Bible Shorts

"For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's {people,} that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"

Imagine this; there's a church but within that church there are, effectively, many sub-churches; Within this church are those who consider themselves a little better than the others because they listen to a particular preacher, they follow a specific belief, they read a certain daily reading or go to a certain respected person for advice and as such, have found a well of wisdom from which nobody else has the privelage of drinking.

Each of these subgroups act like they wish that all the others could have the same supreme revelation as themselves but are quite proud of their uniqueness because, after all, they are the group that are 'of Christ' and are therefore the real leaders (because they got this 'special revelation' first).

In such a place, who are the real leaders? Who are the genuine Christians? Who are those who can be trusted as not looking out for themselves and promoting themselves beyond their calling?

I think that there is a group missing from this list in 1Corinthians 1:12. This is a group who don't call themselves anything other than Christians; they are just living their lives according to the calling of God and feel no need to label themselves for the express purpose of exalting themselves (for what other reason could these people here be saying "I am of Paul" if they saw being 'of Paul' a bad thing?).

These unmentioned people are the people who are within the structure of the church and part of it; They are just people who love Jesus. They don't have time to split off and do their own thing, they're too busy being Christians. They don't care about making a priority of telling people "I am of ...".

They don't get involved with telling people why they're so much better than the other lot because they are content to live as Christ ordained them to live. These are the people who are truly 'of Christ'. They don't worry and panic about what other people think of them, feeling the need to remind them that they're 'of a group'; they just live. They allow their identity with Christ to speak for them, living under submission just as Jesus Himself did.

I made mention, back in 2003, of a man who wasx a self appointed leader and who refused to give a testimony of God's work in his life. The account given in Galatians 1 & 2 by Paul makes it clear that knowing where a person is from is very important because when you come under someone's teaching, you're taking of what they are.

So, when you come to a church, ask yourself;

Who made this leader a leader? The church in Jerusalem gave Paul the recognition of being a leader. This is the mighty Paul who preached to the world and brought Gentiles to faith, yet submitting to leadership. God appointed Paul and the church recognised it. Who recognised the calling of the leader you follow? Paul said to Timothy that what authority Timothy had was given through the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Who laid hands on your leader?

Has this leader known what it is to be lead by someone else? Someone who gives orders must be able to take them. Where is the evidence of this? Every single person is under authority, so to whom does the leader answer?

Out of what was the leadership born? This is important since if a leader is a leader because he couldn't get his way in a church assembly elsewhere, he or she is not fit to be a leader. If a church stands on the statement "we're not that lot", there's a problem. If they spare time to criticise another church (or even another religion), it's got a problem. The gospel stands on what it is (the power of God for salvation), not what it isn't.

We need to be united, not divided and bitter. We need to accept that there are those whom God has put over us, and those people may very easily make mistakes and hurt us; but they are still our leaders (think of king David both in his error as a leader and his atrtitude to his predecessor, king Saul). If God wants us to be any form of leader in His Son's church, then He doesn't need us to do othe promoting, He can do it quite well Himself.

I had a job interview yesterday. If you looked at the odds and what I'd been told, it should have been a mere formality; and the benefits which it would have offered me to better serve in my church meant that it must surely have been in God's interest to ensure I got the job.

But I didn't, and as I read the e-mail telling me that I'd come second (second place is first loser and all that), and that the person who got the job did a whole lot better than me, I started to feel the inevitable disappointment.

I started to think of how those who think I'm stupid would gloat, that I could somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I started to ask; What if I'd said something in another way? What if I'd tried another way of handing myself? What if I'd revised something different? What will people in my church think? What about those who will think I'm less of a 'man' because I failed?

Times like this can be so difficult, and the temptation to be angry at God for 'leading me on' is great. But it's at times like this, when we may want to cry and hide in a cave away from all human life, that we need to keep a steady hand and a fixed gaze at the end-game... and remember the promises of God.

The enemy of your soul wants you to focus on your failures as a sign of anything ranging from your stupidity to God giving up on you. What if your best friend thinks that if you failed, then you're a wimp? What if some in your church will rejoice at this proof that you're not a proper Christian and not as special or gifted as them?

The bottom line is that nothing has changed. Yesterday, as I walked out of the interview, God could already see me reading the e-mail today. He knew what was awaiting me. What's more, He knew that I'd be reading that e-mail on the day that He made me and put me together in my mother's womb, yet in the time between my birth and today's e-mail, He has chosen to bless me, He has chosen to give me promises concerning my life and purpose and He has given me eternal life at the cost of His own Son's life.

Has His will for my life come to an end because of this? Of course not.

But if I'm honest, I have no problem with the God-side of it; I know His attitude toward me hasn't changed. But I am feeling that bitterness of what others think. This is why I believe that it's situations like this that test how good a friendship I have with God. While others may turn their backs on me and gossip, do I rely enough on my Heavenly Father to support me in my trials? If they gossip, then they are simply showing how far short of God's friendship their friendship actually is.

America depends on the Middle East for its oil and when that oil is at risk, America is at risk. Am I looking to my (so called) friends to be my support? God is a friend who will never turn His back on me.

Others may not believe in you, but God does and He's the one who makes the difference, not them.

An arrogant and self righteous article by one Desmond Morris has made some strange claims. Along the lines of "the existence of aliens would disprove the existence of God", we have "the existence of cavemen disproves the existence of God".

He comes up with the usual boring and worn out arguments;

"This is shattering news and will create fascinating problems for both political and religious leaders."

"Darwin put a stop to this nonsense with his theory of evolution, but amazingly the blindingly obvious truth he discovered is still resisted by large sections of the human population."

" I can already hear the fanatics claiming that he has been put on earth by the Devil"

This little man who is shaking his dusty fist in the face of his immortal creator shouting "I don't believe in you!" needs to consult the religions which he so joyfully chastises.

If the little ape-man found on a remote island were three billion years old, it wouldn't be a problem to me or my faith.

Did the Devil put the skeleton in the cave? Of course not! I don't know where Desmond Morris got that idea from and I'm yet to find someone who believes that the Devil's job is to put skeletons in caves.

First of all, before any of the hearsay and doctrinal evaluations, the theory of evolution is yet to stand against the fact of lives changed theough the Spirit of Jesus in their lives, the people healed both physically and emotionally. Does Mr. Morris realise that there is currently more evidence to prove that there was a man called Jesus who died and rose from the dead than there is to prove that we come from monkeys who hid in caves with little pen-knives?

Furthermore, the Bible covers only seven millenia of earth's existence (we're approaching the end of the sixth millenium, there's just over one to come). It makes clear that there was something before that (yes, before Adam)! So finding a creature that existed before Adam is 'claimed' to have been 'created' causes me no nightmares (as he suggests). Indeed, he is the one who is still struggling to find answers to the big questions of the universe. They still want to know what was in the beginning, before the Big Bang.

It must be terrible to live in a world like his; empty, devoid of meaning and clearly lacking evidence to support that which he sees as his reason for being.

Acts 20:28"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them".

The church was established upon Jesus Christ who fulfilled the law of God as was given to Moses yet died as someone having broken it in its entirety in order to take our punishment upon Himself. The church, taught by Apostles, established righteousness and truth based on the belief that in the four thousand years of God's revelation from Adam to then, God's law had not changed and neither had God changed - but in the Gospel (the good news of salvation throught Jesus), anybody who believes in Jesus can have all their sins forgiven and be saved from a world that is corrupted through lust.

Yet it would seem that some of those who want to be part of the Church of Jesus Christ (for it is His church and nobody else's), refuse to join unless it changes to suit their moral beliefs. The fact that God has long stated that some things are out of bounds, has done little to hold back the desire of an unregenerate world to inflitrate the church and change what the church believes.

And so we have it today, that where God has taught that "2+2=4", the liberal theologians are insisting that the church changes its view to "2+2=5". On what grounds do they base their belief?

These people who are coming into the churches of our land and trying to change the theology are making a mockery of God and the Bible and, also, the church itself. They may be tearfully sincere when they see their goals coming close to success, but the bottom line is that they are wolves in sheep's clothing and they are misleading others.

Paul said that if anybody preaches a different Jesus, a different Gospel or a different message to that which was delivered to him and the other Apostles by Jesus Himself, then that person is to be anathema, cursed.

This isn't about tradition, it's about integrity and sticking to what God has said. If the church abandons God and His word, what is there left to distinguish the church from anybody or anything else?

Jesus died for the 'whosoever', yet there will always be those for whom the inclusiveness of the Gospel is not enough; they will want to distort the gospel and make it what it isn't, because they don't want to be what they're not.

Listen, if the Gospel is not what you are looking for (and there are many for whom free eternal life and forgiveness is just a pipe-dream and a fantasy), then don't think that you can make it into what you want it to be. You take God as He is just as He takes you as you are, but under His terms no not at all. If a member of the UK Conservative Party wants his policies to match those of New Labour, then why don't they join New Labour!?

Jesus doesn't care where you've been or what you've done in that He will not reject you for having a past full of anything and everything that the Bible says is wrong; He wants to give you new birth, a new start and that means putting behind you the things that are of your sinful nature. Under no circumstances does He call us to celebrate our sins and never will He say that what the Bible calls sin is actually Ok because it's the 21st century.

His way or no way.

In a remarkable article detailing how the Islamic Quran teaches that Muslims should respect the right of Jews to the land of Israel, the writer quotes a moderate Muslim teacher who says; "Most Muslims, he laments, do not read the Quran for themselves and instead rely on imams and preachers to do the reading and interpreting for them."

While I firmly believe that the Bible, in consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is God's word to us, I also think that all Christians need to learn from the above statement. Maybe it could be rephrased and attributed to a Christian teacher; "Most Christians... do not read the Bible for themselves and instead rely on pastors and preachers to do the reading and interpreting for them".

Christians who don't read their Bibles run the risk of ending up giving Christianity a bad name and even misrepresenting that which the Bible teaches. People who say that "God is love and so will never punish anybody for anything" have clearly not read their Bibles, as is the case with those who support lifestyles and practices which are clearly against Biblical teaching.

When a preacher stands in church and says that Jesus wasn't born of a virgin, didn't really die or didn't really raise Himself from the dead, he is showing that his (or her) reading of the Bible is through the secular eyes of modern short-sightedness, through the belief that because times have moved on, God has also moved on - forgetting that the whole history of the human race spans less than the length of God's blink.

How arrogant we are to think that God should be the one to read our statements, our beliefs and our trends. No. If Christians are to grow and see God working in and through their lives, they (we) must be willing to do things His way, or not at all.

God says to His people in Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children". Pretty serious stuff!

2Peter 1:5 says "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in {your} moral excellence, knowledge.." - this knowledge is 'study knowledge', knowledge you gain through putting your head into it and putting it into your head.

So switch off the TV and go read something more useful instead.

Acts 2:36 says has Peter preaching his first (though very succesful - about three thousand became Christians that day) sermon "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified."

I'm struck by the way the church, my church, I don't so much preach the gospel but expect that because I act like a Christian, people will see it and say "Oooh! I'd like to become just like you!".

In the past, we have seen popstars claim to have a 'Christian Faith', but apart from speaking about it, they've said that they wanted people to see Jesus in the guitar - as if people would be so impressed by how good they were, they'd start going to church so that they could be as good. Such people were called attention seekers who wanted the glory of the world.

Are we risking the same result as they as we expect people to see Jesus in the dinners we give, the songs that we sing or the way we flash our church's disco lights?

Social work is important. The church was instructed to look after the poor and to heal the sick; these things are essential. But these things are not telling people what they need to hear. Peter told the people that they were responsible for cruifying Jesus. He didn't tell them that Jesus can make them feel nice, wanted and important (though He really does), but He told them that they were sinners!

How many people, upon coming to the judgement seat will be sent to hell saying "Well, they fed me alright, but they never mentioned this!"?

Feeding the hungry, helping the poor, healing the sick are all important, extremely important! But are we looking to comfortably send people to hell?

And we organise 'healing meetings', 'faith meetings' and so on, but where did these happen in the Bible? Jesus preached the kingdom, and people got healed. Peter preached salvation through faith in Jesus, and people got healed. These were signs that the message had validity, not tools in order to make the message interesting! Without the message of the kingdom, these would have meant nothing. These people didn't organise 'healing services' and hope that people would see the miracles and go "Oooh! There's clever! Think I'll become a Christian now!".

In 1Corinthians 1:22-25, Paul says; "For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks [gentiles] search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

This is not a get-out for looking after the needy; James makes it clear that if we neglect that, we have no faith. But where is the message? Are we being ambiguous, hoping that our smile will convey the love of Jesus? Will they know what to do with our collective smile?

Where would we be if the church in Acts relied on such things to do the preaching?
Not here.

The book of Proverbs says that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to seek out a matter; and everybody would seem to want to be a king. Looking at the rich and famous, you may believe that knowing the mysteries of life is not for you because you're too busy living your life and only the likes of Madonna or Britney Spears can discover the ancient mysteries of life.

But as these personalities satisfy their selfish and egocentric pursuits by following the mutilation of the pure religion delivered to Israel by Moses, you can rest assured that although you may not have the self confidence, looks or the luck of the entertainment industry's greatest, you have access to the revelation of the oldest, greatest and most important mystery of all;

In Colossians 1 Paul writes; "... Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. "

Jesus is the revelation of the mystery of God. You don't have to go and recharge your phychic energy in a tomb, you don't have to wear a red bracelet, you don't have to worry that your essential value relies on being able to keep up with the ever changing trends which are advertised and popularised by the shallow stars of the media; Jesus (who is called Immanuel - 'God With Us') has brought you fellowship with the Father, the Creator; God. Your relationship with the purpose of existence is made possible and real by Jesus.

Do you feel unwanted? Do you feel that you're not worth much? Jesus came and died for you, so that you can have a relationship and friendship with God. From the very core of your 'being', you can know that your existence is not without purpose, that you are not an accident but rather, God loves you and wants you to get to know Him better and better every day.

For centuries, there was a mystery; But now the mystery has been revealed and the humble are the ones who shall find it.

I read today a very unusual story in Genesis 30 where Jacob, who has been working for his uncle Laban for a very long time, wants to leave and go back to his own country. As part of his 'leaving package', he's allowed to take from his uncle's flock any sheep that are spotted, or blemished. His uncle takes out of the flock any sheep that have any blemishes (no doubt in order to ensure that Jacob doesn't have anything to take - Laban was Jacob's equal in scheming).

Jacob, in order to get sheep to be spotted, makes poles of poplar and almond trees, cutting stripes into them. It would seem that that having the flocks to mate while looking at these poles caused them to give birth to give birth to spotted flocks.

This is a part of the Bible that's used by many Bible Critics to prove that it is wrong, and some people have even lost their faith over it (faith based on human wisdom isn't faith in the Biblical sense).

One thing to note, however, is that the Bible doesn't say that the sheep were spotted because of what Jacob did, it merely said that Jacob did such and such a thing and the sheep were spotted.

But it must be admitted that this is an interesting and potentially problematic issue, particularly for those who insist that everything in the Bible makes sense to Western values and culture. But let's look at the options;

Jacob was Performing a Pagan Ritual
The fact that what Jacob did was a pagan ritual seems to be accepted by most theologians. His uncle performed pagan rituals (divination etc) and Jacob had been under his influence for many years. Jacob's relationship with God is not partiuclarly close. Apart from the awesome dream he had of a ladder reaching from Heaven to Earth, the God of his father Isaac doesn't seem to have featured hugely in his thinking (while decieving his father for his brother's birthright, he refers to God as his father's God and not his own).

What must be understood is that nobody back then, or today, would follow Pagan beliefs if there was nothing in them at all, and if this was something revealed by a spirit to the people of the time, it may well have worked. Inasmuch as God works with and in those who open themselves up to Him, so also can the enemy and any spirit behind the religions of this world and in so opening himself to the ritual, Jacob could have found success (and don't think that it is beyond God to use His enemies to achieve His goals).

The Poles Caused Genetic Changes in the Sheep
This is so unlikely, it can be considered impossible. What we know of genetics today says that there is no scientific basis to suggest that what Jacob did would have changed the flocks (and anyway, Jacob would not have wanted a permanently speckled flock so the Bible is not suggesting that what Jacob did was a genetic modification).

Temporary Pollution
Inasmuch as women today are told not to smoke, drink or consume any number of other edible stuff while pregnant for fear of them affecting the unborn child, is it possible that the poles (which were stripped thus exposing the moist material beneath the bark) could have caused a change within the creatures as the moisture of the poles evaporated into the atmosphere? The Bible says that the animals were 'within sight' of the poles, which doesn't mean that anybody expected the sight of the poles to make the difference, any more than anybody saying that something is "only a stone's throw away" means that someone has actually thrown a stone.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about biology to know how likely this is - I suspect it's highly unlikely but, but the bottom line is that whether Jacob did this with or without God's approval, with ot without spiritual influence - it happened. It does not make the Bible any less (or more) reliable; it's simply stating the fact.


What I do find fascinating is that Jacob had to make the sheep blemished before he could take them as his own. The law of God was revealed to us so that our sin (blemishes) may become visible, but the Bible also says that where the sin increased as a result of the law, so did God's grace toward us! We need to be able to see that we are blemished and spotted and certainly not perfect before we can become part of the kingdom of God where we are made clean and spot-free by the work of Jesus for us.

All Christians are equal, and all Christians are equally important in the building of God's purposes on Earth. If you are a Christian, you are part of something important, something wonderful and something that will last forever.

In Ephesians 2:19, which was written by a converted Jewish scholar, we're told that we fit together according the the way the Lord God Himself is building His temple, the church. This temple is not limited by nationality or any other division since we're not strangers or aliens but fellow citizens with the saints.

The foundation was being laid in the people of Israel who have given the world not only wonderful prophets who carried God's message, but also the Apostles who who saw the fulfilling of their message in the cornerstone of the temple; Jesus Christ, in whom we are being built into a holy temple.

There's a wonderful tradition among the Jews which teaches that the third temple will be different from the prewvious temples in that it will be built by the Lord God Himself. How wonderfully this is fulfilled in the One who said; "I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it" in Matthew 16:18. Christians believe that Jesus is the embodiment of the eternal God, and it is this Jesus who is building His temple, His church.

If you're ever worried about where you 'fit in' with God's plans; rest assured that where you are to live and thrive and grow as a Christian is not decided by your Pastor or those who are in charge over your spiritual welfare, but by Jesus Christ Himself; You are his work, you are His responsibility and you are His concern because He loves you.

We read in 1Peter 1:18-25 a passage which has caused controversy. In my opinion, the controversy is ill-founded since I don't believe that this passage at all supports the idea of slavery as a valid trade.

However, there is something beautiful in here, something which has possibly been lost in some circles of the intelligent. For while they may scoff and holler their disapproval, there is a great truth in here;

1Peter 2:18 "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable" - This doesn't sound fair, does it? This alone makes me reassess my relationship with my employer (who I happen to believe is unreasonable). But no matter how unreasonable he is, I must be submissive....

1Peter 2:20 "But if when you do what is right and suffer {for it} you patiently endure it, this {finds} favor with God" - Ouch! But it's easy for God to make these demands! He's God and so He doesn't know what it's like to have to submit to an unfair master......

1Peter 2:21 "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps".

And to what extent did Jesus show submission and obedience?

Philipians 2:8 "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross"

Jesus has, Himself, led the way in servanthood - He knows what it is like and He knows what needs to be done. The Passage in 1Peter talks of being submissive even to unfair masters, but within the context it uses this submissivness as a means of winning people over and saving their souls.

This submission isn't about punishing the old nature and the natural man, neither is it about a God who wants to whip us until we bleed - it's about winning people over to a new and eternal life in Jesus and His example.

Does this method work?

Well, you could put it like Toby Mac; "Been on a roll for two thousand years or so - we've got momentum baby!"