Monthly Archives: May 2012

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lions and lambs and wolves (and cows)…oh my!

And the lion shall lay down with the lamb…

Paints a beautiful picture of peace, doesn’t it?  Most people say that thinking that’s what the Bible says because well it’s on that little statue in the Christian bookstore.  But did you know that the Bible doesn’t say that at all?

Actually, in Isaiah 11:6 and in Isaiah 65:25 the lamb is paired up with a wolf, either dwelling with it or grazing with it.  There is a lion mentioned in both verses, but not juxtaposed with the lamb.  (In fact in Isaiah 11:6, the lion is actually paired with a calf.)  But people have said it for so long, and well it sounds nice and is great imagery, that I would imagine most folks think that comes straight from the Word.  (I did for a long time, too.)

You’ve probably also heard “pride comes before the fall,” but that’s not actually what the Bible says either.  Proverbs 16:18 actually says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  I know, I know.  It’s not really that much difference, but still different nonetheless.

Did you know that the Bible never says that there were three wise men?  I guess it was assumed that there three because there were three gifts presented to Jesus – gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The Bible only said that magi came, but it never gives a specific number.

Now please don’t think that I’m saying that you should throw away your lion and lamb statue if you have one or get rid of any of your wise men from the nativity.

What I am saying is: Get into the scriptures.  Don’t take someone else’s word for it.  Read for yourself.  Know for yourself what God says.

When arguing a point or searching for justification, people will sometimes take scripture out of context.  And by itself, that one verse might seem to support what they say, but before you take it as truth, go back and read the verse in its context.  See what the verses before it and after it say.  Make sure that it really says what you thought it said.

If you’re unfamiliar with your Bible as far as where stuff is, what book comes after what, how to look something up in a concordance…or for that matter, what a concordance even is…then go grab your Bible and start digging.  Read over the table of contents and get an idea of how your Bible is put together.  Many Bibles have a concordance in the back, which is a great tool to use if you’re wanting to find a particular verse.  It’s sort of like an index.  You can look up a word from a verse you’re looking for and the concordance will list different verses where that word is used.  If your Bible doesn’t have a concordance in the back, or if the one is has isn’t detailed enough, then go online and check out an online Bible resource.  You can find so much information online – Hebrew word studies, topical searches, commentaries (which are explanations of scripture from various scholars), cross references to give you other verses related to the one you’re reading.  Here’s a few I’d suggest:

www.biblegateway.com

www.biblos.com

www.blueletterbible.com

In this day and age where people actually have the Bible on their cell phones, there’s really no excuse for us not to be familiar with God’s Word.  There’s no real excuse for us not to study God’s Word.  And really, there’s no real reason why we shouldn’t be passionate about God’s Word.  It paints us a beautiful picture of who He is…and who we are in Him.

Do you have any tips for getting familiar with God’s word that you’ve found helpful?

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the center of the gospel

I’ve been reading a new book lately called The Explicit Gospel, by Matt Chandler. If there’s one thing about Matt Chandler, it’s that he’s bold in speaking truth and doesn’t fluff up the gospel. He gives it to you exactly as it was given.

One quote that’s been sort rolling around in my head a few days is this:

“One of the dangers of a gospel that stays on the ground too long is man-centeredness. The idea, for instance, that “the Bible is God’s love letter to you” has a kernel of truth to it, but it is illustrative of how easily we trade the centrality of God’s glory for the centrality of our need.”

Ouch.

I’ve really thought about that a lot. How guilty we are of often putting ourselves at the center of the gospel. We sing songs and preach sermons about the love of God that somehow focus more on us than on Him. How does that happen?

Well since you asked, here’s what I think.

I think that we’ve dulled the glory of God in the eyes of man.

We’ve made God all lovey dovey and romantic like He’s peering over the edge of heaven all doe-eyed watching over His precious children’s every move because He just can’t tear Himself away. (Because it is all about us, right?)

We’ve also made Him boring.

With all the added fluff and fancy light shows in churches every weekend, we’ve implied to congregations that God all by Himself is boring and that the gospel needs a little help to make it interesting enough for people to care. People must be entertained or else they won’t come to church, right? I mean the gospel is great and all, but we’ve got to do something to entice people, right?

And there we are at the center again. Man in the middle. Man’s needs. Man’s wants. Man’s desires. Man’s tastes.

Let me tell you something. The gospel is beautiful and amazing and awesome exactly as it is and with God absolutely in the very center of it.

And from the beginning, the gospel alone has been enough to change hearts and draw men to God.

I think too often we forget that. Churches spend Monday through Friday in a bazillion meetings planning every little detail. Quirky little skits are created, catchy little slogans are thought up. There’s videos and handouts and there’s stage decor and props, and all this so that church goers can come in and have a worship experience.

But worship isn’t supposed to be an experience.

It’s supposed to be an offering lifted up to a holy God.

You don’t experience worship.

You offer it and God receives it.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too hard on churches.

I know that much of what goes on is done with the intent of providing an atmosphere where people can come in and meet with God. I know that for the most part, the heart behind the effort is pure.

But there is a bit of pride in there too, isn’t there? Because somehow we think that if we show the right emotionally charged videos, that if we can have enough ambient music and funky lighting…oh and smoke – don’t forget the smoke…that we can create an environment where man is moved to worship God.

But that’s all wrong. In our efforts at planning worship (which is a complete oxymoron really. How exactly does one plan worship anyway?), we’ve ended up putting ourselves right at the center of it again. We did it. We created it. We made the space for God to be worshipped.

Is that arrogant or what?

Sometimes I truly wonder what God thinks about church nowadays.

And I wrestle with that a lot.

How about you?

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the thing we want most

“Not to stand is to stand. Not to speak is to speak.” – D. Bonheoffer

The Bible is very clear on many things. Granted yes, there are some things in the Bible that are difficult to understand and some things that we just cannot fathom in our human brains. We may sometimes read a passage of scripture and sit back in our chair and after much pondering respond with a resounding, “huh?” And that’s quite alright. I don’t think we are meant to understand every bit of it. Not yet anyway. Sometimes, the only response we have is “I don’t know.” But I can assure you of one thing….God is not confused. And as much as there are scriptures that we might not be able to really grasp, there are just as many that are crystal clear. And although there are some scriptures that one could argue as open to interpretation as to whether it’s meant literally or spiritually, there are just as many that are quite basic. They say exactly what they mean…no interpretation needed.

In North Carolina, there is currently an amendment on the table that if passed would be added to the state constitution defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. I was reading an editorial letter in the local paper the other day about this issue that made me so absolutely frustrated. The person was writing because they were against the amendment and had much to say about Christians and the Bible and how God loves people despite their sinfulness. How could Christians say they followed Jesus, who loves and is love, and yet at the same time deny homosexuals the right to marry other homosexuals? We can’t help who we love, the person said. Doesn’t the Bible say God is love? Didn’t God create homosexuals? I could feel my blood begin to boil.

Let me tell you something, friend. The Lord God Almighty is holy. He is good and there is no evil in Him. He is light and there is no dark in Him (1 John 1:5).

And He hates sin.

And I may not understand everything the Bible says, but I do know this one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt…God did not create us to be sinful. He created us to be beautiful. Our shortcomings, our sicknesses, our messes are all the result of sin.

God didn’t make me fat, He didn’t make her gay, He didn’t make him an addict and He didn’t make you “just the way you are.”

All of those things are the result of SIN. They are not nor have they ever been the desire nor the creation of a righteous and holy God.

(Frankly, I don’t know who came up with the idea that God loves us just like we are. Yes, the Lord loves us, but to say He loves us just the way we are implies that He’s content with our current condition, and quite frankly I believe that line of thought is a lie given us by the enemy to make us feel that it’s okay to be less than everything we are called to be.)

God doesn’t love gluttony. He doesn’t love homosexuality. He doesn’t love adultery. He doesn’t love murder. He doesn’t love sickness and disease. He doesn’t love laziness.

He doesn’t love sin. At all. In any way. Ever.

So. What’s a sinful being supposed to do with a righteous God who hates sin?

Worship Him. Worship Him with every single ounce of our being.

Worship this God who gave over His own Son to cover our sin with His blood so that we could be restored unto Him.

Live a life that is led by the Spirit and not by the flesh.

Romans 12:18 says that as far as it depends on us, we are to be at peace with all men. Do you think that includes being at peace with ourselves? I do. And how can we be at peace with ourselves if we are being led by our iniquities and transgressions rather than by the Spirit of God?

Now before anybody tries to think that I’m implying that we somehow can earn our salvation, let me just stop you here. Our salvation was bought by the blood of Christ and that was enough. However, if we have received Christ and our desire is to live a Godly life in His image, the fruit of that desire will be evident in how we act and what we say…the presence of Christ in our life will be evident in how we live it.

Does that mean that once we receive Christ that we’ll never sin again? Well of course not. As long as we are wrapped in flesh, the tendency toward sin will always be there.

But we do have a choice as to whether or not we continue to entertain the enemy.

At the risk of sounding corny, let me put it like this. We can’t stop the accuser from knocking at our door. He does that all the time. Like minute by minute. A constant assault on our perimeter. And we decide as to whether or not we invite him in. We choose whether or not we sit down at the table and have tea with him while he fills our head with lies or whether we leave him on the porch.

We must…we MUST…take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). It’s the only way to keep the enemy out. The Word of God is our defense against satan. We combat lies with the Truth of God. When the enemy dangles sin at the window, we must, must, must counter that with God’s Word.

I have a choice. When a sinful thought enters my mind, before that thought becomes action, I can either meditate on the Word of God until I get past that sinful thought or I can dwell on that thought, revel in that thought and eventually act on that thought. I always have a choice about that. (And Matthew 4 gives us a beautiful example.)

And going back to the house example, it’s like Jesus is living with us in that house. We dwell together with Him. And really you know, even more than countering the enemy’s lies with God’s truth, our prayer should be to get to a place where we love God and want to be with Him more than we love or desire sin. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, and as our desire for Him burns stronger and stronger, that we will notice the enemy at the door less and less. That we eventually won’t notice the sin the enemy is dangling at the window because our eyes will be so fixed on the One who gave everything for us. That’s how it should be. That we would be so engaged with God and so enthralled by Him that we don’t want to waste a single minute on some fleeting “feel good” moment. We won’t want to tear ourselves away from Him for even a moment to give ourselves over to something that would keep us from Him. But if by some chance we slip and let the enemy in, all we need do is cry out to Jesus and He’ll escort that demon right back out the door. That’s how it should be. That’s how it can be.

Oh God, that we would love You more than we love our sin.

That You would be more precious to us, more desirable to us than anything that would cause us to be separated from You or move outside of Your will.

Oh God, that you would break our hearts with the things that break Yours.

That we would love what You love and hate what You hate.

That You would be the thing we want most.

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.

They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.

But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God’s name will praise him,

while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Psalm 63