the john 3:30 group

The Blessings of Baptism

2008-04-15T16:08:00.001-07:00

It is the only religious ordinance (that I know of), that deals with guilt and shame equally at the same time. In the East, shame is the big issue--not measuring up to communal expectations. In the West, guilt is the primary issue, having crossed a line individually. Consider the wisdom of God to give us a practice that is capable of dealing with both our sociological and spiritual needs at once and across all cultural divides.
This 'enacted sinner's prayer' is far more memorable than any articulated prayer. Ask how many people remember what they 'said' when they converted; then ask how many remember where, when, and how they were baptized? God knows we are tactile. This is the perfect gift to help us remember our beginnings.
Furthermore, this 'sinner's prayer' is always said correctly. It is about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. You CAN NOT DO IT WRONG! I need that with all the stupid things I say.
It starts our Christian walk right. We begin by imitating Jesus in his salvific act. It brings us to 'dead' center in our theology so that our beginning in Christ aims at the core of Christianity as well as our ultimate destiny of resurrection.
The Scriptures bind together this gift with the promise of a cleansed conscience and the gift of the Holy Spirit. I want that!

I'm not so stricken with the question of 'only one way to convert'. I suspect God is far more creative than we give him credit for. However, given these five blessings of baptism, it boggles my mind why anyone would be contentious in refusing such a gift directly from the hand of Jesus, especially when it models the self-abnegation he enjoined on his disciples.

Does Confession of Sin bring Physical Healing?

2008-04-01T16:26:00.001-07:00

James 5:15 suggests that the prayer of faith brings healing. Interestingly, this very unusual word for prayer is used only two other times and it is translated both times as "vow" (Acts 18:18; 21:23). This is, of course, accompanied by the Elders anointing the sick person with oil (v. 14) as well as confession of sins (v. 16). Thus it appears that this trio—Elders' oil, vow of faith, and the confession of sins—comprise a sacred request for healing. This raises a number of questions, but here I would like to address just one: the confession of sins as part of the healing process. I never anoint anyone with oil without first asking this question: Do you have any unconfessed sin in your life? There is simply too much power in the process of anointing to allow the infection of sin to be present with it. While sickness and sin are not always connected (cf. John 9:1-2), there certainly is Biblical precedent for connecting the two. Often sickness results from physiological causes of sin (anxiety, breaking the Sabbath principle, chemical abuse, etc), but there is also the spiritual curse of sin that affects the body. Paul explains that those who take the Lord' Supper improperly expose themselves to sickness or even death: "That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep" (1 Cor 11:30). Moreover, over half of the demonic episodes in the Gospels involve sicknesses of various sorts—blind, deaf, mute, epileptic, scoliosis. Hence, both demonization (often connected to sin) and unconfessed sin can cause sickness. Thus, the confession of sins seems to be essential to healing. What does this have to do with a blog about self-abnegation? Everything! Our road to healing involves revealing our secret sins and submitting to the community leaders. The reason many are still sick, even after praying to God for healing, is because their pride and self-dependence inhibits them from open confession and accountability which yields spiritual power even for the healing of the body. Obviously, we have no promises of health and wealth even if we are completely obedient to God's counsel. But many are suffering needlessly because they refuse to heed the word of God, denying themselves in order to receive God's blessing.

A Theology of (un)Valentine’s Day

2008-02-13T19:56:00.001-08:00

Ah, love is in the air. It is a day to hold hands, sigh sweetly, and make Hallmark a bundle of money. Perhaps this is the cynic coming out of me, but I suspect that for many women this day is a test to see if the old boy will live up to even a minimal standard of affection. One the other hand, for most men, it is unwelcomed added stress on the heels of a taxing Christmas season. Let's face it gentlemen, we just aren't that good at creative gift-giving, especially when it involves chocolate or Victoria's Secret.

There is, however, another side of Valentine's Day that is usually muted, namely, the huge single population for whom this day is a tacit reminder that romantic love is not part of the current fabric of their lives. For them this day betrays the fact that they have no partner with whom to share this level of love—no whispered sweet nothings, no gentle kisses, no promises 'til death doth us part'. That can be a terribly lonely feeling and often society's implicit evaluation of such a state is negative.

However, the word of God speaks differently of singleness. Sure, there are texts where barren women felt abandoned by God (1 Samuel 1:1–10) or where a divorcee was ostracized by a community (John 4:16–19). But for the believer, such a state may be a call of God to single-minded devotion to the kingdom. For example, Paul considered his singleness a gift from God for the work of the Gospel (1 Cor 7:6). He puts it this way: "An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided" (1 Cor 7:32–34). Another example is Philip's four virgin daughters (Acts 21:9). Their singleness was connected to their activity as prophetesses—their devotion to their ministries was mentioned with their marital status. This doesn't prove they were single in order to prophesy, but it is suggestive. One could also note that Jesus was single all his life and it would be difficult to say that he was somehow deficient as a human being because of it. Undoubtedly, Christian singles in the early church experienced the same struggles singles do today—loneliness, vulnerability, and lust, which is probably why Paul had to exhort Timothy to flee youthful lusts (2 Tim 2:22). Nonetheless, Christian singles were, and are, an indispensible part of the body of Christ; often they look more like Jesus, Paul, and Timothy than those who have a significant other.

To those of you who are single, please receive this commendation on this day: According to the Bible, you are not deficient, cursed, or broken (you don't need to be fixed or even 'fixed up'). We thank God for you as persons and for the example you offer of single-minded devotion to Christ. To that end, allow me to give this exhortation: Don't forget our single brothers and sisters for whom Valentine 's Day may be very lonely. If you read this message and agree with the value of singles, carve out the time today to phone an 'unValentine' and affirm his or her value and friendship to you. Buy an extra card or box of chocolates and tell someone without a lover that they are dearly loved.

Mark & Barbara Moore

Arrogance and Atheism in Christian service

2008-02-04T19:15:00.001-08:00

John 3:30 records the zenith of the Baptist's theology: "He must increase but I must decrease." This sentiment has become a mantle of many ministries. That is, guys like me pack their blackberries with emails, engagements, and writing assignments 'for the glory of Christ'. Yet I cannot help but wonder at others and feel compelled to confess for my own culpability in using this 'mantel' as a cloaked ruse for self-promotion. As I sit here alone in my study at nine p.m. nursing a head-ache from another overstuffed day, it occurs to me that Jesus did not intend for me to live like this. My commitments are not all for the glory of God; my own career advancement also looms on the horizon, as does my ever lurking pride and future social security. Allow me, please, to share a truth, from hypocritical lips: If you have more to get done in your day than can be reasonably accomplished without frustration, pressure, impatience or negligence of prayer, a word of peace, a slowly sipped cup of tea, and a linger kiss, I question whether your agenda was completely constructed by your creator. If I really believed Jesus in Matthew 6, that my reward would be in secret from a doting father, I doubt I would work so hard to appropriate such recognition from so many illegitimate venues. Forgive me for setting such a poor example of a life of balance under the glorious liberation of seeking only the glorification of Christ.

Is Yahweh Kenotic?

2008-01-27T17:40:00.001-08:00

Philippians 2:7–8 says Jesus "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…. he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" The words "made himself nothing" are based on the Greek word kenosis, meaning a 'self-emptying or humiliation'. Christian theology recognizes the kenosis of Jesus but can we speak of the kenosis of God? Can we suppose that he, in some way, is humble, suffering, or self-effacing? If Jesus was correct when he told Philip, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9) or if the writer of Hebrews is right to suggest Jesus is the "exact representation" of God (Hebrew 1:3), then perhaps it is not such heresy to understand God as one who suffers or is humble or self-effacing. Zechariah 12:10 contains this provocative text: "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son." The first sentence obviously speaks of Yahweh, since he alone has the authority to pour out a spirit of grace. The second sentence is thus confusing, for the first pronoun 'look on me' seems to refer back to Yahweh but then the next pronoun switches to 'mourn for him'. So who get's pierced? God or another? The idea that God could get pierced was unthinkable in Judaism. That is perhaps why the Septuagint altered the Hebrew word slightly so it read 'danced' instead of 'pierced'—they didn't pierce Yahweh, they danced (derisively) against him. But what if God can be pierced? What if he can suffer injury? What if he is not so far above us that he is unaffected by our pain, sorrow, or sin? In short, what if Yahweh really is like Jesus?

Advice on Sexual Temptation

2007-11-30T07:16:00.001-08:00

The following advice was given to a brother struggling with sexual sin: "Like most men you will struggle with sexual temptation all your life. But let's be honest, most of our failures are deliberate. When you provide yourself with privacy and opportunity (dating alone, late nights with a computer, hotel rooms, isolation, locked doors, etc.) you will inevitably fail. Our penchant for 'alone-time' is planned failure sexually. Stop putting yourself in situations where you know you could fail because this is only allowing yourself to fail knowing that you will apologize to God later. This is pathetic discipleship. I admitted to myself years ago that I was a sexual wretch. I come by it naturally. So instead of trying to be pure I decided to be wise. My success or failure is seldom dependent on my self-control but on my living in open community where I don't allow myself the privacy to fail. Yes we need to work on self-control but even more effective I have found is confession of sin, communal living, pre-sin accountability (telling brothers where and when I will be in known danger), and orchestrating my environment to minimize privacy. This would include where and when you go on dates, with whom you live, placement of computers, and who knows your schedule. If you can't be a good man you better be a wise man."

First and Last Red Letters

2007-11-09T05:18:00.001-08:00

How can we share Jesus' a single-minded devotion to the purpose of God? Clearly, he is impressive in his focused obedience to God's plan for his life. Even if he was not the Son of God, one would have to admit that his life is exemplary for his clarity of focus. So what factor(s) contributed to Jesus' uncanny ability toward a single-minded goal? One could, of course, point to dozens of attributes of Jesus, particularly with an idealized portrait of omniscience, omnipotence, and a number of other Docetic attributes of a superhuman untouched be mortal limitations. However, Jesus lived with real pressures and temptations as part of his self-imposed limitations of incarnation. That being said, what can be said about his peculiarly focused life? For the time being, we can focus merely on two texts from one author. Luke provides us with the very first and the very last red letters of Jesus' earthly life. In Luke 2:49, the pubescent 'run-away' retorted to his mother's impassioned rebuke, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be about my Father's business?" [Some versions will translate: "In my Father's House."] Then Luke 23:46 offers the other book-end of Jesus-speak from the cross: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." These two form a fascinating inclusio. Both offer two striking characteristics of Jesus that really speak to the question of his single-minded focus. First, both of them indicate Jesus' self-abnegation under the shadow of his absolute theism. He was so convinced that God would care for him that he willingly poured out his own life in self-less service to Yahweh. Second, as was his habit, he addressed Yahweh as "Father," fully persuaded that his great God would care tenderly and intimately for his needs. If we have those two tandem commitments—self-abnegation and the goodness of Father-God—then our lives will display incredible focus of purpose and energy.

Greg Fish on Hispanic Ministry

2007-11-06T04:37:00.001-08:00

I love the church. I love ministry. I love Hispanic ministry. But there is one thing that I don't like about many models out there. To give a little context to my thoughts here, I've been in Brownsville, TX (on the border by the sea) for two years. I have taken part in and am a member of the Alianza Ministerial Evangélica de Brownsville (an Spanish ministerial alliance) which is celebrating 50 years this year to be precise, this week. So the big 3 day celebration is underway and will culminate with tonight's dinner/ concert. Over 900 tickets have been sold, the event center is ready and waiting. It would have been good for me to be present at the last meeting, but I was busy pulling into the gates of Sea World with my boys only to find that they were closed, but that's beside the point. Had I been there, I would have known what exactly was being planned. I found this little detail last night over the loudspeaker-- that the "princes of the church" (a reference made of pastors) would be seated together at the front (the head table, so to speak), a place of honor. Having conversed with another pastor over the phone this morning, I came to know that "we" would be served on china, and everyone else on cardboard plates.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I would rather be with my people than up there. My people asked if there was arranged seating. I told them we'd all try and sit together. In fact, the speaker that has been flown in to speak three nights has been hammering this point in, community-- not individualism. Yet those running the show really seem to relish this place of honor. Self-abnegation is lacking in many circles in the Hispanic Christian community. This is not the only instance, it's just something that has brought it all back. I've even lost people to another church, because I was too down to earth. Down here, the pastor is elevated so high, to a place that certainly does not jive with scripture. It would do some people good to revisit John 3:30. I would guess that if Jesus were at tonight's event, even He would rather sit with the sheep, over dining with the "dignitaries".

I just may have to make a subtle statement tonight. One of my jobs tonight is to video the event. So I can probably discreetly choose an outside table for video-filming purposes. After all, who's gonna want the distraction of a video camera up front and center?

Jesus’ Lethal Love for the Lame

2007-10-07T11:53:00.001-07:00

"Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame" (Luke 14:21). With these words Jesus reached the apex of his parable on the Kingdom of God as a banquet. He was responding specifically to a Pharisee who asked about the Messianic banquet in the Last Days. Apparently Jesus' parable expressed itself in his praxis so that the literal blind and lame sought his healing at the very gates of the Temple from which they were excluded (Matt 21:14–15). Now most of us will say, "Now isn't that nice—Jesus incorporated the marginalized and offered them a seat at the table." In actuality, it was not nice, it was socially subversive. You see, Jesus is not merely offering them a seat; he is offering them somebody else's seat: "I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet" (Luke 14:24). To make matters worse, this offer was against every Jewish expectation for the lame and the blind. Leviticus rejects the blind and lame from the Priesthood (21:18) and Kind David used the epitaph 'lame and blind' to describe his enemies (2 Sam 5:8). In Qumran the blind and lame were excluded from fighting in the eschatological battle because they were unclean (1QM 7:4). For the same reason they were excluded from the Messianic banquet: "Every person smitten…in his feet or hands, lame or blind or deaf…let these persons not enter…" (1 QSa 2:3–7).

The Jewish view of the lame could not be clearer than in the Targumim (Aramaic interpretive paraphrases of the OT). Three times the OT prophets promised healing and inclusion to the lame: "I will save the lame and gather the outcast" (Zeph 3:19); "Then shall the lame man leap like a dear" (Isa 35:6); and "I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make a remnant" (Micah 4:6–8). The Targumim, however, replace the word 'lame' with the word 'exile' so as to apply the promise to the Diaspora Jews rather than to the literal lame who remained marginalized under the cloud of uncleanness and God's curse. Jesus, in the most striking contrast, not only included the lame, but seated them at the head of the parabolic banquet. Is it any wonder, with such social subversion, that his life was in jeopardy long before his 'triumphal' entrance into the capital city?

Can a Christian be Demon-Possessed?

2007-10-03T07:39:00.001-07:00

[I am diverging from our John 3:30 theme to answer this question from an email]. First we must recognize that the term "Demon-Possession" is not biblical. The bible simply uses the term 'demonized'. This term is appropriately fluid and can mean everything from tempting, to attacks, to psychological manipulation, to physical control. Obviously, then, Christians can be demonized at some level. Second, to say that a Christian cannot be 'possessed' by a demon because God owns (or 'possesses') them, is to use the term 'possess' in two different senses—one being 'influence' the other being 'ownership'. Third, 1 John 4:4 is often used as a proof-text against Christians being demonized: "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Contextually, however, this verse is claiming that Christians (plural) will ultimately win the Spiritual battle because Jesus is more powerful than the anti-Christ(s). It does not really address the issue of an individual's struggle with a demon. Fourth, the claim that the Spirit of God indwelling us 'fills' us so completely that there is no room for an evil spirit is to place physical constrictions of our world on spiritual entities. It does not appear that the spirit world operates under the same physics as we do. Thus, the metaphor of 'filled-up-and-out-of-space' is inadequate. Fifth, the common misperception that God will not dwell where sin is (i.e. the Holy Spirit would not inhabit the same physical body as an evil spirit), neglects the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit. If he is everywhere, then how can he not co-exist with evil at some level in this world? Furthermore, since my old man is still quite active, how can he indwell me? Sixth, our Western assumption that life must be fair and that innocent people should not suffer is, at best, counter to reality. One ought not to expect the spirit world to operate under common expectations of Democratic Capitalism and Western 'rights' of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Having said all that, I'll now state my opinion quite clearly. (Please recognize this is my opinion based not primarily on Scripture, which is virtually mute on this question, but on testimony of others and personal observations.) A Christian can be demonized. While it would be virtually impossible for an obedient Christian, steeped in Scripture, worship, and community, to be vulnerable to full demonization (i.e. 'possession'), one could be demonized prior to conversion through occult practices, drugs, sex, or even ancestral pledges by those involved in such things. Baptism promises the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit; it does not necessarily exorcise demons who have a stronghold in a person's life at the time of conversion. This requires renunciation of vows and release of spiritual 'rights' a demon claims on the victim. How such exorcism takes place is a whole other question.

John 3:30 Geography

2007-09-17T16:21:00.001-07:00

Luke records the missionary journeys of Paul in great cities such as Athens, Corinth, Philippi, and Rome. Obviously these are truncated accounts—he doesn't have the time or space to tell us everything Paul did or everywhere he went. Hence, the travel narratives are sometimes reduced to placing dots on a map. For instance, in Acts 17:1 Luke recounts Paul's trip through Amphipolis and Apollonia. After years of teaching through the book of Acts I was finally able to visit these Grecian cities that I had heretofore deemed insignificant. Hence, I was amazed to discover at Amphipolis a twenty-foot lion which stood at the city entrance even during the days of the Apostle. Such monuments, as you can well imagine, are reserved for cities of note. They must be places of wealth and reputation. Why, then, does Luke give this stop such short shrift? As I pondered this, it struck me that in Acts, the places Luke records are not always the largest, richest, or most famous. They are not always the sort of places that make CNN. Rather, Luke lists places where the Holy Spirit established a church. It is as if a place has little significance for Luke except through the presence of God's people in it. Perhaps our own estimation of significance should follow the third Evangelist. Spiritual demographics should accord value based upon the growth of the church rather than secular streams of economics, power, or entertainment.

My Mother-in-Law's Funeral

2007-08-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I gave my mother-in-law's funeral address after her long years of suffering, losing both body and mind. If you would like to read it, you can look at the first comment under this entry. She was a woman that embodied self-abnegation. She had no designs for her own promotion or reputation. She spent her life loving and serving children and her family.

Timothy’s Model of Discipleship

2007-08-04T18:52:00.001-07:00

What does it mean to be a disciple? I'm thinking specifically about mentoring (a catch phrase these days for sure)—taking a young wo/man under your wing and deepening his/her level of maturity. For many it suggests 'hanging out' with a mentor, you know, 'doing life together'. There is immense value in that, obviously. For many, however, discipleship is a mechanism for self-promotion. One gets to be recognized as being in the 'inner circle' of some super-saint. At his point, the whole process becomes a pharisaical farce. Mentoring is incredibly dangerous if it is a subversive means for career advancement or social status. Rather, mentoring, like all relationships, should be for the greater glory of God and the building up of the body of Christ. I'm thinking specifically about young Timothy whom Paul labeled 'my son'. No one was closer to Paul, and yet, young Timothy spend most of his time running errands for the Apostle rather than sitting at his feet soaking in the sage wisdom of the converted Rabbi. As near as I can tell, Timothy spent more time away from Paul on the second missionary journey than he did with him. Get out a map and follow along. Timothy traveled with Paul from Lystra to Troas and from Troas to Philippi. Timothy, not mentioned in Acts 17:1, likely stayed behind in Philippi to help the fledgling church only later to catch up with Paul in Thessalonica. At Thessalonica, Timothy again stays behind while Paul flees. By the time Timothy catches up with him at Berea, Paul has to run again, and orders Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the health of the fledgling church. Timothy does Paul's bidding and then searches him out to the far south in Athens. Once again, Paul sends him away, again to check on the status of the church in Thessalonica. After taking care of business in the north, Timothy hunts Paul down in Corinth. They could not have been there for very long before Paul jets off to Ephesus and Timothy is ordered to stay at Corinth to facilitate leadership development. By the time he can join Paul in Ephesus, his mentor orders him to go again to Thessalonica to check on their progress. Yet again, Timothy reunites with Paul in Ephesus and is immediately sent on a mission to Macedonia to raise funds for their trip to Syria. Are you dizzy following all this? So was Timothy! If he signed up for this trip to spend time with Paul he must have been sorely disappointed. What's the point of this geographic rambling? Simply this: If you desire to be a disciple of a respected teacher, don't expect his time, rather ask for an assignment. It is thoroughly appropriate to receive private training from a mentor, but the purpose must always be for public ministry.

Jesus, Kings, and Service

2007-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Jesus told James and John that in order to be great leaders in the kingdom they would have to become servants. This advice was counter intuitive in the entire Mediterranean world. In fact, even the Bible has some pretty strong things to say about servants who become leaders. For example, Proverbs 30:21-22, "Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: A servant who becomes king..." Or Ecclesiastes 10:16, "Woe to you, O land whose king was a servant ..." Hence, there is almost no precedent for Jesus' advice to the ambitious brothers. However, there is an interesting statment in the Old Testament. After Solomon died, his idiot son Rehoboam took over. Jeroboam appears to have been leading a rebel faction which demanded some tax relief from Solomon's grandiose self-promoting empire building. Rehoboam asked his father's advisers what to do, and here was their response: 1 Kings 12:7, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." Rehoboam spurned this advice and instead followed his peers' counsel to prove himself tough. As a result, the Twelve Tribes of Israel were torn in two by a nasty civil war from which it never recovered. Had Jesus considered himself God's envoy to establish the Kingdom of God, had he considered himself Yahweh's vassal ruler, and had he ever read this passage (all three are most probable), then his advice to James and John comes with a striking precedent. Jesus established Twelve Apostles as leaders of the Twelve tribes. Thus, at some level, he envisioned a restored Israel. It thus makes sense that his political praxis would follow the spurned advice at the pivotal national crisis that destroyed its original unity. It appears that Jesus' advice is not, after all, merely about spiritual humility but was an actual vision for national Israel.

Welcome Back, Kotterovski

2007-06-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Please join me in welcoming back Mark from his six month stint as a Commi.

Tell us, how was the Czech, mate?

Summer Reading

2007-04-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine, but in 6 weeks I am finished with formal education - at least for a season.
Which means, I can read whatever I want. About this time every year I make a list of books of all types
(theology, philosophy, spiritual formation, dissertations on the politics of Jesus, biography, leadership,
fiction, poetry, history, etc). Here is where I need your help. If anybody still reads this, I would like you
to give me of few of your "must reads." I need to start building my Amazon "wishlist." As of now, it has
one item:

"The Politics of Jesus" - John Howard Yoder

What else would you add?

Making Peace with the Church

2007-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

For anyone interested, I'm preaching a trial sermon this Sunday in OK. You can listen to a recording of it here:

http://thomerica.com/sermons/making_peace.mp3

Peace,
Thom

Kübler-Ross & Self-Abnegation

2007-01-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his lifewill lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8.34-35

I was thinking about how people react when they realize Jesus doesn’t want them to keep their life, but lose it. I wondered if there are parallels to the grief stages of a patient with a terminal diagnoses. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has gives us the Five Stages of Grief:

1. Denial: The “This can’t be real” stage. “This isn't happening to me. This is a mistake.”
2. Anger: The “Why me?” stage. “How dare you do this to me?!”
3. Bargaining: The “If I do this, you’ll do that” stage. “Just let me go bury my father.”
4. Depression: The “Defeated” stage. “I can’t bear to face going through this.”
5. Acceptance: The “This is going to happen” stage. “I’m ready, I don’t want to struggle anymore.”

Do people go through these stages when faced with Jesus’ Call to Die as well? As pastors and leaders, can we become more acutely aware of people’s movements in the stages of Self-Abnegation? Can diagnosing these symptoms in a disciple help us better lead them through? Can diagnosing the symptoms in ourselves make us better "wounded healers"?

Does anyone else have pastoral experiences to affirm or deny this proposal?

He died at 3:30 a.m.

2006-12-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

My mentor died, fittingly, at 3:30 a.m. on Monday at age 92. I feel no sadness, only a deep sense of admiration and thankfulness, for Seth taught me, more than anything else, a passion to search the Scriptures in a relentless quest to know the Living Christ. He has marked me so deeply that as long as I have breath to teach, his words will live on and his passion for global evangelism will spread. I feel no sadness, but a significant obligation. My first book was dedicated to Seth with these simple words: "There are still giants in the land." He has now gone to the Lord he served so well, leaving me with the question, "Are there still giants in the land?" Will I ever rise to his superlative humility in service? Will I ever care as much about knowing the Bible? Will I ever sacrifice myself in such single-minded devotion? I feel no sadness, but his death haunts me deeply.

Who said this? When? About What?

2006-11-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

The following quote could well be a commentary against US involvement in Iraq:
“The inactivity of radical Christianity is not the inactivity of those who call evil good; it is the inaction of those who do not judge their neighbors because they cannot fool themselves into a sense of superior righteousness. It is not the inactivity of a resigned patience, but of a patience that is full of hope and is based on faith. It is not the inactivity of the noncombatant, for it knows that there is no noncombatants, that everyone is involved … it is not the inactivity of the merciless, for works of mercy must be performed though they are only palliatives to ease present pain while the process of healing depends on deeper, more actual and urgent forces.”

Who said this? When? About What? See comment 1.

The Source of Greatest Evil?

2006-10-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

What is the source of the greatest evils in our world? According to Adam Smith (1723–1790) Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part 1, Section III, Chapter III: “This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.”

Rousseau on Christian Military

2006-10-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Book IV, Chapter 8, “Christian troops, we are told are excellent. I deny this. Is someone going to show me some? For my part, I do not know of any Christian troops. Someone will mention the crusades. without disputing the valor of the crusaders, I will point out that quite far from being Christians, they were soldiers of the priest; they were citizens of the church; they were fighting for its spiritual country which the church, God knows how, had made temporal. Properly understood, this is a throwback to paganism. Since the Gospel does not establish a national religion, no holy war is possible among Christians.” Jean Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right, Book 4, Chp 8, reprinted from The Basic Political Writings, translated by Donald A. Cress (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1987).

It is my opinion that Rousseau is right in one sense that armies can only fight for earthly kingdoms and therefore no army can be considered Christian for they inevitably fight for earthly domain whether geographical or ideological. On the other hand, Rousseau takes a dangerous turn to articulate the difference between God's kingdom and earthly kingdoms as a dichotomy between spiritual and earthly territory. The Divine kingdom of God is celestial in terms of its principles, methods, and loci of authority. It would be a terrible mistake, however, to exclude this kingdom from earthly affairs, geography, or administration. In short, the kingdom of God is heavenly due to its methods and principles, not in its ontological manifestation (i.e. its presence on this earth).

On the danger of Christian Nationalism

2006-10-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

The following is a quotation from a prominent 20th century politician: “The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press—in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years.” To find out who said this, read the first comment.

It's a Long Way Down

2006-09-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

The following quote concerning modern 'chief seats' is from Jim Wallis in book: God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. Jim is a pro-life, anti-war, liberal Evangelical.

“Religious leaders are often among the most easily corrupted by power, especially when they get close to political power. Doug Coe, the principal leader of the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., once told me that the best way to get religious leaders together was to invite them to a meeting with a powerful political—hence the sold-out success of each year’s prayer breakfast. He said most church leaders generally ignored Jesus’s suggestion to take the humble places at a banquet and wait until they are invited to ‘come up higher.’ Instead they jostle for the best positions and places at the events where the powerful gather. It regularly amazes me how good religious folk get so excited about sharing an intimate breakfast with the president and three thousand other people.”

In Honor of an Old Man

2006-08-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend my wife and I drove 1,600 miles for a birthday party. It was her father's 80th. His children rented a room at the local Holiday Inn and set up six tables. We were a little concerned, frankly, that few would show because the church was having an annual all-church pick-nic up in the mountains and, well, Wayne doesn't attend much anymore. You see, his wife has been in the nursing home for seven years and is well beyond her last conversation. Wayne's entire life is consumed with her care. He attends to her every morning until lunch when he feeds her. Then he returns in the afternoon to walk her and feed her again. In the evening he goes home exhausted to an empty house, spent on a woman who may never know he was there and certainly will never reciprocate. This has been his existence for the better part of a decade. He has no social life, no interaction with friends, no hobbies. He can't talk about the news because he doesn't watch it, and why should he? His world is in a wheel-chair. Oh, yea, the party. From nearly the moment we opened the doors at two until we cleaned up at four, the room swarmed with old friends from the church. Apparently they had not forgotten an old man who had been ostensibly severed from their fellowship. They honored him, not for the years he spent as a business man in Montrose, not for his decades of being an elder, but for years of selfless sacrifice to a woman to whom he made a promise over sixty-two years ago, "For better, for worse . . ."