Sunday Reading: The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View #2

Today I am reading reading through chapter one of The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View, by Brian Harris. Chapter One is entitled The Emperor’s New Clothes: On Acknowledging our Nakedness. I will be posting some quotes on my Facebook page and you are welcome to discuss the posts there. (The numbers after the quotes are Kindle locations not page numbers).

Harris asks the question if we have become the church at Laodicea (Rev 3.17) thinking we are doing well when actually we are “poor, blind and naked.” Why is it that the church, in the West, is declining in influence. He gives two basic answers: 1) We don’t really know our Bibles and 2)  We don’t fully practice Christianity. In other words we don’t really have a biblical world view and our lives tend to be self-powered, legalism, rather than Spirit powered. He quotes Alister McGrath,

‘Too often, traditional apologetics has sought to commend Christianity without asking why it is that so many are not Christians. It seems relatively pointless to extol the attractiveness of the Christian faith if this is not accompanied by a deadly serious effort to discover why it is obviously so unattractive to so many people.’ 251-253

Harris sees “six gaps, that he will develop in later chapters, between a biblical world view and the viewpoints of many Western Christians. The first one is “When we sweat the ‘how’ of creation instead of the ‘why’ of creation” It is alarming when we raise one interpretation of Genesis 1 to the level of the importance of the resurrection of Christ. This issue has always been a matter of discussion by people who take the Bible seriously.

..this is an exceptionally unfruitful approach and does a disservice to the biblical text, largely because it arbitrarily tries to force the Bible to answer questions of recent interest, rather than the truly significant questions the original authors set out to answer. 327-329

The 2nd gap is “When we idealize or villainize humanity.” A biblical world view balances its view of humanity between “total depravity” and the “image of God.” It honors the image of God in the most twisted of sinners and recognizes the absolute need for God’s grace and dependence on God to be what God intended for us in creation.

It is true to say that humans are made in the image of God. It is, however, an incomplete truth. When a partial truth masquerades as a complete truth it is in danger of becoming an untruth. A fuller account has to delve deeper into the creation story, and discovers in that narrative the explanation for the otherwise inexplicable cruelty and savagery shown by the human race. 364-366

The third gap happens “When grace is trivialized to legalism.” Anything that removes the cross from the center of Christianity, and from the basis by which we live our lives, is heresy. Everything we have, including forgiveness, is a gift of God and obligates our forgiveness and generosity to everyone else.

As people who bear the image of the God who made us, we know that we are made for relationship with one another. If we close our heart to another, even if they have wronged us, we fall short of who we are made to be.  417-418

Gap #4 is “When the Trinity is about mathematical improbabilities instead of transforming community.” The bottom line is that God is eternally relational – “God is Love.” This is why the essential evidence of relationship with God is love for others and unity.

The revealed God is never an isolated, lonely God, but comes to us in the rich relational life of Father, Son and Spirit. 446

The fifth gap between our world view and a biblical world view takes place “When stewardship of the world becomes exploitation and resisting change is assumed to be virtuous.” The human role in the world is to serve creation by representing God and “subduing” it to his standards of beauty, order, light and goodness. Thus, change, is always necessary and should be ongoing. 

God’s was the first creation, but in delegating the task of naming to image- bearers, God assigned humanity the task of building a world with a suitable name – one that reflects all the potential inherent in the original creation. 480-482

The final gap is “When eschatology becomes escapism instead of enticing invitation.” We should live as part of Jesus’ prayer that the Father’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Eternal life (and death) begins now and we should be walking, talking beacons of the kingdom and our churches and homes should strive to be heavenly colonies where God’s values are lived out.

..we should allow our convictions about the nature of our future reality to shape and direct, indeed to orientate, our present actions. 511-512

Within this biblical worldview there is much room for diversity and creativity. Our goal should be to live our lives within the wide parameters of God’s Word.

The broad lines of our faith give zones in which we operate and roam, and creativity is to be expected from those who are made in the image of the God who made everything from nothing. The Bible is the text from which we source our ideas  549-550

PIU K2 Student Retreat #3

The final day of our student retreat was last Saturday. The day began with breakfast as the students, and some staff, spent the night at the Lutheran Church on Friday. After the morning session we played games, met in groups and relaxed. The day ended with a barbecue. We did get some time to take our speaker, Rick Bee, to Chamorro Village where he was able to purchase the carved shark pictured to the right. Rick, we mailed it and it is on its way to you! My evaluation of the retreat this year was that it was a good time of rest and God-ward focus for the students and staff as we head toward the end of the semester. Nice job Nikki and Student Development staff and thank you to the Lutheran Church of Guam for providing their building and grounds to us!

The cooks made sure that breakfast was excellent

(Left) Karyn with some of our female students. (Right) Biola alumni and students who received Biola gear from Rick Bee pose with him

The Owen’s enjoyed a nice day on the beach with friends

Students had their game faces on

I snatched some nice pictures of students from their Facebook pages

The volleyball play was quite professional

Wish we had more days like this!

Reading in Exodus This Week #5 (25-31)

We are continuing our discussion on Exodus, while reading through the commentary, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, by Philip Graham Ryken, The next section of Exodus gives instruction about how the Israelites are to build the Tabernacle and serve in it. 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…

On the mountain God gives Moses the plan for the Tabernacle. The tabernacle was to be the place for the symbol of God's presence on earth. In a way, it was the palace of their king and God. It was also designed as a microcosm of the universe. It showed that the God who rules and runs the universe had taken up residence within the nation of Israel and was caring for them. It was the place of connection between heaven and earth. However, the barriers (courtyard, veil, Levitical guard) reminded them that God is holy and they are not. Something else still was needed to grant full access to God.

If he had wanted to, God could have performed a miracle and sent his people a whole tabernacle, ready-built. Instead, he gave them an opportunity to contribute to its construction. This is the way God usually works: He gives us an opportunity to participate. Although we can never repay him, we can offer ourselves for his service. Exodus 25.1-8, 803

The general meaning of the tabernacle is fairly obvious: God was coming to live with his people...the tabernacle was “sacred space for the long haul.”...The old tabernacle was a visual aid to show what kind of relationship God wants to have with his people. But the greater reality is the person of Jesus Christ, who gives us direct access to God. The way to meet with God is to believe in his Son Jesus Christ. Exodus 25.9-22, 814–815

The showbread symbolized God’s constant awareness of their daily needs. In case they were ever tempted to doubt his providence, it reminded them that their needs were ever before him. God saw what they needed. Their needs were always on his mind. God not only saw what they needed, but he also provided it. Exodus 25.23-30, 830

So when the priests entered the Holy Place to trim the golden lampstand—that shining tree of lights—they were glimpsing the glorious destiny of the children of God. Anyone who comes to Jesus Christ in faith will never go down to darkness and death but will live forever in his light. Exodus 25.31-40, 841

The tabernacle was a microcosm of the universe. Inside was Heaven, and outside was earth, with God at the center of it all. The heart of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, where God reigned in glory. The tabernacle, in turn, was at the heart of Israel, with all twelve tribes surrounding it. And Israel was the heart of the world, the centerpiece in God’s plan for saving the nations. Exodus 26, 850

The furniture inside the tabernacle demonstrated various truths about God and his promises. As the people worked together to build the tabernacle and provide the resources for it they would learn about God and deepen the relationship. It was expensively and artistically made because God is a great king who deserves honor and loves beauty, order and creativity. It was made exactly according to God's plan because it was an earthly copy of God's "control room" in heaven. It was a precursor to the final plan where heaven will come to earth and the two spheres will merge. (Rev. 21-22)

The lampstand was a little bit of Heaven on earth. Heaven is the place where God is glorified by all the saints who have gone to glory, the place where he has received praise since the moment the angels began singing for joy. The perpetual flame on the golden lampstand was a symbol of the heavenly worship that never ends. What God deserves is nothing less than everlasting praise. Exodus 27.18-28.14, 869–870

The high priest functioned as the mediator between God and the people. Thus, his clothes represented the glory of God and the breastplate represented that he carried the 12 tribes, as stones engraved with the names of all 12 tribes, on his shoulders and next to his heart. The high priests "crown" was inscribed with "holiness to the LORD" as a reminder of what was necessary to enter God's presence. The elaborate sacrificial system indicated just how far short of that holiness humanity came.

The high priest was the symbol; Jesus is the reality. He does all the things for us that the high priest did for Israel. He bears the burden of our sin on his shoulders. He carries our concerns close to his heart. He represents us before God. And as he does this priestly work, he stands in perfect holiness, so that we are holy to the Lord. Exodus 28.31-43, 898

The tabernacle was made skillfully and wonderfully because God is a great king who loves beauty, order and excellence. He gifts people like Bezalel and Oholiab with amazing talents that are to be used for God's glory and to serve fellow people by bringing them into God's presence. Anything that is truly beautiful and excellent is a gift of God's grace whether that is acknowledged by humans or not. God steps into Israel's culture as a king and brings a bit of heaven to them in His presence.

Here God is explaining what the tabernacle was all about. And what was it all about? It was about the God of Heaven making a place to dwell on earth. It was about God building a place where he could meet with his prophet and his people, establishing a point of contact where he could speak to them. It was about God consecrating a place by his presence. It was about God making his people holy to serve him. It was about God revealing himself so that he would be known as their God. It was about God being his people’s God and the people becoming his people. It was about God completing the work of salvation that he had begun when he brought Israel out of Egypt.  Exodus 29, 920

Art has the power to shape culture. What is happening in the arts today is prophetic of what will happen in our culture tomorrow. So when Christians abandon the artistic community, the church loses a significant opportunity to speak the gospel into our culture. What we need to recover—or possibly discover for the first time—is a full Biblical understanding of the arts—not for art’s sake, but for God’s sake. Then we will be able to produce good art that testifies to the truth about God and his world. Exodus 31, 947

PIU K2 Retreat #2

As I said yesterday, I have a lot of pictures of the K2 retreat which took place last weekend. I picked up several more pictures from Hartmut Scherer last night, which are way better than the ones I took, so I want to incorporate some of them as well. Most of the pictures in this post will come from the Friday events. I missed a lot on Friday because I was jetlagging so bad I ended up sleeping about 12 hours that day. Friday began with an on campus breakfast, followed by a community service event in which we helped “clean and green” the neighborhood around PIU. After Pizza Hut for lunch, the students and staff went to Merizo for some swimming. That evening we returned to the Lutheran Church for another service and stayed the night there.

Clean and Green followed by Fun and Sun

As you can see from my zombielike appearance I needed the sleep. The campus people look considerably better.

Friday night dinner at the Lutheran Church of Guam

K2 Retreat #1

I have many pictures of the PIU K2 Student Retreat that took place last weekend. Some of them I took, but most of the good ones were taken by students and staff. This year most of the retreat took place at the Lutheran Church of Guam, with some of it at the campus, and a swimming afternoon at Merizo. This year’s speaker was Rick Bee (right) from Biola University. His focus was on “contented living.” I think the students all enjoyed the retreat. It was good for all of us to take a couple days away from the classroom and reflect on spiritual things.

 

The sessions provided some time to listen to the word and discuss it

Also some time for corporate prayer and worship..

For students, faculty and staff

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

Over the next few weeks I will be reading through the book, The Big Picture: Building Blocks of a Christian World View, by Brian Harris. I will be posting some quotes on my Facebook page and you are welcome to discuss the posts there. (The numbers after the quotes are Kindle locations not page numbers)

Harris sets out his goal with this book in the preface…

The Big Picture explores the big building blocks of a Christian world view, hopefully helping to correct the shallow understanding of faith that is so widespread. 220-221

Harris’ approach is a bit different than most books I have read on building a Christian world view. As Dr. David Crutchley says in the foreword,

For Harris, the contours of a Christian world view are not some restrictive straitjacket, but rather broad lines of faith where the Christian ought to live with nurture, love, faith and hope amidst the messiness of life. Harris’s world view is earthed in Scripture and the life of Christ.

The book is organized so that it focuses just as much on orthopraxy as orthodoxy and seems to me to be a more practical approach to the issue of Christian world view. He begins by asking the question about why Western Christianity is having so little impact on the culture and then proposing 15 orienting biblical passages and then discusses how these are applied to cultural issues. The second section applies the passages to the major building blocks of Christian faith: creation, humanity, grace, Trinity, and eschatology. The final section discusses world view and Christian practice with chapters on hospitality and work.

The faith is far too rich and profound to neatly tuck it away into a few tidy boxes that purport to capture all that Christianity is about. 173-174

A firm understanding of our own faith is our greatest asset when we enter a world of differing beliefs and perspectives.  181

My plan is to tackle a couple chapters a week. You are welcome to join me as I read through the book.

Reading in Exodus This Week #4 (21-24)

I am now back home on Guam and continuing my discussion on Exodus, while reading through the commentary, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, by Philip Graham Ryken, The next section of Exodus is called the “Book of the Covenant” because it explains how the 10 commandments should be lived out practically by the Israelites within their covenant agreement with God, and concludes with a covenant ratification ceremony that binds them into relationship together. 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…

Chapter 21 begins the Book of the Covenant, which explains how the 10 commandments were to be applied in the daily life of the nation of Israel. They show us that the leaders of Israel were to be faithful to the eternal principles contained in the commandments, but creative in applying them to new situations. These laws are keyed to each of the commandments. First, the covenant dealt with idolatry. Israel was to be careful to maintain their exclusive loyalty to and worship of God despite the enticements of the world around them. They were to worship God in the way he showed them and not misrepresent him.

God is not the kind of deity who can be adequately represented in the form of an idol. He is the God who speaks from Heaven. The Israelites met him on the mountain in fire and smoke. They experienced his splendor and glory. How can anything we are tempted to look at—no matter how precious it is, or how shiny, or how well made—ever compare with the real beauty and majesty of God? The things of earth cannot compete with the glories of Heaven. Exodus 20.22-26, 691

Divine principles of justice were very practical. People were to take responsibility for their own actions and were to treat others as they wanted to be treated: with grace, love and mercy.

The Bible can help. It does not give us a complete code with regulations for every situation that might arise in every culture. However, it does provide a set of cases to help us understand the basic principles of divine justice. Exodus 21, 708–709

Legal liability is a thoroughly Biblical principle, even in the case of an accident. God expects us to take full responsibility for our actions, whether we intended to damage someone else’s property or not. Exodus 22, 724

The purpose of the law was to teach people what God is like so that they can properly represent him as the image of God. It was the outworking of an already existing relationship with God, not a code of abstract statutes.

The law does something else that is very exciting: It reveals God’s character. This makes the Old Testament law different from any law code or book of court decisions. The law reveals the Lawgiver. We do not study it to find out what we have to do, but to know our God. And as we study and apply his law, we are conformed to his character. Exodus 22.16-31, 732–733

The covenant code showed people how they could be blessed within the God's covenants with Israel. Obedience brought blessing while disobedience brought its own consequences, one of which would be the loss of God's relational protection and blessing. God was working with his people to show them what kind of life he wanted them to live and what kind of life would lead to their blessing (shalom).

We tend to be overconfident about the accuracy of our judgments concerning others. We also tend to put too much confidence in what we heard about who said what to whom. Therefore, it is very easy for us to spread false reports, sometimes without even fully realizing what we are doing. Exodus 23.1-13, 747

The Israelites missed out on God’s blessing because they compromised with the Canaanites. This warns us of the danger of settling for a partial victory that stops short of full obedience to Christ. God is winning the victory—usually little by little—but if we compromise with sin, our victory will turn into defeat. Exodus 23.20-33, 774

The Book of the Covenant ended with a covenant ceremony, in which the God of the universe proclaimed his his adherence to the covenant by eating in relationship with the leaders of Israel. God had committed himself to this relationship.

This is what worship is: meeting with God. And this is why God saved the Israelites—so they could worship him. Exodus 24 is a fulfillment of that promise. In order to confirm the covenant, God’s people gathered for a solemn assembly. They met at the mountain to worship God and behold his glory. Exodus 24.1-18, 779

Jesus came down so that one day we could be lifted up. What happened to Moses is a picture of what will happen to everyone who comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Glory is in our destiny...We will go farther up and farther in. Like Moses, we will be surrounded by the radiance of God’s glory. Exodus 24.9-18, 799