I'm just gonna cut to the chase tonight. Big birthday party tomorrow.
Mark 4
This whole chapter is filled with parables. One of the reasons Jesus gives refers back to Isaiah, where it says that everything is said in parables so that the people will hear and see but not understand, that they might turn and be forgiven. But isn't that what Jesus was all about? In the previous chapters, forgiveness is being freely dished out, but now it's being kept a secret? Why? Also, the fact the Jesus speaks in parables makes total sense, given the way that God communicates in the Old Testament. It's all full of parables. Jesus's use of parables actually helps the Old Testament make better sense to me. There's a consistency between the way God speaks throughout the Bible that helps bring continuity. OK, gotta get to bed.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lenten Musings #3
Today we went to a homeschooling conference. Our oldest is due to start kindergarten this fall, so we are trying to decide what we should do. I think I lean toward homeschooling. The speaker today was talking about some of the things people point out when trying to dissuade others from homeschooling. One of them was what I have often said to myself... "I went to public school, and I turned out alright." His take on it changed my whole perspective though. "Sure you turned out alright, and that's good. But just think of how you could have turned out if you were given the chance of having a learning environment and curriculum geared to you." That made me feel like homeschooling is the way to go. But we'll see. We're back there tomorrow, and it's all easy for me to say anyway, because I likely won't have to do the bulk of the teaching, my wife will.
Three days in a row of blogging... I can't believe it!
Mark 3
verse 2 - "Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath."
It seems that sometimes when people are very concerned with sin, that is all they can see. Here, some of the people were just waiting for Jesus to slip up, to sin. I wonder if in their minds they felt the Jesus actually did sin by healing this man on the Sabbath? Jesus never sinned, but yet, by the standards of those around judging Him, they may have considered Him to have sinned. Again, it comes down to your interpretation. The Pharisees apparently had a pretty strict interpretation of what could not be done on the Sabbath, and Jesus doesn't seem to loose any opportunity to show them where they are wrong. I can't imagine it would have been easy for the Pharisees to have this upstart showing them up. I mean, plotting to kill Him is pretty extreme.
verses 13 to 19 - 13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles[b]—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter 17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
I was just wondering today, how it is that God calls certain people to certain things. One of the speakers at the conference was just sort of mentioning some things about her life, about how they have a farm, and how sometimes she wishes she had more land, and then she remembers she used to live in an apt. in Seattle and how she needs to be happy with what God has given her. I detected this odd hint of entitlement in her, as though she felt she deserved more land. She seems like a really nice lady, and I'm not saying anything bad against her, I just think that sometimes as believers we believe that God has chosen us for such and such. Why does she get a farm, and I don't? Or does God really decide things like that? It got me to thinking about how does God choose people for certain things. Why did David get to be king? Why did Hudson Taylor get to be a pioneering missionary to China? Why do I have to work at a sewage treatment plant? And here's these 12 apostles. Why them? I wonder how many people were following Jesus, an these were the ones He chose. I'll never know, but I just wonder sometimes.
Verses 28-29 - "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
All the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. Wow. What a powerful statement. It's comforting. To know that however badly I screw up, in the end it's OK. I'll be forgiven. Now, as Paul would elaborate, don't use that as an excuse to sin. It's a difficult balance, I think. How do we deal with the seriousness of sin, while at the same time living in the reality that when there is sin, it's not the end of the world. Sin is a big deal, and it is not. Just another one of those paradoxes we have to live with. I try not to sin, but I don't get too upset nowadays when I do. Should I? Sin is bad, but I'm forgiven. Maybe I just don't know how to balance that yet.
On a side note, I've never heard a really satifying explanation of "blaspheming the Holy Spirit", but then again I haven't looked into it that deeply.
Any ideas?
Three days in a row of blogging... I can't believe it!
Mark 3
verse 2 - "Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath."
It seems that sometimes when people are very concerned with sin, that is all they can see. Here, some of the people were just waiting for Jesus to slip up, to sin. I wonder if in their minds they felt the Jesus actually did sin by healing this man on the Sabbath? Jesus never sinned, but yet, by the standards of those around judging Him, they may have considered Him to have sinned. Again, it comes down to your interpretation. The Pharisees apparently had a pretty strict interpretation of what could not be done on the Sabbath, and Jesus doesn't seem to loose any opportunity to show them where they are wrong. I can't imagine it would have been easy for the Pharisees to have this upstart showing them up. I mean, plotting to kill Him is pretty extreme.
verses 13 to 19 - 13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles[b]—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter 17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
I was just wondering today, how it is that God calls certain people to certain things. One of the speakers at the conference was just sort of mentioning some things about her life, about how they have a farm, and how sometimes she wishes she had more land, and then she remembers she used to live in an apt. in Seattle and how she needs to be happy with what God has given her. I detected this odd hint of entitlement in her, as though she felt she deserved more land. She seems like a really nice lady, and I'm not saying anything bad against her, I just think that sometimes as believers we believe that God has chosen us for such and such. Why does she get a farm, and I don't? Or does God really decide things like that? It got me to thinking about how does God choose people for certain things. Why did David get to be king? Why did Hudson Taylor get to be a pioneering missionary to China? Why do I have to work at a sewage treatment plant? And here's these 12 apostles. Why them? I wonder how many people were following Jesus, an these were the ones He chose. I'll never know, but I just wonder sometimes.
Verses 28-29 - "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
All the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. Wow. What a powerful statement. It's comforting. To know that however badly I screw up, in the end it's OK. I'll be forgiven. Now, as Paul would elaborate, don't use that as an excuse to sin. It's a difficult balance, I think. How do we deal with the seriousness of sin, while at the same time living in the reality that when there is sin, it's not the end of the world. Sin is a big deal, and it is not. Just another one of those paradoxes we have to live with. I try not to sin, but I don't get too upset nowadays when I do. Should I? Sin is bad, but I'm forgiven. Maybe I just don't know how to balance that yet.
On a side note, I've never heard a really satifying explanation of "blaspheming the Holy Spirit", but then again I haven't looked into it that deeply.
Any ideas?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lenten Muisngs - Day 2
Two days in a row. I think that makes more posts than I did all last year. Speaking of personal bests, I scored a goal at soccer tonight, which gives me a new career best. Three goals this season. Yeah, I'm not much of a scoring threat, but it's always a nice bonus. It wasn't the prettiest goal, but like I always say, you don't have to make excuses for the ones that find the back of the net.
Anyway, on with the show.
Mark 2
Verse 5- "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Sin seems to be an important piece of Mark's gospel so far. Yesterday, I was wondering about how John could preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Is it the baptism? or the repentance? and what about Jesus' atonement, how does that fit in? Here Jesus sees the paralytic man that is lowered through the roof and declares that their sins are forgiven. Mark lets us know that it's because of their faith, but Jesus didn't mention that at the time. This seemed to be a pretty big deal. On the one hand, it seems as though the people that Jesus was addressing cared about their sins, and forgiveness was therefore something that mattered to them. On the other hand, the "teachers of the law" didn't like it how Jesus was just passing out forgiveness like ice cream on a hot, sunny day. Sin, it would seem, was a big deal. In my world, it is not. The people that I interact with on a daily basis seem to not really take much notice of sin. It doesn't appear to be something they think about. At work it doesn't come up, but most people there don't share my worldview. At church it doesn't seem to come up much either, which perhaps is odd. Should sin still be a big deal? I would think so, but why isn't it?
verse 16 - "When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" "
Again with the sin. Jesus was hanging with the "sinners". The Pharisees didn't like that too much. I bet the "sinners" did, though. There's nothing worse than being made to feel little. At work, we play a lot of fussball (during breaks people, during breaks). There's lots of friendly trash talking that goes on, but sometimes it crosses the line, at least for me. When it gets to the "I'm better than you, you suck, etc." level, it starts to grate on me, and dare I say hurt. I'm meant to feel little, like I'm somehow lesser because I lost a game of fussball. It does harm to a relationship when one side belittles the other. The Pharisees did that to the sinners all the time. The sinners must have hated that, and likely hated the Pharisees as well. What a breath of fresh air to have Jesus hang out with them. He's just breaking all the conventions regarding sin, isn't He?
Verse 24 - The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
Again, the Pharisees are concerned with sin. The disciples are doing something that is considered a sin by the Pharisees, and likely the general populace. So who's right? Obviously, Jesus sets the record straight in this instance, and points out that the Pharisees' interpretation of the law is in error. But that's part of the problem with sin. At various times and stages, cultures and groups, it varies, because it's all based on interpretation. I remember having discussions when I was in Youth Group about whether smoking was a sin. Some said that it hurt your body, which is a temple, and should be kept holy, thus it is a sin. But others then asked why going to McDonald's wouldn't be considered a sin also based on that interpretation. I know McD's hurts my body! How about downloading pirated music, which in Canada, at least, is not illegal. But is it still a sin? Who gets to decide? I'm sure there are many areas where we end up having to interpret what is sin and what is not. It's a bit of a sticky mess, when you sit and think about it, maybe that's why most people seem not to.
Well, that all has me thinking. I'm excited to see what Jesus is up to next. Tune in tomorrow.
Anyway, on with the show.
Mark 2
Verse 5- "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Sin seems to be an important piece of Mark's gospel so far. Yesterday, I was wondering about how John could preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Is it the baptism? or the repentance? and what about Jesus' atonement, how does that fit in? Here Jesus sees the paralytic man that is lowered through the roof and declares that their sins are forgiven. Mark lets us know that it's because of their faith, but Jesus didn't mention that at the time. This seemed to be a pretty big deal. On the one hand, it seems as though the people that Jesus was addressing cared about their sins, and forgiveness was therefore something that mattered to them. On the other hand, the "teachers of the law" didn't like it how Jesus was just passing out forgiveness like ice cream on a hot, sunny day. Sin, it would seem, was a big deal. In my world, it is not. The people that I interact with on a daily basis seem to not really take much notice of sin. It doesn't appear to be something they think about. At work it doesn't come up, but most people there don't share my worldview. At church it doesn't seem to come up much either, which perhaps is odd. Should sin still be a big deal? I would think so, but why isn't it?
verse 16 - "When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" "
Again with the sin. Jesus was hanging with the "sinners". The Pharisees didn't like that too much. I bet the "sinners" did, though. There's nothing worse than being made to feel little. At work, we play a lot of fussball (during breaks people, during breaks). There's lots of friendly trash talking that goes on, but sometimes it crosses the line, at least for me. When it gets to the "I'm better than you, you suck, etc." level, it starts to grate on me, and dare I say hurt. I'm meant to feel little, like I'm somehow lesser because I lost a game of fussball. It does harm to a relationship when one side belittles the other. The Pharisees did that to the sinners all the time. The sinners must have hated that, and likely hated the Pharisees as well. What a breath of fresh air to have Jesus hang out with them. He's just breaking all the conventions regarding sin, isn't He?
Verse 24 - The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
Again, the Pharisees are concerned with sin. The disciples are doing something that is considered a sin by the Pharisees, and likely the general populace. So who's right? Obviously, Jesus sets the record straight in this instance, and points out that the Pharisees' interpretation of the law is in error. But that's part of the problem with sin. At various times and stages, cultures and groups, it varies, because it's all based on interpretation. I remember having discussions when I was in Youth Group about whether smoking was a sin. Some said that it hurt your body, which is a temple, and should be kept holy, thus it is a sin. But others then asked why going to McDonald's wouldn't be considered a sin also based on that interpretation. I know McD's hurts my body! How about downloading pirated music, which in Canada, at least, is not illegal. But is it still a sin? Who gets to decide? I'm sure there are many areas where we end up having to interpret what is sin and what is not. It's a bit of a sticky mess, when you sit and think about it, maybe that's why most people seem not to.
Well, that all has me thinking. I'm excited to see what Jesus is up to next. Tune in tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Lenten Musings
So, it's Lent. I figured I'd like to somehow do something for Lent this year. Giving up something didn't really appeal to me. I've already given up Tim Horton's for this whole year as my New Years' resolution (so far, so good). So, I have decided that everyday in Lent I will read a chapter of the Bible and blog something about it. I'll read Mark and John, which technically is only 37 chapters, I believe, so maybe at the end I'll throw down something extra. If anyone reads any of this, feel free to comment and respond to some of my "thinking out loudness". Maybe we can get some good discussion going. So, here goes....
Mark Chapter 1
verse 4- "In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
My question would be, isn't it Christ's atonement that allows for forgiveness of our sins? Then why would John be preaching a "baptism of repentance" for the forgiveness of sins. The repentance part is obviously important for forgiveness, but it is a far cry from the blood sacrifices required by the law. John's message must have been fairly radical for people. And so does that "forgiveness of sins" part look ahead to what Jesus will do, or is there something else at play?
verses 12 and 13- "At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan."
verse 14 - "After John was put in prison..."
Neither of these options really appeals to me these days. Being led into the desert to be tempted, or being thrown in jail. Yet, this is what happens to those who are faithful to God. I pray for stupid things, and I don't expect much. I hope for comfort and whine when I don't get it. That's not the life you see Jesus or John living. So, is that sort of life meant for all of us? Can I be content in thinking I shouldn't have to go through difficulties? As much as I will give lip service to the thought of "suffering for Jesus", I really prefer not having to live that way.
verses 38 and 39- "Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Jesus sure did a lot of preaching. Why isn't more of it recorded? Sure there's bits and pieces, and the extended portions, like the "Sermon on the Mount", but likely they would only account for a small percentage of what Jesus would have taught over the course of three years. I get the sense from the writers of the gospels that it is Jesus Himself that is most important, not just what He had to say. Otherwise, we'd have a handbook of His teachings, and not the story of His life. The gospels are more biography than instruction manual.
That's probably good for today. Hope to see you tomorrow.
Mark Chapter 1
verse 4- "In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
My question would be, isn't it Christ's atonement that allows for forgiveness of our sins? Then why would John be preaching a "baptism of repentance" for the forgiveness of sins. The repentance part is obviously important for forgiveness, but it is a far cry from the blood sacrifices required by the law. John's message must have been fairly radical for people. And so does that "forgiveness of sins" part look ahead to what Jesus will do, or is there something else at play?
verses 12 and 13- "At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan."
verse 14 - "After John was put in prison..."
Neither of these options really appeals to me these days. Being led into the desert to be tempted, or being thrown in jail. Yet, this is what happens to those who are faithful to God. I pray for stupid things, and I don't expect much. I hope for comfort and whine when I don't get it. That's not the life you see Jesus or John living. So, is that sort of life meant for all of us? Can I be content in thinking I shouldn't have to go through difficulties? As much as I will give lip service to the thought of "suffering for Jesus", I really prefer not having to live that way.
verses 38 and 39- "Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Jesus sure did a lot of preaching. Why isn't more of it recorded? Sure there's bits and pieces, and the extended portions, like the "Sermon on the Mount", but likely they would only account for a small percentage of what Jesus would have taught over the course of three years. I get the sense from the writers of the gospels that it is Jesus Himself that is most important, not just what He had to say. Otherwise, we'd have a handbook of His teachings, and not the story of His life. The gospels are more biography than instruction manual.
That's probably good for today. Hope to see you tomorrow.
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