Not Just Deliverance, but Purpose & Identity (Part II)

October 18, 2006… it’s unique how the Spirit directs and how God positions… so I am sitting in church this morning (10.01.06) and Bro. Dean Sisk is speaking in John. His intention was to speak on “Jesus is Light.” I think my ears heard what he was speaking on; but based on the last “note,” I saw something a little differently. Dean was spoke on 1 Peter 2:9 for a brief moment and mentioned that this is apart of a letter Peter has written and it’s directing to their rejection of the Light…

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you (Israel) are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own purchases, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of the darkness and into His light.”

With this in mind, I think it rings a bell directly with Exodus 19:5-6. Here we have Peter telling the people of Israel (gentiles included), and he is saying, “HELLO! (Can you imagine him yelling the Shalom at the people? I just found that funny to think about and a crazy flashback to VBS 4 yrs. Ago) anyway… HELLO! God has called us out. Do you not remember (t’shuva)? Do you not remember the commandments God gave us that are the basis of the 613 commandments in the Torah (first five books of the Bible aka Law of Moses or Pentateuch)? (Jewish belief is that the Ten Commandments do not hold a higher view than the rest of the 613 commandments in the Torah, but they believe that they are based from the 10 commandments God gave Moses and Aaron on Mt. Sinai; and yes I am confident they hiked 7498ft. of Sinai again) Do you not remember the first time God called unto us and said, ‘if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” So I think this is much more than the rejection of Jesus’ teachings. This is the rejection of their purpose and identity by God.

I love how 1 Peter 2:9 supports the consistency of God. Peter, a fishermen who took up the family trade probably because he wasn’t good enough to further learn past the Torah, recognizes the calling of the people. So he certainly remembered Exodus 19:6 from, I assume, when he was kid learning the Torah (as all Jewish kids are taught). I think this is something we Christian living in America need to see the importance of… We are not taught to love the Word. In the church today, we are expected to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, read our bible when we have free time, and Go… I think it’s sad that we (as a body) are not being still/silent, rooting ourselves, and allowing fruit to bear (just my opinion); but
Jewish culture teaches their kids to love the Word. And this passage (Exodus 19:5-6) has HUGE implications (I would imagine) because it was the first time God tells the people of Israel they will be HIS possession and treasure. Wouldn’t any person tell their children, generation after generation, their purpose and name if God spoke to them? And so, because of this, we have Peter reminding the people that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own purchases, special people. And he goes even further to remind them that they are “to set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him” BECAUSE God said they would be a “kingdom of priests.”

Isn’t God sovereign?

To be continued… asap

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Quick Remark:

Not Just Deliverance, but Purpose & Identity (Part I)

October 12, 2006so for the past few years I have been praying to have a...hm what word is right... a "zeal" (that sounds too holy for John Dunahoo)...ok energy, enthusiasm, or eagerness (I said these words because i dont wanna use "passion" haha). ok anyway, I have been praying that God would give me an enthusiasm for His Word. For goodness sake, IT GIVES LIFE. Thats pretty big in my book... Because of this, I have had a what seems a tumor within me that there is so much more to the life submitted to Jesus than what I have been taught... With teachings from Jeff Brookes, David Huskey, John Piper, my Mother and Father, Rob Bell, my brother Clint Singleton, words of Tim Hughes & Mike Pilavachi, Dean Sisk, Trevor Atwood, Jerel Olsen and the of course Word itself, I am beginning a persuit after what I have known is greater than what is since I was 7 to be exact.

disclaimer: I am not knowledgeable in Hebrew. just been doing research so yeah... just a forewarning

so. yeah here's a glimpse of what God is showing me...

so the people of Israel left Egypt and its the 3rd month they are out of there... they are now at the Wilderness of Sinai. So the encamp at the base of Mt. Sinai. Moses hikes up 7498 ft of mountain (assuming he went to the top, but we just know "Moses went up to God, and the Lord called him out of the mountain" and God says to Moses,
Exodus 19:5-6
... 5 "Now therefore, if you will indeed OBEY my voice and KEEP MY COVENANT, then you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and YOU SHALL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

so we have Moses @ Mt. Sinai (elevation of 7498 feet). God obviously stops Moses in his tracks. He does this because deliverance out of Egypt was God's first step for the people of Israel (a people of no land at the moment) to see Almighty God (el Shaddai) the way He appeared to Abraham in Gen 17:1.

so God does not deliver the people of Israel just to simply rescue them from bondage and slavery, but its His purpose to give Israel a purpos, a reason, a basis of living and a name after being in exile for 430 years... He delivered them because He was searching for a body. He desires Israel to be TO GOD "a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation" (sounds like a name to me)... and note here that a priest isn't just a preacher as we American's see them to be... a priest at this time was the ONLY person to communicate with God, there were no intimate relationships with God we have today due to the Law. So God is calling Israel to show to the world what God is like...this is rather significant because this is the FIRST body that God calls to be His hands and feet... So Sinai is a place where God gives his people identity...

to be continued... asap

21st Century Church: A House of Prayer?

June 08, 2006so I have been doing much thinking and this is the best way to express it ...

...There are tons of exciting things happening today in the church and as a result of shifts in our culture, with the trends that flow in and out, we see things that have never been done in "the church" to bring creativity in churchs and "to enhance" messages. From webcasts, podcasts, video loops, TV broadcasts, services on saturday to better congregations schedules, big or small groups, post-modern services, interactive media for children, lights and projection screens and even electric guitars in worship services! (i say that last one with much exaggeration haha)... but regardless within the past decade there are tons of new things in churchs that were never there before...and it seems today that many today have to be up to date everything little thing from one sunday to the next, like Apple's next release of an iPod, computer, or software. Regardless of what we think the church has stepped into a world of its own that covers everything from our forms of communication to the way we interpret life.
... what is challenging in all this is that it encourages us to continually look for new forms of communication. It's a good thing to be learners of new languages in our communities and culture; HOWEVER, if we look at contemporary worship today, I fear we may find that there is little understanding of the communicational (if thats a word) nature of God's house. God's house is a house of prayer. Jesus is our worship leader (Hebrews 8:1-3) and Text (John 1:14). In the attempts of making God's house an "exciting and relevant place" to the culture, it is possible that God's purpose for His house is distorted to where we undermine the power and authority of our Lord. I think we are in danger of a different "text" being placed at the center of the church, so that we aren't doing what the church was meant to do...to teach, fellowship (worship), breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42).
...There is one Text, and thats the Word of the Father and is known to us through stories preserved in sacred Scripture, and continues to make Himself present to us through His Spirit. It is He who is the the Word, the Text. Other texts are available, but they are simply informational, but the Text is transformational because our Lord stirs the hearts of those who seek Him and delight in Him...sadly though, we easily get caught up in all the "great" communication tools available to us through what we call church media...we MUST get caught up in the transformational Text and keep Him center.

*** I think it's no coincidence that in Mathew 21:13, Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem and doesn't like what He finds...He finds a marketplace, a temple that is commercialized. So as a result he overturns tables and justifies His actions by quoting "It is written, MY House will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of thieves." The text here that Jesus quotes is Isaiah 56:7 "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." I think its incredible how Jesus uses Scripture to call the people back to the original purpose of prayer and worship...and away from cultural forces that distract them from those purposes.
...Jesus does not state a new purpose of his Father's house, but He is taking what has already been said by God in the matters of worship and giving it new meaning in the present day. And i think thats the same today...We don't need to think of the "den of thieves" as simply robbers, but the thieves and robbers are simply any other program or plan that takes us away from our full attention towards God. I think it is necessary and right that we owe Him His attention, which ought to be devotion, praise and glory. Nowadays the tables that are overturned would not be marketgoers or merchants of doves, but those who are using God's house of prayer for their own agenda...
One thing to think about is would Jesus overturn tables if He entered the individual church's of our nation...would He justify His actions to us through Scripture to us because we delight in foolish things as "great" communication tools or our attempts of making God's house an "exciting and relevant place" our culture?

The point is that today, the technology of communication and all the creative, listening devices have taken center stage within the Body. Perhaps in parts of the Body these new uses of communication are prioritized over the Text. It's sad when the story of Jesus we are sharing becomes the theme to the story of the manner we are telling the story... The problem is the audience for our worship is not God, but rather the audience becomes a god (attempting to make God's house an "exciting and relevant place").

Relying on the Spirit

May 24, 2006

We cannot discover the worship God is seeking for apart from the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must submit to His guidance and leadership in all aspects of worship, both as gathered community and in our individual lives. So we must rely on the work of the Spirit in us to draw from us the worship in which God delights.

our Hearts in Preparation..

April 11, 2006words from Layne Edwards in his AO Facebook newsletter...
Thank You so much man

...Well this week is special because we have the Lord’s
Supper Thursday night. Which is so cool because
what I’m going to share with you God showed me
before I knew about the Lord’s Supper being this
week. One of the big part of the Lord’s supper
is to examine your heart to make sure it is pure
before you take bread and wine (a.k.a grape juice
and crackers :) Deuteronomy 30:6 says
"Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise
your heart and the heart of your descendants, to
love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul, in order that you may live”
God makes it very all though His Word that sin
comes from the heart first and that leads to
physical acts. God also makes it very clear that
he will not look upon sin. So how can we love God
with ALL our hearts if we have sin in even the
smallest part? The answer is to pray that God
will purify our hearts so we can offer them as a
sacrifice to him. What is hidden in your heart
that no one else can see? Please take time this
week to pray that God will reveal your sin so you
can ask forgiveness for it and come to Him this
Thursday night with a pure heart. Only God can
purify us, we can do nothing on our own. God
bless…