Opus 2026-366: Monday Pulpit: Definitions Matter

I had to write it down on the fly so I may not have gotten it down accurately. What I thought I heard was,

“The law’s definition was that anything done outside of Christ is sin.”

That is an incredibly broad definition.  Does that mean eating breakfast is a sin unless I have had some spiritual experience that told me what cereal to eat?  I know I am stretching but the definition, coming from someone who claims to be Wesleyan, is a bit extreme.

Definitions of sin are varied.  I prefer one that defines sin as an action done deliberately, outside the known will of God.  This rules out many ignorant actions and mistakes.  If the definition I heard is accepted then it is no wonder that some people consider mankind so depraved.  Striking out in a baseball game would make you descend to a lower pit in hell.

This seems like a good time to remind people that Jesus did not die to see how many people He could send to hell.  He died to save as many as He could.  Think through your definitions.  Ask yourself what is the logical conclusion if followed out to the end.  You might be startled.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-339: Monday Pulpit: The Worship Experience

What makes worship more powerful some days?  A recent Sunday was one of those days.

It made me think of a comment about the actress Sophia Loren.  I heard it years ago and for some reason it stuck in my memory, emerging on an very irregular schedule.  Whoever it was said that each of her features taken by themselves were faulty.  The example I remember was he said her nose was too big for classical ideas of beauty.  But he said when you put them all together it produces a stunning result.

Transfer that idea to a worship service.  I am sure that someone could find fault with everything that took place last Sunday.  It would vary with the individual.  Since I am so good at finding fault I make conscious choices not to look for them.  When it all came together we had a powerful time of worship.

The unmeasurable ingredient would be composition and charisma in the case of an actress.  In worship it would be the Holy Spirit stirring memories and waking up responses.  I rejoice in the desired but not always achieved excellence.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-212: Monday Pulpit: Defining Hope

On Sunday the word “hope” stood out in one of the scriptures referenced. A quick look this morning could not identify the text but the point made is worth repeating.

When Christians talk about hope we run into the wall of common English. To most people hope is what you express when you buy a lottery ticket. It is the feeling you get when the “low fuel” light comes on. It is a wish, a fervent desire. We all know what it is to have dreams.

Christian hope is better expressed with the word “expectation” or “assurance”. That is an important distinction. I think of a recent conflict in our church. We did not know how it would work out. We know what we wished to see but our focus was on the assurance we had of God’s will being done. In the past year we have had two ladies struggling with cancer. One died. One has recovered. Both were sources of joy to those around them because they had the hope within them.

Look at our political world. We are so focused on Iran that we forget the aggressive nature of their Muslim beliefs. We forget the spread of Islam into the west and the simultaneous pressure of Marxism. We often wonder if there are any political voices that are in tune with what God wants to see. In the midst of that we have hope.

Historically there have been many times of disaster and chaos. We may be headed into another one of those. It is already there for much of the world. In the midst of that we need to never let go of the hope that is in us. God has worked through rebellious leaders and decadent societies before and He will do so again. Our job is to be salt and light and to be faithful.

One verse that keeps resonating in my mind is,

1 Peter 3:15 (NASB95) but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

Let us live in hope, not of political progress or military victory, but in the assurance that we know the God of the universe.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-191: Monday Pulpit: Always an Escape Hatch

Sunday’s sermon was from Numbers 14. As usual my mind wandered as the pastor’s focus left the actual text. As he had read the entire chapter in preparation for leaving it I tried to follow along and pay attention to what it actually said. It was a narrative that I was familiar with but I find that if I pay attention I will see things that have escaped me over the years.

I was not disappointed. The story I have always heard and repeated myself was that God declared Israel would wander in the wilderness until the living generation died off. They would not live to see the promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb. That is not exactly what it says. Read these two verses and see if you identify the same escape clause that I see.

Numbers 14:22-23 (KJV) 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

At first quick read it seems like a blanket condemnation, but look at the qualifiers. In verse 22 you have the conditional phrase, “and not hearkened” which leaves the door open for some to want to trust God. In the next verse you see the same pattern when the doom is limited to those the “provoked” Him.

I find hope in that. Often in life we are a small voice in a mighty wave of opinion. No one seems to hear us. We are striving against the tide but make no difference in the flood. Disaster awaits. I wonder how many times in the history of Israel that pattern was repeated. Remember the 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal. Think of the repeated use of the concept of the faithful remnant. My desire is that I would be in that pocket of grace that God seems to provide for the faithful.

So join the minority. Be faithful. God may have wrath ahead for our world if there is not revival but He will provide a way for us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-135: Monday Pulpit: Needs and Wants

The pastor was out of town and we had one of the back ups in the pulpit.  He was preaching on John 4 and the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well.  He lifted out a couple of verses that I know I have read many times but I don’t remember noticing,

John 4:3-4 (KJV) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

Jesus is going from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north.  In between was Samaria.  Jews and Samaritans did not get along.  Jews would usually go the long way around if they had to take this trip.  It was doable and a regular path.  For some reason Jesus had a “need” to go directly.

No, He didn’t.  There was a recognized path to avoid polluting yourself by passing through Samaria.  “Needs” here does not mean that there was no option.  It means that He had a compelling reason that He did not share.  All I can conclude is that He needed to run into the woman at the well and share the good news with her and her village.

We need to keep that in mind as we go through our day and run into situations that we would rather avoid.  There are times when God has plans that we are not privy to.  It is hard to know when we should press for change and when we should accept but we need to have a basic understanding that God often has multiple goals and we might not know any of them.

Be faithful.  Walk upright.  Live a righteous life and trust that He has more irons in the fire than He cares to share with us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-057: Monday Pulpit: Why Listen?

As I’m pondering the last sermon I heard I’m wondering how someone can keep saying the same basic thing over and over again without digging any deeper?  This thought came as I was praying for the pastor and that his preparation would be spirit filled, spirit lead, and show his prayer and meditation.  He’s a man who loves the word.  He loves to proclaim what he calls the gospel.  What that means is that every Sunday sermon could be pretty much boiled down to, “turn or burn.”

We have a fair number of spiritual people who listen to this week after week and have no complaints.  I’m not going to make an issue of it because he has a high view of scripture and he is a faithful man of God.  But again, I asked myself why do people seem to enjoy this?

On the positive side it could be because they believe that there are unsaved sinners in the crowd and those unsafe sinners need to hear the gospel.  That’s probably a safe assumption, but those unsaved sinners have heard the same gospel a hundred times and it has not moved their needle.

My cynical side tells me that the reason they’re quite content just listening to a “turn or burn” sermon is because they have already turned, feel they’re not going to burn, and really don’t want to be pushed any further.

I don’t actually think that’s where they would be if they were challenged.  I think if they were challenged to grow deeper, to witness more effectively, to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit, they would respond.  Sincere people operate that way.  When they hear “turn or burn”, the examine the proposition and decide they’re good.  Case over.  Now let’s go to lunch

One of the weaknesses of the church today is this residue of eternal security that makes us think just because we made a decision and God moved in our lives that everything is secure from then on.  I hope they’re right.  I know they’re not.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-041: Monday Pulpit: Popular Misquotes

Sunday we were discussing what it meant to live a righteous life.  We had read several quotations in the book of Romans that use the word.  From there we started talking about holiness, and sanctification.  Eventually, we got to one of those great favorite misquotes of the Bible,
“Be ye holy as I am holy”

My guess is that you’ve heard it before.  It’s the way it’s usually expressed.  It is also totally wrong and misses the entire point.

After quoting it the next statement by someone in the group is, it’s impossible to be as holy as God.  Well, if the actual biblical statement was as given, then, no, it would not be impossible, because the Bible tells us to do it.  But the Bible doesn’t set that standard.

What does the Bible actually say?

1 Peter 1:16 (KJV) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The command was not to be as holy as God. The command was to be holy because of God.

From there you could get into a discussion of what it means to be holy.  You could point out that the idea of being holy means more separation than moral purity.  You could point out that we are called “saints” which means “holy ones”.  You’ll find that there’s an Old Testament equivalent, under the law.

So don’t waste your time trying to understand misquotes.  When you hear something that doesn’t quite seem right, go to the Source.  You would be amazed at how often the actual quotation is not what somebody thinks it is.

What they say is on them.  What you believe is on you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-589: Monday Pulpit: Caught My Attention

We shared in communion on Sunday.  Some of you may take it every day.  We do it every few months.  I am not sure of the schedule.  Since I am not in charge I don’t worry about it.  Communion is a special time of coming together.

The pastor said a couple of things that registered on my foggy mind.  The first was, “Coming to the altar should say something.  Not coming says nothing.”  His point is that we are making a statement of our faith when we come forward.  People might not come for many reasons that have nothing to do with their spiritual condition.  Communion is not a time to sift.  He makes this point each time we partake.

The second thing he said he may have said before but it hadn’t registered.  “The pastor does not examine you.   The church does not examine you.  You are to examine yourself.”  That is a good reminder of what Paul said to the church in I Corinthians 11.  Ultimately we are the ones who answer to God for our spiritual condition.  Examine.

Have a Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025: 562: Monday Pulpit: Eggs in Your Nose

The pastor, who usually teaches the adult Sunday school class, was out of town and we had a substitute.  Because the original substitute had backed out at the last minute, the man giving the lesson had not had as much time as he would’ve liked to prepare what he had to say.  He did what many of us do when we’re in that situation, you go to something familiar.  His choice was the 23rd Psalm.

We had a good time of discussion and I will be pondering this passage of scripture this week.  What’s amazing is the weird things that stick in your mind when you should be thinking on a higher level.  He was going over the care of sheep, and when he got to the point where it says “he anointeth my head with oil”, he pointed out that one of the problems sheep have is the bugs and flies and stuff that get into their nose and eyes.  I hadn’t thought about that.  When I thought of the anointing, I thought of kings and prophets, not sheep.

In the course of the discussion, he mentioned how the flies would lay eggs in the nose of the sheep.  I’m not sure if he came up with it or if I thought of it as he was talking, but I got this horrible picture of Satan laying eggs in my nose.  I’m not sure how to apply that but it certainly sounds like something I don’t want to happen in my life.

How do we keep Satan from laying eggs in our nose?  By the constant anointing of the Holy Spirit of God.  By constantly being in His presence.  By constantly allowing Him to reach out and touch us.  That happens in worship, and worship happens in so much of our lives and we don’t think of it as that, but it is.

So as you contemplate Christmas, think about how God has reached out to us not only as the race of mankind, but as individuals.  Let His presence be a constant barrier against the eggs of Satan.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-538: Monday Pulpit: Ho Hum

I am a terrible listener when it comes to sermons and Sunday School lessons.  There are some who can keep my interest but my mind tends to wander.  Maybe “wander” isn’t the right word.  It may be that I am paying too much attention and my mind takes leaps into the possibilities.

Today I was straying into an inner inquiry on why I was straying.  Why did the closing verses of Romans 3 not hold my attention?  Maybe it was because so little of what was being said was based on Romans.  At one point I got my hopes up.  This verse was read,

Romans 3:30 (KJV) Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

The teacher asked what the difference was between “by” and “through”.  I did a quick look and saw they were different words in the Greek.  By the time I got back from that quick look they had already decided that they meant the same thing.  No.  They don’t but that was all we got on it.

The last phrase in the chapter implies that our faith establishes the law.  I didn’t have the nerve to bring that up.

So much of the preaching and teaching I am exposed to is primarily cliches, vignettes, platitudes, memories, well worn Bible verses, boilerplate, and what ever pops into mind.  It is a good thing I am learning to keep my mouth shut.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-508: Monday Pulpit: To Change or Not to Change, That Is the Question

In our Sunday school discussion we came across two different passages of scripture, which in my mind set up a tension.  They were quoted far enough part that I don’t think anybody else noticed it, but the first one was,

(Rom 3:10 KJV)  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

And a big thing was made over how no one could be righteous.  OK.  Later on as the subject changed and the topic went on a different path, somebody quoted the passage from James,

(Jas 5:16 KJV)  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Now we have a problem.  If the prayer of a righteous man is effective and no one can be righteous then it’s impossible for prayer to be answered.

Seems logical to me.  It seems logical because there’s a fallacy in the application of the verses.

And this got me thinking about how people try to take God and put Him into a box and force Him to be what they want Him to be.  This morning as I was on the porch thinking about how God is dynamic and not static, it came to me through several jumps that there’s a reason why God is considered a spirit.

Now we get into physics.  There are four phases of matter that I’m aware of.  One of them, plasma, I know little about and does not exist on the planet Earth in its natural form.  We are familiar with the other three.  We have solids, liquids, and gases.  Each one has different attributes.

Most people want to make God in the image of the solid.  They like to quote verses which say that God does not change; that He is always the same.  They like to quote how He is a rock.  And there are some interesting parallels there.

Unfortunately, the Bible tells us that God is spirit, not a rock.  What are the differences?  A rock cannot change its mass nor its shape, nor its volume.  It is static.  While we’re on it, we might as well look at the attributes of liquids.  Liquids do not generally change their mass nor their volume, but they can change their shape.  God is not a liquid nor a solid.  He is a spirit, which literally means gas.

Gas does not change its mass.  That stays the same, but it can adjust its volume and its shape.  It can expand and contract without changing its mass.  It can bend and fill crevices without changing its mass, so in a very real sense spirit can change and stay the same.

Such is God.  I hate to tell you, but He is able to get out of the box that you put him in.  That’s something rejoice about.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-496: Monday Pulpit: Lost Does Not Mean Worthless

In response to some words from a hymn an author said, “I do not know why I was saved”, or something to that affect.  The pastor then said we should we know why and quoted John 3:16.  He then went on to pontificate on the fact that we did not deserve it.  God sent His Son, even though we were not worthy.  Somewhere in his comments he began to lose me.  His statement was basically true, but at the same time, it is a distortion.  Evidently God felt like we deserved it, or we were worthy, or He would not have sent Jesus.  Jesus didn’t die for trash.  He died for human beings who are created in the image of God.  There’s a difference between the statement that we are lost in sin and not able to work your way out compared to the position that you were worthless.

Would you die for worthless humanity with no guarantee that anyone would respond?  Jesus did and we rejoice daily for that knowledge.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-379: Monday Pulpit: It Just Makes Sense

Someone made a comment about common sense.  I think it was in reference to Iran.  It occurred to me that what a Persian might think of as common sense would not be the same as an American.  For that matter, I have noticed that my neighbor’s idea of common sense isn’t the same as mine.

That might be a good place to start if we are trying to understand others.  If you are dealing with a Muslim who has been raised in a culture that treats women as possessions or tools then why should you be surprised when they gang rape young women parading around in public with a lot of skin showing.  To them it is common sense that she is a whore.  They see no problem and wonder what yours is.

Or take your neighbor.  Perhaps they came from a family that lived where there was no regular trash pick up.  They might have a pile in the back yard where everything was discarded.  It made perfect sense to them.  Why should they obsess about a bag of trash when they could bring in a trailer and haul a big pile out at one time, or not.  What is your problem?  They don’t have one.

Take the people attending churches where “contemporary worship” is the norm.  To you the music is boring, insipid and lacking in theological content.  Keep in mind that many of the people around you were raised with hard rock being played 24/7.  They never had a class in music appreciation in school unless it involved oriental music.  When they do listen to music the main emphasis is on moving to the beat.  To them this type of worship is just common sense.

Consider the world you live in.  Others see through different lenses.  Does that make them right?  Not necessarily but in their way of thinking what they are doing is just common sense.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-361: Monday Pulpit: Just a Passing Fad?

I am often agitated by the way in which people interpret the Bible to reinforce the ideas they came loaded with.  It also makes me wonder how often I do the same thing.

My current radar blip is a reference to the passage in Mark 16 that might have been left out of your modern translation or at least put in brackets.  It contains some really strange ideas as well as standard truths.

Our pastor was commenting on it for some reason.  I don’t remember it having anything to do with whatever topic we were on.  He made two mutually exclusive statements.  The first was a response to this.

(Mar 16:17 KJV)  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

He said that these signs were only for the disciples.  They do not apply any more.  He says this because his theological system must put the power gifts in a category that has passed away.

For some reason he was okay with the next verse,

(Mar 16:18 KJV)  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

I cannot understand why one is no longer in effect but the other is in force.  There is no note in the text that says one applies and the other doesn’t.

It would seem to me that they are either both still in operation or they are both no longer in effect.

But that is just me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-330: Monday Pulpit: Counting Your Blessings

Sunday we spent our Sunday School hour in prayer for the victims and first responders of the Texas floods.  The carnage was close enough that several people had some contact with suffering families.  People who are Texas natives know about the destructive power of the flash floods on the Guadalupe River.  I know that when we were looking at houses we researched the flood plains and ended up on a ridge.  What adds to the pain is that many of the parents of the children lost may have made the same provisions but didn’t think about the low level of the camp.

In my times of prayer my mind also roamed to the places further away.  We tend to focus more when it is close to home but I thought about the Christians in Africa who had been butchered by Muslims in the last few weeks and how it was an ongoing threat in their lives.  I thought about those being killed in Israel and Iran.  As we lift up the local tragedy it would do us well to remember other places that are also suffering.

My grandchildren are over for the night and I am very much aware of how blessed I am.  I am hugging them more often than usual.

May your guardian angels be working overtime.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-309: Monday Pulpit: New to Me

Sometimes a phrase that I hear will stand out in my mind.  I try to record it for later reference.  Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I just can’t get what I heard.  Sunday the pastor threw in a phrase and just went on which is OK but I didn’t get a chance to ask him about it afterwards.  He was reflecting on our sinful nature, Adam and Eve and the need for forgiveness.

What he said, was something to the effect that our sinful nature is the absence of God in our heart.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it expressed that way before.  It makes sense.  It goes along with some of the thinking I’ve been doing, which of course makes me more open to it.  It isn’t so much a presence as a lack.  It helps to explain why we can know people who seem to be nice and yet at the same time they are lost in sin.  They may be good in themselves, but the core of their being is focused on themselves instead of being focused on Almighty God.

It goes along with my thinking that the curse of God is more the absence of blessing than an active destructive force.  It is like decaffeinated coffee.  It may taste the same to those of us without discernment and look the same but it doesn’t have the same effect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-225: Monday Pulpit: Cave Free

We had a guest speaker Sunday and he spoke on I Samuel chapter 22.  It is a passage relating one of the times David hid in a cave.  He said many things, but the one that stuck with me was the call for Christians to come out of their caves.  David went from his cave to hiding in what is called a fortress.  At that point he was told by a prophet to come out and get moving.  We in the church need to hear the same thing.

We of course need to be praying.  We need to be at worship.  We need to study and mediate on what we read.  There are many things that we need to be doing in our secure world.  We need also to come out of that security and get active in the bigger world.  I’m not sure what that will look like for each of us, but there must to be ways in which we can influence our environment.  One of them is by contacting our representatives in Washington.  Don’t overlook giving them a pat on the back if they were actually doing the right thing.  Another thing we can do is be more vocal in non-vocal ways.  We tend to be afraid to put a sign on our lawn.  It might be something we need to do.  I know I need to start wearing my Trump hat instead of just letting it hang in my room.

I have a long tradition of not liking bumper stickers or other things stuck on my car or any other place.  I don’t like to wear logo clothing.  I definitely don’t like T-shirts that have advertising on them.  I need to get over that.  They’re a bigger issues at stake in my pride.

Find some small way to make a statement or take a stand.  Hope that it develops a trend in your life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-175: Monday Pulpit: A Request Fulfilled

I was asked by a friend to listen to a sermon preached at his church.  The preacher had reportedly told someone in the church that we did not believe in the infallibility of the Bible.  That came as news to me and my friend.  Normally I would never bother listening to someone who preached from a book he thought was inaccurate but this was the request of a friend.

I will only share a couple of things about the sermon.  It was Pentecost Sunday and the sermon had to do with Pentecost in theory.  That is the day we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples gathered in the upper room.  You can find it in Acts 2.  

What first got my attention was that the preacher repeated referred to the Holy Spirit as “it”.  I don’t believe I have heard that before from anyone who knows what they are talking about.  The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity and in the Bible is referred to as “He.”  Pagans and heretics would say “it” because to them the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force if it exists at all.  I decided to try and check that out to see if it was just me.  I did some searches of the word Spirit in the New Testament in both the KJV and the NASB.  I never found the Holy Spirit referred to as “it” in the NASB.  I did find one place in the KJV but it usually said “he”.

The choice of a pronoun is a theological issue not a matter of translation.  It speaks of the presuppositions of the translator, not the text.  In the Greek the pronoun is included in the verb and although it has person it does not have gender.  Another difference from English is that nouns have a gender and everything referring to it shared the gender.  I remember in German that you have a pencil and a pen.  One is feminine and the other is masculine.  For the life of me I can’t remember to this day which is which.  Christian theology teaches that the Trinity is one God in three persons.  Thus the third person cannot be an it.

This is important because it strikes at the core of our faith and our doctrine of God.  I don’t think it was an accident.  This was reinforce at the end of the service when he prayed “O heavenly God” rather than “O heavenly Father”.

Pentecost Sunday was also being recognized as a day to take a stand against gun violence.  Everyone on the church’s e-mail list got a notice to wear orange and if they did not have anything orange then ribbons would be available.  This is what we call left wing political theater.  In the service we were told it was not anti gun but anti gun violence.  Sure.  If it was about violence why were they not dealing with the causes of more deaths than guns, such as fists, knives, drugs, drunk drivers and so many others.  Sorry.  It was about guns.  

Someone once said, “The Devil is in the details.”  I did a take off on that and said “The adversary is in the adjectives.”  Think of the way in which the adjective changes the meaning.  We have the term “social justice” being thrown around.  It has nothing to do with the concept of justice.  Justice is about equal treatment before the law.  Social justice is about special privileges for favored groups.  The same is with gun violence.

And the pastor shared how he had gone down and participated in the accompanying parade.  He praised all those people he marched with as noble and caring.  The problem, in addition to being one of those useful idiots that were praised by the Soviets, is that the pastor’s do not have a history of marching in other issues.  Every January we have Right to Life Sunday in protest of abortion.  They did not join any parades or wear ribbons on that day.  I am guessing that he would not have referred to pro-life people as noble and caring.  The usual adjectives are bigoted and harsh.  I went back and checked the video to see if they wore ribbons during the service.  

I could go on but I think this gives you a feel for why the church in America is dying.  It has become a tool of anti-Christian forces.  It has been infiltrated and seduced.  It has lost its first love.  Every day I pray for my country.  I also pray for the church because if the church does not have a revival there will be nothing to keep America from going on the list right under Sodom.  Actually we might have earned top slot by now.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-156: Monday Pulpit: Refocus on Prayer

The quote is from Sunday’s sermon.  I don’t remember if it was original with the pastor himself or a quote from someone else.

“Don’t believe in prayer but the God we are praying to.”

That thought has come back to me several times already.  One of the questions I have in life is, why pray?  If God knows all and is all powerful then what possible purpose could prayer have?  I still pray but I am not known for blind obedience.

Perhaps this quote gives a clue to what prayer should be.  I have never followed the shopping list method of prayer.  Rarely do I ask for anything for myself.  Part of that is because of an awareness of how blessed I am and part is a rejection of the idea that God is a vending machine.  I actually look at prayer as more of a time of conversation with a lot of listening involved.  With that in mind the quote resonates.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-023: Monday Pulpit: 100% Natural

The pastor was dealing with the end of the book of James.  He read from a translation that was very close to mine, which says,

(Jas 5:17 NAS77) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

He pointed out that we have the same nature as Elijah.  I was good with that.  It is what the Bible says, but then he began interpreting that to us.  He said that we are all sinners like Elijah.  Then he went on with the standard Calvinist approach about how we are all sinners and need continual forgiveness for our continual sin.

Excuse me.  I may commit sin but I am not a sinner.  I have been saved by grace, redeemed by the blood and filled with the Spirit.  The Biblical term for me, and I hope you, is “saint”.  We are holy ones.  The church, eklessia, is the called out ones.  Don’t put me in the same category as the generic pagan.  That says that redemption didn’t make any difference in me.

But the Bible says I have the same nature as Elijah.  That is the human nature.  It means that we are fallible.  It means that before Jesus touched us we were in the bonds of our original sin.  At the same time it means we are created in His image.  It is what Solomon was referring to,   

(Pro 22:2 KJV)  The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

I did a few word searches and could not find the name Elisha in the same verse as “sinner” or any variation of the word I could think of.  Let’s try not to force the Bible into our personal interpretation or system of theology.

homo unius libri