Thoughts About The Savior...

The following is from a devotional entitled "Moments With The Savior", by Ken Gire.

"The Messiah has arrived.

Elongated head from the constricting journey through the birth canal. Light skin, as the pigment would take days or even weeks to surface. Mucus in his ears and nostrils. Wet and slippery from the amniotic fluid. The son of the Most High god umbilically tied to a lowly Jewish girl.

The baby chokes and coughs. Joseph instinctively turns him over and clears his throat.

Then he cries.

Mary bares her breast and reaches for the shivering baby. She lays him on her chest, and his helpless cries subside. His tiny head bobs around on the unfamiliar terrain. this will be the first thing the infant-king learns. Mary can feel his racing heartbeat as he gropes to nurse.

Deity nursing from a young maiden's breast. Could anything be more puzzling---or more profound?

Joseph sits exhausted, silent, full of wonder.

The baby finishes and sighs, the divine Word reduced to a few unintelligible sounds. Then, for the first time, his eyes fix on his mother's. Deity straining to focus. The Light of the World, squinting.

Tears pool in her eyes. She touches his tiny hand. And hands that once sculpted mountain ranges cling to her finger.

She looks up at Joseph, and through a watery veil, their souls touch. He crowds closer, cheek to cheek with his betrothed. Together they stare in awe at the baby Jesus, whose heavy eyelids begin to close. It has been a long journey. The King is tired.

And so, with barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension. Where you would have expected angels, there were only flies. Where you would have expected heads of state, there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, a nervous ball of sheep, a tethered camel, and a furtive scurry of curious barn mice.

Except for Joseph, there was no one to share Mary's pain, or her joy. Yes, there were angels announcing the Savior's arrival---but only to a band of blue-collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky t mark his birthplace---but only three foreigners bothered to look up and follow it.

Thus, in the little town of Bethlehem ... that one silent night ... the royal birth of God's Son tiptoed quietly by ... as the world slept." pg 31-32a

My good friend Rolland turned me onto this devotional a few years back and during a quiet moment in this most hectic time of year, in addition to Luke chapter 2, I take the time to read the entire chapter about the birth of Jesus that the above quote comes from. Sometimes we forget the humanity of Jesus, that he came into the world and was fully human in what he experienced, from a most humble beginning through the completion of his passion. I hope you too take a moment to reflect on what God has done for us!

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled....

It is no doubt too easy to get caught up in the issues of life, especially of late in this furry of an election season. We should all pause to consider that whatever happens in this world, it is all under God's control.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28

I have even found myself getting too caught up in the daily grind, thus my lack of posting the last few months. I found some spare time yesterday and started looking over some projects I have started and not yet finished (I can be bad about that), one of which is a paper about taking up his cross (which should be completed soon, I promise). So I began reading through my notes and typing on it again, and before I new it the afternoon was history. It was some good study time and I had nearly forgotten how much I enjoy really digging into a text. Time for some priority adjustments I think!

Have a great day and let not your heart be troubled with the things of this world!

Thoughts on Freemasonry

I recently wanted to learn more about Freemasonry, and what better way to learn about an organization than from its own writings, particularly one about its core beliefs and how it teaches them. So I picked up a book entitled "Symbolism of Freemasonry", by Albert G. Mackey, M.D.. I have no first hand exposure to the organization and only know a little about it from items I received when relatives passed away who had been members. Anyway, the following are some of my thoughts.

Freemasonry defines itself as "a science of morality, developed and inculcated by the ancient method of symbolism." Stated another way, this means the science (the search for divine truth), is built upon precepts acquired by its adherents through the study of teachings incorporated in veiled allegories and illustrated by symbols. Much of this material is derived from Solomon's Temple but Masons believe the teachings predate the Temple period, originating with Noah and his direct dependents. They believe that divine truth was in its complete form at the time of Noah only to be corrupted and lost afterwards, but surviving in a fragmentary state in the teachings and ceremonies of dependent religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.

As I understand it, Freemasonry was born at the coming together of these groups in the construction of Solomon's Temple. Where the craft, as its adherents call it, was operative, meaning physical structures were built. Now it is speculative, meaning Freemasons now erect symbolic temples of virtue within themselves as they search for divine truth. Along the way they examine their lives for vices which they cast away into symbolic dungeons.

As an organization, it is hard to describe what it means to be a Freemason judging by this one book. On one hand they seem philosophical, almost like modern day Judaism with respect to moral and ethical teachings. On the other hand, they strike an almost Christian chord with teachings about an ultimate divine creator, an immortal soul, and the idea that we are the temple of God, etc. But the book was clear that the organization should not be considered Christian or of any other particular religion, even when some teachings may sound very similar to a particular religion. What they are preserving, they believe, are truths found in most all faiths. I also have to say that I did not pick up any animosity towards any particular faith either, which makes them very PC in this day and age.

Perhaps Freemasonry is a remnant of what we read in Acts 17:23 when Paul finds an alter dedicated "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD". Certainly none of us will fully understand devine knowledge until we are in the presence of the devine, but it would seem equally unlikely we must grope about searching for hidden truths like the Gnostics of the past either.

Still, some of the precepts and their presentation through symbols and allegory were quite interesting and the comparisons made among the religions would have made Joseph Campbell proud. It is certainly an organization I would like to learn more about one of these days.

The Dead Sea Scroll Stone

There has been some hubbub in the press recently about a stone referred to as "Gabriel's Vision" that purportedly casts doubt on the resurrection story. Being something of a Dead Sea Scroll enthusiast myself I trolled around for more information, something more down to earth and less headline driven. There is a pretty good article here from the Biblical Archeology Review with indications of more to come, but more importantly is an English translation of the transcript of the text linked in the article found here.

It is missing text in places, and much of the existing text is fragmentary, as is often the case in material such as this. It appears to me there is as much twisting done with this text by the media as was done by those who quote works from the Nag Hammadi Library to support a married Jesus, but I'll let the reader decide.

Review of "Schizophrenic Sermons: An Analysis" - by Jeri Massi

I recently read a second book by Jeri Massi entitled Schizophrenic Sermons. While it probably will not cause a stir like her previous book among the IFB community, is it certain to give the reader pause with where the movement is heading. Much of the material is based on previous work posted on Ms. Massi's blog and in podcasts, which can be found at http://www.jeriwho.net. The book's goal is to document instances of blasphemy, heresy and deceptions contained in notable sermons preached by prominent independent fundamental baptist (IFB) preachers, past and present. The sermons discussed in the book include:

"Fresh Oil" - by Jack Hyles
"Crank It Up" - by Jeff Owens
"Why Are You Here" - Jack Schapp
"A Soldier That Stands" - by Lester Roloff
"A Young Fundamentalist" - by Jeff Owens
"Falling From Your Steadfastness" - by Bob Gray
"Duty" - by Jack Hyles

Chapters 1, 5, 10 and the Appendix provide some useful insights into fundamentalism, its culture and beliefs, which are certainly useful to a reader not familiar with the movement. For example, Massi notes in most IFB churches, Bible reading is encouraged but a systematic study of scripture is not generally part of the culture. Judging by her analysis of the above sermons, this aspect is not only observed with the laity but apparently with its leadership as well. Another IFB cultural aspect is in the preponderance of oral tradition within the movement, and its impact encompassing not only the movements perceived history, but its key doctrines, how it defines roles of the sexes, and the positional power of its key leaders. Just these two aspects of culture alone have had tremendous impact on beliefs and doctrines ascribed to the movement ranging from dress to participation in culturally normative activities (dating, movies, etc).

It may have been useful to have this information in its entirety at the start to give one new to the IFB movement a clearer picture, but the background information is timely placed as is. In these chapters, material is drawn from Massi's observations as well as from James Ault's, "Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamental Baptist Church".

For the remaining chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, an IFB sermon is discussed in each. Massi follows a general format of an introduction to the message (with links providing where one can hear the message first hand), and an overview of the scripture text with her analyis supplemented by the Mathew Henry Commentary. This is followed by notes in some cases of the opening prayer, followed by how the preacher addressed the noted text and an analysis. She approaches this discussion along the lines of point-by-point, rather than line-by-line. Given this, I would certainly recommend to the reader that they listen to the sermons first hand so as to gain a better feel of the message and Massi's analysis.

At least three of the sermons themselves were associated with either youth conferences or that mecca of IFB, Pastors School in Hammond Indiana. The others may have been likewise associated with special events, but this was not clear from Massi's descriptions. I only mention this because some of the criticisms noted in the book stem from the crowd's responses, which are unique to IFB generally and are an almost must-have with these venues in particular. I would also like to note at this point that the sampling of sermons addressed by the book is small and it may be inappropriate to define an entire movement by such a sampling, but given the prominence of these leaders in the movement, one would certainly have expected the messages to be more solid than they appear to be.

Overall, the single most consistent criticism of these sermons as noted by Massi is the preachers' inability to properly exegete the noted text. Massi notes that what little Bible reading is performed is done more to serve the sermon, which at times only serves a given preachers decrees, rather than being used as verification to support the sermon. The charismatic men standing in IFB pulpits and the messages they carry are clearly at times more important than the text itself. When the text is addressed, it is almost as a side bar to be gotten out of the way so the real message the preacher wants to present is expounded upon, whether it is related to the given scripture or not, and whether there is any scriptural support anywhere for it or not.

They rely far more on sermons, on sayings of well-known preachers, on moralistic application of distinct pieces of the Bible rather than a theological comprehension of the text of the bible as a whole. - Jeri Massi, pg 96-97 - Schizophrenic Sermons

Overall, I recommend the book although some of the comments made by Massi seem to come out of left field unless one has read her previous work entitled "Schizophrenic Christianity". These comments refer to abuse issues discussed in the previous book and in this writer's view, while they are important questions, had little direct bearing on the sermons in this book. Other comments are almost funny, if it were not for the seriousness of the subject; the Word of God.

Sometimes, to get an accurate assessment of a particular group or movement, it is necessary to listen to feedback from someone outside. Some on the FFF have contended that Ms. Massi is approaching both the alleged abuse scandals and sermon analysis with bias rather than objectivity. While this could be in some cases, clearly the movement has issues it needs to address, but so far the FFF seems more concerned with whether these books have been self published or not, what the writer's drinking habits are, and where she stands on yoga and new age philosophy. If this group is the last best hope for America and/or the world as many in the movement believe they are, God help us.

The Greatest Commandment

Once, a Gentile desiring to become a Jew, asked one called Shammai how to do so, but was harshly dismissed. He then asked Hillel and said if you can convince me while I stand on one foot, I will believe. Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Law; the rest is commentary; go and learn" (Shab. 31a).

Hillel was probably thinking of the passage from Leviticus 19:18, but we may more easily recognize this as a teaching of Jesus from Mark 12:28-29 which includes Deuteronomy 6:5:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." - NIV

All of the law of the Old Testament and teachings of the New Testament hangs on these simple yet profound ideas.

What Faith Does!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. -Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

The above verse is a majestic translation as only the King James Version can deliver, but the wording to the modern reader can be somewhat misleading. The verse is not trying to reveal what faith is, but rather what it does. There are two aspects of faith revealed in this verse, one for the here and now and the other for the future.

In the here and now, faith provides us with the evidence, or more accurately put, a conviction of things not seen. Noone has seen Christ since the apostles, but by faith we can know through their testimony the reality of Him and His work. Christ himself said we are blessed because of this faith. Jesus speaking to Thomas says:

"Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." -John 20:29 (NASB)

For the future, faith provides us with the substance, or better stated an assurance of a future hope to be with Him. Jesus speaking:

"I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." -John 14:2b-3 (NASB)

Put another way, Paul says the following to the Church at Rome:

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. -Romans 8:22-25

Faith provides the believer with a conviction of the unseen present reality of our salvation through Christ's work and an assurance of a future hope to be with Him!

Just Read "Schizophrenic Christianity"

Many may have read the recently released book entitled "UnChristian", by David Kinnaman which addressed how Christianity is broadly viewed by both saved and unsaved in society, with emphasis on the unsaved. Backed by studies by the Barna Group, it provided some interesting insights into what those surveyed think and it is probably fair to say its conclusions leaned in the direction of the emergent church movement. The work has not been without its critics who point out that judging the Christian message and methods by views of the unsaved is like polling PETA on how hunters could better hunt. But I thought the read was worth it if for no other reason than to have a better understanding of how the message is being interpreted. Now another book is on the scene which will probably cause no small stir in the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) community.

I don't do this often, but I preempted my current reading/writing projects and read the just released book by Jeri Massi entitled "Schizophrenic Christianity." Rather than analyzing Christianity as a whole from the outside, Massi's work looks at a specific sect from the perspective of another protestant group. In summary, she uses actual case studies of pastors accused, indicted or convicted of inappropriate sexual behavior to provide practical examples of how the IFB movement is not self policing itself to ensure those guilty are removed from their positions, and not providing for mechanisms to track these individuals as they move from church to church. She explores the patterns of behavior these individuals use to gain trust, move into positions of leadership and create for themselves environments where little or no accountability or redress for grievances exists. She explains how fundamentalism today has drifted theologically from its beginnings consistant with historic Christian belief.

Having been a part of an IFB church for many years and seen first hand the disastrous consequences of an abuse situation unfold, I found much of her research is pretty accurate as far as how she described the actions of leadership and laity both prior to and during a situation such as that. From previous course work, I understood the group dynamics involved with authoritarian leadership styles often found in the IFB movement, but I found her work provided more in depth information as to why the dynamics happened as they did.

She did a good job overall of providing opposing viewpoints for given behaviors, but in a few area her criticisms of the IFB movement are clearly impacted by her knowledge of organizational structures within her own branch of protestantism. She is now a member of a Reformed Presbyterian church, an organization with a hierarchical structure that extends beyond the local church body. As such it would clearly have processes and procedures to exert influence over a local church body that fundamental independent local churches would not have. Her contention is that a better job could still be done, and I think she is right, but as she points out in her work, it is not something that can be readily done in the current hyper-independent environment.

This work is also not without its critics who voice their opinions often at www.fundamentalforums.com (FFF), with some saying she is overly critical of the IFB movement and does not apply the same veracity to problems in other branches of protestantism. For more on these and other objections, the FFF is the place to go.

Overall, I found it to be an informative book and an easy read considering the breadth of material. Some subject matter, while tastily done, may not be appropriate for school age readers.

A Lesson From The Axehead

“They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axehead fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.”

- 2 Kings 6:4b-7 (NIV)

To the Jewish culture, the Jordan was never considered a sacred river, like the Nile was to the Egyptians, for example. It was something crossed at significant times indicating profound change and challenges for a person or people with their walk with God. God has had some of us cross the Jordan in our spiritual lives, but sometimes we are just brought to the Jordan, to be reminded of how great God is. One such case is preserved in the scripture above, involving Elisha and a company of prophets.

They went to the Jordan to build some kind of dwelling, perhaps a meeting place. In the process of this work, an axehead, something of great value was lost. Iron was a new technology at this point in time, and as such, tools made of this material were expensive and few could own them.

The scripture above indicates this particular tool had been borrowed for the work at hand. The loss of this tool brought about great despair to the one responsible for its care, for if it could not be found, he may have had to work off the debt; a most unsettling prospect. We see this despair as he cries out to that great man, Elisha.

The tool was lost in the Jordan, a river that for the most part, does not have gently slopping banks as we are often accustomed to. One who steps in is immediately up to their shoulders in water, and often fast moving water at that. A man who steps in could be at great risk.

Elisha, as great a man as he was, could no more find the axehead than any other man present that day, but he was a faithful servant of the one who could. Upon inquiry by Elisha, the man points to the spot in the river where the precious item was lost. With faith, Elisha cut down a stick and threw it in the water, and the axehead floated. All the man who had lost the tool had to do was reach out and take it. What a mighty God we have!

We too, if we are not careful, can fall into the very same kind of despair at the Jordan's in our life. When we can't help ourselves we must remember the cross, for there we can find one who can, if we only have faith and reach out.

An Interesting Quote

I found the following in my readings from "The Portable Seminary":

The worst moment for an atheist is when he is genuinely thankful, but has nobody to thank.
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti

More Writings Added!

I finally took the time to go through some of my old college papers and have posted them in the sidebar. Keep in mind that they were originally written with the intent of meeting classroom objectives and may not drill down the various topics in extreme detail, but if nothing else I figure someone may be able to use them as a jumping off point for further study.

The paper I have started is concerned with the idea of taking up the cross. I was messing around on youtube a while back and stumbled on some clips of Gail Riplinger, a noted KJVOnlyist (an individual who believes the King James Bible is the only translation for English speaking people and any other English translation is spawned by the devil). There are many who hold a preference to a particular translation and there is nothing wrong with that, but some go on to believe that a believer cannot be saved if they use a modern translation. I have not written on the topic myself, but read what others have to say about it and heard some speakers as well and I personally don't believe the argument holds much weight, if any. I won't say much more on that that as there are a vast number of websites and books on both sides of the isle that can be referenced for a deeper study. I am a big believer in studying both sides of an issue and if you are interested in that debate, I encourage you to do the same.

Anyway, Riplinger, in the clip I saw was going on about the phrase to take up the cross in Mark 10:21, and I thought it would make a good study, from the textual, exegetical and application perspectives. I am just getting started so don't expect it next week or anything, but I believe it will make for an interesting read! :)

The Old Deacon And The Kid

I read this today at www.fundamentalforums.com from a poster named Mario and thought I would post it here...enjoy!

There is a story told about a man named Bill. He had wild hair, wore a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He was brilliant, kinda esoteric and very bright. He had become a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from his campus was a well-dressed, very conservative church. They wanted to develop a ministry to the students, but were not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decided to go there. He walked in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service had already started and so Bill started down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church was completely packed and he couldn’t find a seat. At this point, people were looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. Bill got closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realized there were no seats, he just sat down on the carpet. The people became tense.

About this time, the minister realized that from way at the back of the church, a deacon was slowly making his way toward Bill. The deacon was in his eighties, had silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. He was known as a godly man— very elegant, very dignified, and very courtly. He walked with a cane. As he started walking toward Bill, everyone was saying to themselves, “You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?”

It took a long time for the man to reach Bill. The church was utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes were focused on him, and it was absolutely silent. And then, the people watched as the elderly man dropped his cane on the floor.

With great difficulty he lowered himself and sat down next to Bill. The deacon worshiped alongside him so he wouldn’t be alone. When the minister continued, he said, "What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget." The deacon surprised the whole congregation by choosing to worship alongside Bill. He was not concerned with worshiping in the same pew in which he’d probably worshiped for years. The tradition of the place of worship did not matter. Instead, the deacon worshiped, and he did so in spirit and truth.

When Jesus told the woman that the true worshippers must worship in spirit and truth, he made no claim as to the right place to worship or the right dress for worship. In a way, Jesus reminds us that worship is not confined to these four walls, that true worship takes place whenever we see and feel the work of the Holy Spirit in and around us.

New Writings Links Added

I have added some links to material I wrote, the most recent of which is regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls. While reading various exegetical material, I kept encountering references to the scrolls and decided to learn more about what they are about. It has been a very interesting study that I hope to do more of soon.

The other documents I added regarding Philemon and Education were papers I originally wrote while completing my B.S. degree from Colorado Christian University. I have a number of others I will be adding over the coming weeks, but this is a good start. I figure after doing so much work on them, maybe somebody else can benefit from them as I have. :)

What Is Meaning?

While reading an article some time ago, a question was asked, "Where does meaning lie-in the words of the text or in the audience reaction to the text"(Problems of Translations, by Harvey Minkoff)? I have given much thought to this question and how it relates to the study of ancient texts generally and the Bible in particular. While on the outset, the question above seems simple enough, there are many facets to it one must consider.

On one hand, there is the literary text. This text is composed at a most basic level of letters (symbols) that make up words, combined by some structured syntax into sentences and paragraphs (thoughts), that in turn combine to preserve the idea (message) the writer is trying to convey to the reader. Just bringing across a message from one language to another is difficult enough as these thoughts and symbols rarely translate in a straight forward fashion given the differing symbol patterns and thought structure. These messages come to us often from very ancient times, from languages now dead or nearly dead, and to complicate matters even further, the people who wrote them certainly had very different ways to view their morality, their communities and their place in it. We today refer to this lens of interpretation as a world view and whether you think you have one or not, you do.

A translator of a text must take all this into consideration and decide what to do, translate as close as possible word-for-word (formal translation) or do something more oriented towards ensuring the reader leaves with the same idea the original reader would have had (dynamic translation). He or she must decide, where does the meaning of the text lie.

I am new at blogging and I am not sure I will be very good at it, but I do enjoy writing and exploring issues like those above. Over the coming weeks, I hope to begin exploring some ancient texts and relaying those thought to you, and I hope after reading them you have found this area to be as interesting as I find it!