Bible

We don’t even know what we don’t know

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

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Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

I sometimes fancy myself pretty smart. I can tell you the overarching story from Genesis to Revelation making sure I hit all the high points along the way. I know the individual stories from Moses, Samson, David, Peter, Paul, and of course Jesus. I know about about how the Law is a representation of God’s love to a people. I can give a bunch of facts and so on that will make me think I am pretty smart. But when I sit down to pray and read the Bible I am left in total awe in the truest sense of the word.

I read the Bible and find myself thinking I am nothing but dust. I am just a speck of dust on a larger piece of dust floating around other dust particles. I am like the a person in the town from Horton Hears a Who. Who am I God that you are mindful of me? I cannot shake this idea that I am wholly unworthy to approach this Holy God. That the God of all the universe hears my prayers and that is the first thing to take notice of in this verse. God wants us to talk to Him. Although we are but dust God wants us to talk to and seek Him. He desires very much for you to pray. This should go without saying but that usually means it must be said. You would think that after reading the Bible we would understand that God desires a relationship with us. Verses like John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10 spell it out in great detail that He wants us and has done everything He can to make a relationship. Yet somehow we still forget that. Somewhere between salvation and now we forget He desires relationship with us and that a relationship requires conversation.

He says in the next part of this verse “and I will answer you.” He not only hears but is attentive to our prayers, and there is a big difference between the two. I work from home and my daughter is homeschooled so I hear her a lot but I am not attentive to what she is saying it is just background noise. When it comes to God you are not background noise. They are not bothersome to Him and when you pray He does not need to stop what He is doing and give you His attention. His attention is already on you waiting for you to pray to Him.

That should make a big impact on us when we pray. When we pray we should have great confidence that God will answer but we don’t always have that confidence. I believe one of the reasons we lose heart is that we have incorrectly linked answering us with giving us what we want but these are two different things. We should not assume that every answer is a yes or even a no for that matter. Sometime the answer is later, sometimes the answer is ask again, and sometimes the answer is ask again but let me tell you something.

God says that He has great and mighty (or inaccessible) things to show us. He says that He knows things we don’t and more importantly that He knows things we don’t even know we don’t know. We have to remember that His ways are far beyond our ways. That’s tricky so let’s break that down a little.

There was a little girl who went to her dad one day and said “dad I realized I am a genius. Yeah he says how’s that? Well I can’t think of anything I don’t know.” Is that not you and I? Do we not falsely assume that because we can’t think of things we don’t know we must know it all? We even have that attitude when we admit that there are things we don’t know about. We assume some vast knowledge because we at least know we don’t know, but God is saying I know things you don’t even know you don’t know. He is saying there is so much you don’t even have access to not know about. That blows me away. I love to study so when I find out there are things I don’t know to know I want to know.

This goes right back into God telling us to ask again but He adds in some new information. All the sudden we don’t even want to ask for the thing we were asking for. In the light of this new information our old prayer seems childish and silly. Even at that we are still looking at a portion of the big picture maybe even a shadow of a portion.

It’s just like when we read the Bible. We read once and get one thing, then we re-read and all the sudden there is more, then more and so on. That is because the Word of God is living and alive. It is active and God hides things so you can grasp something else. It is not Gnosticism where there are hidden truths oohhh aaaahhh smoke and mirrors. No it is a loving and gentle Father who does not want to overwhelm His children. I don’t tell kids everything it would break them. I am working on a project for church that is going to donate needed items to BeLoved Atlanta which is a house for women who have left prostitution and sex trafficking. My daughter asked me what they did and why they needed stuff (she’s 11) so I told her these women were homeless and need things we take for granted. It’s the truth but there is more she is not ready to receive. So as a good dad I only give her what she can handle. Shouldn’t we assume God is a better dad than I and He protects us from so much more?  

Sometimes I find myself reading something in the Scriptures or praying and can’t believe I missed it all these years. Had I known this years ago I would have not been ready to walk in that truth. I would have had a hard time faithfully doing it. I was too immature to receive so God in His goodness and mercy let me gloss over it. Not that I was sinning but He wasn’t pressing it because there were more important things He was dealing with me on at the time.

So let us wrap this up nice and neat. God wants us to read His word and pray to Him, He wants to answer, and He has things to teach us. As we mature in our faith we should not take silence from God as punishment or even as a no. We should not be looking for yeses and no’s. Instead we should be looking to communicate and fellowship with Him. Prayer should not always be a gimmie list. Nothing wrong with asking but should we ask all the time? Should all our prayers be about asking for material things? Should we also pray that we can better know Him, understand His Word, understand ourselves better, help others, give more of ourselves to Him, and more? When we come to pray should we take some time to listen and not just talk? If we truly want to hear from Him maybe we need to speak less and listen?

Just a thought,

Mike

Reading the Old Testament

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I have been thinking about the Bible and before you say well of course you have Mike let me clarify. I have been thinking about the Old Testament and what is included. You see the OT is the historical narrative of Israel from the calling and covenant made with Abraham to the end of the exile. That is somewhere around 2000-2500 years of history give or take but the exact time is not really all that important to this discussion. The focus is that we are talking about a long time with a relatively short record. The thing I find fascinating is that in the record (the Bible) there is not as much detail as you would expect to find but that is by design. History was not recorded for the same reasons we record history. Stories were excluded or included all for a single purpose. That purpose is to reveal God.

The stories of David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Sampson, Haggar, and even Creation are not there to teach you about these people with their strengths/failures or event details although they can. No instead their purpose of being placed in Scripture is to teach us about God. The Bible is the story of God telling us something of Himself. 1 John 4:19 says we love because He first loved us and that is the point. We know something about God because He revealed it to us because if God does not teach us about Himself we get false ideas about who He is and what He wants (see the tower of Babel) and if we have a false view of God we serve a false god. Seeing as God Himself commands us not to serve false gods He has to take the initiative and teach us about Himself.

So we should look at the OT and see what is God trying to teach us about Himself and not what did David do. Yes we can and should learn things from David but David is not the main character. When he dies the story goes on because the main character is God with David playing a supporting role. This applies to everything in the OT including the Law. When God gives the Law He is trying to communicate something of Himself so instead of reading it and saying “I am glad I am under grace and not Law” we should read it and say “God what are you saying about yourself in this?” This does two things that are very important.

First is puts the focus back on God. It says God you are the main character not me. Not my place my position or my desires. What are you saying about you (yes in light of Christ coming)? I am not suggesting we read it in a vacuum but He was saying something about Himself and He says he does not change. So if God was something then He is still that thing remember He exists outside space and time after all the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. So what was meant for learning is still good for learning. 2+2 = 4 that does not change when you learn that √(4)=2 you just have more information now. We have this idea that we are the center of the universe and I regret to inform you that you are not the center of the universe. You are of great importance to God shown in the fact that Jesus died on a cross for you but the story will continue when you die and there is a good chance that if we are all still here (people that is) no one will remember your name. So lets focus on what will remain and that is God and His Word.

The second thing it does is it starts to teach you. You might just be surprised what you find when you read with the expectation of learning something about God and doing things God’s way. I am constantly amazed what I find when I read with the desire to see Him. I go from one understanding to another one because the veil is removed and I can see things in a whole new light. I start to see certain things that I was sure meant one thing take on a whole new meaning because I understand God is trying to teach me something about Him.

I’ll end with this. God loves you. He loves you so much He gave everything to be with you. He is a caring, devoted, and compassionate Father. That has always been true and I enjoy reading things about my Dad before I knew Him.

Just a thought,

Mike

The Bible Says

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

Bible Newspaper Letters

Did I ever tell you about my band in high school? No, well it was pretty awesome. No Longer Silent was the name and the first album was Silent Screaming. Oh, it was spectacular. All the band stuff is now gone but trust me it was amazing. I mean there were no other actual members, and I cannot really play or sing, and no one else ever heard of us (I mean me). But you have to trust me if I could play or sing and had other people who could play and sing we would have been huge. I mean like STP or Alice in Chains huge. Alas, things that never were… The Bible says a lot about a lot. I mean depending on your translation the word count, and verse, count are staggering. The New Testament quotes the Old Testament a number of times as well.

Just a few stats:

Words – 750,000 (approximate)

Chapters – 1,189 (approximate)

Verses – 31,103 (approximate)

Quotes – 247 (approximate)

With this many words, chapters, verses, and quotes I would be surprised if it was never misunderstood or misquoted. I, however, am not surprised. It is impossible to not mess it up to some degree because we are all messed up to some degree. You might be wondering at this point what paragraphs 1-2 & 3 have in common. You might think I was just bragging about my awesome band (which in part I was) but in reality, some of you just read paragraph 1 & 3 totally skipping 2 which explained that the band was less than real (OK not real) and that is the point. I did say I had a band and if you quoted me you would be correct. However, if you asked me to play a show and I said I don’t know how to play I would be correct as well. We’re both right to an extent but one of us is very wrong and here’s a hint it is not me.

I don’t want to give specific verses and stories because we all know enough of them, and I don’t want to talk about what the Bible doesn’t say because that is for a different post. Instead I just want to focus on the fact that it does say a lot. I mean really you can make a case for just about anything using Bible verses. Everyone has a verse, and every Christian cause has the “key”, every denomination has the most important verses. We do it all the time. I focus on love because I think that is the most important thing in the Bible. I think that the Bible talks about love in one way or another constantly. I see a beautiful tapestry of love and relationships throughout the Scriptures. I think the whole thing is about love.

I see love in the 10 Commandments, in the wilderness story, in everything I see it. Some would disagree and I can see why. Some would say that the whole point is that God is Sovereign and maybe they are right. We can make a cause for most anything because the Bible talks about almost everything. The key to understanding the Bible is simple, though. I mean if you really wanted to understand what a passage is talking about it’s really easy. You just have the understand the context.

When you know the conversational context, background context, language context, and relational context you can understand what is going on. Most of the issues we face when we don’t understand the Bible and others in general is because a lack of proper context. We place ourself and our understanding into the situation and remove the context leaving us with what we went into it with. You get out of the Bible what you go into it with. If you go in with bias you get bias, if you go into it with material desire you get material desire. If you go into it with a submissive heart, desiring to learn and love God, then that is what you will get. Don’t misunderstand me though. God is good and great and powerful He can easily shake you and show you something that changes everything but if you look at a lot of people who use the Bible as a weapon they got out what they put in. The Bible was written in 3 languages, by 40 authors, in a span of 2000 years, and while there is unity in the Scripture there is enough there to make it say almost what you want. You have to twist it, take it out of context, and imply a lot but it can be done. The best approach is to go to the Scriptures each time with a humble and submissive heart. If your desire is God you will find Him.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

Proverbs 18:2

Just a thought,

Mike

p.s. I understand this is a gross over simplification but it is supposed to be, and that is part of the point.

Thy word is a head light unto my tires, and a light unto the road

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

When you were a kid did your parents ever tell you to go tell someone something?  I have four younger brothers so I was always telling them what mom said.  But I was smart enough to only go as far as what mom said.  I do not think it ever occurred to me to go beyond that and add a little extra (I easily could have though).  I could have added a little something for myself like “mom said clean your room and make Mike a sandwich.” or even just a little more for emphasis like “mom said clean your room or you are grounded.”  That sounds like something my mom would say but I knew that if mom said tell your brother to clean his room then I needed to only tell him to clean his room.

It is the same thing with God.  Sometimes God tells us something very specific and we are only to go as far as what He says, and not a little extra for ourselves or for emphasis.  Sometimes the word is an actual word like “tell Tom I love him” or “tell Gina she is precious to me.” But sometimes (and more often than not) it is a directional word like give the church $10,000 and say nothing of it, or drop off groceries to the neighbor, but it could be a million different things.  Whatever it may be we are to do it faithfully and only to the extent of the direction given.

There is a story in Mark chapter 11 that helps us with this.  It is known as the Triumphal Entry and before Jesus enters He tells two of His disciples to go into town and get a young colt and tells them that if anyone asks just say “The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”  They had direction and words.  What I find interesting and great is that they followed the direction and spoke the words with no more or no less than what was given.  They could have thought that they needed to add a little more to it, maybe a little payment or something to grease the wheels.  But they did not do that.  No instead they did as Jesus said to do.

It echos another story John 2 where Jesus’s mother tells the servants to “do whatever He tells you.”  Again there is this theme building where Jesus gives commands or direction and we are to follow it to the letter.  There is a lot that can and has been said about that right there but I want to just focus on only going as far as the direction.  If God says take 2 steps then take two normal standard steps.  Do not take small or large steps but just take two standard steps.  We can easily want to and think we need to do a little more or add a little something to it when God speaks but His words are true and accurate.  Some of the biggest trouble I have ever gotten myself in is because I have done a little more or a little less than I was directed to.

Psalms 119:105 is a great verses to memorize.  I have it memorized in the King James for some odd reason “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  No we do not walk around with lamps or even flashlights often but most of us drive so we could think of it like this “Thy word is a head light unto my tires, and a light unto the road.”

When you drive your car you only drive as far as the headlights will let you.  Yes they are always present before but you cannot out drive them.  If they stop working you stop driving because you cannot see.  You also drive a little slower in unfamiliar territory because you have to only rely on your lights.  You have not been there so you cannot go too fast.  You need the lights to illuminate the road you do not know.  Even on roads you do know you need the headlights to make sure you are staying in your lane.

That is the Word of God and a word from God.  You should only go as far as directed.  Not faster than needed and not slower than needed just two standard steps.  This is also why daily Bible reading, prayer, and worship is not only healthy but necessary.  It is light shining on our path that we walk every day.

My wife and I are working with a church plant right now and there are so many paths and directions we can take.  So many ideas and thoughts but the ones that are important are the ones God wants us to take.  We need to wait for a word from Him and then take that step just as He directs.  Not a little more and not a little less but just two standard steps.

Just a thought,

Mike

Dancing before God

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I was just thinking about David dancing before the LORD.  If you read through the story starting in Chapter 5 you see that David defeats the Philistines and then wants to bring the Ark back to his home.  After he places the Ark on a cart it goes to fall Uzzah goes to brace it and the LORD struck Him dead.  God said in Leviticus 10:3 that He is holy and will be revered as holy by the people, but David and Uzzah forgot this for a minute.  David being afraid decides not to take the Ark back with him but leaves it Obed-Edom, but once he hears that God has been blessing Obed-Edom he decides to bring the Ark to his house.

David now has a better insight into who God is.  He is capable of punishment but He also the provider.  David is so happy and has so much joy that he dances the whole way.  He was dancing in such a way that his wife was embarrassed to see it.  She even tells him this in 6:20.  But David’s response is what I want to focus on.  He says in 6:21-22:

It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel.  Therefore I will play music before the LORD.  And I will be even more undignified than this, and I will be humble in my own sight.

When David understood how great God, and how God is the one who gave him his position he knew he needed to praise God.  He knew he needed to praise the one worthy of praise.  God is so big, so mighty, so powerful, so amazing that He has to be praised.  Not that He should, but He must.  One day everyone will praise Him anyway.  Praising God is not about sounding good (Heaven knows I don’t), it is not about looking good.  It is about humbling yourself before a mighty and amazing God who is bigger than your prayers and desires.  It is about seeing God and then seeing how small you really are.

Just a thought,

Mike

The who and how of discipleship.

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Who can be a disciple of Jesus?

We have looked at what a disciple was and why we should be calling disciples.  We have seen that the call to disciple is not an option but a mandate, and looked at some examples of what happens when it is not done.  We have I hope scratched the surface of what it means to be a disciple.  We have discussed that we should be raising Gods children so that when they are old they will not depart.  I hope we covered that we should be teaching them to eat solid food and how to walk out their salvation.

Today I want to pick from where we left off with that discussion and see who can be a disciple and how to reach and disciple them.

The who is really an easy question but one I always enjoy answering.  I enjoy answering it because I think the Bible enjoys answering it.  Some verses to name a few Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13, Romans 11:17, John 1:12, John 10:16, and others.  These verses all echo the statement from Jesus in Matthew 11:28:

“Come to me all you, who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

If you want to come to Jesus then you come.  If you want forgiveness then you come, if you want to trade your sorrow for His joy then you come, if you want healing then you come.  Come and not only receive Jesus come and be His disciple.

If we look back through Biblical history we see this constant reverberating message from God saying I am calling people who are not a people to be my people.  Look at the longsuffering of God with the Canaanites, the forgiveness He offered to the people of Nineveh.  Matthew starts his Gospel account with a genealogy and he is sure to include Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth all gentiles.  Bathsheba may have been a Hittite but at bare minimum she is known for what?  Cheating on her husband.  God says over and over again, I want you.

If we look at the disciples Jesus called we can see from the start of His ministry on earth that is calling all people unto Himself.  Here is Jesus’s starting lineup.

Peter, fisherman, Andrew fisherman, James the Elder, fisherman, John fisherman, Philip fisherman, Bartholomew (Nathanael) probably had some money and did not work, James the Lesser or Youner, Jude, Thaddeus, or Lebbeus, also known as Jude the troublemaker, Matthew (Levi), he was a publican or tax collector, Simon, the Zealot another troublemaker, Thomas Didymus aka the doubter, Judas Iscariot, the traitor.

Jesus choosing His team chose 5 fisherman, a socs, two troublemakers, a tax collector, a nobody, a doubter, and a traitor.  I think it is safe for us to assume He will take anyone.  On the cross He tells one of the two men that will be with Him in paradise.  So I say again If you want to come to Jesus then you come.


It is not always easy to call disciples.

A mother went to wake her son for church one Sunday morning. When she knocked on his door, he said, “I’m not going!” “Why not?” asked his mother. “I’ll give you two good reasons,” he said. “One, they don’t like me. Two, I don’t like them.” His mother replied, “I’ll give you two good reasons why YOU WILL go to church. One, you’re 47 years old. Two, you’re the pastor!”

There are many different ways to go about fulfilling the Great Commision.  There are different tactics (schools, feeding the poor, clothing, etc) we can take, differing opinions on the best way to fulfil it.  Groups like Samaritan’s Purse, Gospel for Asia, Compassion International, and New Tribes just to name a few all these groups have different focuses and different methods but they all share a similar trait namely seeking, saving, and maturing Christians.

Because it is hard I sometimes wish it was called the minor commission, or the the little job, or even perhaps the if you get around to it commission, but instead God chose to place a major emphasis on us reaching and maturing people.

I often looked at the calling of the disciples as a single event almost like gym class.  Jesus lined up everyone against a wall and said you, you, and you.  However once again the Bible corrects my thinking and I see something different.  When I look at the Biblical narrative I see something unexpected.  I see something challenging.

I see five different types of disciples.  Now at different times in peoples lives they can move from one stage or another and some actually cross over into different groups, but by and large you have five. With there being different groups different tactics need to be used to reach and teach them.

The first is a group I have called the Saved Seekers.  John 1:35-39

I place John and Andrew in this category. These are typically your Christians who are saved and trying to grow.  They are serving, ministering, and always on the hunt to do and learn more.  They typically do not need a lot of guidance, but instead they need opportunity to use their gifts.  They need someone to point them in the right direction someone to hold them accountable, someone to minister to them when they reach out for it, but for the most part they are ready to go batteries included born again men and women of God.  These are those who seek out ways to grow.  They are by far the easiest group of people and often the smallest and rarest to find.  If you do happen to find one it is actually more likely they found you.

The next group I have dubbed Multistage Mullers

Peter is in this group all by his lonesome.  Peter is usually in his own group if you notice.  There is a lot that can be said about Peter, but for this lets just focus on what it took for Peter to become a disciple of Jesus.  If you think Peter was just called and responded correctly then you have not paid attention to Peter’s life.  Peter denied Christ, was rebuked by Jesus, fell asleep in the garden, and got scared and sank.  Peter was not a model of active obedience at first.  To see what it took to call Peter you need to look at John 1:40-42, Matthew 4:18-22 (Mark 1:16-20), and then Luke 5:1-11.  If we read them we see that there was time in between these different events.  Some people take time.  For some you need to really get in there and work them like old clay.  For some reason life has made them a little harder, a little rougher, a little more off. You need to add some water here and there and mix gently.  You need to be easy and rough.  You really have to work at with these people.

It starts in John 1:40-42 where Jesus just introduces Himself.  The next event is Matthew 4:18-22/Mark 1:16-20 where Jesus tells Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him and He will make them fishers of men.  Then we have Luke 5:1-11 which occurs after Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and after Jesus teaches the fisherman to fish and Peter says to Jesus “Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord.”  Peter finally got it.  It was a good day.

Sometimes it takes time.  Some people need a lot of coaching and encouragement.  You need to be diligent with these people.  They are not just jump in people, they are watch and see what happens people.  They are not the entrepreneurial type.  No they want to make sure it is the real deal before signing on.  You need to be honest with them, they do not work well with flakey.  But if you look at Peters life after the resurrection there was no doubt he was in.  Peter died upside down on a cross.  That is commitment and an understanding of what it means to follow Christ.

The next group I want to look at is the Willing Waiters.

This is the group I place Philip and Nathanael in. Specifically Philip but Nathanael is always there if Philip is.  I think about the kid in the Incredibles who is always hanging out just waiting for something amazing.  When it happens he is all excited and says “that was totally wicked.”  Now I spend most of my time growing up in New England and I can tell you that few things are totally wicked.  Jesus however is.  Philip hanging out somewhere then Jesus comes along and says follow me, he does, and then tells his friend Nathanael about Jesus.  Willing Waiters are no less devoted, no less connected, no less involved they just don’t jump at everything.  They are careful about where they invest themselves.  But when they’re in they are in.  The most popular account has Philip being crucified upside down and still preaching.  Make no mistake these folks are in to win it.  We must realize that there are countless people sitting around waiting to follow the right thing, and there are countless “groups” and “causes” trying to get these people on board.  We should be looking for these people because they are waiting for us.

The fourth group is called the Desperate Destitutes.

Matthew is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  To call Matthew Jesus looked him in the eyes and said “Follow Me” as told Luke 5:27. Matthew did not need much convincing because he had no preconceived notion of self righteousness.  Matthew knew how bad he was, and he was ripe for the picking.  Matthew to me represents all the hurting people.  All those that feel they need to get cleaned up to get right with God.  Those who are very aware of their faults and failures.  I was a Matthew.  I knew how bad I was.  Not proud of it but not unaware either.  Matthew just needed an invitation.  Some people just need an invitation.  Then when they get it they are sold.  They are dedicated.  Think about Luke 7:47:

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

The thing about Matthews is they need to know they are accepted.  They just need to know they are wanted.  They need to be told and understand that they are part of the whomsoever that Jesus died for.  They need to know that they can come to the cross just as they are.  They then can become some of the most dedicated disciples you have ever seen. They will quickly become Saved Seekers.

I think it important to look at Luke 18:9-14.  Remember that Matthew was a tax collector and tax collectors were hated by everyone.  No one liked them.  I think but cannot prove that Jesus told this parable for Matthew.  To encourage him. Because the Desperate Destitute need a lot of encouraging in the beginning.  You know what else I notice?  That Matthew the author of a Gospel account does give us a retelling of this parable.  That tells me he got it.  I would imagine that when Jesus told this He looked right at Matthew and Matthew knew he was ok now.

Lastly I want to look at Apollos or the Faulty Fervent.

These people are a lot like Apollos in Acts 18:24-28 who understand portions of the Scriptures and are very passionate but miss certain aspects of the truth.  These people are on fire for God and ready to run.  The Bible literally uses the word hot (zeo) which is used to describe boiling water.  These people love Jesus with all their heart and will drop the Gospel wherever they are but often times they are missing some important things.  They need some Godly people like Aquila, and Priscilla to explain the way of God more accurately to them.  You have to be very careful with these people to not put their fire out but to have it burning the right fuel.  An important thing to note about some of these people is the thing they are usually missing is a little word called tact.  Now I am not trying to say Apollos was missing that but that is something that is usually missing from these fine folks.  They lack the ability to use tact and rightly divide the Word.

Some think that it might actually have been Apollos who wrote the book of Hebrews.  Now whether or not that is true does not mean as much as the fact that he is thought of as the one who wrote it.  He went from needing to be taught to being one who is assumed wrote an extremely important book.  That should tell you what you need to know about these people.

We can see then that there are many types of people who can be discipled and that they can cross groups but the important thing is that we disciple them.  That we spend time with them teaching them more accurately the things of God.  We do this by spending time with them and inviting them into our lives.

We need to keep something in focus here.  We need to remember that the purpose of this thing called Discipleship has only one purpose.  It is not to grow a church, or to lay some shallow claim that we have built something special.  No the purpose of this thing called discipleship is to see lives changed.  It is to see hearts, lives, and minds changed by the power of Jesus.  If that is not the point, if Jesus is not the point then all we are left with is building filled with empty vessels.  We have to remember why we are doing it because it can be a thankless job.  The cost to call them is high and the cost to be a disciple is high.

In the middle of the 19th century a Welsh missionary was working in India where he came across a village and was able by the grace of God to bring one of these men to Christ.  That however is where the story turns.  The villager was brought before the chief and told to renounce his new found faith.  His response was was “I have decided to follow Jesus.”  They pushed him further and threatened his family his response was “Though no one joins me still I will follow.”  His wife was killed and as they executed him he sang “the cross before me the world behind me.”  It is said that his faith led to the conversion of the chief and other villagers.

I close with this thought.  He was only a disciple for a short time but changed the village and countless others because of his testimony.  What can we do with no such threat hanging over our heads and the freedom to preach His name?

Just a thought,

Mike

What’s the point or SuperDuperGrace

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I have decided I am done reading the for and against on the newest fad to creep into the Christian community.  Namely this so called Hypergrace and inclusionary theology.  That is by the way the only time I will use that word (HG) because it is a stupid nonsense word.  We are talking about the grace of God (unmerited favor) here it can not be more than it is.  It is hyper.  Calling it Hypergrace is like calling it superduper.  SuperDuperGrace???

Anyway, here is why I am done.  Arrogance, and uselessness.  That’s right I said it.  I find that many of the authors I have read on the topic have the same issue namely arrogance.  It seems to seep out of everything they say on the topic (online at least where everyone can battle superman).  they have defined the entire thing and God in a nice neat box.  Anything they cannot fit in their box is deemed either an illustration by Paul because only what Paul says counts, or my favorite a lack of revelation from God (can you say gnositism?).  Everything I have read so far just seems to be so mean, and snooty.

But that is not my point.  I am not here to name call.  I will also point out the insanity of saying you have to work to keep your salvation or that God saves you but now you better do right or He’ll kick your butt aka mixed-grace.  Because that is stupid too.

My main concern with this movement is what is it doing to and for those who do not have a relationship with Christ?  I am going to assume that we can all agree that there are those who do have and those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. SO what about them?

Is this message reaching them?  IS it creating a hunger to go and find the drug addict, prostitute, abuse victim, cutter, suicide contemplator, murder, pedophiler, drunkard, or terrorist?  IS it creating a deep longing to go feed the homeless, visit those in prison, minister to the abuse victim, or visit terminally ill patients?

If the answer is no then what are you doing?  If all it is causing you to do is sit around talking about how good God is then you do not know Him at all.  I searched to try and find some examples of evangelist or examples of outreach activities and I am having a hard time.  That is not to say it is not happening but it does not seem to be a cornerstone of the movement, and for that main reason I could care less about it.

What I hear and what I see are two different things.  I hear about how God loves everyone and God saved everyone (but he didn’t at the same time I don’t understand that), but what I see is a bunch of people sitting around talking about stuff and leaving a lot of hurting people to suffer alone.  I see a bunch of people turning into communal monks leaving a world in pain to fend for itself all the while yelling from a distance “Jesus Loves you”.  A bunch of people who seem to spend more time defending their beliefs rather than act them out.  In short a bunch of hypocrites, and Jesus said something about that in Matthew 23.

Listen I am not saying that is everyone either, but from my understanding and reading it is a lot about me (general sense of the word) and little else.  God loves you yes, and He created good works for you to walk in.  How about instead of telling me about your faith you show it to me.

Just a thought,

Mike

Reconciliation and other fancy words

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do. – Mark Twain

I like that quote because it reminds me as I study new things to not to use the words to sound fancy.  However these words exist for a reason, and there are places and times for them.  There seems to be a general consensus that we need to dumb down everything in order to be easy on those that do not know.  To which I reply somethings are inherently difficult to comprehend and refusal to express them to appease those that refuse to learn is ludicrous.

Now that I have given a rant on to the topic.

I love the reconciliation.  I love reconciling my checkbook, and most importantly I love being reconciled to God.  I have been reading a book by an author I will not name and I must say that while I have gleaned a few things from it mostly I am frustrated with every word I read and page I turn.  Why am I doing this to myself you ask?  Am I glutton for punishment?  Do I enjoy wanting to throw a book?  No, it is because I want to better understand his (in general the larger movement) point of view.  I find that the most frustrating thing is not the ideals that are being espoused but the manner in which they are communicated. I have also noticed that the manner in which these particular ideas are communicated is indicative of the movement as a whole.  Chiefly it is arrogant, condescending, and overstating of their opponents views.   I will not name the movement because the very nature of how they label themselves is absurd to me, and I will not name the author because it would start an argument I do not wish to have.  I will however talk about reconciliation.

Again this is a bigger word than I typically like to use but it is very important.

The movement I am referring to likes this word and the 5 verses that contain it very much.  I agree, however as Inigo Montoya said “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

So what is reconciliation?  Reconciliation is the element of salvation that refers to the results of the atonement.  John calvin describes it as the peace between humanity & God that results from expiation of religious sin.  D.M. Loyd Jones says of reconciliation God & man are no longer at war.  Two great verses on reconciliation are 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (below)

namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

From the verses about I will draw out a few important items.

God has reconciled us to Himself – God is done with the issue on His part.  He was the offended party and has said I forgive you, lets move on.  That is a done deal no questions asked (on my part).  The verses above and others (Rom 5:10-11, Eph 2:14-17, Col 1:19-22) are very clear that God has reconciled the world to Himself and placed all things in Christ.  That is not something I can or wish to argue.  The wall of separation has been removed, and now we can access the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit.  No arguments here.

Reconciliation is not relationship – This one is very important as well and cannot be missed.  As we read above, God is reconciled to us but that does not mean we have a relationship with Him.  Some of of the writings I have read will not say this but imply it.  That should not be.  God is no longer counting our sins against us but that does not mean that we have fellowship with Him.  Instead we can have a relationship with Him because He has reconciled the world to Himself.  How about an example.  I have a brother I have never met.  I know he exist, and he knows I exist.  Yet I have never spoken to him, and do not have a relationship with him.  We are reconciled as in there is no hostility there.  If he were to reach out to me (I do not have contact info for him) then I would welcome him with open arms.  One leads to the other but it does not equal the other.  Reconciliation does not equal righteousness (or relationship) as Romans 5:19 points out.

Reconciliation is not sanctification – This is one that gets hot but again they are not synonyms.  They are not the same thing.  Sanctification is both a one time event and an ongoing process.  Quick definition time; Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy.  It is being set apart.  We are at the moment of accepting the finished work of Jesus Christ sanctified (set apart, and looked at a holy) in the beloved.  But we must also continue to sanctify our lives as we grow more like our Saviour.  This is what I believe Philippians 2:12 means.  I have seen in my own life how it has become and how I have become different because I have continued to sanctify my life to the Lord.  It has been a process of continual growth and maturity one which I am confident will not stop (Phil 1:6).  Think Romans 12:2.

Reconciliation is not removal of rules – This is the one that might cause the most outrage among my friends.  Some will shout “He’s a legalist!” or “Pharisee!” or possibly (and quite likely) “I am under Grace not Law!”.  Well calm down already, I am not promoting legalism, or some sort of mixed grace message.  What I am saying however is there are certain shoulds and oughts you are supposed to adhere to.  Not for earning or keeping salvation but because you are saved.  For example, love the Lord, love your neighbor.  Thinks these don’t apply?  Jesus disagrees.  He said “If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:16.  What does that mean?  Well He leaves that up to you to for the most part.  But generally speaking don’t be a jerk, help people when you can, treat God with the respect He deserves.  You get the general idea.  Two last points on this one.

First I have been told this analogy a few times.  You do not do things for your spouse (and children) because you have to, you do it because you love them.  I see the logic in that and believed it for a minute or two.  The problem is that it is wrong.  You do things for your spouse (and children) because you love them and are obligated to.  For your spouse, you took a vow to love, honor… sickness, health.. you get the idea.  It is because you love them you keep the vow to love and serve.  Your children come with an implied and legal obligation.  You do it out of love, but you must do it all the same.  It is still something I should and ought to do.

Secondly some claim there is no law that applies to them but yet they confess they still sin (at least on rare occasion).  This I do not understand.  1 John 3:4 defines sin as the breaking of law.  If there is no law there is no sin, therefore you do not sin, therefore cheating on your wife is OK, being a drunk is OK, murder is OK, and so on.  You cannot have one and not the other (as I understand it).  If you sin you break the law, if you break the law there is law.

The question is not is there law, and it is not how do I keep this law, and it is not should I keep this law.  The question is even though I break it what is left for me.  The answer is Jesus.  Jesus came in Grace and Truth.  He is bigger than my ability to fail, and by His working in me I find a removal of desire to sin.  I live by the faith of the Son of God, not I but Christ in me.

Reconciliation is part of the bigger picture.  When I look at a motorcycle, I see many parts working together to create a thing of beauty.  The wheels, the motor, the handlebars, and so forth.  They all work together to make it a motorcycle.  Reconciliation is part of a bigger picture called Salvation.  Lets not put God in a little box and say this is who God is instead lets unwrap His presents and enjoy each of them.

Just a thought,

Mike

Parable of Minas

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

 The early church father Jerome said of parables “The marrow of a parable is different from the promise of its surface, and like as gold is sought for in the earth, the kernel in a nut and the hidden fruit in the prickly covering of chestnuts, so in parables we must search more deeply after the divine meaning.” 

I am not sure about you but I have a tendency to not always read the Bible properly.  I usually have a very good memory regarding things I have watched, read, or heard.  I can generally remember the details or at the very least the gist of something.  At least well enough that upon seeing or hearing it again I remember much of it from before.  This is a gift but also a disadvantage at times because as I read through the Scriptures I can easily gloss over things.  So I did with the parable of the Minas in Luke 19.  If three weeks ago you would have asked I would have told you the parable of the Minas and the parable of the Talents were the same parable.  I would have however been wrong.  They are different and convey slightly different main messages, as well as different subtle messages.

A few quick points separating the two as I think it important.  The parable of the Minas is being told to a crowd before Jesus triumphant entry to Jerusalem, while the Talent parable is being told to the 12 in Jerusalem.  This is important because the audience of a parable can help shed light on it’s meaning.  Another quick difference is the characters in the parable.  In the Minas there are 10 servants and multiple citizens, while in the parable of the Talents there are only the man’s servants.  This again helps us understand the meaning.  Also the amount is vastly different.  A mina is about 1/60th of a talent.  This is a huge difference.

The first thing we need to do is decide whether or not Jesus is the master in the parable.  This will dictate the rest of the parable.  Most commentators say that yes Jesus is the master in the parable.  The parable does resemble the story of Herod the Great’s son Archelaus and would have been familiar to them.  On a side note isn’t great how God talks to us in a language we understand.  The parables of Jesus always tie into something that should/could be understand.

Understanding that Jesus is the nobleman in the parable I want to turn the remaining attention to the three servants. 

The servants are all given the same amount of money to stewart.

In this parable we notice that all the servants are given the same amount namely 10 Minas.  They also clearly understood the task “do business until I return.”  They had been given a job, and they were expected to do that job.  If my boss gives me a task I am expected to complete it.  If I ask my daughter to do something I expect she will do it.  This was not a gift but part of their job.  They were told to do business with their Masters money.  They were stewards of the Masters property

In my last position I was among other things in charge of the buildings phone, and HVAC systems.  We went through two upgrades in the systems I managed.  I was tasked with using the owners money and resources with the expectation of improvement.  If I mismanaged that I would be a bad stewart.  The money was not mine but I was given control of it for a purpose.  The resources (staff in this case) were not mine but they were subject to me for this task.  I had to carefully weigh the options and come up with a plan to bring increase.  In the case of the HVAC system we needed to reduce cost, and with the phone system we needed to improve quality.  I had a job to do, and I was allocated resources to do that job.  I could not take those funds and buy a car.  I could not take staff and have them clean my house.  The funds and people had a purpose. 

The returns ROI is different, but return is present.

Of the ten stewarts three responses are recorded, two of which are positive but different.

The first one was able to produce a 100% increase in his master’s money.  He was some how able to double the money.  Maybe he opened a business or invested in a start-up.  I don’t know what he did but he doubled that money.  Lets say a mina is three months wages and the average monthly wage is $3,000.  That means he took $90k and turned it into $180k.  That is a big return, and typically a big return is found at the end of a big risk.  You do not typically get a return like that without taking chances.  A really good stock return is 20% while the average is like 10%.  That would be like a $18k to $9k return.  Still good but not 100% return.  This guy was probably a risk taker.  I would imagine he either was a daring as it gets, knew he was that good, or (and I like this one) knew that people knew this was his bosses money so they knew not to mess him over.  Either way he did something.

The one who returned less increase is not punished but rewarded.

The second one produced a 50% yield.  This means he turned $90k into $145k.  Still no small feat.  That is still unheard of.  If someone did that in the stock market there would be an investigation launched for insider trading.  I would imagine he was a little more reserved than the first guy or struck out but he still had to have a very good idea of what he was doing.

I noticed that the second man was not chastised for only a 50% increase.  He was rewarded the same way.  The first servant got to rule 10 cities and the second 5 cities.  Each to their ability.  That teaches us something very important about God.  He gives us more based on our ability to take care of that.  If you cannot handle something God does not give you more to rule over. 

God expects us to take care of His property It says in in Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  That is pretty clear but just in case: 

1 Corinthians 10:261 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

Deuteronomy 10:14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 

Job 41:11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me

Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

 

I think you get the point.  God owns all this.  It is His and He can do as He pleases with.  What does He please to do with it?  Well partly to have you and I work it.  He placed Adam in the garden and told him to work it.  He expects you and I to do His work.  Eph says that there are good works prepared for us.  We have a job to do.  We have a work to put our hands too.  We are to love, and help, and serve. To teach, and reach those who need it.  We are called to a work.  James says faith without works is dead.  What does that mean?  It means you have faith so you can do the work of God.  We are not called to faith to be observers but active.  Faith in Christ should lead to action.

 

The last guy missed the point entirely.  He was so wrapped up in his own ideas and thoughts that he never did his masters bidding.  He was so caught up in the fact that the master collects where he did not work that he just wanted to keep the money safe.  I think his problem was having as master in the first place.  From the text it does not even appear he tried.  He decided who the master was and how he acted.  Notice that the master says “out of your own mouth.”  How many times have we decided who God is?  How many times have we rejected God’s provision or blessing in our life before He even got a chance?  I have a tendency to look more at God’s standards more than the standard giver.  I have a tendency to say “God this is your standard, and your expectation and I cannot live up to that, I am taking myself out of the running.”  I can tell you from first hand experience that is not good and there is no reward in that.  I am working on living a life that says “God I know I might fail, but I am going to try, I am going to embrace your life, and love.”  I am trying to keep reminding myself of Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.”  God is not asking me, He is not asking you to do something He will not provide for.  The master in this story gave them the money and said do business.  He did not say go find some money and then do business.  He provided the thing needed.  How much more does God provide for His work.

 

So what is the point?  How do we take this and use it in our own lives?  Well I don’t know. I cannot presume to know where you are, or how you need/can use this.  Here is what I do know is a young body we have an awesome and great possibility before us.  We are a ragtag group if I have ever seen one.  We come from broken homes, loving homes, faithless families, faithful families, lots of children, no children, and so on.  We each have a past that enables us to reach people, but more importantly we have each other, and we have God.  We have God calling us to a work, and we must now decide whether we will do His work and look for ways to invest ourselves our whole selves for His work.  If we do this then we will have a great ROI that we can present to our Master.  Or we can sheepishly hid ourselves and await His return.

The choice is ours.

Just a thought,

Mike

Free to do what?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  But what are we supposed to do with this freedom?  It is one thing to be free but now what?

I recently read a study that says that about 52% of prisoners released from jail return to prison.  Even worse is that 67% were arrested for a crime.  Forget for a second that we are talking about jail what is your rate of recidivism?  We can look at those numbers and pass judgment (and there are things we should judge about that) but can we look at our own life and judge?

Paul says here that Christ set us free to be free and that we should not return to slavery, so why do we?  Why do we return to sin, or our own new white-labeled version of the Law, or another Gospel?  Why do we not walk in the Freedom Christ has given us?  Why do we forsake the Freedom given us?

I think a large part of it has to do with not understanding the Freedom we have.  Jesus says in John 8:32 & 36 that when you know the Truth that the Son has set you free you will be free (ever read it like that?).  We need to understand our freedom, we need to try and comprehend it.  But first you need to understand your captivity.  You cannot ever understand what Freedom is until you understand what captivity is.  If you think that salvation is just some prayer, some event you attended, some one time thank you Jesus moment then you don’t understand it.

It took the most innocent and perfect man receiving punishment to give you freedom.  It took innocent blood to clean dirty sins.  It took the perfect Son laying down His life for you to have Freedom.  You were sentenced to an eternal separation from God.  You would spend not a life time or a thousand lifetimes away from Him but forever.  I know in polite society we are not supposed to talk about Hell, but anyone who knows me knows I am not a part of polite society.  I do not talk about Hell lightly, and I do not mention it in passing.  I love you, because God loves you.  The Father gave His Son so you could live.  I believe that and have no problem telling you that without Jesus you go to Hell.

I don’t like that, and I am not OK with that.  I won’t force it on it you but I also won’t ignore it.  If you were about to crash I would tell you, if you were about to fall off a cliff I would tell you.  I would not be all “it’s their life, not my business.”  There is a great quote from Penn Jillette that I won’t get into but here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owZc3Xq8obk.  He is an atheist and says the same thing.  So there is that.

Anyway that was not the point.  If you understand your captivity then when you are free you rejoice and understand the Freedom.  I think some inmates return because they don’t think jail was that bad, some just thought they were smart enough to not get caught now.  Both are wrong.

When you understand your captivity you better understand your Freedom.  You better understand what it is to be free and you want to do everything you can to stay away from ever being a slave again.

I am by no means perfect but I am going to do everything I can to stay away from being a slave again.  So what am I to do when I sin, or create a new Law?  I am to remember it is for Freedom I was set free, and I walk in that Freedom.  I say what have I done, RUN!!!  Never again will I be captive!

 

Just a thought,

Mike