The adventure of a lifetime!

Hello friends,

We are certainly on the adventure of a lifetime, doing things we have never done and seeing a land we only dreamed that someday we would be able to see. Our flight was delayed going out of JFK--we left at 4:00 am on Wed. We have been all through Tel Aviv, experienced Joppa, picked up a rock from Mt. Carmel (remember the big BBQ contest held there?) We have been inspired as we walked through Caeserea in Peter's footsteps and stood where Paul once stepped into the awaiting ship to sail past Herrod's great temple at the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Today as we ate dinner (the food is beyond amazing) over the Sea of Galilee, we felt blessed beyond ourselves. Tomorrow we will see Galilee from a whole new perspective as we walk the shore, visit famous places in the Bible and later are baptized in the Jordan River. The only thing that could be better than this is if you were here in person to experience this with us.

Thank you for your prayers. Jim shares his first devotional at the place where Jesus told Peter to "feed my lambs" tomorrow morning at 10. (It will be 3 am your time.)

We are safe, well-fed, and have a wonderful and knowledgable tour guide. We look forward to sharing a ton of pictures and our hearts with you in the next several days.
Love,

Jim and Andrea

What Happens After We Die?

I’ve received quite a few emails about last week’s sermon. Seems the sermon sparked some questions and raised a few issues. I thought this might be a good excuse to jump back into my blog. So, I will use this blog to answer some of the most common questions I have received.

One of the more frequent questions is represented by this email:

Pastor Jim, during your sermon on Sunday, you made mention of the mortality of the soul, you stated that there was no mortality of the soul. I thought maybe I misheard or you misspoke, so I listened to the message again. At the 11:42 mark in your sermon, that was what you said, so now it raises the question as what Paul meant by "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." 2 Cor 5:8. Please explain.

Yes, Paul is stating his belief in the resurrection just like he does in Acts 24:15, Rom. 6:5, 1 Cor. 15, et al. Whether he is killed by his enemies or executed by the Romans, Paul says that is not the end. When I die, and my body is limp and absent of life, I will be raised from the dead to be present with the Lord. Verse 8 (and vv. 6&7 before it) recap the theme first introduced in 4:16-18. “At home in the body” means to dwell in “the earthly tent” (5:1), to be outwardly “wasting away” (4:16), to be away from the immediate presence of the Lord.

When we die, we don't stay dead, merely rotting away into all eternity. When this body dies, we will be resurrected into a new body where (as Christians) we will be present with the Lord. God will raise each of us from the dead. As you can see from the context in 2 Cor. 5:1-10, Paul is not contrasting the difference between body and soul, he is contrasting the difference between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies. When we die and this earthly body is destroyed, God will raise us up from the dead and give us new bodies.

The belief in the immortality of the soul, (that the soul doesn't die) is a very popular belief but is a dangerous lie first introduced by Satan in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:4). It was made popular by secular Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates and has infiltrated first the Catholic church and then the Protestant church both to a deep degree. The Hebrew word for soul is ‘nephesh’ ("soul, breathing one, a person's lifesource" used of God giving life to Adam in Gen. 2:7). Using that word ‘nephesh,’ the Bible plainly states in Ezekiel 18:4 "The soul who sins will die." Our soul, that is, our life, has a lifespan, that is, we die, our soul dies. Our soul is mortal, not immortal.

When we die, all of us dies: body, soul, mind, heart, all of it. Again, it was the Greeks who introduced this idea that you can separate us into compartments: body, soul, spirit, mind, etc. The Bible sees each of us as a unity of personhood, not some tripartite or dualistic entity. It’s important that we recognize the Bible as our authority and not Greek philosophy.

It’s also essential that we maintain the centrality of the resurrection. It is the core doctrine of the Christian faith. If the soul does not die, there is no need for a resurrection. By definition, resurrection can only happen after a death. If you teach the immortality of the soul, that the soul never really dies, then you have no need for a resurrection and you have destroyed the foundation of the Christian faith. Read 1 Corinthians 15 where the first Christian theologian argues for the centrality of the doctrine of the resurrection. It might help to read it in a clear translation like the NLT where you can see the brilliance of St. Paul’s argument with more clarity.

If you have any questions (or comments), feel free to comment here.

Painting Theo-logy

I am so excited about our new Children’s ministry space. We’re making great progress and it is awesome! It’s fascinating to watch each room progress. I have to admit, at first, some of the artwork was confusing and messy, but each time I go back, I see the progress and I am more and more amazed.

Saturday, I was admiring the work of one of our artists airbrushing when he looked up at me and said, “you wanna give it shot?” I said, “uh, well, I’m a pastor not a painter, and I want this children’s space to look nice, so I’ll just pass, but thanks a lot.”

This particular artist’s name is Theo (which just so happens to come from the Greek word “theos,” which is the word for “God” which makes him the first Theo) and just like God, Theo knew I had abilities in me that he knew he could draw out. So, he said, “ah come on, try it, you can do it, I’ll show you how; come here.” So, emboldened by his belief in me, I thought, “I’ll give it a shot, if I mess it up, Theo can probably fix it anyway.”

Next thing I knew, he had taught me how to hold the airbrush just right and artfully depress the trigger, releasing a mixture of air and paint while deftly swinging my hand in a precise arc that combined proximity and speed for maximum results. I was amazed. He just grinned knowingly. When you enter what’s called the Giant room (for two year olds), and marvel at the huge blades of grass, just remember, I contributed to the art work (albeit an extremely small part) of that very cool room.

It’s all because of Theo.

The study of God, his nature and character, his attributes and how he works in our world, is called Theo-logy. But God doesn’t express himself and his nature just to himself; he loves to create and then to interact with his creation, especially the crown of his creation: human beings. He is always working in us, creating and shaping and personally handcrafting in us his divine art. Like a working artist, things may look messy at first, and you may not even recognize what he’s crafting, but when it’s all done, it’s a masterpiece. The New Living translation of Eph. 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” God is a master artist, utilizing his perfect wisdom and skill to bring about his purposes in our lives. He is making us like Christ.

Next time you feel like you or a fellow Christian’s life is messy or far from Christlike, remember it’s a process and to withhold judgment until it’s all done and the masterpiece is complete: Christlikeness. And when we get to heaven and finally are like Christ, we can all smile and say to each other:

It’s all because of Theo.

Tree Riding

Disclaimer: I am currently on Vicadin ES, so the coherence of the following blog may or may not be clear. I broke a rib yesterday while tree riding and I’ve gotten so many questions about it, I thought it would be a good subject to jump back into my blog with. Tree riding is when you climb a (20-30 foot) tree to the top where the trunk/main stem becomes thin and then lean out away from the tree toward the ground, kicking your feet out and letting your weight bend the tree, delivering you to the ground in an exhilarating ride. I’ve also jumped off the branch of a bigger tree grabbing the top of a smaller one nearby; same ride, just different approach.

The trick is to find a strong, healthy, supple tree (Red Maples and Oaks are best) that won’t snap under your weight and getting your feet out soon enough so you land standing up. I failed on both accounts yesterday and paid the consequences. Unfortunately, it’s hard to conclusively determine whether the tree is healthy or not in the winter, because all of the leaves are gone. So that was my first problem. But secondly, I got my feet tangled up in the small branches and didn’t get them kicked out soon enough after I started the bend and about halfway into the bend (about 15 feet in the air), the tree snapped and I fell face/chest down, landing hard and breaking my 5^th rib on the left side. Ouch. I knew laying there on the ground, I had either cracked or broken a rib. I think Gideon, my chocolate lab, knew too. Not as agile as I once was.

Once I got back to the house, I did a little research on cracked and broken ribs and it seems that while there’s nothing they can do to treat rib injuries, its good to have an xray to make sure there are no further internal injuries. That meant I had to call my wife. But tree riding is one of those things I never got around to telling my wife that I did, and this turned out to be a less than optimal time to share. Later I tried to argue that there’s biblical precedence for tree riding, with less than favorable results.

The beginning of Luke 19 tells the delightful story of Zacchaeus, the vertically challenged man who was so eager to see Jesus, he climbed a tree so he could see over the crowd. When Jesus came to the tree where Zacchaeus had climbed, he told Zacchaeus to “come down immediately” (the NLT says come down quickly). That’s what tree riding is; it’s coming down quickly from a tree. See, it’s biblical. (Right, my wife wasn’t convinced either.) At least I didn’t try to use 2 Samuel 18:10: “I just saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree!”

Spiritual Oxygen

August 27, 2010

As you can see, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, June 19^th to be exact. Now that I open this thing back up I realize I probably should have told you then where I was going, but since “was going” has turned into “went,” I’ll tell you where I’ve been. You may or may not know, I was on vacation for 3 weeks in July, then worked like a dog in the office to catch up for 2 weeks and then left the office again and entered into a focused time to work on my book the first 3 weeks off August.

I have seen other blogs where people blogged about writing their book, while they were writing their book, but all of them were writing over an extended period of time, chipping away at the book a little at a time. I need blocks of time or it’s a waste of time for me and since I don’t have any time to waste and am not able to find big blocks of time during my weekly schedule, I have to schedule them away from the church.

Furthermore, I am already writing a sermon each week and I guess I’m just not prolific enough to find time to write a sermon, answer emails, write a blog and write a book. So, my plan was to devote all my attention on the book over an intense 3 week period and write furiously for those 3 weeks. (I did the same thing last year.) I just finished those 3 weeks and they were awesome!

I am so grateful to our church for letting me take a study leave and I’m jazzed about how much I got done. I’ve told a few people that I’m done with the book, and seasoned writers have scolded me not to say those words. “You’re not done until it’s published” they said with that knowing voice. “There’s always changes to be made and the publisher may have you do a major re-write.” Of course, those of you who know me, know I will be tinkering, editing, revising until they wrench it out of my hands.

So, I’m done, but I’m not done. Either way, it still feels awesome! More than one person has commented about how free and liberated I seem. I have to say it is an exhilarating experience writing a book. I couldn’t wait to get out to my writing space each day (a card table under a patio umbrella), arriving there most days before 7 AM and writing till late at night.

The current title for the book is “Spiritual Oxygen” The subtitle is: “How the Holy Spirit Makes Us More Like Christ.” I explore the concept of spiritual breathing and learning how Jesus cooperated with the Holy Spirit and how we can too. Just recently I’ve also toyed with the possibility of “Only A Breath Away” the idea being that “all that we need from God; help, grace, power, etc. is only a breath away.” More knowing people have also told me not to fret about the title, since if a publisher buys the book, they’ll probably change the title.

So, 2/3 of the book is off to an editor friend of mine. I’ve been warned about that too! I’ve told her I am a big boy and to go ahead and have all the freedom she needs to edit, but we’ll see how big I am really am when I see all her edits!

Caninical Compassion

My wife and oldest daughter left today on a missions trip to El Salvador. They are going to love people and share the gospel in the little city of La Libertad. Its a win-win deal. The people of La Libertad win by hearing the gospel, and my wife, daughter and tripmates going win as they will grow in Christlikeness as they directly obey Jesus' words to make disciples of all nations.

But it doesn't feel like a win right now for my youngest daughter who already misses her mother like crazy. Tonight she came over and put her head on my shoulder, then my lap, tears flowing freely. I put my arm around her gave her a squeeze and said something that was intended to be soothing. It didn't work.

Next thing we both knew, our Chocolate Lab, Gideon, got up and snuggled up close to her, nuzzling her leg to somehow get closer. In distinct Labrador dialect he communicated "I sense your sadness and I just want to be close to you." Drawn by his compassion, my daughter slid down from the couch and he nestled his chin right on her leg. We couldn't resist getting a picture. This wasn't the first time Gideon sensed sadness or pain or sorrow from one of our family members and I marveled at yet another example of our dog's inate sense of compassion.

I've been resisting for a long time blogging about my wonder dog Gideon but today I just can't stand it any longer. Now that I've set a precedent, I'm sure more is to come in future blogs. In the meantime, I got thinking how much I talk about wanting to be more like Christ, maybe I should start by just trying to be more like my dog.

Marrriage Rhythm

A very cool thing happened Sunday that I just had to blog about. As I was wrapping up the sermon from Mark 10:15, I asked if anyone would like to surrender their life to Christ. Numerous hands went up, two of which were a couple.

I thought to myself, “how cool is this, a man and his wife both surrendering their life to Christ in the same service, what a transformation that home is going to experience.” I couldn’t tell who went first, but it was definitely a decision they made together, husband and wife, to follow Jesus; isn’t that awesome! Later I thought about the only account I know of in the Bible where a couple both came to Christ, Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18, and the incredible things that God did through that couple as they both surrendered their lives to Christ and served him as a couple.

Then as I was greeting people at the end, another couple came up to me and told me they had both raised their hands way in the back, but here’s the kicker: both of them had their heads bowed and neither one knew at the time that the other was raising their hand! The Holy Spirit was working in each of their hearts independently of each other; they responded in obedience to God, and to their surprise both of them came to Christ in the same moment!

I got thinking about that later. I believe the Holy Spirit is working in each of our lives as individuals but also (for those who are married,) as couples and I wonder how many times couples expect that, recognize that and cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity and He is seeking to unify us with the Father, the Son and with each other. If you are married, I invite you to ask God what is He doing in your marriage as a couple? What's your next step as a couple?

May we be open to everything the Holy Spirit wants to do in our own lives, in our marriages, in our families, in our church and in our world. When the Holy Spirit prompts us, may we respond in obedience. And may those who are married move in the rhythm of the Spirit in such a way that we experience increasing levels of unity as a couple.