Thoughts From Ephesians 4 - Part 1

  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Eph. 4:1-6

              Any idea what word appears the most in this passage? I highlighted it just in case you missed it. I saw that the lead singer of "Three Dog Night", a band from my high school days, passed away this week. They were famous for many songs but one in particular was "One is the Loneliest Number". Paul would have to disagree with him in this passage. In fact, Paul would be saying just the opposite. He is in effect saying that the fact that there is only one God and one way to be saved brings people from all nations, cultures, colors together into one body. People I would have never known otherwise are now my family. That oneness takes away all loneliness.

           My ex-partner in my medical practice who went back to his Seventh Day Adventist roots, loves to post pictures about his church on Facebook after their Saturday (Sabbath) meetings. Many of them have a common theme pointing out the diversity in his church is something that all other churches are failing at and God's plan for the church, like in Heaven, is to include every tribe, tongue, and nation. He is right, of course, so I ponder, why is my church so white? I keep falling back to how many Adventist churches are there in Sevierville, TN? One. There are no other choices and that's why, if you are Adventist, no matter what color, nationality, language, culture, etc. you are going to go to the same church. I googled Adventist Churches in New York city and there was one in Harlem, a Chinese one, a Korean one, a Spanish one, one in the rich area... My point is those churches probably aren't as diverse because you can take the subway to any church that you feel more comfortable in. You see, one church option, like Paul says, creates unity among people that wouldn't normally mix but rather stay alone. One is not lonely but the key to fellowship.

        We recently had a Church snow day, and we built a fire, turned on the TV, and streamed Church. OK. I'm going to confess and hope no Church members read my blog, but we streamed Passion City Washington DC with Ben Stuart who we love. Great worship, great message, great everything except fellowship. We were alone. That's not the Church. That's not God's plan for us. He created us for fellowship and although afterward we thought, "We could get used to this", it was wrong. However, there is no reason we couldn't do it Monday night.

Thoughts From Ephesians 3 - Part 3

  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Eph. 3:20,21

    When I was in the Presbyterian Church, they spoke of the catechisms and if I'm not mistaken, they start with, "The chief end of man is to enjoy God and glorify Him forever." In laymen's terms this means we were created to give glory to God and enjoy life presently and eternally which is only possible if you are walking in His presence. Verse 21 reiterates the first part of this, "to Him be glory in the Church". One of the ways to do this is found in verse 20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."

      When I first look at verse 20, I think, wow, He is able to do more than I could ever imagine, so when I pray for a job, a raise, a spouse, a home, a career, etc. I should not be limiting God because He has good plans for me and He is for me (to quote 2 popular worship songs) and He has plans to prosper me, not to harm me. (Jer.29:11) He can do more than we could ask, think, or imagine! But is this what the verse is saying? I don't think so. The verse is saying that because I have the power of the Holy Spirit in me, He can do more than I could ask or imagine. What does the Holy Spirit in me have do with all those things I was asking for earlier? No, what this verse is saying is that He can do more and greater things with and through me than I could even imagine.

       Let me give an example of what I think He is saying. A friend of mine, Scott, an auctioneer, who I have been on multiple mission trips with is an effective evangelist. He has led hundreds to the Lord, maybe it's even a thousand. Same for John, a high school basketball coach. Both of them felt called to go on their first overseas mission trips and were terrified when the leader gave them a small group of nationals and had them share the gospel through an interpreter after observing someone else do it once. They stepped out in faith led by the Holy Spirit to go on the trip, and they stepped out trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to share the gospel, and to their amazement people responded and were saved. God did, through them, through the power of the Holy Spirit, more than they could ever have imagined asking for. They were probably asking God, "HELP!", and He did much more than that. That is what glorifies God.

       Note, I didn't say they were great evangelists, I said effective evangelists. I've heard both of them and there is nothing remarkable in what they are doing. What is remarkable is the power of the Holy Spirit to save through average people like us. When that happens, God gets all the glory, not us. But this doesn't happen if we don't step out in faith but rather life in fear comfortable in our home. Try sharing Christ today with someone you meet. Watch the power of the Holy Spirit take over. God will be basking in the glory and it will give you joy in a way you could never imagine.

Thoughts From Ephesians 3 - Part 2

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

            A street preacher at the Island in Pigeon Forge, TN. would stand on the sidewalk with a mic and speaker and share the gospel as people walked into the shopping/entertainment area. My wife and I often walked that path along the river, so we heard him speak quite often. One night an angry heckler yelled back at him some derogatory comment about Jesus and to go away. The preacher, in a soft, caring, saddened voice said something like, "How can you hate Jesus when all He ever did was love you so much that He left His throne in Heaven, took on a human body and suffered and died on the cross for you? He never did anything to you but love you and yet you hate him?"

         Paul in this passage is telling us that understanding how much God loves us is essential to our growth which he describes as "to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." He says that it is this love that roots us and establishes us. I saw a picture on Facebook today of a young man holding his newborn baby in his arms. This would have been a precious picture deserving of a heart emoji except for the fact that this young man, once an active member of the church youth group went to college, forsook the faith and has lived an ungodly lifestyle and is living with this woman, not his first, and now has a child. He, like Eve, bought the devil's lie that God didn't truly love him and was keeping him from something good, so he forsook the love of Christ in search of what God was withholding from him. Understanding how much God loves us is essential to our establishment, roots - our perseverance.

       We have a tendency to view God through His other attributes such as truth, holiness, justice and wrath, immutability, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, eternality, creativeness and others, all of which make Him who He is, but we see love sometimes lower down on the list or at best equal to all the others. The fact of the matter is that the love of God trumps all His other qualities. When Moses asks to see Him, God introduces Himself as the God who is rich in grace abounding in love. When Jonah runs from the Ninevites it's not because of fear but rather because he knows that God is "abounding in love"(Jonah 4:2) and that will trump the judgement that the Ninevites so desperately deserved.

       When we read our Bible and go through the difficulties of life, the love of God needs to be the lens we filter these things through. God is giving us counter-cultural rules for living because He knows these lead to flourishing on account that He loves us and wants the best for us. When we don't get the job or the promotion we want it's because He loves us and has something better for us. And the ultimate love is that when we leave this world, He has been preparing an eternal home for us and waits to welcome us who believe with open arms. How can you not love a God like that?

Thoughts From Ephesians 3 - Part 1

 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Eph. 3:1-13

         Have you ever used the following acronyms - ALOTBSOL, BBFLUDDUP, GNSTDLTBBB, MOM, PICNIC, SWALK, HOLLAND, BOLTOP ? AI lists these as failed acronyms, in other words someone made them up, thinking they would be widely used and embraced, and they just weren't helpful or were too tedious. They mean in order. Always look on the bright side of life, best friends for life until death do us part, good night sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite, microsoft operations manager, problem in chair not in computer, sealed with a loving kiss, hope our love lasts and never dies, and better on lips than on paper. Someone thought they were a good idea - they weren't.

      In Christianity we have a few that have stuck such as WWJD or FROG but one that hasn't is TRUTH - trusting Jesus, resting in his promises, understanding His precepts, testifying to His goodness, hearing His voice. A rapper named daT.R.U.T.H. came up with a song called JIFE - Jesus is for everyone, which was somewhat ironic and funny - a rapper with a failed acronym for a name writing a song with a failed acronym, but if we could entitle Ephesians 3, it would have to be J.I.F.E. - Jesus is for everyone. Of note, Jelly Roll at the Grammys last night shouted out, "Jesus is for everyone!"

          This was the mystery not only hidden from humanity, although it was there in the Old Testament in people like Rahab, Ruth, Naaman, Jethro, Melchizedek, the Ninevites, and Uriah the Hittite, but also hidden from the heavenly realm such as angels and demons. The mystery was revealed through a direct revelation to Paul (Acts 26:17) and also to some apostles (Acts 10,11) at the right time (John 1:11,12) and was magnified and illustrated through the church - Jews and Gentiles in unity worshipping in one body, the enmity and prejudice erased at the foot of the cross where everyone was equal.

      The mystery that Christ would die and shed His blood to wash away our sins so we could once again be restored to a relationship with God that had been broken for approximately 4000 years in the garden, and that this would be available to everyone on Earth was the greatest proclamation in the history of the world and Paul, a persecutor of Jesus, felt so honored to be given this good news that to be beaten, imprisoned, and to lose all personal freedom for the rest of his life paled in comparison to be given this great administration.

     

 

When I think of the greatest proclamations in recent history, I have to think of these headlines, yet they pale in comparison to what Paul is proclaiming. When I hear J.I.F.E., I shouldn't laugh but see it as the greatest news of all time. Paul did. Am I willing to give my life, freedom, comfort, time to spread that good news or am I living my life selfishly keeping that news to myself. Paul didn't. Neither should we.

Thoughts From Ephesians 2 - Part 6

  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  Eph. 2:21,22

           Have you ever heard, "The church is a hospital for sinners"? Doesn't that seem like a defeatist attitude? Here Paul is saying that we are an organically growing temple rising from the ground, joined together in unity, built on the rock of Jesus Christ, standing on the shoulders of saints before us in which the God of the universe dwells. This assumes a few things.

        The Church should be visible. We should be known as Christ followers. We should be out there in the community serving, not just inward hiding out. My wife went to a book club in the new neighborhood for this express purpose. The 8 women were totally different from her, focused on wealth, standing in society, intellectual and career achievements and not Christ followers. When they shared around the circle what they did (they never discussed the book), she said I teach a lot at church, volunteer at the rescue ministry, cook for the homeless, and am CEO of our household, she was letting her light shine. She was being visible. My guess is that other Christians have attended in the past and found it not to be their scene, maybe once they saw the 6 bottles of wine, and retreated. She is going to keep going no matter how uncomfortable.

      Secondly, the Church should be Holy. I just saw a video on X of a football player praying with his "partner" of 2 years before each game on the sideline and how sweet that was. Who are they praying to? Christians don't have "partners". That's not God's design. That's not "Holy". "Holy" means "other". We are other than the world. The world acts one way - we act another because we follow Jesus and do what He says.

       Lastly, there should be a unity among believers. The world and Satan must love it when we are fighting among ourselves. Does that mean we should all be in one big church and not be separated into denominations? I used to think that, but I couldn't go to a church where everyone is speaking in tongues and giving prophecies. Yet I could fellowship with them on the outside and serve hand in hand with them and consider them my brothers and sisters. I met for prayer with the pastor of a Charismatic church once a week and one week he told me that he was preaching about the Daniel diet and how everyone should be following it. That was the day I realized that we need different churches because I couldn't sit under that, yet I could pray with him on a weekly basis.

      We are so much more than a Hospital for sinners. We are a light shining in a dark world. We are victors and overcomers not defeated losers. We are a unified force demonstrating the love and Holy lifestyle that a self-centered world needs.

Thoughts From Ephesians 2 - Part 5

  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Eph. 2:19-20

         I was playing Jenga with my three-year-old grandson today and surprisingly it was lasting 4 moves apiece until he made it fall. At one point I tried making it 4 blocks wide but quickly found out that the width of the block would only allow 3 wide. You see, the shape of the tower was determined by the first block I laid, or the cornerstone, so there could be only three on the bottom - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if you will allow me to extrapolate. Every level had to mimic the first level and be directly on top and in line. Any deviation would make for a wobbly tower and eventually, as the layers or generations went on, the tower would topple.

      I've been making the analogy as I've been going, but the Church or the bride of Christ is built on Jesus. His words, His example, His life are to be what we copy our life to be like with the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The word "Christians" meant "little Christs" and was meant to be derogatory but actually we are supposed to look just like Him. The Church is to follow His words, and it is easy to slowly drift off mainline and pass that on to the next generation. Gradually we could drift so off the base that the Church could crumble into damnable heresy.

      My Dad was raised in the Dutch Reformed Church in Holland and years later after moving to America, being saved, joining an evangelical church, he would occasionally attend a Dutch Reformed Church with relatives. His takeaway was "they don't even know what it means to be saved." Even though they had a strong base, built on Christ and the apostles with the Heidelberg Confession trying to keep them doctrinally sound, they had drifted.

     Today doctrines like Penal Substitutionary Atonement are being challenged and the doctrines of the Catholic Church are gradually being accepted just because Catholics are our biggest allies against worldliness. That's just to name a couple beliefs trying to make us more "wobbly" but this is why I'm so hard headed about things like a complementarian's view of the sexes, Creation vs. Evolution, that Genesis 1-11 isn't just a poem, that male and female should wed before sex and any variation from that pattern is rebellion against God's plan, the scripture both Old and New Testament are inerrant and profitable and relevant, and other dogmatic views. Yes, you can adopt some hybrid views but are those going to pull us further from the foundation with each subsequent generation adopting those as standards and drifting from those standards until when Christ comes back, will He even find faith on this Earth?

Thoughts From Ephesians 2 - Part 4

 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.   Eph. 2:11-18

   

          I imagine in the early church that there was some kind of caste system where the Jews felt superior to everyone else who was grafted into the church. Paul even uses some language here to display it - far away from God vs. near to God, excluded from citizenship vs. citizens, uncircumcised vs. circumcised, foreigners to the covenants of the promise vs. possessing the covenants, without hope vs. having hope, and the big one - without God in the world vs. having God. The Jews actually were the only ones in the world who were worshipping the right God! This tracks today, also, because so many people think every religion is seeking God, they are just going up different sides of the mountain. Allah is not God, Brahman is not God, the Hawaiian gods Kane, Ku, Lono, Kanaloa are not God, Shakti, Vishu, Shiva, Wakan Taka, The Tao, Krishna, Eshwara, and Anima Mundi are not God. There is one God and He revealed Himself to the Jews. No wonder they felt like in the church they were first-class citizens and frankly, no wonder Satan stirs up the world with a spirit of anti-semitism.

        You ever walk into an airplane and look left and see first-class with chairs that swivel and turn into beds with tables for food and drinks and it's already full because they get to board and exit first? Then you walk to your seat, and you feel like a second-class citizen. I've always dreamed about being upgraded to first-class because my kids always seem to get upgraded and it finally happened yesterday. Unfortunately, it was on a 20 passenger 40-minute flight where the only difference was the front row vs. row 8 and cookies and water, but hey, it finally happened. Paul says that the church wasn't meant to have first and second class. The thing that put everyone at the same level was the cross and blood of Jesus. All those covenants, laws, and promises were fulfilled in Christ. He was the Passover lamb, the firstfruit from the dead. He took the leaven and the curse of unclean on His body on the cross. He became our Sabbath rest where we rest from our works and He did the work for us. We all became equal at the foot of the cross.

       If your church, or mine, treats anyone as more important by nature of income, skin color, name, occupation, etc., that church is messing up. We are all equal. We are all Children of God if we are born again.