work work work

Do you ever say anything that is not 100% true? Do you ever behave selfishly?  Do you ever do or say things which show favour to one person over another?

If the answer to these examples is even yes, 1%, and you are likely to do this even in thought, then ...

And if it is true that if you break even one of God,s laws you break the all, then ...

It is impossible to do or say anything to fix this situation.  You could spend the rest of your life doing this or doing that to improve your behaviour, but it would still be but filthy rags(ref).

This is not to say that it is important to try and treat people and yourself more lovingly, better if you like.

But to believe that you can do something to make you relationship with God better is foolish at best.  It also states that you do not need Ch (ref) who himself claimed to be all that as needed (ref)

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self driven revelations

This was shared with Matt McGaw and inspired him to come to Canberra, Australia.

"The church in Canberra is in need of genuine fellowship"

However, his report is that after speaking with two or three local churches he gave up and decided to develop his own congregation.

Why?  Because those he spoke with did not want to take up the revelation

What happened when others who did support him approached him?  He told them he was not interested in working with them.

Unfortunately this is sometimes the way when God speaks to those willing to hear him, not all are willing or capable of pursuing things his way.  They come with agendas and therefore filter the world and the people in it.  

It is difficult to understand in situations such as this how people can claim to desire genuine authentic fellowship but feel rejected by those who do not want it and reject those who do.

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what blessing is there in a tithe?

 We are taught in some places that as followers of Christ we need to bring our tithes and offerings into the storehouse, where the storehouse today is the local church or congregation.  Why?  By paying your tithes and offerings we are taught that we will personally receive blessings and provisions, eve rebuke Satan.  Some even teach that not doing this will cause the person who holds back to be cursed.
This teaching comes from the Book of Malachi, specifically select parts of versus 3:8-11.  Excluded parts are highlighted red.

God asks: “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!  You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,”

But is this who we should understand it?  What is the context?

Speaking to the Levitical priests of Israel, God asks: Isn’t it wrong for you (Levitical priests) to give blind animals as sacrifices?  And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” (Malachi 1:8)

So what is the context?  The priests of Israel were being disobedient to God in that they were offering sick and injured animals to God.  Consequently, by bringing this quality of animal, they were preventing the requirements of the law to be fulfilled.  And this is significant because animals being brought into the Temple was so the priests could perform their duties in the ritual that enabled Israel’s sins to be cleansed.

It is the cleansing of sin which is the blessing, and the not offering of healthy animals that was the robbing of God.

But we don’t need to do this anymore.  We bring money so God can use it to bless the church, visiting speakers, and help the community.

Ok. But the point is not a replacement of animals for money or the Temple for the church or even the priests for pastors.  The point is the only way to have your sins cleansed was through this sacrificial ritual.  The tithes of animals was a key element.  However, now there is Jesus who was sacrificed and was resurrected.  His sacrifice is perfect, eternal, and perpetual (occurring every moment).  It is his blood that causes us to be forgiven for our sins.  His blood that rebukes the devil because he conquered death (the devil’s power over us).  His blood that created a door through which God can pour out blessings without end and with every single moment.

In other words, are the claims we are taught through the use of Malachi accurate?  Does it create hope or instill fear?  How does its current use cause people to understand and celebrate Jesus, the one who made us clean?

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to gather or to have mercy ... which is the question?

I have heard it taught that when two or three people gather together in the name of Jesus, he will be also present (Matthew 18:20).  This has come to my ears in three ways:

1. Jesus has asked all who have faith in him to gather and when we do he will turn up.  This is why we gather for Sunday church services
2. Jesus says he will be present even if there are two people of faith gathered together for his purposes.  This means we can be the church anywhere and anytime.  Large gatherings are not essential.
3. Jesus is the second person and so we can operate missional purposes individually, but still in partnership with him.

But are any of these accurate?

We could analyse these points, but I choose to start with the surround text this scripture is pulled from Matthew 18:15-35)

If brother sins against you, privately talk to them about it.  If they listen and acknowledge it, great.  But if not, take one or two other people with you and go back again, so they can witness what you are saying.[i]  If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If they still won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or corrupt tax collector.

Whatever you forbidden earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.  Also whenever at least two people agree on earth about anything you ask, God will do it for you.  Why” Because whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name, he will be there among them (agree).

Then Peter asks: “But how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

To which Jesus replies: “No!  490 times!  Then the Kingdom of Heaven requires you to forgive others from your heart because not to do so is like you are rejecting God’s forgiveness for you.” 

We need to have mercy on those who sin against us, just as God had mercy on us.  The consequence of not doing so is to be sent to prison to be tortured until your debt for God has been entirely repaid.

Jesus is speaking about forgiveness and restoration of relationships.  About the numerous opportunities a person needs to be given to accept their behaviour.  Talk with them in private, take a person or two to observe, take it before the broader church (not just leaders).  Failing all this, the person is viewed as having no faith.  They are unrepentant, having no faith in Jesus, and need to be treated as such.

One of the examples Jesus gives is “treat them as a tax collector” who at the time were considered some of the most vile people within the community.  Traitors even.  But hang on a moment.  Wasn’t Matthew a tax collector?  Why is this important?  Because Matthew is the one writing this!  In other words … “if the person continues to refuse what they have done, treat them as Jesus treated me.”  Wow!

While the consequences of this settles in, let us continue … when two or three are gathered.  Look at what is written again:

After speaking with the person in private, if they have not listened, take one or two people to say it again.
Therefore, with you added into the equation, this adds up to whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name …
In addition, if the person who had sinned against you had indeed listened and been restored to you then there would have been two (you and them) gather together in Jesus’ name

This is important because when we read the next bit, we understand gathering together in Jesus’ name means coming into agreement about the things that are important to him and thus God.

Whatever you forbidden earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.  Also whenever at least two people agree on earth about anything you ask, God will do it for you.  Why” Because whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name, he will be there among them (agree).

Forbid something or permit it.  What is important is God will make happen ANYTHING we agree to.  Why?  Because Jesus is also in the agreement.  God will do anything Jesus, his son, has signed off on.

So when Peter then asks how often to forgive someone who has done you wrong, he asks in such a way that suggests: “Surely there is a limit to how often I need to forgive someone before I can treat it as a lost cause.”  But Jesus response was “Nope!  There is no end to how many times you need to forgive them.  You need to show mercy in the same manner God has you.  Not to do so is to reject his mercy.”

This is not saying that God’s mercy is dependent upon yours.  Rather, it is saying that you have no concept of what mercy is and therefore need to continue being taught about it until you do.  That is, you have chosen to step out of the covenant made through Jesus and need to be treated as such.

***

So are the ways suggested of how we should gather accurate?  Not sure.  But upon reading this passage again I see this scripture is not about meeting together but rather God’s desire for us to forgive people, show unconditional mercy, and to make reconciliatory measure to achieve it which includes involving them so they may change.  I also see that even if they reject all these efforts, we need to keep showing them mercy as Jesus did Matthew the tax collector.  For how long?  There are no time constraints.  Remembering that we need to do this in the name of Jesus and as such God will commit to its success.

And yet again this leaves me with asking how to show mercy to someone who refuses to accept they have done wrong by me?  This is a discussion for another time.  But for now I just remember Jesus’ call for us to love our enemies.

---

[i] NOT about only taking people who previously know about this or have supporting examples.  They are there to listen to the conversation.

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did jesus lie to us?

Remember Paul?  Remember when he traveled to Jerusalem to see Peter and co? How long had he been serving God without them even knowing Paul? 14 years!  14 years of mission without contact with a local church, a HQ, etc. One moment having Christians killed, the next WHAM serving God amongst a mob who no one else had time for.  A mob who knew nothing of how to be a traditional Jew.  Totally uncircumcised!

Next thing Peter toddles up to see Paul in his stomping ground.  Peter hangs out with the Galatian locals and lives as if he is one of them.  Uncircumcised.

Next a few Jewish fellas come to see him.  And as quick as a flash Peter, out of fear of being criticised, pretends he is a good Jew too.  He stops eating with the locals and starts acting in ways that won't offend his Jewish visitors.

To put it plainly, Paul is a bit more than pissed!  He goes up to Peter and basically calls him a hypocrite to his face in front of EVERYONE.  The locals and visiting Jews too.  No hiding.  Peter, the man known for his faith received a public dressing down.

Why?  Because as Paul noted: Peter by behaving like this had stopped following the gospel message.  Because of his faith he was able to discard his Jewish Levitical traditions and live in the freedom of Christ.  But now he was suddenly doing them again.  Worse, he was advocating the locals to do likewise - follow the Jewish Levitical traditions.  Even Barnabas, Paul's loyal companion had been convinced back.

So here is what Paul explained: Just because you feel guilty that you don't follow the Levitical way once you get right with God by having faith in Christ does not mean Jesus led you to sin!  Not at all!  What makes you a sinner is trying to rebuild this old Levitical way (or follow it when it is presented to you).  Doing this makes you claim that God is a liar.  It makes you a sinner because no matter how hard you try to keep it, it can only condemn you.  Isn't this why we stopped trying to meet its requirements in the first place and follow Jesus?

Seriously dude... Remember your old self has been crucified with Christ and so it is no longer you who lives but Christ in you.  So please live by trusting in the Son of God, who loved you enough to sacrificed his life for you.  Remember, God's grace is NOT meaningless because there would be zero need for Christ is by keeping the law we could be right with God.

***

So my question is where in my life do I still pursue these old Levitical ways?  Or in other words?  What am I doing that says "I don't need Christ" "Doing this or that will make God like me?"

Am I making tithes and offerings?  Am I advocating a special priesthood (pastor-hood, apostle-hood)?  Are we repeating the same rituals (maybe with an electric guitar) in how we meet and how we do things? etc etc like rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic. How much of what I do is based on the church culture I was born into ... 

Protestants who in addition to mixing in ideas of human kingship retained much from the Catholic church who was birthed from the Holy Roman Church who took much of what they did directly from the Old Testament traditions of the Law.

And if I am not doing these things from a old covenant stance, and God has done away with them because they only existed because Jesus had not come yet... are they not empty shells?  What point is there for them at all?

And if I think that these ways are comfortable or familiar or traditional or make sense ... am I trying to fill these empty shells with the life of the new covenant, ie Jesus?  But didn't he say this wouldn't work?  Like trying to put new wine in an old wineskin, new cloth to mend an old coat...

***

Bugger

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god gifts the rebellious

Today I was discussing with a friend something read in Ephesians 4 earlier in the week. Basically, I can sometimes skip over the parts of scripture which refer to other parts of the Bible. For example occasionally in the New Testament, Paul or another writer, will refer to a scripture from the Old Testament.

My assumption has been that this does not need reading because the writer is simply repeating something he will explain elsewhere in the text.

How WRONG could I have been?

A lot!

The scripture in question is Ephesians 4:8 which in context reads:

However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say,
“When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.  And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

This Ephesians 4:8 is a quote from Psalms 68:18

When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives.  You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you.  Now the Lord God will live among us there.

In short God gives his gifts to people even if they have rebelled against him.  That is are unrepentant.  That is have not sought forgiveness for what they are doing or have done or will do against him.  This can be both people we call 'unsaved', people who do not have anything to do with Jesus.  Or it can be people who say they have faith in Jesus; are 'saved'.  The saved rebellious?  Yes, for they were once without faith.  And there will be things they do or say that continue to be actions against God.

So when the rest of Ephesians is read, and the types of gifts God gives out to people ... My mind and heart was floored as I realised that God gives all them to people we would otherwise dismiss as people nothing to do with the church, regardless of their culture, religious affinity or anything else.  God simply wants people to know him and he shows no favouritism in how this occurs.

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holy holy ... whichday?

If it is possible for some to consider some days more holy than others, while other people may consider every day as equally holy ... how will this apply to sundays?  To recognised church services?

In the former situation, there is not much more to say.  If one day is more important than another then certain things can only occur on that day.  They do not happen on others.  If it is argued that they can occur on other days, then the reason for the importance of the chosen separated day is the 'why it occurs on at day'.

However, if you are someone who considers every day as equally holy and arguing for a move away from focusing on Sundays then ... it is possible to take one of two approaches

1. Sunday  needs to becomes like every other day, or
2. every other day needs to become like Sunday
   

In effect, this is the same thing but with drastically different outcomes

1. The first dilutes Sunday because it was once considered 'more holy' and the others by virtue of this belief 'less so'.
2. The second makes the other days equally significant as Sunday because the once be 'lesser days' must now take on the sacredness of Sundays. 

And since prayer, worship, sacrament, faith, service, etc cannot be watered down, as each act no matter how infrequent is full, the second option seems more viable.
So what is implied by Jesus' comment that "the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" in the context that every day may be considered as the Sabbath?
That is God introduced rest because men need rest.  Not.
There is a rule of rest so men must take it to justify its existence.

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empathy or prosperity gospel?

How do poor people see themselves?
When poor people are thought we tend to see them in terms of how they lack material things (e.g. food, money, clean water, housing).  However, when a person who is poor is asked how they see themselves most will admit that yes they do lack these things, but more important is their feelings of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, voicelessness, etc.

Solutions?
How poverty is defined will therefore affect how it is solved.  The mistakes most people make when trying to overcome poverty is that ...

• we treat the symptoms instead of the underlying illnesses, and
• we wrongly diagnose the underlying illnesses and therefore prescribe the wrong medicine.

The solution is to develop relationships with people because ...

• People are not always fully aware of what is affecting their life
• People are not always fully honest about their life
• Any effort to resolve poverty is multifaceted in design and execution because we are designed to relate with God, ourself, others, and creation

And therefore we need to ...

• Discover how God is already working among people, their organisations, institutions, and culture, while also
• Seeing people as part of the new world Christ is restoring and sustaining

So who are the poor?
Everyone!  We are all poor because when it comes to spiritual intimacy, poverty of being, poverty of community, and a poverty of stewardship, we all lack something.
As such, because not everyone will experience material poverty, it makes it possible to believe that I am better than others just because I have more material stuff. In addition, this belief often comes with a second thought: that because I achieved this wealth through my own efforts I have the right to decide what is best for low income people.  The consequences of this is:

• People who are not materially wealthy, healthy and powerful have not enough or no faith in God and/or are not obeying him
• People experiencing poverty are viewed as inferior
• People are reduced to objects that fill my needs to accomplish

In terms of the church, these are the philosophies of the prosperity gospel.  Where people who are materially wealthy etc are viewed as having been rewarded for their faith and obedience in God.  Therefore, the solution according to the prosperity gospel preached to materially poor people is that all their finances, their jobs, and how much they possess will increase if they only had more or real faith and obedience.  The poor may even be told that they are sick and unemployed because of their lack in faith and obedience.

Unfortunately this philosophy fails when we place it into the context that if it is true then it must apply to every people and culture.  So can the prosperity gospel work in war torn nations or nations that experience governmental corruption?  How would it sound to a woman who has just been raped or a father whose children died in a house fire?

No it cannot!

Jesus himself reminds us that "the poor will always be with us" and that to follow him is to expect suffering and persecution.  He also repeatedly urges us to understand that seeking after the riches of this world leads to death, and that God sees and treats us all equally no matter how much we have or do not have

Conclusions

• Understand we are all poor in the sense of broken relationships
• Be open to ongoing repentance: "Jesus can fix us both"
• Reject the prosperity gospel that claims “spiritual maturity leads to financial well-being”
• Realise material poverty can be due to external circumstances (e.g. racism, job availability) and not due to spiritual immaturity

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incarnation ... a beginning

Incarnation: The making of something physical, real, able to be touched and interacted.
Surely it is easier for God to remain in the heavens to do and say things?  The Old Testament is full of these kinds of examples.

So why did God make an appearance on earth as Jesus?  Jesus, the bible shares was a human being just like anyone of us.  If the bible says God wanted to 'save us' to reconcile our relationship with him, why couldn't he just do this from heaven?  He was able to sort things out in the past through floods, lightning, prophets, etc.  Why did he choose not to stay at a distance?

According to the writings of the bible's New Testament:

1. The devil had the power of death and the only way this could be broken was for Jesus to die.
2. And, the only way for Jesus to die was for him to become like us in every way, human.
3. So God made Jesus human
4. And where to humans live?  In heaven?

No.

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is sunday for resting?

Question 1
May we work on Sundays and do any activity we want? Or, are Sundays sacred where working is to be avoided and our activities are limited to only certain things?
And, if we believe a Sunday is sacred, may we justify this by stating it as God's will?
Didn't God rest on the last, on the seventh day of creation? Hasn't he also asked his people do do likewise, take a day of rest from work every week (see the 10 commandments)?

But the bible also reads that ...

Jesus did many things which the people of the day considered 'work'. He healed. He picked corn.  Indeed Jesus even chastised people for their hypocrisy for they too would do things considered 'work' if they needed to (e.g. Luke 13:15).
But that is different to earning an income on Sundays. Is it? Yes, the examples Jesus was involved in were not about income earning. They were simply about doing stuff. But, just because income earning is not among the examples doesn't mean it is not on the avoid doing list.  Maybe.  But the point is, these examples reveal work is not directly connected to income. And thus earning an income on a Sunday cannot be put into a special category.

Question 2
What is work?  By definition work is exerting effort to produce or accomplish something.  So, is work what we physically do? Or can work also be something else?  For example, have you heard someone say they, for example, they are "making an effort to change their attitude" or "making arrangements to go on holidays"? Indeed they may say it in other ways, 'trying to' or indeed 'working at'. The point is the same ... effort is being given to achieve something.

Work.

So should we avoid trying to change our attitudes on Sundays? Is that even possible? Would trying to stop, itself, be a type of effort or work to achieve?  Are priests and ministers making an effort, working, to teach us Sunday morning?

Question 3
So, if avoiding work is impossible, let alone on Sundays, then surely we should minimise it? That is a good thought but whose list will be followed? And will they create boundaries between people?  What does God say about what worship is, about living harmoniously, about favouritism? (read Acts 10; Romans 2; Galatians 2; Colossians 3; Ephesians 6 and also ... James 2)

One more question:

If God chose to have a rest on the seventh day of creation, are we still in it, or did he go back to work?

• Do we still live in God's day of rest?  Anyone who has a full time job and also rests on Sundays, works for at least 85% of the week (and this only accounts for income earning income). So, does God ask us to work while he is resting and for how long will this continue?
• Has God returned to work? And if so are we to apply it to a 7 day weekly calendar or something different? If God's calendar is synchronised with our Sundays off, will he then heal or forgive on the Sunday? Yes? Then surely God is working on the very day we suggest is designated, by him, for rest. Are our requests therefore falling on deaf ears on that day, because he is resting? Should we even therefore bother about church attendance on Sundays? Indeed, why would people claim to be healed while at church on Sundays?

Conclusion
Either God asks us to live one way and he another, or he intends his actions and ours, though imperfect, to be the same. My suggestion is that if it is the first way, then we may continue living the way we are. However, if he indeed intends his and our actions to align then we must reassess how we approach Sundays, rest and his will.

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ideas

If there is no longer male or female ... (Gal 3:24-29)... why are men and women separated into different capacities (e.g. ministry, leadership, mission, teaching, etc)

Let me put it another way.  The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.  And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.  For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

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maturing ... more than just me

What does it mean to mature to be like Christ?

When Biblical studies are made about maturing, they often focus on the individual.  Me.  You.

However, if Christ is and was one with the Father, then maturing to be like Christ means maturing in ways that are more than the individual.  Could this be something to do with relationships?

• with the Father    (Mt 22:37)
• with other people (Mt 22:39)

The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments (Mt 22:40)

Therefore, for God's people to mature, we must also focus on how and why we love others and worship God.  Indeed this may mean we shift the purpose of maturing personal from being a goal in its own right to a mechanism to be able to better serve others.  For our sake.

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can people change

Is it really possible to change or is the way you are set?  In other words, is the reason you behave the way you do a result of some kind of "hard-wiring" or is it possible to change?  Indeed, does God design people to be a certain way? If he did, does this mean you are "programmed" to act in certain ways?

And yet the Bible states Jesus came so we could be set free of our sins and therefore choose to live in ways that God asks of us.

Consequently, if we are unable to change the promise of Jesus is an impossibility!  Why?  Because we all do things which keep our relationship with God broken.In addition, if we cannot change, where does that leave free-will and choice?Could it even be that God designed us to be able to change?

Could it be that people who claim we are designed to act in certain ways are unwilling to accept personal responsibility for their own actions? "I can't help it!  This is just how I am." "If other people would't treat me this way I would not respond they way I do."

Wait a moment ... This line of thinking implies others need to change their actions so I may remain the same.  But this was said by the same person who claism change is not possible, we are just cimply doing what our biological or God-made programming causes us to do.

This is a contradiction at best, shifting responsibility.

If people cannot change, we cannot blame them for their actions and must either ignore it, forgive it, or let it go.

But if they can change then so can I.  And as a result I must show them the same grace as I would hope they would show me.  Not only that.  Maybe.  Just maybe, I need to accept my actions for what they are and examine how to change them where needed.

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