Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Whole Person

Part 3 of 6

So the human mind is a central aspect of our identity in Christ, and part of what makes us the integrated beings we were designed to be. The truth behind "the Great Commandment" is that we are made as whole persons, body, mind and spirit. We simply cannot be effective if any of these elements are ignored or undeveloped.

Consider basketball: to play well you must be physically well conditioned. You must have skills important to the game, such as jumping ability and eye/hand coordination. And you also need analytical skills, to understand the structure of the game, and its strategies. One cannot excel in basketball unless all of these skills are well developed and working together. Imagine a player who has great endurance, but can't dribble or handle the ball well; or a player with a solid understanding of the game and strong skills, but who is out of shape physically. Neither athlete is likely to make a lasting contribution to the team.

Unless our potential is fully developed, then, with all component parts working together, we will never achieve maximum impact in sports or any other endeavor. This applies to the life of the mind, too. The full value of our minds can only be realized through disciplined learning. We can't hold back some parts of our intelligence from the control of the Spirit Nor can we use our minds only some of the time, or only in those areas where it is easy to do so. Higher education is tough work, but nobody said serving God would be easy.

Returning again to Mark 12, note the important modifiers in the commandment about our minds. Christ said to love God with ALL your mind, not just part of it; and to love God with all YOUR mind, not someone else's. In other words, think fully, and think for yourself; in so doing, you will be expressing your love for God.
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Friday, November 17, 2006

The Importance of the Mind


Part 2 of 6

But how important is it, really, to develop our minds? Does a Christian need a sharp intellect to serve God? No; even a child can serve God. But consider the automobile: how can a car run efficiently on an engine that is badly tuned, or composed of inferior parts, or not large and powerful enough for the chassis? Or how can a computer operate properly when its memory is insufficient to run the software?
The mind is a wonderful and powerful tool, by far the most important one we posses. We use it to navigate through daily life, to form opinions, to draw conclusions and solve problems. And as we use our minds, a remarkable thing happens: our character is being shaped. Learning makes us certain kinds of persons. What we read, and talk about, and think about, forms who we are. In the company of great truths, and rigorous intellectual pursuit, we flourish.
John Calvin once said, "The mind of man, though fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God's excellent gifts." The mind is a gift; and like every other such gift, it is from God; it is good; it is to be fully developed; and it is to be used in service. In Luke 19, Jesus tells a parable about a nobleman and his servants. The point of this disturbing story, as described in verse 26, is clear: those who develop their gifts please the master, and those who ignore or bury their gifts will have them taken away. So we are dealing with a very serious issue.
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Thursday, November 16, 2006

What Does It Mean to Love God With Our Minds?

Part 1 of 6.

It is not
too hard
to under-
stand most
of this passage.
To love God
with our
whole heart
(kardia) means
to have no
idols, no
wavering, no affairs with other gods; in other words, total captivation to Him. To love God with our soul (psuche) means with our entire being, our whole person. And to love God with our strength (ischus) means to serve without growing weary or giving up, holding nothing back. But, what does it mean to love God with dianoia (our mind, our intellect)? What is "intellectual love" for God?
In his book Reaching for the Invisible God, Phillip Yancey tells the story of Frank Laubach, the man who founded the modern literacy movement. His lifetime goal was to think continuously about Jesus. Yancey describes how he practiced this discipline with increasing success, keeping a log of how often he thought about God. He gradually got to the point where on his best days, he thought about God every few seconds. But is this what the passage means? Do we "love God" by thinking about Him?
Unfortunately, many Christians think that our intelligence is somehow not honoring to God. Intellectual activity is seen as being "worldly," and an intellectually strong person cannot possibly be spiritually strong. As a result of this serious error, some Christians do not even try to develop their minds, defaulting instead to simplistic thinking and emotionalism. This is a dangerous posture to take, and it creates a poor testimony: non-believers assume that to be a Christian one has to give up thinking, and when they hear us using God's name, they assume we are either praying or preaching. There is double sin at work here: to be against intellectual activity is an insult to God, since our gifts and abilities all come from him; and it is poor stewardship to not develop and use every gift we have by His grace. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, commenting on Jesus' teaching that we will never enter the kingdom of God unless we become like little children, said: "Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary...He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head."
To love God with our mind, then, means to love God by thinking. The human mind is a good gift from the Creator. To think is a godly thing to do.
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Saturday, November 11, 2006

What About Prophecy?

Predictions! Which do you trust? The weather report? Tabloid headlines? Whether silly or serious, predictions are intriguing. Why? Because our knowledge of events is normally restricted to the past and present. The future is a mystery.
Prophecy isn't prediction Prophecy is divine communication, the revelation of God's truth. Some Bible prophecies contain predictions which fall into four categories: fulfilled in the past, fulfilled in the present, fulfilled in the future, and dual fulfillment (partial fulfillment with more yet to come).

THE "LAST THINGS"
Eschatology is the "study of last things," events which have to do with the end of human history. Since earlier predictions have been fulfilled with astounding accuracy, the remainder seem certain (2 Peter 1:19-21). Prophecy has been called, "history written before it happened" because God knows "the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10).

A PROPHETIC CALENDAR
The prophecy of Daniel contains a time-line of prophetic events. Within the framework of "seventy sevens," an outline of history moves toward the fulfillment of all "vision and prophecy" (Daniel 9:24-27). This time-line depicts a succession of world governments up to God's eternal kingdom under "Messiah the Prince" (Daniel 7:13-14). But the time-line is broken by a space Jesus called the "times of the Gentiles" (Luke 24:21) during which salvation is offered to the world (see Romans 9-11, especially 11:25). When the time-line resumes, God will return His favor to Israel and history will quickly come to a close. When Israel became a nation in 1948, many people felt it marked the beginning of the last period of history.

END TIME EVENTS
The Great Tribulation. The Old Testament refers to a final "judgment day" bringing an end to evil but, also salvation to God's people ("The Day of the Lord," Joel 3:14-17). Though judgment days occurred in history (Isaiah 13:6,9) an ultimate day became a central theme. During this day of darkness and disaster (Ezekiel 30:3; Amos 5:18-20), described by Jesus as "great tribulation" (Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 6-13 & 15-18), the whole world suffers and God's people are severely persecuted. Another feature of this time is widespread deception (Matthew 24:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), culminating in a blasphemy called "the abomination of desolation" - a shrine to the evil world leader, or "Antichrist" (Matthew 24:15; Revelation 13; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
The Rapture. Christians who are alive when Jesus returns will be "caught up" to meet Him "in the clouds" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This is a sudden event and instant transformation (1 Corinthians 15:50-54; Philippians 3:20-21). Much speculation shrouds the "rapture" and there's debate among Christians as to when it will occur. Biblical evidence supports a "pre-tribulation" rapture.
The Return of Christ. Jesus' promise to return for His followers is the New Testament hope (John 14:3; Acts 1:9-11; etc.). This is His parousia ("coming" like the arrival of a king), apokalupsis ("unveiling, "Revalation 1:7), and epiphania ("appearing" in which He "shrines forth," 2 Thessalonians 2:8). It is also the day of resurrection for all believers (1 Corinthians 15:21-23) and judgment on unbelievers (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
The Millennium. When Jesus returns He will begin a thousand-year reign. The earth will be a paradise without violence or sorrow. At the end of the millennium sin resumes briefly, and then is abolished forever. (Revelation 20:1-10).
The Judgment. At the end of time, all humanity appers in God's court (Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Those who know Jesus as their Savior are listed in His "Book of Life," but the actions of everyone else are found in His "books" (Revelation 20:12). Though believers in Jesus escape judgment, the quality of work is tested (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

APPLICATION TO OUR LIVES
When studying prophecy, it's easy to misuse and misinterpret scripture. Too often people believe they've found a match between predictions and specific, current events. We shouldn't be dogmatic about our discoveries and we shouldn't exploit the fear people feel when hearing about these things for the first time. Christians need to be humble; there's more to the end times that we don't know than what we do know.
Peter asked, "What kind of people ought you to be, "knowing the world will come to and end? He answers, "You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God..."(2 Peter 3:11-12). This is the message of prophecy: worship God (Revelation 19:10), live "upright and godly lives in this present age: (Titus 2:11-14), and keep watching for Jesus'return (Matthew 24:42-44).
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Thursday, November 09, 2006

What About Baptism?

Water. We drink it, cook with it, swim in it, and bathe in it. We also use it in a Christian ritual; Baptism. But the value of water in Baptism is in symbol, not substance.



BAPTISM IS A SPIRITUAL RITE-OF-PASSAGE
Spiritual life involves constant progress. That is marked by transitions from one level of faith to another. Baptism is the mark of our most important transition.
The ritual of Baptism duplicates the model of Jesus Christ when He was crucified, buried, and returned to life. When Christ rose, His body was different than before. He was free from the limitations and pain of mortality. This is the transition from death to life.
The Christian life follows His pattern. We "sacrifice" our lives by giving them to God. Our old lives, with their wrong actions and evil desires, are "buried." God then gives us a new life, inspired and energized by His Spirit. Baptism represents this three-stage process. We believe in Jesus and join Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism is our rite-of-passage into the Christian life.
If we're willing to be baptized, we're ready for the sacrifices and joy of following Jesus.

THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
Something happens in baptism we cannot see or control. It is the invisible work of God's Spirit in the person being baptized. We tend to exaggerate the external rite of Baptism and miss the more important spiritual part.
Baptism is a physical act, but isn't "magic." When people of genuine faith are baptized as and act of obedience to Jesus, they are "initiated" into the Church, God's spiritual community on earth (1 Corinthians 12:13). Their Baptism becomes a powerful witness of God's forgiveness, the end of their old life, and the beginning of their new life in Christ.

THE PHYSICAL RITUAL
The act of Baptism involves being submerged in water - or sometimes sprinkled - to symbolize the death, burial, and resurrection which we share with Christ (Romans 6:3-7). As the person being baptized is immersed, the minister pronounces the words, "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." In this way we "act out" our new allegiance to God and identify ourselves with His people.

WHO SHOULD BE BAPTIZED?
Every Christian needs to be baptized and should try to make it one of their first spiritual acts. (Matthew 28:19) The rest of our Christian life depends on our willingness to obey Jesus and go with Him through death into new life.
Jesus commands us to be baptized because He wants to mark us as His own, fill us with His Spirit, make us members of His church, and have us grow in God.

BAPTISM IS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE
Jesus does something special for you in Baptism by recognizing a point in time when you leave the old life and enter the new. Through Baptism He brings you another step closer to God's design for you.
Our church celebrates Baptism as an act of worship. The whole church is involved. We sin pray, and seek to draw close to God. When you're being baptized, it's good to know God is near and, on the other side of your Baptism, the church welcomes you into a more complete, Christ-ordered life.
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