 Waite Hockin Stirling established contact with the Yahgan and other Fuegian tribes. By 1869 “over four hundred Indians had been baptized into the Church of our Lord and Saviour”. Darwin failure to see the Image of God in the Fuegian people is the same as many today. It is the consequence of rejecting the Genesis version of creation and the acknowledgement of Adam as the first man. It must be said that if Christians reject the notion of a literal Adam they must reject the need for a savior. Adam is the reason for our fall, Christ is the reason for our redemption. There were many redemptive gifts among the Fuegian people, language and social engagement seems to be among them.
“Incredible though it may appear, the language of one of the poorest tribes of men, without any literature, without poetry, song, history or science, may yet through the nature of its structure and its necessities have a list of words and a style of structure surpassing that of other tribes far above them in the arts and comforts of life.” And on another occasion he wrote, “Owing to the eminently social life of the people who spend so large a part of their lives in talking and, both men and women, in giving lengthy harangues … they perfectly keep up the knowledge of their language and early learn to speak it well.”
They will be named among the tribes and tongues that will be listed in heaven. For those that have eyes to see the glory of God in a people group, the glory can be seen. “Darwin’s fellow countryman, English explorer William Parker Snow, visited Tierra del Fuego in 1855 and, without Darwin’s racist and evolutionary presuppositions, came to some very different conclusions about the Fuegians. While noting their unkempt physical appearance and primitive habits, he wrote … many of the Fuegians on the Eastern Islands were fine and some of them even handsome fellows. This I know to be rather different to what Mr. Darwin says of them: but I can only speak as I found, and thus mention what I myself saw.” He further observed that they “reside in families”, and said, “I saw many instances of warm love and affection for their children and for each other”. Snow wrote,
“that the modest conduct of the women was very remarkable, and all of the Fuegian mothers were much attached to their babies. He continued, “I believe they have a sort of property right amongst them, and I have seen one of the oldest women exercising authority over the rest of her people.…
Snow concluded, “The actual difference between a savage and a civilized man is simply the degree of cultivation given to the mind. In all other respects the savage at home is identical with the savage abroad.” And, “In speaking of these savages, I cannot help saying that I do not consider them so degraded as many persons do. I look from effect to cause, and thus trace their present condition to the nature of circumstances.”
The Fuegian people have passed from the face of the Earth. This does not appear related to the Judgment of God but to the exposure to European diseases, “their lack of immunity to epidemics of smallpox, measles, influenza and other diseases brought by European whalers, sealers, gold miners, farmers and others, coupled with the effects of colonization, the Yahgan (another name for Fuegian) have become virtually extinguished as a people.” Henry Morse would state that the time and boundaries of the nation had been fulfilled. I would be more inclined based on the premises that I am setting forth to say that their redemptive gifts and absorbed into the people groups of their local geography and expressed differently in a new generation. The Amorites are also a people group that is no longer listed in the table of nations. They were a nation of influence and power. There contribution in the area of law continues to be discussed to this present date. They will be discussed later in this series. Next I discussion the role of festival keeping as a means of cultural memory and its role in reinforcing faith in the God seen in of creation and experienced in conscience.
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“Eskimo Deacon” Time Magazine, May 25, 1959 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865911-2,00.html#ixzz0zh4u1XCl
“The Truth About Margaret Sanger” First Published in Citizens Magazine, January 20, 1992 http://www.blackgenocide.org/sanger.html
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
Morris, Henry M. God of the Nations, (Master Books, 2002) pg 59
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
F.A.I.T.H. Tested by Fire
Hebrews 11:1 Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for the
evidence of things not seen.
F. Facilitates
A. Accentuates
I. Initiates
T. Tested
H. Heaven Directed
The acronym above sets a context for understanding faith that I would
like to share with you today. When each of us think about building
our faith we often think about it in the context of what God has called
us to do. It is very “me” directed. I believe that the Lord is calling us
in this hour to have a “we” directed faith. Pastors are building
churches with congregational members without challenging them to
become “Laborers in the Harvest.” Saints are seeking God for a
mission without an understanding that they must first facilitate a
vision. Luke 16:12 states, “And if ye have not been faithful in that
which is another man’s who shall give you that which is your own.”
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word Facilitate in the
following manner, “to make easier” and in its context “from a skill or
aptitude.” The Lord has blessed each of us with gifts and talents. He
is willing to add and subtract from those talents based on our
stewardship. Matthew 25:28 tells us that the Lord took the one talent
away from the wicked and lazy man and gave it to the one who had
ten. The Lord did this because the one with ten facilitated Gods vision
for increase. If we are going to grow in faith we must be faithful in
facilitating another person dream first. Part of that certainly should be
related to the local church. In addition we can support evangelist and
radio and television ministries, pro-life outreach centers. The
opportunities are endless. The causes we support should be faith
based but not necessarily religions. The support of a Christian
businessperson is the facilitation of another person’s dream.
The word Accentuate means to “add a distinctive quality.” Women
know all about this. They may have a pretty dress but they add
jewelry to accentuate the beauty of it. In a like manner we are to be
Salt and Light to those around us. Especially, to those who have been
commissioned by the Lord to do great things in his name. The giving
of “who you are” to a ministry “adds that distinctive favor.” If your
favor is not appreciated then find where you belong. I love hot
pepper, but not in my ice cream. I have heard it said, that we should
“go where we are celebrated not where we are tolerated.” God has a
place for each of us. Jesus could do no great miracles in Nazareth
because He was not celebrated there, he was not received, they did not
accentuate, or facilitate, what the Lord wanted to do in their town.
Matthew 10:14-15 “And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your
words when ye depart out of that house or city shake off the dust of
your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city.
The failure of Chorazin and Bethsaida to recognize the miracles that
the Lord was doing for them lead to their Judgment as well Matthew
11:21. They did not add a distinctive quality to the Lord’s work; they
did not receive the beautiful dress He was offering them. Many are
called but few are chosen, and the one who failed to put on the
wedding garment was cast out with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the Lord says “well done good and faithful servant” for many
He will be referring to the work of support, (facilitation and
accentuation) of other ministries. Are you supportive of the work of
the Lord in your generation?
Initiate: “To introduce to a new field.” Paul said in Romans 15:20
“Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” Paul was
truly an Apostle; an Apostle is one who initiates new work by leading
and enabling of the Holy Spirit. Apostles in this generation are often
raised up by the Lord, after they have Facilitated and Accentuated,
another man’s ministry. It is at that time the Lord gives them “their
own” work. They have proved themselves faithful. These new works
can be in any realm, business, education, social services and of course
the church.
The process of the birthing of a new work can take many years. A dream delayed is not a dream refused. God often tests us with another’s work. The process of initiating a new work can be and is often slow. But the Lord tells us “not to despise small beginnings.” Our ministry taught two and three people in our Bible school until He released thousands to be taught in Africa. He was testing our steadfastness and commitment to Him. He may call us to initiate something out of obedience, but ultimately, the Lord is the builder of any enterprise that He calls one of His saints to start.
Tested. “A procedure to critically evaluate” We are tested in three
ways, we are tested by the Son, Self and by Satan. First the Son tests
us by giving us the direction in the first place “build and arc” “go to a
land I will show you” “go to Pharaoh and tell him to let My people go”
“walk around Jericho seven times” “go into all the world and preach
the Gospel” “baptize, and teach the nations my commands.” These
were all directions given by the Son to His sheep. His sheep heard His
voice and obeyed Him, even when the results were fatal. Hebrews 11:
37
Secondarily, we will be tested by ourselves, the rich man could not
follow Jesus because of his many possessions, others could not follow
because they owned land, had family obligations, or loved food more
than service to the Lord. We are each called to pick up our cross
and follow him. Our faith will inform us “His burden is easy His yoke
is light.”
Satan will test us. He will tempt us, attack us, and try to destroy us.
“Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” We will be
tempted by the Lust of the Eye, Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life.
For men that often means Gold, Girls and Glory, but we are able to
overcome him by the “blood of the lamb and the word of our
testimony.” Jesus said, “fear not for I have overcome the world.” He
said that He is going to prepare a place for us. Our citizenship is not
on earth it is in heaven. We are passing through as ambassadors
bringing the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5 Heavenly: A state of place of happiness; The Bible
teaches that Heaven is the place and that our labor on Earth will be
tested. 1 Corinthians 3, tells us that the Lord is going to test each
Christians work. It will be either, Gold, Silver, and Precious stones, or
it is going to be Wood, Hay and Stubble. What will determine that is
how we labored on Earth. Did we work for rewards here to “be seen
by men” then “we have our reward.” Did we pray in secret, give in
secret and fast in secret? Did we lay up treasure in heave where
thieves can’t steal, rust can’t decay it, and moths can’t eat it. Did we
build a bank account and retire and say all is well? Did the Lord call
us a fool and tell us that we will need to give an account of our souls?
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but losses his
own soul.
Let us have a F.A.I.T.H. that Facilitates God’s dreams, Accentuates
the vision of his leaders, Initiates new works in His name. Let us have
F.A.I.T.H. that is tested by fire, and always looks to Heaven where
the Author and Finisher of our F.A.I.T.H. sits at the right hand of the
Father and is interceding on our behalf.
evidence of things not seen.
F. Facilitates
A. Accentuates
I. Initiates
T. Tested
H. Heaven Directed
The acronym above sets a context for understanding faith that I would
like to share with you today. When each of us think about building
our faith we often think about it in the context of what God has called
us to do. It is very “me” directed. I believe that the Lord is calling us
in this hour to have a “we” directed faith. Pastors are building
churches with congregational members without challenging them to
become “Laborers in the Harvest.” Saints are seeking God for a
mission without an understanding that they must first facilitate a
vision. Luke 16:12 states, “And if ye have not been faithful in that
which is another man’s who shall give you that which is your own.”
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word Facilitate in the
following manner, “to make easier” and in its context “from a skill or
aptitude.” The Lord has blessed each of us with gifts and talents. He
is willing to add and subtract from those talents based on our
stewardship. Matthew 25:28 tells us that the Lord took the one talent
away from the wicked and lazy man and gave it to the one who had
ten. The Lord did this because the one with ten facilitated Gods vision
for increase. If we are going to grow in faith we must be faithful in
facilitating another person dream first. Part of that certainly should be
related to the local church. In addition we can support evangelist and
radio and television ministries, pro-life outreach centers. The
opportunities are endless. The causes we support should be faith
based but not necessarily religions. The support of a Christian
businessperson is the facilitation of another person’s dream.
The word Accentuate means to “add a distinctive quality.” Women
know all about this. They may have a pretty dress but they add
jewelry to accentuate the beauty of it. In a like manner we are to be
Salt and Light to those around us. Especially, to those who have been
commissioned by the Lord to do great things in his name. The giving
of “who you are” to a ministry “adds that distinctive favor.” If your
favor is not appreciated then find where you belong. I love hot
pepper, but not in my ice cream. I have heard it said, that we should
“go where we are celebrated not where we are tolerated.” God has a
place for each of us. Jesus could do no great miracles in Nazareth
because He was not celebrated there, he was not received, they did not
accentuate, or facilitate, what the Lord wanted to do in their town.
Matthew 10:14-15 “And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your
words when ye depart out of that house or city shake off the dust of
your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city.
The failure of Chorazin and Bethsaida to recognize the miracles that
the Lord was doing for them lead to their Judgment as well Matthew
11:21. They did not add a distinctive quality to the Lord’s work; they
did not receive the beautiful dress He was offering them. Many are
called but few are chosen, and the one who failed to put on the
wedding garment was cast out with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the Lord says “well done good and faithful servant” for many
He will be referring to the work of support, (facilitation and
accentuation) of other ministries. Are you supportive of the work of
the Lord in your generation?
Initiate: “To introduce to a new field.” Paul said in Romans 15:20
“Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” Paul was
truly an Apostle; an Apostle is one who initiates new work by leading
and enabling of the Holy Spirit. Apostles in this generation are often
raised up by the Lord, after they have Facilitated and Accentuated,
another man’s ministry. It is at that time the Lord gives them “their
own” work. They have proved themselves faithful. These new works
can be in any realm, business, education, social services and of course
the church.
The process of the birthing of a new work can take many years. A dream delayed is not a dream refused. God often tests us with another’s work. The process of initiating a new work can be and is often slow. But the Lord tells us “not to despise small beginnings.” Our ministry taught two and three people in our Bible school until He released thousands to be taught in Africa. He was testing our steadfastness and commitment to Him. He may call us to initiate something out of obedience, but ultimately, the Lord is the builder of any enterprise that He calls one of His saints to start.
Tested. “A procedure to critically evaluate” We are tested in three
ways, we are tested by the Son, Self and by Satan. First the Son tests
us by giving us the direction in the first place “build and arc” “go to a
land I will show you” “go to Pharaoh and tell him to let My people go”
“walk around Jericho seven times” “go into all the world and preach
the Gospel” “baptize, and teach the nations my commands.” These
were all directions given by the Son to His sheep. His sheep heard His
voice and obeyed Him, even when the results were fatal. Hebrews 11:
37
Secondarily, we will be tested by ourselves, the rich man could not
follow Jesus because of his many possessions, others could not follow
because they owned land, had family obligations, or loved food more
than service to the Lord. We are each called to pick up our cross
and follow him. Our faith will inform us “His burden is easy His yoke
is light.”
Satan will test us. He will tempt us, attack us, and try to destroy us.
“Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” We will be
tempted by the Lust of the Eye, Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life.
For men that often means Gold, Girls and Glory, but we are able to
overcome him by the “blood of the lamb and the word of our
testimony.” Jesus said, “fear not for I have overcome the world.” He
said that He is going to prepare a place for us. Our citizenship is not
on earth it is in heaven. We are passing through as ambassadors
bringing the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5 Heavenly: A state of place of happiness; The Bible
teaches that Heaven is the place and that our labor on Earth will be
tested. 1 Corinthians 3, tells us that the Lord is going to test each
Christians work. It will be either, Gold, Silver, and Precious stones, or
it is going to be Wood, Hay and Stubble. What will determine that is
how we labored on Earth. Did we work for rewards here to “be seen
by men” then “we have our reward.” Did we pray in secret, give in
secret and fast in secret? Did we lay up treasure in heave where
thieves can’t steal, rust can’t decay it, and moths can’t eat it. Did we
build a bank account and retire and say all is well? Did the Lord call
us a fool and tell us that we will need to give an account of our souls?
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but losses his
own soul.
Let us have a F.A.I.T.H. that Facilitates God’s dreams, Accentuates
the vision of his leaders, Initiates new works in His name. Let us have
F.A.I.T.H. that is tested by fire, and always looks to Heaven where
the Author and Finisher of our F.A.I.T.H. sits at the right hand of the
Father and is interceding on our behalf.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Power of Peace
“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21-23
The message of the Gospel is the message of peace. We carry this message in the power of the Holy Spirit when the Lord breathes his life into each of us. The evidence of the Holy Spirit is the ability to forgive sins. Our ability to forgive is directly proportional to our ability to be at peace. Jesus had every reason to be angry at his disciples. Each had abandoned him in his moment of need, but he said peace. He had every reason to be angry with his people, who cried ‘crucify him’ he said peace. He had every reason to be angry with the Roman authorities and by extension all of the Gentile world but he told his Jewish believers, “I am sending you” he was sending them with the message of the forgiveness of sins, the message of peace. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, when they were stoning him to death he said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” as the life ebbed away, he was at peace. Many reading this blog have reasons to retain un-forgiveness in their hearts. However if you will be at peace, forgive.
Do you long for the breath of God? Do you long for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Then exercise the power of peace. Jesus said; “if you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The power belongs to you. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5: 9
The message of the Gospel is the message of peace. We carry this message in the power of the Holy Spirit when the Lord breathes his life into each of us. The evidence of the Holy Spirit is the ability to forgive sins. Our ability to forgive is directly proportional to our ability to be at peace. Jesus had every reason to be angry at his disciples. Each had abandoned him in his moment of need, but he said peace. He had every reason to be angry with his people, who cried ‘crucify him’ he said peace. He had every reason to be angry with the Roman authorities and by extension all of the Gentile world but he told his Jewish believers, “I am sending you” he was sending them with the message of the forgiveness of sins, the message of peace. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, when they were stoning him to death he said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” as the life ebbed away, he was at peace. Many reading this blog have reasons to retain un-forgiveness in their hearts. However if you will be at peace, forgive.
Do you long for the breath of God? Do you long for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Then exercise the power of peace. Jesus said; “if you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The power belongs to you. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5: 9
The San of Africa
The San of Africa
The San of Africa are a good group to begin with because they support within their culture the idea of monotheism and insight to spiritual warfare being garnered from an ‘animistic cultures’. The understanding of the spiritual realm and monotheistic cultural memory are easily heard in the quoted parallels to Christian literature.
“To you the creator, to you the powerful, I offer this new plant.. New fruit of the old tree. You are the master, we are the children. To you the creator, to you the powerful.”
In the beginning of Kmvoum, Today is Kmvoum, Tomorrow will Kmvoum.”
Aylward Shorter makes this statement in his book African Christian Theology.
“In most African Traditional theologies the idea of a supreme being is more or less distinctly present. Whether he is conceived as creator or begetter, whether or not he is a part of man’s proximate experience, the idea of the supreme being is strong enough and ubiquitous enough to make nonsense of the term ‘animism’ which is so frequently and mistakenly applied to African religions.”
If this is true of African religions I would argue that it is true of other primal religions. Shorter’s distancing African traditional religions from the term Animism may be the result of the pejorative nature of the label among Christian workers. It also indicates a genuine respect and concern for the people group he is called to. Defining the term and associating it with wisdom contained within the human family as opposed to associating it with prehistoric evolutionary frame works would help remove the pejorative nature of the term as well.
“In anthropology, animism is often considered to be the original human religion, being defined as belief in the existence of spiritual beings.” …The basis for animism is acknowledgment that there is a spiritual realm which humans share the universe with - in other words, this wonderful world of ours in inhabited not only by us human beings, but also by 'spiritual beings'. The concept that humans possess souls and that souls have life apart from human bodies both before and after death are central to animism…' “
George William Gilmore wrote in his 1919 work Animism, that there are three ‘ discoveries’ that should be credited to Animism. Within the context of these articles it would be more accurate to say that these ‘discoveries’ have been retained and unconsciously stewarded, for the benefit of the Church. They are first the existence of the soul, secondarily the existence of the soul after death and lastly the belief in supernatural powers. In regards to the belief in supernatural powers Gilmore writes.
“Whether we regard this from the standpoint of anthropology or culture, or from that of ethics or of religion, it is difficult to estimate, impossible to overestimate, its importance. How vast a power of restraint this belief has exerted as an inhibition upon the lower passions of man, and how great an impulse it has ever been to the growth and unfolding of his higher nature!”
Gilmore point reinforces the idea of educated and trained consciences. In this case the source of the education is and understanding of the supernatural. Shorter’s work in Africa is directed at reconciling the practical aspects of religion lived out ethically in this world and communion with supernatural beings. He states that “Religious experience is both the inner experience of the individual and the mutual affirmation by a community of common insights.” When he speaks about the experience of the individual he is affirming the redemptive value of the individual soul and God’s communication with that soul. When he speaks about the mutual affirmation of the community he is taking about common spiritual experiences that effect both individuals and communities. I will be addressing part of this insight when I speak about individual and community shame. Shorter adds this perspective on religion.
“Religion…is not simply belief, or morality, or ritual, or structures. It is basically prayer-not prayer as formal communication with spiritual beings in worship- but the essential disposition of the man of faith which this worship reflects. Religious faith is the consciousness of the further demission to life, the living communion of man with the ‘spirit world’, not separated or opposed to this world, but discovered and lived in this world.”
In regards to African religion he states that the questions that must be asked are, “What is the shape of this communion? What forms does the relationship take? I would argue that this communion is firmly rooted in a geographic, generational, and genealogical context that attempts to honor man and God in the context of community. It is therefore redemptive in its nature. Donal Dorr is a missionary to Africa, he expounds on this topic in his work “Mission, In Today’s World” Dorr describes, the presence, in primal religions, of redemptive insights about geography, genealogy and generational redemptive gifts. In regards to geography he states, “Certain trees or rocks or caves or rivers are seen as ‘holy’.” This is not just an Animistic insight it is a Biblical one. Moses was told to take off his sandals because the place he was standing was ‘holy ground’. These holy places were designated by many ancient peoples including those that spoken of in the Bible.
“The Hebrew word translated standing stones is massebah and means to set up. To honor their covenant with God, the Israelites also set up standing stones as a reminder of God’s supernatural acts on their behalf. The Bible records several of these significant events: - Jacob set up stone pillars at Bethel in order to remember his powerful dream, in which God reaffirmed his covenant with him (Gen. 28:18—21, 35:14—15). - After receiving the Ten Commandments and other laws, Moses built twelve standing stones at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:2—4). - The Israelites erected standing stones to remember their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 4:2—3, 8—9). - Joshua built another standing stone when the covenant was renewed at Shechem (Josh. 24:27).”
Dorr states that in regards to other redemptive structures such as family, primal people attach a truly religions significance to family and there is a ‘much stronger family solidarity than is customary in the West’. The family solidarity he speaks about is rooted in generational reverence that treats those who have recently died as if they were still alive. “The more remote ancestors also play a vital role in the community; for the sense of being linked to them gives people a feeling of connectedness…which goes on from one generation to the next.” The reverence for family and the reverence for place are complementary concepts that support one another. It also gives people a sense of their unique place in time as well. The importance of this insight becomes profound to animistic people groups when the message of Christ comes that focuses on sonship and being born within the context of a specific time frame and genealogical or tribal line. These are concepts they would understand. They are concepts and insights that indigenous evangelist share with related people groups and with the evangelistic people group that initially brought them the Gospel. Each people group then grows in redemptive knowledge because of the insights that God has planted in the various people groups around the world. Can a western teenage steeped in individualism understand the engrafting of the gentile into the tribes of Israel more than a San teenager raised in a tribal context in Africa that honors generational and genealogical connections? I don’t have the means to test this question but I would assume not. I would assume that if each were lead to Christ the San teenager would be able to accommodate the concept of Christ coming in the “fullness of time” in a more profound manner than the western teenager.
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4: 4-7)
Primal Religions are still very mysterious to western missionaries. However, the value that missionaries place on the wisdom of those that practice animistic religions has improved. Missionaries like Dorr can now say, “We need to admit that we have largely lost the very ‘grounded’ sense of wonder of those that live close to the earth.” He further states that “It is likely that it is in the effort to inculturate the Christian faith in indigenous cultures that we will begin to get some sense of the values of primal religions.” I would further state that the “wonder’ that Dorr is referencing is a Biblical wonder and not a Primal wonder. Capturing that wonder makes us more Christ like not simply more grounded. Dorr’s work is essentially dedicated to finding the wonder and making both western and primal peoples more Christ like.
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 98
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
http://www.holistic-life-living.com/what-is-animism.html (holistic-life-living, 2007)
Gilmore, George. Animism, 1919 http://www.sacred-texts.com/sha/anim/anim18.htm chapter XVI
Gilmore, George. Animism, 1919 http://www.sacred-texts.com/sha/anim/anim18.htm chapter XVI
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 96
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
“Standing Stones” That the World May Know Ministries http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=1708
“Standing Stones” That the World May Know Ministries http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=1708
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 40
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (
The San of Africa are a good group to begin with because they support within their culture the idea of monotheism and insight to spiritual warfare being garnered from an ‘animistic cultures’. The understanding of the spiritual realm and monotheistic cultural memory are easily heard in the quoted parallels to Christian literature.
“To you the creator, to you the powerful, I offer this new plant.. New fruit of the old tree. You are the master, we are the children. To you the creator, to you the powerful.”
In the beginning of Kmvoum, Today is Kmvoum, Tomorrow will Kmvoum.”
Aylward Shorter makes this statement in his book African Christian Theology.
“In most African Traditional theologies the idea of a supreme being is more or less distinctly present. Whether he is conceived as creator or begetter, whether or not he is a part of man’s proximate experience, the idea of the supreme being is strong enough and ubiquitous enough to make nonsense of the term ‘animism’ which is so frequently and mistakenly applied to African religions.”
If this is true of African religions I would argue that it is true of other primal religions. Shorter’s distancing African traditional religions from the term Animism may be the result of the pejorative nature of the label among Christian workers. It also indicates a genuine respect and concern for the people group he is called to. Defining the term and associating it with wisdom contained within the human family as opposed to associating it with prehistoric evolutionary frame works would help remove the pejorative nature of the term as well.
“In anthropology, animism is often considered to be the original human religion, being defined as belief in the existence of spiritual beings.” …The basis for animism is acknowledgment that there is a spiritual realm which humans share the universe with - in other words, this wonderful world of ours in inhabited not only by us human beings, but also by 'spiritual beings'. The concept that humans possess souls and that souls have life apart from human bodies both before and after death are central to animism…' “
George William Gilmore wrote in his 1919 work Animism, that there are three ‘ discoveries’ that should be credited to Animism. Within the context of these articles it would be more accurate to say that these ‘discoveries’ have been retained and unconsciously stewarded, for the benefit of the Church. They are first the existence of the soul, secondarily the existence of the soul after death and lastly the belief in supernatural powers. In regards to the belief in supernatural powers Gilmore writes.
“Whether we regard this from the standpoint of anthropology or culture, or from that of ethics or of religion, it is difficult to estimate, impossible to overestimate, its importance. How vast a power of restraint this belief has exerted as an inhibition upon the lower passions of man, and how great an impulse it has ever been to the growth and unfolding of his higher nature!”
Gilmore point reinforces the idea of educated and trained consciences. In this case the source of the education is and understanding of the supernatural. Shorter’s work in Africa is directed at reconciling the practical aspects of religion lived out ethically in this world and communion with supernatural beings. He states that “Religious experience is both the inner experience of the individual and the mutual affirmation by a community of common insights.” When he speaks about the experience of the individual he is affirming the redemptive value of the individual soul and God’s communication with that soul. When he speaks about the mutual affirmation of the community he is taking about common spiritual experiences that effect both individuals and communities. I will be addressing part of this insight when I speak about individual and community shame. Shorter adds this perspective on religion.
“Religion…is not simply belief, or morality, or ritual, or structures. It is basically prayer-not prayer as formal communication with spiritual beings in worship- but the essential disposition of the man of faith which this worship reflects. Religious faith is the consciousness of the further demission to life, the living communion of man with the ‘spirit world’, not separated or opposed to this world, but discovered and lived in this world.”
In regards to African religion he states that the questions that must be asked are, “What is the shape of this communion? What forms does the relationship take? I would argue that this communion is firmly rooted in a geographic, generational, and genealogical context that attempts to honor man and God in the context of community. It is therefore redemptive in its nature. Donal Dorr is a missionary to Africa, he expounds on this topic in his work “Mission, In Today’s World” Dorr describes, the presence, in primal religions, of redemptive insights about geography, genealogy and generational redemptive gifts. In regards to geography he states, “Certain trees or rocks or caves or rivers are seen as ‘holy’.” This is not just an Animistic insight it is a Biblical one. Moses was told to take off his sandals because the place he was standing was ‘holy ground’. These holy places were designated by many ancient peoples including those that spoken of in the Bible.
“The Hebrew word translated standing stones is massebah and means to set up. To honor their covenant with God, the Israelites also set up standing stones as a reminder of God’s supernatural acts on their behalf. The Bible records several of these significant events: - Jacob set up stone pillars at Bethel in order to remember his powerful dream, in which God reaffirmed his covenant with him (Gen. 28:18—21, 35:14—15). - After receiving the Ten Commandments and other laws, Moses built twelve standing stones at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:2—4). - The Israelites erected standing stones to remember their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 4:2—3, 8—9). - Joshua built another standing stone when the covenant was renewed at Shechem (Josh. 24:27).”
Dorr states that in regards to other redemptive structures such as family, primal people attach a truly religions significance to family and there is a ‘much stronger family solidarity than is customary in the West’. The family solidarity he speaks about is rooted in generational reverence that treats those who have recently died as if they were still alive. “The more remote ancestors also play a vital role in the community; for the sense of being linked to them gives people a feeling of connectedness…which goes on from one generation to the next.” The reverence for family and the reverence for place are complementary concepts that support one another. It also gives people a sense of their unique place in time as well. The importance of this insight becomes profound to animistic people groups when the message of Christ comes that focuses on sonship and being born within the context of a specific time frame and genealogical or tribal line. These are concepts they would understand. They are concepts and insights that indigenous evangelist share with related people groups and with the evangelistic people group that initially brought them the Gospel. Each people group then grows in redemptive knowledge because of the insights that God has planted in the various people groups around the world. Can a western teenage steeped in individualism understand the engrafting of the gentile into the tribes of Israel more than a San teenager raised in a tribal context in Africa that honors generational and genealogical connections? I don’t have the means to test this question but I would assume not. I would assume that if each were lead to Christ the San teenager would be able to accommodate the concept of Christ coming in the “fullness of time” in a more profound manner than the western teenager.
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4: 4-7)
Primal Religions are still very mysterious to western missionaries. However, the value that missionaries place on the wisdom of those that practice animistic religions has improved. Missionaries like Dorr can now say, “We need to admit that we have largely lost the very ‘grounded’ sense of wonder of those that live close to the earth.” He further states that “It is likely that it is in the effort to inculturate the Christian faith in indigenous cultures that we will begin to get some sense of the values of primal religions.” I would further state that the “wonder’ that Dorr is referencing is a Biblical wonder and not a Primal wonder. Capturing that wonder makes us more Christ like not simply more grounded. Dorr’s work is essentially dedicated to finding the wonder and making both western and primal peoples more Christ like.
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 98
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
http://www.holistic-life-living.com/what-is-animism.html (holistic-life-living, 2007)
Gilmore, George. Animism, 1919 http://www.sacred-texts.com/sha/anim/anim18.htm chapter XVI
Gilmore, George. Animism, 1919 http://www.sacred-texts.com/sha/anim/anim18.htm chapter XVI
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 96
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
Shorter, Aylward, African Christian Theology. (Orbis Books, 1977). Pg 97
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
“Standing Stones” That the World May Know Ministries http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=1708
“Standing Stones” That the World May Know Ministries http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=1708
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 40
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (Orbis Books, 2000) pg 41
Dorr, Donal, Mission In Today’s World. (
Monday, May 16, 2011
Cultural Memory in Animistic Cultures
Cultural Memory in Animistic Cultures
Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen served as a missionary to the Kipsigis people of Kenya for thirteen years. He writes on the application of a theology of power within the context of animistic cultures. He provides an outline for addressing the appropriate use of power illustrations within the context of teaching the scriptures and the demonstration of power within a context of prayer among animistic people groups. In his communication to the Kipsigis people his primary concerns were teaching the nature of divine power and ensuring that Animistic power was not equated with divine power. He would argue that spiritual warfare is; “standing in prayer with God against the principalities and powers to defeat Satan through truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.”
The body of Dr. Van Rheenen work in Africa becomes illustrative of the point I am trying to make about redemptive gifts and their incorporation into the body of Christ. His writing on Spiritual Warfare corresponds directly to his missionary work among an animistic people group. This is because they have measure of insight into spiritual realm that has been lost in the west but is in fact a reality taught in scripture. Now their insight was not perfected in Christ, but the insight was present. It is related to magical names and rituals and could be wrongly incorporated into the life to the church if not run through the context of the scriptures. An example of this is Dr. Van Rheenen comments of prayer.
“Prayer should not be viewed as a power tool but as a means of relating to God, the source of all power. The difference is significant. When prayer is viewed as power, certain words or rituals are deemed necessary to access the power; however, prayer, like conversion, is a turning to God, a trusting in him to act”
The potential error in this case would be viewing the ‘Name of Jesus’ as the source of ones power and not a relationship with Jesus as the source of power. The distinction is subtle but important. That error is not corrected without the Christian teacher. However, the topic is not researched thoroughly unless the remnant of this knowledge is retained by the Kipsigis people. Dr. Rheennen wisdom in the area of Spiritual Warfare is never actualized unless the realty of spiritual warfare is retained within the Kipsigis people. Their evangelization means that the entire body of Christ is blessed with new wisdom about Biblical spiritual warfare. I further project that the Biblically educated native Kipsigsi evangelist and church leaders would excel western missionaries in these insights within the first of second generation of training because of their native familiarity with the subject.
Insights from animistic cultures about demonology and sacred places should be incorporated into the Body of Christ. The importance of this knowledge is its redemptive purpose. The western equivalent for this incorporation may be seen in former drug addicts using their insights into addiction to deliver individuals from the bondage of substance dependence.
When research was being completed on idolatry for the 1911 version of the Encyclopedia Britannica it makes this statement, “It is not found, for instance, among Bushmen, Fuegians, Eskimos,” The Bushman referred to are the people groups of South Africa. The preferred academic term for them is San. We will therefore use that term. The Fuegians are tribes from the tip of South America and the Eskimos are from the extreme northern sections of the Americas. The preferred term is Inuit, we will therefore use it. Idolatry is not part of the cultural memory of mankind handed down from Eden and Noah as sacrifice is. It is interpolated. Therefore it could be said of Animistic cultures that they avoided a spiritual error that so called advanced cultures embraced. It will be argued here that not only did Animistic cultures avoid error but they also retained knowledge of the supernatural that is beneficial the churches understanding of spiritual warfare and nature. The San of Africa, The Inuit of the Americas and the Fuegians of South America will be looked at in these series of articles from the perspectives of the missionaries that have worked among them. They will be covered in the order in which they were referenced. Shorter blogs that are unrelated to these series of topics will be seen as well but for the followers of the blog the connections will not be hard to make.
Abilene Christian University, Bio. Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress/books/authors/gailyn_vanrheenen.html
Van Rheenen, Gailyn “A Theology of Power”. June 2005” EMQ, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 32-38. Copyright © 2005 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). http://www.emisdirect.com/emq/issue-118/339?searched=animism&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1
Van Rheenen, Gailyn“A Theology of Power” June 2005” EMQ, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 32-38. Copyright © 2005 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). http://www.emisdirect.com/emq/issue-118/339?searched=animism&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1
“Idolatry” Classic Encyclopedia, based on the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1911 http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Idolatry
“Bushmen” Classic Encyclopedia, based on the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1911 http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Bushmen
“Bushmen” Nativewiki http://www.nativewiki.org/Bushmen
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
“Eskimo –Aleut Religion” Published by the Division of Religion and Philosophy University of Cumbria http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/nam/inuit.html
Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen served as a missionary to the Kipsigis people of Kenya for thirteen years. He writes on the application of a theology of power within the context of animistic cultures. He provides an outline for addressing the appropriate use of power illustrations within the context of teaching the scriptures and the demonstration of power within a context of prayer among animistic people groups. In his communication to the Kipsigis people his primary concerns were teaching the nature of divine power and ensuring that Animistic power was not equated with divine power. He would argue that spiritual warfare is; “standing in prayer with God against the principalities and powers to defeat Satan through truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.”
The body of Dr. Van Rheenen work in Africa becomes illustrative of the point I am trying to make about redemptive gifts and their incorporation into the body of Christ. His writing on Spiritual Warfare corresponds directly to his missionary work among an animistic people group. This is because they have measure of insight into spiritual realm that has been lost in the west but is in fact a reality taught in scripture. Now their insight was not perfected in Christ, but the insight was present. It is related to magical names and rituals and could be wrongly incorporated into the life to the church if not run through the context of the scriptures. An example of this is Dr. Van Rheenen comments of prayer.
“Prayer should not be viewed as a power tool but as a means of relating to God, the source of all power. The difference is significant. When prayer is viewed as power, certain words or rituals are deemed necessary to access the power; however, prayer, like conversion, is a turning to God, a trusting in him to act”
The potential error in this case would be viewing the ‘Name of Jesus’ as the source of ones power and not a relationship with Jesus as the source of power. The distinction is subtle but important. That error is not corrected without the Christian teacher. However, the topic is not researched thoroughly unless the remnant of this knowledge is retained by the Kipsigis people. Dr. Rheennen wisdom in the area of Spiritual Warfare is never actualized unless the realty of spiritual warfare is retained within the Kipsigis people. Their evangelization means that the entire body of Christ is blessed with new wisdom about Biblical spiritual warfare. I further project that the Biblically educated native Kipsigsi evangelist and church leaders would excel western missionaries in these insights within the first of second generation of training because of their native familiarity with the subject.
Insights from animistic cultures about demonology and sacred places should be incorporated into the Body of Christ. The importance of this knowledge is its redemptive purpose. The western equivalent for this incorporation may be seen in former drug addicts using their insights into addiction to deliver individuals from the bondage of substance dependence.
When research was being completed on idolatry for the 1911 version of the Encyclopedia Britannica it makes this statement, “It is not found, for instance, among Bushmen, Fuegians, Eskimos,” The Bushman referred to are the people groups of South Africa. The preferred academic term for them is San. We will therefore use that term. The Fuegians are tribes from the tip of South America and the Eskimos are from the extreme northern sections of the Americas. The preferred term is Inuit, we will therefore use it. Idolatry is not part of the cultural memory of mankind handed down from Eden and Noah as sacrifice is. It is interpolated. Therefore it could be said of Animistic cultures that they avoided a spiritual error that so called advanced cultures embraced. It will be argued here that not only did Animistic cultures avoid error but they also retained knowledge of the supernatural that is beneficial the churches understanding of spiritual warfare and nature. The San of Africa, The Inuit of the Americas and the Fuegians of South America will be looked at in these series of articles from the perspectives of the missionaries that have worked among them. They will be covered in the order in which they were referenced. Shorter blogs that are unrelated to these series of topics will be seen as well but for the followers of the blog the connections will not be hard to make.
Abilene Christian University, Bio. Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acupress/books/authors/gailyn_vanrheenen.html
Van Rheenen, Gailyn “A Theology of Power”. June 2005” EMQ, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 32-38. Copyright © 2005 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). http://www.emisdirect.com/emq/issue-118/339?searched=animism&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1
Van Rheenen, Gailyn“A Theology of Power” June 2005” EMQ, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 32-38. Copyright © 2005 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). http://www.emisdirect.com/emq/issue-118/339?searched=animism&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1
“Idolatry” Classic Encyclopedia, based on the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1911 http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Idolatry
“Bushmen” Classic Encyclopedia, based on the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1911 http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Bushmen
“Bushmen” Nativewiki http://www.nativewiki.org/Bushmen
Grigg, Russell “Dawrwin and the Fuegians” Creation Ministries International, published 19 May, 2009 http://creation.com/darwin-and-the-fuegians
“Eskimo –Aleut Religion” Published by the Division of Religion and Philosophy University of Cumbria http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/nam/inuit.html
God the Creator Mankind the Ruler
God the Creator Mankind the Ruler
In the beginning God ,,,,
This simple statement has become as source of such controversy because of the hardness of human being’s heart. Never in the history of our species have we been able to see the beauty of outer space, the depths of the ocean or the microscopic world in all of its complexity. Yet many believe that all this occurred randomly and without a guiding hand or a grand designer.
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
so that they may rule”
Never in the history of human kind have we been able to do so much and see so much through the force of our intellect and the application of our intelligence. Yet still many equate human kind with the other beast of the field, the birds of the air, and the life in the ocean. When the distinction in influence, power and obvious to the smallest child.
The softening of our heart in regards to believing in God and creator and man as ruler is evidenced by two other simple and obvious lessons contained in Genesis 1 & 2. We would be fruitful and multiple and fill the earth and we would rest.
Trusting God with the make up and design of our family is evidence that we are clearly trusting God to not give us more than we can handle. It is evidence that we trust him with our financial well being. More importantly it indicates that we trust him with our capacity to Love.
Resting on the Sabbath is also evidence that we trust him. It communicates that we trust him that our work will get done. It indicates that we trust him with our financial security. More importantly in communicates that we are willing to join him in the enjoyment of the blessing of our family, the thanksgiving that comes with labor, and that we can do this in the midst of the glory of his creation.
In the beginning God ,,,,
This simple statement has become as source of such controversy because of the hardness of human being’s heart. Never in the history of our species have we been able to see the beauty of outer space, the depths of the ocean or the microscopic world in all of its complexity. Yet many believe that all this occurred randomly and without a guiding hand or a grand designer.
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
so that they may rule”
Never in the history of human kind have we been able to do so much and see so much through the force of our intellect and the application of our intelligence. Yet still many equate human kind with the other beast of the field, the birds of the air, and the life in the ocean. When the distinction in influence, power and obvious to the smallest child.
The softening of our heart in regards to believing in God and creator and man as ruler is evidenced by two other simple and obvious lessons contained in Genesis 1 & 2. We would be fruitful and multiple and fill the earth and we would rest.
Trusting God with the make up and design of our family is evidence that we are clearly trusting God to not give us more than we can handle. It is evidence that we trust him with our financial well being. More importantly it indicates that we trust him with our capacity to Love.
Resting on the Sabbath is also evidence that we trust him. It communicates that we trust him that our work will get done. It indicates that we trust him with our financial security. More importantly in communicates that we are willing to join him in the enjoyment of the blessing of our family, the thanksgiving that comes with labor, and that we can do this in the midst of the glory of his creation.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Circle of Life is a Crooked Path
“Where, O death, is your victory?
"Where, O death, is your sting?”"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15 55-58
Never view death as a part of the life cycle. The 'circle of life' is the crooked path that John the Baptist said Jesus would make straight. When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the tomb of death, he wept. He did not rejoice or dance because death is the enemy he came to defeat. Even when he knew he was going to raise him from the dead he wept. Lazarus is not with us, death stole his witness from the earth once again, as was the Apostle Paul's, John Wesley and my Dad!!! The scriptural idea of life is linear not circular. John 5:24 says it this way. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." Passing from death to life happens when we believe the witness of the Apostles who testified that he had been raised from the dead. Passing from death to life happens when we receive forgivingness of sins and our dead hearts are made alive in him. Then we join the line of saints who eagerly await the resurrection of the body.
Tim Rice wrote the lyrics and Elton John performed this song for the popular film Lion King. The song well reflects our state of affairs without divine intervention. "It's The Circle of Life, And it moves us all through despair and hope through faith and love till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle The Circle of Life." In as far is this is true it can bring comfort to a mourning soul, but I tell you that there is a day when "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” The former thing is that passes away is that cycle that leads to death. The promise of the resurrection kept the Apostles working with the threat of pain and persecution and death following them every day. The promise of a line that leads to eternal life should also help us stand firm and not be moved because you are not in the circle of life but you have been transformed from death to life.
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/circleoflife.htm
"Where, O death, is your sting?”"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15 55-58
Never view death as a part of the life cycle. The 'circle of life' is the crooked path that John the Baptist said Jesus would make straight. When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the tomb of death, he wept. He did not rejoice or dance because death is the enemy he came to defeat. Even when he knew he was going to raise him from the dead he wept. Lazarus is not with us, death stole his witness from the earth once again, as was the Apostle Paul's, John Wesley and my Dad!!! The scriptural idea of life is linear not circular. John 5:24 says it this way. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." Passing from death to life happens when we believe the witness of the Apostles who testified that he had been raised from the dead. Passing from death to life happens when we receive forgivingness of sins and our dead hearts are made alive in him. Then we join the line of saints who eagerly await the resurrection of the body.
Tim Rice wrote the lyrics and Elton John performed this song for the popular film Lion King. The song well reflects our state of affairs without divine intervention. "It's The Circle of Life, And it moves us all through despair and hope through faith and love till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle The Circle of Life." In as far is this is true it can bring comfort to a mourning soul, but I tell you that there is a day when "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” The former thing is that passes away is that cycle that leads to death. The promise of the resurrection kept the Apostles working with the threat of pain and persecution and death following them every day. The promise of a line that leads to eternal life should also help us stand firm and not be moved because you are not in the circle of life but you have been transformed from death to life.
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/circleoflife.htm
Friday, May 13, 2011
Jihad of the Soul
Jihad of the Soul
Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10: 19-20
Jihad is a word that evokes a great deal of fear and concern in our day. At its root the word means struggle. There are essentially two types of Jihad, an internal struggle as it relates to right living and an external struggle as it relates to the forces around us. For the Christian this two fold understanding of holy war has great application. One battle in this war is internal; it is the struggle with the flesh. The other is external with the demonic realm where we wrestle with principalities and rulers. The internal battle of the flesh is won by walking in the Spirit. “I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other,… Galatians 5: 15-17. This Jihad can not be won unless ‘your name is registered in heaven. You can not walk in the Spirit unless you are born of the Spirit. That is why Jesus says rejoice that your name is written in the book of life, or ‘registered in heaven’
The other external battle against the demonic realm can be won through the exercise of the authority granted us in Jesus name. It is a battle that is described in Ephesians 6:12. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Victory in this battle does not mean victory in the war for your soul!
There are those that are exercising that authority in our day, but they are winning a battle and not a war. They have Spiritual gifts and spiritual power, they have even been given authority to use Jesus name. Matthew 7 21-32 describes this group perfectly. They say ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
What then is the will of God if it is not victory in spiritual warfare? It is that you repent of your sins that you acknowledge that only God can forgive you, and that you have your name written in the book of life. That is the victory in Jihad of the Soul. You can not win this war for yourself. Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening. In others words a small storm and a quick flash from a heavenly perspective. Matthew 27 says for three hours darkness covered the earth as Jesus died for my sin and your sin. The earth itself was torn open and the dead were raised to life. The Jihad of my Soul is won not in victory of Satan but in victory of my sin by the acceptance of the work done on the cross for me. Today in your battle with the flesh and your battle with Satan remember that the Jihad of your soul is only won through the death Jesus died for you and the resurrection that made the way for you to be born of the spirit.
Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10: 19-20
Jihad is a word that evokes a great deal of fear and concern in our day. At its root the word means struggle. There are essentially two types of Jihad, an internal struggle as it relates to right living and an external struggle as it relates to the forces around us. For the Christian this two fold understanding of holy war has great application. One battle in this war is internal; it is the struggle with the flesh. The other is external with the demonic realm where we wrestle with principalities and rulers. The internal battle of the flesh is won by walking in the Spirit. “I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other,… Galatians 5: 15-17. This Jihad can not be won unless ‘your name is registered in heaven. You can not walk in the Spirit unless you are born of the Spirit. That is why Jesus says rejoice that your name is written in the book of life, or ‘registered in heaven’
The other external battle against the demonic realm can be won through the exercise of the authority granted us in Jesus name. It is a battle that is described in Ephesians 6:12. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Victory in this battle does not mean victory in the war for your soul!
There are those that are exercising that authority in our day, but they are winning a battle and not a war. They have Spiritual gifts and spiritual power, they have even been given authority to use Jesus name. Matthew 7 21-32 describes this group perfectly. They say ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
What then is the will of God if it is not victory in spiritual warfare? It is that you repent of your sins that you acknowledge that only God can forgive you, and that you have your name written in the book of life. That is the victory in Jihad of the Soul. You can not win this war for yourself. Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening. In others words a small storm and a quick flash from a heavenly perspective. Matthew 27 says for three hours darkness covered the earth as Jesus died for my sin and your sin. The earth itself was torn open and the dead were raised to life. The Jihad of my Soul is won not in victory of Satan but in victory of my sin by the acceptance of the work done on the cross for me. Today in your battle with the flesh and your battle with Satan remember that the Jihad of your soul is only won through the death Jesus died for you and the resurrection that made the way for you to be born of the spirit.
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