Category: General

Acknowledging the Beauty of the Body

Published on by nickcady4 Comments

I don’t know how many times I have heard it or read it before. People referring to this phrase that Jesus said:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34-35‬ ESV)

But almost EVERY single time I heave heard or read someone refer to this statement, it is followed by commentary along these lines:

  • Jesus said people would know that we’re his disciples by our love for each other; and you’re not doing it well enough!
  • Jesus said people would know that we’re his disciples by our love for each other, not by our doctrinal purity!
  • Jesus said people would know that we’re his disciples by our love for each other, so do it better!

I spent this past weekend in Washington State and British Columbia. A dear friend of ours from our church in Hungary passed away, and his funeral was on Saturday in Langley, BC.

When I heard that this friend passed away, I called some friends in Everett, WA, where the husband is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Everett, to ask if they might be able to help me out if I were to try to attend the funeral. They quickly told me to go ahead and book the tickets and they would work out the rest: lodging, rides, etc. I also got in touch with people from my friend’s church in Langley to tell them I was trying to come, and they responded the exact same way.

This whole past weekend was spent with people from these two churches in Everett and Langley. A couple from the church in Everett picked me up at the airport and drove me to Everett, where a car and a place to stay the night were prepared for me. Of course, this was all done by people I had never met before

On Friday I drove up to British Columbia, and that night went to stay with a family from Christ Covenant Church. As soon as I arrived they welcomed me, and then I went with them to their church community group, where we ate, studied the Bible and sang and prayed together. Again, I had never met these people before, but they treated me like a long lost family member. There was something we had in common, a bond which was stronger than race, citizenship or accent (it was surprising how strong that Canadian accent can be!).

We went home and I ended up staying up until 2 AM conversing with the couple about so many things regarding our shared faith.The next day was the funeral, which consisted of 3 parts at 3 locations over the course of the whole day. During this time I got to see how well our friend’s wife was being cared for and loved by her church community there in Langley. And I felt loved and cared for by that community as well

I returned to Everett, where I preached at Calvary Chapel yesterday morning, and was once again loved and welcomed like a long-unseen family member.

This weekend left me considering those words of Jesus, and the commentary which is almost always attached to them – and it made me think: that’s what Jesus was talking about!

And to all those people bemoaning the perceived lack of love amongst Christians: I disagree with you. In my experience, the church has been the most beautiful, wonderful, true community. It’s something I want to be a part of. It’s something I believe in. Yes, it has its spots and wrinkles and blemishes, because it is made up of flawed people, but it is wonderful – and I come away from this weekend and the love that I experienced in amongst those Christians with the feeling of: THAT is what Jesus was talking about when he said that we will be known as His disciples by the love that we have for one another.

It doesn’t take a genius to identify weaknesses or problems or find fault; the basest among us is capable of that. To put it frankly: any moron can do that! But it takes nobility to identify beauty and light and goodness.

I talked to someone a while back, who, upon hearing that I was a pastor, immediately assumed that I would agree with her, that church is just the worst! She said that in her opinion, “Church is a necessary evil.” I told her that I couldn’t possibly disagree more! I love the Church! I believe in the Church! It is the most wonderful, most beautiful thing in the World! It is the Body of Christ, in the world, living out his mission and being his hands and feet.

How do you think this woman’s children are going to view the church as they grow up if she continues in this kind of attitude? Most likely, they will think of the Church as a “necessary evil” too. They might choose to attend when they are adults, but they will have been trained to look at it with a critical, cynical eye. I do not want that for my children! I want my children to grow up LOVING the church and seeing the beauty in it, and knowing it as the most wonderful, most loving community in the world – and one that they want to be a part of, not because they have to, but because it is so wonderful. And they should believe in it – because Jesus ordained it for OUR good, and for the good of the whole world!

And for this reason, my wife and I have determined never to speak badly of someone from church or discuss tension or bad things that people from the church have done in front of our kids, because we want them to love the Body of Christ rather than grow up cynical about it, considering it a “necessary evil”. (And may I say: far be it from any of us to use the word “evil” in reference to something ordained by our Lord! How can we call bad what the Lord called good for us and for the world?)

So, love the church! And keep on loving each other. And don’t always talk about how it’s lacking; recognize and acknowledge and rejoice in the beauty of this loving community, which is the Body of Christ, where Jesus’ disciples do indeed show love one for another, in a way that is a testimony to the world.

Crossing Jordan

Published on by nickcady8 Comments

A reader of this blog requested that I write a post about the symbolic significance of the Jordan River crossing in Joshua chapter 3.

This week I began teaching Bible class at Longmont Christian High School. This class is doing an overview of the Old Testament, and I picked up where the previous teacher had left off: in the Book of Joshua.

One of the concepts I shared with the students as we’ve been studying Johsua is Biblical Typeology, or how certain characters, events or places in the Old Testament function as types of New Tesament truths.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes this: For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭1-6‬ ESV)

What Paul is talking about here are how the Old Testament stories are both historically true, and yet were also so masterfully crafted by God that He, in His divine providence, embedded them with symbolic meaning, that is only realized by us now as being a pattern or type or foreshadowing of New Testament truths, i.e. Christ and the Christian life.

For example, in Luke 24, we read how after Jesus resurrected from the dead, he gave the best Bible study ever given: he took his disciples through the Olt Testament, showing them how everything actually pointed to him.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭27, 44-45‬ ESV)

In other words, reading the Bible is a lot like watching the movie “The Sixth Sense”. If you’ve seen the movie, it’s about a boy who sees dead people. The boy starts meeting with a psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, who talks him through what’s going on, but at the end of the movie you realize something that changes everything: the psychologist is dead too – he’s been dead all along. And then, when you realize that, you can never watch the movie the same way again. In fact, you feel compelled to watch the whole movie all over again, because this time you see the whole thing in a completely different way: you realize that no one ever looks at the psychologist – people look right past him, because they don’t see him.

That’s how it is with reading the Bible too! Once you know the end of the story – that it was all building up to Jesus Christ, and you come to understand the Gospel, you can never read it in the same way again! This is what happened to the Apostle Paul! As soon as he came to see that Jesus was the Messiah, he could never read the scriptures the same way ever again (see Acts 13:13-41).

The whole Old Testament is full of such types of Christ and of the New Life in Christ. For example: Melchizedek (Genesis 14). Hebrews 7 says that Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. What does that mean? It means that Melchizedek was an Olt Testament type of Christ. The name Melchizedek means: King of Righteousness. He was king of Salem, which means peace, and he gave Abraham bread and wine and Abraham gave him a tithe.

The Exodus narrative is another example of Biblical Typeology. Think about it:

  • The people of Israel are in bondage in Egypt, just as we in our natural condition are in bondage to sin, vanity and futility.
  • The people of Israel cry out to God to set the free, and so God saves them by the blood of the Passover lamb; if anyone is covered by the blood of the lamb, their house is passed over by tha angel of death. In the same way, if we are covered by the blood of the true and ultimate Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, we will be saved from the judgment of God.
  • After saving them by the blood of the lamb, God led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. They were separated from Egypt (which is commonly considered a type of “the world”) through the Red Sea, which Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 is a type or picture of baptism.
  • After they cross through the Red Sea, the next thing that happens is that God leads them to the Mountain of God, where they came out and God gives them His Word. In the same way, once we are saved and set free, God gives us His Word and instructs us in His ways.
  • After that, they are to enter the Promised Land, which they fail to do because of their lack of faith, out of fear of the obstacles. There has been debate as to what the Promised Land would be a type of. Many old songs refer to it as a type of Heaven. However, I disagree. The Promised Land is a place where there are battles to be wages, there are enemy forces. There are victories to be won, but defeats are also suffered. There are obstacles and difficulties in the Promised Land, but there is the primise of victory if the people will obey God by faith and take hold of everything He will give them if they assertively take hold of it. For this reason, many, including myself, would say that the Promised Lamd is rather a picture or type of the Victorious Christian life that God promises to those who are in Christ (see Ephesians 1). Some would also refer to this as the Spirit-Filled Life.
  • Because the Israelites were unwilling to enter the Promised Land, they ended up wandering in the wilderness, going in circles and getting nowhere for 40 years, until they died, having lived lives of aimless wandering, not taking hold of what God would have given them and wanted to give them, because they allowed fear to hold them back from engaging in mission God gave them. Yet, they were saved by the blood of the lamb, baptized in the Red Sea and had received the word of God. This is clearly a type of the Christian life as it is lived by some.
  • That brings us to the issue of the Jordan River crossing in Joshua 3. What is this a type of? Well, it is the entrance into the Promised Land, a step which must be taken by faith. Just as the Red Sea crossing is a type of baptism, the Jordan crossing would seem to also picture baptism: a second baptism: the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Once you’ve read the book and seen Jesus, you can never read the book the same way again!

 

Thoughts on Vision and Planning

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I overheard this conversation between two cashiers at a store the other day:

“…then he asked me what my 5-year plan was, and I’m like: ‘I don’t know! I don’t even think like that!'”  “I know, right?!”

I remember when I used to think like that myself. When I first planted the church in Eger, people often asked me what my “vision” was, or what my 5-year plan was. I told them, “I don’t know. I just want to lead people to Jesus, plant a church, and raise up Christian leaders.”
Little did I understand, that what I was expressing was a very clear vision and plan!

I have come much more to embrace the mentality of having a plan or a vision.

Dave Ramsey says, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”.

I have been in circles before where it was seen as unspiritual to plan or strategize. The thing these people don’t often realize is that they have unspoken plans and strategies, even though they don’t articulate them. It can be a strategy, for example, to not plan, and leave yourself open to whatever the day brings you. That’s a strategy – it’s a plan, and one which, like all strategies and plans, has advantages and disadvantages.

The New Year is a time of year I have come to love and appreciate, because a year is a measurable period of time, which gives us a scale to measure by, a scale to reflect upon, and a scale to plan by.

In reflecting on this past year, I realized that God did so many great things in the life of our family and our church. We finished the legal process of our son’s adoption and immigration, our church had several successful outreaches and did more for mission work, my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage… I could go on and on.

When it comes to strategizing and planning, I believe the best way to do it is in accordance with your long-term goals of what you want your life, or your organization, to be about.

I have a lot of ideas about things I would like to do in this New Year, and I pray by God’s grace that I would be cognizant of these things, and be able to bring them through to fruition. After all, it’s easy to start things, and a lot of people start things – but few people finish things, and even fewer finish them well.

Happy New Year!

“He LIVED”

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Continuing on the topic of George Whitefield, here is more on what Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers” – perhaps the single most influential preacher of recent centuries – had to say about him:

“There is no end to the interest which attaches to such a man as George Whitefield. Often as I have read his life, I am conscious of distinct quickening whenever I turn to it. He LIVED. Other men seem to be only half-alive, but Whitefield was all life, fire, wing, force. My own model, if I may have such a thing in due subordination to my Lord, is George Whitfield; but with unequal footsteps must I follow in his glorious track.”

The more I read about Whitefield and his life, the more I desire that by the grace of God I might live like him.

Charles Spurgeon on George Whitefield

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“Whitefield’s sermons were not eloquent, but were rough and unconnected. But it was not in the words themselves, but in the manner in which he delivered them, the earnestness with which he felt them, the pouring out of his soul as he preached them. When you heard him preach, you felt like you were listening to a man who would die if he could not preach. Where, where is such earnestness today? One sad proof that the Church is in need of revival is the absence of earnestness which was once seen in Christian pulpits.” [1]

Happy Birthday George Whitefield!

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People have often asked where we got the name of our church: White Fields Community Church.
The answer is actually three-fold:
1) In John 4:35, Jesus said, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” The name White Fields aligns us with this, and is a statement that we exist to carry out the mission of God and be laborers in His harvest field.
2) The area where we are, North-East Boulder County, is full of wheat fields which turn white at harvest time. The name reflects the area we live in.
3) George Whitefield, the great evangelist of 18th century America, is someone we greatly revere and we want to follow in his footsteps of evangelism and bringing the Gospel to bear on people’s hearts in powerful ways.

Today is George Whitefield’s 300th birthday. He was born in Gloucester, England (where it just so happens that I attend seminary) on December 16, 1714. He later came to America and was used by God as a driving force for the Great Awakening.

Check out this short biography of Whitefield’s life to learn more about him.

“It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher.”
George Whitefield

Redemption: Jesus’ Family Tree

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In the Gospel of Matthew, the Christmas Story doesn’t begin with a baby born in Bethlehem and placed in a manger. When Matthew wants to tell us the story of Jesus, he takes us back hundreds, even thousands of years, to look at the family line from which God chose to bring the Redeemer into the world. Matthew starts by giving us a genealogy — which gets skipped over by many people, because it reads like a Hebrew phone book!
But, if you look closely, you’ll find that Jesus’ family tree contains a lot of knots: people we have read about in the Old Testament, whose stories were full of scandal and intrigue…and sin. Yet, these people each represent a story of redemption, in which God blessed a mess and brought beauty from ashes and salvation from brokenness. Ultimately, it was from this group of people that God brought The Savior, The Redeemer, Jesus Christ into the world.
In Matthew 1:21, we read this glorious proclamation: “Mary will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  
Jesus came to save you from your sins. That is what Christmas is all about.
I invite you to join us at White Fields Church in Longmont every Sunday in December and on Christmas Eve for “Redemption: An Advent Series” – in which we will be looking at the knots in Jesus’ family tree, and how God redeems.

 

Christians and the Gay Debate

Published on by nickcady4 Comments

Perhaps the biggest issue facing how people view Christians and Christianity in our society has been and will continue to be homosexuality.

An ever increasing percentage of the population – including many Christians – believe that homosexuals should be allowed to legally marry, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before gay marriage is legalized in every state. Yesterday Montana became the latest state to legalize it. Other countries have already done it. This brings up a lot of questions for churches and private parties who rent out facilities for weddings and for ministers who officiate weddings as to what will happen if they refuse to participate in gay weddings out of moral obligation.

Needless to say, there is increasing pressure for Christians to change the view held by Christians for 2000 years regarding homosexual practice.

This article is one of the best informed and best thought-out pieces on this topic that I have come across. It’s worth the read:

Tragedy, Tradition and Opportunity in the Homosexual Debate

 

 

Why do Christians Worship on Sunday?

Published on by nickcady3 Comments

Have you ever wondered why Christians worship on Sunday?

Recently I have been taking a seminary class on the history of Christian worship, and I came across some interesting information the other day about the history of Christian worship on Sundays.

The most common assumption is that Christians worship on Sunday because that is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. And that is correct. But there is more to it than that.

For the early Christians, Sunday become known as “the Lord’s Day” – references to which are made in the New Testament. However, it is worth noting that in the places Christians lived in those early centuries, including the Roman Empire, Sunday was a work day. So it became common for Christians to gather early on Sunday mornings, before work, to share in communion, teaching and worship – communion being seen as an essential element of the gathering, one which they would never consider neglecting (an important factor when considering what we do on Sunday mornings in churches today).

It was only in the time of Emperor Constantine, that Sunday became a day of rest, when Constantine (before his “conversion” to Christianity) declared that the “venerable day of the Sun” should be a day of rest for all people in the empire. Interestingly, in Germanic languages, including English, we have retained some of the pagan names for the days of the week, from Roman times: Sunday (Sun), Monday (Moon), Saturday (Saturn). However, in romance languages, the name of Sunday reflects the Christian understanding of “the Lord’s Day”, e.g. “Domenica” in Italian.

Another common assumption is that the Christians chose Sunday as the day of worship because it was the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, and it was their alternative Sabbath – their new “day of rest”.

The true story is actually even more interesting. Early Christians considered it of great significance that Jesus rose on a Sunday, and they carried this understanding and significance into their practice of worshiping on Sundays.  The Jewish understanding of the week is that each day corresponds to a day of Creation, and the reason they rest on Saturday is because it is the Seventh Day, the day on which God rested from His labor, and instructed us to do the same. Sunday, in the Jewish mind, is the first day of the week and corresponds to the first day of creation, the day on which God brought light out of the darkness. For the Jews, there was an understanding of the week as a closed circuit, if you will.

In Jewish apocalyptic writing, there is a book called the Book of Enoch, in which a concept is introduced called “The Eighth Day”. The Eighth Day is the day of the Messiah – when the Messiah comes and He inaugurates a NEW DAY – the Eighth Day – the first day of a NEW CREATION.

Early Christian fathers wrote about this concept of the Eighth Day several times in the early centuries, and they considered Sunday worship as representing this idea of the Eighth Day – that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday – the day after the Seventh Day – and by his resurrection he inaugurated the Eighth Day, and now we worship on the Eighth Day – the day of new creation, as Jesus in His resurrection was the first-born of the new creation (1 Cor 15). This is the day on which Jesus broke us out of the closed circuit that we have been living in of the first creation, and inaugurated a new day – the Eighth Day – the day of the new creation.