The Bible Promotes Slavery

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Ephesians 6:5
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
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There are more people trapped in slavery today than during the height of the Afro-American slave trade industry.  Slavery is definitely not a thing of the past.  Pro-slavery forces used to point to the Bible to justify this horrific practice but does the Bible promote Slavery?

This passage in Ephesians might appear to endorse slavery, but it is simply acknowledging the fact that throughout history, today included, there will be people caught in this evil. This passage addresses that person telling them how to conduct themselves. There is a vast difference between acknowledging something exists and helping someone do right when in the situation and endorsing the situation. The Bible just recognizes that man’s heart is filled with sin and slavery will be a result of his selfishness and cruelty. The Bible also tells Christians how to respond when persecuted or attacked but no one would say it is endorsing persecution of Christians.

Furthermore, the type of slavery practiced in early America where Africans were kidnapped and sold as slaves to slave traders was clearly forbidden and punished by death. “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16)  In 1 Timothy 1:9-10 the New Testament also condemns those who would traffic in the lives of human beings comparing them to adulterers and perverts. Clearly the Bible does, and always has, even before society at large did, condemn the evil of slavery.
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Hebrews 3:10
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Matthew 22:29
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

 

A Purpose Driven Piper

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I resisted reading The Purpose Driven Life just because it was so mind-blowingly popular.  Everyone and their dog was reading it.  OK, I don’t know any dogs that read it but I think that is just because it didn’t have any pictures.  I finally only broke down and read it when someone in my congregation warned me about all the New Age teaching in it.  I felt I needed to be aware of it if it posed a danger to the flock so I made an $8 investment in a copy.  (By then, there were zillions of copies in the Half price book store.  Glad I waited.)

I was astounded at what I found and then even more puzzled as to why it was such a huge seller.  It was basically a compilation of every sermon I heard growing up as a new believer.  Unbelievers were buying this and eating it up?  Go figure.  I couldn’t find any new age, any compromise of the gospel or any wickedly bad doctrine – just lots of cool Christian sayings, lots of alliteration (which means it has to be from God) and witty plays on words to communicate what was a sound message of salvation.  Why all the criticism?

I watched Rick Warren on Larry King where he unashamedly proclaimed the gospel with clarity and power.  I even began to follow him on Twitter and he has an amazing ability to pack an entire sermon – minus altar call – into 160 characters.  I gotta admit I became a fan of the guy.  But was I missing something?

Enter the heavy weights.  John Piper is a theologian (of the Tulip Calvinist flavor), pastor and respected teacher.  If Rick Warren is some new age guru who slipped sloppy theology into his book just to sell a trillion copies, John will flush him out and expose his evilness.  The interview is great.  I suggest you set some time aside to watch it and then decide for yourself.

http://blog.pastors.com/piperinterview/

Inside out

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John 3:1-3
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
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He prayed long, hard and sincerely. He gave faithfully to the work of God. He fasted regularly and was at church every time the doors were open (probably even had a key to get in when it wasn’t open). He had a profound, unshakable belief in God that drove him onward and impacted his daily living. He studied and memorized Scripture and even believed Jesus was sent from God. Sounds like a guy you would want to welcome into your church.

But without pleasantries or pats on the back for all his religious zeal, the first thing Jesus told Nicodemus is that he couldn’t even see the kingdom of God if there was not a radical change in his life. He had to be “born again”.

All these things are good disciplines to weave into the fabric of our daily lives but we must never let them be the basis for our relationship with God. Nor can we make mere outward change a primary goal in the lives of our children or those we are ministering to. We can abandon an immoral lifestyle, begin to live a “good life” and still be lost. We can begin to pray, give, even live at the church and still be lost.

Our relationship with God starts with an inward change that then manifests outward fruit. To try to change the outside without first changing the inside is like putting a beautiful coat of paint on a mausoleum.  It may look nicer but it is still full of death and decay.
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Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

 

Get real! Water into wine?

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John 2:11
This (turning water into wine), the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
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The Almighty God who flung the stars and planets into their orbits, who scooped out the oceans with His hand and before whom all creation bows, this God manifests Himself in the flesh and for His first great act He turns water into wine. Sounds pretty trivial even if you are a lover of fine wine.

In the home of an unnamed host, at the wedding of an anonymous couple, in an obscure village and though His hour had not yet come He turns water into wine? Even then, except for a few unspecified disciples and some common household servants, none of the VIPs at the party were even aware they were drinking wonder wine. What an inconspicuous way to launch a world changing ministry. Perhaps there is something I need to learn from this.

In all the talk we hear today of being a “world changer”, of not wasting our life but doing great things for God we see that the One who truly did change the world started with a trivial need at hand. With no fanfare, no cosmic applause or even a “thank you” from those blessed, He acted to alleviate a simple need. I find it easy to become so focused upon saving humanity that I forget about the individual humans I encounter along the way. While dreaming of doing great things for God it is easy to miss the tiny things I can do to represent Him right now. Give a cup of cool water, change diapers in the church nursery, hold a door open for a mom with three little ones in tow, let a car into my lane or let someone else go first – all trivial things but a place to start.

Lord, help me to not be so in love with the masses that I overlook the one who you put in my path to bless today. Remind me that the tiniest act of kindness done in your holy name will not be forgotten.
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Matthew 10:42
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.

 

 

Hot Wired by God

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Ephesians 1:3-13
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…
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He chose us. When did that happen? Ephesians 1:4 – For he chose us in him before the creation of the world …

But we also had to choose Him. When did that happen? Ephesians 1:13 – And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, … When you believed … Continue reading →

New and Improved Jesus

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Galatians 5:4, 10, 12
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
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Paul is really in attack mode here. You have been severed from Christ, fallen from grace! “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.” All this just because they are trying to get folks to keep the law?

Paul clearly condemns sin but never uses such harsh words to assault adulterers, homosexuals or murderers. What is the big deal? Folks who are into the law teach Jesus is the means for salvation, they just add a couple of provisos. Jesus PLUS. Certainly, if Jesus is good, then Jesus PLUS has to be better or, as advertisers say it, “new and improved”. The new and improved Jesus.

Oops, I think that may be the problem. Keeping the law as an element of salvation is me trying to improve upon God’s work. It is me saying “Thanks, Jesus, for that cross thing. It gave me a good start but I’ll take it from here. Your death and resurrection was nice but not enough.”. What an insult to God!

Jesus plus anything else, no matter how good the anything, is to fall from grace and crawl back under bondage to our old sin nature.
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Galatians 2:19,21
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. … for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Jesus permits failure

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Luke 22:31-32
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
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Put yourself in Peter’s place. Jesus tells you that Satan has asked to “sift you” – translation, “beat the snot out of you”. That is worse than hearing the school bully is waiting for you in the parking lot. But surely God said “no” to Satan’s request, right? Wrong.

Jesus tells you He has prayed for you. Whew! That’s a relief. Jesus prayed so now the bully won’t be able to touch you or maybe you’ll even beat him up, right? Wrong again.

He only prayed that your faith would not fail – translation, that while the bully is beating you up, you won’t give up. What?! Jesus didn’t pray to keep you safe?!

The news gets worse. He says, “when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Translation, after you have regained consciousness from the beating, encourage others. Jesus knows you are going to fail this test yet He still gives Satan permission to attack!

So let’s get this straight: Jesus, you are saying that Satan has asked to kick the snot out of me and You gave him permission to do it. You prayed for me but only that I would survive the beating.   You already know that I am going to get my tail kicked and lose the battle. But once I pick my bleeding body up off the pavement You want me to go and encourage others that even though they may get their tails kicked by Satan, they can get up, get back in the fight and still be used by God. That is what You are saying?

OK then, let’s do it!
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Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Jesus did NOT come for everyone

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Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
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Jesus makes it clear here that His coming was not for all mankind, just for sinners. Of course, all are sinners so what was he talking about, “I have not come to call the righteous”.

While it is true that all are sinners, many of us aren’t willing to admit it. If you are one of the “good people” then you really don’t need a savior. Oh, none of us would claim to be perfect but most of us think, all things considered, that we really aren’t that bad. If we had to check a box saying we were either a “bad person” or a “good person”, most of us would, rather humbly of course, say we are not perfect but, we are definitely a good person.

Jesus is saying here that unless we are a sinner, unless we recognize our spiritual bankruptcy before God, we aren’t ready to hear His call. He didn’t come to give His life for “good people”, if there were such a thing. The first requirement to being found is to realize you are lost. So, Jesus only came to call the lost, the sinners, those who recognize their desperate plight apart from God.

So let’s get real.  I am a sinner, you are a sinner and, as they say in the hood, so’s yo mama. We need Jesus. He is our only hope and that is why He came.

PS – If you really are a good person, here is a fun way to show the world just how good you are – CLICK HERE take the Good Person Test.
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Romans 3:22-23
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

But he doesn’t deserve it!

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Luke 21:1-5
Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  3 “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God.
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It is interesting that right after the story of this widow comments are made on the accumulated wealth of the temple. This widow gives her food money to an institution that can build gold and jewel encrusted buildings. Something does not seem right about that.

I’ve seen it throughout Latin America. Dirt poor peasants bring their precious pesos or quetzales or centavos or perhaps all they can bring is an egg or some corn and they present it to an institution that has untold wealth in land, gold, jewels, paintings, statues, on and on – literally immeasurable wealth. I see injustice, Jesus did not. He commended this widow. Obviously He was seeing something I am missing. Continue reading →

Aggressive Agape

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Luke 10:25-29
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
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What was this expert in the law asking?  Who is my neighbor? In other words, just who do I have to love? I certainly don’t want to be wasting any love on anyone I don’t have to. The law seeks to limit liability and responsibility. “According to my contract I have to do this and no more.” “Just who am I obligated to love to fulfill the command? I will love my neighbor but no one else.”  Do you sense the straight jacket of legalism in this?

To answer the question Jesus told the story of the Samaritan who reached out to a robbery victim laying by the road and acted like a neighbor to him.   Though the Samaritan had no idea who this man was, his background, nationality or even whether he was “deserving” of his help he even risked his own safety to aggressively demonstrate unconditional love to a stranger.  No limited liability here.  Just aggressive, inclusive love. Who was the neighbor? The one who showed mercy.  Jesus then instructed the law expert to go and do the same, show mercy to everyone. In other words, Jesus said, you go and take action to make every person your neighbor and then love them.

I am eternally grateful that is the heart of God. By the law’s standards, I was not a neighbor of God. I was far from Him, a victim of the Evil one left without mercy to die. Though not deserving of it, Jesus showed me mercy, picked me up and paid the price Himself, no matter what the cost, to see me healed and restored.

Can you imagine the response of the man who had been beaten the next time he sees someone lying helpless beside the road. Surely he would stop and offer any help he could. Because he received mercy he would surely be one generous to give mercy also. If we have been forgiven then we must be those who forgive. If we have been shown mercy then we must show mercy – aggressively, inclusively, where it is not deserved nor can be repaid.  So who is your neighbor?  or rather, who can you make your neighbor today?
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1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.