tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84249023068501851882023-12-22T14:55:44.098-10:00Faith ReasoningsThe thoughts of Steven Ganz which are based on my faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. It is my position that faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ is the essential component of a worldview that is in agreement with reality.Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-14059520514010947712023-04-26T13:33:00.000-10:002023-04-26T13:33:04.991-10:00Love One Another<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are a lot of angry voices in the world. In the news, in politics, social media - you hear them everywhere. Many of these voices claim to be followers of Jesus. It can be so confusing. Fortunately, Jesus told us how we can spot a real follower of his. This is what Jesus said: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (CSB) The idea here is: love is something one does - it can be seen. These loving actions are a true marker of a follower of Jesus.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the letter that James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in the New Testament, he says explicitly that this is so. James wrote: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that —and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” (James 2:14-22 NIV)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The apostle John agrees with James when he wrote: “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6 NIV)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What then did Jesus command? How did Jesus live? The apostle John in his gospel gives us the answers to these questions. John wrote that Jesus said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:10-12 NIV) You can spot a true Christian if they are a loving person who follows Jesus – who is learning to love like Jesus loved. This is how Jesus lived.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Love grows in a Christian like a fruit. It may start small, but it certainly grows. I encourage all Christians to obey Jesus’ command to love one another, growing this fruit. And I encourage all those who are seeking the real and living God to look for Christians who love like Jesus commanded. They can help you know the Truth.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-41678420319622803092023-04-03T10:46:00.003-10:002023-04-03T10:47:47.098-10:00Faith or Presumption?<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">There is a real difference between faith and presumption. But if it was really easy to tell the difference, a lot fewer people would make the common mistake of thinking that they are acting by faith when instead they are acting in presumption.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw himself off the temple, the devil used scripture to make his point. It was certainly true that if Jesus fell off that pinnacle, the angels of God would lift him up so he wouldn’t have been hurt. But Jesus’ response was that scripture says that we are not to tempt the Lord,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">even by our use of scripture. What did Jesus mean by this?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just because God promised protection doesn’t give us the right to go and recklessly put ourselves in harm’s way, forcing God to back up his promise. What kind of relationship with God would that be? One of us loving God? Or one of arrogance, trying to force God’s hand?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a verse at the end of Mark that reads, Mark 16:17-18 (ESV) “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” I want to focus in on the part that reads “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There have been groups of Christians, because of these verses, who have had poisonous snakes and poison in their worship services. They say something like, the Bible says it, I believe it, and it’s so. Yes, it’s so, but like Satan’s temptation of Jesus, just because it is scripture doesn’t give us the freedom to try to bully God. That would be acting presumptuously. The intent of that verse is fulfilled in situations like the one Paul found himself in in Acts 28:2-6. There Paul was putting some wood on a fire and a poisonous viper bit him on the hand. The locals thought he would die, but nothing happened. So they wondered, who could Paul be? Thus Paul was able to preach the gospel to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These promises of protection - like Psalms 91:3 (ESV) “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence” - are there to encourage us in times like today. But to act presumptuously would be unwise. For the scripture also says, ”The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Proverbs 22:3 (ESV) Proverbs 27:12 says the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So let’s act in faith, trusting God for our safety and deliverance, not being fearful or panicky. This honors God. So does acting prudently in the face of danger, danger like the COVID-19 virus.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-28857876534567390392023-03-21T10:54:00.000-10:002023-03-21T10:54:05.821-10:00 Christlikeness<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When my wife and I began to have children my wife was always looking at our kids and trying to determine who in our families they looked like. This child had my forehead, and that child had her mother’s lips. I couldn’t see it at first like my wife could, but as the children grew older, I began to see what my wife was seeing. It was our family look, our family identity. Years later anyone could tell that we were a family because we looked and did things like each other.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>At the very beginning of the Bible God says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” The next verse reads, “So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” (Genesis 1:26-27 CSB) One of God’s desires in creating humanity was to have us look like him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus is God’s son. The apostle Paul tells us explicitly that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. (Colossians 1:15) Jesus himself said “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) God’s purpose in creating humanity was fulfilled by Jesus. Jesus did everything that God had ever wanted in humanity. Now, the question is, how do we come to look like Jesus? What would be our family resemblance?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One defining characteristic of God is that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) So those who love look like God. Love is a defining characteristic for those in God’s family. Like with all family characteristics, they are received from the parents. In this case the parent is God himself. Like the Apostle John wrote, that to all who received Jesus by believing in him, God gave the right for them to be children of God. (John 1:12-13) By receiving Jesus as God’s Son and endeavoring to do what Jesus taught, a person begins to live a life of love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Learning how to love is a life-long journey. It is made much easier by doing to others what Jesus has done to you. The more you know of God’s love for you, the more you are able to love others. The Apostle John wrote that we love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus once told a parable that relates to this about a guy who was going to go an a journey and gave his servants different amounts of money to invest. When he got back he was going to reward them based on how well they invested what they were given. Everyone did real well except for the person who received the least amount. That person was afraid to lose the money and had hid it in the ground – he did not receive a reward. Jesus’ point was this: invest into others what God has invested in you. Has God forgiven you? Forgive others. Has God been patient with you? Be patient with others. Has God helped you? Help others. Do this and you will grow in love, the family resemblance.</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-92077193908494731402023-03-06T10:44:00.001-10:002023-03-06T10:44:23.384-10:00A Change of Heart<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A story is told of a mother who brought her son into church one Sunday. The boy stood on the pew and the mother asked the little boy to sit down. “Please sit down,” she asked. “No,” answered the boy. More firmly the Mom said, “Please – sit – down.” “No!” said the boy. Exasperated, the Mom pushed the boy down into a sitting position with a loud “SIT DOWN!” The boy looked angrily at his Mom and said, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We don’t want to be like that little boy, looking like an obedient child, sitting so nicely, but in his heart he is actually completely different. What can change our hearts? True repentance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus once told a series of three parables, recorded in Luke chapter 15, about repentance. Seems that there were certain folks who took exception to Jesus’ continued relationship with people who were known to be of a low moral character. They did not see that these people had repented. Jesus explained the situation to his accusers in these parables. They apparently did not know what repentance really was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus spoke of a shepherd who had 100 sheep when one wandered away and became lost. The shepherd found the lost sheep and brought it home. In the parable, Jesus equates the shepherd finding the lost sheep as the moment of repentance. What did the sheep do to repent? Nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then Jesus tells another similar parable of a woman who had 10 coins and lost one of them. She searched and searched until she found it. Jesus again equated the finding of the coin with true repentance. What did the coin do to repent? Nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Knowing that this could be confusing, Jesus tells a third parable to clarify his point. It is often called the parable of prodigal son. In this tale, the younger son insults his father, demands his inheritance before the father dies, and goes off and spends it all on wild living. After he has spent it all, he can’t make enough money to even feed himself. He decides then to ask his Dad if he could just be an employee, no longer worthy to be his son.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">His Dad sees the boy coming from a long way away and runs to him, hugging and kissing him, calling him his son. At this point the boy stopped, and, realizing that he father really did love him, asked for forgiveness. Nothing was said about becoming an employee. Here was the point of repentance: the boy believed his father and accepted his father’s love. This is repentance. What did the boy do? Nothing, really. He just came and asked for forgiveness. The relationship between a father and wayward son was restored. The father initiated, and the son accepted, his father’s restoring love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The associates of Jesus had reestablished their relationship with Father God by believing in Jesus. They were “sitting down on the inside”. They had repented by receiving Jesus, by accepting God’s love. Like the sheep and the coin, the boy was lost and then found. We too can be found by God when we receive Jesus and His love. This is the heart of true repentance: a change of heart about Jesus. This is how we become a child of God.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-43181392078204142062023-02-27T12:36:00.001-10:002023-02-27T12:38:04.511-10:00Alpha and Omega<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Many of us have heard the term “Alpha and Omega” applied to God. It usually means that God is in the beginning and the end of all things – that God himself is the Beginning and the End. While I do believe that this is true, I once had an experience that placed this divine designation in a different light.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>My mother usually came from Michigan to visit me and my family in Oregon every summer. We would all go together to the beach in Lincoln City for a week. Each year we looked forward to this time with great anticipation. We were in the process of making plans again for our special time, when my mother informed me that she would not be able to come this summer. She was seriously ill from cancer and could not make the trip.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We were devastated from this news. I knew I had to go back to Michigan to see my mother before she died. I thought to myself, “If my Mom can’t come to the beach, I’ll bring the beach to her.” She loved the beach, the sand and water. “I’ll go to the beach and dig up some sand and bring back a bottle of the sea water for her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I arrived at the beach to collect my gift, it was storming; wind and rain drenched me. I went over to some rocks and filled up my water bottle. As I was getting a little teary eyed, thinking of how much my mother loved the ocean, I turned to look at the sand. The sand is ALL blackened from a recent oil spill. I’m soaked, emotional, and really needing to quickly find some clean sand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I notice a patch of sand near the beach grass. It has an odd orange spot within it. I wonder, what is that? Walking over to the clear bit of sand, the orange spot begins to come into focus through my water spattered glasses. I get on my knees and the orange spot resolves into a toy shovel, probably left behind by some child. I use it to conveniently fill my bag with sand. It occurs to me that God has provided a tool for me so I can put the sand into the bag without having to use my hands. How kind!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But then my heart breaks. “Why is it,” I pray out loud, “I can see you in the small things, like this shovel, but it is so hard for me to see you in the big things, like my mother dying of cancer?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A thought, right then, came to me: “If I am in the little things, I am also in the big. I’m the Alpha and Omega.” This concept instantly brought me peace. I could trust that God had not abandoned my mother in her time of need. The picture was bigger than I could see from where I stood.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, my mother died of cancer a short while later. We buried the sand and water with her. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega -- the Beginning and the End -- who is in the Small and in the Big.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-10911836808835496602023-02-20T11:49:00.000-10:002023-02-20T11:49:20.690-10:00Fruit In Old Age<p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have always wondered about that part of scripture where Jesus curses the fig tree for not having fruit, even though it was not the season for bearing fruit. Here is that passage of scripture:<br /><br />Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (NIV) The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"<br /><br />Why did Jesus curse this fig tree? Maybe it was just a setup to show the power of believing? Since every time in the Gospels when this incident is recorded Jesus uses it to teach the power of faith, this could make sense. Except that it still doesn’t answer my question, why did Jesus do this? Why was it right for him to expect fruit on a tree in the off season?<br /><br />Psalm 92:12-15 gives us a clue. “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."”<br /><br />In this passage the righteous old folks will still bear fruit and be fresh and green. Yet old age is not the normal time to bear fruit. Having children is for the young. Older folks begin to wither since God has bound all things over to decay. How then do they do have fruit at the wrong time? By proclaiming that the Lord is upright and that there is no wickedness in him.<br /><br />How do they know this? They have lived a full life. They have seen good and evil. How did they prevent their hearts from bitterness from seeing all the evil that happens to people and that may even have happened to them? They knew God as their Rock. They have come to trust Him and His word. The confessed the truth about God in worship and praise. They have seen and declared that there is no wickedness in the Lord their God.<br /><br />Their fruit is a supernatural fruit that does not depend on the anything natural. Jesus was looking for supernatural fruit. This is why, I think, that Jesus had a right to expect fruit. He wasn’t looking for naturally generated figs, but supernaturally generated figs. The fruit God is looking for from us is not the kind we can produce on our own, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us. <br /></span><br /></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-88989734344873653162023-02-16T13:21:00.005-10:002023-02-20T11:50:50.887-10:00Anger<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">If you watch the news, listen to your friends (or former friends!), wander around Facebook, or any social media, something is bound to give you an opportunity to be angry. Seems as if our entire social environment is purposely feeding people’s anger, flaming it into a bonfire of rage. It doesn’t matter whether you are Indigenous or non-native, democrat, independent, or republican, white or black, there’s plenty of real things happening to get the heat to rise.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, what do we do with all this anger? Years ago I had severe lower back pain. The doctors could find no physical cause that would produce the level of pain I experienced. After a while, I discovered I was very angry, yet I wouldn’t admit this to myself. Why? Because I was angry with God. How could I<i>, </i>as a Christian, justify my being angry with God? I couldn’t, so I sublimated my anger. I hid it from myself, yet the physical effects still happened. My lower back tightened, causing real pain. Eventually I found, by admitting to myself that I was angry with God, that my pain went away. It wasn’t the anger in itself that caused my pain, it was the denial of my anger that did that deed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Bible has a lot to say about anger. Two verses come immediately to mind. One is Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV) - “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Another is James 1:19-20 (NIV) - My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Additionally, the Psalms often are concerned with anger, and much of it is about God’s anger. In the Psalms, God’s anger with evil and wicked people is explored in depth. Yet with God, anger is not about being offended or wanting to retaliate, but about justice. When God acts on his anger, justice is carried out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our anger does not make God nervous. Nor does it surprise him or cause him to reject us. We don’t need to hide our anger from God. God’s way of dealing with His anger was the cross. Jesus, God incarnate, took upon himself on the cross all the evil humanity has done. Jesus gave his life to forgive all those who angered him. So when we pray, expressing our anger to God, God has the opportunity to help us see things the way he does.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When the writers of the Psalms are angry, they turn to God for justice. To leave God out of the equation when we are angry is to experience anger with no hope for justice. This kind of anger progresses to bitterness, hopelessness, and violence. When you are angry, communicate to God about it in prayer. Then wait for God to help you see how to respond out of concern for the people who angered you, instead of getting revenge.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-90373689088934900952023-02-06T16:31:00.002-10:002023-02-06T16:37:32.160-10:00Playing the Music<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;">Playing the Music</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">I was asked a difficult question this week by a man who was seeking understanding. He asked me, “What is the biggest problem the church has in communicating its message to our society?” I was stunned for a moment trying to think of my answer. I then remembered something I had read recently (I don’t know where), which was an excellent summary of this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">My answer went something like this: Bach was a great composer. His music was some of the best that was ever written. Yet when someone who is not yet skilled tries to play a Bach cello sonata, it doesn’t sound very good. If your only exposure to Bach’s music was through people who couldn’t yet play it very well, you might conclude that Bach wasn’t a very good composer. The problem wasn’t the music, but how it was being played. So too the church’s problem in communicating its message to our society is not a problem with the message, but how it is played.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">The church’s message, its music if you will, is the greatest and most beautiful ever written. But it is also, like many of Bach’s compositions, very difficult to play well. Our music has lines like “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) Or “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) The church’s ability to communicate this first line has to do with how well they play the second.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">Like all music, to play it well takes practice. One has to put in the effort to master the material. It is not enough to just know which note follows which, although that is very important. To play music well, it has to become part of you. Your focus is on the music itself, not the mechanics of playing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">When Christians learn to love well, our message can then be heard. We won’t obscure it with a mechanical rendition, or by faking what we have not yet mastered. There needs to be examples from those who play the message well, so the rest of us can know how it should sound.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">Fortunately, such examples exist. Jesus Himself is the message, and an example of how the message is to be played or communicated. The apostle Paul encouraged us Christians to “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7) When we do this, Jesus, and Jesus’ message, is heard clearly. The music is being played well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So to those who are not Christians, I want you to remember that the music of Christ’s message is much deeper and more beautiful than anyone of us can ever play it. Hopefully, from time to time, you see glimpses of the grandeur of the music God wrote through Jesus. I invite you to come and learn, and become a person who truly loves God and people. </span><o:p style="font-size: 10.5pt;"></o:p></span></p>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-50849663793181280752017-07-11T04:16:00.001-10:002017-07-11T04:16:34.103-10:00Near Misses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the more difficult things to respond to are near misses. What I mean by this can be understood by a story I sometimes tell. One of my daughters as a 2 year old picked up a phrase from our neighbor. The phrase was "Jesus Christ". Now the words were fine - the problem was the inflection. Our neighbor often swore using the Lord's name. Our innocent daughter imitated it exactly! It took us a while to separate the phrase from the inflection for our dear daughter.</div>
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A lot of t<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">eaching I hear today, as well as in the past, is good but the emphasis or proportion is wrong. It is out of balance with the rest of scripture. In order to develop a biblical teaching ALL the verses that relate that concept must be considered. Now, that is a lot of work and takes a lot of time - years in fact. It is much easier to find some verses that say what you want to say and then just teach it. Except that distorts the biblical message.</span></div>
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So I find myself often in the spot where what someone is teaching or asserting is sort-of right but out of balance or proportion. Fortunately I need not respond to it all. But when I do, it is as difficult as getting my young daughter to stop saying "Jesus Christ" with a very wrong tone of voice.</div>
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Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-27248390791039148202015-12-29T05:59:00.001-10:002015-12-29T06:25:02.567-10:00Learning to Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When Malana was pregnant with our first child, she became
really ill with “morning sickness”. You know, the kind that lasts all day and
goes on for 7-8 months. She discovered she was pregnant soon after the second
month of our marriage.</div>
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I was working making office furniture that was usually
covered with a plastic laminate. In order to clean off the excess contact
cement I washed my hands and everything else with lacquer thinner. Now this
lacquer thinner would get into my breath and would take a while for it to
completely dissipate.</div>
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Since we were newly married Malana was going to be the
perfect wife and greet me with a kiss as I came home and came in the front
door. But these days that I worked with the contact cement were becoming more
common, and, when she greeted me at the door with a kiss, she would get a biff
whiff of lacquer thinner. Her poor unsettled stomach couldn’t withstand the
shock and she would run to the bathroom and vomit.</div>
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This went on for some time. I would go to work, come home,
get greeted at the door with a kiss, and Malana would run to the bathroom and
vomit. Besides all this, the smells of food being cooked were too strong and
she felt lousy all the time. Not much got done while I was away at work.</div>
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Soon afterwards I went outside to the back porch, lifted up
my hands, and complained to God. “God”, I said. “This is awful. This isn’t what
I though marriage would be. What am I to do?”</div>
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There have been few times in my life where God so quickly
answered. He spoke clearly in my heart in a voice that allowed for no wiggle
room. He said, “Go back in there and love her!”</div>
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Well, that made sense to me. The Bible does say after all
the husbands are to love their wives. So I went back I there and loved her.</div>
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But nothing changed. She still greeted me at the door with a
kiss and ran to the bathroom to vomit. I still needed to do most of the cooking
and stuff. After two weeks I got tired of it all and went again out to the back
porch to pray.</div>
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“What should I do now Lord?” I asked. “I loved her but nothing
has changed.” No sooner was my complaint out of my mouth than I heard again the
voice of the Lord, the voice that breaks cedars, speaking in my heart. He said,
ever so clearly, “Go back in there and love her!”</div>
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Then it dawned on me. I was to love her because I was to
love her, not for the changes I thought it might make. She was deserving of
love, always.</div>
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Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-18612417995077772622013-01-10T09:51:00.000-10:002013-01-10T09:53:35.883-10:00Testing Prophecy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Paul exhorted us to test all things and to hold fast to the
good. Because of the context it is clear that Paul wanted us to test prophecy
given by fellow believers. Jesus also wanted us to test the prophets, even
those in sheep’s clothing. Additionally, it appears that this testing could be
extended to all Spirit ministry. The purpose of this testing was for the
believer to be able to tell the difference between what has truly come from the
Spirit of God and what has not. This testing is so that we will be able to
separate the good from every form of evil, preventing our deception.</div>
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Why be so concerned about deception? Jesus and his apostles
taught us that in the last days deception would be the main danger. When we are
deceived we believe a lie, but are not aware of it. Since belief is the basis
for all action and relationships, wrong beliefs result in destructive actions
and relationships. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ultimately we will be judged on what we have believed as evidenced by
our actions. </i></b>True beliefs lead us into a love relationship with God and
others while false beliefs do not. Deception then is a means by which our
healthy relationships with God and others are broken.</div>
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Because of this we can see how important it is that we are
not deceived. Now it is true that not all false beliefs are equally dangerous.
Believing that Jesus is not our savior is far more dangerous than believing in,
say, a limited atonement. (I can feel a discussion brewing!) There are areas in
which differences of opinion are not necessarily debilitating and there are
other areas that will destroy our relationship with God. It is important that
we maintain a sense of proportion.</div>
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How then can we tell whether or not some spiritual activity
is from the Holy Spirit or not? We will have to have some authority guide us
here. We will have to be taught. Why do I say this? How would any of us know
the answer to this question, for sure? Who has the right to say anything about
this but those who undoubtedly have known this Spirit? This is why I propose
scripture, the Old and New Testaments. No one in scripture has our cultural
biases. And for my money, they are ones who undoubtedly knew the Holy Spirit.</div>
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Throughout time people have had to deal with the problem of
who speaks authoritatively for God. Prophecy is where someone speaks for God as
God directs, often in the first person singular. (Rev19:10, 22:6-9; Amos3:8)
People who wanted to know the truth have always had to choose between those who
spoke for God and those who claimed to speak for God. How were they able to
distinguish between the two? What happened in the past and what can we learn
from them?</div>
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The first situation that comes to mind is when Noah tried
unsuccessfully to warn the world of the impending flood. Only his family
listened. Even with the evidence of all these animals coming to the ark in
pairs, people didn’t listen. No one had ever seen what Noah was talking about.
Noah spoke of rain, floods, worldwide judgment, and cataclysm of a degree never
before known. Besides, people didn’t want to repent. So Noah got no converts.
Was Noah’s message from God? Yes. But people couldn’t tell because their hearts
were hardened. They wanted their own way regardless. Noah’s message was right
and he persisted with it for 120 years. He built an ark and gathered the animals
(maybe even miraculously) and his family, demonstrating his sincerity. Still,
his message went unheeded.</div>
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This shows us several things. The first is just because the
message is strange and no one is listening does not prove that the message is
not from God. It also shows that the reason we are not listening may have more
to do with our hard heart than some flaw in the message. Herein is a key to
knowing the voice of God û the receptivity of our heart. Do we really want to
hear from God, or do we only want God to confirm our own opinions? Unless we
are open to correction we will have a very hard time hearing from God. Does
this mean that when God speaks he only speaks correction? Of course not. But
unless we are open to whatever God might say, we will have trouble hearing.
Unless we hear, we cannot decide whether the message is from God or not.</div>
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Since Moses was afraid that the people would not believe
that God had met with him, God gave him confirmatory signs. This method was
used throughout the Bible. Jesus, the prophets, the apostles all had miraculous
signs to confirm that their message was from God. Yet signs were never given
total confirmatory power. In other words, signs could confirm the message, but
the message had to conform to the standard already given. Signs alone, or signs
with a suspicious message, confirmed nothing. Signs alone cannot accredit the
messenger. But signs can confirm that the message, when the message was
consistent with previous messages from God, is indeed from God. (Dt 13:1-3,
18:21-22)</div>
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Why the need for signs if the message was consistent with
previous messages from God? Sometimes it is because the people who are being
communicated with have not understood the previous messages. Take for instance
the coming in of the Gentiles into the people of God. It took many signs from
the Spirit of God to lead Peter to the house of Cornelius. It also took a
mighty demonstration of the presence of the Spirit in the lives of those
Gentiles for the Jewish believers to accept the Gentiles and baptize them. Even
then Peter was called to task by the leadership in Jerusalem. His answer was
simple. Who am I to resist God?</div>
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Sometimes signs are used when the message challenges our
accepted beliefs. If it weren’t for the signs, we would not reconsider our
beliefs. Yet signs do not have the strength to change our beliefs on their own.
The message must be, as the Bereans noted, consistent with what God has
communicated before in the scriptures.</div>
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Jesus also taught us to Watch out for false prophets. They come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their
fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs
from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good
fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matt 7:15-20 NIV So we can
tell if the Spirit is working through someone by their fruit. This presupposes
a few things. One is that we know this person life well enough to test for
fruit. The second is that we know what good fruit looks (tastes?) like. Knowing
the person who ministers by the Spirit is essential.</div>
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I suggest that the fruit Jesus mentions is the same as the
fruit that Paul lists in Gal 5:22 as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. So also in Eph 5:9 the
"fruit of light" is found in "all that is good and right and
true." Contrasted with this are "the unfruitful works of
darkness" (v. 11), the "fruitless trees" of subversive teachers
in Jude 12. One of the characteristics of the "wisdom from above" is
that it is "full of mercy and good fruits" (Jas 3:17, 2 Pet 1:8). In
order to see such things we need to actually know that person. The more a
person is disassociated with the local church the harder it is to assess fruit,
and the easier it is to hide bad fruit.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If the prophetic word is consistent with scripture and is
being communicated through a person of good fruit, it passes the initial test.
All of this needs to done through a relationship with the Holy Spirit. You
might remember when Agabus warned Paul of the binding he would receive by the
Gentiles in Jerusalem. Paul wasn’t hard of hearing, he knew that what was said
was true. He also knew the Lord was sending him and that he was willing to
suffer for the Name. How the prophetic word given to Paul was to be interpreted
by Paul, not others to whom this word was not addressed. So how the word is to
be applied needs discernment.</div>
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Paul warns the Thessalonians not to put out the Spirits fire
by looking down on prophecy. Instead they were to test everything and hold on
to the good. Prophecy is one way that God mediates his presence though his
people. If there is a need for anything now, it is for God to lovingly
intervene in peoples lives. Prophecy is one way God does this. Lets avoid evil
by not putting out the Spirits fire.</div>
</div>
Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-52189542423910313522012-11-09T15:40:00.000-10:002012-11-09T15:44:09.638-10:00Fulfilling of Prophetic Words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">One of the important things that came out of this visit to Kamchatka for me was the realization that many people did not know how God fulfills His prophetic word to them. Many people thought that the prophecy was a snapshot of the future given to them by God that will, indeed must, come to pass. They felt that no matter what they did this word must be fulfilled. Additionally, when in the prophetic message it was stated that they would do something in the future they would begin to prepare to fulfill it in their own strength. Thus they would try to fulfill things that God said He would do for them in a way similar to Abraham and Sarah having Ishmael before Isaac. Then when things didn't work out they way they expected they would lose faith in Jesus.<br /><br />This was a shock to me. I realized that </span><br />
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had not taught enough on this topic. It hurt to see a few people who, through such a misunderstanding of the way God worked, damaged and even sometimes abandoned their faith. The prophetic word can be so uplifting, generating faith and hope, that to see some hurt by this misunderstanding brought grief to my spirit.<br />
<br />
I was able to do some teaching on this topic, going from Jonah the "false prophet" - after all, the people repented and so did the Lord - through some of my life experiences to our father Abraham's positive and negative actions in his walk of faith.<br />
<br />
In the end, Jesus told us that the reason He tells us something before it happens so that when it does happen we will believe. Believe what? Believe that out God is able, even more than able, to fulfill every word He speaks to us. By the fulfillment we will see God's handiwork in our every day lives. Our responsibility is to believe the word He speaks to us and trust Him no matter what. By the fulfillment of the prophetic word we get to know our God that much better. He tells us in advance so that we will believe.</span></div>
</div>
Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-88862858042450509892012-07-07T07:52:00.000-10:002012-07-07T15:43:18.625-10:00For This Reason<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Recently Malana and I were thinking about that verse in 1 John 3:8 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." NIV When we thought about what the devil's work was, our conversation went back to the very beginning in the garden where Satan tempted Eve. We noticed that the snake's tactic was to drive a wedge between Eve and God by smearing God saying that God was trying to hold something back from them. His tactic was to get Eve to mistrust God. Then when the mistrust was in place Eve was already in sin. Concerning sin Paul wrote that "everything that does not come from faith is sin". </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Rom 14:23 </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NIV) So the devil's work is primarily get us to mistrust God.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shortly after this conversation Malana was in the car by herself complaining</span> to the Lord that she was getting very frustrated with the Lord because He didn't seem to be answering some specific prayers she had prayed. She then said, and I quote, "I don't know if I can trust you anymore."<br />
<br />
Of course when she said this our previous conversation came back to her mind and she realized that the driving this wedge of mistrust between her and the Lord was the devil's work. Eureka! She discerned what was actually happening: she was being tempted by the devil to mistrust God!<br />
<br />
So Malana and I have something to say to you all: Never mistrust the Lord. Don't give in to the devil's work. Jesus is worthy of all our trust. He came and suffered humanity's judgment so we could be freed from our bondage to death. By this He has demonstrated to us the depth of His compassion and love for us all. He took the responsibility of mankind's sin, though He was without sin, and gave to us His very life.<br />
<br />
Through faith he now lives in us. We are now eating of the tree of life. Never go back but continually trust our Lord - for He is Worthy!Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-42626711996394092282012-03-17T05:44:00.002-10:002012-03-17T05:44:24.936-10:00The Harvest - Bible study notes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Harvest</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The harvest is the end of the age, </span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Matthew 13:39 and the enemy
who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the
harvesters are angels.</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows. Gal 6:7</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">James 2:12-13 Speak and act as those who
are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without
mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over
judgment!</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A Harvest of wickedness<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Revelation 14:17-19 Another angel
came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still
another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a
loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and
gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are
ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and
threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. </span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A Harvest of righteousness<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in
doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">f.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Harvest
of souls for God<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Matthew
9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the
workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers
into his harvest field." NIV</span></div>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-32486483930173855272012-03-12T18:10:00.000-10:002012-03-12T18:10:05.700-10:00Jesus Our Savior<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">Jesus Our Savior</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 9.0pt;">And we have seen and
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 9.0pt;">Now, brothers, I want to
remind you of the gospel I preached to you,which you received and on
which you have taken your stand.By this gospel you are
saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.Otherwise, you have
believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When I first became a Christian many
people told me that believing in God was a crutch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real independent people could look at things
and say ‘We can fix it’ or ‘I can deal with it’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘idea’ of God was a crutch for the
weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our response to this was often to
say, ”If God is a crutch, give me two!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fact that Jesus is my savior is becoming a fact that encourages me nearly every
day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Jesus our savior. We need saving. Why?
Why do we need someone to save us? From what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From our sins, our human nature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have
you ever read the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord of the Flies</i>
?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under this veneer of ‘civilization’
lurks a Hitler, a Pol Pot, all done in the name of order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Philosophers have told us that to survive as
a species we must have a despot in control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Naturally speaking they are right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who picks who is in
charge?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All systems fail at this point. Everyone
who has tried to escape their nature knows what I am talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever try to stop sinning?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hurting someone by your behavior?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have, you know you need help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever try to figure out God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you had a broken relationship with God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus provided for our salvation on every
level. Do we need a Savior? Look at the world! Can man solve the problems? One
day we will be offered a solution, but without Jesus. It will be a deception.
The only way man will bring peace is by killing off the opposition until only one
is left. Sin is like that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Father sent Jesus to be the Savior
of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it is evident that not
all are saved, but only those who believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This saving must be received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember all those verses in the Gospels where Jesus said “Your faith
has saved you”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the 10 lepers who
were all healed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the one who
returned to give glory to God was made whole.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why do we need a savior? Because we
cannot save ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are unable to
know God unless He reveals himself. He can only be 'seen' by those who humble
themselves, admit their sin, are honest about themselves before God and man,
admitting that we need saving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“To the
humble who know their littleness, call on God with contrite hearts, and follow
his will (Ps. 24:5; 34:6; 119:155), God grants his general help and salvation.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>OT theme: false gods cannot save – go
to your block of wood, see if it will save you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is 43:11-12, 44:6-20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He who
carves the Buddha does not worship it.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Verses:</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jeremiah 14:8 O Hope of
Israel, its Savior in times of distress,</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Isaiah 63:8-9 He said,
“Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he
became their Savior. 9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and
the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed
them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan
said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of
those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf.
Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” </span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2 Samuel 22:3 my God is
my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He
is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent men you save me. </span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 68:19 Praise be
to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 106:10 He saved
them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed
them. </span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 107:13 Then they
cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Romans 5:9 Since we
have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from
God’s wrath through him!</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 39:8 Save me from
all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 72:13 He will
take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. </span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm 89:48 What man
can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Matthew 1:21 She will
give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins.</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mark 8:35 For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and
for the gospel will save it.</span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Luke 1:77 (John) to
give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of
their sins,</span></b></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what do we need to be saved from? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin,
distress, enemies, death, God’s wrath, for starters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saved from <span style="color: #cc0000;">sin</span>,
what does this mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hurt people when
we sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God can save us from that by
first of all teaching us about forgiveness and then by the fruit of the Spirit
leading us in a life away from sin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 12.0pt;">Distress?</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not shorten it to a more common word:
stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone have a problem with
stress?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus can save you from stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How you might ask?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through faith in Him and His promises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing can separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember the time where I was in
great distress because I could not break off a relationship where the young
lady had obviously and repeatedly told me that the relationship was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in deeper than I could handle by
counseling or self discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God
shouted the words “Give her up” inside me and it was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was delivered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 12.0pt;">Enemies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>War?</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many
Christians have been martyred through the centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The peace the Lord gives is not the kind of
peace that the world tries to pass off as peace. Their peace is purely
circumstantial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ours can never be
shaken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that death and all these
bad things that happen to people here on earth is not the end of the
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our story will not end with the
cessation of our mortal bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our view
is much bigger than one confined to this transitory temporal world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
fact that Jesus is our savior needs to impact us more than just when we first
were saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus wasn’t our savior for only
one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is </i></b>our savior, today and
every day!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For
he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I
helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of
salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">If
now is the day of salvation, this means that God is our savior today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you need?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you in distress?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have enemies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are ill?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe on the Lord, He
is your savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-12968366628575984102012-03-05T05:22:00.001-10:002012-03-05T05:22:32.260-10:00How To Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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I have been looking at a book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How To Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens – A Guide to
Christ-Focused Reading of Scripture</i> by Michael Williams, professor of Old
Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary (PhD University of Pennsylvania). In
this book Michael Williams endeavors to take the reader through all the books
of the Bible and give us a glimpse, a suggestion, as to how that book reveals Jesus.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a very short introduction, Williams likens the content of
the Bible to a jigsaw puzzle, while Jesus is the picture on the box that shows us
what the finished product will look like. As we all know, assembling a jigsaw puzzle
without that picture is a daunting task indeed. Consequently when the Bible is
understood (assembled) correctly it will present to us a picture of Jesus. The
justification for such an approach is based on such New Testament verses as Jn
5:39 NIV – “These are the very Scriptures that testify about me” and Luke 24:27
NIV “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what
was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Since we know that it is
about Jesus ahead of time it will help us to understand what the Holy Spirit is
communicating to us through scripture.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Each chapter follows the same pattern. He begins by giving
us the “overarching theme of each book”, followed by how that theme “finds its
focus in Jesus”. He then “explores how this focus in Christ is subsequently
elaborated upon in the New Testament.” “Finally, [he] consider[s] what that fulfillment
in Christ must necessarily entail for believers.” (pg.10). He also throws in a
memory passage for good measure, evidently intending for this book to be not
only a guide, but to be a study guide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For my review I have chosen the chapter on the book of
Numbers. Michael Williams names the book of Numbers as the Promised Rest. The
theme of this book is that “God chastens his disobedient people but<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reaffirms his intent to bring them into the
Promised Land”. With this in mind he gives us a memory verse of Num 14:18 NIV 'The
Lord<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is slow to anger, abounding in love
and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;
he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Williams writes that in Numbers we see that God has a
problem bringing his people into the Promised Land. There are disobedient and
at times quite faithless. They rebel against their invisible God as they see
the physical superiority of the opposition who already dwell in that land.
“This situation raises a theological problem that will ultimately find its
resolution only through the Jesus lens: How can God punish the rebellion and
faithlessness of his people and still bless them?” (pg. 26) In other words “
how could God’s holiness and justice allow him to bless his people whose faith
always wavers and whose obedience always falters?” (pg. 26)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now we apply the Jesus Lens. With this lens we see that only
Jesus was fully obedient. He was the only one who had the ability to pay the
price for our sin. “When we believe in our trusting, obedient Lord and what he
has done for us, the way is clear for us to enter God’s promised rest.” (pg.
27) At this juncture Williams quotes Heb 4:3 NIV “We who have believed enter
that rest”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only through Jesus
that we can claim and experience the promised rest of God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next section is the one that considers the contemporary
implications of what was seen through the Jesus lens. “We, as God’s people
today, also have a Promised Land before us. It is a place of fellowship with
God that characterizes our salvation in Jesus Christ. When we, like the
Israelites, allow the big challenges of life to cause us to forget the even
bigger power of God, he disciplines us so we don’t stray far from the real peace,
security, and fulfillment that are found only in our relationship with him.”
(pg. 27) Williams’ point is that God’s “discipline leads us to the place of
rest” (pg.27)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His final section he calls “Hook Questions”. These are
questions that are to be asked of ourselves as we try to incorporate into our
lives the implications of the book of the Bible we are studying. One of these
is “In what ways have you already begun to know God’s rest?” (pg.28)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book will be a help to those who are just beginning to
think about the meaning of the Scriptures. The attempted scope of the book
necessarily limits its impact. This is too bad because I have a passion for
this topic and sincerely hope that Christians will read the Bible as God’s Word
to us. But the oversimplifications, the truncated manner of dealing with the
topics, can at best only touch the surface.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-30876778683207047552012-03-04T16:58:00.000-10:002012-03-04T16:58:39.793-10:00Deception<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Danger is
Deception</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Deception will be the tool that divides
those who believe from those who don’t. Over and over again the Spirit says
regarding the last days “Don’t be deceived” Lk 21:8, 1Co 6:9, 2Co 11:3, Gal 6:7
2Tim 3:3, Jas 1:16, 2Thes 2:3</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">False signs and wonders<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dt 13:2, 2 Thes 2:9, Mk 13:22, Jer 4:10, Lk
21:8, Rev 13:14, Mt 24:4, Mt 7:21-23</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">False doctrine<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1Tim 4:1, 2Tim 3:13, 2 Peter 3:17, Jude 4,18
etc.</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">False Prophets and false Christs Mt
24:23,24, 2 Thes 2:3,9, 1Jn 2:18, 4:3</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Falling asleep Parable of the 10 virgins
Mt 25:1-10, 2Peter 3:4 Remember Lot’s wife Lk17:32<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Materialism lulls people to sleep. Those
choking weeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we know we are not
deceived? By definition no one knows that they are or are not deceived.</span></div>
<div class="DefaultText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">f.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Receive a love for the Truth. 2Thes 2:10 The whole
epistle of 1 Jn is so that you might know. Believe and do.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-69825320342104079812012-02-18T09:59:00.002-10:002012-02-18T10:05:56.745-10:00The day of the Lord – Wrath, Deception, Harvest, Hope<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 1pt;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Here are my notes for the 1<sup>st</sup> section of this topic for the Bible study on Tuesday nights.</div><div class="MsoNormal">2 Peter 3:3-15</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">The Wrath of God John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Rom 1:18-19 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, Rom 2:5-6 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done."</li>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;">The Revelation of Jesus Christ Rev 1:1 (Story of six men and the elephant)</li>
</ol></ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>i.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>God is Spirit: Jn 4:24</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>ii.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>God is Light: 1 Jn 1:5</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>iii.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>God is Love: 1 Jn 4:16</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>iv.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>God is a Consuming Fire: Heb 12:29, Dt 4:24, Is 66:15</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>v.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>God is the Judge: Ps 7:11, Jer 51:56, 2 Thes 1:6, 2 Ch 12:6, Gen 18:25, Is 2:4,11:3,4, Acts 10:42, 17:31, Rom 2:16,3:6, 2Tim 4:1,8, Heb 12:23, 1Peter 4:5, Jas 4:12, Rev 6:10</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Jesus said that he came not to bring peace but a sword. Mt 10:34 </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>That is to say Jesus came to make a division. Gen 1:3-4, Jn 1:3-5, Mt 13:25-30 Wheat and the weeds. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>vi.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Marcion, a heretic from the 2nd century (c.80-c.155), couldn’t believe that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament were the same. [He rejected OT and much of NT. His canon included only an edited version of Luke and 10 Pauline letters (excluding the pastorals) It was partly in reaction to Marcion’s canon that the church in that day clarified their own canon]. After all, would the God you know command genocide? Yet they are the same! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>The God who is love is also the God “who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28 </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Who “will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 Yet He is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9, Jn 3:16, Lk 13:3</div><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"> The Day of the Lord</li>
</ol></ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>i.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>The day of the Lord begins and ends with Jesus. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12 </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Luke 3:7-9 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>ii.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>The day of the Lord is salvation to those who believe that Jesus is and tells the truth and judgment upon those who judge God a liar. It is a time of wrath and judgment on those who disbelieve and a time of deliverance and salvation for those who do believe. How you relate to Jesus determines your destiny!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Destroy sinners - Is 13:9, </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">a.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>You will receive as you gave - Obadiah 15, </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">b.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>False security Deut 29:18-21 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.a 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; mso-list: l0 level4 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Saved from wrath by the blood of Jesus that justifies - Ro 5:9, 2 Thes 2:1-1o</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>iii.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Matthew 25:34,41 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Mt 23:33, 18:6</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>iv.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>“Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son”. 1 John 5:10, 1 Jn 1:10, Jn 3:33</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>v.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span>Acts 17:31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. 2 Cor 5:6-10 </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-87604266557945123512011-11-28T08:16:00.000-10:002011-11-28T08:18:48.992-10:00Love Never FailsThe church isn't necessarily a group of hypocrites. I think of it as more like a group of students who are trying to learn. I know that this viewpoint can be tied to Pollyanna, but so what? Jesus told us that there would be tares sown among the wheat and not to try to uproot them while the wheat is still maturing. Why? So that we don't accidentally destroy some wheat in the process.<br />
<br />
There has been a long discussion about Jesus' parables. One that is especially interpreted in opposite ways is the one comparing the kingdom to a woman who put yeast into a large amount of dough. Some people see this as explaining the mystery of how the kingdom extends its influence over all society, or, as in some other interpretations, the church as the kingdom growing within society.<br />
<br />
180 degrees from this is the view that the kingdom will be rife with false teaching by the end. This is based on how the concept of yeast is used throughout the Bible. Jesus taught that there the yeast of the Scribes and Pharisees was their teachings. Paul even warns us about getting rid of all the yeast so we can celebrate the feasts, especially Passover, with pure hearts.<br />
<br />
I tend to agree with the latter interpretation more. I am not surprised or even shocked at the dumb things that Christians do either in word or deed. It is not for me to call them all to account. I believe Jesus Himself will clean up the mess. Paul wrote in his letter 2 Thess 2:11-12 "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." The great "falling away" or rebellion will be God's way of clearing out all those tares before the harvest.<br />
<br />
2 Thess 2:10 "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." I find that my only way of avoiding deception is to love the truth. So I don't preach against people. Those other people are not responsible to me. I have no authority over them. I help people discern by showing them what a love for the truth looks like. The best way something can be seen as bent is to put a something straight next to it.<br />
<br />
It is still true that NT prophets will hold the church accountable to the New Covenant. It is a covenant based in believing Jesus, and thereby believing in Him. We are given only one command in this covenant, to love both God and man. So NT prophets will remind the church of her agreement and urge them to fulfill their part of the agreement through faith in the power of the Spirit to change and transform our hearts.<br />
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How this is best done is left to the individual prophets in their relationship to God and to the churches that these people are apart of. Like when Paul wrote that who are we to judge another man's servant? To his own master he either stands or falls. And God is able to make him stand.<br />
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Yes, and God is able to make him stand. 1 Cor 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. <br />
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Love never fails.Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-69128487801994868822011-09-17T12:26:00.001-10:002011-09-17T12:26:28.582-10:00The King Jesus Gospel<i>the Original Good News Revisited</i> by Scot McKnight A Book Review<br />
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With forewords written by N.T. Wright and Dallas Willard, this promises to be a discussion of the gospel from the cutting edge. With all the talk today of emerging this and missional that, it is refreshing to take another look at the gospel. After all, we need to remember what Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:1-2 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”NIV So we take our stand on this gospel and it is by firmly holding to it that we are saved. So Scot McKnight asks, what is this gospel? What is its content and context? Did Jesus preach it? Is what we preach today as the gospel really <b>THE<i></i></b> gospel?<br />
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Today the gospel most commonly heard in Scot McKnight’s circles is about “getting our sins forgiven so we can go to heaven when we die” (pg. 27). This, Scot claims, is a broken gospel, a bit left over out of the real thing and as such it is only a part of the truth. This gospel is so misconstrued that, by endless repetition, it has produced a Christian culture that is actually destroying the Church. That which was for our salvation has now become a message that does not produce disciples, but only members who, at one time or another, have made a decision. The gospel in the scriptures was a message that, when believed, produced a people so transformed that they would follow Jesus even if it killed them – which often it did. But the gospel that is often preached today produces a people little differentiated from the society within which they are found. What went wrong? And, can it be fixed?<br />
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These are the questions Scot McKnight hopes to answer in this book. Scot’s plan is to find someplace in the New Testament that defines the gospel and go from there. This passage is 1st Corinthians 15 which becomes the starting point for Scot’s look into the gospel. From this chapter Scot traces the gospel through history, not only from good Friday to resurrection Sunday, but from the beginning in the garden of Eden, through the patriarchs and Israel resolving the unfulfilled promises of scripture, and landing ultimately in the end with the new heaven and new earth. It is this whole context that Scot sees as vital to the gospel. It becomes a complete story surrounding and making the import clear of the death, burial, resurrection, and subsequent appearances of Jesus. To preach the gospel is to proclaim this story. The gospel is not just the plan of salvation but the story of the King who is our savior. It is by believing in the King that we are saved. And not only believing in, I might add, but by believing the King.<br />
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All throughout this book Scot warns that what went wrong was that we have allowed the ‘plan of salvation’ to obscure this gospel. We have allowed “the story of what God is doing in the world through Israel and Jesus Christ into a story about <i>me and my own personal salvation</i>”. (italics original) Thus “the story shifts from Christ and community to individualism. We need the latter without cutting off the former.” (pg. 62) This then becomes the problem Scot is getting at, and here he quotes Dallas Willard, “What must be emphasized in all of this is the difference between trusting Christ, the real person Jesus, with all that that naturally involves, versus trusting some arrangement for sin-remission set up through him – trusting only in his role as guilt remover.”(pg.75)<br />
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The next several chapters document how the gospel is the gospel. How the four gospels are really four different versions of the one gospel. And how Jesus preached that He was Lord, how the apostles preached that Jesus was Lord, and how all of scripture says that Jesus is Lord. Agreeing with Michael Bird, Scot quotes, “Nero did not throw Christians to the lions because they confessed that ‘Jesus is the Lord of my heart.’ It was rather because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of all,’ meaning that Jesus was Lord even over the realm Caesar claimed as his domain of absolute authority.”(pg.144)<br />
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Scot McKnight hopes that if we, as a whole church, can reclaim this understanding of the gospel and preach it we can once again produce true disciples to Jesus. Scot thinks that this is revolutionary, and so does Tom Wright. It will be if it is believed.<br />
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Yet all the way through this book I kept thinking to myself, who is he talking to? Who does Scot imagine his audience to be? I have never been in a church since my rebirth that taught the gospel like Scot sees the modern church preaching. My first thought when Scot asked the question “What is the gospel?” (pg.23), was that Jesus is Lord. I remember many times talking with Christians when I first met Jesus and believed that Jesus was both Savior and Lord and that you can’t have one without the other. I thought then that it was self-evident. I still do today.<br />
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Yet it seems that my circle is the overwhelming minority. I see what Scot is alluding to and why he is sounding the alarm. Jesus is Lord. We need to boldly proclaim this. Yet even here I can see the difference between Scot and myself. Upon seeing that this gospel is not proclaimed boldly, Scot questions that maybe we should pray like the early church prayed as in Acts 4:31 NIV “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” He then writes “Or perhaps it is the almost complete absence of resurrection theology in much of the gospeling today that explains our lack of boldness. At any rate, we need to recover more of that early, emboldened Christian resurrection gospel.” (pg.132) I find it instructive that Scot overlooks the obvious; we need to be filled with the Spirit to be bold. Herein lies the key to passion. Here is the source of powerful preaching. Paul wrote in 1 Cor 2:4-5NIV that his “ message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”<br />
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In McKnight’s discussion of the gospel, this concept was completely overlooked. Even though part of his issue with present practice is that because of the weakness of the crippled gospel that is now preached, pressure tactics are used to notch conversions. Here would have been a perfect spot to show that the gospel when preached not only is the message that Jesus is Lord, but it also the demonstration that Jesus is Lord by what the preacher lives and does. The gospel message is reality and is to be experienced. It is not just a concept of reality. May the cutting edge cut more sharply O Lord. Only He can fix it.Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-58753973593819578222011-08-24T13:35:00.000-10:002011-08-24T13:43:49.875-10:00On The Meaning Of LifeA Conversation with Myself as an Introduction<br />
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<i>Well Steve, this time you have really bitten off more than you can chew. The meaning of life! Why not pick a more difficult topic! Softening it by locating that preposition in the front won’t help. Who do you think you are? Augustine?</i><br />
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Well Steve, it doesn’t matter who I am as long as I am an honest person. That thing that matters is what I have seen and heard – what I’ve experienced. I can only discover what is already there. If life has meaning, it is not up to me to determine that meaning. So who I am is not the point.<br />
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<i>But how can you say that? You can only say what it means to you. Meaning is not a fact that all can verify, it is a value judgment – that’s all. Life just is.</i><br />
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Seems like all the folks who write and edit dictionaries would want to quibble with you. Words mean things. Signs mean things. Actions mean things. If a plant dies it means something. It may mean that there is a lack of water, too much sun, or not the right soil – it is for the searcher to discover the meaning, not arbitrarily determine what is the meaning. Meaning is not created, it is found.<br />
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<i>If I am an artist, the painting I make or may not have one meaning for me, and still have yet another meaning for those who contemplate it. That is the beauty of life. It is like a diamond that refracts and reflects light back and forth between its facets. Life without a multiplicity of viewpoints – the reflection and refraction – would be without beauty. And like beauty, meaning is in the eye of the beholder. Another way to say it is like when 6 blind folks met something in their path. One said it was a wall, another a tree, another a rope, still another a fan, another a snake, and yet another a spear. It took all of these disparate views together to understand that what they found was an elephant. So too what one person understands is only relatively true. It can never be the whole.</i><br />
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Your own examples betray you. Only an objective viewer could tell it was a jewel or an elephant. Those within the examples could never know if there were yet more unknown views which would modify their understanding of the whole. Only an objective view of reality can provide meaning for the whole and thereby meaning for the individual observers. You are right in that we, as individual observers, cannot have that objective view. I am only saying that I have met the “storyteller” and have been taught the meaning of the whole.<br />
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<i>To say that your experience, and thereby your individual viewpoint, is the one, true, objective view is the height of arrogance!</i><br />
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You misunderstand me. I am not saying that I have the true, objective viewpoint. I am as blind as the next guy. I am saying that I have met the one who is the creator, the architect of life, and that this is the one and only one who has the right to determine the meaning of life. I can only relate to you what I have learned, what I have seen and heard, from this one who made it all. You can see for yourself how faithfully or not faithfully I have relayed the meaning of life by learning from the same one I have learned.<br />
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So I invite you to look over my shoulder and see if I have interpreted what I have seen and heard correctly.<br />
Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-59276061098982971122011-07-09T14:00:00.000-10:002011-07-09T14:00:30.085-10:00SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CROSSWhen I was a kid I loved to play baseball. We didn’t need an official team, we played whenever we could get 4 or 5 guys together. Since there was very little traffic on our street, we’d play there yelling “Car!” when necessary.<br />
One day I was at bat and I hit that hardball on a line drive to left field. But the ball kept going and going. It went through our neighbors picture window at the front of their house and came to rest after bouncing off of and breaking their TV set.<br />
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I did not have the wherewithal to make it right with them. I had no money, no skills, nothing. My dad stepped in and made it right with them for me. He took the responsibility for my actions and bought them a new picture window and TV. This would have been impossible for me.<br />
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In the same way Jesus took the responsibility of the sins of the whole world. Some might say well and good, after all, He made us, he had to do it. But like in the story with my dad, my dad could have said, “Steve, you blew it. I’m going to teach you a lesson here. You make it right with the neighbors and buy them a TV and a new window.” In an earlier era, I could have been sold into slavery to pay off the debt. My dad was not obligated to solve my debt for me, and it was not his fault. Neither was it Jesus’. It was for love that he became responsible for our actions and paid our debt.<br />
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Our debt was to justice. We have a loving God who made a moral universe. The day will come when judgment will happen to all.Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-3922008486311469442011-06-27T12:54:00.000-10:002011-06-27T12:54:55.415-10:00The Earth Is Not What It Seams, by Eva Hernandez - age 8My Song: <br />
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Title: The Earth is not what it Seams<br />
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The Earth is very special And Everybody Thinks they know a lot about Earth But they Don't!<br />
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Because a bunny Does not hop because it is the way it moves. It's hops expres it's Joy<br />
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A Horse Does not galip because it's the way it goes fast They galip because it shos the oner that The horse Loves the oner.<br />
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A Dalfon Does not Jump over water only to get air. It Jumps over water to have a party with its friends.<br />
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a Snake Does not hisss because it is a warning other anmails that it's comming thew it hiss because it Likes to show off!<br />
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a camealan Does not Camoflosh because it needs to hiDe. a comealin comofloshises Because it likes to play hide and seek!<br />
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a turtle Does not go inside it's shell because it's scared * A Turtle goes inside its shell Because it likes it's home and it likes to dootle around. <br />
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AND<br />
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A Person Does not talk because it is the way it comutecats. It talks because it is how it makes friends each & every Day.<br />
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Concloushin<br />
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as you can See the Earth is not what it seems!<br />
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THE END!<br />
EvaSteven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-22400963038804057092011-06-01T06:14:00.001-10:002011-06-01T06:14:14.727-10:00Fruit, Worship, and the Cross, part 2<span xmlns=''><p>On the last post I ended with the thought that God was looking for supernatural fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in us. The Holy Spirit is the one who interacts within us to teach us how to love God and others. As Paul wrote "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. " Gal 5:6 NIV This is the fruit our Lord is looking for.<br /></p><p>The apostle John wrote about a time when Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus initiates a conversation with her resulting in her asking him some questions about proper worship. Jesus tells her that "Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know … him, for salvation comes through the Jews.<strong><br /> </strong>But the time is coming—indeed it's here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24 NLT<br /></p><p>In this passage Jesus teaches us that God is seeking worshippers. Note it is not worship, but worshippers. There is a big difference. God is not needy or egotistical, but God is who he is. The creator of all, the one who made up all the physical laws, who made matter by his all-powerful word. The one who brought life into the universe. This same God wants our love, but does not need it. So God gives us a choice to love or not. To believe him or not. To trust his word and thereby love him, or not.<br /></p><p>Those who love God and believe him are those whom our Lord seeks. Worship of God is the logical response – our "reasonable worship" – to seeing him as he is. So many times in the prophets we see the prophets encountering the Lord Himself and their only response is to fall on their faces and worship. The Lord is worthy of such worship. God wants to be loved by those who see him as he is. These worshippers are the ones he seeks.<br /></p><p>Note also that the worshippers must worship in (S)spirit and truth. This is the context or place where the worship of God is to take place. It is contrasted with the physical locations of "this mountain" and "Jerusalem". No longer could places be deemed intrinsically holy. This is because that would inconsistent with God's nature – his mode of being. It is in the Spirit and in Truth that our Lord dwells. This is where we can find him and this is the environment within which we can truly worship.<br /></p><p>It is this close identification with the nature of God that leads us into worship. This nature is most clearly seen in the way Jesus responded when incarnated – he took on the nature of a servant and became obedient, even to dying on a cross. As worship is the only logical response to seeing the deity as he is, so serving God in loving obedience is the only logical response of humanity in relation to God. After all, he is the one who made it all and knows the end from the beginning, who has demonstrated his love for us in the strongest of terms, shall we not love and serve him? If we willingly take advice from an expert friend whom we trust, how much more should we believe the word of the one who is the source of all expertise, all wisdom, and all knowledge?<br /></p><p>Our worship of God follows the path that Jesus himself tread. Jesus himself said to his disciples "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Matthew 16:21, 24-25 NIV Thus God is seeking worshippers who will worship him in a manner consistent with God's own nature, in Spirit and Truth. This worship is expressed in our willingness to deny ourselves and follow Jesus, believing his word. <br /></p><p>In part 3 I will look more deeply into the cross.</p></span>Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8424902306850185188.post-62453141940473575262011-05-28T07:24:00.000-10:002011-05-28T07:24:12.082-10:00Fruit, Worship, and the Cross, part 1I have always wondered about that part of scripture where Jesus curses the fig tree for not having fruit even though it was not the season for bearing fruit. Here is that passage of scripture<br />
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Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 NIV The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"<br />
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What right did Jesus have to curse this fig tree? I’ve heard many different solutions to this problem. One says that the fig tree was a symbol of Israel and Jesus was looking for fruit from them but did not find any so He was going to take the kingdom from them and give it to someone else who will give God its fruit. True enough, but that doesn’t answer my question - what right did Jesus have to kill a plant with a curse that could not have had any fruit?<br />
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Maybe it was just a setup to show the power of believing? Since every time in the Gospels when this incident is recorded Jesus uses it to teach the power of faith, this would make sense. Except that it still doesn’t answer my question, what right did Jesus have to do this? Why was it right for him to expect fruit on a tree in the off season?<br />
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Psalm 92:12-15 gives us a clue<br />
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The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord , they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."<br />
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In this passage the righteous old folks will still bear fruit and be fresh and green. Yet old age is not the normal time to bear fruit. Having children is for the young. Older folks begin to wither since God has bound all things over to decay. How do they do this? By proclaiming that the Lord is upright and that there is no wickedness in him.<br />
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How do they know this? They have lived a full life. They have seen good and evil. How did they prevent their hearts from bitterness from seeing all the evil that happens to people and that may even have happened to them? They knew God as their Rock. They have come to trust Him and His word. The confessed the truth about God in worship and praise.<br />
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Their fruit is a supernatural fruit that did not depend on the anything natural. So Jesus was looking for supernatural fruit. This is why, I think, that Jesus had a right to expect fruit. He wasn’t looking for naturally generated figs, but supernaturally generated figs.<br />
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The fruit God is looking for from us is not the kind we can produce on our own, but the fruit of the Spirit in us. <br />
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Next post will continue from here.Steven Ganzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16103189295925793028noreply@blogger.com1