Eternal Resurrection

Reflections on the Resurrection: 

“It is a serious thing...to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics...It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splenders."

- C. S. Lewis

"An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out; those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the ressurection of judgment." 

- John 5:28b-29

Family and Christianity

Children are excellent candidates for disciple-making. They come into the world with no presuppositions and no cultural baggage, just them and their sinful tendencies to fight against. They quickly learn to trust their parents for knowledge about the world. When dad gives explanations for how things work, they’re true...because he said so. Because children have the tendency to believe and learn, the faith of a Christian is often compared to that of a child. In choosing disciples to invest in, why would it be foolish to chose the most teachable individuals who just so happen to spend all their time with you. 

Think about this: when a kid grows up in a home where the parents are bilingual, the kids will grow up knowing two languages like the back of their hand. In a similar way, when kids grow up in a Christian home, they grow up knowing and understanding the biblical faith, especially difficult aspects like God’s sovereignty and predestination. That doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of kids who take up contention with Christianity, but I think we underestimate the testimonies that begin, ‘I grew up in a Christian home.’ Seeing things this way makes having a large family a much more reasonable and strategic decision, despite American arguments to the contrary.

Not only is the family one of the strongest areas of disciple-making, but it provides a strong core for robust Christianity. Strong families ground individual believers, while doing much to integrate and support new converts into the Christian community. Also, by adding into the mix grandparents, newborns, young adults, men, women, etc., the family unit keeps the Christian community from being a group of people just like you. 

Since not everyone in your family is believers, it’s always a center for evangelism. Whether it’s cousin Bob who ran away from the faith but still comes to the family gatherings at Christmas, or your brother Joe who doesn’t love Jesus but still loves and listens to you. It also allows you to invite unbelievers to your home where they can tangibly watch godly fellowship. This is often a more comfortable context for unbelievers than local Church gatherings. In talking about discipleship and evangelism, I don’t think the role of the family can be overstated. I certainly don’t think it should be overlooked.

Can Christians Chop Down Fruit Trees?

Are Christians allowed to have tattoos? Do Christians have to take a Sabbath? Is tithing mandatory for new covenant believers? Can Christians cut down fruit trees during a siege while the Jews under the Mosaic law couldn't? (cf Deut 20:19-20)

These questions come up all over the place (except the fruit tree one).

This blog post has one simple point: These questions, all of these questions, are the wrong questions. As all Will Smith lovers know, "You must ask the right question" (I-Robot).

"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal 5:14). Christians have one command. One. Keep that command and fulfill the entire law! Rather than asking, "Is it allowed?" ask "Does it love?" Now that is the right question.

Theological Resolves Regarding Tradition

1. To never believe something the Church has never taught.

2. To ask both 'What does the Bible say about this issue?" AND "What has the Church traditionally said about this issue?"

3. To see authority in the Church as well as the Bible, albeit different in nature and degree.

4. To not hold a position on a theological issue without understanding the other major positions and properly located myself on the theological landmap.

5. To discern whether a theological issue is highly disputed or highly unified within the Church.

6. To establish the points of theology in which the Church is most unified (e.g. God as Trinity, Christ's Incarnation, Salvation by grace) as deserving the most conviction and the highest value.

7. To not defend a theological position before others without fairly describing the alternative positions and the support they have within the Tradition.

8. To be more teachable if the issue is more highly debated within orthodoxy.

9. To never criticize the Church from the outside. If I am part of the Church, I am necessarily engaged in a type of self-criticism, of reformation and not revolution. But if I am not part of the church, I have no business correcting it.

10. To go to church primarily to hear and receive from the shepherd God has placed over me, and not primarily to be a tester of their teaching.

11. To find humility in tradition, knowing that my views are neither new nor original.

12. To only embrace theology that leads to loving God and loving others.

13. To pray for wisdom and clarity when the Bible presents truths that appear to contradict true love.

The Gift of the Spirit

What is it that humans want? There are many answers to that question. Weak-sighted people may give answers like money, relationships, beauty, or popularity. I say 'weak-sighted' because rarely do people want these things for their own sake, but they want them for a deeper end. Money promises happiness, relationships promise joy and love, physical beauty promises self-fulfillment and worth, popularity promises the satisfaction of being valued. 

The problem is that all the promises the world has to offer are empty cisterns, blank checks that will only bounce back and smack us in the face, vanity and trying to grab the wind. On the contrary, God promises that he is our only ultimate fulfillment. He promises to deliver the happiness, joy, love, and fulfillment we desire, even in the midst of suffering. Perhaps God's promise that 'those who seek will find' is more radical than we think. Although God does not necessarily promise the things that we think will bring us fulfillment (e.g. cars, food, electronics), He does promise the Holy Spirit who will bring fulfillment. 

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13)

What if your life was suddenly penetrated by true and genuine love for others? a joyful smile through all circumstances? peace when the storms are crashing all around? patience so that you can wait contently when circumstances are not ideal? kindness, goodness, and faithfulness which flow from the love you have in your heart? gentleness when the world tempts you to strike back? and self-control, which is the truest of all freedom? (Gal 5:22). 

Is there anything on this list (which we tend to ramble off so quickly) that the world does not actively seek and deeply desire? Do we really believe that God will simply give them to those who ask? Do we really believe He will freely give His Spirit, to lead us into a most abundant life? After all, the best things in life you can't buy: a peaceful spirit, a good night sleep, lasting joy, etc. 

People have tried to buy the Spirit for His power and it didn't turn out so well. "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20). But all we have to do is ask, and God will give! Come, brothers and sisters, join me in asking for a Spirit-filled life, purchased for us by the blood of Christ because of the Father's love for us as His children! 

A Good and Faithful Servant

Finals week is a type of heaven. The person who thinks their works have nothing to do with their eternal reward have no concept for a "well done, good and faithful servant...enter into the joy of your master" (Matt 25:23). Heaven is going to be so much sweeter when we enjoy it after the strain, the heartache, and the endless toil. Yes, God's grace is the sole basis for our salvation and our righteous deeds. And yes, we do work; we work very hard.

What is that sweet rest at the end of a long day (or semester) if it is not a picture of our eternal rest? What is that pay check for a job well done if it's not a type of our heavenly reward? Woe to the man who disregards the mindset of working hard for a heavenly blessing in fear of legalism. He may well find himself becoming a lazy and unfaithful servant. May we rather thank God for his faithfulness in giving us the desire and the ability to serve him in the righteousness he provides.

"For it was granted [the Church] to clothe herself with fine linen...and the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints" (Rev 19:8).

A Parent's Ministry

Child raising should never be seen as a less-important calling for men or women. Raising up a godly family should be seen as one of the highest callings of your life. Coleman’s book The Master Plan of Evangelism helps to demonstrate that a heavy investment in a few can go a long way in multiplying the kingdom of God. Why not make ‘the few’ your own children? Why not make the people you spend so much time teaching, preparing, and equipping for further kingdom ministry the people who are already living under your own roof? Psalm 127:4 supports this thinking: “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” We are fighting a war and children are the arrows in the hands of parents. When a woman decides to become a mother and to put most of her time and energy in that vocation, she is not choosing the easy life or the life of peace. Rather she’s choosing to be engaged in war. She’s choosing to shape and fashion effective arrows that will pierce into the darkness of this world with the blazing heat of the gospel. But notice that the Psalmist refers to them as “the children of one’s youth.” This hits another issue. We live in a culture and an age which asks a young men and women aspiring to be parents questions like: ‘Why don’t you just wait a few years before having children? You’ll be ready when you’re older. Why don’t you enjoy life while you’re still young? You can have children later.’ While it may sometimes be wise to wait to have kids, this verse rules out the mindset that it is always wiser to wait to have children until you’re older. In fact, I there can be much wisdom in starting such an important venture such as child-raising early on. Just as the youth of a warrior helps him to fight with more vigor, so the youth of a parent is potential for more energy to be poured out into the struggle of raising children. 

Perhaps one thing that keeps us from seeing the value of parenting is that the fruit is not immediately evident. Isn’t it wiser to spend most of your time evangelizing the lost and doing ‘more important’ works of ministry? But this is the reasoning that Coleman pushes against in his book. He describes Jesus-like discipleship investment as “slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it...really it is a question of which generation we are living for” (32). Parents may not live to see it, but that doesn’t mean that their investment wasn’t worth it. The argument may be made that many people raised in Christian homes end up abandoning the faith, but even Jesus in his own ministry had a Judas. Our discipleship count will never be %100 . . . so maybe you should have more than one kid. :)