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.

The Purpose of a Prophet

I used to think that prophets were this special breed of a
person who had this higher level of spirituality than anybody else. You may
have guessed already that in the Bible school we are already in the prophets.
This week we have started on the books of Amos and Jonah. Prophets are
important both to those who were in the days of the Old Testament and today as
well. I’ve learned that the role of the prophet though is to realign people on
the path that God has for them. I used to think that being a prophet was solely
predicting the future but it is so much more. I think that more importantly
than telling the future is the role that the prophet has in the moment to point
out wrong and call people to repentance and seek God so that they can live. When
the Kings of Israel or Judah were falling away from the Lord and the priests
were no longer teaching the people the ways of the Lord then that’s when the
prophets would step in and remind the people of their calling to be God’s
people. The prophets would call the people to repentance so that they would
come back to the Lord instead of going down the road to their destruction which
ended up happening anyway. I think the role is still the same today, to call
people back to the Lord. There is obviously more to it but I believe that this
is a major part of a prophet, to correct wrong, call people to repent and to
point people to seek the Lord. If this is the case then being a prophet isn’t
so impossible.

A Warrior Spirit

Over the past couple weeks something has been stirring inside me. The need for change.
After studying the life of David I was both convicted and inspired. After going through Samuel and learning of David we have looked at Psalms and studied Proverbs and Song of Solomon. Don't worry I won't go into detail with Song of Solomon.
After studying Samuel and learning what a great man of God David was, seeing his Psalms which he cried out to God and the wisdom of Solomon in Proverbs I was convicted.
Am I truly doing enough?
Am I honestly seeking God as much as I could?
Do I honestly love the Lord with all my heart?
The answer to these questions is no. I think that as humans we go through seasons, where one moment we can be on fire for God and the next we can be dragging our feet hoping for it all to end. It is so frustrating for me at times to look inward and see the ugly mess that I truly am. I've realized this week, once again, that I need more of God in my life. David had it figured out. Most of the time. He loved God and he placed his confidence in God. It was in God that David was able to live and do the great things that he did. David knew this and he knew who he was in God, he knew he was nothing without God and that for him to survive he needed to have God in his life. He made it his life to seek God and not only battle physical enemies but also spiritual ones that could have brought him away from God.
I need more of that in my life. More of that fighting spirit within me to protect my relationship with God and to fight for righteousness in my own life. I need to be a man after God's own heart and I need to fight to get their.

The life and times of David.

Saying I learned a lot last week is an understatement. Saying that David blew my mind last week would be closer to the truth.

Last week we studied Ruth and Samuel and let me tell you that David came alive in a whole new way. I always knew that he was a man after Gods own heart but to see him and Saul together and to study the differences! Man! I learned a lot about them and myself as well.

Saul was afraid, he did not want God's calling for his life and he proved it by hiding. But even though Saul was chosen and had all the outer signs of a leader, like the spirit of God, bravery, courage, warrior etc., even though he had these qualities he did not trust in God the way he should have. And that was his downfall. He tried to control the outcome using his own sources instead of trusting God and letting Him use His heavenly sources.

Now if you compare Saul with David you will see that David accepted his calling, he never hid from it. But just because he accepted it doesn't mean he got it right away. He waited for Gods timing to bring his calling about. David never tried to control the outcome of a situation or he never tried to force Gods plan into being. He simply waited for Gods timing and trusted that God would show him when it was time and what he should do.

How often do I try to put Gods plan into action, or what I think His plan is into action using my own strength when what I should really be doing is trusting, waiting and listening for God to reveal to me what He wants me to do? I've learned more of what it truly means to wait and trust on the Lord. My prayer is that the Lord will give me the strength to walk it out.