A few Monday Morning words to ponder

Faith?
Wisdom and Understanding...
Truth and Light
Jesus
Remember Job's friends who insisted on comforting him by explaining God as they understood Him. Some of the stuff they were saying seemed pretty good, right on. Do I hear an Amen?
So I hear people saying "Don't you know that God..."
And I think, "Really? Have I been so wrong all these years? Have I gotten confused? Have I been misled?"
And I turn back to the Word, to the source.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God...
I hate that verse. As an English teacher I want to mark it in red and tell Paul to rewrite it.
Make it clearer sir. It's vague. Your readers won't understand what you're saying.
But then, Paul wasn't writing in English.
Wisdom and Understanding - seek it, work at it, dig for it like buried treasure (that's in Job).
I hope to think that I didn't assume the "Oh yeah, I know more than you, I understand more than you, I'm smarted than you" posture.
I like to think that it was more like "oh, oh...am I really wrong? I better look into this."
I was afraid that I was wrong. But I wasn't hiding my head in the sand, although it may have looked that way on the outside. I was digging. I was working things out.
And all the time I was crying out to God...If any of you lacks wisdom...
And I found some really interesting stuff. And my faith grew stronger. And I think it's better to realize that you must be seeking wisdom and understanding your whole life here on this planet.
That you can never sit back and say, I understand it clearly...those who don't understand it my way are wrong. Learning never stops...the Light just keeps getting brighter and brighter...
And Jesus is the Answer.
Blessings

a quick word before church

Yesterday morning I took a nice long walk, to clear my head and spend some quiet time in prayer. Before I left I chose to read Proverbs 3 - because I remembered the verse:
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
I knew what physical path I would be taking, but I wanted my spiritual path, my ‘line of thought’ to be straight as well…
Path - lead me on the right path.
With a quick check, I found the same sort of verse 6 more times in Proverbs and at least 5 times in Psalms. Lead me on the right path.
Maybe the most popular - at least for those thousands upon thousands who attend Christian Schools, or teach in them, where the pledge to the Bible is included along with the pledge to the American Flag is Psalm 119:105 “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
When I started to read Proverbs 3, I got side tracked with the first verse. In some translations it reads “My son, do not forget my teaching.” Others say, do not forget my Law. But I started thinking about teachings - doctrines - and the teachers that teach them.
I thought of my own teachers. Nearly every teacher I ever had, except for my two years at community college and the professors I’ve had lately in my master’s courses in special education, have at least claimed to be Christians. And in their teaching - whether in the sciences or the humanities, God and His word was honored. In this, I was greatly blessed.
Not only was I taught the academic basics, I was taught to love learning, I was taught how to find answers for myself, and test those answers against the Truth. I was taught to recognize truth, and reject lies. I was taught to be kind. From Sr. Sheila to Dr. Livermore, from Thaddeus to Decker…I learned and I remember.
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding…God bless all those fine teachers I’ve had, and help me to teach - reading, writing, math, social studies, help me to teach those in Your light!
Time to Go to Church!

The B-I-B-L-E

I found something interesting the other day. I always knew that it said in Revelation that we were not to add or subtract from the words of the book. Literally speaking, it would be logical to think that could just apply to the Book of Revelation, but I always thought and taught it was talking about the Scriptures as a whole. I do not think that God would reveal anything new, although the Holy Spirit might give a new slant on certain things...I think any revelation or word of prophecy needs to be tested against the Written Word - the Holy Bible. And that word will never contradict the basic Bible teaching.
But as far as that "do not add command," I found it in at least 2 other places...One in Deuteronomy (4:2 and 12:32 ) and one in Proverbs 30:6. And a lot has been added to the Word since those times. Also - I am still quite interested in the (and I can never spell or pronounce this word) Apaphrica - uggg - the "extra" old testement books that are contained in the Catholic (and Orthadox I think) versions of the Bible. Someone said that it was Martin Luther who first decided that they didn't belong in the Bible...a few Rabbis I've consulted said that they were probably included in the Scriptures studied in the time of Jesus (and therefore would have been included in 2 Timothy 3:16 as "all Scripture") And Jude quotes at least one of them.
And one more thing, I always thought the quote "Let Scripture interpret Scripture" was actually in the Bible, and I can't find it there.
Well, that's all I have to say for now...blessings!

We Did Church Today

The building itself is like something out of medieval England, stonework, stained glass, candles.
The music was sweet, at times a bit upbeat, it effectively set the mood - reverence.
On the "church" calendar is was Sanctity of Life Sunday - a day to speak up against the sin of Abortion, and the sins of indifference and immorality that add fuel to the fire. The church had a special speaker, the wife of a pastor from another denomination with a powerful testimony. The "children's" choir sang a little song...a blast from the past. "The Butterfly Song". I could see my own little boys up there, being silly and singing off key, years and years ago. We sang "Holy, Holy Holy" and "Praise to the LORD". We took communion - "Body of Christ" given for you.
Father Carl is a friend of ours. He gives good hugs.
Things around here are pretty tense. Money is really tight and tempers are short. But we did Church today. And it was good.

God is great! God is Good!

oftentimes what I use what I read here in blog land to determine what direction my personal devotions should take. what follows is in response to something I read this evening.

God is Holy! God is the Great I Am, Holy, Holy, Holy - no question.
God is Sovereign! Great and Powerful - The ruler over everything. King of Kings and LORD of Lords! Creator of everything, worshiped by all of creation! - no argument.
God is Omnipresent! Everywhere!
God is Omniscient! He sees everything under the sun (job 28:24) He counts the stars and names each one…there is no limit to what He knows. (Psalm 147:45) No limit. He knows what will be, what should be, what could be…what might be. Every possibility and every individual’s true potential.
God is Omnipotent. And Job said “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, I talked of things too wonderful for me to know.” But God knows!
God is Eternal, Infinite, Perfect! He is a faithful God who does no wrong!
God chose to identify Himself, as Father, Friend, Comforter as well as Merciful Judge and Savior/Redeemer.
One of my new blog friends just posted a great word study on Sin. This brings to question, are we responsible for the sins we commit? The whole question of why there is evil in the world - did God create it, plan it? And of course my favorite topic - Free Will vs. the Sovereignty of God. Only I don’t see Free Will and the Sovereignty of God in opposition with each other. Our King knows what can be, what should be, and what might be. He loves His creatures, His children and does everything to help them reach the goal He has set for them. But ultimately the choice is ours. A perfect God did not create evil. A God, in whom there is no darkness, did not will into existence a world of darkness and despair.
One more word - pantheism - because it has become a hot topic lately on other blogs which take great offense with the emergent, postmodern, nontraditional churches.
I do not worship trees, but I do believe that trees worship their creator.
I do not worship or search the stars for secrets or answers but I do believe that God has named the stars and that they sing for Him.
I do not think that animals have souls that can be saved or lost, but I do believe that the birds of the air, the beasts in the fields, the creatures in the sea are all looking forward to the time that Jesus returns and renews creation, restores it to its prefall state.
I believe that when we were created we were given the job to care for and be wise stewards of the planet that God created to be our home, and that deliberately doing something to harm or waste any part of creation is a sin against the Creator.
Time to watch TV, turn off my brain, cuddle up with my husband…did I tell you that it snowed in Shiprock today. It was so incredibly beautiful!

January 19, 2006 - Snow is falling in Shiprock

I guess I should say something about the newest controversy out there – the movie the End of the Spear. Everyone else is. When my boys were growing up, we usually paced our mornings by the programs on the radio. We woke up to the Chucks – Chuck Smith and Chuck Swindol. We ate breakfast to Focus on the Family. We had to leave at the end of Elizabeth Elliot. I mention that because Elizabeth Elliot was the wife of one of the murdered missionaries, and we knew her story well.

I think there is something wrong with Churches and Ministries using their resources to promote movies. It’s basically a new trend. The buzz about the PASSION brought in millions. The debate over Narnia is still raging. And now, a movie, based on an intense story of personal sacrifice and forgiveness is at the center of a storm because the star is a gay activist.

Perhaps his sexual preference doesn’t have a negative affect on the story, but his interviews are offensive to many Christians. Reports are that the gospel message is watered down – what would one expect of Hollywood? But if faith comes by hearing, maybe some gay guy will go to the movie because of Chad Allan, and hear the truth and be saved. That would be a good thing. And hopefully concerned parents will be ready to have a dialog with their children, should they get caught up in this debate.

Could the movie be used as an effective teaching tool? Probably. There are a lot of movies that can be used as teaching tools. Schindler’s List, The Diary of Anne Frank, why I’ve even used “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Is the controversy or the sexual orientation of the star going to help the movie make millions? Probably. Should Churches encourage or discourage their people to attend it? Probably not. Is it something to get all worked up about? I see it as a sign of the times. More proof that we live in an angry, violent, dark world.

Where is the great light that should be shining through the followers of Jesus? Where is the Love of Jesus that should set us apart from the world we live in? The Love for each other, the love for our enemies?

On a personal note…In the fall, the principal of our school had a stroke…his recovery is going to take a long time. Over Christmas vacation one of our students…one of my students was stabbed to death in a fight, now two families are in crisis…the family of the victim and the family of the killer.

Today we got word that another of our students died. She died of an illness.

An eighth grader. Not one of mine, but one of ours…

Not too long ago, there was a drug related double murder on the outskirts of the reservation…one of the killed had been in the first youth group we worked with when we arrived in this area 7 years ago. Lord, have mercy! Selah!

Brrrr

A cold wind continues to blow through Shiprock, a frigid and dry wind...
No school today (Rest in Peace Martin Luther King Jr.) and I have a ton of papers to grade and sort.
I am going to try to link to an article that was linked to on "Slice". It is almost a year old, and another example of what's "wrong" with the emergent, postmodern, seeker sensitive church, only I really didn't see anything wrong with it.
Actually, this morning, as I was blogging, I found some real good stuff that encouraged me. Stuff that built up my faith rather than shaking it to the very foundation.
Let's see if this hyperlink works...
Article

The Cold Moon set and the Wind is blowing...
I first went to 1 Timothy because it was one of the verses in my new prayer journal for the week. Then I recognized the often misquoted or explained away verse about how God wanted all men to be saved. I stuck with it for a while, maybe because it concerned Church leadership and I really miss being active in ministry. And today, due to a messed up bank account, broken car, and other unpleasant circumstances, we couldn’t go to church. So I’ve read the whole thing through again, using Bible Gateway, and the Message. There is a lot of interesting stuff in there. A lot of verses that led me to think, “ok, what does that say in a ‘real Bible” So I looked some of it up in the New American Standard. My favorite Bible Scholar from Roberts Wesleyan college said that was the closest to the Literal Translation of the original Greek.

5The whole point of what we're urging is simply love--love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. 6Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. 7They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven't the remotest idea of what they're holding forth with such imposing eloquence. The Message

5But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. The NASV
Love?
John, in his gospel and letters mentions Love as a command and requirement of faith no less than 30 times. Love God, Love your neighbor, Love the brethren, Love your enemies. 14Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

15Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
4He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: 5that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us--Jesus, 6who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. 7This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.
Isn’t this the doctrine? The teaching of Jesus. John 12:32 says that by the lifting up of Jesus on the cross, all men will be drawn unto Him. All men will be drawn, not all men will choose to say yes.
* 16This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough: He appeared in a human body, was proved right by the invisible Spirit, was seen by angels. He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples, believed in all over the world, taken up into heavenly glory. The Message
16By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:He who was revealed in the flesh,Was vindicated in the Spirit,Seen by angels,Proclaimed among the nations,Believed on in the world,Taken up in glory. NASV
The mystery of faith! But why does it seem, that the Jesus who loves me, and the God who never forsakes His elect has left me alone here and now? Why don’t we have the ministry that we were promised? I am afraid that 1 Timothy explains that.

Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap.

Outsiders do not think well of us. Our eldest son fell so hard and far from grace. Praise Jesus he repented and was redeemed, and his faith has kept him from despair.Yet he, and the people that love him, are still suffering the consequences of his sin. But it is not just his fault that the world and the Church has judged us and found us wanting. Pastor Art does tend to be overbearing at times, and I am way too emotional for my own good.
Somewhere it talks about being too thin skinned. Circumstances have stretched us way thin, and this thin skin has indeed been an inroad for the devil, who has lured us into the trap of self pity and distrust.

Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
21People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.

Hopefully, Prayerfully, we can rise above this, we can come out of this dark night and move on.

1Ti 6:20 Timothy, guard what God has placed in your care! Don't pay any attention to that godless and stupid talk that sounds smart but really isn't. 1Ti 6:21 Some people have even lost their faith by believing this talk. I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of you! Lord Have Mercy, And God bless us, everyone! Amen

Vision

i am posting this on Gateway of the Rock too, because if I could do any ministry, this is the ministry I would do...

I see you

You are not invisible to me.

I see you all

Walking with your head down,

Dragging you feet, wearing out your souls.

I see you

Vacant men walking past Vacant houses

Men of the Land, who don’t seem to care anymore

about the Land around them

Dry, like the Land you are born to

I see you

Making your way into town

For a drink, for a job, for a change

And making your way home again

To the old mother who still cares

To the old grandmother who still prays for you

To be greeted by a long sad sigh and an open door

I want to say, “hold your head up high”

I want to say, “be the brave you were born to be”

I want to say, “I am sorry.”

I want to cook for you, and sing you songs, and tell you stories

Great Stories, Living Stories

I want to give you a hot cup of coffee on a cold night,

With lots of sugar and a dash of hope.

I want to drive you home

To the son that needs you

To the woman that loves you

And I want to say…

Look past the stars, Look past the moon

Look past the tent meetings and revivals

Seek God!

He is there waiting

He sees you.

Learn to sing His songs

He is calling you.

Believe His stories

He has a plan for you!

All of you. Each of You.

Walking this Land for a Divine purpose.

He is not the White Man’s God

He is every man’s God

He is not the missionary’s God

He is the People’s God

He formed you, He knows you, He sees you.

You are not invisible to Him.

Get the Message?

This is how the MESSAGE puts it:
"Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray, not shaking angry fists at enemies, but rasing holy hands before God. and I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the lastest fashions, but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it. I don't let women take over and tell the men what to do. They should study to be quiet and obedient along with everyone else. Adam was made first, then Eve; woman was decieved first - our pioneer in sin! - with Adam right on her heels. On the other hand, her child bearing brought about salvation, reversing Eve. But this salvation only comes to those who continue in faith, love, and holiness, gathering it all into maturity. You can depend on this."
My apologies to the purists out there who cringe at the Message, but I actually "get this".
And again, the theme of the book is consistant - love and purity.

More on First Timothy

Who is Paul writing to? A young preacher in Ephesus. Are preachers and apostles any more important than anyone else? Well although Paul makes it clear that the body of Christ is made up of many parts that are to be respected for what they are, and no part is to elevate itself to a place of superiority or assume a position of supposed inferiority, he also seems to put the offices in a sort of order, with apostles first, prophets second and teachers third. (1 Cor. 12). And I am humbled by James 3:1 that warns teachers will receive a stricker judgement. So as I stated before, since this letter is addressed to Timothy, as opposed to the saints as in other places, I think it is fair to say that Paul presupposed a certain maturity and authority of his reader, that might not be expected of the whole congregation.
Who is Paul writing about? He is concerned with false doctrines that are creeping into the Church. What false doctrines, and who is teaching them? My first thought was that Paul writes a lot about the Jewish Christians who insisted that to be saved one had to become a jew. Cirrcumsision was a big issue to Paul and his gentile converts. But since Timothy was in Ephesus, and Ephesus is one of the seven churches in Revelation, I dug a little deeper and found the Nicolaitans, who apparently were teaching, among other things, that since we are saved by grace, and are free from the Law, anything goes...especially sexual lewdness.
May I ignor the part about women not teaching? Should we ignor the part about Timothy being instructed to drink wine (for his health)? I think maybe if more churches adhered to the guidelines in Chapter 3 when chosing pastors and elders and board members, there would be a lot less trouble. When we speak of Holiness, working out ones salvation, making sure that we are not trusting in a dead faith, since faith without works is dead, I look at Chapter 4:1 and wonder. If some can (will) fall from the faith, then it is possible to loose the faith they had at the beginning. And how should we interpret the verse (10) that says we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of believers? That is one I'll really have to look into. But not now. It is time to go to work. It will be another long day.
So I will end this by going back to 1:5
But the goal of our instruction is love, from a pure heart and a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

theologically speaking:

Quick study of 1^st Timothy.

With three versions at my elbow: the NCV, NIV, and (oh sacrilege) The Message. The heading in one of the versions says: Advice to a young preacher, and although I’m sure that anyone can receive enlightenment from reading this, as well as any other book of the Bible, it probably should be noted that this is written to a church leader, not the congregation in general. A certain amount of maturity and authority would be presupposed as Paul writes to his young disciple, so perhaps some of this would be “over the head” of a new believer.

The goal of “this command” is love. Pure heart, good conscience and a sincere faith. Has anyone else noticed that when someone points to LOVE as a main issue, they get shot down by some “theologian” who wants to explain that we really don’t understand what LOVE means, Biblically speaking, and doctrine is really much more than LOVE (the two greatest commandments according to Jesus). I should think that verse 1:7 should humble some of us bloggers.

“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.”

“They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they are holding forth with such imposing eloquence”

“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand either what they are talking about or what they are sure about.”

It brings to mind the warning that we should not all seek to be teachers. And also that we should study to show ourselves approved.

Ah the good ol’ (new) Message goes on to say: It’s true, moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it, and to whom you say it are as important as what you say.

And then, as clearly as anywhere else, is the gospel stated, called a true, trustworthy saying: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners! And do you hear the choir singing?

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invincible…the only wise God”

And, there it is, Chapter Two – pray for everyone – that is EVERYONE, and verse 4: (God) who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (niv) who wants all people to be saved and to know the truth (ncv) and

He wants, not only us, but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth that we know: that there is one God and only one! And one priest mediator between us and God, Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. (the message)

A few posts down, just beyond my whining laments, I pasted a portion from a Wesleyan Commentary concerning everyone’s favorite hot topic, personal predestination. As a result of that post I’ve made a new blog acquaintance – Kevin, who like myself and Pastor Art and Arthur B. Roberts, is of the Wesleyan, persuasion. We are not alone! Neither are we without Biblical support for certain doctrinal stands that we take. Well, I need to get on home. We’re having company tonight, and I know that when I get home I’m not going to feel much like typing, so I stayed after work to get this written.

I’m not done with First Timothy yet, but I just flipped to the end of the book in the Message:

“Avoid the talk show religion and the practiced confusion of the so called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith”

You gotta love it!

So What

I was in the middle of writing my next post,
woe is me, lamentations
and for some mysterious reason, it disappeared from the screen...gone
oh well, so what, it was just a bunch of immature laments, generated by self pity, mood swings, hormonal imbalance and hot flashes.
are you hearing the voices shouting and crying in the middle east?
and all the widows and orphans crying in the aftermath of floods, and hurricanes, and earthquakes, war and disaster?
and I believed that the LORD was telling me to trust Him concerning the matters of my family, my sons and my grandson. That He would take care of them, and I should focus my prayer on the students entrusted to my care, to stand in the gap for them, and now, one has been killed, violently and tragically and still the crisis in my own family continues.
And I am a seasoned, mature, Biblically literate Ministroally experienced, woman
who feels like a child, afraid of the dark.

Silence

He was on my role, but I hardly knew him. It seemed like he was always absent or in detention or suspended. The few times he was in my class he behaved himself and did fine work. In some of his other classes, and in the halls, and on the bus, it was a different story. I knew a lot less about him then I do about my other students. I have most of them for more than one class. I am their “case manager”. No one was talking about him much yesterday. Just a stray comment here or there. In the dominant culture of our school, one does not speak of the dead. Not until lunch did one of the staff members confirm the whispered rumor. He had been killed over Christmas break. He had been stabbed. He was dead and buried. Hadn’t I seen it in the paper? Tragic, Violent, and forgotten.

From Psalm 96

NCV: 96:11-13
Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad; let the sea and everything in it shout. Let the fields and everything in them rejoice. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, because He is coming. He is coming to judge the world; He will judge the world with fairness and the people with truth!"
And Jesus said: I am...the truth (John 14:6)
And Paul said: His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:20)
and: Romans 8:20-23, all creation is waiting, all creation is groaning
Come Lord Jesus come!
And until then, may we, who are called by His name, be faithful to the task he has set before us and remember, they will know we are Christians by our love! (John 13:35)

From a Wesleyan Bible Commentary...

I cut and pasted this off our E-Sword software...Hope I'm not breaking any laws here...
just wanted to note that there are many sincere Christians out there who view scriptures, worship, and holiness from a Wesleayan perspective, ie United Methodists, Free Methodists, Nazerine, to mention but three. I may write more on this later, but for now, although the language is a bit formal, I'll let Wesley speak for me...
"We are bid to choose life, and reprehended for not doing it. It is inconsistent with a state of probation in those that must be saved or must be lost. It is of fatal consequence; all men being ready, on very slight grounds, to fancy themselves of the elect number. But the doctrine of predestination is entirely changed from what it formerly was. Now it implies neither faith, peace, nor purity. It is something that will do without them all. Faith is no longer, according to the modern predestinarian scheme, a divine "evidence of things not seen," wrought in the soul by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost; not an evidence at all; but a mere notion. Neither is faith made any longer a means of holiness; but something that will do without it. Christ is no more a Saviour from sin; but a defence, a countenancer of it. He is no more a fountain of spiritual life in the soul of believers, but leaves his elect inwardly dry, and outwardly unfruitful; and is made little more than a refuge from the image of the heavenly; even from righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Through sanctification of the Spirit - Through the renewing and purifying influences of his Spirit on their souls."