I believe there is a movement today that emphasizes the Gospels found in the Bible to the point that it minimizes the writings of the Apostles in the NT (which is mostly Paul) and the rest of Scripture (i.e. Old Testament). I think this movement has been around for awhile now in the “liberal” mainstream church, and is also in the emergent church. If you look at these movements, however, you will find that they really emphasize only certain portions of the Gospels (and completely avoid much of Jesus’ teachings in the synoptics and almost all of John). In my previous church, I definitely saw this. The attitude was, “Yeah, Paul did say that, but how does that line up with what Jesus said here about not judging, etc.?” While I find it silly to pit one against the other, I’d like to lay out a reasonable argument for trusting Paul more than the Gospels, rather than the other way around. Again, let me repeat, I don’t think we should trust one more than the other–I think they are equally trustworthy, but I am doing this to make a point. So here are the reasons for trusting Paul over the Gospels: The letters of Paul were written earlier than the Gospels. We should be aware that as time goes by, the possibility of something losing its truth becomes greater. The earliest views of Jesus should be trusted over the later views, which have more possibility of being invented ideas, rather than truths. Paul’s words are his own words. Jesus’ words in the Gospels were written down by other people, not by Jesus himself. How can we trust that they are what Jesus really said or what He was trying to say? With Paul’s words, we have first-hand teachings. The Gospels sometimes frame Jesus’ teachings, so that in one gospel, Jesus’ teaching seems to mean one thing, and then in another, the same teaching has a different meaning. Even if Jesus did say these things, can we trust that the writers of the Gospels are framing Jesus’ words as He intended them? Are we sure they are being used in context? Luke wasn’t even a disciple of Jesus, so he...

…as pastors quell Bell who they claim fell and yell that they smell very well what he sells. What the shell? (that’s the only other word I could think of that rhymes) For me, the question is: Where the hell does Rob Bell stand? Hahahaha. A lot of controversy surrounds Rob Bell’s new book, and thanks to friends who have kept me in the loop (I have to rely on them, since I never got into Nooma, his books, or Bell himself), I’ve done my share of thinking about it. Without reading his book, and just judging by the interviews I’ve heard from him since he wrote his latest book, here’s what I conclude Rob Bell believes: If you’re an all-around nice person (i.e. obeying the golden rule, etc.), it doesn’t matter so much whether you believe that Jesus is the “Savior of the world” or not. After all, if you’re being kind to people like Jesus taught, you are actually bringing heaven to earth like Jesus wants you to. In the end, that’s really what matters to Jesus, not your religious affiliation. So don’t worry about all the nice people out there who have never heard of Jesus or all those nice people out there who refuse to believe He’s the savior of the world. They’re nice people–they will have made the world a little more like heaven, showing that they belong to heaven, regardless of their religious affiliation. Those who are not nice to people on earth are trying to make earth more like hell. They won’t succeed, because the power of love is stronger than their efforts. All they will be able to do is make their own life on earth more hellish. If you truly love people, it doesn’t matter what they try to do to make your life hell, they won’t be able to. In the end, those people who are trying to make life on earth more hellish will realize that it was a losing battle. They will then be forced to admit they were wrong and give in to the side of love. Two questions to consider now: Is this really what the Bible teaches? Is this really what Rob Bell teaches?...

Our six-month old baby, Sarah, gets super excited every time she sees me. One of those times when her eyes seemed totally locked onto me, I wondered, “Why is it that my presence gets her so excited?” I had many explanations. And I was also reminded that babies don’t have a concept of object permanence. When something they see disappears, they don’t understand that it continues to exist. I realized that Sarah must think this way of me too. Every time I returned, she became excited. Then I wondered, “How much of a spiritual baby am I?” I seem to lack object permanence when it comes to God. When I “see” Him, I get so excited. But when I don’t see Him, it’s like He doesn’t even exist anymore. I just go on with my life with no thought of Him whatsoever. How can I develop object permanence with God? How can I be reminded that God continues to exist, even when I don’t see...

“He was 100% God and 100% human.” How many times have you heard that statement about Jesus? Have you ever noticed that anytime anyone says that, they say it in the past tense. He was 100% God and 100% human. The implication is that He became so for a brief period in time, but He has returned to being just God once again. But is it possible that the present tense is true as well: Jesus is 100% God and 100% human? A few years back, I came across a video where the guy speaking (can’t remember his name) claimed that Jesus was still 100% human. I had never considered that idea before, but it seems to make sense biblically to me, although it is crazy to consider. After all, the Bible says that Jesus is the first of humanity to receive a glorified body, and that the rest of us who follow Him will follow suit–we’ll also have glorified bodies like Jesus does. But even though our sinful nature will be changed and we will receive new bodies, I’m assuming that we’ll still be humans in our soul (at the core of what it means to be human)–just perfected/glorified humans. If this is true, doesn’t it make sense that Jesus too remains human? If so, I think the implications are pretty wild. After all, when we consider that Jesus was willing to become human and die on the cross for us, there is a nagging thought: “Yeah, but He didn’t stay dead, and He knew that He wouldn’t stay dead, and His Father knew it too. They knew all along that this was only a temporary separation and a temporary humbling of Jesus.” But what if Jesus’ nature is forever changed because He chose to come into this world? What if from now on and for all eternity, Jesus will continue as the Divine Human? Can you imagine how incredible it would be that the God and Creator of the universe would stoop so low as to carry on for the rest of all eternity as a human being? Where in the Bible do we get the idea that Jesus stopped being a human? We strongly affirm that...

  Do any of the following apply to you? Your last name rhymes with Swaggart/Haggard Your first name has a great ring to it if you add a “y” to it, such as Ben, Ted, Jim, etc. Even when you’re on a security camera in the mall, you feel the need to weep. You cry anytime you’ve done something wrong. You have fun at the expense of pushovers—literally. You seem to have an unusual amount of handkerchiefs and olive oil lying around. You suddenly come up with an ingenious way of turning those items into loads of cash. God’s call on you to reach the world for Christ is so strong, you have felt compelled at various times in your life to purchase a personal jet. You’ve been working on a new book entitled, How To Love God And Mammon: What Jesus Only Wishes He Could Have Known You have always believed that in order to find your virginity, you must first lose it. God has given you at least two of the following prophetic words for your ministry: Robin Hood had it all backwards. Your ministry should be modeled after the philosophy of the Chicago Cubs: People will continue to give you money if you promise them that things will be better next year Standalone verses in the Bible can mean so much more if you’re willing to let them stand alone. The real definition for Trinity: “God”–one word, three syllables. God is calling you to reach everyone in the world for Christ (except your children). Your wife enjoys dying her hair blue, and you think it looks kinda sexy. ============================================================================ 10-12 Correct: I think you’ve just discovered TBN’s call on your life 7-9 Correct: With a little more determination, you can become a household name 4-6 Correct: The best you can hope for is to be a traveling evangelist in the rural town circuit 0-3 Correct: You’re just a wannabe evangelist/preacher. You’ll need to find a real...

What are we striving for? What is our end-goal? When can we say alongside Jesus, “It is finished”? It’s no less than the evangelization of the entire world. What a daunting task! I look at my church–we’ve probably got 25-30 people in each location. Should this lofty concept be the goal of such a small, rural church? Seems like an unattainable goal to achieve. And yet, we aren’t supposed to look at how big or small we are, or how many resources we have (remember the parable of the man with one talent?). We are supposed to trust in the Gospel, that it is indeed the power of God. Our power doesn’t come from how intelligent we are, how wealthy we are, how large in size we are, or how talented we are. Our power comes from the truth coming alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. The evangelization of the world. That is what we work toward. For some, this sounds like some imperial concept–some selfish endeavor by Christians to convert everyone to their religion. On the contrary, Christians are called to utter selflessness. This isn’t about some jewel in our crown for sharing the Gospel. The motive is purely this: Jesus Christ is worthy of the praise of every single creature He has created. He deserves no less. He died so that all of God’s creation can be restored to Him. God rightly deserves everything and everyone to glorify Him and Him alone. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, that is now possible, and we continue working toward that end. The Son of God’s reward must equal the cost of His sacrifice. Yet, how many Christians do we see striving for this? How many Christians in their entire lifetime even see one person come to know Christ through their personal sharing of the Gospel? What about my own life? Outside of my pastoral role, what am I personally doing to share God’s Good News to people I know and don’t know? Don’t mistake what I’m saying: I’m not advocating some way to mass-produce Christians and try to get as many people to convert and then move on to others who need converting. I’m talking about something much more...

Tomorrow is the last of 40 days of fasting! I don’t feel like I sacrificed nearly “enough” during these days, but I’m still super eager to be able to go on a normal eating routine once again. Going into the fast, I knew that after the first few days of fasting, hunger pains went away. I assumed that because of that, a 21-day fast or a 40-day fast wouldn’t be much harder than a 7-day fast. I assumed that once you get past the initial hurdle of hunger pains, you could go on indefinitely without eating (until true hunger returns) with little difficulty. I snickered at the advice that if you’ve only done a 3-day fast before, you should work up to a longer fast by going 7-days the next time. And then 2 weeks the next time after that, etc. I now realize I was wrong. Even after the initial hunger pains subside, there is the emotional/mental aspect of not eating. It is tiring and wearying. Even though I’ve only been fasting breakfast and lunch for the remaining 35 days or so, this feels like the longest 40 days of my life! In many ways, I feel like I’ve failed at this endeavor. I just got plain tired of it, and was ready to end it halfway through. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that I have a long way to go in my walk with God. I’m so self-consumed and am very resistant to obeying whatever God wants me to do. I long to be comfortable and live comfortably. I want to live a satisfying life. What I mean by that is a life that satisfies me. A friend of mine posted a Buddhist quote on Facebook that I think has a lot of truth to it: Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after you obtain it, it is nothing special. –Suzuki For me right now, “it” is a normal eating routine where I can eat whenever and whatever I want to. But I also know that “it” is many other things in my life, and will become many other things in my life in the future. There are so many things that I...