Ephesians 1:11-14

It’s about time for a Bible journal again. Actually, I’m supposed to be doing these twice a week, both of them being due on Thursday. That means I’m technically behind, because I have to do two in one day. Well, here is Ephesians 1:11-14. It’s got a lot bottled up in 4 verses. The whole INTO THROUGH BEYOND thing is just a formality for the class… I just post the journal as it is seen on the paper I turn in.

INTO
The book of Ephesians was most definitely written by the apostle Paul. The intended recipient is in question, though, as some scholars believe it might have just been written to the entire church is Asia Minor, being sent to the capital first, which just so happened to be Ephesus. This, of course, is of no consequence. Paul addresses theological doctrine and Christian living in this epistle.

THROUGH
Paul continues from the last section saying that we who have been predestined by God have a secure reward (v.11). Those who have believed in Christ are guaranteed an inheritance, because the Holy Spirit seals us in God (v.13). All this is being done according to His perfect purpose and will in order to give Him glory (vv.12, 14).

BEYOND
Paul reveals a lot of deep truths in this passage in just a few words. He answers the question of “Can we lose our salvation?” No. “Who is ultimately in control?” God. “Why does God choose to save some?” For His glory. All these can sometimes be burning questions in the Christian’s mind, and personally it is a reminder of mightily encouraging truths that have already, thankfully, been burned into my head and heart. The idea that I can lose my salvation is horrifying and would put a terrible burden on my shoulders that God never meant to put there. Secondly, God is in control. This means that I cannot be responsible for saving anyone, only He can do that. Sometimes I convince myself that people can be argued into the faith. The more I try to, the more I realize that without God I am bound to fail. Only he can change hearts, and that’s what he wants – a change of heart, not a change of mind. Thirdly that ultimately the reason he saves and does not save people is for His glory. God is the most important being in existence, and He deserves what He gives Himself. Living with this conviction and assurance radically changes my mindset, allowing me to focus on Him as supreme, rather than my pride as important.

Cleaning Up

Oh how the time flies. It's amazing how many days can just whiz past me without even realizing that I haven't posted! It's also amazing how far we can float away from Him if we aren't constantly swimming that direction. It reminds me of Pilgrim's Progress: breaks are bad! There are times of renewal, and there are the times we get lazy. They actually aren't difficult to distinguish with the tiniest bit of discernment, but our sin convinces us of a false reality, and we are lulled into a spiritual sleep. "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death" ~ Proverbs 14:12.

I must confess that I am guilty of this. I didn't post for a while and started hearing myself say, "It's ok. You're tired. God wants you to sleep." While I'm sure it's true that God wants us to take care of ourselves and be responsible with our bodies, part of that being getting a good night's sleep, I think that this excuse is extremely deceptive, because it focuses on the effect rather than the cause. I notice that it's not God's fault that I dont get enough sleep. It's not because He requires too much time out of my day for seeking Him that I end up awake at ungodly hours of the night (or morning; pun not intended). If we look carefully we can see that this is completely the wrong attitude. The reason I'm up late is because I require too much time out of His day for entertaining myself. Subtle. Dangerous. Yet I'm confident that if we take on this attitude of humility and devote our days to Him, we will be blessed. "Blessings crown the head of the righteous" ~ Proverbs 10:6.

Actually, this whole thought process occurred to me when I got up from my desk last night. I looked at it, but didn't see it - I couldn't see it. Not through all the junk that was strewn around on it, under it, over it, and wherever else you could think of where to put something on a desk. Socks that had been kicked off were plentiful (yea, it was that sick), trash that hadn't been thrown away was everywhere, and there was an excess of unorganized paper. This all resulted in a lack of desk space on which to do my work, and added to the stressfulness of homework. I realized that in the last few days, my relationship with Christ had begun to degrade in the same direction, if not to the same point, as my desk. This was a result of lost time carried over from past days in which I decided to watch TV over addressing responsibilities such as Bible study or homework.

Note that TV isn't necessarily wrong, but what we forget is how incredibly destructive it can be when not used in a positive manner. We also forget how easily it can be used in a negative manner. It tends to eat up a lot of time, and I don't know about you, but I find that many times I get up from the couch thinking "Why did I just waste my time sitting mindlessly in front of that screen?" I don't want to condemn television. It can be used for good. For example, Bobby and friends witnessed Shark Week on TV. The difference is that he made a spiritual connection with it. It had a deeper purpose than cheap laughs or cheap thrills like most shows offer. That's what we should shoot for: the deeper meaning, God in creation, God everywhere, through everything, all the time. Anything else is settling for less, and that's not what God wants in our lives. When we consider anything more important or urgent than Christ and our relationship with Him, we break rule #1: "Jesus replied: ' "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment' " ~ Matthew 22:37-38.

Anyways... I realized that my desk was dirty like my heart, and it needed cleaning. While I can clean my desk, I cannot clean my own heart: only God can do that. I also realized that if I constantly had a mindset of keeping my desk organized, I wouldn't have to face the consequences of the less than optimal working conditions and stress. This reminded me that I should constantly be doing house keeping on my heart. I let things pile up with the excuse that it's all organized up here. ::points to head:: Unfortunately, my mind has limits to this organization talent, and then there's an overwhelming amount of stuff to deal with that I don't feel I have the energy to deal with. Again, this is analagous to our struggle with sin. If I ever have to say "I've got it under control" to my sin, let that be a bright red flashing light in my mind telling me to confess pride along with everything else. "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?" ~ Proverbs 20:6.

Hope you missed me.

In Him,
Evan

P.S. Time to go to sleep, praying that my 6 hours feel like 8.

Leadership (1 Cor. 11:1)

Recently I’ve been going through a book by John MacArthur on leadership. Actually, it’s called The Book on Leadership. Go figure. In this book he goes through 26 characteristics that he came up with for the ideal leader and examines Paul as he fulfils all of them. So far he’s strayed once to take a look at Nehemiah, but other than that it’s been all focused on Paul. I have much enjoyed the exciting stories, especially in the first few chapters, where MacArthur outlined Paul’s situation on the ship during his trip to Rome. Paul started out as the lowest slave on the boat, but he ended up with the influence to tell the Roman centurion, who was in charge, to cut off the lifeboat so that no one would try to escape! That’s crazy. Now, I haven’t read the entire book, but I peeked at the list of 26 characteristics and noticed that the last one was: “A leader is Christlike.” This connected perfectly with the first verse of 1 Corinthians 11. Apparently, Paul knew he was a leader. He knew where his heart was and he knew what his goal was. He was confident, but not arrogant. In verse 1 Paul says: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” That seems to me to be an extremely bold statement, but that’s what leaders are supposed to be. We are supposed to be examples for others to follow, and the best example to imitate is Christ.

Last year I ran for the new King’s Academy Student Council. I was very excited about having a designated position in which to lead, a place I imagined would be filled with a person who’s character everyone in the school could admire and desire. I did get accepted into the list of candidates that people could vote on, meaning that I was considered a qualified leader of respectable character. Apparently I didn’t advertise myself enough, though, and ended up being one of the 10 that had to hear the “sad” news that God had plans for us elsewhere (sad is in quotes because of this verse: Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”). Looking back at it I realize that perhaps it would have just added to the stress of my already overly busy summer. Perhaps God was saving me from that, or perhaps God was freeing up my time so that I could be open to serve with something else later this year. Either way, reading John MacArthur’s book reminded me of something: effective leadership doesn’t spawn from an impressive title. I can still be just as much a leader at school (or anywhere) without having the title of “The King’s Academy Student Body President.”

I was also reminded of this when I had the privilege of meeting the new head wrestling coach for this year’s wrestling team. I had an excellent first impression: a humble, yet confident God-fearing man who put being a champion into perspective and had high soaring goals for our small team this year. He reminded Stephen Thalin and me that this year we are seniors and therefore have certain responsibilities to lead the team, whether it’s sweeping off the mats or making sure the freshman aren’t messing around. He was inspiring, encouraging, and God-fearing. He always brought Him into the picture and I just thought it was so great – exactly the kind of coach I could ever have wanted. He is a good leader, and hopefully his example will encourage me to be a good leader too.

We can be leaders anywhere, from any position. It doesn’t take an impressive title or job description for us to be godly leaders. If we follow Christ’s example, we can be leaders for anyone anywhere, revealing to people the glory of God.

Ephesians 1:1-10

I must admit I was wrong when I said that I was doing three verses at a time on Ephesians. I check back now and the first section allotted is 10 verses long, and the rest of them are like that, having anywhere between 3 and 12 verses assigned to journal on. I’m going to just assume that these are grouped logically, based on more factors than simply how many verses there are in the section compared to the others. That behind us, I’m going to say something about the format that Mr. Starke requested we use for this project. It has three parts. The first part is labeled INTO. In this section we just explain who is writing what and to whom. The second part is labeled THROUGH. In this section we simply summarize what Paul has said in our own words. I’m not sure whether he wants this from Paul’s perspective or from ours, so I’m going to write it from mine, because it’s supposed to be a personal journal. The last part is called BEYOND. This is the fun part where I get to apply it to my life and give specific examples of how the passage affects me personally. So in we go!

INTO
The book of Ephesians was most definitely written by the apostle Paul. The intended recipient is in question, though, as some scholars believe it might have just been written to the entire church is Asia Minor, being sent to the capital first, which just so happened to be Ephesus. This, of course, is of no consequence. Paul addresses theological doctrine and the Christian life in this epistle.

THROUGH
Paul begins his letters the same way he normally does: by introducing himself (v.1) and his audience (v.1) and giving them a greeting (v.2). The first thing he does after introducing his letter is praise God for blessing us (v.3). He then goes on to cite predestination as a specific example of how he has blessed us (v.4), explaining what this blessing entails (vv.4-5), and telling us why God chose to bless us. (vv.5-6). He switches gears a little bit coming into the next paragraph, speaking about our present salvation rather than salvation as foreordained. Throughout the next 3 verses he emphasizes the role of God in saving people: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ” (vv.7-9). The last verse explains what God’s ultimate goal is, saying that at the end of times God wants to unite everything in heaven or on earth that is in Christ.

BEYOND
It seems like many people have a problem with the idea of predestination. However, I’m not sure how any Bible-believing Christian can read that passage and think otherwise! It seems pretty clear that God predestined us to be holy; we didn’t choose that path on our own. This is a great comfort to me, actually. It may have been painful to make the big leap from a path toward indulgence in sin when I was seven to a true desire to seek Christ and serve Him after a missions trip I went on after 9th grade, but since that was his decision to form the relationship, it cannot be my decision to sever it however much I decide I hate it (God forbid) at whatever low point in my life. I do not have to be afraid of seeking the truth wherever it leads me, because on top of the fact that the truth has nothing to hide, nothing new I discover can destroy my relationship with Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). He will always be my Father; there’s no way out of it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school, and a good day it was indeed. I was able to read my Bible for a few moments this morning and remind myself what I was committed to - serving the Lord and being uncompromising. I must admit that before that I felt tired and grumpy, but after reading that I felt somewhat refreshed, and by the time I got in the car I felt completely ready to go to school. I find the first day of class to be somewhat amusing. It seems like I make a big deal in my head about every rule, later on forgetting they even exist. We read the Bible in a lot of my classes, and not just Senior Seminar (essentially our Bible class), so that was exciting! The great thing about Monday's is that I get that class first thing in the morning! That's sweetness.

Well, there's so much I could say about the first day of school. I'm getting homework already, some classes are really laid back like Spanish 5, where I'm confident we will have a great time, and some are a little less so like Physics, taught by Dr. Parker. I still really want to learn a lot in Spanish class, though. It'll be the last chance I have before we go to Mexico for the last time :(. What I wanted to just mention was our little homework assignments for Senior Seminar. We are going through the book of Ephesians this year (semester, actually, but we have only 1 semester, so I wont be doing any other books of the Bible for school this year), and we are supposed to do a journal about twice a week on about 3 or 4 verses for each journal! So... I was like, haha I totally do that already! (Except with a chapter of 1 Corinthians) So I thought, once I'm done with those, I might as well post them for all of you to benefit from! The great part is that it's only going to be about three verses, so it should be a lot shorter and more enjoyable for all you people who probably don't have all the time in the world! Just wanted to announce that pretty much. We also have memory verse(s) every two weeks I think, so I'll probably be writing on those.

I thought of a passage that came to mind while writing this. I was reminded of it because as soon as I arrived at school and sat in the midst of all my classmates:

James 1:22-25 - "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

Another awesome encouragement for us to strive to make the faith real in our hearts and lives. It even says we'll be blessed, and if anyone knows anything about the blessings of God, they knows it's worth any hardship we might face! Well, I must go now, I've got quite a few more responsibilities now that I'm back in school!

Undefiled

Today Bobby talked about Daniel chapter one and Daniel’s adventures in going back to school. The crux of his teaching was about the beginning of verse 8: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…” This was the perfect exhortation in going back to school, and I think it is necessary to be reminded of it often, because being humans we forget. For this blog I would like to just post as many pieces of Scripture as I can find that have to do with the perfection and holiness commanded of us. This is the impossible thing that the name of my blog calls you to, but I hope these verses will encourage you to strive for it nonetheless.

Here are the verses I’ve found in the order they appear in the Bible:

Genesis 17:1 - “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
Exodus 19:6 - “…And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Leviticus 11:44 - “For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves…”
Leviticus 11:45 - “…You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Leviticus 19:2 - “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Leviticus 20:7 - “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 20:26 - “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”
Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2 - “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 14:21 - “…you are a holy people to the Lord your God…”
Deuteronomy 18:13 - “You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. ”
Deuteronomy 26:19 - “…be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
Deuteronomy 28:9 - “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.”
Matthew 5:48 - “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Luke 1:74-75 - “we…serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”
Romans 12:1 - “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:2 - “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:9 - “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”
1 Corinthians 1:8 - “[Christ] will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:17 - “For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are”
2 Corinthians 7:1 - “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Galatians 1:4 - “[Christ] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father”
Ephesians 1:4 - “…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”
Ephesians 4:24 - “…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 5:1 - “…be imitators of God...”
Colossians 1:28 - “…we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”
Colossians 3:10 - “…put on the new man… according to the image of Him who created him”
Colossians 4:12 - “…you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”
1 Thessalonians 4:7 - “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:22 - “Abstain from every form of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 - “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
Hebrews 12:14 - “Pursue… holiness, without which no one will see the Lord”
James 1:4 - “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
1 Peter 1:15-16 - “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”
1 Peter 2:5 - “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood…”
1 Peter 2:9 - “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people”
Jude 24 - “[He] is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”

On top of these I found countless references to the “mature,” “holy,” “righteous,” “blameless,” “perfect,” “pure in heart,” “new creation,” and those “being renewed” and “walking in newness of life” or “Spirit”, along numerous promises that God will be faithful to fulfill this righteousness. Examples of people who are called righteous in the Bible (holy, blameless, etc.) are: Abel, Abraham, Daniel, David, Jacob, Job, John the Baptist, Lot, the Prophets, Paul, and Zacharias among others.

Additionally, Ephesians 5:27 says Christ’s goal is “that He might present [the church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” and (Col 1:22) “present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight,” (1 Thess 3:13) “so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”

I think God is clear on this topic. Just remember what Christ said in Matthew 19:26: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Trust

I won’t complain. Today was actually quite enjoyable. I am very excited to go back to school, if solely for the social aspect. Meeting up with old friends, getting to know them again, hanging out. I like newness (is that a word?). I enjoy having a fresh start, doesn’t everyone? It’s always good to be able to start with a clean slate, and then if you manage to keep it that way, that’s even better! For those unaware, today was the King’s Back-To-School Extravaganza where they serve free lunch with drinks and ice cream, take school pictures – that was really funny (I had Ty’s jacket thrown over my shoulder, an umbrella in the other hand, and a radish on my head… We’ll see how it turns out!), and falsely advertise that a certain band will be playing (apparently there was some misunderstanding – I thought Star 51 was going to play for us, but they never showed. Maybe my mom misinformed me?). Well, it was great getting together with people: Baxter, Young, Shawn (who actually is going off to college, but it was still nice to see him again), “Gun Show” Gregg, and others. Our Senior Seminar (i.e. Bible) teacher this year is Mr. Starke. He’s an awesome guy to say the least.

Well, last week was camp college, and during that time I signed up to meet with my parents and Mrs. Threewitt, a college counselor, in the College and Career Center at 3 o’clock when the barbeque was over. She brought up some colleges that I thought I’d left behind me, reminded me of a phase of the college searching that also I thought I’d left behind me, and frowned on a few schools that I thought I’d be looking forward to applying to. Needless to say at the end of this less-than-one-hour session I was a bit discouraged, but she did hand me a little nugget to chew on that was encouraging and inspiring: “You know the best part about this, Evan? God already knows where you’re gonna go… But he’s not gonna make it easy for you to find out.” Thank you, Mrs. Threewitt.

This was so great, because it took out the worry and left the work. At the end of that session I felt like I was practically starting over, but then I was reminded of the sovereignty of God. He has a plan for my life, and if I let Him, He will guide me. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). This verse is extremely exciting to me. It reminds me of Bobby’s talks about “Waiting on the Lord.” That it doesn’t mean sitting around waiting for God to make your life better, but rather actively pursuing God and expecting Him to show you where to go. This is exactly the same way. The passage doesn’t say to stop living life and wait for the Spirit to start moving your limbs for you. That’s not waiting on the Lord. That’s laziness! The passage says “in all your ways.” We have ways. We’re doing things. God wants us to start walking. He wants us to take the first step and truly lean on His understanding before He will bless us with a path. If those two jobs are reversed, there isn’t any trust! We don’t grow closer to God. It reminds me of Pastor Randy’s sermon about the Israelites as they were going through the Red Sea. He communicated that God’s plan for them went something like this: “If you want to walk on dry land, you gotta get your feet wet.”

Like I said: Inspiring. Revolutionary. Definitely nothing I would have come up with. Not a God who caters to our every desire and whim.

You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Get your hands dirty. Get your feet wet. I dare you.

1 Corinthians 10:12-33

I went to Oceanside yesterday with my youth group, and it was very interesting. It seemed to be different than the other Oceansides I’ve been to before. Oceanside is basically our Wednesday night Bible study, but we go to Capitola and Twin Lakes from 10am until 10pm. We get to play Ultimate Frisbee a lot and dig holes and basically just have a good time walking around town and getting to know one another. The interesting and different part is that I am a senior, and somehow between the moment I walked into the gym as a freshman that first Sunday and now, I have changed. I have, without at all intending to, earned the respect of my peers and those leading the group as a person of character, capable of leading.

At one point during the day I was waiting for my pizza, and Bobby walked by and said, “Evan, Christa and I are going to move our cars. You’re in charge until we get back.” Well, honestly I didn’t have to be in charge of anything, and I wasn’t even really sure what I was expected to do when he said that. Just the fact that he said that to me was overwhelming. It implied to me that anything that may have had to be done, he thought I was capable of handling. That was overwhelming to me. Another time later in the day, Ty and I were tossing around the Frisbee. I can’t throw as well as he can, but I’m more than happy to run after anything he tosses. It was about time to come in for dinner when Ty walked up to Bobby and said, “This guy really hustles.” Now this is right in front of me, and as if it’s not enough to be spoken highly of in how much effort I put out when I play Frisbee, Bobby adds, “Yea, this guy hustles in everything he does.” So much for Super Slow Winslow huh, Bobby? I had no idea how to respond. It was quite overwhelming to be spoken of like this, and very encouraging too. I can testify how great it is to “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth” (Proverbs 27:2).

All of this leads into the first verse in the next section I’m writing about: 1 Corinthians 10:12. It says simply this: “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” In light of all that was said to and about me yesterday, this is a perfect verse, because it reminds me that I am not the one doing these things. Without God I can honestly say that it would be impossible to have been brought to this point. I probably wouldn’t care enough to push myself as hard as people say I’m pushing, and I certainly wouldn’t have earned the respect of any God-fearing friends. It reminds me to give the glory only to Christ for what he accomplishing in the pot of clay that is myself. God alone is good. God alone is powerful. Anything good that comes out of anyone is only coming through them from God. It is not I who have victory over sin, but Christ. Verse 13 says that the temptations come from within myself. The temptations that I experience are human, a result of the flesh. God provides the path of escape. That verse is encouraging in another way too. There is a great promise in there! God is faithful, and he will always provide a way out. Always! Without fail there will always be a way to overcome our sin.

We need to remember that we are weak, and God is strong, but also that God offers his strength to us in the Holy Spirit. What an exciting proposition! Stop holding that power back and you will truly be able to do the impossible!

Paul then goes on to tell the Corinthians to “flee from idolatry” (v.14). Idolatry meant mainly worshiping idols in those days, but it could be referring to anything you put before God. I wrote about this in my last post 1 Corinthians 10:1-11, so check that out if you want a more detailed explanation. Then Paul gives them a challenge. He challenges them to test what he says, like wise men (v.15). We should have this same attitude when we hear other people talking about anything. It could even be our Pastor. We need to test what people say about the Bible or about any truth, then if we find out they are right, we fully understand it – not to mention we just studied the Bible, but if we find out they’re wrong, we aren’t led astray by a false teaching.

In this case, he’s challenging them to test him concerning what he says about idols, and he makes his case in the next few verses. First of all, he makes reference to the ceremonies of Passover. Today we don’t celebrate Passover, but instead we take communion symbolizing out unity with Christ. And since we are united with Christ, we are united with each other. (vv.16, 17). By eating this food at communion, we are symbolizing our unity with Christ, and acceptance of His authority over our lives. In the same way, people who ate food that was offered to idols were usually also the ones who offered it to the idol in the first place (v.18). This makes it clearer why some Christians would have a problem eating the food. Paul clarifies that idols in themselves are nothing (v.19), but that worshiping them is effectively worshiping demons. We are not supposed to be worshiping demons, but God (v.20). It is inconsistent for a Christian to be communing with demons, to accept their practices and authority over their lives (v.21). That’s an oxymoron – a Christian idol-worshiper. Paul warns of the consequences of such actions.

I love verse 23: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” Many things we have the freedom to do as Christians. Many things aren’t wrong necessarily, but they aren’t right either. We should aim to do what’s right, instead of being content with doing what’s simply not wrong. We are to put off sinfulness, and then turn around and put on God’s robes of righteousness. Paul then goes to introduce his next section with this convicting verse: “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being” (v.24). There isn’t much to explain here, except how radically we are supposed to apply that verse to our lives. Paul gives an example in the next few verses that I wrote about before in 1 Corinthians 8, so check that out if you want an in depth explanation of verses similar to verses 25 through 30 of this chapter.

Verse 31 is one of those verses that people would never think to do on their own: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We have the ability to give God glory in everything we do, even the simplest things like eating or drinking. This also, is a very convicting verse, because I know that I don’t do absolutely everything for God’s glory. Often it’s for my glory, or perhaps it’s just for fun. The purpose of it is to bring me pleasure, not glorify God. At those times I’m forgetting how much God deserves glory more than me, and how much pleasure is involved with following God’s Word. We studied Psalm 16 this summer for our Wednesday night Bible studies, and verse 11 says: “You show me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” There are great rewards for following God, for remaining in His presence, and for making Him your number one delight (Psalm 37:4). These rewards are far greater than we can imagine, and certainly greater than any immediate gratification we get by sinning and not giving Him the glory He deserves.

Paul ends in exhorting the church to give no one a reason to be offended by them (v.32). He says he pleases “all men in all things.” In context we can see that this doesn’t mean he was encouraging hypocrisy, or anything of the sort, but that since he was putting another’s well being above his own, he became a servant to all, adopting their culture in order to be a more effective witness, that more might come to Christ (v.33). He feared God rather than man.

Well… It seems like this one has been especially long, but I hope reading it all did not become a burden. Thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say, and if you didn’t get every word, I understand. ( God Bless, and have a good time in the few days we have left of summer!

1 Corinthians 10:1-11

I don't know about any of you, but it seems like I am one to open up the New Testament about 5 times as often as the Old. I have often wondered why that is. It's not that it's wrong. I'm just curious, and I haven't really come up with any reason except that I might have this misperception that the Old Testament is boring and you really have to search in order to find something meaningful to you. Well, while that may or may not be true, we can thank God for people like Paul, who did the searching for us and directly interpret some of the stories in the Old Testament! That's exactly what Paul does in chapter 10:1-11.

Paul practically explains why the Old Testament was written the way it was. Verse 11 says: "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." There are many stories in the Old Testament, and they are meant to be real life examples showing us how to live and act toward God. It actually amuses me a little when I think about it: isn't that the way Jesus taught while he was here? What a coincidence... Apparently God really likes telling stories.

Paul gives us five examples from the story of Israel in the desert:
The first is not to lust as they lusted (v.6). This in context is not restricted to just lusting after people of the opposite gender, it could be any form of sin that we actually desire to do. The verses that this one is referencing (Numbers 11:4,34) speak of people yielding to a craving. We should not yield to a fleshly craving, but seek God's righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

The second admonition is to not become idolaters as they were. Paul is referring to the story of the golden calf, and the little fiesta they had around it. They worshiped the calf as the one who brought them out of Egypt. I'm not sure what they were thinking - maybe it was just so easy for them to worship something they could constantly see and have control over. But we don't worship a God that we control. I don't even want to worship something like that - it would negate it's worthiness of my worship if I was greater than it. It's interesting though how quickly something that shouldn't have control over us can gain it. Videogames are a great example - some people can't put them down - gotta play 1 more level! Who really has control there? Ironically it's not the one with the controller. Again, it could be anything. Money, a significant other, AIM, food, etc. God wants us to be free to devote our lives to something that's actually worthy of being worshiped by us: Himself! (Exodus 20:3,4) The story of the golden calf can be found in Exodus 32.

The third admonition is to stay away from sexual immorality. God takes this very seriously, seeing as 23,000 people died because of this sin. Compare that to 9/11 to get a more lifelike picture of indeed how serious it was. If you check out Exodus 32 and don't find any references to this type of sin, keep in mind the phrase "and rose up to play" is a euphemism. Now, if we want to stay away from the "bigger" sins, it follows that we would stay away from the "smaller" sins as well - lusting in the mind and heart, flirting, or talking about sex in inappropriate ways and out of the context it was meant to be kept in. If we live a lifestyle of purity and void of compromise in this area, it will be impossible for something like what the israelites did to "just happen so fast."

The fourth admonition is to keep from tempting Christ. The Israelites questioned the goodness of the one who was leading them through the wilderness. They mocked God and acted like being in Egypt was better than being miraculously provided for by God every day. They even described the manna as "worthless bread." We do not have to wonder whether God will be good to us - that is guaranteed for those who trust Him and fear Him (Psalm 31:19).

The last example Paul uses from this story of the Israelites is to not complain! At survival camp recently we memorized Philippians 2:1-15. Verse 14 says "Do everything without complaining or arguing." I love when the Old and New Testaments so obviously connect to eachother like this! It's good to know that the Bible was written by just one God. In any case, concerning complaining: I definitely don't have that under my complete control yet. It seems like if anyone other than my parents asks me to do something for them, I'm overjoyed to oblige, but if my parents ask, it's the hardest thing in the world. It doesn't make sense, and I need to strive to be consistent in my obedience.

Well, that's all I have time for today, I've got to get to work on these wonderful A-sheets, but I'll strive to do them without complaining and without envying the life that my peers have, free from summer reading. I hope this post encouraged you to see that the Bible is one Bible, just as God is one God!

A Light Unto Our Path

I've been reading an interesting book called Frankenstein as a part of the King's summer reading. It's a woman named Mary Shelley, and I think most of you know the basic story. A scientist named Victor Frankenstein manages to create a living being who thinks and acts and speaks and for all practical purposes is human. The beast he created, however, is horrificly ugly, seemingly without conscience, and apparently bent on making Victor miserable. Victor is definitely not pleased with the outcome of his life's work, and is filled with guilt, disappointment, remorse, etc. One night while sitting on the ground he says: "No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused. I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me; the only object that I could distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on that with pleasure." Immediately after I read this I thought about God and his goodness to us in hard times.

We can go through situations that may seem pretty difficult. I for one am very uncertain concerning how this whole summer reading thing is going to turn out. College preparation is weighing down on me. Even while these things may seem uncertain and confusing, I can always look to God as the light in which I take pleasure. Psalm 119:105 says: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Life is not predictable, and in the fallen world everything seems to always be changing (and not for the better) or out of our control. It's great to be able to rely on a God who is unchanging (Psalm 90:2) and will always be good to us (Psalm 119:68) and love us (2 Thessalonians 2:16). God will always be there to light our way (Isaiah 60:20) and bring us hope (Psalm 39:7). If there is something I have learned in my comparatively few years alive, it's that God will always work it out for good. We may not know how, but God does. I still haven't learned to completely trust Him with every situation yet - I like knowing! But knowing lets me rely on myself and not Him. He is trustworthy (Psalm 89:33) - what do we have to worry about?

Psalm 90:2 - "Before the mountains were brought forth,Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God."
Psalm 119:68 - "You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes."
2 Thessalonians 2:16 - "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace"
Isaiah 60:20 - "Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the LORD will be your everlasting light, And the days of your mourning shall be ended."
Psalm 39:7 - "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You."
Psalm 89:33 - "Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail."

Look upon God with pleasure.

When Will I Learn

Right now I'm moderately frustrated with myself. I knew exactly how to solve it, but pushed it off by watching TV for the last 2 hours. That's dangerous - TV can have quite an influence over emotions and what not - not in a good way mind you. So I'm here now, sick of myself and refusing to put it off any longer.

I woke up this morning - late, took a shower thinking I could fit it in before I had to leave for camp college, and was out the door before I could eat breakfast or... read my Bible. Now, contrary to the more common excuse that "I just forgot" or "I didn't have time," well... that just wasn't the case. I got 9 hours of sleep - more than ample and could have easily woken up in time enough to get my day started off right. I actually walked out the door pretending to have a conversation with God that went something like this:

-"Evan! Good morning! Hey, could I talk to you?"
"Not now, Lord, I'm a little late."
-"It must be pretty important to you."
"...Look...I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be the kind of person you want me to be."
-"What kind of person is that?"
"Well... In this case I guess it's the kind of person that is dependable and committed to his word." (Ja. 5:12)
-"Evan...I want you to be committed to My Word." (Ps. 119:97)
"I'm... sorry... I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

And no... I'm not schizophrenic.

Believe it or not... this happens often. Whenever I am tempted and have time to think about it. When I give in, it ends in the same fashion as the above conversation. One side reasonable and true, the other relying on weak sauce excuses, knowing which way to go and turning from it.

One side is the flesh, the other is the Spirit. The question I have for myself is - when will I learn to follow the latter all the time. It's so obvious! Even my flesh knows that following the Spirit is the blessed way (Psalm 1). The answer is relying on the power of Christ (Phil. 4:13) to be able to discpline my body (Rom. 6:12) and truly put Christ and His Word at the forefront of my mind, even if it means waking up a little bit earlier and getting a little less sleep (in this case, that still being over 8 hours). When will I learn to let the Spirit loose inside me and have Him control my life rather that myself? Luckily I did not put it completely off today, and convinced myself that watching prime time TV is not the best way to energize myself.

A small piece of advice for those Christians attaining the unattainable: Let the Spirit loose.

1 Corinthians 9

It's about time for another post. I've been on this book for quite some time now. I only expected it to last a couple weeks, but hey, the Spirit has led me to say other things, which I suppose was the whole idea of the blog in the first place. I might decide to move those to another blog and post there instead of in 1st Corinthians whenever I get the chance or the inspiration. That way if one wanted to learn about 1st Corinthians they could come here, and if they wanted to figure out what Evan thinks about other things... they could go somewhere else. Just a thought.

1 Corinthians 9 is a great passage with what seems to me to be a challenging spiritual principle, and that is to go above and beyond what you are called.

Theres a synopsis at the bottom if you find yourself short on time.

Self Denial

In verses 1-18 Paul defends his apostleship to the Corinthians, and also explains that this gives him the right to marry, and have his family be materially sustained by the church (v.1-5). Instead of claiming this right, he gives it up in order to bring no hindrance to his success in ministering to the people. That would be the equivalent of the senior pastor taking on a full time job on top of shepherding the church so that he can care for his family! I imagine that would be an extremely challenging task. Now, since Paul had no family, I suppose this made the prospect of not receiving a church salary plausible. The idea here is that we as Christians, in order to bring in the greatest spiritual harvest, should be willing to give up as many material rewards as possible (v.12b). This is the self-denial that Christ preached being manifested to the extreme in the apostle Paul.

Now, I said that a great spiritual principle is to go above and beyond what we are called. Well, I must confess that isn't really true. The Bible calls us to conform to the mindset of Christ, who did everything imaginable. I suppose the point I was trying to make was this: We should not only be hating sin, but loving righteousness. And although I think the former is hard, the latter can be harder.

For example, some people may struggle with crude jokes, gossip, and cussing. It would be difficult for that person to stop doing those things of course, but to take that one step further and turn those sins of the tongue into encouragement and speech full of grace - how much more do we need Christ for this? James 4:17 says: "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." We need to keep ourselves separated from sinfulness and put on the righteousness of God which is manifested in the difficult qualities of love that covers sin, joy in all circumstances, peace that passes understanding, and daily self-sacrifice - among others I am sure.

Effective Witnessing

The next few verses are, once again, great verses (honestly, which ones aren't?! It seems to me that all of them have great and simple yet profound truths that we all need to learn or be reminded of). These verses describe a certain style of witnessing that Paul thought to be effective. That was to explain to people the truths of the gospel on their level. "And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (vv.20-22). Paul had experience being all of these things. He never tried to be something he had not already been before, but he took on all these characteristics when he was with these people so he could show them that all of these were appropriate positions from which to seek after Christ. In my case it would probably be something more like: to the philosophers I became as a philosopher, to the scientists I became as a scientist, to the Indians I became as an Indian (HAH!)

...Ok bad joke (Only those who saw or know about the Green skit at Survival Camp 2005 will get it). Anyways, I hope you are getting the picture I am attempting to paint. When we think like the group of people we are witnessing to, we become more effective ministers for Christ because we touch on what matters the most to them. We touch the heart, and that's what Christ wants to do: He wants heart change and an intimate relationship with the Truth, not simply a head-based knowledge and acceptance of the truth.

The Christian Life

In the last few verses if this chapter, Paul compares the Christian life to a race, explaining how we should live it. The first way he says to run is with desire (v.24). We are to live up to the motto Carpe Diem. But this isn't for ourselves, it's for God. We should renew the time and make the most of the days that God gives us here on earth to battle sin and witness to others. We need to run after Christ as if we want to win the only crown that Christ is giving out. How fast would you run?

The second way he says to run is by the rules (v.25)! You can't be taking shortcuts all the time and expect to win the prize at the end. There's no excuse for that - none of this "oh it was just a little bit" stuff. You cheated. You are disqualified. There isn't any excuse. Whether you "meant to" or not, you cannot be considered a candidate anymore because you didn't follow the track. In the same way we should strive to run the race of life with flawlessness, resting in God's grace alone to forgive us for our faults that everyone seems to so easily assume we are bound to fall into.

The last way Paul says to run is with purpose (v.26). We know where we going and what we're doing. If you find yourself ignorant of a purpose in the Christian life, sit down with someone and figure it out, otherwise you are just going to run yourself farther and farther off course. Or stop running completely - I'm not sure which is worse. As Josh Storrer put it: we're aren't just running in an endless circle around a track, we are aiming to get the heck out of that forest as fast as we can! (Again only Survival Campers will fully understand).

A Quick Overview

Deny yourself, and do it regularly. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." ~ Luke 9:23

Get to the heart of the audience you are witnessing to. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." ~ Hebrews 4:12

Live life with a desire for Christ. "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." ~ Mark 12:30

Life life by the rules. Trust me, it's better that way. "Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." ~ Psalm 37:4

Live life with purpose. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31