I think...researching about all the possible contradictions/discrepancies/"difficulties" in the Bible is unnerving.

What to do...

"armor piercing gaze/eyes"

...I like that analogy!

http://hismessenger.tumblr.com/post/117264553972/when-god-answers

Yeah...I know how that feels.

woot movies I wanna watch this year

Find the plain meaning in Scripture

What happens when we read one of the many portions of the Old Testament that seem so distant? In Exodus 17, for example, Israel goes to war against Amalek. As Joshua lead the army in battle, Moses sat on top of a hill and kept his hands raised in the air. The Bible says, “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed” (Ex. 17:11). This is a fascinating account, but how do we interpret it? We will probably all agree that the verse isn’t telling us to go sit on a hilltop and hold our hands in the air. Should we be seeking a spiritual meaning that lies beneath the surface, then? Maybe the verse means that we must keep our hands and our hearts pointed toward heaven if we are going to defeat our spiritual enemies. While that may be true,there is no indication that this is what God is telling us through this passage.
- Francis Chan, Multiply P3-S3

This...is a new twist to how to read Scripture, aka to not try to look too deep into each passage and draw out messages that may be there, but may be not. I think we all tend to do this a lot. Yes, from Colossians 3 we do know we should point our hearts to heaven, so let us use that passage for that teaching, and not the story from Exodus 17:11. That goes for a lot of passages.

Scripture -> observations -> interpretation -> extrapolation to the modern context -> (personal) application

That is how it should go, and yes for truth to become interpretation requires discernment, wisdom, and Holy Spirit juice. Extrapolation is even harder, because we just don't know what should we continue doing and what we shouldn't. Things like tithing and slavery are examples that we have or may have gotten wrong. Jesus said to give EVERYTHING not just 10% (too many passages to list), so tithing almost seems like a cop-out to not give all of our bank account to God and to the poor and needy. Slavery...context...

We always try to dig deeper, but sometimes the plain text is golden enough. We got enough commands in the OT and NT (and again discernment to see which ones still need to be followed from OT, see Romans 7).

If we are going to take this verse at face value, we will read it as a description of the unusual way in which God used Moses to lead Israel to victory in a historical battle over the Amalekites. Through that story we can gain insight into the power of God and His ability to save His people, but those insights do not change the clear meaning of what God recorded in Exodus 17. It might seem more “spiritual” to try to find some deeper meaning behind the text, but what could be more spiritual than simply taking God at His word?
-Francis Chan, Multiply P3-S3

T.C. told me yesterday that if I don’t understand Ephesians 1-3, then I cannot understand Ephesians 4-6. For him, being married and stuff, he’s focused on Ephesians 5 aka the marriage chapter in the Bible. But if he doesn’t understand 1-3, he will be unable to believe in the truth that is contained in chapter 5 and live it out for his wife. The same goes for me. I focus a lot on Ephesians 4, but no matter how hard I try to pursue it, it won’t come alive because Ephesians 1-3 hasn't come alive for me yet. I will be living in a fake ideal Christian world instead of the real and broken world around me. So…I guess read Ephesians 1-3 over and over again until the Holy Spirit converts theology in to living, breathing Truth (or just wait until HS does His thing)?

When we read the Bible, the living Word of God, we should treat it as if we are literally hearing the audible voice of God. Like, God is RIGHT THERE speaking to us. Then we will be BEWILDERED and full of AWE by His voice and have JOY in His presence like how Psalm 16 puts it.

But honestly, really really honestly? That doesn't happen. Some of my friends want to treat the Bible as a narrative, reading it as if they are reading a fairy tale or a novel like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. This puts the Bible on equal footing as any quote you find on tumblr from a secular philosopher or celebrity, or the message/theme/story you relate to from your favorite TV show or movie (I do it too, I got quotes and illustrations from One Piece and Tower of God and Name of the Wind and LOTR right here on my blog). For example, I recently watched Death Parade/Death Billiards and I thought the message on what is a considered a rewarding and successful life lived and the values on human morality and how gets to be reincarnated and who gets dumped in the void were attractive, beautiful even.  But its not right. Those views on life were quite unbiblical, and so is a ton of tumblr quotes and messages in media right now. Those worldviews are not what a Christian, a follower and disciple of Christ should believe in, to put human wisdom on equal footing with God's wisdom. A lot of times, we unconsciously and unintentionally call Jesus a liar and God a fool when we agree with the world. I know I do it a lot. Sigh...

I tend to read the Bible as a scholar, because I am a researcher and it is my job to look for patterns and decipher meaning and truths and stuff like that, reading hundreds of papers and looking at tons of data and trying to find the secrets of the natural world in them. But I find that I go to the Bible and do use that strategy, and ask tons of questions, look for passages to answer, I end up come out with more questions and become more anxious. Take one of my devos for example (unaltered):

1 Samuel 16:23

Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

This passage has a lot of connotations and even more ability to draw misconceptions (or correct ones).

So God sent an evil spirit. Why? Was this punishment for Saul? Why send David then to comfort Saul? Why did the passage not say Satan sent the evil spirit? Would Satan even want to send an evil spirit? How does music drive away the evil spirit? Is it because it comforted Saul (“he would feel better”) and then Saul’s spiritual immune system forced the evil spirit away? Or was music just a sign for God to send the evil spirit away? Or does music in itself have some spiritual power to send evil spirits away? Or was David himself performing an action (of music) that drove the evil spirit away? Or was David + music or David + music from a specific lyre that caused the evil spirit to go away? Or does David have the power of healing? What was the evil spirit even doing? Was it causing Saul to feel depressed, or make his soul heavy? Was it actually inflicting physical illness to Saul? Was Saul’s spiritual state weakened so that the evil spirit could have an effect?

Ya. I am confused. (Sure I did look up many commentaries and context, but there are too many differing and contradicting views depending on how you theologically lean).

I read one passage, and it makes more sense from an Armenian perspective. I read another and it only makes sense if I was a Calvinist. I know I’m supposed to find peace and comfort when I read scripture, but that rarely ever happens. Nope nope nope, to quote Ducky. I read a passage, and I’m like “no one in the church does that, so basically it is impossible.” Another passage, “that is bulls***.” Yet another passage, “I’m gonna ignore that because it is contradicting how I am currently living.”

But there was one time last November, that I was so spurned by the Holy Spirit to read scripture that I read for like 6 hours straight and felt super peaceful after I did. If I've ever felt true God given peace, it was that night. So I know it can happen. I wish it happened in my life more, and I try to find it. Try to force it. Try to work for it. But we know that if we have to use the word “try,” then it is basically out of our own flesh, and it ain’t gonna work. That’s why someone can pray for 5 hours straight and feel nothing from God, but the next day they pray for only 30 seconds and BAM God is right there revealing His will and reminding that person “I’m here and I’m faithful to you and you are going to be alright.” I doesn’t matter how hard you try. It matters about your heart. And your heart is given by God when He wants to give you the heart. There is nothing you can do, but by His mercy and grace we know it’s there or it’s coming. That’s the promise of the Gospel.

So I know I should be in awe of God when I read scripture, but in reality that happens 1 out of 1 million times. But because I have experienced that 1 time, I have Hope, the Hope that leads to Faith (Hebrews 11). I also want to encourage others to read the Bible as if you are sitting at the seat of God and your heavenly Father is speaking to you. Because the Bible is the story of God, unparalleled to any other story.

Preach the Gospel to myself

Some days, like today, I just need to really preach myself the Gospel.

Where do I go in the Word to find the Gospel?

(well there is always the Roman road)

Romans 3:23-26

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 5:8
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:9
because, if "you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and "believe in your heart "that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Hebrews 9:11-14

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Ephesians 2:1-10

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Colossians 2:13-15

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

Titus 3:5-7
⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Ya...I'll leave those here so I can look at them. I know that preaching the Gospel myself won't instantaneously change my heart to want to desire God more, but it's a start. Hearing the Gospel is where it all starts/started, and continuing to live out and be rooted in the Gospel is how we persevere. 

"The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”- Tim Keller

Worship and Pizza 3

I’ve written about how pizza and worship are related analogically before, but I will try to flesh it out here:

Pizza. One of the most tempting and adulterous foods out there (more than ice cream). Why? Because pizza contains mainly 3 ingredients: sugar, salt, and fat (ice cream only has 2 of the 3). These ingredients are what the body craves most (if you don’t, you are a mutant). We are physiologically wired to desire those 3 ingredients: sugar for energy to perform physical tasks and maintain brain focus; fat as a reliable source of long-term energy and storage for times of metabolic fasting; and salt to regulate blood pressure and various organ function. But we also know that too much sugar, fat, and salt lead to severe health problems and take away the point of eating: to stay alive. Our bodies need more than just those 3 ingredients. We also need protein, vitamins, minerals, water, electrolytes, fiber, flavenoids, cholesterol, and other do-dads. Pizza sometimes will contain these (buffalo chicken, pineapple etc), but for the most part pizza is not a reliable source for other essential nutrition.

Musical worship is like pizza. Our souls are naturally wired to love music, emotions, and personal attachments. This is what worship songs give us. But over indulgence will make us lose sight of what is truly important: knowing God and knowing Christ. And music and emotions are not necessarily needed for sincere worship, else people who are born deaf or those who have lost emotional centers or undergo periods of depression and sorrow cannot be Christian. The ingredients we must need for our souls are truth, hope, faith, and love. These can be and often are found in musical worship, but like I said above, there are other forms of worship out there that do provide what we need. Let us not idolize a single form of worship by designating it as the only form of worship. Let us enjoy it for what it is, God’s gift to us as a single expression of worship among many, but it doesn’t replace any of the forms of worship that are actually mentioned in the Bible (musical worship in scripture is never related to worship but instead to praise, and depending on your denomination, worship ≠ praise).

So let us worship God, not worship worship.

One day, I will watch the sunrise with my children and give a standing ovation to God with them. (Preferably at Windermere)

"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you cant keep it" - Cortana

One day the girl i will marry will say that on our wedding day, and I will answer "by covenant i will make that promise"

Yes, love will sustain and make last, but it will not be my love.

More notes of the week

God doesn't care whether u get an A or a B, but He cares greatly about the heart in which you pursue your grade.

In our depravity, we have a track record of being poor judges of character...

Hebrews 12

Discipline is good

It teaches moral right from wrong

It teaches one to avoid mistakes, but also how to learn from them and grow

It prepares one for hard work in the future and how to handle stress

It teaches respect and honor 

But discipline must be done out of love

It cannot be emotionally abusive

It cannot be done in a cold way

Never discipline out of selfish anger

The reason for discipline must be explicitly said or known

The act of discipline must hurt the one disciplining more than the one receiving (even if this reality is hidden, and should be for the meaning of discipline to stick)

Positive reinforcement is always stronger than negative reinforcement; discipline as necessary

The argument that seeing good come out of a situation or decision automatically justifies it as good/acceptable/right is extremely flawed

I am not impressed...

I am not impressed by your musical talents.

I am not impressed by your skill at sports.

I am not impressed by your ability to buy expensive clothes or make them match.

I am not even impressed by your ability to move people with your speech or zeal.

I am impressed when you care and give beyond your ability, because I know that I am really being impressed by God.

That is what I seek in my fellow brothers and sisters. That is what we all need to seek.

 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

There is no reason at all for a christian to have a big house or buy a fancy car or living way beyond what is necessary to sustain them. Being rich? That is fine. But living without giving what you can give to the poor and needy? That goes against EVERYTHING in the bible. You cannot justify living in a big house scripturally, biblically, or realistically. There isn't any justification for it at all. I can only imagine how Jesus' heart breaks to see rich Christians living lavishly in an age of hunger and suffering.

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. - Proverbs 28:27

Francis Chan always talks about "the Holy Spirit only taught me this now, even though I've read this before (many times)." That's how I should be with scripture, realizing the true message can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit.

What moves us is not God's majesty or sovereignty. We see it and know it. Not impressed. It is natural for us to blow it off. What shatters us is the reality of that God sending His son to die and save us. That is what truly moves us to long for Him and worship His glory.

Too many seekers come to Church seeking a radical and counterculture community, but leave jaded seeing something possibly worse than what the world teaches. Why oh why...

"When you are well prepared for your sermon, you cite a variety of sources, but when you aren't well prepared, you just quote C.S. Lewis" - Member to Tim Keller

We must live with the decisions we make, as well as the decisions made for us.

Worship and Pizza 2

What is worship?

What does it mean to worship idols?

Presence of God – something only the high priest could be in, and only once a year. Holy of Holies.

I will use the Biblical analogy Jesus used to illustrate worship.

(God talking to Elijah at the cave entrance)

(God talking to Moses through the burning bush)

(God residing over the Tabernacle in the desert)

(High priest offering sacrifices to God outside the Holy of Holies, technically the veil should be fully covering the entrance. Note Spirit of God hovering over the Ark of the Covenant)

Before, the Israelites could only worship at a specific location and only during specific times. For this reason the tabernacle and later the temple were built. Even then, the relationship between the Israelites and God was not personal. An average Israelite could only call upon God as Elohim, which is a reverent but distance name for their God. Only those chosen by God were allowed to call Him YHWH, the covenant name for God to those who He gave promises. People could not see God, else they be blinded by His glory and vaporized by His wrath (remember Moses?). But He still revealed Himself visibly through forces of nature, like tongues or pillars of fire. The most holy and intimate of worship was only for the high priests, those who actually got to go into the Holy of Holies, and only during specific days of the year.

(Flow of Worship required by priests, something we don't need anymore as Christ already did it)

(The veil being torn when Jesus died)

Jesus came and changed all that. Worship used to be special and restricted. John 4, Jews could only worship in Jerusalem (in the temple) and the Samaritans could only worship on the mountain. During the exile, the Israelites were heartbroken because the temple was destroyed and they couldn't worship. But Jesus said to the Samaritan women that worship will be done in spirit, anytime and anywhere. He fulfills this when He died on the cross, (literally) tearing the veil (Matt 27), opening that special Holy of Holies for everyone. He has become the high priest for us (Hebrews 3, 9), and we now also get priesthood (1 Peter 2). Remember, we now are the temple (1 Cor 6:19, Romans 8:9, 1 Cor 3:16, 2 Cor 6:16, James 4:5). We have the Holy of Holies inside of us, where God’s Spirit resides.

(We have received the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, becoming the Temple)

We again have to remember that worship is not about works. We were saved by grace (Ephesians 2:9), and it was because of God’s mercy. Just like how He chose the Israelites not because they were special or numerous, they were actually the fewest (Deut 7), so in the same way He chose us to be His chosen people (1 Peter 2). That humility to God’s mercy and love for us makes worship a response. It is not of the flesh, but of the spirit (Galatians 4). We worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). It is not self-imposed aka faked or forced (Col 2:23). We also worship in awe of God (Hebrews 12:28, Revelations). That requires knowledge of God, a whole other topic but basically full revelation in Christ and translated by the Holy Spirit (Proverbs 2, Romans 1:28, 2 Cor 4:6, 1 Cor 2 = HS).

Remember, worship is to give all of our lives to God. Romans 12 offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice – proper worship. We know we are to deny/die to ourselves. We were bought and paid for, and are servants/friends/brothers of Christ (1 Cor 6:20, 1 Cor 7:23). He owns us, buying us out of sin by His blood. We call Him Lord and King (1 Tim 6:15, Rev 19:16). What does it mean to be a subject to a king? Think about what it would be like to be a subject to King David or King Solomon. It is a shame we don’t have any modern kings to look up to, only democratic bodies and tyrants.

Two people can worship, and the outer appearance can be exactly the same. But internally, one will be worshiping out a humble and sincere heart towards the Lord. The other would be worshiping either for him/herself or for the sake of worship itself or the feeling of worship. Worship is all about the state of one’s heart and where it is pointed towards. See Luke 18 about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Again a whole other topic can be teased out of that. Pharisee worships for himself, and does so with talent and skill worthy of man’s praise (John 12:43, Matt 6:1-6, Matt 23: 5-7 -> Deuteronomy 11:18, Numbers 15:38-40), but the tax collector humbles himself before God, and Jesus said the tax collector was justified before God and will be exalted.