Friday, June 4

Reading the Bible my way

Ok, I've switched to reading entire books of the new testament in one sitting twice a week. Actually, so far I've just been reading the letters of Paul which are pretty short, so its no big task; but I think its working quite well for me. We'll see what happens when I get to the big one at the end: Revelations

Wednesday, June 2

Scratching my head

Ok, sometimes I'm reading along in the bible and I hit a section that really throws me, like 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, which features such notable lessons as:
Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? (NIV)

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head ... (NASB)

Now the basic message of this section is showing respect during worship, but getting into hair length seems to be a little strange. Its certainly not something that we spend much time studying when we study the church in Corinth. Even The Message which is a pretty modern translation, struggles through this. After focusing on acting honorable in the first half, it ends with:
Don't you agree there is something naturally powerful in the symbolism--a woman, her beautiful hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in reverence, praying in submission? I hope you're not going to be argumentative about this. All God's churches see it this way; I don't want you standing out as an exception.
This is where I get hammered for not studying history: historical context. Still it does seem like we ignore more than a few passages in the New Testament as we seek to put on the full armor of God.

[reference]
biblical interpretation steps

Tuesday, June 1

Being concerned for those around the world

You'd think genocide would be beyond us in these modern times, but instead its actually been more prevelant these last fifty years than it was before. The current problem is in Sudan where the government and militas have been wiping out the ethnic population or destroying the infrastructure for nearly one million people.

While these people are primarily Muslim, they do not deserve this type of destruction and a future of little hope, starvation and lingering death. As a Christian I am commanded to love all people (as Christ did), and to win converts by example and by love, not wipe them off the face of the earth old testament style. One also needs to remember that there are far more muslim than christians in the world, and we ignore these events at our own peril as extremist muslims could easily use this event to fan the flames of hate against us (as if they needed any more ammunition).

I pray that attention continues to be directed on the attacks and plight of these people and that they survive this dangerous time.

[references]
SOS Sudan from the Wall Street Journal
Human Rights Watch Summary

Monday, May 31

The importance of community

Our pastor wrapped up a series on the Myths of Christianity this week. Most of the myths were simple ones like the myth of salvation being done once you've accepted Jesus (accepting the Lord should be the beginning of a transformation and path of service), or the myth of there being multiple paths to salvation (ie the earth mother style of each of us having holiness within us). But this last myth hit home: the myth of isolation.

You cannot fulfill the will of God on earth in a vacuum. You've got to connect with other people. What the traditional church is these days is probably a disappointment to God. A place where we show up once a week, take a seat, and listen to a talking head for an hour, then go home. And the bigger the church, the easier it is to disappear and melt in. He also amplified on the commandment to love one another (John 13:34):

1 John 4:20-21: If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 3:14-15 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

And this is not just a "in spirit" love either:
1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Acts 11:29-30 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

2 Thessalonians 1:11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

This last verse is kind of interesting, because it calls out a preference for building up the community of Christians, over reaching out to the community of nonbelievers. Its not that we're not supposed to ignore the outside, but that we should make an effort to create a witness in our bond with one another. An outsider that sees a healthy and strong community of people that watch out and care for one another is going to be far more impressed than the stranger that receives a random act of kindness.

This is the style of witness I seek to implement, living a loving and caring life as a member of the christian community, not in isolation.