Ten things (in no particular order) I feel guilty about.... (I got this idea from my sister-in-law's blog, Ceaseless Praise)
1. When I get more than 7 hours of sleep on a weeknight. I just hate the thought of sleeping away 1\3 of my life.
2. If I'm a poor testimony at work. It is so hard to maintain a good testimony for 40 hours each week. Which is really sad, because I'm supposed to be a good testimony 168 hours a week.
3. For the people in my life during my high school and college days that I treated like a jerk. I'm not proud of some of the ways I've treated people...I wish I could somehow make it up to them.
4. When I raise my voice at my wife. I still don't think I realize the full impact my harsh words have on her.
5. When I watch TV, play games, or surf the web instead of getting work done. This probably happens way more than I realize.
6. When I'm selfish in conversations, and don't ask people about their day\how they are doing. I do this a lot.
7. For leaving my friends in Ohio. This is one of those bizarre things that still comes back and bothers me. I know I left Ohio to go college, but I still just feel guilty about leaving.
8. When I don't listen very well to my wife when she tells me about her day. For guys, their day was either, "Good" or "Not Bad".
9. When I miss\don't create an opportunity to share with someone about my Savior, Jesus Christ. There's no excuse for this.
10. For being judgemental and not loving people like I should. I wonder how many people I have written off just because, "They rubbed me the wrong way." Imagine how many good friendships I've missed out on, because I was selfish and proud.
~~~~
I'm not trying to wallow in guilt, just some honest reflection. I'm so grateful my sins are forgiven through Christ (though not every one of these is a moral issue), but I don't want to keep sinning so that grace may abound!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Cats
Once upon a time, there was a small country church nestled among the trees along Highway 68. The little baptist church consistently drew in an about 75 attendees each week. It was a tight knit community of believers, led by their beloved pastor, Pastor Smith. The church had no air conditioning, and during the hot summer months, they would leave the doors open in order to allow a slight breeze into the auditorium. This of course posed a few problems, one of which was a stray cat which would wander into the morning service and meander around the auditorium, distracting the parishioners. Pastor Smith decided it was time to remove this distraction from the morning service, and tied the cat up to the piano on the far right hand side of the auditorium. Each Sunday morning when the Pastor arrived at church, he would tie up the cat, and then let it go at the end of the day. Just a few months later, Pastor Smith moved away. Never fear however, because the chairman of the deacon board immediately took it upon himself to tie the cat to the piano each Sunday morning.
Eventually, as the church grew, they were able to afford air conditioning. Consequently, they shut their doors during the morning service, and the cat was no longer able to wander in from the outside. Oddly however, the chairman of the deacon board searched out the cat, hauled it into the auditorium, and tied it to the piano during the service. Several years past, the church grew in numbers, and still the cat was dutifully tied to the piano each Sunday morning. The "tying of the cat" even found it's way into the bi-laws of the church. After several years, the cat died. But, not to be outdone, the chairman of the deacon board immediately adopted a new cat from the animal shelter and tied it to the piano. Eventually, the chairman of the deacon board moved away, and the ritual of tying the cat to the piano was passed on to the current pastor. The pastor didn't really know why, but he didn't want to mess with tradition. Years past, and each and every Sunday morning, their was a cat purring underneath the piano during the service. And the cat lived happily ever after.
What "cats" do you have in your church?
Eventually, as the church grew, they were able to afford air conditioning. Consequently, they shut their doors during the morning service, and the cat was no longer able to wander in from the outside. Oddly however, the chairman of the deacon board searched out the cat, hauled it into the auditorium, and tied it to the piano during the service. Several years past, the church grew in numbers, and still the cat was dutifully tied to the piano each Sunday morning. The "tying of the cat" even found it's way into the bi-laws of the church. After several years, the cat died. But, not to be outdone, the chairman of the deacon board immediately adopted a new cat from the animal shelter and tied it to the piano. Eventually, the chairman of the deacon board moved away, and the ritual of tying the cat to the piano was passed on to the current pastor. The pastor didn't really know why, but he didn't want to mess with tradition. Years past, and each and every Sunday morning, their was a cat purring underneath the piano during the service. And the cat lived happily ever after.
What "cats" do you have in your church?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Core
Several years ago, while at Bethany Camp, I met Dr. Charles Colton (senior pastor of the Panama Baptist Church in western New York State) and had the privilege of discussing the "sine qua non" of Christianity with him. Dr. Colton was very pleasant to dialogue with, and I enjoyed our discussion immensely. I recently had the opportunity to read Dr. Colton's book (published a year or so after our discussion), Core Christianity. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and, though I don't agree with Dr. Colton on every point, I highly recommend it.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Word Games
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach on I John 2:12-14 at The Gathering.
The ending of verse 14 says, "I have written to you young people, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have conquered the evil one."
I asked the question, "What did John mean by the phrase, 'the Word of God'?" In the sermon, I answered the question in relatively broad terms. The following is some of my expanded thoughts on the subject.
~~~~~
What did John mean by the phrase, "the Word of God?"
Obviously, these believers did not have the complete Bible, so to what is John referring? For certain, he is referring to the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. Some Christians might have had access (or have known someone with access) to a copy of the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the OT.
As for the NT, it is possible that they had one of the synoptic Gospels. If we assume Mark was written c. 45 AD, that gives about 45 years for it to circulate, and possibly have gotten into the hands of John's audience. Matthew and Luke, written c. 70 AD (depending on your view), would have only had roughly 20 years. If you date Matthew and Luke in the 80's, it would be even more difficult for John's readers to have access to them. It is also possible that they had a small collection of two or three of Paul's epistles (written in the 50's and 60's). However, even if we assume the best possible scenario - that they had access to one gospel, and some Pauline epistles - we must remember that literacy rates were much lower, and copies of the scriptures were very, very few.
That said, there was another body of teaching that would have been passed on orally - the Kerygma. Kerygma is a term that means, "preaching, or proclamation". Kerygma is used to refer to the body of truth proclaimed by the early apostles about Christ, and the Christian message. Some of the elements of the Kerygma would have included, key points of Christ's earthly ministry; that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again, and was seen by many witnesses; and a proclamation of salvation through Christ. (SEE: I Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 2:22-38; Acts 4:8-12; Acts 10:34-43; Acts 13:23-39) In short, the kerygma is the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ.
To sum up, when John uses the phrase, 'Word of God' he was referring to the OT, possibly one or two books in the NT, and the Kerygma - the apostolic teaching about Christ.
There is still another aspect that I didn't get into during the sermon. If John's readers had access to some NT books, would they have even viewed them as canonical at this point? In other words, would they themselves have viewed Mark, for example, as the Word of God in 90 AD?
Another question, is it possible that when John used the term, "Word of God", he was referring to a gift of prophetic revelation? That is, did the readers of I John really did have the Word of God abiding\residing in them? In I John 2:20 it says, "Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.", skip to verse 27, "Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides (same grk word as v.14) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him." The context of these verses is a warning against false teachers. Teachers who may have claimed some type of elite secret knowledge about Christ. In this type of context, the anointing seems to be aiding in the discernment process - discerning between false teaching about Christ, and correct teaching about Christ. Thus, it isn't certain that by, "word of God", John was speaking about an inner prophetic gift. Even if this were the case, this does not negate the definition of "Word of God" given above (OT, parts of NT, and kerygma), it nearly expands the definition. Any genuine "Word of God" via prophecy from within, would have to conform with the OT, NT, and apostolic teaching (Kerygma).
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
The ending of verse 14 says, "I have written to you young people, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have conquered the evil one."
I asked the question, "What did John mean by the phrase, 'the Word of God'?" In the sermon, I answered the question in relatively broad terms. The following is some of my expanded thoughts on the subject.
~~~~~
What did John mean by the phrase, "the Word of God?"
Obviously, these believers did not have the complete Bible, so to what is John referring? For certain, he is referring to the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. Some Christians might have had access (or have known someone with access) to a copy of the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the OT.
As for the NT, it is possible that they had one of the synoptic Gospels. If we assume Mark was written c. 45 AD, that gives about 45 years for it to circulate, and possibly have gotten into the hands of John's audience. Matthew and Luke, written c. 70 AD (depending on your view), would have only had roughly 20 years. If you date Matthew and Luke in the 80's, it would be even more difficult for John's readers to have access to them. It is also possible that they had a small collection of two or three of Paul's epistles (written in the 50's and 60's). However, even if we assume the best possible scenario - that they had access to one gospel, and some Pauline epistles - we must remember that literacy rates were much lower, and copies of the scriptures were very, very few.
That said, there was another body of teaching that would have been passed on orally - the Kerygma. Kerygma is a term that means, "preaching, or proclamation". Kerygma is used to refer to the body of truth proclaimed by the early apostles about Christ, and the Christian message. Some of the elements of the Kerygma would have included, key points of Christ's earthly ministry; that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again, and was seen by many witnesses; and a proclamation of salvation through Christ. (SEE: I Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 2:22-38; Acts 4:8-12; Acts 10:34-43; Acts 13:23-39) In short, the kerygma is the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ.
To sum up, when John uses the phrase, 'Word of God' he was referring to the OT, possibly one or two books in the NT, and the Kerygma - the apostolic teaching about Christ.
There is still another aspect that I didn't get into during the sermon. If John's readers had access to some NT books, would they have even viewed them as canonical at this point? In other words, would they themselves have viewed Mark, for example, as the Word of God in 90 AD?
Another question, is it possible that when John used the term, "Word of God", he was referring to a gift of prophetic revelation? That is, did the readers of I John really did have the Word of God abiding\residing in them? In I John 2:20 it says, "Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.", skip to verse 27, "Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides (same grk word as v.14) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him." The context of these verses is a warning against false teachers. Teachers who may have claimed some type of elite secret knowledge about Christ. In this type of context, the anointing seems to be aiding in the discernment process - discerning between false teaching about Christ, and correct teaching about Christ. Thus, it isn't certain that by, "word of God", John was speaking about an inner prophetic gift. Even if this were the case, this does not negate the definition of "Word of God" given above (OT, parts of NT, and kerygma), it nearly expands the definition. Any genuine "Word of God" via prophecy from within, would have to conform with the OT, NT, and apostolic teaching (Kerygma).
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Authors
Jason L. Hart
Jason resides with his wife, Emily, in Chattanooga, TN. He graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College with a Bachelor of Arts in 2008, and is currently pursuing a masters degree at at Temple Baptist Seminary. His main interests are the synoptic gosples, textual criticism, theodicy, apologetics, and pop culture.
Stephen T. Archer
Stephen is currently a senior in college at Tennessee Temple University studying Music and Spanish and plans on getting a Doctorate Degree in Theology in a few years. He is interested in every part of the Doctrine of Salvation from Penal Substitution to the Crucifixion itself.
Jason resides with his wife, Emily, in Chattanooga, TN. He graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College with a Bachelor of Arts in 2008, and is currently pursuing a masters degree at at Temple Baptist Seminary. His main interests are the synoptic gosples, textual criticism, theodicy, apologetics, and pop culture.
Stephen T. Archer
Stephen is currently a senior in college at Tennessee Temple University studying Music and Spanish and plans on getting a Doctorate Degree in Theology in a few years. He is interested in every part of the Doctrine of Salvation from Penal Substitution to the Crucifixion itself.
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