The Motive Of A Question.

Recently, my wife and I began a study in the book of Luke. Having grown up in the church and read the Bible a few times over, I wanted to try reading this gospel as if I hadn't read it. You might know what I mean if you've grown used to God.

I find whenever I read a book, any book, expecting to learn something, I learn quite a lot. I notice more when I read with a goal than when I casually read a story for fun. Midway through the first chapter, I saw something I had never seen before.

Luke opens his account of Jesus with great detail. Much of it deals with Mary and her family leading up to the birth of Jesus. In 1:5-25, Luke introduces Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary's cousin and her husband. As a priest, Zechariah is chosen one day to enter into the most holy place of the temple and burn incense. While in there, the angel Gabriel appears and tells Zechariah he and Elizabeth will have a son.

Zechariah replies, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." The angel tells him of his coming son then says, "You will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

A few verses later, Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will give birth to Jesus. Mary also asks a question. "Mary said to the angel, 'How will this be, since I am a virgin?'" The angel explains how the Holy Spirit and the power of God will come upon her so she could give birth to the Son of God. Mary then tells the angel, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

I never thought to ask this before, but why did Zechariah get gagged when both he and Mary questioned the angel? Looking again, I saw they asked different questions. Zechariah wanted a sign because he doubted. Mary wanted to know more about a promise she already trusted.

If God were to give you a promise, something that seemed totally impossible, how would you respond? After reading Luke 1, I think it might be a good question to ask yourself.

Sparrows and Lillies, Insurance and Silverchair - A question on living out our trust in God.

The 90's had better radio rock than any other decade in America. I'll suffer no discussion on this. It's just the plain truth. I love 90's radio rock so much that I've told my wife I'd like to name a daughter Seattle.

But who would have known, who could have known, one of the best 90's radio rock albums would come from a trio of 15-year-old kids in the middle-of-no-place Australia? That's right. I'm talking about Silverchair and their hurricane debut album Frogstomp. Even if the rest of the album sounded like a dry fart, you have to love the song Tomorrow.

Now, I bring this up for one tiny, seemingly unconnected reason. The opening line in the second verse says, "You say money isn't everything. Well I'd like to see you live without it." And there I see a point of tension with a lot of people in the church.

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells people not to worry about stuff like food and clothing. Several people walk away from Him disheartened by the cost of following Him (as in Mark 10:17-22 and Luke 9:22-24). But does that mean we really give away everything? Give up the security of money, family, and career? Consider the possibility of homelessness, persecution, and death?

If not, why not? Where does Jesus tell us to hedge our bets?

Yes, Proverbs does tell people to make plans, and Paul does tell Timothy how men should work to provide for their families. My problem comes from the attitude culture fosters in us. "God provides, but just in case, there's UnitedHealth."

While writing this, a guy at my wife's coffee shop asked me to talk with him about God. Within two minutes he tells me how he needs to pay his landlord a certain amount of money by 9:00pm or else she would throw him out. As I'm talking with this guy, I tell him what I can do for him. Then I say, "But I really think we should pray. I've seen God answer prayer over and over again when it comes to this sort of thing." And then the guy got mad. He says, "I don't need prayer, I need to pay my rent!"

Before you or I go tsk-tsking this guy, let's be honest. We've all felt that way in very desperate moments. Haven't we all at one point reacted just like him? We know we need God, but in the middle of a crisis we want the material means to alleviate the situation first.

Just so you know, the man did let me pray for him. Within twenty minutes, I worked out a solution with his landlord and the guy got two phone calls for odd jobs. Without looking me in the eye, the guy mumbled, "Maybe that prayer did work." Ha.

Maybe you don't think you would react like that guy. If so, let me ask you this: What if you somehow lost your health insurance? What if you had an emergency that your insurance wouldn't cover? What if it affected your wife or kids? Would you pray, trusting God to take care of you? Or would you honestly wonder if a good God could allow such a thing to happen to you and your loved ones? How would you feel if someone said, "Let me pray for you" when you had 24 hours before the end of your known universe? Is it wrong to say we worship what or who we trust most?

I'm not saying insurance itself is evil (although I can't give the same confidence to insurance companies), but I do think we should consider our heart in light of what we find in the Bible.

What kind of attitude do you think Christians should have?

On the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Remember a few months ago when I lamented the end of my Systematic Theology group? Well it's back. Whereas most of these studies would start with things like scriptural authority or the character of God, we decided to start with the Holy Spirit. We have our reasons.

Since summer began, my church has seen the Holy Spirit move in greater power through miracles and spiritual gifts. People have learned how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and respond in obedience. Others have been healed of long-term, debilitating pains. Two people had their legs instantaneously grow during prayer, eliminating their back pain. At one Thursday night meeting downtown, the Holy Spirit showed up and kept us in worship and prayer the whole evening.

Naturally, some people have had questions. A woman at work asked me about my church and the Systematic Theology group. I told her that our theology is reformed, but we have charismatic expressions during worship. When she asked me to explain what I meant by "charismatic expression", I talked about the Holy Spirit working through people, speaking to us, healing people, and so on. She asked me if we believed in the Bible. I assured her we do. As I walked away, she spoke to the woman next to her, "I don't know about that sort of thing. I think it's dangerous."

I'd like to take this moment to assure you, the Holy Spirit is not "safe" in the way some Bible teachers might portray Him. He operates outside of our control and it scares many to see Him move beyond comfortable perimeters. Consider this story in Numbers 11:24-29.

"So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.

"But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, 'Moses, my lord, restrain them.' But Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!'"

The Spirit of God supposedly only resided in the Tent of Meeting, where Moses and the priests went into His presence. So when the Spirit came upon two people in the camp outside of the church, away from the pastors' conference, it caused a stir. Moses, in humility, recognized that God wanted to put His Spirit on more than the accepted leadership. He wants to move in His people, the church.

Joel prophesied of a time when the Spirit would move as Moses wished. Joel 2:28-29 reads, "It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."

Peter referred to this prophecy saying that God had begun its fulfillment in Acts 2:16-21. But this promise was not for a chosen few. Rather, for all mankind. This goes beyond God only using the Apostles, or the seventy who followed Jesus, or any other kind of restrictive explanation given by spooked theologians. Even as Paul taught the Corinthian church on how to use and recognize spiritual gifts (including the gift of miracles), he said in 1 Corinthians 14 to "desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." This echoes Moses's hope that all God's people would have His Spirit upon them.

There are many passages where Paul teaches on spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4:11-12) and acknowledges Holy Spirit activity in other churches (Galatians 3:5). A good portion of the book of Acts details how the church interacted with the Holy Spirit and the miraculous. I think it's important to remember that God inspired the authors to write these things in the Bible. Why would He do this? To convince those already saved in the church or to teach us how to use the gifts to glorify Him?

When the Holy Spirit moves in the church, it won't be for the glory of a man, a particular church, or even an experience. Jesus is alive and at work in the church. The miraculous testifies to those outside of the church and draws them closer to saving faith, so they glorify God. The miraculous also testifies to the church and continues to build our faith, so we also glorify God. And that's the point. We must glorify God in everything.

Miracles - Some questions on differing opinions.

Before I begin, I want to let you know that I’ll do my best to lighten up. The past several posts have dealt with issues that really messed with my faith. After a couple of months wrestling with scripture in prayer and discussion, I realize that I might have laid it on pretty thick. Ever tried to chew a peanut butter sandwich with a solid inch of Jiffy?

So I thought to myself, “I want to write about something fun, light. Enough with this heavy stuff for once.” For some reason, I figured miracles might make for an easier post. A breather. Everyone likes to hear about miracles, right? And as stories, they’re a snap to write. “Someone had cancer, people prayed, God healed the person.” Everyone applaud! “A single mom doesn’t have money to feed her kids and prays for provision, then money or an opportunity seemingly materializes out of thin air.” God be praised!

I’ve personally witnessed dozens of testimonies like the ones above. When someone gives a testimony of God’s power moving, God receives the glory. That’s how it’s supposed to work. But I’m going to tell you about a few instances where testimonies of miracles had a different effect.

Since reading 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, I’ve tried to change how I communicate Jesus with others, “my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” Instead of merely rattling off The Romans Road (which I agree is effective in certain situations), I’ve begun to share my testimony of God’s miracles and then offer to pray for people. If God moves (and He often does), then the person would see the power of Jesus for himself. They would have a harder time claiming that I cast a spell over them with “persuasive words of wisdom”. God be praised.

God healed my back of severe scoliosis after a church service in 1997. I mean, it was severe, folks. It’s a miracle I don’t have rods in my back. God has miraculously provided for my needs ever since I moved to Nashville. When people ask about my story, I automatically this stuff. Graham Cooke explained, “Your testimony is not what God once did in your life years ago. Your testimony is who God is in your life all the time.”

One night after an IKAIK concert, these girls invited me to hang out with them at another bar. They probably didn’t expect me to talk about God as much as I did, but that’s what happens when you ask about my life. I tell you about my relationship with Him. After about half an hour, a guy came over to our table and asked, “What are you guys talking about?”
The girl who invited me replied, “He’s talking about how lucky he is.”
“Luck,” I laughed. “I wouldn’t call it that.”
She said, “What would you call it?”
“God’s blessing,” I said.
She immediately responded, “Well I wouldn’t call it that.”

As I wrote out the notes for this post, a guy at work asked what I was writing. When I told him I intended to write about miracles, he asked, “which do you think it is, miracles or chance?”
“I think miracles are a part of God’s rational order,” I said.
“It’s all random chance,” he said.
I started laughing. He asked, “How can you believe in an ordered and reasonable God?”
“For one, I’ve seen Him miraculously answer my prayers.” I told him about how God healed my back. He then, whether on purpose or not, shifted the focus of the discussion. To me, the story of my healing is God’s power displayed. My co-worker’s only argument against it was to claim randomness, which no person in their heart can truly have faith to live by. A cook’s job requires a high degree of precision. If he were to apply his belief in Random Chance on cooking, chaos would burn his buns.

These stories might not surprise you. To be honest, they don’t surprise me, either. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Cornelius Van Til wrote extensively on the problems of explaining the Christian faith to those who don’t know Jesus because they have no context with which to give meaning to facts. I understand that without the Holy Spirit’s revelation, people cannot know God. Even so, I’ll continue to share my testimony, pray for people, and yeah, even reason with them.

My main concern here isn’t for people who don’t claim to know Jesus. I want to know how people in the church can claim to know Jesus but deny the miraculous today. In a piece written by First Fruits of Zion called “The Fingerprints of God”, the author writes, “As believers in a Divine Creator, we must learn to sharpen our sense of wonder to detect the inherent godliness that is infused into every particle of creation.” In one sense, a person can look at the world around them, recognize God’s order in creation, and praise Him for that miracle. Beyond that, though, I believe that God has control over every particle of creation. It’s not that miracles work outside the laws of reality, but rather God in His perfect knowledge of creation can work in ways we are sometimes unable to comprehend.

Did God ever give up this control? If God only does things that will bring glory to Himself, would cessation fit in with His plan? In this life we will experience hardships, pain, and suffering. We will pray to God and we won’t always see the result we expected. Does that mean God has somehow given up His sovereign control over creation? Does it mean that He decided to make the universe a dice game after the Apostles died? Replacing the miraculous with coincidence at any level, I think, would call God’s majesty into question. It allows for something to exist outside of His control.

Now, for the Christian, if you accept that miracles do happen today, what’s stopping you from asking for them? If you’re worried about pulling a Simon from Acts 8, then you’ve already got a good start. Your motives should be to glorify God and advance His kingdom. Are you worried that you might have to defend God if He doesn’t move the way you asked Him to? Well, He’s the one in charge. You don’t own the result of your prayers.

Think about this. Before Jesus sent out His followers in Matthew 10, He said, “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” Hebrews 2:3-4 reiterates Jesus’s pattern with preaching and miracles. The verse I quoted from 1 Corinthians 2 shows Paul and his companions demonstrating God’s miraculous power. In chapter 12, he even promises the gift of performing miracles to those in the Corinthian church.

I know I wanted to keep this light, but the seriousness of Matthew 11:20-22 kept nagging me. “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.’” Why was Jesus so hard on His own people? Because they knew God and should have recognized the power of His Spirit when it manifested in miracles. But they denied it, called Jesus the carpenter’s son, and shrugged off the message of salvation He intended to send with His miracles.

This post doesn’t really have a final point. I never intended to write on why I believe in the existence of miracles. Like I said earlier, they happen around me all the time, so I know they exist. But the reactions I get from both cessationists and unbelievers seemed too similar to ignore. What do you all think about this? Do you have any stories that can only be explained as miraculous? Do you think God lost interest in surprising people? Let me know.

These Signs Will Follow...

A few years ago, some people made a documentary about these churches where the congregants toss, like, rattlesnakes at each other. If you’re one of the uninitiated, you have to scratch your head and ask, “Why would anybody do such a thing?”
“Well,” the snake handler might say, “It’s biblical.”
And you might reply, “Prove it, buddy.”
With much confidence, the snake handler would turn to a very uncomfortable passage in the book of Mark. After hitching up his trousers, he reads out of the trusty and musty King James Bible, “Mark 16:17 and 18. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Then he says, “Now those are the words of Jesus. You gonna argue with Jesus?”
And the truth is, you can’t. I mean, not really. Pretty much every translation of the Bible concurs. At the same time, why would God tell people to pass around venomous snakes?

It’s okay to admit that we don’t understand everything we read in the Bible our first time through. Or the second time through, even. It’s a highly textured book. There are threads and references and analogies and all sorts of things that keep it interesting. But it also means we can miss important factors in a casual read. Whenever I hear people quote Mark 16:17-18, they focus on the signs: cast out demons, speak in new tongues (or languages, depending on the translation you read), pick up snakes, drink poison and not die, lay hands on people and heal them. One day, I realized the part of the verse that really, really matters. “These signs will follow those who believe.” Believe what? Jesus said these words after his resurrection, just before his ascension into heaven.

In Matthew 12:38-39, “some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.’” The sign of Jonah refers to that awesome Sunday School story where a man is thrown off a boat and gobbled up by a whale. After three days, God has the whale spit Jonah onto a beach. When Jesus referred to the sign of Jonah, he was talking about his coming death and resurrection.

The whole of Christianity rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Let me see if I can sum it up quickly. God gave man free will. In free will, man chose autonomy. That is, he believed that he knew a better way to live than what God had instructed. Sin is man’s actions outside of God’s will. Man’s choice for autonomy separated him from God. Since God is the source of life, this separation introduced death into the world. Now, the Jewish people believe that a person’s life is in his blood, so a blood sacrifice was necessary to cleanse them of sin and death. They would sacrifice an animal as a symbol of that cleansing. But after the animal sacrifice, people would again sin, which would later require more sacrifice. Now, Jesus comes on the scene and gives himself as a sacrifice for sin. Here’s the kicker, though: Jesus got up. So the sacrifice still lives. This is why our sins are eternally covered. If we say, “Hey God, you were right. I really screwed up. So I want you to cleanse my sins with the blood of Jesus.” Now, as we try to live according to God’s direction, we’re going to screw up again. Every now and again, we’re going to do what we want even when we know it’s wrong. Thanks to the resurrected Jesus, our sins are always covered. I mean, the power of sin and death has been broken. And since sin is what separates us from God, that rift has closed. The apostle Paul made an important point of this new life in Romans 8:1. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

This is the power of “The sign of Jonah”. Let’s go back to Mark 16. The signs would follow those who believe, what? What had just happened, Christ’s resurrection. By placing our trust in the resurrection, we now live in the law of Life and not the law of Death. The signs Jesus mentioned aren’t these neat tricks to prove God’s existence, or anything. Jesus was saying that the law of Life has changed things for those who believe. Look at each one of the Mark 16 signs.

Casting out demons: Man is separated from God under the law of sin and death. I don’t claim to fully understand this, but in the separation, sometimes men are oppressed or possessed by demons. Jesus gave his disciples authority over “unclean spirits” in Matthew 10:1. When a person accepts Jesus as their savior, they are also disciples of Jesus, and so they have authority. The point of casting out demonic spirits is to present the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Where sin and death once ruled, now life reigns. Freedom is a powerful sign. The Bible says in Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Even though Paul was talking to the Galatians about freedom from extraneous rules and regulations, the point remains “It was for freedom that Christ set us free.”

Speaking in new languages: People sometimes get offended when I tell them that the language barrier came as a result of sin. I’m not trying to offend anyone, though, and I love the beauty in other languages. But seriously, I’m not wrong. Genesis 11:1-9 tells the story of a time when everyone spoke the same language. Then, the people decided to build a monument to their autonomy. God had told them to increase and move about, but they remained in one location and wanted to build a tower “into heaven” (by which they could close the rift between God and man on their terms), to make a name for themselves. Verses six and seven say, “The LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech.’” Viola. Language barrier.

After Jesus died and came back to life, God’s spirit came to earth (John 16:5-15). The most popular example of this within churches is Pentecost, written of in the second chapter of Acts. When the Holy Spirit came to the disciples, they began to speak in other languages. Jerusalem held an enormous festival at the time, and people from all over the world heard these disciples speaking in their languages. A crowd of those attending the festival approached the disciples and asked if they were drunk. Then the Apostle Peter had an opportunity to explain the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Where God had set up the language barrier to keep people from sinning, now He allowed a way for people to communicate the truth. Remember what God said in Genesis 11. If the people speak with one language and have one purpose, nothing they propose to do will fail. Paul, writing to the church in Philippi, says, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” When people live under the law of life, with the purpose of speaking the truth of the resurrection, it would make sense that the language barrier would begin to fade.

Lay hands on the sick and they will recover: Sickness is a product of death in the world, of nature in frustration. It is a product of sin. Like casting out demons, Jesus gave his disciples authority to heal the sick. This, again, proclaims the law of life over the law of death.

Pick up snakes, drink poison and not die: I’m lumping these two together because they’re the signs that typically freak people out the most. But think about them in terms of the law of life vs. the law of death. When we live under the law of life, we have given up autonomy and given God control of our lives. So if we were to accidentally drink something poisonous, or if someone tried to harm us, God decides what happens. We don’t live under the same rules given by the law of death. It gives opportunity for the miraculous to occur. Now, I don’t want anyone to pick up a bottle of lye and give it a go. That would be both stupid and unbiblical. You aren’t supposed to dare God like that. Besides, it wouldn’t glorify Him, which is the point of a sign.

And with snakes, well, there’s a pretty cool story in Acts 28:3-5. “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, ‘Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.” This was a sign to the natives of Malta. And in Isaiah 11, the prophet tells of a coming kingdom where nature is no longer in frustration. Verse eight says, “The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.” This will come as a result of the law of life.

But does that mean we should chuck mambas at each other? Did God automatically make us impervious to all harm just so our “super-humanity” would impress people into believing? That’s pretty ridiculous, and I don’t mind ridiculing it. At the same time, I do believe in praying for healing and casting out spirits. So what makes me so different from them? What indeed.

During the famous sermon on the mount, Jesus tells the people in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'” When we focus on the signs promised to believers, we neglect the very thing in which we should believe, that is the new life offered in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Then we have missed the point of the signs and we have tried to bring ourselves glory instead of glorifying God. You know what that sounds like? It sounds like man using God in his autonomy. It sounds like the pride of the people at the tower in Genesis 11, making a name for themselves. It sounds like sin.

If we pay attention to the direction of the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives, God might direct us to pray for sick people, or cast out evil spirits, or whatever. But it is for God’s glory, for making His name known for people. The signs should follow, not drive, the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The law of life has changed things, and now death is working backwards, and the world is being redeemed.