We live in a generation where compassion is owning a pair of TOMS and wearing a To Write Love On Her Arms T-shirt. Amongst all the buyers, where are all the givers? //chet
Rather than cultivating a Christian vision of justice and the common good, we’ve relied on populist God-and-country sloganeering and outrage-generating talking heads. We’ve tolerated heresy and buffoonery in our leadership, as long as with it there is sufficient political “conservatism” and a sufficient commercial venue to sell our books and products. Too often, and for too long, American “Christianity” has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it →
Glenn Beck does not represent my Jesus or my faith. This article is worth your time reading. //chet
I believe if Christians and others would listen to more people who are not just like us, and give them opportunities in our environments, we both might experience change. What do you think?
— Craig Cross, xxxchurch, in a CNN article, “My Take: Jesus Loves Porn Stars”
What can I give today?
— a wise eleventh grader in the youth group I interned with.
Adam is to Jesus, what Eve is to the Church
//andrew
Romans 5:14 – “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
NKJV “…Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
This concept may be familiar for some and not so much familiar for others so before I get to where were going let me explain. Adam is a type of Christ. He is not Jesus Christ, but he is a type of Christ. This means that He was like Jesus in certain ways but he wasn’t Jesus. Some use the word “foreshadowing” instead of the word type. Some different translations use the following in the verse instead of type:
KJV- “figure of Him”,
NIV- “pattern of the one”,
NASB- “type”.
So all of these words are different but for the most part portray the same message. That message is that Adam was not the One to come, but was foreshadowing or like or the pattern of the One who is coming. Now hopefully we understand what is meant by the word type.
Let’s take it to the next step and say: “How so?”
Adam was born or created like no other man. In Genesis 2:7 we read that he was made from dust. Who do you know that came from dust besides him? I have a mom and dad. Jesus was also born like no other man. He came from the womb of a virgin.
Adam was sinless as a man (until he sinned, but before that he was a sinless man). So was Jesus.
What I really wanted to focus on was this: If Adam is a type of Christ, then Eve must be a type of the church.
Think about it.
In Genesis 2:21 Adam was caused by God to go into a “deep sleep”. God then took one of his ribs and made for him a wife, named Eve. It then says that God “closed up the flesh in its place”. When our flesh is cut open and then shut again, especially for a larger operation, such as a rib removal, what is left? A scar I would have to say. Jesus was “pierced” in the side in John 19:33, 34. By Him dying on the cross we, the church, Jesus’ bride, were saved. You might say that when it happened to Jesus he was already dead. You would be right. He was. Sometimes in the Bible, a lot actually, it uses the phrase “deep sleep” to refer to the dead. So Adams side wound brought him a bride and Jesus’ saved His.
Also along those lines, through Adam sin came into the world (also death through sin) and through Christ we can be purified or cleansed of that sin (also life is found in Jesus). Adam was the firstfruits of man and Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrected man. It says so in 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Eve was made from Adams rib, so he was a part of her. We, the church, are made in the image of our God, who is our bridegroom.
In Romans 5:14 it says that Adam’s a type not the type of Christ. So that could mean that there are others, and just think about that when embarking on a Christ centered Bible study no matter where you’re at in the Bible. How is Noah a type of Christ? How is Moses a type of Christ? Reading about Joseph from Genesis 37 on you can nearly pick out how he was a type of Jesus like every three verses. How was Daniel a type of Christ? Abraham? Jacob? Abel? Isaac? Speaking of Isaac as a type of Christ, who was his wife? Rebekah. She must also be a type of the church if this is the case. There is a whole chapter on her, Genesis 24, and in there it describes how beautiful she was, which was rare for women in the Bible to have a description like this.
That said, I think it is important that all Bible study should be Christ-centered Bible study, after all, its all about Him anyway. He is our life.
The Deepest Desires of Your Heart
//chet
We’ve started a great discussion on Wednesday nights on the book of Luke. We meet at Atlanta Bread Company, sit around, drink coffee and experience God together. Clean cut golf pros. Young married couples. Young punks with septum piercings and tattoos. Together sharing in Christ’s community. Tonight’s inaugural discussion prompted some thoughts…
[Luke 1:5-25]
“Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were upright in the sight of God. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren…” [v.6-7]
Sometimes life is like Elizabeth’s womb. Barren. Lifeless. Void of purpose. We live without truly living. Going through the motions. Elizabeth had spent years praying for a child. She had given up. Sometimes we pray for things that seem to go unanswered for so long, we forget about it. We quit believing in the dream, in the vision.
Sometimes we seek fulfillment in unfulfilling things.Chasing rabbit trails. We seek community through music. We seek hope in others. We seek purpose in ourselves. All of which leave us empty and longing for something more.
The truth of the matter is, our God is a God who knows the deepest desires of our hearts. A God who sees a lifeless womb and creates purpose. “Your wife will bear you a son and his name will be John.” [v.13]
John the Baptizer.
The voice in the desert.
The one chosen to prepare the way of the Lord.
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I know the “deepest desires of my heart.” I suppose I have some goals: thru-hike the Florida Trail; graduate college and do something I love; marry the girl from Scrubs.
At the core of my being I want to make people happy. I want to make people laugh. I want to make people better off for having encountered me. This can at times be a very healthy desire, and at others very unhealthy. This can at times be a very spiritual desire and at others a very carnal desire.
I spent many months of recent years trying to figure out what God wanted me to do with my life. It seemed to be constantly changing. High school history teacher and basketball coach. Political Science professor at a university. Some form of ministry.
I have only recently come to the conclusion that it is not so much about my future but about my present state. What does God want me to do right now? My friend Kyle put it very beautifully, “I guess my deepest desire is to become so close to God, to fall so in love with Jesus that it rubs off on all those that come in contact with me.”
This should be the deepest desire of all those that claim to follow Christ. To love Jesus so much that we automatically love all others in such a way that even in the brief moments that they experience our presence, they also experience Jesus’.
Elizabeth says, “The Lord has done this for me, He has shown His favor and has taken away my disgrace.” [v.25]
Because God is a father who loves to lavish gifts upon His children when their hearts are aligned with His. Gifts that are used to further the true characteristics of His Kingdom on earth. Just like John the Baptizer.
Our rationale seems to tell us the way to serve is “the bigger, the better.” Our Teacher tells us service does not start with the dollar sign or with pretentious edifice or flowery words. He tells us service is found in feeding someone hungry, a drink of cool water or visiting a sick person, or speaking a kind word. In short, our service is found in our neighbor.
— Carl Jacobsen, my grandfather and “ordinary radical” in his self published book, From Here to Calvary to Heaven
Jumping Out of Boats
//chet
I love my “non-christian” friends. They’re brutally honest, sincere, they cut through the crap and sometimes its just easier to see Jesus in them. I spoke, all too briefly, with a good friend of mine tonight. I was too sick to make it to the New Found Glory show and he was stuck in his hometown, unable to make it. Misery loves company.
Somehow our conversation shifted from missing the show to life in general. Like many of us, my friend is a young twenty-something not in school and suffering from the anxiety of “where do I go, what do I do now syndrome.” I myself am in school and have been suffering the same thing.
The past couple years have been a strange transitional period for me. My best friends were getting married and I watched my grand Appalachian Trail thru-hiking dreams fade away. I became entirely apathetic with my major and found myself knocking on the doors of depression all too often. “What does God want me to do with my life?”
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
—
Mother Teresa
The next time you see a homeless person on the street, under a bridge, asking for food or money, remember this quote.
(via humilitynow)
