Empty Calories in the Church

For those who are concerned about proper nutrition, nothing is more despicable than “empty calories.” Empty calories contain all of the calories of typical food, but have very poor nutritional value. Comfort foods such as sweets, soda, pizza, fries, and butter all fall into this category. Unfortunately, empty calorie foods also put the consumer on the fast track to gaining weight.  Simply put, all calories are not created equal!

Where, pray tell, am I heading with this blog post? It occurred to me that church attenders are a lot like calories because they are not all the same either. While some genuinely seek to obey Jesus and contribute to the growth of His kingdom, others care nothing about this venture and continue to pursue their selfish desires. Practically speaking, their only purpose is to take up space in a church service.

For this reason, a church’s purpose should not be just to grow numerically. Numbers alone do not translate into a healthy church any more than extra pounds on a human frame indicate that the individual is healthy. The church’s purpose should be to disciple obedient believers who will in turn disciple others. Any day of the week, five believers who are committed to serve their Savior are more valuable than a hundred pew warmers!

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2)

God's "Natural" Miracles

The Book of Joshua is one of my favorite sections of the Old  Testament. After wandering in the desert for forty years, God directed the sons of Israel to enter the promised land of Canaan. He commanded them to conquer the inhabitants of the region and make it their own. After consecrating themselves, the people followed the Levitical priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant:

3:15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),                                                                               3:16 the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.                                               3:17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. 

Israel's crossing of the Jordan occurred while the river was at flood stage (cf. 4:18).[1] This area is known for its seismological activity, and some scholars have suggested that an earthquake is what caused the river to be blocked: "Adam is modern Damiya on the east side of the Jordan just south of where the Jabbok River flows, eighteen miles north of the fords at Jericho. The steep banks of the Jordan are particularly susceptible to mudslides because of the large amount of water flowing together here from the two rivers."[2]

The NIV Archaeological Study Bible notes that earthquakes have affected the Jordan’s flow many times in the past: "The most recent occurrence was the quake of 1927, at which time a 150-foot-high (46m) embankment on the western side of the river collapsed, completely blocking the waters for more than 21 hours. Similar cutoffs have been recorded (moving backward in time) in A.D. 1906, 1834, 1546, 1267 and 1160."[3]

Psalm 114:3-4 supports the view that an earthquake affected the river when the sons of Israel crossed it: The sea looked and fled; The Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, The hills, like lambs.

Does this mean that there is no miracle in Joshua 3:15-17? Absolutely not! Alfred J. Hoerth wisely wrote, "Some scholars think a . . . landslide was the mechanism God used for Joshua, but others prefer to understand the event as entirely supernatural. If God did choose to use a landslide, its timing still requires a miracle."[4]

In the Bible, God performed some miracles that were outside the realm of scientific possibility (Genesis 7:19-20; 1 Kings 17:22), but He also performed other miracles that were natural events that He timed perfectly (cf. Genesis 24:10-14). Both types of events are acts that only God can accomplish!

There are several applications that we can derive from God’s 

 “natural” miracles:

1) God is in complete control of every aspect of His universe

2) God never fails

3) God’s timing is perfect

4) God’s plan for our lives can be trusted

5) God’s plan is the best plan for our lives

Thank God for His “natural” miracles!

---

[1] Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, The IVP Background Commentary: Old Testament, 213.

[2] Ibid.

[3] NIV Archaeological Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 306.

[4] Hoerth, Archaeology and the Old Testament, 206.

Book Recommendation: "Telling God's Story"

Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter. Telling God’s Story: The Biblical Narrative from Beginning to End. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006. ISBN: 0-8054-3282-5


In the past several years, Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter, who are currently professors at the Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, noticed a startling trend when they surveyed the school’s incoming students. Surprisingly, the majority of freshmen, even those who were avid readers of the Bible and hailed from strong churches, were unable to place major biblical events in their proper chronology. Vang and Carter surmised that the reason for this deficit is that biblical educators often fail to present the numerous events that are recorded in the Old and New Testaments as individual brush strokes that, when viewed together, reveal one grand masterpiece–God’s story. The purpose for which Vang and Carter published Telling God’s Story is to help students of the Bible to understand how each part of Scripture relates to the whole.


The book begins with a nine page overview of the Bible, presented in narrative format. This is followed by a brief introduction to the background of the Bible story which tackles relevant topics such as biblical testaments and covenants, the canonicity of Scripture, and the necessity of regarding the Bible as the inspired Word of God. The remainder of the work is divided into sections which focus on individual stories, while at the same time demonstrating how these episodes fit into the overall story. Carter authored the Old Testament part of the volume, while Vang penned the New Testament portion.


Telling God’s Story contains a number of beneficial features. First, because the majority of the Bible is in narrative form, Vang’s and Carter’s method is a natural way to approach Scripture. For this reason, teachers in different arenas of service will find the resource useful. Not only does Telling God’s Story make an excellent textbook for Old or New Testament Survey courses, it also deserves a place on the shelf of the missionary who ministers in oral cultures that transmit information via stories.


Second, the end of each episode contains Vang’s and Carter’s detailed outline of the story of the Bible, which is divided into twelve major events (Creation, Crisis, Covenant, Calling Out, Conquest, Kingdom, Kingdom Divided, Captivity, Coming Home, Christ, Church, Consummation). The segment of the story on which an episode focuses appears in bold print in the outline so that at a glance the reader may see its relationship to the rest of Scripture.


Third, each episode is subdivided into “acts,” much like a play. At the end of each act is a series of study questions that cause the reader to think in-depth about the material that was just presented. The purpose of these questions is to reinforce the goal of viewing Scripture as a “flowing narrative” rather than merely helping one to remember a few Bible facts.


Fourth, easy to read charts and illustrations are scattered throughout the text. These serve to encapsulate concepts and themes in such a way that they can be grasped at a glance. Worthy of note is Carter’s portrayal of the three hundred years of disobedience, judgment, and deliverance during the time of the Judges (p. 94), as well as his representation of the dynasties of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (p. 130). Additionally, Vang’s arrangement of Jesus’ parables (pp. 205-6) and miracles (pp. 212-14) is superb.


The biblical narrative does not exist in a vacuum, so Vang and Carter, fifth, described the settings in which the story transpired. Their familiarity with the cultures of ancient Israel and her surrounding neighbors provided both depth and insight. An illustration of this is the observation that God’s punishment of Egypt before the Israelite exodus was a religious conflict. The ten plagues were aimed at the so-called powers of the gods of Egypt in order to demonstrate that the God of Israel was the only true God (pp. 65-66). The significance of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper during the Jewish Passover meal (pp. 225-28) is another example of the authors’ ability to illuminate Scripture.


One minor shortcoming in the Old Testament section is Carter’s periodic hesitation to commit to a particular view when various interpretations have been proposed by scholars. For instance, Carter discussed the three main positions regarding the intactness of the image of God in mankind after Adam and Eve sinned, but he never committed to any of them (p. 35). This reluctance, however, may be because the authors of Telling God’s Story intended to present the Bible as a narrative instead of writing a commentary.


In summary, Vang and Carter succeeded in producing a much-needed volume that this reviewer highly recommends. Not only does Telling God’s Story reveal a deficiency in the way which educators often present the Bible, it also provides a practical solution which helps the reader to examine God’s Word in the way which God intended it to be examined. Laymen, students, teachers, and missionaries alike will find this edition worthwhile, enjoyable, and enlightening.

Thanksgiving

Today, rather than using my feeble words to blog about Thanksgiving, I would like for us to reflect on Psalm 95:1-7a. The text reminds us that we should be thankful to God, as well as how we can demonstrate our thankfulness to Him:

      ¹O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
         Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
    ²Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
         Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
    ³For the LORD is a great God
         And a great King above all gods,
    ⁴In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
         The peaks of the mountains are His also.
    ⁵The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
         And His hands formed the dry land.
    ⁶Come, let us worship and bow down,
         Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
    ⁷For He is our God,
         And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His   

         hand . . . . (Psalm 95:1-7a)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Three Issues that Every Hispanic Ministry will Face

Salvation

Regarding salvation, when a person truly begins to understand that eternal life is a relationship with Christ rather than religion or a works-based accomplishment, it does not mean that he or she necessarily will reject sin and trust in Jesus as Lord. Many simply are unwilling to count the cost and trust completely in Christ. Often, they are reluctant to separate themselves from their transgressions. Ministers to Hispanics must not compromise Scripture in order to receive half-hearted professions of faith that are not authentic, but firmly teach Jesus’ message to His disciples: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24).

Baptism

Because the majority of Hispanics were sprinkled as infants, frequently new believers have trouble understanding why they must be immersed after their conversion. Others mistakenly think that a baptized believer must be perfect and fear that they can never live up to God’s expectations. For this reason, many parents actively discourage their saved children not to be immersed because “baptism is not a game and you should not play with God.” As Spanish speakers become followers of Christ, the minister to Hispanics expeditiously must address the Bible’s teachings concerning the issue of baptism so as to avoid confusion and to counteract misguided reluctance.

Marriage

A significant percentage of Hispanics do not marry, but rather live in what is known as a unión libre (“free union”). In this type of relationship, the man and woman reside together as long as they both desire to do so, but go their separate ways when either grows tired of the partnership. To complicate matters, participants of the unión libre often refer to themselves as husband and wife although it is untrue. Men sometimes take advantage of this situation by affiliating themselves with more than one female, siring children with all of their girlfriends and maintaining them in separate homes. Oddly, the women tend to be angry with each other instead of holding responsible the unfaithful man!

Because there may be little understanding of biblical marriage, the minister to Hispanics must educate the people regarding the Bible’s teachings. Often, an extended period of time will elapse before hearers fully comprehend the message. One also must note that comprehension does not guarantee compliance. Not long ago, a Hispanic congregant expressed to me that if only Nueva Vida would permit those new believers who live in a unión libre model to receive baptism, perhaps they would be encourage to follow the biblical path and marry. The truth of the matter is that a non-member who is reluctant to obey God certainly will be no more motivated to do so after immersion.

Everyone who commits to minister to Hispanics inevitably will encounter the marriage issue. Rather than growing discouraged, one should pray on a regular basis for those who fail to embrace God’s matrimonial standard. Only His Holy Spirit possesses the ability to illumine hearts in such a way that individuals reject centuries of misunderstandings concerning marriage.