Bible-based

180

2011-09-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'd like to recommend a recently released mini-documentary called 180; subtitled 33 minutes that will rock your world.

For me, the beginning of the documentary was very confusing. I'd been told that it was about abortion: pro-life vs. pro-choice. The movie starts however, with Ray Comfort interviewing people on the street about the holocaust. This part of the movie is disturbing enough. It amazed me to see that so many people have no idea what the holocaust was, or who Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were.

The questioning then takes an interesting "what-if" ethical twist. Interviewees are asked about what they would do in different hypothetical situations. The answers are eyebrow-raising.

I won't spoil the "plot" for you, or explain how the subject of abortion has anything to do with this. Instead, I'll ask you to invest the 33 minutes it takes to sit down and watch it:

"The Gospel" by Mark Driscoll

2011-07-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't heard or seen much about Mark Driscoll. He's just been one of those vague names hovering out there in famous-Christian-speaker-world. Recently a Facebook-friend got upset about something he said, which was a catylist to look him up.

So far in my research, I've watched one video: that's it. In it, Mr Driscoll explains the bare-bones of the gospel in just a few minutes. His explanation is concise, accurate and passionate; ergo, good. So, even if I later conclude that he's a heretic, a liar or a hypocrite on other grounds; it won't be because of this clip:

NB: I'm a little confused about the t-shirt. I'm not clear on exactly what the point of it is, but I've let it slide, with the benefit of the doubt going to the words that are said.

Jesus & Jehovah

2011-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Please read: Exodus 20:14 and Matthew 5:27

I had a very good conversation with someone today. I'd describe him as a straying, semi-secular Jehovah's Witness. His parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and though he's wondered from that faith, it still makes up much of his core belief system.

JW's maintain that Jesus is not God (or Jehovah).

I shared the Matthew 5 scripture above and explained that when He gave the ten commandments, Jehovah-God said, "You shall not commit adultery". Then Jesus came and said, "You heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you..." That's a big call: to quote Jehovah, and then say, "But I say to you."

My friend hadn't realised that Jesus made claims like this; making himself equal to Jehovah.

The cycle of prayer and reasoning continues.

Phillip Jensen on Hosea

2011-04-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

I'm part of a small group that meets on Sunday evenings to sing "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19), and to hear the word of God expounded through various pre-recorded means. The days of tapes and even CDs are being superceded by the massive array of talks that can be downloaded for free from the internet. (Free and internet should set off your discernment alarm now).

In this group, we recently completed a series of talks by Phillip Jensen on Hosea. Each talk goes for half an hour, and covers one chapter of the book. Each one of us found the talks excellent, and highly recommend them. The talks are:

Comprehensive. Almost every verse of the book is discussed.
God-centred. These talks showed me how much the book of Hosea tells us about God: His love, mercy, patience, jealousy, sovereignty.
Christ-centred. The prophecies of Hosea find their fulfilment in Christ, and these connections are clearly expounded.
Relevant. All Scripture is relevant (2 Timothy 3:16), but sometimes the scripture can be taught in an irrelevant way. This is not the case with these talks.
Easily Understood. Phillip uses simple language that is easily understood to make Hosea easily understood (including historical and political background). This is a spiritual gift that is hard to explain. He doesn't make himself appear clever with his complicated words: he simply makes you understand what is written on the pages of your Bible.
Memorable. Good teaching links what you've been taught to the words of the scripture, so that when you read the passage later, you recall what you've learned.

Enough glowing praise. If Phillip Jensen read this he'd glow with embarrassment.

To find the talks, go to his website: http://phillipjensen.com/ and follow the "Video" link on the top toolbar. You'll find a number of series there, including the one on Hosea. I'm sure the others are just as good (we've just started the Ephesians series), however, I'll only recommend what I've seen.

Technical tip: to download each talk as an mp4 video file, right-click on the video window that pops up and select "Watch on Vimeo". Vimeo's kind of like YouTube, but different. If you log into Vimeo, you can download the talk using the button on the bottom-right of the page. I first tried using automatic downloaders available on the web, but they're much more fuss (and less useful) than just signing up to Vimeo - then you can download any Vimeo video.

Disclaimers: Phillip Jensen isn't a relation of mine! His name is Jensen; mine is Jansen.

100% Luke, 100% God

2011-04-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Read: Luke 1:1-4

This brief dedication to Luke's gospel provides one of the few direct insights into the "author side" of the inspiration of scripture. (Other passages, such as 2 Timothy 3:16, tell us about the "God side" - that the words of the scriptures are the very words of God). Luke's dedication teaches us that, (at the same time as being God's words), the words of Luke's gospel are Luke's own words too. The scriptures are 100% the words of God, and 100% the words of the human authors.

Think about this, for a while. God didn't force Luke's hands, but he guided them. He didn't over-ride Luke's mind, but the words that came from Luke's mind onto the page were God's words. And Luke's.

These two facts are not contradictory; however, we need to learn to allow each fact to leave room in our minds for the other. What other concepts in scripture are like this?

The Deity of Christ

2011-02-09T03:02:00.000-08:00

Read: John 1:1-3

Believing that Jesus Christ is, always was, and always will be fully God is a fundamental teaching of the Christian faith. It's very important. The first few verses of John is one of the most significant passages in the Bible that establishes this doctrine: the "Deity of Christ".

Verse one is very plan; however, Arian heretics pose an argument based on the absence of an indefinite article in the Greek. Because there's no "the" in Greek, the verse could be saying - they say - "...and the Word was a God."

This is really a smoke-screen, and not worth arguing with, because verse three leaves no doubt. Verse three implies there are two categories of existence: things that were made, and things that weren't made. Jesus wasn't made, because without him was not any thing made that was made. He couldn't have made himself - he wasn't made - he's in the "things that weren't made" category. There was never a time when Christ was not. There was never a time when the Father did not have The Son.

We worship God who became man.

Take Care How Your Hear!

2010-11-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

Please read Luke 8:4-18, and Isaiah 6:9-10

I'd like to recommend a sermon I heard recently by John Piper. The sermon is on the parable of the sower as recorded in Luke 8, and is called Take Care How You Listen! Part 1.

The biggest thing that I learned from this sermon is that the parable of the sower is about hearing, and yet for some reason I'd always missed the whole point of it. It's all about how you hear!

Have a look at how many times the verb to hear is specifically used in this passage (ESV) (emphasis mine):

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

"No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."

Do yourself a favour, and listen to this sermon; above all, taking care how you hear!

Paul Washer's Shocking Youth Message

2010-11-25T18:38:00.000-08:00

Read Matthew 7:13-27
If you haven't already seen this sermon, please open your heart and mind and watch. You'll need to set aside an hour to watch it; once you start you won't want to stop. Not everything he says is 100% technically correct when examined under the theological microscope, but please don't discard the message and the man because of that. Please don't harden your heart to this man preaching the gospel with heart-felt passion and conviction.

John Piper and the Prosperity Gospel

2010-09-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

Read Galatians 1:6-10.

I'd like to share one of my favourite YouTube clips. The speech audio is the voice of John Piper speaking about the "Prosperity Gospel". It sounds like an extract from a sermon; I'm not certain of the context. The music, images and text that have gone into the production of this video clip are very effective in driving home the core message.

I invite you to spend three minutes to watch this:

What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment.

Burn-a-Koran Evangelism Program

2010-09-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-23

Paul starts the chapter by asking the great rhetorical question,

"Am I not free?"

In the "western world" (including Australia and the USA), we are immersed in a culture of freedom, and exercising our individual rights to do what we want. Paul has a different view (v. 15):

"But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision."

Why doesn't Paul exercise his rights? For the gospel!

Please read again 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

To the Jews, Paul became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.

How might we apply this passage to guide us in winning Muslims for Christ? I think it's a pretty simple exegesis: "To the Muslims, we should become as a Muslin, in order to win Muslims."

Afraid this may compromise your faith? Never! Paul never compromised his faith in Christ in any way to become "as a Jew" or "as one outside the law"; he simply adapted his behaviour - and diet - so as not to offend those people. Why would we ever put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ? Why would we ever allow ourselves to be that obstacle.

So let's turn now to the recent actions of some obscure preacher in Florida, USA. He attained international notoriety with his on-again-off-again plans to burn a whole pile of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book. What was he thinking? What would any Christian be thinking that supports this?

Burning the Koran will win Muslims to Christ as quickly as using the Talmud as toilet-paper will win the Jews or barbequing beef-steaks on the lawns of the Taj Mahal will win the Hindus. In fact, even after the Koran-burning was cancelled, protesters in Afghanistan were still shouting "Death to America" and "Death to Christians" (Source).

Let's become all things to all people that by all means we might save some. And if we are wronged, and our Bible and our flag are burned, let's turn the other cheek, and continue in love.

Improving the Rescue

2009-10-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

Read Romans 5:20-6:2

First, a story:
George sat in the chopper, struggling to catch his breath. He struggled to comprehend what had happened to him. Only moments ago, he had been floating in the Pacific Ocean - just - a hundred and fifty kilometres from the coast, clinging to the EPIRB beacon from his recently sunken yacht. Now he sat in the Capricorn Rescue Helicopter, hovering above the sea.

George began to realise just how great his salvation had been. What made it so great, he realised, was how much trouble he had been in, and the consequent effort that had gone into the rescue. Being rescued this far out at sea was a big deal. He was so thankful for what had been done for him, he felt like bursting.

Then, he thought, if his rescue was a big deal now, how much greater would it be if his predicament only got worse? How could he do that? There was only one way. Before the other men in the chopper could react, he crawled to the door of the chopper and jumped back into the sea.

I enjoy writing fiction, but that was beyond belief, wasn't it? If the greatness of our salvation is proportional to the greatness of our sin, why don't we make our salvation even greater by sinning more? By no means! It's a nonsense - it's ridiculous - just as ridiculous as my little story. But then, don't we think that way sometimes anyway?

Stinking, Rotten Meat

2009-10-06T02:43:00.000-07:00

Read:Colossians 2:18-19

Are you impressed when people deny themselves food, drink or comforts in the name of spiritual growth? Some people are, obviously. Is God impressed? I think perhaps, not.

These people are happy to go on at length about their spiritual experiences with angels, visions, voices, messages, words and tongues - and probably many more things I've forgotten, or not yet heard of. These people make their own experience and "faith" the new standard, and come down on others that don't measure up. They will try to disqualify you. They insist that unless you do [fill in the blank for the crazy things they do] you're not a real Christian.

Don't be deceived: these are not Super-Christians. They're just full of themselves. That's what "puffed up without reason" means: they're full of themselves. They're certainly not full of Christ, anyway. They're disconnected from Christ, who is the head of the body: the church. Body parts that are disconnected from the head aren't really part of the body at all. They die, rapidly. Soon, they begin to smell.

Don't let the stinking, rotten meat within Christ's body convince you that your simple faith and simple worship are not good enough for God.

Which We Have Heard

2009-10-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

Read: 1 John 1:1-3

Present day intellectuals are very proud that their post-modern rationalistic brilliance is above the primitive fairy tales of the Bible. This is nothing new. This mindset has been around a long time, and was in the world that Christ's apostles went out into.

Christ's coming, his teachings and his actions were real things, that happened to real people. John used his senses of hearing, sight and touch to make observations. Observations from which he drew conclusions about who Jesus Christ was. And then, he was compelled to share his observations: to proclaim it both verbally - and most importantly for us - in the written form.

Peter, another of the apostles, responded to the scornful reactions to the apostles' message when he wrote, "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Peter 1:16).

In the documents of the New Testament we have well verified, historical accounts of the man named Jesus, called the Christ. The information at your disposal is reliable. What you do with it is up to you. Try reading it first, before you reject it.

A not-so-new Commandment

2009-10-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Read: 2 John 1:5.

Have you ever noticed that it can be easier to get along with non-Christians in the world than the Christian brothers and sisters in your own church? As you love your Christian 'siblings' more and more, you get closer to them. Your lives become intertwined, the barriers come down and pretenses are dropped. Subtlety and diplomacy give way to frankness and honesty, with often brutal consequences.

How do we love our Christian brothers and sisters? There are a thousand ways. If you have a problem with someone, go and work it out, on on one (Matthew 18:15-17). Don't go and tell everyone else instead: that's gossip. We should forgive each other, then do it again, and then repeat this seventy times seven times (Matthew 18:21-22).

Why is it so important to love one another? First: we are told to. That's what commandment means. It's not an optional extra.

John said this was not a new commandment; but, it was a new one, once, when the Lord Jesus gave it. He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35).

The second reason it's important to love one another is that it is our mark of identification as Christians. It's not the cross, and it's not bumper stickers. People should know we follow Christ because we love one another. It should be that obvious.

Bible-based

2009-10-02T20:56:00.001-07:00

The Bible is the written record of God's dealing with mankind from the beginning of time (2 Timothy 3:16, Genesis 1:1). It is God's word. To live our lives the way God wants us to, we must be directed by His word. Our lives should be not only Bible-based, but Bible-permeated.

The purpose of this blog is to challenge both you and me with small parts of the Bible and a few comment on the implications of those passages for how we live our lives. I am a fallen human, like you. What I write will contain errorrs. Evaluate what I write, and make comments if you think I'm wrong, or right, or irrellevant (1 John 4:1). I hope that you might be encouraged by what you find here (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11).

First Post

2009-10-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Every blog needs a meaningless first post, just to check that everything is working. It's not really meaningless then, is it? Perhaps there's something we can learn about life in that. Perhaps not.