Minneapolis has the largest population of Somalians in the United States, almost all of them conservative Muslim, many of whom live in the same neighborhoods as gay folks in, according to The Advocate magazine, “The Gayest City in America.” Listen to my take after a recent visit.
What is God calling you to do in your life? Rather than waiting around until you receive a clear “sign,” why not get going and keep going until He tells you to stop?
A message on Father’s Day
Some observations about recent developments concerning same-sex marriage and culture war vocabulary.
The greatest freedom for us to be the person God designs us to be begins with self-forgetfulness. What is it and how do I get it?
Paul gets it (1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7) and author Timothy Keller gives excellent insight. Listen in…
The latest brain research shows children’s learning, relationship skills, and emotional maturity grow best in unorganized, unsupervised play. In other words, opposite of the organized adult-led, adult-organized, adult-supervised life most of us have created for them.
Learning to get out of the way…
A stewardship sermon based on events in the life of Benaiah, King Solomon’s hitman. Facing our insecurity by jumping right into the pit.
How do we learn how to be generous in giving to God? If you have little kids, they learn the same way as everything else, by watching you. What does your offering teach your kids about your God?
The “church” as we know it, at least in the language of my Lutheran tribe- with constitutions, annual meetings, synod assemblies, national assemblies, and such, is a human institution. I don’t, for one minute, automatically assume it is the Holy Spirit at work making His decisions through our legislative bodies.
The Bible (1 John 4:1) says, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”
I was reminded of this recently when the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA elected a new bishop. On the ELCA clergy Facebook page there were many people who were so excited about the new bishop and how “the Holy Spirit has spoken!” Yet, some of these same people are not so excited and are not citing the Holy Spirit when synod assemblies vote in a way with which they don’t agree.
You see, I don’t know if the Holy Spirit spoke or not with the election of the new bishop, and no one will know whether the new bishop is the “right” person for the job or not. Not for a long time.
What I do know is this instant, “It was the Holy Spirit” spirit, does show a misunderstanding of the biblical teachings on the Holy Spirit. This is why when I speak a word of God I am hearing for someone else I always qualify what I am saying. I use phrases like:
“I think God might be saying this to you, or it may just be my own thinking but insert the word.”
“I sense that God is saying this, or maybe not, but I hear insert the word.”
This is how I teach others when they are giving prophetic words, as well.
I just find it fascinating that brothers and sisters from my own Lutheran tribe, which has such little emphasis on the Holy Spirit in general (disclaimer: I am a bit of a “pentecostal” who ended up in the Lutheran camp), get all “Holy Spirity” when human church legislative assemblies vote on something the way they want.
Actually, church assemblies of various denominations vote for all kinds of things that clearly are not the work of the Holy Spirit, in retrospect. Like denominations supporting slavery in synod votes in the 1800’s or forbidding Blacks from becoming members in the 1900‘s, and such. Some day, you may know if the Holy Spirit was at work on any particular decision made by a church assembly, but that always takes a lot of testing.
Throughout Christian history, there has always been a voice from Christians who think everyone will be saved eventually. This is called “Universal Salvation,” or “Universal Reconciliation.” Either God will forgive those who oppose Him to the end or there will be a probation period of time in the afterlife where those who oppose God are given the chance to change.
We hear phrases like, “Jesus has arms wide open on the cross and he dies to embrace everyone,” or, as Pope Francis recently said, “”The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics.” Books like, “Love Wins,” by Rob Bell, come to mind, as well.
These phrases and books, and others like them, may not be advocating Universal Salvation, but they are interpreted by some as a calling for such. Most of this thinking begins with the viewpoint that Heaven is a place of bliss and Hell is a place of torment. Then the quotes start popping up.
“No loving God would create Hell.”
“God doesn’t want to lose anyone.”
“In the end God will bring all his children home.”
Well, there is a key piece missing in this whole “Universal Salvation” puzzle. I think it is obvious, but it must not be, because otherwise gifted authors and scholars, miss it. It’s called choice.
Not all kids end up home in the end. They don’t want to go home. In fact, some children leave home and never return. Not because they can’t; they don’t want to. They choose to stay away.
People choose to not want God in their lives all the time. If you live a life of not wanting God, eventually you can’t want God in your life. As human beings we have a finite will and we can exhaust that will into becoming the kind of people who can’t want God.
If this is the case, then why would people who don’t want God, who can’t want God in in their lives, want God in their lives? And even worse, why would they want God in their lives for eternity?
Heaven would become a place of torment. Especially when you are met by Jesus. Heaven would be worse than Hell. Right in front of your eyes, forever, you would be faced with your ultimate rejection and you would spend eternity knowing you are wrong. No one would choose such torment, willingly, would they? Unless you want to live with Jesus forever, Heaven is to be avoided if at all possible.
Dallas Willard says it this way,
“Heaven is a place for people who can stand it.”
I know it sounds crazy, but actually God is brilliant on this one. Hell becomes a gift of love in the end for people who don’t want Him. At least they get to spend eternity separated from God, and so rather than having to face they are wrong for eternity, at least they get to spend eternity blaming God for being wrong. Being unfair. And out of love, God can take the slander. Dallas says this about Hell:
“Hell is the best God can do for some people.”
(This post is not about a band from Chicago, but I like their logo.)
When God wants someone to hear from him, and the person really wants to hear from God, generally the two get together. God speaks mainly in our thoughts. Many of these thoughts are written down in the books that make up the Bible. Sometimes, the authors heard an audible word from God, but the vast amount of “hearing” occurs in the mind.
When people write down words from God they usually have meaning in their present context. The book of Psalms has many examples of this. King David and others who created the Psalms frequently speak to their own everyday life situations. When these words are finally written down, they become resources for God’s people in worship and study. Sometimes, these words are used in a new context when they are cited in the future. People will refer back to these words during a future key event.
Such is the case with Bible passages in the New Testament that take on a new light, usually in the life of Jesus. Look at two examples from Psalm 69.
First, Psalm 69:9.
It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
This verse is quoted by the Bible writer, John, who refers back to it when Jesus drives the moneychangers out of the Temple. John 2:17:
17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
This wasn’t the context of the original passage in Psalm 69. It takes on new light in the life of Jesus. When this happens, we can call the Psalm passage a “shadow” or “shadow prophecy” of what comes afterward. A prophecy that is meaningful in the present context of the Psalm and a foreshadowing of a future event.
The second example from Psalm 69 is verse 21.
They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
This passage is used by all four of the Gospel writers in the context of the crucifixion of Jesus. Of course no one is referring back to poison food, only sour wine (vinegar). Another shadow prophecy.
