The Jesus Agenda

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:55:00.002-06:00

God's answer to all of humanity's sin, their twisted history and struggles and striving against him, and all the longings of his people: a baby, tender and mild--Yahweh in a small, adorable, delicate and vulnerable, fragile package! At the moment of conception God and humanity became one in a single Person. And in his birth the whole world order would be overthrown. Blessed Christmas! Glory to God! Peace on earth and good will to all. Come and see! -- Dave Leigh

How to Create a Terrorist in 13 Easy Steps - By Dave Leigh

2011-12-02T17:01:00.001-06:00

1. Indoctrinate him with lofty ideals that place him apart from (and above) the world.

2. Have him equate his doctrines, dogmas, and ideals with his god, so that his conclusions and convictions equal the god’s conclusions and convictions.

3. Fill him with a passion for his god that makes him look down on anyone who differs with him in even the minutest opinion or practice; convince him that loving his god permits and even requires him to hate others who do not measure up.

4. Give him rituals and ceremonies, sanctified practices and unholy taboos, by which he can establish himself as one of the exclusively chosen few, a judge of others.

5. Give him exclusive places and secret practices reserved for the faithful, wherein outsiders will be abhorred, detested, and demonized, but never pitied.

6. Reinforce his rituals, ceremonies, and practices by requiring obsessive repetition and selfless allegiance.

7. Place such a fear in him of falling short, that he becomes hostile toward anyone who threatens his self-assurance by detracting, departing, or differing in any way from his sacred absolutes.

8. Never let him forget that it is his job to eradicate the world of infidels and sinners at any cost and that judgment warrants violent punishment.

9. Wrap this hatemongering in the most emphatic religious and/or patriotic language, so that even the world thinks he is religiously motivated.

10. Never let him see what real religion teaches: That God is love; that loving God and people cannot be separated; that true religion looks after the after the orphan and widow, the poor and oppressed; that it is better to be wronged than to wrong others, better to be killed than to kill; that all people are sinners in need of God’s grace and forgiveness; that all people are brothers and sisters with one command from their Lord: “Love one another.”

11. When he attacks you, attack him back. When he attacks someone you love, attack someone he loves.

12. When someone oppresses people he loves on the pretext of a “holy cause,” endorse the oppression and the “holy” pretext used to advance it. Stand by, applaud, even assist, as his beloved people are robbed of their land, denied human rights, pelted with rocks and bombs and bullets, and face all kinds of humiliation and disgrace in front of (and along with) their children. Then use your holy book to condemn the victims.

13. Fail to see that you yourself, in doing any of this, have become the terrorist and the hatemonger who contradicts and denies true religion by your actions, however sanctimonious they may seem to you.

My Pastoral Advent Letter to the Armenians

2011-11-29T00:55:00.003-06:00

Editor's Note: As you may know, for the past few months I've been serving in an interim pastoral capacity at the The Armenian Evangelical Church of Greater Chicagoland. Recently the leaders there asked me to write the annual Christmas letter to their mailing list. Here's your sneak peek, minus the fancy formating and stationary:

For unto you is born this day...

A Savior Luke 2:11

Krisdos dznav yev haydnetsav; tsezee, mezee Medz Avedis!

(Christ is born and revealed; Good News to you and to us)

Dear brothers and sisters,

As I write this, people are being pepper-sprayed in a Walmart, fighting over discounted Christmas merchandise; nations are at war; the global economy is reeling with uncertain direction; homeless families wonder where they will sleep; hardworking women and men find their jobs do not cover their needs; and even Christians find themselves at odds over petty differences that leave feelings bruised and relationships torn.

Does it seem strange to celebrate Christmas amidst such times? Do you find it a struggle to come to church and worship God because you, yourself, are under great pressure and stress? Whether you’ve been overwhelmed by a busy life or buried in unfortunate problems, I hope you’ll read this entire letter and consider my invitation to rediscover the gift God has for you in his Son and in his people this holiday season.

Christmas is a holiday that, like the Armenian people, is born of persecution and suffering, but when properly understood and embraced fills the soul with wonder and joy. You know I’m not talking about the commercialized counterfeit that calls itself Christmas. I am talking about the birth of the Child whose family was forced to go to Bethlehem by an oppressive regime and who had to be whisked away before soldiers brought a blood bath of innocents at his birthplace. Even the religious leaders of that day, who knew enough about where to find Jesus to have joined the wise men in welcoming the Child, used their knowledge instead to tip off the murderers!

A Savior From What?

Like Moses, whose parents were oppressed by a tyrant who ordered parents to drown their own children, so Jesus was drawn from the same depths of his people’s oppression in order to deliver all who would follow him. Moses lifted his staff when backed against the Red Sea, opening a way through the very waters Pharaoh would have drowned him in. But Jesus put his back (bloodied from scourging) against the rough-hewn wood of Calvary’s cross, opening heaven itself for us so that all his followers (that’s you and me) might enter with him into Heaven’s Most Holy Place.

Christmas is about this gift! But it is also about God’s deliverance being found in the midst of our own suffering as God overturns the world order. If you’re not used to thinking of Christmas this way, consider what Jesus’ holy mother said the nativity meant:

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
- Luke 1:50-53
The Gospels tell us those who abandoned Christ amidst suffering and crisis are the ones who missed the most amazing opportunities to see God at work! It’s my prayer you will not be counted among them, but will draw all that much closer to your Savior--the Lord born in the manger of his people’s troubles--with us who gather each week at The Armenian Evangelical Church, where even now the Root of Jesse and the seeds of revival are already sprouting!

Now is the time to discover and rediscover the wonders of Christmas as they relate to the real world--your world! As the saying goes: The Wise Still Seek Him! We look forward to seeking him with YOU!

“O Come, All Ye Faithful!”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pastor Dave Leigh

So Near, Yet So Far: Thoughts on The Kingdom of God and Politics - by Dave Leigh

2011-11-20T00:26:00.007-06:00

Lonely Walk:
photograph by
Arash Karimi

Some say that my believing in global warming makes me a liberal. To me, it just makes me rational.

Some say that believing abortion is usually wrong makes me a conservative. To me, it just makes me concerned about the life of another human being.

Some say that if I believe a nation that possesses the technology and resources to give the best medical care possible to all its citizens should do so, then I’m a socialist. I say it just makes me compassionate and desirous of living in a just and merciful world.

Some say if I believe in personal property and an economic system that rewards hard work, intellect, and resourcefulness, I am a capitalist. To me, it just makes common sense that a society will not excel without personal incentives.

Why do liberals and conservatives both insist on demonizing someone for taking a single position, as if that position forces one into this or that camp? What if the principles of truth, justice, and humanity force us to come to all these conclusions? Namely, that:

God made us caretakers of his creation and therefore doesn’t want us to pollute it into oblivion.
We should cherish all life, even the life of our enemies and a life developing in the womb.
Like the good Samaritan we, as a society, should take care of each other’s wounds and medical needs.
People have a right to property and to earning wealth in reward for their labor, but with this comes a responsibility to show mercy, compassion, and justice toward those who are less fortunate and/or oppressed.
All people have the right to be respected as human beings and to live free of hatred and oppression, regardless of things like their race, creed, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, familial status, or orientation.

In other words, what if I should desire to see my nation and all nations surrender to, and advance, the Kingdom of God? What if I truly don’t want to confess Caesar as Lord, but rather the Lord as Lord? For political parties to pick and choose between these kingdom principles--and thereby force us to do the same--do they not attempt to divide truth and pit righteousness against itself? Has reason become divided and turned against reason? Can we really select which forms of compassion we prefer, and form parties that exclude the compassion and principles of truth we’d rather ignore?

The more I think about all this, the more I wonder at our political landscape and the less it surprises me that it has become dominated by craziness, paranoia, and extremes.

What if the Kingdom of God is not the exclusive domain of Christendom, Judaism, Islam, or any other world religion or philosophy? What if it is neither Democrat nor Republican? What if it is not the proprietary property of any nation or human institution? What if, rather, it is has to do solely with the person and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, who bears little resemblance to those who claim to represent him?

What if all people of all faiths and philosophies would come to seriously wrestle with and live out those teachings in how they establish their communities and even their governments, their personal relationships, and even the relations between nations?

What if the Kingdom of God were that simple? What then would become of our political parties, our nationalisms--and our craziness?

Hmmm. Is it possible? Could it really be that close to the noses on our faces?

"As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." - Jesus (Matthew 10:7-8)

The Heart God Wants (Hebrews 8)

2011-10-22T02:32:00.004-05:00

Editor's Note: The comments below are some notes for a sermon I've been working on about Hebrews 8, still in rough form. Please note, this is not the sermon itself but my preliminary reflections on my studies thus far. Consider it research and ramblings. But any feedback you may have is much desired!

This weekend we'll focus on the spiritual heart. What does it mean to have a hardened heart? And how does Christ's superior ministry and better covenant involve a different kind of heart.

Note the contrast between shadow and substance, and how the Law belongs to the shadow but the substance belongs to Christ. By knowing him, we pass from a two-dimensional knowledge about God to a fully-dynamic, interactive, relational knowledge (i.e. relationship) of (i.e. with) God in Christ.

People should end up asking themselves: Do I have a hardened heart or the kind of heart the new covenant calls for? Do I know God or just about God? If they find themselves in need with regards to either of these areas, I'd like them to discover how to have what God wants for them in each of these areas--and choose to pursue that--through Christ's perfect sacrifice.

Review: There has been a change of priesthood and so, a change of law (Heb 7:12).

Why? Because the old law could not do the job (Heb 7:11).

The New Priesthood:

NOT BASED ON: family or tribe or nationality (Aaron, Levi, Israel)

IS BASED ON: Jesus as High Priest in the eternal order of Melchizedek ... Priesthood of all believers (no clergy/laity). He alone can fix and provide what the old law could not!

With this, Jesus is now the guarantor (promiser/provider) of a BETTER covenant.

OLD Cov't = temporary, passing away (lit. “about to pass away.”)

NEW Cov't = eternal and coming now upon us in the new order of the KOG .

OLD needed repeated sacrifices day after day because it was partial and temporal.

NEW is based on Jesus full, final, permanent, and complete sacrifice--perfect and lacking nothing.

And so we come now to Jesus, who is the perfect high priest who:

1. Sits on the throne of majesty in heaven as king forever, and
2. serves in the true sanctuary, not a replica (like Aaron's tabernacle), as priest forever!

OLD = copy and shadow (2 dimensional & dark, boundaries of shadow give us parameters, not a relationship.)

NEW = the real deal! Involves a BETTER covenant that is AS MUCH BETTER as substance or person is better than the shadow cast. And it comes with BETTER PROMISES!

THE PROBLEM: Hebrews 8:7 - There was something wrong with the first covenant. What was it God found fault with?

Answer in 8:8-9 - The people. Specifically, something was lacking in their hearts.

GOD'S SOLUTION: Heb 8:10f - The new covenant changes the human participants in the covenant. God places his laws on their minds and writes them in their hearts. (According to the prophets, God will do this by placing a new spirit in our hearts!) The result is a full and actual relationship (not just one in name only or based on second-hand information): "I will BE their God; they WILL BE my people." And in v. 11 "They will all KNOW me from the least to the greatest." (Note OT use of verb “to know.”)

Knowing and experiencing God on an actual relationship level is now not just the exclusive experience of patriarchs, prophets, earthly priests, or kings, but ALL will know him: young and old, great and small.

How will this happen? 8:12 reveals that Christ's final and perfect sacrifice, of which we've been speaking, resulted in full forgiveness and opens for us total reconciliation with God.

OUR QUESTION:

So this leaves us with a huge question because it now is clear just how important the heart is to God. Since the heart is the key to experiencing the fullness of the new covenant, passing from the shadow to the substance, then what does a heart look like that God wants, and what does one look like that he rejects?

The heart is mentioned over 575 times in the OT and 150 times in the NT. We could spend years studying what the Bible has to say about the heart because it probably is the biggest concern God has for his people.

As early as Deuteronomy, Moses was calling people to circumcise their hearts, even though the whole generation born in the wilderness were not physically circumcised for the forty years they wandered--until Joshua brought them into the land of Canaan (Josh 5). Jeremiah echoes this (Jer 4:4; 9:23-26). And Paul makes circumcision of the heart the test of a true Christian or Jew (Ro 2:25-29; Col 2:11). The symbolism is of removing the flesh, particularly dead flesh, and making ourselves open to God.

The kind of heart most often objected to in the Bible is the kind we've heard the Hebrews writer admonish us against repeatedly: the hardened heart.

What does a hardened heart look like?

There are several NT passages outside of Hebrews that describe it for us: Mt 13:14-15, Jn 12:40, and Ac 28:27 all look to Isa 6:9-11. And here's what we find:

A hardened heart results in and is therefore evidenced by these symptoms:

1. Little or no understanding of God
2. Does not hear God (and therefore does not heed God)
3. Does not see God or his truths
4. Therefore it will not and cannot turn from its errors (repentance) and therefore,
5. It prevents God from healing the person who has it. And the major area of healing is in regards to their relationship to God, but also in regards to having a healed, healthy spirituality that lives in harmony with God and his world.

EXAMPLES OF HARD HEARTS:

The greatest example is Pharaoh - 17 references in Exodus to his hardened heart attempting to undermine God's plans. (cf "God hardened his heart" to "my sister got me angry.")

Proverbs 28:14 - Contrasts hard heart to one that trembles before God (in reverence and awe).

Daniel 5:20 - The whole chapter is a chilling example of how Nebuchadnezzar's hardened heart and now his son's similar heart, brought horrible consequences -- the fall of Babylon and the death of the king that very night. Here the hard heart is associated with pride and brings God's opposition and judgment.

Zechariah 7:12 & context, esp. vv. 8-14 - Those who ignore social justice and the oppression of the poor are said to have hardened hearts. We might add to this, those who ignore the salvation needs of their lost neighbors, families, and friends.

Jesus associated divorce with hardness of hearts. In other words, our relationships are affected, even broken and destroyed, when we harbor a hard heart. Hard hearts are uncircumcised hearts. And therefore they operate in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. They block God out and presume to live life without his power. Even if a person with a hard heart seeks to live a holy life, they do so in their own strength and will always end up in the opposite place from holiness. As in the case of divorce, hard hearts lead to sin, even adultery, alienation of relationships, animosity, division , fighting, complaining, bitterness. This is a brief summary based on a cursory survey of the passages that talk about the heart.

When the disciples lacked understanding and faith in Mark 6:52 and 8:17 with regards to Jesus' ability to provide loaves of bread, Jesus explains their lack of faith and understanding as hardness of heart! The message here is that hard hearts prevent faith, that therefore can block God's provisions and miracles in our lives.

There are many other passages we could discuss. But the last three times the NT speaks of people hardening their hearts is in the passages we studied together in the past few weeks (Heb 3:8,15; 4:7). Those passages, you will recall, hearkened back to the problems God and Moses had with the people complaining and rebelling against their leaders in the wilderness. Even though they complained about seemingly necessary things like needing food and water and security and safety, their behavior was in accord with hardened hearts rather than hearts of faith, full of the knowledge of God. And so an entire generation fell in the wilderness and none of those people, not even the ones who made it into Canaan with Joshua, found their way into God's rest.

Again, we could spend a long time on this. Hopeful we can develop it more in the weeks ahead. The Bible has much to say about a heart that's right and acceptable to God. David asks God for clean heart and a new/right spirit (Ps. 51). Ezekiel speaks of the same (Ez 36:24-28) and calls us to have an undivided heart (Ez 11:19). Jesus promised that the pure in heart would see God (Mt. 5:8). The Psalms say in a couple of places that only the one with clean hands and a pure heart may enter God's sanctuary.

OUR RESPONSE:

None of us is immune from having a hardened heart. Even the most devout among us can find hardness has crept into our thoughts, our decisions, our choices, our conscious and unconscious commitments. This is not the kind of thing we can finger point about. Nor can we judge others harshly when we ourselves must remain constantly vigilant over our own hearts. (In fact, it is usually those who are most judgmental who have the hardest hearts!) So: "Guard your heart!" the book of Proverbs warns, "for everything you do flows from your heart!" (Pr 4:23).

And so with what little time we have in this service, I want to beg each of us to examine our hearts. Consider if you've hardened it to God or to others in your life. You don't need special instructions or hours of discipleship to know this. You probably felt a twinge of awareness as soon as I raised the matter.

Where is your heart today? Is it open? Is it laid bare before God and thirsty for his Spirit to be poured out? Is is sensitive to his voice and compliant with his leadings? Or is it eclipsed by your own fleshly attitudes and opinions, your own self-confidence and your own selfish agendas?

God wants you and each of us fully immersed in his new covenant. That's the place were all sin is removed and forgotten because of the shed blood of the now risen Christ--our high priest.

God wants you on his team—the Melchizedekian priesthood, interceding for others and bringing the gospel to others. But most of all, he wants a relationship with you, where in you KNOW him as he knows you. He wants you to understand, hear, see, turn and be healed. What a blessed life of peace and wholeness that will be! This is what it means to enter his rest. This is what the priesthood of Jesus, his sacrifice, and his covenant are all about!

Excerpt from The Rapture Racket

2011-04-21T17:50:00.004-05:00

Note: For the past year I've been involved in a writing project with a dear friend and scholar, Gilbert Bilezikian (or Dr. B, as so many affectionately call him). What follows below is an excerpt. You can read more at www.scribd.com/dleigh_1. We are seeking feedback and support (intellectual, spiritual, and economic) for this project. So please reply here or email me if you have any thoughts or ideas. Thanks! -- Dave Leigh

Lizzette tossed and turned.

Each time she began to doze, she'd awake thinking she heard infants crying.

No ... not infants crying ... children.

No ... not children ... No ... O God, no—

It was the frantic pleading cries of women.

No ... a woman. A mother?

The sobs grew louder, sometimes seeming close, sometimes far.

Am I awake or asleep?

Are these cries real? Or am I dreaming them?

A chill came over her.

She arose from her bed and stepped outside, wrapping herself in her blanket.

The street was dark, cold, and only vaguely familiar.

Crying.

She followed the shrill eery sounds, lifting her blanket over her head like a hood.

Then it came. A blood-curdling scream.

Then more screams; wretched, angry, painful wailing.

Where am I? she asked herself. What is happening? What is this place?

“Rachel weeps uncontrollably,” came the Whisper. “She cannot be comforted or consoled.”

Lizzette felt like she was going suffocate. She threw off her blanket. Was she in her bed, thrashing about, or was she really on that dismal street?

She felt the cool, damp, pavement beneath her bare feet. Yet she wanted to thrust it all away like some kind of smothering bed cover.

There is nothing like the truth-denying tantrum of a bereaved mother, she thought, pleading in protest over violence done to her children.

Lizzette wanted to scream, herself; the wailing was so unbearable.

She found she couldn't turn away and she could not wake up. She tried to grasp at the dream—if that's what it was.

“A voice is heard in Ramah....” came the Whisper again. “Rachel weeps for her children....”

Ramah? Lizzette felt herself relax a moment. That's a phrase of Scripture. With that realization, her heart began to race.

Am I in Bethlehem, then? she asked. Am I dreaming of Herod's slaughter of the innocents?

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Religion gone awry

2011-03-11T18:15:00.001-06:00

lynnehybels.com: An Apology to My Muslim Friends

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Does loving your Muslim neighbor mean sharing your church with them?

2011-01-27T19:00:00.014-06:00

The Lord's Prayer in Arabic

A Christianity Today article, entitled Why We Opened Our Church to Muslims, tracks a debate among Christians about sharing their church facilities with Muslim groups needing meeting spaces. Steve Stone says:

Jason Hood raised issues about inviting Muslims to share worship space with Christians. Hood, who is a scholar in residence at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, referred to our flock Heartsong and me. While I couldn't tell exactly where Hood stood on the issue, it seemed that he had decided that our decision to allow Muslims from the Memphis Islamic Center (MIC) to use our Celebration Center for Ramadan prayers was made off hand and without much, if any, theological reflection. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Stone then goes on to cite the church's justification for its actions and says:

As a Jesus-following tribe we could not be more evangelical and exclusivist when it comes to Jesus. We are 21st century Jesus freaks, and we fly that flag on T-shirts which many of us wore as we greeted the Muslims who came for Ramadan prayers each night. All we have ever done or will ever do is a witness to Jesus—his teaching, his life, his death and resurrection, and the presence of the Holy Spirit with, in, and through us.

Our Muslim brothers and sisters know this about us because we always speak of Jesus and our love for him, and our love for them because of him, every time we are with them. There was no trading of theologies. They are Muslims; we are Jesus followers; both of us are clear about that. Jesus said people would know we are his disciples by our love for one another, and that is just what is happening with the dear and gracious people of the MIC. They recognize us as people who have been with Jesus.

What do you think of Christians opening their church buildings for use by their Muslim neighbors?

After reading the article, what do you think of the church's justifications for its decision?

Schaeffer's Perspective on Criticism & Attacks

2010-11-08T15:11:00.001-06:00

God willing, I will push and politick no more.... The mountains are too high, history is too long, and eternity is longer. God is too great, man is too small, there are many of God's dear children, and all around there are men going to Hell. And if one man and a small group of men do not approve of where I am and what I do, does it prove I've missed success? No; only one thing will determine that—whether this day I'm where the Lord of lords and King of kings wants me to be. To win as many as I can, to help strengthen the hands of those who fight unbelief in the historical setting in which they are placed, to know the reality of 'the Lord is my song,' and to be committed to the Holy Spirit—that is what I wish I could know to be the reality of each day as it closes."

- Francis A. Schaeffer, Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian Life, ed. with intro. by Lane T. Dennis (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1985), p. 39.

Presupposing: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer and Cornelius Van Til

2010-10-30T03:20:00.001-05:00

Amidst all the strange events of the 1960s—flower children, hippies, marches for peace and marches for Jesus—when college students were challenging the establishment, the Vietnam War, racism, and conventional social structures, an even stranger thing happened. A squeaky-voiced little man in knickers, who in 1948 felt called of God to become a missionary and to move with his family to a lonely chalet in the Swiss Alps (knowing not a word of local language), began to attract young intellectuals from all over the world.

Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984) had written no books or popular articles in those early years.1 He made no broadcasts or tape-recorded messages in his early ministry.2 Yet by the end of the decade Schaeffer's remote chalet had become a place of refuge for young people searching for answers to life's deepest and most troubling questions. This phenomenon would come to be known world-wide as “L'Abri” (French for “the shelter”).

Rev. Louis Gifford Parkhurst, Jr., who served the Schaeffers as their pastor in the last years of Dr. Schaeffer's life, describes L'Abri's beginning:

L'Abri began in a very real way with Priscilla [Schaeffer's daughter] on the weekend of May 6, 1955. She brought home from college a girl who had many questions, and so began the flow of people. L'Abri came to be a spiritual “shelter” for people with real and honest questions. God's hand was so obviously in the work that Dr. Schaeffer courageously wrote his mission board on June 5 and resigned. He asked that all salary be cut off immediately, and he told of the beginning of L'Abri Fellowship. The Schaeffers had had the reality of the existence of God demonstrated to them in real ways up to that point, and L'Abri was begun simply from a desire “to demonstrate the existence of God by our lives and our work.” 3

From this humble beginning Schaeffer's work began to grow and to attract attention. In the late 1960s Schaeffer began to speak at American colleges like Wheaton in 1967 and, later, at Westminster Seminary. By the end of the decade and the beginning of the next Schaeffer was speaking at Harvard (1968), Princeton (1972) and Yale (1973) as well as some prestigious universities in Europe and Asia.4 It was during this same period that Schaeffer began to publish his lectures in book form.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 11/11

2010-10-28T10:30:00.125-05:00

Conclusion

and

What's A

Search Committee

To Do?

We began this series with a hypothetical pastoral search committee faced with a dilemma. They need a pastor but all the applicants are women!

After our brief survey of the key texts that are involved in the complementarian-egalitarian debate, what should our search committee now conclude?
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 10

2010-10-27T11:30:00.086-05:00

WOMEN ELDERS
AND OUR
MALE-BIASED
TRANSLATIONS

Paul's instructions for choosing elders/overseers fuel our case that, contrary to traditionalist interpreters, Paul not only saw women as vital participating church members, but that he actually had both genders in mind for the jobs of pastors, elders, and deacons.

We looked at 1 Timothy 2 in the last few blogs. In the next chapter, 1 Timothy 3, and in Titus 1:5-2:5, Paul gives us lists of qualifications that most churches today include in their pastoral selection process.

After asserting in 1 Timothy 2 that women will be restored by faith and faithfulness, he goes on in chapter 3 to say, literally, "Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task." It does not say, as some translations have it, "If any man desires" but it says literally, "if anyone" does.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 9

2010-10-25T23:30:00.075-05:00

THE

SPEAKING ROLE

OF WOMEN

IN THE

NEW TESTAMENT

CHURCHES - 2c

From an Obscure Word to an Interpretation that Illumines the Whole Chapter

So far, we've looked at several possible ways to interpret Paul's statement in 1 Timothy 2:12-14 that many take as restricting women from teaching or speaking in church. All of these proposed interpretations make sense and show that an anti-woman rendering of this passage is unnecessary.

But there is another scenario that not only explains Paul's meaning in this verse but also brings the whole chapter together into a meaningful whole. (Remember that when we looked at the entirety of chapter two, we found it riddled with problematic statements.)
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Who Is My Neighbor?

2010-10-25T08:30:00.025-05:00

The Lord's Prayer in Arabic

How far we've come....

The American backlash against Muslims since 9-11-2001 has infected many Christians' attitudes toward the people of Islamic faith. There was a time when the Evangelical's opinion of Muslims was simply that they needed to be missionized and evangelized. We recognized the danger of some radical elements, but coercive and violent forms of persuasion were not commonly given respect in serious consideration of how to interact with Muslims.

Rather, we thought of sending missionaries and teams of evangelists, either covertly or overtly, to convey the unconditional love of Jesus. And we did so recognizing the dangers.

Lately, that love has not seemed so unconditional, at least if you gauge it by the eroding Evangelical-American attitudes that seem to becoming more hostile and widespread daily.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 8

2010-10-24T23:30:00.005-05:00

THE

SPEAKING ROLE

OF WOMEN
IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT
CHURCHES - 2b

We continue our discussion of 1 Timothy 2:11-14 by noting that there are several plausible explanations for Paul's words, other than taking them to mean women cannot lead or teach men. The fact that other explanations are possible should signal for us the inadvisability of using this passage to dogmatically restrict woman for exercising their Spirit-given gifts for the edification both sexes in the church.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 7

2010-10-23T23:30:00.013-05:00

THE

SPEAKING ROLE

OF WOMEN

IN THE

NEW TESTAMENT

CHURCHES - 2a

The Issue at Ephesus
And the Infamous 1 Timothy 2:11-14

So what's the deal with Paul's comments about keeping women silent and restricting them from teaching in 1 Timothy 2:11?

Doesn't he say a woman should learn in silence?

Well, the word used for silence, hesuchia, more literally means "quietness." When Paul instructs women to learn with quietness and submission, he is simply telling them to be cooperative. Some scholars point out that just by commanding women to be taught, Paul was advocating a significant liberating advance for that culture from the perspective of both Jews and Greeks. It is as though he said, "Let the women go to seminary and get their M.Div. degrees." It may be that the women Paul refers to did not even know how to behave in such a context.

Why then, our hypothetical search committee asks, does Paul explicitly say in 1 Timothy 2:12-14 that women may not teach or hold authority over men?

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent [hesuchia: quiet]. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." (1Tm 2:12-14)

This seems to contradict all we have been saying -- and all the New Testament is saying -- about women and their total equality with believing men as priests. But just how explicit is Paul in this chapter?
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 6

2010-10-22T23:30:00.127-05:00

THE
SPEAKING ROLE
OF WOMEN
IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT
CHURCHES - 1

We began this series with a hypothetical pastoral search committee considering applicants, all of whom turn out to be women. We can imagine that after hearing the evidence we've considered so far, someone would raise this objection:

"Why does Paul then instruct women to remain silent in 1 Corinthians 14:34-36 and 1 Timothy 2:11?"

There are a number of possibilities that would reasonably explain Paul's comments.
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W-W-I-D (What Would Isa DO?) - When One in Four People Call Jesus Isa

2010-10-22T07:00:00.057-05:00

The Lord's Prayer in Arabic

Did you know there are nearly 50 references to Jesus Christ in the Quran?

Ever wonder what the Quran actually says about him?

You'll find each reference presented with many other helpful resources on the Tools and Resources page of JesusInTheQuran.org.

JIQ is an organization committed to helping Christians build a constructive dialogue with their Muslim neighbors and friends. It asks a simple and profound question:

"If one in four people on the planet considers himself/herself a Muslim, shouldn’t we learn how to talk with them well?"

In an age when 1400 years of tensions between Christians and Muslims has come to a constant simmer at near-boil, immanent-spill capacity, isn't it time that we all take the initiative to really understand each other and better communicate the faith we hold so dear to our hearts?

How would you share the gospel lovingly with a Muslim?

Consider the compassionate and creative example in this video of JIQ member Jon Stallsmith.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 5

2010-10-21T23:30:00.000-05:00

The nature of headship - 2

Yesterday we looked at Paul's use of kephale-head in 1 Corinthians 11. Today, let's take a look at his use in Ephesians 5.

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." (Eph 5:23)

Because the context of this verse mentions submission, some interpreters are quick to infer that headship involves an authority relationship. A careful examination of the full context, however, reveals that this simply is not so.
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Dave's Recommended Books

2010-10-21T15:07:00.011-05:00

Build your library! Enrich your faith! And each purchase supports this blog!

Here is a list of books and authors that have influenced me over the years. Perhaps you'll enjoy them too!

But if I had to narrow that list down to ten, I guess it would be these:

My Top 10 Short List:
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 4

2010-10-20T23:30:00.002-05:00

The nature of headship - 1

If Jesus taught that we, his disciples, are not to exercise authority over one another (Mt 20:25-26), and if there is no longer male or female in Christ as far as status (Gal 3:27-28), then there is a serious problem with any interpretation that gives men status or authority over women in the church based on sex/gender differences.

Often the idea of "headship" is invoked by complementarians who want to do this. And while nowhere in the New Testament are leaders called "heads" in Christ's body, there are two key passages where men are called "heads" (kephale) to their wives. Today we will look at Paul's use of this word 1 Corinthians 11, then we'll progress to the other uses in our subsequent blogs.

A passage very often cited to support this form of sex-based hierarchy and authoritarianism is:

"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." (1Co 11:3)

Confessions of an Idolator

2010-10-20T12:30:00.033-05:00

The belief that an idol holds power "over me" is not attractive. Nor is there any appeal in obligations to serve it.

The belief that an idol imparts power to me, and the idea of serving and appeasing a god so that I can manipulate and control it, now THAT has potential!

Whether an idol is made of stone or flesh or chrome and leather, we humans have no need or hunger to worship it. We lust instead for something to manipulate that will empower us to fulfill all our pleasures.

When it comes to worship, after all, we prefer to BE worshiped or to worship ourselves. It's against our fallen nature to truly and selflessly want to render thankless service to another.
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The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 3

2010-10-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES
RELEVANT TO THE
STATUS OF WOMEN
IN CHRIST'S CHURCH

Two key elements required to understand the equal status of women with men are often missed by those who interpret the Bible to exclude women from ministry and church leadership. They are:

1. The nature of authority in the church, and
2. The nature of headship.

We will deal with the nature of authority today and the nature of headship tomorrow.

The nature of authority in the church

The first mistake many of us make is to assume that leadership positions in the church are positions that hold authority by virtue of their office. The truth is that leadership and authority are always earned. Spiritual authority is something that comes as one's leadership abilities, wisdom, and character come to be recognized by others.

As for authoritarian leadership, Jesus rejected that outright. Recall:

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant...." (Mt 20:25-26, emphasis added).

How Divine Is Jesus?

2010-10-19T13:15:00.004-05:00

If you asked an Evangelical Christian, as late as the mid-1970s, if Jesus was equal to the Father in all respects, or if he was somehow less or subordinate to the Father in authority or rank, the unanimous reply would have been that each member of the Trinity is equal in all respects, and that any suggestion of hierarchy or subordination within the Trinity is an error likened to Arianism and Jehovah Witness teaching.

But something has happened under the "big tent" of Evangelicalism. And that answer is no longer unanimous.

I cut my theological teeth in the late 1970s studying the orthodox view of the Trinity as a reply to the cults. Resources like Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults, and the Spiritual Counterfiets Project Newletter, helped me shape my understanding of Jesus' full and complete diety. My studies since then, as a theology student, pastor, and Christ-follower have deepened my love for the Trinity doctrine.

It seems that since the late 1970s a group of Christians with a social agenda aimed at imposing gender-based hierarchy in the family, church, and society have found it convenient and expeditious to harvest examples from church history that cast some doubt on the certainty we Evangelicals once had with regards to the total non-hierarchal and equal standings of each Person in the Trinity.
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God In Search of Us - Part 2 of 2

2010-10-19T12:00:00.007-05:00

When asked how he knew the Bible was God's Word, Karl Barth, the great theologian and scholar put it this way:

“You might as well as a child how she knows her mother's voice is her mother's!”

Something inside us just knows the voice of Yahweh who birthed us into being. Somehow, it is a self-evident thing. This is a wondrous thing that only faith can appreciate.

Imagine you and I are sitting across the table from each other. We see each other, feel each other's warmth, hear each other's voices, and laugh at each other's jokes. Would it make any sense at that point to entertain arguments claiming that either one of us did not really exist? Certainly on a playing field of absolute skepticism such arguments might exhaust us without end. But if we just relax and admit what we know, we each know the other is present and real. The same is so with the soul's knowledge of Yahweh. His reality is evident within us and all around us, as he is everywhere present.

Sometimes we have to get in touch with ourselves to realize this. Self-awareness can be a rare commodity today. And if you doubt this, you are probably among those most guilty of it. It usually takes a self-encounter before someone can step outside the mental maze we get ourselves into as if chasing our own tail. When we come to this self-encounter we discover that it has only been our desire to push away Yahweh and to rule ourselves without him, that we came to block him out of our consciousness by conscious or unconscious choice. But deep down our soul knows. Make no mistake about that. And our heart bears witness to it when it hears his voice and words. It tells us what our mind has resisted: that we have come home, that this is our Source of Being and the One in whom we live and move and have our being.
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