thoughts along the way

Holy Violence Pt. 2

Josh — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:16:31 +0000

In Part 1, I introduced the topic of spiritual violence using the life of John the Baptist as our prime example. In this post I’d like to give a few more examples from the pages of Scripture of people who, in their own way and their own time, lived lives that we spiritually violent. First, let’s consider a hero of the faith from the Old Testament. King David was the simple shepherd boy who God referred to as the man after His own heart. As he sought God on those sprawling hills near Bethlehem, he became a diligent worshiper with the early skills of a leader preparing to care for the Lord’s nation. He was such a devoted servant that he sought to put comfort and convenience aside in order that God would be glorified. In Psalm 132, David was remembered to have said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (v. 3-5). This posture made David a man who embraced spiritual violence to serve God with all of his being. Next, let’s consider the Apostle Paul. We all know Paul as the man who, after a radical conversion experience, gave up all of his social and religious clout to follow Jesus and spread the Gospel to the nations. If that weren’t enough to qualify as violent, you can look at the list of things he endured in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 to take the message abroad. To that list, Paul added a qualifier in Philippians 3:13-14 when he said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” In other words, all the good work that had been done, as well as all the bad things that occurred (consider again the list), Paul hit delete. He constantly wiped the slate clean to propel himself further into the grace and love of Jesus. Lastly, we will consider the simple example of Mary of Bethany. In John 12:1-7, the story is told of how Mary anointed Jesus for burial. The oil of spikenard she used was worth an entire year’s salary, and she poured it out on Him without hesitation or regard to the disciples’ objections. All of her financial security and hope for a future–perhaps even a husband–was represented in the vial. Unfortunately, we don’t have time or space to consider all these heroes of spiritual violence, but you can always turn to Hebrews 11 to learn glean from their examples. And don’t forget to consider the life and example of the One who gave it all for us in the most extravagant act of holy violence–Christ Jesus.

Holy Violence Pt. 1

Josh — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:36:48 +0000

Just over a week ago at theWELL I shared briefly on the topic of spiritual violence. It was just enough to evoke a few questions and comments, so I’d like to elaborate a bit on the topic.

The verse I quoted to begin the discussion was Matthew 11:12: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (NKJV). Interesting, don’t you think? Here we find Jesus isolating something about John the Baptist that caught Jesus’ attention enough to merit His commentary. What was it that Jesus was saying here?

Just before He says what He does in verse 12, He says something that is so incredible that it’s hardly imaginable. Jesus says in verse 11, “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” In other words, of all the humans that have ever lived (except Himself, of course), John is the greatest of them all.

What made John the Baptist so great? Why did heaven “suffer violence” because of him? What does it mean to suffer violence anyway?

The first thing we can rule out is that heaven can be somehow injured because something humans can do. This isn’t suffering that we ordinarily think of. It’s more like “undergoes” or “puts up with.” Heaven is affected, for sure, but not in a negative way.

Next, the violence done isn’t physical violence. We don’t have a record of John hurting anyone. In fact, all the hurtin’ was put on him, in the end. So, “violence” is referring to a forceful act, but no animals have been harmed in its production.

What we’re left with is a picture of John the Baptist in the wilderness, fasting and praying, living a simple lifestyle, waiting on the voice of God. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets whose job it was to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. And, in all that, he got the attention of heaven. John the Baptist was a force to be reckoned with because of his faithful lifestyle and his obedience that ran right up until the end of his life. He said that he was a friend of the Bridegroom and because he heard the voice of the Bridegroom, he was full of joy (John 3:29). And he knew that as Jesus’ life and ministry increased, his job would be to fade to the background to put a brighter spotlight on Him (John 3:30). He is a picture of those who are completely sold out to the kingdom and its King and would do anything to bring honor and glory to Him. And that’s something that gets heaven’s attention.

Next, we’ll develop this a bit more and talk about others in Scriptures who embodied this reality along with John the Baptist.

Grace & Love

Josh — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:21:00 +0000

There’s this story in Scripture of David, while enjoying the peace and security of a king who is faithfully following God, sitting around and he wonders aloud if he can show kindness to one of the family members of a fallen friend.

Before that, some back story.

David grew up ignored and slighted by his seven older brothers. He was forgotten at the family feast when Samuel came to visit. (The prophet Samuel was the #2 most important guy in the country. It’s like the VP coming to dinner and your dad forget to call you in from slopping the pigs.) Anointed there as the next king, he gets called into employment by the man he is to replace, Saul. Then his to-be ex-boss tries to kill him. A lot.

David finds a friend in the king’s son, Jonathan, who aids and abets him as he runs from hideout to hideout trying to avoid Saul and his not-so-merry men.

Now, along with his time slopping pigs–tending sheep, actually–David has plenty of time to pray. And pray. And clarify some things with God. He has a lot of things to be upset about. Betrayal, family rivalry, being the last one picked for kickball, all that stuff.

But David is different. Instead of spending his time worrying about how to get back at people, he spends his time in worship. In prayer. In adoration of God.

And God does something amazing.

As David is praying and worshiping and adoring, God is changing his emotional chemistry. God, through Samuel in the beginning, calls David a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). He heard God in that secret time affirming and encouraging him.

And David believed God.

David, after messing up big time and almost dying in a mutiny, tells everyone who will listen, “He delivered me because He delighted in me” (Ps. 18:19).

Did you hear that? God rescued David because He liked him. And David even thought that was ok to say out loud. To other people.

And then God does something even more amazing.

The way David knew God felt about him, and the way he was beginning to think about himself, God transferred those feelings to other people. “They are the excellent ones, in whom my heart delights” (Ps. 16:3).

David’s heart delighted in others? In the way God’s heart delighted in him? (That sort of sounds like Matthew 22 where Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love others as you love yourself).

So back to the original story, where David is wondering aloud (you can find it in 2 Sam. 9). Because Jonathan was such a good friend, David is wanting to bless someone from his family. Not because there’s a law that says he has to. Not because his wife(s) talked him into it. And not because someone said it would be a good idea.

He does it out of the overflow of love he has been given from God. He reaches into his own creative goodness that’s been placed there from God’s Spirit and comes out with a blessing.

And so a man named Mephibosheth was chosen to be the recipient of David’s kindness. He was one of Jonathan’s surviving sons who had been injured as a boy, and still couldn’t walk completely. And on that day it was declared that, for the rest of his life, he would eat with the king at his table and never been in need of anything ever again.

David is a great of someone receiving the love of God and it moving them so much that they can’t help but show that love to others. In tangible ways, and in ways that cost them something.

Love God. Love others. It’s the love that we all want to know. The love that heals the brokenhearted, especially when the brokenhearted is us.

The Most Impactful Thing I’ve Read In A While

Josh — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:46:03 +0000

“We tend to want our hearts and minds to protect the peace of God within us. Paul actually reverses this and says that the peace of God protects our hearts and minds. But this does not happen simply because we present our petitions to God. It is quite possible to be anxious on our knees. We might list all our concerns and have it be nothing but a worry session in prayer. Paul says, in effect, that the thing necessary to keep this from happening is thanksgiving. We must present our petitions with thanksgiving” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p. 215).

(via Blog & Mablog)

Re-Up

Josh — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 07:03:46 +0000

Sarah has encouraged me to start blogging again. And because I always (*cough*) listen to her, here we are. I’m anticipating some thoughts on my daily Bible reading, perhaps a prayer every so often, and probably just general relections on life and theology. So we’ll just see what comes out….

I’ve got to admit, though, blogging has always seemed kind of weird to me. It’s like my journal (because I’m a guy, I have a journal–not a diary, thank you very much) in that I could never figure out who I was talking to. Whoever my audience-of-the-moment was, deep down I wondered if I wasn’t just talking to myself. So if that’s true, here’s to you, compadre.

23 Minutes in Hell

Josh — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:36:51 +0000

Bill Wiese – 23 Minutes in Hell

One Thing

Josh — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:50:33 +0000

Last Sunday, the folks at the Well extended a gracious invitation for me to speak at their meeting. Having just concluded a Bible study on the life of King David, I used the platform as an opportunity to speak about his desire to seek the Lord from Psalm 27, specifically verse 4:

One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.

As I continue to meditate upon this verse, I cannot help but to connect it to the scene in Luke 10, where Jesus is visiting his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. As Martha is offering her services, she complains to the Master that her sister is doing little but sitting to listen to Him. His response is quite surprising, as He tells Martha, “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.” In other words, Jesus affirms Mary’s (in)action as the response that He has been looking for. No where else in the Gospels do we find Jesus using such strong language to describe someone’s actions in response to Him or something that He does. All this in opposition to Martha’s request that something profitable be done.

In summary:

King David: “One thing I seek….”

Jesus: “One thing is needed….”

Gazing and listening. Could it be that in the wisdom of God, this posture of receiving from Him could be much more important than anything that we could concoct to do for Him?

Demonstrations

Josh — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:16:52 +0000

The Holy Spirit has been visiting the International House of Prayer in Kansas City during the past week (you can watch for free at www.ihop.org/watch).

Mike Bickle & Lou Engle demonstrate the right and wrong way to catch people who fall under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The right way.

The wrong way.

The results.

The Playfulness of God

Josh — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:10:31 +0000

This is a four-part series by Allen Hood called The Playfulness of God. Enjoy.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Thoughts from Revelation

Josh — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:46:15 +0000

As I continue through Revelation with a group of friends, I’d like to share a few more thoughts about what we’re learning, as well as some of my own meditations. This week, we looked at the letters that Jesus dictated to the seven churches of Asia minor. They occupy chapters 2 and 3 in the book of Revelation. One phrase in particular has always struck me, as well as many others who have studied this book. First, allow me to do a bit of set-up before I introduce my main topic.

Jesus has just finished congratulating the Ephesian church (the same one Paul had written to a several decades earlier) because of their diligence in the work of ministry. He says, “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. An you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary” (Rev. 2:2-3).

That’s quite a resume! They have been hard at work to spread the Gospel, building up their congregation, discerning and dismissing false leaders, and, in all this, they’re as fresh as when they began.

But it’s not enough. Jesus continues in verse 4, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (emphasis mine). Pow! Zing!

It’s not enough to work hard, not give up, seek truth, demand accountability in others, share the Gospel, etc. Leaving your first love is a big deal to God—big enough to receive a “nevertheless.” When someone says “nevertheless,” they’re saying, “I’ve added up everything you’ve mentioned and I’ve put it on a scale. On the other side I’ve placed what I believe you’ve left out, and my side is heavier. My side is more important than all your stuff put together.”

If we’re really honest, some of us are thinking, Nevertheless? Really, Jesus? That seems kind of rough. I mean, look at all they’re doing! It’s hard for me to get off my couch sometimes, and You’re complaining about them not loving You enough? Didn’t James say faith without works is dead? Didn’t John say that we have to love our brothers to show our love for you? Doesn’t this count? If it doesn’t, I’m hopeless!

No where does Jesus say that anything they’re doing is bad, or that it doesn’t measure up to a high standard of accomplishment. He is affirming them, even as He’s about to correct them. Seemingly, the first love that the Ephesians put in a lesser place of priority permeates everything else in their lives. They can work diligently doing great things for God, yet fall short because of this prioritization.

Jesus actually taught this during His time on the earth. In Matthew 22, an expert in the law came to Him and asked “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” (v. 36) It seems like the sort of question that has a consideration of priority behind it. This lawyer seems to be asking, “Just to make sure I’m hitting the big one, which is it? If I was going to just do one of the laws, which one should it be? If You could sum it up in a nutshell, what would it be?” Jesus responds by saying, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (vv. 37-40).

Jesus certainly connected the need to love other people with loving God. But He put it in its proper place. If you put more effort into loving people than you do loving God, it’s a tragic mistake of misorder.

When He says “You’ve love your first love”, Jesus is effectively saying, “You don’t love Me as much as you used to.” I hope that you’re able to sit with that for just a moment to feel the impact of His words. I hope you’re able to catch just a little of Jesus’ heart, because it’s a heart of desire, not condemnation. It’s a passionate cry from a lovesick Bridegroom for us to enter deeper into the fullness of His love.

So let us work diligently to enter into this fullness. We must remember our first love.