A blessing for Carolyn on her wedding

Father of the Bride "Speech"

One of my favorite Palms is Psalm 8. I had committed it to memory many times. And the words of the Psalm often come to mind whenever I feel sad or unworthy.

Keith Green (remember him?) had made a beautiful song out of it (make sure you have a chance to watch his lovely Youtube video of the song). Doesn't Zac look a bit like him?:)

On your wedding day I can't think of any blessing better than this one: that you and Zac never stop marveling at God's wonders.

Psalm 8:1 says:
Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
    in the heavens.

I know you and Zac love nature. I love how you are creating wonderful organic food from your own backyard! As you spend time sweating away attending to the needs of young plants, don't forget to also spend time peeking into these beautiful creation.

The Psalm further says:
When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them? (verses 3&4)


As you launch into this new phase of your life with Zac, you know well who will never stop caring for you. Remember when you were very young I used to sing to you before you go to bed (our favorite song was of course "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong - another Youtube worth watching). After telling you stories of our imaginary princess from long ago, I would then finish by asking you this question: "Do you know daddy loves you? Do you know who loves you even more than your daddy?" and your answer was always, "Jesus!". Now don't you ever forget that. It is still true today.

Another reason I choose this Psalm is this verse:
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger. (Verse 2)


You will have difficult days ahead - and plenty of enemies (most of whom will be invisible...). So your strategy? Have children!!! Learn from them.  Children have simple trust on those who love them. Their worry-free life screams praises to the Creator. They know no matter how disobedient they have been their parents still love them.   So be like children yourself!
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14)

And finally, the reason I pick this Psalm is that your wedding day is August 1 - that is 8:1. In other words, each year as you celebrate your wedding anniversary I hope you will be reminded of Psalm 8 verse 1 (well, the entire Psalm really).

May God's richest blessings be upon you this day and forever more!

Is Your Heart Circumcised?

I heard an excellent sermon last Sunday. The most intellectually satisfying as well as impactful part of the sermon had to do with the explanation of one of the most peculiar passages in the entire bible. I have read this short few verses many times and my response was always to park it and hopefully some day I would have a better understanding of it. These verses are found in Exodus 4 verses 24-26:

"At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)"

Context:

• Moses was raised as an Egyptian so he most likely never had circumcision as the other Jews living in Egypt. After he married and had a first born son Gershom he likely never circumcised him either.
• He married Zipporah who was the daughter of Jethro, a Midian priest, whose ancestor can be traced back to Cain (see Wikipedia's explanation of the history of the Kenite). The significance of this is that Zipporah probably knew the importance of circumcision as a sign of covenantal relationship with the God of Israel.
• When the text says that "The Lord met Moses and was about to kill him", it probably meant that Moses was quite ill and was about to die. This event happened following a lengthy discourse between God calling Moses to go back to Egypt to rescue his people and Moses' multiple excuses for not obeying. Between chapters 3 and 4 we can find five excuses and God's five responses to Moses (taken from sermon note):

1. I'm nobody special. (Who said you need to be. I will be with you.)
2. I'm no theologian. (You know me, and that's enough.)
3. What if they don't believe? (Don't worry. Leave that up to me.)
4. I don't talk good. (I will be with you and help you.)
5. I don't want to. (I will give you others to help you.)

• So when Moses finally agreed to go back to Egypt and had fallen extremely ill, Zipporah decided that there was one very important thing she needed to do - to circumcise her son as well as Moses. "Touching Moses' feet" in the cultural context likely meant touching Moses' penis, symbolizing circumcision.

This became a bible story because it can teach us important lessons. We no longer practice circumcision as an outward sign to enter into a Covenant Relationship with God. Jesus has changed all that. What is more important is the circumcision of the heart. These two important biblical passages explained this well:

The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)

Our disobedience to God's call to do His will will likely include similar excuses above and if we listen to Him we will hear His reassuring responses. I found these application questions very helpful and worth remembering when I sense God's call in my heart:

• What excuses am I making?
• What is that in my hand? (This is in reference to Moses' staff - an ordinary shepherd's stick, which God used multiple times to perform His miracles!)
• What am I leaving undone? (For Moses, it meant obedience to be circumcised physically; for me there maybe little things that I have kept away from God)
• What do I need from God to help me?

So I find the Apostle Paul's words reassuring and inspiring:
"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Understanding the purpose of the Book of Job

Just finished the Book of Job. This blog will describe what I have learned regarding the purpose and personal application from this book in scripture.

From Bibliotheca Sacra (Apr. 1981)
The purpose of the Book of Job is to show that the proper relationship between God and man is based solely on the sovereign grace of God and man's response of faith and submissive trust.

This involves (in a negative fashion) the refutation of "retribution theology" (a dogmatic employment of the concept of divine retribution so that there was an automatic connection between deed and state of being) and its corollary that man's relationship to God is a business contract of mutual claims that is binding in court. This statement of purpose involves the assumption that the relationship between God and man is the basic problem of the book. This problem is articulated in the prologue where Satan challenges the basis for Job's piety by claiming that he served God only for profit (i.e., because he prospers--see 1:9-11; 2:4-5). Satan's challenge is reinforced by the fact that Job's wife urged Job to curse God and die (2:9). That Job refused to curse God (2: 10) was graphic testimony that his worship was genuine and that Satan's allegation was false. Thus Job's suffering as an innocent party was not the main focus but was introduced only as a means of isolating and intensifying the question of the proper basis of man's relationship to God.

From Bibliotheca Sacra (Oct–Dec 1997)
The purpose of the Book of Job should not be limited to an expression of God’s sovereignty. Can a community of suffering saints find other answers and applications here? Yes, because Job’s struggle and ultimate triumph gives those who suffer much more to apply. The following sixteen truths may be gained from the Book of Job.

1. God is not to be limited to a preconceived notion of retribution/recompense theology.
2. Sin is not always the basis for suffering.
3. Accepting false tenets about suffering can cause one to blame and challenge God.
4. A retributive/recompensive theology distorts God’s ways and confines Him to human standards of interpretation.
5. Satan is behind this false concept and delights in using it to afflict the righteous.
6. The devil’s world is unfair and unjust, and even though people may misunderstand the ways of God and the “why’s” of life, having a personal relationship with God is the only way one can know justice.
7. Life is more than a series of absurdities and unexplainable pains that simply must be endured. Instead life for believers is linked with God’s unseen purpose.
8. People do not always know all the facts, nor is such knowledge necessary for living a life of faith.
9. God’s wisdom is above human wisdom.
10. God’s blessings are based solely on grace, not on a traditional, legalistic formula.
11. Suffering can be faced with faith and trust in a loving, gracious God even when there is no immediately satisfying logical or rational reason to do so.
12. God does allow suffering, pain, and even death, if they best serve His purposes.
13. Prosperity theology has no place in God’s grace plan.
14. Suffering can have a preventive purpose.
15. The greatest of saints struggle with the problem of undeserved suffering and will continue to do so.
16. Because God’s people are intimately related to Him, suffering is often specifically designed to glorify God in the unseen war with Satan.

From Gotquestions.org
The Book of Job helps us to understand the following: Satan cannot bring financial and physical destruction upon us unless it is by God's permission. God has power over what Satan can and cannot do. It is beyond our human ability to understand the "why's" behind all the suffering in the world. The wicked will receive their just dues. We cannot always blame suffering and sin on our lifestyles. Suffering may sometimes be allowed in our lives to purify, test, teach or strengthen the soul. God remains enough, deserves and requests our love and praise in all circumstances of life.

As Job was pondering the cause of his misery, three questions came to his mind, all of which are answered only in our Lord Jesus Christ. These questions occur in chapter 14.

1. "Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!?" Job’s question comes from a heart that recognizes it cannot possibly please God or become justified in His sight. God is holy; we are not. Therefore, a great gulf exists between man and God, caused by sin. But the answer to Job’s anguished question is found in Jesus Christ. He has paid the penalty for our sin and has exchanged it for His righteousness, thereby making us acceptable in God’s sight (Hebrews 10:14; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
2. "But man dies and lies prostrate; Man expires, and where is he?" (vs. 14), is another question about eternity and life and death that is answered only in Christ. With Christ, the answer to ‘where is he?’ is eternal life in heaven. Without Christ, the answer is an eternity in “outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).
3. “If a man dies, will he live again?” Once again, the answer is found in Christ. We do indeed live again if we are in Him. “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

Practical Application: The Book of Job reminds us that there is a "cosmic conflict" going on the behind the scenes that we usually know nothing about. Often we wonder why God allows something, and we question or doubt God's goodness, without seeing the full picture. The Book of Job teaches us to trust God under all circumstances. We must trust God, not only WHEN we do not understand, but BECAUSE we do not understand. The psalmist tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30). If God’s ways are “perfect,” then we can trust that whatever He does—and whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us, but our minds are not God’s mind. It is true that we can’t expect to understand His mind perfectly, as He reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Nevertheless, our responsibility to God is to obey Him, to trust Him and to submit to His will, whether we understand it or not.


















"Let all suffering end in love. That’s how the Book of Job ends. Job recognizes his mistake of falling into distress because of his suffering. He submits to God’s will in total obedience. He therein discovers love, because an essential aspect of love is obedience. Christ told His Apostles that, if they loved Him, they would keep His commandments (John 14:15). Love means to accept God’s will totally, without complaining that it is too difficult, or too inconvenient, or not “relevant” to the modern world." - Chastity

Learning about Angels and Christadelphians

Today I read Acts 12. It's the story of "Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison". What struck me the most was the mentioning of Angels in three different context in this one chapter. First, the angel's involvement in helping Peter's escape. Second, when Peter returned to a home church who was praying for him, they thought that it was Peter's angel rather than Peter himself who appeared at the door. Third, it was an angel who struck King Harod to his death. King Harod was responsible for killing the apostle James, brother of John, and was trying to put Peter to death also.

If I have to explain to others who are the angels, and whether I believe in angels, I would say something like "angels are heavenly beings; they are creatures themselves, whose main job was to serve God. They are sometimes sent to interact with human in various ways. They are part of the worshiping congregation in eternity." I believe in angels but I am not sure if I have a personal angel. If I narrowly escape a serious injury I thank God rather than my angel for saving me. I almost never talk about angels to help others through difficult situations. I definitely don't pray to angels.

So it's time to do a little research. I came across an excellent summary of biblical teaching concerning angels by the Christadelphians. It's called Angels - God's Servants. I didn't know much about the Christadelphians so I did a little research on them also. As usual Wikipedia has excellent articles on the Christadelphians and Dr. John Thomas, the founder. For me I appreciate their devotion to scripture and to some extent their pacifist view of our involvement with this war torn world. I don't agree with their anti-trinitarian stand.

Here is a Christadelphian church in m town

From more main stream Christian sources, this article from christiananswers.net is quite helpful. Here are some useful titbits of information and their biblical references to add to my understanding of angels:

• They are stronger than man, but not omnipotent (Psalm 103:20; 2 Peter 2:11).
• They are greater than man in knowledge, but not omniscient (2 Samuel 14:20; Matthew 24:36).
• They are more noble than man, but not omnipresent (Daniel 9:21-23, 10:10-14).
• Angels can take on the appearance of men when the occasion demands. How else could some “entertain angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:2)? On the other hand, their appearance is sometimes in dazzling white and blazing glory (Matthew 28:2-4).
• Angels do not marry or reproduce like humans (Matthew 22:30). Angels are a company or association, not a race descended from a common ancestor (Luke 20:34-36). We are called “sons of men,” but angels are never called “sons of angels.
• Angels are spirits (Hebrews 1:14), like the soul of man, but without a physical body.
• Such expressions as “like the angels” (Luke 20:36), and the fact that whenever angels appeared to man it was always in a human form (Gen. 18:2; 19:1, 10; Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10), and the titles that are applied to them (“sons of God,” Job 1:6; 38:7; Dan. 3:25; compare 28) and to men (Luke 3:38), all seem to indicate some resemblance between them and the human race.
• The Bible classifies some angels as “elect” (1 Timothy 5:21) or “holy” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38). All angels were originally holy, enjoying the presence of God (Matthew 18:10) and the environment of heaven (Mark 13:32). Other angels oppose God under the leadership of Satan (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Ephesians 6:12). We often call these “demons.” There is actually a great unseen conflict raging that goes beyond anything we can imagine. It is not, however, a fight between two equal and eternal forces. God who created all beings is still in charge, and once He has used wicked angels to accomplish His purposes, He will bring them to a final defeat.
• We don’t know whether every angel carries out the same tasks, or whether some of them specialize in certain areas. The Bible does speak about classes of angelic beings like cherubim (Ezekiel 1) and seraphim (Isaiah 6). We also know the names of two notable angels: Michael (Daniel 10:13; Jude 9) and Gabriel (Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19,26). The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God.

So I am not sure if there are "personal" angels, like having my own angel. I don't think so. The people in Acts 12 may think so but there isn't a consistent theme in scripture about that. I trust that God is omnipresent so it is not wrong to thank Him when I experience a narrow escape from an accident. And we can always pray to Him directly with our friends in difficulties.

The Life of Moses

Last week's sermon was on the life of Moses. The theme was "Right Thing, Wrong Way - The Fallibility of the Faithful" based on Exodus 2:11-25. Moses' life was neatly divided into three phases each lasting 40 years. I once heard that the three phases of his life were:
Phase I   - first 40 years Moses lived believing that he could do anything by his own strength
Phase II  - next 40 years Moses didn't think he could do anything; he lived life aimlessly
Phase III - last 40 years Moses learned that he could do impossible things by God's strength

Moses was living as an Egyptian prince in the first 40 years of his life. He was taught and trained by the Egyptians as a nobleman having access to the finest of modern culture. We don't know how he came to know that he was a Hebrew (Jew). When he tried to help a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian he took the matter in his own hand and killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12). But the Hebrews rejected him when he tried to help them (verses 13-14) and reported him to the Pharaoh. Moses feared for his life and escaped to Midian in the dessert region where he spent the next 40 years living a quiet and nomadic life. He married a shepherd girl and had a son who he named Gershom, which meant “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” (verse 22).

Moses had a sense of right and wrong. He tried to live according to human principles. He did what seemed right at the time, even if it meant killing someone. It would take him 40 years to learn that there was a God, a personal God for that matter, and that God had a purpose for him. There is something to be said that we all need to learn to wait on God. It may take a long time but when God finally reveals His plan to us we will know it. In the mean time we may live a mundane life but we keep our eyes open. For one day we will see God. In Moses life he met God in a burning bush: "Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up." (Exodus 3:2). What a perfect metaphor for someone whose life is consumed by God's passion, yet knows that his life will never burn up by that passion. We know that Moses was called to go back to Egypt to take his people out of slavery. It would take many miracles but with God's strength Moses did it. He set his people free!

Moses would eventually spend his last 40 years wandering in the dessert trying to reach the promise land. It took 40 years because the Isrealites were disobedient. An entire generation of those who left Egypt would perish in the dessert without entering the promise land! Disobedience is a bad thing!!! When Moses and the young generation of Israelites finally reached the promise land he could only look at it from a distance (on Mount Nebo - see my previous blog "Learning to finish well"). God did not let him in because of one incident when he disobeyed God (Numbers 20:1-13). Did I not say "Disobedience is a bad thing!"? He let anger take control over him. (Anger is not our friend! We tend to take matter into our own hands instead of trusting God doing the right thing.) God told Moses: “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”. So Moses died without entering into God's promise land. It doesn't mean that he never entered into eternity with God. In fact there are lots of evidence that he is with Jesus (see Matthew 17:3).

I used to be bothered by this story. How could God reject Moses based on just one incidence of bad behaviour? The pastor explained this well:
"God will always keep his promise to us AS A WHOLE, but not necessarily to each one of us as individuals, not in this life. Your choice: You can live a life as an individual and feel ripped off, or you can live as part of the full body of Christ, the people of God, and be filled with gratitude each day for the part we play." (From the sermon series: Chosen One - Part 2 Right Thing, Wrong Way)