If the light is darkness...

Photo courtesy of Jess & Colin

This passage has perplexed me for a couple of days:

"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23)

It just doesn't seem to make plain English sense to me, so I checked all the translations and they said roughly the same thing. Vincent's Word Studies has the following commentary, which certainly makes sense...

“Seeing falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is too dim-sighted to discern the road from the ditch, may feel which is which; but if the ditch appears manifestly to him to be the road, and the road to be the ditch, what shall become of him? False seeing is unseeing, on the negative side of blindness”

...but it's still a stretch for me to see how Vincent's got that out of this scripture.

Stones, little rocks, and monoliths

Photo courtesy of Ernieski

Another interesting thing came into focus for me last night during my readings - Jesus uses stone and rock as a prominent metaphor in His teachings.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he [John the Baptist] said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (Matthew 3:7-9)

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:24-27)

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:15-18)

This is cool to me because John warns the insiders that God could even raise up Children of Abraham from the stones, and then Jesus does it! He raises up covenant children - a church of believers - from spiritually stone-dead people. And not only does the God-man animate these stones, but he uses them as an unshakable foundation for a new kind of temple.

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There's this debate about what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 16:18. The best commentary I've read on it says that Jesus is not claiming to build the church upon Simon Peter Bar Jonah (as per Roman Catholic doctrine). I'm told that the Greek text uses two words in this passage for stone, one meaning 'little rock' and one meaning someting like 'huge monolith.' Jesus appears to be gently teasing his friend, Simon, calling him by his diminutive nickname (Little Rock) while saying (you can almost see Jesus pointing to himself), "This is the monolith that I will build my church on."

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But he is not only teasing Peter, he is congratulating him for getting it right in Matthew 16:15. He is saying, "The huge, monolithic stone that I will build my unshakable church upon is Peter's confession - You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"

Aikido and Christianity

Photo courtesy of Tobstone

I teach the Japanese self-defense martial art of aikido, and of all the martial arts that I've studied I personally feel that aikido is the one most in tune with Christianity.

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I wouldn't try to stretch scripture so far as to say that Jesus was advocating the practice of aikido, but the principles of aikido do appear to manifest themselves in ways that mirror Scripture. Take as example the following from The Sermon on the Mount:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)

What aikido principles are evident here?

• Do not resist (because you validate and stabilize and strenghten the attacker when you do)...
• Turn the other cheek (because the force of the blow will glance off)...
• Turn the other cheek (inviting another attack because you know the act of attacking will destroy him)...
• Turn the other cheek (because you know that within the coming attack lies the potential for reconciliation)...
• Go with him the extra mile (extending him into unbalance)...
• Give (energy) to the one that begs for it...

Again, I'm not trying to equate aikido to scripture - that would be spurious and sacreligious. I am definitely not saying that aikido is a religion (though it has it's religion-like aspects). I've got my religion and aikido is not it. Thirdly, I am not advocating a syncretic Christian aikido. But consider the following from CS Lewis' Mere Christianity...

I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. (Mere Christianity, II, 1)

To the degree to which aikido mirrors or hints at scriptural truth, aikido is validated and en-nobled.

Righteous anger

Photo courtesy of Ferran

Interesting to me is the contrast between:

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment...(Matthew 5:22).

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger... Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (Ephesians 4:26, 31)

Do I think this is a biblical inconsistency? No, but I think it puts an interesting light on the times and the manner in which I get angry.

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So, what is a righteous anger anyway?

The Messiah got baptized!

Picture courtesy of Wallyg

For several days I have been confounded by Matthew 3:

...Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:4-7)

..."I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)

...Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; (Matthew 3:13-16)

This has given me several questions, including:

• I didn't know that Baptism was an Old Testament (i.e. pre-Christian Church) sacrament. Why was John baptizing folks and why were the Pharasees and Sadducee's trying to jump on the bandwagon?
• Jesus obviously wasn't being baptized for the remission of sins as in v11, so why did it please Him and his Father so greatly for Him to fulfil this form?
• Jesus was not being baptized into the Christian church, so into what was he being baptized?

Well, tonight I've dug through some of the commentaries in my e-Sword and have come up with the following for a beginning...

• According to Albert Barnes' Commentary, baptism (i.e. dipping and sprinkling) is seen throughout the OT, namely in Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:51; Numbers 19:18; Ruth 2:14; Exodus 12:22; Deuteronomy 33:24; Joshua 3:15; Job 9:31; Leviticus 9:9; 1st Samuel 14:27; 2nd Kings 5:14; 2nd Kings 8:15; Genesis 37:31; and Joshua 3:15.
• It doesn't appear to have been customary to baptize people for cleansing, as John was doing until after the exile, but by John's time it was a common rite.
• Barnes also says that Jesus' baptism was a formal, solemn commissioning of Jesus unto his great mission. It was a point in time where he was set apart form his previous life and commissioned to his task. The form of baptism was chosen for the commissioning to be as solemn and formal and memorable as possible (as in Matthew 3:15).
• John Darby suggests that the act of being baptized demeaned Christ in a way, foreshadowing the way he would be demeaned at the Passion - and that it also signified that Christ was fully one of us because he was doing this thing that only us sinners needed to do.

MercyMe's So Long Self

What a great song and a fun video. I like the idea of locking your darker half up but I more love the idea of having a beefy security guy to toss your dark half out of the building completely.

Chuck Holton's Bullet Proof

I just finished reading a very fine book by Chuck Holton titled Bulletproof. It was automatically recommended to me by Amazon as likely being something that I'd like based on my having bought Gavin deBecker's books, The Gift of Fear and Fear Less, and I checked it out. The cover has a picture of a special-ops type guy in black armor in the 9-ring of a shooting target, and the tagline for the book is, "The making of an invincible mind." Cool, I thought. A book about commandos and fear and etc...

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When I got it and started reading it, I was quite surprised. You see, I didn't know that it was a book about Christianity and a Christian perspective on safety, risk, and fear. Told from the point of view and experiences of an Airborne Ranger, the central premise of the book is that until God is done with you here on Earth, you're bulletproof. Basically, if you are living within God's plan for you then you are invincible , but once you stray out of that plan, there is nothing on Earth that can make you safe. Holton doesn't advocate running in front of busses or trying to stop bullets, etc... but gives a very good reminder of what a right relationship to God looks like and what effect that has on your understanding of risk, safety, and fear.

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The book is well-written with powerful vignettes of various special-ops guys, troops and battles in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Black Hawk Down event in Somalia, the slaying of missionaries in Iraq and Amazonia, the DC Sniper shootings, and the Wedgwood church shooting in Fort Worth.

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Perhaps the best chapter in the book, at least from my perspective, is Chapter Ten, which gives numerous suggestions for training yourself to be a more disciplined, less fearful person - exercises that build traits such as concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self-denial.

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I would definitely recommend getting a copy of the book and reading it if you are a Christian wanting a more disciplined, less fearful life, if you are a military buff and enjoy reading first-hand accounts of men and women in mortal risk and peril, or even if you are non-Christian or anti-Christian - maybe you can get a better perspective on what those pesky Christians are all about.

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Holton has written a second book titled A More Elite Soldier, that is definitely on my must-read list.

Dividing soul from spirit, joints from marrow

Photo courtesy of Mazgrp

In my reading last night several quotes and passages came together for me.  Passages related to swords.  First is Jesus talking to his disciples immediately before his arrest.

And he said to them, "When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing."  He said to them, "But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.  For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment." And they said, "Look, Lord, here are two swords." And he said to them, "It is enough." (Luke 22:35-38)

Jesus is speaking literally here.  The sword, though it may be used in various metaphors, is at its most basic, a knife - a weapon.  And here, Jesus is telling his friends to arm themselves.  But Paul frequently uses the sword as a metaphor, as in my reading last night:

...and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God... (Ephesians 6;17)

That reminded me of another quote related to this spiritual sword that is the word of God:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

The word is a sword that is so sharp that it can divide your spirit from your soul!  That's sharper than razor sharp!   another image that comes to me is that of tearing a turkey leg off of a roasted turkey - separating joints and marrow.  

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And following is a quote from St. Bernard, again talking about literal weapons, but easily applicable and practical with relation to the Sword of the Spirit that is the word of God:

…a warrior especially needs these three things--he must guard his person with strength, shrewdness and care; he must be free in his movements, and he must be quick to draw his sword. In Praise of the New Knighthood (Liber ad milites Templi: De laude novae militae) St. Bernard of Clairvaux

And one more sword quote from the ancient Shinkage sword manual, The Mind and the Sword, and an allusion to Lao Tzu.

Weapons are unfortunate instruments.  Heaven's Way abhors them. Using them when there is no other way - that is Heaven's Way.

It is unfortunate that we must have need of a sword so sharp and penetrating that it separates our sin nature from our soul, rending us, as Grendel was rent, when we try to hang onto our sin.  But Thank God that He cares enough about us to give us just such a weapon as the Bible. 

Instruments for righteousness

My memory verse of the week:

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Romans 6:13; ESV)

Immerse in scripture until it flows from you

Today I was reading:

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:17-21; ESV)

This reminded me of one of the things that impresses me about some people. That is when someone has immersed themselves in the Bible enough - memorized enough scripture - that when they speak, it comes out as Scripture. I'm not just talking about being able to recite, "For God so loved the world..." rather, when someone is talking in everyday life and the best words that their subconscious can find to express their ideas mirror scripture. We have a retired pastor in McComb like that.

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Another example of that is Augustine's Confessions. You cannot read a passage of that book without reading Scripture because Augustine expressed his ideas in scriptural terms. See this online cross-referenced copy of Augustine's Confessions for instance. You know he had to have been completely immersed. The exposure to scripture had renewed Augustine's mind - transformed it - conformed it.

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That impresses me because my spirit seems to resist scripture memory.

Not neglecting to meet together

My memory verse of the week:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25; ESV)

One holy church

Photo courtesy of Leo Reynolds

I was talking to someone about religion a while back and the discussion got onto the topic of the church universal, as in the little-c catholic church.  I mentioned that many Protestant churches use the apostle's creed as a statement of faith, and that the apostle's creed mentions belief in one universal church.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. [this is one of the more controversial parts of the creed]  The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

Some of the more anti-big-C-Catholic folks changed that phrase to state belief in "one holy church," the literal meaning of little-c-catholic.  But anyway, I mentioned this to my friend, who is a devout, church-going guy, and his response surprised me.  He said, " Well, I most certainly do not believe that there is only one church."  I was shocked into silence.  I'd thought that this was one of the least controversial parts of the creed. 

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I thought about that conversation yesterday when reading Ephesians 4:

There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6; ESV)

I believe; help my unbelief!

Something that confused me for a long time was the faith vs. works thing. You are not saved by works - all you have to do is believe. But what about when belief seems like work? I can't say I understand all of this issue, but check out my memory verse for this week...

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9; ESV)

God, in his grace, gives us faith. We don't achieve faith through our own effort. God helps our unbelief.

And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:23-24; ESV)