Life Thoughts

Deacon Ordination of Mickey Bean

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[audio https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28590462/20121028.%20Deacon%20ordination.mp3]

The first segment is Scripture reading and comments by Mickey’s family (Kathy, Hannah, and Harrison)

The second segment is the Charge to the Church given by Rev. Bill Freeman

The third segment is Mickey’s Testimony

The fourth segment is the Charge to Mickey given by Rev. John Malek

Tebowing like Tebow

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First off, let me say, I have a lot of respect for Tim Tebow. He is one of the few players (pro or otherwise) who gives glory to the One who deserves it.  For example, in 2010, there was an article written about Tim Tebow. In it, he is quoted as saying:

I am no different than anyone else—despite what people may think—because I am a Gator football player, through everything I do…and just by living…I want people, when they see me, to say, ‘There’s something different about this guy, and that’s because he has a relationship with Jesus Christ. … I found true satisfaction, true happiness, and it is not by having your name in a newspaper, it is not by winning trophies, it is not by winning championships, it is by having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So I have a ton of respect for him. Every chance he gets, he gives glory to God and is never hesitant to mention his relationship with Jesus Christ. And I believe he is genuine when he does it.

However, maybe there are some who are missing the point. Tim’s reason for doing what he does when he is ‘Tebowing’ is really pure: he is giving thanks to God in a public way, and showing everyone on national television that he is not ashamed to do so. I wonder how many of us would do that if we were given the same opportunity? After all, Jesus did say, Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32, 33).

Yet, we have to come to grips with the fact that this is not about looking good, or drawing attention to oneself. This is not even about religion. Tim said it himself: It is about a relationship. A relationship with Jesus Christ is the reason Tim Tebow does what he does after a touchdown. Some people draw attention to themselves by doing some shake-and-bake-spasm dance in the end zone, or they run around throwing their arms in the air drawing glory for themselves and then finish it off by jumping into the crowd. Yet Tim chooses to drop down on one knee, in humility before God, and give thanks to Whom it is due. He knows he would not be here without God. He also ‘Tebows’ because of his relationship with Jesus. It is for Christ’s glory, not Tim’s, and Tim knows that.

Paul exemplifies this for us. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, he says Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. Even though Paul is specifically talking about immorality, the application remains the same. The glory is God’s not ours, thus we are to live for Him daily in all that we do. Paul reminds the Philippian church in Philippians 1.27-28, Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. Paul also reminds us in Philippians 2 that we must have the same attitude which was found in Jesus Christ when He came as fully God in fully flesh to die on the cross: humility. Why? We see the answer in 2:10-11 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For the glory of God. I am reminded of a quote by St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

We must be careful not to idolize the man Tim Tebow. After all, ‘Tebowing’ has been around a long time. This is not about Tim Tebow, it is about Jesus Christ. Only. Period. So then, my prayer for Tim Tebow, and for the generations of fans watching him is that the GOSPEL will be furthered by this. I pray the message of Jesus Christ, not the image of Tim Tebow, will be extended farther and wider to audiences in this country and abroad who have never heard the redemptive message of Jesus.

Living Right-Side Up in an Upside Down World

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Have you ever noticed how people are out for themselves? We are by nature, purely ego driven and self centered. That is how the world is. It is all about the customer. The customer is always right, or have it your way. There are ipads, and iphones; everything is ‘me’, ‘I’. There is nothing wrong with those things per se, but it serves as an illustration that there is very little thought given to others in the world. It is always about me. Yet, Jesus’ command is to live differently. His command is to live right side up in an upside down world.

What would happen if we saw a woman getting assaulted in the parking lot at Walmart? What would happen if we heard of physical abuse in a family? What would happen if we sat up and took notice of people around us? We tend to be quick to help the third world countries who are starving, or in need of shelter, and that is good.  I personally think we help those other countries because all we have to do is make a donation, or drop supplies off, and go back home. But what about our neighbor down the street whose car just broke down for the tenth time? Or the child whose mother is sick with cancer? Do we reach out? Again, Jesus’ command is absolutely different.

Matthew 20:24-28 says:

And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

A little background on this passage is appropriate. Back up to verses 20-23. The mother of the sons of Zebedee, which were James and John, wanted her sons to be able to be to sit on either side of Jesus when He went into His kingdom. This was asked most likely in light of 19:28:  And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Interestingly, even though she was the one who asked this of Jesus, there seems to be an indication that James and John had put her up to it, considering Jesus shifts His focus to them, when He says, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” And they answer in the affirmative. The term ‘cup’ was used in the Old Testament as a metaphor for suffering. He thus promises them that they too shall drink of His cup. His promise, while it may not include death, did include pain, suffering, and hardship.

The other disciples seemed to take this with the weight of a lead balloon. In fact, they were literally, ‘very displeased.’  Yet, Jesus pulled them aside and basically gave them a reality check. Who sat beside who is not the point, instead:

First, He called them to be servants. The term ‘servant’ in the Greek is diakonos, were we get the term deacon. This is one who executes the commands of another; it could be a servant to the king; a deacon in the church, or even a waiter of a table. Indeed Isaiah commands us in 1:17: Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Simply, He was telling them they should be putting others before themselves. We need to be putting others’ needs before our own. Why is that? Because we are all the same: we are all depraved, sinful creatures who are in desperate need of Savior. Who are we to serve? God first and foremost. After all, in Deuteronomy 10:12-13: Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with call your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Also, the text explicitly says to serve each other. The greatest among us will be our slave. Essentially, we are called to serve. We go out in the name of Jesus, witnessing, serving, ministering, helping, providing for people. That is not the culture we live in. We are called to go against the grain of our culture and live according to the commands of Christ, and in this context that is to be a servant.

Along the same lines of being a servant,  there is an implication that title and prestige are really not all that important. Here, power and control are called into check. He says, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you.” Why does He say this? What is wrong with exercising a little bit of prestige, or being proud of a title? Well, basically, He says that is not the point. In fact, a couple of chapters later, Jesus is in the process of denouncing the Pharisees because they refuse to live what they teach. He, in a similar manner as our passage, says in Matthew 23:8-12: “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” So then, if power, prestige, control, title are all NOT the point, then what is? Serving others for the glory of God. As this passage in Matthew 23 says, He is our Teacher, our Father, our Leader. We are all in service to Him, not ourselves. That being said, we are to recognize our service to Him, and as He has commanded, our service to each other. Paul recognized this and echoed Jesus’ sentiment when he said in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” For Paul, this exhortation leads right into the character of Christ that we are commanded to emulate. For he goes on to say in verses 5-8: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” In contrast to the Pharisees we saw illustrated for us in Matthew, Jesus practiced what he preached. In so doing, He commands us today to the same. Paul in the Philippians passage, goes on to say because of His obedience, God exalted Him. Again, this echoes what Jesus said in contrast to the Pharisees, and we see this element in our passage here in Matthew. In all, it really does not matter what man says about us, how they think about us, or what they want to believe about us. At the end of the day, we are all servants of Christ, even unto death if need be.  But, by being servants of Christ, we are servants to each other.

Second, being a servant requires sacrifice. In service to God and consequently, service to each other requires sacrifice. This was alluded to just above in the Philippians passage, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We are to be Jesus to dead, hurting world. By doing so, we are to humble ourselves as Paul is exhorting us to do. A willingness to be humble requires great sacrifice. But not only are we to be humbled, but we are to be willing to take what we believe into fatal account if need be. Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death, and so should we. Jesus alludes to this in our main passage in Matthew 20: And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Whoever is to be first or great, must first be a slave.  This does not mean we should be total push-overs. Jesus became indignant when His Father’s temple was being misused. When Christian values are on the line in the public square, we as a church, should be the first to take a stand. But, among the family of God, we should be willing to sacrifice for each other.

Paul was familiar with the sacrifice of servanthood. He introduces himself as a ‘bond-servant’ in most of his letters, which in the Greek (doulos) is more literally translated as ‘slave’ (cf. Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:7; Philemon 1).  We read Paul’s solemn words in Philippians 2:17, 18: But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me (cf. 2 Timothy 4:6).  Even so, he urges them to rejoice in the same way. He wants them to share his joy. Indeed, in Philippians 4:4, Paul says Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! What a concept. Here, Paul is writing from a Roman prison, shackled and chained to a guard. Yet he tells them to be joyful, and to share his joy. Why does he have joy? Because he is being poured out, sacrificed and given away for his Lord. In Philippians 3:7Paul says, But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 

Sacrifice is hard. Sacrifice for others in Jesus’ name is difficult. It may not carry to the point of imprisonment, but it is worth it to see one, just ONE come to faith in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:2-7: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. When we reach out in Jesus’ name, it is worth it. We are called to be servants, we are called to be His servants, and to reach out in His grace and mercy. Who knows? If we are willing to reach out in the love of God, the Holy Spirit may draw that person to Himself. On the other side, if we reach out to a fellow brother or sister in the Lord, it is for their comfort and encouragement. This is about sacrificial servanthood. Yet, to a deeper level, there is a sense of checking our own motivations. The implication lies in this passage: But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer… Jesus came as a ransom for many. He reached out with His life. He died to set our souls free, so we should freely give the gift of ourselves away in Jesus’ name.

So what? 

We are called to be servants. We are called to go against the grain of the culture, to love and reach out and serve our fellow man. All the while, we must be giving thanks and glory to the Father. We live as Jesus live, and develop our attitudes in accordance with His will. We serve others as we seek to serve Him. We are part of the family of God under the Lordship of Christ; we are brothers and sisters in Him if we bow the knee to the Lord of Hosts. We must reach out. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves for His service.

Because we are brothers in sisters in the family of God, we should not consider ourselves higher or better than the other. We see this in our Matthew 20 passage and we saw this as well in Matthew 23. Romans 12:3-9 says: For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Either way, we are not consider ourselves more highly than another, whatever our gift may be, because we are all under the Lordship of Christ. As a final illustration, Paul says more explicitly in Galatians 3:26-29: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

May we serve each other in the grace and love of Christ Jesus.

Bible Translations: Which One is Right for Me?

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“Which one do I choose?”

Well, that would actually depend on you. However, according to a recent poll conducted by Lifeway, many Bible readers prefer a Word-for-Word translation:

A LifeWay Research study conducted in August 2011 found that three out of four Bible readers in America say they prefer a literal translation of Scripture even if some of the words or concepts do not fit easily into modern culture…Nearly half (46 percent) strongly prefer a literal translation, and 28 percent somewhat prefer a literal translation. Fourteen percent somewhat prefer a translation to reflect current context while 4 percent strongly prefer such a translation. Seven percent are not sure.

So, back to what we are looking for. Bible translations tend to be split up into two main categories: Word-for-Word and Thought-for-Thought.

Two Main Categories: 

Word-for-Word

Word for Word is just that: the translators seek to stay as true as possible to the original documents.Word-for-Word is also known as Formal Equivalent. One other definition for this type of translation I like is: “These translations attempt to reproduce the Greek and Hebrew as exactly as possible into English. Words, figures of speech, and sometimes even the sentence structure of the original languages are reproduced in a much more limited way in this type of Bible.” Because of this, versions such as the New American Standard Bible (which happens to be the one tend to be a little choppy or wooden in places where the English grammar structure does not match that of the Greek or Hebrew.

Thought-for-Thought

Thought for thought tends towards the modern day reader being able to understand the text versus the Bible being literally translated. Another way to understand this philosophy of translation is Dynamic Equivalent. A solid definition for this is: “These Bibles run on a more thought-for-thought philosophy than the Formal Equivalent translations, but do so in a much more sparing manner than paraphrases. Greek and Hebrew figures of speech are replaced with modern rough equivalents. They are more readable in a sense, though sometimes in a freer translation some passages become more interpretations than translations.” Thus, a translation such as the New International Version will be somewhat easier to read, because their focus is going to be on the reader more so than the original grammar structure.

Some Resources when Considering a Translation:

Zondervan’s Chart and Explanation.

This graph was produced by Zondervan. They actually differentiate between three types: Formal, Functional and Reflecting the Original Reading Experience. Their reasoning is as follows:

Tending to the upper right corner of the diagram, a third group of translations—represented by the white circle—seeks to recover the priorities of the original documents themselves, allowing readers to perceive the form of the original and the meaning of the original at the same time. Striving for the optimum blend of authenticity and accessibility in every verse, these translations allow modern-day readers toexperience—as far as possible—what it would have felt like to be part of the Bible’s original audience.

Also, they have a chart where you can actually and read samples from various translations, and they also give a short description on the distinctives of each translation. That chart is here and is in pdf as a download to keep it handy.

If you perform a Google search such as “Bible Translation Comparison” you will find a plethora of ideas, opinions, and motives. However, I used Zondervan as an example here because they are a trusted publishing company. Of the publishing companies I checked they were the only ones who had easy access to such a chart/comparison sheet. However, if you are out and about and stop in a Lifeway store, they should have a free booklet for those asking questions about translations.

Final Thoughts

When I have been asked, “Which one should I choose?” I tell people what I prefer and what I preach from (which happen to be one in the same: NASB). In fact, a good place to start is what translation your Pastor preaches from. If he preaches from the NASB, then many Word-for-Word translations should be fine. If they have an affinity for the KJV, I will usually encourage them to try out the New King James, for ease of reading while keeping the some of the beauty of the original.

If they are asking because they want something new or they are confused, I will usually encourage them to try out the English Standard Version, New American Standard Version, New King James Version,  or the more recent Holman Christian Standard. I encourage them in this direction, because again, I preach from the New American Standard, and for ease of reading along during a sermon. However, as I said before, it really depends on the person and what they are looking for. I hope and pray this helps, if I can be of any further assistance with questions, email me. Otherwise, happy reading!

A Gospel Heresy: Pat Robertson’s Unequivocal Denunciation of the Gospel.

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Unfortunately, there are some people who claim to be Christians, that give true believers a bad name. A REALLY bad name. One of these circumstances happened this week when host of the 700 Club, Pat Robertson said it was alright to divorce a spouse if they have Alzheimer’s Disease. The reasoning was because, ‘it is like a death.’

Really?

Was that not our problem before Christ? Were we not dead? In fact Paul tells us that  in Colossians 2:13–14 (NASB95) —  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. We were dead, we were gone.  He had every reason to not even lift a finger. Yet, He did. In fact, as this verse tells us, He nailed our death and sin to the cross. But why? Why did He die for us? Because of His love for us. Romans 5:8 (NASB95) — But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. More telling is 1 John 3:16 (NASB95) — We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Now, we understand that we have a Savior who rescued us from the Kingdom of Darkness (Colossians 1:13). He rescued us because He loved us. Are we not supposed to exemplify that love, ESPECIALLY in our marriages? Just look at what Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:22–33 (NASB95) — Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. It is because of our love for each other that we willingly sacrifice, no matter the cost. That is the least we can do because that is what Christ did for us. Indeed, Jesus gives the Pharisees a harsh rebuke when they asked Him if a man and woman could divorce for any reason at all. Matthew 19:3–6 (NASB95) — Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 

This is not to say anything about 1 Corinthians 7 which Paul underscores the entire chapter talking about marriage and the mere idea of divorce being wrong. For instance, 1 Corinthians 7:10–11 (NASB95) — But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife. 

However, if one was wanting to rip a verse out of context, that would support Robertson’s claim, it could be this one: 1 Corinthians 7:39 (NASB95) — A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Unfortunately, the Greek text betrays this idea. It says, “To cause to lie down to sleep” and is used in terms of “the sleep of death, to die, be dead.” Not any figurative uses here (cf. Matthew 28:13; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 2 Peter 3:4). Again, there is not any figurative usage when talking about death here. So this garbage about Alzheimer’s being “a kind of death,” is just that: garbage. His full quote: “I know it sounds cruel, but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her,” Robertson said (view the article here).

I believe what Robertson said was inexcusably, profoundly and  Biblically wrong. What he said is against everything the Bible teaches on marriage. “In sickness and health, til death do you part” must not mean very much to him. His idea of a covenant is easily broken if he sustains this heretical view. I am just thankful that God has not given up on me even when I strayed and could have been counted as dead (remember the story of the prodigal son, Pat Robertson).

Dr. Moore from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY was spot on (thanks Bitsy!):

I close with this clip from Dr. Robertson McQuilkin, who resigned his position as a Bible College president to care for his ailing wife who was suffering from Alzheimer’s. I think this man had it right: