To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion…
General
Biblical Abstinence
0During my senior year in high school I moderated two discussions on human sexuality. I was asked to do this by my life sciences teacher, one who I greatly respected. She was not, as far as I knew, a believer, but we had similar views on human sexuality to two different ends. I believe in abstinence for biblical reasons, while she believes in them for scientific ones. She rightly says that abstinence is effective 100% of the time. However she also believed that contraceptives should be made available and their proper use should be taught if passions were to be exercised. Over the past few years I have considered what that meant.
You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in a biblical principle. There are plenty of unbelievers who believe that murder and stealing are wrong. It is where conventional wisdom of man and what the bible says align that we often have to ask ourselves why we believe something, because our view of that topic may be distorted by cultural influences. Consider the command in Ephesians 5 for wives to submit to their husbands. This command was culturally supported for many centuries, but the reason why was often muddled leading to trouble. In Ephesians 5 Paul calls us to reflect the love and submission of Christ by husbands loving their wives and wives submitting to their husbands, but Western Civilization adopted this principle as a way to be prejudiced against women. Men who leverage their power over their wives abusively do not follow the bible, because they do not see the biblical reason for their wives to submit. They just assume that it is because they are supposed to lord over them, not as a reflection of the humility of Christ.
Abstinence is a powerful part of the Christian culture. It is a part of our cultural ethos to dedicate ourselves to a life of refraining from sexual contact until marriage. This is a biblical idea which started with the first man and woman. In Genesis 2:22-25 there is a marriage ceremony between Adam and his wife Eve. It is officiated by God, and afterwards in reflection the Holy Spirit quickened the hand of the writer of Genesis to write verse 24 which says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” Here we have a basic description of the standard of sexuality that the bible calls us to. We are to leave our parents, cling to our spouses, and have sex. All of this is after entering into a covenant with God and this other person that they would be as our flesh, as described in verse 23.
Adam and Eve’s courtship was very quick, and there were no other women for Adam to engage with sexually up until that point. So what about the time between when we start having sexual feelings towards others and when we get married? Isn’t it wrong to suppress your sexual desires? Why do we have sexual desires I will answer this question using the example of Christ.
Jesus Christ has existed eternally. He is the Son, the 2nd person of the trinity. He is in every way God. He is God with the Spirit and Father. He is one with them, and they are one with him. In being God Jesus is omnipresent. This is to say that Jesus Christ is God, and he is everywhere all the time. God is everywhere all the time. (Jeremiah 23:22-23) (more…)
New From the Dispersion
0Hey guys,
So we have released an e-book! If you remember our Weeding series from last year then you will want to pick up this e-book. We have released all the articles combined together on the Kindle. This makes for a quick read and it is only a dollar on the Kindle store. The Kindle store is available in app form on the Ipod, Ipad, and desktop computers. All proceeds go back to the Dispersion, helping us run the website and expand into future projects.
Thank you for your support.
Peace in Christ,
Jack
Love and Church
0As I was reading through a blog by Grace to You Ministries internet minister I began to think about some of the conventions of ministry. Having been close to many different churches I can tell you that no two churches work the same. If you went into the strictest of ritualistic congregations you would see subtle differences in how they “do church” from the language spoken to the edition of the hymnals. Many religions have a strict ritualistic approach to worship, but what we find in the New Testament is a collaboration of different parts of what most of us would call church into what the church actually is. There is a pretty good list in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul speaks about speaking in tongues, prophesying, understanding, encouragement, and singing songs as a part of the practice of the church. Elsewhere Paul will speak about defending and contending for the gospel, but this is a pretty exhaustive list. Theologians like Martin Luther would add administering the sacraments, like communion or baptism, as a part of what the church does. However the back bone of the church, the center of the church, is love. Paul compares one of the greatest obligations of the church, to suffer for Christ, unworthy in comparison to love. “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3
With love at the backbone of church things get complicated. Love is not formulaic. Love for Christ is a supernatural thing. It is beyond us to completely understand the love that Christ has for us, but it is that love that we are called to emulate. That is at the very core of church. This creates a host of problems in and of itself, but Paul in 1 Corinthians when Paul defines what love is. It is an incredible list of impossible standards, however these standards are vital. What Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 is that things like patience, rejoicing in truth, and enduring all things are not on the same level as preaching truth, prophesying or speaking in tongues. He is saying that they are much more important.
There will probably be many hours spent in 2012 with pastors wondering how they should “do church” and most of them will approach it like they approach a machine. They will try to work out inefficiencies or design systems that make the whole thing require less energy to run. However God puts systems, structures, and obligations aside for love. Love is the greatest thing to have at a church service. Pastors who worry about the effectiveness of their preaching should pray for Christ’s love to be reflected in their sermons. Children’s workers should pray for Christ’s patience. Those who minister to those in hospitals should pray for Christ’s endurance. All of these things are a reflection of his love.
The question for many churches, when it really boils down to it, is not about logistics, but about love. You will always run out of buildings, or have one that is breaking down. That’s just the way the world works. Do you have love? Do you have the love of Christ? Do you consider love before you consider the other parts of your service? At the core of the church should be the love of Christ. At the core of our understanding and service to the church should be the love of Christ.
Simplicity and Complexity
0Football players watch tape and preachers read the bible. The “game tape” of a teacher comes from studying great theological resources and studying the glory of God in the bible. Perhaps the hardest thing about Christianity is that God has called Christians to preach and teach to each other. Preachers and teachers are called to teach others who are called to teach others who are called to teach others. God calls some to be over tens, and some over tens of thousands. Wherever you are called you are called to preach and teach well. This puts an incredible amount of pressure on teachers to know and study the word so that when they teach they are not allowing bad teaching to trickle down.
We live in a culture of over-production. Our texts are short, our tweets are short, and our attention spans are short. Teachers of Christianity may sometime react to this wave of inattentiveness by modifying the message of Christianity into something much simpler than it is. The thinking is that we should mold the message of Christ into something that is easy to be heard by the person we are talking to. We develop messages that speak to parishioners but do not preach the harder things of the faith. (more…)
When We Find We Don’t Agree
0What kind of books to do you look at when you go to the bookstore or are surfing the web? Are they by the same author or come from the same publisher? Do they reflect the same theological perspective? A great book, that is full of great theological understanding, is a great resource to have. However what happens when a book isn’t as full of good theology or doesn’t line up with all of our views? Reading a book that is bad can be very beneficial for seeking great understanding and perspective on what God is calling us to as Christians. Below is a list of ideas on why and how to read a bad book.
Famous Authors
While a lot of people decry the end of Christendom, there is a powerful Christian culture that still exists. Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life is the second best selling book in history, only to be outdone by the Bible. Books by men like Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, and Bill Hybels have sold very well through mostly Christian veins. Rob Bell’s books ask a lot of questions about classic Christianity and his ideas are very prevelant. So what if a brother or sister in Christ, who is not necessarily as solid in the word as you are, asks about Rob Bell’s ideas? Would you be able to respond following the scripture? Reading books that are by authors that we are not used to reading can help us respond to their ideas and contend and defend the gospel from bad teaching. (more…)
The Meaning of Marriage by the Kellers
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When approaching marriage a lot of people revert to anecdotes and pithy conventional wisdom. This is not necessarily a bad thing in its time. However, every now and again its good to get a biblical perspective on marriage. Is one of the best communicators I have ever heard or read. He presents the Bible well in this book while combining a healthy level of his own struggles. It really helps that this book was co-written by his wife, so there is no half sided stories or a hint of chauvinism. Keller is very real in this book as he presents the word and serves his readers with truth.
Pages: 282
Buy, own, rent? This is a great buy for those who are looking to be married and are married.
Best part: The Kellers’ dedication to presenting truth is great.
An Apology and a Change In Direction
0There comes a time where we are called by God to take stock. This is to say that we are in a position to review where things have been and where they are going. I am entering such a season with a 6 week break from schooling. I will be as unbusy as I have been in my entire life, which is really exciting for me. However recently I have been feeling called to apologize to those who read this blog and then correct the way I approach this blog.
Since the Dispersion started over three years ago my philosophy when approaching the subject matter has been what God is doing in my heart or what I think would be interesting to talk about. As a writer I know that it is easier and often better to write what you know. However as time has gone on I have been reconsidering this philosophy and have come to some conclusions.
The first is that this model may not be as beneficial to you as other ways of deciding what to write. From now on I will be taking a more biblical approach to the subject matter covered. That is to say I am transitioning from what I want to write or feel as though I can write, to what the text is saying. I learn from teachers who approach their sermons and blogs this way, so that is what I am going to do. I apologize because this is what I should have been doing all along. My not doing so is not malicious, but just a reflection of my continuing sanctification and natural imperfection as a person.
The second is that this method is of benefit to me. Recently I have noticed a disturbing trend. My time spent in study of the word is often focused on theDispersion, and not on God. By separating my personal study and the study I am doing for this website intentionally I hope to regain some of the intimacy that I feel as though I have lost with Christ. It’s like if I were married and every time I had alone time with my wife a good friend showed up. While having a good friend is not a bad thing, it’s a problem when you are trying to grow in intimacy with a more important individual. Having a blog about Jesus is not a bad thing, until it gets in the way of your time with Jesus.
I want to thank you for your continued readership. The Dispersion continues to grow and have an impact on more and more unbelievers, which is awesome. We are continuing to pray for other areas to expand, but we thank you for your continued prayer for us. Thank you for your readership and time.
Peace in Christ,
Jack
Ambitious or Why We Should Read the Whole Bible
0Usually when I go to a coffee shop I like to interact with the different baristas who are there. The idea of the barista is great for me, because I like meeting and interacting with new people. Baristas are paid to make drinks and be nice to coffee drinkers, so I have made many friends in Starbucks and local shops. Usually they will ask me what I am reading and most of the time it is my bible. Some of them end the conversation there but if they are Christians they will ask where I am reading. Recently I have been reading in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The reaction has greatly interested me, and it is the subject of this particular blog.
2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is God breathed and useful for a wide variety of things including teaching. A lot of Christians have been taught using a select few scriptures. There scriptures can probably be seen on a key chain, mug, or T-Shirt at your local Christian book store. These verses are not bad, actually they are very good when seen in the context of the larger bible and larger book that they are in. The problem is that when you limit your understanding of what the Bible says to a select few passages you lose the larger perspective of what God has to say both to us and for us about his son Jesus Christ. If I study 1 John it is a blessed book. It is filled with a variety of themes and powerful verses. It is one of my favorite books because it talks about grace, who we are in Christ, and how that changes our lives in such a clear way. However, if I only read 1 John I might know a lot about God, and could definitely come to faith in Christ (praise be to the good Lord Jesus), but I would not have a clear view of say what is coming in the age to come, or what the wrath of God looks like, or even miracles. I would have to look at more books in the bible to see those themes more clearly defined and played out in believers lives. Understand I am not saying that 1 John is any less of a book because it does not cover these themes, rather that the bible is meant to be read and loved as one volume, because it is written as God intended.
The reaction I got when I told people that I was reading Leviticus was surprise. The people I talked to couldn’t believe that I was reading such “heady material”. This is not to say that these particular baristas and baristuds were not acting as Christians, but they were surprised that I was reading these books. They thought I was serious because I was reading such “high level” material. I believe that this stigma towards these particular verses reflects how little we understand our good God’s goodness towards us.
The bible is 66 volumes bound together, and they are all about the same thing. If you read the bible you will hear the same thing over and over. God is good, powerful to save and create. People are evil, stained by sin. God calls on those he loves to follow him. They do for a bit until they get distracted by sin, then he calls them to himself through the sacrifice of his son, Christ Jesus, on the cross. One day things will be much, much better than they are now. One day we will see Christ face to face. (more…)
Creation Haiku
0Here at the Dispersion we mostly do blogs, but now we are going to shake it up with a blog of Haiku about creation as recorded in Genesis 1-2. Enjoy!
God said there be light
And there was, much light, bright light
Day and Night began
There is a domain
Which is not near to us, for sin.
God’s land is not ours
Missions in the Bible
0Immediately before Jesus ascended into heaven he told his followers that they would receive the Holy Spirit and that with the Spirit they would be witnesses of the gospel to the entire world. In the 2000 years since that commission countless theologians and scholars have wrestled with what it means to be a witness and what the emphasis should be when sharing the gospel. While each viewpoints has it’s own strengths and weakness what we must not do is try to decide who is right but rather what is right, and as Christians we have the great fortune of having the Bible which is God’s authoritative word given to us. An examination of the Bible can therefore give us an excellent starting point for conducting missions.
When looking at a the topic of missiology we must first establish a very essential fact. We must define what exactly our mission is. Christ told his followers to: “be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[1] But what exactly is it that we are to testify to? In Luke 24 Jesus answers this question by explaining to his disciples that all of the scriptures – what we would call the Old Testament – is about him. He then goes on to reveal to them what the entire Old Testament was ultimately pointing to, namely that: “the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”[2] . With this simple proclamation we see what the heart of all missions work should be. To preach Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. (more…)