What Does “Gospel” Actually Mean? (And is it as boring as it sounds?)
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Romans Commentary on July 26th, 2010
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. (Rom 1:1)
When I read this I had to ask these questions to myself: Paul says he’s called to be set apart for the gospel of God, but what about me? What does it mean to be set apart for the gospel of God? I think it means that we’re called to live for the “cause”. We’re called to be “set apart” (be unique and different) and work for the “gospel” i.e., the good news, i.e., God’s cause. Read the rest of this entry »
Quick Thoughts on the Resurrection
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Matthew Commentary on July 11th, 2010
I just read through the resurrection account in Matthew this morning with a commentary, and had a couple quick thoughts on it. Some of these are raised by this book: IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament.
1- First off, it’s really easy to forget how amazing this all is! We’re reminded of it to one degree or another every Easter Sunday I guess, but we don’t necessarily always live our daily lives under its full impact. It’s not moral instruction or dogma, but honest-to-goodness history. Read the rest of this entry »
The Rorschach Bible
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Exegesis on July 6th, 2010
Rorschach Test
Recently I wrote two posts about exegesis. Writing them was an experiment because I wanted to see if I could describe what exegesis is in a clear and interesting way, a way that is not mind-numbingly BORING!! It was hard, but tonight I found the best illustration describing what I was trying to get at. The Bible is like a Rorschach test (a.k.a. inkblot test). Our reading of Scripture, unless we’re careful, tell us much more about ourselves, our desires, our priorities, our likes and dislikes, than it does about God’s desires and priorities. Read the rest of this entry »
Spiritual Warfare Part 2
Posted by admin in Christian Life, Spiritual Warfare on June 24th, 2010
House Cleansing
Another spiritual warfare activity that I want to discuss is “house cleansing.” House cleansing is an attempt to rid your home of objects that invite spiritual darkness into your life. For example, you could unknowingly bring an ungodly object into your house like a jewelry box or a statue that could cause you to experience spiritual darkness, depression, or even illness, if the object is linked to evil spirits. House cleansing is the activity of going through your belongings and removing the evil ones. The most popular book on this subject is Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness by Chuck Pierce and Rebecca Sytsema. Similarly to my previous discussion about spiritual mapping, the ultimate goal of house cleansing is good, to grow closer to God in one’s home, but using house cleansing as a means to get there is misguided.
The theology presented in this book is rife with problems. There is a chapter called “Ten Steps to Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness”. A red flag goes up for me whenever I hear ten quick and easy steps to anything in the Christian life. The problem is that there are no ten easy steps to protecting your home from spiritual darkness. That idea makes for a good book chapter or weekend seminar, but it’s a flawed view of the Christian life. Jesus was not a “ten-quick-and-easy-steps” kind of guy, and instead said things like “in this world you will have trouble,” and “anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Jn 16:33; Lk 14:27). This is not easily digestible stuff. I’m not so much disagreeing with the way that that these steps were presented, so much as the underlying assumptions behind them. It doesn’t matter if there were ten steps or fifty. The problem is the way they have defined the Christian life. This takes the Christian principle that we have spiritual authority and overextends it to an unhealthy place. It alters a Christian’s “job description” as defined by the New Testament. Read the rest of this entry »
Spiritual Warfare Part 1
Posted by admin in Christian Life, Spiritual Warfare on June 20th, 2010
Intro
The subject of spiritual warfare is a sensitive issue for a lot of Christians. There is a huge diversity of perspectives in the church regarding this subject. I have known people who see a demon behind every headache and an angel behind every good parking spot. On the other hand I have known people who believe that a modern thinking person cannot believe in a literal Satan or literal demons, that they were just mythical ways for pre-modern people to explain the world. There have been hundreds of books written on the subject. Christianbook.com lists 885 books on the subject of “spiritual warfare”. I’m coming from the perspective that I believe in a lot of what falls under the term “spiritual warfare”, but at the same time I am troubled by a lot of it.
Spiritual Warfare in the Bible
The concept of spiritual warfare is thoroughly biblical. We see Jesus and the disciples doing some elements of spiritual warfare. Jesus casts out demons by His authority. The disciples cast out demons by Jesus’ authority. Understandably, the disciples are thrilled, exclaiming “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!!!” (Lk 10:17b). Jesus sent out the seventy disciples, he said that they had power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and the power of the enemy. (Lk 10:19). He even said that nothing would hurt them. That’s spiritual power! Jesus acknowledged their authority but also warned not to get sidetracked by it, but stay focused on the mission. “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20). Jesus appreciates their excitement, but also instructs them that focusing on God is much more important than the fireworks of spiritual warfare. In other words, don’t major on the minors. Read the rest of this entry »
What in the world is Exegesis? Part II
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Exegesis on May 1st, 2010
[Partially adapted from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee and Stuart]
Every reader is an interpreter.
This is something that not everyone wants to admit, but it’s true whether we’re conscious of it or not. Think of a biblical word that has a lot of substance and depth to it like, “grace” or “faith” or “church”. When we hear the word “church” we probably think of the stereotypical white-washed chapel with pews and a steeple. When Paul’s audience heard the term, they probably pictured a few dozen people meeting in someone’s living room. Does “church” mean a white-washed building in the center of a small town, or does it mean thirty people eating lamb, and drinking wine, lounging on pillows in someone’s living room in ancient Ephesus? The latter is more what Paul meant by the term. If we put thirty people in a room and ask them to write down a definition for these terms, we’re going to get a lot of different answers. Interpretation is an undeniable part of language. That is still true when reading the Bible. Our own position as an interpreter should give us a sense of humility. There’s a possibility that we could get it wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
What in the World is Exegesis?
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Exegesis on April 26th, 2010
(parts adapted from How to Read the Bible for all Its Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart)
What is exegesis and why is it important?
The first time I heard the term “exegesis” I thought that the person was saying “Exit-Jesus”. Why in the world would we want Jesus to exit? Haha. Exegesis is the activity of studying the Bible to get at its originally intended meaning for its originally intended audience. It’s common to hear a pastor say, “the Bible says this…what that means is this…” They are doing exegesis. They are drawing out meaning from a text of Scripture. Exegesis literally means “to draw meaning out of.” Exegesis is very important because the original intended meaning of Scripture has to be our starting point for interpretation. Otherwise we’re doing something called “eisegesis,” which is reading our own meaning into the text. The goal of good exegesis is to get clarity on God’s intended meaning of His Word without smuggling in our own meaning. Eisegesis is very tempting because someone can read their own opinion into a Bible passage, either accidentally or on purpose. If no one catches them doing it, then they have successfully convinced people that their opinion of a God’s Word is God’s Word itself! Read the rest of this entry »
What’s So Evil About Tax Collectors?
Posted by admin in Bible Study on March 21st, 2010
A couple of years ago I saw a campaign billboard for a local election. I don’t remember the name of the candidate but the government position they were running for was actually the official position of “tax collector”. “That’s funny,” I thought, “we still have an official position called ‘tax collector’.” Yet these people who hold the modern position probably enjoy the love of friends, family, and neighbors, and are nowhere near as despised as the tax collectors of Jesus’ day.
Tax collectors are mentioned constantly throughout the New Testament, but I was hard-pressed to give a good reason why they were so hated, so let’s find out. There were three kinds of tax that the Romans collected from Jews in the 1st century. Land Tax, Head Tax, and the Customs System. The Land Tax was like property tax. The Head Tax was like income tax, and the Customs System was like sales tax or import/export tariffs. The customs system was where most of the abuse took place. It’s where tax collectors earned for themselves a reputation of being inherently dishonest. The customs system was set up in such a way that it lent itself to abuse and corruption. Rome hired independent contractors to collect these taxes. The independent contractor would pay Rome up front a massive sum for the tax, and then farm the people to make their money back. On top of that Rome hired the contractor who was the highest bidder, who would pay them the most! (Dictionary of N.T. Background). The tax collectors made all of their investment back, and then some. Read the rest of this entry »
iChurch for my iSoul
Posted by admin in Christian Life, Various Articles on February 8th, 2010
iPad
So the new iPad was announced a few days ago. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want one. I used to be an opinionated PC-only user until I was introduced to Apple’s music production software. They completely won me over with good design (not just the packaging), and headache free computer use. The iPad looks really cool, but at 500+ dollars I can’t really justify that sort of purchase, especially considering that I already have a cell phone, mp3 player, and laptop computer, three devices that are arguably more useful than the iPad. I did a cost-benefit analysis in my head and decided that I’m not buying one.
I think the unveiling of a new iProduct is a very good occasion to be self-reflective regarding one crucial issue in American culture. It’s a part of our culture that is pervasive. We are fish, and we are swimming in it, whether we feel wet or not. The issue that I’m talking about is consumerism, and it has huge implications for our Christianity. Read the rest of this entry »
The Oldest “Us vs. Them”
Posted by admin in Bible Study, Romans Commentary on August 17th, 2010
There are a lot of “Us Vs. Them” divisions in our world today. I think it’s a natural tendency of human nature. It’s something that manifests itself on cable news channels even. Fox News vs. MSNBC. It manifests itself in politics. It also manifests itself in religion. The quickest way to kill a fun dinner party is to get people on the subject of religion or politics. Blood will boil in about four minutes flat! I’m reading through Romans and I found a very old “Us Vs. Them” that I wasn’t expecting. Read the rest of this entry »
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