Koinonia Mennonite Church

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-07-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Discipleship in unexpected places (notes from Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in CO)

Mark 2:13-17 – The call of Matthew the tax collector

• Low and despised class of person – the grace of Jesus is shocking

• “follow me”—what does it involve/mean? And how did those called respond? Mark 1:20; 8:34; 10:21; 10:52; Matt 8:21-22; John 12:26; 21:18-19

• Discipleship does not happen by coincidence or caprice – it requires action/change on my part: Philippians 3:12-17; Col 3:12-15

• Matthew holds a feast: see also Luke 5:29

• Traditional dietary laws forbade eating with this type – but Jesus took His disciples with him

• The Pharisees have a different perspective – “tax collectors and sinners”: through this lens we see lots of people who don’t belong

• Jesus’ perspective = many potential sons and daughters of God

• Matthew follows and proclaims, not to gain Jesus’ favor, but in response to His grace: Eph 1:7-9, 2:4-8; Deut 9:4-6

We noted in particular, at the end of the exchange between the religious leaders and Jesus, how Jesus again pierces to the heart of the matter: the religious leaders were viewing those at the feast in a degrading, dehumanizing way. Jesus turns their prejudice upside-side down, as if to say, "Oh? So you think these persons are "sick" and "broken," do you? Well then, they need a doctor so they can be made well! (Not, to be condemned, despised, and left in the state they are in.)"

We noted that in other exchanges, Jesus also bursts the rosy "bubble" of the religious leaders, showing them that they themselves were, in fact, broken, sick, blind, etc....from God's perspective, none of us can look at another in a dehumanizing and superior way and be justified in doing so, in the end.

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-07-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

Discipleship in unexpected places (notes from Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in CO)

Read Mark 1:40-45

The untouched and untouchable comes and speaks with Jesus: “If you will…”: Lev 13:45-46

• What does Jesus do with the untouchable?

• Jesus commands silence, the leper speaks; Mark 7:35-36

• The result: Jesus has traded places with the leper: Is 53:4-6; Romans 3:23-26; Gal 1:4-5; Heb 9:13-14

(In a very salient, powerful way, Jesus shows in this instance, by touching this "unclean" leper, that He became unclean in order to make us clean and bring us healing. His restoration is always holistic, touching us in every part of our being--this physical healing also brought social restoration, for ex.)

We then read and discussed Mark 2:1-12

We shared what aspects of this wonderful, beautiful and heartening story struck us most: the love, determination, and tangible support of this man's friends; the reality of all those jostling people in the house and the roof being slowly torn open to create a way to Jesus for the paralyzed man...

We noted how Jesus surprised everyone by going to what He saw (and sees) as the core human need: forgiveness, reconciliation with God.

So much effort and fuss to get this man into a place where he could receive physical healing--but Jesus speaks to his need for spiritual healing, first and foremost. Wow...do we understand that as our deepest, truest need?

We also noted the recognition by the religious leaders that Jesus was speaking as (if he were) God, as only God can forgive sin. Jesus was not coming as Prophet, only; He was coming as the incarnation of God--a forgiving God, a God who interacts with the creation and wants to bring wholeness.

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-07-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

The Kingdom of God and Prayer

(notes from Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in CO)

Read Mark 1:35-39

• Mark 1:21-34 is a kind of “day in the life” of Jesus, full of visible and incredible miracles

• What did Jesus do after? (1:35)

• Jesus was in the habit of disappearing to pray: Luke 5:12-16; 9:18-20; 22:39-46

• What might it communicate to Peter that he had to hunt him down, and then found him praying?

• The Kingdom of God as both “inward” and “outward”

• The Kingdom of God is “outward”: it really has consequences in this world

• But the visible can become an idol: Exodus 20:4-6; 32:1-6; Habakkuk 2:18-19; Psalm 115:2-8; Col 3:5

• So what is the role of the “inward”?: 2 Cor 4:16-5:5; Romans 8:5-8

• “…I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

• The proclamation was primary – Peter’s first guess at why Jesus came is wrong: 1 Cor 4:1-2; 1 Peter 2:9

“…discipleship consists not in attempting to control God’s work but in following God’s Son.” (James Edwards)

Sunday evening service

2011-07-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

Sanctification—Walking in holiness in a sinful world

Leviticus 20:1-8, 22-26

What does it “look like” or mean (esp., vis-à-vis the culture around us) for God’s people to walk through this life as set apart?

How does God explain to His people (now us) the reasons for being sanctified/living holy lives? (note God’s parenting style: firm and clear boundaries, along with explanations for them)

[We must sanctify ourselves because God is our God, and He is holy; He has set us apart; following the behaviors or religions of those around us will get us “spewn out” or “vomited out” of our land…finally, God has sanctified us so we can belong to Him and have communion with Him]

Ezekiel 36:17-28

What do we see in this passage about walking in a worldly rather than godly way?

How does the kind of life we lead reflect back on and affect God?

What is God’s heart toward us? What will He do for us in terms of our sanctification and ability to walk in holiness?

[when we walk in sin, we defile His name/soil His reputation; God will sanctify His people for the sake of His reputation—He wants to be known for His true glory and holiness; He will change our hearts]

Some New Testament expansion of these concepts:

*Col. 1:9-14

Eph. 4:1-3

I Thess. 2:11-12

Rev. 3:4

*James 4:3-5 (cf. Matt. 6:24)

*I Peter 4:1-4

I Peter 3:15-16

2 Cor. 6:14-18

*Acts 4:13

[We should be following the example of Jesus in how we live. Our full allegiance should belong to Him, not to following how the world does things, or trying to achieve success and popularity with the world system. People should be able to look at our lives and know that we are disciples of Jesus.]

And, ending where we began the series ;-)

Remember—

John 17:13-21—Jesus prayed that we all (believers) would be sanctified

I Peter 1:2—it’s part of the Spirit’s work in this world/in us to sanctify us (see also Rom. 15:16)

I Thess. 5:23-24—God sanctifies our whole being to present us before Jesus at the end of time

Pondering: How has my idea of what this means and what sanctification “looks like” changed or expanded after this study?

Sunday Evening Service

2011-07-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sanctification

How are we to understand it? And what does it “look like” to have God sanctify us?

First instance of its teaching is Exodus 13 (see previous post); second time it features prominently is in Exodus 19

Exodus 19:9-11, 16-20

What is happening here? Why do the people need to sanctify themselves?

(see also Exodus 24:12-18; 33:17-23 and 34:1)

Exodus 34:27-30, 34-35

What is happening between God and His people? What happens between Moses and God, and Moses and the people?

[God is making a covenant with the whole people of Israel; Moses is allowed to speak intimately with God and apprehend His glory—note the miraculous nature of the encounter, with Moses surviving without food or water, clearly in some kind of altered state as he communes with God. Sadly, the people find Moses’ shining face “too much,” too scary and overwhelming, and he must veil his face when speaking to them.]

The New Testament framing and expansion on these things: II Cor. 3-4

II Cor. 3:5-11

What is Paul saying about the ministry that God entrusts to us as Christians?—what comparison is Paul making here?

What is Paul saying about our sufficiency and competence for this ministry?

II Cor. 3:12 pause: What is our hope that makes us bold?

II Cor. 3:12-18 Woah! How is Paul tying together the story of Moses’ shining face with (what should be)

our experience of God’s glory?

II Cor. 4:1 pause: What is the therefore? Why do we not lose heart? (note 4:2 as a response to God’s mercy toward us)

II Cor. 4:3-6

WOW, again! What iconic, dramatic miracle does Paul reference as our example of what God does in our minds?

-pondering: that we are actively blinded spiritually (by Satan and his demons) apart from God

-pondering: that it takes the Creator God speaking light into us to see the glory of God in Jesus Christ

II Cor. 4:7-11

-what is meant to be the “final word” in our lives—what should people see when they look at our lives?

II Cor. 4:13-14

-what is this “same spirit of faith” with the psalmist that Paul quotes?—see Psalm 116

Nuggets to “take home”:

v We are insufficient for the task God calls us to, and blind—God gives us the competence we need, and calls forth light in our darkness of mind so we can see Him

v We are meant to be beholding and reflecting God’s glory—glory exceeding anything we read about in the Old Testament! and we are to be becoming more and more like Jesus

v God’s glory and the life of Jesus are meant to have the “final say” in our lives—when people look at us, no matter what we are going through, they should be seeing the treasure of God’s presence in our lives

v We can know and believe (“have faith”) that God cares about our state of being when we are afflicted in life—as Psalm 116 says, God will deliver us from death, tears, and stumbling—we just need to ask

v We therefore have HOPE in this life, and for our existence after the final work of Redemption!

Sunday Evening Service

2011-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

What is Sanctification and to Sanctify?

also translated as set apart, consecrate, devote or hand over (wholly) to the Lord

Strong’s Hebrew 6942: a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):--appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self), X wholly.

Strong’s Greek 37: from 40; to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate:--hallow, be holy, sanctify.

38:from 37; properly, purification, i.e. (the state) purity; concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier:--holiness, sanctification.

40: sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):--(most) holy (one, thing), saint.

How is it relevant to us? ;-)

John 17:13-21—Jesus actually prayed that we all (believers) would be sanctified

I Peter 1:2—it’s part of the Spirit’s work in this world/in us to sanctify us (see also Rom. 15:16)

I Thess. 5:23-24—God sanctifies our whole being to present us before Jesus at the end of time

The first teachings on “sanctify” in Scripture:

(note Genesis 2:3 marks the first time God “sanctifies” something: the Sabbath/day of rest)

Exodus 13:1-15; Deut. 15:19-20, Number 8:13-19 (home study: Ex. 4:22-23; Ex. 12)

First, what is God asking them to sanctify or devote to Him (Ex. 13)? (their firstborn--of human, animals)

Why does He ask them to do this?

-because the lives of the firstborn were spared during the last plague in

Egypt—in that sense, perhaps “owed”

-reminder that they did not belong to themselves or control their destiny

-the process of sanctifying the firstborn would serve as a reminder of the

Passover and how God spared them and rescued them (were to teach this to their children)

(Num. 8)

-we see God set up the Levite clan as the "substitute" for the firstborn that are owed

-God provides a way for both redemption of the firstborn, and means for a sanctified group of

individuals to be able to live lives of worship before Him (since an unconsecrated people would

die/be unable to fulfill the call to worship)

Seeing this through the eyes of the New Covenant in the Blood of Jesus Christ:

Note Jesus as the Firstborn: (see also Ex. 4:22-23), Luke 2:22-24, Romans 8:29, Col. 1:15, 18

-God gives His firstborn in place of ours/us!

Note Jesus as the Passover and sacrificial Lamb of God: (Isaiah 53:7), John 1:29, I Peter 1:18-19, Rev. 5:5-6, 11-13, Rev. 12:10-11

Death “passes us over” because of Jesus’ blood shed in our place: Heb. 9:22-28, Matt. 26:27-28, Rom. 3:23-25 (home study: I Cor. 5:7, Heb. 9:14, 28, I John 2:2, 4:10, Rev. 1:5)

Note: “Propitiation” (Greek #2435 in Strong’s)= “an atoning victim” (Strong’s lexicon) “relating to an appeasing or expiating, having placating or expiating force, expiatory; a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation; used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated); hence the lid of expiation, the propitiatory” from Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for '"propitiation"' in the KJV". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 29 May 2011

The response we are called to under this new covenant:

I Peter 2:9 (see Exodus 19:5-6 to link back to OT) [develop the correct identity]

I Peter 1:14-23 (home study: all of I Peter 1) [purify/sanctify ourselves—through obedience, being born of the Word; and love fervently]

I Cor. 6:19-20 [develop correct identity--know we are not our own]

Romans 6:16-23 [Paul's slave metaphor re: our slavery to sin vs. chosen submission to

righteousness/sanctification becomes more vibrant in light of the Passover basis for God's

first teaching on sanctification in Ex. 13]

*Romans 11:32-12:1 [in light of all of God's amazing action on our behalf, the natural response should be

to offer ourselves--our whole selves--to God daily]

Further home study: Eph. 4:1-6, Col. 1:9-12, I Thess. 2:11-12, Heb. 9 and 10 (esp. 10:19-25)

God has provided the Way for us all to be sanctified, through Jesus' redemptive death and resurrection. The natural response to realizing that we do no belong to ourselves, that our lives are "owed," and to seeing the great and loving action of God on our behalf should result in the spontaneous, daily offering of ourselves to God, to honor all He has done.

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-06-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

Teaching and Divine Authority: Mark 1:21-28

We discussed the notes from Pastor Phil Steiger’s sermon notes on this passage (see http://hccbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2007/12/teaching-and-divine-authority-mark-121.html).

He emphasizes how almost every time we read about Jesus performing miracles or even calling His disciples, these actions are clearly preceded by Jesus teaching the people from the Scripture. And in this first chapter of Mark, Mark sets up the divine authority of Jesus as first being evident from His authoritative teaching of the Word of God—then, His teaching is followed by healings and deliverance. To these actions of healing and deliverance, the people respond by marveling, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” (vs. 27) In the words of Pastor Steiger, “Jesus received exactly the reaction he intended. The people heard the teaching of the Kingdom of God and beheld a miracle and their response was shock at the power in the teaching. Instead of creating a group of people who see only the wild and follow only a miracle worker, Jesus properly prepared their hearts and minds by teaching them first.”

We read the story of Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9-14), which highlights that miracles and spiritual power can come from something(s) other than God. We also read Paul’s warning in II Cor. 11:13-15 about how Satan will sometimes present himself as an “angel of light”—that evil spirits can and do deceive. Therefore, as I John 4:1-3 instructs, we must be wise about spiritual experiences, and test every spirit to see whether it is, indeed God’s Spirit. If any spirit/teaching/experience denies the divinity and humanity and salvivic work and Lordship of Jesus Christ, it is obviously not God’s Spirit. ;-) Spiritual experiences are meant to intertwine with our study of Scripture and be part of knowing and understanding God (e.g., “taste and see that the Lord is good” Psalm 34:8). We are experiential beings, and experiential knowing is extremely powerful. The “standard” of Truth, however, is God’s Word, not an individual spiritual experience (i.e., experiences are subject to errors in interpretation, and to deception; see also Gal. 1:8). We must invest in proper teaching, studying, reading, and understanding of Scripture, even in order to properly interpret and understand spiritual experiences and the realm of the miraculous. (Admittedly, much error and deception occurs in the realm of teaching and understanding Scripture, as well, which is why we must be careful and thorough and rigorous, etc.)

As Pastor Steiger says in his closing: “Where does divine authority—the power of God—begin in my life? It begins with the Scriptures and the life transforming truths of the Kingdom of God. Then, when God reaches down and the miraculous happens, we know exactly where to give the glory.” Amen

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-05-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

We discussed the following notes and points put together by Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in Colorado Springs, CO

Life With Jesus: A Journey of Discipleship

What does it mean to be called?

• Mark 1:14-15

• John the Baptist was arrested – Mark 9:31; 13:9-12; 15:15; Acts 8:3; 12:4

• Mark sets the atmosphere early. What is it?

(the seriousness of the decision: an atmosphere of persecution)

• What John goes through, Jesus goes through. What believers go through, Jesus goes through. Heb 4:14-16

• “Jesus came…proclaiming the gospel of God.”

• “gospel” = ?

• “the kingdom of God is at hand”

• What did they expect? What did Jesus bring?

• Acts 9:9-13; 14:19-22; 2 Thess 1:5-7; Romans 14:13-19; 1 Cor 15:50; Gal 5:18-24

(Kingdom of God is about: selfless living; the spiritual rather than material…)

• The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of Christ instead of the rule and reign of this world

• It is “at hand”: in Christ, God’s rule is here. Luke 17:20-21

• I need to learn what it is and what a Kingdom life looks like

• “repent”: Acts 2:37-38; 17:30-31; 11:16-18

• “and believe in the gospel.” If repenting is what we turn from, believing is what we turn toward.

• What do I believe about God?

• Mark 1:16-20

• The traditional path of discipleship included extra schooling and scholastic ability – if you were driven and capable, you could become a Rabbi’s disciple

• Jesus’ call to discipleship is different

• First – He calls us to follow him

• Jesus initiates: I do not work up a ladder to gain his favor. Eph 1:3-5; 1 Cor 1:1, 9; Col 1:12-14

• Second – All of us can respond to this call

• Jesus found them doing what they did best and picked them to change the world

• Being called by Christ does not mean excellence in order to be called, but excellence because of the call

• Jeremiah 1:4-5; Ezekiel 2; Is 6:4-7; Jonah 1:1-3; Acts 9:3-6

• Mark 1:29-31

(wow! Despite our inadequacy, our stubbornness, our sin—Christ cleanses us, calls us, and equips us!)

• Third – it means a journey of following and learning from Christ with each other

• “I will make you fishers of men”

• The necessary and inevitable (?) progress of the faith: Philippians 3:12-16

(hold true to what we have learned, and keep stretching for more!)

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-05-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Jesus is Always Good News: Mark 1:14-15

We listened to Pastor Steiger’s sermon covering the onset of Jesus’ ministry (listen to the sermon here: http://livinghopecolorado.org/index.php?option=com_music&view=album&album_id=2&Itemid=23 or read the notes (in 2 parts) here http://hccbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2007/08/jesus-is-always-good-news.html and here http://hccbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2007/09/to-be-called-by-christ-mark-116-20.html ).

The first part of the message, focusing on verses 14-15, emphasized how Mark used the term “handing over” to describe John the Baptist’s arrest, and how this is repeated and played out in the life of Jesus and the early martyrs…this sobering situation provides the backdrop for Jesus to begin His ministry. In the “dark hour” and potential fright of looking at this possibility of persecution for bearing the name of Christ and doing what God has called us to do, Jesus always enters with light and joy: He always brings and always is good news!

Jesus’ first “sermon,” His central message, is recorded in v. 15: the kingdom of heaven is here, is present, and we need to (1) repent and (2) believe the good news of Christ. Pastor Steiger emphasizes that Jesus calls us both to leave and turn away from our sin and our spiritual blindness and death, and, to turn to Jesus and fill ourselves with the truth and person of Christ.

This part of the sermon ends with these thoughts: “My relationship with Jesus is primary to my circumstances. It is not my current situation that gives meaning to my relationship with Jesus; it is the relationship that gives meaning and hope to my circumstances. The richness and depth in my relationship with Christ does not flow from my state of affairs; it is something that provides grounding and stability in all conditions.”

To Be Called By Christ: Mark 1:16-20

The last part of the sermon moves from contemplations of the kingdom of heave and Jesus as good news, to an initial look at what it means to a disciple (follower) of Jesus. When we repent and turn to Jesus, what does this mean? What does it look like?

The first account in Mark on this topic, recorded in v.16-20, help us see a few foundational things: First, “Jesus initiates the call...The only qualification Jesus’ disciples seem to have is his desire for them to be disciples. Any achievement tied to following Christ is subsequent to the call—it is not their achievement that draws Christ to them, it is Christ’s call that draws them into the depths and wonders of the Kingdom of God.” Second, “anyone can respond to Jesus’ call. And third, “we are called to a journey. We all learn step by step what it means to follow Christ, and we learn it together.”

May the Holy Spirit work in us an overwhelming desire to know Jesus, to follow Him, to love Him, no matter the cost!

Bible Study: Gospel of Mark

2011-05-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Bible study group decided to go through the book of Mark for their next study. We will be using the study of Mark by Pastor Phil Steiger of Living Hope Church in Colorado Springs, CO, as our base for learning and discussion.

For our fist evening discussing Mark, we read through Pastor Steiger's introduction to the book (read the notes here: http://hccbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2007/06/mark-jesus-servant-savior-sovereign.html). This gospel emphasizes Jesus as Servant, Savior, and Sovereign. The verse that perhaps best captures the primary theme of this gospel is Mark 10:45 : “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Pastor Steiger's thoughts on the primary themes and message of this gospel end with this:
"The cross is not a moment of failure for Jesus, but the defining event of his sovereignty. Even that level of hatred and suffering does not diminish the power of a savior who came to serve and give his life so that I might live."

John, Jesus, and the Wilderness: Mark 1:4-13

We then went through Mark's account of John the Baptist calling people to repentance, Jesus coming to be baptized, and then the Spirit leading Jesus out into the wilderness. Read the sermon notes on this passage here:

http://hccbiblestudy.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-jesus-and-wilderness-mark-1.html

What really struck us from the study notes was the amazing symbolism of God calling His people to repentance in the wilderness, the very place that symbolizes their “lowest point” of rebellion against God, the place of greatest brokenness. And Jesus comes to this place of our greatest failure and sin, and conquers it…triumphs over the “wilderness” for us, to set the example, and to set us free from our sin and failings!

In the words of Pastor Steiger, “That thing that overwhelms me 100% of the time, that nature that is constantly at my side separating me from my God, has been defeated by the Messiah. In Christ, the wilderness no longer needs to break me.” Hallelujah!

Getting a Grip on Reality (being pained over sin)

2011-05-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

“I am not ashamed of the gospel!” Romans 1:16

Well, why would we be ashamed of it? Is there an aspect of the gospel that is meant to be offensive?

Was it offensive to Jewish culture (foolishness to the Greeks)? Yes, but is there something foundational that is offensive?

If you can’t tell where I am pushing, the answer is yes.

Not that the gospel must be offensive, but the gospel stands in direct opposition to the pride of the human heart.

The foundation of the gospel has the ability to deeply offend a proud heart by declaring that no one is truly good. Isaiah 64:6, “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.”

The Gospel is meant to offend the proud heart.

Romans 3:9-20

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, 3:11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 3:12 All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 3:13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” 3:14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

Are you offended? Hopefully not, but I certainly was at one point of my life.

The gospel demands that we come to God in humility. “He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.” -though He does still love to humble the proud so that He can then give them grace

The gospel demands that we come to God as a child. What does it mean to come to God as a child? Among other things, it is to come with no ability to provide for ourselves, and trusting in our Father to take good care of us.

Having a heart that is not offended at the gospel’s convicting us of sin is the first step, but simply agreeing that we have sin is not enough.

Beyond being aware of our sin we must mourn over it, or have a heart that is broken over our sin.

Ezekiel 9:3-4

9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”

God highly values a heart that mourns over the sin that pervades one’s culture.

But even more so God values a heart that mourns one’s own sin.

Psalm 51:17 “a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

Our sin should be a burden and shame to us. We should be pained over our sin.

-not fun or enjoyable, not meant to be, but at the same time it ultimately leads us to a place of great joy, having “the joy of our salvation made fresh”.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10

“I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

Being aware of and having sorrow over our sin is not the chief end God is looking for. God is looking for repentance, not just saying we are sorry. We need to be grieved over our sin enough that we want to be changed, repent, and are changed by the power and help of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance causes God to rejoice, not over our sin of course, but over being able to show us mercy.

“He delights in not having to reward us according to our sin.”- (combination of Micah 7:18 and Psalm 103:10)

It is tempting to want to skip over a deep understanding of our sin, but we cannot fully understand the joy of the gospel (good news) unless we are first pained over our sin, enough that we desperately want to be freed from it.

Relief or comfort isn’t meaningful unless there is first a wound or ailment that causes pain. If taking a pain pill takes away a headache there is reason to be thankful for it, but if you have no pain, then a taking a pain pill is just a waste.

Gods’ grace and mercy toward us do not comfort or impact our hearts in a significant way unless our hearts are torn or wounded over our sin.

Aftershave analogy- it stings, but is put on solely for the purpose of soothing. God convicts us of sin not because He wants to shame us, but because He desires to remove the shame of sin from us. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is painful, but He does it because He wants to heal us.

Summary: While the gospel is a cause for great and unprecedented joy in our lives, there is first a foundation that must be set in place.

We must be aware of, grieved over, and desiring to be forgiven and freed of our sin.

The joy of the gospel can only be felt behind the sting of it confronting the sin in us.

Getting a Grip on Reality (Sunday evening study)

2011-04-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Reality Check: Do I really understand what “sin” is?

So, what words in Scripture are used to mean “sin”? What kinds of actions and motives do these words cover?

(to do a word study on sin, trespass, iniquity, wrong, unrighteousness in the ancient Hebrew and Greek of the Old and New Testaments, I recommend Strong’s exhaustive concordance and similar study tools. See for ex: http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html )

Hebrew has a wide range of words for these concepts, which cover:

-doing wrong purposefully, with planning and scheming

-committing offenses out of ignorance

-empty/vain wickedness, esp. in connection to running after idols; being foolish and stupid

-going “off the path” or rebelling against something legitimate

-wickedness that comes from weakness/sickness (of the inner person)

-distorting and perverting things; perverseness, lewdness (“nastiness”)

-doing violence, harm, destruction, and injustice

-a fault or crime -something worthless -to miss, to wilt and fall away

-despise and disgrace -go astray, be deceived, or to deceive and lead astray

Greek has a bit narrower range of these words, but they cover ideas related to:

-doing wrong and injustice -to miss the mark; to err or fail

-do violence, defraud, and deceive others -committing an offense or crime

-impiety (lack of reverence or regard for God) -slip, fall, stumble

-to trip up/snare, offend

So…Why are some things “right” and some things “wrong”? What is the basis for “sin” and “righteousness”? What is the Standard? (Is it some arbitrary or random decision of God?)

[we broke into groups to read and discuss each series of verses below, and then came back together to share with each other the main points and observations]

What do Leviticus 19:2, I Peter 1:14-16, Matthew 5:48, John 15:12, Ephesians 5:1-2, I John 4:7-12 tell us about the answers to these questions?

(Bottom line: the Standard is God’s character, God’s nature—“right” exists and comes forth from who God is)

What do Ephesians 1:4-6, Romans 8:14-16 and 29, John 10:10, Deut. 28:1-2, 15 and 30:15-19 (see also Isaiah 55:1-3) tell us about the answers to these questions?

(Bottom line: right and wrong also have to do with who we were created to be, how we were created to be living in fellowship with God, each other, the rest of creation. Right has to do with our Destiny: to be like Christ and be part of God’s Family, to show off God’s glory and grace, to have life to the fullest!)

What do Jeremiah 3:1-23 and I John 1:5-7 (*see also Matthew 7:21-23; Hosea 2; John 15:4-6) tell us about the answers to these questions?

(Bottom line: Sin vs. righteousness has to do with our way of being (not just doing) and, especially, our relationship with God. God’s Standard for us is like the terms of a contract, the terms of His marriage covenant with us—righteousness is about living in intimacy with God.)

Note: sometimes, theologians distinguish between sins and sin:

From Oswald Chamber (Oct. 7): Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God. The Christian religion bases everything on the positive, radical nature of sin. Other religions deal with sins; the Bible alone deals with sin. The first thing Jesus Christ faced in man was the heredity of sin…
The revelation of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took upon Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took upon Himself the heredity of sin which no man can touch. God made His own Son to be sin that He might make the sinner a saint…He deliberately took upon His own shoulders, and bore in His own Person, the whole massed sin of the human race - "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin," and by so doing He put the whole human race on the basis of Redemption. Jesus Christ…put [the human race] back to where God designed it to be, and anyone can enter into union with God on the ground of what Our Lord has done on the Cross.

[remember what hooked Eve into going against what God had set up (Gen. 3), and what trap Lucifer fell into (Isa. 14): wanting to be in the place or role of God/being “like” or equal to God]

A core part of sin is refusing to accept our place in the universe as creatures before a Creator.

The Take-Home Stuff:

Some very useful questions to ask ourselves along the way:

¬ Is what I am doing (and thinking, feeling, wanting) something that goes along with God’s nature, with who God is?

¬ Is what I am doing (and thinking, feeling, wanting) something that goes along with how God created me to be and live?

Does it or will it bring me closer to my Destiny (fellowship with God, being like Jesus, making God “proud”/showing off God’s Beauty and Goodness)?

¬ Is what I am doing (and thinking, feeling, wanting) something that will increase my intimacy and love relationship with God? Is it something that belongs in and strengthens my “marriage” with Jesus?

¬ And finally, am I putting myself in the role of God (or wanting something that only God rightly deserves), or am I accepting my creature status and God's status as the infinite God?

Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and open our eyes to God’s truth and righteousness (John 16:7-11)!

Over the next couple of weeks, let us all read over Romans chapters 1-8 again as we remind ourselves of the reality and meaning of both our sin and Jesus’ death and resurrection to pay for and cleanse us from our sin!

Getting a Grip on Reality (Sunday evening study)

2011-04-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

The Reality Check: What is my Drive in Life?

The check-up: We started the evening’s study with some questions for reflection:

A) When I wake up in the mornings, what are my usual thoughts? What am I
usually feeling?

As I plan my day, what am I focusing on?

B) As I go through my day—work, school, home, wherever—what do I think is most important? What is most important to me in what I am doing (what are my goals)?

What is most important to me when I am interacting with the people around
me?—what are my major goals when I interact with the people in my life?

C) At the end of my day, what makes me feel I’ve had a “good day”?

Look at your answers (I encourage you to write them down!—these are good for periodic “check-ups” on our spiritual well-being). What do you see??

Is my Drive in Life for Pleasure, Power/Prestige (can include Security), or Meaning/ Communion with Christ?

What do stories from Scripture have to tell us about these things? What makes our life a life worth living? And what does life really come down to, in the end?

(first, are Bible stories useful? check out Romans 15:4 and II Timothy 3:15-17)

King Solomon in Proverbs 20:1; 21:17 and Ecclesiastes 1-2:23; 7:1-14; 12:11-14:

· A life of running after pleasure or power/prestige is empty

(Viktor Frankl, Jewish psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, on this topic: …happiness cannot be pursued [cannot be your goal]…one must have a reason to “be happy.” Pleasure is…a side-effect or by-product, and is destroyed and spoiled to the degree to which it is made a goal in itself. (from Man’s Search for Meaning)

· The emptiness of running after things other than God can lead us to “hate life” or to live in a state of boredom

Checking in with myself: Can I be alone with myself and be comfortable—no music, TV, video games, Facebook, other people, food, drugs, etc.?

Am I always looking for the next rush, the latest excitement?

[If I have trouble in these areas, it is telling me that something is wrong or missing in my spiritual life—I need to pay attention to this!!]

· The BIG question in life is NOT “How can I be happy?” or “What’s in it for me?” The BIG question is asked of us by God: What did you do with the life I gave you? (see also II Peter 1:3-11; Matt. 12:36; Hebrews 4:12-16)

What should we be running after in this life?

King David’s conclusions after a full life, in Psalm 16; Psalm 119: 30-37; 84:10-11

Jesus’ answer to a weary, hurting woman in John 4:10-14

God’s answer to His covenant people (whose “tree” we have been grafted into, Rom. 11) in Isaiah 55

· God wants to offer us a life of true, full satisfaction, joy and pleasure!

· Jesus is the Source of all lasting pleasure and fulfillment

· Remember, if this is a stretch for you, ASK the Holy Spirit to open your eyes (Psalm 34:8 is God’s invitation!)

C.S. Lewis, Christian literature professor and philosopher/apologist, on some of these things:

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (from The Weight of Glory) [emphases added]

Let us pray—for conviction of our sin, for our eyes to be opened to Truth, for God to change our hearts, our desires, our goals!

Thoughts on the Meaning of Lent

2011-04-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

As the Lenten season began, our Bible study group shared about what Lent can be “about,” the place and purpose it can serve in our lives during the church year.

“Lord, my deepest hunger is for you...May you alone be my food, my sustenance; keep me hungry for you...” James Howell

We talked about how fasting during this season—from food or activities—can help remind us that we should be hungry for God, and that God is the Source of all true satisfaction, filling our deepest needs and longings.

“I tend to take the Lenten sacrifice as a prompt to prayer: It should be something that one does habitually so that when the urge to do XXX comes about, it serves as a reminder to pray at that moment…a call to mindfulness and awareness of the automaticity of life.” Don Hosek (in an online comment on an article in the Chicago Tribune)

Group members shared that this was a new angle on Lent for them, and saw the value in replacing the urge for whatever (is being fasted from) with the urge to pray. It is such a wonderfully concrete, “right in front of our nose” kind of reminder of the importance of prayer. Group members shared about giving up chocolate, for example, as a reminder that in times of stress or sadness, we shouldn’t run to our “candy jar,” but run to Jesus. The idea was put forth of replacing the candy or cookies (or whatever snacky foods usually entice) with Scripture cards, so that one would reach into the “cookie jar” during Lent and pull out a Scripture to meditate on. : ) Wonderful, concrete reminder of going to Jesus for the comfort and filling-up that we need and long for!

We then mentioned how Lent has traditionally been a time for self examination and repentance, and discussed the parable or example from St. John of the Cross that the Lenten season is a time to get rid of all the “little fish” that slow us down: We are like big ships full of treasure, needing to head out of port to deliver our goods to the world around us. But as we leave the harbor and set sail out into the world, reams of “little fish” (we said barnacles) start attaching themselves to the bottom of the ship, and slow the ship down more and more. Lent is a time for us to deliberately take stock before God’s Holy Spirit of the state of our “ship,” to ask for His help in getting rid of those pesky barnacles that have attached themselves to us without, perhaps, us even being aware of them. One group member recalled time in the Navy, seeing sleek, smooth ships go out to sea and become encrusted with piles and piles of barnacles—clusters which marred the sleekness of the ship and needed to be scraped off! We compared this to Hebrews 12:1-3, where Paul tells us we need to get rid of all the sin that is “entangling” us so we can run the race effectively!

We then read and contemplated this set of thoughts:

“Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.” Joel 2:13

At the beginning of Lent, we remember that the Holy Spirit and the promise of salvation have been given to us through baptism, and we ask ourselves, "How are we living differently because of that gift?"

Lord Jesus, you gave your life for us on the cross.
Help us to give our lives for you this Lent and always. From Springs of Living Water by Mark Neilsen

And then we read together, as a closing prayer, these words of the song “Ashes,” by Tom Conry:

We offer You our failures, we offer You attempts,

The gifts not fully given, the dreams not fully dreamt

Give our stumblings direction, give our visions wider view

an offering of ashes, an offering to You.

Then rise again from ashes, let healing come to pain,

Though spring has turned to winter, and sunshine turned to rain,

the rain we'll use for growing and create the world anew

From an offering of ashes, an offering to You.

Thanks be to the Father, who made us like himself,

thanks be to the Son, who saved us by his death;

thanks be to the Spirit, who creates the world anew,

From an offering of ashes, an offering to you.

Amen~

Chapter 2: The Prayer of the Forsaken (Part 2)

2011-02-09T23:38:00.000-08:00

“To come to the pleasure you have not you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.” St. John of the Cross

Tailor-Made Journey

Foster says that “every faith journey is tailor made.” No one can predict when they will enter or exit an experience of felt abandonment or spiritual wilderness, although it is “true that those in the first flush of faith often are given unusual graces of the Spirit, just like a new baby is cuddled and pampered. It is also true that some of the deepest experiences of alienation and separation from God have come to those who have traveled far into the interior realms of faith.”

We dwelled a bit on this developmental view of our spiritual journey: that it often begins with God giving immediate and obvious responses and miracles, to build our trust, just like a baby with a parent when a parent is immediately responsive to the baby’s cries. And then as we grow, we have to develop “object permanence”: we have to know that if our parent leaves the room, they are not totally gone/gone forever, and they have not actually abandoned us—they still exist, they will return, all will be well. And so it is with God: we need to develop “object permanence” with God ;-) --to know He is “still there” even if we don’t immediately perceive an answer or a miracle in response to our needs and requests. We have to form a solid attachment of trust with God, just as we do with our parents, in order to have a healthy foundation for our life journey.

We also talked about how difficult the waiting in silence is for us in our day, our TV society: we are used to everything being zip-zip-zip, right here, right now! But we need to exercise and grow spiritually in times of quietude, to be able to think and reflect a little on all that has already been revealed to us by God, for example, rather than to always rush headlong into the “next thing.”

A Living Relationship

Foster describes the next aspect of the “Prayer of the Forsaken” in ways that surprised and challenged us. He says that “through the Prayer of the Forsaken, we are learning to give God…freedom.” Wanting (or trying to force) the “Creator of heaven and earth” to “instantly appear at our beck and call,” says Foster, is not dealing with the God of the Bible. God works to smash our false images and understanding of who God is; thus God’s felt absence at times can be seen as part of this grace. “In the very act of hiddenness God is slowly weaning us of fashioning Him in our own image…By refusing to be a puppet on our string or a genie in our bottle, God frees us from our false, idolatrous images.”

We processed this for a while, as this way of thinking about things was pretty new to us. We thought about how this view certainly fits with the idea of accepting our creature status before the Creator, and realizing that we cannot “manage God,” as Foster says. Some members of the group also pointed out that these experiences of total loss of control and predictability in the spiritual realm may help us stop taking God for granted…between that and Foster’s point about getting rid of idolatrous, false notions of God, we came away with a new appreciation for the cleansing potential of going through a spiritual desert!

“GOD, WHERE ARE YOU!? What have I done to make you hide from me? Are you playing cat and mouse with me, or are your purposes larger than my perceptions? I feel alone, lost, forsaken.

You are the God who majors in revealing yourself. You showed yourself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When Moses wanted to know what you looked like, you obliged him. Why them and not me?

I am tired of praying. I am tired of asking. I am tired of waiting. But I will keep on praying and asking and waiting because I have nowhere else to go.

Jesus, you, too, knew the loneliness of the desert and the isolation of the cross. And it is through your forsaken prayer that I speak these words. –Amen”

Chapter 2: The Prayer of the Forsaken (Part 1)

2011-02-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

“To come to the pleasure you have not you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.” St. John of the Cross

Foster’s opening section of this chapter argues that “There is no more plaintive or heartfelt prayer than the cry of Jesus: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46b, KJV), and that, although Jesus’ experience was unique in the sense of Him as the Blameless One taking on the sin of the world, “we might as well get used to the idea that, sooner or later, we, too, will know what it means to feel forsaken by God.”

Writers in antiquity used the term Deus Absconditus—“the God who is hidden”—to describe this feeling or sense of God being absent…and Foster uses the apt term “Sahara of the Heart” to describe the feeling of inner spiritual desolation or abandonment that may come into our lives at times, in keeping with the biblical metaphor of desert or wilderness for these times.

A Major Highway

Foster encourages us that these times of spiritual dryness are “not a rabbit trail but a major highway,” listing out many examples from the Bible and Church history of saints going through such times. We remarked that this also points out that these seasons of our life have a goal, are part of the whole “plan” and journey of our life, not some dead-end or “falling off the path.” Indeed, Foster ends this section by saying that if we are faced with God’s “hiddenness,” we should not automatically take it that “God is displeased with you, or that you are insensitive to the work of God’s Spirit, or that you have committed some horrendous offense against heaven, or that there is something wrong with you, or anything. Darkness is a definite experience of prayer. It is to be expected, even embraced.”

We spent some time talking about some of the examples that Foster mentions, in particular Elijah and his time in the desert alone, feeling like he just wanted to die. We discussed the fact that deep grief, trauma, and physical exhaustion can overwhelm our ability to reason and problem-solve effectively, or to effectively manage our emotions. Small wonder, then, that these visceral human experiences can be accompanied by the sense of God’s absence—that in times of being emotionally overwhelmed and physically exhausted, we may feel cut off from God’s felt presence. The story of Elijah’s suicidal thinking in I Kings 19:4-7 demonstrates God’s compassionate “knowing” of how we are put together (Psalm 103:13-14): he did not immediately answer Elijah in his overwhelmed state, but let him fall asleep, then woke him to feed him(!), had him sleep some more, and woke him to feed him again before He spoke anything of substance to Elijah. Sometimes, if we are feeling despair and the sense of abandonment from God, we need to be sure to take care of our basic, bodily needs, so we can come to a place where we are able to listen and hear.

In keeping with Foster’s argument that desert times in our spiritual lives need not have anything to do with wrongdoing on our part, we also discussed the example of Mother Teresa. She had prayed to know more of Jesus’ suffering on the cross, to enter into the “fellowship of sharing in the suffering of Christ” (Philippians 3:10). And she did enter into an aspect of Jesus’ intense suffering on the cross: the sense of being cut off from God’s presence. Mother Teresa suffered this “dark night of the soul” (St. John of the Cross) for all the decades of her mature adult life. Those who worked and lived with her said that the sweet aroma of Christ surrounded her and flowed from her, yet she herself was completely cut off from any of this comforting, beautiful sense of God’s presence…Elijah, Jeremiah, Moses, Mother Teresa, Jesus—we are in good company, indeed, when we experience silence from the heavens!

We also read an excerpt from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest (Oct. 11) on this topic of being in a time of spiritual silence: his commentary on the passage recounting the story of Lazarus’ sickness and death, and then resurrection. “When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days in the same place where he was." (John 11:6) Has God trusted you with a silence - a silence that is big with meaning? God's silences are His answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany [of Lazarus and his sisters, as he was dying]! Is there anything analogous to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking for a visible answer?

God will give you the blessings you ask if you will not go any further without them; but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into a marvellous understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? You will find that God has trusted you in the most intimate way possible, with an absolute silence, not of despair, but of pleasure, because He saw that you could stand a bigger revelation [think of Jesus’ revelation of Himself to Martha as the Resurrection and the Life!]. If God has given you a silence, praise Him, He is bringing you into the great run of His purposes. The manifestation of the answer in time is a matter of God's sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you said – ‘I asked God to give me bread, and He gave me a stone.’ He did not, and to-day you find He gave you the bread of life.”

“GOD, WHERE ARE YOU!? What have I done to make you hide from me? Are you playing cat and mouse with me, or are your purposes larger than my perceptions? I feel alone, lost, forsaken.

You are the God who majors in revealing yourself. You showed yourself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When Moses wanted to know what you looked like, you obliged him. Why them and not me?

I am tired of praying. I am tired of asking. I am tired of waiting. But I will keep on praying and asking and waiting because I have nowhere else to go.

Jesus, you, too, knew the loneliness of the desert and the isolation of the cross. And it is through your forsaken prayer that I speak these words. –Amen”

Chapter 1: Simple Prayer (part 3)

2011-01-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

“Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” Dom Chapman

Counsel Along the Way

Foster gives us readers five wise counsels for our prayer journey:

¬ Remember that prayer is “nothing more than an ongoing and growing love relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.”

And this love relationship is open to all, on equal footing (based on the Redemption), as Madame Guyon has said, ‘This way of prayer, this simple relationship to your Lord, is so suited for everyone; it is just as suited to the dull and ignorant as it is for the well-educated. This prayer, this experience which begins so simply, has as its end a totally abandoned love to the Lord.’

¬ Do not become discouraged by your lack of prayer—“even in our prayerlessness we can hunger for God. If so, the hunger itself is prayer…We give even our lack of prayer to God.” (Recall Mark 9:24; Philippians 2:13)

¬ Let go of “trying too hard to pray…[don’t try to digest too much of God’s presence and the spiritual discipline of prayer all at once if it overwhelms]…If prayer is not a fixed habit with you…single out a few moments and put all your energy into them.” We recalled the time when Jesus told His disciples that He had sooo much more to tell them, but they “could not bear it” and so they would have to wait, and take it in slowly under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage (John 16:12-13)…

¬ Learn to pray “even while dwelling on evil. Perhaps we are waging an interior battle over anger, or lust, or pride, or greed, or ambition. We need not isolate that from prayer…We lift even our disobedience into the arms of the Father…Sin, to be sure, separates us from God, but trying to hide our sin separates us all the more.” Again, we mentioned the promise in Phil. 2:13, that God will work in us even the desire to do God’s will, as well as the ability to follow through! And of course, I John 1:9 reminds us that when we come to God with our inner gunk, He will forgive and cleanse us!

¬ In the beginning, strive for “uneventful prayer experiences. Divine revelations and ecstasies can overwhelm us and distract us from the real work of prayer…[Besides] just slipping quietly into the presence of God can be so exotic and fresh that it delights us enormously.” We do not want to be like the “adulterous generation” that Jesus chided, who were just seeking after spiritual thrills and “signs” (Matt.12:39,16:4) Linking it again to the “love relationship” theme, the core of a lifelong love partnership does not hang on the ephemeral romantic frills and thrills, but on the steady, abiding communion and commitment. : )

Finally, Foster encourages us that as we begin an earnest prayer journey, we will experience a “shift in our center of gravity. We pass from thinking of God as part of our life to the realization that we are part of His life.” May it be~

“Dear Jesus, how desperately I need to learn to pray. And yet when I am honest, I know that I often do not even want to pray.

I am distracted!

I am stubborn!

I am self-centered!

In your mercy, Jesus, bring my ‘want-er’ more in line with my ‘need-er’ so that I can come to want what I need.

In your name and for your sake, I pray. –Amen”

Chapter 1: Simple Prayer (part 2)

2011-01-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

“Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” Dom Chapman

Beginning Where We Are

In this chapter section, Foster begins to lay out the practice (vs. concept) of Simple Prayer. And how are we to start? “Very simply, we begin right where we are: in our families, on our jobs, with our neighbors and friends….In the most natural and simple way possible we learn to pray our experiences by taking up the ordinary events of everyday life and giving them to God...and so I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life…”

One member of our study responded this way to these ideas: I used to hope one day I would have a room for prayer and Meditation. I would have plants, big pillows, soft music and an aquarium (fish are very relaxing to watch). I was going to make a cross and hang it in there—sort of my own Sanctuary. It still would be nice, but I also know I can also pray in bed, driving down the freeway, at work, in the shower. God's there all the time, all we have to do is respond. : )

Foster then says we should come to God and spill out our heart even when we are angry or disappointed with God, giving the example of Jeremiah crying out to God in complaint of how God was treating him (Jer. 20:7). Our group then talked for a good while about this concept of anger at God, and just “coming out with it” to God. One member said she really does not feel angry with God, even when things in life go awry or are very difficult; she has such solid trust in God’s love for her and God’s goodness, she does not accuse God of wrongdoing. Another shared she had many times experienced a sense of deep betrayal and anger with God, but had learned to still go to God and “talk it out”—that to come through those times, we must place ourselves before God’s presence in complete honesty, even if we have angry, hurt words and feelings (like Jeremiah did)—for, God is “waiting to meet us in the real,” as Valerie Acuff has said.

We then also discussed how this pertains to times when we are being disobedient to God—to be able to still come before God and say honestly, “I don’t feel like obeying you” or “I don’t feel like reading the Bible,” or whatever the hang-up—but to then complete that simple prayer by asking for God’s grace and help to desire to walk in step with God/walk in His ways, as Philippians 2: 13 says!

We finished our discussion of this section by sharing ideas about how simple prayer relates to Foster’s theme of prayer being about a love relationship with God. One person responded with the reminder that God loves us unconditionally, so we can (and should) come to God and tell God what's on our heart (and also listen to what His Spirit tells us in response). Another spoke of the example of long-term marriage: in that love relationship, you travel through daily life together, and if one person doesn’t share with the other, it brings separation. Sharing everything with the other person is natural, however, when love binds you together. And so it is with our relationship with God: we can view God as our beloved, and sharing the things (experiences, emotions, thoughts) of our life with God binds us together. Along with this arises the notion of trust and sense of comfort and security: in a good marriage, the partners can trust one another and have a sense of security and confidence that the other person also loves them and takes an interest in them (i.e., each person wants to know “what is going on” with the other, how the other is doing, etc.)—and so it is with God as our “Heavenly Spouse” (see for ex. Isaiah 54:5; Revelation 19:7 re: God as Spouse/Husband).

So, let us begin in prayer “where we are,” knowing we are held in the unconditional Love of the Creator~

“Dear Jesus, how desperately I need to learn to pray. And yet when I am honest, I know that I often do not even want to pray.

I am distracted!

I am stubborn!

I am self-centered!

In your mercy, Jesus, bring my ‘want-er’ more in line with my ‘need-er’ so that I can come to want what I need.

In your name and for your sake, I pray. –Amen”

Chapter 1: Simple Prayer (part 1)

2011-01-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

“Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” Dom Chapman

Foster opens his first chapter by saying, “We today yearn for prayer and hide from prayer. We are attracted to it and repelled by it. We believe prayer is something we should do, even something we want to do, but it seems like a chasm stands between us and actually praying. We experience the agony of prayerlessness.

We are not quite sure what holds us back.”

And so, the Bible study group discussed a bit what kinds of barriers we experience to prayer. The discussion focused on ways to stop the barriers and keep prayer flowing throughout the day. One person shared, for example, that she does not say “amen” when she is praying, until the end of the day, to maintain the idea of continual prayer flowing through the day, always ready to pick up the thread of prayer. Another approach group members use is to pray for a given request in the moment after we read it, so it is not forgotten in the press of the day’s tasks.

Foster argues that using busyness as an excuse for not praying is just a “smoke screen. Our busyness seldom keeps us from eating or sleeping or making love.”

Foster believes a major barrier to prayer is the notion that we “have to have everything ‘just right’ in order to pray.”

To move through this major barrier, we must be willing to surrender…and, to be simple. ‘To pray,’ writes Emilie Griffith, ‘means to be willing to be naïve.’

Foster argues that we do not need to—nor can we—have all our motives all sorted out and “pure” before coming to God in prayer. True, we do not want to be hypocrites, but we also cannot afford to let our soul-searching and honesty paralyze us and keep us from coming to God! “God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture [of our “tangled mass of motives”]. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it, we live by it. And we pray by it.”

Do we understand this grace? Are we living this understanding of God’s grace? Think of the beauty of Jesus’ response to the man in Mark 9:23-25.

“Jesus reminds us that prayer is a little like children coming to their parents.” Jesus reminds us that we are coming to a loving Father, one who knows us, loves us, and wants to meet our needs (Matt. 6:8,32; Psalm 103:13-14)!

“…it is in the very act of prayer…that these matters are cared for in due time” We reminded ourselves that God’s Spirit is with us to cleanse us in response to our simple requests and confessions (I John 1:9)—and, to help us pray when we do not know how to pray (Rom. 8:26)! : ) We can therefore pray even for God to help us pray!

Foster describes the most basic, primary form of prayer as “simple prayer,” where we “bring ourselves to God just as we are, warts and all…we simply and unpretentiously share our concerns and make our petitions.” He then shows some examples of simple prayer—shocking, ugly prayers recorded in Scripture, as well as beautiful, altruistic examples of simple prayer in Scripture.

“Simple prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretense in simple prayer…we do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God—or ourselves…we pour out our hearts to the God who is greater than our hearts and who knows all things (I John 3:20).”

Foster ends this section of the chapter by saying that simple prayer is both beginning prayer, and necessary, essential prayer. “Those who think they can skip over Simple Prayer deceive themselves. Most likely, they themselves have not prayed.”

With simple prayer, the “adventure is just beginning”…

“Dear Jesus, how desperately I need to learn to pray. And yet when I am honest, I know that I often do not even want to pray.

I am distracted!

I am stubborn!

I am self-centered!

In your mercy, Jesus, bring my ‘want-er’ more in line with my ‘need-er’ so that I can come to want what I need.

In your name and for your sake, I pray. –Amen”

Moving Inward: Seeking the Transformation we Need

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We spent the entire evening meeting going over Foster’s one-page introduction to this first section of the book, astonished at how much there was to discuss! = )

Foster describes some forms of prayer as the “movement inward [which] is prayer to God the Son, Jesus Christ, which corresponds to His role of Savior and Teacher among us.”

“To pray is to change. This is great grace…the movement inward comes first because without interior transformation the movement up into God’s glory would overwhelm us and the movement out into ministry would destroy us.”

Do we grasp our need for transformation? God says to us, “Be holy, as I am holy” (see Lev. 11:45; Lev. 20:26; I Peter 1:15) and “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Throughout Scripture, we read accounts of individuals who encountered something of God’s glory in greater, more direct measure than the “usual,” through specific, embodied encounters with God or with angels (spiritual “messengers”) who came from God’s full, glorious presence. We read two of these stories, Ezekiel 1-2, and Rev. 1:9-18, and noted some commonalities: the complete “otherness” and transcendence of God—indescribable, overwhelming; the “blazing” appearance of God and Jesus in both accounts; that both Ezekiel and John were “good” men, “holy” men, and yet both fell down as dead in the presence of God...

Indeed, we must agree with Foster’s assessment of our need for transformation before we can encounter greater measures of God’s glory! St. Paul speaks of this transformation being worked in us through the Spirit of Christ bringing life to our spirits, imparting Jesus’ righteousness to us (II Cor. 5:21; II Cor. 5:17; cf. II Peter 1:3), and, by our deliberate, conscious surrender to the Spirit’s inner renewal—“being renewed in knowledge in the image of Christ” (Col. 3:9-11 ), so that we can move from “glory to glory” (II Cor. 3:18). We also read Romans 8:29, which reminds us that our calling, our whole purpose and destiny, is to become like Jesus. We reminded ourselves that these processes of transformation are part of a lifelong journey, and that God has compassion on us in the process, knowing we are frail bits of dust (Psalm 103:13-14).

We then delved a bit into Foster’s second argument, that inner transformation must occur before we can effectively move outward in transformative spiritual service to others. We reviewed aspects of inner transformation as enabling service in some Scriptural examples, first reading the story of Gideon (Judges 6:7-24) and discussing how the barriers he had to service are common to us, also: The first barrier we see in this story is disappointment with or anger at God, wondering why He has not intervened or why He has allowed certain devastating circumstances in our lives. The second barrier noted in this story is failing to see our true identity (that is, from God’s perspective of who He has created us to be). We then see Gideon asking for a “sign” to be sure of God speaking to Him, and we see God’s mercy toward Gideon through it all, telling Him at the end of the encounter, when Gideon is afraid because he finally realizes fully that He has been conversing with God, that Gideon should not be afraid (of how He has acted toward God in anger and unbelief), because he “will not die” (i.e., God would not be striking Gideon down for His less-than optimal responses toward God).

We then looked at the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet (John 13: 3-5), noting that Jesus’ service to others came from a full realization of (1) His identity (that He IS the glorious Creator and Master of everything, and had come forth from God) and (2) His destiny (or, that He was headed once more for union with God). This stands as an example for us of healthy Christian service: truly knowing who we are as beloved and honored children of God, and knowing our calling and destiny as members of the spiritual kingdom (i.e., service stemming from strength and wholeness, not false martyrdom or lack of proper “boundaries”).

We then discussed the story of Simon the sorcerer, in Acts 8:9-24, as another example of our need for transformation before entering Christian service. Simon was used to making money off his powers. He did not understand God’s ways of freely giving what we freely receive from God. He was trying to apply his old understanding to his new life with God, and landed in trouble! Again, however, we see that God provides opportunity for repentance and cleansing.

Finally, we read the story of Isaiah’s response to God’s call to service (Isa. 6:1-8). Before Isaiah could offer himself in God’s service, he needed cleansing!—Isaiah realized his need and cried out to God, and God responded in mercy, showing forgiveness and bringing cleansing. We reminded ourselves that our “calling,” our service might not be in lofty form. It might be all about doing “Ordinary things in an extraordinary way”—to do “small things with great love,” as Therese of Lisieux (and Mother Teresa after her) said.

Finally, hearkening back to Foster’s theme of the spiritual life being a love relationship with the Divine, we reflected on love as a motive for seeking inner transformation, bringing in John 15:9-10 and Dan Allender’s challenging quote, “To honor what God has called me to be is the reason I choose the path of change.”

Foster ends his short introduction to the inward movement of prayer with a story about Abba Joseph (one of the “desert fathers” of the 1st century AD): “A disciple once came to Abba Joseph, saying, ‘Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, I keep my little fast, and my little prayer. And according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my mind of all evil thoughts and my heart of all evil intents. Now, what more should I do?’ Abba Joseph rose and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He answered, ‘Why not be totally changed into fire?’”

Ah! We were thus reminded of how easily we fall into a rut, of how easily we come to believe that our strivings are surely “up to par” and we are doing so much for God, for righteousness…only to realize, in a Spirit-led jolt, how childishly we may be thinking, how much more our Great and Glorious Heavenly Father and Master would have for us to be!

“Why not be totally changed into fire?” Lord, please call us once again, rouse us upward and outward in our thinking and understanding of You, please help us see and hear You as You really are, please help us deepen our understanding of all You have called and created us to be, that we might soar in Your greatness, glory, and love, as You would have us do, to Your glory and praise!

Foreword: Prayer as "Coming Home"

2010-12-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

(Bible study notes)

Foster describes God’s heart as an “open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to Him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.”

Is this the God we know? Do we believe this about God’s heart? If not, what are the internal barriers to this vision of God? What is the Scriptural basis of what Foster is saying?

The group talked with one another about the distractions of 'muchness and
manyness' in depending on God and talking with Him for all needs, wants,
and concerns. We also talked about the chief purpose of humans being to glorify God.

Foster then says that God is “inviting you—and me—to come home, to come home to where we belong, to come home for that which we were created. His arms are stretched out wide to receive us. His heart is enlarged to take us in…”

Again, do we believe this about God? The group discussed Revelation 3:20 and John 14:23 in connection with these ideas.

Foster says the key to “this home, this heart of God, is prayer.” And the door? Jesus, through his Redemption of the cross.

The invitation is open to us all—those of us who do not believe in prayer, because of profound disappointment with God; those of us scarred and broken by life; those of us whose prayers have grown “brittle and cold”; and those of us who consider prayer the delight of our lives.

We discussed Foster’s argument that “loving [is] the syntax of prayer,” or, “to be effective pray-ers, we need to be effective lovers.” Foster says this book is not a “how-to” on prayer, but a book on a “love relationship: an enduring, continuing, growing love relationship with the great God of the universe.” Love requires trust—the more we love, the more we trust. Do we FULLY trust God? (This is a process, an ever-growing aspect of our lives—and our God is patient with us!)

“Dear God, I am so grateful for your invitation to enter your heart of love. As best I can I come in. Thank you for receiving me. Amen~ ”

Preface: Naming Prayer--and God

2010-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

(Bible Study notes)

First, a bit of background was discussed: Richard Foster, the author of this book, is a Quaker theologian, former pastor, teacher, and writer who started the international para-church organization Renovare', which encourages church renewal (through a focus on fundamentals of Christian life). The group discussed the Quakers’ rejection of religious symbolism such as baptism and the Eucharist/communion, but those who have read Foster indicated that one does not see that particular Quaker influence in his writing.

The book “names” prayer to help us more readily recognize God’s presence and work in our lives, and to be more intentional in our practice. The book names prayer in 21 different ways, and all apply to us in our walk and talk with God at one time or another.

“Countless people, you see, pray far more than they know,” says Foster. “Often they have such a ‘stained-glass’ image of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying.”

Foster mentions the “special problem” of naming God, since God is both Mother and Father: the group agreed with Foster’s point that God's “gender” encompasses and goes beyond “male” & “female.” We can't box God in—we don't have the ability.

Foster describes prayer as involving “movement,” and the group discussed his ideas that prayer takes us inward to Jesus, outward to the Holy Spirit, and upward to God. The 4 characteristics of 'Abba' praying (that is, praying to God as a Parent or intimate Being) were also touched on: strength, empowerment, nurturing, and caring.

Nota bene: Foster says, “Healthy prayer necessitates the frequent experiences of the common, earthy, run-of the-mill variety.” As Oswald Chambers has said, it’s no use to have spiritual “highs” on the proverbial Mt. of Transfiguration, if we cannot walk with Jesus down in the “demon-possessed valley” where the “rubber meets the road.” Remember…“Enoch walked with God 300 years…” (Gen. 5:22): the picture is one of steady, “ordinary” fellowship with God through all the different seasons and exigencies of life. “To be spiritually fit we need regular exercise in the hills and valleys of life!”

Winter Bible Study

2010-11-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Starting December 2, we will be going through Richard Foster's book Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. Please join us Thursday evenings at 7 p.m.--or here, for an online discussion of each chapter! = )