Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Invisible Face Of Prejudice by Lynda Schultz
"My brothers, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting, or a couple with two and a half children, and a woman unaccompanied by a husband. If you show special attention to the man and the family and say, 'you are just what we prayed for to built our church. Here's a place for you,' but say to the woman, 'we're happy to have you work and contribute, but the church is built on men and families," or "we have to close our doors because we have no men and families, only you,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen women without men to come to faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you have insulted them. Is it not those who are not present, who have disappointed you? Are they not the ones who have abandoned the church by their absence? Are they not the ones who give a bad name to Christ to whom we belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that has freed both men and women and treats them equally, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (From James 2:1-13, with my application of the Scriptural principle.)
I really wanted to say amen to the prayers of others when they pleaded with God to bring men into our church who could become leaders, to give us families who would serve as the foundation upon which we could grow. Nevertheless, the amen wouldn't come.
I would like to say that such prayers were not wrong, only incomplete. However, in my heart I don't believe that. As I listened to the prayers, I felt diminished, and I wondered if my sisters in the faith felt the same way. If the single women, the divorced and widowed, the women married to men who were not saved, sensed any bitterness, rejection, sadness at not being "good enough" upon which to build a church.
What does God think when we pray for people to come into our church and then, when He sends them, we beg Him for something other than what He has given? No insult can be worse than having your gifts thrown back in your face. "These women weren't what we meant when we asked for souls, Lord!"
What is the church? I didn't know it was only men and families. I thought it was made up of all those who belong to the One who saves us all equally, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female (Galatians 3:28). I didn't know that to be worthy of being the body of Christ expressed locally, I had to be a man, or at least, attached to a believing one.
That in itself is hard enough to take. But what really hurts is the knowledge that my gifts, skills, and money are welcome, but who I am, isn't not really.
I can hear the protests and denials already. However, the test comes, not in the words that we so glibly speak, but in the actions we so easily take. God forgive me, I've done it myself. I took a group of women through the process of closing one church and becoming part of another, based on that very lie, upon the deception that we were not sufficient to be a church without men. In a better world, I would have embraced these dear saints of God and said "we are the body of Christ. God brought us together and has set His seal on us by that very act." And, in a better world, they would have believed me. But we are programmed to think that we are less because we are women, and the establishment that calls itself the church, may God forgive it, perpetuates that in word and deed.
"How many men ?" becomes the standard, the litmus test of how well the body of Christ is doing. It doesn't matter if women are growing in faith and knowledge and reaching out into their families and communities. Our denominations and leaders only count male heads. The organism that is the true church, made up of male and female in whatever combination God allows, and without prejudice, dies under the wheels of the manmade machine.
That the church needs men and families goes without saying, but the church is not only men and families, nor is one member of it superior to another. I am the church. I am just as valuable in God's eyes as any man or any member of a family. How strange it is that families are welcomed enthusiastically into the church, but if the man of the household suddenly disappears, that same family is often considered a burden to the church, rather than the blessing it originally was. There is something wrong with that kind of thinking. It's prejudicial and evil. It offends God and breaks His greatest commandment.
Since I am so invisible, I am tempted to walk away. No one will see me. They may miss my gifts, my skill and my money, and another number on the membership roll. But they won't really miss ME. They didn't pray that God would send me; the truth is, they wanted someone else.
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen women without men to come to faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you have insulted them. Is it not those who are not present, who have disappointed you? Are they not the ones who have abandoned the church by their absence? Are they not the ones who give a bad name to Christ to whom we belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that has freed both men and women and treats them equally, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (From James 2:1-13, with my application of the Scriptural principle.)
I really wanted to say amen to the prayers of others when they pleaded with God to bring men into our church who could become leaders, to give us families who would serve as the foundation upon which we could grow. Nevertheless, the amen wouldn't come.
I would like to say that such prayers were not wrong, only incomplete. However, in my heart I don't believe that. As I listened to the prayers, I felt diminished, and I wondered if my sisters in the faith felt the same way. If the single women, the divorced and widowed, the women married to men who were not saved, sensed any bitterness, rejection, sadness at not being "good enough" upon which to build a church.
What does God think when we pray for people to come into our church and then, when He sends them, we beg Him for something other than what He has given? No insult can be worse than having your gifts thrown back in your face. "These women weren't what we meant when we asked for souls, Lord!"
What is the church? I didn't know it was only men and families. I thought it was made up of all those who belong to the One who saves us all equally, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female (Galatians 3:28). I didn't know that to be worthy of being the body of Christ expressed locally, I had to be a man, or at least, attached to a believing one.
That in itself is hard enough to take. But what really hurts is the knowledge that my gifts, skills, and money are welcome, but who I am, isn't not really.
I can hear the protests and denials already. However, the test comes, not in the words that we so glibly speak, but in the actions we so easily take. God forgive me, I've done it myself. I took a group of women through the process of closing one church and becoming part of another, based on that very lie, upon the deception that we were not sufficient to be a church without men. In a better world, I would have embraced these dear saints of God and said "we are the body of Christ. God brought us together and has set His seal on us by that very act." And, in a better world, they would have believed me. But we are programmed to think that we are less because we are women, and the establishment that calls itself the church, may God forgive it, perpetuates that in word and deed.
"How many men ?" becomes the standard, the litmus test of how well the body of Christ is doing. It doesn't matter if women are growing in faith and knowledge and reaching out into their families and communities. Our denominations and leaders only count male heads. The organism that is the true church, made up of male and female in whatever combination God allows, and without prejudice, dies under the wheels of the manmade machine.
That the church needs men and families goes without saying, but the church is not only men and families, nor is one member of it superior to another. I am the church. I am just as valuable in God's eyes as any man or any member of a family. How strange it is that families are welcomed enthusiastically into the church, but if the man of the household suddenly disappears, that same family is often considered a burden to the church, rather than the blessing it originally was. There is something wrong with that kind of thinking. It's prejudicial and evil. It offends God and breaks His greatest commandment.
Since I am so invisible, I am tempted to walk away. No one will see me. They may miss my gifts, my skill and my money, and another number on the membership roll. But they won't really miss ME. They didn't pray that God would send me; the truth is, they wanted someone else.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Jesus: He Accomplished What No Man Could
The name of Jesus is above all names (see Philippians 2:9). This commendation was given to Jesus because of what He succeeded in doing while He was here on earth. What did Jesus do?
1. He resisted sin.
Jesus was tempted in all points yet He was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). Think about the phrase "all points" for a minute. This verse is telling us that that every temptation common to man including lying, stealing, bad thoughts, anger, etc. was thrown at Jesus. Yet He never fell for any of it.
"But Jesus is God. Of course He was able to stand against sin," you might say. Yes, Jesus is God. But we must understand He walked this earth as a man. So that He could become a compassionate High Priest, Jesus came to feel what we feel (see Hebrews 2:16-18). Jesus stripped Himself of the **privileges** of being God. Because He was infused with and perfectly yielded to the Third Person in the Trinity, He performed great miracles.
2. Jesus manifested the perfect will of God everywhere He went.
He told the truth, healed,cast out demons, met financial needs, and more.
3. He suffered indignities befitting a criminal although He was perfect in every way.
He was severely beaten and called a liar yet He never retaliated. Finally, He was hung on a cross between two thieves. Still, He did not think of Himself. "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing," He prayed. He entrusted the care of His mother to the disciple named John when He said: "Woman, behold thy son. Son, behold thy mother."
4. He became sin who knew no sin.
Jesus, who never sinned, became sin itself so that all who believe in Him could have right standing with God. We have all seen pictures of Jesus hanging on a cross and He looks human. However, the scriptures say He was not recognizable (see Isaiah 52:14). This was the result of every sin and sickness known to man invading Jesus' body.
5. He took our punishment in Hell.
I can't imagine the torture Jesus went through at the hands of the devil and all his demons.
6. He rose in victory and power.
Jesus took the keys to Hell and Death and then made an open display of the devil as a defeated foe (see Ephesians 4:7-9).
Though His brief life on earth could not have been easy, Jesus remained focused on His mission and accomplished what no other had done: the redemption of all mankind.
1. He resisted sin.
Jesus was tempted in all points yet He was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). Think about the phrase "all points" for a minute. This verse is telling us that that every temptation common to man including lying, stealing, bad thoughts, anger, etc. was thrown at Jesus. Yet He never fell for any of it.
"But Jesus is God. Of course He was able to stand against sin," you might say. Yes, Jesus is God. But we must understand He walked this earth as a man. So that He could become a compassionate High Priest, Jesus came to feel what we feel (see Hebrews 2:16-18). Jesus stripped Himself of the **privileges** of being God. Because He was infused with and perfectly yielded to the Third Person in the Trinity, He performed great miracles.
2. Jesus manifested the perfect will of God everywhere He went.
He told the truth, healed,cast out demons, met financial needs, and more.
3. He suffered indignities befitting a criminal although He was perfect in every way.
He was severely beaten and called a liar yet He never retaliated. Finally, He was hung on a cross between two thieves. Still, He did not think of Himself. "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they are doing," He prayed. He entrusted the care of His mother to the disciple named John when He said: "Woman, behold thy son. Son, behold thy mother."
4. He became sin who knew no sin.
Jesus, who never sinned, became sin itself so that all who believe in Him could have right standing with God. We have all seen pictures of Jesus hanging on a cross and He looks human. However, the scriptures say He was not recognizable (see Isaiah 52:14). This was the result of every sin and sickness known to man invading Jesus' body.
5. He took our punishment in Hell.
I can't imagine the torture Jesus went through at the hands of the devil and all his demons.
6. He rose in victory and power.
Jesus took the keys to Hell and Death and then made an open display of the devil as a defeated foe (see Ephesians 4:7-9).
Though His brief life on earth could not have been easy, Jesus remained focused on His mission and accomplished what no other had done: the redemption of all mankind.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Christian Creation Story
The story of the creation of the earth, or the Christian creation story is open to interpretation by many different religions world wide. It is written in the Bible that God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was "void and without form". This has been disputed and discussed by some of the greatest minds of our time as well as some of the most celebrated of our religious leaders, and no one seems to be able to agree on anything more than that they have differences of opinion.
The bottom line seems to be that the Christian creation story will not be believed by everyone, but for those who do accept it, it is a principle of their faith that all that we are, and all that we see was created by the hand of God, who gives all things.
The Bible tells us that God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.
This has also been interpreted by many different groups in many different ways. Standard old school Christians believe that the Bible literally means exactly what it says and that the story cannot be reconciled with scientific evidence of other things such as dinosaurs. Newer, more modern Christians see the creation story as something that could have taken place long before the dinosaur advent, or could well have been a story written to teach faith, but was not in fact a "true" story and the arguments rage on. Continuing with the actual biblical story of the creation of the world, the creation story continues in this vein:
God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 1 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
This aspect of the Christian creation story is interpreted by the fundamental Christian to mean that the hand of God created all things and gave them all life over the course of seven days, while others, who are more modernized in their thinking ask, why is it possible that God created the huge flying dinosaur type birds and they have evolved.
The bottom line seems to be that the Christian creation story will not be believed by everyone, but for those who do accept it, it is a principle of their faith that all that we are, and all that we see was created by the hand of God, who gives all things.
The Bible tells us that God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.
This has also been interpreted by many different groups in many different ways. Standard old school Christians believe that the Bible literally means exactly what it says and that the story cannot be reconciled with scientific evidence of other things such as dinosaurs. Newer, more modern Christians see the creation story as something that could have taken place long before the dinosaur advent, or could well have been a story written to teach faith, but was not in fact a "true" story and the arguments rage on. Continuing with the actual biblical story of the creation of the world, the creation story continues in this vein:
God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 1 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
This aspect of the Christian creation story is interpreted by the fundamental Christian to mean that the hand of God created all things and gave them all life over the course of seven days, while others, who are more modernized in their thinking ask, why is it possible that God created the huge flying dinosaur type birds and they have evolved.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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