In chapter 15, Paul lays out his beliefs, goals and ambitions when it comes to world missions. In the first 13 verses of the chapter, Paul shows how God is not just the God of Israel, but through the blood of Christ, is the God of a new people group that defies ethnicity and race as we know them (Read John Piper's Bloodlines for more on this.). Through the blood of Christ, anyone is able to come to God and be a part of his people. To prove this, Paul cites the Old Testament (aka the Hebrew scriptures) to prove his point. Four passages, all of which refer to God's love for the Gentiles and the nuance that the Gentiles will worship God somehow.
Well now we know that through Jesus, anyone, Jew or Gentile, can come to know God. But this doesn't mean that everyone already has heard about him. In verse 20 Paul writes "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known". You see, there are places, still today even, where the name Jesus Christ has no meaning. It is our job as a global church to send missionaries to these places. This is not to say that missions in places where the gospel has been heard is a bad thing, it is a great thing! This is to say that they are both important but there are fewer people going to places where Jesus is unknown. Now this is a very hard thing to do nowadays because these places are pretty much all closed to outsiders, strongholds of Islam or Hinduism and are extremely hard to get into, let alone preach Christ. Nonetheless, we need to be doing everything we can to share Jesus with the people in this places.
Paul ends with a personal message, asking for prayer. I would challenge you to keep missionaries and the people of the world in your prayers. Pick up a copy of operation world and begin praying for the nations, pick up a prayer card for a missionary at your local church. Let's work together to take the gospel where it has yet to be preached!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Romans 14; Contrary Beliefs
This is a tough passage to teach because it can be easily heard the wrong way. Essentially, the main point of this chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans is, within Christianity, there are many things that the Bible doesn't speak on, and therefore in the church people will have different beliefs on what is ok to do and what isn't.
I think first off, lets just throw a few things out that are not permissible within the Christian faith, i.e., if you claim to be a Christian, there are things that you should not do (now of course Christians are still sinful and they may do some of these things, but if so, they would surely repent, confess their sin to God and hopefully others and seek help on killing the sin in their life). We are to follow Christ's commands. Loving others, loving and obeying God which really means there are lots of things that we should not do. Paul has many lists within his letters that include things such as anger, murder, premarital sex and other sexual immorality, stealing, drunkenness, addiction and even homosexuality. Secondly, as Christians we are to respect government officials and thus the laws they have created. Therefore, if you are under 21, you should not drink alcohol, drugs are not ok and the list goes on and on.
However, there are many things that are not specifically in the Bible, nor are they illegal, such as drinking alcohol (but not getting drunk), listening to a certain type of music or watching a certain tv show, I'm sure you can think of other examples as well. What Paul is saying in Romans chapter 14 is, listen to your convictions. If you think it is ok, then if it is not illegal nor is it restricted biblically, then it is ok to do. If you like to drink beer, that is ok. If you think beer is bad, that is also ok. Now like I said, this could be easily confused and taken the wrong way. The point I want to make is that there will be disagreements between Christians on if things are ok to do or not. Take drinking beer for example. Some Christians are ok with it and some aren't. The point is not whether it is right or wrong, the point is to respect others in your decisions. If you are out to eat with someone who thinks beer is a sin, then don't order beer!
Listen to your convictions on things that are 1. not restricted biblically and 2. not illegal. You would be wise to ask a pastor or elder if you feel that something you do may be wrong. Maybe it is best not to listen to that artist or watch that show. Pray and listen to your convictions and let those help you decide your boundaries on certain areas.
I think first off, lets just throw a few things out that are not permissible within the Christian faith, i.e., if you claim to be a Christian, there are things that you should not do (now of course Christians are still sinful and they may do some of these things, but if so, they would surely repent, confess their sin to God and hopefully others and seek help on killing the sin in their life). We are to follow Christ's commands. Loving others, loving and obeying God which really means there are lots of things that we should not do. Paul has many lists within his letters that include things such as anger, murder, premarital sex and other sexual immorality, stealing, drunkenness, addiction and even homosexuality. Secondly, as Christians we are to respect government officials and thus the laws they have created. Therefore, if you are under 21, you should not drink alcohol, drugs are not ok and the list goes on and on.
However, there are many things that are not specifically in the Bible, nor are they illegal, such as drinking alcohol (but not getting drunk), listening to a certain type of music or watching a certain tv show, I'm sure you can think of other examples as well. What Paul is saying in Romans chapter 14 is, listen to your convictions. If you think it is ok, then if it is not illegal nor is it restricted biblically, then it is ok to do. If you like to drink beer, that is ok. If you think beer is bad, that is also ok. Now like I said, this could be easily confused and taken the wrong way. The point I want to make is that there will be disagreements between Christians on if things are ok to do or not. Take drinking beer for example. Some Christians are ok with it and some aren't. The point is not whether it is right or wrong, the point is to respect others in your decisions. If you are out to eat with someone who thinks beer is a sin, then don't order beer!
Listen to your convictions on things that are 1. not restricted biblically and 2. not illegal. You would be wise to ask a pastor or elder if you feel that something you do may be wrong. Maybe it is best not to listen to that artist or watch that show. Pray and listen to your convictions and let those help you decide your boundaries on certain areas.
I've been Busy!
Lately I have been super busy hanging with friends, going to school and skateboarding. My buddy loaned me his skateboard so I've been riding a little! This weekend I think I'm going to do an interview for a morning television show (not as impressive as it sounds). I think they are compiling a number of interviews much like a survey. Anyways, should be a good experience.
Nothing much is new here, its hard to believe I'll be back in just a couple months though! I definitely have mixed feelings about returning. I really want to come home and see everyone, yet I will truly miss Japan and everyone I've met.
Nothing much is new here, its hard to believe I'll be back in just a couple months though! I definitely have mixed feelings about returning. I really want to come home and see everyone, yet I will truly miss Japan and everyone I've met.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Romans 12:9-13; Love
Tonight I want to do two things. First define "love" biblically and second, look at who Paul tells us to love and how we can do so.
First, what is love?
Well verses 9-21 of Romans are one of the examples the Bible gives us of what love is. If you read this section you'll notice that everything Paul says has something in common. All of the defining factors of love put others first. "be devoted to one another", "share with God's people" "Bless those who persecute you" and then the best example "honor one another above yourselves". I think love is best defined as being the act of putting other people's needs above your own. That is what Jesus did when he died for us on the cross, and that is probably the best example of love ever. Period. Loving others means putting their needs above your own at every point of every day. That is really hard to do as we are human, but I think that we should strive to put others first in practical ways in our lives.
Secondly, who do we love?
The first 7 verses of chapter 13 are about submitting to authority and this is the first grouping of people Paul gives us that we can show love to. Remember, love doesn't mean Valentines day romance, it means lifting others up as more important than yourselves. If we are to love authority figures such as government officials and politicians, then we need to do a few things. First, pray for them. Lets be honest, while there are some outstanding men and women leaders throughout the world, all of them need prayer. Our leaders are constantly in danger and are making decisions that affect the world. Also, very few of the politicians worldwide are Christians, yet they are making decisions for countries and peoples. We need to pray for our leaders that they would make righteous decisions as well as find true life in Christ. Next, we should respect them. "For there is no authority except that which God has established". God has placed leaders in place and therefore we are to respect them. I can't answer why God has placed certain, even evil, leaders in power in various places, but we can trust that it is part of his perfect plan.
Not only are we to show love to authority figures, but verses 8-14 says we are to love everyone, all of our "neighbors". This means that all of our family, our friends, our coworkers and even strangers, no matter how bad they may irk us from time to time, are to be shown love by us. Throughout your life I'm sure you have met people whom you haven't liked very much. You are to show them love! There might be people who are mean to you. You are to show them love! There will be those whom are hard to love, but we have explicitly been called to love our neighbors.
First, what is love?
Well verses 9-21 of Romans are one of the examples the Bible gives us of what love is. If you read this section you'll notice that everything Paul says has something in common. All of the defining factors of love put others first. "be devoted to one another", "share with God's people" "Bless those who persecute you" and then the best example "honor one another above yourselves". I think love is best defined as being the act of putting other people's needs above your own. That is what Jesus did when he died for us on the cross, and that is probably the best example of love ever. Period. Loving others means putting their needs above your own at every point of every day. That is really hard to do as we are human, but I think that we should strive to put others first in practical ways in our lives.
Secondly, who do we love?
The first 7 verses of chapter 13 are about submitting to authority and this is the first grouping of people Paul gives us that we can show love to. Remember, love doesn't mean Valentines day romance, it means lifting others up as more important than yourselves. If we are to love authority figures such as government officials and politicians, then we need to do a few things. First, pray for them. Lets be honest, while there are some outstanding men and women leaders throughout the world, all of them need prayer. Our leaders are constantly in danger and are making decisions that affect the world. Also, very few of the politicians worldwide are Christians, yet they are making decisions for countries and peoples. We need to pray for our leaders that they would make righteous decisions as well as find true life in Christ. Next, we should respect them. "For there is no authority except that which God has established". God has placed leaders in place and therefore we are to respect them. I can't answer why God has placed certain, even evil, leaders in power in various places, but we can trust that it is part of his perfect plan.
Not only are we to show love to authority figures, but verses 8-14 says we are to love everyone, all of our "neighbors". This means that all of our family, our friends, our coworkers and even strangers, no matter how bad they may irk us from time to time, are to be shown love by us. Throughout your life I'm sure you have met people whom you haven't liked very much. You are to show them love! There might be people who are mean to you. You are to show them love! There will be those whom are hard to love, but we have explicitly been called to love our neighbors.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Romans 12:1-8; Living For Christ
Living for Christ is kinda a cliche in the church, but truly doing it is what sets apart real Christians from, well a good chunk of American's who are "Christian". Living for Christ means doing God's will, and God's will is another thing that, in my opinion, trips up Christians and is used as an excuse to those who are in fact not Christians. Let me explain. Someone who is a "Christian" might say: "I feel like God is telling me to break up with you" or "God doesn't want me to go to church, he wants me to worship him in my own way" or "it's God's will that I am rich and healthy". While these are kind of ridiculous, I'm pretty sure someone somewhere has said these things. God's will is often turned into an excuse by Christians and non-Christians alike, as evidence that some decision we want to make is good. Its funny that usually those decisions help us or improve our circumstances isn't it? I also think that sometimes we worry to much about what God's will for our life is, when in fact the answer is fairly simple. The reason I bring up God's will is because the first couple verses of chapter 12 are focused on it. Essentially Paul writes that following God's will is following Jesus. So what does this mean?
First, Paul's exact words are: "you will be able to test and approve what God's will is". I think it is important to note that sometimes God's will will manifest itself in decisions, a job etc, and a strong relationship with God will help you discern where God wants you or what decision God wants you to make. It is not always going to be something you want to do or like, but sometimes it will be! We need to pray about things and test them by getting advice from friends and mentors.
Second, God's will, in general is really quite simple. Follow Jesus. That means follow his commands, live each day praising God in all you do and boom, you are following God's will. Verses 3-8 are about spiritual gifts. I am convinced that using your spiritual gift is following God's will. He gave you the gift so you could use it to encourage others. Make sure you know your giftings and use them for God's glory, be active in your local church, that is what a local church is all about.
To conclude, if you are following Jesus in your daily life, then you are following God's will for your life. We need to worry less about our futures and about where God wants us or what he wants us to do and make sure we are following him in the day-to-day. We also need to make sure we are not selfishly making up God's will for our lives and discern wisely what God wants from us.
First, Paul's exact words are: "you will be able to test and approve what God's will is". I think it is important to note that sometimes God's will will manifest itself in decisions, a job etc, and a strong relationship with God will help you discern where God wants you or what decision God wants you to make. It is not always going to be something you want to do or like, but sometimes it will be! We need to pray about things and test them by getting advice from friends and mentors.
Second, God's will, in general is really quite simple. Follow Jesus. That means follow his commands, live each day praising God in all you do and boom, you are following God's will. Verses 3-8 are about spiritual gifts. I am convinced that using your spiritual gift is following God's will. He gave you the gift so you could use it to encourage others. Make sure you know your giftings and use them for God's glory, be active in your local church, that is what a local church is all about.
To conclude, if you are following Jesus in your daily life, then you are following God's will for your life. We need to worry less about our futures and about where God wants us or what he wants us to do and make sure we are following him in the day-to-day. We also need to make sure we are not selfishly making up God's will for our lives and discern wisely what God wants from us.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)