I love doing what I do :)

Have you ever looked back and thought, “It’s December already! Where did the time go?” Well that’s what I did just recently as in, in the past 2 days ;)

But it’s true! Time has flown by. Three months ago we were just starting the CSBS and now we are almost done a third of the school! It’s hard to believe and it’s been a lot of work.  I’ve had to relearn some things, but it has been an excellent experience so far! To be honest, I think my appreciation for the Bible has only grown! In my studies, I have been reading and thinking about the effect of the Bible, and let me just say that it excites me when I think about the possibilities that can come out of a school that is totally focused on teaching Truth to students and the community. Our students have been doing so great in the school and have loved it so far! It has been great to see them jumping up and down and excited about the Bible! So many Christians today think that the Bible is dull and boring (I know from personal experience) but it is full of life and real stories that are everything but dull and boring!

So 3 months down and 6 to go :) But it will be a great 6 months! More stories, more prophets, more studies, and more truth that is going to be spread. That is what it’s all about - the Truth. That is what I want to teach and be transformed by. When people have a relationship with God and study His Word, how can they not receive God’s Truth? And when they get Truth, then they can’t help but be transformed by it. This is followed by the desire to share Truth with others. 

What’s so important about God’s Truth? It can change the world! Just look at history! Look at what Jesus did with the teaching of 12 disciples...(well I guess I would really only count 11). They helped change the course of the world! Then look at John Wycliff, William Tyndall, and Martin Luther. These men translated the Bible into common language, which changed the course of their countries and ultimately the entire Western World. Because the masses had the Bible translated into English in England by men like Wycliff and Tyndall the entire government shifted to reflect a system based on Biblical principles. And then when William Wilberforce came around, he was able to shift it even more in line with Biblical principles through the abolition of slavery in the English world. This is huge! An entire country was altered because people had studied God’s word, received a Biblical perspective, and applied it to their lives, work place, and country, which ultimately changed! 

This can still happen today! People can still know God’s Word for themselves, and from it know Truth and change the course of history by applying God’s Truth to their lives, their workplace, and their nations. This is what we were called to do! To be Christ like and to let our light shine! That’s what Wycliff, Tyndall, Luther, and Wilberforce did and you can too!

Law bringing Freedom

The law is something that binds. Every nation, culture, and people group have a Law. It is either written down or it is an unspoken law. Some people hate it, some people try to find loop holes through it, but law is everywhere. 

The Israelite nation were slaves. They were forced to work. The law said that they were property and needed to work for Pharaoh for the rest of their lives. Today we would call that an unjust law, but that’s what happened. 

Well in the book of Exodus we see that God brings the people of Israel out of Egypt and out of slavery. He gives them their freedom and He also gives them the Law. Why the Law? Well not only does the law give them an idea of right and wrong, it also protects the people, but more than that it protects the nation. Many of the laws seem ridiculous or pointless but many we can see value in today. But every law had a purpose. I can’t tell you the purpose of every law because it would take too long to write and because I don’t know them all ;) I believe that God does everything for a purpose. 

For example, in Leviticus 12 there are laws about purification after giving birth. Looking at that, one could think that God is being sexist against female’s because if a girl is born then the woman and child are unclean for a longer time period than if a boy is born. But looking at the context we can see that God is protecting the child. In Canaan, people worshipped a god named Molech and it was common practice to have human sacrifice’s to this god. The Canaanites would sacrifice babies to Molech and it was more common to sacrifice female babies. This was because the Canaanites had an agricultural society where males were more highly valued than females because of the hard physical labor it took to work the fields. God of course is against human sacrifice in regards to worshipping Him or any other supposed god. Many scholars say that these laws of purification after giving birth were to contradict this practice of sacrificing babies to the god Molech. By separating the child and mother from the rest of society for a time period, it gives them a time to not only recuperate physically, but also gives the mother and child more time to bond which would make the family less likely to sacrifice their child to Molech. 

God made and gave the Law to protect the people. Everyone was under the Law. There were even laws for future kings even though God was to be the King. God said that when the day came and Israel would choose to have man as king instead of God, that that man was to obey the law. He was meant to have his own copy of the law which meant that he was also under the law. We see an example of this with Saul and David, even though David broke the law with Bathsheba he still had consequences, he still had to answer to the law.

This is because the Law was above everyone. It’s because God made the Law. God didn’t want His people to come under the rule of another tyrant like Pharaoh! No! He made everyone under the Law so that the people would be protected against tyranny.  In history we see many examples of kings or dictators making the law so that they are  above the law because they made it. But with Israel it was God who made the Law, so no man was above the law but everyone had to answer to it. 

To me this shows God’s incredible foresight and wisdom in regards to human nature. Sin would eventually corrupt and the people would once again be left with nothing, either by someone else's doing or by their own. 

Today we are also ruled by law. We often do things that aren’t necessarily “illegal”, but I wonder what would happen if we looked at it in the light of God’s Law. Jesus of course fulfilled the Law, but there are still moral standards to live by. If anything, Jesus intensified the Law (Matthew 5). So my challenge? As a follower of Christ I am supposed to follow the example that Jesus gave. However, sometimes I put man’s law ahead of God’s law when I should be following God first. I know there is grace, but I do not want to take grace for granted. The Law was meant to protect the people, but it was also meant to protect a sacred relationship - the relationship that God always intended us to have, the relationship between God and man. That relationship is harmed when we sin, so by putting God first I am actively trying to protect that relationship as well. God is someone that I can not afford to lose touch with. After all, it’s relationship with God that brings freedom!

God's Reaching Hand

God is love!  It is something that is difficult to grasp and something that we often take for granted.  God's hand always seems to be reaching out no matter what has been done.  He is always ready for us to return before we are ready to return to Him!  Vishal Mangalwadi, author of The Book that Made Your World, writes that the ancient Greeks put limits on what God could and could not do.  The Greeks and Romans thought that the gods were separated from humanity.  Humanity was in misery, while the gods were above it.  They thought that the gods had limits, not to mention they weren't very interested in human problems.  God, however, is not limited!  He couldn't be because He created everything!  

God is also interested in our problems, in our misery.  If He wasn't, He wouldn't have let Jesus be crucified in order to lift man up out of his misery and sin, in order to be the bridge between us and God.  Throughout history we see many examples of God caring for mankind when He didn't have to.  Why didn't He have to?  I think it's because often times we bring hardship upon ourselves by making our own mistakes.  People often complain that God isn't fair, but this isn't the case - He is more than fair!  He helps, intercedes, saves when He doesn't have to!  There are many examples in the Bible, and I know God has interceded for me showing that He cares, that He thought of me.  Just look at the nation of Israel in the Bible.  In Exodus 19:1-8 we can see that Israel agreed with the covenant that God laid before them, but they didn't follow it.  They disobeyed and were therefore meant to receive judgement for their disobedience, but God had grace and mercy many times.  Within the same book, the same people who agreed to the covenant blatantly, went against it (the story of the Golden Calf). 

We see this even more in Judges 2:11-17 when God was again angry with the Israelites for their disobedience, but He still helped them and tried to bring them back to the covenant. This happened again and again.  Yes, God got angry.  Yes, He got involved and laid some punishment on the people of Israel. But it's purpose was for them to return!  God always wanted the people of Israel to return to Him!  He was drawing them to Himself by giving them a need for Him!

We often get angry with God for hardships, and we see punishment in the Bible as God being mean and unjust.  But this isn't the case!  I've been learning that those times in the Bible were God punished was actually out of love!  God was reaching out by giving the Israelites an opportunity to need Him! 

So God reaches out.  He reaches out to us in our need.  He is reaching out to us for relationship.  So what are we going to do about it?  Are we going to grab that hand that is reaching out for us, calling for us to come near?  I'll be honest, I have ignored that hand many times and it is time that I grab that hand and hold on for life.

Heavenly Culture Vs. My Own Culture

This Bible school is really making me think.  The closer it gets to finishing, the more I see that God is unlike anything this world has ever seen or thought of.  I think that all the cultures of this world have sought the divine.  The idea that there are no gods at all was a ridiculous thought until recently.  Cultures are always trying to figure out the heavenly culture, so that they can either copy it or become a part of it.  The Greeks thought that they could become like the gods by becoming wise and growing in wisdom.  They figured that they would reach a turning point in their lives because of the amount of knowledge that they possessed.  With that knowledge they would be transformed into a being like the gods. This is what drove them.

            When Christianity came along, many of the Greek-thinking believers were of the same mindset. They figured the more they knew, the more they would become like God. They figured that the more they did, the higher level of salvation they would achieve. There were many other things that people believed, but what they all did was add their own understanding to what heavenly culture truly is.

            I don’t have the correct understanding of what Heavenly culture is.  I know that today’s church doesn’t either.  But here is what I do know: Mankind, since the beginning, has been searching for an understanding of the divine.  We have been searching for immortality.  We have been searching for power.  We are always searching.  All this searching is limited to what we believe or are accustomed to.  For instance, our current belief of what Heavenly culture is, is influenced by our culture of today. We add things to our Christianity because we are used to them, because they are in our culture and we perceive them as right, as truth.  These beliefs of right and wrong are so ingrained in us that we don’t even hesitate to second guess them. For example, a friend of mine from Cambodia said that the word “please” is reserved for beggars on the street. So when Cambodians ask for something, they don’t say please. Canadians, on the other hand, are taught that saying “please” is to be polite and if one doesn’t then he or she is considered rude. Is either culture wrong? Not in their own context.

            Well, no culture has it perfect. All cultures get it wrong sometimes. Canadian culture, Mexican culture, and Church culture.  All cultures get it wrong at times. So what does this have to do with the Heavenly culture? Well, the more I study the Bible, the more I realize that Heavenly culture is like nothing else on earth. It is like no other culture on earth. It is the supreme of the supreme and the only way that we are truly going to gain an understanding, to live out the Heavenly culture, is to seek God.  We need to become more like Him and less like ourselves and what our own cultures say about us. It’s just like what John the Baptist said.  As Christians, we basically give up the rights to our culture for the sake of the Heavenly culture. We said that we would become like the Heavenly culture instead of our own. It’s like becoming a citizen of a different country and renouncing the citizenship of a previous country. When becoming Christians we became a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom, which has a Heavenly culture and we said that we would become like that Heavenly culture. But we often continue to go around letting our own cultures influence our Christianity when it should be our Christianity influencing our cultures.

            This makes me think about what I am letting influence my Christianity. Things that aren’t a part of the Heavenly culture, but things that I don’t even realize are wrong. So the call, the challenge, is to become more a part of the Heavenly culture. More of God and less of me and my culture. 

How do I disciple?

I can often feel quite overwhelmed as to how I am supposed to disciple people. God called us to disciple the nations and I want to do that but I am unsure as to how I can do that. I am also in a position of leadership, whether I want to be or not, I am. In positions of leadership one has influence. People look at what they do closely, some to learn and others to find fault. Either way people are influenced by leaders actions. So this means that I have influence. What does this mean to me? Or a better way to put it would be, what does this mean for me?

This means that I need to be careful of what I do and how I act. Paul did an excellent job at this. He had the correct attitude for it because he acted without any selfish intent. Many people today, especially those with influence act with their own desires in mind. But Paul was acting with God’s interests in mind and in his heart. This is something that I really look up to and need more of. I need to come into that position with God that I am more concerned with His Kingdom all the time rather than just some of the time. He is the reason why I am doing what I am doing, and why I have been blessed with what I have, it’s because of Him. Most importantly, It’s because of God that I am saved. These things were not brought about by me but simply by the grace of God. So how do I portray that to others? Good question Brodie, I’m glad you asked:)

Well I think it starts with the way I live. I want to live in a way that glorifies God. And because God has blessed me with so many things freely, I am humbled. It’s not because of me that I am saved, but it’s because of God. So because of God’s grace I am blessed and that same grace is available to everyone else who believes as well. It is not limited to me but is offered freely to everyone else. This is how I can be an example to others. It was by no works of mine that I earned salvation, but it was given to me by faith, so I point people to God with my faith in Him. And because it was by grace and it was a gift I have no right to be prideful because the same grace is available to everyone who believes. So to live as an example I need to live my life so that my faith is visible on the outside so that people can see it and understand that it is not me who does the work but God though me, He is simply using me. It sounds mean in this worlds standards but I regard it as a privilege. Why? Well imagine the creator of the universe deciding to work through me to help mold His Kingdom. That is not something to be fearful of because I know that God is good, so it is something that brings joy.

So with these things in mind, I think that the best way to disciple people is to, simply put, disciple them from God’s perspective and agenda. That is easier said than done. So my goal is to grow closer to the Lord, to be led by the spirit so that I can have the Godly perspective to better disciple people. So Lord help me:)

Obedience Brings Oppurtunities

Have you ever thought that something didn't matter because it was such a little thing? Or have you ever decided to tell a lie thinking that it was just a white lie? Daniel lived a life dedicated to following the truth. He lived a life of no compromise. I wonder how many times I compromise my faith by the choices that I make.
The other week we went through the book of Daniel in class. To sum it up, it blew my mind! I was so challenged by the book of Daniel. It made me want to live a life of no compromise in my faith. We all know the story of Daniel and the lions den from Sunday school but the way Daniel lived his life gave him oppurtunities for God to be proclaimed among the nations.
Daniel was exiled as a young man to Babylon around 605BC. He could have been a teenager. So imagine yourself in a foreign country. Who knows where your parents are, and you are forced to learn another language. You are given another name. You are given different food. You are given different ideas, thoughts, and introduced to different religons. This is what Babylon did to Daniel, they tried to disciple him and turn him into a Babylonian.
Coming from a conquered nation where the most common mindset towards the higher powers was that when one nation conquered another that meant that that nation's god was more powerful than the nation that was defeated. Also that same mindset believed that gods were territorial which meant that one god didn't have any power in another gods territory. This was a common mindset even among the people of Judah who were exiled to Babylon.
Daniel had all this stuff going on, he was bombarded with pagan mindsets and people wanting to change him into what they wanted. Yet Daniel stayed true to God. He chose to continue to follow the law and continued to worship the Lord and pray to Him. He trusted in the Lord and believed in Him even though horrible things were happening to him, around him and to his countrymen. Daniel stayed faithful and God blessed him for it. Daniel lived for the Lord, he didn't care about fame and riches which is why I believe that he rejected the gifts of Belshazzar. Daniel lived for the Lord and no other. He didn't want to compromise his faith to the Lord even in the little things. Because of this God used him to proclaim the Lord's name throughout the nations. Once under the Babylonian Empire and another under the Persian Empire. Just think, being obedient in what may seem small at the time could possibly be used to disciple nations.
Daniel didn't start out thinking that he was going to change Babylon for the Lord. No he started out thinking that he was going to remain holy to God, walk securly in truth. Everyday he likely awoke thinking how can I serve the Lord today. It was that obedience that ended up proclaiming God to the nations and discipling the nations. So I wonder if I am compromising my faith by doing something that hinders the gospel of Jesus from my mouth. I would like to say no but the answer is yes. So my challenge is to live a life without compromise, serving the Lord everyday, and choosing to be a discipler of the nations rather than being discipled by the nations.

Us versus Them Mentality

If you've ever read the book of Jonah at least one part will stick out to you. The whale or fish or whatever it was that swallowed Jonah for 3 days. But the part about the whale isn't what the book is about. The book is about God's love for the nations.

Jonah starts out with him running away from God because God told him to go to Nineveh the capital of Assyria which was rising to be the next super power. And no one liked a super power because that meant that the surrounding nations needed to bow to the super powers' wishes or face destruction. So Jonah ran away, but when he told the sailors that he was running away from the God who created the waters and the earth, that didn't jive with what he was doing. He didn't believe in what he said because if God created the earth and the waters there would be no place for Jonah to run away to. Then Jonah as you know gets swallowed by a whale or something in the big blue, well small blue as it's the Mediterranean. Then Jonah thinks that dying in a whale or something isn't the greatest way to go so he decides that it may be in his best interest to do as God commanded. So he gets spat up with all the fish goo on the beach and has to walk a few days to get to Nineveh. He gets there and speaks his piece and then goes up on a hill fully expecting for God to rain destruction on Nineveh.

"Bring on the fireworks God!" I can imagine Jonah saying this.

But God doesn't bring destruction on Nineveh because they repent and fear the Lord. Jonah, as he is sitting on the hill with the sun beating down on him, grows faint; so God makes a tree grow to provide him with shade. Then the day after the tree is grown God makes worms attack the tree and it dies, killing the tree and the shade that Jonah had. Jonah then gets angry about the tree. This is what the book is about. Jonah was mad about the tree being destroyed but looked forward to seeing the city of Nineveh destroyed. He cared more about the shade than a city with thousands of people in it.

Jonah is a picture of Israel and the tree is a picture of the promised land. Israel was given the promised land as a gift just like Jonah was given the tree as a gift. But Israel didn't follow through with their calling of being a blessing to the nations and bringing others into a knowledge of who God is. They bought into the pagan mindset that Jonah shows. A pagan mindset was thinking in territorial gods. One nation's god was the god over their territory which is what Jonah believed and showed by running away from God. Also, Jonah would have likely thought that God, because He chose Israel, was against everyone else. Again thinking territorial because when one nation attacked another and one was defeated, it showed that the god of the victor's nation was stronger than the god of the loser nation. Israel believed that God was for them and against everyone else because they were chosen by God. Even though they said that God created the world they thought in a pagan mindset that placed God in a territory and acted like other territorial gods.

Christians today can sometimes act the same way as the Israelites did. Us versus them. Christians against non-christian, church against church. But that's not what God created. God created mankind to have relationship with. Mankind. Not different levels of mankind but simply mankind, all on the same level, all having the same opportunity to have relationship with Christ. No one better than the other, but all loved just the same. God loved the Assyrians, He gave them a warning and a chance to repent and forgave them even though they weren't His "chosen" people. God loves all and wants relationship with all. But we as humans make distinctions where there should be none. We say to one person that they have to meet this certain standard in order to become a part of the church or a certain community. But really Christ followers should be loving and accepting all as they are. That doesn't mean we agree with sin, but that means that we love all people and form relationships with them. Christ followers need to be pointing the way to Christ by how they live their lives and interact with others.

This has challenged me. Is there any us versus them in my life as a Christ follower? Is there any in your life? It's definitely something to work towards becoming more like Jesus. Accepting all, loving all.