Pray Network Forum

You may be familiar with the I AM statements of Jesus. These are powerful declarations of the divinity of our Lord. Their original source is in the Old Testament with God appearing to Moses at the burning bush.

Exodus 3:13,14 reads,

Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

The I AM statements of Jesus are not confined to The Gospel of John. In the account of Jesus walking on the water all four gospels record Jesus using the words “I AM” to comfort His disciples who were terrified in the storm. Mark 6:50 in the English Standard Version reads,

“They all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said,

‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’”

The English wording in all the Gospels is, “It is I,” or something like that. But in the original language the wording is, “ἐγώ εἰμι,” “I am.”

Several of the most crucial I Am statements of Jesus are in John 8. Two of them are stunningly translated into English. John 8:12 reads, “I am* the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This is not a difficult linguistic construction. And although many scholars across the years have recognized this as one of the I Am statements, it is possible that Jesus did not intend this as a reference to Exodus 3. John 8:58 is much stronger. It shows us something of the eternal presence of Jesus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am*.”

Two other examples are not easily translated into English. John 8:24 in the E.S.V. reads, “Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” In the original language this simply reads, “If you do not believe that “I AM*” you will die in your sins.” The other is in verse 28. In the E.S.V. it reads, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he.” But again the wording in Greek is, “I Am*.” His crucifixion proved who He was. Even the Roman Centurion at the cross said, “Surely this was the Son of God,” Matthew 27:54.

In the words I AM, ἐγώ εἰμι, we see His Divinity, His Eternity, His Authority, and His immediacy. Do you believe?

*Italics mine

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Dave Butts Responds to My Responses to His "Prayer Strategy for Ministry" Article

DAVE>>>

I also liked Phil Miglioratti's thought provoking Take-Away questions on this article which resulted in my responses below.  (If you haven't read Dave's article, you can find it here>>>)

PHIL>>>

• As you were reading, did this seem more relevant to you personally or to your role as a leader or change agent?

DAVE>>>.

As a retired engineer / change agent, and a lay ministry leader, I do not compartmentalise my life into personal and leadership domains.  I am who I am in Christ, born again, following him, and seeking to bring glory to him in whatever he calls me to.  The article spoke equally to all of this.

PHIL>>>

• Where do you agree? Disagree - and why?

 DAVE >>>

I agree with all of it; I disagree with none of it.  Why? because I have learned the truth of it through 35 years of Christian living and ministry practice.

PHIK>>>

• What did you read that resonates with the leading/guiding you have sensed recently from the Holy Spirit?

 DAVE>>>

With God’s impeccable timing, a link to the article appeared in my inbox immediately after discussing - with a Christian brother from my church fellowship - the place of prayer relative to vision and planning within God’s mission.  As the article expressed my view better than my words in the discussion, I passed on a link along with some additional reflection and comments as follows.

This world is but part of God’s creation.

Christian mission is God’s Mission to redeem broken people and a broken world.

Yet he invites us to participate in his Mission.

He knows the end from the beginning.

So why would some think they can do mission without him?

Why would they think they could develop vision, strategy, or plan without him?

Some claim “God is in control of all things” (correct) so “let go and let God” (incorrect).  Why? Because many of those to whom he has given vision, are also those he is calling to implement that vision. A failure to act on a God given vision may be to deny God’s calling.   As Dave Butts pointed out: Nehemiah's vision was God's vision (Neh 2:12)

Our faith is not a blind faith - not a leap in the dark - but a trusting in a God’s assured promises.  So too when we “step out in faith” in a new ministry direction, we should not set out with merely good intentions to do God’s work as we see fit, but we should seek his vision, his will, his blessing, before we conclude what he wants of us. We must follow him, not ask him to follow and bless us.

PHIL>>>

• How can you move from analysis to application to implementation?

 DAVE>>>

It takes prayerful intent, perseverance, and self discipline, but it leads to a joy-filled life. I don't think it's something we do for it seems to come along with other fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).

 In my early days as a born again Christian (having been redeemed by a new-found faith in Christ from the darkest nihilism of my then atheistic beliefs) prayer was but one of the daily spiritual disciplines that I learned to practice.  As I grew in my knowledge of God, I desired him more, and served him better. It was as if His Spirit moved out of the pages of Scripture and into my heart.  Now, I don’t just know of him: I know him!  He is with me wherever I go, whatever I’m doing.  I’m never alone.  He is in me, guiding and leading me, bringing both joy and sorrow.  My daily communication with him (Bible reading and prayer) transitioned into a constant communication with him throughout my waking hours: the Spirit bringing to mind memorised Scripture and calling me to prayers of thanksgiving, praise, confession, intercession, and lamentation as applicable to the various matters he brings before me.  It's as if he's saying: "Here, see the world through my eyes, and respond to it as would my beloved Son!" As he is with me constantly, it is only natural for me to consult with him on almost everything before I speak or act, to wait on him as appropriate, and to bring him thanks and praise for answered prayers.  Times of solitude with him can be spiritually overwhelming as nothing can drown out his voice.

Prayer is a direct line to God.  Not to use it is an insult to him: it not only breaks our communion with him, it breaks his heart!  Like a grandchild ignoring my love, my presence, my desire to advise and teach, as I watch them struggling to figure out things on their own, and finally giving up in disgust, too proud to ask for help.  Mature adults wouldn’t do that - would they?

Jesus said we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  It speaks of a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Christ.  A love above all other loves.  A desire above all other desires. A fascination with God’s wisdom above all other facts and knowledge.  A dedication to Godly living in all aspects of life.  Communication is at the heart of all relationship.  Relationship with our infinite God demands constant communication through prayer and the reading or recall of Scripture.

Do you have a loved one in your life - a spouse, parent, child, or close friend? How often do you listen to your loved one?  You should listen to God more often than that by reading his word.

How often do you talk to your loved one? You should talk to God more often than that in prayer.

Put another way, the amount of time we spend with God in Bible reading and prayer is a measure of our love for him.  So how much do we really love him?  How does our time spent in Bible reading and prayer compare with our time spent on our other “loves”: people, hobbies, TV, sports, etc?

Does that scare you?

Fear not, for Jesus died for our sins, and His Holy Spirit will sanctify our sinful nature, so trust him, and learn to love him more, by reading about him in the Scriptures, and speaking with him in prayer.

Christianity is not principally about righteous living, but about a personal relationship with the living God.  How is your relationship going?

If prayer isn’t natural for us, then we must ask God to help us desire him, and to turn away from unnecessary distractions. If we don’t do that, then he may remove those distractions anyway.  He could completely break us to get our full attention.  It need not be like that.  We must get our priorities right that we may serve him better.

PHIL>>>

• Who do you need to talk with about the ideas you have encountered here?

DAVE>>>

Many people in my church fellowship.

PHIL>>> 

• Finish this sentence: "Jesus . . .

DAVE>>> 

Jesus, despite being God incarnate, did not act on his own.  His ministry began during prayer at his baptism when God the Holy Spirit descended upon him, God the Father spoke directly to him, and the Holy Spirit directed him to the wilderness where he confronted Satan with the word of God (Lk 3:21-22; 4:1-13).  Jesus said and did only the will of his Father (Jn 14:10; 24). To this end, Jesus went out to solitary places to be alone, and to spend time in prayer with his Father (Mk 1:35).  He prayed all night before he chose his 12 Apostles (Lk 6:12-16).  When daunted by what lay ahead, Jesus prayed and deferred to his Father’s will (Mt 6:36-39).  As his earthly mission was about to reach its climax, Jesus reported back to his Father in prayer (Jn 17:1-26).  If Jesus needed such communion with, and direction from, the Father for his earthly ministry, how much more we broken, sinful, conflicted followers?

His disciples recognised the power and necessity of prayer even in Jesus' life, which is why they asked him to teach them to pray (Lk 11:1-4).  Has he taught you?  Does your ministry for God lack power because you fail to pray?

Rousing rays rise, drill through frowning

clouds. An orb, unused to haste, crawls

like waking sun, haloed with golden glow;

drills through a dark mass, full of blaze

no eye can reach.

It looks right, the sight; smells nice,

the fragrance of spring roses, against

choking stench of blood clots—the stain

of shame, cultured into civilization's

pride. Peace unfurls while darkness flees,

dawn adorns, feting an end of gloom!

Should God turn back from the crimson—

the eternal covenant with his people

through Jesus Christ? What would be left

of earth but a rain of rage? Who can stand

God's anger boil over: clay or rock?

I pledged to pry the times: We're at the gate

of mercy seat; the end apportioned  to scourge.

I jerked: Lord, steer footfalls to the throne

of grace, to the mercy seat. Stir fervent pleas

for mercy and help. Prick up the ears to hear,

your hand to bridle the boiling bile as the blood

of eternal redemption cries for a release,

for a restoration of your righteousness upon us.p

Show mercy, Lord, show mercy, for your wrath

burns up the land. More than double our sins!

Who can stand a moment longer? Remember!

Remember the eternal covenant in the blood Jesus!

Celestine S Ikwuamaesi

01 Feb 2021

Christian Nationalism #4

Five Principles for Discerning the News

(Principles 1 – 2)

I recall a meeting with a community organizer many years ago.  On her wall was a framed Hagar The Horrible cartoon.  The caption said: “Allies come and go, but a good Enemy will last a life-time.”  I remember that because in the world of political organizing you need a good enemy.  However, what is pragmatic for politics is deadly for the Church and the Gospel.

Evangelicals need to be better at discerning the sign of the times, and a central part of that discernment is interpreting news.  In this blog, I want to suggest a couple of principles that will help us become better discerners of the news.

1. The Gospel needs to be our filter.

Jesus lived in a time and culture where people felt under attack and desired clear boundaries and clear loyalties. Rome was the oppressor.  To compromise or cooperate with Rome made you “one of them:” an enemy to be rejected and feared.  May Jews took up arms and planned for insurrection against the Romans.  Into this environment, Jesus said: love your enemies.  His miracles cured both religious Jew and pagan Romans.  He accepted into his fellowship both the radical Zealots and collaborators with Rome such as Matthew.  His examples of righteous behavior used non-Jews as examples.  His teachings and his life style undermined any suggestion that the world was divided between “us” and “them.” 

We cannot be faithful to the Gospel and believe in a world divided between “us” and “them.”   This way of thinking is absolutely prohibited for the Christian.  This means that we must reject any narrative of events, conspiracy theory, or teaching that paints a picture of Christians at war with an earthly enemy. 

2. We need to hear many sides and be humble in our judgment.

As a practical matter, if you only get your news from one source, you will have a distorted sense of the world, be that MSNBC or FOX News.  I recall not too long ago, I followed a link that seemed like news and it went to a story about a well-known celebrity moving into a community near my home.  This surprised me, but the article seemed genuine, so I believed it.  I shared this with a friend and to my great embarrassment, he pointed out just how wrong I was.  I fell for it.  What I learned is that this sort of thing can happen to anyone.  Fortunately, the misinformation was about something harmless.  However, when this type of information causes you to change your thought patterns or behavior, it is dangerous.  This is particularly dangerous when the misinformation “seems right.”  It fits into concerns or fears that we have, or it confirms something that we had been thinking.  At that point we are less inclined to be skeptical.

The Gospel answer is humility.  My need to know with certainty needs to be tempered with humility.  I might be wrong.  If the information causes me to behave or act in a certain manner, I need to ask: what are the consequences if I am wrong? 

In order to keep this blog to a reasonable length, I will cover principles 3-5 in the next blog

--- to be continued ---

We came away from our study with Miriam stunned. For months several of us had been gathering at her home for study. Each week she would talk about something Jesus said. One of us might be puzzling over something Peter or one of the other apostles said about Jesus at the temple where the church was meeting. She explained and helped us see Him like we never had before. We always came away loving Jesus more than we could ever have imagined. We thought she must have been a lady of wonderful upbringing. I assumed she understood that God was our Father because she had such a wonderful earthly father. But this afternoon she told us about how she first came to know Jesus. We were all shocked at what she told us about her life.

She said she had grown up in the home of a strict Pharisee who never showed her any kindness. She was hardly more than a child when he gave her in marriage to an older man who treated her harshly. They had not been married long when he began to be unfaithful. He would be away from home for weeks at a time. She often did not have enough money to maintain the household. Then he would return with his clothes smelling of wine and perfume. 

During this time a young Pharisee befriended her. When he discovered that she did not have enough money to buy food he helped her. He began to see her everyday. He told her he was not married and that in the eyes of God she was not really married either because her husband was unfaithful. He continued to see her some even when her husband was not away. He convinced her that he would take her away from her husband and care properly for her.

He came to her home one day when her husband had beaten her. He spoke softly and comforted her. He carried her to her bed and began to treat her wounds. She told him about all the injustices her husband had foisted upon her. And they wound up in her bed. Suddenly a group of Pharisees burst into the room shouting and calling her a wicked woman. The man she had trusted joined the others in accusing her. She was hardly able to grab a covering for her body before they dragged her out into the street. They brought her to the temple courts where Jesus was teaching. 

Standing her before Jesus they said, “This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Moses in the Law commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?” Instead of answering them, Jesus squatted down and began to write in the dirt. For some time they kept demanding that He answer them. 

Mariam told us, “Jesus stood up again and said, ‘Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.’” She said, “I was terrified that I was going to be stoned to death right there on the temple grounds. Jesus then stooped back down and wrote in the dirt again. Then one of the older men who had dragged me from my house turned and walked away. Another left, and another. When Jesus stood back up all of them were gone.”

We were all silent as Miriam looked around the room at us. “Jesus asked me, ‘Is no one left to condemn you?’” Tears were running down all of our cheeks when she told us her answer. ‘No one, Lord.’ Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’”

After I had caught my breath I asked, “What did Jesus write in the dirt?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I was too upset to read. I don’t think I even looked.” And she explained. “Of course, I do not know much about it. But later that day I was listening to His teaching and He told the crowd, ‘I am from above. You are from below, from this world.’ I immediately thought His stooping down to write. I thought then that Jesus had been demonstrating that He had to come down to our level to communicate with us. But that cannot be all He was saying.”

When she thought we had begun to understand Miriam continued, “One of the first things Jesus said to the crowd after saving me from the stoning was, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ I determined right then that I would follow Him wherever He was teaching.”

One of us said, “I wonder what made those self righteous Pharisees leave.”

Miriam answered, “They must have become aware of the absolute holiness of Jesus. No one could pretend to be righteous for long in His presence. Least of all me. I was overwhelmed by His holiness. It was very hard for me to hear Jesus say, ‘Go and sin no more.’ I knew that was impossible. I had been  thinking of all the sin that I had been pushed into by my father, my husband, and my hard life. But as I stood in His presence I knew that the problem was in my heart. That was almost enough to make me run for my life. But I didn’t think I could run far enough to get away from the guilt I felt before Him. I needed forgiveness. I stayed to hear whatever Jesus had to say. 

He addressed those of us who believed. “If you continue in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth. And the truth will make you free.” Some of the people in the crowd complained that they were not slaves to anyone. Jesus explained that anyone who sinned became the slave of sin. That was my trouble. I was a slave to my sin. And I began trying to memorize as many things that Jesus said as I could.”

One of the girls asked, “Is that different now that the Spirit has come?” The church in Jerusalem was started as the Holy Spirit miraculously came to rest on those of us who followed Jesus.

Miriam said, “No not really. The Spirit does many things in us. But the main thing He does is explain to us what Jesus has said. The Spirit always makes us love Jesus more and more. Some of you have said coming to listen to me makes you love Him. That is not my doing. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us when we gather here.”

This story is taken from the 8th chapter of The Gospel of John.

Lord Jesus, we tremble in your holiness. 

Help us saturate our lives in the love and power of Your words.

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David Wilkerson: DOES TOMORROW WORRY YOU?

February 10, 2021

https://worldchallenge.org/devotion/does-tomorrow-worry-you?ref=devos

Daily Promise

https://www.365promises.com/daily-promise/promise-41-wednesday-february-10-2021

Promise #41:
I will give you peace at all times and in every situation.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (WEB)
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all.

We live in a restless world that longs for peace.  Because the Prince of Peace lives within us, we have access to a peace that is beyond our own understanding. A peace that will bring rest and tranquility to the busyness of our soul. A peace that will be a shield and a shelter for our tender heart.

In John 14:27, Jesus promises to give us His peace. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us that His peace is available to us even in the midst of a troubled world. A peace that allows us to sleep on a boat in the midst of a raging storm. If you are in a situation today where you need the assurance of God's peace, open up your heart to God and ask Him to fill you with His peace.

The peace that rests on Jesus is the peace that is promised to every child of God as part of our inheritance.  No matter what you are going through in your life, God promises to give you peace at all times and in every situation. As Isaiah 26:3 says...You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. (WEB)

THE FREEWILL OF MAN

Some years ago I was fellowshipping with a group of pastors. One of them spoke of a common belief that I did not think could be found in the Bible. As a joke I said, “Do you have a favorite Scripture on that?” He had a great answer. “I think that is in the same place that teaches the freewill of man.” And you can look throughout the Bible and not find a direct statement of the freewill of man. However, there are some Scriptural arguments for the free will of man. 

We can start with the command to Adam and Eve. They were clearly given a choice to obey or not obey what God told them. They did not obey. The Bible teaches that their sin brought great calamity upon the earth. This also points out that free will is not unlimited. We do not have the ability to unmake some decisions. I can choose to jump off a cliff. But once I have jumped, I cannot decide not to fall. Their decision could not be undone once they had disobeyed.

All the commands of scripture depend upon the ability to decide to obey or not. There are many examples in Scripture where people were rebuked for making foolish or evil decisions. This would be meaningless if people had no choice in these matters. Believing in Christ and yielding to His will clearly demands a decision. We must choose to give our will to Him. This makes great sense to us as well as being obvious in Scripture.

However, the Bible presents this as more complex. And while this complexity is often repugnant to us, it fits human experience. We cannot overcome sin in our lives without God’s intervention. Simple decisions and will power will not keep us from stumbling. And coming to God at all requires God’s help. Let me point out some things Jesus said. In John 6:37 He said, “All that the Father gives me* will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” In John 6:44 He made a stronger statement. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him*.” This is not the only place Jesus spoke words like this. This seems to indicate that our believing is a work of God. I cannot answer all the questions related to this. But while our will is always involved in turning to God. The will to turn to God is complex. People are foolish to speak of freewill as if such decisions were made in a vacuum. Spiritual, emotional, and worldly forces bombard us when we struggle with coming to Christ. There are decisions that we cannot flippantly decide to make. We are bound by sin. In John 8:34 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” Even as believers we continually need God to free us from sin’s bondage. Without God working in our lives we can never even want to turn from our selfish sinfulness. Those of you who are offended by the concept of predestination spoken of in Romans 8:29 and elsewhere, need to recognize that God is above time. He knows all things, and even hears and answers prayer from eternity past present and future. I am always uncomfortable when people speak lightly of freewill as if there are no parameters. We must make decisions. But many of them are not simple. This includes most spiritual decisions. 

*Italics mine

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The Lie

In my previous post, I said that I would talk about next steps to restore a Christ-centered orthodoxy to Evangelical Christianity and rid us of the scourge of Christian nationalism.  This is the first step – we must confront the loss of truth.  

In Ephesians, Paul admonishes us to speak the truth in love.  This has two parts: 1) a commitment to truth, and 2) a commitment to love.  Following this guide, I want to say that I love Evangelicals.  They are my brothers and sisters, and I greatly desire that the truth of the Gospel is lived out in their lives and in their witness to the world.  In believe, in fact, that the vast majority of Evangelicals are loving people.  They care deeply about the people in their lives and will go out of their way to both minister to needs and share the message of Christ.  

However, no matter how loving they are in their personal relationships, when it comes to their witness to the world, love dies.  Not for all, but for many.  Instead, paranoia and a victim mentality gives them permission to become very hateful in their witness.  This paranoia comes not from the Bible or a spirit-filled life, but from sociological conditions of which they are often unaware.  

A friend shared a quote from Bible scholar Earl F. Palmer.  It was written many years ago, but it bears repeating because it fits so well with today’s situation:

“Persons who most often are entrapped by cultic movements are individuals who were programmed for the entrapment in pre-cultic homes. Perhaps they grew up in a family where the mood at every meal was pessimistic and cynical. The result for such an individual and for the family was the gradual development of low-grade paranoia, adriftness, a feeling of helplessness, a conviction that all people are basically hypocritical, all systems bad or hopeless. Such a person grows up starved for warm relationships and a sense of hope because a human being cannot live on cynicism and pessimism. If such a person does not find true food, then false foods will find a welcome in his or her life.”

Low grade paranoia describes well this situation in so many Evangelical households.  Distrust of government, of social systems, a feeling that everything is corrupt: these all leave the believer in a state of helplessness. Our family and our community are alone on an island surrounded by enemies who are out to get us.  The cult movement gives comforting answers in the form a powerful individual who both validates the fears and offers solutions that require unquestioning loyalty on the part of the follower.    

The clearest proof that Evangelicals have fallen into this cult-like state is the Lie.  By every objective measure, Donald Trump lost both the popular vote and the electoral college.  Republican officials in Georgia and Arizona confirmed this even though their interest lay in the opposite result.  William Barr, the attorney general who was so eager to turn the Justice Department into the president’s personal attorneys, never the less was not able to find any objective evidence of election fraud.  The President’s own White House Counsel spent weeks tracking down each and every claim.  They all hit a dead end.  Everything, from midnight camera recordings to ballots in a dumpster, was seriously looked into.  Nothing.  Not a cover up by the President’s enemies, but an earnest effort by his allies.  

The power of a cult leader is that he can demand that his followers confirm their loyalty by denying reality.  This is what is happening now.  It is the surest proof that the disease infecting so many Evangelicals is serious.  The Lie and the willingness to engage in either active violence or passive support of efforts to undermine democracy are the result.

There is a way out.  It requires a step of faith and a willingness to allow God to be in charge of our fears.  And most of all, it involves letting go of the Lie.  If we are willing to let go of the Lie, we have broken one of the powerful strongholds that the cult strongman has over us – namely the subservience of truth to loyalty.  When we let go of it, we can look back and see the ugliness that the Lie with its demand for unquestioning loyalty has left behind.  Then, we can truly say that the truth has set us free.

The Feast of Booths had begun before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. He hid in the crowds listening to the people, discerning what His Father was doing in their hearts. Right in the middle of the celebration He went up into the temple and began to teach. His authority was so obvious that no one challenged him. They marveled at His teaching. 

They said, “How has this man come to know so much without studying in one of the rabbinic schools?” 

Jesus proclaimed, “My teaching is not my own, but His who sent me. If you want to do God's will, you will know whether my teaching comes from God, or whether I teach on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own seeks to glorify himself. But the one who speaks for another has no reason to lie. Moses gave you the law and none of you keep it. So why are you trying to kill me?” The people looked nervously around and saw several Pharisees in the crowd. No one dared admit that they wanted to kill him. The leaders of the people had publicly turned against Jesus at a previous feast when He healed a man on the Sabbath.

Someone in the crowd, possibly a Pharisee, shouted, “You must have a demon. Who is trying to kill you?” Most of the people trembled at this denial. Jesus ignored the comment.

“You perform circumcisions on the Sabbath for the law to be observed. Why are you upset that I made a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Do not judge by mere appearances but by what is true and right.”

The people began to wonder why the Pharisees had not said more. Some of them began to say, “Is this not the man they want to kill? He is speaking openly and the rulers do nothing to stop him. Could our leaders know in their hearts that he really is the Christ?”

Others were saying, “But we know where this man comes from.” They had heard rabbis teach that no one will know where the Messiah comes from when he appears. 

Jesus responded to this as He taught in the temple. “You know who I am. And you can know who sent me by what I do. I did not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, but you do not know Him. I know Him for I came from Him.” The tension continued to build. The only reason no one laid a hand on Him was because His time had not yet come.

Yet many of the people believed, saying, “When the Christ comes, will He give us more signs than this man?” When the Pharisees heard the people say this they reported to the council. And the chief priests sent officers to arrest Jesus. 

An eerie feeling filled the temple as Jesus said, “I will only be with you a little while. I must return to my Father. You will seek me and will not find me. For where I am going you cannot come.” The people questioned one another about this. “Where was he about to go? The whole crowd was mesmerised as Jesus promised those who would believe that their souls would cease to hunger and thirst. He said rivers of living water would flow from within them. 

As the feast came to an end the officers returned to the council. The chief priests demanded, “Why did you not arrest him?”

The officers looked sheepishly at one another. The ranking officer among them said, “No one ever spoke like this man.” 

The Pharisees scorned them. “Have you been deceived as well? This rabble who do not know the law are cursed.” When Nicodemus, one of their number, said that they had never really given Jesus a hearing, they scorned him as well. “ Are you from Galilee too?” they asked.

This story was taken from John 7:14-46

Lord, you speak to us like no one ever has. Saturate our lives with your teaching, so that rivers of living water may flow from us.

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Christian Nationalism - Part 2

Should we engage society?

In my last blog post I talked about the theological error of Christian nationalism, and its danger to Christianity because it undermines evangelism and attempts social reform through the use of power.  Having stated what I think is wrong, I feel the need to suggest a way forward.  The next couple of blogs will address that.

First, should Christians be concerned with social reform? If you look at our history, we discover that modern Evangelicals defined themselves as the socially engaged version of conservative Protestantism as they separated from fundamentalism after World War II.  Perhaps the most important work at that time was Carl F.H. Henry’s “The Uneasy Conscious of Modern Fundamentalism.”  Evangelicals had become alienated from the social reform movement at the beginning of the 20^th Century, and Henry made the case for them to become engaged in society and promote reforms that make for just society.  Christianity, Henry argued, has a public face and does not live in an isolated corner of the world.  For Henry, Christianity had a message that addressed not just problem of personal sin, but also addressed the social problems of the 20^th century. 

In many respects, the phenomenon of Christian nationalism can be seen as a way of addressing Henry’s concern.  However, Christian nationalism also grows out of a kind of cultural religion that has been with the country since before its founding.  The Pilgrims were intentional about founding a commonwealth built on Christian principles.  Throughout our history, religion and politics have mixed.  I am old enough to remember when there were Public Service Announcements on television encouraging people to “attend the church or synagogue of your choice.”  One of my favorite tellings of this tale is Richard Niebuhr’s “The Kingdom of God in America.”  This cultural American Christianity became, in Niebuhr’s famous conclusion: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgement through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”  This was liberal cultural religion.

Liberal cultural Christianity ended with a whimper in the 1960s as events overwhelmed the “kum-ba-yah” narrative.  Evangelical Christianity, which was on the rise in the last half of the 20^th century, attempted to take up the challenge of social engagement.  Some of the results, such as Prison Fellowship and World Vision, have had a remarkable impact on society.  However, so much of the current cultural engagement has devolved into Christian nationalism.  To attempt to answer how this happened would take much more than can be covered in a blog.  However, in my next blog, I want to suggest some ways out of the swamp of nationalism.

Today, especially in the wake of the events of Jan 6 in our nation’s capital and the aftermath, there have been many thoughtful things written about the dangers of Christian nationalism.  One writer said: “The split we are seeing is not theological or philosophical. It’s a division between those who have become detached from reality and those who, however right wing, are still in the real world.”  I disagree.  I believe that the problem is theological, and the healing can only happen when we deal with the underlying spiritual issues at work here.  Bad theology (another name for heresy) blinds us to the underlying spiritual truths.  

I want to begin with the 18^th century: Specifically the revivals and evangelistic campaigns of Finney and Moody.  The pattern at that time was revival of the church then evangelism of the community.  Revival was not about changing the culture or the community; it was about changing the heart of the church.  The life-transforming work of the Holy Spirit can be stifled by unconfessed sin which hardens the heart.  The challenge of unconfessed sin is that it is often deeply hidden in our hearts – or to use modern language, it rests within our subconscious.  It is something repressed so that we, perhaps, have a vague sense of something wrong, but in our everyday life it cannot be fully grasped or acknowledged.  The revival of the church happens when we individually and corporately search the depth of our souls.  It comes with the deep conviction that we are sinners in need of grace. That humility at the feet of the Cross gives us the power to break through the normal human defenses that hid our own sin from our self.  It is with the spiritual renewal that comes from revival that the church is then empowered to witness the Gospel of Christ to the surrounding community.  The power of the gospel comes out of human brokenness – a brokenness that has experienced the power of grace.  

The theological error of Christian nationalism is that it reverses the process and confuses revival with evangelism.  The narrative of Christian nationalism is that the nation needs a revival and that revival can only happen when more people become Christians.  The sin-focus is not on unconfessed sin within the church, but on the moral failings in the society.  The believer comes not broken but empowered, having the answer to society’s problems and using power to bring about moral reform.  This error is especially dangerous because it blinds us to our own failings.  We never get to the place of soul searching and confession of sin.  It replaces the truth of our own brokenness with the lie that Christians are powerful.  It then closes off the most important truth of the gospel: our own need for grace.  Thus falsely empowered, we use our sin-warped power – in the name of Jesus – in inflict more damage.  In this way, Christian nationalism transforms itself into a political ideology and becomes the enemy of true evangelism.

For the first ten years of my life, I was an only child. I guess my parents didn’t believe in baby-sitters or perhaps couldn’t afford them, I just remember accompanying my parents to a lot of adult events. At each, I was told to “be seen and not heard.” So, I grew up being rather quiet, and reserved. That lifestyle carried over into my prayer life. In fact, I remember wondering in church, why some people prayed such long, wordy prayers, and why in the worship service, we spent so much time talking and singing about God, and so little time listening to God. Much of my early instruction related to prayer dealt with speaking to God, rather than listening to God. Along the way, I was influenced by statements like that of American financier, statesman, and adviser to U.S. presidents, Bernard Baruch, who said, “Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking.” Someone had me memorize James 1:19, “brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak . . .” A famous poster said, “Listen and Silent have the same letters.” So, thanks to my parents and my culture, I spend a considerable amount of time listening to God and my prayers are usually brief, and to the point. Let me clarify, I don’t listen to God with my ears, nor does God speak to me with His mouth. But if I am still, and quiet, and meditative, I don’t need human ears or a divine mouth to hear from God. So, next time your prayer life is lacking, try listening.

After the large group of disciples deserted him Jesus ministered only in Galilee for some time. He did not go at all into Judea because the Jewish hierarchy were threatening to kill him. With the Feast of Booths at hand Jesus went back to his childhood home in Nazareth. There he found his brothers and sisters and their families gathered. His oldest brother, Joseph, welcomed him. 

“Jesus! We are glad to see you. We are preparing to go to Jerusalem for the feast and were expecting to see you there.”

Jesus said, “I sent my disciples on to Jerusalem with their families. I think I would rather stay here where it is quiet.” 

His brother James said, “We have been talking about this, Jesus. You need to go up to Jerusalem. We hear that you are doing amazing miracles. We still cannot figure out how you could have produced wine when they ran out at that wedding in Cana. Some people are saying you turned the water in the stone jars into wine.” 

Joseph said, “Listen, if you really do these things, you need to go where your followers will see what you do. No one who is trying to become prominent should work in secret.”

Jesus answered, “You don’t understand the situation. Timing is crucial for me. The time is always right for you. The world cannot hate you. Your lives reflect the world around us. The world hates me because everything I do and say testifies that their works are evil. You go on to the feast. I am not going up to the feast with you. My time has not yet fully come.”

After the rest of the family left Jesus began to pray. After a few moments he heard someone talking outside the house. He went to the door and saw his mother and his youngest brother talking to his Aunt Susanna and her son David. As Susanna and her son turned to go Jesus stepped out to meet Mary and Simon.

“What is happening? Why have you not started for Jerusalem?” Mary sent Simon into the house with directions to get some things. 

To Jesus she said “We were all meeting at the synagogue to travel together. And Susanna's son Jesse arrived with a donkey cart. That meant we could take a few more things for the journey. Susanna and David returned for a skin of wine. And I came back for some blankets and a round of cheese. Are you sure you won’t go with us to the feast?”

“No, mother. I cannot go until the timing is right.”

“I suppose I understand, son. But you said your time had not yet come at the wedding feast. And God still honored what you did.”

“I know mother. But I would not have done anything then without my Father’s prompting. I am afraid my brothers did not understand that at all.”

“I know, son. They never understood your motivations. Your father and I have not always understood. But your brothers and sisters were not shown God’s plan by an angel as Joseph and I were. It was more than your brothers could understand, when you stood in the synagogue and said the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled in you. It is difficult for them to believe the brother that they have known all their lives came from God.” 

Jesus nodded his understanding. “Be assured that my Heavenly Father is speaking to them. In time, they will come to believe.” As They were talking Simon came out of the house loaded down with blankets, and Susanna and David came back along the road. 

Mary put her hand on his arm and said, “It is not for me to say, but I think God’s time for you is very near. You must pray about coming to the feast in order to be ready when your time does come.” Jesus said goodbye and returned to the house to pray. 

After a while, he too arose and started north on the road to Jerusalem. He did not join a group for the journey. He entered the city secretly to observe what was being said. The people were all whispering about him. But no one dared speak of Jesus openly because the chief priests and rabbis were so angry.

Some of the people were saying, “He is a good man.” 

Others said, “When the messiah comes will he show us more signs than this man?”

Still others argued, “It doesn’t matter how many miracles he does, he is leading the people astray. Don’t all of our leaders oppose him?”

This story was based on certain things in John 7:1-13.

Father, the world hates us more and more as we draw nearer to You. Help us be sensitive to Your timing and your prompting in our lives.

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QATARI ARABS:

During our second week of prayer for Qatar, we will pray against the spirit of self-sufficiency and idols of materialism and wealth. We will ask the Lord that He reveals spiritual paucity among the Qataris.

Matthew 19:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (NIV)

Qatar is one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

When all one’s physical needs are met, when any luxury is available at the touch of the credit card, when the Lamborghini is sitting in the drive way, it is easy to believe that everything is fine forever. There is no thought of eternity. How dangerous this is?

Greed is a vice which all people struggle with, but it is especially common with the rich. Does having more satisfy? Is there ever a time when one with a limitless bank account has enough? Pray for the wealthy, who struggle with the idol of materialism. Please pray that Qataris will acknowledge this struggle and seek for change.

In fact, please pray that self-sufficient Qataris will stay awake at night thinking about the here-after. Pray that they will honestly question whether money brings them hope for eternity. Pray that they will cry out to God for answers and that He will bring them into contact with believers in Him, who tell them about eternal life in Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=eDXE0g2QB0k&fbclid=IwAR1PjOjp7_C5SDiugowRzWq9_RCCyf48cXl2cVO9yOoaJqNPbTwltcJOMPo