Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah (Yonah) the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence (face) of the LORD." Jonah 1:1-2
There is a wealth of information given in the brief statements above. We read that the Word (Heb. Dabar) of the LORD came to Jonah. Biblical scholars call these words the "Messenger Formula." They are simple in that they have a simple subject and a powerful verb ("word").
In the Hebrew the word for "word" is dabar, and it means 'happened.' In other words, 'The word (dabar) happened to Jonah. That is, the word of the LORD effectively placed Jonah in a new situation.
Jonah's old situation passed away at the event of the LORD's dabar. It can never be otherwise. The new situation arose within the prophet's life with irresistible and compelling power. The command from God to "Go" extinguished selfish direction and desire, or so it should. But God's decisive call is given to a man, namely, Jonah.
Jonah has no special strength or skill other than being the son of Amittai. That is the extent of his resume', but he is also more than a resume' and a pedigree. He is God's man. He is given a message of hope to a people who had ravaged Jonah's own people. He is a man in an impossible position humanly speaking. He is an ardent nationalist and consumed with love for his own people and yet he must give a message of salvation to those who have destroyed his people.
God's dabar has cast Jonah into an impossible situation. Poised between the irresistible divine dabar and the threatening witness of his experience Jonah chooses to disobey the command to 'Arise, and go to Nineveh.' Jonah makes a choice that he cannot make without grave consequences to himself. Jonah think's that he can refuse the command of God which means that he does not fully understand his new situation.
The Word of God has come to him as decisive event from which there is no appeal. Every action that he takes that is contrary to his new situation is certain to collapse and engender ruin. We are told in verse three that the prophet ran away from the LORD or more accurately "Yonah reared up against the LORD." This is a frightful revelation and it is an action that does not catch God by surprise.
Jonah's action of rearing up reveals a heart filled with rebellion. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh the capital city of the dreaded Assyrian Empire, but he decides to go to southern Spain. In fact, Tarshish was on the west coast of Spain. It would make a good refuge for the prophet. He could stay in Tarshish and wait out God's command. In Tarshish he could settle down and live a quiet and peaceful life.
The Dabar had no power in Tarshish. Jonah's thinking, as his heart was now filled with rebellion according to verse three ..."he went down..." This is the case for all of us who are called by God to a work that he has given only to us. When we disobey we too go down. The past was closed to Jonah. He could not go back to it. He had to face his future as God's messenger to Nineveh. It was a future that he did not want, but to live otherwise would be an awful lie.
Jonah's fateful decision to disobey God has challenged his will. It is a test of volitional resolve, and God will be the obvious victor. The human instrument is vital to the will of God. Jonah was chosen because of his character makeup. You see within the prophet's own character of militant resolve is a picture of God's militant resolve of mercy toward the Assyrian kingdom in spite of their aggressive and violent hubris. God's Grace can go where we cannot go, and God can show love toward those we cannot love.
It is our practice to judge first, and maybe to love at some point after people have run the gauntlet of our character test. Jonah knows God, but he does not know God. He is going to learn, however, that God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God's call to Jonah would stretch him beyond his own patriotic pride.
We read late in this powerful book that Jonah resisted the will of God because he knew that God is merciful, but Jonah did not want the mercy of God extended to the hateful Assyrians.
This impossible situation resided within the soul of Jonah. He fabricated a woeful and painful lie within his soul that would bring him into the arena of divine corrective discipline. He is stubborn and in a state of rebellion and he will learn something about the ways of God with his own. Jonah is a portrait of Israel in opposition to the revealed will of God, but he cannot see that because his vision is obstructed by idolatry of the heart, as was Israel.
In the end of this contest of wills God will win, and the Assyria capital will receive the prophet's message and repent of their evil.
Has God called you to enter into an impossible situation? Has God called you to risk obeying his will which is not a risk? Have you resisted his call to become an ambassador of Grace because of prejudice? Jonah had to fight prejudice in order to do the will of God.
The contest of wills was truly ugly until the prophet realized that God does not change as man changes. Are you ready to obey God's call so that others may be set free from the wages of sin, and receive the message of God's Grace through the Iesous?
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
God Visits Me In Deep Emotional Pain
"I cried out to God with my voice-to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have remembered that days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my songs in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever? And be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in His anger shut up His tender mercies." Psalms 77:1-7
The Poet-Sufferer is experiencing deep emotional pain. He does not reveal what he believes to be the source or cause of his pain. Indeed, he is not a western individual conversant with a particular school of psychotherapy. He is nevertheless an individual who knows God and yet he finds himself within severe emotional suffering. He admits in verse one that he prayed to God and God listened to him.
There is a pathetic brokenness in his words. His emotional pain seems to drown out any verbal expression of his circumstances. There is a frantic appeal to God by the Poet-sufferer to grant relief to the stabbing and unrelenting emotional pain that has claimed his life. He sought the Lord "in the night" of his soul's anguish. He states that he "stretched out his hand" for relief from the deep struggle being waged within his heart, and yet it was not available to him.
In the midst of his trail of faith he remembered God, and was troubled. Ah, there was no smooth linear answer for the Poet's suffering. There was no attempt to construct a reasonable answer for what he was experiencing. A 'logical' reason for his pain could not be constructed in the storm of his suffering.
Job experienced a similar type of emotional pain that had no reasonable explanation. He was a godly one whose suffering was not rational, and yet he too cried out to God for an answer to his situation. When we experience unspeakable suffering it is normal to want to know 'why?' we have been visited with such an event, and when its intense pain will leave us.
I have seen this struggle with pain and faith in my on life. It has caused me to seek to get closer to God not expecting an answer from Him about why my life has been visited by emotional pain, but that I may have a place of refuge during the storm of distress. Yes, I question within 'why?' a certain event has come to me, and I have learned to pray for stability during the present crisis.
However, I know that there are those whose emotional pain have been deeply written into their souls through frightful trauma. Rape, childhood sexual abuse, victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, babies born with addictions to street drugs, etc., all have a story of emotional pain that defies the most carefully constructed studies and statistical variables because who can measure the depths of malignant anguish?
I have seen the tattoos on the wrists of those who were cataloged and sequestered in work camps, and I have heard first person some of their stories. The pain in their hearts refused to negotiate release. I have heard first person the stories of those who were sexually abused as children, and how their pain from the past wants to control them in the present.
The Poet-sufferer is a companion to those who have trodden the path of emotional pain so deep that one can only find oneself complaining to God. There was a point in the Poet's suffering where he he could no longer speak. His vocal chords were raw from strain, and his heart was weary from the endless molestation of writhing pain.
Where was God when the Poet's life did not make sense? Of what value was there in the Poet's suffering? The Poet's pain had made him shadowy and almost ghost like. He was on the edge of normative reality. His unique trouble brought him to the point where he could only do one thing. His raw exposure to emotional pain led him to the frontier of faith.
The Poet was caused to remember a song in the night. Here was the mercy of God in the midst of trail. God gave the Poet a song to sustain him in the face of trial. When I can no longer bear the heavy load I am tasked to carry God will show himself to me. In the hour of my deepest need He is there for me because He loves me.
Beloved, today take your deep emotional pain to God humbly and frankly tell Him of your struggle. Know that He will never leave you or forsake you. Change you life today by faith in the living God who makes all things new.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
The Poet-Sufferer is experiencing deep emotional pain. He does not reveal what he believes to be the source or cause of his pain. Indeed, he is not a western individual conversant with a particular school of psychotherapy. He is nevertheless an individual who knows God and yet he finds himself within severe emotional suffering. He admits in verse one that he prayed to God and God listened to him.
There is a pathetic brokenness in his words. His emotional pain seems to drown out any verbal expression of his circumstances. There is a frantic appeal to God by the Poet-sufferer to grant relief to the stabbing and unrelenting emotional pain that has claimed his life. He sought the Lord "in the night" of his soul's anguish. He states that he "stretched out his hand" for relief from the deep struggle being waged within his heart, and yet it was not available to him.
In the midst of his trail of faith he remembered God, and was troubled. Ah, there was no smooth linear answer for the Poet's suffering. There was no attempt to construct a reasonable answer for what he was experiencing. A 'logical' reason for his pain could not be constructed in the storm of his suffering.
Job experienced a similar type of emotional pain that had no reasonable explanation. He was a godly one whose suffering was not rational, and yet he too cried out to God for an answer to his situation. When we experience unspeakable suffering it is normal to want to know 'why?' we have been visited with such an event, and when its intense pain will leave us.
I have seen this struggle with pain and faith in my on life. It has caused me to seek to get closer to God not expecting an answer from Him about why my life has been visited by emotional pain, but that I may have a place of refuge during the storm of distress. Yes, I question within 'why?' a certain event has come to me, and I have learned to pray for stability during the present crisis.
However, I know that there are those whose emotional pain have been deeply written into their souls through frightful trauma. Rape, childhood sexual abuse, victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, babies born with addictions to street drugs, etc., all have a story of emotional pain that defies the most carefully constructed studies and statistical variables because who can measure the depths of malignant anguish?
I have seen the tattoos on the wrists of those who were cataloged and sequestered in work camps, and I have heard first person some of their stories. The pain in their hearts refused to negotiate release. I have heard first person the stories of those who were sexually abused as children, and how their pain from the past wants to control them in the present.
The Poet-sufferer is a companion to those who have trodden the path of emotional pain so deep that one can only find oneself complaining to God. There was a point in the Poet's suffering where he he could no longer speak. His vocal chords were raw from strain, and his heart was weary from the endless molestation of writhing pain.
Where was God when the Poet's life did not make sense? Of what value was there in the Poet's suffering? The Poet's pain had made him shadowy and almost ghost like. He was on the edge of normative reality. His unique trouble brought him to the point where he could only do one thing. His raw exposure to emotional pain led him to the frontier of faith.
The Poet was caused to remember a song in the night. Here was the mercy of God in the midst of trail. God gave the Poet a song to sustain him in the face of trial. When I can no longer bear the heavy load I am tasked to carry God will show himself to me. In the hour of my deepest need He is there for me because He loves me.
Beloved, today take your deep emotional pain to God humbly and frankly tell Him of your struggle. Know that He will never leave you or forsake you. Change you life today by faith in the living God who makes all things new.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Take Up Grace Thinking Today
"In whom we have redemption (Gk. Apolutrosin, to release from bondage after payment of ransom), through the blood of him, the forgiveness of the sins ( Gk. Paraptomaton, to willfully overstep a boundary), according to the riches of the Grace of Him."(Eph. 1:7
I recently had the opportunity to speak with an individual well versed in mental health issues. It was his candid observation that the current mental health model is to medicate symptoms. In no way was he being dismissive of pharmaco-therapy for patients, but he was stating that a spiritual component was greatly lacking within their treatment plans.
A holistic approach to patient care seeks to resolve this vital problem that is essential to a sense of well-being. Research has shown that persons who are connected to a spiritual community have greater and more lasting recovery from adversity, and therefore the ability to persevere when faced with difficulties.
Within the mental health community the ability to face difficult trails in life and rebound from them is called resilience. Resilience must be a deep character trait in this life because this life is filled with adversity and difficulty.
The verses given above were written by Paul centuries ago to the called out ones in the great city of Ephesus. These verses are part of a whole therefore one cannot rent them from their context without missing their importance within the body of reveal truth herein taught by Paul.
First of all, the phrase "In whom" is a preposition that is frequently used by Paul in this chapter. Paul also uses the phrase "In Him" in this chapter too. "In Whom" and "In Him" represent a boundary and a sphere.
As in all of the Pauline writings God (Theos), and Jesus (Iesou), are the subject, and the called out ones are the objects of divine Grace. That is, the called out ones receive the action of the verbs related to God on behalf of the believing ones.
God's actions are powerful realities that occur within the sphere of the Iesou. God's actions are completed on behalf of the called out ones in the perfect tense. That is, the results of God's actions have ongoing results that never grow weak or ineffective with time. In fact the "In Whom" or the "In Him" prepositional phrases are of deep significance because the preposition 'in' in the Greek Text is the word 'en' and it means within the 'sphere of' and it is also a preposition of 'rest.'
Paul lets the called out ones know that it is from the sphere of rest in Iesous that they have received the redemption or release from the hard taskmaster of formidable enslavement to sin.
The action of God through the Iesou has done the impossible thing. God is in the business of doing the impossible thing. It is within the sphere that we come to realize that with God the impossible thing is possible.
Also, notice in this verse, we have the forgiveness of sins. God has sent off from us our sins. That is, our actions that deserve judgement (Gk. Krisis), but we have received His forgiveness. Let me also state that God knows that we judge ourselves in a harsh manner too. We place ourselves in krisis because we feel it is where we belong. This is a personal hell that is not found within the sphere of Iesou. 'In Him' we have rest from the power of sentencing ourselves as unworthy or worthless.
Look at your life now and celebrate what He has done in your life. Remember where you came from, and what you were doing? Remember the emptiness and lost feelings that controlled your deep and real existential angst? Remember when God rescued you from you and how you saw you through the action of realized Grace?
When you start to grow weary and feel weak God's Grace prescription is to revisit the deep reality of the Redemption. Claim the reality of Redemption daily. Keep your eyes fixed on the Iesou and his peace and you will revive your heart.
Today, beloved, claim by faith the reality of God's release from the power of the past and claim your rest in Iesou. By faith, you can, claim what is rightfully your inheritance through Grace. Change your life today by faith. Boldly claim the riches of His Grace. Confess with your mouth the work of Grace on your behalf until that part of your brain that is steeped in self-rejection is reprogrammed with Grace thinking. I implore you to take up Grace thinking today.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with an individual well versed in mental health issues. It was his candid observation that the current mental health model is to medicate symptoms. In no way was he being dismissive of pharmaco-therapy for patients, but he was stating that a spiritual component was greatly lacking within their treatment plans.
A holistic approach to patient care seeks to resolve this vital problem that is essential to a sense of well-being. Research has shown that persons who are connected to a spiritual community have greater and more lasting recovery from adversity, and therefore the ability to persevere when faced with difficulties.
Within the mental health community the ability to face difficult trails in life and rebound from them is called resilience. Resilience must be a deep character trait in this life because this life is filled with adversity and difficulty.
The verses given above were written by Paul centuries ago to the called out ones in the great city of Ephesus. These verses are part of a whole therefore one cannot rent them from their context without missing their importance within the body of reveal truth herein taught by Paul.
First of all, the phrase "In whom" is a preposition that is frequently used by Paul in this chapter. Paul also uses the phrase "In Him" in this chapter too. "In Whom" and "In Him" represent a boundary and a sphere.
As in all of the Pauline writings God (Theos), and Jesus (Iesou), are the subject, and the called out ones are the objects of divine Grace. That is, the called out ones receive the action of the verbs related to God on behalf of the believing ones.
God's actions are powerful realities that occur within the sphere of the Iesou. God's actions are completed on behalf of the called out ones in the perfect tense. That is, the results of God's actions have ongoing results that never grow weak or ineffective with time. In fact the "In Whom" or the "In Him" prepositional phrases are of deep significance because the preposition 'in' in the Greek Text is the word 'en' and it means within the 'sphere of' and it is also a preposition of 'rest.'
Paul lets the called out ones know that it is from the sphere of rest in Iesous that they have received the redemption or release from the hard taskmaster of formidable enslavement to sin.
The action of God through the Iesou has done the impossible thing. God is in the business of doing the impossible thing. It is within the sphere that we come to realize that with God the impossible thing is possible.
Also, notice in this verse, we have the forgiveness of sins. God has sent off from us our sins. That is, our actions that deserve judgement (Gk. Krisis), but we have received His forgiveness. Let me also state that God knows that we judge ourselves in a harsh manner too. We place ourselves in krisis because we feel it is where we belong. This is a personal hell that is not found within the sphere of Iesou. 'In Him' we have rest from the power of sentencing ourselves as unworthy or worthless.
Look at your life now and celebrate what He has done in your life. Remember where you came from, and what you were doing? Remember the emptiness and lost feelings that controlled your deep and real existential angst? Remember when God rescued you from you and how you saw you through the action of realized Grace?
When you start to grow weary and feel weak God's Grace prescription is to revisit the deep reality of the Redemption. Claim the reality of Redemption daily. Keep your eyes fixed on the Iesou and his peace and you will revive your heart.
Today, beloved, claim by faith the reality of God's release from the power of the past and claim your rest in Iesou. By faith, you can, claim what is rightfully your inheritance through Grace. Change your life today by faith. Boldly claim the riches of His Grace. Confess with your mouth the work of Grace on your behalf until that part of your brain that is steeped in self-rejection is reprogrammed with Grace thinking. I implore you to take up Grace thinking today.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Stay In The Faith
"God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in theses last days spoken unto us by (through) the Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the ages (aionas); Who being the brightness of his glory (essence), and the express image (charakter) of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Hebrews 1:1-4
There is so much given in these verses about the person in the Ieosu that beggars speech. And yet we attempt an explanation of them because of their vital richness.
Early on there had been controversy about the author of this compelling Scriptural document, and some have written about its place within the revealed canon. However, this document is a highly important part of scriptural revelation because its bold and uncompromising Christology (doctrine of the person of Iesous).
According to the writer of this document revelation is from above, and it is singularly directed toward unveiling the person of the Iesous. The Iesou is prominently featured here because of who he is, and what he has done for the human community. Yahweh chose a unique family headed by a man Abram, and later named Abraham in order to carry forth Salvation History.
The history of the family of Abraham the father of the Faith (Aman) is recorder in the Tenach or what in the west is called the "Old Testament." It may come as a shock to western believers that the Jewish people do not call their Scriptures the "Old Testament."
The words of the prophets were spoken for the most part in times of crisis. When they spoke into the current state of things it was to expose and explode the status quo. They were courageous and daring in their speech events. Indeed, their speech events unleashed an intrinsic destiny for their hearers.
The prophets were oftentimes found to be abrasive and offensive to many. There was no psycho-dynamic appeal in their compelling speech acts. They were the embodiment of the Yahweh on behalf of his people. The prophets were sent ones. They were directed by Yahweh and burdened with a compelling message that was not their own. They were called to speak "Thus Saith the Lord." Yahweh's word was their burden to those who had forgotten their appropriate destiny.
The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote to the same Jewish family. These Jewish converts had come to realize that Iesou was indeed the Messiah promised in the Scriptures. They had left behind the temple sacrificial system and the offering of the blood of bulls and goats as a covering for sin. The entire Temple system had been set aside through the finished redemptive work of Ieosu. They believed on him, and in his finished work on the cross.
But now persecution had come as a result of their commitment to the Ieous. It was discouraging indeed to know that they were being harassed for their commitment of their lives to the Ieosu. The writer of this document called it an exhortation because they were in danger of falling away from the Faith. The pain of suffering was inviting them to question their faith in Iesou. Did they really do the right thing in following the Iesou?
Their faith was being examined by suffering and it was a tough road. The writer invites them to focus not on their suffering, but on the One who suffered on their behalf as an offering because of their sins. Remember that the Iesou did not focus on his pain but on their salvation. He was their model. He was their enduring model of perseverance. Never, never look back into the past as a safety net. The past was not so secure as you journeyed through it.
The past is sweet when we chose to remember only the best times. We have a way of editing out the hard times when we need to keep on keeping on in the present. The past becomes a comforting and deceiving lie when it is scoured of the barnacles of malignant troubles.
Beloved, remember the Ieosu when you are beset by troubles. Yes, your faith is precious, and there are those who want to separate you from your living hope. Remain steady. Do not give up, but press on in the faith for you will receive a great reward from God if you do not falter.
Do not look for excuses to quit the faith, but harvest many reasons not to fall away. He is worth the struggle. Remember the battle is the Lord's as David said when he faced the Goliath-wall in his life. The roaring Goliath with his impressive size, state of the art armor, and highly abusive words, did not discourage David.
Beloved do not remove yourself from the Faith, but trust in the living God and he will give you the faith to stay in the battle and not to give up. God is on your side, but you have to believe that he is there for you in your time of stress and distress.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
There is so much given in these verses about the person in the Ieosu that beggars speech. And yet we attempt an explanation of them because of their vital richness.
Early on there had been controversy about the author of this compelling Scriptural document, and some have written about its place within the revealed canon. However, this document is a highly important part of scriptural revelation because its bold and uncompromising Christology (doctrine of the person of Iesous).
According to the writer of this document revelation is from above, and it is singularly directed toward unveiling the person of the Iesous. The Iesou is prominently featured here because of who he is, and what he has done for the human community. Yahweh chose a unique family headed by a man Abram, and later named Abraham in order to carry forth Salvation History.
The history of the family of Abraham the father of the Faith (Aman) is recorder in the Tenach or what in the west is called the "Old Testament." It may come as a shock to western believers that the Jewish people do not call their Scriptures the "Old Testament."
The words of the prophets were spoken for the most part in times of crisis. When they spoke into the current state of things it was to expose and explode the status quo. They were courageous and daring in their speech events. Indeed, their speech events unleashed an intrinsic destiny for their hearers.
The prophets were oftentimes found to be abrasive and offensive to many. There was no psycho-dynamic appeal in their compelling speech acts. They were the embodiment of the Yahweh on behalf of his people. The prophets were sent ones. They were directed by Yahweh and burdened with a compelling message that was not their own. They were called to speak "Thus Saith the Lord." Yahweh's word was their burden to those who had forgotten their appropriate destiny.
The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote to the same Jewish family. These Jewish converts had come to realize that Iesou was indeed the Messiah promised in the Scriptures. They had left behind the temple sacrificial system and the offering of the blood of bulls and goats as a covering for sin. The entire Temple system had been set aside through the finished redemptive work of Ieosu. They believed on him, and in his finished work on the cross.
But now persecution had come as a result of their commitment to the Ieous. It was discouraging indeed to know that they were being harassed for their commitment of their lives to the Ieosu. The writer of this document called it an exhortation because they were in danger of falling away from the Faith. The pain of suffering was inviting them to question their faith in Iesou. Did they really do the right thing in following the Iesou?
Their faith was being examined by suffering and it was a tough road. The writer invites them to focus not on their suffering, but on the One who suffered on their behalf as an offering because of their sins. Remember that the Iesou did not focus on his pain but on their salvation. He was their model. He was their enduring model of perseverance. Never, never look back into the past as a safety net. The past was not so secure as you journeyed through it.
The past is sweet when we chose to remember only the best times. We have a way of editing out the hard times when we need to keep on keeping on in the present. The past becomes a comforting and deceiving lie when it is scoured of the barnacles of malignant troubles.
Beloved, remember the Ieosu when you are beset by troubles. Yes, your faith is precious, and there are those who want to separate you from your living hope. Remain steady. Do not give up, but press on in the faith for you will receive a great reward from God if you do not falter.
Do not look for excuses to quit the faith, but harvest many reasons not to fall away. He is worth the struggle. Remember the battle is the Lord's as David said when he faced the Goliath-wall in his life. The roaring Goliath with his impressive size, state of the art armor, and highly abusive words, did not discourage David.
Beloved do not remove yourself from the Faith, but trust in the living God and he will give you the faith to stay in the battle and not to give up. God is on your side, but you have to believe that he is there for you in your time of stress and distress.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
The Photo-graphic Life
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness (Gk. Skotous), and let us put on the armor of light (Gk. Photos). Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Rom. 13:12-14
It was Paul's literary practice to first pen what had been on behalf of the believing community through the cross of the Iesou, and then teach the moral realities that should be evident in the lives of those who have profited therefrom.
Paul taught that the eschaton, or the last days had already appeared during his time. We live within the last days of this age. A new age (aeon) is coming that will be ruled by the Iesou himself.
We live in the "already and the not yet" as one writer put it. We are resident aliens within this cosmos. We are citizens of another country. We know that here we have no continuing city, but we look for the one that is to come. As those who possess precious promises, from the Lord, we are called upon to model our foreign citizenship. We are to be different in the manner we behave while away from home.
Paul states that we, that is we collectively, must cast off away from ourselves the works of darkness. The Greek word for darkness in our text is the word skotous which refers to spiritual darkness. It is a word that denotes a state of being that is inconsistent with one's professed status. It also means to 'stop' or to be restrained because one is unable to see. Darkness is not a psychological term it is a theological term that describes spiritual malignancy.
We must cast off spiritual malignancy as it hinders the living out of our true nature and calling. One cannot represent the Iesou in a consistent manner if one is practicing the works of darkness. This represents a split within and a fragmentary life without, and upward mobility is curtailed by the devouring lie. This life becomes conspicuously bogged down when the great lie is ruling the heart.
We are therefore enjoined by Paul to "put on" the armor of photos. We are obligated to live a photo-graphic life. It is the life of the day that takes no part in the menacing ways of skotous (night). Paul emphatically states that we must walk decorously as in the day. This is a powerful and transforming truth for those who profess claims to the redemptive work of the Iesou. In Him (the Ieosu) is no darkness at all, and therefore those who claim to know Him must walk as He walked.
We cast off the unfruitful works of darkness by faith. We say a resounding 'no' to the powers of darkness who would seduce us only to betray us "in deepest consequence." Paul has to warn constantly believing ones not to be seduced by Komos the god of partying through drunkenness and sensuality. Paul has to warn constantly believing ones about Methe or drinking parties.
You may say that such behavior was never a part of the community, but you would be mistaken. God is not blind to the ways of his redeemed ones. He has a very detailed understanding of our ways. We do well to remember this and not to evade or ignore it. God must tell us not to be engaged in sexual promiscuity within the community. But it does happen, and many have suffered because of it. Marriages and families have been ruined by such behavior.
It is time for us to start living as though the Ieosus is coming for his called out ones. He will come! Will you be ready to see Him? Do not be found in darkness. You do not want to be ashamed before Him when he removes us from the cosmos. The last days are upon us and we need to focus upon the things that will remain unto eternity. Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Rom. 13:12-14
It was Paul's literary practice to first pen what had been on behalf of the believing community through the cross of the Iesou, and then teach the moral realities that should be evident in the lives of those who have profited therefrom.
Paul taught that the eschaton, or the last days had already appeared during his time. We live within the last days of this age. A new age (aeon) is coming that will be ruled by the Iesou himself.
We live in the "already and the not yet" as one writer put it. We are resident aliens within this cosmos. We are citizens of another country. We know that here we have no continuing city, but we look for the one that is to come. As those who possess precious promises, from the Lord, we are called upon to model our foreign citizenship. We are to be different in the manner we behave while away from home.
Paul states that we, that is we collectively, must cast off away from ourselves the works of darkness. The Greek word for darkness in our text is the word skotous which refers to spiritual darkness. It is a word that denotes a state of being that is inconsistent with one's professed status. It also means to 'stop' or to be restrained because one is unable to see. Darkness is not a psychological term it is a theological term that describes spiritual malignancy.
We must cast off spiritual malignancy as it hinders the living out of our true nature and calling. One cannot represent the Iesou in a consistent manner if one is practicing the works of darkness. This represents a split within and a fragmentary life without, and upward mobility is curtailed by the devouring lie. This life becomes conspicuously bogged down when the great lie is ruling the heart.
We are therefore enjoined by Paul to "put on" the armor of photos. We are obligated to live a photo-graphic life. It is the life of the day that takes no part in the menacing ways of skotous (night). Paul emphatically states that we must walk decorously as in the day. This is a powerful and transforming truth for those who profess claims to the redemptive work of the Iesou. In Him (the Ieosu) is no darkness at all, and therefore those who claim to know Him must walk as He walked.
We cast off the unfruitful works of darkness by faith. We say a resounding 'no' to the powers of darkness who would seduce us only to betray us "in deepest consequence." Paul has to warn constantly believing ones not to be seduced by Komos the god of partying through drunkenness and sensuality. Paul has to warn constantly believing ones about Methe or drinking parties.
You may say that such behavior was never a part of the community, but you would be mistaken. God is not blind to the ways of his redeemed ones. He has a very detailed understanding of our ways. We do well to remember this and not to evade or ignore it. God must tell us not to be engaged in sexual promiscuity within the community. But it does happen, and many have suffered because of it. Marriages and families have been ruined by such behavior.
It is time for us to start living as though the Ieosus is coming for his called out ones. He will come! Will you be ready to see Him? Do not be found in darkness. You do not want to be ashamed before Him when he removes us from the cosmos. The last days are upon us and we need to focus upon the things that will remain unto eternity. Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
The Gospel Is the Word of Antithesis
"Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh (Gk. Sarx). Though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
II Cor.16-17
"Therefore" introduces us to another Pauline conclusion that serves to explain the Gospel as a message of antithesis. The Gospel is not and cannot be a philosophical word on the human condition. As C.S. Lewis has well stated, "we have enough good advice from various philosophers. We are in need of a word that is not remote from us, nor do we need a word that leaves us spiritual beggars."
We find ourselves in the early part of the 21st century with drones threatening our "democratic" skies, and nano-technologies that can reprogram our cellular structure. Our children are being recruited by the State powers as village heralds of political designs that few understand. Gang rapes of young girls are sped across the internet in real time. Persons can vicariously participate the undoing of a child via hand held devices.
Politicians can do no better than to wed powerful technologies that can be a force for optimal global good to the ancient relic of socialism. The rhetoric of socialism is filled with the wine of social good but alas it is always the self-defined nobility of the few that 'force' the many to accept and live under the crushing mockery of socialist fictions. We need a new word that will supercede the mongrel emptiness of carefully constructed sound bites contrived to bait and hide the truth. We are asked to live on odious toxic fumes of idiological gas.
Therefore, we listen to Paul as a breath of fresh air in a musty and stale room. The Gospel is the message of hope that radically sets an individual within a new situation. The Gospel is the breath of God expressed in language that is cognitively apt to reach the executive center of the human brain. The human mind can respond either positively or negatively to the Gospel word. However, to respond in a positive manner to the Gospel means life in superabundance.
Paul's entire life was absorbed by the new word. The word of the Gospel does not come to take as the words of politicos and others do. The Gospel does not prey upon the frailty of persons. The Gospel is a radical No to the Yes of that which demands everything and gives nothing back to the person. The Gospel is the explosive Yes to the devouring No of the spiritually cancerous word.
The word of the Gospel meant for Paul that no man could be regarded as less than man. The Gospel meant, for Paul, that the Yes of skin hue is indicative of greater or lesser value as a person is a blinding lie. More importantly, though the Iesous was at one time looked upon by Paul from mere human viewpoint it was now no longer possible.
One of the gifts of the Gospel are new eyes unobstructed by human prejudice. The Gospel enables one to see into and above the alienation inherent in human relationships. The love of God expressed in the Gospel word is not overcome by human alienation. The love of God moves into human alienation and reveals the heart of God.
When an individual believes the Gospel word he or she is re-generated by the Spirit (breath) of the living God. In other words, that which looked alive is made truly alive by the living God. God can take the old word that hardened your life into stone and make you alive. God can take the word that took everything from you and give your life real meaning. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him would have (possess) life eternal." John 3:16
The Gospel is the word of decisive antithesis in this Brave New World that asks everything and gives back nothing. The new technologies have not liberated they have created hypnotized slaves who are awe-struck by the totalitarian state that appears to give only to dominate the will. People have become conditioned by the mere appearance of giving. They have yet to learn that the word of seduction invites greater enslavement.
The word of the Gospel makes one a new creation. The old word is a lie dipped in chagrin. Its promise is as empty as that presented in the play Waiting For Godet. The promised salvation in Waiting For Godet never comes. The word of the Gospel is the word of eternal life. Will you trust God today? Will you come to the cross of the Iesous and receive the Word of Life?
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
II Cor.16-17
"Therefore" introduces us to another Pauline conclusion that serves to explain the Gospel as a message of antithesis. The Gospel is not and cannot be a philosophical word on the human condition. As C.S. Lewis has well stated, "we have enough good advice from various philosophers. We are in need of a word that is not remote from us, nor do we need a word that leaves us spiritual beggars."
We find ourselves in the early part of the 21st century with drones threatening our "democratic" skies, and nano-technologies that can reprogram our cellular structure. Our children are being recruited by the State powers as village heralds of political designs that few understand. Gang rapes of young girls are sped across the internet in real time. Persons can vicariously participate the undoing of a child via hand held devices.
Politicians can do no better than to wed powerful technologies that can be a force for optimal global good to the ancient relic of socialism. The rhetoric of socialism is filled with the wine of social good but alas it is always the self-defined nobility of the few that 'force' the many to accept and live under the crushing mockery of socialist fictions. We need a new word that will supercede the mongrel emptiness of carefully constructed sound bites contrived to bait and hide the truth. We are asked to live on odious toxic fumes of idiological gas.
Therefore, we listen to Paul as a breath of fresh air in a musty and stale room. The Gospel is the message of hope that radically sets an individual within a new situation. The Gospel is the breath of God expressed in language that is cognitively apt to reach the executive center of the human brain. The human mind can respond either positively or negatively to the Gospel word. However, to respond in a positive manner to the Gospel means life in superabundance.
Paul's entire life was absorbed by the new word. The word of the Gospel does not come to take as the words of politicos and others do. The Gospel does not prey upon the frailty of persons. The Gospel is a radical No to the Yes of that which demands everything and gives nothing back to the person. The Gospel is the explosive Yes to the devouring No of the spiritually cancerous word.
The word of the Gospel meant for Paul that no man could be regarded as less than man. The Gospel meant, for Paul, that the Yes of skin hue is indicative of greater or lesser value as a person is a blinding lie. More importantly, though the Iesous was at one time looked upon by Paul from mere human viewpoint it was now no longer possible.
One of the gifts of the Gospel are new eyes unobstructed by human prejudice. The Gospel enables one to see into and above the alienation inherent in human relationships. The love of God expressed in the Gospel word is not overcome by human alienation. The love of God moves into human alienation and reveals the heart of God.
When an individual believes the Gospel word he or she is re-generated by the Spirit (breath) of the living God. In other words, that which looked alive is made truly alive by the living God. God can take the old word that hardened your life into stone and make you alive. God can take the word that took everything from you and give your life real meaning. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him would have (possess) life eternal." John 3:16
The Gospel is the word of decisive antithesis in this Brave New World that asks everything and gives back nothing. The new technologies have not liberated they have created hypnotized slaves who are awe-struck by the totalitarian state that appears to give only to dominate the will. People have become conditioned by the mere appearance of giving. They have yet to learn that the word of seduction invites greater enslavement.
The word of the Gospel makes one a new creation. The old word is a lie dipped in chagrin. Its promise is as empty as that presented in the play Waiting For Godet. The promised salvation in Waiting For Godet never comes. The word of the Gospel is the word of eternal life. Will you trust God today? Will you come to the cross of the Iesous and receive the Word of Life?
Blessings to you.
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow this blog and visit his website.
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