Israel Day Three: Committed to the Text

Day Three – Committed to the Text

One of the most interesting things we did the whole trip happened on day two and I forgot to mention it. We visited a place called Tel Arad located in the desert of the Negev in southern Israel. Not far from here live the Bedouin people who are known for their hospitality. We walked three miles across the rocky desert to visit where they live, learned about their history, eat some bread and drank some tea they prepared for us. It was a really cool experience and a great example of hospitality. The lifestyle of the Bedouins was practiced in the Old Testament. "People in Old Testament times believed guests were sent to them from God.  Abram and Sarah prepared a meal for their guests (Gen. 18:2-8). One of the first things a host did was to offer a guest something to drink (Gen. 24:17-18) and then a meal (Gen. 26:30)" (Omar Garcia). It was a blessing to experience this. It helps give a real picture of life and practice of the Patriarchs.

Day three we had three big stops. We first went to En Gedi where we hiked the Wadi Argot. Here again we saw the Bible come to life. This is where David hid from Saul, spared his life, and where David snuck up on him and cut the corner of his shawl.  We see the heart of David and his passionate obedience to God. We also got to see first hand how God supplies water from a rock in the desert. Rather than relying on our supply of cistern water we should rely on the “Living Water” that God supplies. 

We then went to one of Harod the Great’s fortresses at Masada. He built this palace of refuge on top of a rock plateau. It was crazy and impressive to see the engineering, supplies, strategy, and luxury of that place. It was a huge hike up but awesome to see what Harod had built.

Our last stop was at Qumran. This is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We saw the cave where the book of Isaiah was found as well as many other caves. It was a challenging hike to the top but a great view. From the top we could see “Bethany beyond the Jordan” where John the Baptist taught about the coming Christ and where he baptized Jesus. On the other side we could see the Judean Wilderness and we were close to the spot where Jesus was led by the Spirit and tempted by Satan. 

We learned about the Essences and their commitment to be people of the text.  We too made this commitment, to be men and women of the scripture.   

As I blog about our day it is hard to find what stood out to me most or describe the most significant thing God taught me. Its pretty overwhelming to see where the Bible took place and to learn the lesson God taught there. Probably the things I think of 

most today have to do with people. The Bedouin people were a cool experience and it was a blessing to meet them and to learn from their hospitality.  It was even more significant for Holly and I to be atop of the Qumran Mountain and commit to being people of the text. The moment, the hike, the history, the view, the Bible, the day, the scripture, and us together…it was great to commit to the text together in just that way.

As a people of God’s own possession, a people He desires to reveal Him, to glorify Him, to fulfill His purposes…we must be people committed to the text!

 

Colossians: An Introduction

Be Grounded in Christ: A walk through the book of Colossians

Blog 1- Introduction to the letter (Vs. 1:1-2)

I am excited to blog about Colossians because of the focus on the supremacy of Christ. Paul shows how the believer is complete in Christ and needs nothing more than to be fully clothed in Him to grow spiritually and be protected from heresy.

I plan to give a summary explanation and challenge of the text covered rather than a full exegesis of the passage. However, if you are interested in a fully explanation I would be glad to post it or send it to you.

We begin where every good book study should, with the three A’s- Author, Audience, and their Association.

Author- Paul (and Timothy)

Not only does the scripture directly attribute this letter to Paul (vs. 1:1, 23; 4:18) the personal details the author gives of himself, his life, and his relationships fit perfectly with the apostle Paul. Although there are some 55 Greek words used in this letter that are not found in any of Paul’s other books, we know that Paul was well educated and had a wide vocabulary, plus this was a unique topic that would require words not needed elsewhere.

Audience- Believer’s in the city of Colossae

Colossae, once a powerful military and commercial city, was now a minor city on the decline and surrounded by cities that outgrew her. There was a very mixed audience of people in this city. Jews, Greeks, Romans, military families, and people from many differing ethnic backgrounds who settled there for commercial interests.

Association

Paul did not plant this church; in fact we have no written revelation that Paul even ever went to the city. However, while Paul was on his third missionary journey he spent about 3 years in the city of Ephesus that was located about 100 miles east of Colossae. While there it seems that he discipled a man named Epaphras (or at least Epaphras was saved by listening to Paul’s teaching). Epaphras then took Paul’s gospel of Christ to them as well as other neighboring cities. So Paul had their respect because he was the one whom discipled the man who brought them the gospel and could therefore write a letter they would appreciate and respond to. (1:7-8)

After Epaphras spread the gospel to these cities he went to visit Paul in his Roman imprisonment. Since Paul was only under house arrest he could have visitors and Epaphras reported to Paul everything he observed and experienced which then prompted Paul to write this letter of warning and encouragement to the Church in Colossae.

 Date- _A.D.60-61

Paul wrote this letter during his first Roman imprisonment when he was under house arrest, the same time and place he wrote the other letters we often refer to as The Prison Epistles that include Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon.

Some say the since the theology of this book is more along the lines of John’s writing about Christ as the Logos in the gospel of John, which reveals Christ as God and Creator, that the author of this letter must have borrowed from it and been written after John’s gospel which was written near the end of the 1^st century about 90 A.D. However, we know that Paul had been given special revelation about who Christ was from both Galatians (1:12) as well as the book of Philippians (2:5-8). So Paul had no reason or need to “borrow” from any other NT author.

These people also say that one of the heresy’s Paul is refuting in the letter is the Gnosticism of the 2^nd century and therefore give it a very late date.  However, heresies don’t just appear one day out of the blue they are developed over years, especially heresies popular enough to warrant a letter from God through the apostle Paul. So it can easily be seen that Paul is dealing with the early stages of a heresy that would later become full blown Gnosticism.

Paul’s Purpose for writing this Letter

To refute false teaching in and around the church and bring a new focus on Christ. We don’t have the false teachings directly stated but we can deduct from the truths that Paul so strongly emphasizes what he is arguing against. Some of the heresies the church faced include:

• Secular philosophy- Human traditions based on the principles of this world
• Jewish Legalism- Observance of dietary laws, religious festivals and celebrations, the Sabbath
• Mystical teaching- Worship of angels and Personal visions
• Asceticism- The body is evil and should be physically punished to discipline it to overcome sin

The primary thing all these heresies have in common is that they undermine the preeminence and sufficiency of Jesus Christ alone.

 Some of what we learn about Christ

• The head of all principalities and powers (2:10)
• The Lord of creation (1:16-17)
• The Author of reconciliation (1:20-22; 2:13-15)
• The basis of the believer’s hope (1:5, 23, 27)
• The source of the believer’s power to live the new life (1:11, 29)
• The believer’s Redeemer and Reconciler (1:14, 20-22; 2:11-15)
• The embodiment of full deity (1:15, 19; 2:9)
•   The Creator and Sustainer of all things (1:16-17)
• The Head of the Church (1:18)
•  The resurrected God-man (1:18; 3:1)
•   The all-sufficient Savior (1:28; 2:3, 10; 3:1-4)

The Letter

The letter is neatly divided up into two main sections. The first half has to do with the doctrine of Christ; the second half has to do with us living our Life in Christ. We learn that the believer knowing of their secure position in Christ is the foundation of their successful growth in Christ.   This again is Paul’s consistent philosophy of sanctification and spiritual growth, the believer’s position and freedom in Christ.

The thrust of this letter and the application Paul hopes for is based on a truth we must all realize, that in Christ we have everything we need for life and Godliness. There is no need for anything else and everything else actually hinders our spiritual growth by taking our attention away from Christ. Paul didn’t want the Colossians practicing both, it is Christ and Christ alone who is sufficient and therefore should have sole preeminence in our lives.

This is why “We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.” (Col. 1:27-28)

My prayer is that we would first understand the sufficiency of Christ and then live in submission to Him. I believe this book will help us to do just that and will result in us living in such away that the glory of Christ is better revealed through our lives and you would experience the joy and benefit that comes from focusing solely on Him for everything.

Israel Day 1-2: Smooth Stones

This is a first in a series of blogs I plan to post about our trip to Israel. Check back each week for an update. 

FYI, I also plan to start a weekly series on the Life of Christ and the book of Colossians. I am teaching both right now and plan to include a summary thought of the truth and challenge as a blog. 

Smooth Stones

Today, our first full day touring and studying Israel, has been a great day. God is at work in my heart and mind. I am seeing places and touching things I only imagined existed from reading the Bible. As I write this blog I don’t even know where to start. Not only are we literally walking as fast as we can from place to place we are reading the scripture and seeing it “in context” like never before. It’s a fire hydrant of information that I will be processing for a long time. 

It’s hard to choose the place that impacted me most so far. Last night we stoped at Gezer and learned about Cannanites and their dead stones of pagan worship. But today, weather it was Beth Shemeh where we learned about Sampson and his “slippage,” Lachish where we learned about Hezekiah and his passionate faithfulness to God, or taking a swim (more like a float, literally) in the Dead Sea, its hard to choose the place that impacted me most.

I have decided to share about a place where a very familiar story happened. It’s located in the Shephelah, in the Valley of Elah, in the city of Azekah. It’s the story of David and Goliath.  As we sat on a hill looking over this valley, reading the story from the text…I saw the story come to life. I can’t share all that I learned but I understood in a new way how a young boy, full of trust in God, aware of his talents and how he was gifted, with the passion for God’s glory, and the motive to make God of Israel know in the world can have a huge impact.  He was not focused on his own glory like Saul but focused on the glory of God and was used in a huge way.

Beyond the story that took place there was what we got to do after our study. As you know, this valley was a common place for battles between Israel and the Philistines and this

 valley was naturally between two mountain ranges, Israel on one mountain and the Philistines on the other with the battles taking 

place down in the valley. You remember how David killed Goliath. He took five smooth stones from the stream, put them in his pouch along with his sling, and aggressively approached the line of battle with Goliath. He took out a stone, slung it at Goliath hitting him in the forehead and killing him (2 Sam.17). 

Here is where we come in. There is only one stream in this valley and it sits at the bottom of the mountain on the Israel side. This is the only stream for David to collect five smooth stones…Holly and I walked through this stream today. It’s crazy because this had to be where David came down the mountain to get his stones to fight Goliath…we were in this exact same spot! We even pick up stones from the dry steam bed. I can’t believe it…as we looked onto the valley where David killed Goliath Holly and I pick up stones from the exact same stream that David did. Totally cool! 

There are many lessons I learned from all our studies today that I could share, but I am so blown away that God has given Holly and I this blessing that I can’t get it off my mind. The blessing of being in Israel and seeing where the Bible originally took place is unbelievable. I can’t wait for what we will see and do tomorrow!

Impact

It’s been a while since my last blog about China. I am still processing everything God is showing me and transforming in me from that trip but also have not taken the time to get it down in writing and I feel its slipping away. 

As I stated before, the last few mission trips I have taken have really impacted my life and heart. I feel really close to God, useful for the kingdom, filled with passion to be effective from mission trips. I have been thinking about why these last few trips have hit me this way and I realized a common thread - I have felt used by God in a meaningful way. I then realized something:

The times I am impacted the most are the times I feel I am making the most impact. 

We all know that the best place in all the world is to be right in the center of God's will; to be used the way He desires and has planned; to be living out the very purpose of your existence and salvation. Ro. 12:2 tells us that God's will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Eph. 2:10 tells us that as believers we are the work of God's hands and we have been regenerated with spiritual life to live out the things God has planned for us. As we live our lives in His perfect will we then experience the pleasure God intends and desires for us to know. For me, this happens most when I feel used by God to make an impact in the life of another. 

So I am thinking I need to find how I can be making a significant impact in the lives of people where God has me on a regular basis. I want to make sure this is what I am working towards because that is when I feel most impacted and transformed by God. Serv

ing others enhances and stimulates my personal sanctification, which is one of the primary goals of the Christian life.

It's magnificent to see God's design work in such perfect harmony. His greatest desire is for us to love Him and love others; He desires for us to grow in our reflection and glory of Him (sanctification). To be and do what God has saved us for works together in a divinely ordered way. We must serve others to know and love God deeper, we must love others to grow in our reflection and glory of Him, we must impact the lives of others to experience a greater impact from God. In God's system everyone wins. He is glorified, people are served, and believers are sanctified. Awesome!

I want to experience this on a daily basis. I want what I do everyday to make an impact in the life of another. Why? To experience and reflect the love of God, to grow in sanctification, to experience the perfect and pleasing will of God. These recent mission trips have show me that I might not be focused on that which is actually making an impact quite enough. 

My goal today is to increase my productivity and have a greater focus in the areas that actually make an impact in the lives of others. I want to participate in my sanctification by cooperating with God's design and purpose. Love God, love others = be transformed!

Connecting with the Heart of God in China

My hope is to communicate all that God showed me and transformed in me while I was in China. I don’t know if I can but I will attempt with a series of blogs about the trip. It was an awesome experience and the last few trips I have been on have really impacted me. The trip I took to Acuna, MX with college students from Countryside last summer impacted my heart for people in a humanitarian way. God showed me what “poor and hungry” really is. He showed me the growth in our students. He grew my compassion for those in physical and material need. All for the sake of communicating God’s love for them and looking to persuade them to trust in the Provider, Jesus Christ who gives hope in this life and the life to come.

This trip to China with college students from Kingsland was a little different. God showed me totally different things. I will blog about the fun touristy things we did thoughout this series of blogs (climbing the great wall was awesome) but I need to share about a few things in the first few blogs that really impacted me spiritually. God hit me with some eternal realities that have grown my compassion for people’s spiritual lives, both practically and eternally.
Our group went to minister on a university campus in China. We joined up with long term people living there and joined in their work. We went to teach about how American’s celebrate the tradition of Christmas. Through this we were able to communicate God’s love to them. We hosted apartment parties, on campus lectures, and met students one-on-one to build relationships. I can’t wait to tell you about some of the people I met and the opportunities God gave us.


Connecting with the Heart of God

From the time I got on the plan to Beijing I could tell things were different. Our group sat in the back of the plan in the middle rows. As I put my bag in the overhead I noticed the people, the smell, the sound…it was different. The time this hit me hardest is when we were taking a break for lunch on our third day in China and some of our students were shopping at a local market. I decided to walk down the strip a little bit by myself. As I got to the end I looked back and just paused to soak in my environment. Everyone was Chinese! I know this is silly but I was overwhelmed with the number of people in the market and the fact that they were all Chinese. Everyone. Everyone was Chinese. Then it hit me to consider how many of them have never heard of God’s love for them and how He demonstrated that love by giving His Son, Jesus (Jn. 3:16). I asked myself, How many of these people are unsaved? How many of them live apart from the love and grace of God? Then I realized a sad thing…Hell is going to be filled with lost Asian people. I also realized that this breaks the heart of God and it began to break mine as well.

God challenged me. Do you really believe in heaven and hell? Do you really believe in the reality of afterlife? Do you really believe this? As I thought about this I reassured myself of the trustworthiness of the scripture and how this was a clear truth (2 Tim. 3:16). People who do not receive life (relationship with God - Jn. 17:3) remain dead (separated from God – Eph. 2:1-10). Then I wondered if I have the same love for people that God does (1 Tim. 2:3-7; 2 Peter 3:8-9; 1 Tim. 2:3-4). Does my heart for the lost match the heart of God? I know God was changing my heart right there.

Then, if I have the same heart as God am I willing to demonstrate the same love in the same way (Mt. 16:24). Am I willing to lay down my life for the lost? Am I willing to do whatever that looks like in my life? I don’t think this is limited to physical death but is a broader concept. Am I willing to have less money? Am I willing to have less selfish time? Am I willing to make sacrifices that reflect a real concern for the lost in an effort to demonstrate and communicate the love of God to them? Not only for their benefit in this life and in eternity, but also for the glory and pleasure of God. To be a person who is living out the heart of God.

If my heart matches the heart of God and I have the willingness to sacrifice to live that out, what does this look like in my life? How do I live this out in and from Katy, TX. How do I stay connected with the heart and work of God, not only on a trip like this but every day?

I don’t know the answers to these questions yet. But God has given me a fresh realization of heaven and hell. He has given me a new perspective that there are millions of people who are living apart from the love and grace of God, and who may exist that way in eternity. He is transforming my heart to match His heart for those people. He is challenging me to imitate Him in response. He is challenging me to check my purpose, my priorities, and my focus on comfort rather selfless sacrifice for the ones He loves.

For Single Parents

Being a single parent can be a tough responsibility. Of all the things you try to pass on to your children, nurturing them to have a sincere faith in Christ can be the most concerning. I know this especially concerns single moms with young boys. Being the primary faith trainer to a child of the opposite sex presents many challenges but as always, God does not allow challenges to come into our lives that we cannot handle in a way that brings Him glory (1 Co. 10:13).

One thing we emphasize in our ministry to single parents is that a single parent home does not have to be a broken home. Many single parent families feel they are in fact not a family. They feel they are not able to have a healthy home life. They feel they cannot effectively nurture their children to be godly.

I want to encourage you to know that a single parent can have a healthy home life and an effective ministry to their children. Although this is not the biblical model we do have biblical examples. One of the clearest is seen is Paul’s letter to young Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:5
I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

The verse previous to this one states that Paul remembers Timothy in his prayers and with tears of joy as he reflects on the faith of young Timothy. Notice that Paul contributes the faithfulness of his young disciple to his mom and grandmother. They were faithful Jewish believers (Acts 16:1). His dad was not a part of his faith training. He was a Greek Gentile and probably an unbelievers, the very reason he is not mentioned here. So we see that single parents and specifically a single mom with boys can nurture a sincere faith in their child. You can be an effective faith trainer to your child as a single parent, even to the point of producing tears of joy on looking believers.

How did this single parent succeeded as the primary faith trainer through childhood?
2 Timothy 3:14-17 tells us:
14You [Timothy], however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Paul built upon the foundation laid by Timothy’s mom. Notice that she taught him “sacred writings”. Paul is referring to the scripture; this is plain from the verses 16-17. Scripture is what gives us “wisdom that leads to salvation and faith” and ultimately to a life with Jesus Christ. If you want to effectively pass on your faith to your children you have to make known to them the word of God. The scripture must be the focus, the authority, the guide. It must have priority over every other source of counsel or consideration when making decisions or developing our way of thinking. The scripture is the most profitable source of teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training one to live righteously in the sight of God. We want the next generation to be men and women who have been sanctified by the word of truth (John 17:17) and taught to think like the scripture because the scripture is what makes one “adequate, equipped for every good work”.

This is a great example of a single parent having a healthy home, passing on faith, and rearing children to love God, love others, and live out his Life in Christ. If you want to have a healthy single parent home, if you want to effectively pass on the faith to your children, if you want children who live righteously and are equipped for what God has planned for them you must nurture them in the word and pour it into their life. You must make the commitment to “teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” (Duet. 6:7). This is what defines a healthy home, a home where children are taught the word of God by a parent who lives as their primary faith trainer by modeling and teaching them the scripture.

Obama Wins

I know that many Christians will be discouraged and confused about Obama winning the presidency. He does not have the view many evangelicals support concerning many issues. I have heard many people say, "Don't worry, whether you support Obama or not God is still in control. He will use this for His glory."

As I prayerfully reflected on these ideas and concerns I realized some encouraging truths:

1. Our purpose does not change. We are stewards of God and servants of Christ called to make disciples as we live our lives. We will continue to strive in our effort to love God, love others, and equip the generations to do the same.
2. We must now work more diligently. We should be more passionate and determined in the pursuit of living out our purpose. We should not feel like this hinders us but is God's way of placing more responsibility on us.
3. The church is the restrainer. We learn in 2 Thessalonians that during the time of the church age their is a restrainer of evil in the world. I believe that restrainer is the Holy Spirit working through the church. The responsibility to influence the culture toward Godliness and to restrain evil in the culture is on the church, not the government. This could be God holding us accountable to live up to our responsibility.
   
4. There is nothing to fear. Our faith is in the power and supremacy of God. God does not allow anything to happen that thwarts His ultimate plan of redemption of man and reestablishing His rule over creation through man (which will happen through the King in the future Kingdom).

No matter who you voted for. No matter how you see the issues whether social, moral, economical, etc. Know that our purpose is the same, our work is to be more diligent, our responsibility to restrain evil is ever more present, and we are not a people of fear but a people of faith in the power and supremacy of God.