About Jon

Hello, I should probably introduce myself to those who are reading my thoughts here and have never met me face to face. It may be helpful to know who I am, and where I'm coming from.

I am in my mid 30's. Blessed with a great wife, and two wonderful children.

I don't want to boast at all here. God has been good to me. But I feel there may be some value to let readers know a bit of who I am and where I'm coming from.

I want to assure you I am not someone who wants a more liberal view of Christianity so I can live at peace with my sins. I don't want to water down the gospel message in any way. I just seek to clarify what the main gospel message is.

In a similar way as Paul wrote:

Phil 3:4-11 (NIV)

"though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."

So here's my list of things a religious person could be proud of:

• My father was a pastor of small rural inter denomination churches.
• Instead of seeking money as a youth I spent 7 summers working at Bible camps
• I attended Bible College for 2 years for personal growth
• I've been involved in regular weekly 'church' activities all my life
• I've faithfully given financial support to God's work locally and around the world
• Our family is planning our second 'short term missions' trip to some orphans in Mexico
• I don't smoke, drink, dance, swear
• I only listen to Christian music
• I don't hate anyone

I do have sin issues in my life.... I'll omit listing those here though. I don't compare with the likes of Paul and many other giants of the Christian faith... but that's not the point here.

Paul Continues:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

None of the stuff in that list of mine means anything compared to knowing Christ.

Thank You God for all the good things you've blessed me with, they are all gifts from you!

I want to know Christ, and seek His will, and learn to follow Him better.

If Starbucks Marketed Like a Church

Amos 5:21-24 (The Message)

"I can't stand your religious meetings.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want.

(Thanks to M Blog and the others this is borrowed from)

How much of the Bible is written to me?

This is an interesting question that I haven't really considered much until yesterday. This Luke 12:22-34 passage was one of the passages that I was unable to understand.

Is this passage telling me (and you) to:

• Not worry about your life?
• Not worry about what you will eat?
• Not worry about what you will wear?
• (Not worry about budgeting, saving, financial planning)?
• Sell your possessions and give to the poor?

Luke 12:22-34 (NIV)

"Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But were these words written directly to me? Or is this a record of Jesus' words to His 12 disciples?

Is Jesus saying that all those who want to follow Him need to sell their possessions and give to poor? Or was this command specific to His 12 closest followers?

Even if we conclude that this passage was specific to the 12 disciples, I'm sure we could pull some universal truths from them about not placing our hopes in wealth, and our responsibilities to the poor.

But this is still a tough question. If I conclude that this passage was not directed specifically to me, there are likely a lot of other passages that could have the same conclusion applied. How much of the Bible is written to me?

Then I'd have to rely more on the Holy Spirit to really guide me....

I don't understand Matt 24:34

This is another posts on my lack of intellect, and inability to understand parts of Scripture. Some people approach these verses and attempt to make them fit what they believe, but I'd rather admit I don't understand them, and pray God will reveal more truths to me if or when He wills.

In Matthew 24 Jesus is responding to the question "what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

He replies that there will be false prophets claiming to be Christ, wars, famines, earthquakes, persecutions. He says that "the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Then continues that when we see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel, there will be the worst times our world has ever seen.

Then:

"Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'""At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

OK, so this all sounds like the end of the world stuff to me... but then what follows makes no sense to me at all.

Matt 24:34 (NIV)

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."

If "this generation" means what I think it should mean, Jesus was saying that all the stuff above would happen with the next 40 ish years of when he spoke it.

Preterism has a way of explaining it by claiming all these things did occur in 70AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. But I'm not sure where that leaves us now... are we waiting for a 3rd coming? Or is this related to the kingdom of God which has already started which I also don't completely understand.

Others have tried to explain that "generation" could mean something other than what it means. Or that "this" should have been "that". Or others say that Jesus made a mistake.

I'd rather just admit I am lacking enough intelligence to figure this out right now. And I'm OK with that:

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 (NIV)

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Does the Bible Give Clear Asnwers on all Issues

The Bible gets used to give support for many topics.

Is there a problem with using the Bible like a magic 8 ball? Can we look to it to find answers to all issues?

Throughout my years in a variety of church circles I have heard Bible based arguments for each of the following issues. Some have used the Bible to claim these issues are clearly sin. Others conclude they are not.

• Gambling
• Drinking alcohol
• Dancing
• Mixed gender swimming
• Females wearing pants
• Females without head coverings in church
• Females in leadership roles at church
• Symbols like Christmas trees used in church
• Use of drums in church
• Use of musical instruments in church
• Going to movie theaters
• Listening to secular music
• Birth control
• Polygamy
  
• Participating in Halloween
• Participating in armed conflict
• Being protestant
• Being catholic
• Being ______
  

I'm sure you could add a few more to this list.

Here are some bigger past issues that people had used the Bible to support:

• Slavery
• Crusades
• Inquisitions
• Apartheid
• Hitler's actions against Jews
• Condemning interracial marriage
• Ku Klux Klan
• Many harmful cults
  

William Shakespeare recognized the problem:

"The devil can site scripture for his own purpose! An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek." [Merchant Of Venice]

So why do some people feel the need to say the Bible has clear answers to every issue?

Is the bible black and white on all issues?

How many of these issues need to be central to our faith?

Should we use the Bible like a magic 8 ball to find answers to all issues?

We can learn from history that there are some obvious dangers to using scripture to promote a position that is not part of the central message of the Bible.

I propose one of the biggest dangers is the divisions in Christ's church that have been created by holding too tightly to these non-essential positions.

When Christ's body is not One, the world will not recognize us as His.

I think it is wise to look to scripture and study what it has to say on all issues. But if it is outside the central message of scripture, let's not get too dogmatic about it.

Can we agree to disagree on issues that have less scriptural support than our essential belief of Christian Unity?



Related Posts:

• Washing hands
  
• Stay at home dads
• Should pastors be paid a salary

Unity is Essential

When we consider Christian unity there are a few questions to consider.

How can we find unity when we have so many different beliefs?

We must recognize that we will not all agree on everything. Being of one mind does not mean we will agree on everything. There has never been a time in the history of Christ's Church where everyone agreed on everything. But we must recognize the unity that exists in the essentials of our shared faith in Christ and His message of good news for us.

What are the essentials?

This is where I believe we often go wrong. Many 'churches' have made the list of essentials to included everything they interpret the scriptures to say. Then when someone interprets part of scripture in a different way, they can not find unity.

I believe we need to reconsider our list of essentials for the sake of unity. I believe Christian unity is one of the essentials to our shared faith. If we don't highly value the unity of Christ's body, we are not placing high value on the word's of Christ.

Jesus' Prayer for us in John 17:20 - 26 (NIV)

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Colossians 3:13-15 (NIV)

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Ephesians 4:2-6 (NIV)

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

^{Romans 15:5-7 (NIV)}

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

1 Cor 12:12-13 (NIV)

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

^{1 Cor 1:10-13 (NIV)}

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

My Modern day interpretation:

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, in my life journey I have heard many quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I am Baptist"; another, "I am Lutheran"; another, "I am Catholic"; another, "I am Protestant"; another, "I am Evangelical"; another, "I am Orthodox";another, "I am Emergent"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was your denomination crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of a denomination?

The scriptures are clear that placing a high value the unity of Christ's Church is essential to our faith.

I propose that whenever we encounter an issue that is dividing Christ's Church we ask this question:

Is this issue more essential to my faith than the unity of Christ's body?

And to determine the answer to that question, take a second look at the scriptural support that is backing up your position to the divisive issue. If there is less scriptural support for the issue you are debating than there is on the topic of unity (and there are more verses that I did not list here), then we need to recognize that maintaining unity is more essential.

Related Posts:

• Who says we are divided?
• Clarification: What is essential?
• Chain Blog: Please Agree With Me
• Brief time of unity
  
• A. W. Tozer on Oneness in Christ
• A great little conversation between Evangelicals and Catholics
• If Protestants Accepted Sola Scriptura
• Can I find unity without agreement on essentials
  
• Respond to disagreements in love
• One Mind