The Church must change its attitude

Hey y'all!

So I just watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcj6kSkO1A

It's a video on homosexuality, and how families deal with it. So from a conservative's point of few, I though it was excellent, just because, we never get taught this side of things in church!

I'll just start with one negative comment and then share what I have learned out of it.

Negative Comment

I thought some of their comments saying the Bible did not condemn homosexuality anymore were not correct. It seemed to me like all the authors of the Bible NT and OT assumed homosexuality was not what God has in mind when he created Adam and Eve. Saying it no longer applies, is just arbitrary. What else do you chose to take out of the Bible, heaven and Hell? Murder? and so on... text. 

They made some comments saying that everybody was God's child, which I do not think is Biblical - John 1:12, 1 John 3:10. But tends to be universalist. I wish I could say the same, but the problem with that is that it is an attack on God. If your sin is no longer a problem, well that attacks his righteousness. He hates all sins! If you decide God loves your sin, well guess what? He loves pedophilia too... That would be an insult to anyone I believe... It is forgivable, that's why Jesus died, but do not say God loves you the way you are, as in he's happy with you living as you do...

Saying God loves people Just the way they are can be misleading. If God loves us the way we are as sinners and does not want us to change, why then did he bother sending Jesus to die according to the Christian faith? If you just take Jesus from the Bible, but leave everything out. Then you are creating your own fictional Jesus, and that's fine. But when people are talking about you, you want them to talk about you as the real person tha

It seemed like a lot of the arguments were more based on emotion than on what the scripture teaches! When we base our doctrine on anything else that what the Bible says, then what?! Chaos! 

Some things Christians need to work on

Jesus said that he wants his followers to be known as people who love each other (John 13:35), sometimes unfortunately it seems like we are known to be gay bashers, which is really unfortunate I think. 

First the primary goal of Christians is not to be anti-gay activist, but to love them, and be sharing the gospel with them. The saving truth that is true for all men, that we have fallen short of the glory of a God who is perfect, and despite what we have done, he gave us his Son, to pay for our sins that we might be cleared. They are sinners like all of us, they don't get a special box! We want them to know Jesus as a priority! Then let the Spirit of God deal with their sin! 

As Christians we should be known as those who love gays, not who hate them! I think that blaming all the anti-gay talk on the Christians is kinda harsh! Because I know many atheists who are wayyy Anti gay, and I would say most Christians I know who though believe homosexual relations are not what God had in mind when he created man and woman, but who love men and women with homosexual lifestyles. If gay people have a hard time with non-believers who should be known for our love for them, build relationships with them, that they can experience the God that we worship!

I think parents should be taught to love their child no matter what, because even though homosexual relations miss the mark of God's ideal, we are all sinners, and so are parents, and grandparents, so being a good witness to our kids is to love them no matter what they do. So that they can at least get some support, if not from anyone else. 

Christians have a bad reputation, I believe some with their sign saying "God hates fags", others maybe even killing gays. Some parents have caused severe psychological damage to their children in that way. 

Anyways, I'll probably have another post on what the Bible teaches, what we can get out of science, but here I really wanted to talk about What we must be known for is our love, not for being homophobic and judgmental, these are sins too!!

In Christ, the savior, 

Julian

The Problem with saying: "all the religions are the same anyway"

Sooo, let's say that I belong to a religion, and I really believe that my religion is the truth, and the only truth, because that is what my religion teaches.

What is more arrogant?

- To believe that my religion is the only truth?

- Or, for someone who does not know my religion to say: "all the religions are the same and all lead to God".

My view

The second! It's as if you walk up to a complete stranger, ask him to tell you his life story, and when he is done talking, you tell him, actually no! I do not know you, but I really understand everything, so let me now tell you what your life was really like...

I believe Jesus is the only way to know God. I believe he was the image of the invisible God. So if you claimed to know God, but you did not recognize Jesus as the image of that God, then your knowledge of God is distorted! So that's my belief!

If a Muslim tells me, that no, the only way to God is by following the teachings of Muhammad, well I would think to myself, "sorry he believes that, I wish I could show them what God is really like, Love, and Justice, personal, who wants a relationship with you!

On the other hand, if a Postmodernist comes up to me and tells me that all the religions are the same, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam.... They've just denied what my faith teaches, in that sense they are telling me that they know more about what Jesus said that Jesus himself!

John 14:6, Acts 4:12

Love love, 

Julian

They Look the same!

A few years back I remember waiting for a friend at Place Jean Jaurès in Toulouse, France. I started to notice a group of people:
One was a tall black guy with dreadlocks, the next was a girl in a beautiful blue dress, then there was this guy who looked a bit geeky with his skinny jeans and big glasses, some in the group looked asians, some black, some caucassion, they did not seem to have anything in common apart their age. I just couldn't figure out how they had arrived to the same place!? They looked like a group, but my question was, why are they together??

Then it occurred to me... THEY MUST BE CHRISTIANS!

From then on I started playing the game: They look the same!

So this is how it works:
Whenever you see a group of people you will notice that the people in the group look the same! This does not always work when you walk passed a family, cos then they might all have their own style! But seriously try it! When you see people who look the same you say: "HEY! they look the same!"

Last year, I had a school trip to Brussels. I told my school mates to try the game. At first some of them were skeptical, but by the end they were like: "HEY! They look the same!"

Having said all of that I just wanted to point out one of the beauties of Christianity:

No matter, who you are, what you done, where you are from, how old you are, what you education is, how many friends you have, what language you speak, you can be skinny or fat, short, or tall, Jesus loves you! He loves you so much that even though he knew all the things you were going to do, I still died on the cross, offering his life for your sins, that you might be saved from your sins, and start a new life, free to have a relationship with the living God!?

Do you want to join in the fun? We are many! You can find us on every continent! We've died to our old selves, we now live to serve the creator God, do his work, proclaiming the gospel of reconciliation, being conformed to the image of Christ to see the world as God sees it, to love like he loves, to serve as he serves!

Let me know!

Much Love,

Julian

Nature vs Nurture

This post is actually relevant to the previous post but I was thinking more of things which are linked to the mind - mental disease..., I guess it could also link up with the freewill debate!

I believe in Freewill!
Ravi Zacharias put it like this: If you are making the truth claim that you are a robot, then you are raising above the bondage of total subjectivity. The moment you make a truth claim, you are violating determinism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU5qgQPPRUM

I think the nature vs nurture debate is really important:

Both have there dangers -

Nature: 

If you are the way you are because of your genetics, then who can condemn a pedophile? 

The only thing left is to say: for the benefit of society, even though we understand that it is not your fault, we must lock you up, even though we do not see you as evil, just a victim of the genes you have. 

If we get it wrong: 

Though someone holds responsibility for their actions, they are cleared!

Nurture:

We then have responsibility for what happens. We can change things. We control our own life to some extent. 

We can still blame people for their actions. 

If we get it wrong:

We blame someone though he was not responsible for his actions

Anyway, be careful in your judgement, making mistakes can have great consequences. Before judging someone about anything, it might be safe to assume that it could always be a bit of both. Losing the balance causes harm.

Where is Freedom found?

Why is it is so easy to leave God, but so hard to leave our bad habits?
Why is it so easy to forsake God, but so hard to stop smoking?
Why does it take no effort to abandon God, but being lazy comes to us so naturally?
Why do we find no problem in keeping God out of our life, when saying "sorry" to someone we've hurt is so difficult?
How come it is so easy to forget God, but so difficult to stop those unhealthy eating patterns?
Why is it that we know God is the one who provides for all our needs, and yet we keep failing to acknowledge him?
Why is it so easy to Replace God with lesser gods, but so hard to get rid of those lesser gods once they take over our life?

That easy, because all things: bind us, enslave us, constrain us, but

God is the only one that gives us Freedom, he freely lets us go our own way!

Key Differences between pre-modernism, modernism, and post-modernism

Why?

Postmodernism is a movement which is so hard to define, especially because it denies absolutes or the effectiveness of words to describe anything. Trying to define it might just be defying post-modernism.

A lot of attempts to describe post-modernism come in contrast to modernism. Postmodernism might be the result, consequence, aftermath of modernism. To understand postmodernism better we will look at the flow of thought that led to it starting with pre-modernism, then modernism, ending with postmodernism. We will look at the differences between these three periods and compare their relationship with Christianity. 

Pre-modernism

Pre-modernism is the period before the Enlightenment which includes the Middle-Ages. Erickson characterizes pre-modernism as a period that believe in the rationality of the universe.

Dualism

Pre-modernist believed in dualism. The believed in both the natural and supernatural, the physical and the spiritual. The believed in an order of things. God being the sovereign creator and sustainer of the universe. Under God came the angelic host, then mankind, then everything else. This dualism was well expressed through religions such as Christianity but also in other polytheistic and pantheistic religions.

Teleological 

Their dualistic helped them place God at the center of all thought. Everything was explained through God. He was the center, reason, and explanation for everything. Everything created had a meaning, and it all fit somehow in God's purpose for everything. 

Realism

Pre-modernists believed in a reality independently of whether we acknowledged it or not. They believed in the correspondence theory of truth. The words we used successfully described reality. 

Relationship with Christianity

In the Pre-modern period, the Christian religion was the most accepted as truth, more than in any other period. Religion was the source of truth, God being the creator, and sustainer, all thought orbited around him. 

Modernism

Modernism has often been said to go from 1789 (the French Revolution) to 1989 (the fall of the wall of Berlin), though Descartes made significant contribution to Modernism with his thought in 1641. This period is characterized by a rejection of superstition, replaced with doubting, and reason to find truth.

Reason

Descartes: I doubt, therfore I think, therefore I am. Started doubting what others of his time assumed to be true. His doubting led to Rationalism. Unless something seem raisonable to be believed he would not accept it. He only accepted what could be proven. 

Naturalistic

Descartes' rationalism led to the scientific method, which offered a whole new way of thinking. Everything could be explained with science. The authority - right to demand obedience concerning belief and action, had a huge shift from what was external to man, like God, to man himself.

Knowledge the virtue of the Age 

Mordernism is seen as the Humanist era. God was sidlines, man is placed in the center. We no longer depend of outside sources for truth. Man is able to raison all truth. Make new discoveries with science, which would lead to progress, and make the world a better place. 

Post-modernism

The era is most easily understood as the rejection of modernism. Modernism failed to provide what it had promised. Knowledge seemed to have failed to provide the "utopia" it had promised. Knowledge had been seen as the greatest good, but this had led to 2 world wars, we still had famine, genocides, the world was not getting better, if anything, the world was getting worse. 

Truth Through our perception

Truth cannot be defined as absolute. Depending on your context, your culture, your upbringing, truth can be different depending on who you are. No one can claim to have absolute truth, mankind would never all agree. 

No more absolute truth

Rejecting truth, we are all allowed to have our opinion, but they must stop there. Anyone claiming to hold an exclusive truth is seen as arrogant and intolerant. Because no one gets the final say, all truths must be seen as valid. Realism is rejected, the correspondence theory of truth is rejected, everything is relative.

Tolerance is the new virtue

Authority has gone from being God's in the premodernist era (practiced by the church), to belonging to men, often concentrated in academia, to no longer being found anywhere. Authority had been used for power to oppress the weak. People rejected all authority. Everyone one has the right to decide what is true. All views must be held as equally true. The definition of tolerance has changed greatly. From allowing people who disagree with you to have the right to express their view, to having to accept their view as equally true.

Relationship with Christianity

One struggle is the religions are seen as oppressive and arrogant, on one hand. But on the other, given the Spirit of Tolerance, Christianity must be accepted as true as all the other beliefs. We have gone a step forward from denying the existing belief in the supernatural. There seems to be a renewed open-mindedness to Christianity. 

Sermon Ephesians 6:14-17

Was asked to teach on the Full Armor of God, to a group of 13-17 year olds... this is my content!

Dress Up For the Weather

Marathon

This is the story of a man called David! One week before the Amsterdam Marathon he told his friend Chris that he was thinking of running? Christ asked him, so have you been doing any running lately? But he told him not at all! And it turned out that he did not even have good running shoes, so he had to borrow Chris’ shoes! But Chris is Dutch so his shoes were quite big! The race was going to start at 11, knowing that he would be running during lunch time, he decided to have a huge breakfast! So has I hope you have all noticed, we was not prepared at all!

The result was: First because he was not used to running, out of the 42km he only ran 5, before he got tired! His stomach was hurting from all the food he was eating, his feet were getting blisters because his shoes did not fit!

Weather

New Zealand is a beautiful place! It is where I was born! The only thing is the weather can be a little bit unpredictable, even in the middle of summer. You can wake up for a beautiful day, decide you want to go out for a picnic, all ready to be lying in the sun! And then guess what?! The weather can change really quickly, if you are unprepared you might get a little bit wet! If you do not come prepared you might have a terrible day instead!

Test/Exam

Have you ever wondered how you would do on an exam or test at school, if you decided you would not study at all, decided that you would spent the night before the exam just watching movies all night, and last of all you show up to school without bringing a pen? How do you think you would do?

Army

Do you want to hear the story of the soldier who skipped military training, found himself in a war zone, without any protective gear and without any weapons? It kinda ends badly so I will spare you the details!

A Christian?

Imagine now a Christian, who can’t tell the difference between Christianity and other religions, who never prays, never reads his Bible, never goes to church! He believe Jesus died for his sins. But when it comes to explaining his faith to others, he does not really feel like he knows enough theology to be any use? When you ask him, what does it mean to be a Christian he is not too sure what to answer?

He knows Jesus has saved him? But does not really know what that means and he is not sure if he does something really bad if he will not become unsaved? He does not realize that the Bible is God’s word mankind. The Book that tells us everything we need to know about God, how we can please him, and how to live as a Christian?

After hearing all these different stories of unprepared and unequipped people, how do you think this Christian will finish his Christian life if he is not prepared for the purposes God has for him!?!?

What is a Christian? What is the meaning of life?

Gospel

Let’s go through the Bible to get a Biblical World View – to Understand what Life is all about?

Bible Overview

- Gen 1: God created all things Good. So he created Adam and Eve right? And they are in the Garden of Eden with a relationship with God! All is Excellent!

- Gen 3: When they disobey him, this relationship has been completely shattered! And the consequence for the world are devastating! We go from a state of perfection, to a state where disease come into the world, with Adam’s sin, death also spread to all men!

- The rest of the Bible is about God actively working through world History to restore mankind and re-establish a relationship with man!

- SO that means all of us? Have you guys heard of John 3:16 For God so loved the World the he gave his only begotten Son that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life!

- So we had a problem of Sin, separating us from God. God has solved the problem by sending Jesus to take the sins of mankind on himself, he died on the cross offereing his perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to pay for all our sin, and now we have it guys! We can now be saved, and have eternal life with God, starting now, and going on forever and ever!

2 Kingdoms

Reading of Eph 6:10-12

What we must be aware of is that there are two kingdoms in the Spiritual world! One is the Kingdom of God, the other is the Kingdom of Darkness. These kingdom are at war, as they oppose each other!

Kingdom of Heaven:

Colossians 1:13 God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

1 Timothy 2:4 Tells us that God wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of what Jesus has done for the world!

Kingdom of Darkness

This is Satan’s kingdom, it is opposed to people coming to the knowledge of Christ! And trying to get us to doubt, that God loves us, and doubt that Jesus really died for us!

Meaning for us

If we know God’s Kingdom is all about saving people, by getting people to believe in Jesus, what must we all do? One thing we must know is that if we are in the Kingdom of heaven, then we work for God now! So what does that mean?

- We make Jesus known – We become more like him in our personal lives, and we tell the whole world about him!

- Do because the Kingdom of Darkness is opposed to the Kingdom of God, which we belong to it will oppose us. So what do we do to resist?

We Must be Equipped - Full Armor of God

We read on! Eph 6:13 – we wear the full armor of God! God used Jesus to save us from Sin! Now we must use Jesus to defend ourselves and fight!

The full armor of God

The Belt of Truth

- There are two aspect to truth

o One is knowing the truth about God. Knowing what the Bible teaches so we do not believe lies!

o The second is about living in truth! Not lying, not deceiving people! If you have a secret that creates distance between you and your loved ones! Satan loves to attack people who are on their own because they are more vulnerable!

- We must live in the Truth, knowing the Christ died for all our Sins! We are now Sons of God! What can Satan do to us, if we have God on our side! Because we are in the Kingdom of God, we must be true and sincere!

Breastplate of righteousness

- 2 Cor 5:21 – Because of what Jesus has done, he has made us righteous! His righteousness never changes! Rom 8:1 Tells us that there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ.

- Often Satan will try to deceive you! He will remind you of your sins, and lie to you, try to make you believe that God does not love you, because you are a sinner! But the Bible says other wise: God looks at you, and he sees Jesus’ perfect life that he gave us! On our own we do not do too well, but with Christ, we are righteous!

Shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of Peace?

- When we know that we are saved based on what God has done for us, instead of what we are capable, it means that we are saved forever! Through Jesus, we know have peace, of knowing that God loves us, and he has reconciled us to him!

- Whithout this knowledge we would have no joy, no hope!

- But now we have peace, and we can now be ready to serve God! Remember what that meant to serve God in the Kingdom of God? ….. Make Jesus known!

The shield of faith

- We have a great example of this in Matthew 4, the Devil spites out flaming darts, Jesus stand firm, because he knows his scripture!

- The shield is what we use to protect ourselves!

- God does not love you – “Nothing get separate me from the Love of God”. The shield helps us to deflect lies people tell us about us

- The truth helps us understand what lies we believe!

The helmet of Salvation

- Helmet goes on head, where the mind is! It is a battle which begins in the mind. Devil either accusing God to you. Or accusing you before God.

- He drives a wedge between you! So that you do not believe his love, you don’t believe his mercy, compassion and grace! When you sin – Satan condemns you saying “God does not want you”!

- Comprehension of Christian salvation, you are protect against these attacks!

The helmet of salvation helps us understand – the gospel and God’s Love

The sword of the Spirit

- The Holy Spirit gave us the Bible, he inspired men to right down God’s words to his people! We can the word of God defensively, and offensively!

- We can go back to scripture to read the truth, and defend ourselves from the lies!

- Being part of the Kingdom of God, reading the Word of God, we will grow stronger and stronger against Satan. We can then move to the offensive! We are called as part of the Kingdom of God to make Jesus known! As well as living it in our everyday lives we must proclaim the Gospel, the Good news that even though we have all sinned separating us with God, he has sent his son for us, that we might have eternal life in his name!

The meaning of “Upon the church I will build my Church”.

The Founding of the Universal Church

Mat 16:18  

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Various Interpretations:

- Peter

- Peter's confession

- to Christ

- the Apostles.

The most natural interpretation of the text

"You are Peter, and on you....", "on you Peter, I will build my church"

Some claim that the Greek word for Peter and Rock were different, but Jesus probably spoke in Aramaic, and in this case, the word would have been the same!

So what does it mean that Peter is the Foundation of the church?

Mat 16

18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

It seems like Peter is Given quite a lot of authority! Or??

The Apostles as the Foundation of the Church?

If we go further in the gospel of Matthew, as Jesus is talking to all his disciples (Mat 18:1)

Mat 18:18

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In a mysterious way the Apostles are the foundation of the church similarly mysterious to the Election of Israel.

Concluding

Many passages seem to hint Christ is the Rock of the church:

1 Cor. 10:4; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8

The church is founded on Christ and the Apostles.

Eph 2:20 - built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone

A case for Believer's Baptism

Definition of Baptism - Symbol of death and Rebirth

Rom 6:3,4

 (6:3) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
(6:4) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

Symbol of death and rebirth.

Col 2:12 

(2:12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Symbol of death and rebirth 

1 Peter 3:21

(3:21) Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Symbol of Death and Rebirth

Baptism - Remission of Sins

Ac. 22:16  

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ 

Heb. 10:22. 

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Connection between Baptism, and being in Christ

Gal. 3:27 

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Rom. 6:3-6

 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Link between Baptism and Repentance

 Acts 2:38 

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What was the point of John the Baptist's Message in Mat 3:1-12? (John Piper - I'm paraphrasing)

Case against infant baptism: John's baptism is associated with commitment to a changed life as opposed to becoming part of the people of God through your birth. People who had the sign of the Covenant were told to change their lives and be baptized. How can we then make of baptism the new sign of the Covenant that we receive at birth, if it seemed to be attacking that! Being born into a covenant family was no guarantee of being a child of God. Baptism is John's new sign of belonging of the true people of God : not based on Jewishness or being born into a covenant family, but based on radically personal, individual repentance and faith.

What is the Relationship between Israel and the Church?

I'm going to discuss four different views: Dispensationalism,  Covenant Theology, Progressive Dispensationalism, and Historic Premillenialism.

Dispensationalist View

The church is new thing. So the church and Israel are separate and different. 

God has a plan for Israel.

God has a plan for the Church.

Romans 11: tells us the Jews were cut off the tree, and the Gentiles were grafted in. 

When Christ returns, Israel will respond and be grafted back into the tree. 

Right now we are in the 6th Dispensation, the age of Grace (Innocence, Consciouness, Government, Promise, Law, Grace, Kingdom.) It is a big Parenthesis, in God working with Israel. 

Progressive Dispensationalism

Some verses seem to hint that the Church is the True Spiritual Israel. This view changes the relation between the Church and Israel, saying that they are not quite the same, and yet they are. Gal 3:29.

They still believe in the Distinction between Israel and the Church. In the same way as the dispensationalist. The church will not go through the Rapture. 

Covenantal theology

Also called: Continuation, Replacement theology

God has one plan for his people. 

Israel has refused to obey, so God has replaced them with the Church. God has given up on Israel to replace them with the Jews. 

The church is the True Israel for today. (Rom 9:6). 

How do they then deal with Rom 11: 23, and the chapter which seems to talk of two different kinds of branches, the natural (Jews), and unnatural (Gentiles). 

Historical Premillenialism

This is a mediating position between Dispensationaism and Covenantal Theology. 

It does seem like today, the church is the Israel of today.

But God still has a place for Israel (Rom 11:23). 

People of God and church are still one so they will go through the Tribulation. 

John the Baptist - The greatest man Ever (Mat 3:1-6)

Went to the Gym today, part of being more healthy! As I shared on the previous most, I'm preparing for a sermon in two Sundays on Matthew 3:1-12. Listening around to what other people have to say. I listened to John MacArthur this evening, here are a few points I want to remember:

John the Baptist

1. Let's make sure that when we define Greatness, that our criteria would put Jesus at the top of the list rather than at the bottom (Poor, from a normal family, died the criminals death...)
2. John the Baptist was the Greatest man to live until his time. 
3. Background for the text: Matthew is presenting Jesus as King. That's his intention; and, in so doing, everything sort of focuses on that reality. In chapter 1, Matthew presented Jesus as King by virtue of His birth. He showed us the royal character of Jesus' birth. In Matthew chapter 2, he presented Him as King by virtue of the circumstances that surrounded His birth. For example, the homage of the magi. They acknowledge Him as King. The hatred of Herod. That, too, was an acknowledging that He was a King and a threat to Herod's own throne; and then the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophetic Word. The Old Testament prophesies that pointed to the King in specifics were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
4. The Focus of Jesus being the king, makes John the Baptist his herald! The greatest man who ever lived up until his time. 
5. As the Herald John had to missions - announcing Christ, and preparing his path. In this case he's asking them to prepare their hearts that the king might enter there. 
6. Matthew 11:11, the greatest man that ever lived up until his time; and I would suggest to you that it's fitting that the great King of kings would have that man to be His herald, isn't it? The greatest man that ever lived.
7. Now, this great man is the subject of this chapter, and another way for Matthew to emphasize...that Jesus is the King. Listen, if the greatest man that ever lived is only the herald for the King, then the King must be greater than the greatest man that ever lived, right? 
8. John the Baptist and Elijah?! John was the fulfillment of the prophecy that Elijah would come. He was the Elijah of the New Testament. Back in Malachi, the last word of the Old Testament is "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."In other words, the prophet Malachi said, the Old Testament closes with this, "The next man on the scene will be Elijah, and he is gonna prepare you for the coming of the King." "How do you know John fulfilled that?" Luke 1:17, "He shall go before Him in the Spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children." In other words, there is Malachi 4:5quoted again; and the Elijah that is being referred to is none other than John the Baptist. He is the Elijah. Matthew 17:10. the disciples asked Jesus, "'Why then say the scribes that Elijah must come first?' And Jesus answered and said unto them, 'Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things.'" He wasn't Elijah, but he came in the spirit and power of Elijah and fulfilled the intention of the prophecy. The people stopped that prophecy when they rejected him!

John the Baptist's message

1. Before worshipping Jesus, you must repent!
2. Repent in greek: It means to turn around. It means to be converted. It means a change of opinion. A change of purpose. A change of direction. A change of mind. A change of will. A change from sin to holiness.
3. Repentance = Converted - It is 2 Corinthians 7 that talks about godly repentance, godly sorrow, that turns you around, and that's what John was saying. He wasn't just saying, "I want you to feel sorry for your sin." He was saying, "I want you to change from sin to holiness. You will never have the Kingdom. You will never have the King until you turn around." The message really could be better translated, "Get converted. Get converted." 
4. Insult to the Jews, who thought they were God's favoured ones! But then again John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemous, he must be born again. Start a new life, to inherit the Kingdom of God. 
5. Expected - the King is hear Hosanah, celebrate, we are going into the Kingdom, yet not at all! Repent!

Kingdom of Heaven

1. Interchangeable with Kingdom of God. Just Jewish audience. 
2. Two aspects. The outer and the inner. In the broadest sense, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God includes, everybody who professes to acknowledge God. Now, in Matthew 13 we'll see that, that the Kingdom of Heaven's got in it wheat and what? Tares, right? That the Kingdom of Heaven is like a great, big bush with birds in it; and you've got the true and the false, the real and the non-real.
3. five distinct phases in the Kingdom. 
1. Prophesied kingdom. Daniel said that God is gonna come and set up a Kingdom, a Kingdom that'll never be destroyed; and Daniel foresaw that Christ would be the King of that Kingdom. 
2. Imminent or at hand: The present Kingdom or the at-hand Kingdom; and that was the Kingdom described by John the Baptist. He was saying, "The prophesied rule of God is now imminent. It's now ready." Jesus said it. The twelve said it. It's at hand. It's coming. It's imminent. It's near. The rule of God, the reign of Christ, both internally and externally, it's here. 
3. Interim phase. After the King was rejected by Israel, the King returned to Heaven; and the Kingdom now exists in a mystery form. Christ isn't literally in the world, literally reigning, literally sitting in Jerusalem ruling the Kingdom; but He reigns a Kingdom in the hearts of all who acknowledge Him as Lord. And, as Paul says in Romans 14:17, "The Kingdom of God is righteousness and joy and peace in the Holy Spirit." It's internal.
4. The fourth phase of the Kingdom is what I call the manifest phase. It is the literal, 1,000-year millennium that is to come. It will involve an external rule where Christ literally rules, physically in the earth; and an internal, where He rules the hearts of the believing people. 
5. The everlasting Kingdom. Second Peter 1:11, Peter calls it, "The eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The fifth and final phase.

John's Impact

John had a huge impact In Matthew 21:26, it says, "For all men hold John as a prophet." It was common belief this was a prophet from God, and they went out. As much of a shock as it was, people came, and they were baptized, and they confessed their sin. Can you imagine it out there?...One crowd after another, everywhere, even in Galilee they came.

What made John Great

1. he was obedient to God's Word. 
2. he was filled with the Spirit. Luke 1:15 says he "was filled with the Spirit from the time of his mother's womb." 
3. he was self-controlled. Luke 1:15 says he, "drank neither wine nor strong drink." Matthew 3 says that, "His clothes were only what was necessary, and his food the same." 
4. he was humble. He was humble. The greatest thing he ever said, John 3 in verse 30, "He must increase, and I must...what?...decrease. It's over for me, guys. You go and give your love to Him. I'm not even worthy to unlatch His shoe." Right? That's what he said. Humble.
5. he proclaimed God's Word. "Behold, the Lamb of God hath taken away the sin of the world. Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 
6. He shall turn many of the people to righteousness." Won people to Christ. 

he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he

Matthew 11:11 says, "Verily I say to you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." "Nevertheless, he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." You get that?... Shock. Listen, we're in the Kingdom; and any of us, the least of us in the Kingdom, surpasses the one who foretold its coming. We have all the resources he looked for. We have all the realities he searched for. We have all the blessings he anticipated. We're not greater in terms of character. That isn't what he's saying. We're greater in terms of privilege and opportunity.

It's like Jesus said to His disciples, "Greater things than these shall...what?...ye do, because I go to My Father."...We can be great for God. The least of us, greater than the greatest who ever lived. That's what it is to be in His Kingdom. Are you grateful?

The Baptism of John - Mat 3:1-17

In preparation for my Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12 The Urgency of the Kingdom, this morning when I went for my morning run, I listened to John Piper preach on Matthew 3:1-17. His message was mainly about Baptism, though. Which I was not going to talk too much about, that after this sermon, it might be appropriate.
A Few points I want to remember from his sermon are:

1. Baptism is not a denomination thing, it is a Church thing! In the Bible apart from the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43, there are no unbaptized believers!
2. Case for altar calls - people aren't to be anonymous, what if there was an answer through faith to the message being preached? Paul seemed to be aware of who those people were in Acts 14:4,12,34)
3. Baptism is the public way, of affirming our faith. 
4. There is a close continuity between John's baptism and Christian baptism. John Baptized, Jesus baptized, and he commanded the church to baptize. 
5. When a Jewish person received John's baptism, it was a radical act of individual commitment to belong to the true people of God, based on personal confession and repentance, NOT on corporate identity with Israel through birth.
6. Case against infant baptism: John's baptism is associated with commitment to a changed life as opposed to becoming part of the people of God through your birth. People who had the sign of the Covenant were told to change their lives and be baptized. How can we then make of baptism the new sign of the Covenant that we receive at birth, if it seemed to be attacking that! Being born into a covenant family was no guarantee of being a child of God. Baptism is John's new sign of belonging of the true people of God : not based on Jewishness or being born into a covenant family, but based on radically personal, individual repentance and faith.
7. John's baptism was radical, because it was adressed to the Jews, who thought they were already save through the Jewish heritage. 
8. God will fulfill his promises because he does not lie! But Jews must not assume that God needs them to fulfill those promises. He can easily raise new children of Abraham. 
9. John's baptism is not a continuation of circumcision. It was an indictment of a misuse of circumcision as a guarantee of salvation. Circumcision was a sign of ethnic continuity; baptism was a sign of spiritual reality.
10. Baptism is for those who believe.
11. Until AD 200 with Tertullian, there is no mention of infant baptism. 

Piper's Conclusion: 

"The way of salvation is repentance and faith in Christ, not ethnic identity or birth to Christian parents. God calls us today, no matter who our parents were, and no matter what ritual we received as infants : God calls us today to repent and believe on Christ alone for salvation and to receive the new sign of the new covenant of the people of God : the sign of repentance and faith, baptism. So I call on every one of you who has not followed Christ in this way, "Repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38). This is the call of God. This is the path of obedience and life."

Judgment vs Love - where's the Balance?

So you are a good Christian, and you've seen someone sin!

Things to remember:

- You are sinner too! 

- You only noticed, because you practice similar things!

What to do?

So on, one hand you want to be as loving as possible. You do not want to judge the person, so you want them to know what they did is wrong. 

I could way is to remind the person, that, you are not perfect, and don't claim to be while calling out sin. Express your concern for them. Because it saddens you when they sin. Make it clear that if they are a believer, we are called to be righteous and not sin (even though, we will keep on sinning!). 

The great tension between Mercy and Justice.

Can both Mercy and Justice come together? I want to say no! 

When someone commits a crime, either you 

• Exercycle Justice, and the person gets what they deserve! Meaning that though it is probably impossible to find the perfect punishment for a crime, you try to.
• Or you show mercy! You deliberately go easy on them. Seeing it as giving them another chance.

Tension between Mercy and Justice and God?

God is perfect! So he perfectly find the right balance. In fact, in Christ, he has punished all sin in Christ, so he has exercised justice to the fullest. And now, he has provided a way to forgive us, being all merciful!

In Christ, God is 100% Justice (Righteous) and 100% Merciful.
So this tension has been solve in God!

Going through Scripture - conflicts

How are we able to live Reflecting as closely as we can God's mercy and justice?

It seems that we cannot! The best we can do, is consistently be loving in all that we do. Will reminding all of the seriousness of evil and sin. 

There are some passages in the Bible sometimes, where I know God did things with the right balance, but I still find it hard myself to understand it. Funnily enough it is never when God has chosen to be too merciful. But when he has chosen to exercise justice! Would it be right to conclude, that I do not take sin seriously enough?

Examples of God's judgment throughout the Bible

This list is to be completed! 

- The Flood

- Sodom and Gomorah

- Sin of Achan

- Slaughtering of nations (women and Babies included) - Deuteronomy 2:34

Bibliology - What's that?! Why should I care!?

Bibliology (1)

Dear Friends,

So after one year at seminary, I'm into the final week of my first year, with only 4 exams left.
One of them is on one of my favorite classes this semester: Bibliology!

It is not the study of the Bible, it is the study about the Bible!
I'm writing this post here instead of studying, because I believe it will help me study!! Hehe

So What is Bibliology and why must we all study it!?! Not just Seminary students!!

What is Bibliology?

• Bibliology is the doctrine of the Bible, the study of the Bible as God's Word. 
• The Bible tells us everything we know about God, Jesus, Salvation and eternity. An improper understanding of the Bible, would lead to clouded and distorted views on these different issues.
• Bibliology really tells us what the Bible is.

Why should we study Bibliology?

I'm going share how studying the Bible has affected me personally. 

Throughout this class I studied different concepts such as Revelation, Inspiration, Canonicity, Textual Criticism, Translation, Application, Communication. 

For some of these concepts, I found that they were a lot more complex that what I originally thought. 

As evangelical Christians, we believe God speaks to us through the Bible, and that is where we go to understand truth. Unless we study Bibliology, how can we defend adequately the authenticity of the Bible, when faced with the questions of skeptics?

Have you ever heard this?

Did God write the Bible?

The Bible is Full of lies/ contradictions

The Bible is a book made by man.

There are so many translations, how do we know which one is accurate?

Anyone can make the Bible say whatever they want to say!

The Church chose which passages it wanted to include in the Bible

The New Testament was written hundreds of years after Jesus died!

The Bible Excluded many documents of same worth as what we find in the Bible (Gospel of Thomas, Judas).

The Bible is outdated!

Bibliology gives answers to these!

Bibliology helps the Believer to reply/address all these questions/issues. It helps to see the Bible in new light, with insight on what the Church has believed throughout the ages about the Bible. It equips us for building up people in the Church, and evangelism. It allows us to have a strong basis for our trust in the Bible, and allows us to feel comfortable in the reasonableness of our faith.

The process of how we got the Bible, taught me a lot about the work of God, and helped me understand even more how great, and big he was. So many of the truths learned during this class have helped me become more confident in the scripture, which has led me to take it more seriously. The brokenness of man is really serious, and has eternal consequences. The Bible comes perfectly together to form God's message of Redemption. 

Man has sinned, and been separated from God (Gen 3), our sins separate us all from God (Is 59, Rom 3). But God has provided a way (Rom 6:3) by sending his Son (John 3:16), but people must place their face in Christ. (Eph 2:8), so they can do this they must hear his message (Rom 10:14), so we must go proclaim it to the world (Mat 28:19-20). We cannot as Christian justify not proclaiming the gospel. Through this semester I've been prompted to share the Gospel with people. Often I found that the truths I've learned through this course were most helpful to give weight to my answers. The strong evidence for the authenticity of the Bible, allowed me to present it to people, who doubted the Bible was accurate so that in turn they could try to dismiss it. 

My New Year's resolution

New Years Resolution (this is the first time in my 25 years that I have some):

1. Wish everybody I know that has a birthday - a Happy Birthday (easy with facebook!) Had 5 to do today!

2. Take lots of pictures this year! I want to remember! (I really like it when people give me pictures that help me remember the good memories so I want to do that for others!

3. Take sin more seriously than I did last year (for my own life anyway! Meaning I don't want to appear legalistic towards others!)

4. Start a health blog! Because I think it will help encourage me to be healthy, and I am hoping to learn a lot from it!

5. Improve my social life! I've noticed that I've spend days without leaving the small campus! Tyndale I love you, but sometimes I need my space!!