Something just struck me wrong. There we were in the middle of the worship service and one by one all the songs were about me and my part in worship. We sang about how we will do this or that and I am embarrassed to say that I “knee jerked”[1] in my reaction to it. I am not normally prone to this type of reaction, but I will admit I am very sensitive when it comes to this topic. I began to think, 'just keep me out of it in worship'. I decided that in worship I only wanted to focus on the intrinsic attributes of God. While this is a good and true form of worship, I will admit that in negating all the songs that mention me, myself or I; then I would negate a bunch of the worship in scripture. I was right that there is a problem in our modern worship but I was wrong about the source of the problem. God began to deal with me about my own biases in worship, in the scriptures He began to reveal something that is now so precious to me. I began to think about the differences between hymns of the past and the modern worship songs. I came to the realization the main difference is that the great songs of the past are sometimes gut-wrenching, raw and honest with God about our problems and suffering; and now we seem to just skirt right past that part of worship.
I found the problem with my worship and the most modern worship in an entitled culture like America is that we begin in the wrong place and we have no sense of the journey of worship; allowing no room for lament. I think one of our misunderstandings about the worship can be tied to the way Psalm 22 is translated in the KJV, (I am sorry to offend the KJV only camp, but this is truth) . Particularly verse three is translated, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." So worship leaders who grew up on the KJV (which I did by the way) have a tendency to say 'God inhabits the praises of his people'. This translation is a little bit goofy, because some have taken from it this idea that, when played out to its logical conclusion, makes it seem like our work in praise and worship calls out to God to come check out how good of a job we are doing at worshiping Him. Most other translations, such as the NASB, NLT, NIV and HCSB among others all translate it something more like the ESV, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." Much more true to the original Hebrew. Do you see what that does? Its a subtle difference and if you are not careful you will miss it. The focus here is the Holiness of God primarily and we praise Him because He is so holy, good, loving, wonderful, almighty and sovereign. Praise is our reaction to God's attributes and presence instead of His presence coming from a reaction based on our ability to praise Him. I bring this up because this is a Psalm of Lament. It deals with suffering. In the Pulpit Commentary series it says of this verse that in the midst of suffering it is saying, still God is holy; the Sufferer casts no criticism, accusation or reprimand for the suffering on God, but instead commits to Him that is righteous. In God's righteousness, there is a trust that God would come through like He had always done before. "Numerically the biggest category of worship songs in the bible are laments and yet our worship music doesn’t really reflect that very well.” – Michael Card Before I go on I want to make sure we are working with a good understanding of lament.
All of these words mean to wail and mourn and they are really describing a passionate display of anguish or sorrow. So I came to the following realization: We don’t bring our suffering into worship because we are threatened by, uncomfortable with, and embarrassed by suffering in a culture of comfort and affluence (sadly this is not just our outside culture but our church culture as well). It makes us feel helpless and we don’t want to feel helpless, but that is the essence of our relationship with God. We were helpless in our sin, He provided help through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are supposed to encourage and be encouraged in our churches. Which then begs the question, how can we encourage each other if we aren't honest about our suffering and trouble? I believe that the scriptures are full of this idea of an intimacy with God in which we share our laughter, doubts and pain. From the cool of the day conversations in Genesis to the redeemed gathered round the throne in Revelation it is self-evident that we were made to worship and commune with our Creator and His genuine desire is have intimacy with us. Michael Card points out The Bible is about this journey from “Torah Obedience” to “Intimacy with God” and that the Law was made to bring us into intimacy, that He would be with us (Leviticus 26:12, Context is 26:1-13). The Holy of Holies was the essence of God with us. Jesus was called Immanuel which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). Jesus’ last words in the great commission were “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, context is 28:16-20) “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them” Rev 21:3 But where do we begin? "All true worship begins in the wilderness. “ – Michael Card What a statement. But can it be backed up? Well, in the middle of Exodus chapter 7, God tells Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Much of the stories of Jeremiah, Job, and David are Lament and Jesus lamented on many occasions(eg. Tomb of Lazarus, over Jerusalem, in the Garden and on the Cross). The bible is full of verses that promise that God will meet us in the middle of our Lament such as, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 and, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” – Psalm 34:18 And in Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming Christ in Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah, it says, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” In fact most of the chapter is about Jesus’ coming suffering for us. “God used suffering to save the world… So, take lament seriously or you can’t take the cross seriously” – Michael Card Jesus lamented. He was Human, Prophet, Priest, King and God. Jeremiah lamented the fall of Jerusalem because of sin. David lamented over his sin, enemies, and struggles. Job lived to obey the law, but when the enemy of his soul attacked he learned how to lament in worship. After the trials of Job, in the final chapter, he says, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” – Job 42:5-6, Context 42:1-6) The Lord’s Supper, Communion or the Eucharist; whatever name you use, it is a great symbol of our relationship in worship to God. It is a true worship experience. In First Corinthians chapter 11 (a chapter dedicated to worship), Paul gives instructions on communion and he says, “That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.” So we come to the table repenting after sitting in judgment upon ourselves, and Jesus’s response is: “This is my body…this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.” (Matthew 26:17-30) My journey to the table is a type of my journey in worship. In this life so many things just don’t add up. My sins and failings don’t add up to my title as righteous but Jesus’ sacrifice fills that gap and my response is worship. My earthly trials and troubles, suffering and pain don’t add up to the loving-kindness of God, but in my worshipful lament, He meets me there with peace and assurance. This fragmented and fallen world does not add up to all of the promises in scripture but one day, the hope of glory will reveal that every tear will be wiped from my eyes and I will be with Him forever. That is so very encouraging. So I will sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance, I will cry out to the Lord, wailing and mourning, then I will remember again who He is and I will love His active Presence in my life and I will worship Him like never before. For His presence turns my mourning into dancing. * Note: I was able to find a resource that is an hour long lesson on lament in worship that is much more in-depth than I can do justice in this blog. Lamenting is worship is a lecture by Michael Card that is amazing and faithful to scripture. Here are the links to the seven parts of the lecture; they are about 9 minutes each. Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven [1] An immediate unthinking emotional reaction produced by an event or statement to which the reacting person is highly sensitive
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I will begin by summarizing a passage familiar to most that is a microcosm of what is going on in the whole of scripture related to our giving. The Pharisees send their followers at an attempt to trip up Jesus. They first try to flatter Him by telling Him how honest, truthful and impartial He is. Then, they ask Him whether or not they should pay taxes to Caesar. He knew their motives and asked them whose picture is on the coin to which they reply, “Caesar.” “’Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.’” This story is found in Matthew 22:15-22 (read it here) This passage exemplifies the two types of giving that are found throughout scripture: Giving to “Caesar” or the government through our taxes and giving to God. Let’s take a closer look at the nature of these two types of giving:
I know, I know some of you are already asking, “Will a man rob God?” or you might be asking, “How is Malachi 3:1-15 not compulsory?” Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I will get there. Most of the modern confusion around church giving was caused by so many who misunderstand the Old Testament system of tithing. I am going to drop the first bomb now: Tithes were never chiefly intended as a GIFT to God, they were essentially taxes to the Israeli government, it was a Theocracy at first (Genesis – 1 Samuel 8:11-22) and later it was a Theocratic Monarchy (beginning 1 Samuel 9). Let’s define what I mean by those terms so there is no confusion: A Theocracy is a system of government in which priests or judges rule in the name of God. A Theocratic Monarchy is a system of government in which a King rules in the name of God. Tithes under the law funded the government: divided among the Priests, the Kings, the army, national festivals and the needy in the nation. Allow me to explain Leviticus 27:30-33 (read it here) and Numbers 18:1-32 (read it here) The Law says, 10% of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit belongs to the Lord; every 10th animal (10%) belongs the Lord. In the establishment of the Levite priesthood, the Lord tells Aaron (of the tribe of Levi) that he and the rest of the Levites will be responsible for the sanctuary and for the “violations related to the priesthood.” As priests, they will perform the sacred duties and rituals of the priesthood and they will be in charge of the offerings. The portions of the offerings not burned on the fire will belong to the priests as their provisions for food. Then, the Lord tells Aaron that the Levites will have no land or property for the Lord Himself is their inheritance and provision. Observations:
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 (read it here) Ahh, the details! Two out of every three years, the people of Israel are commanded to bring the tithe (10%) of the crops into the place of worship, but they are also told they can eat it there in the presence of the Lord. Again, they are told to feast and drink in the presence of the Lord. They are told not to neglect the Levites, so in the third year bring the entire tithe into the Levite’s storehouse and the Lord will bless them. Observations:
Other Offerings were also required by the law (Exodus 23 & Leviticus 19). All this food, livestock and money was used to fund the Israeli government’s operating budget. Any other giving in the Old Testament (Gen 4:1-16, Genesis 14, Genesis 28, Exodus 25 and others) was non-compulsory, charitable, voluntary, generous and was given freely based on what he had decided in his own heart, similar to what we find in 2nd Corinthians 9:7. Malachi 3:1-15 (read it here) Israel is filled with sorcerers, adulterers, cheaters and liars. Filled with oppression of the poor and needy, Israel is about to be put on trial. God says if it wasn’t for his covenant, they would have been destroyed. In verse 7, we see a Love that is hardly explainable. God says, “Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me and I will return to you.” Wow, even now he is offering redemption, reconciliation and restoration. He goes on to say they are robbing Him in tithes and offerings. He says they are under a curse for this theft. Again, lovingly He says if they will stop this robbery, He will generously bless them. God accuses them of saying terrible things about Him. The people say there is no use in honoring or obeying God but they will imitate evil men and get rich like them. Observations:
Here God is saying that they have stolen the tithes (taxes) that would help provide for the priests and needy. If you didn’t pay your taxes today, you would find yourself under threat of audit, with possibilities of fees, trial and even jail time (sounds like a curse). Yet, here God says if they would just start doing what is right, He would lovingly forgive them. So much better than the IRS, huh? Tithe was never a commandment for Christians under the new covenant. The only times that tithes are spoken of in the New Testament are concerning people under the law. (See Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42) We are no longer under the Law, (Romans 6:14-15, 8:1-16, 10:1-4 and Galatians 3) so the aforementioned curse cannot apply to us! With the exception of the IRS. If Tithing is supposed to be our commandment for giving, then why is it never mentioned in the New Testament as a commandment to Christians? However in the New Testament, there are many passages where we are compelled to pay our taxes (Matthew 22:15-22, Romans 13:1-7, etc.) just like they were compelled to pay their tithes in the Old Testament. In this blog, I am not trying to debate the efficiency of our government in running social welfare programs such as medicare, medicaid,TANF (temporary assistance for needy families, food stamps, etc. What I am saying is that our taxes are supposed to, in part, go toward the same things that tithe did in the Old Testament. I am pointing out that this is no coincidence, but rather intentional. So, if tithes were essentially taxes, what is God's plan to fund the work of the church in the world? Paul gives us our example for giving to God as Christians in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.’” Observations:
So, if I say 10% is a nice round number, why am I saying we shouldn’t we teach 10%?
And if that isn’t enough then:
In conclusion, does God bless your giving? Yes. Does He require 10% of Christians? No. Are you done giving if you give a full 10%? No, as Christians we are supposed to be generous and we are supposed to respond to the needs of our church and our community. Many examples in the New Testament, include believers giving anywhere from 'within their means' to 'beyond their means' and all the way to giving away everything they owned. Paul gave up his rights, his ambitions, and like many of martyrs he gave his life for the Cause of Christ. The only rule, is "You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.’” Should you give regularly to your church? It doesn’t just seem like a good idea, it is exemplified in many scriptures to provide for the ones who work hard to preach, teach and evangelize. (Galatians 6:6, 1 Timothy 5:14-18, Philippians 4:16-19, and Acts 6:2) “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” - Psalms 24:1 “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” - Luke 6:38 So we should give freely. We should give from our hearts. The Lord in heaven sees what we do and rewards us (Matthew 6:1-4). Giving to the Lord is not always financial, it consists of a combination of your time, money and talent. If you are currently unemployed, you have your talent and some extra time that you can offer to the Lord through your church and community. Blessings are not always financial. I have been blessed in so many ways. I would not trade any of my non-financial blessings to simply be…..wealthy. Grace and Truth are always better together than they are separate. Click on the Download File link below to download a more in-depth Survey of Giving in the scriptures.
Warning: Spoiler Alert the Noah Movie by Darren Aronofsky might as well be called: The Story of Snakeskin blessings, Gilgamesh, Jack and beanstalk with a mix of Tolkien’s Ents meet the Stone Giants with the history of how God sanctions gendercide! Wait that’s too long of a title, let’s just call it what it is……Heresy Let’s start with the pros from the movie. The acting was high quality as expected. The direction was clever and innovative in some parts but overall typical of a big budget Hollywood film. God was presented as the creator. Noah gets drunk and then rainbows. That’s it. That is the list of pros from this debacle. Before we begin our detailed review let’s start with a summarized version the story of the Biblical Noah and the Ark from Genesis Chapters 6-9. It begins with a world gone wrong through human wickedness. The world was populated over 10 generations and 1600+ years since creation. God saw that all of mankind’s thoughts were consistently and totally evil. God was heartbroken and had regrets from ever making men. Then we find Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. See Noah was a righteous man who walked in “close fellowship” with God. Noah was a husband and a father to three sons. Noah heard the voice of God telling him that judgment was coming in a flood that would kill everything on earth, but God wanted to reboot creation with Noah’s family and 2 of all the wildlife and 14 of certain animals for eating, sacrifice, etc. He gave Noah directions to build an ark of safety from the flood. Noah did everything exactly as God told him Noah’s family 8 people in all (a wife, 3 sons and 3 daughters-in-law) entered the ark and the loving God closed the door behind them. The flood came, and everything happened as the Lord had told Noah. God was mindful of Noah and all those on the ark, he sent winds to blow across the earth and the water receded. About 1 year later the land was completely dry and God told Noah they could finally leave the boat so them and the wildlife could be fruitful and multiply with God’s blessing. So Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices that pleased the Lord. The Lord told Noah, He would not flood the earth like this again sealing this promise and His covenant with Noah with a rainbow. Noah did get drunk, Ham saw Noah naked did not cover him but went back and told his brothers that Noah was drunk and naked. Shem and Japeth averted their eyes and covered their father as a sign of respect. Noah rebuked Ham for his disrespect and blessed Shem and Japeth for their respect. Noah lived to be 950 years old. It is noteworthy that not once but twice we are told that Noah did everything exactly as God told him (Gen 6:22 and again in Gen 7:5). In Hebrews Chapter 11, it lists Noah (11:7) as one of the heroes of faith. Then it says the World was not worthy of these heroes like Noah (11:38). The world was not worthy of this hero of the faith! Now, for the Noah Movie Review: It goes dreadfully off scripture early. During the initial narration we are told that after mankind sinned some angels rebelled against “the creator” to help Adam and his descendants. “The creator” curses these angels because they wanted to help mankind. “The creator” turns them into six armed rock monsters. Cain kills Abel then he flees the scene. The fallen-angel-six-armed-rock-monsters help Cain to establish a great powerful civilization. The Descendants of Cain become increasingly evil to the point they even start killing some of the fallen-angel-six-armed-rock-monsters. Methuselah, who provides the only comic relief of this movie, protects the angels with his magical flaming sword??????? Cut to Lamech (Noah’s dad), he begins to wrap a relic snakeskin (from the snake in the garden who deceived Eve) around his arm. Right as Lamech is going to give Noah his snakeskin blessing, the dad is killed by the King of the descendants of Cain named Tubal-Cain in the story. BTW- Tubal-Cain was a real man mentioned in the bible. However, the bible does not mention that Tubal-Cain was King of the bad guys. The narration tells us that Noah was righteous, but we are not told that he walked in close fellowship with God as the scripture says. In fact, we never get the sense that he is all that righteous either. Instead Noah has a cryptic dream of a world-wide flood and is directed Methuselah’s mountain??? On his way to Methuselah’s mountain with his family he finds a wounded girl (in fact she if barren from the wound), she is the lone survivor of a village that has been attacked. They bandage the girl named Ila and then they all have to flee from some bad guys into the scorched earth wasteland. Once inside the borders of this wasteland, the fallen-angel-six-armed-rock-monsters scare off the bad guys and take Noah’s family captive and leave them in a pit to die. But alas, later that night one of the rock monsters takes pity and helps Noah’s family escape to Methuselah’s Mountain. Noah and Shem trek up the mountain to speak to Methuselah. Methuselah then puts Shem to sleep via the Vulcan nerve pinch???? Then Methuselah drugs Noah (perhaps LSD) so that Noah can have a completed vision from “the creator”. When Noah finishes his trip, he knows that he has to build an ark all thanks to his granddad/drug dealer, Methuselah???? Then a la Jack and the beanstalk, Methuselah gives Noah a magic bean from the Garden of Eden to grow a forest for wood to build the ark????? Noah and Shem, then trek back down the mountain. Noah plants the magic bean that night. The next morning, the other fallen-angel-six-armed-rock-monsters show up to drag the traitor rock monster that helped Noah back for punishment. Noah tries to talk them into helping him at which time the magic bean grows the magic forest and the rock monsters are convinced to help Noah build the Ark. The building of the Ark begins (on a side note: in a pinch, the rock monsters are amazing craftsmen). Tubal-Cain and some of his army shows up. He threatens Noah, saying that Noah cannot stand alone against the horde of bad guys. Then the best line from the trailer comes: Noah says, “I am not alone”. Now, when I watched the trailer I thought that meant that Noah was saying God’s got my back. Not so. In the movie he means he is not alone because he has rock monsters????? The king of the bad guys warns they will come back with a better equipped, larger army and they will take the ark. Shem and Ila are now a couple and Ham is starting to get a little girl crazy himself. So Noah goes to bad guy city and tries to find some wives for Ham and Japeth, instead Noah sees a girl being dragged off for who knows what. Noah does not save the girl. He sees just how evil the people are and that they deserve death, then Noah has a vision that all people are wicked even his own family. He goes back to the Ark without a girlfriend for Ham. Ham is very upset and runs away to find himself a women, Ila feels sorry for Ham and runs after him. After some time passes, Noah sends Shem to bring Ham and Ila back. Meanwhile Ila runs into Methuselah who blesses Ila and heals her barren womb. She then runs into Shem and they hook up to consummate their relationship in the magical forest. Ham finds a girl, living in a pit with a pile of corpses??? The rain starts, Ham convinces the girl to come back to the Ark. Ham and his newfound girlfriend are running through the magical forest back toward the Ark, she gets her foot caught in a bear trap????? It’s raining, the Bad guys are not far behind. Shem and Ila make it back to the ark without Ham. Noah goes to get Ham, Ham pleads with Noah to help him get his girlfriend to the ark. Noah refuses to help the girl, he only saves Ham and allows the girl to be trampled by the hoard of bad guys. Noah and Ham make it back the Ark but Ham is very upset with Noah for allowing his girlfriend to be trampled to death. The rock monsters have created a make-shift chain-link fence around the Ark using themselves as the posts???? The Hoard of bad guys attack, the last stand of the rock monsters ensues. After the rock monsters get in some good punches, the bad guys start killing them one by one. As the rock monsters fall in an act of sacrifice for Noah and his family, “the creator” redeems the fallen-angel-six-armed-rock-monsters and they get to go back to heaven????? The flood gets increasingly worse, Noah is fighting to keep the last of the bad guys off the ark. In the middle of all the turmoil, a severely wounded Tubal-Cain, sneaks in the back door of the Ark???? While they are on the ark, Noah shares the rest of “the creator’s” plan to only save the wildlife and that men will die off with no more children to be born. Ever. Ham slowly nurses Tubal-Cain back to health. Shem and Ila find out they are expecting a child. They ask Noah to give their child his blessing. He freaks out, climbs up the ladder, goes on the deck of the Ark and begs “the creator” not to make him kill the child. Lo and behold, “the creator” wants the child to live if born a boy but to be killed if a born a girl. Enter gendercide. Noah walks around the next nine months with a crazy look on his face waiting to do the “creator’s” will of gendercide if the baby is born a girl. Finally, after a failed escape attempt by Shem and Ila, the day of the birth comes. Its twins, both girls! Tubal-Cain talks Ham into luring Noah into an ambush. Tubal-Cain is about to kill Noah, when Ham stabs him to save his dad’s life. Noah gets up dusts himself off and goes about the “creator’s” gendercide plan. When Noah is about to kill the twin girls, he falls in love with his granddaughters and kisses their heads instead. He tells “the creator” that he has failed Him because just can’t kill them. The Ark settles on the mountain, Noah gets drunk and naked as a way to deal with his survivor’s guilt and his guilt from failing to commit gendercide for “the creator”???? After he is covered up by Shem and Japeth and sobers up, he has a talk with Ila. Ila tells Noah that “the creator” chose him for a reason, and that it was up to Noah to decide whether or not mankind was worth survival and he made the choice to save the babies. Noah makes up with his family, wraps the snakeskin relic around his arms and gives the babies a “snakeskin” blessing???? Rainbows. Credits. Did I mention Rock Monsters? Or Magical beans? Now though, I could go in to detail of all the MANY gross errors in the Noah Movie, I think you get most of the idea of the problems between the biblical story and the screenplay. I do want to focus on the fact that “the creator” in the movie does not remotely resemble the God of the scriptures. It is an affront to our God. This unloving and unsovereign “creator” presented in the story is a terrible and hateful view of God. This filmmaker Darren Aronofski has added to and taken away from scripture, which I don’t have to tell you is bad. (Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:19, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Deuteronomy 4:2 & 12:32) Let’s be clear, I am not talking about creative license like most biblical movies. I have no problem with some creative license to tell a story in a compelling way through the cinema so long as the integrity of the story holds true. This movie deliberately stays away from the word God and instead always says “the creator” “The creator” in this movie is unloving. Never showing any love for people. Not even Noah (a righteous man). “The creator” in this movie is not sovereign, at best it is Open Theism which is heresy. At worst, “the creator” is just plain hateful, distant and not very good. In fact, “the creator” doesn’t make the decision to save people; that is left to Noah. “The creator” isn’t even involved in the decision for mankind to continue; No, He leaves that most important decision to a very unstable Noah. My bible says, “God is Love” and “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Our God is just, but our God is also Love. Jesus is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”. That means that even though God knew we would make terrible choices, He still loved us so much he planned redemption even before the fall. “For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son” Noah is presented a half-crazed weirdo hippie who doesn’t really know the creator’s voice. My bible says the world was not worthy of Noah. God honored Noah in the scriptures, this movie dishonors him. My bible says Noah walked in close fellowship with God. Many Christian leaders such as, Pastor Brian Houston (Hillsong, Australia), Jim Daly (Focus on the Family), and Andrew Palau (Luis Palau Association) have endorsed this movie. They say it is a great tool for evangelism. I find their arguments to be weak-minded and lazy. Weak-minded because they clearly have not thought this nonsense through till it’s logical end. Lazy because they don't want to have to “go ye therefore” they don’t want to break up the fallow ground, plant the seed and water the ground and await a harvest. They want Hollywood to till the ground, plant the seed and water it. Then, they say we can be ready to swoop in and harvest the field. Harvest what???? The Stoney ground? Why would we think Hollywood would give us a useful tool? My bible teaches that blessing and cursing cannot come from the same source. I think of King David, a man of integrity. He stood up when Goliath had defied God and the Armies of Israel. Will anyone stand today? No, I am not suggesting we need to slay Aronofsky, but we need not esteem him or his work either. Rock Monsters??? Seriously? How dare you Brian Houston, Jim Daly and Andrew Palau? You all should have known better. What was the promised price? I have debated for a long time blogging on this topic, because I know it will offend some people whose high standard of conduct I really appreciate and whom I love dearly. Also, I know if my words are slightly misrepresented or taken to an extreme, they can empower those looking for an excuse to sin or those looking for a reason to condemn what we are doing with Equip Ekklesia of San Angelo.
First, I defer to the Apostle Paul. In Romans 14 NLT (BTW- the chapter in my bible is titled “The Danger of Criticism” I love that!) Paul makes some interesting points (I am going to paraphrase here, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE Read your Bible and stop taking people’s words for it, please check all my scripture references in context to see if I am “correctly dividing the word of truth”). Anywho, in Romans 14, he says:
And here are the key principals from Romans 14:
Now about alcohol: A lot of good people believe God has forbidden any use of alcoholic beverages and it is wrong and sinful and they claim the scripture supports this belief. So what does the Bible say? Wine and other alcoholic drinks are frequently mentioned in the Bible. Sinful or beneficial, the Bible will show us. One of the first mentions of wine in Scripture is Genesis 14:18 “Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram (later Abraham) some bread and wine.” The Hebrew word for wine here is yah'•yin This word is used 138 times in the Old Testament to mean fermented wine, not grape juice. How do we know that yah'•yin is fermented? This same beverage “yah'•yin” when used excessively, causes drunkenness. •Genesis 9:21 Noah drank too much yah'•yin and became drunk •Genesis 19, Lot also became drunk on yah'•yin •1 Samuel 25:36, Nabal got tipsy on yah'•yin Now, I am really gonna ruffle some feathers. How many times when evangelicals speak about tithe, do they tell you about Deuteronomy 14:24-26? My guess is, unless you have read it for yourself, you haven’t heard this taught. Now paraphrasing is dangerous in these situations, so I’ll quote word for word then I’ll paraphrase: “Now when the Lord your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe. If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the Lord your God has chosen. When you arrive, you may use the money to buy any kind of food you want—cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your household.” And my paraphrase: When God really blesses your harvest, and due to the distance you are unable to bring the tithe of the harvest to the temple, then you can sell the harvest tithe, go to the place of worship and, you can use the money to buy any food you want—steak, mutton, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then eat, drink and celebrate with your household in the presence of the Lord your God. If occasionally, you can use your tithe harvest to buy wine and cheese and party in the presence of the Lord, then alcohol doesn’t seem to be condemned. BTW – it also said “other alcoholic drink”, oops! In addition to enjoying yah'•yin as a beverage, In Exodus 29:40, God told the Levites/priests to include in the sacrifices a portion of yah'•yin as a drink offering. It is clear in these scriptures, there can be a right use (celebration/offering) and a wrong use of wine (getting hammered). Naturally fermented wine is between 10% and 14% alcohol. Higher alcoholic wines use modern processes and are fortified wines. On special occasions God even allowed use of what is translated as “strong drink” This term comes from a different Hebrew word shā•kär' which is used 23 times in the Old Testament, and refers to alcoholic drinks made from dates and other fruit. Note - the process to produce the high % alcohol called hard liquor today (40 - 50 % alcohol, or 80-100 proof) for the most part, did not exist in until the Middle Ages and there is no evidence linking “hard liquor” to bible times. The danger is, unless diluted, “hard liquor” easily lends itself to abuse, drunkenness and alcoholism. The Bible says that God gave “wine to make them glad” - Psalm 104:15 Why have some people turned this blessing of God into a curse? A blessing of wine was prophesied as a heritage to the chosen people in Genesis 27:28: “From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.” The Hebrew word tē•rōshe, meaning “new wine,” is used in 38 places in the Old Testament. Ah “New Wine” that’s not fermented/alcoholic, right? Some people say tē•rōshe means grape juice, or fresh-pressed juice of the vine. However, Hosea 4:11 says yah'•yin and tē•rōshe “has robbed my people of their understanding.” Does grape juice rob you of your understanding? tē•rōshe, though less alcoholic, is an intoxicating wine if used in excess. The New Testament John the Baptist did not drink wine (oi’-nos in the Greek) or “strong drink” (sē'-ke-rä) because it was prophesied that he wouldn’t (Luke 1:15). However, Jesus Christ did drink oi’-nos (wine) (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). Jesus did not preach against the use of oi’-nos; instead he did like most other Jews of his day. He drank oi’-nos in moderation. In ancient times, it was normally diluted with water for drinking, and was one of the principal beverages at that time — as it is today. Jesus’ first miracle was to change six stone jars of 20-30 gallons each of water into oi’-nos (wine). Some people in preaching total abstinence teach he turned water into grape juice. Seriously? Imagine if you can a Jewish wedding banquet where everyone drank only grape juice! BTW – they didn’t have refrigerators or any way of preventing grape juice from fermenting. This wine was of the finest quality — “You have saved the best till now” (John 2:10). I don’t know about you but I always rave about the Welch’s at communion in evangelical churches. ;) At wedding feasts, hosts normally started with the best wine, and they would bring out the cheap wines later. In Matthew 9:17, Jesus taught a parable including fermentation of oi’-nos. Back then, instead of having metal or glass bottles, they used animal skins to hold wine. Fermentation would bust an old skin, but it wouldn’t bust a stretchable new skin. Another proof that oi’-nos is fermented wine is the fact that the apostle Paul said, “Don’t be drunk with oi’-nos (wine), because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” -Ephesians 5:18 You cannot get drunk on Welch’s, so Paul may just have been talking about fermented wine. Paul told Timothy, “Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little oi’-nos (wine) for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often” -1 Timothy 5:23. Note: He said to use only a little wine, not a whole lot Who is dumb enough to get drunk at communion? Believe it or not, Paul had to correct the Corinthians about it (1 Corinthians 11:21). Obviously they were using fermented wine for communion, Paul did not tell them they were using the wrong kind of wine. He told them to eat and drink at home, and to participate respectfully in in the Lord’s Supper. Don’t abuse alcohol and don’t get drunk Both the Old and New Testaments contain several cases against abusing alcohol and getting drunk. Drunkenness a sinful desire (Galatians 5:21). Jesus said don’t get drunk (Luke 21:34). The apostle Paul told the Corinthian church not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer but cannot control his/her drinking among other things (1 Corinthians 5:11-13). He uses the word drunkard, this refers to a lifestyle, people who won’t admit to being and alcoholic or try to beat alcoholism. Paul is not talking about people who are working on overcoming their addiction. The Bible says:
If a minister drinks at all, it should be in moderation. So one group of Christians only focus on the verses that condemn abuse of alcohol and never paint the full picture by quoting verses showing a proper moderate use. They reject the truth from the Bible about alcohol. They have made up their minds that the use of wine is always wrong. The Bible teaches us not to look down on them or to condemn those who honestly believe this way (Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33). Alcohol is not a necessity. Due to the vast ruin of lives caused by alcohol abuse today, many people believe abstinence is the best policy, even if the Bible does not require it; and I would much rather hear them argue that position than twisting scripture to argue alcoholic beverages are forbidden. Alcoholics, or anyone who reacts adversely to alcohol for any reason, shouldn't drink at all; and no one should use alcohol in the presence of a recovering alcoholic (and often one does not know who that might be). Can we just love and respect each other? God saves, justifies, convicts, sanctifies and Judges. I am not God and neither are you, thank God! I was considering this term that is so frequently tossed about in churches today. I wondered about its origin, in Luke 1:28 Gabriel tells Mary that she is highly favored and blessed among women. So, there it is, the virgin Mary who was selected out of all women to be the mother of Christ is told that she is blessed and highly favored. Wow, doesn't it just give you chill bumps? I mean, if we are to take it as the way that phrase is used today in the many word-faith churches, then that means Mary just hit the lotto! Come on, big money! She will have new cars, a new house. Not just a new house, a big new house, and not just a new big house but a new big house in an exclusive neighborhood. She’ll have everything that money can buy. I mean she’s gonna get her blessing, right?
After hearing the Angel, she accepts this message saying, “let it be” (anybody else humming the Beatles?) “to me, according to your word”. Let’s take an honest look at how blessed and highly favored she was in earthly things: In those days, a single mom was considered a harlot, which is a nice or not so nice way to say a prostitute or at very least a promiscuous women. She would have faced ridicule from people who believed she should be stoned to death. Joseph basically wants to divorce her. After Augustus declares a census; Joseph and an extremely pregnant Mary make the 80 mile journey, most likely by donkey, over harsh terrain, an extremely rough ride for a pregnancy. Then, because there is no room in the Inn, Mary was forced to give birth in a manger, not exactly an antiseptic or sterile environment (Luke 2:7) Next, an Angel warns Joseph, that Herod wants to kill the child so he takes Mary and Jesus on another rough trip all the way to Egypt, fleeing to save their child’s life. When Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover as they did every year and on the way back they went through a panic when they realized Jesus was not with them, every parent knows that anxious feeling but compound that with the fact Mary knows there are forces that want Jesus dead. Sometime between Jesus’ 12th birthday and his 30th, Mary loses her partner in life, she would have grieved heavily at Joseph’s early death. Sure she sees the miracles of Jesus, the people following Him, but she also sees the church becoming angry at Him and she sees how he made the dangerous political system very uneasy. She most likely hears the news the power structures of church and state plot for her son’s death, they hold a sham trial, they torture him with the brutality that made the Romans famous, and then they murder this innocent man in one of the most barbaric ways possible on the cross. So by the time Mary is 48, she has lost her husband; she has seen her son tortured and killed. Yeah, that’s what most televangelists (I resist the temptation to name names) and the rest of the motivational speakers that call themselves preachers mean when they say, “you are blessed and highly favored” Just remember, as children of God, we are blessed and favored, we are “the elect” according to the scriptures but that does not promise us wealth and riches. Jesus said blessed are the poor, the hungry, the meek. Jesus recommends to the rich young man that he place his treasure in heaven, after he sells everything he owns and gives it to the poor. Jesus said when the widow gave out of her need (indicating poverty) and that she gave the most. In Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the poor man inherits eternal life after an earthly life of affliction and poverty. By the way, the rich man in the parable goes in hell. In Proverbs 30, Agur prays for the Lord not to make him rich or poor. He implies rich people think they don’t need the Lord and the poor may curse God in their poverty. I guess what I am saying or restating is what God says in Isaiah 55, His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. Also in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28, Paul says, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” The whole of the Bible tells us that this world has it backwards, and wouldn't it mean that what “blessed and highly favored” means to God is not the same thing it means to the world? And don’t even get me started on how these name it claim it, word-faith guys abuse the story of Jacob wrestling with God for a blessing…what a terrible treatment of a great story, enough ranting now, maybe some other time . Until then, seek first the Kingdom of God, keep your mind on things above then the desires of your heart will not line up with the desires of the wicked or the lust of the flesh. In talking with Christians of any age and of all different lengths of "pew longevity", many want to understand more completely the difference between Sanctification and Justification. I believe understanding begins with simplicity and then moves deeper. Jesus taught that his yoke (or system of teaching, including parables, sayings and lifestyle) was easy. Lets start with that thought and the fact that though understanding theology takes discipline in prayer, reading and meditation, the principles of doctrine can be put simply as well. Let me demonstrate for you in Microsoft Word, with thanks to Bill Gates for helping me communicate doctrine in this special way. I pray that somehow this may help someone to better understand the Amazing Grace of Justification and the Awe Inspiring Work the Holy Spirit does in the process of Sanctification.
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