12/13/14

From Jim McGuiggan... TRUST the STORY


TRUST the STORY

Credit me with this: I’m not talking about the nonsense we can see so much of in the movies or on the television! I’m talking about the well thought-out, well-written and well-acted dramas that there’s plenty of if we’re able and willing to tolerate some material in them that’s distasteful. [How much and what that is you’ll have to work out for yourself.]

We’re all gripped by such stories; our emotions are stirred; we make inner vows as we identify with the heroes we feel like applauding and we rage at the villains as they set our teeth on edge. We often speak to one another about such stories—I don’t doubt for a moment that’s part of the pleasure—we can’t keep quiet while the images continue to burn in us.

We feel satisfaction when the rogue finally gets “what’s coming to him.” [I’m not talking vindictiveness—a hunger for fairness is not the same as spite or vindictiveness though, of course, we’re capable of the worst, aren’t we?] There’s something about even a single case of fairness shining through that lifts our hearts and triggers a hunger for a world filled with such fairness.

But it’s often more than that, is it not! Sometimes it acts as a promise and assurance; it’s as if life won’t let us believe that lies are forever, that evil is all there is and all there will be. Every now and then when we see the oppressed vindicated and we’re thrilled to watch and listen to their joy fully restored, every now and then an actual event seems to whisper, a great story that has stayed in touch with reality and life seems to whisper: “Yes, do smile, do rejoice, don’t feel foolish, believe in happy endings—a day is coming when that is all you’ll see and hear; joy without end.

Great literature, great movies and dramas send out the same message. They may be fiction, it’s true but “fiction” that reaches down into the deep places in us and stays around for years is not based on “fiction”—it’s based on the very best that’s in us—and the very best that’s in us is there by the grace and work of God; there, via all the ways that He who loves us ceaselessly and relentlessly works it in us and leading us to believe even when we don’t really believe or maybe we presently don’t want to believe; and yet, we wish we did [just as Steven Weinberg, theoretical physicist and atheist, wistfully confessed that at times he wishes he could still believe that the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky shows his handiwork—Psalm 19].

I meant to say and got a bit sidetracked, when we see such an event, watch such a movie or read such a story we don’t need people to spell it all out for us in an overload of detail. A glorious event clearly seen, a great story well told has its own power without others micromanaging our thoughts and feelings about it. If Hollywood [now and then], if creative writers and story-tellers are able to imagine wonderful things, speak of things that reach us in the depths of our beings and in doing so move us so—if they can do that with fiction why can’t ministers of “the gospel” do it with truth? 
     If our truth is duller than fiction...?

Perhaps we will come to trust the Story to work its lovely magic in human hearts [Acts 20:32] and we’ll dispense with the eternal micromanaging with the same banal moralizing. If that should happen maybe people will come to believe that we who preach really believe what we’re saying about the glorious gospel and they will begin to believe it and find themselves inspired and liberated. Who knows, maybe they will begin to tell it to others.

Is God Talking to Me? by Kyle Butt, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1550

Is God Talking to Me?

by  Kyle Butt, M.A.

Among those who profess to believe that the Bible is God’s Word, it has become a common practice to avoid following certain biblical commands. They do this based on the idea that such commands were specifically for the individuals at the time of the writing, and do not have broader application to those of us who are reading the text in a modern-day setting. For instance, one religious group formed a committee in 1992 to research the biblical passages dealing with homosexuality. One of the four tenets upon which the committee was able to reach a consensus was the following statement: “The 7 references to homosexuality in the Bible represent ancient culture and not the will of God. They cannot be taken as definitive” (Robinson, 2005). The idea, then, is that God is not really talking to us, but was talking only to “those” people “back then.”
Jesus had something to say about this very idea. On one memorable occasion, the Sadducees came to Jesus, testing Him with questions pertaining to the resurrection. In their minds, they had concocted an unanswerable scenario. If a woman had seven husbands in this life, they questioned, whose wife would she be in the resurrection? Jesus, knowing their wickedness and their ignorance of the Scripture, explained that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Matthew 22:30). He then said to the Sadducees, “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32, emp. added).
Notice that Jesus was quoting to the Sadducees a segment of Scripture that was taken from the Pentateuch (Exodus 3:6). The text was written almost 1,500 years before this group of Sadducees even existed. In the text, God was speaking directly to Moses, who had a much different culture than those of the first century Jews. And yet, even with such a lengthy time span and major cultural differences involved, Jesus stated clearly that God was talking to His first-century audience.
Several lessons can be learned from Jesus’ statement. First, we must realize that God speaks to us today through His inspired Word, just as He spoke to the Sadducees almost 2,000 years ago. Second, while it is true that some things in Scripture must be analyzed in their cultural setting, and the division between the Old Testament and New Testament must be recognized, it is extremely dangerous to jettison applicable commands and divine principles based on the idea that they no longer apply to us. Even though our culture may drift far from many of the biblical teachings, those teachings have not changed, and will not change due to ever-waffling cultural trends. Regardless of cultural shifts, it will never be right to jettison God commands regarding homosexuality, or any other sins, based on the idea that such commands were solely for someone else in some other time. As the psalmist wrote about God in the long ago, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160). If you want to listen to God speak to you today, open your Bible.

REFERENCES

Robinson, B.A. (2005), “The United Methodist Church and Homosexuality: Conference Decisions,” [On-line], URL: http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_umc6.htm.

From Mark Copeland... The Blind Man At Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                  The Blind Man At Bethsaida (8:22-26)

INTRODUCTION

1. Among the many people Jesus healed included the blind...
   a. As foretold by Isaiah - cf. Lk 4:18
   b. Offered as evidence to John the Baptist - cf. Lk 7:20-22

2. The healing of a blind man in our text is unique in two ways...
   a. It is found only in Mark's gospel
   b. It is the only miracle by that occurs in two stages

[Opening our Bibles to our text (Mk 8:22-26), let's first examine...]

I. THE NARRATIVE

   A. JESUS ARRIVES IN BETHSAIDA...
      1. Bethsaida Julias, near where the 5000 had been fed - Mk 8:22;
         cf. Lk 9:10
      2. On the NE side of the Sea of Galilee, near the entrance of the
         Jordan

   B. A BLIND MAN IS BROUGHT TO HIM...
      1. By those who begged Jesus to touch him - Mk 8:22
      2. By concerned friends, similar to those who brought the
         paralytic - cf. Mk 2:3

   C. JESUS TAKES HIM OUT OF THE TOWN...
      1. Leading the blind man by the hand - Mk 8:23
      2. Similar to what He did with the deaf mute - cf. Mk 7:33

   D. JESUS HEALS HIM IN TWO STAGES...
      1. Stage one - Mk 8:23-24
         a. Jesus spat on his eyes and then touched him
            1) Similar to what He did with the deaf mute - cf. Mk 7:33
            2) Perhaps to convey to the blind man His intentions
            3) The spit - His intention was to heal, saliva was thought
               to have medicinal properties
            4) The touch - "Something will be done for your eyes...and I
               will do it."
         b. When asked if he saw anything, he looked up and said, "I see
            men like trees, walking"
      2. Stage two - Mk 8:25
         a. Jesus put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up
         b. His sight was completely restored and saw everyone clearly

   E. JESUS SENDS HIM AWAY WITH AN ADMONITION...
      1. To his house, not into town, not to tell anyone - Mk 8:26
      2. Similar to earlier admonitions following His healings - cf. Mk 1:44; 5:43; 7:36
      3. Undue attention would hinder His ability to travel and do His
         work
      4. Especially by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians - cf.
         Mk 8:11

[With the account of this unusual miracle fresh on our minds, allow me
to share...]

II. SOME OBSERVATIONS

   A. WE DO NOT KNOW WHY JESUS DID IT THIS WAY...
      1. Why take the blind man out of the town of Bethsaida?
         a. To avoid publicity?
         b. To establish a one-to-one relationship with the man?
         c. Because Bethsaida had been judged already? - cf. Mt 11:21-22
      2. Why didn't the man receive perfect sight immediately?
         a. Was it the spiritual condition of the man himself?
         b. Was it to illustrate the slow progress of the disciples'
            faith? - cf. Mk 8:18
      -- Any explanation is speculation at best

   B. THE LORD DOES NOT ALWAYS DO THINGS THE SAME WAY...
      1. Jesus healed at least eight blind men, using a variety of
         approaches
         a. Two men were healed by a simple touch of their eyes - Mt 9:27-31
         b. A blind and mute man was simply healed - Mt 12:22
         c. Two more blind men were healed by a simple touch of the eyes
            - Mt 20:30-34
         d. In our text, the blind man was healed with touch and
            spittle, in two stages - Mk 8:22-26
         e. Blind Bartimaeus was healed with but a simple word - Mk 10:46-52
         f. A blind man was healed with the anointment of the eyes with
            clay and spittle, followed by washing in the pool of Siloam
            - Jn 9:1-7
      2. Similarly, prayer is not always answered the same way
         a. God may say "yes" and the prayer answer immediately
         b. God may say "yes, but wait awhile"
         c. God may say "yes, but not in the way you expect"
      -- Faith is content to receive God's working, however He deems
         proper

   C. SPIRITUAL GROWTH OCCURS IN STAGES...
      1. Similar to how this particular miracle occurred
      2. Such was the case with Jesus' disciples - cf. Mk 8:18
      3. So we should expect our spiritual growth to take time - cf. 1Co 3:1-2; 2Pe 3:18
      -- Faith is patient, understanding that important things often
         take time

CONCLUSION

1. Many commentators have noted our similarity with "The Blind Man At
   Bethsaida"...
   a. We are spiritually blinded by sin, in need of "healing" - Ro 3:23
   b. We need the special attention of Jesus to be "healed" - Mt 11:28-30; Mk 16:15-16; Col 2:11-13
   c. When Jesus "heals" us of spiritual blindness, it may take awhile
      to see clearly - He 5:12-14

2. Are you still in sin...?
   a. Blinded by sin, and alienated from the life of God? - cf. Ep 4:17-19
   b. Then you need Jesus to be renewed in righteousness and holiness
      - cf. Ep 4:20-24

Begin by coming to Jesus through obedience to His gospel, and continue
by walking with Him, seeing more clearly day by day...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... A new way to remember

I was on the phone today with my younger brother, Dave.  We had a very long conversation about how he is fixing up the homestead in Melrose, N.Y..  I can't wait to see the pictures, as he has worked on just about every room of that old farmhouse. I can only remember the place being a wreck, so I am hoping that the new pictures will etch new memories and perhaps give me a new perspective about where I grew up.  One thing is for sure- I haven't lived there since 1968, so some things HAVE CHANGED!!!  At the same time, it is comforting to know that the things of God have NOT CHANGED; that God has given his "LAST WORD" to us on the spiritual things that really matter!!!! And that word is through Jesus...

Hebrews, Chapter 1 (WEB)
1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
 
Now, I have lived in the 20th and the 21st century and have seen the advent of the computer age and it is marvellous!!! As a result, some things (like the internet) have changed the way I live. The good news is that the truths of the Gospel is still the same.  While I may read the Bible on a computer screen as often as I read a paper Bible, still, the truth is the same!!!  And like the graphic above, even if I view it through fifty glasses (mediums of understanding) the same truth exists. I guess the only way I will know the spiritual things of God any better is to have Jesus explain them to me- in person.  Can't wait- can you??