Written on March 30, 2009 by Matt
After a very very long layoff, this is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday. I know the blogging around here has been erratic, but like any other discipline it takes time, and in many ways a schedule to get it accomplished. Hopefully we can begin being more regular around here.
The past several weeks we have been digging into the lives of the Patriarchs, paying specific attention to the life of Abraham. The life of Abraham is one we need pay special attention to, since it is his story that dominates the remainder of Genesis, arguably the most foundational book in all of Scripture. The life of Abraham thus far has been one filled with incredible faithfulness and dynamic failure, as God continues to shape this man into the patriarch He desires him to be.
This passed Sunday we concentrated on Genesis 22 and commented on what we saw as Abraham’s Road to Redemption and Lessons learned along the way. Specifically, we pointed to three lessons we learn on the Road to Redemption: 1) The Road to Redemption is a journey, 2) The Road to Redemption is where we learn obedience and excercise faith, 3) The Road to Redemption is the only place we meet Jesus.
Part of the journeying aspect of the Road to Redemption is that it takes time. In the microwave society we live in, it is not our nature to want to take time doing much of anything, let alone “growing in faith.” Yet, we forget God has made us for eternity, and the entirety of this life is preparation for eternity with Him. Since all of this life is preparation for the next, we should reject the false bag of goods that tells us if things are rough, there is some kind of defect in us or God. Life is tough, and glory comes later.
When we look at the whole of Scripture, there is not a whole lot of evidence that suggests those who were faithful to God in this life had much to speak of materially this side of eternity. More often disciples were those who we find getting, beaten up, spit on, thrown out of town, disowned by families, shipwrecked, in jail and like their leader, nailed to a tree. So, when we equate “success” in the Christian life with anything that money or smooth talk can obtain, we have traded the truth of God for a lie.
Later we will look at the other two lessons learned on the Road to Redemption, but for today a few questions:
1) What lessons have you learned on this Road to Redemption?
2) How has God used events in your life to shape you?
Thoughts?
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Written on January 28, 2009 by Matt
Today we will continue the conversation we began Monday about Sabbath. While we started by contemplating the practical aspects of Sabbath, today we turn attention to the Spiritual.
God intended for Sabbath to be a day of perpetual Spiritual Spring, one of multiplication and fruitfulness. When God “blessed” the Sabbath day, this means he made it spiritually fruitful. On Sabbath, the people of Israel were called to celebrate and remember Creation and Salvation. They were to remember not that earth was their mother, but that God was their Very Good Father who had created them in His image according to His likeness to both relate to and reflect Him. They were to celebrate Sabbath as a day of Salvation, remembering that not only had God saved them from the curse and punishment of sin, but that He had delivered them out of bondage in Egypt and brought them into the promised land.
Sabbath is about rest, family connection, community, Joy and Salvation!
The problem for many of us today is we have treated the Sabbath as another day to fill with activity and program, when in reality we need to cease striving, rest and remember our Good God, enjoying His Creation and Celebrating His Salvation.
How do you keep your Sabbath from being filled with perpetual activity?
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Written on January 26, 2009 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
Well people, after a long layoff from the blog world we return. Seminary is done and hopefully posting can return to some semblance of normality, whatever that resembled before.
Yesterday we wrapped up our month long look at the Creation Story by camping out on Sabbath. We saw that Sabbath rest is an oft overlooked element of life for us, and God’s desire for us in Sabbath is a return to a healthy life rhythm of work and rest. Looking at Genesis 2:1-3, we saw Sabbath rest as something that is Practical, Spiritual, and Eternal.
Many of the reasons we fail to practice Sabbath rest are ridiculous at best. We fail to Sabbath because we think if we do, things wont get done, or we wont have enough to get by. For most Americans, the failure to rest is driven by consumerism and greed more than the need to pay bills. We asked the question of what matters more to our families; having a couple extra bucks at the end of the month, or us spending time together.
Life is more than work and Sabbath is about rest, enjoyment and pleasure from labor. This is why God rested, not because He was tired, or His cosmic muscles ached, but because it was Good. He enjoyed the fruit of His labor.
The practicality of Sabbath is not limited to doing nothing, although it can be. Sabbath isn’t restrained to taking x number of steps or total lack of physical activity. As Jesus reminds us in Mark 2, “Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” . The focus should be weaving a healthy rhythm of work and rest into the fabric of our lives. It is not essential that our Sabbath happen necessarily on Sunday, as Paul reminds us in Colossians 2:16-17, but rather that we in fact do Sabbath. We need to take time to reconnect, breath.
Later in the week, we will look at the other two elements of Sabbath rest, the spiritual and the eternal, but until then, a few questions to ponder:
Are you taking time to breath?
When’s the last time you rested, or ceased from labor?
Why is it difficult to Sabbath?
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Written on December 16, 2008 by Matt
Today we will continue the conversation we began yesterday looking at the stories behind those Paul mentions at the end of his letter to the Colossians. Yesterday we considered Tychicus and Onesimus and today we turn attention to Mark and Barnabas.
The Mark referred to in this letter is the same “John Mark” that defected from Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey. He was source of a quite heated conflict between Paul and Barnabas that lead to their going seperate ways in Acts 15. Yet, under the careful guidance of Barnabas, Mark redeemed his reputation so that he and the apostle are again on friendly terms. Mark is with Paul in his imprisonment and mentioned again in Philemon as Paul’s fellow worker. In 2 Timothy 4:11 in a clear display of reconciliation he is commended as a faithful worker In addition to this, he is credited popularly with the writing of the Gospel of Mark as well.
John Mark stands as an incredible example of one who wouldn’t let failure be the end of his story. Look at the Power of God in his life, in not only reconciling him with Paul, but also in restoring him to ministry.
To often the Christian Army is known for being one that shoots its wounded when instead it should be remembered as one who lifts up those who are downtrodden and restores them to meaningful life and ministry. This is exactly what happend with John Mark.
Barnabas is the type of man everyone would want as a best friend. He is the always faithful servant; rock solid and spiritually steady. We first read of him in Acts 4 when he sells a field he owns and brings the money to the feet of the apostles. His name means “Son of Encouragement” and this title is lived out in his building up and restoration of John Mark and reconciliation garnered between he and Paul.
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Written on December 15, 2008 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday. Yesterday we wrapped up our four month examination of the book of Colossians. It has been both an encouraging and convicting journey looking at Paul’s words to a church not very old. Paul wrote to remind them of who Jesus is and who they are as a result. He concluded in Colossians 4:7-18 with final greetings that, though easy to gloss over, hold a cavalcade of truth for our edification.
As we walked through Paul’s final words we took an individual look, though brief, at each person Paul mentioned and drew, not only encouragement, but also conviction as we asked whether or not we would be as those named. Since there are many to be named, over the course of this week we will look at a few at a time, so check back throughout the week for more information.
Today we will look quickly at the first two named, Tychicus and Onesimus. We first encounter Tychicus in Acts 20 as one, along with several others, who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem. Tychicus was the bearer of the letter to the Colossians and Ephesians, as well as the letter to the church in Laodicea. Peter O’Brien tells us in his commentary that it is possible he was Paul’s special envoy, or right hand man, to the churches of Provincial Asia which had been established during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. We also read of him again in 2 Timothy 4:12 towards the end of Paul’s ministry. Paul calls Tychicus a loved brother, faithful servant, and fellow slave. “Loved Brother” is Paul’s favorite way of referring to members of the communities to whom he was writing, and it is expressive of the very real relationship that exists between Christians and members of God’s family. Paul also says Tychicus is his “fellow slave in the Lord”. This could mean that he is sitting next to him in jail as he writes.
Onesimus is also called a faithful and loved brother. In addition Paul reminds them he is “one of them”. If you remember, this is the same Onesimus who prompted the writing of the letter to Philemon. He was once a worthless slave who had abandoned his master Philemon, yet heard the Gospel from Paul and believed while in Ephesus. In fact, it is quite probable Onesimus is headed back to his master Philemon at Colossae with a letter commending his return. Onesimus was one who, as a slave, had absolutely no rights and privileges under Roman Law, he would have been of no account to most, yet he is Paul’s spiritual son, entrusted to deliver a message of commendation and reconciliation.
What incredible power the Gospel exhibits, those who were once enemies could be reconciled. Those who were but slaves, could be counted as free men in Christ. Moreover, us who were once Spiritual slaves of sin and death could be set free in Christ.
Tomorrow we will continue our look at these Paul mentions, turning attention to Mark, and Barnabas.
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Written on December 4, 2008 by Matt
This is a continuation of our conversation from yesterday concerning Colossians 4:5-6. Yesterday we spoke of what the nature of a Transformed Walk looks like and today we turn attention toward Transformed Talk.
When I was going to college in Casper, Wy I remember attending a January Bible study at a sister church in our area. I don’t really recall what the subject was, nor much else of what happened but what I do remember is something that Pastor Gary Hans said. You have to realize Pastor Gary came to faith in Christ well into adulthood and later felt the call to serve God as Pastor of this small church. Nonetheless his preaching cut straight to the heart when he said,
If your talking the talk and not walking the walk, you need to shut up!
There were shocked eyes (none more than his wife’s) and a few Amen’s sprinkled throughout the congregation. Even though this is an incredibly true statement, I wonder how often we fail as believers to even talk the talk. For all of our speak of relational methods of evangelism, the evangelism is left out, leaving us with anemic and purposeless relationship. Paul in his letter to the Colossian church reminds them the key to “making the most of their time” is by speaking graciously and savouringly in order to answer each person. Paul has effective evangelism in view here, desiring others to know the Christ whom he preaches through mouth watering speech.
I think it was O’Brien in his commentary on Colossians who asked,”When we speak about Christ are we speaking in a way that makes people’s mouths water?”. That’s a powerful question. Often as Christians we are known more for what we are against rather than speaking kind, gracious and life giving words. Remember our mission is to be part of God’s mission in reconciling a lost and dying humanity back to Himself, and that requires having an answer for the hope that lay within us.
This week I challenge you to practice the 5-3-1 rule. Meet 5 new people, have good conversations with 3 of them and tell 1 about the hope you have in Christ. This may sound trite and simplistic, but if you fail to have a plan, you plan to fail.
What are some ways you endeavor to tell others about Christ?
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Written on December 3, 2008 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday. On Sunday last we continued our examination of who we are as transformed people in light of Christ’s accomplishment on our behalf. Specifically in Colossians 4:5-6 we saw two more markers of a transformed life; 1) A Transformed Walk; 2) Transformed Talk. Today we will examine the first, tomorrow the second
Walking is a manner of life our “spiritual stride” if you will. This isn’t strictly appearance motivated but includes how we spend our money, treat our families and interact with others. Paul calls us to walk in Wisdom, something entirely different that the standard that is set forth by others. The Wisdom of God is concerned with everyday life.
To often in the ghetto of our squeaky clean Christian subculture we have placed emphasis in the wrong place. We have memorized “love your neighbor”, but don’t even know our neighbor’s name. We have also memorized, “look after orphans and widows and those in distress”, but haven’t touched the life of a child other than our own. We read of Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners, but cannot remember the last time we shared a meal with an unbeliever.
Truly walking in Wisdom focuses our attention outward, rather than inward and comes not so much in the classroom as it does in the crucible of everyday life.
God didn’t send His son to die on the Cross so you could sit on your couch and eat spiritual bon bons all day, but so that you may have life and have it abundantly, realizing your mission in this new life, is not to get fat spiritually fat and happy, but to join Him in His mission of reconciling a lost and dying humanity back to Himself.
For Paul, and us as well, this is what “making the most of our time” looks like. It is seizing upon every moment that comes. I know I am tremendously guilty for always looking forward to what’s next. Like right now, I’m looking past getting this post done to a meeting I have in about 40 minutes. Yet, when we continually look past where we are, we miss out on what is right in front of us and often this is where God desires to do His greatest work. We need to remember moment has the opportunity to be soul saving.
When you think of “Walking worthy” what comes to mind? Are you guilty like me of always looking ahead instead of asking what God is doing with you in the moment? Any thoughts?
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Written on November 24, 2008 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
Yesterday we talked about prayer. While there is surely much that can be said about prayer; infinitely more than can be written in a blog post, here in Colossians 4:2-4 Paul gives us a bit of insight into what the character and direction of transformed prayer are to be.
First we see that Prayer is to be Persistant. Sam Storms reminds us, :”The easiest thing about prayer is quitting.” Instead of being quitters we are to persist even in times when it seems there is no response. When we persist in prayer we are like the petitioning widow in Luke 18 who cries out for justice unrelentingly and the judge acquiesces. However, unlike the widow, we have a just judge who will grant justsice to His elect who cry out day and night. Persisting in prayer purifies the content of our prayer, cultivates patience and is God’s way of developing dependence on Him
Prayer in many ways is the conversation through which our desires come to line up more and more with His, not the other way around.
Not only is the character of our prayer to be persistent, it is also to be Thankful. We pray thankfully because we have a God who not only hears our prayers but answers. Ephesians 3:20 reminds us, He is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think. If we believe this, are we begging God in prayer. And if in fact we are begging, what are begging for, and when we do beg, do we expect Him to respond?
Paul shows us Prayer is not only to be persistent and thankful, it is also to be centered on God’s mission in the world. Paul prays that a door would be opened and that he would be able to speak clearly. Where Paul is concerend with effective evangelism and service in the midst of his chains, we are too often concerned with safety and security. John Fischer says this:
We as Christians need to learn the danger of living in a dangerous world and trust not a safe subculture to protect us, but a praying Savior…We want to be in a safer world; God wants us to be safe in an unsafe world. We want to protect ourselves from danger, God wants to protect us in the middle of danger
In the end, we need to be reminded that it isn’t so much how long we pray or even how often, but that we just pray.
Any thoughts?
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Written on November 6, 2008 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
Last Sunday we looked at Living the True Remedy, or in other words; how is it that we as followers of Christ can begin to live out in real terms our understanding of who Christ is. In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul begins to explain what this relationship lived out really looks like. These verses serve as a bridge between how we are to think about Jesus Theologically and then how we live in a relationship with Him in light of that.
Since we believe what we do about the person and work of Christ, our lives will look different because of that. To begin explaining what he means Paul tells us we need to
- Seek what is above
- Remember who we are
- Hold on to hope
We seek what is above because that’s where Jesus is. The appeal of heavenly things is the presence of Christ. Without Christ all of the things of heaven, whether reunion with loved ones who have gone before, or the absence of pain and sorrow would be the torments of Hell, for what makes Heaven such a glorious place is the presence of Christ. We also seek what is above, because we are not perfect people and this is not a perfect place. All around us we see the results of a cracked existence, even when we look in the mirror. In so many ways we are marred by the effects of sin.
It is the result of sin that causes mothers to slaughter their unborn children and call it a personal choice. It is the result of sin that causes children in other parts of the world and even within the US to go to sleep hungry and others to be sold into sexual slavery. It is the result of sin that causes madmen to high-jack airplanes and fly them into buildings killing thousands, and it is the result of sin that causes husbands to hit their wives and wives to speak evil of their husbands to others as well as children to act and speak in disrespectful ways.
Sin is a pandemic of epic proportion and the only true Remedy is Jesus
In addition to seeking what is above, we need to remember who we are. Paul is constantly reminding the Colossian believers and us as well that our true identity is wrapped up in who Christ is. We are now dead to an old way of life and we are now hidden with Christ. This gives us great hope, for in Christ we are safe secure and unleashed to do His will. We need to remember that in this relationship there is no “I”. We own nothing and are merely outward beneficiaries of divine mercy given to us.
Finally, Paul reminds us we need to hold on to hope, for when Christ is revealed, we will be revealed with Him. Right now we are only mere shells of what God has created us to be and as Paul says in Corinthians, at this time we carry around the glory of God in these un-ordained clay pots of our ordinary lives and one day we will be made whole again.
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Written on October 29, 2008 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
In honor of Reformation Sunday we began our time together by remembering why we are Protestant. We remembered the day nearly 500 years ago when a Monk and a Mallet changed the world. We remembered what had to transpire for the church to be turned upside down by the Catholic who could never get right with God. Contrary to the raw bag of goods that Tetzel and the Pope had been selling Martin Luther came preaching Justification on the basis of Faith alone in Christ alone.
Luther was not the first to confront Bad Theology as we have witnessed Paul warring against the same in his letter to the church in Colosse. On Sunday we focused in on Colossians 2:16-23 and the Deception of Bad Theology; noting what Bad Theology is, Where it leads to and finally where the Remedy could be found.
The heresy Paul confronted in Colosse consisted mainly of an amalgum of Judaism, Gnosticism and other prevalent philosophies of the day. The result of these combinations lead to one of two perverted camps. One camp sold a Jesus+Rules Salvation leading to Legalism. The second camp preached a gospel characterized by Jesus+Experience leading to syncretism. Both of these are perverted for the True Gospel is Jesus+Nothing. In order to spot Bad Theology we pointed to a few characteristics of Bad Theology. Bad Theology is:
- Judgment Based instead of Grace Based
- Concerned with the Temporary instead of the Eternal
- Focused on Outward Action instead of Inward Change
- Man Centered instead of Christ Centered
- Extra Biblical
- Selective
We saw that Bad Theology leads to Legalism and Syncretism. Legalism is when we add to the Gospel a list of Rules and Regulations over and against what the Bible has laid down. Syncretism is when we throw Jesus into a pot with New Age Spirituality, defunct types of supernatural worship or any other experiential element and create a freak God we Worship instead of the One True God (Read Oprah here). In addition Bad Theology leads to Pride and a misplacement of God as we think we “know better” and even go so far as to look for vacancies within the Trinity.
The Rememdy according to Paul is to remember where the true Substance lies, not in law keeping or experience seeking, but in Christ. Many of us have become Sleepy Hollow Christians becoming disconnected from our head who is Jesus and much like the horseman in the mythical tale, replacing it with a pumpkin or much worse.
This Sunday we will dig deeper into where the true Remedy lay as Paul moves forward in Colossians 3:1-4. A couple of questions to consider:
- Why is it so easy to attempt to add to the Gospel something that doesn’t belong?
- What are some safeguards against practicing Bad Theology?
- How can I reconnect with Christ who is my head?
Any thoughts?
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