Luke 9

 John Chrysostom was an  Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He pointed out that "Christ had the power to set the human race free from all these evils -- not only the Romans but also the Persians and simply every race of barbarians. He succeeded in doing this with no force of arms, nor expenditure of money, not by starting wars of conquest, nor by inflaming men to battle. He had only eleven men to start with who were undistinguished, without learning. ill-informed, destitute, poorly clad, without weapons, or sandals, me who had but a single tunic to wear." These are the men Jesus sends out at the beginning of this chapter and what a difference they would make, but in the eyes of the world, what a group of misfits and losers. 

Even as Jesus sent them out here they weren't ready for all that would happen but Jesus is getting them there and this sending out was just the beginning of what He would do through them. God can do great things through you too, if you'll let him. 

Life in the Negative World- What to do?

I have been reading Aaron Renn’s book Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture. One might argue with some of his assumptions but personally, I haven’t found anything substantial I can argue with. Rather than look at the past I want to highlight the responses we need to implement in our lives today taken from his book and then elaborate on them a bit myself.

1. Becoming obedient- Seems straightforward but how many in the church have in the past not lived into what Christ taught. Sure, they lived out what they liked in the Bible, but harder, deeper issues went ignored. This won’t work anymore, and it never did but it was easier to hide it in the past.

2. Become Excellent- So we can show who we are and make a difference in the world. Also, in the past when minorities entered a workplace, they had a negative against them. They were expected to not just be good but great if they were to even be accepted let alone respected. One could say it wasn’t fair and you would be right, but it is the truth. When you come in with a negative in your balance sheet you have to do more than others to be even. Today, the ones who carry a cultural negative is the Christians. You can rail against it (which adds another negative) or you can deal with it. To say it another way, if you live in Texas you have to know there are scorpions and rattlesnakes so you better shake out your boot before putting them on or you will get bit/stung. We don’t have to do that in Indiana but guess what, we culturally don’t live in Indiana anymore.

3. Become Resilient- Things aren’t going to be easy and there are things we have to accept, some things that seem random. We have to understand bad things will happen. Prepare to be anti-fragile. Don’t overextend yourself or be too dependent on one. Be financially secure.  Build strong relationships.

4. Pursue Institutional Integrity- Retain your shape when things are hard. Be competent. Be trustworthy/transparent. Prepare the next generation.

5. Pursue Community – We are a minority. We have to create institutions/plans to sustain our communities without hiding away. We can’t expect the culture around us to teach our children and support what we believe.

6. Ownership – Own our own businesses and platforms so we can continue to provide places where we can prosper and resist social pressure. If we depend on YouTube, for example, to reach our community and they decide to ban us then we have lost that community. If we have strong Christian businesses we can give jobs to those who have been fired because they refused to bend to the demands of businesses that demand that their employees adopt an unbiblical stance. 

7. Be a light – Clearly speak and live the truth. This seems like what we should be doing as Christians anyway but sometimes we have by our attempt to be relevant and accepting aren’t clear. 

These are just the highlights and thoughts that this book made me consider. Read it for yourself to see what it says to you. At the end of the day, there are no easy answers and God can still do the miraculous, but the world we knew is gone and we need to adapt while holding to the truth. 

Psalm 8

 This psalm begins and ends with the acknowledgment that God's name is majestic in all the earth. When I consider this I am hit with two ideas. One is that it is majestic or greater than all other names whether people know it or not. It doesn't matter what someone wants to believe God is greater. It is said of the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Philippians 2:11). They might not right now but they will. The second is do we act like it? Do we take the name of Jesus and all that is attached (his authority and power) and live like it? Are we not just hearers but doers? 

Genesis 21

 

Why didn't you tell me?

I find it typical that Abraham reproved Abimelech for something his servants did without asking first about it. It was as if Abraham assumed he knew what all his servants did. Yet, today people do this stuff all the time. People assume and get it wrong. If Abraham had gone to him before now, it seems to me the king would have made it right. 

The take away is don't assume without all the facts.

I have to wonder what kind of man Abimelech was to still show kindness to  Abraham after nearly losing his life after taking Abraham's wife and now to accept criticism for something he had no knowledge of. 

Genesis 20

 

Why? This is the question I ask when we come to this chapter. Why did Abraham lie again? Didn't he learn last time? Maybe not, but when we operate out of fear it is easy to repeat past mistakes. To keep from following Abraham's example here, we have to operate in faith not fear.

 God however protects his plan and Sarah once again. Yes, there was a long period of waiting going from taking a wife and consummation in those days but the scripture says God protect both the king and Sarah.

Isaiah 9

I see again in this chapter that God uses the evil of man to fulfill His purpose. In verses 18-19, it speaks of the wildfire of wickedness and then the fire of God's wrath. Are they the same? Yes and No. Yes in that they are doing what God wants in cleansing the land of its evil and no in the motive. God wants justice but the wicked just want to consume and feed their own passions (20-21). God is letting them, as it were, fall down into their own trap. However, this isn't the Coluseam or the Hunger Games where the survivor wins. In fact, God has forced these people into this arena of destruction but they have entered it themselves. God's wrath isn't done because unlike in those tales, the winner/survivor isn't rewarded but faces judgment still for their actions. Yes, God will let evil do what it will but in the end, God will judge. There is no winning doing things the way the rest of the world does it, the only way to win is to be on God's side. 

Job 4

 No lie is more effective than one that is closest to the truth. I don't know who said this but it has been repeated often in many ways and the reason it is so is because it is true. Consider modern political commercials that take a clip of what someone says and turn it into someone far more than they meant or maybe take it further than it was intended. This is what I see in the responses from Job and his friends and is something that I will point out often in looking at what they say. What they say may be true, but... 

The first thing I see is that Eliphaz does admit that in the past Job comforted others. Then Eliphaz turns that same action against Job saying you told others to look up during trouble but you can't handle it, can you? Ouch! What an attack. I doubt that anyone that Job had comforted in the past had faced exactly what Job did but even if they had I have to think Job handled it differently than we are going to see Eliphaz doing.

There was also something I had never noticed before in this chapter but I will wait to comment until I do more research.