Thoughts from Acts

I've been reading through the New Testament and I'm up to the book of Acts right now. Most mornings I read a chapter and make some notes of things I find interesting. These are just some of my thoughts.

Jesus gives them a job and then the means to do the job.

When God sent the Holy Spirit, the noise was enough to attract the attention of the people in Jerusalem, so they were gathered to hear the gospel.

The apostles were quick to give glory to God (in contrast to various other people who wanted glory/power/etc. for themselves).

The gospel was not limited to any particular group (Jews, Gentiles, men, women, rich, poor...).

Every meeting was a chance to spread the gospel.

Timothy was "well spoken of" by the believers; that and his parentage are all we know about him, but he became Paul's faithful companion.

Luke just sort of joins the narrative, switching from "they went" to "we went" with no mention of how or why he joined them.

Nehemiah

 A very long time ago, when I lived in Thunder Bay, my pastor preached through Nehemiah. I don't remember everything he preached (I don't even remember every book he preached through), but two of the Nehemiah sermons have stuck in my head and I remember them every time I read Nehemiah.

The first is from the very beginning of the book, when Nehemiah asks about Jerusalem, hears what is happening, prays, and plans. I think the sermon was titled "Look Out, Look Up, Look In" (or something close to that). The general idea is to know what is happening, pray about it, and see how you can help. My memory is pretty short on details; I just know that I've remembered it at various times when I've felt overwhelmed. First I look properly at what it happening, then I pray about it, then I think about what to do about it. It works much better than my temptation to worry about it until it's even more overwhelming and then pray about it.

The second comes from the list of people building the wall in chapter 3. It lists groups and people who worked on the wall as well as what part they worked on. The think I remember is the Tekoites who are mentioned twice as making repairs, but the first mention adds that their nobles did not support the work. It seems to be generally agreed that the nobles felt that the work was beneath them and they refused to stoop to manual labor. The question, if I remember correctly, was: "How do you want to be remembered? As someone who did the work of the Lord or someone who refused?"

This read-through, I made a list of people who are mentioned as working on the wall; specifically, I looked for the groups who aren't usually thought of as builders: priests, goldsmiths, perfumers, officials, daughters, and merchants. None of them would have been used to building walls, but all of them helped. 

Sometimes I think that we get stuck in "this is who I am" and forget that we may be needed to serve in other ways, for a greater or lesser period of time. I'm pretty sure most of those people did not become builders after the wall was done; they served where they were needed and then got back to their regular life, whatever that looked like.

Sometimes I think we can also get stuck in "this is who this other person is" and not ask them for help or expect them to do anything other than what we think they can do or should do.

I think we should try harder to be like the people building the wall. Sometimes we can and should do things that we (or other people) did not think we could do.

A Page of Notes

I stumbled upon some notes that I had made as I read the Bible last year. There's noting too deep here; just some really short things (mostly bits of verses) that I jotted down. I'm going share them with minimal additions:

• Judah (and so David and Christ) came from Leah the unloved.
• Exodus 28:2: "for glory and for beauty"
• Leviticus 23:40: "beautiful trees"
• 1 Kings 4:5: "and Zabud the son of Nathan, the priest, was the king's friend" (he's in the list of Solomon's officials, and that's all it says about him)
• 1 Kings 11:39: "but not always" (God talking about how He will afflict the descendants of David for Solomon's sins)
• 2 Chronicles 9:8: "to do justice and righteousness"
• 2 Chronicles 19:6: "You do not judge for man, but for God..."

It was a small paper, and that's all it has.

Matthew's Begats

I know it's not Christmas, but I'm pretty impressed that he can sing all of them:

Thoughts at the Beginning of a New Year

As a teacher, I find it hard to accept that the new year begins in January. It's still winter and cold and snowy (at least in my part of the world). For me, the new year begins in September, with the start of the new school year. This actually caused some confusion once with the elders at the church. I said, late one fall, that we might need to start a new Sunday School class "next year". They thought I wanted to start it in January. I wondered why they thought I would want to change things part way through the year. Really, they should understand that "next year" in a Sunday School context is the next school year.

I don't have any New Year's resolutions this year. They always seem so pointless to me: this year I'm going to change everything and be wonderful and do everything perfectly! No I'm not. I'm going to be the same person I already am. Of course I'll change; we all do, and usually it's good. I'm just not going to set up some unrealistic expectations and then feel guilty when I don't live up to them.

On that note: I'm also not doing a "read through the Bible in a year" plan. I find it very stressful and either I rush some days or I get behind and then read all of Revelation in the last three days of the year just so I finished on time. This year I found a "read through the Bible in 3 years" plan. It works for me. Each day you're supposed to read 1 chapter (and on occasion 2 short chapters). Now I just follow the reading plan (it alternates between Old and New Testaments), and read how ever many chapters I want to that day, taking time to think about what I'm reading rather than just reading to get it done for the day. If I read more than one chapter (and I've been doing 2 most days so far, but it's only the 6th), that's fine. If I have a busy day and don't read (by which I mean "Tuesdays" when I work 9-5, and have Bible Study in the evening, and often don't get home until 11), it's not the end of the world. I'm also doing my reading in the evenings instead of mornings. I don't like to feel rushed in the mornings, and I need something to focus my thoughts in the evenings rather than spending all evening on the computer.

I do have a goal for 2015: the 2015 Reading Challenge. It looks like a fun way to decide what to read and maybe try something new. I've already finished one book (The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde) and I've started 3 others. I'll see how it goes.

I'd also like to write more this year. No promises there, though!

When God Became Flesh

After the time of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament Prophets, God was silent for around 400 year. And then He spoke again, not only with words, but by sending the Word to us.

Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

What I'm Learning

I'm preparing my discipleship plan for Worship and Wisdom class. Everything I'm reading, from Proverbs, Matthew, and James (and various other parts) only confirms one thing:

We only have 2 choices.

We either follow God or the world, as demonstrated in wisdom or folly.

We want more choices, right? Things that are sort-of okay, or not really wrong. It's not really God's wisdom, but we're certainly not following worldly folly either.

I'm sorry, people, but such a choice does not exist. Furthermore, we have to choose wisdom deliberately: it won't just happen. And every time we are not choosing wisdom, we are by default choosing folly.

Sometimes the hard part is knowing what wisdom is in a certain situation. I think, though, that it isn't always as tough as we think (or as we want it to be so that we might have an excuse for slacking a bit). It takes work, though, and time spent reading and learning Scripture and learning to know God more and more.

Misused Bible Verses

Today, for your reading enjoyment...a book review!
I picked up The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric J. Bargerhuff when I was at Masters last month. I read most of it on the trip home. It's an easy read with sound teaching and I enjoyed it. It's subtitled "Surprising Ways God's Word is Misunderstood" although I didn't find many surprises in it. Most of the verses I'd heard misused (and some I have misused myself in the past), although there were a couple unexpected verses.
Bargerhuff looks at 17 different verses (or passages) that are misused. I am not going to go through them all, although I will list the references for you here:

• “Judge Not” - Matthew 7:1
• “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you” - Jeremiah 29:11-13
• “Where two or three are gathered” - Matthew 18:20
• “Ask for anything in My name” - John 14:13-14
• “All things work together for good” - Romans 8:28
• “If My people who are called by My name” - 2 Chronicles 7:14
• “Jesus as the firstborn of all creation” - Colossians 1:15
• “Money is the root of all evil” - 1 Timothy 6:10
• “No more than you can handle” - 1 Corinthians 10:13
• “Train up a child” - Proverbs 22:6
• “I can do all things through Christ” - Philippians 4:13
• “An eye for an eye” - Exodus 21:23-25
• “Prayer offered in faith” - James 5:15
• “Repent and be baptized” - Acts 2:38
• “Guard your heart” - Proverbs 4:23
• “Where there is no vision” - Proverbs 29:18
• “Lifting up the name of Jesus” - John 12:32

Just some notes about it.
First, I had never heard Proverbs 4:23 misused. It seems that it's used by people to keep from getting close to others. I also did not know that John 12:32 (which is about Jesus being lifted up on the cross) was the basis for lifting up the name of Jesus. Those were the ones that surprised me.

Second, he doesn't quite make it on Proverbs 22:6. He's quite right that proverbs are principles, not promises. This should at least comfort people who do everything right and still get rebellious children. At the same time, he misses what the verse is really saying. It's more of a warning: if you start a child out in the way he wants to go, he will never, ever turn from it. (Read God's Wisdom in Proverbs, appendix 3, by Dan Phillips, for the full explanation).

Third, Bargerhuff is absolutely correct in his emphasis on context. So many of these verses wouldn't be misused if people refrained from pulling them from the Bible and ignoring their immediate context. You can't do that. You have to read the Bible as a whole. That is why I encourage people to have their Bibles open in church and when reading Christian books to double check what is being said. And you need to know your Bible.

Overall: I think this is an excellent book and a very useful reference tool. It doesn't hurt to double check your own favourite verses as well.

Research

Sometimes I ask questions about Scripture that don't have easy answers. I often get the response, "Well, we can't really know for sure, so why bother?" The attitude is that there are some questions that we should just leave alone and not take the time to ponder.

A lot of the time I don't ask questions now because no one else seems interested in the things that interest me and no one else wants to think about them. I still want to research and learn and understand as much as I can  but so many people try to convince me to let things go.

Today this idea came up in class, along with a reason for trying.There are so many things that we don’t understand and maybe we never will, but as we search for answers we learn to know God more and learn other things that we had never thought about. The more we look, the more we understand about God and His Word and often about ourselves.


Research is good. Learning is fun. I think that I'll keep looking for answers even if no one else cares to come along for the ride.

Why People Deny Creation

These are my thoughts on why people deny creation; I may not have all the reasons and I may be speculating. The thing is, I've never doubted creation as it's laid out in Genesis 1-2. I think the Bible is amazingly clear: God made everything from nothing by speaking it all into being. I don't see how you can read the Bible, accepting it as God's inspired word, and deny creation.

Oh... and I'm talking about professing Christians here; nonchristians deny creation because they are in active rebellion against the Creator.

First: They haven't been taught properly. They've been around people and in churches that teach alternative views of Genesis 1-2, and they've simply accepted what they've been told. They have also likely never been taught to read the Bible and think about what it really says. Either they are expected to accept what they are taught, they think that the Bible may be too hard to understand, or they are lazy.

Side note: I know that I am extremely blessed to be in a church family where reading the Bible regularly and thinking critically and making sure the teachers/pastors are teaching/preaching truth and asking questions or raising concerns if what they say does not seem to match Scripture are all encouraged. I send my Sunday School students home with orders (usually ignored) to read certain passages to make sure what I am teaching is truth. It's a very, very important part of their learning because one day they will run into people who claim things as Biblical that are not in the Bible.

Okay, second reason: They want to gain the respect of the scientific community, maybe with the intention of "finding common ground" to "start a conversation" and preach the gospel, so they start to compromise (maybe a day isn't a day....) and then it all goes downhill from there. Guess what? A day is a day...and there is nothing in Genesis 1-2 to say otherwise. Besides that, compromising to win the approval of the world is wrong and will never, never, never cause anyone to listen to the gospel. Read Acts; they opposed all sorts of beliefs with no compromise and God saved people. Got that? Compromise does not save people; God saves people.

Finally: No creation = no Adam and Eve = no fall = no original sin = I'm a pretty good person, really, with just a few flaws. I don't think anyone would state that as a reason, but I think it's there. I think that denying creation leads to a better view of ourselves than we should have, and I think it might be a reason, however subconscious, for the willingness to deny what is so clearly stated in the Bible. This way, they can feel good about themselves, and believe that they aren't so bad, and brush off any guilt, and go through life believing that God loves them just the way they are and sin isn't a big deal. And Jesus died just to show us how much He loves us (not to save us from eternal wrath and punishment which we deserve and can do nothing about because we are dead in our trespasses and sins), and He loves everyone because we're all good people (except maybe Hitler and Stalin and the like). It's a nice story...too bad it isn't true. And believing it undermines the cross, makes Christ's sacrifice and God's justice a sham, calls God a liar, and leaves people feeling happy and guilt free on their way to hell.

People... creation matters. Truth matters. And denying what is clearly stated in the Bible won't change the truth.

The Joy of Christmas

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

John 1:1-5, 14, 16

Hearing God

I've been reading God's Wisdom in Proverbs by Dan Phillips. When I finish it, I plan to write a proper review, but this is not a fast and easy read; it requires time to stop and think and ponder. Anyway, here's where my thoughts were with it today.

People often say "God told me" and "I heard a small voice" and such to explain a decision. You see them on TV a lot, too, talking about new messages that God gave them, and sometimes encouraging us to listen for God's special messages to us as well. It worried me some because I never hear God telling me what to do. I usually make decisions based on gathering information, praying, talking to people who are wiser than I, and then doing what makes the most sense. No "still, small voice" and no "it just felt right." (In fact, I tend to worry about all the big decisions so I never feel an immense sense of peace. If I waited for that, I'd never do anything.)

Further, all the "prophets" people have told me about have turned out to have prophesied falsely at least once, so I'm not ready to trust them. I've never felt the need for new prophesies and small voices in my head and the like, but there are people who make me feel like I'm missing some new truth when I won't listen to this or that "prophet" (who prophesies on a schedule, incidentally, which seems rather forced to me) and that I would understand God so much better (as an aside: not the people at my church, who seem to see things the way I do in this area).

Which brings me to the Proverbs book. Dan Phillips was talking about fear of the Lord, and how we need to learn about God to fear Him, and that this revelation comes through the Bible and always has. Back in Deuteronomy17:18-19, the future kings of Israel are told to copy out and study and know the Law, and that way learn to fear the Lord.

Listen to what Dan says: "Even though he lived in the day of ongoing revelation, with prophets hearing words straight from God's mouth, the king was not directed to focus on them. He was not told to have daily coffee with a prophet, asking for the latest scoop from Heaven. No, he was directed to the written word that he (and all Israel) already possessed." (p.74)

Did you get that? Back in the days when there was on-going revelation, people were still told to turn to Scripture that was already given to know God. And we have the entire Bible now, much more than they had.

We don't need feelings or small voices or new prophetic utterances. We only need the Bible: that is how God speaks to us.

Unbelief

Today Pastor James preached from Mark 6:1-6, on the wonder of unbelief. He said some things that resonated with me; I've seen them over and over when I've been speaking with people. Here are my notes:

Unbelief makes anything but the truth more believable than the truth, no matter how unbelievable it is.

Unbelief is a state; it is not an intellectual problem but a spiritual problem; it is a problem of inability apart from divine intervention.

Unbelief fails to recognize the obvious, gets entangled in the inconsequential, and takes offence at the messenger.

Here are my thoughts:

He's absolutely right. I have spoken with enough people who will believe the oddest things but will not believe the Bible. Moreover, nothing will change their minds. And as Pastor James said, the people around Jesus saw miracles, knew that what Jesus was doing was amazing and had never been done before...and still rejected Him. If proof was all people really needed, there would have been no unbelievers in Israel when Christ was alive.

Beyond that, I have had enough people argue irrelevant points when I speak with them about God. They get stuck on things that Christians (and professed Christians who likely were not really Christians) have done in the past and refuse to care about what Christ has done.

But Pastor James didn't leave us there. He pointed us to John 6:65 and reminded us that unbelief can be overcome through God.

Psalm 73, the final verses

Today we get to the end of the Psalm. Sometimes I think of this more as a prayer, that I want to want nothing but God. Still, at the very least, it is my prayer.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And besides you, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.

Psalm 73: nearing the end

I like this part. Listen:

When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.

See, Asaph knows that he was wrong. He had the wrong attitude and heart.

BUT: God did not leave Him. He still guided him by the hand.

I find great encouragement in remembering that.

Psalm 73, of course

Okay, only 2 verses this week, but 4 next week, since I don't want to split up the next section. Here we see the final destruction of the wicked.

How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O LORD, when aroused, You will despise their form.

Not only will they be destroyed, but it will be suddenly and unexpected. It will be like it was at the time of the flood: "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." (Luke 17: 26-27)

Psalm 73, next

Now the author finally comes to the truth of the matter. What we see is not all there is, and we can trust God to deal with the wicked in the future.

When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
Until I cam into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.

See: he changes his perspective from looking at himself and his perspective to looking to God and His perspective.

Psalm 73, next section

Now the Psalmist moves from his description of the wicked to his reaction to what he sees.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands on innocence;
For I have been stricken all day long
And chastened every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

I get him: sometimes I look around too, see how easy life seems for unbelievers, and how tough it seems for me and I wonder why. I think that sacrificing for Christ should lead to greater blessings, ignoring the eventual blessings.

But see what the Psalmist says next...he did not speak about it. He knew that it would be wrong and would affect others. Asaph was a priest and people listened to him, so he kept his mouth shut when he was doubting; he did not speak until he had answers (they're coming up later).

He stands in contrast to some so-called pastors I've heard about. They doubt and rejoice in their doubting and encourage others to doubt. They don't look for answers, for all that they claim to be looking for them; instead, they keep asking questions and it seems like they don't want answers. And so they betray the ones who look to them for answers.

Asaph was confused, he forgot some important characteristics of God, and he doubted. But he was careful, even in the worst of times, not to betray the people who looked up to him.

Psalm 73, part whatever

This week's verses end Asaph's description of the wicked:

Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
They say, "How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

So: they are rich, they do not acknowledge God, and yet they are at ease. It really, really seems like God ignores -- or even rewards -- disobedience and rebellion over following Him.

Next week we'll see how the Psalmist feels about things, and then we'll start to switch focus and get the answer.

Psalm 73, Part 3

This week we are still talking about the wicked....

Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot,
The mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high,
They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.

So, basically, the Psalmist is still describing the characters and actions of the wicked. They imagine wickedness beyond belief, they speak evil, and they speak against God. So why do they seem to prosper?

Soon...we'll see the answer.