At the School for Orphans in Swaziland

I was supposed to be helping with construction but God had other ideas. I spent the morning visiting homes for some of the children at the school. Michael is an eleven year old Swazi boy who has a right leg seven inches shorter than his left. It is the result of a broken femur and poor medical care. He lives with his grandmother and 17 year old sister and her 1 year old child. His father abadoned them when Michael was four. His mother and two older sister later died from AIDS. Michael walks nearly two miles to school every day on his severly mismatched legs
He and I sat and shared an orabge while waiting for another group to finish a home vist to one of his classmates. I told him that Michael in the Bible is a powerful angel who serves God. He siad that he wanted to be a man who lived by Gods power and wanted to leanr more about Him. I asked if he could read English and when he shook his head yes I pulled out my Kindle reader to give him a treat. Opening it to John 1:1 I had Michael read. We then went to John 3:16-18.
At that point the rest of the group returned when another team member saw him reading to me and asked michael if he was teaching me. “No” he said, “:e is teaching me”. “What is he teaching you.” Michaels face lit up. “”He is teaching me about God”. That is why we come.

Reflecting on Freedom, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Much of the world is talking about freedom. People in Iran are protesting and dying in a bid for freedom. Yet leaders in Iran are fighting for what they perceive as freedom from the evils of the West. In Gaza there are Palestinians fighting for freedom to be their own country while Israelis struggle to be free from terrorists. Here in the United States we are celebrating the 4th of July, the signing of The Declaration of Independence and the “birth of freedom” for our country. In all the talk and struggle over freedom I am forced to ask the question, is freedom always a good thing?

Sometimes it has to be admitted that freedom has it’s ugly side. Often the cry of freedom is little more than an excuse to impose my desires, values, and priorities on others no matter what that means for them. The parent who claims the freedom to pursue his own desires and not be encumbered by the responsibilities of parenting, leaving children to fend for themselves eventually resulting in destroyed lives, is an ugly aspect of freedom. The cry for freedom that expressed itself in Rwanda where thousands of Hutu and Tutsi killed one another in order to be free of each others presence and culture is about as ugly as it gets. Such a perversion of freedom can only be explained by the existence of evil that seeks to destroy that which good. C.S. Lewis said that “Badness is only spoiled goodness”.Freedom is a good thing that we so easily spoil and make not just bad, but ugly and perverted.

The Apostle Paul faced the ugly side of freedom in the first century church in Corinth. There was a man in the church who was sleeping with his father’s wife. He was claiming that because of faith in Christ we are no longer under the law and have freedom. Some in the church seemed to accept that logic, we are free in Christ. Paul chastises the man and the church saying that even among the pagans they understand that sleeping with your father’s wife is icky. (I can’t think of a better word for it). The freedom Christ gives is a good thing that was turned ugly in Corinth.

There is another aspect of freedom that manifests itself in the desire for complete autonomy that is so prevalent in our day. In children it rears its head when in the midst of an argument one child cries out to another, “You’re not the boss of me”. On an adult level it shows up when we claim our right to do whatever we want, whenever we want. It is much like the situation in the Bible in Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes“. For many today that would seem like a modern day utopia, nobody telling you what to do, no one to “be the boss of you”, everyone having the freedom to do what they think is right. But what the Book of Judges is saying is that such a situation actually led to anarchy and things where about as bad as they could get. The fact that people had no earthly king to follow was symptomatic of them not wanting to follow a heavenly king either.

Our desire for freedom can very easily cross the line into doing whatever is right in our own eyes, with no consideration for what is right in God’s eyes. That was at least in part the lesson of Adam and Eve. The temptation was that they could also be gods. They could be the gods of their own lives and not be bound or obligated to listen to the Lord God. They wanted a kind of freedom from God that seemed to be very good. It was obviously very tempting. It turned out to be very bad. Freedom does not mean the ability to do whatever you want, when ever you want, no matter the consequences. Freedom is not an absence of rules. Unfortunately there are many who think it is. Psychologist Erich Fromm said “Human history begins with man’s act of disobedience which is at the very same time the beginning of his freedom and development of his reason”. Somewhere along the way we have built a society that so misunderstands freedom that we have turned it into the most selfish of motives. We think we are advancing ourselves by having the freedom to do whatever we want. We think that the first step to freedom is telling God where to get off. We think that makes us free. Yet, we find ourselves actually trapped in a bondage of our own making. It is impossible to argue that the world is better off since what Fromm calls, “man’s act of disobedience”.

Then there is the good side of freedom. Many think that the good side of freedom is found in things like freedom of speech, religion, assembly and the rest of those things in the American Bill of Rights. Those are certainly good freedoms and I would not want to be without them. But there is an even higher freedom that the Bible speaks of. It is the freedom to love and serve God and our neighbor. Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Galatians chapter 5, “ ¹³For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” We have the freedom in Christ to serve others, to defer to them, to place them before ourselves. That is a far cry from the freedom that the world pushes saying we must take care of ourselves first. It is the same kind of freedom that Jesus demonstrated by freely submitting to the Cross on our behalf. I have the freedom in Christ to put my own desires and wants on the back burner and place those of my neighbor to the front. There is something incredibly freeing in that. No longer am I in bondage to my own desires and seeing them fulfilled. No longer must I be obsessed with me rights and freedoms and the endless pursuit of them. Instead I am released from those things and find fulfillment in the blessing of others. That is one aspect of the very good freedom we have in Christ, the freedom to put others first.

Finding God and Church Online

Some of you have been aware of the role I have at Northland Church. In a nutshell it is to help Northland be a catalyst for the starting of more than a million new house churches, what we call Simple Churches, around the world by 2020. Today the Orlando Sentinel did an article on a major piece of the plan. I hope you enjoy it and will do two things. First, pray that we follow God’s lead and make this happen on His terms. Second, consider joining the effort of Global Media Outreach.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-search-engines-for-god-061909,0,5297032.story

Dan

Provocative Bible Verses: When it’s Good to be Mad

There is a perception that to be a follower of Jesus means that you are never angry, always have a smile on your face, never get mad, and always say things like, “Bless your heart” when you really want to say something far different. It seems to stem from an idea about Jesus that looks at him as some very quiet, meek, introspective wise-man. It also seems to come from an idea that if God is love it means that he is more of a sweet grandfather who never corrects us or challenges us.

Many people think that to get angry is a sin. The fact is, the Bible has a very different view of anger. There are times when it is not only appropriate to be angry but in fact there are situations that if we were not angry it would be tantamount to sin. Our example comes from the oft misunderstood event in the life of Jesus when he cleared the money changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” John 2:14-16 (ESV)

The Temple in Jerusalem was intended to be a place in which all people could come and pray and worship God. What the religious leaders had done was turn it into a place to rip off people. In order to make your offering you had to use the Temple coins and no other. So you had to exchange the common currency for theirs. If you have ever had to do a foreign currency exchange you have dealt with the fees involved. In this case the fees that got charged were outrageous and tantamount to robbing people. If you brought your sheep for the sacrifice it had to be inspected and approved. People learned quickly that their own sheep would be rejected thus forcing you to by a pre-approved sheep from the Temple stock at highway robbery prices. Jesus was furious that people had taken something God intended as a blessing and turned it into their own little money-making rip off of the common man. He was mad because such sinful practices actually turned people away from God when they most wanted to get closer to Him.

There are other times when the Bible is clear that anger is justified. God’s repeated calls for justice for the oppressed, the care of widows and orphans, the feeding of the hungry, and hospitality for the foreigner should tell us something of God’s character. When these things are not done, God is not happy. When there is injustice and oppression we should be angry. How can you not get angry when you learn that there are more people in slavery today that at any time in the worlds history? How can you not get angry when you find out that millions of children are victims of the global sex-slave industry?  How can you not get angry when you are confronted with blatant racism or barbaric cruelty? Yes there are times when anger is what is called for; righteous anger, just anger, biblically based Christ-like anger.

But there must be a word of caution. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 4:26 & 27 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (ESV) We are told by Paul that there are times to be angry. But we need to make sure that in our anger we do not sin. You may be justly angry over oppression and cruelty. But the answer is not to become cruel and oppressive in response. There is also a clear warning to not marinate in your anger. Don’t continue to focus on your anger letting it infect every cell of your being. Not letting the sun go down on your anger is a way of saying “Do not be consumed by it”. Make sure you deal with it in a healthy and constructive way. Find a way to constructively work against the injustice. Otherwise it will build and build and come out in sinful ways. That, Paul says, is what gives room to the the devil. It gives him opportunity to take a righteous anger and twist it into unrighteous action.

Jesus was flat out mad in the Temple. But he did not sin. Even in turning over the tables of the money changers and driving them out with a whip, he did not sin. If your picture of Jesus is one who is always quiet, with head bowed, never causing a stir, then your picture of Jesus is woefully incomplete. When it came to being persecuted and beaten, he certainly took the punishment, unjust as it was. But when it came to injustice and cruelty being inflicted on others, he acted decisively and boldly.

There is a lesson in there for us. We Christians are so quick to call foul when we are personally inconvenienced or even slightly persecuted. Yet we are silent when others are facing death and torture. It must be the other way around. We need to be much more willing to accept the persecution that comes our way for following Jesus and completely unwilling to accept what is done to the widow, the orphan, the homeless, the prisoner, the sick, and the poor.

I Have Seen the Unicorn

Sitting talking to my friend Brian about Simple Church/House Church theory and why a mega-church like Northland is getting involved in helping start Simple Churches. Suddenly Brian says to me, “A good Simple Church is like the unicorn. I have heard that there is such a thing and it sounds cool, but I have never seen one. Have you?” “Yes Brian” I replied, “I have seen the Unicorn and it is a beautiful site”. His face lit up in anticipation of hearing about this mythical church creature.

My most recent sighting of the Unicorn came a few months ago in Orange County California. Don’t let the fact that this was in LA throw you off. There are actually some really great things happening in the Christian community there. On this particular Sunday morning I was in the home of my friends Ken and Ali Eastburn. It was time for the church to gather at their house. What I experienced was first century Christianity in a 21st century living room.

At the Eastburns, like most simple churches, the gathered church means there is a meal that includes communion. Since it was Sunday morning that meant breakfast. I got to cook which was fine with me since I love to cook. Pretty soon people began arriving until we had more 14 adults, including a woman visiting from China, and 7 or 8 kids. At one point Ali was greeting folks at the door when she saw her neighbor across the street working in her yard. Ali has been trying to build a relationship with this woman for months and took the opportunity to go speak with her.

Breakfast was ready so Ken prayed to give thanks to God and people began to dig in, finding places to sit around the family room and at the breakfast bar. As the meal was winding down Ken picked up a loaf of bread and a cup of wine. He reminded us of what Jesus did for us on the cross. God was thanked. The Bread was broken. The cup was given. We had a meal and communion just like the church of the New Testament. Someone pulled out a guitar and along with the kids we sang and prayed and honored the Lord.

After we finished singing and praying, the kids went and did a little Bible study with some handouts that they colored then went outside and played. Ken led the adults in a study of God’s Word. Maybe I should say that Ken got us started. He raised a question about something he had read recently and before I knew it we were off. People were digging into their Bibles, flipping pages back and forth, talking about things God was teaching them, verses they read that week that made an impact, asking questions about things they did not understand. There was no “answer man”. I fought the temptation for be that guy because no one want to be “that guy”. It was thrilling to see people seek God’s truth and share what God was doing. It seemed very much like what Paul had in mind when he wrote Colossians chapter 3 verses 14-16.

¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The whole time this was going on, Ali was still across the street talking to the neighbor and Ming, the woman visiting from China had joined her. As it turned out this neighbor was going through a major crisis in life and Ali was encouraging her and letting her know how much Jesus loved her. They prayed with her right there in the front yard. We knew what was going on and prayed for them and the ministry taking place outside. eventually Ali and Ming returned and shared with us what God was doing across the street.

We spent some more time in prayer and getting to know Ming and what the Lord was doing in among the brothers and sisters in China. After a total of about two hours from the start of the gathering, people began to take their leave and head home. I found myself inspired by the simplicity of this whole thing and the way that God made Himself known. It was also incredible to see everyone involved and engaged. It was much like the experience I had early in my Christian life when I was part of a fellowship of about 60 to 80 people who met as a group on Sunday nights but in several House Churches during the week. It was much like what I picture the first century church was like when they met from house to house.

Yes Brian. The unicorn is real and it is a beautiful creature in God’s garden.

Following Jesus, Part-Time Hobby or Life’s Passion?

Romans 12:1 and Colossians 3:17 force us to answer some very uncomfortable questions about ourselves and our lives. They are questions that we would rather leave not only unanswered but leave unasked as well. It means that every detail of life, every seemingly inconsequential action or thought must be brought under the microscope of some probing questions.

“Therefor I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.” Romans 12:1

“In whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

What might some of those hard questions be? For starters, since we are to worship God with our whole body, we might start by asking, “am I worshiping God by the way I am taking care of my body?” I know at this point some of you may be very tempted to click onto another website, but the point needs to be made. When was the last time you heard a sermon dealing with gluttony, the sin of overindulgence on food? I would guess never. Why, because far too many people in western cultures consume food for their comfort and it is many ways their God. That includes a serious amount of preachers who by fact of their own girth, could never get away with preaching such a sermon. Think about how this dishonors God. He created you. You are His work of art. If you had a Picasso or a Rembrandt in your home, how would you care for it? Certainly it would not be left under a pile of junk in the garage. It would be protected and honored and cared for. We would honor that painting ultimately out of respect for the artist who makes it so valuable. How much more should we honor the Master who created the works of art that we call “our” bodies? But this is just one example of how everything needs to be submitted to God and every thought, word, and deed needs to be an act of worship in the name of Jesus.

How about another hard question? Am I worshiping God by the way I serve my employer? When we fail to give our best to our employer we dishonor God who has placed that employer in authority over us. What kind of statement does it make when those who do not know Jesus have the impression of us as people who are always looking for the easy way out, or are gossiping about others, or moaning and complaining about our boss. Those are pretty obvious shortcomings. But failing to honor God in all we do is not limited to the obvious wrongs. When you are on the clock for your employer but are using that time for your own devotion or Bible reading time, you might think that you are being a good witness for God’s glory. The truth is, you are being a thief towards your employer and telling God that you only have time to read your Bible when someone is paying you to do something else.

Ask yourself, does your demeanor in the marketplace reflect positively on Jesus? When it does, it is an act of worship. When it does not, it is an act of idolatry. We substitute our desire for gossip, or our feelings of unfairness, or the right to have a bad attitude for a life that worships God in all we do. We can do this in the workplace, the neighborhood, the school and even the sanctuary. We place that thing, that attitude, that sin, on the altar of our lives and push God aside. And when we do, the person in the next cubicle, or apartment, or desk, who does not know Jesus, is given one more reason to discount him.

Following Jesus is not about something we do on occasion. That’s a hobby. We collect stamps, or build model airplanes, or make quilts, because it is something that we enjoy. It gives us pleasure, even a certain sense of purpose or fulfillment. We can pick it up when we want to and put it down when we get bored with it or it becomes too costly or we are not sure what to do next. Many people approach following Jesus this way. But the Bible is most demanding that we live our lives for Him each and every moment. Everything we do is to be done in Him and for Him.

What is at stake in this is the very honor of God. How we live is a statement of what we think of the creator of life. If in fact we call Him Lord, then He is Lord over all, at all times, in all situations. To live every moment for Jesus is not an obedience that pains us. Instead it is an act of adoration for the Lord that we live for Him out of love for Him. That love for Him should be something that is fueled by a passion for Jesus like no other. We are told that those who are forgiven much should love much. How much have you been forgiven by Jesus? Your passionate love for Him and desire to honor Him with every breath, word, and action should be driven by the depth of forgiveness that you have experienced in Christ.

Stupid Christian Trick Of the Month: Atheist Makes Money Off Rapture

Okay, I tried and tried to not write this particular post. But like a the nightmare of the movie Ground Hog Day, it kept coming back to me, over and over. I didn’t want to write it because by implication it says that some Christians have been just plane stupid and I didn’t want to be seen as airing the families dirty laundry. But since no one who performed this particular stupid Christian trick is named, I decided I had to go for it. Oh and by the way, the Stupid Christian Trick comes from the Stupid Pet Tricks that we often see on variety shows. They are pathetic and you know you shouldn’t watch but some how you just can’t turn away or change the channel. This story is like that for me.

Here is the gist of the thing as reported in the Orlando Sentinel recently (After the Rapture: Man Will Deliver Messages) It seems that one enterprising atheist decided that since he was clearly not going to be taken to Heaven when Jesus returns that he would make some money off the event. For a small fee you can give him a message that he promises to deliver to any of your loved ones who are “Left Behind” when Jesus comes back. I have got to give the guy credit for for his entrepreneurial spirit. It is a rather brilliant idea.

I have no problem with an atheist coming up with such a plan and implementing it. My problem is with the response of Christians. The pathetic thing is, people are actually giving the guy money and messages to deliver. Are you kidding me? Folks, when Jesus comes back I am pretty sure that everyone will know about it. Let’s even assume a theological position that says there will be some left behind when Christians suddenly disappear. If in an instant, a billion or so Christians suddenly vanish, do you think anyone is going to need a note passed on to them from an atheist messenger service to explain to them what happened? I am pretty sure that if this particular scenario is what ends up happening, people will figure it out.

But lets assume for a minute that it actually happens that way. What do you suppose our Atheistic Messenger will be doing. My guess is that suddenly confronted by the reality of the Rapture and the Lordship of Jesus, the last thing on his mind will be delivering your message to your loved one. He will be neck deep in his own problems at that point. Not the least of which is that his plan has gone terribly wrong. He was banking on there being no God and no Rapture. Now his whole belief system and world view has come crashing down. Sorry but your message is not getting delivered under those conditions.

Your better bet would be to make sure that you have been a Christ-like servant to the people who you think will be left behind while you were still here. Why not make sure that you personally let them know of their need for Jesus? Why not love them with such a provocative love that they ask you about Jesus and how to be saved? Wouldn’t that be better than trusting in the good graces of a left behind atheist? I suspect that in some ways it is easier to pay the atheist. But I am sure it is not more effective. If nothing else why not just give them a note yourself? Put it in a sealed envelope titled, “Only To Be Opened If I and A Billion Other Christians Suddenly Disappear”. At least you would know that have it and you would have saved yourself the messenger fee.

Of course there is the whole other issue that the theology of a left behind group is itself suspect. There is a complete other scenario that you can get from the Bible. Simply put it is that once Jesus returns and those who believe in Him are caught up into the air to greet Him that will be it.  The end of the age will have come. It’s time to turn out the lights Irene, the Fat Lady is Singing. There is a pretty strong case from God’s Word that when Jesus returns in the clouds it is to return for good, not just to whisk his followers away for a time. But that does not make for a good book series. One volume and the story is over.

Clearly we need to get a lot more of our theology from God’s Word and not fiction. I can only hope!

Crashing The Gates of Hell

One of my favorite quotes is from an evangelist from a century ago. His name was C.T. Studd. First of all you have got to love it when an evangelist is named “Studd”. He has to be on the all time great names list for Christians, right after Justin Martyr. But I digress. The quote that I like so much is, “Some people want to live within the sound of mission bells, but I want to run a mission, a yard from the gates of Hell”. What C.T. Studd was saying is that as followers of Christ we should not be content to live our lives in some nice, serene, Christian Utopia where we are always within the soft sound of church bells. Rather, we should set ourselves up right outside the gates of Hell looking to reach any and everyone who seems destined to enter those gates.

It would certainly be less beautiful near those gates than in the pastoral setting of the Christian Utopia. It would be more chaotic to be sure. It would be hotter without a doubt. It would be more uncomfortable outside those gates. The smoke would sting in your eyes as you looked for people to tell about the mercy of Jesus. It would burn your throat as you spoke with them about the forgiveness available through faith in him. You might get your back singed a bit as you stood your ground, hoping against hope to demonstrate the love of Christ to people in need. All of this might cause you to long for the idyllic setting of the Christian Utopia. But, when it would be all said and done and you are looking back, which life would you really want to have lived? Would it be the life of ease and comfort and sweet Christian Utopia? Or would it have been the life that put it all on the line to make a difference for others?

One thing to keep in mind is this; you will have eternity to enjoy that Christian Utopia. It is called heaven. When this age comes to an end you will have countless days to enjoy the sweet fellowship of those who have trusted Christ. It is only here and only now that you have the opportunity to be an ambassador for Christ who is charged with the ministry of reconiliation, of bringing Good News to people in depserate need.

C.T. Studd has it much closer to the truth of what we are to be about than most Christians. But he is still just a degree two off the mark. Studd wanted to set up a mission outside the gates of Hell. Jesus said that we are to go forth and crash the gates of Hell. We are to be about the task of knocking down strongholds, of breaking down the gates and overthrowing the dominion of the enemy. We are called to battle. But it is not a battle against flesh and blood. Our battle is not with people, even if those people are violently opposed to Jesus. Our battle is a spiritual one. We win that battle by loving God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It always comes back to that. Jesus said that everything, all the law and prophets, all we are told to do and believe, comes under the umbrella of loving God and loving our neighbor.

We don’t need to be angry, argumentative, and annoying. We need to be more and more like Jesus who was patient with broken people. We need to demonstrate the same kind of grace to others that Jesus demonstrates to us. That is how he crashed the gates of Hell in our hearts and rescued us. That is how we do it for others.

Provocative Bible Verses: Don’t be Afraid

How often does God need to say, “fear not” or “don’t be afraid” before we actually get the idea that as His followers we do not need to be afraid of anything? Apparently at least one more time than the hundred times He already has said it in His word. I have been struck recently by the realization that so much of what happens in the world of Christians is driven by fear, in spite of this clear message from God. Given the fact that we believe, at least in our heads, that God is the sovereign King of the Universe, I am amazed at how often Christians act as if God has no clue what is going on and that doom is clearly upon us.

That sense of fear and dread can even come over the strongest of Christians. There is a story told of Martin Luther that during a particularly difficult time of The Reformation, he sat in his study in despair. Suddenly his wife burst into the room and cried out, “Martin, Martin, all is lost, God is not sovereign”. Luther turned on her and rebuked her saying that she should never say such things because God would always be sovereign and on His throne. At that point she gently replied, “If indeed God is still the sovereign Lord and rules from his throne, why do you sit here in despair?”

Luther’s wife asked a great question. Why is it that so many Christians are the first to preach fear and run scared? I hear people crying out in anguish over the growth of Islam. I hear them bemoaning the economy and preaching the end of life as we know it. I hear people expressing fear over the uncertainties of life in the 21st century. I watch as parents raise their children in fear of the culture and how it might impact their kids development. I remember prior to Y2K, (remember that non-event) there were Christians literally stocking up on supplies and cashing everything in for gold, getting ready to hide out in their bunkers. In each one of these instances people were turning to some warped reading of scripture to justify the fear. Yet time and time again in His word God say, “Do NOT be afraid!”

Why does God tell us not to fear? There are two reasons. One has already been mentioned. We need not fear anything because God is still the sovereign Lord and that means He is in control. I love how Paul says it in Romans chapter 8 after listing a series of things that people might fear he says:

^“37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We have nothing to fear because God’s love is so strong that nothing can separate us from it. The reason nothing can separate us from it is the second reason that we must not be afraid. Jesus promised that he would always be with us. We are never alone. No matter how desperate or dark the situation seems, you are never alone. When you have put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, he promises to never leave or forsake you. I draw incredible strength from the fact that Jesus is always with me. To never be alone is huge! Even if disaster should strike, we need not fear because we have not been abandoned. If nothing else we know that we have a place with Him for eternity. That is what really matters.

The problem is that we are afraid for things that are temporary. We are afraid for our economic position, our reputation, our health, our happiness, our children’s comfort and safety, the list goes on. Our perspective needs to be a long view into the future. The Apostle Paul looked at all the things in this life, all he had gained and counted it as nothing more than dung compared to the surpassing riches of his relationship with Christ. If your hope is set on your health, then losing your health is a fearful thing. It your hope is set on your material things, then the lost of those is a frightening prospect. If your hope is set on your reputation in the community, or business world then having that threatened is frightening and painful. But if your hope is set on Jesus Christ and his promise to be with you always and it is set on his assurance that you need not fear, then you can be confident. You can be confident that no matter what the temporary situation is, Jesus has you covered.

So often we are afraid of the unknown. We may not know the temporary details. But we do know the permanent, eternal outcome of all things. We are victorious in Christ. On top of that we know that He knows even the temporary details. He is not caught of guard. Jesus has you covered and he is with you always. Fear Not!

Celibate: To Be or Not To Be?

There is new energy in the debate over celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church. The pedophile sex scandals that have rocked the church in recent years have certainly stirred that debate. But more recently it is the revelation that a wildly popular priest in Miami has admitted his love for a woman and an ongoing relationship. The priest is Rev. Alberto Cutie. I know, Hollywood couldn’t even come up with a name like that in a situation like this.

CNN.Com has two commentaries that look at opposite sides of the issue. One supports the Roman Catholic position of required celibacy for priests, http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/15/barron.why.celibacy/index.html and the other does not. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/15/cozzens.celibacy.discussion/index.html Having received my Bachelors Degree in Theology from a staunchly Roman Catholic university, www.franciscan.edu I was naturally curious as to how each commentator would approach the subject.

Now you may be wondering what place this subject has on this blog and what it has to do with you. Well you must admit that discussions about Rev. Cutie having a day at the beach with a bikini clad woman, and him in swim trunks and no collar is somewhat provocative. But that is a different kind of provocative all together. The main reason why I am writing on this is that the whole subject deals with how we interpret scripture and what personal arguments and traditions we allow to trump a basic understanding of God’s Word. In this case it is pretty clear to me that the argument for required celibacy flies in the face of Scripture.

In the argument for required celibacy on CNN.com the author acknowledges that many of the arguments for the practice do not stand up to scrutiny. In particular would be the argument that married life is not as “spiritual” as celibate life. I am sure he would add, that the argument since Jesus was not married then priests should not be married is also pretty lame.

The argument he does put forth is that celibacy points us to something future. The author says “God chooses certain people to be celibate. Their mission is to witness to a transcendent form of love, the way that we will love in heaven. In God’s realm, we will experience a communion (bodily as well as spiritual) compared to which even the most intense forms of communion here below pale into insignificance, and celibates make this truth viscerally real for us now.” I agree completely that God chooses certain people to be celibate. But not for the reason of giving us some glimpse into what heaven will be like. His idea is that since there will be no marriage in heaven that the celibate priest functions as a symbol and reminder of a life to come. Somehow I get the feeling that no one ever thinks of heaven when they think of priests being celibate. He continues along that line, “the priest is fascinating and that a large part of the fascination comes from celibacy. The compelling quality of the priest is not a matter of superficial celebrity or charm. It is something much stranger, deeper, more mystical. It is the fascination for another world.” My suspicion is that for most people the “stranger, deeper, fascination” is more along the lines of, “Can someone really never have sex?” and not with some eternal state of bliss.

The basic problem with the argument is that it is trying to support required celibacy for priests from philosophical argument about a potential benefit and not from a Biblical argument.  As a result it misses the very practical and understandable Biblical teaching on celibacy. The Apostle Paul writes about marriage, sex, celibacy, and ministry in 1 Corinthians 7. He says that it is good for some people not to marry. But he also makes the point that not everyone can do this and if they find that they really like and need sex, then get married. ^“1Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.^{[a] 2}But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. ³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. ⁵Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 So celibacy is a gift and so is sex. You just need to figure out which gift God wants you to have.

Paul’s reason for people not getting married is purely practical and has nothing to do with modeling eternity or living a fascinating or even provocative lifestyle that gets people thinking of another world. In Paul’s mind, the person who is celibate has more time and energy to devote to ministry. They are not concerned with the daily domestic affairs of a family and household.

^“32I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. ³³But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— ³⁴and his interests are divided.” 1 Corinthians 7:32-34

That is a very simple and understandable reason for celibacy. But it is also the argument for it NOT being required of people in ministry. Paul never says that if you are married then you can’t be involved in full-time vocational ministry. He simply says that you will not have as much time and energy to devote to it if you were single.

It seems perfectly clear and simple that the answer for the Roman Catholic Church should be for optional celibacy. That is the simple teaching from Scripture. The only reason that the move has not been made prior to this time is that tradition is being allowed to trump Scripture. Now before you jump all over the Roman Catholic Church for letting that be the case, make sure to take the log out of your own eye. Even the most “Biblical” of Non-Roman Catholics have traditions that have nothing to do with the teachings of the Bible and often run counter to them. We all have our blind spots.