Part 1: God and Human Rights

                Many Christians see humanity as “deserving” to be relieved from suffering, which would imply that God, who orchestrated the consequences of the fall was unjust in giving them. This reminds me of Lecrae’s song, Truth:

“But then some say 'How can God exist when
All this evil stuff in the world keep persistin'?
Wrong question. Ask again.
‘How come God ain't' let you feel the wrath from sin?’
What you thought last night deserved a first class flight
To Hell where God doesn't dwell.”

                How many times do we put humanity and its desires above the reality of God? It is so easy for Christians to become self-absorbed and self-entitled in this day and age. We forget that we are under grace. The consequences of the fall (Garden of Eden) are as just as the one who initiated them. We chose them and we deserve nothing more, but that is of course, where God’s undeserving grace comes in.

                The image of God upon us was tarnished as a result of the fall. We still have part of it, but not as it once was in the garden. Many Christians use the “imago dei” (image of God placed upon us in the Garden of Eden) to claim that we are valuable independent of God. They say that we are valuable because of the image of God which is upon all of humanity. Many Christians use this as a basis for “human rights” to which they believe that God should be held accountable and promote. This would assume that we have one-up on God, when in reality we have nothing at all to which we can keep God accountable. This is secular humanism in disguise. Rather, God is the one with the power. In fact, the only reason why we have any value at all is because God has placed value on us. In other words, we only have value at all because of God’s love upon us all. Otherwise we are worthless. We cannot have any value independent of God. This reminds me of an action figure that looks like a man. However, the value does not come because the action figure looks like a man but because the one who owns it places value in it. If humanity, as its creator, placed no value in the action figure, it is worthless (despite being in the image of a man). We are valuable because God places value in us.

                Despite popular belief, to believe in what some call “natural evil” is to actively condemn God for his just consequences which resulted from the fall in the Garden of Eden. Some try to justify this position by saying that “natural evil” is “chaos”. However, the implication of this is that there are things that are “chaos” to God (that there are things outside of His control). If we truly believe that God is sovereign, then it would be wrong to believe in “natural evil” because nothing is outside God’s control. As such, we should never call God’s just consequences evil. To do so, we are in fact, advocating a self-entitlement and humanism before God where we place ourselves as gods above Him. Furthermore, God did not choose these consequences for us, but we chose them for ourselves. It is a consequence of our free will. As mentioned earlier, all that humanity really deserves is condemnation. As such, we can never say that we deserve anything but condemnation. Jesus dying for us was purely by God’s grace. Let us never call God’s just consequences evil.

                A truly remarkable thing about God, is that despite knowing that we deserve nothing more than eternal torment, he took pity on us. He came down from heaven himself and took the consequences of our actions upon himself when he died on the cross. Jesus is the only person who did not deserve any of these consequences. Because of God’s tremendous love for us, he took our place. Because of this, even when we are saved in Christ, we are still as undeserving of God’s grace than an unbeliever. With that said, we should not go around telling people that they have “rights” that God is obligated to fulfill (that would be humanism). Yes we are called to help the poor and to act justly, but this command is from God to humanity. It is by no means a fundamental “right” that we can hold God accountable to. It is a command from God to do it, but not our “right” to receive it. Why should believers say that they have any “rights” under God? Wouldn’t this be abusing the grace God has given us? We should never call God’s grace a right.

“God has never been obligated to give us life. If we fought for our rights, we’d be in hell tonight. Mere sinners owed nothing but a fierce hand.” Lecrae's song: Boasting

Sola Scriptura? (Scripture Alone)

I was recently looking at debates about the idea of using Scripture on its own as a normative authority. I did not find any developed side for using "Scripture alone" (also known as "Sola Scriptura"). Much of the information that I have here is very seldom brought to the forefront. However, I believe that it is imperative to bring the following information forward when communicating the authority of Scripture. Let me know what you think.

If anyone was going to say that there is another authority apart from Scripture, they admit that Scripture is an authority. As such, every authority would have to maintain a strict adherence to each other. That means that there cannot be contradictions between these authorities. If there are contradictions, one can assume that the first is the infallible one and that the new one is of merely human construction (will be elaborated on later). The question is: What was the Scriptural authority before the Bible in its present form was an authority?

Before the preceding question is explored, I must say that it is irrelevant to ask whether or not one book in the Bible recognizes the entire Bible as the normative authority. The books in the Bible were written before it was compiled as the Bible (AKA, the canon) we have today. I would argue rather, that the New Testament in its form before it was compiled was in another form: the oral tradition passed down and taught from Jesus himself and those who were with him. Oral teachings and traditions was the form that the New Testament was in, in the early ages of the church before the Bible was compiled. Some of it was written, but it would not be readily available to the average person. The theology of the Bible in its entirety was still followed by the early Church in its early form. Again, the Bible as it was then, was in an oral form. The oral traditions and teachings of Scripture were normative to the Christian faith. Even before the Catholic Church was formed, the New Testament existed in mostly an oral form (2 Thessalonians 2:15). The oral form of the New Testament was just as pervasive to them then as the written New Testament is to us today. As we can see, when Paul spoke to Timothy, Paul was not a member of the Catholic Church, nor was he referring to their doctrine which did not exist at the time,

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Here a form of the Bible existed when Paul speaks of the “Holy Scriptures”. However, I believe that the "Holy Scriptures" that Paul is referring to here is the Old Testament and not the New Testament (will be elaborated on later). “Those from whom you have learned it” has to refer to the oral tradition passed down from those who have originally been with Christ in the first and second hand (I believe this would be the New Testament equivalent in its oral form as its interpretation is derived from the Old Testament). To me, to say that the Bible did not exist in one form or another before it was canonized is ludicrous. I also believe that if we research the oral tradition of passing down Scripture verbally before the Bible was fully written, we will never come across a time where that Scripture was contradicted. In ancient times oral tradition was very reliable and meticulously maintained. Today the idea of passing things down orally seems very unreliable because we do not live in an oral culture where that is the primary means of passing things down. The oral tradition was very reliable despite most speculation on it today.

Another thing to ponder is the question: Was the Bible a compilation of the “Holy Scriptures” as it was understood to Paul in this passage, just in another form? Also, is it possible that Paul could only be referring to the Old Testament when he refers to the Scriptures? If Paul is only referring to studying the Old Testament at the time, should we not assume that the New Testament should be completely reliant on the authority of the Old Testament?

I would argue that Paul did not use what was accepted as new Scripture at the time at all. At first this could sound heretical until we understand that the main test for the authenticity of the New Testament is its grounding in the Old Testament. At no point should the New Testament present any information that is contrary or different from the Old Testament. As an Old Testament scholar of the time (in its form) Paul made it his main duty to make sure that what was taught was taught out of the Old Testament. That is, the New Testament is authoritative because of the authority it holds from the Old Testament.

The Old Testament as the authority to the New Testament begs the question: Where did most of the Old Testament get its authority from? We hear of all kinds of prophesies all over the Old Testament! Is all of the Old Testament authoritative in and of itself or did most of the Old Testament prophesies have an authority from which to base its prophesies? The Jews before Christ recognized that everything that they believed in stemmed from the books of Moses, also known as the “Torah” back then, or the “Pentateuch” today. Therefore we can deduce that the test for the authority and authenticity of the rest of the Old Testament came from the Torah.

Finally, where did the Torah come from? The Torah is believed to have come directly from God and from God through Moses. All of the authority of Christianity and the Bible rests on what we get from God through Moses in the Torah. This does not mean that, in order to disprove all of Christianity and Judaism, all we need to do is find fault in the books of Moses. The meanings and significances of the Torah are very difficult to understand. There is so much information in such a small area of text that it is very easy to misunderstand and misrepresent. This is also why it would be impossible for those who have never known God to refute God’s Scriptures on any level. That is not to say that Christians who know God can, but that they would have the potential to understand much more of its true meaning because of the indwelling Spirit. Those outside Christianity cannot hope to even touch upon the true meaning of the Torah, and thus are no threat to its truth.

You may ask: Where is the divine inspiration in the extracted Scriptures if it was always based on what came before it? Over time, the Holy Spirit revealed to us through stages the fuller meaning to the original Torah and from the Torah to the rest of the Old Testament, and finally from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Jesus, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) explained to us what the heart of the Ten Commandments was when it was written. Things like, if you hate your brother it is the same as murdering him, or lusting after someone is the same as having intercourse with them. Jesus made the extracting of the New Testament from the Old Testament possible by fulfilling and confirming many of its’ prophesies. The New Testament flows out of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies. The Holy Spirit worked through Jesus to make the Old Testament prophesies plain to us, fulfill them and present the new implications of those fulfillments. The rest of the New Testament authors use Jesus’ interpretations of the Old Testament as their own and even expand on the implications of Jesus’ ministry further with the Old Testament.

It may help us a lot to remember that God is the same and never changes (Hebrews 13:8, Psalm 102:24-27, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). What God gave us originally in the Torah holds all the truth that He wants us to have. The rest of the Bible is Holy Spirit led extractions from the Torah. God never deviates from what he originally gave us because God does not change. The God of the New Testament is the very same God in the Old Testament. This is how the Bible remains amazingly coherent despite taking more then a millennia to write.

Finally, if any group is to accept the Bible as an authority, they will have to subject themselves to each level of Biblical extraction. When one understands that the New Testament stemmed from the Old Testament and The Old Testament from the Torah, one can see that arguments with the New Testament’s authenticity is irrelevant if the arguments disagree with the accounts of the Old Testament from which the New Testament came. In other words, the New Testament can only be open to scrutinizing as far as it does not act in accordance to the Old Testament. Also, those who create new doctrines and try to impose it on the New Testament cannot if it does not stem explicitly from the Old Testament. The Bible as a whole is usually very apparent with its doctrines and is therefore not an administer of strange and ambiguous teachings (2 Thessalonians 2:15, Hebrews 13:9a). One way to test “strange doctrines” is to check its coherency or lack there of to the Scriptures. The Bible at no point contradicts itself. If there is a contradiction, then it is a false doctrine. As such, if anyone accepts the Bible as an authority, they cannot add anything at all to Scripture, otherwise they will be going against the essence of God who does not change (as we saw previously). Anything new added to Scripture is thus heretical and not of God. If someone has an issue with New Testament canonicity, they will have the Old Testament to deal with and so on. The Bible supports itself at every stage. As such, no one can claim ownership to the Bible we have today.

The Gospel of Judas and Thomas were rejected because they disagree with the Old Testament. We must remember that the New Testament books are not presenting new ideas! If the New Testament was presenting things apart from God’s unchanging truth, then others could claim ownership over their own heretical anti-truth. As it stands however, God is the only one who can claim ownership over the Bible as a whole. Anyone who does claim ownership of the Bible is thus an anti-Christ because God’s truth does not change. The Bible’s ultimate test is itself. Humankind has no provision to change its unchanging truth as they have no provision to change its unchanging God.

Concluding verses:

Jesus said “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17).

Paul said, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-9).

Hebrews 6:13-20 “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’. And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Luke 24:25-27 “And [Jesus] said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

I Fear, Therefore, I Trust Not

Lately God has been teaching me a lot about fear, and about its connection to the "Fear of the Lord". I hope that this is as helpful to you in your walk with God as it is with mine.

God bless.

Scripturally, What is So Wrong With Fear?

Fear shares it’s equivalents with murder, sorcery, whore mongering, the abominable, idolaters, and even disbelief! As we can see in Revelation 21:7-8, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, [cowardly] and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”. Therefore, those that are paralyzed by fear have their place among murderers, whoremongers and idolaters. Have we ever thought of ourselves as being addicted to fear like it would be to porn or murder? In the Bible, there is no distinction in severity between those addictions. I am not speaking of merely the feeling of fear. Rather I am speaking of a fear that paralyzes us from following our Lord regardless of whether or not we see the paralysis as being significant.

Fear can paralyze someone to a point where they refuse to obey our Lord and Saviour. I admittantly have fallen under this paralysis many times. Despite this, the desire to serve my Lord was still there! At this point, my motives were right, but I did not follow through with what God was telling me to do. I have heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This can be true because, when we are paralyzed with fear, intentions are all we have. Our faith is not being carried out.

We are Stewards of Even Ourselves

In addition to faith, it is imperative that we obey and trust our Lord; otherwise our faith is useless (James 2:17). Jesus speaks of obedience in the parable of the talents in Luke 19:11-27. The unfaithful servant says, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid”. That servant was paralyzed by fear. He allowed fear to be his master rather than God. The “talent” or “pound” refers to everything that God has given us to be stewards of. These include our abilities, time, and resources. The unfaithful servant had abilities, time and resources from God. God called that servant (as he has called all of us) to use what he had in obedience to God’s will. Everything that we have, we have because God has given them to us. Everything we have, and even our own selves belong to God. Who are we to misuse our Lord’s resources by being cowards? We are then no better than that unfaithful servant.

When Jesus Says “Believe” What Does That Entail?

The word “belief” in the Bible also connotes obedience and follow-though to that belief. Therefore, if we believe, we will obey. If we do not obey Christ, then we do not believe Christ. Paralyzing fear, as we have heard, prevents this obedience, making us no better than the unfaithful servant in the book of Luke and the coward in Revelation; both of whom were condemned despite being God’s “servants”.

Where Does Trust Come In?

In reference to Proverbs 29:25, which says “The fear of man brings a snare: but whoso putts his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” I found a blog by Bethel Church which explains this verse very well.

“This text may be understood in the broad sense-suffering from cowardice in general, or in the specific sense-fearful of some other human being. Fear that paralyzes or causes anguish and worry can absolutely be a snare. Many people are trapped by various situations in life because of fear. They are afraid to move out or take a risk. What is the solution? The answer: to trust the Lord … The wrong reaction to fear can be so harmful that one can lose salvation as a result. Consider this: ‘He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, [cowardly] and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death’ (Rev. 21:7-8).”

Fear is a sign of distrust to our God whether it is internal or external. I believe that in order for us to follow God fearlessly we would need to trust our Lord unconditionally. The only thing that we have any right to fear is our Lord who makes everything pale in comparison. This does not mean that we tremble under our Lord in a life defined and controlled by fear because 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love”.

Trust God with What???

We are meant to trust God with everything. We should recognize that God is not subject to time; time is a created thing. Therefore he can see our whole lives from its beginning to its end. He knows what we will go through and what we will experience before it happens. If we really have the “Fear of the Lord” (not just a one time thing) than we will have no reason to fear anything because God is in control and sovereign to all that exists. With the fear of the Lord we have no need to know why certain hardships are happening to us; rather, we can rest in our trust of God that no-matter what happens, God is in control and will work everything out for his good. If we are in a car accident, we can praise God because we realize that everything is in his hands. We trust him with those things that his purposes and not our own will come out of this. We can learn to see God in it and be excited to see what God will do next no-matter what it is! This is trusting in the Lord. He will supply to us based on his own perfect timing and his own perfect way, which we have no reason to doubt.

God’s Punishment and Guilt

Although fear is not what defines our relationship with God, we had better be fearful when we walk away from God because he will punish us. How can we respect and revere who God is if there is no consequence for disrespecting and disobeying him? Here is a critical distinction: as long as we are following God we do not need to be afraid of him; however, when we walk away from God, we will be punished. Those who have the “fear of God” will be with God not because they are afraid of him. However, they will realize that God does punish, correct and encourage. They will also realize that the only time when they aught to be afraid of God is when they intentionally live a life in rebellion to him.

I just thought that I would point out that when it comes to sin, there is a difference between Godly guilt and worldly guilt. Godly guilt always leads us to God and to repentance. Worldly guilt is not of God and leads only to our destruction.

How can the “Fear of the Lord” and “Perfect Love” Co-exist?

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This fear in Proverbs must refer to a reverence and awe for God; we recognize him for who he is, and for what place he has in our lives. We see him as someone whom we respect incredibly, and whom we hang off of every word he speaks. We regard him as much as possible for who he is. This “fear” brings us closer to God, where a relationship defined by worldly fear is no relationship at all. God does not want us to merely follow him because he can beat the crap out of us. Rather, he wants us to recognize him for who he is, and to treat him as such; that we put him into the rightful place in our lives: as number one and second to no-one and no thing. I would argue that since this fear is the beginning of wisdom, we need this fear in order to enter into a relationship with God; a relationship not defined by worldly fear but rather a fear that brings us closer to God where a loving relationship can thrive.

When one is paralyzed by fear, one shows that there is a distrust or anticipation of some sort of punishment in his or her reality (1 John 4:18). When we relate paralyzing fear to following God’s will, we can see that there is no other explanation for the fear other than that we do not trust our Lord. This is so because if we revere God for who he is, that is, we realize that nothing exists that is outside of his power, we have no reason to fear anything on this earth. If we fear things of this earth, we do not trust in God’s sovereignty, and thus we do not trust in God for who he is. Paralyzing fear is therefore the distrust of our Lord as we follow His will. Those who are paralyzed by fear are not living in the “fear of the Lord” nor have they accepted perfect love, “for God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).

I Believe that you will find the following distinctions very helpful in defining the “fear of God” and “be afraid” in the Old Testament:

In Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” Here Moses differentiated between the “fear of God” and worldly fear. This passage tells us to not be afraid of God but rather have the fear of God. Why would there be a differentiation? Because being afraid of God, and the fear of God are different.

The following is taken from Exodus 20:20…

Definitions:

Hebrew: ‘yare' is translated “Be afraid” in the Old Testament; Strong’s 3372. Short definition: “Affright”

English: ‘Affright’:

To arouse fear in; terrify

1. Great fear; terror.

2. A cause of terror.

Hebrew ‘yirah’ is translated “fear” in “fear of God” in the Old Testament; Strong’s 3374. Short definition: “fear”

English: ‘Fear’: (READ NUMBER 4)

noun

1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

2. a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.

3. concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.

4. reverential awe, especially toward God: the fear of God. Synonyms: awe, respect, reverence, veneration.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fear)

Conclusion

There is a difference between being terrified for one’s safety, “be afraid” which is rooted in self-preservation (and is thus not of God, but rather, making one’s self god), and fearing someone. All the definitions of “fear” up to number four are towards self preservation; number four is the only definition that is towards another, in respect and reverence. In other words, "the fear of the Lord" is not fear as we know fear in our own culture. If we are afraid of God we still fear for our safely. A selfless fear; a fear that does not concern itself with our own well being is the type of fear in the “fear of the Lord”. To say that one has to be terrified of God is to say that we ought to put ourselves first before God. This is because we have made our own wellbeing more important to us than our own Father-God. When God sees us now, he no longer sees sin because Jesus has covered us with his righteousness (Romans 3:20-22, Romans 10:3-5, Philippians 1:10-12). When God sees us, he sees Jesus (as long as we are not living in rebellion). The “fear” (in this case, respect, reverence and awe) of the Lord is towards God, and is not contingent on the idea of our own self preservation. Let us respect and revere our Lord and not put ourselves first in regards to him.

In conclusion, we can see that if we trust God with everything, no-matter what trials and tribulations we face, fear dissolves. God has shown us what the fear of the Lord is, and what it is not. We can see how having respect, reverence and awe for our Lord, coupled with unwavering and unconditional trust (which comes from the former if it is true in our lives) can equip us to boldly go wherever God sends us (2 Peter 1:3, John 3:21). In this, God enables us to do anything and everything for him without any fear for our own safety. The “fear” of the Lord is not terror. Rather, as we have seen, perfect love casts out fear. The fear casted out includes this terror (1 John 4:18). The Bible has shown us how God does not want us to be driven and defined by terror, but rather a loving relationship with our Lord (Philippians 3:8-10). God is so amazing! And he supplies us with the tools for his will. All we need to do is rely on God and he will equip us with even these things if we let him. That is my prayer for humanity; that they make God first, and regard not themselves as god in either word or deed. This prayer is not only for non-believers but for self professing Christians who have still not submitted to our Lord as God in their lives. Amen.

The Phenomenon of Christian Entitlement

It has certainly been a while since my last blog post. What I have written today I am sure ruminates with many of us. Whether we like it or not, we live in a culture that believes that we are entitled to whatever we want. Wants and needs usually cross on very fine lines. We may say that we "need" something when in fact God is saying, "no you don't. I have this plan that is even better in accordance to My purpose" This blog explores this tendency and puts it through the test of Scripture. I believe that God has shown this to me and that all Christians need to be aware and careful that they do not make themselves out to be their god. I hope you enjoy the blog and that it stirs some thoughts in you.

The Bible never says that we should strive for having "more of God" but rather that we let Him have more of us. This is much more than semantics. Whenever we ask God into our lives we instantly have all of Him. The only thing holding us back is not God, but ourselves, and how much we are willing to give up to follow Him. I find particularly that most Christians have a hard time accepting what God has to teach them because it is so radically different from what our culture (even our Christian culture) and socialization has taught us to believe.

One counter-cultural example of God’s teachings would be that He expects us to suffer for Him. He would tell us to not run away from the suffering, but to learn from it and to trust Him through the difficulty (see the situation how God sees it); to be content despite circumstances. When we can get to this place we will no longer desire to simply avoid and pray against difficulty and pain, but rather, embrace it. We would embrace it because of our excitement in following God’s will; we will see it differently as an exciting place and time where God can teach and mould us; where he comforts us. We learn not to go by what we feel or see, but by our God who leads us out of grace and love. In another example, our culture would tell us to only go to something as we need it. However, even when we feel that we have no worldly needs, God expects us to and desires that we hold onto Him like we would when we are facing trial. This means that we do not drop God when we see Him as no longer needed. We need Him just as much, if not more, when things are going well.

It is never in our power to have more or less of God. However, God is always ready and waiting for us to fully surrender to Him; to give ourselves to Him. Our “portion” that we have of God never changes from Christian to Christian.

The Bible says,

2 Timothy 2: 1-4,

“1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”

The Soldier in this army does not let himself get entangled in life to the point where he cannot follow orders. In the same way, we need to be always ready to say "yes" when God calls and to allow Him to completely mess up our schedules when necessary. It is never contingent for a soldier to have “more” of his commanding officer, rather, it is contingent that the officer give more of himself to his commanding officer in order to better serve Him. We definitely seek God, however, we need to realize is that our Lord is waiting for us to give our selves wholly to Him. In fact, the only way to live a Spirit-driven-life is to be fully surrendered to God. Otherwise we are just fooling ourselves and walking by our own strength.

What was just described is the "narrow way" that few find. Are we really following God, or just our own ambitions? Are we filtering through all the junk that our culture has taught us is truth, and seeking the truth of God no-matter how easy or hard it may be to accept? Are our presumptions and socialization shaping our perception of the truth, or are we letting God show us the reality of that truth? If we hold onto things that we think are Godly because that is just how we were taught, we are in danger of falling into many pits. Many times truth is a very hard thing to accept and we must not allow ourselves to override it with a counterfeit truth (no matter how much more comfortable the counterfeit truth may be).

Is “Christian” Entitlement a Byproduct of our Culture?

Our culture is a culture of entitlement. It gives us the mentality that “we deserve better” and that God should serve us, and bless us in any way WE choose to serve Him. We almost naturally force this mentality on the truths of Scripture. We find verses, claim them, call them God’s promises and expect God to serve us as we want Him to. This leads people to take Scripture out of context such as many Christians do with Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is not a promise to us today, but to the Israelites of that era. Yet, Christians of “entitlement” claim it for themselves and mourn when God does not follow through with his “promise”.

When many Christians read a passage and claim it for themselves, they forget that the world of the Spiritual and culture are different. Christians may choose a verse (can be very dangerous) where they see a promise that they will be prosperous. However, prosperity as well as many other words in the Bible hold different connotations than what people like to apply to them. For example, in some cases prosperity may simply that God will use the person. That person will be prosperous as God sees as prosperous. This doesn’t necessarily mean that God will give them riches and Gold. God sees that world very differently then what we see it as. Another example is happiness. What makes people happy by the world’s standards does not make God happy. Part of maturing as a Christian is that we eventually adopt God’s wants and desires. What makes God happy will eventually make us happy as we follow Him. The only way to get to get a spiritual perspective is that we let God teach us through surrender.

A great example of “Christian” entitlement is a heretical group called “The Word of Faith Movement” (also known as the Faith Movement and the Vineyard Movement). They believe that if they can only just have enough faith that they can have and get anything that their heart desire (thus making God into a cosmic santa claus). This movement is where the sayings, “Name it and claim it”, and “Grab it and blab it” came from. This movement and the culturally encouraged mentalities like them fulfill what Paul warned the church about in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” People today want entitlement, and if they can slap God’s name on it, all the better for them to accept it. They may think that they are following God however, the most deceptive lie is one that is one hair away from the truth; a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” led by “false prophets” (Matthew 7:14-16). This is just one example of just how our culture can force itself upon what would otherwise be Godly truth. The context is changed to suite themselves. God always furthers His agenda and not ours. God’s agenda will always bring people closer to Him and bring Him glory. This is one way to test whether or not something is from God. God does not merely create spectacles, nor does He do anything for nothing.

Along the lines of “entitlement” many Christians only real desire to obey God is because of what they can get out of it (such as our “reward” in heaven). Whenever the Bible says that we should strain towards the goal, the goal (and reward) is having the great privilege of eternally being in God’s presence. God does not say “follow me because of the great riches I will give you.” (This would be a lie from the devil and not a truth because it leads us away from God to other things: a counterfeit truth)”. Rather, God tells us to follow him because of His great love for us and because we were made to serve Him.

What Does God Entitle Us To?

“Well done good and faithful servant” should be our goal, just as it was for the servants who were entrusted with the money of their master in Matthew 25:14-30. Again, their “reward” was not a gift, but rather more responsibility and the opportunity to share in their master’s happiness. There was no increase in wealth, nor were they then given the opportunity to now do whatever they wanted to, believing that their master would bless them no matter what they did now, as they had earned their master’s trust. Instead, they remained servants. However, they became servants that their master was able to celebrate with. Their reward was that they became closer to their master, not free of him. Although it was their choice to put the money to work in the way they did, it was only because they helped further their master’s interest that they received this reward. Earning more with what they were given helped further their master’s interest, whereas burying the money did not further the master’s interest. It was only using what the master gave them (their skills, abilities, resources etcetera) that they were able to earn any more money for their master. None of this money was given to the servant, nor were they responsible for the presence of the money given to them. It was only using what was given to them, and using it in a way that helped their master that they received their reward. For 1 Timothy 6:7 says, “For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it”. Everything in this life is what God has given to us to use for HIS glory. If the master really would bless His servants no matter what they did with what they were given, then the third servant, who buried the money, would also have been blessed and received a reward. However, this did not happen. It is only when we use God’s gifts in a way that furthers His plan that we can ever hope to be blessed. The premise of this blessing for the servants was not wealth or land of their own to make their lives better and easier in the world’s eyes, but instead the opportunity to become closer to their master and to gain his favour.

The third servant did what he did out of fear. His intentions were good, but at the core was fear. His actions were based off of what worked best for him, not what worked best for the master. Many Christians today are much worse than even this servant because they think that God wants them to “exploit His wealth” (think about it) like the prodigal son has done in Luke 15:11-32. Thus making matters worse because at least the prodigal son knew that he was doing wrong. Even though burying the money kept it safe, and was easy, the path he should have taken in this case was the harder one. Because the servant who buried the money did what he wanted, and not what the master wanted, in Matthew 25:30, the master had him thrown out. This can be a scary truth to face for many: that they can find their own ways to serve God, but without God’s desire being the drive behind it, it is utterly worthless. The intentions can be as noble as any others, and the person may honestly desire to do good, just as the third servant did by keeping the master’s money safe, but if it is not what God wanted you to do, then you will be thrown out too. Therefore, it is vital to make sure that you are following God’s will in what you do. Don’t just look around you for something good to do for God without asking God what it is He wants you to do. His will and your ideas may be very different. Many people mistake what they want and desire for what God wants and desires. This is because they want to feel as though they are really making a difference. However, this brings it back to their core being themselves, and not God. He won’t bless what He did not orchestrate.

Control of the path you take needs to be God’s. He is the one who should be leading you down a path. If he isn’t the one leading, don’t expect God to change course to follow you.

Should We Desire “More” of God?

Desiring more of God sounds like a wonderful and noble cause to work towards, but at it’s core is a desire for God to do the moving towards the person. This is a false premise. We are not waiting for God to come down on us, neither do we simply need more of Him. This mentality is stemmed in the cultural belief of entitlement whether we like it or not. Rather, the weight is on us to go to Him because he is already with us. He is waiting for us to tell Him that we will follow Him no-matter what (daily surrendering to His will and not to our own). To be “Spirit Filled” and to live a “Spirit Filled Life” goes only as far as we allow God to have more of us. God entitles us to follow Him; we cannot entitle ourselves. Thus we are the ones inhibiting ourselves from living the Spirit filled life, and not God. God is always ready to lead us, the question is: Are we ready to follow Him?

Some may read this and think “Oh yeah, I know that. I just need to work on being better and convincing God that I’m a good person for him to allow closeness”. This is another lie. We cannot woo God into drawing us close. He is ready to do that, and will do so as soon as we surrender ourselves to Him, realizing that we can never be good enough to earn God’s love. God is not looking for spiritual ability. He is looking for spiritual availability. His love and attention are not something we can earn or deserve. It is only by God’s grace that we can come to God’s throne.

I AM the light of the world (chapel sermon)

Here is the sermon I gave on March 3rd in Chapel for those who wanted to read it! It originally had slides to go with it. Contact me if you want them. I believe that this is one of the best sermons God has had me do yet. It is really exciting to see what he is teaching me, and the perspective that he is giving me when I speak. May this be to God's glory and not my own.

· As Christians we believe that Jesus is the light. That goes really without saying. I used to wonder, does he light our paths wherever we go? What does it mean to be in the light of Christ? And lastly, how does this happen? Today I will tackle these questions.

· In JOHN 8:12 Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’

· When Jesus says “I AM” he is telling people that he is God. As God, Jesus has merit to say that he IS the light and the source of all the light for the world. This means that we ourselves are not the light, nor do we create it. If light were to come from us it would only be from Jesus who is inside of us as Christians.

· In the part of the verse where it says, “I am the light of the world”, the word “world” refers to all the people of the earth who walk in darkness. Those who walk in the darkness do not know God or even the things of God. Ironically, it is possible for someone to be a Christian who has a PHD in theology to be walking in darkness. That person may not have an authentic relationship with God or even know what the Spirit is trying to communicate through Scripture. They may employ exegetical methods and be thoroughly educated on the original contexts in Scripture, but still miss the Spirit. As we shall soon realize, only as we abide in Christ are we able to walk in the light of life.

· “I am the light.” Jesus says. Light means life and it signifies life-giving power. I found a great example of this from Adrian Dieleman. He says, “Think, for a moment, of the everyday miracle we know as photosynthesis. In photosynthesis light means life. In the presence of light, green plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into carbohydrates and oxygen. If there would be no light, there would be no photosynthesis. If there would be no photosynthesis, there would be no more life. Light means life. Jesus says, "I am the light." This means Jesus is the source of life and the well-spring of being. All life comes from Jesus and stems from Jesus.”

· Keeping with the plant image, is an example that Jesus gave to us in John 15 of the vine. This example builds on the idea of walking in the light because in order for us to walk in the light we must abide in Christ. Jesus tells us,

“‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes* to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become* my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

· Like branches, we carry (bear) the fruit. We can never make the fruit. It does not say in the Bible that we must produce much fruit, but instead bear much fruit by letting Jesus work through us. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, If we abide in Him, He will abide in us. What does that mean? How can we do this? Where are God’s commandments found? They are found in His Word. It is only by listening to God’s Word that we can know His commandments. This Word is Jesus, as described in (John 1:1-3). Therefore in order to abide in Him (also 1 John 3:24), we must obey the Word in all it’s entirety and learn from it. Also, John 4:24 says that, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Worship includes obedience. Truth in this verse is the equivalent to the word, but what is meant by the Spirit? So in order to abide in Christ we have two elements: Abiding in the Word, and abiding in the Spirit who illuminates God’s will and the Scriptures to us. We are God’s vessels, and Jesus is the power that (if we abide in Him) flows through us. We allow that power to flow through us like nutrients flows through branches, so that as branches we can “bear” the fruit of the Spirit. From this we can see that Jesus is the only source of illumination to the Scriptures, and thus to God’s will.

· What is the fruit that Jesus wants us to bear for him? The fruit is not simply the amount of souls that are won in Christ through us. They are also not simply nice Christianly character traits. Those may be a part of what the fruit is referring to. In its entirety, the fruit is anything that we do for Christ while we abide in him; while we are in the light. Nothing we do outside of abiding in Christ can possibly be fruit.

· When we get back to the idea of Jesus being the light and life of the world we can see that since Jesus is the light only he can create the fruit. We only bear it. If we were the creator of the light we would be able to make the fruit. We cannot live the Christian life without abiding in Christ. Our role is to allow Christ to work through us, and to do as we are commanded by him in his will for us.

· Abiding in the light of Christ is not a new thing. It’s all over Scripture. In the Old Testament we find many examples of the Israelites following the light of God. One example of this is in Exodus where God led Israel by the cloud of his glory. The cloud illuminated Israel’s path by night and led them by day. Here Israel had to stay in the light of God. No amount of knowhow would have saved them if they were not following the light. God will lead. Where the light of God went was not based on what Israel wanted to do but rather, it was based on God’s divine will. Another example in the Exodus was that Israel had to rely on God to provide food and water for them. Since we know that Jesus is the light that brings life, we can see that God here was also the light that brings life to the Israelites. In the desert God tested Israel constantly to see if they would trust in Him. When they would not, Israel would face judgement. However, when they would obey God they would receive life from him. In this case God gave them manna for food and water from the rock Moses struck. Abiding in Jesus today is no different. Jesus is our spiritual food and our spiritual drink. (This will be a great thing to remember when we take communion later). If we are Christians he is also within us in the form of the Spirit. Like Israel, Christians can choose not to live on the sustenance of Christ who is the GREAT I AM. As long as we rely on another source for our sustenance rather than on Christ we can never walk in the light. Just as God illuminated the path for Israel in the form of a cloud, if we do not follow that cloud (who today is Jesus) we can never walk in the light. Following God is NOT a matter of qualifications or ability – rather it is a question of our obedience.

· Now to take this one step further. When Jesus died and rose again, he tore the curtains to the most holy place in the tabernacle where God was believed to reside. God is now accessible to every Christian relationally. In fact we should remember the first and most important commandment that Jesus gave us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). We can see here that obedience to God is that we love him with every ounce of our being. Obedience to God is to follow him in love. How can we not love a God who has taken the time for us; who has chosen to live inside of us to teach and guide us on a personal level? The Spirit is jealous for our love and obedience! He is jealous for us to walk in his light! God knows that apart from him we can do nothing. Our knowledge and education is ONLY given value when it is abiding in Christ. When we are not abiding in Christ we are working against Christ. If we truly love God we will obey him.

· Since Jesus is the light that gives life, anything apart from abiding in him cannot be in the light. Even the most noble of things, if they are apart from Christ cannot be in the light. This includes Bible knowledge and Christian education. This has no bearing on how good of a Christian we are as we can see in 1 Corinthians 8:1-2, “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God”. We cannot operate on our education and knowledge alone. When we are we can only operate in the darkness. When we rely on ourselves rather than on God we make ourselves into the ultimate mediator of truth. This is not to say that we don’t do our part. Because when we follow God we each have our side to fulfil. Rather, if we are to walk in the light which is abiding in Christ we must operate as one with Christ; who is willing to lead us. Knowledge can be very use-able, but is only valuable as it is being applied by the Spirit. The Spirit is the only one who can make changes in us and in others according to God’s will.

· In conclusion, as Christians we must abide in Christ who is the light of life. Just as God fed the Israelites through manna and water from the rock, God gave us Jesus who is our spiritual food and drink. As we abide in Christ we get this sustenance, just as abiding in the vine sustains the branches and produces fruit. This idea is not new. Christ is not presenting a new idea. This was God’s will for his people since the beginning. As part of God’s will for your life, abide in Christ who is the light of life.

· I would like you to ask: are you walking in the light or are you in darkness? Are you abiding in Christ who is the only source of life? Or are you trying to live off your own light which is really just darkness?

· PRAYER::::: God please teach us to abide in Christ who is the only light of life that we can bear much fruit. Please help us to recognize that we can do nothing in God’s will apart from Christ. Help us also, to remember that just as you gave Israel life through the manna and the striking of the rock for water in the desert God, you have given us Christ Jesus who today is our spiritual food and our spiritual drink. Please also help us to remember what was heard today and God please apply and press this to our hearts and minds. In Jesus’ name Amen.

What is Biblical Worship? Part 6

CONCLUSION

The worship leader’s responsibility is to point the people towards worshiping in the Spirit and in truth. This means that the worship leader must not take any of the glory for themselves, but instead must always redirect it towards God. Thus the worship leader(s) must be careful not to detract or distract the people from worshiping God. Worship ministry is about relationships. The songs that the leaders choose must be communal, build up the church and bring them closer to God rather than making their perceived needs or worldly desires the forefront (self). There is a time and a place for that. The leaders must have a nourishing relationship with God where He is at the forefront of their lives. They must not be prideful, arrogant, boastful, but instead humble, surrendered to God, and give God the glory at all times.

The role of the Godhead is simple. We worship and commune with God (Rev. 4.9-11). This is made possible because Jesus died for our sins and enabled us to approach God (Isa. 53.3-5). The Holy Spirit guides us to all truth, steers us towards God and allows us to worship in the Spirit (Jn. 16.7-11). The Holy Spirit is our direct connection to God.

In conclusion, we can see that true worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. We can see that worship is surrendering ourselves to God and serving him in our everyday life. In worship, Christians give the glory to God, and in the process, build up each other in Christ. It is not merely a matter of our own taste or preference. We can see that worship in the Spirit cannot be done without worship in truth and vice-versa. Finally, we must remember that true worship is to God and for God. God is at the forefront.

What is Biblical Worship? Part 5

TWO DEVIATING EXTREMES

There are two main extremes that pull Christians away from true worship. One of these extremes is primarily a result of the influence of enlightenment thinking. This side focuses mostly on the truth portion but leaves out worshiping in the Spirit. Their worship is almost entirely intellectual. When one element in the Scriptures is left out, the “followers” tend to deviate more and more until they are no longer serving God at all. When worship is primarily or entirely intellectual, it loses its power and worth. It seems (and is) empty. However, people want to ‘get it right’. So, they override God and seek to find concrete answers that are consistent and observable. Ironically, since this method makes people the ultimate mediator of truth, it also blinds them to the truth. They do not offer their bodies as a living sacrifice to God but instead rely on a worldly way of thinking where their own self is the center, not God. In these circles, the main focus is on the sermon (like Puritans for example). One terrible aspect of this extreme is that understanding the Scriptures is seen as far beyond the understanding of the average person. People who lack the specific education are not credible, and the role of the Spirit is severely diminished. It is almost like people are trying to eliminate the need for faith and the need to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. What we have are people who think that they know something; people who deny others passage to understanding and who severely limit spiritual growth (1 Corinthians 8:1-2). They do this by creating a reliance on human methods and knowledge to dictate truth above the role of the Spirit. This makes those learning under this extreme just as blind as their teachers. They become disconnected from the Spirit. This is the modern day Pharisee. Things are done just for the sake of doing and are devoid of the spiritual aspects. The matters of the heart are diminished.

The other extreme relates primarily to seeing worship as contingent on emotions rather than on the truth of the Scriptures. Whether or not one has worshiped is based on how someone “feels”. If they do not get happy feelings or extreme feeling(s), they do not see it as worship. These groups tend to gravitate towards great performances and positive, worry free worship that makes them feel good. Granted, not all are like this but many are. This extreme usually leaves out the intellectual aspects in favour of emotional gratification. They are prone to deviate because their worship is not grounded in truth. This extreme usually becomes merged with the culture and features a lot of “I” language. Since the truth is not emphasized, worship becomes for the people and not for God. This extreme gradually undergoes secularization. Worship is then, “unable to feed, nourish, enhance, challenge, inspire, and shape the collective and individual life of our congregations in the way it should” (John Mark Ministries). This is an “I feel therefore I am” mentality. It is like they think, “I do not feel God; therefore, something or someone is wrong” (John Mark Ministries). Truth is equated with their emotions. If they cannot “feel” God then the “truth” must be wrong. This is why so many non-believers and even “intellectual” Christians frown upon those who say that they are following God! They do not know how to distinguish between their own thoughts and feelings and the leading of the Spirit! The Bible is not a manual to fulfill our needs. This extreme is very prone to Narcissism. Much of their music contains thin theology, which is aimed to satisfy the self, the sermons are more focused on “self help” to fulfill self needs rather than focusing on God. Christianity is not a religion that focuses on making life easier. Christianity is quite the opposite. Here, tradition is frowned upon, and the newest technology/method always seems to be better. However, worship does not depend on our personal taste, but on our obedience. The two extremes in worship described each leave out a vital element that makes true and acceptable worship impossible. It must be in both the Spirit and in truth.