My Nook, Angry Birds, and that feeling of superiority

Here are a few thoughts that were too many to write as simple facebook posts.

Last night Tiernan saw my Nook. He said, “Your Nook. I haven’t seen this in a long time. Do you have Angry Birds?”
I said, “No. I don’t have any games.”
He was shocked. “How do you have any fun with your Nook with no games?”
I said, “I have fun reading.”
He didn’t really buy it.


I read Luke 11 last night. I had this response repeatedly: “Wow!” Won’t talk about the entire chapter, just one part. After introducing the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says:

5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;  
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?  
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.  
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.  

I love this really big word in v 8, importunity. Haven’t even looked at the Greek word but the English definition of this wonderful word is, “troublesomely urgent; overly persistent.” Wow!

And Jesus applies his own story:
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

What encouragement this was for me. Thank You!


One more thought. I have been making a list of people I am better than and superior to. Here it is. It’s long and rather specific, but just being honest:



















Have a great day!!

Luke 9 – Who is this?

In another post I wrote that I was reading through the Gospels just to read through them and be blown away by Jesus anew. Well, I read Luke 9 last night. And it seems that there is a controlling thought for this section, expressed by Herod, “Who is this?” and answered throughout the chapter

7-9 Herod
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead;
And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.
And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.
The people didn’t know who Jesus was, but they were certain he was supernatural

18-20 The disciples
And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?
They answering said, John the Baptist; but some [say], Elias; and others [say], that one of the old prophets is risen again.
He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.
Peter answers for the group, You are the Christ. Can you imagine how excited they must have been? Ever since they could understand the people around them, they had heard that Christ was coming. And now, here he is! and they are hanging out with him!!!

23-26 Jesus on discipleship
And he said to all, If any will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and [in his] Father's, and of the holy angels.
This is awesome. But I tell you, Jesus must have missed the memo stating, “Taking up the cross and following Jesus is out; bowing your head, closing your eyes and raising your hand is in.” Clearly, for Jesus, to believe in Him (that he is the Christ of God) means to follow him, to become a disciple. And he makes no bones about it on the front end: deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me, lose your life for my sake. I was being sarcastic with the “memo” thing but honestly, I have never seen a gospel tract that says anything like this; they all say “Pray this prayer...”

46-56 The disciples are full of this thought – He is the Christ, the Kingdom is soon!
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
We all get on them for being so stupid here, but they had this argument because they were certain the kingdom was soon!

And when his disciples James and John saw [that this Samaritan village did not receive him], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
They thought, if a prophet could defend himself this way, then we can do at least this much to defend the honor of the Christ of God. Their thinking was messed up but they were convinced.

57-62 Jesus interviews potential disciples
57  And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain [man] said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay [his] head.
Before you follow me understand this, this is not a way to get rich.

59  And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60   Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Wow, this seems harsh: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. This is a social and family obligation and Jesus calls him to ignore it. Now, I have heard people say that the father was not necessarily dead, the man just wanted to wait until he had fulfilled that obligation before he became a follower. And that is probably correct. So Jesus says to this man, Don’t delay or put it off. Do it now!

61  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
This man is more up front, let me go and bid them farewell, have going away parties, and graciously cut my ties. And Jesus has another strong word, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. No, do it now!

We always make it so easy and comfortable, but Jesus did not. "I am calling you. Cut your ties now. Don’t delay, do it now. Come, follow me."

The Gospel of Jesus is powerful!

Do you have your ID?

We sell tobacco and beer. Both are age restricted and therefore we are under obligation to check IDs. The rule of thumb is, “If they don’t look 35, check their ID.” There are people I never ask ID from and there are those who I no longer ID. But if a person comes in and I don’t remember seeing them or they act like they have never been here before, I ask for their ID. I’m constantly surprised at the number of young people, 20-25, who carry no ID with them and are absolutely offended when I ask for it and then turn down the sale because they can’t provide it.

Last night I denied sales to two people in a row. The first guy had no ID so I said, "Sorry." He walked out muttering, “This is ridiculous! I am almost 25 years old!” Of course, I’m thinking to myself, “Then you ought to know better.” The very next customer, when asked for his ID (it was Friday night, I sold a LOT of cigarettes and beer!) produced a strangely mangled ID. I told him, “I’m sorry, I can’t accept this.” Gonna be a great night.

Shortly after this a police officer stops by to visit. I facetiously tell him, “I know you never see anything like this, but I am amazed at the number of people who don’t carry ID and are offended when asked for one.” He laughed and said:

“Tonight I stopped this guy and he wouldn’t tell me who he was. I asked for his ID and he said, 'I’m 41 years old and have never had an ID.’ So I said, ‘You’re 41 years old and have never been issued an ID of any kind?’ He said, ‘Never.’ So I told him, ‘I think you’re lying but since I don’t know who you are, I’m gonna have to arrest you. I’ll take you downtown and we’ll take your fingerprints and put them into the system. They will be picked up by the people who have a warrant out for you and we will transfer you to them.’ He then said, ‘Listen, my name is John Smith.’ So I asked him, ‘Why did you lie to me, man?’ He said, ‘I was afraid there might be a warrant out for me.’ So I told him, ‘Now I gotta arrest you for lying to me.’ ”

After I stopped laughing he told me another story:

“You would be surprised at the number of people, who, when I stop them, have no ID. So I ask them, ‘What’s your name?’ and they say ‘John Smith.’ So I go to the computer and check them out and find out there is a warrant out for John Smith. I go back to the car and say, ‘Please step out of the car, I’m placing you under arrest, because there is a warrant out for you, John Smith.’ And they immediately respond, ‘Hey, that’s not really my name. That’s my buddy’s name.’ And it really is but now I gotta arrest them for lying to me.”

I still laugh out loud just recalling these stories! You just cannot make this kind of stuff up!

Baking cakes and eternal life

I like cake. And I like to bake cakes. I have to admit a couple of things right at the beginning: I have never made a cake from scratch and I have a history of cake-baking problems, usually frosting the cake, but not always as I shall relate. Recently, I made a cake and somehow misread the instructions. I only used 1/3 cup water instead of 1 and 1/3. How did it come out? Awful! So bad I threw the whole thing away.

When you follow the directions and use the proper ingredients you get good cake. Is this how eternal life works? Is it just a matter of following the directions?

I’ve been thinking about this lately, about good works and salvation. We know the Bible speaks forcefully against certain behavior. And there are even lists of behaviors, which, if you do, you will not inherit the kingdom. For example, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Which means, those who do those things cannot expect to go to heaven. Furthermore, we are urged to repent and turn away from this kind of living.

So, does this mean that if I am a fornicator and idolater and drunkard and I give up these wicked ways I will go to heaven?

What if, after I quit the bad things, I make a concerted effort to replace them with good behavior – I live a chaste, sober and honest life? Can I expect heaven now? You know, since I’m following the directions and using all the proper ingredients, my cake will turn out good, right?

This is classic ‘works righteousness’ – “I’m a good person, I don’t do bad things and I live right. I should go to heaven.” All people are naturally drawn to this and Christians are also tempted to fall into this kind of thinking. We look around at our neighbors and think, ‘They need to change their ways.’ And this is true. The drunk needs to quit drinking, the thief needs to give up stealing, the immoral needs to stop immoraling. But when they do, are they now heaven bound?

What is a Christian? He is a follower of Jesus Christ, someone who, believing Jesus is the Son of God, purposely sets out to live like He teaches, to obey Him. Is that what makes me fit for heaven?

The answer is, No. Even though the Bible speaks against bad works, our problem is not simply that we do bad things. Our fundamental problem can be summed up in three statements:
+ I have sinned – how do I atone for this?
+ I am separated from God – how can I be reconciled?
+ I am dead in sin – how can I be made alive?

The last one is the kicker. I need life.

When I make a cake, all I have to do is follow the directions: put in the right ingredients, mix it for the right amount of time, pour it into my baking dish, put into the pre-heated oven and bake it for 30 minutes; then take it out, let it cool, and frost it. Then voila! I have a good cake! I take some with me every night to work. Right now it is Devil’s Food Chocolate with Classic Chocolate Frosting. So good even Mary is eating it. And it is true in the spiritual realm as well. God has given us some directions: there are things we need to not do and if we are doing them we need to stop; there are things we need to do and if we are not doing them we need to start. Further, it is definitely true, He rewards (blesses) us when we obey and penalizes us (withholds blessing) when we disobey. And a Christian is a person who is purposely seeking to follow Jesus by obeying His teaching and thus have the blessing or favor of God.

But there is one ingredient that needs to be added that I cannot add. I can follow the directions all my life and still not come out with a good spiritual cake. That one ingredient is life. God has to grant me life, His life, or I remain dead in my sins, in my separation from Him. What does the Bible say about that? 1 John 5:11-12:

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 
He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Works are important. Everyone will agree with this. But my good works cannot give me life. I need Jesus. God by His grace gives me life when I believe in Jesus. I am a Christian because I am a follower of Jesus, but my hope of eternal life is not in my obedience, it is only Him.

Isn’t neat when you like cake and have time to think about things during the night?

Fishes and Following

I read Mark and now I am in Luke. I am reading the Gospels just to read them and take in the words and works of Jesus. What follows is all from Luke 5.

Fishes
4  Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5  And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6  And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7  And they beckoned unto [their] partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
This is amazing. This is a LOT of fish. I confess, I have read this before, but I guess I was always hung up on v 5 and overlooked 6 & 7. This is a tremendous miracle. Don’t you think these fishermen would have noticed this many fish so close to their boat? They simply were not there a moment ago, but as soon as they put their nets into the water – BOOM – there they were! So many fish that two boats were about to sink!

Of course, when you think about it, v 4-5 are significant. When Jesus tells them to put their nets back in the water, Simon responds with the weary unbelief of the working man, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Then he expresses faith, nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. Got to love it - nevertheless - I don't believe it will happen but I believe you. Faith.

What was Simon’s response to this miracle?
8  When Simon Peter saw [it], he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9  For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
I’m not sure I understand v 8, but v 9 makes perfect sense to me: astonished. This is “an emotion in which awe and fear are mingled” (Thayer’s Lexicon). That about sums up how I would respond!

Following
5:10  . . . And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
This blows me away. Think about this for a moment. Simon and his partners (James and John) were fishermen. This is how they made a living. They have just caught enough fish to nearly sink two boats - this is a lot of money. Yet, when Jesus invited them to follow him they forsook all, and followed him. With only enough delay to get the ships docked. They left their livelihood to follow him. They left their paycheck to follow him. THIS is what it means to believe in Jesus.

And about this word followed. For years missionaries from Africa have told us that they describe becoming and being a Christian as “to walk the Jesus road.” Thayer’s defines this word followed thus: “properly, walking the same road” Ha!

My son in law put this picture on his fb recently. I love it and I think it captures v 11 and what it means to be a Christian:

Shock and Awe

When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, President Bush described the method of attack as “Shock and Awe.” I have no desire to talk about the war in Iraq but I do want to mention a couple of things that I recently read. One shocked me and the other awed me.

SHOCK
My brother in law is a Methodist pastor. I was looking at his fb page the other day and saw a post by one of his pastor friends. The post read:

"I can remember only one time hearing this text addressed in church. It was in a Sunday School class when I was in high school-all teenage boys being taught by a man. Is there a way to preach on it and say what needs to be said without getting folks so "riled up" they can't hear it?”

Of course that made me curious and  I wondered, “What text is so volatile?” There was a link and I went to it to see. This is what I read:

"Whose temples?
1 Corinthians 6:12–20
Jan 09, 2012 by Cynthia D. Weems [a Methodist pastor]

It's hard to believe that any preacher would choose to preach on this week's epistle reading. There are words here rarely spoken in our sanctuaries, and using this text might get a preacher sent to denominational reform school.

I do not recommend this passage. And that is why it should be preached.

There are myriad ways this passage has been used to scare the "living daylights" (as my grandmother would say) out of impressionable parishioners tempted by the things of the flesh. I cannot say I spend any significant time preaching about the sins of this very flesh. Although perhaps I should."

I was truly shocked! This (scripture passage) is inflammatory?? This was basic stuff in churches I was part of and pastored. We even sang two songs from verses 19 and 20. One pastor says he has only heard it addressed one time and it will get folks “riled up.” The other pastor says, “I do not recommend this passage.” What in the world is being preached/taught in these churches????


AWE
Then I found this among my papers. It was written by Tertullian or one of his contemporaries around AD 200.

“I now come to the accusation that most of us are said to be poor; that is not to our shame, it is to our great credit. Men’s characters are strengthened by stringent circumstances, just as they are dissipated by luxurious living. Besides, can a man be poor if he is free from want, if he does not covet the belongings of others, if he is rich in the possession of God? Rather, he is poor who possesses much but still craves for more.

And so it is that when a man walks along a road, the lighter he travels, the happier he is; equally, on this journey of life, a man is more blessed if he does not pant beneath a burden of riches but lightens his load by poverty. Nevertheless, we would ask God for material goods if we considered them to be of use; without a doubt, He to whom the whole belongs would be able to concede us a portion. But we prefer to hold possessions in contempt than to hoard them: it is rather innocence that is our aspiration, it is rather patience that is our entreaty; our preference is goodness, not extravagance.”

Wow!

"Nothing that is God's is obtainable by money."

Tertullian

Observations and Conclusions on Infant Baptism

On January 16 I wrote a facebook note on infant baptism. I asked in my note, How did the church move from believers baptism to infant baptism? The answers I got can be summed up this way: “They did not move, infant baptism by sprinkling, was the original mode and practice.”

I have to admit, I was astounded. They read “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” And they say, Yep, infants. Or, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” – infants. Or, “Repent and be baptized every one of you” – infants.

What is the rationale offered for infant baptism?

† On why they sprinkle - “We don’t know how deep the Jordan was.” And “they both went down into the water” – we don’t know how far down. And when they read “many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized” they say, It doesn’t say infants were excluded.

† baptism simply represents membership in the covenant community, that is the church, and has no reference to repentance, faith, or the new birth. There is no link to spiritual life.

† some commentors were Methodists; the UMC says:
Does baptism mean that I am saved?
No, salvation is a lifelong process during which we must continue to respond to God's grace. Baptism offers the promise that the Holy Spirit will always be working in our lives, but salvation requires our acceptance of that grace, trust in Christ, and ongoing growth in holiness as long as we live.

Does baptism make me a member of the church?
Yes, baptism is the act of initiation and incorporation into the universal church of Jesus Christ, The United Methodist Church, and the local congregation, as our ritual makes very clear.

I am utterly astounded by these statements! The first question and answer explains why so many Methodists I have spoken to over the years, when asked, Are you a Christian? Have consistently answered, I’m working on it.
As far as the second question, I think all groups practicing infant baptism answer the same way: The baptized infant is a full fledged member of the church, they are in Christ, they are heirs, they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit etc.
Further, this statement provided by the UMC differs from what John Wesley himself taught: In A Treatise on Baptism he wrote:
“What are the benefits we receive by baptism…the first of these is, the washing away the guilt of original sin…By baptism we enter into covenant with God…By baptism we are admitted into the Church, and consequently made members of Christ, its Head…By baptism, we who were “by nature children of wrath” are made the children of God...we are made the children of God by adoption and grace.” …In consequence of our being made children of God, we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven.”

† others also emphasize the covenant aspect. I found a book, To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism ~ Covenant Mercy to the Children of God. One of the comments about the book states:
“Wilson, ever the careful exegete and consummate logician, presents a clear case for infant baptism by starting where any discussion on this subject should: in the OLD TESTAMENT! Very few if any proponents of believer's baptism begin their argument in the Old Testament (and if you start with the New, you will inevitably argue against infant baptism!)”
This is very interesting. This is an admission that if you read the New Testament you will not find infant baptism; that you can only come to this conclusion from the Old Testament. This is startling. I wonder how many other doctrines of the gospel cannot be found in the NT? (that’s sarcasm, in case you didn’t detect it)

† Martin Luther has both the most consistent and yet amazing comments about this. He admits that everywhere the Gospel links faith to baptism, and that without faith baptism accomplishes nothing, and apart from faith transmits no grace. Yet he believed in infant baptism. How? He declared that infants met the requirement – they believed in Christ!

I am convinced that Luther is correct, the New Testament associates faith with baptism: John preached a baptism of repentance – the people had to repent and confess their sins before he would baptize them. Jesus said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Peter said, Repent and be baptized. The Eunuch asked Philip, What doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip answered, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And so throughout the NT.

This all being stated I have to be honest: I still don’t know how this transition took place. I mean, The earliest descriptions of baptism outside of the NT, Didache and Justin, describe believers baptism. There is simply no description of infant baptism nor instructions for it. Yet by the middle 200s it begins to be mentioned. There is no promotion for it and there is very little opposition to it.

I believe the Gospel teaches that grace is indeed imparted in baptism. That is, something really happens in baptism. But I do not believe that baptism itself imparts this grace. In other words, baptism is only effective when there is faith in the heart of the baptized. As Annanias told Paul, And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. His sins were washed away in baptism, but only because he believed in Jesus and called on the name of the Lord.

Are the infants of believers to be baptized? If so, then it would appear that children are saved merely by being born to Christian parents who have them baptized, without and before faith, while adults must repent and believe before they can be baptized. That being said, I still don’t know the answer to my question. I do believe children who can confess faith in Christ can and should be baptized. Even young children. In fact, I would encourage it. But what was the place and status of the children of believers in the early church? They are rarely mentioned in either the NT or the Fathers.

Here are my conclusions:
It’s possible that there are some practices of the apostolic church that we don’t know about, among them the status of the children of believers.
When the NT mentions baptism, its’ emphasis is on the baptism of believers. There is the occasional mention of an entire household being baptized, and I confess I don’t know the significance of that.
And an observation: those who emphasize believers baptism baptize converts while those who baptize infants seem to rarely baptize converts.

You can read an interesting blog post on this issue here ; includes quotes from early Church Fathers

you can find John Wesley’ Treatise on Baptism here