scott engle

Big Storms Last Night

2009-06-11T15:45:00.001-05:00

These pictures say it all. Half of a bradford pear tree fell down and I guess the rest of the tree will have to go. In addition, the hard drive in my desktop got fried, or at least it picked an oddly coincidental time to die on me. Fortunately, I use Carbonite on-line backup, so I can restore my files once my computer is fixed. It will take awhile and be enormously frustrating, I’m sure, but it will get done. In the meantime, I’m working on my laptop – so see, God is good! And yes . . . I use good surge suppressors, but obviously, not good enough. Surprisingly, no other equipment on that particular surge suppressor seems to have suffered any ill effects.

The New Testament Gateway

2009-06-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

You might want to visit Mark Goodacre’s well-organized New Testament Gateway and then bookmark it. This Duke professor has amassed quite a collection of links to various New Testament resources on the web. The site is inclined toward the academic, but if you’ll spend a little time exploring the resources, you’ll find that there is much there for the rest of us. Want to look at the text to the apocryphal Gospel of Peter or the Gospel of Mary Magdalene? They are available via the non-canonical page. How about the writings of Josephus? Yes, you can get to that as well.

Because these are mainly materials in the public domain, the translations are often not the most recent. But these resources will get you started. You might especially spend some time with Prof. Goodacre’s links to introductory materials.

A fun site if you like ancient history

2009-06-01T20:20:00.001-05:00

Here’s a site that has some interactive maps of the Roman republic and empire. You can ask to see maps of Roman influence at various times, the provinces under Diocletian, and so on. It is a minor diversion but interesting.

UP!! – A great movie

2009-06-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

We went to see UP!! today. I couldn’t pass up an animated movie that got 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. UP!! did not disappoint. It was moving, heartwarming, and funny. It is pretty amazing how much they can get you to emotionally commit to an animated character, but they do. Go see it – I’ll surprised if you don’t enjoy the 96 minutes.

Fun with the grandson

2009-05-26T17:52:00.000-05:00

My son, his wife, and their son, Nate, were visiting this weekend, as they are planning to move to Dallas in the near future, or at least as soon as they can get their Austin house sold. Nate is now 16-months old and is an absolute joy. Being a grand dad is just as great as I hoped it would be. Here are a few pictures of Nate and me having big fun! God is good.

Thin Places

2009-05-22T13:03:00.001-05:00

Mark Roberts has been posting a blog series with reflections on the biblical stories of “thin places,” by which he means those places where there isn’t much separating heaven and earth. For example, one of the most dramatic biblical stories of such a place is Mt. Sinai in the book of Exodus. I think you’ll find the series pretty thought-provoking. The following is from Roberts’ introduction to the series:

The woman who introduced me to the phrase “thin place” explained its meaning. “A thin place,” she said, “is a place where the boundary between heaven and earth is especially thin. It’s a place where we can sense the divine more readily.” I wondered why this person, a respected Christian leader, seemed to have a hard time speaking of relationship with God. “Thin place” almost functioned as a circumlocution, a way getting around actually saying “God is especially present here.” I also wondered about the whole idea of thin places. Are there such places? If so, why are they thin? Something about the whole notion of thin places made me nervous, theologically speaking, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the problem.

Since my first exposure to the phrase “thin place,” I’ve probably heard it used five hundred times, maybe more. In certain Christian circles, Celtic Christianity has become wildly popular, and so has the use of “thin place” to describe places where people experience God (or “the divine,” if you prefer). I have tended to resist this language, partly because of its trendy overuse, and partly because of my nagging discomfort about its meaning.

Well, in the irony of God’s sovereignty, I’ve ended up in a place that people love to identify as thin. In my eighteen months as Senior Director of Laity Lodge, I’ve heard Laity Lodge described as a thin place probably a hundred times or more. When people say this, they mean to compliment Laity Lodge as an unusual place that fosters intimacy with God. For them, the barrier between earth and heaven does seem to become very thin at Laity Lodge. They have experienced God with more immediacy and intimacy when on retreat in the Frio River canyon than in their ordinary lives. In many cases, people have had life-transforming experiences at Laity Lodge through the presence and power of God’s Spirit.

Beginning today, I want to reflect a bit on the notion of thin places (sometimes called thin spaces). I’m not starting this blog series with a clear sense of where I’m headed. And I’m not planning to grind any particular axe. Rather, I want to think about the idea of thin places, especially in light of Scripture. I want to consider what makes a place thin, and how this description might be helpful (or not).

“Did you ever break a bone?”

2009-05-22T12:49:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, we asked the St. Andrew congregation what question they would have for God if they could ask only one question. For the last several weeks, we’ve been taking a look at some of these questions in my 11:00 Sunday class, “Something Else.” We finish the series this weekend, as we consider the following question that an adult wanted to ask God: "Did you ever break a bone?” I don’t really know if this was meant to be a serious question, but I’m treating it that way. How would you try to answer it? My wife says that even she has no idea what I would possibly do with this one. Come Sunday to find out! We meet at 11:00 in Festival Hall.

Alas . . . the Holy Who?

2009-05-14T16:32:00.001-05:00

I was sorting through some papers on my desk and came across a depressing survey done by the Barna group, the premier pollsters of all things Christian. Not long ago, they did a survey of self-professed Christians regarding “spiritual beings.” Here is a quote from a summary of the findings:

Much like their perceptions of Satan, most Christians do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a living force, either. Overall, 38% strongly agreed and 20% agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” Just one-third of Christians disagreed that the Holy Spirit is not a living force (9% disagreed somewhat, 25% disagreed strongly) while 9% were not sure.

I can’t say I’m surprised that a majority of Christians understand the Holy Spirit to be a symbol not a living entity; i.e., a “what” not a “who.” Still, it is disheartening and says much about the condition of theological and biblical education among adult Christians in America. That so many fail to comprehend their implicit denial of the Trinity (for I’m sure that most would automatically say “yes” if asked whether they believe in the Trinity) ought to make plain the case that, yes, doctrine matters.

Judges and Apostles

2009-05-12T13:34:00.005-05:00

On Sunday, May 31, I'll begin a new series in my class at 11am in Festival Hall. We'll be taking a look at some women from the Bible wit whom many people are barely familiar. We'll begin with the stories of Deborah,the Israelite, and a non-Israelite named Jael. Their stories are in the book of Judges. This painting depicts Jael's murder of Sisera, the Canaanite general, for which Deborah and the Israelites celebrated her. There are many such surprising stories of women to be found in the pages of Scripture.

Beauty and Easter

2009-05-06T15:09:00.002-05:00

I thought you might enjoy Bishop N. T. Wright's Easter sermon this year. As you may know, he is one of the foremost New Testament scholars of our day. He is presently the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England.

"We live, after all, in a world that is in danger of forgetting what beauty is about. The subject we now call ‘aesthetics’ actually became a separate subject in the late eighteenth century, with the word itself creeping into English only in the 1830s. That tells its own story. People before then were interested in anything and everything under the sun; why had they not discussed beauty, what makes something beautiful, how beauty works, so to speak, as a separate topic before then? The answer, I think, goes right to the heart of our present cultural dilemmas, and opens up a rich viewpoint from which we may see even the meaning of Easter itself in a new light."

"Reason, Faith, and Revolution"

2009-05-04T15:38:00.003-05:00

Stanley Fish has written some reflections on Terry Eagleton's new book: Reason, Faith and Revolution. Eagleton's book is, in part, a response to the "new atheists," such as Christopher Hitchens, who wrote God is not Great in 2007. Eagleton asks why it is that everyone is talking about God. Eagleton's answer, according to Fish is "elaborated in prose that is alternately witty, scabrous and angry, [and] is that the other candidates for guidance — science, reason, liberalism, capitalism — just don’t deliver what is ultimately needed." Theology addresses questions which science can't tackle and vice versa. Fish closes with this:

"One more point. The book starts out witty and then gets angrier and angrier. (There is the possibility, of course, that the later chapters were written first; I’m just talking about the temporal experience of reading it.) I spent some time trying to figure out why the anger was there and I came up with two explanations.

One is given by Eagleton, and it is personal. Christianity may or may not be the faith he holds to (he doesn’t tell us), but he speaks, he says, “partly in defense of my own forbearers, against the charge that the creed to which they dedicated their lives is worthless and void.”

The other source of his anger is implied but never quite made explicit. He is angry, I think, at having to expend so much mental and emotional energy refuting the shallow arguments of school-yard atheists like Hitchens and Dawkins. I know just how he feels."

A Cautionary Tale

2009-04-30T10:51:00.003-05:00

Given my education and background (MBA etc.), I am a reasonably knowledgeable reader when it comes to business and economics. Recessions come and go and, perhaps, we were about due for one. But this has been a particularly scary recession because of the problems in the financial sector. The question is this: What really triggered the world-wide financial crisis that has taken down some of the largest and, we thought, safest financial institutions? From the beginning, I thought Peter Wallison of AEI had it about right. He recently gave a speech on this topic as part of a debate with Richard Posner. It is a bit lengthy, but well worth the effort. If we are to come up with the right solutions, we need to understand and admit the causes. Here is an excerpt:

"Let's begin with some numbers that are not well known--even now. There are 25 million subprime and other non-prime mortgages outstanding, with an unpaid principal balance of over $4.5 trillion. . . . 25 million subprime and Alt-A loans amount to almost 45 percent of all single family mortgages in the United States. These subprime and Alt-A mortgages are defaulting at unprecedented rates. As these mortgages decline in value so does the capital and the financial condition of every bank and financial institution that is holding them. This includes not only US banks and financial institutions but banks and other financial institutions around the world. More than any other cause, the sharp decline in the value of these mortgages accounts for the world-wide financial collapse we are now experiencing."

Glendon says no to Notre Dame

2009-04-29T15:21:00.003-05:00

You may have heard that Mary Ann Glendon has told Notre Dame that she will not accept its highest award, the Laetare Medal, because of the honorary degree to be given to President Obama next month and the university's presentation of her role at commencement. Here is the text of her letter. She is one of the country's most prominent Roman Catholic intellectuals. She is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

The Wesley Report

2009-04-24T14:26:00.003-05:00

For several years, Shayne Raynor has had a website devoted to all things Methodist. He does some posting himself, but concentrates on lots of links to Methodist news stories and analysis. I think you'll find it interesting.

Jesus Interrupted?

2009-04-24T14:08:00.006-05:00

Bart Ehrman's newest book is out. In it, he claims to reveal the Bible's hidden contradictions and tell us why we didn't know about. We spent a little time with Ehrman's latest in my 11:00 class a few weeks ago. As with the rest of his popular writing, the book is easy to read but is misleading.

Reviews are beginning to come in. Ben Witherington has written a five(?) part series on his blog. Check it out. You'll have to look through the archived posts to read the full series, as I don't think he has collected all the parts into one place.

I'm Back!

2009-04-24T13:50:00.003-05:00

After a long hiatus (yes, that's an understatement), I've decided to begin blogging again.

I'll be posting not only some of my thoughts and observations, I'll also be linking to helpful news and resources on the web regarding Christianity, the Bible, religion and so on. I'll also post information re upcoming events at St. Andrew that are related to our learning ministries and author series.

You might also check out the websites and blogs that I've listed on this page.

Anyway, check back once in awhile, get an RSS subscription, or sign up to follow this blog.

And I'd always like to hear from you. Just click on the "comments" at the bottom of each post.

Grace and Peace!

"The Rapture" -- yet another book

2006-07-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins of Left Behind fame were on Good Morning America pushing their latest book, The Rapture. It doesn't seem like a book that ABC would promote, but perhaps it is because of the huge Left Behind sales. It frustrates me to see the continuing publicity around these books, but at least it may spur interest in my fall St. Andrew Academy class, Revelation: Cracking the Code or Why You Won't Be Left Behind.

The so-called Rapture is a recent, peculiarly American, and regrettable innovation in biblical interpretation. It was part of a biblical interpretation scheme invented by John Darby in the early 19th-Century and then popularized by the Scofield Bible and its successor, the Ryrie Study Bible. It presupposes that the Bible is a complicated puzzle, requiring that we rearrange bits and pieces in order to understand what God is telling us about Jesus' return and the consummation of God's kingdom. It turns much of the Bible into a movie script that is just waiting for someone (God, I guess) to hit the button and get everything rolling. It is as if God would give us the wrong sort of book! Frankly, the whole thing is appalling theology and misguided biblical interpretation.

Some will say that it serves a useful purpose, despite its shortcomings, because it scares people into Jesus' arms. But consider this: If the greatest commandments are to love God and love neighbor, does anyone seriously think that we can be scared into loving anyone? We might be terrified into saying the right words or acting like it. But could you scare someone into truly loving you? I don't think so.

A good book on the subject is The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation by Barbara Rossing. Two more excellent books are Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig Koester and In God's Time: The Bible and the Future by Craig Hill.

The Meltdown of "Liberal Christianity"

2006-07-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

Christ Church Episcopal is not far from St. Andrew and is one of the largest Episcopal churches in America, with more than 2,000 attending each weekend. You may have read the story in the Dallas Morning News about Christ Church's decision to disassociate from the Episcopal Church -- USA. This op-ed in the LA Times by Charlotte Allen is excellent and will help you grasp why Christ Church made such a momentous decision. There is more on Christ Church's website. Big changes lie ahead in some of the mainline denominations. Thankfully, the UMC has begun to re-embrace its Wesleyan biblical roots in the last 15 years -- though there is still much work to do.

Back to blogging!

2006-07-06T13:58:00.000-05:00

Yikes . . . May 20 my last blog posting? I guess I let things get away from me in the lead-up to our wonderful vacation. But I'm back now and will try to get back on a regular posting schedule. Check back here in a few days.

A Friend in Deed

2006-05-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

The May 28 Sermon Background Study, "A Friend in Deed," considers David's friendship toward Saul.

The Amalekite had expected a celebration from David, but instead David responds in unreserved and sincere grief – tearing his clothes, weeping, and fasting. David grieves for himself, for Jonathan, and all of Israel. Things may have been headed this way for a long time, but the death of God’s anointed is only an occasion for grief. Yes, good things will come of David’s ascension to the throne, but Saul’s story is still a tragedy, and David is right in the middle of it.

A Memorable Commencement

2006-05-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

The May 21 Sermon Background Study, "A Memorable Commencement," takes a look at the book of Proverbs, imagining it as God's commencement speech.

Today, we’ll try to imagine that the book of Proverbs is a commencement address, God’s commencement address. Like most of the commencement addresses I’ve heard (and I’ve heard more than my share!), the book of Proverbs is filled with lots of good advice. Look at today’s passage: fight wickedness, be honest and prudent, don’t gossip, no payback, work hard. Pretty hard to go wrong with any of that. Indeed, wise pithy sayings are how most of us think of the book of Proverbs, but God is too good a commencement speaker to simply knit one piece of advice after another into a speech.

Always There, Always Loving

2006-05-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

The May 14 Sermon Background Study, "Always There, Always Loving," closes out our four week series Extreme Makeover. The Scripture passage is from the book Ruth.

In the lives of Naomi and Ruth, the good purposes that God brings out of the tragedy includes what we’d probably label as ordinary and miraculous, though we shouldn’t label them as either. Sometimes, God’s work is simply more surprising than at other times. But still, the “ordinary” includes the love and friendship that develop between the two women and Naomi’s redemption. The “extraordinary” lies in Ruth’s baby, who will go on to be the grandfather of David, the great king of Israel. Large and small, God works in it all.

Extreme Transformation

2006-05-02T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Sermon Background Study for May 7 is the third in our Extreme Makeover series. The Scripture passage is drawn from Romans as we consider one of the most extreme makeovers of all – Paul’s conversion from a violent persecutor of the church to God’s apostle to the Gentiles.

While on a trip to Damascus to round up some of the Jesus-followers, Saul was visited by Jesus. Saul saw a blinding light, fell to the ground, and was asked point-blank by Jesus, “Why do you persecute me?” At Jesus’ instructions and though temporarily blinded, Saul made his way to Damascus where a Christian named Ananias, doing himself as he was instructed by Jesus, laid hands on Saul. He was then filled with the Holy Spirit and restored to sight. (Acts 9). Saul would soon learn what God had told Ananias: Saul was the one God had chosen to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

In Spite of Ourselves

2006-04-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

The Sermon Background Study for April 30 is the second in our Extreme Makeover series. Personal transformation is very difficult, but we can be confident that God's transformation of us proceeds in spite of ourselves. It was true with the ancient Israelites and it is true with us.

As it was with the ancient Israelites, so it is with us. Despite all our good intentions, we do what we know is unwise and sometimes hurtful. Likewise, too often we fail to do that which we know we ought to do. If our extreme makeover were left solely in our own hands, it would be doomed from the outset. Such is the power of sin.

Yet, we are not left to our own devices. Sin may still be a part of our world and of our lives, but its days are numbered. God’s victory over sin was won 2,000 years ago on a cross outside Jerusalem. The proof is this victory is Jesus’ resurrection and its power is the power of God’s Spirit.

"Are God and the Spirit the Same?"

2006-04-21T11:42:00.000-05:00

This is a question that was e-mailed to me when we read through Mark.

After Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples had to come to grips with what had happened, who Jesus really was. As they talked and remembered and reflected, what emerged was their recognition that not only was Jesus the Jewish Messiah, he was God incarnate. This posed a problem for Jesus’ first followers, as they were all good monotheistic Jews. How could Jesus be God-made-flesh if there is only one God? And what do they make of the Comforter promised by Jesus at his last supper with the disciples (John 14:15-31)? How about this overpowering Spirit who came upon them at Pentecost (Acts 2)?

What emerges is seen in Paul’s letters, which are the oldest Christian writings we have. Throughout them, without surrendering his monotheism, Paul embraces both Jesus and the Spirit as fully and completely God, though neither is all of God. For Paul there is one God who is inherently relational; one God whose very being is a community of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If you go looking for a neat little formula for this in Paul (like Erasmus’ insertion of 1 John 5:7 in the 16th century) you will be disappointed. Instead, Paul’s Trinitarian understanding of God is woven throughout, embedded in his paragraphs, sentences, and phrases, such as the “Spirit of Christ.”

What does Jesus mean when he promises that where two or three believers are gathered, he will be among them (Matthew 18:20)? He can’t mean bodily for he returned to God’s dimension (“heaven”) to be with the Father (Acts 1). But surely he means that he will be with them in more than just memory or a feeling. Rather, the Spirit is God present with us and the Spirit is Christ present with us. When Paul speaks of the Spirit dwelling within us, he is speaking of Christ dwelling within us (see, for example, Romans 8:9-11).

So . . . no, God and the Spirit are not the same, in that there is more to God than the Spirit. But . . . the Spirit is fully and completely God, though not all of God.

If you ever think you have this all figured out, you can bet that you are getting something wrong! Contemplating God’s being requires humility first.

The Teacher Who Transforms

2006-04-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

This Sunday's (April 23) Sermon Background Study begins a four-week series entitled Extreme Makeover: Life Edition. We'll be looking at transformation as we continue with our Thru the Bible project.

It is very tempting to think that we can divorce the teachings from the teacher, that the teachings are the keys to the kingdom. J. Budziszewski calls this “The Second Tablet Project.” When Moses brings down the two tablets, the first speaks to our relationship with God (no other gods, for example) while the second tablet speaks to our relationships with others (no coveting, for example). Thus, the Second Tablet Project refers to the attempt by many in our world to live according to the second of the tablets while disregarding the first – trying to live by the teachings while ignoring the teacher.

God's Future Now

2006-04-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

The Sermon Background for Easter tries to help us see the larger story of Easter. What must it have been like of the disciples on Easter Monday?

Easter is a very public proclamation that God has acted decisively in human history to rescue us and to renew all of creation. God has called us to build for his kingdom as we confidently await its final consummation. And, thankfully, God is with us in this. God’s Spirit enables us to do the work that God has given, refreshing us in our prayers, our worship, our learning, our loving, and our serving. God’s new creation has begun and we are summoned to be part of it. Alleluia. Christ is risen indeed!

Witherington on the Gospel of Judas and on Joel Osteen

2006-04-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

Ben Witherington has two new posts up. The first is on the Judas Gospel, which ABC has been pushing the last couple of days. The second is on Joel Osteen, the latest of the prosperity preachers.

YHWH Returns to Zion

2006-04-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

The Sermon Background Study for Palm Sunday should help you see that Jesus enters Jerusalem not only as Messiah but also embodying YHWH’s return to Zion.

It is not just the Messiah whom the crowds welcome into the city, it is the Lord God himself. Centuries before, Ezekiel had brought to the people terrifying visions of God’s departure from the temple in Jerusalem before its burning by the Babylonians. In the centuries since, despite the rebuilding of the temple, there wasn’t really any sign that God had returned. The Jews still awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise: “See, I am sending a messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1). What must the crowds of followers have thought when, on Monday, Jesus didn’t head for the Antonia Fortress to confront the Romans but to the temple, where he would invoke the words of Jeremiah pronouncing judgment on the people and their temple. A couple of decades later, long before the writing of any of the Gospels, Paul would describe the body of Christ as God’s temple, as well as each individual believer (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 & 6:19-20).

Self-sufficiency?

2006-03-27T14:19:00.000-06:00

I was taught to be self-reliant, always ready to “pull myself up by the bootstraps.”  Many of us are.  Understood correctly, self-reliance is a good thing.  Paul supported himself with his skills as a tent-maker rather than relying on others for financial support.  He was committed to his ministry and knew that he couldn’t stand by and leave it up to others.

But as we are inclined to do in all things, too often we turn a healthy self-reliance into an unhealthy self-sufficiency.  We forget that we actually need others.  We forget that just as God is inherently relational, so are we.  We are not independent of others, we are dependent upon them to help us realize our purpose and to teach us about love.  God does not call us to some sort of self-sufficient isolation, but to community and fellowship.

Indeed, much of the biblical story is devoted to shaking us out of our misguided self-sufficiency and self-centeredness.  The long story of God and his people makes us realize that we are dependent upon God, that it is he who strengthens us and enables us to accomplish all that we do.

What do we make of the Psalms?

2006-03-27T14:16:00.000-06:00

In a recent book, Philip Yancey confesses that for much of his life he had little use for the Psalms.  He saw Christians around him use the Psalms as some sort of spiritual medicine cabinet – “depressed? read Psalm 37; failing health? read Psalm 121.”  This was an approach that never worked for him.  He always seemed to land on the wrong sort of Psalm!  Yancey came to realize that he was approaching the Psalms the same way he approached Paul’s letters or the stories of the Old Testament.  But the Psalms are different.

All of the Bible -- the stories, the histories, the letters, the poems, the proverbs, all of it – is God’s word for the people of God, as we proclaim each time scripture is read during worship at St. Andrew.  But the Bible is also the spiritual journal of God’s people.  It is our story of our relationship with God -- all the hopes, all the troubles, all the joys, and all the disappointments.  You can best appreciate the Psalms if you think of each one as a mini-spiritual journal, a letter written by one of God’s children.  Thus, the Psalms reflect the full range of human emotions.  Sometimes the psalmist (the journal writer!) is filled with boundless joy, but at other times the psalmist is sad or angry.  It is all here.  To get some sense of what I mean, read Psalm 22 (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”) and then Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”).  Could there be a stronger contrast?  Here is another example.  Read Psalm 102 (“my bones burn like glowing embers”) and then read Psalm 103, from which today’s scripture is taken.  Psalm 103 is a majestic hymn of praise without even a hint of darkness.

It surprises many Christians to learn that the New Testament writers quoted more from the Book of Psalms than from any other Old Testament book.  But, like them, we need to make these ancient Hebrew prayers our own.  Yancey writes, “Psalms, located in the exact center of the Bible, gives us a comprehensive record of life with God through individually fashioned accounts of how the spiritual life works.  I come to the psalms not primarily as a student wanting knowledge, but rather as a fellow pilgrim wanting to acquire relationship.”

What are the psalms?

2006-03-27T14:11:00.000-06:00

We are reading a psalm a day right now in our Bible reading plan. I’ve been asked – “What are the psalms?”

Psalms is a book of Hebrew poetry compiled over many centuries. Some Psalms are emotional, others are instructive. Some sing words of praise, others are songs of lament or even anger. I love Philip Yancey’s description of the Psalms as “spirituality in every key.” He means that every emotion you will ever have in your own walk with God can be found in these ancient poems. They express our deepest yearnings and hopes. David, the boy shepherd who went on to be Israel’s greatest king, wrote many of the Psalms. The Bible tells us that David “was a man after God’s own heart” and his Psalms take us inside David’s heart. Sometimes David can hardly contain the joy he feels in his relationship with God. Yet, at other times, he can hardly contain his sadness at the depth of his own sin. Such are the Psalms. Reading them is to take a journey of the human heart. These are Israel’s prayers and ours.

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor"

2006-03-27T13:57:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background study for April 1 and 2 takes a look at the remarkable calls to generosity and social justice that we find sprinkled throughout Deuteronomy.

A member of our congregation wrote me this week after reading the book of Numbers: “I must tell you, though, that I was really bothered by reading Numbers and about the slaughter of the Midianites. I understand why Moses advocates killing the men and the sinful women. However, why does he say to kill all of the boys as well? And God condones this? This is troublesome.”

Who among us isn’t troubled by such stories? And there is more to come as we read through Joshua, Judges, Samuel and the rest. Some of these stories are so shocking and troubling that they can blind us to the message that we ought to hear in these books.

It is very hard for us to comprehend just how different the world of the ancient Near East was from our own. Life was brutal, short, and cheap. It was a world in which “an eye for an eye” was moral progress. Abraham isn’t shocked when God tells him to sacrifice Isaac because child sacrifice was practiced by some of the cultures in and around Canaan. Only half-jokingly, I suggest to my students that they try to imagine the world of Conan the Barbarian!

If we imagine well, if we really come to grips with life in the ancient world, then we’ll find that it is not the bloodshed that shocks us. Rather, we are surprised by God’s demands for compassion, generosity, and justice for even the weakest persons. The community of God’s people was to be dramatically different from any community, society, or culture the world had yet seen.

"The Heart of the Law"

2006-03-18T11:21:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for March 25 and 26 takes is drawn from Deuteronomy 6:1-9. The study is a brief primer on the Law.

When we come to the Law, we cannot remind ourselves too often that it is summed up in God’s teachings that we are to love God and one another in all that we say and do, in things large and small, whether it is our lifelong friend or our most despised enemy. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to follow his example, leading lives of sacrificial love.

"Do Our Beliefs Really Matter?"

2006-03-18T11:17:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for March 18 and 19, takes a look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians and considers whether what we believe really matters.

Galatia was an area in ancient Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) visited by Paul on his first missionary journey in the late 40’s AD. Paul’s success in Galatia was largely among the pagans, not the Jews (4:8-9). Many Galatian pagans believed the Gospel and were baptized into the body of Christ. After Paul’s departure, the Christian communities in Galatia were “running a good race” (5:7) until some people came to the communities teaching and preaching a gospel that differed from that taught by Paul. This set the stage for a confrontation. So far as Paul was concerned, there simply was no other Gospel than the one that he had brought to the Galatians. The question for us is this: what is the problem and how could it matter so much?

"Decisions, Decisions"

2006-03-18T11:12:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for March 11 and 12 took a look at the Israelites' rebellion and retreat in the wilderness (Numbers 14).

But, of course, being shaped into God’s people meant they were being shaped for responsibility. They were to be the ones through whom God would restore all of humanity to a right relationship with God. God led them from Mt. Sinai to the borders of Canaan so that the Israelites might move into the land that God had promised to Abraham centuries before. Yet despite all that had happened, the people seemed plagued by fears, doubts, and anxieties. Sometimes they went so far as to wish they were still back in Egypt. Far from being responsible people, ready to trust God in all things, time and again they quickly forgot about their escape from Pharaoh and even the food God had rained down upon them from heaven (Exodus 16). They could see only the unknowns ahead and embrace only their own fears.

Back from Spring Break!

2006-03-18T11:03:00.000-06:00

We are back from a few days in San Antonio. With the Spring Bible Academy Session beginning the week of March 27, it is great to get back into something like a normal routine. Will Bill's illness and passing, things have been pretty topsy-turvy in our home for awhile.

I've failed to post links to the most recent background studies, but I'll do that this morning.

Earthly and heavenly sanctuaries (Hebrews 8)

2006-03-10T19:24:00.000-06:00

In Hebrews 8:3-5, the author talk about how the priests provide only a hint of what goes on in the true sanctuary of heaven, and how God said “Be careful to do it exactly as you saw it on the Mountain.” What do you think this means? I am assuming that he was talking about all the animal sacrifices. Why is it so important to do it exactly as God says in Leviticus.

In the biblical view, there is the earthly realm/dimension (I'm sitting in it now) and the heavenly (God's space/dimension; where Jesus is sitting right now . . . unless he is standing or laying down!). For the ancient Jews, the Temple was the place where these two realms/dimensions met -- literally. When the High Priest stepped into the Holiest of Holies, the High Priest was stepping into heaven/God's space/dimension.

In Exodus, when God gives Moses the instructions on the building of the tabernacle, God also allows Moses to peek into the heavenly realm and see the real thing (the heavenly tabernacle) so that the copy on earth could be as exact as possible.

Much of Hebrews is spent building up Jewish believers. They have chosen well in choosing Jesus. The old priests were good but Jesus is better. The old tabernacle/temple was good but the real thing (in the heavenly realm) is better. The old covenant was good but the new covenant is better.

In all this, Moses and the Jews and we are not to mistake the copy for the real thing. It isn't that the copy is bad, it just not the real thing. Our hope lies not in the copy but in God's truest reality.

Isn't Hebrews a challenging book! I'm sure it is because none of us know and understand our Old Testament as we should.

The death of Aaron's sons (Lev. 10)

2006-03-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

I was quite disturbed by God’s killing Aaron’s two sons after they offered the “strange fire” when in addition to the sacrifices that God required. What do you think was the “strange fire” and why did God kill them?

Most readers are troubled by the killing of Aaron's two sons. The "strange fire" is simply a wrongly offered sacrifice. The NRSV has "unholy fire" and the NIV has "unauthorized fire." I think that both translations get the point.

Why is God's holiness dangerous? Why can't the people even touch the mountain of God? Why does God not want to travel with his people for fear that they will sin and his holiness will consume them? At times, it seems that God's consuming holiness is not a conscious act on God's part but simply what happens when the unholy meets the holy -- perhaps like antimatter and matter.

Donald Gowan's book, The Theology of Exodus, really opened my eyes about the many and varied OT, as well as some NT, depictions of a "dangerous" God and the non-ration aspects of God, the "numinous" as Otto put it. When we talked about some of these passages in my staff covenant group, Jay Cousino reminded me of a line from C.S. Lewis' Narnia. When the children ask if Aslan the lion is safe, they are told "He is good, but he is not safe."

Bill Merz has passed on

2006-03-02T14:35:00.000-06:00

I won't be posting until next week. My wife's brother-in-law, Bill Merz, died this morning after a long fight with cancer. His memorial service will be Monday in Atlanta. He will be much missed by his family and countless friends. Bill was one of the most Christ-like people I've had the privilege to know. He knew his Lord as few people do. Now, Bill is with his Lord. We take great comfort in that . . . as we should. Please keep the Merz family in your prayers.

Something we need to "unlearn"

2006-02-24T16:46:00.000-06:00

There is a long-standing misconception among Christians about the Pharisees1 and the Law. Many of us were taught mistakenly that the Pharisees led the Jews in an effort to keep every detail of God’s Law so that they would be made right with God (or, as Christians often put it, so that they could earn their way into heaven).

But the Jews did not suppose that their behavior could make them right with God. For the Jews, God’s great act of salvation was the Exodus from slavery in Egypt . . . and the Exodus happened before God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The order here is crucial. It was salvation and then the Law; not, the Law and then salvation. Grace, then law. For the Jews, keeping God’s Law (his instructions about how to live in right relationship with God) was what ought to follow God’s acts of grace. By his grace, God had given them the covenant and the law. The proper and thankful response was to keep the covenant and obey the law.

In laying down his challenge to live as New Covenant people, Jesus was neither calling his disciples to a new standard of morality nor abandoning the Law they had been given. He was calling them to a renewed understanding that God’s law was, and is, grounded in love, forgiveness, and mercy.

1. There were perhaps only 6,000 or so Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Despite their small numbers, they wielded enormous influence as they were seen by most Jews to be the spiritual leaders of Israel, the keepers of God’s Law. Paul, the apostle of Christ, was a Pharisee.

What do you desire?

2006-02-24T16:44:00.000-06:00

We live as we desire to live. Even if we are burdened by bad choices we once made or by circumstances thrust upon us, the biblical view is that we live the sort of life that we wish to live. But there is a BIG problem here: though we are made in God’s image, we do not naturally desire God nor the things of God. It is this lack of desire for God that underlies all the biblical talk about new hearts, new selves, new clothes, new creation, and the rest.

We sometimes use words such as “conversion” to describe this change of heart, this newly found desire for God. For without this rebirth, this renewal of our hearts, we will not live as God’s New Covenant people. We won’t even want to. Paul understood that in establishing new churches, he was really running around founding colonies of a new human race – a race with hearts turned toward God!

Christians often put too much emphasis on the timing of this rebirth. In truth, most Christians couldn’t tell you the moment of their rebirth. (John Wesley thought he could, but then six months later told his brother he wasn’t so sure!) I know that I could not. But I do know that today, I desire God. I want to walk in God’s way, to live today and every day in a manner that is pleasing to God . . . and I pray every day that God will hold me close and keep the flame of desire burning strong.

If we are to embrace Jesus’ challenge, if we are to live as God’s New Covenant people, then we must desire it. Such desire cannot be found within us, it is a gift from God. It is a gift that we can pray for every day. Perhaps even the desire to pray for desire is a sign of our own rebirth.

Already/Not yet

2006-02-24T15:09:00.000-06:00

The March 5 Sermon Background Study takes us back to the New Testament's already/not yet perspective. The Kingdom of God has come already, but not yet. Both are true. Grasping this perspective is enormously helpful, even essential, to grasping much of Paul. This is another of the "ands" of the Christian faith, as in God is three and one. Our faith is built on these "ands," not on "ors."

I wrote something on this a few years ago for our adult classes. You might find it helpful.

Drawing Nearer to God

2006-02-24T14:56:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for March 4 and 5 is drawn from Hebrews. We explore both the atoning death of Jesus as the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, as well as the meaning and practice of Lent.

Lent is about the intentional practice of drawing nearer to God. You might ask whether we ought to be doing that every day of the year. Of course we should, but we don’t. Or at least most of us don’t. Lent is a period of forty days when we discipline ourselves in ways that we probably would not sustain for the rest of the year. It might be more time set aside for daily Bible reading or prayer. We might fast regularly or meditate. We might care for others in new ways. Lent is about the dramatic rearrangement of our priorities. We desire to come to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter standing as close to God as we can get, clear of all the anxieties, worries, and commitments that take us away from God.

Shadows

2006-02-24T14:51:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for Feb 25 and 26 is drawn from Leviticus and explores the sacrificial system as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death.

I bet you never thought you’d hear Leviticus chapter 1 read from the pulpit. Chances are you never have before and never will again. The only reading from Leviticus in the Revised Common Lectionary is from chapter 19, regarding loving one’s neighbor. In contrast, what we are reading today is just . . . well . . . gross. There is nothing in our lives that prepares us for this, no point of reference. In fact, like the preparers of the Lectionary, we’d probably prefer to skip it, seeing nothing here of value for our own day, our own lives. But when we commit to reading through the Bible, we don’t get to skip parts. This is all Scripture, inspired by God and given to us so that we might come to know God. Granted, though all Scripture is equally inspired, it is not all equally useful. But, surprisingly, even in passages like today’s, we can find important insights into God’s nature and our own.

Decompressing God

2006-02-17T14:22:00.000-06:00

For many years, I tried to squeeze God into a small corner of my life. I tried to compress him into a tidy package that I could control and that would not interfere with my “real” life. I went to church, taught Sunday School from time to time, served on various committees, and sang in the choir. But my faith was shallow, it had no roots. I can’t ever really remember asking myself – what would God want me to do?

Only now, am I really beginning to understand how short-changed I was all those years! Yes, there is the “real” world that I can see and touch and smell. But every bit as real is the present-but-still-coming kingdom of God. Only now am I beginning to understand the writer of Hebrews: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). Of course, the truth is that I’m surrounded by stuff I can see and touch and smell. It takes some effort to hang on to the reality of God and his kingdom.

So, as Moses taught more than 3,000 years ago, we immerse ourselves in God. We “decompress” God . . . we let him fill every part of our lives . . . through worship and prayer and service and caring and study. We help each other in this, for we shouldn’t delude ourselves that it is easy. Christians have taken off for the desert or a mountaintop to try to stay centered upon God. We seek to remember God as we live out our exceedingly busy and frantic lives. Nonetheless, no less than the ancient Israelites, we strive to build our lives around the fullness of God.

The truth about sin

2006-02-17T14:18:00.000-06:00

I remember leaving a St. Andrew worship service about six years ago at which I overheard a young woman say to her friend, “There was simply too much talk about sin today. That was such a downer.” Ok . . .those may not have been her exact words. I don’t think young people actually use the word “downer” anymore. But her point was clear to me.

Sin may be a “downer” but if Christians are anything, we are realists. Rose-colored glasses have no place in our pockets. Sin is real and its presence explains a great deal about ourselves and our world. The problem when we begin to talk about sin is that it is commonly misunderstood.

We tend to think of sin only as the breaking of a rule, as if we might look back over our day and count the sins we committed. But this is not the best way to go about understanding sin.

Sin is whatever separates us from God. Sin is whatever diminishes the image of God in us all. Sin is whatever keeps us from functioning as God intended. Sin is our brokenness . . . and we are all broken . . . and we are often too blind to even know it.

Adam, Eve, you, and I were all created by God so that we might love God and one another. When we chase after false gods or dishonor our parents or covet our neighbor’s house or commit adultery, we are separated further and further from God. Adam and Eve, giving in to their pride and desiring to be like gods themselves, chose to follow their own way rather than God’s way. And the result was that God came to walk with them in the evening and Adam hid from God! Separation.

In the biblical worldview, Adam and Eve’s choice is still with us. They ran from God, causing a tragic rip in the relationship between God and humanity. It is as if their bad choice passed on to us a flaw in our moral DNA, a flaw that we cannot fully heal ourselves, but must be healed by God. This is the truth about sin.

The Message//Remix

2006-02-17T14:15:00.000-06:00

I and many other Christians have tried reading through the Bible before. We usually began with Genesis and planned on reading straight through to Revelation. Many of us would sail right on through Genesis and Exodus, though we might bog down a bit in all the details about the tabernacle and the priests’ garments.

But then we’d hit Leviticus . . . and then Numbers . . . and then Deuteronomy. There is a lot here that would test our resolve – look at Leviticus 1! And if we persisted, Chronicles and the prophets lay not far down the road.

The reading plan we are using this year is a help. But I am also supplementing my reading from the NRSV in the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible with Eugene Peterson’s The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary language. I’m finding that Peterson helps me to make better sense of some of the more difficult (dare I say boring). The “Remix” is an inexpensive edition of The Message with verse-numbered paragraphs.

I am particularly enjoying Peterson’s rendering of the psalms. I’ll confess that I’ve always had trouble connecting with the psalms. They never spoke to my heart or, to put it better, my heart was tone-deaf to many of the psalms. I’ve found that Peterson’s paraphrases help me to connect with the feelings of the psalmists as I never have before.

The Message//Remix is my March book recommendation. You shouldn’t replace your NRSV/NIV/TNIV translations with Peterson’s paraphrase, but I do think that you will be blessed if you use The Message to supplement your Bible reading this year.

Forty?

2006-02-13T15:11:00.000-06:00

The number 40 comes up lots in the Bible. What's its significance?

Living in a world without clocks, the ancients did not share our obsession with precise timekeeping and chronology. "Forty" days or years is not a precise figure. Rather, it describes a relatively long time. The Bible tells us that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because we are to grasp that they wandered for a long time -- long enough for an entire generation to die off. It rains on Noah and the ark for forty days and nights because it rained for a long time, long enough to flood the earth.

"Fortys" are typically associated with periods of hardship or affliction. Forty days is how long Ezekiel lies on his side to symbolize the punishment of Judah. Moses fasts forty days on Mt. Sinai.

Sometimes the connection of "fortys" is obvious. Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness is surely meant to evoke the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Jesus' responses to Satan in the wilderness are quotes from Deuteronomy's references to the wilderness experience.

Numbers that appear frequently in the Bible have symbolic meaning. In the case of "forty" it is most often symbolizing a long period of time.

A Promise Kept

2006-02-13T14:50:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study takes a look at the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, as told in Acts 10 and 11.

It is difficult for us to grasp the enormity of the controversy surrounding Peter’s baptism of Cornelius. In the minds of many fellow Jews, Peter shouldn’t have eaten with the Gentiles much less have baptized them into the body of Christ. Yet, Peter rightly realized that he could not stand in God’s way on this. He went to Jerusalem to explain himself to the leaders of the Christian community. Later, there would be a conference in Jerusalem on this very question – must Gentile men seeking entrance into the community of believers first be circumcised . . . and avoid pork . . . and keep the Sabbath . . . and so on.

Were the first Christians communists?

2006-02-05T21:57:00.000-06:00

Were the first Christians communists?
I invariably get a question something like this whenever I teach the opening chapters of Acts. We read about their having “all things in common” with no claims of private ownership and we imagine Moscow, not Jerusalem.
There are three directly relevant passages in Acts: Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-37 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5.

First, the TNIV translation that “No one claimed that any of their possessions were their own” is better than the NRSV, “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.” As Jews, the believers knew that the world and everything in it is God’s and we are merely stewards. God is the owner; we are the trustees.

Second, the process of selling possessions to raise money is on-going, not completed: “they would sell their possessions and goods” (2:45). Even 4:35 can be read “for as many as owned lands or houses sold them as needed and brought all the proceeds of what was sold.”

But most important, the ambiguities in Luke’s grammar are cleared up by the events. What is the point of noting Barnabas’ generosity, if selling the field is something that he is required to do? Even more to the point, when Ananias lies to Peter about having turned over all the proceeds of a sale, Peter’s replies, “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? After it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

In all these passages, Luke wants us to see that the transformed hearts of the believers has resulted in their recognizing that all they own is to be shared as needed, that this is what it means to be good trustees of God’s world. There was simply to be no needy persons among them and from what we know of the early church in its first centuries, the Christians did a remarkable job of living this out.

Winning at Money

2006-02-05T21:48:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study takes a look at the first Christian community in Jerusalem. What does Luke mean when he says that they held all things in common? We also consider our own abundance -- what it might mean to make do with more.

I know that there are those in our congregation who struggle to make do with less. But a quick trip around our parking lot, or those of our nearby schools, reveals that for many of us, the problem is making do with more. In a recent article,[1] Tim Stafford notes that while our abundance creates limitless possibilities for our lives, too many of us lack any signposts pointing us in the right direction. The field is open but we are not sure where to head, so we are frozen in place or drift as the breezes blow. Stafford is also correct that this is a much bigger issue for the children of boomers than for the boomers themselves, who may not have grown up around the abundance we enjoy now.

[1]from “Making Do With More” in the Feb 2006 issue of Christianity Today. Stafford’s question for us is this: In an age of abundance, how do we survive with our souls intact? You can find the article on-line at www.christianitytoday.com. Search for the article name.

Slow blogging!!

2006-01-27T18:37:00.000-06:00

My apologies for the slow blogging pace this week. I know I've got quite a backlog of questions to get to. My wife, Patti, has been away for a week and a half helping her sister and brother-in-law, who is fighting late-stage cancer. So Robby and I have been on our own. In addition, I'm preaching at 9:30 and 11:00 this Sunday. So bear with me, I'll pick up the pace as I am able.

Winning at School

2006-01-27T18:32:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study is titled "Winning at School." We take a look at Christian learning and the meaning of "disciple." There is also an extended text box on the question of whether the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament.

Read again Proverbs 1:7. This “fear-of-the-Lord” is not about being terrified of God. It is the English translation of a two-word Hebrew phrase that refers to genuine awe-filled reverence for God. This is where true wisdom and the knowledge that really matters begins. God is our teacher, showing us how to be all that our loving God hopes we will be.

Cain and Abel

2006-01-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

God knows Cain, God rejects Cain. God knows Cain will fight back. Cain fights back the only way he can. Does God set him (or us) up to fail?

God doesn't set up anyone, not even Cain. Yes, God rejects Cain's offering. But Cain is the one who must choose how to respond. He could respond in humility and repentance, but he chooses to respond in anger and vengeance. God tells him that sin is like a beast at the door poised to pounce on him, unless Cain turns away from his anger. But instead, Cain focuses his anger upon his brother, murdering him.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the story is that when Cain is sent away (exile is an important biblical theme), God sends him off with God's protection. No one is take vengeance on Cain. God will not allow cycles of revenge to begin. In other important biblical stories, those exiled from God's people take God's blessings with them. Ishmael and Esau are two prominent examples. Perhaps this a reminder to the people of God that God's grace extends even to the "outsiders."

Winning at Work

2006-01-22T15:38:00.000-06:00

This week’s Sermon Background Study is titled, “Winning at Work.” Using the story of Moses’ call at the burning bush, we consider our own callings and vocations.

How many of us begin our week shouting “Thank God it’s Monday?” How many of us would count ourselves among the “working wounded?” How many of us identify with Dilbert? . . . How are we ever to reconcile what God calls us to be with what too many workplaces demand of us?

Hardening Pharaoh's heart

2006-01-20T11:10:00.000-06:00

Why does God harden Pharaoh’s heart during the story of the plagues?

We are about to get to this in our reading plan, so I thought I’d anticipate the question. I now it is coming.

Before Moses ever goes to Pharaoh to demand the liberation of the Israelites, God says, “. . . I will harden his [Pharaoh’s} heart, so that he will not let the people go” (4:21). Time and again, as the confrontation unfolds, we are told that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and we move on to the next plague.

What sense does this make? What do we fear that it tells us about God? If the point is to get freedom for the Israelites, why wouldn’t God soften Pharaoh’s heart, as he has softened the hearts of so many? Is God toying with Pharaoh? Are we seeing here a god at work who is simply a different god than the God of the New Testament?

No. God is God, Old and New Testaments alike. They key to understanding the confrontation between God and Pharaoh is to realize that there is more at work here than the liberation of the Israelites. God explains it himself in 9:14-16, when he tells Pharaoh, “. . . I will send my plagues . . . so that you may know there is no one like me in all the earth . . . to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.”

God’s confrontation with Pharaoh is not only about freedom for God’s people, but also God’s sovereignty. The knowledge of God is the expressed aim of the plagues. God is not going to let Pharaoh leave the contest until Pharaoh acknowledges who the one true God really is. This direct contest makes all the more sense when we remember that Pharaoh was seen to be divine by the ancient Egyptians.

This is a bit like the story in Genesis where Jacob wrestles with God all night long (Gen. 32:22-32). Jacob won’t let go until he gets the blessing he seeks. In Egypt, God won’t let go of Pharaoh. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart until not only Pharaoh, but all the people as well, acknowledge that YHWH alone is God. Sadly, the only unequivocal acknowledgement of God comes as the waters pour over Pharaoh’s army.

There is more on this in chapter 6 of Donald Gowan’s excellent book, The Theology of Exodus: Biblical theology in the from of a commentary. I highly recommend it.

The creation of woman -- Genesis 2

2006-01-17T15:35:00.000-06:00

Genesis 2 – Why did God use two different creation methods for Adam and Eve? For Adam the scripture says “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” Why did God not just do this same thing when he created Eve? Why did he use one of Adam’s ribs with which to create Eve?

Man is created by God forming him from soil and then breathing the "breath of life" into the just-formed man. This breath is God's living breath. It is the same Hebrew word as used in Genesis 1 to denote God's Spirit (or "wind") hovering over the waters. Clearly, this ties the man to the earth (the soil) and to God (the breath).

When a helper for the man cannot be found, God creates a woman from the man's rib. It is important to see that the woman gets her own full creation account. Some have mistakenly found here some notion of subordination. If the woman is created from the man, isn't she then derivative and secondary?

Even a quick reading shows how mistaken this is. In Genesis 1, the creation of the humans is the culmination, the high point, of God's creative work. In Genesis 2, couldn't the woman just as easily be seen as the culmination of God's creative work? There is simply nothing here that supports the subordination of women.

But all this misses the point. The truth is that the man is incomplete until the creation of the woman. The man and the woman, created from one flesh, become husband and wife, a union into one flesh. In my view, this "one-fleshness" is what God wants us to see in this story. It is where this creation account ends in Genesis 2:24.

When the Pharisees ask Jesus about the rules of divorce, he sends them back to Genesis 2:24 -- husband and wife, one flesh. Paul does the same when he is talking to men about how they are treating their wives. Paul wants them to realize that when they mistreat their wives, they are abusing their own bodies -- husband and wife are one-flesh (see Ephesians 5:21-33). As the marriage vows go: "What God has joined together, let no one put asunder."

Two creation stories

2006-01-17T15:04:00.000-06:00

In the other account of the creation in Ch 2 of Genesis, the creation of man seems to precede that of the creation of animals and vegetation. This is in reverse of the account of the creation in Ch 1 where humankind was the last thing created. Are these simply variations on a theme?

In my view, the key here is to see the differing perspectives of these two creation accounts.

The first telling of the creation story (Genesis 1) is from God's perspective. It is stately and majestic. The language even sounds “godly.” In this account, the creation of humankind is the culmination of God's work. Only humankind is made in God’s image.

The second telling of the creation story (Genesis 2) is from the perspective of the humans. The story now focuses on the man rather than on the Creator. The story begins with the man's creation from the soil, but is much less concerned about the rest of God's creative work. Soil and water are already there. How they got there is just not the writer's focus, other than the claim in 2:4 that God made the earth and the heavens. We are told that God "had formed" the animals (in the NIV), or that God "formed" the animals (NRSV), but the focus is not on their creation. Instead, the writer is focused on God's bringing them to the man so that the man could name them and find a helper.

I've found it very helpful to read these two accounts as being two perspectives on God's work. They are complementary, not contradictory.

Winning at Family

2006-01-14T11:21:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for January 21 and 22 explores the dynamics of Abraham’s family and God’s work in breaking the cycle of deceit. The text box deals with a few questions I’ve gotten about how to interpret Genesis 1-11. I’ve previously posted my thoughts on these questions on the blog.
Families are messy. Extended families are messier. Sometimes we are tempted to think that the problems and issues in our own family are unique, that we are the only family with skeletons in the closet. But the truth is that all families are beset by problems. Genesis tells the story of Abraham’s family over five generations. Even a casual reading reveals a family marked by treachery and love, jealousy and commitment, deceit and faith.

Pat Robertson, Ariel Sharon, and the land

2006-01-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

What about are we to make of Pat Robertson’s comment about Sharon’s stroke and Israel’s land?

Pat Robertson? First, how can he possibly presume to know God's will? Second, how can he think that such statements are a good witness to non-believers? In addition to spending more time with the book of Job, he needs to learn a little self-censorship, as do most of us.

The land? In Genesis 15, God expands the promise of land to a territory stretching from the Nile River to the Euphrates. Generally, I put the land in with the other key symbols of Judaism such as the circumcision, the food laws, and the Sabbath. With the coming of Christ, these symbols no longer marked out the people of God. Now the people of God are known by their faith in Jesus Christ and faith alone. If the land is an existing promise to the people of God, who are those people?

In the end, I think it is all about Jesus, not the land or anything else. I think that concerns about the land or about the rebuilding of the temple can serve to take our focus away from Jesus and the new covenant that God has written on our hearts. (As you might guess, I'm no fan of end-times prophecies that hinge on reconstruction of a temple in Jerusalem. Temples are for priests and Jesus is the only priest we need . . . see Hebrews.)

Links to other blogs

2006-01-13T16:43:00.000-06:00

I'm beginning to collect links to other blogs. They are at the bottom of the sidebar to the right. Wesleyblog is the blog of a youngish United Methodist in Austin. He has tons of links to UMC sites and bloggers. Ben Witherington is a professor at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky and is someone I read regularly.

What is a covenant?

2006-01-13T16:11:00.000-06:00

The notion of covenant is one of the central themes of the Bible. It isn’t a word we use much anymore, but it expresses the making and keeping of commitments and promises. Though there are several types of covenants in the Bible, they fall into two broad categories, (1) the covenant between God and his people and (2) the covenants among humans. Covenants are used in the Bible to bind two persons legally and personally, as when Jonathan makes a covenant with David (1 Samuel 18:3-4), wherein their loving bond diminishes the legal aspects of the covenant. In other cases, such as the covenant between Laban and Jacob (Genesis 31:43-54), the legal power of the covenant is much more important because Laban and Jacob don’t trust each other. In most biblical covenants between humans, God is called on as the witness and guarantor. When God is a participant in the covenant, such as God’s covenants with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17) or Abraham (12:1-3) or Moses (in Exodus and Deuteronomy) or David (see 2 Samuel 7), the covenant takes on all the theological significance of a commitment between God the creator and his creation, between God the king and his people.

More on Genesis 1-11

2006-01-13T16:08:00.000-06:00

I continue to get questions about the opening chapters of Genesis. They are foundational to everything that comes after. As you reflect on these early chapters, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Genesis 1:1-2:3 tells the story of creation from God’s perspective. The language is formal, stately – “God-like!” God creates everything and pronounces it good! In the Biblical world-view, God’s creation is not inherently evil; rather, it is inherently good. The Bible tells the story of God’s renewal and restoration of all creation.

In this first story, God creates humans and creates them uniquely, in God’s own image. We could spend weeks discussing what this might mean, but it is profoundly important. Additionally, God gives humans responsibility for the management/stewardship/trusteeship of God’s creation.

Genesis 2:4b begins the story of creation told from the perspective of the humans. Notice how the language becomes earthy and messy. The focus is on Adam and Eve, not so much on God. It is here that we are told the story of how the humans turned from God, failing to do the one thing that God asked of them – not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We ought to see a lot of ourselves in this story. How many of us could resist the temptation to do the one thing we’re asked not to do? No sooner do Adam & Eve bite the “apple,” then they look around for someone to blame! Why does Eve first eat from the forbidden fruit? Because the serpent tells her that she will be “like God.” As the Apostle Paul put it when writing 25 years after Jesus’ resurrection, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator” (Romans: 1:25).

In chapter 3, we move to the stark depiction of Adam & Eve’s rebellion – their sin. They’ve thrown themselves and all creation out of whack. This is a cosmic dislocation and the Bible will often use striking images to describe it. Humans will now die, childbirth will be difficult, work will be burdensome, and murder will follow. The humans are exiled into a life separated from God and his goodness.

In the story of Noah we see much the same pattern as in the stories of creation. First, using the flood, God basically “uncreates.” He then creates anew, beginning with Noah, his family, and the creatures they saved from the flood. God told Adam to “be fruitful and multiply” and he now tells the same to Noah. God made a covenant with Adam, which Adam broke, and now enters into a more explicit covenant with Noah. Chapter 11 tells us how the humans were still not able to live in right relationship with God. Instead, they built a tower to the heavens so that they might make a name for themselves. How human! The result is that God scatters the humans; in effect, sending them into exile yet again. Late in chapter 11, we are introduced to Abram, one person, chosen by God, with whom God will enter into yet another covenant, so that all the nations of the earth may be blessed and all creation.

The Light of Creation

2006-01-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

Given that fact that the sun, moon, and stars weren't created until Day 4, is the creation of light and darkness on the first day a metaphor of some sort?

One doesn't have to read Genesis as a science text-book to wonder what the writer was thinking when it comes to this business about the light. God's first creative act is "Let there be light!" The darkness that "covered the deep" is pushed aside and separated from the light. Yet, it is not until the fourth day that God creates the stars, the physical objects that provide light and energy to the universe. So what gives? Did the writer not realize the illogic of this? However, it is illogical only if the light of verse 3 and the light of verse 14 is the same light.

Light is an enormously important biblical image. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery has a very lengthy entry on the topic. There is the physical light that is provided by our sun and man-made devices. There is the community of light. We are to be the "light to the world." There is the light of Christ. Light is a symbol of truth and blessing. There is the "holy light." . . . Books have been written on all this! Last December, I wrote a Sermon Background Study that dealt with the contrast of light and darkness.

The light of "Let there be light" is the light of creation, not a reference to the physical light provided by the stars of the fourth day of creation. It is a way of talking about God's bringing order out of chaos, bringing something out of nothing. I've read this "light of creation" described as flooding of the universe with God's intelligibility, rationality, and order, upon which all else would be built.

Winning at Marriage and Relationships

2006-01-07T11:46:00.000-06:00

The Sermon Background Study for Jan 14 and 15 takes a look at the story of Isaac and Rebekah. The text box also has a few thoughts on Genesis 22 -- the sacrifice of Isaac. Here is an excerpt from the study:

Last fall, I taught a class on Genesis for the first time. I remember being very surprised from time to time as the story unfolded. This story provided one of those occasions. Asking Rebekah’s permission to promise her in marriage? That didn’t exactly fit my stereotype of this ancient patriarchal culture. Meeting, marrying, and loving . . . in that order! Isn’t love just a feeling that hits us out of nowhere? Is it really possible to learn to love someone . . . or to re-learn?

God and Evolution

2006-01-06T15:16:00.000-06:00

I’ve gotten some questions about Genesis and evolution in the last few days. I wrote something on this a few years ago for a book that I've had trouble getting back to. Click here to download a copy of the paper. Here is an excerpt:

“It may seem odd that I appeal first to science as a pointer to the existence of a creator god. Since the birth of the Enlightenment more than 200 years ago, we’ve lived with an increasingly wide ditch between science and religion. Both have been seen as legitimate areas of study but they couldn’t really be put together -- we kept one in the attic, the other in the basement. Science has been seen as the source of all facts about the universe while religion has been left with matters of faith, devoid of any appeal to facts. I cannot count the number of books I’ve read that assert something like this: “The Bible is not a book about history or geography or science, it is a book about matters of faith.”

In retrospect, this separation is somewhat odd, in that the development of modern science depended on the assumption of an orderly and predictable universe. What has changed over the years is the presumed explanation for that order and predictability. Early in the modern/scientific era, it was assumed that God was the designer of this order. However, responding to19th century shifts in philosophical outlook, science began explicitly to remove a creator god from its world-view, substituting notions of impersonal mechanisms giving rise to the order of the universe. Of course, Darwin’s general theory of evolution was the main impetus to this development. With the explanatory vacancy created by the jettisoning of a creator god, Darwinism was shaped so as to provide a new story, a competing story that provided explanations for who we are, where we are, the problem and the solution.”

Genesis 1-11

2006-01-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

“Do you take Genesis literally? Do you think God actually created only 2 people and those two are the ancestors of all humanity?” . . . "On page 14, the author talks about Genesis being a narrative of creation which is prehistory, that “the individuals in these early stories, such as Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Noah, are larger-than life archetypes representing the complex relationship between humankind and God.” Does this mean that they weren’t real people? Should we not take these stories about them as literal, as things that actually happened? If that’s the case, how should the stories about these people be interpreted and understood?" . . . “Genesis 4:17, "Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch..." - Up until this there was only mention of Cain and Abel as sons of Adam and Eve. Who was Cain's wife? Who were her parents?” . . . “In Chapter 4, verse 17, it mentions that Cain knew his wife and she conceived a child. Given that all we know at this point is that Adam and Eve bore Cain and Abel and Cain subsequently killed Abel, where did Cain's wife come from?”

Not surprisingly, I received a lot of very thoughtful questions about various stories in Genesis 1-11. Many of the questions go back to how we understand these opening chapters. Are they a reporting of events that actually occurred in the lives of people who lived in the same way that you and I live? Or, as Agnes Norfleet puts it in the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, are these chapters a prehistory in which “the individuals in these early stories, such as Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Noah, are larger-than life archetypes representing the complex relationship between humankind and
God.” Some Christians go one way on this and some the other way.

Let's make this more concrete. If we had a time machine, could we find Adam and Eve? My wife thinks she could find them. I think not. I agree with Agness Norfleet. My wife does not. But it is important to realize that no matter which direction you go on this, you run into some problems.

For example, let's say you think that the time machine could find Adam and Eve. Questions like these begin to pop up: "How could light be separated from darkness on the first day of creation, if the sun, moon, and stars weren't created until the fourth day?" Or this perennial favorite: "Where did Cain's wife come from?" Christians have proposed answers to these and many other questions that follow from a "literal" (I don't really like that word but I'll use it because everyone does and I think I know what they mean), understanding of Genesis 1-11. I have on my bookshelf The Encyclopedia on Bible Difficulties that aims, in my view unsuccessfully, to resolve all such problems.

Problems like Cain's wife don't really come up if you agree with Ms. Norfleet. But the big problem that comes up is this: when can we rely on the "facts" in the Bible and when can't we? In other words, when is it history and when is it not. Nobody reads the whole Bible literally. No one thinks that Jesus' parables relate actual events. No one thinks Jesus really means he is a vine (John 15). The first is an illustration, the second a metaphor. So how do we go about this work of interpretation?

All the Bible is literature, incredibly diverse literature at that. There is history, poetry, oracles of prophets, gospel proclamations of Jesus, correspondence, apocalyptic writing, and so on. Each has to be met on its own terms. Some of it is history. Some of it is not. It is all theological. When we profess that the Bible is inspired (a subject for another day), we are claiming that these books are the ones God intends us to have. Not that God dictated it, but that he used the authors, editors, copyists, and the rest to give us the writings that we need to learn to know God and to live out our life with God.

I hold that Genesis 1-11 is narrative theology that tells us a great deal about God, his creation, and ourselves but does not report to us about actual people and actual events that I might come across with my time machine. To me, these first eleven chapters simply read very differently from the story of Abraham that picks up in chapter 12. They are a different sort of literature from what follows. When we come to Abraham we find detail about local customs, history, and geography that are absent from Genesis 1-11.

Consider this. What sort of leaves would be on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Did it really rain for 40 days and nights? That seems like a long time, but it would have to rain at the rate of 30 feet per hour to cover Mt. Everest in 40 days and nights. I guess the underground springs could help but, still, is every 40 in the Bible to be taken literally? What about the sons of God, the daughters of men, and the giants in Genesis 6?

To me, such questions get in the way of the theology, what God is seeking to say to us about himself and his creation. My wife and I will someday know who was right about this, but, in truth, I haven't found that it matters all that much. What really matters in these eleven chapters is the theology -- and they are packed with it, at least so far as Christians are concerned.

You'll have to decide for yourself what sense you'll make of these chapters. But I sure can't help anyone with the origins of Cain's wife!

Same God in the Old and New Testaments?

2006-01-04T18:47:00.000-06:00

I have begun to get questions as part of our Thru the Bible reading projects. I’ll post the questions and my answers as I write them. I hope this is helpful. You can use the “comments” function at the bottom of this post to participate in a conversation regarding this question.

Is the God of the Old Testament the same God as in the New Testament? If so, has God always felt the same about Humanity or has he changed His feelings for us? The reason I ask is the God in the Old Testament seems very different from the One in the New Testament. Can this be explained by the way the writer of the scriptures interpreted God's word? In other words, is God the same since He created us or has he evolved as people do?

The answer is yes; the question is understandable. In the 2nd century, a Christian named Marcion read the Old Testament and saw in it a God of wrath and blood. In Marcion's view, the God he saw depicted in the OT bore little resemblance to the Jesus that he found in the New Testament. He came to see them as two different gods and Marcion urged Christians to get rid of the Old Testament entirely.

Wisely, the Christian community rejected Marcion's ideas. The story of Jesus makes no sense without the Hebrew Scriptures (the OT). Jesus is the anointed one, the Messiah, of Israel. He is the fulfillment of Israel's, and hence the world's, hopes. In the book of Acts, nearly all the speeches in the first half of the book are proclamations of Jesus as the fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture and, indeed, the entire story of God's people. Jesus was the one to whom everything was pointing.

But what about the differences in the Testaments? There are several portraits of God in the Bible. God as shepherd, priest, creator, redeemer, and so on. None of these are complete in and of themselves. All are needed to even begin comprehending the fullness of God. Though all these portraits of God can be found in the Old and New Testaments, it is true that the emphases vary as the story progresses.

God's revealing of himself develops as the story of God and his people unfolds. We might call it "developing revelation." It isn't that God changes as we move forward. God has loved all people from the beginning and loves us still. It is we who have changed, though perhaps less so than we sometimes think. Let's make this concrete.

When Lamech is wounded in Genesis 4:23, his vengeance is taken by killing the man! If Cain is to be avenged seven times, then Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven times. If you imagine the world of Conan the Barbarian you won't be far wrong. It is a world of unlimited vengeance. Thus, when God instructs Moses that his people are to limit their vengeance to some sort of equivalence, "an eye for an eye," it is moral progress (Exodus 21:23-25). Later, in Proverbs 20:22, more moral progress is made. We are not to exact vengeance at all. We are to leave vengeance to God. By the time we get to Jesus, vengeance is off the table entirely. Now we are to forgive without limit (Matthew 5:38-48).

I don't know how much progress we've made in actually forgiving, but I do know that we have moved to ever and ever higher standards, with Jesus showing us the way to the highest standard of all.

To summarize, the Bible tells the story of God and his people. God's dealings with us have changed because we have changed. The harshness of an eye for any eye, helps us to see the grace that is unlimited forgiveness. It is not God who changes, it is we who change and our understanding of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, by Anne Rice

2005-12-31T11:18:00.000-06:00

Anne Rice is brave if nothing else. This is the story of Jesus at eight – as told by Jesus! I enjoy Anne Rice’s writing, but I came to the novel pretty skeptical. To my surprise, I very much enjoyed it. She makes no bones about being a devout Christian and lays out her approach to the historical research in an appendix. She found her way to some reliable New Testament scholars, notably N.T. Wright.

She does a good job of giving you a sense of what it was like in Judea and Galilee in Jesus’ day. But the parts I liked best were the interiors – what was going on in Jesus’ mind as a young boy. Ms. Rice is Catholic so she has to account for the Catholic belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity. She also moves a few events and dates around to suit her purposes. But don’t let all that put you off. This novel will certainly give you much to ponder and discuss.

Winning at Life

2005-12-31T11:08:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study begins a six-week series titled, "Winning at Life." We'll be looking at issues of marriage and relationships, work, school, money, and more. This week also begins our 52 week journey Thru the Bible. Each week this year, I'll try to provide context and connections to other portions of Scripture for the passages we're reading.

We desire so much in life. We want to win at life, even as we struggle to learn what winning at life is really all about. But if we accept the biblical claims to be true, if we accept that there is a God who has made us in his image and who is working to restore us and all creation to his vision for us, then all winning has to begin with our creator. This is why Foster et al centered their Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible upon what they call the “with-God life.” This is why Paul, when seeking to explain that we are made right with God by our faith and trust, reaches back to the example of Abraham (Romans 4). It is in our trusting relationship with God that any true winning must begin.

Barbara Walters and Heaven

2005-12-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

I just saw that the Barbara Walters' special on heaven was the top-rated show of the evening. I'm not surprised. Few topics are as important to people as their notions of heaven. I've learned that many of us have a lot of emotional investment in our conceptions of life-after-death. It is based on our love for family and friends who have died. Add to that our questions about getting to heaven and you have a pretty potent combination. I've learned to choose my words carefully when I teach biblical understandings of heaven and the resurrection of the dead.

Certainly, the biggest challenge is coming to grips with the fact that the Bible has little to say about "heaven," if by that we mean what happens to us immediately after our death. There simply isn't much in Scripture to go on when contemplating the our immediate life-after-death. The most important thing to bear in mind is God's goodness and love.

But the Bible has a great deal to say about our "life after life-after-death," a wonderful phrase coined by Bishop N.T. Wright. Following the Jews in this, Christians have proclaimed for 2,000 years that the day will come when all people will be bodily resurrected. Jesus was first, all the rest of us will follow. This resurrection will mark the final consummation of the kingdom of God "on earth as it is in heaven." "Heaven" is not about our escape to a place "up there." Rather, it is about the restoration of God's creation and our forever-life with God and one another on a renewed and very physical earth.

Where does Jesus begin with us? . . . in the darkness

2005-12-17T09:19:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study is based on the prologue to the Gospel of John. I also take a look at the biblical understandings of light and darkness. There is also a brief look at the meanings of "incarnation" and "glory."

Like some people, I was afraid of the dark when I was a child. I can remember insisting upon some sort of night light in my bedroom. I knew that only bad things could happen in the dark. Given the biblical perspective on the darkness (see the text box), perhaps I was right. The Bible has nothing good to say about the darkness and neither did I.

As I grew older, I outgrew my fear of the dark. To my astonishment, I came to enjoy a darkened house. It is quiet and peaceful. No demands are made of me. At times, I guess I prefer the darkness to the light.

Our world is like that. The world prefers the darkness, or at least pretends to. In the beginning to his Gospel, John lays out an immense theology of light, the “true light, which enlightens everyone.” We might prefer the darkness, but Jesus has turned on the lights that can never be turned off.

Where does Jesus begin with us? . . . in the office!

2005-12-10T11:28:00.000-06:00

This week's Sermon Background Study takes a look at the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth from Luke's Gospel. This is the third week in the series, Where Does Jesus Begin With You?

You may not think of the temple in Jerusalem as “the office,” but it was certainly the workplace of the priests of Israel. The priestly system was built around animal sacrifice and in the busy festivals of the Jewish year, the Jerusalem priests had their hands full, literally, keeping up with the demands of the populace. In about 6BC, one of the priests was a very old man named Zechariah who was married to an equally old woman named Elizabeth. Much to their disappointment, the old couple was childless.

December Book Recommendation

2005-12-08T13:18:00.000-06:00

My December recommendation is the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible (NRSV). It is the Bible I'll be using to read through the Bible in 2006. Its editors and many of its writers are Christians whom I and others at St. Andrew read regularly. They include Richard Foster, Tom Oden, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggemann, William Willimon, Ellen Charry, Marva Dawn, and Ben Witherington. Many of these names may not mean much to you, but they are among the most highly respected disciples and scholars in the Christian community. I’m excited about being in conversation with them as I read through the Bible. The Renovaré team has tried to combine the best of a study Bible and a devotional Bible in a single volume. The introductory materials and the book introductions are particularly helpful.

Should I use a study Bible?

2005-12-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

Yes. You will get much more out of your Bible reading if you have some help. The truth is that it can be pretty hard to make sense of some parts of the Bible. It can also be difficult to see the larger picture. Maps and timelines are also very helpful. A good study Bible will help with all this. A word of caution though — remember that the study notes and the book introductions are not part of Scripture. They are not “God-breathed,” as Paul put it (2 Timothy 3:16).

The NRSV and other translations are used in many excellent study and devotional Bibles. I will be using the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible (NRSV) this year, as its editors and many of its writers are Christians whom I and others at St. Andrew read regularly. They include Richard Foster, Tom Oden, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggemann, William Willimon, Ellen Charry, Marva Dawn, and Ben Witherington. Many of these names may not mean much to you, but they are among the most highly respected disciples and scholars in the Christian community. I’m excited about being in conversation with them as I read through the Bible. The Renovaré team has tried to combine the best of a study Bible and a devotional Bible in a single volume. The introductory materials and the book introductions are particularly helpful.

There are many excellent study and devotional Bibles that would help you get more out of your reading. If you have questions, please e-mail me -- "sengle" at "standrewccl.org" -- or go to www.standrewccl.org for more information on this project and our other activities. I’ve written a brief guide to some of the leading NRSV study Bibles and other study aids. It is posted on the website as well.

Why read Thru the Bible?

2005-12-01T14:42:00.000-06:00

The Bible is the story of our life with God. It is God’s Word for his people and it is our own spiritual journal. We come to the Bible seeking knowledge, understanding, and transformation. Though these sixty-six diverse books reveal a great deal about God, about our world, and about ourselves, this is not the only reason to read the Bible. God’s Spirit uses our reading of Scripture to reshape our hearts and minds so that we become evermore Christlike. It is this reshaping, this renewing of ourselves, that has brought many of us to this one-year Bible reading journey.

We will learn more about God on this journey, but even more, we will come to know God better. People often ask me how they can grow closer to God and become more mature Christians. The practice of regular Bible reading is one of the most important ways. Not surprisingly, being a disciple entails living a more disciplined life and one of the Christian disciplines is regular Bible reading and study.

The blog is back!

2005-12-01T14:14:00.000-06:00

It’s back!! After letting this blog drift into disuse, I’m dusting it off for our church-wide Thru the Bible in a Year project. On January 1, we’ll begin reading through the entire Bible.

Each week, the sermons will be drawn from the readings from the week before. Rather than reading from Genesis straight through to Revelation, which doesn’t work for many people, we will be using the Discipleship Journal “Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan.” This will enable us to read a book, such as Romans, in its entirety, and still move back and forth from the Old and New Testaments during the year. The Discipleship Journal plan should also help you to grasp the Bible’s over-arching story. Copies of the reading plan are available at St. Andrew and online.

We’ve set up a webpage for this project and will be putting up helpful resources and links.

I’ll be posting thoughts and reflections on the Bible and on the passages we’ll be reading together. You can join in the conversation on this blog by using the “comments” link below each post.

We hope that you'll join us on this journey through the Bible!

"Bringing Our Sins to the Stable" -- Matthew 3:12

2004-11-29T08:23:00.000-06:00

This is the Sermon Background Study for December 5, the 2nd Sunday of Advent. This is the second in the series, "What Will You Bring to the Stable?" In this series, we are using Dickens' A Christmas Carol as a way to see Advent with fresh eyes.

Our idea of sin is often too small. We tend to see sin only as various transgressions which displease God. But so long as we restrict ourselves to lists of what is naughty and nice, we fail to see the true nature of sin. Simply put, sin is what separates us from God. Sin is the gulf that sits between the relationship we have with God and the relationship God desires for us. Acts of sin are all those words, actions, thoughts, and feelings that do not stem from love of God and neighbor. Ebenezer Scrooge lived a life cut off from God and others. He wasn’t a thief, nor an adulterer, nor even a gossip. Yet, his utter abandonment of all relationships had rendered him a monster in whom the image of God barely flickered. Of course, Scrooge didn’t realize this. He could see the chains hanging on Marley’s ghost, but he could not see his own bondage. And it is impossible to break the bonds of sin if we don’t even know they exist. But Scrooge will be blessed by visits from the Ghosts of Christmas who will show him, with devastating power and effect, the chains that bind.

"Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing" -- Isaiah 2:2-5

2004-11-19T10:23:00.000-06:00

This is the Sermon Background Study for Nov 28, the 1st Sunday in Advent. The Advent sermon series is titled, "What Will You Bring to the Stable?" We'll be using Dickens' A Christmas Carol to help us take a fresh look at Advent.

Each year it seems that the “commercialized Christmas season” begins earlier and earlier. I was surfing across the radio dial a few weeks ago and discovered that a local station had already moved to an all-Christmas-all-the-time playlist. By October, stores were decorating for the holidays. Little wonder we have trouble keeping the main thing the main thing – the main thing being Jesus Christ and the world-shattering proclamation that the infant Jesus, God incarnate, is Lord of creation and Messiah. Clichés are clichés for a reason, they often convey a lot of truth. As is true every year, many of us will find it mighty hard to keep Christ in Christmas. . . . But not the Cratchit family.

Was Jesus Married?

2004-11-14T15:26:00.000-06:00

We got into this for awhile in my DaVinci Code classes. Mark Roberts has written a series of essays on this topic. From his conclusions:

Someone who has read The Da Vinci Code and been persuaded to accept its fictional history as fact will no doubt object at this point: "But you don't understand. Jesus' marriage to Mary was a secret. These texts only give tiny clues. The real truth of Jesus' marriage was hidden, and that's why the non-canonical gospels say so little about it." Of course this could be true, theoretically speaking. But I'd argue that we have much more evidence for Jesus having been an alien from outer space than the husband of Mary Magdalene. After all, he is transfigured on a mountain with glowing beings (Mark 9:2-8) and he ascends to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9). One can make up all sorts of theories about Jesus, but the only way to evaluate these theories is with the facts of the ancient texts we have. And these texts simply do not support the theory of Jesus' marriage.

The Powerpoint slides for my "Dismantling the DaVinci Code" classes

2004-11-14T15:20:00.000-06:00

Today, we wrapped up the two-part series on The DaVinci Code. Interest was huge, as we had nearly three hundred in attendance both Sundays. I was asked to post copies of the Powerpoint slides -- here goes. Also, the CD recordings of the sessions should be available in the bookstore after Thanksgiving.

"Christ the King" -- Jeremiah 23:5-6;Colossians 1:11-20

2004-11-14T15:15:00.000-06:00

Here is the Sermon Background Study for November 21, "Christ the King" Sunday. This study uses the Lectionary Scriptures. All the studies are archived here.
Christianity is about Jesus Christ – pure and simple; there can be no
more and we should certainly never settle for less. We are disciples,
apprentices, of Jesus. How do we seek to live? In the imitation of Jesus. In
whom do we place our unrestrained trust? In Jesus. Who teaches us about love,
power, possessions, and commitment? Jesus. Who has reconciled us with God?
Jesus.

Why the "Lost Gospels" Lost Out

2004-11-11T09:25:00.000-06:00

It surprises many Christians to learn that there were many early Christian writings that referred to themselves as "gospels.'" We know of more than thirty and have portions of about eighteen. With the exception of the four gospels in the New Testament, all these so-called "lost gospels" were written in the 2nd and 3rd-centuries AD. In this article, Ben Witherington argues that it is historically inaccurate to view these "lost gospels" as alternative (and more authentic) expressions of early Christianity that lost out in later power struggles, a la The DaVinci Code.

Recent gadfly theories about church council conspiracies that manipulated the New Testament into existence are bad—really bad–history.

Dismantling The DaVinci Code

2004-11-07T18:11:00.000-06:00

Interest in Dan Brown's book has been astounding. Today, we had nearly 300 people in Wesley Hall for my Part 1 (of 2) lecture on Brown's book. This article in Christianity Today gives an overview of some of the theological and historical mistakes made by Brown. There are also links to related sites at the bottom of the page. The DaVinci Code is a fun read, so long as you bear in mind that it is fun baloney. Brown relies on a few fringe-element scholars in preparing his case and makes numerous inexplicable errors. The Last Supper is NOT a fresco and the Dead Dea Scrolls are NOT Christian documents . . . but don't get me started! I'll post links to some other resources in the coming days.

"Creation and New Creation," Genesis 1:1-5; Isaiah 65:17-19, 23-25b

2004-11-07T17:15:00.000-06:00

This is the Sermon Background Study for November 14. The Scripture passages are taken from the Lectionary.

What is our ultimate destination? We often talk about “getting to heaven” or “being in paradise.” But this answer sells us short. Heaven, at least so far as most of us think about it, is a waiting room, a temporary resting place. The end of the story does not lie in our floating around some distant clouds as disembodied spirits, but, rather, it lies in the promise of a “new heavens and a new earth” spoken of in the scroll of Isaiah centuries before Jesus.

"Take Courage, Work, and Stand Firm" Haggai 2:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2,13-17

2004-11-07T17:09:00.000-06:00

This is the Sermon Background for today, November 7. The Scripture passages are from the Lectionary. All the Background Studies are archived here.

We live in anxious times. So-called “soccer moms” have been replaced by “security moms.” Grandmothers are double-scanned and searched before boarding airplanes. Who among us does not awaken half-wondering if today might be the day? This is not the first period of high-anxiety in my lifetime. I remember scurrying under my desk a couple of times a month for nuclear fall-out drills in junior high school. We read instructions on how to build an impromptu fall-out shelter with a door and some dirt. The notion of such a shelter was silly, but the fear was not. It is tempting to give into fear and discouragement, longing for the good ole’ days when things were better, even though they probably weren’t. It is to such fear and discouragement that both Haggai and Paul speak in today’s Scripture passages.

Back Blogging!

2004-11-04T18:04:00.000-06:00

With my son's wedding last weekend and the ensuing recovery period, I've been very remiss about posting to this blog. But I'm back! Now on to info: I'm often (ok, once in awhile) asked where to find copies of early Christian, pseudo-Christian, and Gnostic writings such as the Gospel of Thomas. This site has links to many translations of these works. One note: be cautious of the dates that are listed for some of these writings; some are very questionable. Only a small minority of NT scholars would date the Gospel of Thomas to the first century.

Philip Yancey on overcoming a violent world

2004-10-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

Philip Yancey is one of my favorite Christian authors. His books, such as The Jesus I Never Knew and Rumors of Another World, are always worth reading. He is a skilled writer and a thoughful Christian. He is also an occasional contributor to Christianity Today. You'll find here his most recent posting. If you look to the left on that web-page, you'll see a "Philip Yancey" link to his archived material. I've yet to come across a book he has written that I would not recommend to anyone.

Praying without ceasing

2004-10-25T15:56:00.000-05:00

Prayer has never come very easily for me. I got a little comfort about this recently when I read an article that talked about prayer and personality types. (I'd post it if I could remember where I read it -- such is the life of a 50+ blogger!). This article by Jan Johnsonn, "Turning Your Thoughts into Prayers," speaks to what are sometimes called "breath prayers" -- simple prayers that accompany our joys and concerns. I'm going to give it a try.

"Growing for the Joy of Fellowship" -- Acts 2:42-47; 1 John 1:1-4

2004-10-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

This is the Sermon Background Study for October 31. It is the final in the four-part series, "Growing for Christ." All past studies are archived here.

Teaching, fellowship, sharing our resources, breaking bread, praising God, praying – these are all marks of a genuinely Christian community. Our own vision statement expresses the same concrete understanding of what it means to proclaim Jesus as Lord. It is more than a belief, a baptism, a membership, even a tithe. Proclaiming and embracing Jesus as Messiah and Lord is a commitment encompassing all we are, do, and have. Through the grace of God and our own commitment, we share in one another and in Christ.

"Growing for Christ" -- Ephesians 4:1-6, 11-16

2004-10-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I never linked to the Sermon Background Study for October 24. This is the third in the series, "Growing for Christ." This one will introduce you to a new word -- zygology!

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind -- Today

2004-10-22T15:44:00.000-05:00

One of the most influential books among evangelical (more conservative/orthodox/traditional) Christian institutions has been Mark Noll's The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, which was published about ten years ago. The book is an indictment of the anti-intellectualism common in so much of "conservative" Christianity. At the time, Noll wrote, "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." I can still highly recommend the book. Recently, Noll published a look back at his book in First Things, writing:

Ten years after the publication of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, I remain largely unrepentant about the book’s historical arguments, its assessment of evangelical strengths and weaknesses, and its indictment of evangelical intellectual efforts, though I have changed my mind on a few matters. Some readers have rightly pointed out that what I described as a singularly evangelical problem is certainly related to the general intellectual difficulties of an advertisement-driven, image-preoccupied, television-saturated, frenetically hustling consumer society, and that the reason evangelicals suffer from intellectual weakness is that American culture as a whole suffers from intellectual weakness. Another helpful criticism is that the book lumps together fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and holiness advocates as culprits in the stagnation of evangelical thinking and that it ignores certain mitigating circumstances and worthy exceptions that one could cite from each of these sub-traditions.

The Upper Room Ministries website

2004-10-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

Spend much time around United Methodist churches and you'll see lots of small daily devotional booklets called The Upper Room. Upper Room Ministries also has an extensive website that you might want to bookmark and visit once in awhile.

A Prominent Christian Blogger -- Mark D. Roberts

2004-10-14T14:42:00.000-05:00

As I learned about this blogging phenomenon, I found Mark Roberts' blog. He is Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California. Roberts is a very prolific writer and I suspect that you'll find many things here that interest you. Based on what I've read, Roberts is an orthodox Christian, who writes from the mainstream of the Christian faith. I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on what you find here.

Also, I won't be able to post anything new until Monday!

Film Review -- "The Gospel of John"

2004-10-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

With all the furor over Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, many Christians overlooked The Gospel of John. This movie follows the Good News translation word-for-word! It is a well-made, touching, and powerful portrait of Jesus, the Son of God. In this review of the movie, William Willimon (a newly-elected bishop in the UMC) writes:

In other words, the movie is disarmingly faithful to the Gospel of John. I have enjoyed watching these apparently scripturally uninformed movie critics react to the movie. None of these reviewers considers that there may be artistic intent at work in John’s Gospel—a peculiar artistic intent by their standards, but artistic intent nevertheless. For instance, the resurrection scene in the garden where Mary Magdalene meets Jesus seems almost comically anticlimactic—which of course, in John’s theology, it was. Jesus is the majestic Christ from verse one. By the time we get to the garden, we have seen Jesus raising the dead so often that his own resurrection seems just another day’s work.

Dismantling The DaVinci Code

2004-10-12T09:26:00.000-05:00

I'll be doing a two-part class on The DaVinci Code on Nov 7 & 14 at 9:30 in Wesley Hall at St. Andrew UMC in Plano, TX. Though I think most readers understand that the book is fiction, Dan Brown has presented it as fiction based upon impeccable research. It is not. When it comes to questions about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the New Testatment, and early Christianity, Brown relies upon the fringe element in biblical scholarship. In this class, we'll sort through some of the misconceptions and misinformation that underlie Brown's book.

Who Speaks for the UMC?

2004-10-11T15:01:00.000-05:00

Several people pointed me to a couple of opinion pieces in Saturday's Dallas Morning News [you'll have to register, for free, to reach this article]. In Dreher's column, he mentions a study commissioned by four churches, including the UMC, and you might think that this group speaks for the United Methodist Church. It does not. The ONLY official voice of the UMC is our General Conference, which meets every four years. No Bishop, no board, no agency . . . none of them can speak for the UMC as a church. Here is a quote from the General Conference website: "Church law states that no person or organization except the General Conference has authority to speak officially for the denomination."

"Growing for Others" -- Luke 20:45 - 21:4

2004-10-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

The October 17 Sermon Background Study, "Growing for Others," is available. In this series, we are looking at the opportunities and challenges that God has put before us as we consider our stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us. God entrusted much to the scribes of Jesus’ day and practically nothing to the widows. What does Jesus have to do say about the stewardship of both?

Mormonism

2004-10-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

One of my fall classes at St. Andrew is titled, "From Buddhism to Mormonism: What Christianity is not!" We are taking a respectful look at other religions and worldviews so that we might understand better our own. Recently, because of issues confronted principally in the Western Jurisdiction, the UMC had to consider the relationship of the UMC to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon). Here is a link to the UMC's final paper on this -- "Sacramental Faithfulness". The opening paragraph of the conclusion section states:

There is great need for serious theological discernment regarding the relationship of The United Methodist Church to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This process requires understanding of the classical Christian and Wesleyan heritage, especially as related to the theology and practice of baptism. The adoption of By Water and the Spirit as an official interpretive resource on baptism provides the denomination with guidance in this area. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by self-definition, does not fit within the bounds of the historic, apostolic tradition of Christian faith. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the LDS church itself, while calling itself Christian, explicitly professes a distinction and separateness from the ecumenical community and is intentional about clarifying significant differences in doctrine. As United Methodists we agree with their assessment that the LDS church is not a part of the historic, apostolic tradition of the Christian faith.