Wednesday 24 August 2016

What Every Person Needs

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jer 2:12-13)Our lives are meant to be reflectors of God. Being made in His image, we are to mimic His character. This is holiness. He is love, therefore we love in the same way. We reflect His character not by mimicking His nature but by absorbing from His provision. When we entrust our hearts to God's provision, we find not only holiness, but satisfaction in living holy lives.At the same time, the mind is wired to protect itself, the same way the body is designed to protect itself.

The mind naturally feels that it has needs;-To be heard and understood
-To be affirmed
-To be blessed
-To be safe
-To be touched
-To be chosen
-To be included
When your mind believes your 'self' lacks value it either
-Creates a model of living that provides value for itself or
-Justifies it's lack of value.

These are the 'cisterns' our mind drinks from rather than returning to our life-giving Lord. To put that in a practical example, if a young boy sees his drunk father stumble in the door, and hears his mother screaming about what an out of work failure that man is, and how he is tearing apart their family. If this is a defining moment for the boy, he will most likely grow up believing that security is found in keeping a job and being successful, while his significance will be rooted in keeping a family together.The conscious mind sees and interprets circumstances and the subconscious feels the pain of having unmet needs.
When we don't get what we need, we are designed to subconsciously alter its behaviour in an effort to survive. For example, if you stop eating, your body will digest much slower, holding onto whatever food it has. The mind, intrinsically connected to the body, functions in the same way. Whether the mind feels threatened by external circumstances (i.e. what others expect from us) or from inner turmoil (i.e. damaged emotions), it will respond much like your body does when you stop eating; the mind will grab onto what it can and try to defend itself from further damage.The truth is that all of our needs can be met in Christ. The solution is to find and understand what our mind identifies as an unmet need, and why it feels the need to fill that cistern via a spring other than Christ. Ultimately what we believe is that Christ is a sufficient lifesource for all our desires

Sunday 12 June 2016

A Letter To Fundamentalist (Literal Bible) Christians

Today I woke up to tragedy. Sometimes the only thing that sickens me more than tragedy, is people's response to it. After seeing a few 'I don't mind, they were gay,' tweets, I wrote this letter. It is addressed to people who believe the Bible to be literal and innerant (that's what a Fundamentalist is). It is specifically written to those who think this might be 'less tragic' because of sexual orientation.


Dear Fundamentalist Christian,


You believe the Bible to be true. Literal. Relevant. I respect that. In a postmodern world, those devoted to their core beliefs are often few and far between. In the past year, you have become the center of much attention. Maybe not you personally, but people who think like you. America's worst shooting ever was recorded today (June 12, 2016), and now eyes will swing to you again. This shooting appears to have been the result of an anti-gay agenda.

(If you aren't familiar with what happened, catch up on CNN)

Perhaps you are not convinced this is a bad thing. Since you believe the Bible to be literal, you believe homosexuality is wrong. You know that 'the wages of sin is death.' Perhaps you've compared America to Sodom and Gomorrah. After all, they were struck down.

I want to explain to you why this tragedy is heart-breaking. Why you, a Fundamentalist, should empathize and identify with the LGBT community. Why you should love them. And I want to do that while taking the Bible literally.

Homosexuality as Sin

Sometimes being gay is singled out as a great offense. Does the Bible call homosexuality sin? Yes. Twice by name (1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10). But bear in mind that both those verses come in a broader context. In Corinthians, Paul is speaking about sexual immorality in general, regardless of gender. In Timothy he is speaking about being 'lawless' as a whole.

When the Bible speaks of sexual sin, it refers to something that defaces an image God gave us. Ephesians 5 describes sex, and marriage as a whole, as something that represents the relationship
between Christ and the church. This union is something so sacred it is not even to be joked about(Eph 5:4). He details that any sexual relationship that does not represent the Christ-church union is immoral. This includes homosexuality, but it puts it on a level playing field with all other sexual sin.

Some argue that homosexuality is unique because it is described as unnatural (Rom 1:26). But you'll be hard pressed to see it separated as 'different than other sexual sin' in Old Testament law. You'll see that homosexuality (Lev 20:13) is treated the same as all other sexual immorality (Lev 20:10-23).

The broader message of Scripture is 'all have sinned.' And this is far more essential to the gospel than teaching 'homosexuality is sin.'

God As Judge

God created humans and gave us dominion (Gen 1:26). This made us rulers of the world, but according to His conditions. When sin entered the world, we made our own rules. Mankind acted as though they were in charge. Essentially told God that the dominion He gave them was theirs and not His. This resulted in Cain killing Able. God, as giver of life, determines the length of the life of His creation. But Cain took this into his own hands.

When God chooses to judge humanity, whether by flood (Gen 6), by fire (Gen 19) or opening the Earth to swallow people (Num 26), He does so Himself. We don't get to be judges. We didn't give life. We aren't qualified to take it away.



Murder is always tragedy. It is an act of rebellion against God's dominion. It is always sin. It is never to be celebrated. Someone has named themself (like Cain) as a better judge than God.

In the case of the non-Christian it means the end of their opportunity to repent. As sign waving street-corner preachers keep reminding us, the Bible says sinners go to hell. In fact, the only death the Bible sees as worth celebrating is the death of the Christian (Phi 1:21).

Is Love the Answer?

The word love is being misused. And not just by the #Loveislove people (See my post on that here). So please understand me as I say this.

We are to love all people equally.

Consider Jesus and the adulterous woman (John 4). Or the other adulterous woman (John 8). Or the other one (Luke 7). Consider the accusation against Jesus, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'” (Luk 7:34).

He's accused of this many times. Many, many times. He hung out with sinners. A sinless friend of sinners. If you were the same way, people wouldn't call you intolerant so quickly after this shooting.

Do you see Paul express disdain or hatred toward Corinth? They were sexually immoral in many ways (1 Cor 5-7). What we see is careful instruction. 'Be pure.' 'Glorify God in your body.' Never, 'don't worry so much if those temple prostitutes you stay away from get killed.' In fact, he never even goes so far as to say 'stay away from temple prostitutes.' And Paul says A LOT about sexual immorality.

In Closing

Ask yourself some questions about the Orlando shooting. Would you be more heart-broken if straight people had been targeted? Consider other great tragedies in the U.S. Could there have been anyone in the twin towers who had sex before marriage? Anyone in Columbine addicted to pornography?

Are you less saddened because the targets of today were at a gay bar? Are you qualified to judge the length of someone's life? Do you have as much love for these victims as Jesus did? Do you love their families?

If the Bible is right, people are in hell today. Mourn. Weep. From today onward make it a priority to love unconditionally. To teach about grace to all people. You are responsible to tell them the gospel, which includes telling them they have sinned. You are not responsible for their condemnation.

Sincerely,


A Fundamentalist Christian

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Why Joseph?

When you only get one shot at something, you want to make it count. The Christian drama team I help to run is as short-term as ministries come. In many places, we are in and out in a day. We get one chance, sometimes only an hour, to communicate truth through the telling of a Bible story. Now, after

four months and nearly 100 shows, I want to answer a very common question.

Why Joseph?”

With only an hour to hit people with the gospel, why not the life of Christ? Why not the crucifix? Why write a play about Joseph?

For those of you haven't seen Out of The Pit, it follows the story of Joseph, as accounted in Genesis, and highlights some comparisons between this Old Testament figure and the person of Christ. I chose Joseph because I see him as unique in the Biblical narrative; unique in that he is described as a sinless man. While he certainly sinned at times in his life, it is interesting to note that in the Joseph narrative there is no Bathsheba, he kills no Egyptian, and he doesn't come from a past of persecuting the church. The author of Genesis describes him in such a way as to make him stand out among his Biblical buddies.

Most major Old Testament characters have traits or life experiences that are repeated in the person of Jesus. Moses stands between God and man and asks that his life be taken in place of the people (Exodus 32:32). Joshua saw victory given and sin defeated (Joshua 2:24). Jeremiah tells the people that if they carry a yoke (much like a cross is carried) they will live, but if they do not, they will die (Jeremiah 27, Matthew 16:24).

The event we focus on in Out of The Pit is the fact that Joseph is placed into the ground, and then rises out to become a ruler. The first time, he is placed into a well by his mocking brothers, and the second time into a prison by Potiphar. It's an imperfect picture of exactly what happened to our Saviour. Jesus is placed into His grave after being rejected by his Jewish brothers. Like Joseph, he was condemned and punished though he had done nothing wrong.

While the gospel may centre around the event of the crucifixion and resurrection, it's divine message of redemption had been echoing through history hundreds of years before Jesus was born. And this was no mistake on God's part – He chose to unveil salvation slowly. To use people as His divine object lesson. When we see the Old Testament characters as imperfect images of who our Saviour would someday be, we have taken the first step into unlocking the message behind a gospel that has been unfolding since time began. In the theological world we call tools like this 'hermenutics.' Little keys that unlock the meaning of big passages.

Sometimes people need to be equipped to find truth on their own, rather than having it spoonfed to them. I grew up reading the Bible, but I never knew what it meant. No one ever showed me all the great Old Testament 'study tips' the writer of Hebrews seems to use so well. So I read up to Malachai like every good pastor's kid. And when I hit the gospels, I found the same well-combed, loving, gracious and one dimensional Jesus most people in North-American churches have cheapened him to be. You need the backstory – the wrath and redemption, the blood and the sacrifices, to understand Jesus.

Joseph isn't just a godly man...he is an image of who Jesus
would be.
And you can't be taught that. As great as Sunday School is, people need to discover Jesus for themselves. To read his story and say, 'Wow! Look at this guy!' So the best teachers will always be ones who let students discover things for themselves. And that's what we try to do with Out of The Pit. Give people the tools to discover Jesus for themselves. He's hidden inside the Old Testament, and when you can find Him on your own, you're headed somewhere great.

When you've found the Bible to be more than just a book, you've found the beginning of the true gospel. After all, Jesus Himself is the Word (John 1:1), and this truth is prominently stated as a prelude to His life. John's introduction to Jesus as a man is, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14). You can not have Jesus the man without taking Him as Jesus the Word. Those Old Testament truths were His. Those stories, about Him. And His gospel is reflecting off of every single letter from Genesis to Revelation


So we tell the story of Joseph. And we teach one,very basic hermenutic. We hand a little 'key' to adults and children alike and invite them to discover the Biblical narrative for themselves. One hour to teach truth. And the simple message of Scripture is all this dying world needs.