Sunday Reading: The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View #7

With this post we conclude the read-through of The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View, by Brian Harris. Chapters ten and eleven close the book with an applicational section that gives practical advice on “Clothing the Emperor at Church and Work.” Ten focuses on the church and is entitled, An Ethical Mandate: Hospitality and Openness to the Other; Chapter 11 focuses on practical Christian behavior in the workplace and is entitled “The Big Picture at Work: Faith in the marketplace.” As always, I will be posting some quotes and a link to this post on my Facebook page and you are welcome to discuss the posts there. (The numbers after the quotes are Kindle locations not page numbers).

In chapter 10 Harris insists that the church must shift: “the old paradigm was ‘behave, believe, belong’ but the new is ‘belong, believe, behave’. Since then I have often heard it described as the journey to ‘belong, believe, become’ (3207-3208).” That is the church must practice “hospitality” that allows people to belong before they behave properly, and instructs and moves them toward a deeper belief and understanding of Christ within the community. We will reach more people with “grace and hope” than with “sin and Fall.” We, as a church, also need to have a humility that remembers that we ourselves are sinful and do not know everything about God as we reach out to others. None of us has arrived. We are moving toward Christlikeness together.

We need to find ways to make the hospitable journey away from ‘behave, believe, belong’ to ‘belong, believe, become’. 3232-3233

Jesus appears to have affirmed the importance of acceptance prior to moral change…If Jesus was confident that a genuine experience of grace would lead to transformation, perhaps we should follow his example. 3378-3381

The believing community requires others to ‘belong’ to it, but the community it seeks to win is not sure that those who make the call have ever belonged to their world in a constructive way. Put differently, incarnation must precede any invitation to belong to a new community. 3403-3405

Harris says that we focus so much on what we do at church that we need to think more on what we do on “The Other Six Days.” His thesis seems to be that we need to look at our jobs as incarnational ministry. This means that we need to be people of excellence in our professions who creatively bring our relationship with Christ into our situations. Our “secular work” is just as much ministry and is as important as any church work we do, IF we do it from within our relationship with God in a way that makes its results and personal relationships provide access to Christ through us. This is a big focus in our teaching at PIU.

It is impossible for us to claim to be serious followers of Jesus the Christ and to simultaneously cloister ourselves away in a ghetto of detached irrelevance. Jesus does not walk down that street. We therefore cannot follow him there. 3513-3514

Christians are obligated to excellence because of who God is…We are made for more and should strive to achieve it. We should have an infectious openness to the creative possibilities inherent in God’s good world. 3518-3522

With God’s grace enfolding us, the love of Jesus inspiring us, and the presence of the Holy Spirit empowering us, we dare to hope and dream of eternity, even as in the present we set about building a world with a better name. 3691-3693

Reading in Numbers This Week #2 (Chapters 5-11)

I am continuing to read through the Old Testament this year accompanied by commentaries from various traditions. For December and January I have been working through a discussion on the book of Numbers, with the commentary, Numbers: God’s Presence in the Wilderness, by Iain M. Duguid. I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual, quotes from the commentary are in blue below…

Chapters 5-6 are about how to maintain the holiness in the camp with a holy God in the center. Chapter 5 contains laws that deal with sin and maintain holiness while 6 deals with vows that recognize and celebrate that holiness. Chapter 5 deals with three types of sin and provides a way to maintain holiness when they are committed. Unintentional uncleanness is dealt with by a purification sacrifice. Intentional sin requires confession and restitution in addition to sacrifice. Finally, unproven unfaithfulness of a wife (Israel in the larger context of the OT) was brought to the priest and dealt with directly by God. This provided justice to the guilty and protection for the innocent. Chapter 6 focuses on vows and blessings that highlight the holy calling of the nation. The Nazirite was to be a reminder to the nation of the need to give up even the normal pleasures of life for a time to fulfill the mission to which God had called them. The Aaronic blessing shows the commitment of God to bless His people despite their propensity to sin and corruption. He wants to bless with his provision, protection and presence. Jesus death on the cross for all people shows God's gracious commitment to bless all humanity. God does not need to be coerced into blessing us, His blessing just needs to be received.

In our society, people generally think that the only problem standing between them and God is their behavior. If I’m a good person, God will surely accept me; if I am a bad person, then God will reject me. The Bible, however, shows us that this analysis is superficial and thoughtless. Sin is not just about what you do; it is about your very nature as a human being in this world. Duguid, Numbers 5, 69

The Nazirite vow was generally not forever. A Nazirite did not give up these things because the spiritual life is automatically enhanced by a life of giving things up. He or she was not an ascetic. Rather, he or she gave these things up temporarily, knowing that at the end of the time he or she would sit down in the presence of the Lord for a covenant meal. So too, whatever you and I may give up in this life, it is only a temporary loss. There is an end coming. There is a time ahead of us when all of the separation and tears and pain will be over, and we will sit down in the presence of our covenant Lord for a grand feast. Numbers 6.1-21, 84

Far too often I still look for my blessing in other places and in other things. I am the faithless wife, not the Nazirite. Yet God is nonetheless determined to bless me! The Lord wants his blessing and his name placed on me. The people that Jesus came to seek and to save are not the Nazirites but the sinners, for we all fall short of God’s perfect standard. Numbers 6.22-27, 92

The subject of chapters 7-9 is the preparation for worship and meeting God in the Tabernacle. Chapter 7 meticuluosly repeats the gifts of each tribe to highlight the enormity of their generosity as they give to a "housewarming" as God the king moves into His palace in the center of the camp. They provide for the transporting and service of the tent as a response to God's blessing in the previous chapter and thankfulness for their inclucsion in what God is doing. In chapter 8 the menorah was prepared as a symbol of the light of God going out into the community, and the Levites were prepared to "substitute" for the entire nation as those given over to the service of the tabernacle. Preparation for the "proper and precise" celebration of the Passover is discussed in 9.1-14. God gave very precise instructions for how the Passove was to be celebrated, but also made allowances for those who were unable to celebrate it at the appointed time. Instructions were also given for allowing Gentiles to celebrate with them.

Do you know the reality and scale of the blessing you have received in Christ? If so, no one will have to beg you to give or beat you into giving. You will have a heart that longs to give, that delights to give as much as you possibly can, so that the name of Christ can be lifted up and his grace magnified. You will eagerly and joyfully pour out your life in his service, so that the wonder of his mercy can be known more widely. Numbers 7, 105

What the priests declared in the words of their benediction, the lampstand of the tabernacle proclaimed as a daily reality: the light of the Lord’s blessing rested upon all of the tribes of his people, making their offerings acceptable in his sight. God’s love and acceptance of those who were his was depicted at the very heart of the tabernacle. Numbers 8.1-4, 109

The irregular category bridges the gap between right and wrong by recognizing that there are some situations where pursuing one Biblical principle and meeting people’s needs necessarily brings you into conflict with another Biblical principle. The solution is neither to declare the Biblical principles irrelevant, as liberals would, nor to declare people’s needs disposable, like the Pharisees. It is rather to seek God’s direction and to do the best you can in the present circumstances, while moving as quickly as possible toward fulfilling all of the Biblical principles. Numbers 9.1-14, 126

Chapters 9 and 10 resume the story of the journey of the Israelites after their long encampment at Mt. Sinai. The main point of the chapter is that God would be leading and directing them in the wilderness. Thus, they needed to trust God's direction and obey him. They needed to be prepared for the hardship and warfare (they were organized as an army) that were coming. God the warrior would fight for them on the journey and lead them through to rest in the promised land. It would not be easy but the rest they would experience at the end of the journey would make it worthwhile. However, the Israelites did not trust and obey, but instead gave into the very contagious sin of grumbling in which even Moses participated. It is interesting that, in the first instance of sin in chapter 11 he intercedes for the people, but in the second he participates in the sin along with them. Interestingly, God gives the people, and Moses, what they ask for: over-abundant meat and help to Moses. The meat become a judgment to the people as it led to plague, and the help became a hindrance to Moses as his prophetic leadership was questioned for the rest of his life.

The wandering people of God were about to begin a pilgrimage that would revolve around the twin themes of warfare and worship. That pilgrimage would continue even after they had entered the land. What is more, God’s presence and their obedience were absolutely necessary if these tasks were to be carried out successfully.  Numbers 9.15-10.10, 132

We need constantly to remember that the Christian life is a journey, a pilgrimage, which necessarily involves discomfort and suffering. It is a journey whose sacrifices only make sense in the light of the outcome. Numbers 10.11-36, 138

Grumbling distorts your vision. It reimagines the past as a golden land, it despises the good gifts that God has surrounded you with in the present, and it completely ignores God’s promises for the future. That’s why I say that the root of grumbling is unbelief. Grumbling is an unbelief that robs you of your joy. Numbers 11, 150

Students Are Back

This week began registration and new student orientation. We also had the leadership training sessions for student leadership happening on campus all week. Most of the students are back on campus. We have a few that are stuck, because of flight delays etc, on their home islands. Please pray that they will be able to get to Guam for classes that start on Tuesday. We have a good group of students registering on line for classes too. I took a couple pictures of registration and orientation and swiped a picture from a student Facebook page (thanks Liann). Late registration goes through next week and seminary registration can happen up to the beginning of each class.

Orientation and registration

Christmas in California Pictures

Today starts the semester at PIU with new student orientation and I still have not posted any pictures from our Christmas vacation in California. The 12 days that we were there seemed too short to see everyone and do everything we wanted to do but it was a blessed family time. We were able to spend 6 days with Joyce’s family and then 6 days with my family and we arrived back in Guam exactly one hour into the new year. Our family lives on both sides of the globe and that means our hearts are often split between  them too, but we enjoyed the times we get to have with both our Guam and Stateside families.

We enjoyed spending time with Joyce’s mom and dad in Redding

It was cold in El Dorado. We even experienced a tornado, hail and snow.

Of course we always represent Guam with cool Guam Christmas gifts

Family time is always important, whether it’s serious or goofy

Time with the grandchildren was a major priority for the trip.

I think Joyce had a great time, me too!

Sunday Reading: The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View #6

We are continuing to read through The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View, by Brian Harris. Chapters eight and nine close the second section of the book which focuses on the “Big Building Block’s of the Christians Faith.”  Eight is entitled, All Creatures Great and Small: Building a World with a Better Name; Chapter 9 deals with eschatology and is entitled Ever Hopeful: Living in the Light of Eternity. As always, I will be posting some quotes and a link to this post on my Facebook page and you are welcome to discuss the posts there. (The numbers after the quotes are Kindle locations not page numbers).

In chapter 8 Harris discusses “creation care” and human responsibiliity to be God’s agent in a comprehensive mission to care for all of God’s creation and not just be concerned for human well-being and thriving. He cites Adam’s naming of the animals as God entrusting to humans the resopnsiblity to enable all creation to reach its potential. He sums it up this way..

We are the voice of the voiceless. God still watches to see what we will name the birds and animals. And while God will ultimately birth a new heaven and a new earth, we should align ourselves with the mission of God by taking seriously our brief to build a world with a better name. 2906-2907

A biblical world view of creation care avoids the mistakes the church often makes in its mandate to be the stewards of the world including exploitation, where the earth simply exists for the use and benefit of people, overestimation of the Fall, which assumes we are such sinners we cannot make any difference despite the fact that we live in light of the resurrection and in the power of the Spirit, secularization that tries to manage the world apart from relationship with God or embracing the status quo. We need to avoid the errors of both the “right” and the “left” and accomplish our “creation mandate” by bringing the blessings of relationship with God to all creation.

If we ever think that we will build Utopia, we have lapsed back into the original sin of thinking that we can replace God, and sort out the difference between good and evil unaided. Rather, we should recognize that our call is to spot the work that God is already doing in the world. As we identify the missio Dei, we align ourselves with the future that God is building for this planet.  2842-2845

In chapter 9 Harris ties eschatology very closely to the fulfillment of the creation mandate of chpater 8. I thought this was one of the best chapters in the book. His argument in the chapter is…

I will argue that a Christian world view is better served when we avoid apocalyptic terrorism and refuse to link eschatology to escapism and idle speculation. Rather, we should build a world view emboldened by the resurrection of Jesus, and the confidence that gives of our long-term security. You can’t believe in Easter and live timidly.  2964-2966

Jesus’ resurrection is the paradigm for all eschatological hope. Just as he returned to a earth with a new body that had points of both continuity and discontinuity with the old one so the new heavens and new earth will have both continutiy and discontinuity with what has gone before. It will be a physical place and we will be physical people, but with the effects of sin, death, pain, estrangement removed. “Heaven” is located on the new earth. Ultimately it will be the answer to Jesus’ prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Thus, the main point of eschatology is not speculation and dates and millennial arguments, it is living NOW in the light of what God has promised for eternity. We operate now based on “faith, hope and love” and what we do for Christ now somehow has effect on the life we will live for all eternity.

God’s will can never be done outside of relationship with God precisely because God wills to be in relationship with the creatures made imago Dei. If we are not in relationship with God, life is not as God wills it to be. In short, the ethical quest and our spiritual formation should not be separated.  3065-3067

Eschatology is not about speculative timelines, or an avoidance of the present. It is the quietly insistent affirmation that God’s love triumphs, and that this love lasts forever. It is the invitation to live in the light of the future, a future which while perhaps distant, has been rendered certain by the resurrection of Jesus. This hope does not disappoint us. 3138-3141

Reading in Numbers This Week #1 (Chapters 1-4)

This post will resume my study of the Old Testament accompanied by various commentaries. I continued to read, but took a few weeks away from writing over Christmas. In December I have been working through a discussion on the book of Numbers, with the commentary, Numbers: God’s Presence in the Wilderness, by Iain M. Duguid. I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual, quotes from the commentary are in blue below…

Basically, Numbers continues the story of the exodus from Egypt from Sinai to the approach to the Promised Land 40 years later. The turning point of the book is the refusal of the people to believe God’s promise to enter the land, followed by a rebellion against God and his appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (12-17). The people claim to be concerned about their children, but really the issue is lack of faith in God. God responds by making a decision to let that whole generation (except Joshua and Caleb) die in the wilderness and accomplishes the conquest through the very children they were worried about. In the book God prepares the people twice to enter the land, but the people receive this blessing only when they combine God’s promise with belief.

In broad terms we may say that the story of the book of Numbers is the story of two consecutive generations, a generation of unbelief that leads to death and a generation of faith that will lead to life. 18

The message of the book then is that God has provided his people with everything they need to experience blessing, but the reception of that blessing depends on their trusting God. To trust God is to embrace his purpose and mission for our lives and fully rely on his promises and on what he has provided. The evidence of this trust is obedience. Numbers shows us that God will inevitably accomplish his purpose but our participation in it is by faith. The book begins in chapters 1-4 with the organization of God’s people as the army of God and as a people oriented toward worship.

Organization begins with the census of the fighting men in Israel as the army of YHWH. Then the armed camp is arranged, with the king YHWH, represented by the tabernacle, in the middle of the camp.

Worship is a reorientation of our souls toward the center of the camp—a reminder that God is at the heart of everything that we do and are...We don’t simply want to sing about our commitment to love God or to spend our time looking at one another looking at him; we want instead to look directly at him as he has revealed himself in his Word. In worship we turn our hearts away from ourselves and our preoccupations and toward our true center, God himself, experiencing and enjoying his presence in our midst. Numbers 1.47-2.34, 38

God’s tent was in the midst of the camp not just because he is the center of our devotion, but because the center of the camp in the ancient world was the location of the king’s tent. God is our King. Numbers 1.47-2.34, 39

Thus the life of Judah shows us a different lesson. It shows us that even though sin may have its consequences, the experience of grace can have lasting consequences of its own: it can take and transform the results of our sin. Numbers 1.47-2.34, 43

In chapters 3-4 arrangements were made for the priests, Levites and moving of the tabernacle. The Levites’ main job was to protect the Tabernacle from unauthorized approach. The people’s victory and blessing would be dependent on their worship and obedience to the instructions coming from the center of the camp.

Coming into God’s presence is a “do or die” matter, then and now. It is not something to be taken lightly, as if it were a day trip to the beach. When we come to worship, we stand in the presence of the King of kings, the Lord of the universe. Numbers 3, 54

In the Scriptures we meet a God who is utterly transcendent and yet at the same time utterly immanent. Our God lives in a high and holy place (transcendence), yet also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit (immanence) (Isaiah 57:15). His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not ours; yet he has created us in his image, and so we are able to know something of who he is. Numbers 4, 61

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year! We are now back on Guam. We arrived a little before 2AM on the 1st. After sleeping in, I didn’t get up until 7.30am, we enjoyed having the 4 grandkids over while Mike and Samantha celebrated their 10th anniversary. We also had another Christmas celebration as the kids opened their presents which we brought back from their cousins, aunts and uncles on the Mainland. We enjoyed our vacation in freezing Northern California (Mike said it was cold in Guam too – 71 degrees) but are glad to be back and ready to start the new semester this Monday. God bless and may you have a great 2016!

Arete enjoyed opening her presents too