Happy or Content?

How content are you? And I don't mean happy. Happy is something different. Happiness is a good thing, but it's a very fleeting thing.  I may be very happy, and then get an email or phone call that changes my dynamic and attitude for the rest of the day. Not so with contentment.  Contentment is broader, more even keel if you will.  Contentment is about life satisfaction, and inner-peace.  Yes, there is certainly an element of happiness that comes into play, but only as a symptom of the already established contentment.

So, how content are you?  I have definitely had to battle to find contentment in my own life.  I have so many things to be thankful for: a wonderful wife, a son, my health, my home, my job, the list could go on.  Why then do I, and I believe many people, struggle to maintain true contentment in our life?  Paul talked about this very idea in Philippians 4.  In verses 10-19 he alludes to the problem and gives the solution.

10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;

16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.

18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

While making his main point, Paul gives a short list of his credentials. Paul says he has learned the secret of being content all the time.  For him, this included times when he was full or starving, having what he wants or dealing with not having what he wants. From other reading we know Paul also endured some other serious struggles.  Paul was imprisoned multiple times, he was beaten multiple times and ultimately martyred for his faith in Christ.

There is no doubt we all suffer to some extent in this life. But most of us will never know suffering like Paul. So, I suppose, if someone has gone through all that Paul has gone through and still claims to have "learned the secret to being content in any situation," we ought to be quiet and listen to his wisdom. 

Paul's answer for this mindset of contentment is found in the very next verse. Philippians 4:13.  This verse has become a bit of a cliche within Christian circles. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."  I have often looked to this verse as a way of inspiring myself not to give up, to trust in God to get me through difficult times.  There's nothing wrong with that, except it doesn't fully encompass what Paul was trying to get across when he said it.

Paul isn't really saying "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Rather, he is literally saying "I can do everything within God's will for me through him who gives me strength." This is kind of the rub. There are all sorts of things we could involve ourselves with that God is not supportive of.  So, here, the key is submission.  When our will is fully aligned with the will of God, only then can we say "I can do everything (with no qualifier) through him who gives me strength."

So, how fully submitted are you to the will of God?  I find this particularly difficult. This is not because I want to be running around smashing mailboxes and paint balling houses. Rather, it's because I have my own ideas concerning the methods, timing and location for my service to God.  I think many of us fall into this category.  What we want seems good to us, and in line with God, and yet for some reason God isn't "making it happen."  It's in these times that the fullness of my submission to God is tested. Being willing to say - and mean - "What I want may never happen, and I accept that" - is a true test of one's submission to God.  It doesn't mean you give up on your dreams, but it does mean that you acknowledge God as the ultimate dream-maker.

So here we are. IF we are willing to FULLY submit ourselves to God's will (hear leadership and guidance), THEN we will be able to "do everything through him who gives [us] strength."  It is ONLY within this framework that we will ultimately be able to find true contentment.  The contentment that is not based upon how happy I am or how good I feel.  But rather, it is based on my knowledge that I am submitted to, and aligned with, my God and my Savior.  No matter what this world throws at me, I have an eternal home waiting for me on the other side. In this there is peace.  In this there is hope.  In this we can have contentment. 

"Seeing the Meaning"

The other day I was reading John 13.  One of the more popular and humbling sections of the New Testament would certainly be the first 17 verses of this chapter.  Christ washing of the disciples feet brings to mind amazing imagery.  The Son of God (or God himself, if you like) on his knees scrubbing the garbage off the feet of his own students, all the while knowing they would abandon him; some more completely than others. 

I've probably read this passage 100 times before, but I was struck in a new way when I read a portion of it this time.  Verses 3-5 gave me a glimpse into the character of Jesus that I've missed before, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

The Greek word for "knew" in verse three is from the root word "eido" (in this case it is "eidos"), which means "to see."  This is interesting because this is always translated "to know or perceive," as it is here, as opposed to the literal "to see."  This is because this word was expressing the idea of "seeing" conceptually, as in the phrase "I see what you mean."  So here, instead of saying "Jesus knew," we could more literally say "Jesus fully comprehended...," or "Jesus sees the ultimate meaning behind..."  And what we have Jesus fully comprehending is the fact that God the Father "had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God."

Now, I certainly believe Christ knew exactly who he was, and what his purpose was on Earth prior to this moment.  But this moment seems to be almost an emotive response to the all the stressful variables going on inside Christ's head that evening.  Christ knows his crucifixion in near. He's in a room with all his closest friends.  He knows these disciples are going to be entrusted with an amazing task when he's gone.  He knows they still lack spiritual maturity. He know's they will abandon him. He know's Judas will betray him.  Maybe the disciples are squawking, as they so often did, about things that really didn't matter (who's the greatest, sitting on his left and right). He's hungry, tired, and probably has filthy feet himself.  

And now we get to the amazing part: Christ's response.  This is what stood out to me so powerfully.  At this very emotional moment, his direct response to understanding the implications of what God was going to do through him, was to get on his knees and wash the feet of his disciples.  Why this act? Why was this the most proper response to Christ's understanding?  Maybe Christ wanted to get their attention in a dramatic fashion.  We all need to be reminded of the need for humility within our own lives.  After all, all the "good" we do should be attributed to God, not ourselves.  Maybe Christ simply saw a genuine practical need at the moment and he filled it, while directing their hearts to him at the same time. 

Ultimately what Christ did, did accomplish those things, but they were not the main reason he did it.  The main reason Christ made this decision is found in a vague manner a few verses later. Verses 7-8: Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  Jesus Christ washed his disciples feet at this very moment because it was the most natural way for them to understand in the finite sense what he was going to do for them in the infinite.  Christ's blood is the only atonement with the power to perfectly cleanse us for all eternity.  It is only through Christ's blood that the dirt and grime, the sins and shortcomings, are washed away and we can be blessed with the greatest opportunity of all: to bask in the presence of our God and creator forever.

So, the question becomes: have you been washed by the precious blood of the lamb of God?  If so, do you live like it daily?  If you have not come to God through Christ, why not?  Jesus Christ calls us all to life fulfilling purpose and personal peace on Earth and to eternal peace in Heaven. The God of the universe is not afraid of your sins.  I serve a God with all power and authority who is willing to get on his hands and knees and scrub the feet of the very people he created. Why? For you. So you could understand a little bit better, a love so unconditional that it doesn't exist outside the realm of our Triune God.  

What Are You Washing?

I had a neat realization the other day.  I was reading in the Old Testament...one of the many passages that focus on ritual washing. (See: most of Deuteronomy) In this case, I was reading about the priests needing to be washed and clean before they could enter the presence of God in the Tabernacle. It's really kind of a weird thing when you think about it: God requiring all this different washing and purifying...to what end?  God doesn't want them to stink?  Is it really possible that the creator God of the universe is so repulsed by B.O. that he instituted a whole list of washing laws before people could come into his presence. This is clearly silly, and this is clearly an extremely important concept to God, so what was the reason or purpose behind it.

I used to primarily think it was for practical reasons.  For example, the scriptures are clear that if you come into contact with a dead body, you are ceremonially "unclean" until you are properly cleansed. Well, this makes sense to me.  You could pick up a disease or virus and then spread it among all the other Israelites. Hygiene was a serious problem, and this was a serious answer from God. Now I'm not saying this wasn't part of the purpose of laws like this.  What I'm saying is that in the big picture, I don't believe this was their primary purpose.

All of the law of God was ultimately created for the same two-fold purpose: to reveal the glorious perfection of God and to overtly reveal our vast distance from that same perfection.  So, it is with this assumption in mind that I am approaching the idea of ceremonial washing.

When we turn to the New Testament, Christ offers us some new insights. He tells us, "It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart." - Mark 7:15 It seems that with Christ, we definitely get a different attitude toward what makes someone clean or unclean. At first glance, the washing seems to no longer be important or necessary for coming into the presence of God.  So has Christ nullified the need for washing and being clean in the presence of God?  Well, yes...and no.

The rules have only changed in light of the fact that the location of God has changed.  Let me explain.  In the Old Testament God lived and worked among Israel in a physical location within their community.  This was the tabernacle, and ultimately the temple.  In the New Testament, God has moved.  God no longer lives in a physical structure, but rather he lives within us.  In light of this fact, the change in ceremonial washing makes perfect sense.  We are still called to wash - but not our body.

When God dwelled outside of us in a temple, we washed and cared for the outside of our self in the particular manner laid out by God.  In this way, we were preparing our self to be in the presence of God.  The people of the Israelite community all had to keep themselves clean by these laws because they were God's community and his dwelling place was among them.

Likewise, in the New Testament we have Christ discussing "washing." But he clearly shifts the focus from physical washing.  God has moved, and the Holy Spirit of God now dwells within us.  So Christ focuses on the "washing" of the inside.  In speaking to the Pharisees, Christ calls them "whitewashed tombs - beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with bones of the dead and everything unclean." - Matthew 23:27.  He is speaking not just doing what's right, but also of thinking what is right. Suddenly a clean attitude, mindset, and heart have become far more important than the physical cleanliness of our body.  Our bodies have become the holy temple of God.  He dwells within us and we must keep our self pure for the presence of our Holy God.

So yes, please do still take a shower before church on Sunday.  But don't loose your focus.  "Looking the part" isn't enough.  We are called to be more than "do-ers" of the right stuff.  Instead, we are called to be constantly "renewing our mind" so that we will be able to test and know what God's will is - "his good, perfect and pleasing will."  We are able to effectively do this because, quite literally, God is living within us.  If you are willing to submit to our living God through the constant renewing of your mind, you will find that it's almost impossible not to step up and step out in this world in the name of Jesus Christ.

God is still Creating

I think God is a fan of themes.  There are lots of themes you can pick up on when you are reading through the Bible in larger chunks over the course of time.  This is the opposite of what I believe is more common: reading the Bible in a few-verses-at-a-time sections and then bouncing around to the next thought that catches your attention. There is a place for both styles of reading the Bible, but the latter can, much more easily, lead to misunderstanding, and misapplication of Scripture.

When I think of those big picture themes, I am talking about concepts that exist from Genesis to Revelation.  Examples that come to mind are things like God's authority over everything, or God's unwillingness to give up on us despite our generally deplorable treatment of him. But the one theme that is sticking out in my head right now is God's desire to make great, or large, or abundant, that which was previously weak, small or bare. We see this theme expressed in so many ways within Scripture that it's almost impossible to list them all. So instead of presenting an exhaustive list, I'll look at a couple that really stand out.

I think the most obvious, and probably most important, way God does this in Scripture is with his disciples, both in the Old Testament and New Testament.  In fact, I would say that all the other ways in which God illustrates this theme in scripture is towards the penultimate end of making "great" his disciples. The ultimate end, of course, being to receive their glory and praise himself.

In the Old Testament we have such heroes of faith as Moses, Joseph and Samson.  Some of the leading characteristics of these men's lives prior to God's intervention was cowardice, arrogance, and lust respectively.  In the New Testament we have characters like Peter, Paul, even Zacchaeus!  Before Jesus these men were, in order, an uneducated fisherman, a murderer of Christians, and a tax-embezzler.  This is not to say they suddenly ceased to struggle upon the intervention of God. But rather, their potential was seen and developed by God where humans alone would have likely missed it entirely.  They were made great not because they were great in themselves, but because they made the decision to trust in God's faithfulness and his ability to make them great.

We also see this theme is the area of the physical world.  In the OT Elisha encounters a poor woman who's in a large amount of debt. He tells her to go home and take her small amount of lamp oil and begin filling jugs.  Jug after jug is filled and the oil never runs out.  She sells the jugs of oil and repays her debt.  Or in the NT, God tells his apostles to take the 5 loaves and 2 fish of a local boy and feed a crowd of many thousands. After prayer, they break the bread and fish and begin handing it out. It is more than enough. Basket-fulls are picked up afterwards.  God is often over-abundant, giving us far more than we need.

(1) God takes the small and makes it large. (2) This serves to build up faith in his children (taking the weak and making them strong), (3) who in turn choose to give increasing glory to Him. At least that's the pattern. Unfortunately, we are fallen, rebellious sinners.  So the pattern actually continues to (4) us becoming complacent and ultimately abandoning God's love. (5) We then find our self in one of life's many difficult moments and we decide to call out to God...again. And God is ever-faithful. (1) Once again he makes great something or someone who is weak. He strengthens us, refuses to abandon us and so the theme has repeated since creation.

We should find comfort in this.  God was and still is our great provider.  This is not simply to provide us with our physical needs like clothes, food and shelter (although, if we need it he will provide it).  God understands our needs fully and broadly.  God will make us great.  He will make YOU great.  I can also almost assure you that it won't come in the way or trajectory within your life that you expect. But God is always faithful.  God has authority over all things.  He makes what is nothing to be amazing, beautiful, clean and perfect.

God's grace is sufficient, his power is made perfect in our weakness. So don't fear or question your own shortcomings when you approach God.  For the glory of God, we must try to be content in our weaknesses and not assume our past or current struggles are too much for God to handle.  In Christ, when I am weak, I am made strong! In Christ, when I am empty, I am made full!  In Christ, when I am beaten or broken, I am made better than new! My cup overflows, all for the sake of the glory of God.

Christ: Fully God, But Still Fully Human

I am a fan of Jesus.  Let's call that an understatement.  There are so many amazing things Jesus has done for Humanity.  Most notably, he died sacrificially and rose from the dead, thereby conquering death and providing an attainable route for humanity to spend eternity with God.  But before he did that, he had to attract the people - so they could be taught the Gospel - so they could ultimately share the Gospel once he was gone.

Christ's methodology for spreading his message seemed to be a perfect balance between revealing himself through dramatic statements and miracles, and avoiding too much attention by telling people to keep the message to them self.  One of these miracles stands out to me as uniquely - unique (since I suppose all of Christ's miracles were unique).  It seems to not fall cleanly into either of the two aforementioned categories.

In the span of 10 verses, Mark Chapter 5 vs. 24-34, we have an interesting encounter between Jesus and a woman who has an illness or injury that has caused some sort of continual bleeding for the last 12 years.  I am not planning to summarize the whole story.  I assume that if you are taking the time to read my blog, you can take two minutes to read the 10 verses to familiarize yourself with them.

What amazes me about this story is not only the fact that it was a miraculous healing, I could get that from any number of the miracles recorded by Mark.  What stands out to me is that, as far as I can tell, this is the only miracle of Christ in which Christ himself is completely passive.  Christ is merely a bystander in the phenomenon of his own miracle.

Now I know this might initially make some people uncomfortable, and I will admit that I am having to make some basic assumptions within the text, but I do not feel as though I am grasping at all.  Christ clearly asks the culprit who touched him to identify himself in vs. 30.  He then has a conversation with his disciples who are basically saying "there's a crowd,  a hundred different people just brushed by you!"  Christ then "kept looking around to see who had done it" in vs. 33.  Through Jesus a miracle has occurred. He gave no indication he was planning anything, and then had no idea for whom the miracle was done.  This is the definition of passive involvement.

So, why does this matter and what do I take from this?  Well, most notable, I see in action the sovereignty of God.  God had a plan for that moment. A teaching that needed to occur and for whatever reason Christ wasn't privy to it.  Christ is both fully man and fully God.  This paradox is, in and of itself, difficult for Christians to wrap their brain around. I believe this miracle is an instant of God's sovereignty acting directly through Jesus even as Jesus doesn't know it is happening.

This position of Jesus not being fully "in the know" at this moment shouldn't be offensive to us.  The scriptures are clear that Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses through being tempted in every way (Hebrews 4). He really does understand the rough days we go though here on Earth. This miracle is an example of the best of the best still being caught off guard by his heavenly father. Christ was human. Morally perfect, but still anthropomorphically imperfect.

This tells me two things: I should simultaneously feel very empowered and also very humbled. First the empowering part: God's sovereign will and authority reigns over all powers, things, and people of this world.  We should rest assured and be comforted by the fact that nothing in this world thwarts the power of God.  Even in a moment when all the focus and attention is seemingly already on God, in this case because of the miracles and teachings of Jesus, God has something different in mind for that particular moment and He makes it happen.

In this moment with his own son, God's sovereign will takes over and takes precedence over what Christ is doing.  Christ immediately fell into appropriate submission to his heavenly father's will. If we are seeking to live our lives in full submission to God, we should feel confidently empowered by the overwhelming authority God has over this world. If, according to God, something needs to happen; it will happen. Period.

This leads to the humbling part. No one on Earth should presume to have enough influence over God to be able to thwart His plans.  Even Christ, who is Himself God, who would have the exact will and mind of God; had his actions interrupted in order to fulfill part of God's will.  Maybe we would never be so obvious as to say we influence the will of God, but we sure talk and act like it.

When it comes to decision making, we might say things like "I don't want to make the wrong choice because I don't want to interfere with God's will for my life."  Now there's no question that foolish decisions can lead you down a road of less than ideal service to God (i.e. Pharaoh, or King Saul).   But wise decisions, sought through God's revealed wisdom, will likewise bring you into more fulfilling service to God.

Regardless of whether you act like a fool or you act with Solomon's wisdom, you will not impact whether God's will is accomplished in this world.  All you have the power to do is to choose whether or not you will live in submission to God.  The goal being that with a life lived in submission to God you are working to be worthy of God's call "for such a time as this".  Whatever the times are in your life, if it's important enough to God, it will happen.  Beyond that, study Scripture, listen to the wisdom of Christian mentors around you and trust that God's will is being accomplished.

Ever had a stressful week?

Well, it has been a rough week since I last posted.  I think my family and I have come through it ok...but it's been rough, and we're still recovering.  So first, I kinda want to purge.  There's great value in "getting it all out there" in order to help yourself see where you're going and for keeping proper perspective concerning where you've been.  Maybe in writing it all down, I can help myself a little more...and maybe help you as well.

So I last posted last Monday.  Tuesday morning we get up and Caleb (my 3 year old) seems a little off.  It gets bad enough that I take him to the pediatrician. She tells me he has an ear infection, pink eye in both eyes, a cold and a rising fever.  So she gets him prescription eye drops, an antibiotic, and tells us to alternate between Children's Tylenol and Children's Ibuprofen. Over the next couple days he start's feeling much better, but his fever got up to 104.6 at one point. By Friday he's feeling much better, but Meghan is starting to feel sick.

Friday afternoon the weather starts getting bad: freezing rain, slushy snow, etc.  On my way home from work I hit a slick spot and skid into a guard rail.  Air bags deploy and everything.  I was fine...just dazed.  But the car is totaled.  You can see the slushy goodness I slid in in the picture. The police officer took me home.  That night, as a major storm is raging outside, we lost power around 10:00 PM.

The next morning the power's still out, which means the heat's out.  The house was about 50 degrees when we woke up.  Meghan feels miserable at this point. She's getting sicker, now she's stuck in a cold house and by the way, she's pregnant. We look outside and there's 30" of snow on the ground from the overnight blizzard.  It was one of the worst storms for one day snow totals in the Quincy's history. I spend the day shoveling while the family spends the day huddled on the couch under blankets.  I am so stinkin' sore from shoveling that snow.

It starts getting dark Saturday night and it's supposed to be much colder than the night before...like close to single digits.  Meghan is feeling worse.  She's now throwing up. Caleb has been trapped inside one room trying to keep warm all day and is going nuts....cause he's 3.  I'm extremely sore and irrationally angry at the snow for being so heavy, cold and plentiful.  We start arguing with each other over what to do for the cold night ahead.  It gets a bit heated.  We're not really mad at each other, we're mad at the situation...but yelling at the situation doesn't make you feel better.

So, we decide to get in the car and drive just to be somewhere warm.  This was trading one stress for another.  We were warm, but the roads we so covered in piles of snow and mush that we were tense the whole time trying to avoid snowplows and getting stuck. We have had no dinner and at this point we don't know what to do for the night.

We work hard to get into a gas station that hasn't been plowed out yet, just to find out they are out of gas. So we get out and go to another station and after almost getting stuck in their parking lot (the car beside us did get stuck), we finally get some gas. Suddenly we get a text:  an offer to stay with a friend in the next town over.  There's no where open to eat, so we give up looking and decide to take our friend up on her offer. She and her husband were really kind and accommodating to us. It was a real blessing to be somewhere warm.

We get Caleb settled and then headed back to the house to grab a couple things and get the animals ready for the cold night ahead.  We could already see our breath throughout our house, so I know it was going to get real cold later. When we got back the next morning, the house was at 35 degrees.  But the animals made it through night fine. The power finally came back on around 9 AM Sunday morning. It took 4 and a half hours to warm the house back up.

To top everything off, when Meghan was finally able to get to the doctor Monday morning, they weren't very helpful.  She has a virus of some sort and because she's pregnant the doctor basically said "suck it up and tough it out."  There's nothing she's allowed to take. So other than Meghan still being on the mend, and us still needing to figure out where we'll get money for a car, things are getting back to normal.

I'm confident there will be many things I can pull from this past week as I reflect on it over the next few days.    Right now the main thing that sticks out in my mind is trust. Trust in God. We have gone through a lot of stresses and frustrations in the last week.  If I could have written my week out, it would not have gone this way.  But, in the end, do we still have everything we need? God provided food, heat, doctors, police, snow blowers and shovels when it was all really needed.  If was a hard week, but in the end, what have I really lost? Only a little sleep and an old car that wasn't worth much.

Many people have suffered far worse for far longer. I think there is value in keeping your "suffering" in perspective. As long as God has plans for me and my family, he will be providing for us in this life.  He doesn't promise it will always be easy, or  that we will always have everything we want.  But he know's better than we do what we need. If our trust in Him is to grow, our trust must not waiver, for better or for worse.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Meghan and I were talking the other day about a frustration I have concerning the Catholic Church. Now, don't get me wrong, the Catholic Church isn't special, all branches of Christianity have problems and shortcomings. Most notably, they are run by Humans. If nothing else, this is a guarantee that regardless of all the good intentions you may have, your institution (the church) will have issues that it must constantly be working through.

The other day I was at work.  I was visited by a Nun soliciting for donations.  I decided that although I don't support many of her specific teachings, I certainly want to support the overall spreading of the Gospel. I gave her $10 bucks. She gave me a couple books on why I should convert to Catholicism and also a little plastic medallion. It's this medallion that caught my attention. On it were the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us...".

There are a whole slew of issues I have with this statement, but I'm picking one to look at today: the Immaculate Conception. In short, this is the belief the that when Mary (the mother of Jesus) was conceived by St. Anne (the mother of Mary), the Holy Spirit worked in such a way as to keep Mary from the sinful state that all humans are born into, and to give her on-going perpetual forgiveness of sins she committed (although some versions say she was also without sin).  The purpose of this act was to make Mary worthy and capable of carrying Christ. If you are not Catholic and you are wondering why you have never heard and of this, or even of the existence of St. Anne, no you aren't nuts.  Zero percent of what I just wrote (except for Mary carrying Christ) is in the Bible.

Now this wouldn't be so bad (well, maybe it would) if it was simply an embellishment, or "filling in the blanks" as humans are prone to do with a story we don't have every piece of.  Unfortunately, this is more than "filling in the blanks." This teaching goes against broad picture Christian theology.  Christ is the ultimate redeemer, mediator and ransom for all of humanity.  This means Mary too.  She's not special.  At least no more special than any other person in scripture called to fulfill God's purpose for their life.  Now there's no doubt in my mind that Mary was an amazing woman to be able to fulfill the role as mother to Christ.  But there is no indication AT ALL that her conception, birth, state of sinfulness, or need for forgiveness was in any way uniquely different than the rest of humanity. And in fact the opposite, as mentioned, is clear from scriptural teaching.

From my understanding, if you asked the Catholic Church leaders, you would be told that the evidence for such a dogma comes from much later documents and prevailing attitudes (i.e. a feeling that logically, it makes sense that she was sinless) from people at the time. Now, I'm approaching this from a very detached, non-vested standpoint.  I have no dog in this fight one way or the other. It just doesn't seem to follow scripture at all.  If someone showed me that it did somehow mesh with scripture I would have no problem adhering to it.

So the question remains: If not to simply "fill in the blanks" of a story, why would the Catholic Church create such a teaching?

I believe that ultimately this is an example of the Catholic church falling into the same struggles as the Pharisees in the New Testament.  See, the Pharisees were notorious for their traditions.  They were revered for their knowledge and leadership on all things "Godly" during the time of and before Christ.  Their problem was that they were victims of their own commitment.  They figured, if God's teachings are good, then putting up another, stricter, wall of teaching around the scriptural teachings to keep people "further away" from sin, is better. The Pharisees stopped just teaching the law. Instead, if God said "wash your hands", the Pharisees might have taught you to "wash up to your elbows."

This seems to be what's happened with the teaching St. Anne and the immaculate conception. The Catholic leaders tried to apply logic similar to that of the Pharisees.  In seeing that Christ was a virgin birth, and was himself perfect and holy, it only seemed appropriate and even necessary that the vessel to carry Him (Mary) should herself also be, in some way, perfect and holy.  Ultimately, this was simply the Catholic church putting up another, stricter wall, around the scriptural teachings in the Bible.

Now, I disagree with a lot of the teachings of the Catholic Church, but I'm not just trying to pick on them.  My ultimate point is that this has always been, and will always be, an easy struggle for Christians to fall victim to.  We gain a false assurance of feeling that we are more in line with God by following stricter teachings.  This is not the case.  There can be a case by case benefit to a stricter-than-expected adherence to certain teachings, or for being stricter than normal with yourself for a period of time. But to use this "Pharisaical" bench-mark as a part of an across the board "basic package" of expectations for someone (or yourself) is wrong and unhealthy.

One of the most common ways this attitude appears in the church today is with the traditions we follow. We easily become bogged down by misunderstood, inappropriate, or simply outdated traditions that we often follow blindly as if they were scriptural dictates.  Traditions are not inherently wrong.  But when they are followed without proper motivation or priority, they easily become no different than the extra "walls" put up by the Pharisees or the Catholic Church: a burden to those seeking to hear the Gospel, and a burden to the proper understanding and spiritual maturity of those inside that Church.

Always ask why. Why do I believe this? Why am I doing this? Is my belief based on a wise understanding of Scripture? We all need a compass.  A fixed point to which we can measure our progress and re-calibrate our self when necessary.  Our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  His scripture is our compass. God expects us to always have a heart that's willing to question and re-calibrate our self and our beliefs when necessary. I encourage you to do this daily in your own life.

The Life Application Bible

I am a firm believer that the scriptures must be cohesive.  By this I mean there should not be any scriptures that contradict one another in application. For example, if the Bible appeared to teach both "do not murder" and "it's ok to murder," it would be very important to me to work out this inconsistency. All of scripture must work together as one cohesive paradigm in which we operate and make wise decisions.  I used the phrase "work out the inconsistency" because it is very common to not understand a passage and in those situations it might seem that there is an inconsistency in God's teachings when in reality there is not.

Now, I don't claim to have fully thought out or sorted through every perceived inconsistency within Scripture.  In fact, for a continuously maturing Christian, it would be impossible to ever "figure it all out." We are always running into new struggles in our life to which we must learn to apply our Christian paradigm appropriately.

I think of when I was a single man (boy) in high school. One of my main struggles was understanding how to both submit to my parents decisions for me, and develop properly into an independent man who could make his own decisions.  The Bible gives extensive instructions on both of these ideas and without proper context they might seem to be in conflict with one another. Later, when I got married, I had to learn (and am still learning) how to be the spiritual guide, general leader and ultimate decision maker in my family while at the same time, I am called to love my wife to such an extent that I put her well-being above my own. That one you never stop improving upon. Being married is the ultimate personality roller-coaster. You have the opportunity to be taught to be a great leader, but only through a process of complete humility.

Now, I find myself working through a new application of my Christian paradigm.  I have a 3 year old. So far in my life, outside of the arguments I had with my dad after I got caught sneaking out at 15, I have never had the shortcomings in my personality so strongly challenged.  At every turn I feel like I am being tested...by a 3 year old: yes. But ultimately, I believe, by God.  So I am forced to look at Caleb and apply my understanding of God's love and teachings, to my interaction with Caleb.

It's strange, but every time he talks back to me, or disobeys me, or just won't stop talking, I struggle every time to know how to respond. On the one hand, I want to punish him. I want him to suffer for the "ills" he has caused me. I feel righteously indignant towards him. He deserves the fullness of his punishment. But on the other hand, I sympathize. I can get so angry, but part of me wants to respond by sitting him down and telling him how much I love him and how much it hurts me when he doesn't do what I've asked. Two very different approaches, but like the other examples, they aren't mutually exclusive.

It struck me one day that this battle in my heart is very similar to the battle God must feel with all of us. We ignore God, we lie to Him and we generally disobey him. We do all the things Caleb does...but far worse. We know far better than a 3 year old, and in knowing better we are more directly affronting God than Caleb, at 3, ever could.

And we see in scripture that God, in some anthropomorphic way, went through the same struggle ever time he disciplined his people (Israel), that I go through with Caleb.  Sometimes God's answer was righteous indignation and punishment. Sometimes, it was a softer approach. In my experience, people are always willing to give their opinions on how to raise a child, whether or not you want to hear it.  But the phrase that has always stuck out to me is that: in dealing with a challenging child I should "be willing to break the will, without breaking the spirit."

I think this was God's goal with us. We were his, and he did everything he could to create a situation for our success.  Sometimes that included firm discipline. However, in the end, he would not break our spirit. We still had to choose to submit, he would not force it.  How much more valuable is a Caleb with a passionate, strong personality that has been honed in such a way as to give continuous glory to God, versus a Caleb who has been broken.  A Caleb who fears being the fullness of the man God made him, but is instead weak and more vulnerable to the world's luring.

I believe that this balanced discipline approach is how I must work to apply my Christian paradigm to my new(ish) experience of being a Godly father.  But man, there is a serious learning curve with all this. The wisdom I seek is the wisdom to discern when to apply the proverbial "hammer" and when to just hold him, love him and talk. I pray for God's wisdom to be in me.  And when I screw that up, I pray that his mercy would take over.  Thank God for the opportunity to have multiple children. Otherwise, everything learned on the guinea pig, first kid, would be worthless. :)

The Ghost of Problems Past

Well, God delivered...like always.

I have spent the last week working myself into a spiritual frenzy in an attempt to understand the mind of God.  Here's the problem: Outside of God's moral will, you can't know the mind of God.  Now, I'll concede that there is the little issue of special revelation, i.e. direct, personal instruction from God. (Voice of God: Taylor, avoid that Chinese buffet, you'll regret it!). I can't speak for you, but I can confidently tell you that I have not been visited recently by the direct presence of God or any of his angelic army.  So, for me at least, special revelation is not a part of my "discernment of God's will" equation...at least not yet. I eagerly await my "Moses on the mountain" moment, but God doesn't desire that I base my life around waiting for that moment.

The problem I have been struggling with is a problem I've struggled with in the past, so much so that I read a large book about it: "Decision Making and the Will of God" by Gary Friesen.  I was falling into my old trap of assuming God must have an individual, precise, will for my life that I must discover before making a particular decision: He doesn't.  Let me explain.

God relates to us on different levels. The highest level is called God's "sovereign will". This is God's broad plan that guides the universe and everything in it in the direction he desires it to go.  Our God is involved with the inter-workings of our world everyday.  But this "will", or knowledge, is for God alone. This exists outside our decision making paradigm. If something happens, it is by definition within the sovereign will of God, otherwise it would not happen.  Through our faithful prayer, God may choose to "open doors" for his faithful servants in regards to specific requests they have; thereby working with his creation to offer them options to follow that all reside within his sovereign will. But there is no mysterious guessing involved. You can't know God's sovereign will until after it happens. Like God himself, his sovereign will simply is.

Further down the relationship chain, we come to the place where humans more actively engage God in order to learn his will. There are two approaches to this level in our relationship with God. The first is the "wisdom approach".  The wisdom approach stands in stark contrast to our other approach, called the "traditional approach" to decision making.

The traditional approach would have you believe that God's will must be sought after and "divined" for all decisions (at least the major ones) in such a way that you are able to receive a response from God "telling you" which way to go.  You them must choose this way, or you are choosing wrong.  The wisdom approach says there are 2 main avenues for discerning God's will in as much as he is willing to provide it to you. They are: Scripture, and other wise Christians. As you grow in your understanding of Scripture, and as you study with those Christians who have gone before you, you will gain the wisdom to interpret God's will. I believe this wisdom approach to be a healthier and more scripturally accurate framework for relating to God.

At the end of the day, there are often many "non-moral" decisions we are faced with in life. (Who to marry, where to go to school, where to live, etc.) In these times, we are called to use the wisdom of God, gained via Scriptures and other Christians, to make as wise of decisions as we can. Beyond this, we are to trust that the Sovereign will of God, which guides all of creation, is working "all things together for good [for] those who love God."

With this in mind, when it comes to my decision, it becomes incumbent on me to pursue God instead of calling on God to give me a vague "sign" which leaves itself open to 10 levels of different interpretations from 10 different people.  I must immerse myself in Scripture and surround myself with those Christians who are wiser than myself (many people are). I must make sure I am neither breaking the moral will of God, nor making a generally "unwise" decision. God then calls on me to make a decision, and live confidently with that decision, humbly trusting His sovereign will to take care of the rest.

It may sound like semantics, but the practical difference when you don't know what decision to make - between asking for a "sign" or going to the wisdom of scripture for an answer is truly the difference for many Christians between paralysis in decision making or moving forward confidently.

Now, my study didn't give an answer to my decision...that wasn't the problem.  Rather, my study gives me a framework in which to confidently apply the wisdom of God to the tough decisions I face in my life. Keep in mind that my explanation of Gary Frieson's book was woefully simplified.  I spent 2 paragraphs explaining a portion of what he spends over 400 pages on.  However, the book reads easily and quickly.  If, as I expect, my thoughts provoked more questions than answers, pick up his book. It may not be earth shattering, but it is absolutely spiritually empowering.

The Discernment of God's Will

Let me apologize. This is a post with many questions, and not many answers. But it's reflective of where I find myself. Your thoughts and insights are appreciated.

The work of discerning God's will is a funny thing.  It seems to be inconsistent sometimes to the outside or casual observer. In fact, even to a lifelong Christian it can be confusing and leave us asking more questions than we have answers.

Now, I'm not talking about most day to day decisions. I don't have much trouble in this arena. I am a firm believer that God is not directly invoking his authority in my daily decisions to such an extent that I need to be concerned that I may be inadvertently working against God's will for my life by making a "wrong" decision. Questions like, whether to go to the store today, or whether I should stay home or go to work if I'm not feeling great are not the typical domain of God's day to day efforts.

However, there are daily decision that falls under the "moral authority" of God. In these decisions we are considering a different beast all together. For example, "should I beat up my neighbor for his on-going 6 AM construction projects?" This clearly falls under what God tells us is wrong...always. This is a decision that should be clear by simply reading scripture and knowing God's moral expectations for all humanity. The difficulty with decisions involving God's moral expectations is often not about knowing right and wrong, it's typically more of an issue of whether you choose to submit to God's will or not.

But what about those decisions which are not simple day to day decisions, and are also not "simple" moral decisions.  I find that these are the most challenging decisions for most faithful Christians. Certainly for myself, they are the most difficult.

The process of discerning God's will is a simple enough system: determine that a decision needs to be made, understand clearly the options, pray about it, make sure you still understand the options and the consequences, pray again...keep praying, listen for a response from God, then act on it.

This is a tried and true process for which there are many examples. From Solomon, to David, to many judges and prophets; we see many people following this process in seeking God's wisdom for their life.  In the New Testament we have fewer direct examples, but instead, more teachings that illustrate the same principles seen in the Old Testament. James, and 1 Peter talk about the idea of decision making at length.  It is primarily seen in light of their teachings on developing and keeping proper faith. This makes sense as proper decision making requires listening and acting on what God says, i.e. faith.

As a growing Christian (that should be redundant phrase), I find myself getting stuck most often in the "continuing to pray and listen for a response" phase. I find myself doubting...not God, but the process...or myself...or both.

In general, I rarely have a problem being a decisive decision maker. So when I do, it tends to be a pretty complex situation for me. I simply want to make sure that the will of my heart (that I desire to act on) is the will of God, and not my strong will overriding my hearing of God's will.

I have full confidence in God. I have less confidence in my ability to discern his will. This is typically a problem with a decision that I have assigned a high level of importance to and, after a good deal of time and prayer (by my standards of course), I still have not discerned the course of action that seems to be "God's will." So, as I have tried to give this topic a good amount of consideration and prayer, I have determined (so far) only four possible answers to this prayerful decision problem.

First: God's perceived silence is an answer in the negative? Maybe, but I see no indication of that; just complete neutrality.

Second: God's perceived silence is an answer to wait longer. What I desire may be good, but God desires me to wait until his appropriate timing to bring it to fruition. Maybe, but again, no indication of that. I suspect God would desire me to know if this were his will which I earnestly seek to follow.

Third: God's perceived silence is just that: perceived. Maybe he has responded, but I am not discerning or wise enough to see/hear it. Any mature Christian must reply that this is certainly a possibility. As you grow in discernment and wisdom you learn how indiscriminate and foolish you still remain.

Fourth: God's perceived silence is an indictment on my decision making and a statement to me that I must simply "pull the trigger" as it were and pick an option because he finds either option equally as pleasing.

To my knowledge there are only a few sources from which we are expected to discern God's will. In no particular order: the Scriptures, our heart, other wise Christians around us, and God's generally unspoken providence (God making things happening in such a way as to "answer" the question). On their own, any one of these sources can fail you. Not that the source is necessarily flawed, but the receiver (me) is. For this reason, it is essential in any very important decision to strive to incorporate as many sources as possible.

In my specific decision, I can tell you that I struggle when the sources are split or quiet. I have two options, both seemingly equally valid. Neither conflicts with Scripture. Either option is supported by those I trust spiritually. My heart pulls me in one distinct direction and to my knowledge, I have not encountered the providence of God. So right now, I am left with this:

A: Is my heart pulling me one direction because I want it so strongly, and in the process am I missing God's providential movements calling me the other way?

B: Or, is my heart pulling me in one direction because God and my heart are aligned and I should simply follow it? (It's not bad, and certainly not wrong, to want the same thing God wants.)

If the answer is "B", then my followup question is Now, or Later? I know my own weaknesses in the area of patience, so it makes since that God would call me to wait for his timing. But struggling to wait isn't my problem. My problem is God making me guess the answer. I'm not sure how that builds faith. It seems to me that in order to build human faith in him, God must (I think) either let you make a decision in which he would then work out his will, or tell you what he expects of you (through an established source), and then work out his will.

However, now that I think about it...maybe God hasn't placed the same level of urgency on this decision that I have. Maybe God is pleased with my genuine attempts to seek his guidance and in time I will see that. Maybe at this moment, God is more interested in teaching me to be patient, not for the sake of building faith, but for the sake of learning to be patient.

I'm not sure. It's both a scary and helpless feeling to seek God and feel directionless. It makes you question many things. But it also forces you to dig deeper...and that's a good thing. So I'm not sure where I will be, or when I'll be there. But I do know that wherever I am, God will be with me. I know that the answer lies in submission. I know there must be "None of self and All of Thee." Even if I don't always see, feel, or understand him: he is there. In time he will make himself known to me one way or another. I'll keep you posted.

Concerning Faith...or maybe control...or patience.

The hardest thing about Christianity for me is the faith part.  I suspect that's no revelation, and I'm sure I'm not alone here.  I'd be willing to bet, however, that if you sat down and talked to 10 different Christians, you would hear 10 different answers concerning which way and in what areas they find faith challenging.  

For example, I for one have never struggled for long periods of time concerning myself with whether or not there is a God, or even whether or not I am saved.  Now don't get me wrong, I went through a time of working through those questions, and I still find myself facing them occasionally. But, as a general rule, I find that they do not pose a long-term serious challenge to my faith. I find that the type of faith struggles I have more regularly - and more on-going - are those of a somewhat more pragmatic nature. 

Before I get into that, let's make sure we're on the same page with what faith is...

"Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1

My questions of faith tend to be daily life questions. "Where is God leading me?" "Is God still leading me, or is Taylor leading the way himself?" These are challenging questions to me because I want my life to be one lived in submission to God, but I know my personality is very..."goal oriented" we'll say. So, to me, it is very important to not just believe (have a passive faith) that my life will happen to somehow vaguely move in the direction God wants. But rather, I find great value (and spiritual strain) in striving to make sure that my life is being fully devoted to God, striving to make the most of the "talents" God has placed in my hands, and striving to destroy those strongholds that Satan strives to have in different areas of my life.  This sounds so good and noble. It's not really. In fact, it's nothing more than what every Christian is called to be doing, and I may not be any better at it than most.

So, my personality runs into faith roadblocks that look like this: 

"Is this path I want to pursue, a path offered by God as an answer to my prayer, or is this Taylor creating a path and forcing his way after God said 'no?'" Taylor is confused.

Or, the classic:

After getting no apparent answer, Taylor questions "is this God telling me to wait patiently (not a talent of mine), or is this another answer of 'no?'" Taylor is confused.

As I'm writing this, I am realizing that I am falling back into a struggle I have to deal with regularly: control. Who's in control. Well, it's God no matter what. But living that out is one of the hardest faith struggles in my life. When I feel like God has told me, "something is coming, just be patient"; I find it very hard to believe that in the meantime I'm just supposed to passively sit back and let life happen."  There must something I need to do. But there is nothing noble in doing things for God if they are not done in the way and timing prescribed by God, i.e. God's will.  

I know that there are many times that people just need to be told, "make a decision, God will bless you one way or another!" And in many situations I believe that.  Trust me, I don't have a problem decision making; rather I have a problem backing off and letting God do his decision making in his time.  If I've waited two months for an answer to a life altering prayer, I start looking for more control (clearly God is otherwise engaged).  

So this is my constant challenge: learning to more clearly discern God's voice over my own in the hopes of better understanding God's responses to my petitions. I know there can only really be 3 answers: Yes, No, and Wait.  Yes or No, I can handle.  It's the seemingly unending silence of "Not Yet...Wait" that is so hard.

So it's not the being "confident in what I hope for" that is the faith challenge for me. It's the maintaining "assurance about what I do not see" that keeps me humble. I have complete faith in God's ability, I lack faith in my own patience in waiting, and my ability to discern wisely what God puts before me. 

In times like this in my life, I feel that God recognizes this weakness in me and so he does whatever he can to exploit it. I know that it's only because he wants me to grow. So, I must pray, sit back, and feel totally helpless. I must continue to trust that if something I have been praying for does in fact happen, there will be no doubt as to who should get the glory for it.

Concerning Sins against God (Part 2)

It must have been an interesting time for the world, and especially for the Israelites, when Christ entered the picture. How's that for an understatement to start things out. But the more I think about it, the more amazing it all seems to me. Everything changed for these people over the course of one man's life; the equivalent of an instant in Israel's long history.

When I say everything changed, it wasn't like Christ brought something which could exist alongside the way things had always been done.  No, Christ brought something the challenged the very foundation of Israel's society.  The manner in which they had always approached God, the way they had always understood God was operating among their people, the expectations that God had for their daily life; it all changed.  

What's amazing to me is that the message Christ brought wasn't wholly unexpected by the Israelites. Christ said himself, "I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets" (the old covenant), "but to fulfill them." Christ was the final step in God's plan for salvation that had been prophesied about thousands of years earlier. And yet, so many ran from this "new covenant" that we are so thankful to have today. Why?

I think there are a zillion reasons we could come up with through a combination of scriptural study and conjecture.  But for your sake, I'm only looking at one right now. As we discussed last time, 1 Samuel 2:25 is a plea from Eli to his rotten kids, Hophni and Phinehas, to stop living their life of sin. Eli says, "If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?"

The implied answer to Eli's question is: NO ONE!  This is his whole point.  The old covenant was designed in such a way that when people committed sins they would atone for them by taking an offering to the priests who would then sacrifice to God on their behalf. The priests were a go between, an mediator of sorts. As I mentioned before, the priests were held to a different standard than everyone else. They were representatives of God on earth. There was much expected of then, but the perks were great.

So in essence Eli is saying, you kids are the mediator between people's sin and God, but who forgives the mediator for sinning against God?

This is all great, but who cares if this is about the Old Testament priests. What about me today? I am no priest to God! Ahhh, but you are. This is part of what changed when Christ died and was resurrected for us. God's relationship with us changed. 1 Peter 2:9 says "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." 

Suddenly, we are in the same position as Hophni and Phinehas.  We are priests of God, chosen to speak the word of God to the world as his special possession. I am not worthy of that role. I need a mediator between myself and God. I have sinned mightily against my creator. I can't imagine being in the position of Hophni and Phinehas. The answer for them was - there is no one to intercede. They were killed for their evil shortly after this conversation with Eli.  I deserve the same. You deserve the same.

Luckily, Jesus Christ is our mediator, our go between and our intercessory. "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins they committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15

So why did so many Israelites turn their back on this new, superior covenant? Well, just like thousands of years ago, the standards for a priest of God (Christians) are much greater than on everyone else. You don't just "not murder," you shouldn't even be angry with your brother.  You don't just "not cheat on your wife," you shouldn't even lust after another woman (Matthew 5 paraphrase).

But, the flip-side is you also have a much more intimate, personal relationship with God than you could have had under the first covenant. You don't go through a priest in order to understand what God desires and to atone for your sins. Rather, Christ has given himself as the final sacrifice for all of us. He serves as our mediator and God's law is written on our hearts. It seems like an actual appropriate application of the famous Spider-man line: with great power comes great responsibility. You have been given a spectacular gift through the blood of Christ. Strive to live a life worthy of that gift.

Concerning Sins against God (Part 1)

I love passages of scripture that sound like they were put into the Bible by God specifically to help get teachers excited about teaching. A single verse, or small section that packs a big theological (stuff about God) punch can be really exciting to teach from.  You feel like there's so much packed into a small area that you almost don't know where to start.

There are some chunks of the Bible that are kind of "go to" sections known for being excellent for teaching, and training, etc. In fact, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." I believe him, but I have to admit that I still struggle to see the usefulness in teaching the 20 generation chronology of "who begat who" of the people of Seir in Edom. See! Your eyes glazed over after reading one sentence. I'm sure the value's there, but it's not what I would call a theological go to "chunk" of Scripture.

I discovered a new favorite "chunk" the other day. 1 Samuel 2:25 is the heart of the passage. I tend to fall into the mindset of using OT books like 1st Samuel more for their cultural and historical value, not for their teaching on God. But this is my shortcoming because there are great insights about God to be gained from these history books. I feel like this passage really allows people to understand our relationship with God, through Christ, more clearly. However, there's nothing worse than trying to understand Scripture out of context, so I'll try to set the scene a bit for you:

The Israelites have been basically ignoring God for a good period of time at this point. Many people have forgotten who God is entirely, and those who are still serving God are often corrupt. Eli is a priest serving God at Shiloh. His two kids, Hophni and Phinehas, are also priests serving there with him. Eli seems to be a pretty good priest, except he's done an awful job rearing and training his kids to be priests. They are sleazebags who are sleeping with the women who come to the temple, taking for themselves the sacrifices meant for God, and generally demonstrating a huge disrespect towards God and his place of worship. 

So Eli confronts his sons based on the terrible reports he's hearing about them. Enter 1 Samuel 2:25. "If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?" Unbeknownst to Eli, he has just offered us in one sentence one of the most concise explanations for why Christ came to Earth.

Eli needed his sons to understand that they had not simply sinned against another person, they had sinned against God.  In their broadest since, all sins are against God. However, this was a different time, and a different covenant.  The Priests were held to a different standard than everyone else. They were allowed to come into the presence of God and work much more closely with God than the rest of the Israelites.  They were also provided for directly by God. However, the flip-side was an expectation of utmost purity and devotion.

Eli's children had broken this covenant. They had not just hurt the women they slept with and the people they had cheated; but because of their status, they were committing a direct assault on God and his Kingdom on Earth.

Now, here's the thing: we are not under the same covenant as the Hophni and Phinehas. We often rejoice at this "next step" in God's revelation to us: the "new covenant". However, as I'll show in part 2, the new covenant comes with a new set of expectations for us. We'll see that 1 Samuel 2:25 presents a question that all Christians must answer...not just Hophni and Phinehas.

Concerning Being a "Hyper-Conqueror" (Part 2)

In our self, we may be a conqueror.  We may conquer many things in our life. We may be a conqueror at work, maybe hiking that summit, or even at home with our perfect family. Life may be good here for you.  I hope it is.  But you are just a conqueror.  It is only through accepting God’s mercy through the blood of Christ that you can be “hupernikOmen” - more than a conqueror.

What makes us more than conquerors is the overwhelming news that although we have done nothing to achieve our “more than conqueror” status in the eyes of God, we have been given the ultimate gift of being made a “conqueror” vicariously through the conquering life and death lived by Jesus Christ.
  
As long as we are willing to trust in our conqueror to continue conquering on our behalf, then unlike an earthly conqueror, we do not have to fear that anything can take away what has been granted to us through Christ.   We do not have to fear death.  We do not have to fear evil originating in this world or the next.  Regardless of this daily world’s impact on us, we can live in peace and joy, knowing we are to be fundamentally provided for here and that we are ultimately destined to bask in the warmth of Heavenly light with our creator.

Now, the only “human effort” that may still apply to us becoming “more than conquerors” is that effort of an individual actively making the initial decision to accept Christ as their conqueror.  However, although I will concede that on the most basic level we must “decide” to follow Jesus, God has even stacked the deck against us here in order to make it as simple and likely as possible for us to choose Him.  Here we see God bring the efforts of his Holy Spirit into our daily life.

The whole of Romans 8 deals with the role and authority of the Holy Spirit over all of humanity.  The word spirit is used 22 times in this chapter alone. The Spirit of God is active in our life from beginning to end, with or without our consent.  It’s activities and level of influence vary greatly depending on our inclination towards accepting it, and ultimately, on God’s purposes.  However, looking at vs. 30 of chapter 8 gives us a fair indication of the position the Spirit takes in the time-line of people choosing to follow God.

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. – Romans 8:30

If you believe, as I do that we are all predestined for Heaven in a general sense through the blood of Christ, then you understand that when Paul writes “and those he predestined…” he is referring to everyone Christ died for, which is everyone.  Now, Paul continues by saying “he also called”.  Here we have the previously alluded to role of the Spirit coming into play. This “calling” is the calling of God by the Spirit that occurs in everyone’s life.  Not a specific calling to be a preacher, or be a missionary in Africa, but a general calling to accept God as your authority. 

Here we have the one singular moment in the Christian faith (though this moment can repeat itself) that is actually up to you to be a conqueror, not Christ.  However, prior to this moment of calling, the Spirit of God has already been working in your life, preparing you for your calling.  After all, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27 We have a natural, inborn desire to seek God bred into our very DNA.  I am confident that the Spirit is commonly used by God to lead us toward our moments of calling.

Following the acceptance of our “calling”, we are “justified” through Christ’s obedient life, sacrificial death, and conquering resurrection.  And lastly, we are “glorified” by God’s merciful willingness to use this process as the means of preparing us for eternity in Heaven.   After the “calling”, the Spirit becomes the most active part of the triune Godhead in our daily life.  It helps guide our decisions. It acts as a mediator when necessary between our self and God.  The Spirit is God in us, until we are called and offered to be in the complete presence of God forever in Heaven.

We didn't call our self, the Spirit did.  We didn't justify our self, Christ did. We didn't glorify our self, God did. We did not conquer!  We accepted conquering by the most noble and merciful king there will ever be.  This king has chosen to give to us the one thing we could never have on our own: the title of hupernikOmen.  We have won no wars, battles, or other achievements that bring us anywhere closer to being more than a conqueror.  Yet, in Christ, our conquering is so overwhelming that we rights to the Heavenly kingdom.   

In fact, God’s ultimate mercy was first offered to us when we were in as vile and ignoble a position as we possibly could have been.  We have been handed our title as conqueror essentially because we were willing to accept it.  And as long as we remain faithful to our conqueror, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39.  So today, and everyday, live your life as a true conqueror.  Not because you conquered, but because in Christ you are more than a conqueror.

Concerning Being a "Hyper-Conqueror" (Part 1)

"No, in all these things we are "more than conquerors" (hupernikomen - hyper-overcomers) through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39"

Have you ever stopped to think about what it means to be “more than conquerors?”  The conqueror is the winner.  The conqueror is the one who gets the plunder.  But a conqueror implies something:  Being a conqueror indicates action on your part.  A fight, argument, battle, or at the least, a decision made by you that allows you to be called “conqueror”.

I want to help you see that the point of what Paul is saying is not that you don’t possess what a conqueror possesses.  On the contrary, in Christ, you possess it all and more! That’s the “huper” (hyper) in “hupernikOmen”. Our initial question of understanding what it is to be “more than conquerors,” is really about understanding what it is to be more…than conquerors.  We all understand conquering.  But what makes us “more”?  

Now, if there is anything that Paul tells us, it’s that we are not the catalyst of our own salvation. Even here in verse 37 Paul makes it clear that it is “through him who loved us” that we are “more than conquerors.”  The catalyst of our salvation comes from the love of God.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6,8

Most of us understand that the absoluteness of God’s love is shown through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  But equal to that, is the absolutely overwhelming timing of that love. It brings the weak, unworthy sinners, to a place of humble brokenness so that we might desire God enough to want to give up our selfish ways and follow his calling. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Not after we demonstrated our worth or value to Him.  Not after we performed some menial task as a statement of our willingness to belong to Him.  While we were sinners, before we knew we needed or wanted it, Christ died for us.

It’s in the acceptance of the resurrection of the human/God Jesus Christ that we take on the qualities of a conqueror.  There was a war.  The conquering of death by God through Jesus Christ was the end of that war.  Christ was “hupernikOmen” in that war.  There are ongoing fights, battles, and difficulties that we will continue to face in this world as Satan strives to scratch and claw for souls, to peel away from God what is rightfully His.  Our responses in these times greatly impact whether we will continue as conquerors in Christ or we will revert to a trust in our self and our abilities to take on this world.  

Concerning Evangelism

It's funny. I am so thankful to know the forgiveness of Christ. All I want to do is tell people about it. Not to brag, but because I want them to have what I have.  I get that not everyone cares. That's okay, ignore me. But, I know there are many who do need and want what I have to offer.  I have experienced it, and Christ explicitly said there would always be people searching for what He has to offer.  I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out the most effective way to reach those people. 

I have lots of thoughts and theories... lots of things I've tried. It's frustrating sometimes. I wish I had special powers to round up all the people nearby who care and just study, teach and answer questions.  I wish I had some special vision that could see "through" people to know their heart (Yes, this is impatience and a lack of trust in God).  Sometimes I want to be the crazy bullhorn guy (The end is near!). Sometimes I think it's all about having that intimate relationship with people you are trying to reach ahead of time. Sometimes I think I need to convince people with logic. Sometimes I think I need to convince them with emotion.  

Almost always - it's a combination of all of them and a thousand other variables which are only controlled by God.

Unfortunately, I often do nothing.  It used to be about fear.  Now, it's more about frustration...maybe a little about disappointment.  The Counting Crows sang that sometimes there's a "feeling like it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls." I want to tell everyone and I'm not embarrassed about it.  The issue is not so much the initial offer, it's the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time that drag on me...all oysters, no pearls.  So it does get easy to let apathy creep in; to start to feel the "why try."  

It's a feeling derived from rejection.  It may or may not be true, but it is still sensed nonetheless.  The rejection may be perceived to be from other people or from God.  Either way, it often has the same effect: apathy.  I just want some people who want to know and grow as much as I want to teach and nurture.  That is my prayer.

To be honest, this is a big part of what sustains me spiritually.  And if this sounds spiritually devoted, it isn't as noble as it sounds.  I know that it is in teaching that I work the hardest in my own study.  I know that it is in my counseling that I pray the hardest.  I find it much more difficult to be fully engaged with God when I feel as if I am not actively working towards his ends.

This can be a weakness on many fronts and is probably exactly why I am going through this at this time in my life.  God recognizes my ability to teach, to nurture, to educate others.  And he knows I am strongest, or my Christianity is "easiest" in these times.  Ipso facto, when I am not in these times they are opportunities for God to strengthen me, or challenge me to more fully rely on him as my Christianity is "weaker"...at least in its feel.

The bottom line is it does matter: for this life and the next.  Accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes you forever.  I know I can't force it, and I don't want to.  There are plenty of people who are willing. But just tell me if you want to learn. Don't make me guess. I don't want to spin my wheels if you really don't care, don't just patronize me. But know that what I believe, what I love and know to be the truth, is for everyone. 

I've realized recently that "selling" Christianity is often not the problem.  Rather, for many people, it's the "busy."  Getting people who are otherwise happy (at least on the shallow level) to slow down long enough to assess who they are and what they live for, is far more challenging.  People who are hurting, who either have no daily rhythm or their rhythm has been interrupted, are much easier to effectively offer something new to.  Christ spoke of this idea in different places in scripture, and I've seen it play out for 6 years now.

In the end, it's not easy.  But feeling apathetic, or victimized by your spiritual opportunities is not only counter-productive, but also flatly untrue.  Remember, simply because you see yourself as prepared to give more to God, as having reached a new "plateau" of preparedness for service to Him - doesn't mean you are where God wants you to be.  You have simply looked at a situation and assessed yourself to be in the place you want yourself to be.       

It's like I tell me three year old, "don't worry about everyone else around you, you worry about yourself."  You have a lot to continue to do to better yourself for God.  And keep planting and watering seeds.  But remember, it's only God who can make them grow, not you.  Take the talents you have been given, in the time and places you have been given them, and make the most out of them everyday.  If you are ready for something, or someone, or somewhere else, God will present that opportunity.  Have Colossians 3:23 on your lips every day, and go.