"Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him." (Romans 12.1)
In the Hebrew scriptures, unblemished animals were offered up as a sin offering and sacrificed to the Lord. Are we so unblemished that we would be acceptable?
In the Hebrew scriptures, the cost of the animal was perhaps enormous for each family, and a 'waste' of an important source of nourishment. One woman showed great devotion to Christ by sacrificing a container of perfumed oil. It cost a year's wages (Mark 14.4). She may not have saved that much, but sold something of great value in order to show devotion to Christ. Would we sacrifice something so great to show how much we love Him and want to indicate how important our relationship with Him is?
"Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this too...If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ's love controls us...we also believe that we have all died to our old life." (2 Corinthians 5.11-14)
Friday, May 24, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Worship and Fellowship Together, Resist Together
Stay alert. Watch out
for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking
for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5.8)
Alone, in his boat, he sits
Every Sunday on the lake.
This is his pattern and his pleasure.
He looks to the sky, to the trees
And sees his god.
On shore, his god is not there.
On shore, his work tears him down.
On shore, his family frustrates him.
On shore, bill collectors call him.
On shore, the most he feels is anger.
On the lake, he feels peace
Because he's stopped thinking
And feeling and caring.
He doesn't love
His wife, his kids, his hobbies
Or his work.
He loves his isolation.
Alone with his god, himself.
His god is kind to him.
His god sets standards he can meet.
His god doesn't expect any extra from him:
His god has no sacrifices of time, money.
His god asks for worship that he enjoys:
His god asks for pleasure and rest.
But when the world crushes him
His god is impotent.
His god is ignorant.
His god is nowhere.
His god is shameful.
His god induces guilt.
His god puts the blame on others.
His god has no grace.
His god has no mercy or forgiveness.
His god will tells him he's alone.
His god is angry.
His god tells him to work harder.
His god does not give him any strength.
Or new talents.
His god doesn't give him any peace.
Lions try to isolate the weak among the herd. They don't attack the herd en masse.
When our brothers and sisters in Christ are hurting--physically, emotionally, spiritually--we need to surround them. They shouldn't be isolated. Nor should we isolate ourselves. When isolation occurs, we only listen to ourselves or teachers who agree with us (2 Timothy 4.3).
Therefore, we who have been comforted by God need to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1.4). We can't do this alone; it's much easier to hold another person up when two are doing it together. There is another example from nature: if a Canadian goose has to drop out of the formation because it's weak, injured or sick, another will descend with it. The second goose will stay with the first till it continue on the journey, or it dies. Paul also challenges us in Romans with this admonition to protect the weak among us: "Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong...and those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants?...For we don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it's to honor the Lord...Christ died and rose again...to be Lord both of the living and of the dead...so let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall...For the kingdom of God is...a matter of...living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit...So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up" (Romans 14.1-19 abridged).
Let the enemy hear: we will not abandon our brother or sister when they are weak, injured, doubting or sick. You need to hunt someplace else. We have surrounded them. We who are strong will protect the weak. Be gone, Satan!
(If you are believer, get yourself surrounded by a loving fellowship, albeit a church or small group; find a group you can trust. It won't be perfect but it's better than being on your own. Make sure it doesn't abuse you and make you more hurting. Understand the difference between conviction and destruction.)
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Controversy and Questions
For years now, and into the future, there will be religious controversy about same-sex marriage. Here are my questions:
Heterosexual marriages are declining already. The percent 'never married' as been increasing in the past 23 years according to the Census Bureau; the percent of 'ever divorced' women by 60-69 years of age has been increasing. The percentage of marriages reaching the fifth anniversary has declined below 90%, rebounding slightly in the past 10 years. Marriages have a median duration of 8 years. Clearly people are living longer than 8 years after getting married; half of the time, we just can't live together longer than that. 'Faux condolences' are given to anyone who plans to get married, and it's the butt of many jokes. Why would same-sex marriages hurt marriage as an institution? What would it take for heterosexuals to be serious about marriage and try to make them last longer than 8 years?
Marriage is defined often as 'between one man and one woman'. Yet in Exodus 21, immediately after the giving of the 10 Commandments, there are instructions about altars and the treatment of slaves. Male slaves were free to abandon their wives and children in the seventh year, if they were married while in slavery. God then deals with the taking a second wife, and admonishing any husband who neglects his first wife, a slave wife. If God is concerned with monogamy, why wouldn't He proclaim this immediately rather than deal with slave wives and second wives--even before dealing with personal injury circumstances?
Opponents to same-sex marriage proclaim that marriage should be denied because homosexuals are practicing sin. Many evangelicals claim that no sin is worse than any others. Does that mean we should deny marriage to anyone who practices greed, envy, idolatry (serving mammon, celebrity worship, and other idols), sexual immorality (like desiring visual and textual pornography), hostility, quarreling, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, drunkenness (Galatians 5) and respectable sins like irritability, impatience, frustration, anxiety, ungodliness, worldliness, an uncontrolled tongue, lack of self-control, self-centeredness, discontentment, unthankfulness (some of Jerry Bridges' list)? Or are some sins worse than others because they're not 'common' or respectable? Or do you have to have so many 'sin points' in combination in order to be denied marriage, like abusing a spouse which is anger and hostility and self-centeredness, etc.?
Heterosexual marriages are declining already. The percent 'never married' as been increasing in the past 23 years according to the Census Bureau; the percent of 'ever divorced' women by 60-69 years of age has been increasing. The percentage of marriages reaching the fifth anniversary has declined below 90%, rebounding slightly in the past 10 years. Marriages have a median duration of 8 years. Clearly people are living longer than 8 years after getting married; half of the time, we just can't live together longer than that. 'Faux condolences' are given to anyone who plans to get married, and it's the butt of many jokes. Why would same-sex marriages hurt marriage as an institution? What would it take for heterosexuals to be serious about marriage and try to make them last longer than 8 years?
Marriage is defined often as 'between one man and one woman'. Yet in Exodus 21, immediately after the giving of the 10 Commandments, there are instructions about altars and the treatment of slaves. Male slaves were free to abandon their wives and children in the seventh year, if they were married while in slavery. God then deals with the taking a second wife, and admonishing any husband who neglects his first wife, a slave wife. If God is concerned with monogamy, why wouldn't He proclaim this immediately rather than deal with slave wives and second wives--even before dealing with personal injury circumstances?
Opponents to same-sex marriage proclaim that marriage should be denied because homosexuals are practicing sin. Many evangelicals claim that no sin is worse than any others. Does that mean we should deny marriage to anyone who practices greed, envy, idolatry (serving mammon, celebrity worship, and other idols), sexual immorality (like desiring visual and textual pornography), hostility, quarreling, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, drunkenness (Galatians 5) and respectable sins like irritability, impatience, frustration, anxiety, ungodliness, worldliness, an uncontrolled tongue, lack of self-control, self-centeredness, discontentment, unthankfulness (some of Jerry Bridges' list)? Or are some sins worse than others because they're not 'common' or respectable? Or do you have to have so many 'sin points' in combination in order to be denied marriage, like abusing a spouse which is anger and hostility and self-centeredness, etc.?
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