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How does God feel about human tragedy?

by | Dec 17, 2012 | ,

How does God feel about human tragedy?

Sometimes we waste time philosophizing, when the Bible holds out clear answers…

For instance, our clearest window for seeing who God is to look at Jesus:

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:18)

And what do we know about how he reacted in the face of human tragedy?

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, “and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44) 

Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” (John 11:32-36)

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3)

If we don’t see the significance in verses like these, and if we need to immediately begin to get “theological” to “figure it out,” we’ve missed something.

The Jesus we preach is the only One who knows perfectly what Humans suffer, and who came to show us God’s reaction to the matter…

 

Marco Rubio and the Age of the Earth

by | Dec 12, 2012 | , ,

Marco Rubio is the junior Senator from Florida. He is also, if you’re not aware, one of the top people expected to contend for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.

If you haven’t already heard, he recently gave an interview to GQ magazine (published this month) in which he was asked what he thinks the age of the earth is. Here is his answer:

I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

Within the small slice of reality that bloggers represent, this kicked off a bunch of backlash from people who thought that his answer was outrageous for someone in the public sphere. Specifcally, many were saying that Rubio (who seems to hold to faith in Christ), was promoting an anti-science agenda that is bad for america. “Leaders like this,” the reasoning goes, “are ruining our country by not believing in basic scientific facts which we depend on for our technological advantage in the world.”

Later he gave an interview clarifying his remarks to GQ. Here is what He said:

“Science says it’s about four and a half billion years old and my faith teaches that that’s not inconsistent,” he clarified. “The answer I gave was actually trying to make the same point the president made a few years ago, and that is there is no scientific debate on the age of the earth. I mean, it’s established pretty definitively as at least four and a half billion years old … I was referring to a theological debate and which is a pretty healthy debate.”

“The theological debate is how do you reconcile what science has definitively established with what you think your faith teaches? For me, actually, when it comes to the age of the earth there is no conflict: I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and I think scientific advances give us insight into when he did it and how he did it. But I still believe God did it, And that’s how I’ve been able to reconcile that and I think it’s consistent with the teachings of my church. But other people have a deeper conflict and I just think in America we should have the freedom to teach our children whatever we believe.”

Now, if I had a chance to talk to the Senator, I’d want to get into the specifics of what He conceded in terms of the age of the earth, but for us in the Young Adults group, it seems like there’s some important things to think about in all this, regardless of how old the earth is.

For instance, we should notice–and be ready for–the kind of dialogue GQ wanted to have. Here are the questions they asked, leading up to the age of earth question:

“The Republican strategy after Obama came into office was to make sure the president didn’t have another term. The Republicans didn’t have a plan and were just going to say no to everything the president put forth.”

“One of the poignant moments in your book is when you’re hanging out with your grandfather on the porch. If he were with you now, what are some things you would ask him?”

“You were obviously very moved by your grandfather’s dignity and your father’s dignity. What are the qualities that would qualify for a man to have dignity?”

“How old do you think the Earth is?”

Did you catch that? Rubio himself said of the line of questioning: “I’m not a robot–it caught me off guard a little bit.” The interviewer clearly wanted to catch the Senator in an unguarded moment–fair enough–but it reveals that the interviewer knew Rubio held a position on this issue that many people would find offensive, and he wanted to expose him. My point here is only Peter’s point: We need to always be ready to give answers for the hope we hold. What would you say in a similar situation?

What does the Birth of Jesus Mean? (Notes from Last Night)

by | Dec 11, 2012 |

Here’s the references from last night’s study

What Isaiah said:

Isaiah   
7:10-16    The Solution? A Baby-“God with Us”
8:16-9:7   Darkness and War will be done away with, because a Child will be born (“Mighty God”)
40:9-12    The good news: God is coming
42:1-8      Servant Song: God is sending the Servant to establish His rule
50:4-7      The Servant will suffer
52:13-53:8 The Servant will die
59:4-60:3 God will do it Himself (with his “Arm”)
61:1-2

Summing Up Isaiah’s Prophecy: Things are bad because of human sin, but God will send someone who will finally make everything right. He’ll suffer and die for sin. God will come Himself and make everything right.

What Jesus & The Apostles said: The Same Thing

Matt 1:18-23
Luke  1:15-17, 26-35; 4:16-19
John 1:1-4, 14; 14, 18
Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-5:10; 9:26; 4-9
John 14:8-9

So what can we say?

1.    The incarnation is God’s way of showing us who He is:

  1. He is the kind of God who wants to be with us.
  2. He is able and willing to do what is necessary to heal the breach. (He Loves Us.)
  3. He can only be revealed fully by a person.
  4. He is Father, Son and Spirit.
  5. He is willing to work through weakness and insignificance.
  6. He took up our humanity to save us.

2.    The incarnation also showed us who we were:

  1. Lost in sin.
  2. Not Forsaken.

“In one day, You did it.”

by | Dec 10, 2012 |

A couple weeks ago we hosted our annual Men’s Conference. Pancho Juarez, pastor of Calvary Chapel Montebello, taught the after-lunch session, and his opening prayer has been running through my mind ever since he said it.

Check it out, especially if you weren’t there: 

 “Father in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth we come before you. We ain’t nobody Lord. We’re just broken, perforated men. We’re poked, messed up, tore up. But, Lord, it is You who have put us back together.

It’s nothing that we’ve done, other than just recognize that we’re broken. And You came and helped us.

For me, Lord,
what my mother couldn’t do,
what the P.O. couldn’t do,
what the police couldn’t do,
what juvenile hall couldn’t do,
what jail couldn’t do,
what the Marine Corps couldn’t do,
Lord,
in one day, You did it.

And Lord I still believe in You; and I trust in You. But Lord, we know that we are living in some troubled times. We’re living in uncertain times, and Father being a Christian is going to get tougher and harder. So be with us. May Your Holy Spirit saturate each and every one of us individually. Speak to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Isn’t this the sort of spirit we want to reflect? And isn’t this the sort of conversion we want to see in the lives of the non-believers around us?

“Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him”

by | Dec 8, 2012 |

Have you ever actually read the words to this old christmas hymn?

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Book Recommendations for 2012: A Christmas list?

by | Dec 7, 2012 |

We regularly get asked for book recommendations, and one of the things I wanted to use this blog for was a place to catalogue those good books. So, with Christmas ahead of us, and the possibility that some of you might want to give a book or two this year, here are all the books I’ve recomended on this blog since it began last November.  If you click on a title it will take you to the page where I discussed the book, and there’s usually an Amazon link somewhere in there.

(Note: I was recently told I recommend books that no one else can read… but really, there’s a lot of variety in this list, and almost all of them are totally accessible… really!)

It’s all worth it.

by | Dec 5, 2012 |

Last week I went away with the other pastors from Calvary Philly for a few days of prayer. During one of our down times I sat with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. I got stuck on the beginning, though, and spent the time mulling over the beatitudes in 5:1-11. As I thought that I was beginning to see something new (for me) there, I grabbed my notebook and wrote out the main points of the verses in two columns, which ended up looking like this:

Your State The Blessing
You’re poor in spirit The kingdom of heaven is yours
You mourn You’ll be comforted
You’re meek You’ll inherit the earth
You hunger and thirst for righteousness You’ll be filled
You’re merciful You’ll get mercy
You’re pure in heart You’ll see God
You’re a peacemaker You’ll be called sons of God
You get persecuted for righteousness The kingdom of heaven is yours

Now, what struck me was just reading down the second column, and seeing the kind of promise Jesus was holding out. You’ll be comforted and filled, and you’ll get mercy. You’ll inherit the earth, and the kingdom of God, as the sons of God. In fact, You’ll see God! The kingdom is promised at the beginning and the end, when poverty of spirit and persecution are mentioned, as if to wrap the whole thing into a package that says: Don’t worry if things look bad. Just as sure as I’m coming back as King, you’re going to get My kingdom.

A few minutes contemplating all that is really enough to floor you. To fill you. Isn’t Jesus good? Doesn’t this list take care of whatever we’re facing, right now, today? You will be filled. You will be comforted. You’ll get God, and the whole earth with it.

And then, if we let our eyes drift to the left-hand column, we see the kind of people God is making us as disciples of Christ, and the kind of life we can expect. It’s sobering–but in a good, bracing, Bible kind of way.

With the promises that are held out to us, who wouldn’t want to press in to the kind of life Jesus taught His followers?

The Next Forum: December 17th

by | Dec 4, 2012 | ,

On Monday night, December 17th, we’ll take the evening to explore what has become a pressing topic for Christians to understand.  In many conversations with all kinds of people, it is very common to discuss these questions:

  • Who chose the books in the New Testament?
  • Why do we have those books, and not others?
  • Why do we have only four Gospels? Weren’t there other Gospels?
  • Did the church suppress other views and other writings?
  • Why did it take 400 years for the church to decide what books were scripture?
  • Why should Christians claim the Bible as their authority, if we can’t even know what books should be in the Bible?

We’ll look at answers to these questions for ourselves, since knowing that we have the right books is essential for our own ability to have confidence in the Gospel. We’ll also take some time to think through how to communicate effectively about these issues when we share the Gospel in our daily lives. And we’ll finish the night with an open Q&A.

Hope to see you there.