Give Yourself Some Space

The question came up last night in class, “Why does Joseph torture his brothers a bit when they come before him in Egypt?” OK, they deserved it and more; they had sold Joseph into slavery and tricked his father into believing he was dead. But I had suggested that (unlike the other Patriarchs and most Bible characters) we have no story of Joseph’s flaws. If that is true, why does he seem to enjoy tormenting his brothers when the worm turns? He accuses them of being spies. He keeps Simeon in prison (ensuring their return with Benjamin). He accuses them of stealing his special cup. He is going to eventually forgive them (for selling him into slavery), so why trifle with them and let them suffer?

• Is he PUNISHING them? He certainly has the power as second in command of Egypt to do just that. And that is what the brothers assume before they even know he is Joseph. Rueben says, “Now we must give an accounting for his blood” (Gen 42:22). If Joseph really is being vindictive here, he really isn’t very good at it. He keeps breaking down into tears in the middle of his plot! (See Gen 42:22, 43:30, 45:2, 45:14-15).
  
• Is he TESTING them? That is Joseph’s explanation to the brothers, “And this is how you will be tested…” (Gen 42:15). Perhaps Joseph is using this process to see what kind of men his brothers have become. After all, they weren’t such good men they last time he saw them as the slave traders were carrying him away. Maybe he wants to see, while he is undercover, what kind of people his brothers have grown into over the years.

I suspect that neither of these options is completely it. I think that Joseph is here simply flying by the seat of his pants. He doesn’t know how one is supposed to respond to this circumstance, and he is simply buying himself some time so he can figure it out! One commentary suggests that Joseph expected that his brothers would eventually show up to get food and he was waiting to spring this elaborate trap on them. I think that gives Joseph way too much credit for advance planning... and way too little credit for brotherly love.

Joseph isn’t being cold and calculated in his response here. He doesn’t know exactly what to do. He is torn between love and justice, and that is why he’s emotional and keeps breaking out in tears. Joseph’s scheme is simply to give himself enough time and space so that love can win out in the end! And that is exactly what happens.

Maybe we need to remember this story they next time we must respond to a spouse who is treating us unjustly or a boss who is being a jerk or a friend who has been insensitive. We can’t always say the right thing at the right moment. In fact, sometimes when we say anything at all in the middle of a stressful situation, it is guaranteed that it will be the wrong thing! Sometimes the very best thing that we can do is act graciously while we give ourselves enough space for grace to win out

The Big Game

The big sports news is that Giants and Partiots are going to the Super Bowl. The big family news is that Tressa (Lord willing and Expedia cooperating) is going to the Super Bowl. Tank Daniels (here celebrating the winning field goal in OT at Green Bay Sunday) becomes not only the first Harding grad to play in the NFL but now the first to make it to the Big Dance. And while it may seem like the only reason the Giants are there is so the Patriots will have someone to beat on their way to a perfect season, I think the Giants just might pull it off. Who would have thought a month ago that the talking heads at EPSN would have been debating whether or not Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady right now?

It appears that the real reason there is a two week break between the championship games and the Super Bowl is so that the teams playing in Green Bay have time to thaw out completely. In case it comes up in conversation, Tressa confirms that 4 below zero and 25 below wind chill does indeed seem pretty chilly. She called me from the game just to confirm that it was really, really cold in Green Bay.

For the record, I’m not a bit jealous that Tressa was there when the Patriots beast the Giants to complete the first perfect 16-0 regular season. I’m not jealous that she was there at Lambeau to see the Giants upset the Packers in OT for the NFC Championship. And I’m not jealous one bit that she will be there in Phoenix at the Super Bowl itself. Sure, my biggest NFL moment was winning a signed football from Joe Gibbs at a prayer breakfast. But I’m not jealous! But come on, wouldn’t you think that at some point my darling little girl would reflect on all that her dear old Dad means to her and has done for her and say, “Here, Dad, take my ticket and go.” But noooooooooo! Well, I’d better get a T-shirt out this deal somewhere!

Picking Nits on Picking Grain

I once attended a debate in which the subject was what churches can and can’t do with the money that has been collected in church treasury. One of the disputants argued that the only Biblical use of church money was mission work and helping needy church members and using church money for any other purpose violated the NT pattern. So writing a check from the church to feed a hungry orphan who wasn't a member was sinful. Sure, it would be proper for individual Christians to feed that orphan out of their own pocket, but not for the church. When pressed, he admitted that it was OK for the church to buy fertilizer to feed the church lawn because it is "evangelistic" to have a pretty church yard. But it is wrong to feed hungry orphans out of the church treasury.

It is too easy for us to come up with a interpretive "religious" system and then filter everything we through that system. That is essentially what the Pharisees do in Matthew 12 (today's NT reading) when they see Jesus’ disciples “harvesting” grain on the Sabbath, a clear violation of the Law... or their system of intepretation of the Law.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-2)

Jesus points to flaws in their understanding and in their system. What God wants and expects from us is not the perfection application of a religious system. What he wants is relationship, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 12:7). The Pharisees were not consistent in their application of their system; that is why Jesus points to David and the showbread. Ultimately, Jesus is Lord of Sabbath. Faithfulness depends on our relationship to and reliance upon him. Jesus had just said that the real point of our response to God was hidden from the wise and learned (and their religious systems) revealed to little children (Matthew 11:25). The real point of religion is a relationship to Jesus Himself. Look at Matthew 11:27—

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Jesus says that the religious system that says, “A handful of grain picked on the Sabbath violates the command of God” has somehow missed the whole point of God. And the system that says, “We can’t feed hungry orphans out of the treasury” has missed something about what God has revealed about Himself in scripture. I can think of few things God would more like “His money” spent on than feeding the hungry!

But none of that is the real point. The real point is this-- I wonder what blind spots there are in my religious system that keeps me from seeing God clearly. Somehow, it is much more comforting to apply this stuff to the Pharisees than it is to look into my own life!

The Fearsome God of Isaac

In today’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 30-31), Jacob is beating a fast retreat from his father-in-law Laban. The more Jacob prospered, the more Laban resented him and the more uncomfortable it became for Jacob in Paddam Aram. He was told by God in a dream to return to Canaan, and so Jacob left. Laban was sorry to see him go— most because Jacob took with him Laban’s daughters, his grandchildren, a large portion of his wealth (that Jacob had earned) and Laban’s household gods. Actually, Rachel stole the idols without Jacob’s knowledge, but I’m sure that was only because she saw on Martha Stewart that you could make them into great bookends or something.

At any rate, Laban tracked down Jacob and his entourage, and there was something of a confrontation. As Jacob defended himself to his father-in-law, he made a statement that is just a bit jolting. In contrast to the household idols that Rachel literally sat upon, Jacob refers to God like this--

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” (Genesis 31:42)

Jacob refers to God as “The fear of Isaac,” and he uses that same name later in the chapter— “So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac” (Genesis 31:53). There are many names for God in the Bible that emphasize different parts of His character. He is El Shaddai (“God Almighty”), El Elyon (“The Most High God”), Yahweh Yireh (“The Lord will provide”), Yahweh Elohim Israel, (“Lord God of Israel) and a host of others (actually Yahweh Sabbaoth means “Lord of Hosts”).

For Jacob, God is “The Fear of Isaac” or the “fearsome God of Isaac” (NLT). Does Jacob use this name because he wants to throw the fear of God into Laban? Perhaps, but in doing so, Jacob reminds us that God is “greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him” (Psalm 89:7, ESV). Solomon says, “i” (Prov 1:7). Many today see God as something of a Cosmic Grandfather” who just wants us to be happy and has little or no real expectations of us. The Bible makes it clear that God is to be feared as well as loved. He has not been domesticated or made safe. He is still “the fearsome God of Isaac.”

Cowboys Fans Might Want to Skip This One

My Moday post-for-the-day is really the one below. If football seems too trivial a buject to post about, just skip down there.

But I just couldn't let the day go completely without referring to the playoffs. All Cowboy fans can now jump in with their best Jim Mora impression, "Playoffs? Playoffs? Don't talk about the playoffs!" OK, the fact is that my Colts lost makes me sad. But the fact that the Giants beat the Cowboys more than makes up for it. There will be a Manning in the Championship Game next week, so it's not all bad!

The Giants win was especially exciting because we watched it with Courtney, Jaxon and Gracie Daniels. Courtney is Tressa's best friend, and her husband Tank plays for the Giants (the only Harding alum in the NFL). We screamed so loud when the Giants intercepted the last pass that we scared Gracie and she screamed for awhile too! (The fact that Courtney was jumping around like a madwoman with Gracie in her arms probably didn't help). Courtney is taking Tressa with her Sunday to the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" in Green Bay to watch the Giants play the Packers. I would say "cool" but they are predicting sub-zero temps, so "cold" may be more appropriate.

Now, for all you Cowboys fans out there... I'm trying really, really hard not to enjoy the Dallas implosion. It really looked too much like Indy's implosion earlier in the day to enjoy it too much. But then, all my life my two favorite teams have been the Colts and whoever is playing Dallas! I've got to enjoy this just a little, OK? So excuse me while I put a Jessica Simpson CD on!

At any rate, good luck to the Giants and Tank Daniels. Anyone have suggestions for Tressa on how she can keep from freezing Sunday night at Lambeau!

Driving a Hard Bargain

With which Bible character do you feel the most affinity? Abraham? John the Baptist? Paul? Mary? Moses? Elijah? The chances are pretty good that we admire these guys and gals and appreciate their faith and faithfulness. The chances are also pretty good that these aren’t not the Bible characters that we feel the most like. These guys and gals had a faith that at times seems superhuman. Sure, they give us a glimpse of their humanity as they stumble at times, but for the most point they are giants of faith and faithfulness.

Maybe we feel more in common with Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9). Mephibosheth basicaly was just lame. He sat at the table of the king and enjoyed the king’s blessings, but he never really accomplished that much other than to just be lame. Maybe we can relate to a Bible character like that much better than Moses or Elijah or Abraham.

Or maybe our hero should be Jacob. I’m not talking about Jacob the patriarch who wrestled with God and whose name was changed to Israel. No, I’m talking about the young Jacob who stole his brother’s birthright and tricked his blind father out of the firstborn’s blessing. No, we aren't as cunningly conniving or Machiavellian as Jacob, but maybe were are a lot like him in yesterday’s daily Bible reading from Genesis 28:20-22,

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this tone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Jacob has this vision of the throne of God and a ladder to heaven. He decided that this place, which he later names Bethel (“house of God”), was holy and he makes a vow to God. But notice the vow. If God will (1) is with him, (2) watches over his journey, (3) gives him food and clothes, (4) and allows him to return safely home, THEN (1) Jacob will allow God to be His God and (2) He will set up a stone and (3) he will tithe to God. If God will give Jacob everything he wants, then Jacob with serve and give God a tenth.

Can we relate to Jacob there— if God will only give me everything I want, then He can be my God! Fortunately, Jacob grew up in his faith. And so must we. I wonder at times how immature our faith must appear to our Father. And how selfish.

The God Who Sees

I know everyone is still up to date with their “read through the Bible” commitment. Sure, just like we are all rocking-and-rolling along on our new 1200 calorie-a-day, low-fat, pass-the-rice-cake New Year’s Diet! I don’t know about you, but my daily Bible reading is always easier when I first start out-- Genesis is familiar and fairly easy to read. It is not always easy to understand; who were the sons of God who married the daughters of men and got all that trouble going before the flood? As many times as I’ve read this material, it is always amazing to find something new. Well, it’s not new—it’s been there all along. But sometimes you see things you never saw before.

Take Genesis 16:13-15. I’m sure this little paragraph has always been right there in my Bible, but I’ve evidently never paid attention. It’s part of the Abraham story where Sarah’s scheme to have a child through her servant Hagar crashes and burns because of her jealousy and maybe a little arrogance from Hagar. Sarah mistreats her, and Hagar runs away into the desert. But an angel comes to her and tells her to return home, have her son and trust God to give her many descendants. Here’s the part that I had missed--

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. (Genesis 16:13-15)

Hagar had come to God in a whole new way… and by a whole new name. God became for her “The God Who Sees Me.” Because of her desert experience, God had become more real to Hagar. She named her son Ishmael, which means “God hears.” Because of God’s protection over her during a time of struggle and rejection, God became for Hagar the God who sees and hears.

Is that not what happens in our lives during our times of struggle? If we open ourselves to the presence of God, he can become more real (more present?) to us and we can be brought closer to him. God was working in Hagar’s life in ways that she could never have known. And He is working in our lives as well. Like Hagar, we need to open ourselves to the God who hears and sees.

Around the Clolck

We have been having an interesting time here lately with spam. We have no server side spam protection, so we recently bought a internet security program (one that shall remain nameless) to block spam (as well as adware, viruses, etc). Well, this particular internet security program not only doesn’t block spam all that well, but it crashes every other day or so… sometimes just crashing itself and sometimes crashing the computer. I guess the computer is completely safe when it is locked up; maybe that is a “feature” rather than a “bug.” Not only does this program not block spam, it really does seem like we get MORE spam since the program was installed. Is it possible for spam blocker software to attract these things?

At any rate, I had 100 spam messages waiting for me in my inbox this morning! This one caught my eye for some reason—

Try to think of a better coreer option for you! Why wait?! We now thrilled to bring you this special offer to get your degree on-line! Millions of people all over the world took advantage of getting bachelor’s, PH’s, and Master’s through the net. And what’s more you now don’t have to wait years to advance your coreer. Ladder you correr! Call us around the clolck. You can proudly grasp your diploma within days!

So I can advance my "coreer around the clolck!" OK, If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am not unacquainted with typos myself. (One of the legacies of the email generation is that proper spelling and grammar are now optional.) But if I am going to “advance my coreer around the clolck,” I want people educating me to know how to spell.

The idea that an education can be had “within days” is preposterous. Any diploma that you can “grasp” after ordering over the internet is not worth the paper it is printed on. “Anything worth having is worth working for” is more than just a cliché. The point of education is not the diploma you receive at the end but the process through which you go to receive it.

That also applies to spirituality. We don’t become spiritual people by going to church once a week or so. The Christian “walk” (Paul’s expression for our life in Christ in Ephesians) is a process in which we live our lives with God. As important as regular worship is, that is only one part of the experience of living for God. Daily prayer, scripture reading, service, worship, meditation—those are the characteristic of the spiritual life. You can’t order spirituality once a week any more than education is a piece of paper order over the internet. You have to live it "around the clolck."

Thy Word

Last night in our devotional, I mentioned some interesting (as in depressing) facts about most Christians and the Bible. Overwhelmingly, people who identify themselves as Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. Underwhelmingly, most of us who identify ourselves as Christians don’t read the Bible for themselves. A Barna study in 1999 found that only 35% of self-identified “Born-Again Christians” read the Bible during the week. This is not read the Bible as in “daily Bible readers.” That is read the Bible as in “read the Bible during the week at all." A Gallop Poll several years ago found that 64% of those who identify themselves as Christians can’t name any of the four Gospels and 12% of them said that they believe that Noah’s wife was Joan of Arc! You think there may be a connection between nor reading the Bible and not knowing basic facts about the Bible?

I had a teacher in grad school that like to say (often) that “Christianity is the religion of Biblical authority.” Everything that we know about God beyond what Paul calls His “invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature” (Rom 1:20) is revealed through the Bible. The Bible tells us about Jesus, the cross, salvation, heaven, hell, the church, God’s moral order and everything else we know about God’s presence in the world comes through the Bible. Yes, God's Spirit lives within us to empower us and groan with us in our prayers... but we wouldn’t even know that if it were not for the Bible.

God’s word lights our path and leads in obedience-- David says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws” (Psalm 119:105-106). Knowing scripture gives us power to resist Satan’s temptation— “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Paul told Timothy that the inspired word of God in scripture was useful in our spiritual life to prepare and equip us to do every good work. This Bible we are privileged to possess “is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16, NLT).

So the reason we don’t read it for ourselves is… what? Are we too busy to carve out 15 minutes or so a day for God’s word? Could it be that the more stuff we have going on in our lives, the more we need the Bible? Let’s all do better this year reading the Bible for ourselves.

Happy New Year

I spent my usual January 1 afternoon watching bowl games… and what a horrible waste of time that was this year! First, Arkansas got blasted by Missouri. Hey, Arkansas loosing a bowl game isn't exactly news, but making a game of it would have been nice. Second, all of the games except for one were blow-outs and not very interesting. No one seemed to think that Hawaii and Illinois had a chance against Georgia and USC... and it turned out that they were right. Third, in the one game of the day that wasn’t a blow-out (Florida-Michigan)… the wrong team (Michigan) won! I have always hated Michigan; I don't know why (maybe the funny helmets).

New Year's day Bowl games were better back in the good-old days (before the BCS messed everything up). All the important games were on January 1, and there were always several games on at the same time. Oh well, at least I’m not bleary-eyed from watching 7 games all in one day! Actually, I kinda miss that.

Our annual church New Year’s Eve party was a rousing success. Thanks to Betty Tanner for organizing this time to ring in the New Year. The weather cooperated and we were able to have our year end devotional outside around the bonfire (I appreciate Mark White pitching in to help Randy lead songs at the campfire).

The kids had a blast with the games, especially the one with all the thrift store outfits—that kept them screaming and squealing (very loudly) for a long time. If they could have that much fund with a bunch of old clothes, then maybe Mom and Dad wasted money buying all those toys for Christmas?

I have included some pictures from the party just to give an idea of how things went. I’ll post some more on the church web site when I get a chance. The holidays were great… and it also great to get them over and back to the old routine.

Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?

Friday I got a little long-winded (OK, very long-winded) waxing elephants about false doctrine. I suggested that in the NT sense, there is a difference between being wrong on a doctrine and teaching false doctrine. False doctrine (literally “unhealthy teaching”) is that which in some way perverts the gospel of God’s redeeming act at the cross. If every mistake in theology is a false doctrine that makes one a false teacher, then every teacher is a false one! The only other alternative is for us to be perfect in what we believe and teach, and we can’t do that any more than we can be perfect in our lives.

But the fact that not everything is false doctrine does not mean than nothing is false doctrine! Any religious system that perverts the basic nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ is false doctrine. I think Cindy Fleenor was taken in by false doctrine. Fleenor is a 53-year-old accountant from Tampa and a believer in Jesus who got into the habit of watching well-known television preachers, and that for her became church. The message that she heard preached was basically the same— be faithful in your living and in your giving, and God will shower you with great material prosperity. This led here to give regular and large donations to Benny Hinn, Joyce Meter and Paula White.

Well, not only did Fleenor nor become wealthy, she went broke. She was reduced to borrowing money from friends and even going to those shady payday loan companies just to buy groceries. And just as bad, she accepted the stock answer as to why the blessings of God didn’t overflow into her life—she didn’t have enough faith. She said, “I wanted to believe God wanted to do something great with me like he was doing with them. I'm angry and bitter about it.” Coincidently, the ministries to which Fleenor contributed are three of those that are currently being investigated by the Senate.

As mentioned yesterday, one of the characteristics of false teachers is that they “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim 6:5). Can you twist some NT passages to make it appear that Christian faith will bless you with overflowing prosperity? How about Luke 6:38?

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

That is a favorite verse of the Rolex and Rolls-Royce religion set. Of course, that pesky thing called context makes it plain that Jesus is talking about forgiveness here and not money. But then, what’s a little proof-texting among friends?

It is one thing to point to verses talking about God’s blessings and make it appear that this always means money. But it is another thing to show how this prosperity gospel worked in the lives of the first Christians. Jesus Himself died penniless with only the clothes on his back. Did He not have enough faith? Paul was rich and successful BEFORE he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, but he counted all of that as garbage (Phil 3:7-8). The only material “wealth” Paul mentions are some books and a coat he wanted Timothy to bring to him before he died in prison. And the only shot the Apostle Peter had at wealth and prosperity was before he was an apostle when his boat was miraculous filled with fish to the point of sinking. He walked away and left them there to rot so that he could follow Jesus (Luke 5:11).

Christianity didn’t make Jesus materially rich. It didn’t make the first Christians rich. In fact, they were hounded and persecuted because they dared to wear the name of the Nazarene. To preach that “God wants us to be prosperous and we will if we have enough faith” perverts the gospel of the cross. And that is the essence of false doctrine.

False Doctrine

I grew up hearing a lot of sermons about false doctrine, a label branded on just about any teaching that was different from that of our fairly conservative Church of Christ. Those sermons were generally gentle and loving (rather than bombastic and cutting) because the man who preached them was a gentle and loving man. But there was no doubt that we were the only true church, and that all other churches were guilty of false doctrine.

The term “false doctrine” was applied to just about any divergent practice or belief from using instrumental music in worship to believing in a literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit to believing that Jesus would one day literally reign on earth for 1000 years. And even more strict (we called them “anti”) churches that condemned things like multiple communion cups, eating in the church building or having Sunday School classes—they were guilty of false doctrine. I had someone accuse me of false doctrine once because the church where I attended, though it did not actively support an orphan’s home, thought that it might be OK for other churches to do so!

The expression “false doctrine” was thrown around much like some throw around the word “liberal.” Most people who use that term have little idea of what it means. In theological terms, a liberal is someone who does not take the Bible as literally true; a conservative is someone who does take the Bible as literally true. It would be hard to see how anyone in a Church of Christ could be a theological liberal. Ironically, two of the positions that we condemned as “false doctrine” (the literal, bodily indwelling of the Spirit and a literal millennial kingdom reign by Christ on earth at the endtime) are actually more “conservative” views since they take a more “literal” approach to scripture.

In the NT, the term “false doctrine” is not used like the word “Gentile.” A Gentile is someone who isn’t Jewish; some use the term “false doctrine” to mean any doctrine that isn’t mine. In the NT, the term is used much more narrowly of teaching that perverts the basic gospel. Most often that would mean either Jewish legalism (adding human works to the cross) or “pre-Gnosticism” (as in Colossians and 1 John) that basically denies the incarnation and/or atonement. Having a difference of practice in how one cares for the needy or how many cups are used in communion is never called false doctrine.

2 Peter 2 has an extended discussion of false teacher who were causing problems with their false doctrine. While Peter never gives us full description of what they taught, we can clearly see what it was that made their doctrine false--

• First, they are evil men who “follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature” (2:10a). These men are not spiritually motivated; they followed the dictates of the sinful, fleshly nature. Paul and Jude talk about godless men who change grace into immorality (Jude 4). They don’t serve Christ, but their own appetites (Rom 16:18). Their god is their stomach; their mind is on earthly things (Phil. 3:19). The motivation of these false teachers is not to glorify God, but rather to serve the appetites of their flesh. Peter will get even more specific later in the text.
  
  
• Second, Peter’s false teachers “despise authority” and are “bold and arrogant” (2:10b). They slander celestial beings in arrogance and ignorance. We don’t exactly what Peter is describing, but part of the problem with these false teachers is their pride and arrogance.
  
  
• Third, the false teachers have “eyes full of adultery,” they “never stop sinning” and they are “experts in greed” (2:14). These false teachers are immoral and greedy, not just honestly mistaken in their theology.
  
  
• Fourth, the real motivation of these teachers is money. That the point of “the way of Balaam”(2:15-16). Balaam prophesied for financial reward, and that led him to destruction. These guys have Balaam’s motivation and share his fate. Paul says that false teachers “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim 6:5).
  
  
• Finally, they prey on those who are “just escaping from those who live in error” as “they promise them freedom” (2:18-19). These false teachers had their success with new converts who were not firmly grounded in the truth. Their immoral doctrine led to these new converts returning to the immorality of the world.

This is how false teacher who preach false doctrines are described. One of the orphans in Annie described her abductors to Daddy Warbucks by saying, “These are not good people, Mister.” That is what Peter is saying about these false teachers. Honest, honorable Christians who seek God with their heart and life but who gets a bit twisted around the axle on some aspect of theology or interpretation is not a false teacher. At some point, that describes us all! We are all limited by backgrounds, maturity, presuppositions, prejudices, and our fallen humanity. We are all wrong about some things, no matter how certain we are that we are right. That’s why we need a cross!

OK, this lasted MUCH longer than I intended. In fact, I started writing on a whole different topic, and this was the introduction. I’ll just save that for another time.

Boxing Day

Tis’ the day after Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature is stirring… except me because I gotto go back to work— so I’ll grouse! OK, awful attempt at poetry. But here we are with Christmas behind us, and it’s back to the old grind (except for teachers and students... in other words, everyone else at my house). One of the benefits of the kids growing up and Christmas ceasing to be such a big deal is that the day after Christmas is not so much of a let down. And besides, I kinda like my old grind.

If you lived in Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand or Australia, you would also get today off because it is Boxing Day. Two guys in the AMC parking lot thought last night was Boxing Day. These two “gentlemen” decided that, being Christmas and all, they needed to get into a fist fight right in front of the theater. We had just seen “The Great Debaters” (BTW, outstanding movie) that stresses using one’s “righteous mind” and words as a weapons of change; these two nitwits were evidently unarmed for a battle of wits, so decided to have a boxing day. Perhaps it was too much Christmas cheer, but then I digress.

Today is Boxing Day. Boxing Day is a traditional time to give gifts to the poor. It dates back to the Middle Ages, but there is some disagreement concerning the specific origin of the name. Some suggest it comes from the practice of the lord of the manor giving boxes of used clothing and food to his serfs. They had to work on Christmas Day; someone had to make the figgy pudding and wassail. So the day after Christmas was their day off, and they received their gifts. Other say the name comes from the practice of workers who carried boxes to their employers on the day after Christmas to be filled with coins or other items, the forerunner of the Christmas bonus. Others suggest that churches opened the donation box (or “poor box”) and the money was distributed to the poor on the day after Christmas. Whatever the exact origin of the name, our British cousins have another day off from work. But then, they likely don’t celebrate July 4, so it all equals out.

So Boxing Day is a time for giving, not to family and friends as on Christmas, but to the poor and less fortunate. It is a time to do what Jesus tells us to do, to give to those who have no opporunity of returning the gift. It is a time to give for no other reason than it is good to give. At least that is the theory, In practice, Boxing Day is a time when "family and friends to gather with lots of food and fun. Outdoor sports such as soccer, horse racing and hunting are popular on this holiday. Retailers offer huge savings on many items on this day, making it the biggest shopping day of the year in Canada."

One problem with our traditional Christmas season is that it is all about families and gifts. We travel to be with our family, and we lug the presents along with us. Christmas morning is often an almost sacred time when families gather around the Christmas tree to open gifts and then giggle and gripe (depending on what you got) with those closest to us. We then gather around a special family dinner that usually consists of enough food to feed several families. It is a very special time for families.

So what is the problem? What about those who have no families? Some people are separated from their family by space and circumstance. Some people simply have no family at all. And then, what about those who do have families around them, but they can’t afford to give gifts or even have a special dinner? Sometimes the very things where we isolate ourselves in families actually serve to exclude and isolate others who have no family. Maybe the church needs to be better at becoming that family. Maybe we need more traditions like “Boxing Day” that point us outside ourselves and focus us on the needs of others.

Redefining Christmas

Yesterday I talked about my Christmas past which embraced the secular parts of the season (giving/receiving gifts) while denying the religious aspects (the birth of Christ). Obviously, many still choose to opt out of seeing Christmas as religious holiday. Paul says out choice of whether to observe or not observe special days is not nearly as important as our motivation to praise and glorify God (Romans 14:5-6). My own opinion is that a yearly focus on "true meaning of Christmas" in the coming of Jesus into our world and God's mighty work through Him is a good thing. OK, so Jesus wasn't really born on December 25... but he was really born!

I think the real danger that we face from our traditional observance of Christmas has to do with our acceptance of the secular part, not the religious. We may complain from time to time about the crass commercialization and rampant materialism of the holiday season, we we generally dive right in and participate in it. We spend so much holiday energy buying things for family and friends, things that they often really don’t need. And we go into debt to doing that almost without thinking about it. We wander through stores and websites because we gotta get stuff for people who already have stuff. They don't need more stuff, but we gotta get it. I remember Tony Campolo talking about “spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need for people who already have everything.”

Check out Redefine Christmas for a refreshingly Christian idea for the Christmas season. The idea is to encourage people to give to charity rather than spending so much on one another. The website suggests—

What is Redefine Christmas? It's simply the idea that our holiday gift giving could be more meaningful and do more good. In addition to the gifts we enjoy shopping for and giving, we're often compelled to give gifts that aren't so meaningful. Imagine if we replaced those gifts by giving others donations to their favorite charities. And we requested that others do the same for us.

What a great idea! Instead of buying someone electric socks or executive dart board or a block of fruit cake (does anyone really eat that junk?), why not make a donation to some worthy charity. Wouldn't the absolute perfect thing to get for the person who already has everything be a contribution in their name to something like Churches of Christ Disaster Relief or Christian Relief Fund or our own "At My Gate" program? If we all started doing that for each other, Christmas might just become a more meaningful time of year.

Remember Jesus’ instructions on how to throw the perfect banquet of which God will approve? OK, so Luke 14:12-14 isn’t really talking about Christmas giving, but there may be an application here somewhere.

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Who do we tend to give Christmas presents to? People who give to us? Have you ever had to go out and buy someone a gift you didn’t intent on getting a gift for because they gave you an unexpected gift? Jesus tells us to invite people that can’t invite us back. So how about we give to people who can’t gift in return. Maybe we need to turn Christmas into a true time of giving.

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I was walking to the auditorium the other day to retrieve something out of the sound booth when I skidding to a halt in the foyer. There was a tastefully decorated Christmas tree set up in our foyer. I have no idea where that came from or how long it has been there. I’m not the most perceptive of people, so the tree may have been there for 3 weeks for all I know. It is large enough to touch the ceiling, and set up in a corner of the lobby—so I should have noticed it. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it.

You see, when I grew up it was taboo for the church to acknowledge the Christmas season. There was no mention of it at church, except to insist that there should be no mention of it at church. Oh, it was OK to set up a tree at home; it was great to exchange gifts at home. But the Bible doesn’t mention (“authorize”) Christmas as a religious day honoring the birth of Christ. So we thought it was wrong to give any religious significance to Christmas as a special day. (It was OK to preach about motherhood on Mother’s Day, but that was different somehow).

We were free us to participate in the crass commercialization and major materialism of the gift-giving season, but we were not free to give it any religious significance. In effect, we were multicultural before multicultural was cool. Today many approach the season with “Happy Holidays” and decorate with winter themes and avoid any hint of religion. Well, that was basically our approach long ago. We were trendy before it was trendy!

Well, I’m glad we have a Christmas tree in our foyer. No, Christmas decorations are not some kind of indicator of spirituality. But when I think back, our old “Bah, Humbug” view of the holidays was not very helpful. This is the one season of the year that people are thinking about the story of Jesus. I think we need to celebrate that. So, I’m glad I can preach on the birth of Jesus (without spending 5 minutes defending why that is OK). I’m glad we can sing carols like “Silent Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” during this time of the year (we sure don’t sing them any other time of the year). And I’m glad we can point to “the reason for the season” without feeling obligated to point out that December 25 is a traditional (not historical) date and Christmas is a traditional (not Biblical) season (although I’ll probably point that out too).

But maybe the most important part about redefining Christmas is what I’m going to talk about in tomorrow’s blog.

On Expiration Dates

One of the magazines that I read is call Rev!. As you can probably tell by the title, it is a magazine for preachers (and it attempts to “Rev!” up our engines, I guess). I usually have to wait awhile to read it because Lynn snaps it up as soon as it comes to the house; funny, but I don’t have that problem with PC Magazine! The January-February issue came Friday, and this time I beat Lynn to it.

I was reading it Saturday morning when I came to the back-page article, a humor piece (“Off the Sanctuary Wall”) by James Wadkins entitled “Check the Expiration Date.” The article is an impassioned plea for preachers to update things in their ministry that should have a “Best if used by 1950” label on it. It talked about things like comb-overs worn by many TV preachers and preacher jokes that begin, “Three guys were sitting in a rowboat…” Of course, the part that really caught my attention was this—

How many times does poor Horatio Spafford, the author of “It is Well with My Soul” have to lose his daughters in a sinking ship? (He eventually moved to Israel to await the Lord’s return, but not many worship leaders mention that).

As it happens, I was to tell the old Horatio Spafford story in yesterday's sermon before we sang “It Is Well With My Soul” (it was recorded with the sermon if you want to listen to it). Well, so I guess I’m old fashioned. OK, but several people did mention how much they liked the story, so maybe it works OK even with the expiration date. (I found a box of salad croutons in our pantry last night while getting ready for our small group dinner that had a Sept 03 expiration date; that is a real expiration date!) Oh, and I did tell the part about Spafford moving to Israel… I just didn’t share the part about the mental illness that he suffered near the end of his life that caused him to think he was the second Messiah. It’s a good story and I’m glad I used it even though it’s old! So there! It was funny that I read this article the day before I mentioned ol’ Horatio.

But then, some old stories hold up pretty well. Like the one that we remember in a special way during this time of year—the one with shepherds in the field and angels singing and the star and the stable. Watkins is right—some stories need to be updated because some stories get outdated. But the old, old story still holds up after all these years. And because it does, it is still well with our souls.

New Guy in Fayetteville

The big news in the world of sports is that the Arkansas Razorbacks have found their new football coach. It was announced yesterday that Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino was leaving Atlanta and the NFL to become the new guy in Fayetteville. One would assume that it was not his something less than stellar 3-10 record as the Falcons front man that won him the job. No, it was his something more than stellar 41-9 record while at Louisville where he was the offensive genius that produced some of the highest-scoring teams in the country. It has been awhile since Arkansas has had an offensive genius for a coach… like never.

This is something of a “history-repeats-itself” deal. In 1976, Lou Holtz coached the New York Jets for 13 games, going 3-10 before he left the team before the end of the season. He quit to become the head coach at Arkansas. I hope this is history repeating itself. Arkansas went 11-1 in Holtz's first season, including a New Year's rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The big obstacle in the way of a Holtz-type debut for Petrino is that Darren McFadden (most certainly) and Felix Jones (most likely) will be leaving Arkansas early and with them goes 98% of the Hog’s offense. It is hard to be an offensive genius without an offense!

So Very Sad

Last Sunday while we were enjoying a day of worship and fellowship as usual, Matthew Murray walked into New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Earlier in the day, Murray had murdered two people at a church mission training center 70 miles away. And he had just killed two teenage sisters and gravely wounded their father in the parking lot before entering the church. He was intercepted by Jeanne Assam, a former policewoman who was volunteering as a church security guard, exchanged gunfire with the killer. He missed; she didn’t. After being hit several times, the gunman went down. He then killed himself.

In an CNN interview, Assam, who is also a member of the New Life Church, gave an interesting perspective on the incident. She said that she was thankful she was able to end the tragedy before it go worse. She believed that God was with her and used her to end it. She prayed for the Holy Spirit to give her strength. She had been fasting for three days and was weak--

“I was weak, and where I was weak, God made me strong. He filled me and he guided me and protected me and many other people. And I'm honored that God chose me.

She said that believes God kept her calm and focused even though the shooter was more heavily armed—he had two handguns, an assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. She said that she has prayed both for the families of the victims and the shooter.

This incident will almost certainly be used by BOTH sides of the gun control debate. I say that because every gun tragedy is used by both sides in this highly charged political debate.

• The anti-gun people will likely point to the mentally unstable gunman who because of current gun laws (or lack thereof) was easily able to arm himself to the teeth and murder innocent people at two different church sites.
  
  
• The pro-gun side will just as certainly suggest that it was an “armed response” that put down the shooter. If the church security force would have had whistles or walkie-talkies rather than a gun, many more people would have died.

Which side in the dedate is right? Both? Neither? Pat Paulsen's solutions was to give everyone a gun and require thery wear it... and lock up all the bullets. That makes about as much sense as what the non-comedian politcians are suggesting.

Personally, I just don’t think that what we need in our world are MORE people with guns. I think what we need are more people who have GOD. But sometimes it is good that the people with the guns also have God.

I hope that the next thing the elders have to decide is NOT which of our deacons we need to arm!

Not Quite Finished

This morning as I started my daily Bible reading, Lynn said, “You should be about finished with that....” And then she added, “… it is December already, right?” Of course what she meant was that I am about done with this year’s read-through the Bible plan. It is about time to come up with a new daily plan or start all over with this one. But really, no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we are never really finished with it. There is always something new to learn, some new perspective to gain. And not only are we never through with the Bible, but the Bible is never really through with us. That is the point, right? We continue to learn more and more of what God wants of us.

If we ever get to the point where we already know “the truth” and there is no possibility that we could possibly learn anything new, then there is no reason to continue to read the Bible. But if God is constantly revealing Himself afresh in His word, if there are parts about Himself that He has revealed but which we have not yet mastered and if God’s Spirit within us is constantly prodding and probing us, well, then maybe we need to keep on reading.

We don't read the Bible just because we gotta— we don’t get a chip or gold star or something for being a “Daily Bible Reader.” We read scripture because God has revealed Himself there. And God in scripture calls us to grow and change and become more like Him. So, no I’m not quite yet done with the Bible yet… and it’s not quite done with me.

Me and Paul and Contentment

I got “stuck” here at the building during lunch today. I dropped Tressa’s car at the mechanic this morning for her, and Cathy gave me a lift back to the building. I was going to drive the church van home for lunch, but the battery was dead. Lynn is home with laryngitis, so I don’t have to go let the dog out. So we decided that I would just skip lunch and keep on working. That was a good plan, except it wasn’t long until the bowl of cereal that I had at 5:00 a.m. had long ago worn off. I was really hungry.

Fortunately, someone had left a loaf of (rather stale) bread in the kitchen. And there was some individually-wrapped cheese slices (or was it imitation cheese-like food product) in the fridge. Have you ever noticed that individually-wrapped cheese slices taste a lot more like the cellophane wrapper than they do cheese? And we even had a couple of squirt jars of mustard left from our last church cookout… probably in 2005? It tasted a little funny, but I had a cheese sandwich for lunch.

So I was going to write about how I can make do with just about anything for lunch. Like Paul, I can make do with a little or a lot. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry…” (Phil 4:12). Yep, me and Paul. But my object lesson on contentment sorta fell apart. After all, I did complain a bit about the bread, cheese and mustard that made up my sandwich, didn’t I? Is that really contentment? And then I went back and made a second sandwich!

Contentment is a lot easier to write about that it is to practice. Excuse me me while I go hunt around for a left over cookie or something for dessert!