Having just watched the television series 'Lost' on DVD ( usually at least 2 episodes at a time ), I must say that, although I would have to disagree theologically with several of the main assumptions made in the series, not only did I enjoy it immensely; I found myself agreeing with much of the theology behind it! I will not claim to have fully understood all the manifold intricacies of the plot-line, but I believe that I understood it well enough to appreciate those same intricacies.
The series itself, though not so the story, begins with an airliner enroute from Australia to Los Angeles breaking apart above a certain Island in the midst of the South Pacific. Mysteriously, a number of people survive the crash & from the beginning of their ( and our ) introduction to this mysterious Island, they are almost continually plagued by the dangerous guardian of the Island called 'the black smoke' & by certain previous inhabitants of the Island that they call 'the Others'. As the series progresses, we find out, through flashbacks that there were a certain amount of individuals that seem to have been chosen to bear the brunt of hardship & persecution!
The Roman Catholic concept of Purgatory looms rather large in the background of this series! Although never stated as such, the writer's point throughout the story seems to be that we all undergo a sort of Purgatory while yet living. This may not have been the intention, but as the main characters are revealed, it is made abundantly clear that they're each going through a sort of personal hell on earth as they reap what they've sown in the past! While most are just a bit questionable, some of the characters are downright seedy, at least once we begin to learn more of their past.
In many ways, this series is an example of how the Church, for the most part, has become Lost in Translation! For whatever reason, whether because of the difficulty of trying to translate Ancient Near Eastern literature into Western thought pattern, or because of bias & prejudice, the Church seems to have developed much of their doctrine through false assumption & just plain ignorance. For these & other reasons, Greek myths have been married with our Western understanding of Eastern literature with the resulting doctrines of Hell, Purgatory, etc.
Much of what the Church has taught for the past couple millenia, though tainted of course by these misconceptions, has been on point with the Gospel! However, much of even this has suffered violence at the hands of those chosen to spread the Good News. The Gospel of Jesus the Christ has spread from sea to shining sea & across continents, till every living person for the most part has had opportunity to either accept or reject it! There are doubtless certain areas of the world that are ignorant of it, most by choice, but this is largely due to history & the manner in which it has been presented in the past!
The Island in this Story, though fraught with Danger, is full of beautiful scenery & even, interestingly enough, also holds a life-giving quality! Especially as the Story unfolds, we begin to understand why several of the characters seem to have been healed of various afflictions upon being thrown upon its shores. On the other hand, some of the other characters are killed off in relative quickness, succession & manner! In many aspects, the Island seems to have a Life of its own. Particularly as the Story unfolds in its manifold intricacies, one character in particular begins to understand this & believes that the Island has chosen him for a specific task. Though this task is not clear to him, John acts in faith, believing he is simply following his destiny!
In the end, everyone ends up in.................well, I don't want to spoil everything for you, but you can probably guess where! The greatest theme in the developing story is that of sacrifice; in fact, throughout the series, it is mentioned quite a few times by one of the characters that 'the Island demanded a sacrifice'. Scripture tells us 'greater love has no man, than to lay down his life for his friends' ( John 15:13 )There are a number of very moving examples of this throughout, but especially as we move into & past the midway point in the series. Another point that is made throughout the Story by several of the older, previous inhabitants of the Island is that they are all indeed dead, that the Island is not real & that they are in fact in Hell! While certain occurrences seem to point to the truth of this 'fact', one has to take into account an awful number of variables in order to establish the veracity of this statement. For instance, how are they all sharing the same experience, the same reality? If they are truly in Hell, how are they traveling to & fro; or are they?
'Lost' certainly brings to mind some interesting questions & proposes some astounding theories, but in the end, it IS just make-believe! It makes for some riveting television ( I could hardly tear myself away ) & is very entertaining, but it is significant, not just of the picture that Hollywood has of the Church & Christianity, but of how lost the Church Herself has become through faulty translation & misunderstanding.The only way the Church will find Herself again is to return to an understanding of Ancient Near Eastern literature & Audience Relevance!
Charles Haddon Shank
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
An Angry God
How much has a very strictly literal reading of the Hebrew Scriptures ( in particular ) influenced, not just the Foreign Policy, but the entire history to date of these United States of America?! The American Indian, that Noble Savage, could relate to us a very violent & horrific tale of how terribly they were treated from day one of their dealings with the 'civilized' White Man. Going even further back, Black South Africans could regale us with tales of like horror & terror from their history! The main question to be treated here is, 'did Almighty God actually commission His People Israel to commit ( almost ) complete genocide against the inhabitants of Canaan?
Many people today have rebelled against Christianity for this very reason: 'how could a loving God command His People to kill all the inhabitants of the Land?' Even some Christians, more & more, have rejected the Hebrew Scriptures ( except the Psalms & Proverbs ) for this reason. Some have reasoned that when Jesus the Son came along, He calmed His Father down, ie. 'tamed Him', while others reject these Scriptures outright, claiming as above, that a good & loving God would not countenance such behavior!
If, as someone has recently suggested, the Exodus & Canaanite Conquest, of which there is no real archeological evidence, was simply an example of Eastern Literature & Poetic License, then a much different light might be shed on this objectionable portion of Hebrew History! The Exodus itself, as described throughout the book, was doubtless a picture of the True Exodus. The Children of Israel being delivered from the ravages of slavery in Egypt was itself significant of Israel's Salvation from the sin & the death of Adam. This is not to say that the Story related in Exodus has no factual basis, or even that our Heavenly Father would not be just or loving if He ordered the wholesale extermination of a culture, just that these Stories are simply pictures, forerunners if you will, leading up to the Revelation of the Son of God!
Cleanliness, in its many facets, was maybe the biggest issue that Israel faced! Though most Christians have traditionally understood almighty God's sentence on the Canaanites as one of adverse judgement, if one were to closely examine the text, in context, it's not difficult to ascertain that the issue of cleanliness & purity were at the basis of these laws! The command forbidding the mixing of fabrics in a garment, for instance, while there was no doubt a good material reason for it, was aimed more at the purity of His People, who were not to allow themselves to be mixed with the Leaven of Egypt or Canaan, as the case may be.
The Story of the Exodus is full of metaphor; although clearly based in actuality, later writers, such as the apostle Paul saw an allegory in these tales, a greater spiritual truth that pointed Israel to Her Messiah, who was in reality Her God, the Creator of Heaven & Earth! Our Heavenly Father's command to Pharaoh to 'let My people go' was, as we can see from a further reading of the context, was not just so that they could worship Him in the wilderness! He wanted to remove His people from the influence of the Egyptians, just as He instructed them, for the period of time surrounding the Feast of Passover, to remove any leaven from their houses.
Did our Heavenly Father, the supremely just & loving Creator of Heaven & Earth, command His congregation ( Church ) in the wilderness to exterminate the Canaanite masses with extreme prejudice, or is that simply the way Israel understood His words? There is Scriptural evidence that certain criteria would allow certain Canaanites to persevere, to continue living & breathing; if they were willing to fully align themselves with the People of God, then their lives might be spared! On the other hand, there is as much evidence that many were destroyed for refusing to enter that communion!
The Foreign Policy of these United States, though not so much anymore, was based on the Scriptural notion that the Kingdom of God was based in the geo-political nation of Israel! The whole idea that one part of God's Creation was better or more special than another is a Scriptural one. However, it is an idea whose time is past; the Eschatology of Israel determined that! Our Heavenly Father, the Creator of Humanity, came to dwell in the midst of His Creation because He desires relationship with them. He does not desire that any should perish & He most certainly do not love one more than the other!
Many of our traditional & biblical notions need to be re-examined, this not least! The concept of an Angry God, though a biblical one, is longer a viable. As any father, our Heavenly Father is no doubt disappointed, even angered by some of the choices His children make, but He is not partial, nor is He petty, as some suppose! Through the Body of His Son, He seeks to live in blessed relationship with His Creation & it is largely dependent on how we present this Good News as to when & in some cases if His children choose to accept this relationship!
Charles Haddon Shank
Many people today have rebelled against Christianity for this very reason: 'how could a loving God command His People to kill all the inhabitants of the Land?' Even some Christians, more & more, have rejected the Hebrew Scriptures ( except the Psalms & Proverbs ) for this reason. Some have reasoned that when Jesus the Son came along, He calmed His Father down, ie. 'tamed Him', while others reject these Scriptures outright, claiming as above, that a good & loving God would not countenance such behavior!
If, as someone has recently suggested, the Exodus & Canaanite Conquest, of which there is no real archeological evidence, was simply an example of Eastern Literature & Poetic License, then a much different light might be shed on this objectionable portion of Hebrew History! The Exodus itself, as described throughout the book, was doubtless a picture of the True Exodus. The Children of Israel being delivered from the ravages of slavery in Egypt was itself significant of Israel's Salvation from the sin & the death of Adam. This is not to say that the Story related in Exodus has no factual basis, or even that our Heavenly Father would not be just or loving if He ordered the wholesale extermination of a culture, just that these Stories are simply pictures, forerunners if you will, leading up to the Revelation of the Son of God!
Cleanliness, in its many facets, was maybe the biggest issue that Israel faced! Though most Christians have traditionally understood almighty God's sentence on the Canaanites as one of adverse judgement, if one were to closely examine the text, in context, it's not difficult to ascertain that the issue of cleanliness & purity were at the basis of these laws! The command forbidding the mixing of fabrics in a garment, for instance, while there was no doubt a good material reason for it, was aimed more at the purity of His People, who were not to allow themselves to be mixed with the Leaven of Egypt or Canaan, as the case may be.
The Story of the Exodus is full of metaphor; although clearly based in actuality, later writers, such as the apostle Paul saw an allegory in these tales, a greater spiritual truth that pointed Israel to Her Messiah, who was in reality Her God, the Creator of Heaven & Earth! Our Heavenly Father's command to Pharaoh to 'let My people go' was, as we can see from a further reading of the context, was not just so that they could worship Him in the wilderness! He wanted to remove His people from the influence of the Egyptians, just as He instructed them, for the period of time surrounding the Feast of Passover, to remove any leaven from their houses.
Did our Heavenly Father, the supremely just & loving Creator of Heaven & Earth, command His congregation ( Church ) in the wilderness to exterminate the Canaanite masses with extreme prejudice, or is that simply the way Israel understood His words? There is Scriptural evidence that certain criteria would allow certain Canaanites to persevere, to continue living & breathing; if they were willing to fully align themselves with the People of God, then their lives might be spared! On the other hand, there is as much evidence that many were destroyed for refusing to enter that communion!
The Foreign Policy of these United States, though not so much anymore, was based on the Scriptural notion that the Kingdom of God was based in the geo-political nation of Israel! The whole idea that one part of God's Creation was better or more special than another is a Scriptural one. However, it is an idea whose time is past; the Eschatology of Israel determined that! Our Heavenly Father, the Creator of Humanity, came to dwell in the midst of His Creation because He desires relationship with them. He does not desire that any should perish & He most certainly do not love one more than the other!
Many of our traditional & biblical notions need to be re-examined, this not least! The concept of an Angry God, though a biblical one, is longer a viable. As any father, our Heavenly Father is no doubt disappointed, even angered by some of the choices His children make, but He is not partial, nor is He petty, as some suppose! Through the Body of His Son, He seeks to live in blessed relationship with His Creation & it is largely dependent on how we present this Good News as to when & in some cases if His children choose to accept this relationship!
Charles Haddon Shank
Friday, August 21, 2015
The Potter's Kiln
I'd be willing to bet that pretty much every single person reading these words knows what it's like to undergo a 'baptism by fire'; they might now understand or realize that's what it is, but nonetheless, that's what it is! At this present time, I can almost feel the flames, but I'm pretty sure I'm not experience even half the hardship that many do. As Christians, or those that walk in the footsteps of Jesus, metaphorically speaking, we know that whatever happens to us is for our good, even if it's only in the long run, but while we're going through whatever, it sure burns sometimes!
If you understand anything about kilns, you know that a kiln is made to harden lumps of clay, to make vessels usable for the purpose for which they were formed. Kilns are also used to make certain things more beautiful! Though kilns don't always involve direct flames; whether the purpose is to make a vessel usable, to purify, or to make something more beautiful, fire usually has its intended effect!
At this time, Montana & much of the West is in the midst of its almost annual fire season; while these are, in many cases, horrifying to hear about or witness, but especially to be in the path of, these wildfires do have their purpose! There are certain individuals out there who, whether out of pure meanness or plain ignorance start fires, many acres have been torched by lightening bolts from heaven. Wildfires do have a cleansing effect, burning off old, dead timber and clearing away the underbrush, allowing for new growth. One might call this Nature's way of cleaning house, but I call it the Creator's way of clearing His landscape; it is awful when people, animals or structures ( in that order ) get in the way, but this cleansing MUST occur!
Metaphorically speaking, though sometimes literally, the flames that we often endure in the course of this glorious adventure we call life serve the same purpose! They show us sometimes what we can & can't do without. They have a purifying effect in that, allowed to reach their goal, the fires of hell consume the dross in our lives ( either that or they consume us )! Although sometimes these fires serve as a punishment of sorts, brought on by our own stupidity, they still serve the purpose of showing us that we're on the wrong path; in this way, even though ( especially ) brought on ourselves, reaping what we've sown tends to have a cleansing, purifying effect!
Our Heavenly Father uses such a process with His Creation, with His Children! Although scripturally speaking, hardening of the heart, for instance, had the effect of rebellion, of turning in willful disobedience to one's own wicked or ignorant ways, but in this New Age with the Fiery Presence in our midst, the effect, more often than not, is to purify the one going through the fire, to prove his or her mettle & always, to accomplish our Heavenly Father's Purpose!
We are all more than familiar, in most cases, with the feeling that we are going through a 'baptism by fire'! Even though ( more often than not ) this fire seems to rage because of something stupid we did, this is not always the case; sometimes it occurs to us because of someone else's stupidity & we just end up paying the price! Whatever the case may be, we may be sure that when it does occur, the effect will always be beneficial to us ( usually ) & well as to those around us. As always, we have a choice as to how we endure the fire; will we allow it to take its course & be the better for it, or will we acknowledge or Heavenly Father's cleansing, purifying work & be the better for it?!
Charles Haddon Shank
If you understand anything about kilns, you know that a kiln is made to harden lumps of clay, to make vessels usable for the purpose for which they were formed. Kilns are also used to make certain things more beautiful! Though kilns don't always involve direct flames; whether the purpose is to make a vessel usable, to purify, or to make something more beautiful, fire usually has its intended effect!
At this time, Montana & much of the West is in the midst of its almost annual fire season; while these are, in many cases, horrifying to hear about or witness, but especially to be in the path of, these wildfires do have their purpose! There are certain individuals out there who, whether out of pure meanness or plain ignorance start fires, many acres have been torched by lightening bolts from heaven. Wildfires do have a cleansing effect, burning off old, dead timber and clearing away the underbrush, allowing for new growth. One might call this Nature's way of cleaning house, but I call it the Creator's way of clearing His landscape; it is awful when people, animals or structures ( in that order ) get in the way, but this cleansing MUST occur!
Metaphorically speaking, though sometimes literally, the flames that we often endure in the course of this glorious adventure we call life serve the same purpose! They show us sometimes what we can & can't do without. They have a purifying effect in that, allowed to reach their goal, the fires of hell consume the dross in our lives ( either that or they consume us )! Although sometimes these fires serve as a punishment of sorts, brought on by our own stupidity, they still serve the purpose of showing us that we're on the wrong path; in this way, even though ( especially ) brought on ourselves, reaping what we've sown tends to have a cleansing, purifying effect!
Our Heavenly Father uses such a process with His Creation, with His Children! Although scripturally speaking, hardening of the heart, for instance, had the effect of rebellion, of turning in willful disobedience to one's own wicked or ignorant ways, but in this New Age with the Fiery Presence in our midst, the effect, more often than not, is to purify the one going through the fire, to prove his or her mettle & always, to accomplish our Heavenly Father's Purpose!
We are all more than familiar, in most cases, with the feeling that we are going through a 'baptism by fire'! Even though ( more often than not ) this fire seems to rage because of something stupid we did, this is not always the case; sometimes it occurs to us because of someone else's stupidity & we just end up paying the price! Whatever the case may be, we may be sure that when it does occur, the effect will always be beneficial to us ( usually ) & well as to those around us. As always, we have a choice as to how we endure the fire; will we allow it to take its course & be the better for it, or will we acknowledge or Heavenly Father's cleansing, purifying work & be the better for it?!
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
The Depth of Feeling
Feelings are funny things; not only can they change on a whim, they can be worn on the sleeve, so to speak, or they can 'run silent, run deep', in ( sub ) marine terms!
The 'way of the world', it would seem today, is to wear your feelings on your sleeve, or on your t-shirt, Facebook, etc; to let everyone know just how unhappy, sad, depressed, or tired you are! It is by no means wrong to have these feelings & although it is not always the best idea to let everyone & their brother or sister know, it is unavoidable when it comes to having these feelings; it's in our make-up, it's how we were engineered! As always though, we have a choice as to whether those feelings will rule over us, or whether we will keep our feelings under control, or even determine what feelings we will let show!
There is much in this life to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired! Whatever the reason, it just seems that some of us are simply doomed to 'wash, rinse, repeat' all of our life & never to dry. Sometimes it may seem to just happen to us, as a persecution we must endure as our lot in life; other times, we may even realize that we are simply reaping what we've sown, but yet see no way out. Feelings are addictive, both physically & emotionally speaking; when we are used to feeling a certain way, although it IS unhappy, sad, depressed & tired, even though we may hate those feelings, we find almost a comfort in them & are afraid to leave that zone!
Everybody has feelings; there's no denying that & there's no use in trying to hide that fact, however disturbing it might be! Besides the physical senses, we also have our immaterial senses, what we feel in our spirit & emotions. For centuries, certain religion has certified that much of the physical senses are taboo, except in certain context! In some sense, these senses, particularly that of touch, must be carefully regulated in order to avoid what is called drama in this day & age. This is not to imply any outside governmental regulations, but some restraint must be exercised by the person wielding the feelings so that matters don't get out of hand; although sometimes, it may seem best for matters to get out of hand!
Speaking from experience & I'm sure everyone reading this can attest to this disturbing fact, feelings are unavoidable when it comes to living in the real world! When people treat us in any way that makes us uncomfortable, it is difficult ( more for some, less for others ) to keep our feelings from surfacing. Here's where one must exercise good judgement; sometimes it's best to keep those feelings reined in, but often, it might more advisable to let those feelings fly & to let that person know that for them to continue to pursue their present course of action might be dangerous to their health!
Feelings are often unexplainable too! Sometimes we can't quite put a finger, so to speak, on why a certain person or a certain course of action just hits us wrong, just doesn't settle right with us! Too often we put the entire blame for our own feelings on these people & while some of the blame must certainly rest with them, we must realize that we always have a choice as to how we respond to their actions, whether we allow our feelings to determine our response, or whether we will choose, not to ignore those feelings necessarily, but to simply do what's right, in spite of feelings that may run to the contrary!
While there is much in this world in which we live to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired ( of living? ), there is also much to be happy & joyous about! Though we often get tired of holding back those negative feelings & of focusing on the positive, this world, which IS our Heavenly Father's, our Creator's, is gloriously full of things to find joy in! It can be as simple as laying in fields of gold with birds chirping all around you & a gentle breeze moving slightly over you, or it could be as complex as facing the hardships of life with the right person by your side!
When faced with what might seem insurmountable ( even unjust ) circumstances, we all have a tendency to give in, to treat those circumstances in concordance with our feelings & allowing them to rush over our heads, drowning us with our sorrows! As mentioned earlier though, we always have a choice, we can let those feelings determine our course of action ( or inaction ) or we can rise above the waves & chart a new course, riding those waves to a place of safety!
Feelings can be a dangerous thing, but when brought under control, they can be gloriously dangerous!
Charles Haddon Shank
The 'way of the world', it would seem today, is to wear your feelings on your sleeve, or on your t-shirt, Facebook, etc; to let everyone know just how unhappy, sad, depressed, or tired you are! It is by no means wrong to have these feelings & although it is not always the best idea to let everyone & their brother or sister know, it is unavoidable when it comes to having these feelings; it's in our make-up, it's how we were engineered! As always though, we have a choice as to whether those feelings will rule over us, or whether we will keep our feelings under control, or even determine what feelings we will let show!
There is much in this life to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired! Whatever the reason, it just seems that some of us are simply doomed to 'wash, rinse, repeat' all of our life & never to dry. Sometimes it may seem to just happen to us, as a persecution we must endure as our lot in life; other times, we may even realize that we are simply reaping what we've sown, but yet see no way out. Feelings are addictive, both physically & emotionally speaking; when we are used to feeling a certain way, although it IS unhappy, sad, depressed & tired, even though we may hate those feelings, we find almost a comfort in them & are afraid to leave that zone!
Everybody has feelings; there's no denying that & there's no use in trying to hide that fact, however disturbing it might be! Besides the physical senses, we also have our immaterial senses, what we feel in our spirit & emotions. For centuries, certain religion has certified that much of the physical senses are taboo, except in certain context! In some sense, these senses, particularly that of touch, must be carefully regulated in order to avoid what is called drama in this day & age. This is not to imply any outside governmental regulations, but some restraint must be exercised by the person wielding the feelings so that matters don't get out of hand; although sometimes, it may seem best for matters to get out of hand!
Speaking from experience & I'm sure everyone reading this can attest to this disturbing fact, feelings are unavoidable when it comes to living in the real world! When people treat us in any way that makes us uncomfortable, it is difficult ( more for some, less for others ) to keep our feelings from surfacing. Here's where one must exercise good judgement; sometimes it's best to keep those feelings reined in, but often, it might more advisable to let those feelings fly & to let that person know that for them to continue to pursue their present course of action might be dangerous to their health!
Feelings are often unexplainable too! Sometimes we can't quite put a finger, so to speak, on why a certain person or a certain course of action just hits us wrong, just doesn't settle right with us! Too often we put the entire blame for our own feelings on these people & while some of the blame must certainly rest with them, we must realize that we always have a choice as to how we respond to their actions, whether we allow our feelings to determine our response, or whether we will choose, not to ignore those feelings necessarily, but to simply do what's right, in spite of feelings that may run to the contrary!
While there is much in this world in which we live to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired ( of living? ), there is also much to be happy & joyous about! Though we often get tired of holding back those negative feelings & of focusing on the positive, this world, which IS our Heavenly Father's, our Creator's, is gloriously full of things to find joy in! It can be as simple as laying in fields of gold with birds chirping all around you & a gentle breeze moving slightly over you, or it could be as complex as facing the hardships of life with the right person by your side!
When faced with what might seem insurmountable ( even unjust ) circumstances, we all have a tendency to give in, to treat those circumstances in concordance with our feelings & allowing them to rush over our heads, drowning us with our sorrows! As mentioned earlier though, we always have a choice, we can let those feelings determine our course of action ( or inaction ) or we can rise above the waves & chart a new course, riding those waves to a place of safety!
Feelings can be a dangerous thing, but when brought under control, they can be gloriously dangerous!
Charles Haddon Shank
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The Badge of Faith
And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5:15
Many, if not most Christians faithfully use this passage to uphold The Power of Prayer, but it's not quite as simple as that! How many people reading this have fervently, even feverishly prayed for a brother, sister, father, or mother to be healed of their particular affliction & the afflicted one just got worse or somehow passed away? This could engender questions ranging from 'why God' to thinking that there is no God! The one who prayed that prayer in faith may end up anywhere from being angry with their Heavenly Father to believing that everything they had been taught was 'total bullshit, man!'
As with all such passages of Scripture, these words must be read in the context in which they were written! James, the brother of our Lord was writing to his afflicted brethren in the Jerusalem Church as well as those scattered abroad, comforting them to the fact that though the Jews had almost wholly rejected their Messiah & the Day of the Lord was near ( James 5:9 ), it was not too late; if they actively prayed for the conviction & conversion of their fellow Jew, these would be saved from damnation if & when they repented from that sin. This is not to say that these words are not at all applicable in this day & age, but it's not quite as simple as most Christians seem to think; we cannot offer just any prayer to our Heavenly Father & recieve the answer we want!
Jesus told His disciples, 'whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive' ( Matthew 21:22-this was the incident involving the fig tree that withered & the possibility of mountains moving )! You might think, 'well, if we can't believe the word of Jesus, what can we believe?' Good question, but again, one must take into account the immediate context of Jesus' words! Jesus was not telling His disciples that anything was possible if they just believed, as many parents tell their children in this day & age; He was not telling them that if only they had faith, they could move literal physical mountains! He was signifying to them, as His brother did later, that those adversaries they were up against were nothing to be afraid of; against the awesome Power & Majesty of Almighty God, their enemies were like dead fig trees!
As one who is afflicted daily & I know I am not the only one or the worst, I'm pretty familiar with the notion that 'if you just had enough faith, you'd be healed of your affliction'! if we're not careful, we might be tempted to murmur & complain, even to begin to think thoughts such as those above! However, when we recognize & realize the context & meaning of these words, we can see that they were aimed at those first century Christians, those who were enduring the transition between the Old & New Covenants, or Ages!
Many Christians like to wear their ( individual ) faith like a badge, 'on their sleeve', so to speak! This can range anywhere from sporting the Christian 'fish' or Christian bumper stickers on your car to wearing t-shirts with a 'Christian' message on them ( even special Sunday go-to-meeting clothes are suspect ). In most cases, the wearer& bearer of these messages is sincere about their faith, their belief, but most also fail to realize that it is not these signs that prove their faith to others, but what they do with that faith.
The faith that the disciples of Jesus exercised in the first century was enough to metaphorically & really move mountains & wither fig trees! As Lord of Creation, Creator God Himself, caused the fig tree to wither, just as He healed many of similar afflictions & even raised the dead, all seemingly against the laws of nature. He did this, not to show His disciples what they ( individually ) could do 'if they just had enough faith', but to prove to them & others the True Power that He wielded; with a word, as with those He had healed & raised from the dead, He could simply say the word & their adversaries would be destroyed, or removed!
Faith is not simply believing; faith is active, believing that something is & then acting on that belief! It is not enough to simply believe, for James also said 'Even the demons believe-and tremble' ( James 2:19 ); one can claim to believe whatever they want, but if their actions tell us otherwise, we are within our rights to call 'bullshit!' The Badge of Faith is not claiming ( confessing & professing to be a Christian ); the Badge of Faith is being a Christian, following in the footsteps of Jesus & doing what He did ( John 14:12 ), not by focusing on the correct doctrines so we can go to Heaven when we die, but by doing what is right, by giving what help we can, wherever & whatever!
The Prayer of Faith is not some magical mantra that is at our disposal;it is not some formula that we may use to solve our every problem or overcome every difficulty ( although it often has that effect )! The apostle John wrote to his brethren, 'Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us'; again, this is not just some magical mantra, if we can only discern the Will of God, we can pray for whatever we want & it will be done for us. It's not quite as simple as, 'whatever happens, it was God's will', but yet again, it's not formula that we can follow to 'git'er done'! When we actively pray according to what we know to be God's will, we will be blessed with, not everything we might want, or lust after, but with everything we need!
Charles Haddon Shank
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Intimacy of Being
Is it possible to love more than one person? Experience tells us 'yes'; it is possible, indeed recommended to love more than one person, but it is when we try to define love, we often hit a speed-bump! To many people, 'love' is almost synonymous with 'intimacy', to most others, love is a warm feeling, no more, no less. Love, as we have found though, is an action, a choice that we make, a course that we actively pursue! To be sure, love, true love involves those warm feelings; we are human beings, or at least spiritual beings having a human experience, so feelings are unavoidable: even the most hardened criminal has feelings! The trick is not to let your feelings control you, but to control your feelings!
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the secondary definition of 'intimacy' is, 'something of a personal or private nature'. Again, it is possible to share things with more than one person, but how can it be possible to share your most personal matters with more than one person & yet still have that privacy which most of us value so highly? Is it possible to be intimate with more than one person? Some might say 'yes' & others might say 'no', but really, most of these are those who equate intimacy with love! To love multiple persons at the same time is fairly simple & easy: just make the choice to do what is right in whatever case & you will have acted in love toward them; the difficult part here is determining what IS right! Even to feel love toward multiple persons at the same time is possible & even natural; our human affections, often called feelings, can be directed toward any number of people at once & even be genuine: the 'rub' here though, is that because they ARE simply feelings & therefore subject to change at a moments notice, when the feelings change, so does the love!
Intimacy, on the other hand, being of a more personal & private nature, is best shared with one other person! It is entirely possible to be open about everything, to forgo any privacy, sharing every intimate detail, but people are just not built that way! This, as well, is where feelings shift the balance! If one person has shared their intimacy with more than one other, the green-eyed monster often rears its ugly head! Feelings of jealousy come fairly natural to most if not all people; we as human beings, naturally follow the Creator's Design when we expect the person that we are intimate with to share their intimacy with us alone! Whether officially a marriage or just a simple relationship ( most popular nowadays ), intimacy is best shared between only two people, otherwise, one is simply asking for trouble ( a monogamous relationship brings enough trouble )!
We're not just talk about sexual intercourse ( usually simply termed 'sex' ) either; intimacy involves so much more than the simple sex act, in fact, it need not involve sex at all! Baring one's soul to another individual, revealing their most personal & private thoughts to another is just one instance. Though intimacy most often involves sexual intercourse, one's intercourse with another need not be of a sexual nature to be classified as 'intimate'! Using Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary yet again, 'intercourse' is defined as 'connection or dealings between persons or groups ' & secondarily as 'exchange especially of thoughts or feelings : communion'! When it comes to intimacy, sexual intercourse needn't even be on the table; simply sharing one's most personal & private thoughts with another is often more than intimate enough; as in 'sharing an intimate secret'!
Sexual Intimacy is something which is very rare in today's world scene of open relationships & 'free' sex ( thanks in large part to things like the condom )! While most people who enter into a relationship, especially one of a sexual nature, are looking for intimacy, too often what is found there ( at best ) is a love based on feelings, an intimacy of sorts which is limited to the personal or private feelings of one or the other individual. To love, truly love another in an intimate way is to be willing to bare one's soul, so to speak, to that one individual! Again, to be intimate, especially sexually, with multiple persons, while it IS possible, is not advisable, nor does it come naturally; we just weren't built that way!
Charles Haddon Shank
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the secondary definition of 'intimacy' is, 'something of a personal or private nature'. Again, it is possible to share things with more than one person, but how can it be possible to share your most personal matters with more than one person & yet still have that privacy which most of us value so highly? Is it possible to be intimate with more than one person? Some might say 'yes' & others might say 'no', but really, most of these are those who equate intimacy with love! To love multiple persons at the same time is fairly simple & easy: just make the choice to do what is right in whatever case & you will have acted in love toward them; the difficult part here is determining what IS right! Even to feel love toward multiple persons at the same time is possible & even natural; our human affections, often called feelings, can be directed toward any number of people at once & even be genuine: the 'rub' here though, is that because they ARE simply feelings & therefore subject to change at a moments notice, when the feelings change, so does the love!
Intimacy, on the other hand, being of a more personal & private nature, is best shared with one other person! It is entirely possible to be open about everything, to forgo any privacy, sharing every intimate detail, but people are just not built that way! This, as well, is where feelings shift the balance! If one person has shared their intimacy with more than one other, the green-eyed monster often rears its ugly head! Feelings of jealousy come fairly natural to most if not all people; we as human beings, naturally follow the Creator's Design when we expect the person that we are intimate with to share their intimacy with us alone! Whether officially a marriage or just a simple relationship ( most popular nowadays ), intimacy is best shared between only two people, otherwise, one is simply asking for trouble ( a monogamous relationship brings enough trouble )!
We're not just talk about sexual intercourse ( usually simply termed 'sex' ) either; intimacy involves so much more than the simple sex act, in fact, it need not involve sex at all! Baring one's soul to another individual, revealing their most personal & private thoughts to another is just one instance. Though intimacy most often involves sexual intercourse, one's intercourse with another need not be of a sexual nature to be classified as 'intimate'! Using Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary yet again, 'intercourse' is defined as 'connection or dealings between persons or groups ' & secondarily as 'exchange especially of thoughts or feelings : communion'! When it comes to intimacy, sexual intercourse needn't even be on the table; simply sharing one's most personal & private thoughts with another is often more than intimate enough; as in 'sharing an intimate secret'!
Sexual Intimacy is something which is very rare in today's world scene of open relationships & 'free' sex ( thanks in large part to things like the condom )! While most people who enter into a relationship, especially one of a sexual nature, are looking for intimacy, too often what is found there ( at best ) is a love based on feelings, an intimacy of sorts which is limited to the personal or private feelings of one or the other individual. To love, truly love another in an intimate way is to be willing to bare one's soul, so to speak, to that one individual! Again, to be intimate, especially sexually, with multiple persons, while it IS possible, is not advisable, nor does it come naturally; we just weren't built that way!
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Signs of the Times ( 'the times they are a' changin' )
When it is evening you say, '[ It will be ] fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, '[ It will be ] foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites![a] You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot [ discern ] the signs of the times.
Matthew 16:2 & 3
September 11, 2001 is a day that will be remembered in infamy! This day will forever be seared in the hearts & minds of many Americans, because, as reports have it, almost 3,000 human beings lost their lives when terrorists orchestrated what might constitute one of the greatest such attacks on American soil in almost 60 years. Why did the terrorists choose those particular targets over all others? Maybe it was because they were two of the greatest monuments constructed in recent history to honor one of the greatest American idols!
Since that fateful day, the U.S. Economy has been embroiled in what is surely the greatest Recession since the 20s & 30s, probably even worse! The Housing Bubble collapsed in 2008 & has never fully recovered. Although one might say that our economy has gained back much of its former strength ( ?), it has only been bolstered by things like Government Bailouts & Government Incentives made possible by large loans from foreign nations such as China. The Mining Industry, which has traditionally provided much of the backing for the U.S. Economy in the past, has suffered over the past few years, especially, with inflation, among other things, driving the value of precious metals down!
Overall, even though the facade that the Federal Government has carefully erected is wearing rather thin, the U.S. Economy is falsely being touted as well on the way back to recovery! Things almost seem to be looking up until one remembers the $16 trillion dollar debt ( or whatever it is now ) that's hanging over our head. We now almost matter-of-factly pay upwards of $4 a gallon for gas & are almost ecstatic when it drops below $3 ( especially when it hits close to $2 )! Food prices are rising as well, not just because of shipping costs, though that is probably the greatest factor, but unecessary regulations on growers & producers are making it more difficult to put food on the table for the average American family!
Much like Israel of Old, most Americans have failed to rightly discern these signs! Although there are some out there who have woken up to this disturbing fact, most have failed or downright refused to acknowledge that the actions of the U.S. Inc., or The American Empire have brought this disaster upon us. Like an overwhelming flood, this cataclysm threatens to engulf us for many reasons, not least of which is that we are now reaping what we have sown!
American Christianity, almost as a whole, has viewed signs such as these ( if they even note them ) in an eschatological sense! Because American Christianity has taught for centuries that we will be raptured ( whatever that means ) out of the mess we have made, next to nothing has been done about it: most American Christians are more than willing to let the world go to hell in a handbasket because 'Jesus is coming soon'! The belief that all of our problems will soon dissolve into ashes has kept much of American Christianity from having a saving effect on the Culture & has instead allowed the Culture to have a damning effect on American Christianity!
Many Americans, even non-Christian Americans, are more-or-less correctly discerning these signs & realizing that 'the end is near'! No, not 'the end' that most Bible students look forward to, eschatologically speaking, but 'the end' of an era is definitely upon us! Whether it's the end of The American Empire, the end of America as we know it, or just the end of the lifestyle to which most Americans have become accustomed, something big is most definitely coming & it's not going to be pleasant! Gas prices continue to fluctuate, but it's pretty much a given that they'll never again drop to what they were even 20-30 years ago: food prices, on the other hand are almost spiraling out of control! One barely coughs anymore at having to pay $4-$5 for a loaf of bread ( depending where you are, even more ), milk is ridiculous, beef is getting harder to find at a decent price & we're even paying more for water & the bear necessities of life!
There is hope, however! No, unlike most American Christians believe, Jesus is not going to return & clean up our mess for us; this world is not going to be burnt up by fire so that we can begin anew, but it is being cleansed by fire, in a metaphorical sense, undergoing the adverse judgement of an infinitely just Creator God! What will our future look like, the future of America? We can be fairly certain that, when all is said & done, America will still be here! America as most have become accustomed to may have undergone an almost unrecognizable change ( or not ); she may no longer be the world-power ( empire ) she once was & it's possible we may even join the ranks of what we now call 'third-world' nations, but America will still be here!
Our greatest Stronghold, even though most American Christians do not realize it, is that this world, even though it be filled with devils, is the Kingdom of the Creator God! As Christians especially, we serve no mere earthly empire or political figurehead; the whole earth is full of His Glory & even though evil still exists & frustrates our endeavors: His Empire will never suffer loss, but as Christians begin to realize more & more His Rule & therefore ours; His Kingdom will expand ( infinitely ) beyond any borders we could ever hope to maintain!
Charles Haddon Shank
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Fulfilling the Work of the Christ
Jesus told His disciples, 'I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do' ( John 14:12 ) The question has been presented here before, 'how will we do works greater than Jesus Himself did?' How could we, mere human beings, do greater works than the Son of the Living God, the Creator of Heaven & Earth?! It's almost unthinkable ( when you think about it ) but there it is, in black & white! Jesus said it, I believe it & that settles it, right!? Well, it's not quite that simple!
In this day & age, there is an alarming tendency to think of 'termination' when someone mentions 'fulfillment'! Although in a contractual sense & only in a contractual sense, when something is fulfilled, it usually does mean the termination or completion of a project or job. However, when a covenant is fulfilled, the work continues! In a marriage, for instance, when the vows are fulfilled, the marriage is not over, but every day, those wedding vows are filled up, renewed. In a good, covenantal marriage, anyway, both husband & wife will remember each one of the sacred vows they made to their spouse on that wonderful day & will perform ( fulfill ) accordingly!
How can any one man or woman ever hope to do these greater works that Jesus talked about?! Now, in context, we must remember that He spoke these words to His disciples in the first-century. It was for the Purpose of the Eschaton that He spoke these words! One might object; 'well, are we not His disciples today?' Yes, we are His disciples today & we do continue His work; in a certain sense, as well, it IS greater than He did: in the sense that it is a fulfillment of His work of reconciliation. This is not something that happens all by itself either; although a person must him or herself make the decision to reconcile with his or her Heavenly Father, it is most often the result of manifold experiences!
To further clarify, it is corporately, as the Body of the Christ that we continue, or fulfill His work! Individually speaking, yes, we each bear our part, but 'here a little, there a little'; it is as the Whole that the job gets done. Many Christians, in particular evangelicals, feel that unless one devotes their time expressly to the work of evangelism that one is not doing their job. However ( thank our Heavenly Father ), it is not up to just one ( individually ) to 'save souls', it is a group effort ( corporate ) & when each does their part, then the work that Jesus started in the first century is fulfilled!
On the Cross, as well as in the Revelation, Jesus said, 'it is finished'! The work, however one qualifies or quantifies that work, was done, completed; does that mean, however, that Jesus stopped working, that He was now done? Did He, as in the beginning, rest on the seventh day, or did He take us into a New Day, one in which we are at Rest & having become, as was intended from the beginning, the Dwelling ( place ) of God in the Spirit? Yes, we are in that New Day & have reached the Promised Rest, but there is still work to do; though He finished His work on the Cross ( reconciled the world to Himself ), we must continually fulfill that work, first by reconciling ourselves to that Blessedness, then by reconciling those around us!
In a way, the words that Jesus spoke, as recorded in John 14:12 are true today; we do greater things than Jesus! Doctors have gained much knowledge over the past several hundred years; the sick are healed, those who were blind see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear again & yes, the dead are brought back to life! Although it is through the advances in modern medicine & technology that these modern miracles are taking place, they are miraculous nonetheless! Even 'demons' are being cast out, not so much like we read about in the pages of Scripture, although occurrences like this happen ( most often in third-world countries, strangely enough ), but, again due in large part to advanced medical technologies, people are being freed from manifold addiction ( cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc. ). We understand that these 'demons' that Jesus was casting out were metaphorical for the most part, of certain addictions or idols that people had erected in their lives, either directly or indirectly! However, though they were not necessarily quite the picture that most theologians draw for us today, these were demons nonetheless & Jesus cast them out!
Can we do the same & greater today, casting out the demons that surround us? Certainly, in our own lives, we can dismiss them with the wave of a hand ( or a finger ), but can we do the same with others who suffer the same afflictions & worse? You better believe it! By ourselves, the task often seems insurmountable, but then we must realize, WE are not alone! Not only are we eternally in the Blessed Presence of our Creator, but we are members of the Body of His Only Begotten Son: HOW COOL IS THAT?!
Charles Haddon Shank
In this day & age, there is an alarming tendency to think of 'termination' when someone mentions 'fulfillment'! Although in a contractual sense & only in a contractual sense, when something is fulfilled, it usually does mean the termination or completion of a project or job. However, when a covenant is fulfilled, the work continues! In a marriage, for instance, when the vows are fulfilled, the marriage is not over, but every day, those wedding vows are filled up, renewed. In a good, covenantal marriage, anyway, both husband & wife will remember each one of the sacred vows they made to their spouse on that wonderful day & will perform ( fulfill ) accordingly!
How can any one man or woman ever hope to do these greater works that Jesus talked about?! Now, in context, we must remember that He spoke these words to His disciples in the first-century. It was for the Purpose of the Eschaton that He spoke these words! One might object; 'well, are we not His disciples today?' Yes, we are His disciples today & we do continue His work; in a certain sense, as well, it IS greater than He did: in the sense that it is a fulfillment of His work of reconciliation. This is not something that happens all by itself either; although a person must him or herself make the decision to reconcile with his or her Heavenly Father, it is most often the result of manifold experiences!
To further clarify, it is corporately, as the Body of the Christ that we continue, or fulfill His work! Individually speaking, yes, we each bear our part, but 'here a little, there a little'; it is as the Whole that the job gets done. Many Christians, in particular evangelicals, feel that unless one devotes their time expressly to the work of evangelism that one is not doing their job. However ( thank our Heavenly Father ), it is not up to just one ( individually ) to 'save souls', it is a group effort ( corporate ) & when each does their part, then the work that Jesus started in the first century is fulfilled!
On the Cross, as well as in the Revelation, Jesus said, 'it is finished'! The work, however one qualifies or quantifies that work, was done, completed; does that mean, however, that Jesus stopped working, that He was now done? Did He, as in the beginning, rest on the seventh day, or did He take us into a New Day, one in which we are at Rest & having become, as was intended from the beginning, the Dwelling ( place ) of God in the Spirit? Yes, we are in that New Day & have reached the Promised Rest, but there is still work to do; though He finished His work on the Cross ( reconciled the world to Himself ), we must continually fulfill that work, first by reconciling ourselves to that Blessedness, then by reconciling those around us!
In a way, the words that Jesus spoke, as recorded in John 14:12 are true today; we do greater things than Jesus! Doctors have gained much knowledge over the past several hundred years; the sick are healed, those who were blind see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear again & yes, the dead are brought back to life! Although it is through the advances in modern medicine & technology that these modern miracles are taking place, they are miraculous nonetheless! Even 'demons' are being cast out, not so much like we read about in the pages of Scripture, although occurrences like this happen ( most often in third-world countries, strangely enough ), but, again due in large part to advanced medical technologies, people are being freed from manifold addiction ( cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc. ). We understand that these 'demons' that Jesus was casting out were metaphorical for the most part, of certain addictions or idols that people had erected in their lives, either directly or indirectly! However, though they were not necessarily quite the picture that most theologians draw for us today, these were demons nonetheless & Jesus cast them out!
Can we do the same & greater today, casting out the demons that surround us? Certainly, in our own lives, we can dismiss them with the wave of a hand ( or a finger ), but can we do the same with others who suffer the same afflictions & worse? You better believe it! By ourselves, the task often seems insurmountable, but then we must realize, WE are not alone! Not only are we eternally in the Blessed Presence of our Creator, but we are members of the Body of His Only Begotten Son: HOW COOL IS THAT?!
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, August 03, 2015
A Giant's Tale
There
were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the
sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore [ children ] to them.
Those [ were ] the mighty men who [ were ] of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4
Having long been the stuff of myths & legends, the creatures often called 'Nephilim' by bible students have been generating more interest than they had for some time. The book series 'Chronicles of the Nephilim', by Brian Godowa, is one of the more recent products of this almost morbid interest! Based on the unscriptural notion that these ' sons of God' were pure spirit-beings who had sexual relations with the ( human ) 'daughters of men' the whole ideology spirals out of control, introducing characters like 'Satan' ( who supposedly animated the serpent of Genesis 3 ) & the 'Watchers'. Is it possible that heavenly ( spirit ) beings could come to earth, have sexual relations with human females & impregnate them? Sure, Scripture gives us a clear example of that in Matthew 1:18-25!
The Internet is full of information about giants, Nephilim & Watchers; in fact, there have been TV series & movies based on these ideas for decades! Recently though, with a renewed focus on ancient archeological finds, they have come back to haunt us with slightly disturbing images of enlarged skulls, skeletons & literature of the period ( almost leading to our present day ) that hints at the existence of these gargantuan humanoids. Scripture even seems to pint to the veracity of these tales, with King Og of Bashan in numerous references from Numbers to Nehemiah! This 'Og' that we read about in Joshua 12:4, for instance, was 'of the remnant of the giants'. In Deuteronomy 3:11, we read of this giant king, 'Indeed his bedstead [ was ] an iron bedstead. ( [ Is ] it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits [ is ] its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.' We also read of men like Goliath & his brothers, whom David & other mighty men of renown slew! No doubt these giants existed, but were they hybrids of male spirit-beings ( ?? ) & female human beings, as many would have us believe, or were they simply inheritors of a certain gene that caused unusual growth?
There is a phrase used of such famous men as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison & Howard Hughes that they were 'giants among men'! This is not a claim that they had a gargantuan stature ( Einstein was relatively short, I believe ), but that their spirit, their creative nature, was far above that of most men. We use the same ideology to describe certain ideas, plans & even structures. Although some of these structures are built to 'giant' ( x-large ) proportions, this is not always the case & in the case of a giant plan or idea, it is not so much the quantity of what the thought produces, but the infinite quality!
Neil Armstrong's famous 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' is yet another example! The giant leap for mankind that Armstrong was no doubt thinking about was that, if man could walk on the surface of the moon, many millions of miles from earth, what else might be possible; the possibilities that this momentous occasion generated were indeed gargantuan!
One could find all sorts of useless ( but interesting, nonetheless ) information on the Internet about the giants, Nephilim & Watchers. One movie that has recently made their presence known is 'Noah'.
This movie portrayed them as earthy creatures, creatures of rock & stone, something very different from the Scriptural images we are presented with & certainly not the 'giants' of the most recent century ( some are still among us )! Today's 'giants are simply those who have an extra growth hormone ( usually not very healthy ) or simply those who have grandiose abilities or dreams!
The whole idea that these Nephilim existed at one point, or even that they still exist is very attractive, though morbidly so! Like the whole notion of 'Satan' as a fallen spirit-being ( according to the book of Job, one of 'the sons of God'), it gives us a sort of morbid relief; there is someone ( or something ) else to blame all OUR problems on! When we do wrong, 'the devil made me do it', when we see something unusual, like a very large person, or hear about 'The Abominable Snowman' or 'Sasquatch', it helps us to believe the myths that we have been brought up with!
The is no doubt that these gargantuan humans existed & still exist; there is manifold evidence for that! Archeological 'finds' may not always be all they're cracked up to be, but it's pretty hard to argue with all the evidence; for whatever reason, these human beings grew to gargantuan proportions! Some are still among us ( all over the world ) & all the 'giants among men' of the past, or most of them anyway, are still impacting our everyday lives with their colossal ideas! The notion that the giants, or Nephilim were the products of a union between fallen spirit-beings & female human beings is almost absurd! Goliath was simply a very large man & as David found out, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'! King Og of Bashan is never described, per se', in Scripture; it is simply stated that his bed was extra large ( it DOES say that he was 'of the remnant of the giants'-Deuteronomy 12:4 ).
Charles Haddon Shank
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Begotten of the Father
Blessed [ be
] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
I Peter 1:3-5
According to Thayer's Lexicon, the Greek word 'gennaō', rendered 'begotten' in our English translations simply refers to fathers begetting or fathering children. In a metaphorical sense, this could be understood as the apostle Paul's 'adoption' of Timothy ( I Corinthians 4:17 ) ! However the context determines the specific meaning of the word, it is used most often as the fathering, or producing of a child, or protoge', if you will. In the passage above, the Greek 'anagennaō' simply means 'to produce again, beget again, beget anew'. The phrase 'only begotten', transliterated from the Greek 'monogenēs' refers to a 'single of its kind, only'. The author of Hebrews uses this same Greek word to refer to Isaac, son of Abraham as John uses to describe Jesus in several different passages ( John 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18 ), including in His Letters ( I John 4:9 )!
In Genesis 22, where it is recorded that the God of Heaven & Earth told Abraham, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you', the Author used the Hebrew 'yachiyd', meaning 'only, especially only begotten, only child'! Again, depending on the context, this may have a literal meaning, as in Judges 11:34 where Jepthah truly only had one daughter, tor a metaphorical meaning as the passage above where it refers to the fact that Abraham had only one son by promise, whereas Ishmael had been born according to the will of the flesh. All this is to say that the context determines the conveyed meaning; though we ( corporately, as the Body of Christ ) are never referred to as 'the only begotten' of The Father, we are 'begotten' of the Father, especially in a spiritual or metaphorical sense, by the Resurrection from the Dead!
The key, one might say, to differentiating between the Body of Christ & the Creator ( Father ) Himself is that little but oh, so important word 'only'! Jesus, traditionally called 'the God-Man', was in essence the Creator Himself. There are numerous instances in the Greek Scripture where Jesus angered the Pharisees by claiming that He was One with the Father! John in fact says that without Him 'nothing was made that was made' ( John 1:3 ). Being of one Essence with the Father, as the creeds rightly say, Jesus was sent from the Father's Side ( much as Eve was from Adam's ) to put things to rights & to institute the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, in effect, to make the Dwelling of God with Man, once again, as in the Beginning!
Promised by the Creator of Heaven & Earth, as was Isaac before, Jesus was sacrificed on a mountain ( hill, really )! He was, as Isaac was, the 'only' Son of the Father. In the greatest sense, we too, as the Body of Christ, might be called the 'only begotten' of the Father, for we too are the Promised Seed! Jesus WAS the Promised One, but as His Body, metaphorically speaking, we were promised as well; David wrote of 'a people yet to be created' ( Psalm 102:18 ). Through the prophet Isaiah, the Living God spoke these words of this people, 'You shall be called by a new name'! This New Name was not Jesus, or even Christian, though we ARE called that; this New Name was a metaphor for our True Identity, the Son of the Creator God, our Heavenly Father!
Charles Haddon Shank
Thursday, July 30, 2015
The Wrath of God
Let me tell you a Story about the Creator of Heaven & Earth; He once upon a time chose a certain group of people out of all the nations & made them holy unto Himself! This special people were just like any other, they were doing whatever they felt they had to do for their survival & like all the other groups of people in the land, they carried with them their idols, false gods that they superstitiously thought helped & blessed them in their endeavors. Little did they know that the rain fell on the just & the unjust alike: their blessings & their cursings were showered upon them, not by the false gods they worshiped, but by the Living God, the Creator of Heaven & Earth!
Though this chosen people was nothing special & certainly not very holy in the modern sense of the word, the Creator chose these people out of all the kindreds of the earth to spread the Good News of His Kingdom! This Kingdom would not be an empire, per se, like all the nations around them; no, this Kingdom was to be one of the heart, mind, soul & strength! When His special people asked for a king like the nations around them, thus rejecting the Living God as their King, the Creator God gave them what they asked for, but this then unleashed the Wrath of God on the generations to come!
As time went by, though these special, holy people were graced by a number of good kings, those who sought the Kingdom of their Heavenly Father, most of their kings led them further & further into debauchery, idolatry & yes, adultery! In the fulness of time, after many generations of their Creator both accusing & excusing them, the Creator of Heaven & Earth, the Living God, finally, once for all, took matters into His own hands &embodied in the same flesh as those He had previously created, came to Earth & showed these special, holy people what it truly meant to love!
Through the Wrath of the Creator of Heaven & Earth bled forth the Redemption of His Son, most of whom had failed to faithfully represent Him! Through Fulfillment of the Law of the Creator, this Son appeased the Wrath of His Father & brought about the salvation of untold generations. The Father's Righteous Indignation, like any father's would be, was directed toward His children, that special people He had chosen & set apart ( made holy ) for Himself. As a Father, He has not changed, but thankfully, His People have; when His Son took upon Himself the guilt that these special, holy people bore, He changed the whole Landscape of Redemption, bringing salvation, not just to those special ones ( at least those who received His atonement ), but to all who actively trusted in Him for their redemption!
There are some today who question the Wrath of God; 'does it still exist?', 'does He still get angry at the wicked every day?' Since the Judgement of those Special People was fulfilled in the first century ( AD ), thus defeating Death ( separational ) forever, is His Wrath still brought to bear on His errant children? Well, as the Father of all & like any father, yes; His wrath is still brought to bear on His children! He is not petty, as some fathers are, demanding the love & obedience of His children, 'or else!', but He is angered by the willful disobedience & hatred of His creatures! How He chooses to release that anger or wrath looks different to different people, but it is a Righteous Indignation, not a petty wrath or anger because somebody stepped on His toes or failed to give Him the respect He deserves!
Much like His chosen people, His children today often choose to disobey His House Rules! Though sometimes His Wrath is not always immediate, we can be sure that our sins will find us out. We reap what we sow & when we live in disobedience to the House Rules, we may be sure that, sooner or later, no matter how strong the wall we've built, it's going to come crashing down on us! Is this the Wrath of God Revealed from Heaven? In the greatest sense yes, but in actuality, it's simply reaping what we have sown!
Those special people that the Creator God chose for Himself were subjected to the Flame of His Wrath! When final Judgement came upon them, their was a Remnant, a Chosen Few who escaped or came through those flames & were made stronger because of that experience; others did not survive His Wrath, but experienced Final Death, Eternal Separation from the Creator. The Wrath of God came to rest, in the first century, on His Chosen People, those through whom He had chosen to reveal His Presence to His Creation!
This is an old, old Story & though its exclusiveness came to an end in the first century, the Story continues & is now inclusive of His entire Creation! As children, there are many who still refuse to obey the House Rules & to pursue a blessed Relationship with their Heavenly Father, but things, as far as wrath stands, are a bit different now! Rather than giving us a Law written in Stone, we have His Spirit to help us live a Blessed Life. Rather than suffering His wrath when we fail to follow a written code, we have been blessed with His Presence! Those who worship false gods still receive the penalty due them, not so much because they have broken the House Rules, but because when a false god comes tumbling down, which it eventually will, it tends to cruse those who are kneeling at its feet!
Charles Haddon Shank
Though this chosen people was nothing special & certainly not very holy in the modern sense of the word, the Creator chose these people out of all the kindreds of the earth to spread the Good News of His Kingdom! This Kingdom would not be an empire, per se, like all the nations around them; no, this Kingdom was to be one of the heart, mind, soul & strength! When His special people asked for a king like the nations around them, thus rejecting the Living God as their King, the Creator God gave them what they asked for, but this then unleashed the Wrath of God on the generations to come!
As time went by, though these special, holy people were graced by a number of good kings, those who sought the Kingdom of their Heavenly Father, most of their kings led them further & further into debauchery, idolatry & yes, adultery! In the fulness of time, after many generations of their Creator both accusing & excusing them, the Creator of Heaven & Earth, the Living God, finally, once for all, took matters into His own hands &embodied in the same flesh as those He had previously created, came to Earth & showed these special, holy people what it truly meant to love!
Through the Wrath of the Creator of Heaven & Earth bled forth the Redemption of His Son, most of whom had failed to faithfully represent Him! Through Fulfillment of the Law of the Creator, this Son appeased the Wrath of His Father & brought about the salvation of untold generations. The Father's Righteous Indignation, like any father's would be, was directed toward His children, that special people He had chosen & set apart ( made holy ) for Himself. As a Father, He has not changed, but thankfully, His People have; when His Son took upon Himself the guilt that these special, holy people bore, He changed the whole Landscape of Redemption, bringing salvation, not just to those special ones ( at least those who received His atonement ), but to all who actively trusted in Him for their redemption!
There are some today who question the Wrath of God; 'does it still exist?', 'does He still get angry at the wicked every day?' Since the Judgement of those Special People was fulfilled in the first century ( AD ), thus defeating Death ( separational ) forever, is His Wrath still brought to bear on His errant children? Well, as the Father of all & like any father, yes; His wrath is still brought to bear on His children! He is not petty, as some fathers are, demanding the love & obedience of His children, 'or else!', but He is angered by the willful disobedience & hatred of His creatures! How He chooses to release that anger or wrath looks different to different people, but it is a Righteous Indignation, not a petty wrath or anger because somebody stepped on His toes or failed to give Him the respect He deserves!
Much like His chosen people, His children today often choose to disobey His House Rules! Though sometimes His Wrath is not always immediate, we can be sure that our sins will find us out. We reap what we sow & when we live in disobedience to the House Rules, we may be sure that, sooner or later, no matter how strong the wall we've built, it's going to come crashing down on us! Is this the Wrath of God Revealed from Heaven? In the greatest sense yes, but in actuality, it's simply reaping what we have sown!
Those special people that the Creator God chose for Himself were subjected to the Flame of His Wrath! When final Judgement came upon them, their was a Remnant, a Chosen Few who escaped or came through those flames & were made stronger because of that experience; others did not survive His Wrath, but experienced Final Death, Eternal Separation from the Creator. The Wrath of God came to rest, in the first century, on His Chosen People, those through whom He had chosen to reveal His Presence to His Creation!
This is an old, old Story & though its exclusiveness came to an end in the first century, the Story continues & is now inclusive of His entire Creation! As children, there are many who still refuse to obey the House Rules & to pursue a blessed Relationship with their Heavenly Father, but things, as far as wrath stands, are a bit different now! Rather than giving us a Law written in Stone, we have His Spirit to help us live a Blessed Life. Rather than suffering His wrath when we fail to follow a written code, we have been blessed with His Presence! Those who worship false gods still receive the penalty due them, not so much because they have broken the House Rules, but because when a false god comes tumbling down, which it eventually will, it tends to cruse those who are kneeling at its feet!
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
The Spirit of Adam
The first man [ was ] of the earth, [ made ] of dust; the second Man [ is ] the Lord from heaven.
I Corinthians 15:47
To quote a good friend of mine, 'If you don't get Adam right, you can't get the Last Adam right.' Not sure if I would totally agree with this statement, because some who seem to have gotten Adam wrong seem to have gotten Jesus just fine! But seriously, there may be something to what my friend stated. If one doesn't acknowledge that the first Adam was simply a covenant head ( the first man with whom the Creator God made covenant ), then is it possible that they have truly missed the import of Covenantal Aspect of the Headship of Jesus?!
On the other hand, if the Adam we read about in Scripture really was the progenitor of the human race, as Creation Science would have us believe, wouldn't that explain the evil that men do? If the fallen spirit of Adam still pervades the hearts & minds of men & women the world over, then the fact that these are still in rebellion against their Creator makes all kinds of sense, right? Wait, no; that doesn't work: if Jesus the Christ, as the Last Adam, brought an end to the tyranny of Sin & Death ( Romans 5:12-21 ), then this spirit of Adam cannot exist anymore! Since Jesus took over the Headship from Adam, then Jesus, as the Last Adam, has become the Father of ALL men, right?
When asserting that the Creator God is the Father of all ( the ) living, we must be very careful, for as a dear brother once zealously ejaculated, 'my homosexual neighbor is NOT my brother!' To many Christians, it is difficult, nay impossible, to view those that Christianity has viewed as outsiders for so long as children of our Heavenly Father! Albeit rebellious children, they are children nonetheless & desperately seeking love & acceptance, though most would say, 'you're doing it wrong!'
The Spirit of Adam seems to be alive & well on Planet Earth, there is no doubt about that! Sometimes you almost can't blame all the doomsday prophets & false prognosticators; much of the crap going on in the world today, in particular the Dark Continent & the Middle East seems to leap straight from the pages of Scripture! The Rebellion of Man & the evil that men do seems to have no end or limits! It's no wonder that a vast majority ( of Christians ) think that this is the terminal generation!
Is this spirit, though, really the Spirit of Adam, or is it simply the rebellious spirit that dwells in the hearts & minds of all men & women who have not experienced The Change of Life? Though it could be argued that they are one & the same, the spirit of Adam, as the first covenant man, experienced death when he partook of the forbidden fruit. When Jesus, as the Last Adam, the Head of the New Covenant came, He took up the reins that the first man ( Adam ) had lost & resurrected in Himself the Body of Israel, He who Reigns with God!
The Scriptural Adam was unarguably the head, or father of the family of man ( Scripturally, 'the children of the devil' - John 8:44 ), whether one believes he was the first human being on planet earth or that he was the first man that the Creator God introduced Himself to! If we would posit that this same fallen nature, this same Spirit of Adam exists in certain men & women today, then we must acknowledge one of two things; either Jesus did not finish His Work ( as when He cried, 'it is finished', or the Spirit of Adam ( Man ) is stronger than the Spirit of Christ! If Adam as the first man & the federal head of humanity passed his fallen nature & the Spirit of Rebellion on to countless generations, then we would have someone besides ourselves to blame for our faults, even as those who have the Spirit of Christ, but if the first man Adam was simply the head of a nation of priests, those with whom the Creator God had made covenant in the beginning, then we can see that in the same way, Jesus became the Covenant Head of all those who have Faith in Him!
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, July 27, 2015
Heaven & Earth, Jew & Gentile
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Genesis 2:4
The issue of how to correctly identify 'the heavens and the earth' of Scripture has been hashed & rehashed over the past decade or so & still, we are no closer to a uniform position on the subject! To the majority of Christians, most likely, the answer is simple, the phrase is referring to the literal heavens ( sky ) & the literal earth ( land/globe ) or terra firma. To others, maybe, the phrase refers, in some sense, to the ministers of the Temple & the average Israelite. This position has no doubt met with some opposition because it seems to relegate the history of Genesis to a mere metaphorical story about the foundation of the Temple! 'How could Adam have been an Israelite, much less a priest ( minister ) in the Temple since neither came on the scene till many generations later?' Questions like this are unavoidable!
The construction of Genesis 1 is too interesting to ignore! The chiastic structure of Genesis 1 has a beauty beyond words! Beginning with the earth ( Land ), the Author quickly moves from there to the heavens & back, separating the two, and dizzying the reader with his literary style, first bringing order to one & life to the other. Moving back & forth, He weaves the creation account that we all, to one degree or another, have become familiar with. Heaven & earth, Adam & animals; what are we to make of it all?
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church at Galatia, wrote 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus' ( 3:28 ). John, in the Revelation, wrote 'there was no more sea' ( 21:1 ). He who had separated the waters from the Land in the beginning had removed the separating curtain, much as He, according to Paul, had removed the distinction between Jew & Greek, or Gentile. Israel was given the task, beginning with Adam's creation, of ministering the justice, mercy & love of the Creator to the rest of His Creation; because they failed to understand His purpose for this distinction, He took matters into His own Hands & removed that distinction!
Those with more knowledge & wisdom than this poor blogger have searched out the Temple Theme throughout the Genesis Creation account! These have found that the physical Temple in Jerusalem was so ordered to represent the Hebrew cosmological understanding of the heavens & earth. The tabernacle in the wilderness, along with its furniture & priests, were patterned after this understanding as well. The separation between the special people of the Creator God & the rest of His Creation was made for a Purpose! That Purpose was hidden throughout the Scriptures ( though glimpses were seen ) & finally revealed with the Advent of His Son, the Creator Himself in human form!
The Purpose for which the Creator God made a separation in His Created Order is not a simple one to discern! Some might say that the distinction was made so that those separated ones ( holy ) might keep themselves pure for the One who sought Union with them. Others might say that the distinction was made so that we could judge between those were consigned to heaven or hell ( it's difficult for us to understand the Hebrew concept-much different than ours ). Whatever the case may be, we understand that the distinction, or separation was made for the Purpose of the Eschaton, for the Revelation of the Son of God!
Genesis begins with the creation of 'the heavens and the earth'. The Author then points to the earth, bringing order & life to it as well as to the heavens! Both earth & heavens were given their own life & order, but they shared one life that inhabited both realms, the birds, or flying creatures! This may engender another post for another time, but it is interesting to note that the birds alone of all the creatures were given wings to fly in the heavens above as well as legs to traverse the earth beneath! Only after the creation of the animals did the Creator God form man in His image. As the Author moves His shuttle back & forth across the tapestry of this first part of Genesis, we may note His focus on the earth under the Rule of Heaven!
The Creator God, He who dwelt in the heavens according to Scripture came to earth in the form of His Prime Creation. With His Advent He brought Heaven to Earth, significantly removing the separating curtain & allowing His Creation to approach His Presence; in fact, He came to dwell in our midst! The New Heavens & New Earth which John saw in the Revelation referred to the resurrected Israel, or the Church in its infancy. We may quibble over whether the Church is the New Heavens & New Earth yet today or whether we are simply the generation of the New Heavens & New Earth, but what is clear is the fact that the Creator God has made His Dwelling with ( in ) His Creation!
Charles Haddon Shank
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The End of the Law
For Christ [ is ] the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:4
Simple, right?
Well, not really! There are a few factors involved here that most people don't usually think about when reading these words of Paul's. First, the context: the apostle was writing to a specific audience at a specific time in history. Previously, he wrote 'For they ( speaking of the Jews/Judaizers ) being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God'. He was reminding them, his first-century audience, that their Messiah was the Righteousness they sought; it was by accepting His Righteousness that they would be saved, not by works of the Law!
Secondly ( this follows right along ), Paul was not saying that the Law had been terminated ( though the Greek might lead one to believe thusly ), just that their reliance on it for righteousness had been terminated! Paul wrote elsewhere, 'Therefore the law was our tutor to [ bring us to ] Christ, that we might be justified by faith' ( Galatians 3:24 ). From this, we can see that the Purpose of the Law was to [ bring us to ] Christ; that is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Church in Rome, 'Christ [ is ] the end of the law'! Not that the Law was terminated, that now they could be lawless, but that the Law had fulfilled its Purpose, that of pointing them to the Christ, or Messiah!
One might ask how the Law of Virginity ( Deuteronomy 22:13-21 ) is fulfilled in Jesus; this is a valid question! How could a loving God sentence a woman to death for not being a virgin when she married? Here again, we must allow for several different factors, most importantly context! Moses wrote this Law, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to a people ( children ) who were to be pure, set apart & wholly unlike their neighbors around them. In our modern American culture, it has become almost a badge of honor & quite the norm in most societies to lose one's virginity BEFORE any vows are made! 'Testing the waters', so to speak, is almost looked at as the wisest course in this day & age, but in that culture & at that point in history, to lose one's virginity outside of marriage was not only a shameful matter, it could end in death!
This is not to say that such laws are no longer applicable to the people of God, for we are still to keep ourselves pure, holy & undefiled, even within the bonds of marriage! However, since we DO live in a different culture & especially since our Righteousness is found in the Creator God Himself ( not some Law written in Stone ), we cannot keep ourselves pure, holy & undefiled simply by following the Letter of the Law. By following the Spirit of the Law, as found in Jesus the Christ, we remain pure, holy & undefiled, even though our bodies have been ravaged!
The Law of Virginity as found in Deuteronomy 22 does not require an American women to be a virgin when she marries! Nor does it require her to be stoned ( put to death ) if she is not; that Law was made for a certain ( special ) people at a certain time & for a certain purpose. That purpose, as we have seen, was to point them to the Righteousness of the Spirit, not the Letter. Fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, that Law, as the Law of Love, is also fulfilled in us who have sought our Righteousness in the Christ alone, in the Spirit!
Though it may still in some sense have application for the People of God today, the Law no longer brings condemnation for the follower of Jesus the Christ ( Romans 8:1 )! The Virgin of Israel was kept pure, holy & undefiled, not by her adherence to & reliance on the Law, but by Him who was the End of the Law, its Purpose, its Goal! In the same way, we are kept pure, holy & undefiled, not by remaining virgins till we are married, but by finding our Righteousness, our Virginity in our Relationship with our Heavenly Father!
As we live today in the End of the Law, we should realize that though our righteousness does not come by the Law, the Law is our Heavenly Father's House Rules! If we willingly & thankfully follow those House Rules, things tend to go well for us! For example, if we remain a virgin until we become One with our Mate, things tend to go more smoothly, then if we have left a trail of broken hearts behind us before we 'settled down'. Though this is almost unavoidable in our day & age, even if we do succumb, we are not condemned for it by our Heavenly Father, though we may receive judgement for it at the hands of the injured parties!
The Law remains in effect! Though the Christ, or Messiah, was proven to be the End, or Goal of the Law & the Law was/is fulfilled in Him/us, the Law remains; it is still there! Though we are still judged by it ( we reap what we sow ), we are not condemned by the Letter of it. That Jewish Economy in the first century received their just judgement ( condemnation ) because they ( who should have known better ) rejected their Messiah! For them He was the End of the Law, the Culmination of Creation; He brought about the Marriage of Heaven & Earth. For us who live in the Fulfillment of that Blessed Reality, who constitute this New Heavens & New Earth; we now dwell in the Fulness of Him who is the Culmination, the Consummation of the Law!
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, July 20, 2015
The Necessity & Importance of Belief
And this is His commandment:
that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ
and love one another,
and love one another,
as He gave us[e] commandment.
I John 3:23
In order to do, one must first believe..............SOMETHING!
That is an undeniable fact; in order for one to accomplish anything, that one must first make a judgement ( however quickly or rightly ) & THEN act upon that judgement, or belief! While some people act more or less like animals & act upon instinct, they’ve still made a judgement, even a split-second one, about how they're going to react to a given situation. Everyone believes something; that's a fact of life!
Some claim to be irreligious, but the fact of the matter is, to whatever extent, everyone is by nature religious! They may not act according to their stated belief, or they may not even do much in any way, but everyone believes something & if one does do nothing at all, that one believes they should do nothing. If one does not act according to their stated belief, then we can know they're acting according to their true belief!
Scripture tells us in quite a few different places that one must believe in order to be saved; this is not to say that belief is no longer necessary, but we must realize that these words were spoken to a certain audience at a certain point in time! The necessity was for those Jews in the first century to accept Jesus as their Messiah. The haunting question here could be, 'is it not still necessary for people to accept Jesus as their Messiah, their Savior?' In some sense, one might say that it is necessary for one to realize that Jesus was the Messiah & accept His Atonement, but the fact of the matter is, He was the Jewish Messiah, He came to atone for their sin ( s ) & it is only as we identify with them, as the Body of Christ that we partake in their salvation!
Belief is a funny thing; there is a right way of believing & a wrong way of believing! As we have seen, everyone believes something; those who ( truly ) believe wrongly usually do wrongly & those who ( truly ) believe rightly will most often act rightly. Such is not always the case though, when it comes to stated beliefs; some people say one thing & do almost the exact opposite! One might say they believe everything written concerning the Gospel of the Son of God & yet not practice the example He gave us. On the other hand, one might claim not to believe that Gospel ( or even be ignorant of it ) & yet live according to many of the principles we find in the Gospel!
While it is true that one must believe in order to act upon those beliefs, is it of absolute necessity for one to believe according to the accepted orthodoxy in order for one to act correctly? Pretty obviously not! On the other side of the coin, it is plain that just because one states their orthodoxy doesn't mean they act correctly.
The problem that most people have with religion is not so much with religion itself, but with organized religion; a religion that says of itself that is the only correct way to believe & that if one doesn't profess its orthodox principles, that one is heretic & not on the highway to hell! Organized Religion usually teaches that their orthodox principles are the way, the truth & the life; if one doesn't adhere to their stated principles, that one is consigned to outer darkness, at least until they repent!
Thus, it is of utmost importance to believe, to truly believe what is right! In order to act rightly, one must first be able to make a right judgement. Again, in order to make a right judgement, one must have at least a basic knowledge of what IS right! With the In-dwelling Spirit & the Cleansed Conscience, one can make a right judgement even though that one may not have explored the intimacy & intricacy of one's faith, or belief! That one might understand that Jesus was/is the Son of God ( Very God of Very God ), but yet not aver the trinitarian principle of Father, Son & Holy Spirit! One may simply believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, God Himself, is One that we should emulate!
This is how we should then live; we should live religiously, according to our beliefs! We have seen that it is possible that even though one doesn't necessarily profess orthodoxy, they may act correctly. Then again, just because one does confess orthodox doctrine doesn't mean that one will practice it religiously! One may not have any certain stated belief ( religion ) & yet practice the principles that we find in the words of Jesus; 'just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise' ( Luke 6:31 ) & 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself' ( Leviticus 19:18 ). One might ask at this juncture whether it is even possible to love one's neighbor without first loving the Creator; good question: here's another, 'what does it mean to love God?'
Charles Haddon Shank
Sunday, July 19, 2015
The Church's Purpose, the Church's Plight
For too long, just like her fore-runner Israel of Old, the Church has been comfortable in her idolatry & adultery! Adultery may seem too strong of a term & according to most evangelical Christians, blasphemy, but let's face it, with Her reliance on the Power of the State, the Church, institutionally speaking especially, is nearly as guilty as Israel of Old of spiritual adultery! The State has all but taken the place of the Creator God in the lives of many Christians; if we want to endeavor anything, even something our Lord commands, more often than not, the first place we seek permission & blessing is from the State. When the State commands us not to do something that our Lord commands most Christians will cry 'persecution' or either justify their failure to follow their Lord's command! On the other side of the coin, if the State commands us to do something that our Heavenly Father commands us not to, many Christians will just shrug their shoulders and chalk it up to the end times; 'Jesus is surely coming soon', they exult!
The Time for Reformation is ripe! In many places & to whatever extent, the New Reformation has begun. Many within the Church are beginning to seek other avenues, even taking some cues from those outside the Church because they seem to have more plausible answers than the Church has been able to provide! Blame it on feminism or whatever 'ism' you wish, what it all comes down to is the version of the Gospel, or Good News that the Church has been preaching, especially of late! When the Gospel of Jesus the Christ becomes nothing more then making sure one goes to 'Heaven'' when one dies, when it offers no solution to our earthly difficulties, it has become a dangerously weakened Gospel! Something has got to go & what needs to go is the sort of theology that Christianity has clung to for the past several hundred years!
Scripture clearly states that Jesus paid the price, that He took vengeance on His enemies & that He raised up His Body! Most Christians believe that He will ( must ) return again to save His People yet again & take vengeance ( again ) on His enemies; then He will raise His Body from the grave, or more succinctly, their graves. Here we come to one of the most insidious worms in the apple, 'individualism'! Individualism is of course, not a Scriptural notion; Scripture never tells us of an individual salvation or resurrection except as a picture of the corporate salvation & resurrection of the People of God, or Israel.
Like Israel of Old before Her, the Church ( who is Israel Renewed ) was given a job to do: that job was/is to propagate the Gospel of Jesus the Christ & to pour out streams of Living Water for the healing of the nations! The Church was designed to influence ( in a good way ) the Culture around Her, but instead, it's the other way around. The recent Supreme Court decision in favor of homosexual marriage licensing is simply the latest symptom. Another symptom that shows how the Church has failed to righteously affect the culture is the widespread acceptance of abortion! Just like the Church in Germany in the thirties & forties failed to stand up for what was right & stamp out what was wrong, the Church has failed to have any real effect on the cultural plague of infant murder!
As always, the best place to begin is the beginning! We who seek to foment the New Reformation, nay Revolution do not have all the answers, but we do know where to start! The Narrative, usually called the Bible or Scripture, is where one must begin to make any sense of History. The Creator God lowered Himself to first, redeem & second, to commune with His Creation. He first made a covenant with Israel of Old to be His Priests in that endeavor, then, when Israel failed in their Mission, He sent His own Son to be His Priest, to redeem Israel & to commune with His Creation! As the Body of His Son, the Church has been given the task of spreading that Good News, but She too will ultimately fail in Her mission if all she can offer is some future hope of 'Heaven'! If She continues to let the culture follow the lead of evil men & women rather than affecting the Culture around her with the Good News of Jesus the Christ, then She should not be surprised when She begins to feel the weight of the evils of the culture She neglected!
Viva la Revolucion!
The Church must repent of both her adultery & idolatry; She must stop relying on the Government of Mere Men to bolster Her economy & She must divorce Herself from the love of all that is not Her Creator! To accomplish this, there must needs be Reformation & the sooner the better!The New Reformation is happening as we speak; it may not be a sudden as the apostle Paul's experience on the road to Damascus & it may not be as emotionally charged as the 1st & 2nd Great Revivals, but it is happening nonetheless; it starts with the Story, for a correct understanding of the Story helps us to realize our true place in History & our true Status as the Church, the Israel of God & a Nation of Priests!
Charles Haddon Shank
The Time for Reformation is ripe! In many places & to whatever extent, the New Reformation has begun. Many within the Church are beginning to seek other avenues, even taking some cues from those outside the Church because they seem to have more plausible answers than the Church has been able to provide! Blame it on feminism or whatever 'ism' you wish, what it all comes down to is the version of the Gospel, or Good News that the Church has been preaching, especially of late! When the Gospel of Jesus the Christ becomes nothing more then making sure one goes to 'Heaven'' when one dies, when it offers no solution to our earthly difficulties, it has become a dangerously weakened Gospel! Something has got to go & what needs to go is the sort of theology that Christianity has clung to for the past several hundred years!
Scripture clearly states that Jesus paid the price, that He took vengeance on His enemies & that He raised up His Body! Most Christians believe that He will ( must ) return again to save His People yet again & take vengeance ( again ) on His enemies; then He will raise His Body from the grave, or more succinctly, their graves. Here we come to one of the most insidious worms in the apple, 'individualism'! Individualism is of course, not a Scriptural notion; Scripture never tells us of an individual salvation or resurrection except as a picture of the corporate salvation & resurrection of the People of God, or Israel.
Like Israel of Old before Her, the Church ( who is Israel Renewed ) was given a job to do: that job was/is to propagate the Gospel of Jesus the Christ & to pour out streams of Living Water for the healing of the nations! The Church was designed to influence ( in a good way ) the Culture around Her, but instead, it's the other way around. The recent Supreme Court decision in favor of homosexual marriage licensing is simply the latest symptom. Another symptom that shows how the Church has failed to righteously affect the culture is the widespread acceptance of abortion! Just like the Church in Germany in the thirties & forties failed to stand up for what was right & stamp out what was wrong, the Church has failed to have any real effect on the cultural plague of infant murder!
As always, the best place to begin is the beginning! We who seek to foment the New Reformation, nay Revolution do not have all the answers, but we do know where to start! The Narrative, usually called the Bible or Scripture, is where one must begin to make any sense of History. The Creator God lowered Himself to first, redeem & second, to commune with His Creation. He first made a covenant with Israel of Old to be His Priests in that endeavor, then, when Israel failed in their Mission, He sent His own Son to be His Priest, to redeem Israel & to commune with His Creation! As the Body of His Son, the Church has been given the task of spreading that Good News, but She too will ultimately fail in Her mission if all she can offer is some future hope of 'Heaven'! If She continues to let the culture follow the lead of evil men & women rather than affecting the Culture around her with the Good News of Jesus the Christ, then She should not be surprised when She begins to feel the weight of the evils of the culture She neglected!
Viva la Revolucion!
The Church must repent of both her adultery & idolatry; She must stop relying on the Government of Mere Men to bolster Her economy & She must divorce Herself from the love of all that is not Her Creator! To accomplish this, there must needs be Reformation & the sooner the better!The New Reformation is happening as we speak; it may not be a sudden as the apostle Paul's experience on the road to Damascus & it may not be as emotionally charged as the 1st & 2nd Great Revivals, but it is happening nonetheless; it starts with the Story, for a correct understanding of the Story helps us to realize our true place in History & our true Status as the Church, the Israel of God & a Nation of Priests!
Charles Haddon Shank
Friday, July 17, 2015
The Name of God
Scripturally, the Creator/Author of Heaven & Earth is known as YHWH, or even more correctly, 'I AM'! There are many names that have been attributed to our Heavenly Father; 'Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace' ( Isaiah 9:6 ) is just one example. We realize that this list, in context, is referring to the Christ, or Scripturally, 'the Son of God' ( I John 5:20, et al ), but Jesus WAS 'God with us' ( Isaiah 7:10-14 ). To the Noble Savage, otherwise known as 'he American Indian', He was often called 'The Great Spirit'. Other cultures, though not what we would call Christian, know their Creator by any number of different names. The religion of Islam, for instance, calls the Creator God by the name of 'Allah', though their perception of Him ( the Creator God ) is often at odds with the Christian God!
Traditionally, because of our Christian Scriptures, we have called the Creator by the name 'God' ( sometimes 'Yahweh' ) & to be honest, this is not wrong, but is it correct? The Hebrew word translated 'God' in our Scriptures is 'elohim'; this simply means 'a mighty one, a ruler or judge'! When our Lord commanded the Children of Israel, through Moses, 'You shall have no other gods before Me' ( Exodus 20:3 ), He used the same Hebrew word to describe those false gods, those idols that would confront His Covenant People in the Promised Land!
When Moses asked the Creator God what he should tell the Children of Israel if they should ask who had sent him, his Lord said 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you' ( Exodus 3:14 ). This was the Name by which the Creator's Children were to know Him! Now, we must understand here as well that we are reading/interpreting this from our English translation of an ancient near eastern language. 'Hayah' is the Hebrew word used here & it simply means 'to be, to exist'. Traditionally, we have read it as 'The Preexistent One' ( or something to that effect ). Of all the many names that Scripture ascribes to our Heavenly Father, this is probably the most technically correct, but this name was revealed to the Hebrews, not to Americans; should we in the 21st century use that same Name, or even just use the rather ambiguous 'God'?
In this day & age, as in ancient times, our 'god' is whatever we worship, whether it be money, things, or whatever. For instance, the inscription on American money, both paper & coinage, 'In God we trust', could actually be interpreted in such a way that the very currency on which this phrase is imprinted it technically the 'God' or 'god' referred to! To be honest, when this phrase was first coined, doubtless those who coined it had in mind the Creator God, but since the term itself is so ambiguous, it could just as well mean 'in money ( or financial status ) we trust'!
Some might wonder if it is really all that important what we call our Lord, our Heavenly Father! Doesn't He still hear the prayers of His Children, whether they call Him 'God', Yahweh, 'Allah', or even refer to Him simply as 'The Great Spirit'? No doubt He does, but if we would be true in our speech & Scripturally correct, we should probably use the name Yahweh, or even refer to Him as IAM'! As fathers, though, don't we appreciate when our children call us 'dad', 'papa', or even 'father'?
It has become more popular, especially in the past 50 years, give or take, to call our earthly fathers by their first names & though this is not necessarily wrong, not all fathers appreciate this; to some, it would probably be seen as a sign of disrespect!
So again, does it really matter what terms we use when referring to the Creator God, our Heavenly Father? He is our God, our Ruler, our Judge & THE Mighty One, but not everyone acknowledges this! While this does not change the Absolute, it does make a difference in how we are perceived! We may say that we believe in God, but if we put more importance on other things than on following our Lord's commands & example, then those with which we have to do will note that our 'God' is truly not the Creator, but money, status, etc. If we call Him our Father, or even 'Yahweh' or some other Scriptural term, then they should realize that we serve the God of Israel!
Whatever terminology we use to describe our Heavenly Father ( 'God' is perfectly acceptable ), what is most important is that we follow His example! If a Muslim calls Him 'Allah' & follows the example that He gave us through Jesus the Christ, will he or she be justified through their deeds as well as a Christian? A Buddhist that follows in Jesus' footsteps should be accepted as well as an American Indian who worships 'The Great Spirit'!
What it comes down to is not what you call your god, but what you do with your god. How many Christians put so much emphasis on using the correct terminology to refer to the Creator God that they forget that it is by doing, by following His commands & example that we are judged? How many people that wouldn't necessarily be called Christians actually put His teachings into practice, even though they may not recognize Him as their Heavenly Father?
Charles Haddon Shank
Traditionally, because of our Christian Scriptures, we have called the Creator by the name 'God' ( sometimes 'Yahweh' ) & to be honest, this is not wrong, but is it correct? The Hebrew word translated 'God' in our Scriptures is 'elohim'; this simply means 'a mighty one, a ruler or judge'! When our Lord commanded the Children of Israel, through Moses, 'You shall have no other gods before Me' ( Exodus 20:3 ), He used the same Hebrew word to describe those false gods, those idols that would confront His Covenant People in the Promised Land!
When Moses asked the Creator God what he should tell the Children of Israel if they should ask who had sent him, his Lord said 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you' ( Exodus 3:14 ). This was the Name by which the Creator's Children were to know Him! Now, we must understand here as well that we are reading/interpreting this from our English translation of an ancient near eastern language. 'Hayah' is the Hebrew word used here & it simply means 'to be, to exist'. Traditionally, we have read it as 'The Preexistent One' ( or something to that effect ). Of all the many names that Scripture ascribes to our Heavenly Father, this is probably the most technically correct, but this name was revealed to the Hebrews, not to Americans; should we in the 21st century use that same Name, or even just use the rather ambiguous 'God'?
In this day & age, as in ancient times, our 'god' is whatever we worship, whether it be money, things, or whatever. For instance, the inscription on American money, both paper & coinage, 'In God we trust', could actually be interpreted in such a way that the very currency on which this phrase is imprinted it technically the 'God' or 'god' referred to! To be honest, when this phrase was first coined, doubtless those who coined it had in mind the Creator God, but since the term itself is so ambiguous, it could just as well mean 'in money ( or financial status ) we trust'!
Some might wonder if it is really all that important what we call our Lord, our Heavenly Father! Doesn't He still hear the prayers of His Children, whether they call Him 'God', Yahweh, 'Allah', or even refer to Him simply as 'The Great Spirit'? No doubt He does, but if we would be true in our speech & Scripturally correct, we should probably use the name Yahweh, or even refer to Him as IAM'! As fathers, though, don't we appreciate when our children call us 'dad', 'papa', or even 'father'?
It has become more popular, especially in the past 50 years, give or take, to call our earthly fathers by their first names & though this is not necessarily wrong, not all fathers appreciate this; to some, it would probably be seen as a sign of disrespect!
So again, does it really matter what terms we use when referring to the Creator God, our Heavenly Father? He is our God, our Ruler, our Judge & THE Mighty One, but not everyone acknowledges this! While this does not change the Absolute, it does make a difference in how we are perceived! We may say that we believe in God, but if we put more importance on other things than on following our Lord's commands & example, then those with which we have to do will note that our 'God' is truly not the Creator, but money, status, etc. If we call Him our Father, or even 'Yahweh' or some other Scriptural term, then they should realize that we serve the God of Israel!
Whatever terminology we use to describe our Heavenly Father ( 'God' is perfectly acceptable ), what is most important is that we follow His example! If a Muslim calls Him 'Allah' & follows the example that He gave us through Jesus the Christ, will he or she be justified through their deeds as well as a Christian? A Buddhist that follows in Jesus' footsteps should be accepted as well as an American Indian who worships 'The Great Spirit'!
What it comes down to is not what you call your god, but what you do with your god. How many Christians put so much emphasis on using the correct terminology to refer to the Creator God that they forget that it is by doing, by following His commands & example that we are judged? How many people that wouldn't necessarily be called Christians actually put His teachings into practice, even though they may not recognize Him as their Heavenly Father?
Charles Haddon Shank
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