The gospel, as explained by Jesus

John 6:29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

This is the concise gospel. This is all there is to salvation. There is no ‘careful editing’ that comes later, verses that get skipped over, or passages that are carefully twisted. These are Jesus’ words, albeit in English instead of Aramaic. The Israelites that stand before him, Jews, ask him what they must do to receive salvation. He says that they must only believe. There were no asterisks, no fine print. In fine human form, they ask for a miracle so that they may believe, “Moses brought manna down from heaven, what will you do?”
Jesus responded, “God sent down manna from heaven, not Moses. Now, he has sent true bread, that will give life to the world,” They ask for this bread, always. He tells them that he is the bread.
Basically, he is the miracle they were looking for, the messiah, the one born of a virgin. “Whoever believes in me will never thirst and hunger for real life. They shall die, but they shall be marked, and raised up at the last day. Your ancestors ate manna, and died. If you consume me, you shall taste eternal life,”
Then, they argued about what he was saying.

To me, this is a misunderstanding. They were talking about physical bread, Jesus was speaking metaphorically. They were to believe in him, they would have access to eternal life. He took his teachings back to the beginning.
-Salvation is through ME. If you believe, you will be raised up at the last day. You will have true life. Your hunger will be satisfied through me, not physically (I’m not saying that God doesn’t provide, it’s just that that topic is not what is being discussed here), but spiritually. Spiritually, you will have to seek no more. You will have peace and fulfillment, or fullness.-

Harsh Words

I realized something yesterday, people always say that the book of James is harsh, and yet, when I was reading it, it didn’t seem that way to me. He had some pretty stern rebukes, yes, but they do not seem to be spoken out of judgement; instead, they are spoken out of kindness. James is warning them, unless they understand the implications of their actions, unless they fully understand the danger, they have no chance of escape. He seems to speak on the basic sins of mankind: the common pitfalls, and their dangers. 

He forbids them from being swayed by wealth and prominence, the sirens that have led so many to corruption and ultimate destruction.

He forbids them from thinking that trouble comes because God is angry. 

He forbids them from doing nothing.

He urges them to be men (in the generic sense) of integrity, undivided in purpose and person.

He forbids arrogance.

He forbids greed.

This all comes across as very negative, but it isn’t. 

He warns them about being swayed by wealth, showing favoritism, the very people they groveled to please were the ones that walked across their backs. They ignored the people around them that needed their service, missing their calling and their opportunity God’s love in the process.

He warns them about thinking that trouble is a sign of judgement, because it simply isn’t true. He reminds them of the prophets. Were they not men of God? Were they not hunted to the ends of the earth? Did they not live in holes? And yet, was not the world condemned as unworthy of them? It was condemned. They stand justified. And so, you to, can have hope, because the trouble you walk through is not necessarily a sign of your condemnation. It isn’t a sign of your sainthood, either, do not fall into that trap. Still, draw hope from this: troubles are not a sign of condemnation. Relax, and breath in God’s grace. He sent a way for you to be redeemed, would he drop you now? This is a foolish thought. On the opposite of this coin, however, be wary of blaming your mistakes on God. He is infinitely patient, but it isn’t good in the long run if you cannot stand and accept your mistakes. From a human side of things, it’s irresponsible and shows an incredible lack of maturity. From a more spiritual side of things, it is a grave thing indeed: you have accused God of being double-natured. On one hand you agree that he wishes you to be righteous, and yet on the other you say that he wishes you to sin? It cannot be both. He cannot wish both. He can work with anything, yes, but he does not wish anyone to sin. In all this, we have come back around to the beginning, you are to live righteously and stand firm in that. You are to be steadfast.

The third thing he tells them is that they are not to do nothing. It doesn’t do any good to wish someone happiness, health, food, shelter. It’s like ‘liking’ a cause on Facebook, it only makes you feel better about yourself. It doesn’t actually do any good. (Unless there’s some company donating for a number of ‘likes’, that doesn’t happen enough to legitimize it as an argument.) If you don’t donate money, food, clothing, etc. It doesn’t help, any. Not that gifts of food helped anyone, it only provides for a day, a month, a year. Honestly, it’s only a stopgap measure, providing for now or a week from now, a month from now, whenever the money/food/clothing gets to them. They need more than that, I assure you. They are human. They need to able to work for what they eat, what they wear. Even if it isn’t a lot, it means something to have earned it yourself. You value what you have earned more than what you are given. I have heard tales of places where there is so much donated clothing that it is used to patch the holes in the roads. I repeat myself: this is not what they need. 

He urges them to be people of integrity. What you say you believe, live in it, walk in it. Walk in the light: do not curse or slander, because this is how you will be measured. As you bless God and reflect him, you should be a conduit of love for the people around you. This should be evident in the way that you treat them, and especially in what you say. Watch what you say, and as you can tell, this is more than just being honest. This is about showing love. Your will needs to be tuned, such that it rings in harmony with God’s will, so that people who ‘listen’ to your life hear more than sour notes. Again, God shows grace, but it is ultimately better if you follow God.

This involves an act of humility and falls into the next topic: God has numbered your days. He knows every one of them. You don’t know what is coming next, you know relatively nothing. You can be an expert in your field, and yet you are a complete n00b next to God. This is why you follow him: he can steer you out of hazards you don’t even know are there, He can steer you towards people that desperately need his love, and quite frankly, he is holy. Your will is still in the process of being renewed, until it is completely renewed, you cannot steer yourself perfectly. When you are completely renewed, what you wish is also God’s wish, you are harmonized. A smaller version of the same thing. Unfortunately, that will not happen in this lifetime. Perfection does not come with time, it comes with the end of it.

Greed is forbidden, don’t hoard your wealth, this is not the reason that you have it. I’m not quite sure how the bit about hoarded wages in the day of slaughter bit applies to today, but I suspect that there are people to whom this applies. Starting at the top, dear CEO who doesn’t pay your employees a livable wage, you stand condemned. Dear restaurant goers, the people who wait on you depend on your tips. There are many articles on this already. There are arguments about how tips should be given. Honestly, while these do matter, these don’t really matter. Actually tip. Understand that you are paying them for their service, many of them live on it. If you do not, you do stand condemned (though this is different in other countries, where you DO NOT TIP. Tipping is actually rude in many places of the world, especially Asian countries). Eventually, we get to factories: those workers need to be paid a living wage. This doesn’t have to be ‘Americanized’ in any way shape or form, but they have to be able to feed their families, regardless of country or continent. Many of these people live and work in horrid conditions: for this, we all stand condemned, the buyer and the seller alike.

In the end, he tells them to pray, reminding them of Elijah. Though, surprisingly, he doesn’t bring up the time that fire fell from heaven, instead, he brings up the time of drought. Elijah brought drought on the people of Israel, to turn them from their evil ways. We are told to do the same, not necessarily pray for drought, but turn our brothers and sisters back from death. Though this all seems rather negative, it is done out of love. We are the ones he is turning from death, like the people he wrote to then.

 

To Write Again: Going Down in Flames

I apologize for not writing again sooner. The last semester was pretty rough. To put it in short terms, I went down in flames. Though this wasn’t necessarily through my grades, I did decently well. I only dropped .03 in my GPA. In sleep? – Yes and no, see I slept better than most, and was in bed by eleven most nights, though it took me an hour to fall asleep then. In my eating habits? – No, I still eat half veggies, or try to, sometimes the only ones available are doused in oil, those don’t count for anything.  In friendship? Well, honestly sometimes I did, I’m not perfect and I don’t always know the right thing to say, but for the most part, I do my best. It was in this: Eph 6:10-20, and I failed at this too: Isaiah 43:16-21.

See, the first was I didn’t put on the armor of God. I’m not sure what that means or how to do it, though I’m sure the second passage is related to it. God is working all around us, there is always something new. We are commanded to remember what He has done, without dwelling in the past, and we are commanded to praise God, both for the new and the old.

We are to study his word, this is the belt of truth. We are to live rightly, this is the breastplate of righteousness.

Then there’s peace. Honestly, it’s the peace bit that gets me. I don’t have it, I sleep and don’t feel rested. I don’t understand, I struggle with this, and get to the point of breaking my head on things to understand it. This picture is a bit violent, but I think you understand – I don’t understand and I’m still learning.

The shield of faith – we are to remember what God has done for us and others, this strengthens our faith. The helmet of salvation – we know we are saved. I think I’ve been forgetting this bit too.  The sword of the spirit – the word of God – I may be wrong about the belt of truth … It’s quite likely, I will have to do a more in-depth study at a later date and an earlier hour.

To Be Known

I was reading Ephesians today, and a thought hit me. God wants to be known. He wants us to know him. 

People realize this and respond to it by saying “ah, I should study the attributes of God”. I say, that this is all well and good, but it is knowing about God, not knowing God. I can know all the attributes of a person, but what does that make me? A psychiatrist? A stalker? It doesn’t mean that I know that the person, that would imply relating with them on a more intimate level. By intimate, I don’t mean sex. Though, that is what is usually passed off as intimacy. 

Intimacy is connecting with people, it is relating with people on a level of symbiosis. Now, when I say symbiosis, I don’t mean co-dependency, where you are nothing without them. I mean that with them, your weaknesses are covered and likewise for the others. It is relating on a level of trust and kindness that makes each person more themselves than they are otherwise. A sort of ‘chemical reaction’ occurs. Each person is thrust upward to new heights, and pulled up from depths. 

In the end, this is what God wants for us and from us. He wants us to know Him, He wants us to know each other. 

John 17:20 – 23

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me,”

A Rant (1)

Today, I think I will rant about something that annoys me greatly. I will start with a common problem, Bible verses used out of context, such that it distorts the original meaning. This is actually a commonly used phrase in our culture “Don’t judge me,” I actually heard it at church today, not from the pulpit, or I wouldn’t be going back.

Matthew 7:1 Don’t judge, or you too will be judged. 

and there’s another verse as well … 

Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 

The problem with these verses is that they have been separated from their historical and literary context. Literarily, they are both surrounded with Jesus speaking on the subject of hypocrisy. That is their proper context, do not divorce them from it. 

Historically, judging was not looking at something and saying that it was wrong. Jesus was talking to his disciples, in front of the pharisees, as usual. They had a habit of judging, but not in the modern sense. If they ‘judged’ you, it meant that they deemed you a ‘sinner’. You were an unsavable, unlovable, and rightly damned in the sight of God. They agreed, with God’s supposed judgement, and avoided you. You were not merely considered ‘sinful’ in the modern sense, but rather, you were socially ostracized, you were less than human. They prayed to God, that He would bring the day when you were wiped from the face of the earth, and they would be rid of you, forever.

This judgement has no view of God’s compassion and grace. It encompasses God’s holiness without understanding His love. Yes, we are to view other human beings with compassion. You who have been shown mercy, show mercy to others. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Matthew 5:44 We are called to show God’s love to the world. A large part of that is compassion. However, compassion cannot be fully understood, unless it is in the shadow of judgement.

Who are you?

What do you believe? What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you hate?

These are important questions, but they are only the surface ideas. What do those beliefs, likes, dislikes, and hates lead you to do? What difference does what you believe make in your life? If it makes no difference in your life, does it even matter?

See, I’m a Christian, but what difference does it make? For the majority of Christians, that means that they go to church on Sunday morning (or Saturday, and possibly one other service). Period. That’s it. They go to church, instead of sleeping in. If that is all you do, I recommend sleeping in, as it will have more impact on your life.

{I am including a Bible passage that I think backs me up in this. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%208:27-38&version=NIV It is in NIV, but you can change the version and the language to one you prefer.}

It doesn’t look like American Christianity, it seems like something else entirely. There are no ‘fuzzy’ vibes from this passage. It sounds a bit more hardcore.

It’s like this: you have to be willing to die. You have to be willing to face your greatest fears. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything. If you haven’t lost anything from your faith, what is it worth?

Let me flip this around, if you have lost anything, what have you gained? See, it’s this that defines you. Is it fire insurance, or something more? See, because fire insurance doesn’t insure you against fire, it just pays for damages once the fire has past. Eternity has no end, by definition of course. Could you even claim such insurance?

If

If a revival were to happen, what would it look like? Would we even recognize it? You have to understand, that there are church-sponsored, heavily attended events that are called revivals. If you’ve been to any one of these events before and after, as a mere spectator, maybe as more than a spectator, you begin to understand that while there are people who do change as a result, there are also those that don’t.

The second category of people seem to experience some sort of emotional ‘high’. They get really spiritual-looking. I say looking, because the next week, the next month, the next year, nothing is different than it was. Nothing has changed. They are the same spiteful person they used to be.

If nothing changes, did it count for anything? Was it worth anything?

Growth

A tree, though appearing dead over the winter, sprouts new leaves in the spring. A tree that has no leaves and many dead branches, can sprout new branches and grow again. There’s  a tree on campus that had only a few leaves on it last fall, most of the branches were leafless, it was pruned and it didn’t appear that it would survive.  However, this semester, the old branches have new leaves on them, and there are a multitude of new branches that grew off the bottom of the trunk. It is a funny looking tree, but it is still alive.

Why do I tell you this? I feel that it is an illustration of what is happening on our campus at the moment. What had appeared dead, is coming back to life. The campus is filling with students for the new semester and year, but that is not the point.

Another story, before I get to the point. I had to read a book over the summer, though I read it in an afternoon before getting back to school. *cough* It was for a retreat that the student leaders were going to take. We heard several messages over the time of slightly less than 48 hours, one of which was start small.

Yet another story, because it is part of the point. Actually, this isn’t really a story, only a sentence. I have friends who have been dealing with many things spiritually, emotionally, etc, and there has been a lot of visible growth over the past year.

Despite all the days that I despair, look at the church and say ‘You are not what you were meant to be’, there is still evidence of life. It is small, but hopefully, the small will defeat the large. Hopefully, life will defeat death. Hopefully, revival will come to our campus one day, however small it starts.

Dating, Love, and a List of Attributes

I think you are starting to understand what women want in a man, but there’s more to it than you suppose. I thought I would give further revelation into the woman’s mind.

http://grantskeldon.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/what-kind-of-guy-culture-tells-us-to-be-why-ryan-gosling-isnt-that-great/

(1) Women want to be pursued. Women want/need to be told that they’re someone special, and there are girls who are willing to go through anything to get that. (Have you seen pop music stars? They aren’t the only ones, I’m just shoving them under the bus for the purpose of an example. This is such a fundamental desire, that it can take precedence over anything else.)

(2)I agree that women don’t want a ‘boy’ (though some will go for any guy, see paragraph 1). Why do you think there are so many women who have given up on marriage? Dating? It’s because they have met so few guys, (in relationships) who have been a man. (think mature, responsible, etc).

(3)Confidence is a great attractant. Honestly, I’ve met people who are honestly not good-looking, but are more attractive than the naturally good-looking because they’re okay with not being the most attractive people in the room.

(4)Leader, not a like world-leader, but a guy who will look at you and say, ‘I’ve looked at the options, and I think this is the best option for us’ kind of leader.

(5)Listener, someone who will ask for your input. Someone will ask you how your day was, and not try to fix everything. (guys, please, you’re not God, you can’t fix everything)

(6)Funny, because life is rough, and humor can smooth over tougher spots. Also, don’t be serious all the time, and don’t take yourself too seriously. There will be plenty of times when you will look like a dork, it’s good to able to take it with grace.

(7)Gentleness is an important trait. This determines (partially) how safe the girl feels around you. There’s nothing wrong with rough-housing with other guys, but girls are a different story. If you want to help the girls around you, treat them like ladies, even if they’re not.

(8)Can cook. (This is important not because you have an ability. It is important, because it implies shared responsibilities, indicating partnership in marriage, not totalitarian rule.)

(9)Loyalty is an important thing, because divorces are messy and painful, hurting all involved, no matter what the reason for it was.

(10)Attractive. This is where looks come in, but let me tell you a secret: most guys  aren’t bad looking. (Comparable age is important, more than a 25% difference is just not cool. Actually, a 25% age difference is not cool when you’re twenty, unless it’s a twenty-five and twenty sort of age difference.) Honestly, I’ve met very few guys that I immediately thought of as ugly, many more guys I have considered jerks or perverts. I’m not attracted to most guys, actually, I’m  the oblivious one. You can be considered the ‘hot’ guy, and I might not realize you exist. It’s embarrassing, but it has happened, more than once.

(11)Respect is a two way street, if you give it, you’ll probably get it.

(12)Passion: think the crazy-in-love-guy  in Love Does and you have a pretty good starting idea for this. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should be a total romantic, but it does mean that you actively look for ways to express your love.

There are a lot of girls that  settle for only one of the options. It’s like they don’t realize that if they wait, they’ll probably meet someone who is more than just one thing. It’s like they don’t realize their own power. Even if you aren’t necessarily the ‘most beautiful’ girl, you are still female. As a female, you do have a certain amount of power, you can require good treatment. Personality is just as powerful an attractant as looks, and it actually lasts, whereas looks  do not. If someone is attracted to you because of your personality, they’re more likely to stick around, anyways.

Salvation and Sin

This is a disjointed collection of thoughts on salvation and sin.

It seems to me that there is a profound difference between stumbling in the right direction and rebellion. There is a difference between a thoughtless mistake and a decision to disobey your conscience.

I also think that there is a difference between understanding salvation and accepting it. See, you can know everything there is to know about the Bible, and it still not make one iota of difference in your life.

We have all met these people. We all know the type. They mock others, for fun. There’s no harm in completely trashing what someone else believes, right? (sarcasm). They’re complete hypocrites. They say one thing, but when it comes down to it, they don’t really have morals. What they ‘believe’ appears to have no effect in their life. Then, comes the question, do they really believe it? Do they even understand what they say the believe? You, as a more mature Christian, are not allowed to slap them in the face, so what do you do? You sit there, and possibly glare at them, maybe roll your eyes. They make everyone’s life harder. See, it doesn’t just affect the people they’re directly antagonizing. It hurts the Christians around them who are trying to live in such a way that others see the love of God.

Oh, and the hardest part is, we’ve all been that person. We’ve all been the person who screwed up so royally that those around us wanted to KO us, just to make the point that our behaviour was unacceptable.

So, what line can we draw? What can we say is the dividing line between stumbling in the right direction, and flagrant disobedience of God’s commands?

The most obvious example (or the one that people seem to jump to the most readily) is killing people.

Thou shalt not kill. It is one of the easiest commands to follow, right? Wrong, actually, ” “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment,” (Matthew 5:21-22). Anger is counted as murder. What about Adultery? You’re not married, so you can’t commit adultery. Wrong again, lust is counted as adultery. Also in Matthew 5, you are commanded to keep your oaths, stay with your spouse except in cases of adultery, forgive your enemies,  and pray for those who persecute you.

I haven’t cleared up the issue much, except for clarifying what is wrong. (This is not a comprehensive list, actually, there’s a lot more. In Ephesians 5, you are commanded to not be obscene, or tell coarse jokes, be greedy, or be sexually immoral. Even that isn’t the end of it, I’ve written nothing about omission.) So, now that I’ve pretty much established all of humanity as damned, I am back to my previous question.

What is the difference between stumbling in the right direction, and deliberate rebellion?

I have heard that this comes down to conscience, but you can sear your own conscience, such that it does not convict you. (1 Tim 4:2  Ps 81 Romans 1) What happens is God gives you over to your sins, because you refuse to listen to Him. (Such a place is dangerous, I cannot emphasize it enough. I don’t know where such people stand (salvation-wise) but it doesn’t seem secure at all.)

So, what is a sign that you’re walking in rebellion? Is it conscience? I would say that if your conscience convicts you, fix the problem, quickly. Other than that? I have only one answer and that is to test yourself (2 Corinthians 13). If God disciplines you (possibly what people call conviction, though it seems to be a much stronger term used in the verse.) (Hebrews 12), then you belong to Him. Are you continuing to sin, or are you improving (1 John 5)?  Now, if you have an addiction, it may take you a while to get out of it.

Are you living righteously? Are you loving the way that Christ did? Are you breaking any of the commandments? Obviously, the answer is no to the first two questions, and yes to the third. The real question is, are you doing your best?

(Actually, are you relying on God to supply what you don’t have, such that you can become what you are supposed to be, but that is for a different post.)