Spiritual Formation

Old & New Testament Spiritual Transformation

At the heart of spiritual formation is transformation into Christ-likeness or as the Apostle Paul coined it “becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13b). This process is not to be achieved by human effort, rather it is “what God does to and for us, along with all he makes available to make this transformation possible”[1]. Using New Testament language, spiritual formation is defined as “an inside job”[2]. The result of the Holy Spirit empowerment is a people transformed to live out “God-honoring lives within the context of community and healthy relationships”[3]. The above-mentioned statements describe the reality of a New Testament model of achieving transformation. But what of the Old Testament?

Bible Inspiration & Inerrancy

The Inerrancy Debate and the Contemporary Church

A survey of Scriptures reveal that the biblical writers testified to the doctrine of Inerrancy and Inspiration. Time and time again their use of Scriptures affirm that “the Bible originated from God and is His message to the human race”[1]. Commonly used Scriptures in support of the doctrine of Inerrancy and Inspiration include 2 Timothy 3:16, and 2 Peter 1:20-21, John 10:35b). In the process of God’s superintendcy upon the authors of the Scriptures, He conveyed the humanness of the authors. Erickson[2] makes this point very well in describing the acts of Peter and Paul. While God directed the thoughts of Luke (the result of his careful research) to give and account of Peter’s ministry to Cornelius in Acts 10, Peter willfully ignored God’s commands in Acts 10:9-15 and “compromised by withdrawing from eating with Gentiles and certain Jews” in Galatians 2:11-12. We can learn a thing or two from reading about the triumphs and failures of those that have gone before us. The Apostle Paul said it well: “For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction…” (Romans 15:4a).

The Four Disciplines of Theology - Systematic, Biblical, Historical, Philosophical

The Relationship Between The Four Disciplines of Theological Studies

Systematic theology deals with the “development of doctrine in the Church’s history, the totality of biblical revelation and extra-biblical truth, and draws out the teachings of Scripture via sound grammatical, historical and cultural exegesis”[1]. Practically speaking, Systematic theology is a discipline that contextualizes theology to make it palatable for every generation. It pulls together other branches of theology to create a more coherent means of knowing God’s truth. 

According to Elwell[2]Biblical theology “explores the truth and message of biblical books by a grouping mechanism”, Historical theology “traces the church’s faith topically through the various eras of its history”, and Philosophical theology seeks to provide a thinking mechanism for the defense of the faith. While Systematic theology is considered a science, it is more accurately concerned with “God’s salvation history with His people, the utterances of divinely ordained prophets and apostles and the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ”[3]. 

The Holy Spirit - His Role

The Holy Spirit – The Most Neglected Essential Resource.

Without a doubt, the Holy Spirit is the most neglected and underutilized of the three resources. He is given to believers at salvation (Acts 15:8, 1 John 5:10) and is continually engaged in the process of perfecting the saints (Hebrews 10:14-15, Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 6:11). While we know that He (the Holy Spirit) is God, we are often less inclined to obey and to totally trust in Him in the face of the pressure from the world, the flesh and the enemy of God. But believers would do well to be reminded of His unique role as helper and counselor who abides with and within each child of God(John 14:16-18). While the church is aware of who He is, considerably less  teaching is given on His person and work (at least in the Charismatic/Pentecostal circles to which I have been exposed for the past 15 years). We pray to Him, seek Him, know that He is the only way to eternal life (John 14:6), but more could be done to examine His person and work outside of the emotionalism involved with the worship of this member of the Trinity – after-all, anyone that worships Him must do so in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). He primarily has two functions – (1) gives knowledge and (2) gives power[1]. We can therefore sum up His role as ‘the helper of the believer {John 14:16). The Greek word for “helper” is “parakletos” which means “one called or summoned along the side of another to help; a comforter, advocate or an intercessor”[2]. While the church is fascinated by His work (e.g. miracles, signs, wonders and exorcisms) and seemingly is hungering for a return of the first century New Testament church, I believe we still have much work in developing the theology of the Holy Spirit in these two roles.

Loss Of A Loved One

Losing A Loved One

Well, one thing is for sure.  Brother Scott, spirit filled, water baptized, is with his God! For us, it is tragic, it is hard, it is tough.  A father to many, a husband, co-worker, brother and friend to others has passed away. To God though, Brother Scott (His son) has been promoted. Listen, he has been released from the burdens of this place. I know, I wish he was here right now with us – with his strong, laughing, encouraging, ever-giving -his- last- dime- self. But he has been relocated to heaven. He is with his God. He is “absent from this world and present with the Lord”.

Bereavement & Grief Texts

Bereavement Texts & Prayers

“In such a time of great sorrow and distress, we can trust God with our loved one. The question is “Have we accepted Christ as the Lord of our life so that we can join our loved one in heaven?”[4]. I encourage you to make that commitment today as this moment is ripe for the opportunity of a lifetime.

Prayer:   “Lord, help us to know what is most important in this life and to live for you alone. Comfort our grieving hearts, and bless the memories of our dear loved one.”[1]

Benediction:    “Fear not, for I am with you; be not discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).                                                                                           

Prayer: “Father, we gather here to remember the life and mourn the death of our loved one.

                We do not sorrow as those who have no hope, for our hope is in Jesus Christ. We ask

               that You would comfort each family member and friend.  May they turn to Your Word

               for comfort, be encouraged through happy memories, be sustained by the hope of the

               resurrection for all who place their faith in you, and may the purpose in their heart to

              seek you while You may be found. Amen”[2]  

                        

Benediction:    “The Lord bless and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace”

                            (Numbers 6:24,26)

An Historical View of Church Discipline and Restoration

The Council of Carthage (251 A.D.)

A key figure to the early development of the language used for organization and implementation of Church Discipline is Cyprian of Carthage (210-258 A.D.). He “developed a system based on Roman civil government that became normative for the Church for the next 1200 years until the Reformation in the 16th century”  . He did not create a new episcopal system; rather laid a better operating foundation.  During the time of Emperor Decius of Rome (201 -251 A.D.) there was widespread persecution of Christians. Christianity was still an illegal religion. The Romans believed that the gods were angry at them because they were not receiving proper honor, especially from the Christians. “In January 250, the Emperor ordered everyone throughout the empire to sacrifice to the pagan gods of Rome and to get an official written certificate from a locally established commission confirming that they had complied with the edict” . These certificates were called “Libelli”. According to Balfour , there had not been widespread persecutions of Christians in Carthage for decades – the result was a move for so-called Christians to comply with the edict (as many as three quarters of some congregations), sacrifice to the Roman gods, and bribe magistrates to falsify Libellis. These “compromising Christians were called the “Lapsed”. Many refused and were tortured, and imprisoned. The persecution lasted for 14 months. Those who kept the faith under duress were called “Confessors”. Emperor Decius’ successor Trebonianus Gallus, discontinued the policy of persecuting the Christians. The question became – What about the “lapsed”? How would the Church deal with this issue? There was much at stake here. There were those who “asked for readmission due to impending death from persecution and wished to die in the fellowship of the Church” .

There were many voices at the table. The Confessors believed their obedience to the faith “earned the right to decide the faith of the lapsed” . After-all, they took the easy path. They did not receive torture, imprisonment, deprivation of food, water, fresh air and light. They got off easy by recanting. It was the Confessors who should decide the fate of these traitors, not the Bishops. Another issue on the table was “When (if ever) should they be re-admitted?” 

Failing God - Peter

Scenes From Passion Week

Is Failure Final? 

Matthew 26: 31-33

Luke 22:31 – 33

Mark 14:30 – 31

Peter’s Denial   

I find that even though Jesus was managing related activities regarding resurrection, He still found time for “one person”, namely Peter (Matthew 28:7 “He is not here…Go tell His disciples and Peter…) So now comes time to restore Peter and give commission to His disciples.

A Model for Restoration of a Believer:

Step 1 -  Peter failed and was sorrowful. He later found comfort with his friends. Sometimes a believer loses faith and either never returns (like Judas), stays on the fringes and never gets back into the mix or finds themselves in the support of fellow believers (as Peter did). Peter was disappointed with himself, but he did not lose faith (Of course, Jesus already prayed for him and all believers).

Literary Style of the Action Packed Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark

And…Action!

Immediately, coming up from the water…

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness…

Immediately, while He was speaking, Judas, … with a great multitude with swords and clubs…

If you were looking for dynamic reading, then look no further than the Gospel according to Mark. Of all the four Gospels, Mark emphasized action.  His writing is a paratactic style, “stringing together short, loosely connected episodes, like pearls on a string” (Just). Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four, filled with a sense of immediacy as noted above (1: 10, 12; ,14:43). In fact, his sense of immediacy rings clear in the use of the word “immediately” (Gk. “euthys”) thirty-nine (39) times, along with the word “and” (Gk. “kai”) five hundred and nine (509) times according to the New American Standard translation.

It was during the early years of the church – first century. It was commonplace for Christians to “pass on the story of Jesus orally as isolated stories, short sayings collections and some longer narrative, such as the passion” (Hollman, logos). According to Hollman, most scholars believe that Mark “wrote with the needs of the church in mind, addressing the typical concerns pertinent to his generation”. We know that he was a disciple of the Apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:13; Acts 12:12,25;15:37,39). Church fathers Justin Martyr called Mark’s Gospel the “memoirs of Peter” around AD 150, and Irenaeus called him “the disciple and interpreter of Peter (AD 185) as well (MacArthur). The Gospel of Mark was written to Roman Christians, about AD 55-65, when Rome was under the rule of Emperor Tiberius Caesar. It is said to have been written after the Apostle Peter’s martyrdom in order to “address the crisis in the church around the intense persecution they were experiencing” (Theopedia).

In this fast-paced Gospel, the writer aims to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, by emphasizing “what Jesus does, rather than what He says” (Mappes, D.). 

Church History - The Big Split of 1054

There is much we can learn from the Great Schism of 1054. “The church was split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political and geographical lines” ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­(Lumen). The Roman empire was in decline; there were invasions by the barbarians, from Islam and from the Scandinavians. By 410, Rome was conquered, and its emperor deposed. The period resulting was characterized by Tony Lane (88) as “a period of turmoil and anarchy, with the near collapse of civilization”. By 800, Charlemagne (King of the Franks) was declared the new Roman emperor. This move was strategic for the Christian church. As with all events, there are opportunities and challenges, depending on if you see the glass as half empty or half full.