The JC Gang

Last night I watched a documentary on one of the most controversial figures in the early church, Paul. The documentary portrayed Paul as changing the beliefs of the church to fit his ministry to the gentiles and ignoring early church doctrine. It then went on to say that modern Christianity is based off of Paul's teachings and is therefore not the same Christianity of Christ and his early followers. I've heard this allot lately, and all though there is a grain of truth in it, it oversteps history and takes a step into fantasy.

1. Early Christians weren't revolutionaries, they were radicals. Early Christians WERE Jews. That's the whole reason Paul persecuted them. After Christs death any Jew who accepted him as the Messiah was committing blasphemy in the eyes of the Jewish establishment. These early Christians weren't out to buck the Jewish establishment. In fact they were just like every other Jew except for the fact that they believed Jesus was the Messiah.

2. Paul accepted the idea of following Jewish law when you became a Christian. Paul never said that it was wrong to follow Jewish law once you were a follower of Christ. In fact his view was that Christ had come for everyone, and therefore the law could not become a stumbling block to new converts.

3. The early church leaders met with Paul and agreed with his ministry. To often Paul is portrayed as a radical who corrupted the early church. In reality though Paul had the support of Peter, the rock on who Christ built his church.

4. Early Christians didn't live in communes. This one is a strange one because people forget to give it context. Early Christian communities were very localized. It wasn't like modern times where you had Christians scattered everywhere. These communities were built around their churches where the believers gathered. In this sense the Christian community is like other communities of it's time. During this time the main transportation was foot traffic or animals, so even the distance of 10 miles could be a hindrance in meeting with fellow believers. So early believers formed communities

There's more that could be expounded on, but meh.

God is

Tuesday at lunch we got into a theological discussion and it led to some varried conclusions amongst three of us. Dan, Ryan, and I were eating at Thai Lotus and Ryan was telling us about his class on Women in the Bible. This led to the discussion on the gender of God. We all three were in agreement (at least I think we were) that the gender of God wasn't important to who God is. But that brought up something else that was interesting. Why do we try and assign attributes, and debate over who God is? God is God (obvious). These minor things we debate over don't change who God is, rather they just serve our perception of God. If you really want to know God then read your bible and act on what you read. Okay I've lost my place....

Discipline was the thing!

But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27

"Discipline! Discipline was the thing! Builds character, and all that sort of thing, you know." I used to think Colonel Hathi from The Jungle Book was just a windbag, but now I know he was right. For some reason we have an aversion to discipline, at least I know I do.

We often think of discipline in the dry times of our walks when God feels far. Discipline needs to start far before then though. I realize now that had I disciplined myself to the ways of God during the times of plenty things would be far less difficult right now. It's like when you have a bumper crop. If you do not use discipline and use everything up then in the time of famine you'll starve. When times with God were good I didn't feel the need to be disciplined. I read my bible whenever and prayed whenever and spent absolutely 0 time memorizing scripture. Now in this dry spell I've been in I lack the gumption needed master myself. God doesn't feel as close so that well of desire for God has dried up. So what is going to keep me going now?

ReAffirming

It's amazing how God does things. When he's trying to get something through to you he doesn't just tell you once and hope you take notes. Instead he continually reaffirms what it is he's trying to tell you, as if to say I told you so. Not long ago God laid it on my heart that he truly is in charge of everything, and I need to let go when things don't work out how I expect. This week God's reaffirmed that. Our classroom for our threes class is no more and we were supposed to have class in our "temp" classrooms. However due to the fact that things weren't inspected we instead had to have a massive class of the threes, fours, and fives all in one room. To be honest I was dreading it. I've helped at summer camps and VBS in the past and knew how chaotic it could get. Also my lesson plan was out the window since we wouldn't be teaching. Instead of 20+ three year olds we'd now have 50+ kids. Turns out that my dread was ill founded. Things went off as smooth as they could in a situation like that. Everyone did their part in preparing for it, and God did the rest.

But I Don't Wanna

Truly I am a selfish person, but I never realized the extent of my selfishness. I constantly give in to my desires and allow myself to become distracted from my relationship with God simply because there are things I want more. I'd rather relax and watch a movie then open my bible. I'd rather not set aside a portion of my day, no matter how small, and no matter what I'm doing, to help another person. I'd rather give in to the desire to sin simply for that little bit of pleasure. So how, when, does this selfish desire become overpowered with a consuming desire for God? Sometimes I tire of the struggle, which is ironic considering how often I just give up and cave in. Part of me truly does desire God and his will. For now the desire for myself is still stronger. I understand Ryan's analogy of the wolves and the stronger on being the one you feed, but as of right now my desire for God isn't strong enough to win out. So my struggle now isn't wrestling with God... But wrestling with myself..... Forcing myself to submit. I may never have that all consuming passion that Paul had, but being sold out starts with desire, and I need that desire. So which do I want??????????

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

Tonight was the debate between the two vice presidential candidates..... and I did not watch it, so that's the last I will discuss of it. A friend of mine once said regardless of who wins everything is still in God's hands. Why is it that Christians often forget this fact? I hear Christians and non-Christians alike go on about how we have to elect their candidate or else the world as we know it will end. So what do you think will happen if Obama gets elected? What about McCain? Truth is I don't care what will happen. In the end no matter who wins it's all in God's hands. Granted we have to do our part, and vote as God convicts us, but once we vote that's it, we need to let it go.

Never the Twain Shall Meet

I was talking with a friend one day; and although I can't remember who exactly I have a good idea because of the subject matter. We were talking about Christians being uninvolved in the world nowadays. Christians who are content with sitting in service and giving their money so that others can do God's work. You know the kind,. They never volunteer or serve. Honestly I understand that doing things takes money, and in that respect I have less of a problem with these people then my friend. Yet I understand the frustration they feel. These people are willing to fore go the fullness of what God has to offer them because they simply don't want to serve. This friend was also tempted to dump people like me in this category. I honestly don't spend much time with the homeless or the poor. I enjoy the pleasure of serving the children of our church. In this persons mind the true calling of all Christians is to serve those less fortunate. Don't get me wrong, serving the less fortunate is part of the God's ministry, and I'm willing to do it, but my heart lies with the kids. OK this so hasn't gone where I wanted it to go. I wanted to compare the Christians I described earlier with another group of Christians. I've noticed a lot of Christians lately that think it's their duty to make the government help the needy, and I think they are exactly the same as the money givers. Ironically the people I know who fall in that political category would most likely think what they are doing is far more then what the money givers are doing. In their minds their out there making a difference. In reality their making others make a difference for them. What's the difference between a person saying here's money go do great works, and someone saying here's a vote go make people do what's right? If people want change for the better the way isn't with money, or votes, or buildings. They are all useful things, but our power and ability comes from God, not from a checkbook or congress.