Healthy Questions

Philippians 1 is an interesting passage to look at while we are all under the yoke of a pandemic.   How can any of this be for good?   We just need to get back to normal.   Right?   Enough dying.   Enough job loss.   Enough home incarceration.   Certainly, Paul’s circumstances were pretty dire.  His real imprisonment is unjust, and is impeding his ministry and the progress of the gospel.  Some say he was handcuffed to a guard.  He had the probability of execution hanging over his head.  If I were Paul, I would be desperate to get out of there, and get back to normal.  Albeit, a dynamic, world-saving, death-defying sort of normal. What is Paul’s actual attitude? “… my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.”   There doesn’t even appear to be any hint of disappointment.   It’s as if being in prison is to be expected, as if nothing is out of order.   Would I write the ...

I'm reading through Witmer's "The Shepherd Leader."  This is an excellent and challenging book for any church elder. In the third chapter Witmer recalls first how the church strayed from the leading of a plurality and parity of elders.  This shift began in the second century but was greatly accelerated by Cyprian in the third century.  Cyprian tied church leadership to the Levitical model, with elders becoming priests.  “Bishop” became a title that vested a single man with immense authority over the church and its leadership. The biblical idea of elders and deacons began to be restored in the reformation, beginning with Wycliff, advancing greatly with Calvin and his student Knox, the latter two of which split the role of elder into a teaching pastor and a ruling elder.  The former was to teach the word, the latter was to “seek the fruit of the same in the people” (Knox.)  According to Witmer, these elders were to be men of good character, but they ne...

Recently I found myself ready for a new book and thought I'd try a different approach to selecting it.  I am an elder at my church and, with that in mind, asked our Senior Pastor what he would recommend for me.  I was mildly disappointed when he recommended I read something on hermeneutics - how to interpret the Bible.  Not sure what I was hoping for, but this wasn't it.  Felt like I was asking for an exciting adventure, and got told to go sit in a boring lecture hall for 6 months.  Fighting for my freedom I explained that I had already read, "Knowing Scripture" by RC Sproul, and have been happily and properly studying the Bible for many years now.  Didn't work.  He responded by saying that we can never stop learning in this area; that the interpretation of Scripture is so fundamental that, for the rest of our lives, we should be refreshing ourselves on the principles and practices of correct study.  So, with no small feeling of g...

A few months back I decided to get on a read-your-Bible-in-a-year plan. Frankly, I feel a little sheepish about the fact that I haven't ever read the Bible cover-to-cover. I was able to digest Tom Clancy's latest 800+ page offering in about a week over Christmas, yet I've left pages of God-written content untouched. (BTW, I'd say that Clancy did a better job with this year's novel than the last.) I searched for, and found, a website that offered a chronological reading plan - this makes sense to me: let Biblically-recorded history unfold itself in its proper sequence. For example, after finishing Genesis 10 you jump over to Job before continuing through the rest of Genesis. When reading about the kings of Israel you read related chunks from Kings, Chronicles, Psalms and the prophets all at the same time. As I said, makes sense to me that way. Progress has been slow so far, mostly because I find it impossible to speed read anything in the Bible. This isn't fictio...

I came across an article that takes a concise, fascinating look at the theology of C.S. Lewis. I appreciated the brief biography at the beginning: it is easy to see how the mish-mash of his pre-Christian philosophies certainly left their mark on his Christian thinking. The article ends with the author making a compelling comparison between Lewis and the Church at Corinth. http://www.faithalone.org/journal/2000i/townsend2000e.htm The article is obviously aimed at the old question of whether Lewis was an evangelical Christian, but this inevitably draws us into the greater question of what constitutes an evangelical in the first place. For that I recommend a life-long study of and obedience to the Scriptures, and perhaps listening to Don Carson’s lectures on the subject at http://pjtibayan.wordpress.com/2006/10/17/d-a-carson-audio-sermonslectures/ .

I recently heard a friend use the phrase, "I am trusting God for a matter." The matter involved expense, and I was immediately interested to find out what "trusting God" meant in this context. I was raised in an abberant movement which considered faith as being something God could not resist. If I prayed for something and believed strongly enough that God would provide it, God would have little choice but to do so. Too many times we hear folks presuming upon God’s provision, as though they somehow had Him over a barrel. While we have boldness to approach God’s throne in times of need, our confidence is not in getting the thing we want as much as it is in getting the audience itself. This is supreme privilege, and the extent of it is the ability to make known our needs, to cast upon Him our cares. How God responds is for God to decide, and He keeps His own counsel. However, we can rejoice that He hears our prayers and always has our long term good in mind as He lov...

(Romans 8:12-39) Who are God’s Children? It is often said that all of us are God’s children. President Obama recently said as much at a prayer breakfast , and many people say the same: all humanity are children of God. Is this true? Well, in a sense yes: in the sense that God created us in His likeness. Paul says this in Acts 17:28-29 when talking to the Greeks on Mars Hill – he was trying to explain that the true God could not possibly be like their gold, silver and stone idols, if we are in any way like Him. However, the Bible is clear that the only people that can call God Father are those that believe in His Son, Jesus. "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," (John 1:12) The fact is that there is only one natural-born son of God: Jesus. God was His Father in every sense of the Word: remember that God, not Joseph, was Jesus’ biological Father. "The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit w...

Today I celebrate the completion of my fortieth year outside the womb. With tongues firmly planted in their cheeks, everyone wants to know how it feels to suddenly become old. I’ve been thinking about that this morning, and a few things come to mind. I am 40 years old. It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was a teenager, but now I am 40. In a world of averages, it might be said that I’ve reached the half way point. 40 years is a long time for me – it is the span of my days on this earth so far. I’ve split that time between two different continents, have seen many things – good and bad, have formed my own family, and have experienced the grace of God beyond measure. However, when I consider God; ageless, timeless, pre-existant, infinite and immortal, I quickly see that I am a vapor, a mere breath upon the wind. Like a flower of the field – here today, but gone without a trace tomorrow. In the scope of human history, I am unknown, and my faint trace on this world will be quickly f...

If you read John's account of the life of Christ, you find he uses some words very frequently. For example, "light" and "life" appear throughout his writings. Another keyword for John is "truth." He introduces the term early in the first chapter when he refers to Christ as, "The true light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." Here John combines truth and light, which helps us understand his use of "light" when referring to Christ. To turn a light on in a dark room is to show things as they really are. You can see the door, as well as many obstacles that might be misidentified - or even tripped over - on your way to the door. To shed light on on a subject is to bring correct understanding and dispel wrong assumptions. Depending on the situation, it could mean the difference between life and death. The room that Jesus enlightens is the mind of man. To every man that will ever live Christ has explained God - indee...

Early in his ministry (chapter 5 of John's gospel), Jesus heals a sick old man in Jerusalem. At the end of the account, he looks at the man and says, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The healing of this man, though quite miraculous, is apparently of secondary importance. It’s the man’s heart that is the greater concern for Jesus. The same could be said of the woman caught in adultery not much later. After turning away her executioners, his only words to her are, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? I do not condemn you either. From now on sin no more." Today, much attention is given to Jesus’ treatment of the would-be stoners. Accordingly, these religious leaders are the bad guys of the story, ready to judge the poor, defenseless woman. This is both right and wrong. It is right to say that Jesus vilified the hypocrisy of Israel’s leaders. "Therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, b...

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - Ephesians 5:19 Our Spiritual Fellowship Part 1 : Singing was a natural extension of Christian fellowship. Part 2 : Spiritual singing should go beyond a pre-planned activity and the domain of the polished singer. In this last part on “Why Don’t We Sing” I want to dig into perhaps the most controversial aspect of this verse. I believe this verse offers a ringing reproof of the nature of our Christian fellowship. Let us Pray I read recently about Charles Spurgeon’s sense of humor. Apparently, it was a good one. He would have a whole room laughing at a joke and then, without missing a beat, say, “Let us pray.” Apparently there was nothing incongruent about this; it wasn’t jarring for him to say this. There was nothing about his humor that was impure or ungodly, and so when the impulse to pray arose, it was natural to take to the task. He didn’t have to clear his throat into religious gear. He didn’t have to gently ste...

Our Spiritual Singing Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - Ephesians 5:19 In part 1 we observed that, in New Testament times, singing overflowed from informal Christian fellowship. Singing “in the moment” was natural to them, but is foreign to most of us. I want to draw two points from this. First, that there may be something awry in our spiritual singing. Second (next post), that there may be something awry in our spiritual fellowship. Worship is not Music I’m a musician. Being raised in a Charismatic Christian setting I’ve been involved in “worship music” a long time. For most of my life I’ve understood worship to mean spiritual music: if you want to worship God you better have a song in mind. In more recent years I’ve learned from Scripture that worship is nothing less than living the Christ-like life. Our “spiritual worship” is to “present ourselves a living and holy sacrifice” to God (Romans 12:1.) The Church I’ve become a part of refers to singing du...

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - Ephesians 5:19 Important Disclaimer* Flummoxed I must admit that when I came to this exhortation I found myself at a loss. I looked at different translations, I examined the Greek words, I considered the greater context of this letter and its sister, Colossians... yet it still said the same befuddling thing: “Communicate among yourselves with singing!” Less Than Organized This made little sense to me. What does this look like? Spiritual singing in groups normally happens in a Church setting – or any place where Christians are meeting for the purpose of worship God together. That singing is planned and organized. However, I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at in Ephesians. Were Paul addressing here the Corinthians and their need for an “orderly manner” in their gatherings, then organized singing might be in scope, but here in Ephesians the focus is on the inter-relational workings of the Church. Paul is talking about...

Part 1 described spiritual death. Not pretty. Part 2 marveled that God would have mercy on the living dead. Now, how did we get into this pickle in the first place. Death Through Sin "The wages of sin is death." Scripture makes is quite clear that we are dead because of sin. Disobedience against God's commands is tantamount to outright rejection of Him, His supremacy, and His standards. Anyone that chooses to follow their own inclinations in violation of God's own words suffers death. All sin is sin against God, and sin brings death. "When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." (James 1:15) Sin breaks relationship with the Giver of life, so death falls to the offender. Sin isn't a popular topic, or pleasant thought, but all have sinned , and eternal death awaits. Baby Sinners "Isn't he cute?" When my children were born they were miracles! Not only were they new people but innocent, uncorrupted, without guile. I would look into thei...