Christmas Ponderings Part 3

One final thought on the theme of Christmas for you.

I've been reading through Exodus recently and once you get past the story of the amazing miracles, plagues, and subsequent escape from Egypt you suddenly find yourself in the middle of lists of laws and instructions. Several chapters are dedicated to listing the instructions God gave to Moses for the building, furnishing and management of the Temple and its activities. It seemed like a lot was required in order for the people to experience God's presence on earth. It seemed like a lot had to happen just for God to be able to reside near his people. Is it because the people wouldn't be able to handle the power of God's presence without the veil of the Temple? Is it because the people wouldn't understand how to relate to God without the structure of a meticulous religious system? Possibly yes, and yes, and also more. Regardless of all the reasons, complex preparations had to be made to make possible God's presence among the people. When the people were ready, God came among them.

Galatians 4:4 says "When the time had fully come, God sent his Son..." In Jesus God once again lived among his people. This time he came through relationship rather than through religion. He came as a person, not just a presence. But he only came when the time had fully come. The world was prepared for his arrival. The Old Testament prophets had written about him, John the Baptizer had prepared the way for him, and angels had sung of his arrival. Beyond that, the world was prepared for his message to spread. Throughout the known world there was a common language: Greek. What better time to spread a message than when everyone speaks the same language? The Romans are also famous for their road system which extended throughout the empire, and the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) which enabled people to travel long distances in safety. The world was ripe for the rapid spread of the gospel message. The time had fully come so God sent his Son.

Today, God still wants to reside among his people. However, the Temple is destroyed and the incarnate presence of Christ has returned to the heavenly realm. We live in the age of the Holy Spirit. God presence can indwell any believer. We are his Temple, and his Spirit can live in us. This is how God's presence can reside among his people today.

Now, I don't think there are religious preparatory requirements for God to give us his Spirit other than the need to ask. The Spirit is offered freely to us because of the work of Christ on the cross. However I do think that preparation can help us to be more connected to the presence of the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." "Be filled" is a command, therefore we have a say in whether or not we will be filled. Being filled in this context speaks of control. What are you allowing to influence you? Alcohol? Or God? So one can choose what they are filled with: alcohol, selfishness, greed, lust, anger, pride, self esteem, etc. All of these are of the flesh - the sinful nature. The only other option is the Holy Spirit.

To prepare for God's Spirit what do we do? We need to empty ourselves of everything else through humility and repentance. It's like Moses building the Temple, or the Father preparing the world for his Son. We prepare our hearts for the complete takeover of the Spirit, and He can walk us through life in a way unimaginable without Him.

Grace and Peace

Christmas Ponderings Part 2

Scripture tells us that when the angels came to announce Jesus' birth the shepherds were "living out in the fields" (Luke 2:8) This is one of the indications that Jesus birth did not in fact take place on December 25, 0. It would have been a little bit cold outside at that time for the lonely shepherds. Jesus' birth most likely occurred sometime in the spring.

Does this matter? Does this ruin the celebration was have every winter? I don't think so. In fact, I think the true story of why we started to celebrate Christmas on December 25 challenges us to be creative in our worship.

The week before Christmas was originally a pagan holiday called Saturnalia. That time of year commemorated the rebirth of the sun, since days begin to get longer after winter solstice. It was a holiday of the "Unconquered Sun". Around the time Christianity was sweeping across the Roman empire, Emperor Constantine decided to re-baptize the pagan holiday as a Christian one. People already had time off work, they decorated their homes with holly, and they were throwing parties. Constantine decided that this celebration would be much better if it was focussed on the greatest gift the world ever received, the baby Jesus Christ.

The challenge for us, I think, is how can we make something about Jesus that isn't already about Jesus? Constantine changed the meaning of a holiday to be a celebration of Christ. What in our lives are we keeping separated from him? What isn't about him that we could "re-baptize" to be about him?

Grace and Peace

Best of YouTube

Here's a video I put together for our Sunago Christmas party. It's some of the best YouTube videos I could find. Enjoy!

Christmas Ponderings Part 1

The Christmas story is the incredible announcement that God is in fact deeply concerned and involved in human history. That God was willing to empty himself of his divinity and humbly live with and serve his fallen creatures is the unique beauty of Christianity. 


But there are a few different other ways people view God. Some believe there are many gods who share the responsibility of managing the world and it's inhabitants. Others believe that everything is one, so everything is God. You're God, I'm God, the table is God, your cancer is God and the cigarettes that caused your cancer are God too. There's no good or evil because everything is one. Another group of people believe that God created the universe but then became disinterested and hasn't bothered with us since. He's not present, he doesn't care about his creation, he doesn't want a relationship with humanity, and he won't miss us when we finally all nuke each other. This is called Deism. Deism, and any other view of God, makes God distant, uninvolved and unable to sympathize with our tragic state.


Of course, the Bible tells a different story about God. He is creator (Genesis 1:1), he loves us (John 3:16), and he wants a relationship with us (Colossians 1:20). But I think a lot of Christians live like Deists. 2 Timothy 3:5 tells us that some people will have a form of godliness but they will deny God's power. They'll believe in God, but there's no reason to live a godly life since God doesn't care how they live! The result is living for self. 


As always, our belief about God is central to how we live our life. If we are Christians living like Deists we may find some of these characteristics in our life. 


1. Judgement: A distant God doesn't care about justice, so we take justice into our own hands. We judge the world based on our standards. It's like when someone cuts you off in traffic and there are no cops around to see it, so you find yourself with your high-beams on while kissing bumpers with the offender. When someone sins we don't think God notices, so we become judge, jury and executioner. Someone cheats us, we cheat them back...it's only fair. After all, we have rights...


2. Despair: If God really did create the universe and is no longer active then we literally have no hope beyond this existence. The universe will slowly lose energy, the sun will die, the earth will freeze and all the accomplishments of humanity will be lost in eternal emptiness. What's worse is that for some people there's no hope in this life either. Dreams get dashed, things can fall apart, people get lost or just desert us. Life really isn't fair for the majority of people on the planet. With no God orchestrating a plan of redemption and vindication, and no God who lives and suffers with the oppressed, there's no hope in this life or the next. 


3. Functional Saviors: Without an understanding of the real Heaven and Hell we tend to create our own versions along with a savior to keep us from our Hell and get us into our Heaven. All advertising is based on this assumption. "Change your T.V. change your life" - Sharp "Everything you ever dreamed of and more" - Chevrolet. The idea is that your old T.V. is terrible and you're in T.V. Hell. If you get this new T.V. your life will be wonderful and you'll be in T.V. Heaven. Some people look at singleness as a type of Hell and get a boyfriend or girlfriend as their "savior" so they can be in the Heaven of relationship. There's a real Hell and a real savior who can offer us a real Heaven, but we trade all these in for our own versions. 


These things and more can characterize the life of a Christian who is actually living like a Deist. The great message of Christmas is that God IS present. God IS interested. God IS working on a plan for our redemption and vindication. Jesus with infinite knowledge of every circumstance will take his seat as judge on the last day. This frees me up from having to work so hard to make sure everything is "fair." I can just trust in Jesus because if anyone is going to judge the world I'm glad it's him. There is hope in this life and in the next. God can fill even our deepest pain with incredible transcendent meaning. AND he has a future for us that won't even compare to our present sufferings (Romans 8:18). Let's examine our lives to see if they represent a life lived in relationship with an ever present God. 


God is present and we should live like it's true. 


Grace and Peace

The Lost Symbol

In Bible school I was encouraged to pick up the book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I had no idea what I was getting into. I was fascinated by the fast-paced story telling with twists on almost every page. However, if you've read the book, or even heard about it (or maybe you're an "I'll wait for the movie" kind of person), you know that it sparked a huge international controversy regarding a religious conspiracy theory. The theory basically claims that the gospel writers didn't tell the whole story about Jesus. He actually got married and had some kids and meant to leave his wife, Mary Magdalene, in charge of the Church, but Peter usurped her (what a chauvinist). Anyway, it caused a stir, but after some time everyone realized...IT WAS JUST A NOVEL!


Because The Da Vinci Code was such a page-turner I picked up the prequel Angels and Demons (the movie takes place after the events of Code but the book was before). A & D features the first adventure of Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon. It was also a fun read, but I quickly became very disappointed. It wasn't because the book was less well written or because it lacked the kind of controversy that brought a tense restlessness to my thoughts; it was because it was basically the same book. Langdon's character was literally the same in both books of course; however, even though the other characters had different names their archetypes were exactly the same. There was the cute young professional woman who's daddy (or daddy figure) died at the start of the book leaving a trail of mystery and intrigue. There was the mysterious unidentified villain who lay hidden until a late and shocking plot twist exposed him. Then there his the dark and brutish minion--a religious zealot--who was sent out to accomplish sinister tasks and stalk the every move of the protagonists. All the same characters led to all the same plot and a disappointed reader. My recommendation would be to pick one of the two books, and don't bother with the other. 

HOWEVER! I gave Dan Brown one more chance to redeem his ways. I recently picked up his new book The Lost Symbol (lucky for him it was on sale), which is the third thrilling adventure of Dr. Robert Langdon. I'll try not to spoil anything, so I'll just let you know that I was pleased. Brown showed some new creativity in his newest book, but did not lose any of what made his previous books so thrilling. It's definitely worth the read. 


Like A & D and Code there was some serious religious controversy. This is probably why I read Brown's books, because I don't normally read any fiction. They pose a good challenge for those with the kind of mind that likes to chew on thoughts and to figure out answers to questions they've never been asked before. The Lost Symbol followed Robert Langdon on a race around Washington D.C. in search of a secret and long hidden treasure buried by the Stone Masons. The biggest surprise of the book, however, had nothing to do with plot twists and who-dun-it scenarios. The biggest surprise was the large volume of pages Brown devoted to outlining Masonic Doctrine (or at least an interpretation of it). Once the mystery had been solved, the villain defeated, and the heroine saved, Brown spent more than 20 pages preaching! The gist of the message? We are all gods, but we've forgotten it. If only we'd remember our divinity the world would be a better place. 


I think the truth is that too many people do believe they are God. We've believed that "man is the measure of all things." The immediate question after that is "which man?" Hitler though he had an answer. It was when Adam and Eve were told in the garden that they could be like God that everything started to fall apart. Scripture teaches us that we're not supposed to look within to find divinity; we're supposed to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus (to our death--that's what happens when you take up a cross). Did you know that Jesus doesn't want your life? He doesn't want you to commit your life to him. He wants you to die so that he can live through you--not literally die of course--die to our old way of living. Yes, I can have divinity inside of me, but it's only when I acknowledge that there is a God, but I'm not him! That's when we truly start living. 


If you pick up the book expect to be challenged and have fun while you're at it. Oh ya, don't forget IT'S JUST A NOVEL!


Grace and Peace

Here we go...

I'm very excited to get this blog going. I've meant to start one for so long and now is the time! You can expect at least a couple of posts every week. I'll write about things like what I'm learning in life, love and work. I'll review books I'm reading and share what the Lord is speaking to me. Hopefully you'll learn some things with me, be challenged and even amused at times.

Tonight I'm sitting on my couch smelling the cookies my wife is pulling out of the oven and enjoying the glow of our recently decorated Christmas tree (our first real one as a married couple).

In the coming weeks I'll share some Christmas thoughts and make some comments on the book I'm currently reading: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. AND the last book I read: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (author of the Da Vinci Code).

Grace and Peace