Category: Egyéb

Promises and Proverbs

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Take the few minutes to listen to this audio from John Piper. He’s addressing something that I think a lot of people are confused about.

The issue is: what constitutes a “promise” in the Bible, and what constitutes a “proverb”?

The issue in question is that of Proverbs 22:6, which says: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Many people consider this a “PROMISE” from God – that if you raise you kids up right, they will be good people who do right things. In particular, many Christians come to this verse in the hope that if they raise up their children to walk with God, then their children are guaranteed to grow up to share their faith – and if that doesn’t happen, then it is “user error”, i.e. the parents didn’t do a good enough job raising their kids up in the right way.

The problem is, there are plenty of kids who come from great, loving, Christian families, who don’t follow their parents’ faith nor their moral/ethical values.  What are we to make of this?

John Piper answers the question well – concerning the nature of proverbs versus the nature of promises, and how we should understand this verse.

He tells us that the nature of the of Proverbs, is that it contains statements which describe how life typically works under God’s design, but they are not intended as ironclad promises that eliminate all exceptions. In the case of the parable mentioned above, faithful parenting—teaching, discipling, and modeling godliness—does have a powerful shaping influence on a child’s life, and often leads to lasting faithfulness. However, each child remains morally responsible before God and capable of making their own choices. Therefore, while parents should diligently raise their children in the Lord with hope and confidence, they must also trust God with the outcome rather than assuming a guaranteed result.

Who is Barabbas?

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Barabbas.

You might know the name.

The religious leaders of Jerusalem wanted to have Jesus killed for what they considered blasphemy: that he, a man, would say that he was God. The problem was, the Romans had taken away from them the right to execute capital punishment. Only the Roman authorities were allowed to carry out executions now.

So the religious leaders took Jesus to the occupying Roman authorities and they accused Jesus of being a usurper who had set himself up as King of the Jews – who intended to lead the people in a rebellion against Caesar.

Pontius Pilate knew that this was a ruse, but because he was afriad of the people rioting, which would be bad for him politically, he came up with a plan that he was sure would work: he chose the worst criminal he could find, and he reminded the people of the custom of that day, which was to pardon and release one prison of the people's choosing because of the feast of Passover.

The man Pilate chose was Barabbas – a rebel and a murderer.

Pilate was sure that the people would make the obvious choice, and release the innocent man – but he was wrong.

And as the people shouted “Crucify Him” about Jesus, Pilate washed his hands before the people, emphasizing that this was not what he wanted – and then…

the chains fell from Barabbas' arms and legs. And an innocent man was led to his death, and an unquestionably guilty man walked free.

Barabbas deserved to die. But he didn't. Jesus, the innocent one, died instead. And as a result, Barabbas was forgiven – the record of his wrongs was not held against him, nor would it ever be. Barabbas was given a clean slate.

Do you know who Barabbas is? Barabbas is YOU! Barabbas is ME!

You, me – we are the rebel – the one who deserved to die, but instead, the innocent one, Jesus died in our place, and as a result, we can walk free. The chains have fallen away. He died and now we live.

With Barabbas, what is striking is the injustice of the story – that a sinful man walked free, but a man who had done no wrong was executed. That is the very nature of grace – it isn't fair. It isn't fair that Jesus would suffer and be crushed for things he didn't do.

It's not fair, it's LOVE.

 

Significant Things and Mundane Actions

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Early Saturday morning I got home from the mission trip to Eastern Europe, and one of the things that has been on my mind since has been how many of the things which have the most glorious end result, are the result of actions which seem very inglorious, mundane, and even boring in the moment.

This is true of marriage, work, ministry, fitness, creating or making things, etc.

Last night I was making something for a friend, which he was excited to watch me make – but I had to tell him: the process is very boring and tedious – but the end result is great. I think that’s the case with many things in life.

During the trip to Hungary and Romania, the actual carrying out of the English classes, administration, etc. was not all that thrilling. But the end result was glorious. We saw 10 young people turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

I have known a lot of people who have tons of good ideas, but do not have the ability to carry out the mundane actions which are required in order for those ideas to become reality. And as a result, there is a lot of smoke but no fire. They’ve had grandiose ideas for years – but yet they have nothing to show for it, because it has never moved past the idea stage.

Some of the best things in life are accomplished through actions which in the moment are very mundane. May we have the resolve to do unexciting things which lead to glorious results by keeping our focus on the end goals.

Counted Worthy

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Friday I am heading to Europe with a mission team to Hungary and Romania and I will take a short jaunt down to Serbia on my own apart from the team. I will be teaching at a churches in Budapest and Eger, Hungary and in Subotica, Serbia, and the team will be doing 2 week-long youth outreaches – one in Eger, Hungary and the other in Bistrita, Romania – which will be youth camps where we will teach English and hope to build relationships through which will share the Gospel with these young people.

We created a website where you can follow us; all the team members are registered as authors, and will be posting photos and updates over the 2 week trip.  Here’s that site: https://whitefieldsmissions.wordpress.com

On Sunday I taught Acts chapter 5 at White Fields, and there is this phrase in there which is captivating: that the apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name [of Christ] (Acts 5:41).

That evening, my son told me that there was a “stinky mud” coming up from the drain into our basement shower. You might have already guessed, but it wasn’t exactly mud – it was sewage. I spent that whole night and most of the next day snaking our sewer line, ripping out carpet, and bleaching walls because of the sewage that had come up into the bathroom…

The next morning we got an email from the church in Eger, that many of their key members for this outreach had come down with the flu; one even had to be taken to the hospital.

My wife’s comment on Facebook in response to all of this?  “Rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer for His name!”

What a grand perspective that is!  And what a much neglected perspective that is, amongst so many Christians! When the reaction of so many is: “Why would you let this happen to me, God!?”  – the response of rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for His name is absolutely counter-cultural.

Paul the Apostle talks about the “fellowship of suffering”:  that I may know [Christ] and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 2:10)

What Paul is talking about is a special kind of fellowship you can have with Jesus in your suffering.

Not to say that what we went through was particularly abnormal or outstanding, but I believe the perspective is a good and important one to have no matter the degree of your trial, and particularly when those trials come in relation to serving Jesus.

My Thoughts on the Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Marriage

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I have been hesitant to write anything about the SCOTUS ruling which disallowed States to ban gay marriage, simply because I have seen how social media has been so consumed by it, and it is clearly an issue which people have made a dividing line, which greatly saddens me. My initial feeling was that it is a lose-lose to write anything on the issue for these reasons, but I keep returning to the idea that I should share some thoughts, since the purpose of this blog is to give a pastor’s voice on happenings in society.

So here are some thoughts:

I’m not surprised by the decision. It didn’t happen overnight. This is the culmination of things which have been in the works for a long time. The debate is basically between identity and practice. For some time now in our society, there has been a movement pushing to see homosexuality as an identity which a person is inherently given, and therefore not to act on it would be to betray who they fundamentally are. The Bible, on the other hand, doesn’t say that homosexuality is a person’s fundamental identity, but that it is a practice – but not who a person is. A person may have inclinations towards certain behavior, but that doesn’t mean that they must act on those inclinations at risk of betraying who they are – rather every person must choose to deny certain inclinations and act on others, and the Bible says that homosexuality is a behavior which should be denied – not an identity which defines who a person is.

The Supreme Court’s decision marks a change in the cultural climate – where now homosexuality is to be celebrated and anyone who doesn’t celebrate it will be marginalized. Whereas historically in America, for the most part churches and religious organizations have been regarded in a positive light, that is less and less the case, as they are increasingly being portrayed as “hate” groups, unless they are willing to compromise convictions held for thousands of years. This change of climate is something American Christians are not used to, although it does exist in other places in the world – namely Canada and France.

The biggest implication for churches will not be in the realm of officiating or hosting homosexual marriages. See this article for more details on that.  The biggest implication in the long term for churches will be in the area of tax exempt status. Just this past week, Time published an article in which the author stated that “Now’s the time to end tax exemptions for religious institutions”. The author references a 1983 court ruling from a case involving Bob Jones University, which stated that a school could lose tax-exempt status if its policies violated “fundamental national public policy,” and states that in light of the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, this might now be applied to religious organizations.
That prospect seems daunting to many Christians, and I personally wouldn’t like to see that happen – but I do keep in mind that the early Christians had no money, no tax exemptions, they were considered an illegal religion for hundreds of years and were considered radical in their statement that Jesus was the only way to heaven.  And yet, the message of the Gospel changed lives and brought about love and new life, whether it was legal or illegal, preached in a tax exempt mega-church or an underground meeting.
You may not agree with the direction things are changing, but we can have confidence both historically and eschatologically of the victory of Jesus and the ultimate need of every person in the world for the Good News of the Gospel to give them new life.

The Age of Technique

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I have been reading Timothy Keller's new book: Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. Much of the material is familiar to me from lectures I've heard him give, but I am still very much enjoying reading it, and it is presented very well.

Here's one quote from the book which caught my attention:

Our era has been called the “age of technique.” No civilized society has put more emphasis on results, skills, and charisma— or less emphasis on character, reflection, and depth. This is a major reason why so many of the most successful ministers have a moral failure or lapse.

I think he's hit the nail on the head. Oh, that our society as a whole would care more about depth of character than simply pragmatic results – and that especially we who are Christians would be more focused on godly character than we often are.

Farewell to Elisabeth Elliot

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One of the first books I read as a missionary was the diary of Jim Elliot – missionary to Ecuador who was martyred by the people he went to tell about Jesus.

The diary of Jim Elliot details his thoughts and dreams, his hopes and prayers, as he went to Wheaton college,  went as a missionary to Ecuador, met and married his wife, Elisabeth, and then embarked on a journey to share the Gospel with the unreached Auca indians – an endeavor which ended in both tragedy and glory: tragedy because Jim and his missionary companions were murdered, but glory because after their deaths, the wives of the slain men continued to reach out to the Auca’s, forgave them for what they had done, and ultimately did lead them to Christ.

The reason Jim Elliot’s diary was available for me to read was because of the work of his wife: Elisabeth Elliot, who made it available to the world. Additionally, Elisabeth Elliot wrote two books about their missionary work in Ecuador – one titled Through Gates of Splendor, which has been called one of the most influential books of the Twentieth Century.

Elisabeth Elliot went on to write many other books and became a prominent advocate for world missions.

Yesterday she entered through those Gates of Splendor herself at the age of 88 and was reunited with Jim in the presence of the God she loved and served her whole life.

Here’s more about Elisabeth Elliot from Christianity Today. Oh that God would give us more people like her! Oh that God would give us the kind of hearts for Him that she and Jim had.

Jim Elliot’s famous quote – brought to the world through the work and advocacy of Elisabeth Elliot:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

Here’s a photo of that quote in Jim Elliot’s own handwriting:

Jim Elliot’s diary

Thoughts on “Unbroken” and the Power of the Gospel

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On my recent road trip to Minnesota, my friend lent me an audio book of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.

I listened to about half of the book while driving, and when I got home I purchased a copy of it because I wanted to know how it ended. I had heard that Louie Zamperini had became a Christian, and was curious to hear how that would be depicted in the book. I had also heard that the movie about the book hadn’t been such a big box office hit as was expected, partly because of the brutality of the depiction of Zamperini’s time as a POW in Japan.

I found the book incredible, and was moved to tears at the account of Zamperini’s conversion and how his heart and his life were transformed by the Gospel. It seemed that everything that had happened until that point – all of the brutality, all of the providence – had been building up to the radical redemption that God worked in his life.

Zamp became a man who was so changed by the Gospel that he was willing to forgive his abusers and was set free from addiction to love his family and work to see other broken people redeemed.

The title of the book has an intentional dual meaning: He was unbroken in the sense that he had survived intensely trying and difficult experiences – and he was un-broken in the sense that his brokenness was healed and he was restored by the power of the Gospel.

I’m not sure if I want to see the movie now after having read the book… I can’t imagine how they could fit into a relatively short film all of the aspects of Zamperini’s life and conversion that were so important to the story.

Here is a quote from the book I found particularly insightful from the period of Louie’s brokenness, before he received the Gospel:

The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent on those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only from making their tormentors suffer. In seeking [his tormentor]’s death, Louie had chained himself once again to his tyrant.

All he had left was his alcohol and his resentment, the emotion that, Jean Améry would write, “nails every one of us onto the cross of his ruined past”.

What is Baptism with Fire?

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This past Sunday I was out of town, officiating the wedding of some friends in Minnesota. It was my first time in Minnesota, and it was really nice! I can see the appeal of the lakes.

So this past Sunday I was out of town, but the week before that I preached a message titled “Baptism by Fire” in which I taught about the events of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church in fulfillment of the promises of not only Jesus, but also of God from even the Old Testament. I made reference to the words of John the Baptist, who said that he baptized with water unto repentance, but that one (Jesus) was coming after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, and I talked about how the fulfillment of that is found in Pentecost, when the believers were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and as a sign of them each individually receiving this baptism, tongues of fire rested on each of their heads.

Afterwards, someone asked me a great question: Whether the baptism with fire that John the Baptist was talking about was a description of the baptism with the Holy Spirit (like I had taught), or if John was speaking of the fire of judgment – because in the very next verse, John the Baptist says: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)

Here was my response:

I am familiar with that interpretation you mention, and I think it’s entirely possible given the context of what John was talking about — which is promise of the Messiah and a warning of judgement. In this interpretation, the assumption is that Jesus is saying: he will baptize some people with the Holy Spirit and other people he will baptize with fire — i.e. the same fire of judgment that he refers to in the following verse (vs 12).

Is that what John meant by those words? I agree with you (and many Bible interpreters) that it is quite possible that this is what he meant.

The other main interpretation about this, is that the “fire” is a reference to the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the tongues of fire on Pentecost was that they were a sign that these words of John were now being fulfilled. This is the line of thinking that I took in my sermon. Here’s more on that from the Holman Bible Dictionary:

Fire is one of the physical manifestations of God’s presence. This is illustrated several times in the Bible: the making of the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:17 ), the appearance in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), God leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:24; Numbers 9:15-16; Numbers 14:14; etc.), His appearance on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18; Exodus 24:17; Deuteronomy 4:11-36; Deuteronomy 5:4-26; etc.), and others (1Kings 18:24,1 Kings 18:38; 1 Chronicles 21:26; 2Chronicles 7:1,2 Chronicles 7:3 ).

Fire was used symbolically in Israel’s worship to represent God’s constant presence with Israel (Leviticus 6:12-13 ). God’s presence as fire represented both judgment and purification (the words purify and purge come from the Greek word for fire). To be in God’s presence is to be in the presence of absolute holiness where no sin or unrighteousness can stand. To be in the presence of God is to have the overwhelming sense of one’s uncleanness and the overwhelming desire to be clean (see Isaiah 6:1-6 ). God is able to judge and destroy the sin and purify the repentant sinner.

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit has a wider application than this; but when the Holy Spirit is coupled with fire, the particular aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work as described here is in view.

One thing I would add to this excerpt is that fire is a cleansing agent, and one of the roles of the Holy Spirit as he indwells us is sanctification, e.g. Rom 8:13.

This is one of the difficulties of Bible interpretation — to figure out what exactly was meant by a particular word or phrase in its context. In this case, both options are theologically sound and contextually possible, so it’s kind of a win-win. I’m glad to have the chance to explain a little more about the fire aspect and what the significance of it might be.