God’s House

I was praying in our EXP worship center yesterday and I began to think about the concept of God’s house. I remember as a child being told not to run in God’s house; not to abuse God’s house. I was taught that God’s house was a special place, a holy place, and I should treat it with respect and reverence.

My thoughts quickly turned to passages in I and II Corinthians where scripture says I am God’s house. My body is God’s temple. Similarly, I should treat my body with respect and reverence. There are things I should not allow inside of me, activities I should not participate in, images I should not gaze upon!

I know, I am simply talking about a building and a body. No big deal right! Wrong! God’s presence changes everything. If God is present in a place, that place becomes holy and special. God’s Spirit lives in me. May I not abuse His dwelling place.

Worshipping Angels – Colossians 2:18

Saturday, June 14, at EXP, we started a new series in Hebrews. Below is a brief examination of Colossians 2:18 as a follow up to the topic of “Jesus: Superior to Angels.”

Colossians 2:18 (NIV) – Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels diqualify you for the prize.  Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

Theologians have given several meanings to the phrase “worship of angels.” One or quite possibly all have merit. In the day of this writing, Jews had a high regard for angels. Galatians 4:14 gives evidence of this fact. Paul says, “… you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel…” We see that angels were held in high esteem. However, some evidently esteemed them too highly.

The phrase “worship of angels” could mean:

1) People were praying to angels. Some began to pray to angels even though an official prohibition had been mandated. Since Jews saw angels as mediators between themselves and God, some went from praying to God, to praying to God through angels, to praying to angels. This idea later grew into a prayer habit for some of praying to someone other than God. One example – praying to saints or praying to Mary.

2) A cult or religion had begun or was in the formative stages of development. Obviously righteous Jews would not worship angels nor would the teachers of the Law recommend angel worship. However as in any sect, offshoots arise. Evidence exists that seems to suggest such a group was forming or had formed.

3) The writer was speaking to legalism. The Jews believed that the giving of the Law was mediated by angels. Evidence in scripture seems to agree with the idea that angels were in some way involved in the giving of the Law. Acts 7:53, “you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.” Galatians 3:19b, “The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.” Hebrews 2:2 speaks of “the message spoken by angels” being binding. This seems to be a reference to the law. In this view, the writer is encouraging the reader not to succumb to the chains of legalism and the law.

I believe all of these views have merit. However, as in all passages involving angels, the angels are not the focus or the point. The point of Colossians 2:18 is for one to be careful who they follow and to be sure one has the right spirit. We are not to be fooled by those who pronounce themselves as on a higher spiritual plane than all others. In this first century, men claimed to have experiences that no one else has had; that they had a unique pipeline to God; that they had a special understanding of scripture not available to others; and that they could see and had seen “things” that no one else could see.

The purpose of this passage is to tell the readers not to be like these men. Do not be full of false humility. Do not become puffed up with idle notions. (“Idle notions” means things that are good for nothing; useless, vain.) Men then, and men today, profess to have insight into the spiritual realms. Claims of seeing and talking to angels and even Jesus are given in an attempt to convince others of their spiritual superiority, resulting in people “worshiping” them, or “blessing” them with money. Beware of such people is the writer’s admonition. People who are genuinely intimate with God will be humble not proud. They will lift up others rather than themselves.  We should not worship angels. They are simply God’s messengers. However,  more importantly, we should not be fooled by those who pretend to worship God but in reality only worship themselves.

Just a thought – about Lent

Romans 12:1 reminds us to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” As I participate in Lent, sacrificing a few pleasures, I am reminded of this verse. However, today I reflected on the fact that Jesus did this very act. He offered Himself as a living sacrifice. His sacrifice was pleasing to His Father! Jesus did not merely sacrifice a few pleasures, He sacrificed Himself.

Though my sacrifice dims in comparison to Christ’s, a common thread does exist. They both are a spiritual act of worship. My participation in Lent is an act of worship. It says I want to focus on Christ and what He did for me. It speaks to my desire to remind myself of what is really important in life. It is a unique way, (something I do not do year round) to express worship to God. It is more that simply a discipline or an old church tradition. It is a fresh way for me to worship!

So, as you “sacrifice” during this Lenten season, remember you are worshiping and you are following the pattern of Jesus.

An Unusual Apartment Ministry

An interesting event occurred Tuesday, Feb. 29. A man, wanted by the police, barricaded himself in an apartment complex. Within a short time, police officers, SWAT and a variety of other law enforcement personnel initiated a standoff that lasted about 8 hours or more. The interesting part is that our church became the Red Cross refuge for the tenants of the apartment complex. They evacuated the complex, picked up children from school, contacted others at work, and had them all come to the church until the crisis was ended.

Several staff and lay people from Paramount were on hand to help minister to these families. I watched as our people began to build relationships with individuals and share the love of Christ. Children were laughing and playing in the play zones while youth were in video game heaven. A tense, negative situation, was lightened because followers of Christ took an opportunity to minister in an unusual situation.

I believe lives were touched through the experience. Mine was! It will be interesting to see the long term impact that night had on children and adults alike. The love of Christ was practically and vividly demonstrated through his people. Thank you Red Cross, thank you Paramount members for making a difference.

Authentic Christianity

Is your Christianity authentic? Is the expression of Christianity we see in America authentic? Is TV Christianity authentic? What is authentic Christianity? What do you think?

I would love to hear your thoughts as to what constitutes authentic Christianity. What do you see as the essential beliefs and practices? Where have we gone wrong? (If we have gone wrong.) Let me know what you think. We will deal with this topic in EXP throughout February and March.

Just a Thought – Humility

It would be crazy for me to walk up to Michael Jordan, probably the greatest basketball player ever, and tell him of my great basketball abilities. It would be ridiculous for me to brag about my bank account to Donald Trump. Do you think Harrison Ford would be impressed that I was the lead in my 2nd grade play? These guys are so far beyond me in their respective talents, that to act like I am on their level or to boast about my meager accomplishments in their fields is insane!

I wander though if I sometimes approach God with that attitude! “Hey God, look how holy I am!” “God, have you noticed how faithful I am?” By spouting my spiritual accomplishments, somehow I believe God will be impressed with me. Like I am as “godly” as God?!

Proverbs 25:6 starts out by saying, “Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence.” The height of arrogance is thinking I am somehow on God’s level. To compare my basketball skills with Michael Jordan is ridiculous. To compare myself with God is unthinkable.

I think I am better off living Micah 6:8, “walk humbly with your God.” Humility is much wiser and more attractive than pride as you relate to others and especially as you relate to God.

Just a thought!

Just a Thought – Red Flags

As part of my devotion today, I read Proverbs 22:3, “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” The application – When you see red flags, STOP!

So often I want to do something so badly that I ignore warning signs. Once I accepted a position at a church, ignoring the red flags raised during the interviewing process, only to resign 6 months later. It was a bad decision. Had I paid attention to the red flags, I would have spared myself and my family much heartache.

In your decisions to accept a new job, who to marry, what house to buy, what to invest in, etc., etc., watch for red flags. Don’t ignore them, heed them. They are God’s way of directing you and sparing you from making mistakes.  Just a thought!

The Advent Conspiracy

To follow up on last week’s post about Christmas giving and spending and how our gift-focus this time of year doesn’t really match up to the tradition’s origins, I wanted to point you to an interesting evangelical movement: The Advent Conspiracy.

Last year, an Oregon pastor named Rick McKinley — if you’re familiar with Blue Like Jazz, you’ll recognize him as Donald Miller’s pastor at Imago Dei in Portland — challenged his church to spend less money buying gifts and try to give relational gifts at Christmas. So his congregation spent the season making presents for each other, then donated the money they would have otherwise spent to organizations serving the poor. A great idea, and now it’s grown into a widespread international movement with lots of different churches participating this year.

Something to think about. Here you can read more of the back story behind the Advent Conspiracy. Or just go to the Advent Conspiracy website.

The quote to remember: “We’re not asking that you don’t spend money on Christmas, just that you do it with the poor in mind.”

The Season of Giving

More than ever, the Christmas season has turned into something it was never intended to be — the Gift Holiday. We pay a lot of lip service to Jesus and peace on earth and all that stuff, but we spend the majority of the Christmas season shopping. For many of us — myself included — it turns into a whole lot of time dedicated to buying and getting presents. And, sure, we can say what we want about generosity being a Christian virtue. But let’s face it: a lot of the gifts we buy are obligatory and unnecessary. We give because it’s expected of us, and the gifts we pick out for each other are usually things that, to be honest, most of us can afford to buy for ourselves…especially if it’s something we really, really want. Where is the virtue in that? We defend our purchasing by saying “It’s the thought that counts,” but why, then, does that thought have to cost a certain amount of money?

Maybe it would help to think about the origins of the whole Christmas gift-giving tradition. Likely, it developed from a couple of different sources:

Source #1: The Wise Men from the East delivered gifts to the Christ child, as described in Matthew 2:1-12. We usually compress this detail into our Christmas stories — after all, every Nativity scene features three gift-bearing wise men and at least one camel, right alongside the visiting shephards — but it probably happened long after the actual birth. Jesus and Mary were in a house by then, not a stable. Some scholars even think the Wise Men showed up as many as two years after the birth of Christ. At any rate, the things they brought weren’t exactly on Jesus’ shopping list. What kind of gifts are gold, frankincense, and myrrh? They’re definitely not the kinds of things you give a baby. Or a carpenter, for that matter. Instead, they were the kinds of treasures typically reserved for a king. Over the centuries, there’s been a lot of debate as to the purpose or symbolism of these gifts, but what seems clear is that they were given as an act of worship.

Source #2 isn’t the kind of story you tell the family on Christmas Eve. It ties back to the original Santa Claus: St. Nicholas, the 4th century bishop of Myra. According to the legend, he helped out a poor father who couldn’t afford to pay the dowry to get each of his three daughters married. Back then, unmarried women ended up in prostitution, so Nicholas secretly gave the father bags of gold for each daughter’s dowry, saving the girls from their fate. Santa Claus has evolved a lot since that story — depositing Wii games into an oversized stocking is a far cry from offering life-saving cash to a desperate father — but the root of our tradition is there. (In the Catholic tradition, by the way, today is the feast day of St. Nicholas. You can read a whole lot more about his story in this article I wrote for the December 2007 issue of RELEVANT Magazine — *PDF download*)

So we have a question to ask: Does our giving this Christmas reflect either of these two scenarios? Um…

Well, if our only choices are 1) Magi gifts that worship God, or 2) St. Nicholas gifts that serve the poor, then I’ve got a problem. Maybe you do, too. The presents I’m wrapping for my family and friends don’t quite fall in line with either of those categories. It’s easy to get defensive about it because buying and receiving gifts is so much a part of our celebration of Christmas. But I have to be honest and admit that the way I practice it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with Jesus. It’s just a tradition…a tradition that makes us happy, because we like to give stuff. And give stuff. Mostly, we just like stuff.

So what do we do with a cultural tradition that may have started with Jesus but doesn’t have much to do with him anymore? Maybe we subvert it by slowly turning it back toward the original emphasis. Are there ways you can give more meaningful gifts this Christmas? Can we move beyond buying stuff we don’t really need? Can we simplify Christmas by giving gifts that matter — homemade gifts, or family photographs, or quality time spent with the most important people in our lives? Or can we somehow find ways to give gifts that serve the poor? If that sounds good to you, here are a few places where you can do just that:

Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog
Heifer International Gift Catalog
Kiva.org (Microloans to small businesses owned by the working poor)

Full confession: When it comes to my family, we haven’t changed our Christmas giving wholesale. But we’re becoming more deliberate about it. We’re taking steps to scale back a bit. In doing so, maybe we’ll get closer to the gifts given at the first Christmas gifts…or, if not that, then at least the gifts given by the original St. Nick.

Celebrating Advent

Advent begins with Hope. Hope rests in the fulfillment of prophecies. This concept reminds me of presidential campaign promises. It seems that every prospective candidate spouts promises that everyone knows cannot really be followed through on. In this year’s campaign, several outlandish promises have already been espoused. One candidate promises to eliminate federal income taxes, one vows to stop completely illegal immigration, another to end wasteful Washington spending. One even promises to personally shoot Osama Bin Laden.

What if the prophecies about Christ were like these empty presidential promises: unfulfilled. There would be no hope! It would mean no Messiah, no sacrifice for sin, no salvation, no resurrection, no 2nd coming and no eternal life. No hope! However, we as followers of Christ have hope because the prophecies were fulfilled. So Advent is a celebration — in part, a celebration of hope.

It is great to celebrate Advent alone. It can even be more inspiring as you celebrate in the context of community. Possibly the most meaningful expression comes in your family setting. Whether you have small children or teenagers, or whether it is only husband and wife, Advent in the family structure is special. I encourage you to observe Advent in your family this year.

Many resources are available to assist you as you observe Advent family-style. You might try some of these books to guide your observance. Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration (NavPress), by James Dobson, Charles Swindoll, Montgomery Boice and R.C. Sproul is great for families with young children. If you love music and have older children you might try Handel’s Messiah Family Advent Reader (Moody Press), by Donna Payne and Fran Lenzo. It includes an audio CD with the musical passages from the Messiah. Or, a great book geared to kids is Glow in the Dark Sticker Book (Candle Books) by Grahan Round.

Here are some websites with Advent resources that might help as you celebrate Advent with your family.

Resources for Advent (includes a great FAQ)
Observing Advent with the Entire Family
Advent family crafts
Build an Advent family calendar