Empty Praise

I meant to get this post up on the day it claims to be posted, but was not able to finish until after my high school missions trip, which ended on the 10th of July. This was posted the 11th. Read it as if posted June 30th.

Tonight I had the opportunity to go with the Sullivans and some of their friends to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. It was very good singing, especially considering the fact that every single one of them is a volunteer, and there was a great amount of coordination involved. Their claps were all on beat and the scariest part was when they would put their hands down, because they did it... really... slowly... like... this...

Anyway, the eeriest part was when they sang "worship" songs that I like to sing to my God. They sang these songs and I suppose I was expected to appreciate their spirituality for it. Well, I didn't . That singing was only deceptive. It was empty praise. If they were worshiping at all (and not performing), then they were worshiping a false god. I talked to a Mormon once and said that her teachings didn't line up with my Christian teachings, she insisted that Mormons were no different from Christians. That wasn't difficult to discount, but that experience only convinced me that the purpose of the Mormon religion was deception. That's why I couldn't appreciate what they were doing.

They were good, yes. But it didn't mean anything. It was just empty.

The God we worship doesn't care that we sing the greatest hymns or most powerful worship songs, he doesn't care how well we sing them or how many people we sing them in front of. We don't even have to sing in order to worship God. He cares about the heart. His Word says He is seeking "true worshipers" who "will worship the father in spirit and in truth." - John 4:23 I need to be careful, though. Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean I can't be presenting empty worship to God. It can be just as easy to sing the words of the song without meaning them, or doing good works in order to get something other than Christ. I need to constantly remind myself of God's attributes and worship Him for those, realizing how low I am and how much He really deserves it.

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night"
~ Psalm 92:1-2

1 Corinthians 7:17-40

All right. The last time I tried to write this, it got lost. That was Sunday evening. It's Tuesday afternoon now. Hopefully the bad "luck" has passed by now. But perhaps it was not simply a case of bad luck. When I wanted to continue writing this on Monday, I had already spent an hour on it and just wanted to finish it and move on. Well that should be a red flag right there. That kind of apathy is unacceptable, and will not help us to continue move closer to Christ. Now, the fact that I try to do this on a regular basis could have the effect of making it a routine and numb me to doing it, but is that any reason to stop doing it? I think not. Reading our Bibles every day could get routine, however that does not in any way imply we should not do it every day. This last Sunday at Bible study, Bobby brought up a great point. This is a relationship! As such, it should have all the aspects of a successful and exciting relationship... Like spontaneity! A schedule should be there to guide you, not control you!

This blog is supposed to be all about 1 Corinthians, but that did not stop me from taking a day to write my post about Faithfulness. After that I got right back onto my "schedule." Bobby and Christa's marriage (or any other marriage for that matter), he said, could be completely planned with a bunch of nice activities to do together, but how predictable! There's no room for emotion or surprise, and I doubt anyone would like their life or relationships to be like that. Sure, a plan is nice sometimes so you have some idea of what you want to do, but when that plan decides what you do instead of you planning what you do, well, that just sounds dangerous. At that point apathy can hit, and you will have no power to resist it, since you have completely committed yourself to doing something you no longer want to do.

On that note, let us dive in to the last half of chapter 7. Verses 17-24 are pretty straightforward, and seem to just be a continuation of the theme of contentment. Paul says that we need not worry about changing our social status simply because we are saved. The Lord has a place for each of us, and that place is where we should walk and serve the Lord (v.17). He reassures us that religious status and social status is nothing, "but keeping the commandments of God is what matters" (v.19).

On a side note: It seems that Paul has a tendency to repeat himself a lot, perhaps he got that from the Old Testament. I seem to remember it happening there quite a bit too. Verses 17,20, and 24 are very similar. I would not even start to accuse him of being a bad writer (we always learn not to be repetitious in English class at school), since he may have felt this was necessary. These Corinthians were hard-headed and proud, so he may have felt that it would take a few times to really make his point

In verse 25 Paul decides to give advice rather than a commandment, since he knew of no command from the Lord (Christ or the Old Testament) that he could give. He advises people to stay as they are, if single to remain single, and if married to remain married. He does say that if one decides to get married, that is perfectly legitimate, although marriage will inevitably produce some conflict. He again wishes that men could be like him, and not have to worry about the troubles of a marriage (v.28).

In verse 29 Paul makes a little shift, encouraging the Corinthians to seek the Lord fully. He says that "those who have wives should be as though they had none" (v.29). This is not to say that marriage is not important or that physical needs should not still be met, but to say that the marriage should not take away from one's service to the Lord. This is not a problem if the one we marry encourages us toward that end in the first place! This is an urgent message, too, to be started immediately, not put off until some future date, because the "time is short" (v.29).

Paul urges that there be no distractions coming between us and the Lord (v.32). Marriage is not inherently a hindrance, although it does bring up potential distractions that could get between us and God. One of these is seeking to please our spouse (vv.33,34). That could be an encouragement to humble oneself and be Christ-like and more of a servant, or it could dominate our thoughts, and become an obsession taking higher precedence in our lives than God. Single people need not worry about this distinction, because they can simply focus on seeking the Lord and keeping themselves holy in body and spirit (v.34). At the end of this paragraph Paul once again reiterates that this counsel is not meant to hinder them, but to encourage them to remove distractions from their life in whatever way possible (v.35).

Verses 36-38 are Paul's advice on what to do in the case that the father had dedicated his daughter to lifelong chastity. If histhe man's daughter had a problem with this, and wanted to get married, he should not feel that breaking his vow would be sinning. It is no sin to allow one's child to marry. However, if the daughter was not bent on marrying anyone, he should not feel compelled to have her marry. Keeping her as a virgin would not be wrong. This was simply a matter of preference, not a choice between wrong or right.

Verses 39-40 are about the wife and restrictions on marriage and remarriage. Basically, the commitment lasts until one person dies, at which point the living spouse may remarry if they please (v.39). Paul says that he thinks they would be happier staying single, and for many that may be true, then adds (and this is actually funny, as it would seem obvious) that he thinks he has the Holy Spirit in him.

This passage at a first glance may seem somewhat dry, focused on an aspect of human living that does not specifically apply to me, but distractions are anything but missing from my life! The idea that we should "be without care" (v.32) and "serve the Lord without discation" (v.35) still apply! Jesus Christ once told us to be radical about dealing with distractions and sin. He told us we should cut off any inlet it has into our lives, so that we can serve Him perfectly without worrying about other things. He used an analogy of eyeballs being plucked and hands being severed. That is how radical I should treat these things that are getting in my way of serving Christ and getting to know Him better (Please note that it was just an analogy ~ He was not condoning self mutilation). What I can continue to do at all times is search for ways to destroy those sinful desires that creep up to take away from the joy I have in this relationship with my Lord.

A Change of Heart

Today was the first day of summer where I could honestly say it was the first day I had nothing to do. Nothing planned anyways. I always have a blog I can write, always a Bible to read, and always food to eat. Aside from that, I mean, I had nothing to do. That meant that today was the today I had to start my summer reading. Now, if anyone has ever been in school, they know how awesome it is to finally get to that summer vacation: those few, seemingly short weeks of freedom that we have before we must once again carry the burden of homework and tests on our backs. Basically I think homework and tests are the only reason people really despise school. If there were no homework or tests, if we could go to school every day and be done with it at the end of that day, everyone would have a good time! After all, you get to learn cool things like how to make explosions in Chemistry and socialize with your friends regularly and often. There's nothing bad about that. But the reality is that those things are there, because most people don't want to learn voluntarily. Therefore, when summer break comes along, it's that much sweeter, because we aren't carrying any school-related stress burdens.

Well, I have something to say about The King's Academy and academic freedom. It doesn't exist until you graduate! And even then you get to go to college, and bam, you are back in the system. They had to take homework one step further and invent the most horrible homework assignment man could possibly have invented: Summer Reading! That means, we get a list of books that we are required to read, and we read them all before summer is over (in my case before August 17, even though school doesnt start until later - August 22nd - which is still too early), and they check this by giving you more work (i.e. book report type papers to complete). Well this is a problem isn't it, and being a male, I am inclined to solve such a problem. Well, it is technically homework, so I should apply the same principle I do to regular homework and this is what?: To bring God into it. Well, the first time I tried that didn't work out so well. I had no idea how to do that: I was reading Frankenstein for heaven's sakes. So, what was there to do. Well I got up and tried again, but instead of trying the same experiment expecting different results like a bad scientist, I sought out a different book to read.

I chose Two Gentlemen of Verona by Shakespeare. Now, I have always had a hard time reading Shakespeare, but when I started reading this, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps God opened my eyes for a time, or perhaps this is one of Billy's simpler writings, or maybe I'm just progressing like that. In any case, I could read it and understand it! I actually laughed at Shakespeare at one point! I never would have dreamed of that happening. I remember always saying stuff like: "This is supposed to be comedy? This is ridiculous! A guy growing donkey ears isn't funny. That's just stupid" [A Midsummer Night's Dream]. Well, there was one segment in the passage I read - that being Act 1 - where this guy Proteus is proving that this guy Speed is a sheep.

SPEED
Sir Proteus, save you! Saw you my master?
PROTEUS
But now he parted hence, to embark for Milan.
SPEED
Twenty to one then he is shipp'd already,
And I have play'd the sheep in losing him.
PROTEUS
Indeed, a sheep doth very often stray,
An if the shepherd be a while away.
SPEED
You conclude that my master is a shepherd, then,
and I a sheep?
PROTEUS
I do.
SPEED
Why then, my horns are his horns, whether I wake or sleep.
PROTEUS
A silly answer and fitting well a sheep.
SPEED
This proves me still a sheep.
PROTEUS
True; and thy master a shepherd.
SPEED
Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance.
PROTEUS
It shall go hard but I'll prove it by another.
SPEED
The shepherd seeks the sheep, and not the sheep the
shepherd; but I seek my master, and my master seeks
not me: therefore I am no sheep.
PROTEUS
The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd; the
shepherd for food follows not the sheep: thou for
wages followest thy master; thy master for wages
follows not thee: therefore thou art a sheep.
SPEED
Such another proof will make me cry 'baa.'

Now, whether or not Speed is a sheep, I do not care. What I care about is the fact that I enjoyed reading that passage, and it inspired me to read more. Now, I quickly learned that Shakespeare has quite a difficult time staying off the subject of love. I have also been taught that any ideas a person presents that could or could not be trueshould be checked against the Bible. So, when someone in the story is talking about love, whether or not the author intends to be presenting a truth about love, I must check their statements against the Bible to be sure I am not sending myself any subliminal messages. Don't laugh. It happens. In any case, this is the quote:

JULIA
They do not love that do not show their love.
LUCETTA
O, they love least that let men know their love.

What surprises me - and what might surprise you as well - is the fact that these two lines are entirely true. They are both supported by the Bible and carry spiritual weight. I knew this as soon as I read both. The line by Julia is so directly applicable to the life of a Christian. It is the idea that if we are not bearing spiritual fruits, we are not a good tree. A change of heart results in a change of action. Love after all is an action! If we claim to be Christians, if we claim to love Christ, that will manifest itself in works (works on the other hand, will not bring forth a love for Christ).

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." ~ John 14:15
"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." ~ John 14:21
"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word...'" ~ John 14:23

Powerful indeed. This to say that if a brother is destitute of works, he should be cautioned to examine whether or not he has love for Christ, not to start doing good works. "But Evan," you say, "what about the next passage you introduced to use from Billy?" Well, with the idea of the Pharisees in mind, the quote I gave makes perfect sense. The Pharisees always tried to show how religious and spiritual they could be by doing works and following their law perfectly. They had a fake love, that was based on other people affirming their goodness. This is not how it should be with us, and this is what Lucetta was cautioning Julia about. If someone is very showy about what they do for someone else, it cannot be said that this doer loves. Let us take Matthew 6 as a great passage of example for this situation.

"Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men... And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men." ~ Matthew 6:2,5

These hypocrites wanted to show off their deeds and good works to other people, proclaiming their love for God, and hopefully raising themselves up to a higher spiritual status. But that is selfishness, and true love is selfless.

"...love does not parade itself, is not puffed up" ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4

I think I've pretty much driven my point into the ground by now. I just thought I would share the ways I was looking for God today in what I was doing (however boring it might otherwise be) and encourage others to do the same!

1 Corinthians 7:1-16

I definitely won't have time to write on the entire chapter today (It's 39 verses long!). But I'll get through as much as I can, stopping at 16 or 24 depending... Here we go!

The Classic Opening Verse: #1 ~ "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." That sounds radical, but it's actually a Jewish eupemism for intercourse. So... It is good for a man - and we'll use the English euphemism - not to sleep with a woman. Paul is referring to single people here, as in the next verse, he condones marriage in order to avoid immorality. In the next few verses he goes over how sexuality in a Christian marriage should be. Married people can read verses 3-5. I'll just move on. In verse 6, Paul clarifies that he is not commanding people to get married (i.e. Marriage is not required for the believer. It would not be sin for a man to remain unmarried his entire life). On the contrary, Paul wishes that all men could be single like him, but each man has his own God-given abilities (7/8). He agrees that it would be better for them to fulfill their passions the way God created them to be fulfilled than to remain single and unable to concentrate on working for the Lord.

The next section (verses 10-16) is about faithfulness in marriage. Verses 10 and 12 might seem confusing, like Paul is denying inspiration in verse 12 but affirming it in verse 10. However since this is Scripture, and all scripture is God-breated (2 Timothy 3:16), we know then that this cannot be the case. John MacArthur says that what Paul means by these phrases is that verses 10 and 11 are him reaffirming what God has already stated in older Scriptures, while verses 12-16 are new information coming through Paul. That makes sense.

Verses 10 and 11 are pretty straightforward. Christian couples are not to divorce. And if they do for any reason other than marital unfaithfulness (see Matthew 5:32), they are to remain unmarried to anyone else or be reconciled again to eachother. Paul makes it clear in verse 11 that neither partner has special priveleges for divorce (e.g. The woman isn't allowed to divorce, but if the man wants to he can). You have to clear this up with people. No loop holes.

Verses 12-16 address unequally yoked couples. Being married to an unbeliever (hopefully due to a conversion after marriage) is not defiling, and the Christian is to remain faithful to their spouse if s/he is willing. In verse 13 Paul once again clarifies that this applies to both the believing husband and the believing wife. Neither has special priveleges over another in divorce. Verse 14 should not be mistaken with salvation, although it can sometimes be including in the "sanctification." By saying that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified by the believing one, he means that the blessings received by the saved spouse will pour over and be shared with the unsaved. The same is said of the children. One Christian spouse will bless the children and possibly save them. The Christian parent doesn't need to fear what the non-Christian might do to make the children "unclean," but remain faithful.

He also then says that if the unbelieving spouse wishes for divorce, the believing one need not hold on (although I can't imagine it would be easy to simply let them go). Paul is speaking morally here in verse 15: the believer doesn't have to worry about sinning because a divorce is occurring. He says they are "not under bondage in such cases." Also, the believer need not be preoccupied with saving their spouse: that is not their job. There is no guarantee that they will be the one to save their spouse anyways. God decides who is saved, so it would be better to be at peace with that believer than to create more strife by resisting the separation.

A common theme in these verse is contentment. We as Christians should be content with our social or marital or whatever status that God has placed us in. There is no need to fight the circumstances God has placed us in, but we need to trust Him and do our absolute best to serve Him wherever and however we are: in this case, single or married. I as a highschooler can be content with simply being single and being able to serve the Lord with all my heart, without loyalty owed to another person. I don't need to worry about searching for a girlfriend or getting married because God has provided my singleness as a blessing and a time to focus on growing in Him (possibly even to prepare for such a relationship). My job is to wait on the Lord, and I can do so eagerly with great anticipation and excitement. What a way to live!

"My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning -
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning."
~Psalm 130:6

1 Corinthians 6

Another day, another chapter! I haven't had much time this week to do these studies, but bear with me, the busyness is coming to a close.

I don't really have any explanation for the first verses. Paul says that we will judge the world (alongside God I assume) and angels. John MacArthur says that the Greek word could mean "to rule or govern," so who knows what Paul actually meant. From the context it looks like he means judge since he's talking about judges and court and such, but I don't know for sure. Paul then says something along the same lines Christ did. He says we should actually let ourselves be wronged and cheated, if it avoids going to court before unbelievers. Instead of this, the Corinthians had been cheating, and that to each other! Paul then addresses a critical issue, stating clearly that those in habitual sin will not go to heaven (not because they have disqualified themselves, but because this is clear evidence that Christ is absent from their lives). He then goes on in verses 9-10 to list a bunch of examples of actions that characterize people who will not enter heaven. And then verse 11 ~ awesome news! We used to be there! We used to be on our way to hell. Now we're justified through Christ, washed clean of our sin, and sanctified for his purpose! This is the story of every Christian's life, and what a great story it is! I heard Bobby today talking to his 4th graders about what happens when a person gets saved, and he compared it to being saved from a fire by a fireman. "If that happened, wouldn't you want to tell everyone about it? That's the way it should be with Jesus!" Good point, Bobby.

If you're ever in a tight spot, wondering what you should do, which choice to make, turn to 1 Corinthians 6:12!!! This is such an awesome verse and seriously brings to light what things we should be living for. We should be wondering "Is this right (beneficial, helpful)?" If so, then that's what we should do. If not, then why waste our time? An attitude of "there's nothing wrong with this" is probably not the best attitude to take, since you can see someone letting themselves slide into sin a lot more than someone who asks "How is this working for my good? How is this encouraging others? Is this going to control me?"

A practical application in High School would be with... Dating! So many people it seems want to know who to go out with. Scratch that. Lots of people know who they want to go out with ~ that person they've got this crush on of course! Many people, however, don't know why to go out with people, and they want someone else to validate their desires. Well, often times they won't find that validation or encouragement because the relationship is not centered around Christ. The other person is not ready to encourage them towards Christ (and vice-versa), or this relationship will only be a further temptation for sin, or this relationship is going to take hold of their life and everyone else will seem insignificant. Probably the most common pitfall of high school relationships is that they turn idolatrous. It's very easy for this to happen and can be very subtle, and often times the relationship with that person becomes more important than anything else - including the relationship with God. The other person is supposed to be encouraging that spiritual relationship, not distracting you from it! In any case, this verse (12 if you forgot) is a great way to test your intentions and your motives in order to see whether or not you should do something. I caution you, though, be prepared to accept the answer you don't want to hear if it comes to that.

Wow... Ok that was a lot for 1 verse its time to move on.

The last verses from 13 to 21 all deal with the issue of sexual immorality in the church. The Corinthians had bought into lies about sex and allowed themselves to become promiscuous. Verse 13 seems strangely placed in this case, but apparently it's actually a reference to a false philosphy of the day. This theory was the idea that sex is only biological and is morally and spiritually inconsequential, since it is purely physical (like eating). Paul doesn't even wait until the next sentence to rebuke this idea. Our bodies were made for God and God alone. Our bodies are members of the body of Christ (the church), so to make them members of a harlot through sex is out of the question. Sex has many spiritual implications that cannot be ignored - it is not just a physical act. We are commanded to "flee from sexual immorality" (v.18). It of all sins has the greatest potential to corrupt, control, and destroy, physically and spiritually. We are to treat our bodies as temples of God, taking care of it, because it is not ours to defile! It belongs to God! He bought us, therefore we should seek to glorify God physically as well as spiritually, because both our body and spirit are His (v.20). We can do that by waiting until marriage and celebrating this act that God created under the circumstances that he created it to be celebrated.

Well, I hope you find that insightful. If you didn't, I don't know what to tell you! It's straight from the Bible. It was good to get another post up today and I hope to have many more coming in the future. There are 10 more chapters left in this book, so that means at least 10 more days of blogs for me to write, not including the ones that I may be inspired to write apart from 1 Corinthians like "Faithfulness." Tomorrow is chapter 7! I'm exciting to see what other wisdom Paul has to share with the Corinthians (and myself).

1 Corinthians 5

It's great to feel free to write what God puts on our hearts as I did yesterday, but I am also excited to get back in the Word with you and all of my other faithful readers. I know you're out there! Anywho, time to stop kidding myself. Onto 1 Corinthians 5!

This one's nice and short. Just 13 verses! I have a feeling they are going to be intense though, since Paul is specifically addressing the immorality in the church. Verse 1 starts with Paul bringing up the fact that the sexual immorality going on among some of the members is hideously gross, and that not even the pagan's practice such things. Beyond that, they brag about it! They think they're so great that they can do these horrible things. Paul counsels that they need to be sent out of the church (ie. Excommunicated!). I've never heard of anyone getting excommunicated before, at least when people mess up they know it and leave on their own. Paul says some harsh words that might almost sound like condemnation to hell, but a closer look says they are not. Verse 4 reads: "deliever such a one [an immoral person] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh*, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Paul takes sin so seriously, that he instructs the church to cast this person (and these kinds of people) out into the world - away from the blessings of God. He reasons that in this manner, even if they might die, they will realize their error and his soul shall be saved. It would actually be more beneficial and more productive if he learned the life outside God's protection.

It would be good for that man and the church as well. Paul uses the analogy of leaven and bread to symbolize the effects of even the smallest tolerance of sin on a congregation. If even one person's sin is tolerated, that one person could single handedly bring down the entire collection of believers simply because his sin was not taken seriously. He urges them to "purge out the old leaven, that [they] may become a new lump" (v.7). If they repent, they can start anew once more, and if they remove the people in sin who are unwilling to repent, they can once again call themselves God's people. He wants them to start over again "not with old leaven [past sins], nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread** of sincerity and truth" (v.8). It's never to late to be forgiven, as long as we are willing to come back to Christ broken and open with our sins, ready to turn from them using whatever means necessary.

Verses 9-11 are very straightforward and easy to understand. How easily accepted are they, though, is the question. In these verses, Paul clarifies what he wrote in an earlier epistle to the Corinthians. He instructed them not to associate with immoral people. What he intended was that they not associate with immoral people who profess to be Christian. He could not say they shouldn't associate with immoral people outside the church, because they wouldn't be able to do anything with anybody - including evangelize! That would be bad. We are commanded to evangelize those who have not yet found Christ, but if a brother should be habitually committing these sins of sexual immorality and idolatry, we are not even to eat with them! We need to be radical when dealing with sin and show each other in it that what they are doing is not ok!

Paul explains himself in the last two verses. Our job is not to judge those outside the sphere of believers. There is no reason for them to stop sinning! Trying to make them a better person ultimately will not help them. We are to share the gospel with them, and if they believe it, then we can talk about seeking God and repenting from sin. Our job is to examine those on the inside (especially ourselves) and keep them accountable for seeking the Lord. If someone is not willing to change, that is probably a sign that they do not have Christ is them, and they should be cast out before the can have a negative effect on the rest of the members.

Perhaps you didn't, but I thought that was intense! I love the radical nature of so many Biblical passages. It's inspiring. Some of these are hard words that even some pastors have a tough time swallowing. Dismissing people from the fellowship is probably not an especially enjoyable activity, but clearly - and sadly - it is necessary for healthy church development. I can only wonder what I would do were I in that position.

*Emphasis added
**Not in original text

Faithfulness

You know, something... Well something interesting. You'll have to forgive me if I seem inconsistent, but I need to write whats on my heart today, and any day from now on as I receive inspiration. When I don't have that inspiration to write whatever specifically applies to my life, I'll turn once again to God as He has so much to say. But I realized something today. I learned a little bit more about love. Now, I know the title says faithfulness, but certainly loyalty is a part of loving. In this case - loving God. I've been enduring plenty of feelings lately and have experienced that many times, they can't be trusted. Perhaps not a surprising revalation for those more experienced, but I felt (for lack of a better word) like today I won at least one battle over my feelings. Many people know that love is quite elusive, since often times what one thinks is love is infatuation, and goes away as quickly as it came. So what are we supposed to do? I know I've had strong feelings for select people in the past, and I would hate to pass it off as simply temporary with nothing deeper possible. I don't want it to happen. That would be an extreme disappointment.

What I think we can do. What I was able to do today was set aside my negative feelings and apathetic attitude and determined to run after Christ nonetheless. When I first started blogging (hah, as if I were a veteran) I was excited. Excited about the challenge of going through first Corinthians so rapidly. Excited about the fact that I would have so much free time that I could spend doing this. Excited about the Lord and the ways I could grow in Him through this online excercise. Today however I wanted to take a break from blogging. I don't know why, maybe it was just because my day contained a few things I didn't really care to do, yet did anyways. As you must know, it was Father's day. I stayed home from church and went for a hike. Not my most favorite activities. I did it because I knew I didn't want my dad having any reason to say that religion is more important than Him. It's not. Perhaps I got worn out from such a "long" day and just wanted to be able to relax and have some "Evan time," but realized my reason for doing so would have been wrong.

When I'm thinking straight I can see that feelings are powerful and I can tell when others need to dismiss them temporarily, but when it hits me, when that power hits me, it seems to be a different story. Luckily God reminded me today that He is more powerful than any human emotions. Certainly the Creator has a substantial amount of power over the created. He is worth the struggle against difficult feelings, and I was able to step out in a blind faith trusting that this was the truth. And now here I am, writing about the way God changed me just a little bit today. I believed that trusting the Lord for my comfort and restoration would be the right path, rather than laziness. Being able to say that right now is plenty reward, though I must wonder what God has in store for me next.

"A faithful man will abound with blessings..." ~ Proverbs 28:20

1 Corinthians 4

Wow... Last night was the all-nighter at church, and I'm glad we don't do that more often. It's very difficult on the body. You do gain the night, but you lose a lot of energy, and most of the next day. That day being today. I did, however, get to go to the King's Senior Class Graduation. That was fun. They did a good job of making the time reasonable. Speeches were short and sweet, and it was quite organized. I got to be a flag bearer with Lindley Graham. That was fun. Well... I'm not sure how much time I have to write this entry, so I'll stop blabbing about my day and start getting to chapter 4.

It's 21 verses long, and starts with Paul telling the Corinthians that we as Christians are "servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (v.1). We are responsible for keeping and dispensing the words of the New Testament - the mysteries of God that have now been revealed. One requirement for these servants is that they are faithful (v.2). We need to be loyally obedient to Christ, taking up our cross daily as we also deny ourselves. However we need not worry what other people say of our faithfulness, but what God's verdict is with respect to our faithfulness. This was Paul's attitude as he expressed it in verse 3 and 4. Only God can decide for sure who has been faithful (v.4). Paul was even sure enough to say that he knew nothing against himself. He had a clear conscience before men and before himself and before God, but knew that since he was still imperfect he couldn't be justified by this fact (v.4). He reiterates the fact that only God can be the judge in verse 5. This verse is another verse on heavenly rewards, when God will judge who has been faithful and to what extent, at which point he will applaud us for our inner devotion.

The next section, as I read it, seems to imply that the Corinthians had been caught up in the sin of pride. Verses 6 and 7 contain Paul's rebuke of the Corinthians, showing them that they have no reason to boast - since everything they have was given to them, not earned or deserved. Then verses 8-13 are quite surprising, and I must wonder whether this was a mistake: sarcasm as a form of rebuke. I have often wanted to get sarcastic with some people who were being arrogant or hypocritical, but I resisted, fearing that I would become just the same as them. Perhaps Paul knew the correct attitude to be taken when doing this, and was careful enough to not fall into a pride of his own.

Basically in these verses Paul "praises" the Corinthians for being high and mighty while he and the other apostles are considered the lowest of the low (v.13), poorly cared for (v.11), and doing the work of slaves (v.12). He tells them that they are wise is Christ, while he and the apostles are fools and that they are strong, while he is weak (v.10). Certainly he couldn't have meant these things, as he was just rebuking them for being proud, so it would seem sarcasm is no new concept. Not even to an apostle. And here I was, thinking sarcasm was not an appropriate way to go about correcting.

Paul does explain himself in the last verses. He assures them that he is not simply their teacher, but that he cares deeply for them as a father (vv.14,15). In the same way, we should seek to be fathers to those we are discipling, not only teaching them, but caring for them as for family. After all, if they are Christians, they are family to us in Christ. We then also need to be examples to them, as if they were looking up to us as if a parent, which is what Paul intended when he exhorted them to imitate him. He was bold, but convinced that since he was following Christ, they could follow him and so be led to Christ.

Paul wanted to come to them, but could not come right away, so he sent Timothy, a trusted disciple (v.17). And apparently some didn't care (v.18). They took the "I haven't broken the law until I am caught" attitude. Paul challenged them, since he knew that probably they were not as powerful as they made themselves out to be. He explains that - excuse the cliche - although some people can talk the talk, they can't, or don't, walk the walk (v.19). The kingdom of God is about the walking (v.20). Walk with Christ - that is the power of God, not simply being able to give the right answer to every question.

Are you living by the power of God? Or are you just flapping your lips?

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Sorry about that... I really had not enough time to write on all of 1 Corinthians 3. Hopefully that won't happen again, but then I can't guarantee it. A lot can be said when every word is truth. Today I will simply be finishing up the last part of chapter 3, which shouldn't be too long, but who knows what could happen??

Alrighty, time cruch ~ 1 hour till I must leave for the all-nighter ^_^. That'll be great fun.

Continuing straight from last week, verses 16-17 are quite disturbing to me. If you want to read this, it's very much like a threat. I like it, because people sometimes think the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament are different (one being war hungry and the other being lovey dovey and ultra forgiving). Not here. No way. No how. God dwells in Christians, and if anyone tries to mess with that, they're on God's hit list. You don't want to be on God's hit list.

Now, the final verses of chapter 3 Paul devotes to cautioning the Corinthians to avoid relying on worldly wisdom. Verse 18 sounds much like Christ's view on leadership and rank in the kingdom of heaven. What that does for me is it further assures me that this is indeed from God, not from men. Who in their right mind would say "become a fool that you may become wise" (v.18)? What is that? Foolishness of God, that's what it is. And I'll take that any day over the wisest wisdom of man. The wisdom of man doesn't seem to be very impressive anyways when Paul starts quoting Old Testament scripture describing it (vv.19-20). Read it for yourself, I can't say it any better than God.

Most mind boggling verses in the Bible I've come across in the Bible so far: 21 and 22. When I first read 21 I thought to myself "Everything is the Corinthians? Well... maybe he doesn't really mean that and he's just being... philosophical or something." So I read on. And what did I find? I found verse 22! Surprise! Paul then clarifies: yes indeed, life, death, Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world! All are theirs! Shoot, it's all mine too! Wow. God is good isn't He? I'm not really sure of all the implications of what Paul means by saying "These things are yours," but John MacArthur seems to think Paul means that God has provided all these good things for us. Awesome, but something in me says there's more. Maybe I'm just being greedy and power hungry... Well, let's not have that shall we?! Onto verse 23.

It simply says believers belong to Christ as Christ belongs to God. That is so encouraging to me, because that tells me that our relationship with Christ is (or should be) the same as Christ relationship with God. And that relationship is the most intimate relationship ever. It's oneness! Some religions want to be one with nature. We'll do them one better here. Let us strive to be one with Christ, just as Christ is one with God. That sounds like an amazing adventure, with great rewards at the end as well! For those of you who haven't started - or who aren't working towards that end at the present - I highly recommend it.

Well, thats all for today. Forgive me if it seemed rushed, but I hope it wasn't any less encouraging! Come back tomorrow for chapter 4!

1 Corinthians 3:1-15

Another glorious day! It's kinda funny... I feel more busy now that I'm out of school than when I was in school! Perhaps it's just because I have so much free time I feel like I need to fill, and when I don't have anything to fill it with, I can turn to this! I'm always doing something... It's great, I highly recommend it. Now: on to chapter 3!

Forgive me that I forgot to mention this, but I would definitely advise you to have a Bible while you go over these since I don't quote every verse I reference. It's best to hear what God has to say straight from God's word. It has a bit more power that way. I use NKJV so if you have one of those it would be easiest to follow.

Chapter 3 is 23 verses long and begins with Paul in verses 1-4 condemning the divisions and strife among them. He goes so far as to say that these behaviors place them in the "carnal" category. It seems that unity is quite a big deal, and anger between brothers and sisters in Christ is unacceptable. Once again (if you remember from chapter 1) the sort of divisions he's talking about sound eerily like present day denominations... I am still trying to decide however, whether this present day battle is a battle over separations in the church, or false teaching? Perhaps its a mix of both, who knows? I just know that Paul never intended church to be the way it is today. If someone has insight, don't hesitate to share!

Another one of those "in passing" moments caught my eye in these few verses as well. Paul makes mention of milk and solid food as representation of truths in the gospel that are to be taught based on a certain spiritual maturity level. Now, I know there isn't much chance of determining a certain standard for this. "When they have given 50% of their earnings to the church, then you can tell them that lots of people go to hell" or something ridiculous like that... Obviously we as humans can't really come up with a definite standard for spiritual maturity since we can't see the heart, but Paul seemed to know they weren't ready for what he wanted to tell them since they were still acting like carnal people (v.3). Now, that doesn't exactly explain a standard, but I certainly don't want God's truth held from me because of what I do, even though God's grace wont be held from me based on what I do. This, I suppose, gives me at least one more incentive to follow God and commit myself to Him, letting Him live through me, since if it were up to me... Well I would know very much lets just put it that way.

Wow... Time to move on, we still have 19 verses to go! This next section is on the longer side and indeed has much more to say, although I'll do my best to keep it reasonable.

Paul continues from the last section by reasoning with the people of the church who claim to be "of" a certain person. Perhaps they were accrediting their salvation to that person because Paul asks "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord have to each one?" What the Corinthians apparently didn't understand is that they were not saved by Paul or Apollos. They weren't following Paul's gospel, they were taught the Gospel of Christ and believed it. Again, this bears great resemblance to denominations (in my opinion) as some are named for those who founded them. Paul explains that we as witnesses and preachers of the gospel are not responsible for saving people: "So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (v.7). Only God can make people grow into Him, our job is to provide the necessary information and truths in order to make that happen.

Paul then describes in the next paragraph the Christian life in general. He says that our foundation that we build our life on should be Jesus Christ, but to be careful what we build on it (v.10). It is possible to be saved, yet still waste my life doing worthless things through my own strength, and in the end when it is tested by fire it will become clear how I spent my life. Each person will then receive a reward based on what remains after it is tested (vv.14). This should not be confused with punishment for sin. Christ paid that penalty for all Christians - we will never have to endure that if we have accepted his gift. However, their are heavenly treasures and rewards spoken of in various places in the New Testament - this being one of the - and this is how God will decide what each person gets. Sadly, some people may get nothing and "be saved, yet so as through fire" (v.15).

Well... Chapter 3 still has a lot left to say, and I don't have a lot of time left to say it! I'll be putting up the rest of it tomorrow for those who are interested. I hope you enjoyed 1 Corinthians 3:1-15. Thanks for reading.

1 Corinthians 2

Alrighty... Chapter 2!!!

This chapter is actually on the shorter side - at just 16 verses, but I'm sure we'll discover it isn't any less meaningful than the last chapter we went over.

If you remember from chapter 1, Paul had asserted that he did not come "with wisdom of words" (1:17). This chapter begins with Paul doing just about the same thing in his usual, what I am tempted to say, overly humble state. He simply came to them "declaring the testimony of God" (2:1). The first few verses outline, I think, how we are supposed to act as witnesses for Christ. We need not know every argument for the existence of God. Paul said he knew "nothing...except Christ Jesus and Him crucified" (2:2). We as witnesses are responsible for knowing nothing but the facts of what we believe and what Christ has done in our lives. This message is powerful, because it then becomes not our smooth speech or persuasive logic that connects people to God, but God Himself working in them! (2:4,5) Paul understood what it meant to be a witness of Christ. I want to have the confidence that he had, not needing to know every facet of physical evidence for God in order to validate my faith. A man with experience trumps the man with evidence.

For the rest of the chapter (vv.6-16) Paul speaks about spiritual wisdom, how we as believers can come about it, and why non-believers can't have it.

...I must take a break from the path this chapter follows and go to a different subject. Hopefully I won't do this often, because as I explained yesterday, if I went through every facet of the large amount of scripture I plan to truck through, I would be stuck here forever (that would be nice - dont get me wrong, but then what chance would I have to apply my learnings to my life. After all that is the point isnt it?) and we cant have that. I realized upon reviewing this chapter that many of the most profound sayings in Scripture - the ones that seem to hold the most truth and that dive deepest into the heart of God - are the ones that we miss because they seem to be said "in passing." For example, verse 6 reads as follows: "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing." Now, yes, that is an good verse on wisdom. That probably seems like the maint point of the verse, and you'd probably be correct in saying so.

But take a look at this: "the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing" (v.6). !_! Wow. Those are some strong words, and looking at this chapter as a whole, we would miss the implications of such a phrase. I just thought I'd alert you that both views of scripture are necessary - the general, basic, fundamental truths as a foundation, and then those details that seem so obscure but have endlessly wonderful implications such as this one. (I just wrote 2 paragraphs because of 10 words that i read). I'll leave you to explore those. Perhaps I should just make a section at the end of each blog with phrases that caught my attention...

Back to verses 6-16. Spiritual Wisdom. Paul reiterates in verse 7 that some things taught in scripture are a "mystery." They cannot be understood without the Holy Spirit in us! (v.10) That is the one difference between Christians and non-Christians isn't it? We have the Spirit in us. And He is the only one qualified to teach us these things - Paul makes an analogy: "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God" (v.11). Only Evan can tell you for sure what is going on inside Evan - doctors might be able to tell that I'm dreaming (by looking at the movement of my eyeballs when im asleep), or that I'm thinking(by checking out my brain waves), but to tell what I'm thinking is impossible for them. Only I can tell you what I'm thinking, and you will then have to trust me to be telling the truth. In the same way, only the Spirit of God can tell you what the mind of God is like! Therefore, those who do not have the Spirit of God cannot know the mind of God.

Paul then gives us one of the reasons we have the Holy Spirit in us: "that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God"(v.12). Again asserting that the Holy Spirit teaches us (or better understood: helps us to understand) (v.13) and that spiritual things are foolishness to the "natural man" (v.14).

Verse 15: Too intruiging for me to attempt to explain: "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one."

Paul ends in verse 16 assuring believers than we can know the mind of God because we actually have the mind of Christ! amazing...

Well, that will have to do for today. I hope this is helping those who read to think more about spiritual matters and that it might be encouraging to all. Tomorrow is 1 Cor. 3!

1 Corinthians 1

Alright, I've gotten a request to continue "blogging." The thirsty for more comment convinced me, plus the fact that I haven't been totally focused on my reading or anything. So I'll be starting a new series on 1 Corinthians, hopefully being able to do a chapter a day. As a chapter is a fair amount for each day, obviously I cannot examine every cross reference and dig into the deepest depths of every verse. That would take years, if not forever (who knows really how deep this book goes?). I'll be doing a little overview of each chapter, inserting my thoughts here and there - these obviously not to be taken immediately as absolute truth.

A fair sized chapter, at 31 verses long it takes up 2 pages and then some in my MacArthur Study Bible, and most of those are notes. It would seem that Paul has a way of conveying many more ideas than the words he writes, no?

An intoduction to this book: 1 Corinthians (as well as 2 Cor.) was written by Paul, as the first verse indicates, and is named for the church of the people to whom it is addressed, Corinth (indicated also by the second verse). Corinth was located in southern Greece, and prospered as a major trade city, since captains would pass over the ithsmus with their boats on rollers in order to avoid the otherwise long and dangerous 250 mile journey by sea. Corinth also hosted the Isthmian games, apparently second only to the Olympic games, and as a result of all the people traffic, became extremely morally corrupt, even when compared to the godless standards of the day. Some of these sins such as incest, were still discovered among church members! Obviously, Paul needed to address these issues.

Paul begins by asserting his apostleship and introducing also a friend who was with him named Sosthenes. John MacArthur explains in his notes that since the letter Paul was about to write was meant to rebuke and correct, he needed to present himself as an apostle speaking the very words of God, implying that rejection of his words would be rejecting God.

In light of the circumstances in which he writes this letter, the first few verses are quite amazing to me, because had it been I writing, 1 Corinthians would not have started out this kindly. Paul begins by addressing the Corinthians as saints(v.2), sancitified(v.2) and enriched(v.5) by Christ. He tells them that he is always thankful(v.4) to God for them as they fall short in no gift(v.7). Paul often used this method of speaking with people, first affirming where they had gone right, then alerting them of their faults.

Now, verse 8 catches my eye. It reads as follows "who [Jesus Christ] will also confirm you to the end, that you may be* blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." The bold word is the one that sparked my curiosity. This word is often associated with perfection, which most people - if not everyone - believes to be impossible in this life. Interesting...

In this next section (vv.10-17), Paul admonishes the Corinthians in their dissent over certain issues. The Corinthians had been quarelling amongst themselves over "who they were of." I'm really not sure what that means, but Paul quoted them in verse 12: "'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas [Peter],' or 'I am of Christ.'" Notice that he doesn't try to say that following him is right and others iswrong (in fact he does just the opposite in vv. 14-17), nor does he say that those who claim to be of Christ are right, and everyone should agree with that group. No, he admonishes everyone for dissenting with eachother and encourages them to be unified in their testimony (v.10). Maybe you can see the correlation between the Corinthians and the churches of today? What is Paul saying about denominations? Perhaps we should be doing more to remain unified as Christians rather than separated between denominations... would that not help our testimony? I cannot count how many times I have heard the line "you Christians cant even agree on what you believe, look at all your denominations!"

Onto the next section! This one is a really fun one... I'm including the end of verse 17 as well as vv.18-25. This chunk of Scripture is really freeing in that it allows us to escape from the burden of explaining away Scripture. It openly admits that there are some things that non-believers simply will not be able to handle without the help of the Holy Spirit. Basically it starts at verse 17 where Paul seems to imply that if those who had been saved had been saved by "wisdom of words" (ie. eloquent) that the power of the Gospel would actually be weakened! Verses 18-25 are basically him repeating the idea that God's message is foolishness to the gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. It's ironic really, if anyone hears something along the lines of: "What your gospel? Savior on a stick? Hahaha!" that person should be further convinced of the truth of what the Bible teaches, since Paul predicts this will be said of the cross, right here in verse 23: "but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness." We don't have to be ashamed of our foolish gospel, though: "but to those who are called [a reference to the elect, which people also seem to have trouble with] Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (v.24), explaining that: "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (v.25).

In the last part of this chapter, Paul informs the Corinthians of a curious fact among those who are believers. "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called" (v.26). Not many of the great people according to the world's standards are called to be believers. This affirms Christs motto of the last first and the first last. This is not to say that smart people are less likely to be saved, or buff people wont come to Christ as easily simply because they are buff, but it certainly would imply that humbling oneself is an integral part of coming to God. As long as we rely on our own strength or our own smarts, God isn't going to seem necessary, and therefore we won't be willing to come to Him. After all, what would be the purpose? Paul explains the reason why God does this in verse 27: "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty." God wants us to know that He alone is strong, that He alone is wise, and therefore that He alone is worthy of worship.

Paul ends with a quote from Jeremiah 9:24 "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."**

Thanks for taking time to read my 1 Corinthians 1 overview - I'll attempt to go through chapter 2 tomorrow! (This one took about an hour and a half so we'll see...) Leave me comments. ^_^ Time for me to go, hope you found this insightful!

*Italics denote implied words in the original greek text that are technically not there.
**In this case, the words were italicized in my Bible to denote a quote.