The Humble Way

Book Review: Tithing by Douglas Leblanc

2012-02-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

Tithing is an excellent book in the Ancient Practices series. Written by journalist Douglas Leblanc, it is a series of interviews with several different Christians regarding their perspectives on tithing. Leblanc has a talent for extracting a great story from his interviews, and interjects thought-provoking commentary in just the right spots.

Some of his subjects are Randy Alcorn, Ron Sider, and Ed Bacon. Most of his subjects relate their history of tithing and why they chose to do it. What is interesting is that none of them claim that tithing is a requirement. They seem to liken it more to a spiritual discipline, and gladly tell of stories of prosperty and hardship due to tithing.

Leblanc finds the unique angle with each person, and brings everyone of them to life. This is an exceptional work on tithing that, while not theological, still convicts the heart to test God in his generosity.

There is also a study guide in the back of the paperback version.

Rise for the Savior

2010-12-19T22:48:00.000-08:00

Rise in the morning
to meet our Savior.

Remember him
when you sleep.

Give thanks for
all you have,

though what we
have is little.

Raise your hands,
and fall on your knees.

The LORD our God
is near.

The Glory of God

2010-12-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

See the glory of the LORD.

Hear the falls of Niagara.

See the majesty of the mountains.

Feel the rush of the ocean.

Smell the wild flowers bloom.

Taste the honey on your lips.

There is one Creator.

There is only one God, the Lord.

God of Healing

2010-12-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

The LORD is the God of healing,
the God who resurrects.

He takes what is broken
and makes it whole again.

Disease and sickness
are conquered by his word.

The LORD, he is God.

He is the God of resurrection.

Heal us, O LORD.

The Provider

2010-12-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

The LORD is the Great Provider.

I've never been hungry,
never starved.

Some days were empty,
filled with thirst
and the aches of hunger.

But something was always given,
just when it was needed.

God of the Night

2010-12-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

The LORD is God of the night.

He has placed the stars
and the moon in the sky.

The night wind moves
against my skin,
blown from the ends
of the earth
by the breath of God.

The LORD is God,
even of the night.

God of the Morning

2010-12-19T22:41:00.000-08:00

The LORD our God has made the morning.

He has made the sky
with its purple and orange hues.

The birds sing his praises,
and we wake with breath in our lungs.

The earth turns,
the clouds roll on,
and the glory of the LORD is announced.

Praise our God for his
faithfulness,
the faithfulness of his morning.

Just a Short Letter

2010-12-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

2 Thessalonians is pretty short. I don't know why I thought it was longer. In fact, it was so short I really don't have much to say about it.

Paul brags about the Thessalonians again, but also has yet another problem to discuss with them. He seems surprised that they've pretty much forgotten what he taught them about the end times. He corrects them, then exhorts them to keep the faith.

Pretty dull book if you ask me.

The only thing that was really interesting was the mention of the "man of sin." Or "man of lawlessness," depending on which translation you use. Paul talks about this person that is being restrained by something until the time that God determines. It seems like he's talking about the Antichrist, but I wonder why he wouldn't specifically name him that. It was a term in use at the time.

Anyway, short quick read, and I'm on to 1st Corinthians.

Raising the Dead and the Rapture

2010-12-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

At the end of 1 Thessalonians, Paul discusses some issues the Thessalonians were having regarding the dead and the end of time. He tries to set them straight. Apparently they were worried that those who had died wouldn't get to be with Jesus when he came back. Being Jews, they didn't exactly believe in an afterlife.

Paul lets them know that they've got nothing to worry about. Jesus died and rose again, and so will their dead loved ones.

Paul then goes on to use some apocalyptic language that describes the dead rising from their graves to meet Jesus in the sky, followed by the living. I think this is where some people get the idea of the rapture. This, unfortunately, isn't true. It's something that has been cooked up over the past hundred years or so by men such as Cyrus Scofield, John Darby, and Charles Ryrie.

Paul says that "the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." (ESV)

If we take this passage literally, it means that we will spend the rest of eternity with Jesus, floating in the air. Paul is using apocalyptic language, which is wrought with symbolism. In Middle Eastern literature of the time, someone coming on clouds, or with clouds, was someone who was powerful. Paul was using this device to show that Jesus was Lord and was coming back.

More of a Love Letter

2010-12-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

After reading 1 Thessalonians, I've come to realize that Paul really liked them. I mean really, really liked these guys. They were the teacher's pet of the epistles. Basically the first four chapters are Paul gushing about how great they are. He doesn't call them perfect, and even lets them know that they can improve, but you can tell that this letter is essentially a great big wink and a nod from Paul.

I guess the Thessalonians deserved it. Paul says they have a reputation across their province for being kind, generous, and truthful.

We could all use a reputation like that.

When I started reading, I wondered why I hadn't heard that many sermons preached from Thessalonians. Now I know. There's not much to build a sermon around in the beginning of this book, unless you're a pastor who wants your congregation to have an example of what they should be.

But it would take a while to read four chapters, and people would get bored.

There's some interesting stuff at the end of the 1 Thessalonians, but I'll get to that in another post.

An Interesting Paradox

2010-12-16T08:52:00.001-08:00

After reading through Galatians, Paul seems to be telling his readers to let go of the Law and just be led by the Holy Spirit. But we don't seem to do this in the church today.

Author Andrew Farley says that many Christians today seem to be living a "hybrid of the Old and New Testaments." I can see that. There's this emphasis on what we should do, and what we shouldn't do.

That takes the focus off what Jesus has already done.

Paul reminds the Galatians that they received the Holy Spirit by faith, not by following the Law. He then asks them why they are being so foolish as to think that their salvation or relationship with God has anything to do with keeping the Law. He uses Abraham as an example. Abraham didn't have the Law to follow, yet he pleased God. Why? Because of his faith, not anything he did.

This book is in the Bible for all Christians to read, yet they still seem to focus on the wrong things. They think that church attendance, Bible study, and not drinking are what makes them holy. Yet it's none of that. It's simply faith.

Just Grace

2010-12-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Galatians, and I enjoyed it. I've really only been exposed to Paul in short chunks, used as props for doctrine. I've never read one of his letters from start to finish, taking in to account that he was writing it to people in his own time, for reasons that were important to him.

His words weren't meant for me.

Can I use them? Absolutely. But I have to remember to keep them in context.

I like the fact that Paul says in this letter that the Law was like a guardian, someone who could escort us places but never let us enjoy our freedom. Now Jesus has set us free from that guardian, and we are able to do what we want. The reason we can do what we want is the Holy Spirit will guide us. We don't have to worry about following the Law. It's already been fulfilled, by someone who is much more capable of doing so--Jesus.

Great start to reading the Bible in a year.

Book Review: Scouting the Divine by Margaret Feinberg

2010-03-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Feeling overwhelmed by all those metaphors used in the Bible, Margaret Feinberg set out to find out just exactly they all meant. She headed to a sheep farm in Oregon. She got dirty on a farm in Nebraska. She got sticky at a bee farm in Colorado. She got lost in the vineyards of Napa Valley.

Scouting the Divine is one woman's quest to understand why the metaphors used in the Bible are so powerful, and what they mean to us today. This is a first person narrative of someone's journey into four very different professions, but all of which are found frequently throughout the Bible.

Feinberg often puts herself in awkward situations, staying with complete strangers and driving tractors she has no idea how to drive. You have to admire her courage. But the meat of this book are her observations on how the metaphors of the Bible(such as shepherding, the land of milk and honey, and farming) actually make sense when you spend time around the real life examples. You begin to understand how much of an effect these stories and images must have had on their original audience.

This is a great book. The premise is original and fun, and Feinberg's writing makes it enjoyable.

Genesis Chapter One

2009-08-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Genesis chapter one details the beginning of the world. Verse 2 says that "the earth was without form, and void;..." I wonder if heaven existed at this point. Did the universe exist, but not Earth? Where does God reside if the universe doesn't exist?

Verse 3 points out that light was created before the sun. Where does this light come from?

The sun and moon and stars were not created until the fourth day. If these celestial bodies are to "be for signs and seasons, and days and years" then how are the days marked before the fourth day? And are these days literal, 24 hour periods, or are they metaphorical? Unfortunately the Bible doesn't say.

There is an interesting book on the subject of Genesis Chapter 1 called The Lost World of Genesis One, by Robert Wharton. It hypothesizes that Genesis one is not an ex nihilo account of creation, but rather an account of God putting the world in order.

In verse 26 God says "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." There is a stunning plurality in the phrasing. There is more than one God, evidently. Tradition holds that this is the holy Trinity, comprising of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. But this is not spelled out explicitly in the text.

Genesis chapter one is the subject of a lot of controversy and debate, and the vague nature of some of the descriptions is part of the problem. We as Christians tend to accept tradition as fact. Unfortunately, the Bible does not strive for clarity. It just reveals God's word. So we must accept that there are things we do not know, and probably never will. Did God create the world in seven, literal, 24 hour days? Possibly. Is it possible that the author of Genesis is using metaphorical days? Absolutely.

But the bottom line is that Genesis one tells us that God created this world and us, and for that we should be grateful.

The God Who Chases After Our Hearts

2008-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.
Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "that you will call Me Ishi(my husband) and will no longer call Me Baali(master).....And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety. I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD........I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, "You are My people!"
And they will say, "You are my God!"
Hosea 2:14-16, 18-20, 23

This passage of the Bible makes me stand in awe. I wish I would have stumbled across it earlier. The passage is, of course, talking about Israel. But just read it again. Those are the words of the Creator of the Universe. He makes Himself so small.

It doesn't sound too different from a young man's letter to the girl he loves. The love, the promises; it is a cry of passion.

And just as God yearned for Israel to be true, He longs for us to remain in His love. God has given us all of Him. Jesus has died for our unfaithfulness. We are adulterous, loving ourselves more than God. But instead of rejecting us, He throws His arms open wide and smiles, not just welcoming us back into His graces, but seeking us out and winning us over. He makes us fall in love with Him.

I pray that God forgives me for all the times I am unfaithful to His will, and thank Him for the grace He gives that allows me to walk with Him still.

Hope

2008-07-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

Romans 8:18-25
"For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?" (verse 24)

I need hope. I need it desperately. I see an entire family die in a car acccident, while the man who killed them lives. Thousands upon thousands, both American and Iraqi, die in a desert filled with hate, and the reason changes almost daily. People are killed for the handful of cash they have in their wallet, which hardly ever more than forty dollars. Most Christians would rather drop bombs than distribute Bibles.

Where is my God, my Savior?

Paul says that "creation was subjected to futility..."(verse 20). Sometimes this life does seem futile. I can almost feel the Earth crying beneath my feet, the blood of billions of innocents crying out for justice. I don't have theological arguments for any of this. I am just so tired of the pain and all the tears. But throughout this I hope, and I trust in Him that has lived lifetimes before me.

In verses 22-23 of the above passage, Paul says "For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." We have this ideal that the world is becoming darker and darker, and will one day be brought to light only by Jesus Christ. That is only half true.

This world and its corrupt systems are owned by Satan. The Bible says this plainly. Only the power of Jesus can break Satan's hold on Earth. But in the meantime, we are to bear "the first fruits of the Spirit..". Jesus is the Captain of the Host, bringing with Him the Kingdom of God. We are the heralders, bringing the news that our King is coming. If we have faith in the God that has redeemed us, then we bring a small piece of that hope into this hopeless world.

I must have my hope in Jesus. He is in control. I should temper my anger and despair, realizing that if God wanted all the sin and injustice in the world to end, He would end it immediately. Because He has not done this, I can only hope that He is using it for His glory. Creation groans and suffers in childbirth, and so does the Spirit within us. Childbirth does not bring death. It is the beginning of life. This creation and the Spirit within us is preparing to give birth to a Kingdom where hope is not needed, because all the joys we long for have been realized. It is our duty as Christians, followers of Christ, to start the change that Jesus will finish. It has to start within each of our hearts, as a little, small piece of hope that trusting and obeying God will bring about transformations in our neighbors that start a world-wide revival. This revival will not start in mega-churches or seminaries, but in the hearts of the servants of the one true God, because "the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and whre it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3: 8) Be the hope that you seek.

"But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it." (Romans 8: 25)

Suicide: Unforgivable?

2008-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
John 3: 5-7.

An argument that I've had with many friends is whether or not suicide is the unforgivable sin. As far as I know, the logic is that if you kill yourself, then you have no opportunity to confess and ask forgiveness for the sin of self-murder. The problem I have with this is that it seems to limit the grace of God.

I'm no theologian, so my arguments are weak. Even the verses above don't seem to make sense for this topic. But my main focus is birth. Jesus says that we must be born again. We must be born into the family of God, and become the children of our Savior.

So the issue to me is between confession and being born into God's family.

In Romans, Paul says that we "have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." (8:27)

We are no longer slaves to our sin, but children of God. The instant we come to know God as our Protector and Redeemer, we our born into the family of God. God, who was to us only the Creator, the Sovereign King, and our terrible Judge, became our father. And not just a father, but a Daddy, which is something much more special.

I was born in the flesh to my parents and am forever their son, just like I was born in the spirit to my God and am forever His child. This is where confession plays it role. If I hurt my parents by my actions, then for us to have a relationship, I must confess my wrongs and apologize to them. But no matter how egregious my sins are against my parents, they are still my parents. There is nothing I can do that will ever change that. Without my confession, there may be no relationship between us, but I am forever born into their family.

So it is with God. When you believe in Jesus Christ, you become a child of God, and are forever welcomed into that family. Confession of your sins allows you to continue in your relationship with God. No confession or repentance leads to a broken relationship with God, but He is still your Father. There is no sin that kicks you out of the family of God. There is only the relationship killer of an unrepentant heart.

Waiting for Jesus

2008-06-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Sometimes we as Christians can become selfish. The verse above is used often by Christians who say they are longing for Christ's return. And we do want Jesus to come back, because sometimes life is hard. We all face difficult times, whether they are financial, relationships, health, spiritually related. The thought of Jesus returning eliminates all these problems, because in heaven finances and health won't matter.

And while our problems are certainly important to us, occasionally we should look beyond ourselves and realize that Christians living in America are not faced with the faith-trying issues that those in other parts of the world are.

I want Jesus to come back so I don't have to worry about paying my bills and dying of some horrible disease. But while I am writing this there are people starving to death in my own country. They have no homes, with no hope of finding one. There are young girls in Southeast Asia being sold as sex slaves, and have no hope of escaping. There are women and children that live in abusive homes, and have no where else to go. There are brave people who watch their loved ones die, and the only reason is that they have become Christians. There are millions hurting, and Jesus is the only hope.

By focusing on my problems (which are legitimate), I am only concentrating on treating the symptoms of a broken world. But there is a cure, not for just the symptoms, but for the disease called sin. That cure is Jesus. And Jesus returning to save us is the only way to stop the injustice and pain that hold this world hostage. Think of a world that is perfect, and that is what our Savior brings.