Saturday, December 26, 2015

Highlights in Matthew 16-19

My current reading in English is in the New Testament. Some time ago I began reading the Old Testament aloud in Portuguese to practice pronunciation. Thereafter i began reading aloud in the New as a different way of abiding in His Word. ( John 8:31-32) Today i read through chapters 16-19 of Matthew. In Matthew 16:28 Jesus says, "Truly I say to you there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." ( ESV) Although various proposals have been made regarding the interpretation of this statement, one obvious one is found in the very next chapter where, six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and John to a mountain where He is transfigured before them, the Father speaks ( verse 5)and the disciples are overwhelmed. In the end of chapter 17 there is a question about whether Jesus will pay the temple tax. Jesus explains that He is exempt from this tax but not to give offense He tells Peter to go to the sea, open the mouth of the first fish that he catches and he will find the necessary coin to pay the tax both for himself and for Jesus. Now Jesus simply could have created a coin much as He did created food to feed multitudes on at least two occasions. Instead Peter must show that he believes what Jesus told him ( exercise his faith), go to the sea, and fish until he catches one. I doubt that in a lifetime of fishing that Peter has ever caught a fish with a coin in its mouth. He must believe that what Jesus says is true, and show that he believes by going fishing. How easy it is to skim through these passages and not think about the realities therein. In chapter 18 there is a parable about forgiveness. For far too long I "spiritualized," this kind of passage, almost like Jesus wasn't being serious. Now I understand that He is deadly serious. The conclusion in verse 35 is chilling. "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." If strong feelings do not arise when we think about or have interaction with someone who has mistreated us, and if we can pray and genuinely ask God to bless that person then we have probably forgiven. But if we cannot then we need to examine our own hearts, consider what Jesus forgave us of, and forgive. Earlier in chapter 18 we have little children coming to Jesus. He says that for anyone to enter the kingdom they must be as humble as a child. Finally in chapter 19, after Jesus has spoken what has become known as the "exception clause," the disciples respond in verse 10 that it is better not to marry. Jesus does not contradict or disagree with this statement. He only says that not everyone will receive this, but "let the one who is able to receive this receive it." ( Matthew 19:12 ESV)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Men of Jabesh

Recently someone asked me how New Covenant believers should apply the Old Testament. I showed him two similar NT verses. "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." ( Romans 15:4 ESV) "Now these things ( the people of Israel during the exodus) took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did." ( 1 Corinthians 10:6 ESV) Yesterday I was reading in 1 Samuel 11 in a Portuguese language Bible. This is my fifth time reading the OT in that language plus many more times in English. Yet God showed me something that I had never connected before. Nahash, a pagan king, beseiges the city of Jabesh- Gilead. They try to negotiate with Nahash who says he will gouge out every man's right eye. The people send for help, and Saul, king of Israel responds and defeats Nahash's army. This takes place at the beginning of a reign that will last forty years. At the end of his days, Saul is slain with his sons and his army defeated by the Philistines. They take his body, sever the head, and fasten it to the wall of Beth-shan in their land. "But when the inhabitants of Jabesh- Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there." ( 1 Samuel 31:11-12) Think about this. The two incidents are about forty years apart, which means that many of those rescued from Nahash were no longer living or too infirm to join the valiant men. The Philistines had just defeated the entire army of all Israel. Yet the men of Jabesh, one city, traveled all night to recover the body of the man who had saved them. The debt of honor is repaid. This is a powerful example of one generation honoring the memory of an older generation. It also serves of how one individual can honor the memory of another.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

End of an Era

In 1995 I approached the pastor of the local congregation that i was in at the time and asked if i could restart a dormant men's ministry. Part of that effort was a mid week Bible study. A number of men participated. The next year i left that church due to false teaching and abuse but continued the Bible study. Over time the brothers departed one by one. However i was introduced to a brother named Bill of another church. Eventually it was only he and i for about a year and a half. He then invited two other brothers to join us. Over time others have entered and departed but the core group of four has remained until the present day. Gradually we shifted from primarily a Bible study to a support/accountability/prayer group. Over the years we have supported, exhorted, and prayed for one another in all manner of difficult life situations. I believe that all disciples of Christ need personal accountability. We have met bi-weekly to provide this on an ongoing basis. Six and a half years ago I retired and moved about two hours distance away. However, because of the rich blessing that God provided I continued to make the commute and meet with the brothers. During this time God has changed my primary focus. For two years or more i have worked with four men in discipleship. Since my return from Brazil in mid- September, God has given me six more. As I normally meet with these brothers one on one I no longer have the time and energy to keep making the four hour round trip, assuming good weather and traffic conditions. Last night i informed the brothers that i could no longer gather with them. I am blessed that God has provided another brother, a pastor from Nigeria, recently to join the group. May the living God bless these brothers as they continue seeking Him and praying with one another.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

December 12th Reflections

Buddhism was recently summarized to me by a man who grew up in Asia as renouncing desire for anything so as to avoid suffering. In other words, if we have no expectations or desires, then we will never have the pain of disappointment. However, this false peace negates one of the primary purposes of suffering. When we have pain because of the choices resulting from our sin and rebellion against God, the consequences are designed to cause us to cry out to and seek Him. Without suffering our motivation to do so would decrease. Today as I was walking I thought about my experiences in Brazil over the last four years. I have received what many in ministry desire. I was treated like royalty, and could basically preach whatever, whenever and wherever I desired with groups ranging in size from a living room full to fifteen hundred listening attentively. Brethren extended extraordinary hospitality to me. They drove me around, fed me copiously including at nice restaurants, washed my clothes and essentially waited on me hand and foot. I had the opportunity to travel in the entourage of a man with a world wide ministry. I was treated with honor and respect beyond my dreams. If there was a line of a thousand people waiting up to an hour to be fed after sitting in a conference for many hours, people insisted that I go to the front of the line. Although I was never comfortable with all of this, it certainly was heady stuff. Yet at the end of the day I was not making disciples. I am deeply thankful to God that by His grace I have let this go. Working with individual men one on one and actually seeing them grow is far more fulfilling and rewarding. When I heard a man pray recently thanking God that the words of the Bible had come alive for him I rejoiced. When a young man received my offer of discipleship I glorified God. When another young men has had his vision of discipleship refreshed so that he will return to his native country ready to give what God has given him into other's lives I bow in adoration before King Jesus. Who needs a position or a title or the royal treatment when he can make disciples of Jesus Christ?

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Blessing of Bible Reading with Someone Else

In more recent times God has blessed me abundantly with a number of men who are willing to read through various books of the Bible with me. With one I am in 1 Peter, with another in 1 Thessalonians, with another 1 John ( in Portuguese), and with two others in Hosea. We go through slowly, verse by verse, and often cross reference other verses. We look for practical application and pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Always I go away blessed by these encounters and strengthened in my faith. Usually I am with a person from an hour to an hour and a half. Recent insights include, in Hosea chapter one the astonishing reality that God told Hosea to marry a woman whom he knew would be unfaithful to him. Hosea's obedience to do this, something so against any normative human understanding, is the key to God speaking through him, not just for his era, but for all time. This morning, working our way through the end of 1 Peter 2, we came across the phrase "by his wounds ( or stripes in some versions) we are healed. First seen in Isaiah 53:5, this verse is used by many to claim physical healing. Yet in the context of 1 Peter 2, there is no reference to physical healing at all, but rather a healing from the ravages of sin. A through perusal of 1 Thessalonians persuaded a brother studying with me of the reality of the love of God as evidenced in Paul's care and concern for the saints in Thessalonica. "But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face- 1, Paul, again and again..." ( 1 Thess 2:17-18a ESV) May I encourage readers to dig into the words that are "spirit and life," with another believer. ( John 6:63)

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Special Days

In Romans 14 Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, ( 2 Peter 1:20-21) writes "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." ( v. 5) In context Paul the Bible is saying that to celebrate or not celebrate a particular day is equally permissible. With two allowable choices it would seem that a fair number of people would take each option. Yet if we consider holidays to be the modern day equivalent of the special days that the Scripture is referring to here, then I am the only person I know who thinks that every day is alike, by not celebrating holidays. In the Old Covenant the Sabbath Day was considered holy, and various feast days are detailed in Leviticus 23. In the New Covenant, we see the Church meeting on the first day of the week ( Sunday) rather than the seventh ( Saturday) even though there is no command to do so. We also see an enormous amount of time, money and energy expended on the Christmas celebration even though there is not even a hint, Biblically speaking, that we are to do so. Even individual birthday celebrations are a fairly modern phenomenon given that most human beings have been illiterate, and have not known the date of their birth. My point is not to decry these "special days," or to urge their repeal but rather to examine why we celebrate holidays. Is it not because the surrounding culture does so? Even Halloween, which has become a demonstrably demonic celebration, must be replaced by some kind of harvest festival in modern day congregations. We cannot simply not celebrate the day. I am disheartened by the reality that in my personal observation and experience, even Thanksgiving, the day designated by our culture to give thanks, is celebrated even by self- identified Christians as merely a large meal, perhaps with some football viewing attached. All of this is additional proof of how influenced Christians are by a pagan culture. And yes, we have liberty to celebrate holidays, as Romans 14:5 attests. Is this a liberty that we should exercise?