Opus 2011-177, Spiritual Gifts: Teaching

(Romans 12:7 KJV)  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching

The gift of teaching is something that we think we understand.  We have all had teachers who seemed to have a real touch, either through being a student or observing them.

I tend to think that this gift is sometimes focused.  When I am teaching the Bible or theology I sometimes feel like I have the gift.  When I am teaching in the public school I sometimes wonder what I am doing there.  I think it is possible to have a gift of teaching in one and not the other.

Like all gifts there is a responsibility that extends beyond the gift.  You may be called upon to teach even though you don’t feel it is your gift.  You can still do a good job.  Remember that for every Michael Jordan (that dates me) you need four other people to make a team.

Pray that God would reveal your gifts and bring forth those who are prepared for the tasks before us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-176, Spritual Gifts: Nagging

My wife has the spiritual gift of nagging.  The Bible doesn’t call it that, but that is the way most of us feel about it.  It is hidden in the translation.

(Romans 12:8 KJV)  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

You don’t see the gift of nagging?  It is hidden in the word “exhorteth.”  Nagging is part of the gift of exhortation.  The Greek word is parakaleo.  It is the root word for the Helper, or Holy Spirit that Jesus promised.  Let me try to explain why I call it nagging.

Parakaleo is a compound word which literally means called to be with.  The best understanding I can come up with is that of a lawyer or advocate.  It means someone who is called along side to be of assistance.  This doesn’t really help because people tend to see what they want to see and translate accordingly.

One way of translated is embraced by the multitudes.  This translation emphasizes what would be called the positive aspects of the word.  In these cases it is translated comfort, help, encourage, invite.  We usually welcome this kind of an advocate.  It is all positive.  It is also part of the meaning.  We need comfort and encouragement when we are on the right track and getting beaten down.

The other way of translated is acknowledged, if not welcomed, by disciples.  This is where the nagging comes into play.  You see, there is some kind of help we don’t welcome.  It is the help that points out we are wrong, lazy, misguided.  We don’t want to hear it.  These cases are translated, appeal, beg, beseech, entreat, preach, urge.  We usually interpret those as nagging.

The word has both meanings and the gift of exhortation includes both.  There are times when a word of encouragement is what we need.  There are times when we need to be hit up side the head.  The person with the gift of exhortation knows which to use.  This only makes them popular half the time, as you can imagine.  I think this is why the word “exhort” works.  No one knows what it really means.

Do you have a nag in your life?  Maybe it is the gift of exhortation and the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you something.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-175, Headlines: Limousines under Obama

I am not a fan of our current president.  I consider him to be the biggest disaster to our freedoms since FDR.  He would probably consider that a compliment.

However, why don’t we concentrate on real issues instead of nit-picking.  A case in point that I first picked up from the Drudge Report and later did a search for, is the report on the increase in the number of limousines in the federal government since Obama took over.  You can read a short version at Fox News.

If you read it carefully or other sites that carry the story you find that none of the numbers are secure and the build up may have started under George Bush. 

Let’s get real about something.  It is expensive to provide security for a president and government officials that may be the targets of crazies.  I do not begrudge them their armor plating.  No one is trying to shoot at me on a daily basis.  I am not even sure I care about their expensive state dinners.  Such is the price of doing business.  They are part of the rich elite.  They are heading the most powerful (?) country in the world.  They need to act like it.

Now if you want to talk about the erosion of our freedom with nutrition laws, light bulb laws, carbon dioxide laws...

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-174, Pentecost Is Coming

Many of us do not belong to liturgical churches.  We know about Christmas and Easter but beyond that we consider ourselves Bible people, not ritual people.  We are poorer because of that.  The original purpose of the liturgy was to make sure that all of the truths of the Bible were covered in a regular an orderly basis.  If you look at the church year you will find things like the Trinity taught.  When is the last time you had a specific teaching on this central Christian truth?

Pentecost Sunday is coming.  I believe that this year it is June 12.  It comes fifty days after Easter.  It celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the upper room.  He was a promise the Jesus told them to wait for.

(Luke 24:49 KJV)  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

/Often this day passes without notice.

The original Pentecost is in the past.  In one sense it was a one day event that happened shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven.  In that sense it is over.  It is often called the birthday of the church because when the Holy Spirit came, He came in a way He had never come before.  We have reference to specific individuals receiving the Spirit in the Old Testament but Pentecost tells us that things have changed.  The Holy Spirit is now promised to all believers, not just a select few.

That means that Pentecost is ongoing.  It is not an event of the past.  It is not just a day in the church calendar.  It happens every time a new believer receives the Holy Spirit.  In a sense it happens every time a believer seeks revival.  It is the mark of a living church instead of a fossil. 

Look forward to Pentecost Sunday.  Look to it as a reminder.  Look to it as a spur to renewal.  If you do not know the Holy Spirit, seek Him and ask for His filling.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-173, Headlines: Dan Quayle Syndrome Strikes Again

President Obama had a recent Dan Quayle moment.  He was in England and visiting Westminster Cathedral.  Evidently they have a guest book for people to sign.  I am guessing it is just for the rich and famous, not for common folks like us.  That is fine.  No one would care if I visited, certainly history would not need a record of it.  Our president wrote a nice little note and both he and his wife signed it.  So far so good.  Then he put the date.  He wrote the year as 2008.  Maybe you have not noticed, but it is now 2011.

I am sure you all remember the time that Dan Quayle supposedly misspelled potato.  It became the main headline of the age as he was hounded by the media.  It is still referred to on a regular basis.  I don’t read the Democratic Talking Point Newspapers, so I can’t be sure, but I don’t think President Obama’s mistake received much press.  I don’t watch TV at all, but I don’t think this has been a lead story.  Suddenly a leading politician has a moment of stupid and it is ignored.  It is a Dan Quayle moment.

It was a Dan Quayle moment because the current President is a Democrat and once again the press did not make a big deal about it.  It made nothing of his comment about visiting the 57 states.  It regularly ignores the bumbling moments that come with great regularity.  If George Bush would have done such a human thing we would be reminded again and again that the Chimp doesn’t pay much attention to the real world of us common folks. 

The Declaration of Independence may declare that all men were created equal but we need to remember that President Obama is not a mere man, he is a messiah that is going to stop the oceans from rising.

As George Orwell wrote, “All men are created equal.  It is just that some are more equal than others.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-172, Immortal Quotes: That’s the $64,000 question.

You don’t hear it much any more but occasionally someone will answer your question with the statement, “That’s the $64,000 question.”  I must admit the origin is not from my memory but it was explained to me.

One of the early game shows on TV was "The $64,000 Question."  It was like many of the shows we watch like "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" and "Win Ben Stein’s Money."  It asked questions and when you got to the top it was worth $64,000.  That is not pocket change but to act like that amount would change your life dates it a bit.

Eventually it died out, but the idea is still morphing into new ways for the masses to spend their time.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-171, Einstein vs Lewis

I came across an interesting disagreement between the writings of C.S. Lewis and Albert Einstein.  It has to do with the nature of truth.  Lewis seems to think that great truths are not simple.  Einstein believes that natural truth should be simple.

Lewis was dealing with people who say that spiritual truths are too complicated.  Take the trinity for instance.  Lewis commented,

“It is not good asking for a simple religion.  After all, real things are not simple.  They look simple, but they are not.”  (Lewis, C.S.  Mere Christianity.  Norwalk, Connecticut:  The Easton Press, 2002, p. 40)

Lewis feels that life is complex and we are barking up the wrong tree to try to demand it be made simple. 

Einstein, on the other hand, seemed to feel that the truths of nature should fit together simply and should really be able to be understood.  I can’t find the quote but I think that summarizes his idea.

What is interesting to me is that Lewis, who claims that great truth is not simple, is easy to understand whereas Einstein who claimed nature is simple was totally confusing.  If you have read Lewis you understand my point there.  Most of us have not read Einstein.  A man who spent a lot of time with him on a ship crossing the Atlantic and listened very carefully, Chaim Weizman is quoted as saying,

“During the crossing, Einstein explained his theory to me every day, and by the time we arrived I was fully convinced that he really understands it.” (Isaacson, Walter.  Einstein.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2007, p. 292.)

Which one is right?

homo unius libri