Two More Days.

Well, it's almost staff training time! I'm looking forward to seeing all those familiar faces, along with some new ones too. Maybe we can get a sweet steam shack going, or maybe even a Heavy Half Hot-tub. And if you have NO clue what I'm talking about, well, prepare yourself for a summer of surprises! See you all soon.

No, Really! Who did Jesus Claim To Be Anyway?

No, my feelings are not hurt. 3 comments on a post? Paul's had less. I hope.

To be honest, it doesn't really surprise me that I wasn't inundated with comments. It isn't easy to prove that Jesus is God from Scripture because he doesn't say, "I am God, and so is the Father and the Spirit." He does make allusions, though. And Mr. Keith hit on one: "I and the Father are one." But also regarding this unity, Jesus prays:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." John 17:20,21

So one could argue that Jesus and God are unified like the church is; this passage is good, but is still a little unclear about Jesus' deity. And even though that egg illustration may help us understand how the Trinity works, an illustration cannot prove a point, it can only help us to better understand a proven point.

Here's my problem. We all believe that Jesus is God. You will be signing our Statement of Faith that subscribes to this at staff training. So WHY do you believe Jesus is God, if you are unable to prove it from Scripture? Don't be afraid to share the reasons, no matter how naive they may seem.

To Watch Or Not To Watch: Decoding Da Vinci

As Christian what is an appropriate response to the hype surrounding The Da Vinci Code that hit theatres last weekend? It is a fictional story of secrets about the life of Jesus. The story told in the Bible is the fictional story that the church has lied about for centuries. Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection never happened. What actually happened (according to the story line in the movie) was that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a child. Which category of response do you fall into (there are Christians that fall into each of these categories)? Or would prefer to add your own response?
1. Relax. It is a fictional work that doesn't claim to be true. Sit back and enjoy like you would any other movie.
2. Don't get to worked up. Yes, this movie is blasphemous...just like many other movie. This is just the world doing what it normally does--blaspheming its Creator. I am not sure whether I will bother seeing it or not. If I do decide to watch it, I definitely won't watch it this summer because I have agreed not to watch any movies while working at camp.
3. This movie is blasphemous and should be banned from theatres. Just give me a petition and I will sign it.

Why Does God Hide Himself? Part deux

In the Garden of Eden man chose self over God. Since that time God has been trying to restore this relationship. This has become an incredibly complex task in many ways because God wants to restore this relationship without compromising the free will of man. Why doesn't God just make everyone love Him? He can't. Love doesn't work that way. Therefore, God has chosen to hide himself and has only revealed himself in part. He has done this for at least two reasons: 1) Sinful humans would not survive should God's full glory be revealed; and 2) if He did completely reveal himself, humans would loose the opportunity to choose Him.
Therefore, in faith we must seek after the God who has given us just the right amount of light for us to find Him. Peter Kreeft puts it this way:

[God] gives exactly the right amount of light. If he gave less, even the righteous would be unable to find him, and their will would be thwarted. If he gave more, even the wicked would find him, against their will. Thus he respects and fulfills the will of all.
If he gave more light, the righteous would not learn humility, for they would know too much. If he gave less light, the wicked would not be responsible for their wickedness, for they would know too little.

God, in his great wisdom, has revealed himself just enough for us to find. May we be people with great faith, who's lives are marked with seeking....and finding.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - I Peter 1:8-9

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13

Who did Jesus claim to be anyway???

I was amazed! And not in a good way. I read the latest edition of Servant magazine (AH! That's what my parents used to read when I was a kid and they still do to this day) when something caught my attention.

Anyhow, what caught my eye was the title of an article: "The Last Christian Generation." In it, author Josh MacDowell explains how we are witnessing the possible final generation of Christians in the North American Church. This means that Christians are becoming mere church-attenders as opposed to actual disciples of Christ. Let me let Phil Callaway illustrate:

"According to Barna (a renowned researcher) 65 percent of our churched kids either suspect or believe there is no way to tell which religion is true. In 1994 52 percent of evangelical Christian kids said, “there is no truth apart from myself.” In 1999 that number jumped to 78 percent. Now it is a staggering 91 percent. Sixty-three percent of our kids say, “Jesus Christ is not the Son of God.” He’s a son of God."

There's a lot of places that we can go here, and if you feel you need to address an issue that this raises, by all means, address it here. But I do want to ask you a question: How do you know that Jesus is God? Or does the Bible even say (or imply) that Jesus is indeed God at all? No doubt the root of this issue will help explain why we are potentially witnessing the last Christian generation. Find some Scripture to back it up and post it!

Why Does God Hide Himself?

The following is a quote from Christianity for Modern Pagans by Peter Kreeft.

Bertrand Russell, on his deathbed, was visited by a friend who asked him, "You've been the world's most famous atheist most of your life, and now you're about to die. What if you were wrong? What would you say to God if you met him? Don't you think it's prudent at least to raise that question now, before it's too late?" Russell replied: "I think I should say to him: Sir, it appears that my atheistic hypothesis was erroneous. Would you mind answering me one wee little question? Why didn't you give us more evidence?"

This is a question that both believers and non-believers find themselves asking from time to time. Why doesn't God reveal himself more clearly? Why does He insist on hiding?
Any suggestion...

Good... for you Part 2

Yeah, God never promised our lives would get better, but he did say that he'd be with us, to the very end of the age (thanks Nancy). (side note: Paul reminded me that this verse is actually refering to those who are discipling others in the name of Christ, not just people in general doing whatever they please) It's great to read your comments! I do feel bad for kinda misleading you a little: I side with Karissa, I don't really know what to "say" to anyone. So I guess when I asked what to say to someone who is grieving, I implied that we must say something.

Let me throw this out there: the verses in Part 1's comments are probably more effective when we live them. Just as God is with us, we need to be with those who are grieving. We need to be the helpers to the fatherless (of which there will be plenty this summer). And often, this will involve less talking and more listening.

Before my wife and I were dating, we worked together at camp the summer after my girlfried died. Whenever she saw me having a bad day, she always tracked me down and listened to me, cried with me, and said some kind, compassionate words. And if you know my wife, she hates crying. She's a great example for me. I too often feel like I need to say something when I actually need to just show love in a different way. Let's take these verses and apply them to our lives, speaking more through our actions first, and then words.

Adam and Eve as Historical Figures

To say that some portions of the Bible are fictional is not to say that some parts of the Bible are not true. The problem is some interpreters dismiss portions of Scripture as fictional when it is difficult for them to accept (stuff like miracles and the resurrection...and talking snakes). This is not what I am suggesting here. Jesus often used fictional stories (what we call parables) to make a point that was true. For example, the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) is the story of a servant who owed a king an unimaginable amount of money (10,000 talents would be similar to you or I owing the Prime Minister a million billion dollars). It is the point of the story that is true, and not the story itself. God has forgiven us an unimaginable debt, so we ought to forgive others.
The prophet Nathan also used this technique when confronting David about his relationship with Bathsheba. He told a story about a shepherd with many sheep who stole from a shepherd who only had one. He did this in order to help David recognize the inappropriateness of his behavior (sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah, her husband).
So how do we know that Adam and Eve are historical figures and not part of a fictional story that is being used to describe the fall of man? I want to offer three reasons to believe that Adam and Eve were real people.
1. Adam is part of geneologies throughout the Scriptures. It is only logical that fictional characters are not part of these geneologies. If Adam is a fictional character then how many other people in these geneologies are fictional? And what point do these geneologies shift from fictional characters to actual people?
2. The apostle Paul speaks of Adam as a historical figure (Romans 5; I Corinthians 15). If Paul, while writing Scripture, believed Adam was a real person, should we not also believe?
3. If there wasn't a literal first Adam, do we really need a literal second Adam (Jesus) to save us from the consequences we are suffering as a result of the first Adam?

Good... for you.

Romans 8:28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

"People say the darndest things." That's a revision of the thought that went through my mind at my girlfriend's funeral waaay back in 1997. An elderly lady was just offering me her condolences: "That's too bad. But don't worry, you're young. There's plenty of fish in the sea!"

Yeah, as you may have guessed, that didn't make it all better. But wasn't she just illustrating Romans 8:28? What do I have to worry about? God will take care of me.

But at that time I wasn't thinking about fish, or any body of salty water. I was probably worried, thinking: "Why isn't God taking care of me? My world is falling apart."

So what do we tell hurting campers, and what do we tell ourselves when hard times come? Are there other Bible verses that are more helpful in this situation?

Yahoo!

Well, I'm excited. This is my third day on the job at Ranger, and Paul and John still haven't convinced me to shave my head! So it looks like I'll get to post some stuff here too.

Cheers!

Creation: Part II

The Bible does not teach us the age of the earth. Any conclusions we draw from the Scriptures about the age of the earth are speculative. Lindsay makes a good point that God's concept of time is quite different from ours (II Pet 3:8).
Today there is a growing number of Christian scholars who argue for an old earth, and there remains many (like Mr. Cody Keith) who argue for a young earth. I believe that all Christians should be able to look at both scientific argument objectively because the reliability of the Bible does not depend on a young earth conclusion. Personally, I am a fence sitter on this one. I think the flood of Noah's time period will continue to squew the data of old earth scientists; however, something like supernovas will continue to baffle young earth proponants. When we witness supernovas we are witnessing the explosion of a star millions of years after the fact based on the speed of light.
The creation account is actually written in a poetic form in its original Hebrew language. So how do we interpret day? Our first clue that day is being used differently is that for the first three "days" there is no sun or moon (they aren't created until "day" four).
So what does the creation account tell us if not how and when the earth was created? The main points that we cannot miss are: 1) There is a Creator, who creates from nothing; 2) mankind, the pinnacle of creation, is accountable to the Creator; and 3) man has damaged his relationship with the Creator.
So, if Genesis 1 is a poetic description of an indescribable event (God creating stuff from nothing), some people begin to wonder if Adam and Eve are fictional characters who are used in describing the fall of man. How might we defend Adam and Eve as real historical figures? This isn't a question you will likely face at camp, but it is a popular question in post-secondary education.