God is in heaven and does whatever he desires. I read that in Psalms a while back.
Lately (by which I mean the past 10 years) I've been wrestling with biblical authority, preaching, and pastors who don't know what they are talking about.
I hold to the deepest, most specific view of inspiration - that all scripture is inspired by God, or God-breathed (Timothy passage). I take that to mean that if God takes the time to breathe scripture, he is also going to take time to do it exactly as he desires, meaning pick the ideas, concepts, phrases, and words he wants to use. He uses human hands, but ultimately it is his eternal Word and even the smallest letter will disappear from it.
When pastors preach, they proclaim the Word of God. They study God's Word (scripture) and they hear God's Word (his voice, leading, etc) by praying and listening.
What about pastors who preach, but say things that aren't true?
Sure, that's a wide spectrum for wrong versus right, with lots of grey and room for debate. When I say wrong, I have a specific situation in mind:
A pastor was teaching through the book of Job, and was talking about suffering. He made a comment that he did not believe God curses people for any reason, because God isn't like that.
Apparently this pastor has not read much at all of the Old Testament because it is such a vastly dominant theme that I knew about blessings and cursings years before I even went to seminary. Well, I was there, and I was going through a large number of serious issues all within the same week, so I suppose I was suffering in a sense.
What I heard was "Basically, I don't know anything at all about the Old Testament, so I will make something up that's not true. Now let's talk about how I studied this book here in Job." So I left, because my heart was torn, and I was not willing to listen to poor teaching particularly when it was relevant to me, but not taught faithfully to scripture. If the pastor was wrong about that, who knows what else he could be wrong about?
Afterwards I came back in, mentioned my life was falling apart, and he prayed for me. Not just a mere prayer to get me to leave him alone, but truely prayed for me. Seminary has taught me there are two kinds of knowledge - head knowledge and heart knowledge. He had clearly studied, but just didn't know what he didn't know about scripture. He deeply cared though, and deeply showed the love of Christ.
So, to all those pastors out there who long to be faithful to scripture, and preach from the depths of its riches and proclaim the vastness of the glory of God.... You need both, though generally people will care more about heart-knowledge. They care more that you pray and listen to God's voice than that you studied for 20 hours and know everything there is to know.
But don't neglect the Word, because heart-knowledge flows out of knowing who Christ is, how vast the depths of sin we were in, and how glorious the redemption through God himself paying the price of our sin.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
God's Voice in the Old Testament
In looking at the Old Testament passages referencing the voice of the Lord, I noticed several dominant themes paralleling God’s speaking. The first is the vastness of God’s attributes, particularly in Psalm 29 which declares God’s voice as being majestic, powerful, and uses imagery of God’s creation to describe the superiority of the mere voice of the Creator. The second theme throughout the Old Testament is that obedience and repentance are an integral part of the passages referencing God’s voice.
The Creator’s voice over his creation
Psalm 29 begins with the mandate to give to the Lord glory and strength, and to worship him in the glory of his holiness. Following that, there are 7 references to the voice of the Lord – it is upon the waters, it is powerful and majestic, and it breaks cedars. It makes flames out of fire (NIV: strikes with flashes of lightning), shakes the desert, and strips forests bare. In his temple, all his creation (which his mere voice has power over) declares his glory.
Psalm 29 begins with the mandate to give to the Lord glory and strength, and to worship him in the glory of his holiness. Following that, there are 7 references to the voice of the Lord – it is upon the waters, it is powerful and majestic, and it breaks cedars. It makes flames out of fire (NIV: strikes with flashes of lightning), shakes the desert, and strips forests bare. In his temple, all his creation (which his mere voice has power over) declares his glory.
Theologically, there is a distinction between general and special revelation. Special revelation being the written word of God and Jesus Christ, and general revelation being God’s glory revealed through his creation. Here, there is a strong focus on general revelation declaring God’s attributes. Cedar trees are broken at his voice, flames are made out of fire when God speaks, his voice shakes the desert. Even more so, “everything in his temple says ‘Glory!’”
God’s immense power and majesty are seen in that by merely speaking his creation falls apart at his glorious word. Psalm 29 ends with the Lord as king over his creation – but then the glorious omnipotent creator is declared as one who gives strength to his people. While creation bows down before him, he cares so much more about the hearts of his people bowing down to him – and he will give them the strength they need to serve him faithfully. God’s voice easily dominates nature to an unimaginable scale, yet strengthens those who love him and serve him.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Psalm 139 - Dear God: Please kill wicked people and lead me in the eternal path
Psalms that ask God to kill people are difficult to handle. One option is to ignore them, or to dismiss them and go toward easier passages to interpret. Another is to handle hard passages carefully, allowing context to show us the underlying thoughts and themes of the passage.
No Hiding From God (Psalm 139:1-12)
I read this psalm as a devotional this afternoon, and realized it has some structure to it. The first verse might sound quite familiar - "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." The next few verses walk through how God knows us. He knows what we think, where we go, what we say, and there is nowhere we can get away from God. He is everywhere, and knows everything about us.
God Created Us (Psalm 139:13-18)
God had his hand on us before we were born. Before we even breathed our first breath, all of our days were ordained in God's book. (139:16)
Dear God: Please Kill Wicked People (Psalm 139:19-24)
In light of there being nowhere to hide from God, and his intimate knowledge of our lives before we were born, now comes the battle between good and evil. Some people chose to serve God fully, others to serve themselves or other gods.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."
"See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
In light that some people chose not to serve God, wickedness abounds. David, the author of this Psalm, has great hatred toward wicked people, who talk wickedly, who misuse God's name. He hates them because they hate God. (139:19-22). On the other hand though, David serves and loves God faithfully. Thus, he asks God to act on behalf of his own name and character - give humanity what humanity deserves. Wicked people who hate God deserve death; however because David loves God, he asks for direction in the everlasting path.
On the other hand though, the specific people David hates seem to be centered around people who specifically hate God. They profane his name, and speak of God with evil intent in their hearts.
Ultimately, God will answer David's prayer and plea for cosmic justice. God's plan is a bit larger in scope than David might have realized, and it is fortunate God has been gracious and compassionate and not killed every single person who hates him. Instead, if we love him and serve him, he will lead us in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.
No Hiding From God (Psalm 139:1-12)
I read this psalm as a devotional this afternoon, and realized it has some structure to it. The first verse might sound quite familiar - "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." The next few verses walk through how God knows us. He knows what we think, where we go, what we say, and there is nowhere we can get away from God. He is everywhere, and knows everything about us.
God Created Us (Psalm 139:13-18)
God had his hand on us before we were born. Before we even breathed our first breath, all of our days were ordained in God's book. (139:16)
Dear God: Please Kill Wicked People (Psalm 139:19-24)
In light of there being nowhere to hide from God, and his intimate knowledge of our lives before we were born, now comes the battle between good and evil. Some people chose to serve God fully, others to serve themselves or other gods.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."
"See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
In light that some people chose not to serve God, wickedness abounds. David, the author of this Psalm, has great hatred toward wicked people, who talk wickedly, who misuse God's name. He hates them because they hate God. (139:19-22). On the other hand though, David serves and loves God faithfully. Thus, he asks God to act on behalf of his own name and character - give humanity what humanity deserves. Wicked people who hate God deserve death; however because David loves God, he asks for direction in the everlasting path.
On the other hand though, the specific people David hates seem to be centered around people who specifically hate God. They profane his name, and speak of God with evil intent in their hearts.
Ultimately, God will answer David's prayer and plea for cosmic justice. God's plan is a bit larger in scope than David might have realized, and it is fortunate God has been gracious and compassionate and not killed every single person who hates him. Instead, if we love him and serve him, he will lead us in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Light and Darkness
1st John 1
5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
There's a girl that works at a bank by my old house. I remember talking to her, because she mentioned she had tried to go to the same school I go to, but couldn't afford it. I liked seeing her there, because she was a beacon of light in a business environment intensely focused on profits, personal ambition, and developing exterior skills to further careers. The business world is much less concerned with matters of the heart, the inward sins, desires, and submission to the will of God.
So, I moved out of state for a year but have recently moved back. I recently saw her, but her eyes reflect a darkness in her soul. There's no longer joy in her, and the innocence in her eyes seems to have been snatched away from her. It was quite discouraging seeing the drastic change.
I say these things because Christianity reflects light and darkness more often than we realize. Though it is quite a vague and somewhat subjective, there is no denying the difference between someone entirely submitted to the will of God and someone who has given up hope in the Savior.
I suppose the specific application is to think about how much light we radiate, how much we reflect the light of Christ in our lives. If we walk in the light... we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins.
5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
There's a girl that works at a bank by my old house. I remember talking to her, because she mentioned she had tried to go to the same school I go to, but couldn't afford it. I liked seeing her there, because she was a beacon of light in a business environment intensely focused on profits, personal ambition, and developing exterior skills to further careers. The business world is much less concerned with matters of the heart, the inward sins, desires, and submission to the will of God.
So, I moved out of state for a year but have recently moved back. I recently saw her, but her eyes reflect a darkness in her soul. There's no longer joy in her, and the innocence in her eyes seems to have been snatched away from her. It was quite discouraging seeing the drastic change.
I say these things because Christianity reflects light and darkness more often than we realize. Though it is quite a vague and somewhat subjective, there is no denying the difference between someone entirely submitted to the will of God and someone who has given up hope in the Savior.
I suppose the specific application is to think about how much light we radiate, how much we reflect the light of Christ in our lives. If we walk in the light... we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins.
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