death by love: bloody new covenant

I had a choice – go back to where I left off my blogging about ‘Death by Love‘ by Mark Driscoll, or pick up where I am reading right now.

The idea of going back and reviewing the first couple of chapters felt stale to me (that’s my fault, not the book’s), so I decided to begin with what has me most fired up.

. . . . . . .

Before I even get to the book, I am internally compelled to highlight the incredible artist behind the images in this book.

Raw, stark, and beautiful, the charcoal images complement the contents of the book in a way that is agonizingly beautiful.

While reviewing Christopher Koelle’s website, I encountered an illustration from John Piper’s poem ‘Job’ that is simply stunning.

I wanted to start with that image.  Look at it for a while.  Think about it.

Art can enhance our appreciation of God’s work on our behalf, stirring us to heartfelt & heartbroken worship of the magisterial mercy of God.

This is one of those images:

© 2009 Christopher Koelle

(Please check out Christopher Koelle’s other work – and feel free to purchase his artwork)

. . . . . . .

On second thought, I am going to leave it at that for the moment.

I don’t need to change the title to the post or even drop the references to ‘Death by Love‘ – these things all fit together perfectly.

As you will see. Soon enough.

. . . . . . . .

What do you think of the incorporation of art into the Church’s worship of God?

It’s, obviously, a highly controversial subject – have you seen it done well? Not so well?

I’m eager for your answers.

. . . . . . . .

in the news: Schuller split

the Schullers: Robert H & son, Robert A.

In my daily review of the news I stumbled across an interesting story.

Evidently, this weekend Robert H. Schuller, well known pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, announced that his son, Robert A.Schuller, was being removed from leadership of CC’s “Hour of Power” television ministry.

In making the announcement, the elder Schuller cited “different ideas as to the direction and the vision for this ministry (‘Hour of Power’) as we move into the future”.

This statement, not surprisingly, grabbed my attention.  It is one of those statements that manages to leave you feeling that you know what’s going on when, in fact, you don’t.

So I did a little more digging and found and article in the Los Angeles Times that gets a bit closer to the meaning of “different ideas” for ‘Hour of Power’ – the entire article is worth reading, but here is the part I found most insightful:

Schuller built his worldwide ministry over a half century on the psychology of positive thinking and appealing to people turned off by the formality of traditional faiths. In contrast, his son’s sermons have been full of direct references to the Bible.

“I was called to start a mission, not a church,” Schuller told his audience Sunday. “There is a difference. . . . You don’t try to preach . . . what is sin and what isn’t sin. A mission is a place where you ask nonbelievers to come and find faith and hope and feel love. We’re a mission first, a church second.”

Now, I am in no position to speak with any authority when it comes to the differences between the two Schullers, not having heard either of them preach more than once or twice in passing.  

I cannot speak to the faithfulness of either man when it comes to their adherence to the biblical gospel, but I find it intriguing that the elder Schuller seems desirous that his “mission” be a place “where you ask nonbelievers to come and find faith and hope and feel love”, yet – according the this journalist’s  interpretation  - preaching from the scriptures does not line up with the elder Schuller’s understanding of “faith”, “hope”, or “love”.

If this article is right and the difference between the two men is preaching from the scripture, I got to ask myself, “what’s the point?”

What’s the point of gathering a group of people together in a massive marvel of church architecture to gush intangible feelings of faith, hope, and love that have no clearly defined meaning?  What is the benefit? Why even waste the time? 

If that is the kind of faith, hope, and love coming out of the Crystal Cathedral, then that place is nothing more than a Crystal Tomb, adorned in whitewash.

We need faith, hope, and love that are rooted in Jesus Christ’s death in our place.  

We need faith in his sacrifice.

We need the hope that comes from his glorious resurrection from death.

We need love that is inseparable from 1 John 4: 9-11: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

***Editorial Addition: Tuesday morning my Google Reader delivered an outstanding article on the Schuller Split with additional helpful research and insight, so if you want to know more check out Al Mohler’s article “So Much for Possibility Thinking” at his blog, www.albertmohler.com.

***Editorial Note:  Let me be clear that this article has several holes in it, that it provides helpful insight into the nature of the “differences” between the two Schullers, but it is far from conclusive.  

Unfortunately, the language of the Christian subculture is not clearly defined and it is especially prone to misuse by media outlets.  Having recognized this, I want to be clear that my thoughts above are made conditionally, and should not be read as an outright and definite condemnation of the Crystal Cathedral.

blog got swole

You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but this blog just exploded – multiplying in size by like ten.

No, I didn’t go blog crazy and write sixty blog entries over the weekend, I rolled all of our previous blogs into this one , now definitive, Wilson Blog.

What was added:

focalelement blog – a blog I started early in my seminary career in Louisville because I thought that you had to have a blog to be a seminary student: “but ma, all the other kids are doing it!”  It includes some of my miscellaneous thoughts – some more worthwhile than others – and it did lead to an interesting ongoing conversation between myself and a lady who went by the name “G.D.”  

kywilsons blog – unfortunate name, I know, but it was the first Wilson blog written our for friends and family when we moved from Texas to Louisville.  The name of the blog has everything to do with geography and nothing to do with being newlyweds – lets just go ahead and get that joke out of the way.  I would recommend checking out the Online Tour of our apartment in Old Louisville and the post ‘Junie’s House”, if you are interested in some highlights from our time in Louisville.

main event blog – this was the digital resource I put together for my college group’s weekly Bible study.  We called it the “Main Event” because I owned a pair of socks that had those, now infamous, words printed on them.  I spent about 45 minutes of Bible study with my boy Darnell calling me the Main Event before I realized what was going on.  The rest is history.  I recommend checking out some of my review posts on our studies from the Gospel of John – we had a great time walking through 12 chapters in John in the time that I was there (keep the momentum going guys, you can finish it!)

So, that’s that.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have about all this new (old) material.

Review: John 3:9-15

As yall know, I am fighting to get everything done for school before the semester expires. So I won’t post a review of last week’s Bible study for a couple of weeks.

See you then!

Wednesday November 8,2006

Brace yourself, if last week was any indication of how Bible study is going to be this Wednesday night, it should be a fun filled, question packed couple of hours studying John.

Last week you guys really did an impressive job of engaging with the text and asking some awesome questions. So keep up the good work of studying the passage before Bible study so that we can work on developing the answers to our questions together, bringing everyone’s study of the bible to bear on our questions and thereby increasing our ability to rightly answer questions and interpret the text.

I have really enjoyed watching our group mature as a group in our study of the Bible. Keep up the good work and continue to invite your family members (“College” Bible study is descriptive, not prescriptive), people living in your neighborhoods and buildings, and your friends and coworkers. Remember, two thousand years ago the Church began with two guys chowing down with Jesus, meeting the Savior of the world, and today more than 2.1 billion people call themselves followers of Jesus.

A little Bible study can turn into something miraculous if people are meeting Jesus and being changed by him.

For this week we will be studying John 3:1-21 (we focused on the first 8 verses last week and we will finish the passage this week), Numbers 21:1-9 (in its context), review the Prologue of John to refresh yourself on the important themes that will be popping up in John’s Gospel, continue to think about what the “kingdom of God” is, and just linger on this passage because it can be one of those passages that we have heard so often that we become numb to it…fight that response with prayer and diligence in thinking about the passage.

Review: John 3:1-8

Preface:

• U Gotta Pope? According to Catholic tradition, Jesus commissioned Peter to lead the early church as God’s authoritative representative. As such, one of the Pope’s most important (and dangerous) roles is serving as Catholicism’s official interpreter of the Bible. As Protestants, we recognize that the office of Pope is not a biblical office and that it is the responsibility of all Christians, individually and corporately, to rightly interpret the Bible. Despite that fact, when we uncritically sit under a teacher or a preacher who is walking us through the Bible, we — in affect — entrust to that teacher authority to interpret the Bible for us.
• Moral of the Story: Remember the Bereans [Acts 17:10-12]? They were taught by Paul — you may have heard of him — but, despite that fact, they still examined all of his teaching to be certain that what he taught about Jesus fit with Old Testament Scriptures. Be like the Bereans, develop a healthy Berean critical eye and ear when it comes to sitting under the teaching of anybody.

Nicodemus (v.1-2)

• Who was he? Pharisee, a ruling member of the Sanhedrin (he has hot stuff)
• Why did he come to Jesus at night? Perhaps so his visit would be hidden by the cover of darkness, or maybe so he could have more time to talk to Jesus — who was quickly becoming known as a worker of miracles
• Was Nic sincere in his statement to Jesus (v.2)? His curiosity is obvious but, it would also appear that the Spirit might be at work in him — according to [John 7:50, 9:39] — but the Bible doesn’t tell us everything that is going on with Nic)
• Did Nicodemus become a follower of Jesus? Perhaps this is the beginning stages of Nic turning to Jesus and believing that he is Lord. Maybe the wind was blowing as Jesus taught Nic and, in the two passages listed above, we can see the grass moving, the results of the Spirit at work (v.8)

Jesus Schools the ‘Teacher of Israel’ (v.3-8)

• Jesus doesn’t Mince Words: “Nicodemus, thanks for the compliment, but just so you know, your entrance into the Kingdom of God is not a lock, you must be born twice to enter the kingdom”
• Hard Words: Jesus was a brilliant teacher (Matt. 12:38-42 actually says Jesus is wiser than Solomon). His usual way of teaching was to take an object or a simple scenario connected to common everyday life (and, not infrequently, pulled from the Old Testament). It was easy to understand Jesus’ teaching on an earthly level, but it was much harder to understand the application Jesus made of the earthly thing to the heavenly thing. Why did Jesus chose to teach using a method that is simultaneously quite simple and surprisingly hard to understand? According to [Matt. 13: 10-17] Jesus intentionally taught in this way so that some, who were graciously blessed with the ability to understand, would get it while others, whose ears and eyes were sealed by their sinfulness, would not.
• That’s a Shocker: Nicodemus was stunned by these words, probably for two reasons: 1) He’s thinking “I gotta do what again? I don’t think Mama is going to appreciate that at all” and 2) “How can you tell me, the ‘teacher of the Jews’ (v.10), that I am not already guaranteed access into the Kingdom? I’ve earned it, I’m on the Sanhedrin, I deserve it, I am a lock!”
• Water and Spirit: Jesus, a patient teacher, perhaps aware that eventually Nicodemus is going to understand, explains what being “born again” means, uttering one of the most debated sentences in the New Testament.

Break It Down: the Two Approaches:

1. “Water (pause) and the Spirit” Some people interpret this phrase to be referring to the two distinct birth events, first birth (water) and second birth (Spirit). When this approach is taken some claim that “water” refers to physical birth, the water referring to the water breaking on a mother about to give birth to her baby. Others make the claim that “water” refers to baptism. Both of these positions would agree that the rebirth is salvation accomplished by the Spirit. (The first position is unlikely because there are no examples of birth being described in terms of water in Greek or Hebrew literature. The second is emphatically impossible because it corrupts the gospel of grace by saying we must do some sort of work in order to be saved, it does not fit with the thief on the cross — “today you will be with me in paradise”[Luke 23:43] — and confuses the New Covenant with the sign of that covenant, namely, baptism)
2. “Water and Spirit” This position claims that only the rebirth is described by this phrase. If this is the case, what then does water and spirit refer to? Our best clue comes from Jesus’ expectation that Nicodemus, as the ‘teacher of Israel,’ understand “water and spirit.” If this is correct, the phrase refers to the Old Testament use of “water” to refer to cleansing from sin and “spirit” to refer to transformation and new life (See [Ezek 36:22-27]). This interpretation seems to be the most likely meaning given the context of the text.

• The Spirit: After tackling the nature of rebirth, Jesus expounds upon the spiritual nature of second birth. There is debate as to whether “Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit or demarcates the spiritual (in contrast to the earthly). In my opinion, the Holy Spirit and the spiritual are so closely interlinked that it is perhaps a bit of a stretch to try to draw a clear distinction in this case (but I could easily be wrong).
• Marvelous, Simply Marvelous: Jesus tells Nicodemus that he ought not to be marveling at Jesus’ teaching (which means that Nic is still stunned and marveling) and proceeds to give an analogy to explain the Spirit/spirit. Jesus brilliantly uses a play on words (pneuma = spirit or wind) to show that the work of Spirit, like the wind, is always happening but we cannot see it move, we can only hear it. In a similar fashion, the spirit is moving and sovereignly accomplishing spiritual rebirth, causing people to be born again of “water and the spirit”

Concluding Questions:

• Why is it that birth is the analogy Jesus uses to explain salvation? The answer, I believe, is ultimately found in the Prologue of John’s Gospel: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” [John 1:12-13]. In the passage we studied tonight and John’s introduction to the major themes of the Gospel we are told that it is God who is sovereignly at work accomplishing his purposes for spiritually birthing children to be adopted into his family.
• If you think about your own life, have you experienced a rebirth? Have you been washed clean of your sins and repented, turning from those sins and embracing, by faith, the new life, the spiritual life, found in Christ Jesus (see v.9-21)? Think about what we know of Nicodemus. We know that prior to his conversation with Nic, Jesus did not entrust himself to people who believed in his miracle working abilities. Then, one night, Nic visits Jesus in the night bringing compliments of Jesus’ miraculous abilities…and what does Jesus do? It seems that he entrusts himself to Nicodemus, who, as we proceed through the Book of John, seems to be experiencing a life change. (Could this be John trying to teach us, tuning our ears to hear the Wind?) The question for us is this: Am I Nicodemus when he comes with curiosity to visit with Jesus in the cover of night? Or, am I Nicodemus when he brings 75lbs. of expensive myrrh and aloe to anoint and bury the body of Jesus? I wonder what Nicodemus was like three days later when Jesus rose from the dead. I wonder what difference that made for Jesus…I wonder what difference the resurrection genuinely makes for us.

Review: John 2:12-25

Intro:

• Goal in Bible Study: We want to follow the flow of what the text is saying, thus avoiding taking Scripture out of context, and rightly understand what John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying to his original intended audience. From that point, once we understand what the text is saying in its original context, we then look for universal principles and teaching that we then apply to our own heart, our own sin, our own lives in a way appropriate to the text (repentance, encouragement, conviction, joy, sorrow, etc.
• We honor God’s Word by seeking to understand what he says and then responding accordingly, seeing his Word change our lives.

John 2:12-17:

• The Passover, ‘Behold the Lamb’: Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover lamb that we read about in the Old Testament [Ex.11-12], he is identified as such by John the Baptizer [John 1:29]
• Herod’s Temple: Jesus is enraged by the way that money-loving businessmen have invaded the Temple, specifically, the Court of the Gentiles where the nations were to gather, drawing near to the God of Israel. The Gentiles (non-Israelites) were displaced by the businessmen. The businessmen were displaced by Jesus, who came as the Passover Lamb to die for the sake of the world.
• Is this JESUS? Many people have a misconstrued image of Jesus Christ as a mild, weak, effeminate man, but this popular conception of Jesus lacks biblical credibility. In this scene we see one of many instances were Jesus’ actions affirm that Jesus is masculinity at its finest.

Biblical Manhood: A Call to Men

• Gender Distinction: The Bible is crystal clear that men and women are different in function (but equal in value). [Gen 1-3]
• Christ and the Church: The Bible teaches that the pattern for godly masculinity is Jesus’ loving leadership of his church, and that the pattern for godly femininity is the church’s submission to Jesus’ loving leadership [Eph. 5:22-33].
• The Men: Men should look to Jesus in the passage for a snapshot of masculinity at its finest. They should behold the courage and righteous fury of Jesus as he drives out the animals and people with a whip of cords, fighting for God’s honor and clearing the Court of the Gentiles. Men should admire Jesus and see him as their hero, the man that they want to be like and strive to be like. They should hold this passage about the strength and courage of Jesus in tension with Jesus tenderness towards women and children, but most don’t and the proper response is deep conviction, repentance, and change.
• The Ladies: A man who is becoming increasingly like Jesus is the only kind of man that any Christian woman should ever even consider dating and, eventually, marrying. Paul says we should not be unequally yoked in relationships [2 Cor 6:14]

John 2:18-22:

• Sign, what sign? Oh, that sign? The Jews as Jesus to answer for himself, demanding a sign to give proof of his authority to clear the Court of the Gentiles. What a strange question considering that the clearing itself was a sign of prophetic scope and content.
• The Temple: Jesus speaks to the Jews of a sign involving the Temple. The significance of the Temple is that it is where God dwells and where people go to meet with God for worship and repentance, among other things. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Temple, as is seen in this passage. The Temple Jesus refers to is his own body, which will fill the tomb for the three days following his crucifixion and preceding his glorious resurrection. That is the exclamation point that proves the all encompassing authority of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
• Post-Resurrection Belief: At the close of this passage, John tells us that following the resurrection the disciples remembered what Jesus had said and they believed.

John 2: 23-25:

• Passover Bookend: This is the first recorded Passover that Jesus attended, and it marks an important point in the Gospel of John. Jesus has initiated his ministry, initiated his public teaching and miracle working, a ministry that will result in his murder (see John 18-19).
• 2:22 vs. 2:23: Do you believe or do you believe? This section containing what might be considered the beginning of Jesus’ ministry comes to a close with a significant juxtaposition of beliefs. In verse 22, there is a genuine belief unto salvation on the part of the Disciples, followed in verse 23 with a lesser belief in Jesus on the part of “many” solely based on Jesus miraculous works. In both instances the same word is used in the Greek, but Jesus’ response to the belief of the ‘many’ shows us that their belief was insufficient, for Jesus (who we see is able to perceive the heart of men, knowing them) does not entrust himself (literally “believe in” in the Greek) to the many.
• Crisis of Belief: This should stop the conscientious reader dead in our tracks with a life-or-death question…”Do I believe like the Disciples or do I believe like the many?” or another way of putting it could be…”On the Day of Judgement will Jesus believe me? Will he find my faith to be genuine or insincere?” You see, if our faith in Jesus is solely limited to what he can do for us in this life, rather than who he is, what he has done, and what he will continue to be and do through in eternity, then our belief is no genuine belief and we are in grave danger.

Review: John 1:35 – 2:12

Preface:
-The Berean Challenge [Acts 17:10-12]- The Berean were avid students of the scriptures, examining them to see if Paul’s teaching was fitting to the Word of God. It was. And we should follow their example whenever we go to Bible study, listen to a sermon, go to Sunday school, or receive “wise” counsel from a friend.

Intro:
John the Baptizer’s:
-Compliment from Jesus – [Matthew 11:7-11]
-Message – [John 1:29, 37]

John 1:35-51
-Jesus’ Followers – Andrew, John (?), Philip, Nathanael
-Relational networks – who has God put in your proximity? Think about family, friends, co-workers, and people from your hometown
-Kevin Bacon, Paul Revere, and Fidel Castro - Where has God strategically placed you? Don’t forget, you are six degrees and a prayer from anyone in the world.
-Evangelism: 2 Guys + Jesus + Dinner + 2000 years = 1+ billion Christians

John 2:1-9
-Wedding in Cana
-Jesus & his mom (aka “Woman”) – [John 19:26]
-Jesus the Master Brewer: Christians and Alcohol

-Three Positions:
1. Alcohol is evil
2. Abstinence
3. Moderation & Deference

-Key Points and Verses:
- Submit to Authority – (Government, School, etc.) [Rom 13:1-7]
- Drunkenness – Sinful and foolish [Eph. 5: 8b-21; Prov. 23:29-35]
- Alcohol’s Origin – God made the vine for our consumption [Gen 1:29-31]
- Goodness of Wine – God made the vine? Did we abuse it in making wine from the grapes? No, wine is shown in Scripture as a good thing and used symbolically to show God’s great blessings poured out [Eccl. 10:19; Ps. 104:15; Amos 9:11-15]
- What to do??? Act with wisdom, drawing on the principles of [Rom. 13:8-14:23] which emphasizes loving our brother (be he weak or strong) and not causing them to stumble, giving up our freedoms whenever our brother’s conscience is at stake.

Points to Ponder:
1. What did Jesus do? What was Paul’s position? What did Timothy drink? Is it wise to make prohibitions that were not followed by the Sinless Savior and such great men of the church? [Matt. 11:19, 1 Tim. 5:23]
2. Is Universal Abstinence Wise?
-Alcohol can be very dangerous, leading to the sins of drunkenness, abuse, neglect, abandonment of children, etc, there is no denying that.
-Should we, therefore, abandon what God has said to be a great blessing to the hearts of his people?
-If so…what about women? What about food? What about money (for the love of money is the root of all evil [1 Tim. 6:10])?
-It seems that we should teach wisdom, not abstinence, as the approach to Christian use of alcohol (as well as women, food, and money).

(Thoughts? Leave your comment below)

-Point of this Passage: Jesus is the merciful miracle worker and worthy of glory, we should respond to the one who “manifested his glory” (which only God can do) with fear, worship, adoration, and obedience.

Lets get it started

Hey Party People,

Welcome to the Main Event Website, your place for information, updates, and reviews on Hunsinger Lane College Bible study action every Wednesday night.

Hopefully this site will help us keep tabs on where we are in studying through the Gospel of John, I will give you links to helpful online Bible study resources, and we can also take advantage of the “Comment” option to post prayer request updates, needs, good news, bust some chops, make fun of my typos and poor spelling, and all that good stuff.

I’m loving it and I hope that you are too.

Lee