Date: 6 February 2009 D – 15 days
Events:
Yesterday I read, wrote and worked on securing the house for Marla. I put more secure locks on all entry doors and made a block for our bedroom door, the bad guys will have to literally tear the doors down to get into our bedroom! Plenty of time for Marla to put some Buck Shot into um :). Thanks for all the concern about Sadie, she is doing much better, check out the pictures back to her old playful self.
Bible (NT/OT):
Matt 28
The Resurrection
28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."
The Report of the Guard
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
The Great Commission
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Bible Thoughts:
1. Finally a shorter chapter!
2. “angel of the Lord descended… His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.” The New Testament mentions angels and demons more frequently than it does God/Christ’s love. The secularization of the Church has led to a people who do not believe in a spiritual realm. A people shocked and fearful of movies such as Max Payne, The Exorcist, Emily Rose, that depict spiritual warfare likely representing a far more realistic view of “The Real” (Matrix quote) than the world that we choose to see every day. Even as Christians, our default is to fall onto Science to explain the unexplainable. If I am unable to explain something, there must be someone in a long white coat that can. We daily write off miraculous occurrences to luck, chance, good fortune or karma. We are a people unable to believe in spiritual beings that we cannot touch or see, that have no mass but are who are great in effect. I challenge all who profess to hold the bible as the infallible word of God, to attribute less to secular ‘luck’ and more to a spiritual reality that while beyond our senses is no less reality. Oh, the insult the heavenly beings must feel when we attribute their work to luck, and these guys are not ones to mock. Oh, the cursing we must heap upon people by bidding them “good luck.” Praise God for his mercy to such ungrateful, miss guided creatures.
3. 6 “He is not here, for he has risen…” As Christ was raised from the dead so will we. Christ’s body though mutilated, cut and bleeding was raised beautiful and healed. In the death of our “imperfect” bodies we are “baptized” into Christ’s death that we will be raised as Christ in our “perfect” bodies. Christ’s resurrection reassures us that at death we will not become eternal spiritual beings (like the angles) without mass, we will not die and enter into an impersonal nirvana, nor will our death be our utter annihilation. Instead, at the end of the age we will again inherit physical bodies, walk physical streets and have fellowship with tangible brothers and sisters. This time though, as opposed to bodies born in sin and imperfect we will be born as Christ and Adam without sin and without sins systemic effect on our health, our relationships, or our new world. The following passages are the best biblical descriptions of our new body and our eternal heaven. Please take a moment to examine each passage as it constitutes the majority of what we know of our eternal resting place.
1 Cor 15:42-55
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body….50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
Rev 21:1-22:5
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son… 16 The city lies foursquare; its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel…each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations…22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Notice that the bible does not speak of our life in the clouds or earning our wings but of perfect, eternal physical bodies and a perfect, eternal physical city. This is a biblical view of heaven.
4. “…he is going before you to Galilee…” Jesus got his people out of Jerusalem prior to its utter destruction in 70 AD.
5. "Greetings!" ESV other translations… “Rejoice!” NKJ. Though I typically use the ESV translation in my writing, I included New King James translation “Rejoice” because..well, I like it more. I’m no scholar and I don’t know which English word better depicts the Greek word, “chaírete,” Jesus first words to his disciples but I like to think it was something a bit better than “greetings.” As defined by The New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, “Chaírete” is a primary verb; to be "cheerful", i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well… so “Rejoice” seems to fit right? Christ has just risen from the dead and in doing so ransomed billions of souls from the grips of eternal punishment ending death’s grip on humanity, thus I like “Rejoice.” Although The Matrix was an exciting movie with amazing special effects and a great twist, although Top Gun has inspired millions of young men to be fighter pilots, although Shakespeare’s timeless plays still bring tears to the eye, by far the greatest story ever told is the true story of Christ’s perfect life, tragic death and triumphant resurrection. Christ’s defeat of death, his defeat of sin, his defeat of Satan, and his victory over the souls that hung him on the cross, indeed his victory over my soul. This is the most exciting, redeeming, and triumphant story ever told with the greatest surprise ending that anyone could ever imagine. As my parents can attest, I have no use for a minister who when handed the most exciting story ever told decides on Easter to instead preach about Christ’s resurrection as merely a symbolic representation of the positive changes that we could decide to make in our life on Monday. Please forget life application for 1 day and tell history’s greatest story. If people leave the church because they want less Christ and more life application, show them the door, in fact, pick them up and throw them out. They do not belong. “Open hearts and open minds,” right? Phooey, I vote for tough love any day.
6. "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” It is sad that the unbelieving world no longer even has to bring up this lie, as most “believers” in the American Church today don’t believe in the resurrection. The bible, as just a story book with helpful life lessons, can’t mean that Jesus literally raised from the dead, can it? Come on, there are lots of other controversial topics in the bible that we don’t bring up (all the un-PC stuff “against” women) why can’t we just ignore the resurrection too? Besides, we all know it’s scientifically impossible and makes Christians look dumb for believing in such a unlikely miracle, does it not? Well, I guess, if this is how you treat the gospel, then you better hope Christ’s body was stolen. I guess you had better hope, with the culture, that there is no bodily resurrection and that at the end of your life, you move with the rest of modern culture into a land of eternal Ice Cream and clouds or perhaps just join the atheists in annihilation. I guess we can all continue to sing with lukewarm voices during the Easter service, treating Easter as a time of symbolic “new beginnings” as opposed our Lords triumph over death and salvation of the world. No, if Christ is not raised from the dead, there are far better things we should do on Easter morning (in fact, every Sunday morning). What can we really learn from this liar, Christ? Why would we worship a lunatic who preached his own resurrection on so many occasions? With Paul, I affirm, “17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 1 Cor 15:17-19. Christ’s only credibility is in the fact that his body has never been found. His miraculous stories can be written off as just that, stories; we have no lasting proof. His “great teachings…” not so great if he claimed to be God and was not. This Easter, let’s not continue to sing as lukewarm “believers” who have bought the cultures lie of the impossibility of the resurrection, let’s instead sing of the most amazing story ever told, sing so loud and hard the unbelieving world has no choice but to rehash its lies about what actually happened to Jesus’ body.
7. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” After Christ’s humiliation (life and death) came his exaltation. Christ now sits at the right hand of God and rules both heaven and earth. Failure to submit to his Lordship in no way voids it’s truth. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, “At the House of Prayer, Jesus is Lord.” I later approached the member and explained (nicely) how stupid the bumper sticker was as Christ is Lord of all heaven and earth not just his church and not just because they ‘choose’ to submit; how egocentric are we to feel that we somehow ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship. We can no more ‘allow’ Christ’s lordship than we can allow the dawn to break. Christ, the redeemer of earth has been given His rightful reign over the earth. The good news is that Christ rules the earth in love, grace and mercy. The mercies may not always be obvious as such mercies sometimes take the form of loss, inconvenience, changed plans, illness, close calls even physical death but when we are kingdom minded and remember that Christ at all times desires our “good” (growth in love and trust), then we can then see Christ’s goodness and praise God that He governs my life and I do not.
8. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, In interpreting the bible, when we come across the word “therefore” we must ask the question, what’s the ‘therefore’ there for? (John Dansby taught me that). In this instance, it clearly modifies Jesus prior statement…"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This begs the question, if all authority (other translations use sovereignty) belongs to Christ, does he need our help? Further, if he doesn’t need our help (the last question should have been easy) why does he enlist our help? And, how should we evangelize in light of Christ’s sovereign authority? While we indeed evangelize for our neighbor’s salvation, our neighbor’s spiritual conversion cannot be our ultimate goal. If it were, we would have forgotten our first love and greatest commandment, “love the Lord, your God with all of your heart, mind, body and strength” and superimposed our neighbor as an idol confusing the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” with the first. No, we evangelize not for the glory of our neighbor, but for the glory of God. We evangelize that there be one more voice beside us singing praise to our God in heaven. So, if the Glory of God is the reason for evangelism (not the glory of man), then how is God glorified in his ultimate, sovereign authority over those who believe or deny the Gospel. Simple, if it was my convincing argument, my persuasive speech, my incredible relationship with my neighbor that ultimately lead to his conversion (or lack of conversion) then I would steal the glory for my neighbors salvation from God, as my neighbor would not be in heaven praising God were it not for my intervention, my skill, my work. Likewise, if my neighbor were not converted perhaps due to my lack of biblical knowledge or lack of effort then I would stand rightly condemned as allowing my neighbors eternal punishment in hell. This is not a thought I could easily bear. The brilliant news is that Christ has “all authority” that, while I am responsible for sharing the Gospel, I am not accountable for my neighbor’s response. I will not be praised for the effect only the effort, likewise, I will not be judged by the effect only the lack of effort. The question frequently asked the Calvinist’s then is, why evangelize? The answer, again, is simple, because Christ commands it; how can we help but to tell history’s greatest story? “18 So they (the Jews) called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot help but speak of what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-21. Make no mistake, the victory has been won, the General does not need my help; but, oh, to be a private in such a great army! It is as if Patton himself approached, clad you in mighty armor assuring your safety and asked you to march with his Armies in their final victorious blow to Hitler and resultant liberation of those suffering in concentration camps. Would the mission be accomplished without me, yes…but who would ever say “no”??? Far greater than our victory in WWII is Christ’s victory on Calvary over the sting of death, how could we ever say no? How can we not lead the charge for the souls of man? The victory is certain and battle won! Evangelism flows from our love of Christ not our love of man. Thus, my goal is not man’s salvation but telling of Christ’s victorious story to “all nations,” that they may know it, whether they believe it or not. In this the Calvinist has even greater reason to evangelize because far greater is Christ’s victory on Calvary as he has saved (from beginning to end) not only my neighbor but also myself. If victory was not won on the Cross but won every day in evangelism what did Christ accomplish? Effectively nothing, the accomplishment was then only theoretical until enacted by human will/effort in evangelism and free choice. This is not a Biblical view of God, Christ or Calvary. The God of the Bible is victorious, Christ’s is sovereign and Calvary effective (beginning to end).
9. I guess the short chapter thing just let me devote more time to a fewer verses.
Sun Tzu:
“When a country is impoverished by military operations, it is because of transporting supplies to a distant place. Transport supplies to a distant place, and the populace will be impoverished.”
“When seven hundred thousand families have to support an army of one hundred thousand on a distant expedition, the common peoples cannot avoid impoverishment.”
The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):
Black holes result when a massive star dies out. The dying star collapses into itself, becoming smaller and smaller, denser and denser, until it compresses into a single point with no radius and infinite density. The point, called a singularity, is so dense that nearby light cannot escape its gravitational pull. Escape speed is the speed that an object must reach to escape the gravitational pull of an object. The Escape speed of Earth is 11.2 Km/sec (25,950 mph or 7 miles/sec) and Jupiter’s is 59Km/sec, while by definition the Escape speed of a Black Hole is the Speed of light (thus the blackness) 300,000,000 m/sec (670,000,000 miles/hour or 186,000 miles/sec). So for a space shuttle to make it into space from earth it must exceed 25,000 mph, otherwise it will fall back to earth. The Event Horizon is the boundary surrounding the singularity (black hole) where the escape speed equals the speed of light. Anything that falls into the Event Horizon gets sucked into the center. Interesting as the object moves toward the Event horizon it would appear to the outside observer to be moving slower and slower as the immense gravity slows the light exiting the Black Hole. Once the object crosses the Event horizon however, it will disappear as all light is directed towards the singularity. Of course, this is all theoretical. We can’t actually see a black hole because they don’t allow anything (even light) to escape. We know of their existence only because other objects in space interact with their mass. A large number of stars orbiting a black center indicates the likelihood of a black hole. Also, as light (that has not crossed the event horizon) is bent, the black hole theory has also accounted for the fact that when we look upon the night sky many of the stars (as seen through a telescope) are duplicates.
