Reflections on Romans 1:20-21

²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.                                                            Romans 1:20-21

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Romans 1 lately. In these particular verses, Paul is answering the objection, “But what about people who don’t know about God?” Paul’s answer? They do! He says that God makes Himself known, to a certain extent, through His creation. The phrase “what has been made” is a special one. It is the Greek word “poema,” from which we get the word “poem.” It is God’s creation, His workmanship, that tells the story of who He is. People can see from His creation that God is eternally powerful (how He relates to the world) and is divine in nature (how He is in Himself). Because they can see this from creation, and they do not honor or thank Him, people have no objection.

So what went wrong? Verse 21 says that even though they knew God, they chose not to honor Him, and their foolish heart was darkened. This is huge! Knowledge of God is more than a head issue; it is a heart issue. People do not know God because they have darkened hearts. They have darkened hearts because they rejected God. Therefore, they will not know God until their hearts are enlightened.

So what do we do? First, we thank God that He enlightened our hearts. We could not have done this on our own. Second, we constantly ask God to enlighten our hearts and our minds as we study His Word. We need the Spirit’s help to know God. Finally, if we desire for people to know Jesus, we acknowledge that they have a heart problem. We pray for God to enlighten their hearts as we preach the gospel.

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Reflections on Romans 8:28

I haven’t been able to get this verse out of my mind for the last 2 weeks.  It is sandwiched between the two theological towers of suffering and sovereignty, and acts as an emotional connecting bridge of sorts.  It’s a verse that peels back three layers of an authentic Christ follower.

Layer 1: those who love God

Oh that this not be assumed. Far too many use God like they buy an updated Mercedes. It is far more about other’s impression of them than any form of intimate submission to a HOLY, and TERRIFYING God.  Love of God that mirrors His love of us while impossible, is commanded and expected.  Only to be summed up with a “what is impossible with man is possible with God” (Mark 10).

Layer 2:  being that person that knows all things are working together for good

One glance around makes us question that we can be included as “one of these people”.  The world is crumbling around us.  It is hope inducing seeing Paul’s affirmation of this in the rest of chapter 8.  In three different places he talks about the groaning going on in anticipation of what’s to come rather than what is.  He acknowledges life stinks.  So how do we see good in any of this?  (echo…anyone have an answer?) . The only answer I can muster is because of the grand extent that we trust him, we have hope.  Hope that comes as the last stanza of suffering, endurance, and character (Romans 5:3-4). And this Hope brings the fruit of life: goodness.

Layer 3: those called according to His purposes

Here is where the scary questions come into play.  If there is a makeshift, “casual” believer who does not deeply love, and can find no hope in goodness, are they included in the purposes?  Are they really called?  The scariest thing I can imagine in light of an omniscient (all knowing) God is simply existing.  Think of it…that we would be so sin calloused that God would all but disclude us from what he is doing.  Not only would we not be experiencing him, savoring him, worshiping him…we would barely be apart of acknowledging him. 

Let us be men and woman that live with a Holy dread over our being “called according to His purpose.”  And not just be dreaders, but joiners of the kingdom movement that is already at play.                                               

                                                                                                            ~amen?

~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~

mn

Plans

I am a planner. I feel peaceful and at ease when I have a good planned; I feel worried and distressed when I do not. A year ago I began the adventure of grad school. I started taking a couple of distance courses at a particular school while Kassie and I prayed about where we needed to be for the next couple of years. Wrapped up in the decision were housing, work and school. I analyzed it from every possible angle. I have on my computer multiple spreadsheets outline every course that I might take at any given school, when I would take them and the cost of each one. I talked to people who attended the various schools. I prayed. I read. Then, I made a decision. I applied to the school that seemed like the best fit, full of faith that I was in the right place.

This week, I received my rejection letter from that school. My plans were thrown out the window, and it was completely outside of my control. I went through one whole day of pouting. Then, there was the panic of, “what now? Plan B? Does God have a plan B for my life?” I went to see a good friend on Friday. He is a faithful follower of Jesus. He is also the paradigm of health and fitness. He is having tests run in Little Rock today that will tell how serious the cancer in his body is and what his chances are. He said things are not looking good. You know what he also said? He said, “There is no plan B with God. He knows what He has for me. My job is to be faithful and obedient.” Puts things in perspective, huh?

Mike Newman pointed out to the Antioch crew this week that every time Scripture says, “this is God’s will for your life” it is always talking about living righteously in the present, not making a big decision for the future. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
/ And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him
/ And He will make your paths straight.” Notice that it does not say, “He will show you your path.” It says that He will make it straight. This seems to imply that our job is to walk forward. Forward after what? Hebrews 12 says that we run after Jesus. Fix our eyes on Jesus and run forward. He will order the rest.

Still working on that one…

For His glory and our joy,

Nick

More thoughts from the church

As we have been digging into Acts 2:42-47 this past week, we have seen a good model of what the Church should look like.  People encouraged one another, opened their homes, sold possessions to give to another member, broke bread, had a ton of fellowship, and prayed.  1 Corinthians 12:12-25 shows that the Church is made up of many members and that those members are one body (the Church)!  Each member has a role and has a purpose to be used by God.  One of these members that we would like to expound on is someone that I have become friends with over this past year.  This particular individual has been completely redeemed by Christ and is constantly being transformed in his faith.  This persons name is Josh Sarahan and he has been living out a strong mission for the past 4 months.  This mission has been a calling to walk a cross over 2400 miles!!!  Yikes…does that sound extreme?  You bet it is, but because God pressed it so hard on Josh for this mission, he was faithful and available to do this work.  There have been so many people that have wanted to know his story (believers and non-believers) and the name of Christ has been seen because of this.  As we look at the Church and see our self as a member, God desires to see us faithful to His call no matter what it is.  When we do this, we experience the full gift of what God has to offer…His Church!!

lessons from the early church

In Acts chapter 2 we find one the greatest descriptions of the early church given in the New Testament. Luke wrote, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). He later goes to say, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as everyone might have need” (Acts 2:44-45). As I have been praying and thinking about what it looks like to be the church, I’ve noticed a few characteristics of this early church.

1)     1) They were devoted to the Scriptures. They learned from the apostles’ teachings and let it shape their lives.

2)     2)  They were devoted to each other. Church was not a place to attend; it was a group of people among whom to belong.

3)     3) They were devoted to eating together. This is simple sign of sharing life and community.

4)     4) They were devoted to prayer. This recognized God as God as they sought His will and provision as well as His praise.

5)     5)  They sold their possessions to meet the needs of their own. The needs of the body were always met.

This is just a short list, but I wonder what would happen if we devoted ourselves to these things. Notice that the action in verse 42 begins with “continually.” This was not something they did at a gathering once a week; it was a way of life. What was the result of this? Verse 47 tells us that “the Lord added to their number daily.” The result of this kind of deep, Bible centered, people valuing community was that people were saved! So the question for us, church, is do we look like this?

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Ministering in Weakness

***NOTE: This comes from a series I've started on my blog (abidingtruths.blogspot.com) on Jesus's conversation with the woman at the well in John 4.


Continuing in our look at John 4, let's take a look at verse 6. It reads, "So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." Jesus was wiped from a day of traveling in the hot, Palestinian sun. It is around noon, the hottest part of the day, and Jesus does something remarkable for the GodMan: He takes a break. He stops to rest. This should be a message to us in and of itself. Jesus got tired and needed rest.

However, it should also be noted that Jesus was in this exhausted state when the woman came to Him. We don't see Jesus tell her to come back another time. He does not refer her to one of His disciples. He ministers to her. But, it's a simple kind of ministry. He sits and talks to her about her life. And this doesn't appear to drain Him. Why? I think Jesus explains in verse 34 when He says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work."

How is it that Jesus was able to continue ministering in His weakness? I suggest that we can learn a few things. First, Jesus allowed ministry to feed Him. I think all too often we find ourselves dividing the ways we serve others and the ways we are served. I think we create too much distance between ourselves and the once we are ministering to, so that we can never be fed from the experience. Ministry should happen in authentic community that feeds us all well.

Second, Jesus understood that it was the Father's work, not His. I often feel the weight that a person's soul rests on my words or actions. Actually, everyone's souls are in God's hands. We are merely able to "participate in the gospel" (Philippians 1).

Ministry is not some job that we are tasked with that weighs us down and must be abandoned in our moments of weakness. It is also not only for "vocational ministers." It is a way of life for all believers in Biblical community that sustains us as we live in the will of the Father.

For His glory and our joy,

NR

Patterns

If you missed this last Saturday, you missed what is quietly becoming one of our favorite gathering environments.  It’s a time where families worship, look at God’s word, celebrate communion, and simply belong…together.  In fact, now that I am in my Monday morning reflection mood, the night itself lined up with the topic we spoke about.  We looked together at:

 “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me,

in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 1:14 

We all know and agree that there are patterns that enslave us, and there are patterns that set us free.  As we look at our own lives, we would be fools to be living in results that are not fruitful, without looking back at the patterns that have gotten us here. 

There was a critical point in the night where we presented to all families present a pattern within our ministry that has been causing a check in our spirit.  For years, we have become a church that has grown accustomed to worship with families silo-d between multiple buildings.  While there is much benefit in getting with your peers to seek God with specific application, there is also some fallout to this pattern.  It has become a common thing for students to feel completely disconnected from the church body, at times even saying: “I don’t belong to that Church”.  This is painfully revealing of many of our students ecclesiology (understanding and philosophy of the church). 

We want to address this pattern first hand with an experiment. For 12 weeks, throughout the course of the summer, we are going to adjust our worship pattern by joining as families (grades 7^th through adult) to worship as one. We are pursuing this very humbly, carefully, and above all…prayerfully.  We are also doing it with a big safety net, sensing the support and backing of our pastors and elders.  We don’t know where this will take us, except to our knees where we will be seeking God together.  At the end of the 12 weeks, we will gather together to seek what the Lord has taught us, and where the Lord will take us. 

We hope you will prayerfully join us in this journey!

~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~

mn