Friday, February 18, 2011

theology

I just submitted an application to spend the next season of life in Burkina Faso.

"Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you. 
But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might be ahead. 
When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. 
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. 
Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. 
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. 
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don't know if profit will come from one activity or another--or maybe both."
-Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

Here's a glimpse into some of the deep questions that were part of the application:
I do not understand every word of the Bible, but I believe it to be true. A God who is big enough to create the Universe is big enough to protect the authority of His Word. I believe that the entire body of Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and therefore, has authority over my actions and attitudes.
He is the beginning and the end (Revelation 21:6). He is the creator of the Universe, not the construct of man. He is a just judge and a loving Father. He is fair and gracious. He is omnipresent, but personal. He is omnipotent, but gentle. He is bigger than we will ever understand. And He loves us! While we did not know that we were dead, He rescued us (Ephesians 2:5). God exists eternally as Father, as Holy Spirit, and as God-become-flesh, Jesus Christ. His holy bride is the Church (Ephesians 5& Revelation 19). And He is always faithful. Always.
God made man and woman to live in relationship with Himself. But, sin separated man from God. In a plan that brought Himself glory (Romans 8), Jesus Christ came to earth as a sacrifice to redeem the debt that sin had created. Christ was fully man and fully God, and He opened the doors for both Jews and Gentiles to find God's acceptance. He is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15) and "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14.) He lived a sinless life, died a sinner's death, and conquered sin and death once and for all at the Resurrection. (1Corinthians 15:3-5). Christ restored the broken relationship between God and man.
The Holy Spirit is the Advocate promised by Jesus to His disciples (John 14:16). Romans 8:26 describes the Holy Spirit as a direct communicator from our lives to God. The Holy Spirit continues to reveal the heart of God to those willing to listen. I believe there are still active giftings and anointings of the Holy Spirit.
Sin separates man from God. Therefore, mankind is depraved apart from God. Jeremiah describes the condition of mankind as "deceitful above all things, desperately wicked" (17:9). The only hope of right relationship with God comes through the sacrifice of Jesus.
The church is Christ's bride. We are to be His reflection to the world until His second coming. Ephesians 5 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, as it explains marriage as a metaphor for the identity and role of the church. Through history, the church has been comprised of flawed yet redeemed people. The church has made many mistakes, but God's grace is unending. God continues to use the church to heal the world and bring Him glory.
Jesus told us to love God and love our neighbors. Therefore, the Christian's responsibility is to love God first. From that overflow, Christians should actively seek to help those in deep need (James 1:27). Followers of Christ have the responsibility to introduce the world to His radical love.
I strongly believe that God makes His will clear to those who choose to trust Him.

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Ephesians 5

Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints. Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving. For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light – for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth – and find out what pleases the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says:

“Awake, O sleeper!

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you!”

Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great – but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

hey guys