David Kenney

I just got the joke of this picture the other day, for some reason I thought it was about being a “short” pastor (which I am).

I was asked in an interview lately what music is on my ipod and I had to admit that I generally don’t listen to music anymore (apparently I have reached “that age”) and that my ipod is filled with sermons and podcasts.

And lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the traditional sermon. There are lots of schools of thought on what it means to give a “sermon.” My seminary would say that you should preach on a passage of scripture and then use topics and other verses to support it.

But there are lots of ways to preach a sermon:

• There are the sermons that use the “3 points” rule….
• There are pastors who love alliteration…
• There are preachers who talk a stern 30 minutes…
• And then there are ministers who have no concept of time….

The sermon is a big deal. Ask any parishioner why they go to their church, and they will either answer that they like the preacher, the music or the people. (wouldn’t it be great if it were all three?)

When my wife and I visit churches during the month, we always take note of how long the sermon was compared to the other worship elements; and being either the longest (or second longest) worship element of any service – it can sometimes be an ordeal. For the most part a sermon is typically 30 to 45 to 50 minutes long!

That’s the thing, I remember the things that a sermon should cover or include, but I don’t remember the part where my seminary professors said, “And make sure it’s at least thirty minutes long.”

I recently read somewhere that a professor in the Department of Teacher Education at California State University says that “…The time-worn tool of the instructor “telling” and students “listening” has become passé.”

You may not believe this, but the students of today have a shorter attention span than those of twenty-five years ago. Students, then, did not have access to the sophisticated media they have today to divert them from reading and listening. Today, these technologies are more cheaply available; and their addictive images and sounds contribute to an attention span that, for the average 17 to 23-year-old, may be between five to seven minutes, and even less for those with attention deficit disorders.

Five to seven minutes!

But just wait a second before you hit the print button and run this blog off to your senior pastor.

Let’s think a minute about Jesus’ sermons. We really only have one “big sermon” recorded.  We have the infamous “sermon on the mount” and then tons of little “sound bites” that are either parable “story teaching” lessons, or times when we see Jesus teaching through his actions.

Perhaps most of his parables were twelve or so minutes; no bullets, no fill in the blanks, and no cool power point.

And then there is the media to think about. People today watch a lot of television. According to Veronis Suhler Stevenson’s Communications Industry Forecast and Report, quoted by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2003, the average American spent 1,745 hours watching television, which works out to 145 hours a month. That’s more than six complete days in front of the TV… each month.

We get all of our information from screens.

I think a lot of times pastors miss a great opportunity in talking with their audiences by not using current topics and media in their messages. Most of this is simply because Christians as a rule try to remove themselves from secular society. One of my wife’s biggest pet-peeves is when she is talking to someone and says, “Did you see such and such on TV last night?” and the person comes back with “Oh, we don’t watch television.”

It its estimated that between 127 and 400 million people watch television every night, over 500 million use the internet world wide, millions buy DVD’s and CD’s every year, and millions more go the movies.

Let’s go back to Jesus’ lessons.

Remember, Jesus uses stories about farming and agriculture and he talks to a mainly uneducated, repressed people group. He uses word pictures about commonly found items like coins, food and farm animals.  He talks about recent events and mentions their political and religious leaders (sometimes by name).

Jesus made his lessons relevant.

Were Jesus’ teachings short and to the point?

Perhaps, there is no real way to ever know, but that certainly seems to be the example we have in scripture.

So is a sermon terrible if it is forty-five minutes long and discusses the genealogies behind the book of Numbers?

No.

….well… yes, but that’s not what I am saying.

Donald Whitney says, “…many fail to think of preaching as worship. But listening to preaching is something you do, and it is an act of worship to listen with an eager mind and responsive heart.”

No matter what, God is speaking. We as a congregation need to be open to that. Jesus says in Luke 8:18, “So be sure to pay attention to what you hear. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they think they have will be taken away from them.”

I think the topic is defiantly two-sided; pastors should strive to connect with their audiences and be easy to understand and the congregation has an obligation to at least be open to it.

Hopefully it only took you a few minutes to read this.

I have always felt that my theology on Satan and his role have been muddled. Primarily because I think scholarship sometimes relies heavily on tradition and the role the black arts have played in history. It seems that when I sit in church I hear one thing…

• that Satan is the “boogey man.”
• He is Jesus Christ’s variation of Professor Moriarty.
• He is Pete the cat trying to thwart every good and perfect plan of Mickey Mouse.

And then when I read the scriptures I see something different.

For instance, in 1 Samuel 16:14-24 the text says that God sends an evil Spirit to torment Saul. So here the picture is not Satan sending out his minions to trip up the work of humanity… it’s God.

In 2 Samuel 24:1 God “tempts” David to take the census. Our english bibles says “God moved David” but the Hebrew word for ‘moved’ is more acuratley defined as to incite, allure, and instigate. A further reading shows that David later feels guilty (v.10) and he tells God that he has sinned. So.. one can conclude that God tempted David to sin.

And certainly the classic image of Satan in the book of Job (whether it be a play or fiction non-withstanding) is not entirely adversarial. In fact, Satan doesn’t act much worse than a prosecuting attorney(of course that may actually prove the argument further). If you are familiar with the story, Satan acts within God’s will at every turn. He has to “ask permission” before he acts and he has to stay within God’s perimeters and there is never any evidence that Satan acts otherwise or on his own. Plus, where does this scene take place? Apparently wherever God is… Satan also is. Satan does not appear to be a “fallen Angel” who is “banished” to his own realm for being Heaven’s version of Justin Beiber.

Not to mention how many times the word “Satan” refers to a person who plays the “role” of an adversary. The classic Matthew 16:23 “Get behind me, Satan” comes to mind. (plus 1 Sam 29:4; 2 Sam 19:22; 1 Kings 5:4; 11:14)

And we don’t see it really until the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus that we see this “watch out for the devil” theology coming into play.

We know that that the afterlife was a philosophy taking shape more and more with the Pharisees who were perhaps borrowing a lot of “Good vs Evil” ideas from the Persians, but is Jesus validating this theology in his own teaching or is he merely playing on their fears?

And where does the temptation in the desert fit into all of this? This scene between Jesus and Satan is probably the most dialog and interaction we have in scripture.  And I would argue that even though the Devil makes certain promises if Christ will obey or worship him… we don’t have nay evidence that Satan can fulfill those pledges. In fact, Satan doesn’t appear that much different than he does in the story of Job; one would almost wonder who sent Satan to tempt Jesus? That’s not a heretical statement… I think we can all agree that God sent his son to die, Jesus is stepping into a situation where he is in essence… doomed. So could God be testing Jesus before the ministry begins to ensure that Christ won’t be tempted by these things later in his ministry so that he can “make it all the way” to the cross?

At one point Satan even temps Jesus to “use his power” to save his own life – Matthew 4:6, “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ “One wonders if Jesus is recalling that moment on the cross because what are the people shouting at the foot of the cross in Matthew 27:40? “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

Was Satan tempting Jesus in the desert for his own purposes? Or for someone higher? I don’t argue verses that describe Satan as someone who is “out to get you” like 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaringlion, seeking whom he may devour.” All I am saying is…. if Satan is the lion then who holds the chair and the whip? Who is the lion tamer?

This raises two big issues for me:

The biggest issue seems to be that we say with our very being that “God is in control of all things” (Ephesians 1:11, Job 42:2) and that “nothing on this earth happens outside of God’s will” but then we also try to insert the adversary as someone who is “allowed” to meddle in God’s will. These two ideas conflict for me. If God is always in control, then that means Satan is always under God’s control and moves within God’s will. (this is the Satan we see in the book of Job)

The other issue is, if God wishes that all might be saved and that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9) why not destroy Satan as an adversary the way God destroyed every people group that opposed Israel? Unless of course God needs Satan to complete his plan for humanity and that Satan is in fact an agent of God…

In these discussions, I am always going to fall back to being a monotheist. I only believe in one God and one supreme force in the universe. Therefore I do not believe in an anti-God or a “dark side” to God’s light. The devil is not God’s equal but more sinister nemesis. And therefore the devil is not the opposite of God because evil is not the opposite of good. Think of it like this, darkness is not the opposite of light, rather darkness is the absence of light. There are light particles, but there are no “dark particles.” Darkness is not a “thing” and it is not a “force.”

So I would ague that evil and hell are the same thing; they are simply the absence of God. And when we focus on those elements, in reality we end up focusing on things that are not of God; and why would I want to do that?

Maybe the reason I don’t know much about the devil and the forces of evil are because….. I don’t care.

I repeat… this isn’t my area of expertise. These ideas and verses may have no consistency at all, my theology is probably a giant mess and I certainly have not studied or read much scholarship on the issue. Most of these verses about Satan were given to me by my Greek Professor; I’m just glad I worked Justin Beiber  into the same article as the devil.

What are your thoughts?

If you have the time, you may consider auditing the Old and New Testament introductory courses offered online, entirely for free, by Yale University. Professor Christine Hayes teaches the Old Testament course, and Professor Dale B. Martin teaches the New Testament course.

You can watch each lecture in the Old Testament course here, in addition to reading a transcript of each lecture, and download the full syllabus.

Watch the New Testament course here, and read full transcripts of lectures, alongside the syllabus.

Copyright: Materials from the Open Yale Courses are used here under the provisions of the Creative Commons License and in accordance with the Open Yale Courses terms of use.

An introduction to a new way to study the Bible every day…You can subscribe to this podcast from iTunes by clicking the following link: http://www.damaris.org/cm/rss/podcasts/deovox.xml

…Ok, so I finally get to go out to the battlefield, even if it was only to deliver some food to my brothers. My Dad wanted to know how the war was fairing, or at the very least for me to bring back some token. So the next day, I packed up and headed out 15 miles to just within inches from the Philistine border. And as I came upon the battle I could see both armies lined up on either side.

Dropping off the supplies with the section chief, I hurried out to the front lines along side Eliab,  my other brothers and his friends. But before I could even ask them how things were going, a huge mountain of man walked out from behind the enemy front lines. He was taller than a bear and covered from head to toe in armor. “Why do you all stand lined up in a row?” the giant shouted. “Send your best man forward – if he can kill me – we will be your slaves!”

I wanted to shout and raise my staff, but instead of a battle cry, the solders fell back and one even hid behind me…. I was confused and whispered to the men, “Who is this Philistine dog?”

“Are you watching this?” a solider motioned for me to duck down with him. “This giant defies our God and King!”

“What will King Saul do for the man who kills this Philistine?” I asked.

“I heard that the man who kills Goliath will be given great wealth and the daughter of the King in marriage!” said one. “I heard he and his family will never have to pay taxes for the rest of their lives,” said another. It was just then that my brother Eliab grabbed my arm and got right in my face, “Why are you even here, little brother? Aren’t your sheep lonely?”

“What have I done?” I pulled back. “Can’t I ask a question?” So I left the men on the battlefront and marched straight into King Saul’s tent. “Don’t worry about a thing,” I shouted to Saul. “I can take this guy.” Saul shook his head, “You can’t fight this giant. You’re just a kid, and this warrior has been a trained killer his entire life.”

“I’ve been a warrior too,” I boasted. “I have been fighting bears and lions for years; and the same God who protected me from stupid animals is the same God who will protect me from this stupid Philistine!”  Saul was convinced and he even tried to dress me in his own armor, but I knew it would only slow me down. I assured him that I was ok with my shepherd’s staff and on my way back out I grabbed 5 smooth stones from a nearby stream.

Bravely walking past my brothers and the men on the front lines, I tried my best to look confident, but inside I was still pretty scared. Goliath saw me right away as I came over the ridge and he called out in a deep voice, “Do you think that I am a dog? You have brought a stick to a sword fight!” He shouted. “If you step any closer I will strip off your flesh and feed it to the birds!”

“Your armor is pretty impressive,” I managed to shout back. “But I have more than just a stick. I bring with me the hand of the living God. And I will do more than feed your flesh to the birds; I am going to cut off your head so that everyone will know that our God is THE ONLY God in Israel!” I could see the giant begin to reach for his sword, but his armor and size made him way too slow for me. I ran out to meet him as fast as I could, digging for the stones in my bag. I loaded the first rock in my sling – fired off a shot – and it landed – right in the center of his skull! My feet dug into the dirt as I stopped short to see what would happen next.

The giant lumbered backward and then toppled forward and fell into the hard dirt…face first.

Today is September 16 and it has now been 8 years since we were first attacked. And on September 20^th, just four days later, President Bush launched his war on terrorism and said, “Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group has been found, stopped and defeated.”

…And the war hasn’t ended yet.

Approximately, 4340 Americans have died in this war and another 31,000 have been wounded.

And 55 thousand Iraqi insurgents have been killed and it is estimated that anywhere from 100 thousand to 600 thousand Iraqi civilians have been killed.

In the 8 years since 9/11, a lot of people have died and there has been a lot of war and unrest, and tears and brokenness.

I say this, because this is not how God designed the world to be. It’s true that there is a lot of war and death even in the bible, but it’s still NOT how God designed the world to be.

So for the next six weeks we are going with an Island theme. And if I were to welcome you to the Islands, I might say is “Aloha”

Question: Does anyone know what Aloha means?

Aloha is one of those words that has two meanings: hello and goodbye.

Question: Any other foreign language experts who know ANOTHER word that means both hello and goodbye?

Ciao in Italian

Well here, on our Island Paradise: we say “Shalom”

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) is a Hebrew word meaning both hello and goodbye but it can also mean peace, completeness, and welfare. Shalom is a very powerful word; and it’s the word we want to look at and unwrap these next six weeks.

Shalom can refer to either peace between people, two countries, and between God and humanity.

We are created for Shalom – and since the beginning of the time, nothing has “stolen” the idea of peace more so than the “idea” that there is no God.

Evolution and Darwin as taught by today’s scientific world has left us with people who are empty of the idea of peace. Shalom cannot be found.

You see, if all this just “happened by accident” then THIS is all there is – and if this is ALL there is, then there is no peace, …no shalom because there is no connection with God.

One writer says it like this, “In the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require. For the question “how did it all begin?” Science answers, “probably by accident.” To the question “well, how will it all end?” Science answers again, “probably by accident.” And my question to all of that is this…

Is the “accidental life,” worth living?

I want to talk to you about an intentional life. A life that was created for peace, for wholeness, for redemption and for grace… sure, a life that still has questions and doubts and fears, but a life with a purpose.

A life of shalom.

And to do that we need to go back to the beginning A lot of Christians I know want to “get back to basics” in their faith. “Let’s do it how they did it in the bible,” they say, and I want to remind them: “Um God’s original plan was to hang out in a garden with some naked vegetarians.”

Genesis 1

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Now before we go on, a couple of things to notice….a couple of phrases get repeated a lot. One of them is the phrase “it was good.” The first thing we learn about God is that he is an artist. Isn’t that interesting? Do you think of God as an artist? He creates. God is a being who likes to think creatively and make things. And when God begins to create, he fashions all sorts of stuff and after each thing, rock, tree, and river – he notices that “it was good.”

And this word for “good” in the Hebrew language is the word towb. This word occurs 524 times in the Hebrew bible. And this word means everything you would think the word “good” would mean:

a) pleasant, agreeable (to the senses)

b) excellent (of its kind)

c) rich, valuable in estimation

d) appropriate and becoming

e) better (comparative)

f) glad, happy, prosperous (of man’s sensuous nature)

g) understanding (of man’s intellectual nature)

h) kind, benign

i) right (ethical)

The world that God made is good ethically, intellectually, to the senses, to its kind, its good for continued growth, its good compared to other things… God made a good earth.

Which raises the question? Could God have made a better earth? Well, wait before you answer that. If God could have made a better earth, then why didn’t he? And if you think God could have done better, does that mean he didn’t do good enough the first time?

Does God make junk? Is God like China and makes inferior products? I don’t think so…

God makes this world of ours and says, “It is good.” The world is a good place. And I think we look at the world now and focus on all of the negative. We say, “Look how bad the world is getting,” or “we live in such an evil world.” And I would offer that perhaps it isn’t “the world” that is so bad….

Let’s keep reading…..

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

So God makes people, and people are not just “another creation” like everything else. In fact God puts people in charge. We are the “rulers” of the fish and birds and animals and all the earth. And God says to us, “fill the earth”

Question: isn’t that what God has been doing?

For six days, hasn’t HE been filling the earth? You see what is interesting, it’s like a parent who sets up the race car set for you, they get everything out and they plug it in, they test it and then they say, “Ok, now you play with it.”

God, as the creator and artist of all things, hands the keys over to us and says, “Now you can drive.” Where he was once the one creating and making, he now hands the brush to you and me and he says, “you paint also… you make things…. You grow things….”

We are partners with God.

We are “co-creators” with God.

Think about it. God made man and woman, but what happens when a man and woman come together…. They “create” more people. They are continuing the creation process that God started.

And this is how the story begins…. God makes a garden. He makes a world and says, “It is good.” And then he makes people and he says,

²⁹… “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 2

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

God gives humanity everything they need and notices that it was “very good.”

This is the beginning to “the story” and it is the beginning to your story. Right now in Genesis 1 and 2, there is a good earth. There is peace, there is relationship, and there is harmony. In Genesis 3v8 it says that God walked in the garden in the cool of the day.

The first men and women lived in a world where God walked around, under the trees, in the shade, with a breeze on his face and baboons barking in the background and the sound of rivers rushing. And I don’t think God “changed his plan.” God’s plan for you and me is a world of peace. God wants a world where you and I are free to live with this world, with nature, and with him in total shalom.

But what happens in Genesis 3 is, it’s humanity that puts things of course. Dad gave us the keys to the car, and we got a little nuts, tried to drive how we wanted and ended up wrapping the car around a street post.

Genesis 3

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

⁴ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

God asks two questions here… “Where are you” and “What is this you have done?” These are not questions God doesn’t know the answer to. If you come home and there are feathers all over the floor and an empty pillow case and your dog is covered in feathers… you say….

“Oh man, what have you done?” But you don’t expect the dog to give you an explanation. You know what happened. It’s more that you are expressing your disappointment.

God says, “Where are you,” as if to say…. “Hey, what happened? What has changed? You and I used to be one way… and now things are different… you’ve changed….where are you?”

It’s like humanity and God broke up – you might know how awkward that feels.

That’s how God feels; his own creation has broken up with him…

But if God made this world to be “good” and to be in “shalom” with him, and humanity wrecked it, do you think THAT is how God is going to leave it?

You as the owner doesn’t leave feathers all over the house… you clean it up. You don’t expect the dog to do it do you? He can’t! So in the scriptures we start to see God’s plan to bring shalom back to the earth….

The great prophet Isaiah tells us of the coming of Jesus and he writes,
Isaiah 9:6

A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Shalom). And there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, (shalom)

The prophet writes that Jesus will be named the “prince of peace” and that his kingdom or his “presidency” [in our language] will be a government of peace.

The New Testament, Greek word for peace is “eirene” and it has the same meaning.

Jesus says in John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Isaiah says Jesus will bring peace, and be named peace – and Jesus says “I bring peace and I give it to you.” But what? Not in the same way that the world brings peace….no, Jesus brings the peace of God…

Paul writes in Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God, which goes beyond anything you can think of [not of this world] will protect you heart and mind, in other words protect you spiritual life and your physical life.

Isn’t that what we all want?

Sure we will have troubles and pain in life, tough times come our way, we watch our parents fight, some get divorced, our friends hurt us, our friends die… life happens to all of us… but

Jesus promises to restore shalom in our lives. And to give it to us – in a way that protects us, guards us and – it blows away anything the world can offer us.

Right now the world wants to offer you more of its “screwed-up-ness.” There are people that will tell you that there is no god, and that life evolved from crystals, or monkeys or aliens. And if that is all there is…. Then the messed up, death and destruction and pain, and lies and addictions and hurts are just what they are, and there is no comfort for them – and life “is what it is” and there is nothing else and THAT is a hopeless – pointless – defeating – story.

And I don’t want to be a character in that story.

The bible does not tell that story.

Paul writes in another place….
Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

So not only does Jesus bring peace, but he calls US – as members of his family to a legacy of peace. You and I are to continue the creation process that God started at the beginning of the story.

What do you love to do?

□        Draw?

□        Paint?

□        Play music?

□        Garden?

□        Solve problems?

□        Think?

□        Read?

□        Sculpt?

□        Ski?

□        Swim?

Whatever it is… that desire…. is planted in you from God.

The bible says, In Genesis 1

²⁷ God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

You are created in the very image of the one who formed you. Whatever passion and skill and love you have, you have it because God has it to. And God wants you to use whatever THAT is…to bring more peace to this earth.

Remember we are his partners in creation. Even though his first kids totaled the car, Jesus came and fixed the car as the “heavenly mechanic” [where am I going with this stupid analogy?] and now the car is fixed up all cool like in the movie grease or corvette summer [yea, those are relevant examples] and the keys are being handed to you and me again in 2009.

Your father in heaven trusts you….and he wants to walk along side you in the cool of the day. He wants to have a relationship with you that is “good” in his “good” world and to live and breathe and laugh and cry with you… in shalom.

In peace….

I had to teach a new Believer’s class one Sunday, so I was forced to scramble to find something for my regularly scheduled Sunday school class to watch.

I franticaly went through my video library of “back up” stuff that I keep for just such an emergency and alas my back up stuff was mostly garbage.

Videos get outdated very fast – information – hair styles and what we consider “hot topics” are replaced quickly with new information, new topics and newer hair styles.

So I pulled out The God’s Aren’t Angry, Rob Bell‘s last speaking tour. And since t’s an hour and a half and my class is only an hour long, I cut it into two 45 minute segments for my class and I quickly looked around for some discussion sheets or study guides on the internet…and found…nothing.

So that means, I had to make my own handouts. And since this post continues to be the most popular search phrases on my website and in case you don’t want to reinvent the wheel – I offer my study guides for you and your group as well. (I guess this means I should make handouts for everything is spiritual as well?)

The first session went right up to almost the 45 minute mark, before Rob Starts talking about how the Pharisees made thier wealth from religion.

The second session continued from that part and went to the end.

Please if you end up using these sheets, please comment back and let me know how it went.

[ Download the files from this entry. ]

This is a very famous statue in Italy, and it is a statue of a Greek Goddess, and who thinks they know who it is?

The statue is called Winged Victory at Samothrace and maybe this next slide will help you with the name…..

Yes, it is the Goddess Nike. And it is the same place that the shoe company got their name. Nike is the Goddess of Victory, or the Goddess of WINNING! So if you were going to be in a sports competition that day, if you were going to compete in a race – this would be a good goddess to pray to….

The Nike swoosh logo, is really just a single “wing” from the goddess. And no matter how creative Nike shoes ads are, or how cool their shoes look – you have to admit that when you think of Nike shoes – you think of sports and you think of winning. That’s on purpose. That is who Nike sells their shoes to… people who compete – people who are winners.

And the reason why the Greeks have gods of winning and of victory is because they were very competitive people, that is where the Olympic games came from. Most of what we celebrate and compete in the Olympics all comes from thousands of years ago in Greece.

And even though the Olympics are the BIGGEST most popular game – the game where you get the Gold medal – there are always lesser, smaller games – every year. The Olympics is only every four years – but if you were an athlete back then – you have to compete often, keep your edge, practice, train….travel across the country, size up your competition.

Who here is involved in sports? Any kind of sports….

What about in your house – whose parents really love sports – Laker houses? Dodger houses? Angel houses? What about college football?

If you didn’t hear, Kobe Bryant choked last night, and the Magic won their first game of the finals last night. But let me tell you about Kobe Bryant.

Kobe is the youngest of three kids, and he is the only boy. So he had 2 older sisters – and he was named after a steak dinner in a Japanese restaurant. So right away – this is not a great beginning to the story of your life. But his Dad was a former 6ers basketball player and a former coach and his uncle was even a former basketball player. So when he was 3 and his parents moved to Italy what do you think he started doing?

Playing basketball. And when he was 13, they moved back to the US. When he was 17, he won the MVP award from Adidas Sports Camp. In his senior year of high school, Kobe led his school team to their first state championship in 53 years!

He took Brandy to his senior prom. And by the time he graduated, he had won so many awards in Basketball, that he didn’t even go to college…. At 17, he went straight into the NBA to play for the Charlotte Hornets.

Love him, or hate him, whatever your opinion – Kobe can play basketball. He averages 32 points in every game he plays in, his numbered jersey is in the top 5 selling jerseys and Nike has made his own signature shoe.

Starting at 3 years old, with two older relatives who are professional ballers – I doubt his childhood was spent goofing off.

My Dad is a musician and a school teacher, so you can imagine how fun my childhood was. Every day was, “get out your violin and ….practice.”

Who knows what the word “practicing” means? Do any of you “practice?”

It’s another word for training. Athletes train. And training usually isn’t fun – practicing isn’t any fun – because it’s a lot of saying “no” to things.

Do you want to go out with us and play – no, I have to stay home and practice.

How come you aren’t having any ice cream and pie – I have to watch my diet, I’m in training.

Can I go now? Nope – five more laps.

Can I go now? Nope – five more push ups

Can I go now? Nope – five more round robins, or five more ally oops…or whatever….

Right? But why do we train? Why do we practice?

Yea, to get better. Or hopefully, to get to be the best. We train to win.

Because I don’t think anybody is training to come in second. Nobody says, “man I hope we get the purple ribbon.” At home right now, I have a purple and a white and a Green ribbon for swimming. Did you know they came in those colors?

What color ribbon is first place? Blue, red, yellow, white, pink green, purple.

So when you have ribbons for coming in 4^th, 6^th, and 7^th….. by that time who cares. You shouldn’t even get a ribbon. That’s a “hey, thanks for trying loser” ribbon. It’s almost more humiliating to give you a ribbon. Because your parents save your trophies and certificates and ribbons and when you have saved a ribbon your whole adult life and it’s for coming in 7^th! It’s like a permanent record that you officially suck at something.

We train and we practice, to get better, and hopefully to win.

This is called: Discipline.

And the word discipline has a bad reputation, because it’s also the same word that we use for parents who train their children. Getting punished by your parents is also called discipline. And in a way, when runners train, or when athletes push themselves – in a way they are “punishing” their bodies – to train their muscles to grow and adapt – and to one day mold their muscles into a winning body.

Well, remember when we were talking about the Olympics in Greece? Well there were also some smaller games called the Isthmian and the Cesarean games. These games were close to a local sporting town called Corinth. And while one of the guys who wrote the bible, a guy named Paul had visited Corinth, he was probably there during a year when they were having their games, because Paul was also a guy heavily into sports. And to do some odd jobs and make money, Paul used to make tents for the die hard fans so they could spend the night away from home when they watched the games – because when all the local hotels fill up – you’re sleeping outside.

Well after Paul leaves, Paul stays in touch with the local church in Corinth and he sends them letters from time to time. And this is a piece from one of his letters, Paul writes….

1 Corinthians 9

^24-25You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a wreath that withers and dies. But you’re after a trophy that lasts forever.

^26-27I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it but then missing out on it myself.

Paul says, “all good athletes train hard.” That’s part of life, if you want to be good at anything, if you want to win at anything – you have to train – you have to give it your attention – you have to spend time doing it – getting better.

A typical athlete back then would spend 10 months in training for a game. They couldn’t drink alcohol and they only ate fruit and vegetables.

Paul says, “I’m staying alert and in top condition.” Because for an athlete – staying alert means not cheating on your training.  Sure, you could eat a donut or you could not work out for a weak- and it might feel good, but it’s going to hurt you in the long run. Temporary enjoyment today – can cost you tomorrow.

If your parents said, “you can only watch 10 hours of TV this week” and you watch all 10 hours by Wednesday….well, what if you’re favorite show comes on Friday? Because you didn’t plan ahead – you pay for it later.

If you only have 20 bucks to last you all week and you spend it all by Thursday and then on Saturday your friends call you and they want to go to a movie – you’re out of luck because you didn’t plan ahead.

Paul says when you’re an athlete – you stay in top physical condition if you want to win. You train, you discipline yourself, and you keep your eyes on the prize.

But Paul also says, “All good athletes train hard. They do it for a wreath that withers and dies. But you are after a trophy that lasts forever.”

Believe it or not, you didn’t get a gold medal back in Paul’s day. No blue ribbon. You trained for 10 months, ate all the right foods, didn’t party with your friends, you worked out every day all so that you could win a laurel wreath made out of ….celery.

Yippee celery.

But that was the prize. Paul says, “All good athletes train hard. They do it for a wreath that withers and dies. But you’re after a trophy that lasts forever.”

Paul isn’t really talking to this church in Corinth about running a race. He is using the idea of a race, and the idea of athletes as his example for what it’s like being a Christian.

1 Corinthians 9

^24-25You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win.

How do you do that? How do we run to win as Christians? Because we don’t run to win heaven – nobody “wins heaven.” Heaven is a gift, it’s not a prize. So what does he mean, “run to win.” What does a Christian win?

Well let’s keep reading…..

All good athletes train hard. They do it for a wreath that withers and dies. But you’re after a trophy that lasts forever.

So again, it sounds like we win “something” because now he is saying that Christians get a trophy. I want a trophy.

Keep reading….

^26-27I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition.

So he is talking about training, staying alert, in top condition, he said in his Christian walk he is not going to be a slacker. He is not going to be a casual Christian, or a Christian in name only. He’s not just going to “say” he’s a Christian – but he is going to “be” a Christian.

If you say you’re an athlete, but you just wear nike shoes – you don’t actually compete or train, well, then you’re not actually an athlete, right? Wearing Vans and dressing like a skater does not make you a skater.

Paul says, “I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”

When I think about what it means to follow Jesus I have to ask myself, is THAT what I am doing? Am I giving Jesus …everything I got? Or am I a poser?

[I think you could answer that question for yourself, right now]

Cause I got to think, Man if God made this world, he made everything in it, and he made me, and then this great big God who made everything and who knows everything, he wants to save me and have a relationship with me, – his word says that he loves me and that he loves me so much he was willing to die for me…..wow.

So God who can do anything he wants – he chose to do something like that for me. What should I do? How do I respond to that?

You see a runner in a race, runs to win the prize for themselves.

But as Christians, we already get a prize, so we run the race for God, we run the race to bring God glory.

It’s kind of like Nascar. In the movie “Cars” Lightning McQueen has stickers all over his car [all over himself] from corporate sponsors. And his main sponsor is who?

Rusteeze Oil. In Nascar, those big companies, pay for the car, the entry fee, the pay the driver, they are the BIG $$$ in the race.

The driver is just an employee.

The driver is driving to win, and sure they get famous, BUT it’s the company they work for that gets the trophy. It’s the company that gets all the glory.

The driver runs the race to win FOR their boss. The horse runs the race to win for it’s owner. The horse does not get the prize money, if they did they’d spend it all on oats and toothpaste. [horses have stinky breath] but do you see what I mean?

And for Paul that was what running the race as a Christian meant. We are already guaranteed heaven, our reward, our trophy, our wreath of celery is already guaranteed.

[yippee celery]

So he says, “I’m going to run this race to win it…. For God.

To bring HIM glory.” And to do that he says,

I’m going to give God my best.

I’m not going to slack and just “say” I’m a Christian, I’m going to do the things that Christ did.

I’m not going to be a poser and just go to church on Sunday; I’m going to obey the things that Christ taught.

I’m not going to cheat, or slow down, or take it easy – I can’t because then I’m not giving God my best, and if I’m not giving God my best, then I’m either a fake…. Or ….I’m just lazy.

And Paul says, I don’t want to be fake or lazy. God gave me everything, so I want to give him everything.

Another bible writer, wrote these words…Hebrews 12:1-3 says this…

We’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no freeloading sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who began and finished this same race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because Jesus never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: the Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves giving up on your faith, go over that Jesus story again, item by item, his long list of problems and pain that he plowed through. That will encourage you to keep going by shooting adrenaline into your souls!

The author of Hebrews says, “man there are times when I want to quit, stop training and throw in the towel. There are some mornings when I don’t want to get up in the morning and run,

there are times when I’d rather go and play with my friends than do one more arobesk, or swim one more lap, or play one more scale…. But then I remember that Jesus didn’t give up….

Even when people made fun of him, argued with him, chased him until he was homeless, arrested him, beat him up and nailed him to pieces of wood to kill him.

So as a Christian, as someone who is also “running the race” I go over the Jesus story again, I read it for encouragement in my own life, so I can go out there and live the life he lived.

There is a very old Danish story called “What Says the Fire Chief” that goes like this….

When there is a fire in your town and a building is burning, all of the people from town rush out and gather around the building, the people are all nice and well meaning, and each tries in their own way to help. One has a pitcher or water, one a garden hose, another water balloons, another a squirt gun. But when the fire chief shows up with his crew, he yells at the crowd, “Get the heck out of here!”

What’s his problem? Normally the fire chief is a nice guy and very polite, why does he yell and cuss at the crowd; they are only trying to help? But the fire chief yells for the police chief and pleads, “get these people out of here, and if they don’t move when you tell them – feel free to use force and maybe then I can get to work.”

What a jerk the fire chief is. Well, maybe, maybe not. The fire chief acts differently at a fire, because a fire is a serious thing. A fire isn’t a picnic, or a thing to stare at, or a thing to squirt with a squirt gun. A fire is a place to come and bring your best, a fire is a place to come and risk your life.

As a Christian, I don’t want to come with a squirt gun to a fire and just say, “well, I meant well.” I know it’s not much, but at least I tried.

Following Jesus means following him all the way to self-sacrifice; all the way to the cross. Jesus said in Matthew 10:38-39

38-39″If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

Let’s pray.

1 – Jesus and Culture, notes from a session with Dallas Willard

We don’t think of Jesus as being intellectual. How would you answer the question, “Who is the smartest person in the world?” Jesus?

Colossians 1
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

This passage says, “All things” – this is pretty inclusive.

This is the picture of Christ who made up the early church. This is how they thought of him, and how we must understand him today – this is reality.

Philippians 2
5 In your relationships with one another have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage? 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Jesus, who had it all in the “trinity”, let it all loose, knowing that he would loose nothing in the process.

8 And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

The cross is the ultimate point of emptying himself. He laid it all down. And the cross becomes the center point of the divine conspiracy. The cross was planned. It was for our benefit, so that we could have union with God – to join him in what he is doing now – and join him on the cross.

The cross gives us a kingdom that is eternal.
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God is in action – in history. And this action is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ taught mainly about the Kingdom of God. And he taught by means of parable.

What is the kingdom of God like?

Matthew 13
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

The seed is Christ dying on the cross – pouring himself out. The seed breaks open as Christ’s life breaks open.

33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Yeast is like a virus – it spreads and grows – you don’t have to do anything.

The Divine Conspiracy is God’s process to overcome evil with Good in human history. This is why the cross and resurrection are so important.

You and I bring knowledge – we bring the message of this conspiracy. So, what is knowledge? Do we need to know what we are doing? Do we suffer from a lack of knowledge of God? Who is God? What is God doing?

We know something – when we are able to represent it “as it is.” Not guesses, but based in experience and thought. For us it involves tradition, the bible, the church and thought. Knowledge is also a communal kind of thing. When we come with the message, we come with this “history.”

Knowledge involves truth. We can have a “true belief” and not know. We can guess and be right. We can invest and be lucky. But it wasn’t because you knew. You and I can’t guess with our knowledge of God. If we’re wrong, we’ll be in real trouble. We need knowledge and not just truth.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is a big idea. Are all religions the same? What other religion believes THIS about God. That he loves the world and acts in the world? So if John 316 is true, then everything changes. If this is true than I can trust God; I don’t have to run my life, or fight with others, I can release my life into God’s hands and trust him.

So why do people perish? For lack of knowledge. If you don’t have knowledge, reality will run over you. If we act with knowledge, our actions harmonize with reality. This is why it is important to know God.

There are 3 World views:

1. Naturalism – what we see is all there is. Knowledge of God is not required.
2. Nirvana – “New age” the world is an illusion.
3. Theist – the ultimate reality is an all powerful, all loving God.

View 3 is not considered knowledge today.

Truth is unforgiving; it does not change if you have different opinions. So, if you get it wrong, you are in trouble.

Reality is what you run into when you are wrong.

Is the divine conspiracy…truth?

Genesis 11
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that they were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The tower of Babel represents the human effort to find God without knowledge of God. The secular knowledge system today [universities] is the Babel of today. If we believed that the church really had the knowledge of truth and God – then would there be a separation of church and state?

Can any other practice or religion “do” what Jesus Christ can do? Other faiths want to say that they have knowledge essential to human life, but do they? Do they have knowledge and truth? Can human beings on their own achieve the knowledge according to live?

No.

So the bible then becomes the most important issue, containing the most important information about human life; A God who speaks to human beings.

Do other faiths answer the question to: What am I going to do? Because those are the answers human beings need. Does God give human beings the answers, by speaking to them and walking beside them in other faiths?

The great issue on us today: How will the civilization deal with a culture that has a totally different view of God? Do we “make” them see our ways? Our knowledge grows slowly so that we can mature slowly. Knowledge brings power and power grows responsibility. We have to become the people who don’t abuse power as our knowledge increases. Our moral growth has not kept up with our technological development. What would Genghis Kahn have done with an atomic bomb?

Truth and knowledge always limit our desires.

We will what is not.

Credit is a way of “willing what is not.”

Acts 8
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Simon wanted “power” but not “truth.” Simon was a man who eventually tried to “fly” and killed himself by falling off a building.

Remember Jesus being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…

God and the Human Will: Why did Jesus teach in parables?

Jesus said in, Matthew 13
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

So he does this, so that those who “can not see” – don’t come to know him. If you don’t want Christ, you don’t have to have him. Not all who “heard” heard him, did they?
You must have often wondered why the Enemy [God] does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to over-ride a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless.
~ C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters

God Is not obvious is he?

We ask when we read the bible, “How did supposed religious people hang out with Christ and yet, not know him?” Was Jesus “obvious?” If he was, would he have been crucified? So Jesus worked the process to his end, he was in control.

John 18
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Jesus was in control this whole time – and he told Pilate this. But he had to allow people to make their own choices. After his resurrection, he didn’t even go back to Pilate or the Sanhedrin did he? He didn’t rub their noses in it and say, “You chose wrong.”

Colossians 3
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Your life is hidden with Christ.

The Divine Conspiracy is Gods plan to overcome evil with good within the grinding process of human nature; and you are tied into this.

Isaiah 6
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Why does Isaiah say this? Because the knowledge of God is absent on the earth. And the cross becomes the center of it all. It becomes the beacon of the hidden kingdom.

The cross is designed to show what self-will does. How do we give up self-will and live in the invisible kingdom of God?

Paul told Timothy in1 Timothy 2:3-4
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

And Jesus said in John 8
“If you hold to my teaching [scripture], you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Not all “truth” sets you free; it’s only the truth that we discover in God’s word that frees us.

So who has the knowledge? The secular world would tell you that it is only they that have knowledge, Christians do not. And Christians in turn “believe it” and we walk away thinking that we don’t have truth… but only faith.

So our challenge today is to stand in our world and represent knowledge and truth, by the lives that we lead.

Interesting Excerpt from the Book