Here is the latest for all the FB people who keep asking. Sorry I haven't been better at updating you all, but FB remains something I rather ignore most of the time. It is useful but I'd rather talk to you personally then do the social networking thing. That being said, it is still a great way to get info to many at once. So, Carol is doing okay. The last CT scan showed growth in the cancer in her liver and a spot in her right lung. She has not had any chemo since July and has been doing vitamins/supplements, juicing, exercise and acupuncture in the place of conventional stuff. Still, to this point nothing has worked. The cancer continues to grow and spread no matter what we have done. I don't know what would have happened if we had done nothing or done something else. We have been besieged by "advice" from people about what we should do or questions like; "Have you tried such and so?" Yes we have, or at least researched it. Honestly, I could use a break on suggestions about what we might want to try. I know people want to help and they are concerned, but we have been doing our home work too!
There is a possibility of some more treatment through a clinical trial of a new drug that was originally through Stanford, but now Kaiser is also participating. Whether she does this or not is up to her and we are consulting with some doctors about this on Thurs. (Jan.7) Carol does her best everyday to do what she ought, but most importantly she draws near to the Lord daily, with Bible study and prayer. She is a great example of what happens to someone who has walked with Christ for almost 30 years and then has something like this happen. Her experience has drawn her closer to the Lord not pushed her away. This is what faith is for. If your faith cannot withstand this then what good is it?
Please keep the prayers coming, we just love the fact that people are praying for us. Feel free to call or email if you would like. Let me leave you with 2Corinthians 4:16-18...
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
God bless you all, seek Him today with all your heart, don't delay...
Brian
Friday, January 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Bible Basics - The Bible
Here is the next installment in my ongoing series of postings under the title Bible Basics". (Previous one have been "God", "Jesus" and "The Holy Spirit") The purpose of this series is to get us and keep us acquainted with the most basic issues of our faith. Read and be healthy...
"Bible Basics - The Bible"
"No one really knows how many copies of the Bible have been printed, sold, or distributed. The Bible Society's attempt to calculate the number printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure of 2,458,000,000. A more recent survey, for the years up to 1992, put it closer to 6,000,000,000 in more than 2,000 languages and dialects. Whatever the precise figure, the Bible is by far the bestselling book of all time." (From the "Internet Public Library")
There is no doubt about that. It seems as if every home and hotel in America has a Bible, most of us probably own more than one, and some of us, quite a few. In spite of that, the biggest problem facing God's Church is our glaring ignorance of His Word. In Hosea 4:6 God says "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…" So if God's own people, at least those who call themselves Christians, are so ignorant of God's Word, what about those who are not Christians? It is not difficult to see that members of religious cults and false religions know far more about what they believe than Christians do about what we believe. Seems like the first thing we need to do is to get clear in our minds what the Bible is to begin with, then what we are supposed to do with it. Let's begin with some basics…
1.) "Basic Facts About the Bible" = Apart from being the best selling book in all history, it has a unique origin.
A.)Apart from the Bible, there is only one other religious book that claims a divine origin. The other is the Koran, and its origin is so dubious, and what the Koran has been through as a document of history would make anyone very suspicious about its current state. (See “Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross” By Norm Geisler and Abdul Saleeb)
B.) The Bible has 66 books written over a 1500 years span of time by 40 authors from all walks of life. It was written in different moods, places, and times across three continents, in three different languages (that are still alive today), in a wide variety of literary styles. (History, poetry, music, prophecy, romance) But for all its diversity it has one continuous message, God's love and the redemption of mankind.
C.) The Bible was one of the very first books in history translated to another language. Its text was kept alive by translators and copyists whose only purpose was to copy the Bible using a precise mathematical formula to ensure an exact copy every time.
D.) For historical accuracy the Bible is unparalleled in all books of antiquity. The science of "Textual Criticism" is the science of determining whether a book of antiquity faithfully represents what was originally written by its authors. There are three basic tests; Bibliographic (transmission of the text to us), Internal Evidence (giving the document the benefit of the doubt), and External Evidence (does history confirm or deny it). Here's something good to remember; as far as manuscript evidence is concerned the Bible is without peer. There exists today over 5,686 Greek manuscripts plus 19,284 manuscripts in other languages. The entirety of the N.T. was written before 100AD with most of it written as early as 40-50 AD. There are no original manuscripts. The first available manuscripts date from as early as 50AD. That puts the gap between date of original writing and first available less than inconsequential. The Bible is hands down the most accurate historical document in history. The NEXT most accurate (Citing the above criteria) historical book is the Iliad by Homer. There are 643 manuscripts and the first available copy comes 400 years after it was written!
The time gap between the original writings of the N.T. and the first available copies in most cases is less than 50 years. That gap is filled in by the early Church Fathers, those who were disciples of the Apostles themselves. People like Justin Martyr, Irenaus, Clement, Origen, etc. wrote letters themselves. When they wrote they quoted the apostles writings to the extent that if you take the quotations of the apostles from the letters of the early church fathers, you can reconstruct the entire N.T. with the exception of a few verses.
There is no book in history that has withstood the scrutiny and criticism that the Bible has, and it continues to stand as the most accurate and reliable document in antiquity. Now, all that being said, if this is really God's Word, don't you think He can protect and preserve it for us? This has obviously been a VERY cursory look at the Bible as a document of history, but as Christians we believe that the Bible is indeed God's word, and we believe that history and study shows this to be true. So if we can conclude these things are true, then what do we do?
2.) "What the Bible is Not" = Let me slide this point in here, there are many things people think about the Bible and what it is for that are in error. The Bible is NOT a science book. It contains things pertaining to science but it is not a book of science. It is NOT a "self-help" book. This book will not help you to realize your full potential, or to discover the giant within you, or to help you get in touch with your true self. The Bible is NOT a book of things we have to do in order to be good. The Bible is NOT a guide book for life, although we have often called it the "owner's manual for the human being". It is NOT a book of philosophy, morals, or ethics, although it contains all those things. AND, it is NOT something to be trifled with!!
In both Old and New Testaments we are warned to NOT add or subtract anything from God's Word. (Rev.22:18-19, Deut.4:2, Prov.30:6) Let's make sure we are not guilty of that. That’s clearly one of the biggest faults of non-orthodox religions today. So the Bible is NOT alot of things, but it IS the Word of God. That means that every word has something to say to you and I right now, so we best pay attention to what it says. There is much in God's word about God's Word, but there are four specific things I want to settle in on for us today.
3.) "What God's Word is to Us" = This is where I want to settle for the remainder of our time. I like the claims that the Bible makes about itself. Then when it does we have a chance to either believe it or not. Here are four claims that the Bible makes about itself and what we are to do about it.
A.) "God's Word Has a Purpose" = Isaiah 55:11, God's Word was sent here for a purpose, and God says that His Word will accomplish exactly what He sent it for. In the case of those of us who believe, it has accomplished its first purpose, it has brought us to Him for salvation. We could not have been saved apart from what we learn by it and the power of it through the Holy Spirit. See Romans 10:14. But let's also not underestimate the power of the Word "implanted". What I mean is this; the best and most powerful thing we can give anybody is the Word of God. When we share with them our faith we have two things that are the most powerful; one is our testimony (no one can argue with what Christ has done for us or in us) and the second is the Word itself.
In Matt.13:1-23 is the parable of the Sower. We all know the story but let's focus in on a few details. We know that the seed is the Word (vs.19), and it will be received differently by different people (vs.20-23), or even that satan is able to rip some people off for what they have heard (how many times did we hear before we surrendered?). But note that with all farming what we sow today does not bear fruit today. What we sow today may take many years before it bears fruit. That may be God's purpose, but we can rest assured that if we sow with good seed then a crop will come forth because that is God's purpose. You need a purpose in your life? Here's a good one and guaranteed to produce fruit, sow the Word of God into people's hearts and minds and wait for God to bring forth the harvest. His Word will accomplish what He sends it out to do. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will.
B.) "God's Word Builds Faith" = Rom.10:17, this is the faith to believe and receive, but also the faith to live for Him. All of us who know Christ today came to Him through His Word. This is one of the fallacies of the modern Church, that people can be led to Christ apart from His Word. If we go back to John 14:25-26, 16:13-15 we see again the stated purpose of the Holy Spirit working through the Word. If we go through the book of Acts the one characteristic that was common in all that the Holy Spirit did in those years was the faithful preaching of God's Word.
For those of us who are saved we look to the Word daily for our necessary food. In Job 23:12 Job says, "I have treasured the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food…" Also the entirety of Psalm 119 is about the word of God in the life of the believer, or how about Psalm 19:7-11. So God's Word builds our faith as we read and are trained by it. (more on that in a minute…) But God's Word also builds our faith as we see what God has done before with other people of faith. That is both positive and negative.
Look at 1Cor.10:6, 11. We have the Biblical record to see what to do and what NOT to do, and the results of both. Now our faith is built up by learning what not to do as well as what to do. Not only that, but through it all we see the faithfulness of God to His people. We see that God is not here to destroy you, but that He does have a plan for your life, (Jer.29:11) far better than what you can imagine, and if His plan for your life includes adversity or even suffering, we see God is faithful to sustain His people. So we are led to faith, built up in our faith, and encouraged in our faith by God's Word.
C.) "God's Word is Profitable" = 2Tim.3:16-17, again God's Word is "breathed" (NIV) by the Holy Spirit. As we remember from John 14, Jesus said that; "…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." And again in John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." Here in 2Tim3:16-17 God gets specific about that. Look at the list…
a.) doctrine = good teaching
b.) reproof = rebuke
c.) correction = to restore to an upright position
d.) instruction in righteousness = nurturing godly living
So that we may be…
a.) complete = perfected or fitted
b.) thoroughly equipped = perfectly furnished
For every good work, which God has prepared in advance for us to do! (Eph.2:10)
There is something missing in our understanding about God's Word, and I think this is the place to put it. We are not dependant upon it. We live our lives oblivious to His Word and all the profitability of it; we live as if we don't know what to do! We know exactly what to do! Psalm 119:105 says; "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Look at the equipping promised here, are there any of us who do not need this? The fact is we cannot live without the equipping of God's Word, and yet we do! Then we can't figure out why our lives get so messed up, then we blame God or come looking for Him after the fact to get us out of the situation we created for ourselves! How much better it is to be equipped by His Word, then walk in obedience to it!
D.) "God's Word is Surgical" = Hebrews 4:12-13, up to this point all we have looked at may be as much intellectual as anything else. But here it gets down right medical. Here is where God's Word becomes to us a diagnostic as well as a surgical tool. Notice how deep it cuts and how fine the incision; between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intents. There is nothing in all creation or the invention of man that cuts that deep. There is no drug, no therapy, and no meditation that gets as deep as the Word.
As we come to the Word and absorb it through our minds, it sinks deep into our hearts and there it goes to work. Look at Acts 2:37, at the preaching of the Gospel they were "…cut to the heart…" Jer.23:29 says, "Is not My Word like a fire? says the Lord. And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Note again from Heb.4:12 that God's Word is "living and active", it is not just an intellectual exercise to read it or study it, it is downright dangerous! If we expose ourselves to it, then we must be prepared to accept the consequences. God's word will utterly and completely change us because the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind it.
It is interesting to note here in Heb.4:13 that the term "naked and open" comes from a Greek term used of an combatant taking the head of his adversary and bending it backwards to slit the throat, this is also the position of greatest vulnerability. Do you want God's Word to have its way with you?
2Tim.2:15 tells us to be "diligent" in our study of the Word. Acts 17:11 tells us that the Bereans were. Col.3:16 says you are to let "…the word of Christ dwell in you richly." The challenge for us today is; are we even concerned for the Word? The Word of Christ may not dwell in you richly, but does it have any place in you at all? God has left us with two things in this world, His Holy Spirit and His Word; we ignore either at our own peril.
"Bible Basics - The Bible"
"No one really knows how many copies of the Bible have been printed, sold, or distributed. The Bible Society's attempt to calculate the number printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure of 2,458,000,000. A more recent survey, for the years up to 1992, put it closer to 6,000,000,000 in more than 2,000 languages and dialects. Whatever the precise figure, the Bible is by far the bestselling book of all time." (From the "Internet Public Library")
There is no doubt about that. It seems as if every home and hotel in America has a Bible, most of us probably own more than one, and some of us, quite a few. In spite of that, the biggest problem facing God's Church is our glaring ignorance of His Word. In Hosea 4:6 God says "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…" So if God's own people, at least those who call themselves Christians, are so ignorant of God's Word, what about those who are not Christians? It is not difficult to see that members of religious cults and false religions know far more about what they believe than Christians do about what we believe. Seems like the first thing we need to do is to get clear in our minds what the Bible is to begin with, then what we are supposed to do with it. Let's begin with some basics…
1.) "Basic Facts About the Bible" = Apart from being the best selling book in all history, it has a unique origin.
A.)Apart from the Bible, there is only one other religious book that claims a divine origin. The other is the Koran, and its origin is so dubious, and what the Koran has been through as a document of history would make anyone very suspicious about its current state. (See “Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross” By Norm Geisler and Abdul Saleeb)
B.) The Bible has 66 books written over a 1500 years span of time by 40 authors from all walks of life. It was written in different moods, places, and times across three continents, in three different languages (that are still alive today), in a wide variety of literary styles. (History, poetry, music, prophecy, romance) But for all its diversity it has one continuous message, God's love and the redemption of mankind.
C.) The Bible was one of the very first books in history translated to another language. Its text was kept alive by translators and copyists whose only purpose was to copy the Bible using a precise mathematical formula to ensure an exact copy every time.
D.) For historical accuracy the Bible is unparalleled in all books of antiquity. The science of "Textual Criticism" is the science of determining whether a book of antiquity faithfully represents what was originally written by its authors. There are three basic tests; Bibliographic (transmission of the text to us), Internal Evidence (giving the document the benefit of the doubt), and External Evidence (does history confirm or deny it). Here's something good to remember; as far as manuscript evidence is concerned the Bible is without peer. There exists today over 5,686 Greek manuscripts plus 19,284 manuscripts in other languages. The entirety of the N.T. was written before 100AD with most of it written as early as 40-50 AD. There are no original manuscripts. The first available manuscripts date from as early as 50AD. That puts the gap between date of original writing and first available less than inconsequential. The Bible is hands down the most accurate historical document in history. The NEXT most accurate (Citing the above criteria) historical book is the Iliad by Homer. There are 643 manuscripts and the first available copy comes 400 years after it was written!
The time gap between the original writings of the N.T. and the first available copies in most cases is less than 50 years. That gap is filled in by the early Church Fathers, those who were disciples of the Apostles themselves. People like Justin Martyr, Irenaus, Clement, Origen, etc. wrote letters themselves. When they wrote they quoted the apostles writings to the extent that if you take the quotations of the apostles from the letters of the early church fathers, you can reconstruct the entire N.T. with the exception of a few verses.
There is no book in history that has withstood the scrutiny and criticism that the Bible has, and it continues to stand as the most accurate and reliable document in antiquity. Now, all that being said, if this is really God's Word, don't you think He can protect and preserve it for us? This has obviously been a VERY cursory look at the Bible as a document of history, but as Christians we believe that the Bible is indeed God's word, and we believe that history and study shows this to be true. So if we can conclude these things are true, then what do we do?
2.) "What the Bible is Not" = Let me slide this point in here, there are many things people think about the Bible and what it is for that are in error. The Bible is NOT a science book. It contains things pertaining to science but it is not a book of science. It is NOT a "self-help" book. This book will not help you to realize your full potential, or to discover the giant within you, or to help you get in touch with your true self. The Bible is NOT a book of things we have to do in order to be good. The Bible is NOT a guide book for life, although we have often called it the "owner's manual for the human being". It is NOT a book of philosophy, morals, or ethics, although it contains all those things. AND, it is NOT something to be trifled with!!
In both Old and New Testaments we are warned to NOT add or subtract anything from God's Word. (Rev.22:18-19, Deut.4:2, Prov.30:6) Let's make sure we are not guilty of that. That’s clearly one of the biggest faults of non-orthodox religions today. So the Bible is NOT alot of things, but it IS the Word of God. That means that every word has something to say to you and I right now, so we best pay attention to what it says. There is much in God's word about God's Word, but there are four specific things I want to settle in on for us today.
3.) "What God's Word is to Us" = This is where I want to settle for the remainder of our time. I like the claims that the Bible makes about itself. Then when it does we have a chance to either believe it or not. Here are four claims that the Bible makes about itself and what we are to do about it.
A.) "God's Word Has a Purpose" = Isaiah 55:11, God's Word was sent here for a purpose, and God says that His Word will accomplish exactly what He sent it for. In the case of those of us who believe, it has accomplished its first purpose, it has brought us to Him for salvation. We could not have been saved apart from what we learn by it and the power of it through the Holy Spirit. See Romans 10:14. But let's also not underestimate the power of the Word "implanted". What I mean is this; the best and most powerful thing we can give anybody is the Word of God. When we share with them our faith we have two things that are the most powerful; one is our testimony (no one can argue with what Christ has done for us or in us) and the second is the Word itself.
In Matt.13:1-23 is the parable of the Sower. We all know the story but let's focus in on a few details. We know that the seed is the Word (vs.19), and it will be received differently by different people (vs.20-23), or even that satan is able to rip some people off for what they have heard (how many times did we hear before we surrendered?). But note that with all farming what we sow today does not bear fruit today. What we sow today may take many years before it bears fruit. That may be God's purpose, but we can rest assured that if we sow with good seed then a crop will come forth because that is God's purpose. You need a purpose in your life? Here's a good one and guaranteed to produce fruit, sow the Word of God into people's hearts and minds and wait for God to bring forth the harvest. His Word will accomplish what He sends it out to do. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will.
B.) "God's Word Builds Faith" = Rom.10:17, this is the faith to believe and receive, but also the faith to live for Him. All of us who know Christ today came to Him through His Word. This is one of the fallacies of the modern Church, that people can be led to Christ apart from His Word. If we go back to John 14:25-26, 16:13-15 we see again the stated purpose of the Holy Spirit working through the Word. If we go through the book of Acts the one characteristic that was common in all that the Holy Spirit did in those years was the faithful preaching of God's Word.
For those of us who are saved we look to the Word daily for our necessary food. In Job 23:12 Job says, "I have treasured the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food…" Also the entirety of Psalm 119 is about the word of God in the life of the believer, or how about Psalm 19:7-11. So God's Word builds our faith as we read and are trained by it. (more on that in a minute…) But God's Word also builds our faith as we see what God has done before with other people of faith. That is both positive and negative.
Look at 1Cor.10:6, 11. We have the Biblical record to see what to do and what NOT to do, and the results of both. Now our faith is built up by learning what not to do as well as what to do. Not only that, but through it all we see the faithfulness of God to His people. We see that God is not here to destroy you, but that He does have a plan for your life, (Jer.29:11) far better than what you can imagine, and if His plan for your life includes adversity or even suffering, we see God is faithful to sustain His people. So we are led to faith, built up in our faith, and encouraged in our faith by God's Word.
C.) "God's Word is Profitable" = 2Tim.3:16-17, again God's Word is "breathed" (NIV) by the Holy Spirit. As we remember from John 14, Jesus said that; "…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." And again in John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." Here in 2Tim3:16-17 God gets specific about that. Look at the list…
a.) doctrine = good teaching
b.) reproof = rebuke
c.) correction = to restore to an upright position
d.) instruction in righteousness = nurturing godly living
So that we may be…
a.) complete = perfected or fitted
b.) thoroughly equipped = perfectly furnished
For every good work, which God has prepared in advance for us to do! (Eph.2:10)
There is something missing in our understanding about God's Word, and I think this is the place to put it. We are not dependant upon it. We live our lives oblivious to His Word and all the profitability of it; we live as if we don't know what to do! We know exactly what to do! Psalm 119:105 says; "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Look at the equipping promised here, are there any of us who do not need this? The fact is we cannot live without the equipping of God's Word, and yet we do! Then we can't figure out why our lives get so messed up, then we blame God or come looking for Him after the fact to get us out of the situation we created for ourselves! How much better it is to be equipped by His Word, then walk in obedience to it!
D.) "God's Word is Surgical" = Hebrews 4:12-13, up to this point all we have looked at may be as much intellectual as anything else. But here it gets down right medical. Here is where God's Word becomes to us a diagnostic as well as a surgical tool. Notice how deep it cuts and how fine the incision; between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, thoughts and intents. There is nothing in all creation or the invention of man that cuts that deep. There is no drug, no therapy, and no meditation that gets as deep as the Word.
As we come to the Word and absorb it through our minds, it sinks deep into our hearts and there it goes to work. Look at Acts 2:37, at the preaching of the Gospel they were "…cut to the heart…" Jer.23:29 says, "Is not My Word like a fire? says the Lord. And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Note again from Heb.4:12 that God's Word is "living and active", it is not just an intellectual exercise to read it or study it, it is downright dangerous! If we expose ourselves to it, then we must be prepared to accept the consequences. God's word will utterly and completely change us because the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind it.
It is interesting to note here in Heb.4:13 that the term "naked and open" comes from a Greek term used of an combatant taking the head of his adversary and bending it backwards to slit the throat, this is also the position of greatest vulnerability. Do you want God's Word to have its way with you?
2Tim.2:15 tells us to be "diligent" in our study of the Word. Acts 17:11 tells us that the Bereans were. Col.3:16 says you are to let "…the word of Christ dwell in you richly." The challenge for us today is; are we even concerned for the Word? The Word of Christ may not dwell in you richly, but does it have any place in you at all? God has left us with two things in this world, His Holy Spirit and His Word; we ignore either at our own peril.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Many of you have been asking for an update on Carol, so here goes…
You can read my previous blog post about our bad weekend and what that led to, but right now I am blessed to say that carol is doing great. We take one day at a time and since my last post she has not only done well but improved. Now let me say that, the situation has not changed, she still has metastatic breast cancer involving more than half of her liver, that’s bad, but right now she is doing really good. Here’s how the story has gone.
After a week of morphine Carol said she was not feeling any pain. I suggested that was because she was on morphine, (not a bad thought I figured…) but she really said that there was no pain where she had pain so she stopped taking the morphine. If you have ever taken morphine you know that it works and that it’s really a nasty drug. She was sick for two days after stopping. Then she started feeling a whole lot better and continued to improve. She felt so much better that by the time we got to Kauai it was like she was never sick. After returning home she spent about 5 days with her parents in SoCal helping them out and just visiting with her parents and my family. There are two reasons why she is feeling better. One obviously is God being gracious and answering our prayers for her. The other is that since we first got the breast cancer diagnosis in June ’08 we have been feeding her a lot of vitamins and supplements to offset the terrible effects of the chemo. Some of the things we wanted to do we had to delay to prevent any conflict with chemo or some blood thinning drugs she had to take for a short time.
Now, since she is not doing any chemo or any other medical treatment we have gone whole hog with the vitamin attack. We have done some homework and have been greatly helped by others who have done more homework than we ever could in this area. We are focusing on immune system boosters and other stuff that will help support good liver function, amongst other things. Here is a list of what she is taking daily; both the item itself and the daily dose, and we are mega-dosing on some of these. This is spread out over the day, typically with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
COQ10 (Ubiquinol, not Ubiqunone): 600mg
Magnesium: 500mg
Vitamin D: 3000mg
Curcumin: 2400mg
Potassium: 600mg
Green Tea: 3000mg
N-Acetyl Cysteine: 1800mg
AHCC: 600mg
Maitake Extract: 100mg
Goji Berry: 4000mg
Rejuvenzyme (Proteolytic Enzymes): 1 a day right now
Along with this regimen are a number of supplements mixed with juice or water like whey protein and some vegetable extracts concentrated in powder form. She is also juicing fresh vegetables and fruits every day, sometimes twice a day. She has also had a couple treatments of acupuncture. (The Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years; there must be something to it!) Add to all this the occasional trip to In-N-Out and she is in fine form. While she was doing a lot of this during chemo, she has really ratcheted up the amounts and as far as we can read, there are no toxic levels on these items that we are concerned about.
All that being said, God is certainly blessing her right now. If you ran into her on the street (“ouch, my nose…”) you would never think anything was wrong at all. She looks as fabulous as always, maybe a bit fabulous. As far as we know the cancer is still there, she can feel it and it does cause occasional discomfort, but nothing Advil can’t handle.
So that’s the latest from here. Keep the prayers coming, we trust God completely in this. He knows what our desire is here and we keep pressing forward. (Philippians 3:13-14)
BTW, I’m okay too…
Grace to all in Christ,
Brian
You can read my previous blog post about our bad weekend and what that led to, but right now I am blessed to say that carol is doing great. We take one day at a time and since my last post she has not only done well but improved. Now let me say that, the situation has not changed, she still has metastatic breast cancer involving more than half of her liver, that’s bad, but right now she is doing really good. Here’s how the story has gone.
After a week of morphine Carol said she was not feeling any pain. I suggested that was because she was on morphine, (not a bad thought I figured…) but she really said that there was no pain where she had pain so she stopped taking the morphine. If you have ever taken morphine you know that it works and that it’s really a nasty drug. She was sick for two days after stopping. Then she started feeling a whole lot better and continued to improve. She felt so much better that by the time we got to Kauai it was like she was never sick. After returning home she spent about 5 days with her parents in SoCal helping them out and just visiting with her parents and my family. There are two reasons why she is feeling better. One obviously is God being gracious and answering our prayers for her. The other is that since we first got the breast cancer diagnosis in June ’08 we have been feeding her a lot of vitamins and supplements to offset the terrible effects of the chemo. Some of the things we wanted to do we had to delay to prevent any conflict with chemo or some blood thinning drugs she had to take for a short time.
Now, since she is not doing any chemo or any other medical treatment we have gone whole hog with the vitamin attack. We have done some homework and have been greatly helped by others who have done more homework than we ever could in this area. We are focusing on immune system boosters and other stuff that will help support good liver function, amongst other things. Here is a list of what she is taking daily; both the item itself and the daily dose, and we are mega-dosing on some of these. This is spread out over the day, typically with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
COQ10 (Ubiquinol, not Ubiqunone): 600mg
Magnesium: 500mg
Vitamin D: 3000mg
Curcumin: 2400mg
Potassium: 600mg
Green Tea: 3000mg
N-Acetyl Cysteine: 1800mg
AHCC: 600mg
Maitake Extract: 100mg
Goji Berry: 4000mg
Rejuvenzyme (Proteolytic Enzymes): 1 a day right now
Along with this regimen are a number of supplements mixed with juice or water like whey protein and some vegetable extracts concentrated in powder form. She is also juicing fresh vegetables and fruits every day, sometimes twice a day. She has also had a couple treatments of acupuncture. (The Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years; there must be something to it!) Add to all this the occasional trip to In-N-Out and she is in fine form. While she was doing a lot of this during chemo, she has really ratcheted up the amounts and as far as we can read, there are no toxic levels on these items that we are concerned about.
All that being said, God is certainly blessing her right now. If you ran into her on the street (“ouch, my nose…”) you would never think anything was wrong at all. She looks as fabulous as always, maybe a bit fabulous. As far as we know the cancer is still there, she can feel it and it does cause occasional discomfort, but nothing Advil can’t handle.
So that’s the latest from here. Keep the prayers coming, we trust God completely in this. He knows what our desire is here and we keep pressing forward. (Philippians 3:13-14)
BTW, I’m okay too…
Grace to all in Christ,
Brian
Monday, August 24, 2009
Carol Update for Our FB Friends
First of all, this entry is really directed at all our FB friends since FB won’t let me post anything quite this lengthy. So this is for all you who have been following the Chronicles of Carol on my FB page. Many of you have been praying and posting and emailing encouragements for us and we are blessed by you all. Some of you really deserve a private email from us and Lord willing we’ll get there. This update will help you understand where we have been since my last post on FB.
Last most of you heard we were headed to Stanford to get a second opinion on a surgical option for Carol. As most of you know the breast cancer she has been fighting the last year metastasized earlier this year into her liver. That’s pretty bad, really bad to be honest. Kaiser turned Carol down for surgery so we looked to Stanford as a very good alternative. The surgeon we talked to described himself as a very “aggressive” surgeon and that is what Stanford is known for, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. When we finally got to talk with him he also turned carol down for surgery, not that surgery is not possible, but that with the removal of half her liver could create even more problems than she had before the surgery. Long story short, he was not convinced that surgery was the best thing for her considering how fast the disease is progressing in her liver. It is not currently showing up anywhere else that we know of.
That very weekend we had to make two trips to emergency with Carol for abdominal pain and high fever. While in emergency they ran a full set of new tests including CT scan, x-ray and multiple blood tests. Since the last tests of this kind were a month earlier and more tests a month before that we were able to get a very good look at the progression of the cancer. Bottom line is that all the chemo Carol has done for the last 3-4 months has done nothing and the cancer continues to grow; now taking up most of the right lobe and part of the left lobe of her liver. After a very difficult consultation with her oncologist we have come to the place where the disease has turned a corner. We have simply run out of treatment options. Our decision now is whether Carol wants to keep trying chemo or stop the treatments. She hasn’t had any chemo since July 27th. She has not yet made a decision about that and we continue to pray.
If we look to the doctors, they have all but thrown in the towel. We can understand why from a human perspective. But where we end up is entirely in the hands of God, really where we have been all along. And perhaps the best place to be. Only the Lord knows what is next. After out traumatic weekend and a week’s worth of some pretty nasty drugs, carol is feeling much better. She has stopped working since her energy level really is not up to that so she is here at home and doing fine. As I like to tell people, if you met her on the street, you’d never think there was anything wrong with her, she looks great. But the scans don’t lie and we know what we are up against. We have meds should she need them but right now she is not taking anything. We have looked into and researched all kinds of alternatives and found many to be without any credibility at all. (“Eat only pork rinds and your cancer will disappear!”)
So, for the time being we are waiting on the Lord, praying our guts out and trying to make good, well educated decisions. With God’s grace we’ll be heading to Kauai soon for a little R&R as well. We could both use it! Keep the prayers coming and I’ll try to do better about keeping the updates coming…feel free always to send us a private email or even a phone call, we love hearing from you all.
This verse keeps coming back to me…
“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10)
God bless you all.
If Christ is not the hope of your life, I question whether you have any hope at all.
If Christ is not your highest aspiration, then you are aiming too low.
Trust in Him, now and always, He has never let me down.
Grace and peace to you all,
Brian and Carol
Last most of you heard we were headed to Stanford to get a second opinion on a surgical option for Carol. As most of you know the breast cancer she has been fighting the last year metastasized earlier this year into her liver. That’s pretty bad, really bad to be honest. Kaiser turned Carol down for surgery so we looked to Stanford as a very good alternative. The surgeon we talked to described himself as a very “aggressive” surgeon and that is what Stanford is known for, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. When we finally got to talk with him he also turned carol down for surgery, not that surgery is not possible, but that with the removal of half her liver could create even more problems than she had before the surgery. Long story short, he was not convinced that surgery was the best thing for her considering how fast the disease is progressing in her liver. It is not currently showing up anywhere else that we know of.
That very weekend we had to make two trips to emergency with Carol for abdominal pain and high fever. While in emergency they ran a full set of new tests including CT scan, x-ray and multiple blood tests. Since the last tests of this kind were a month earlier and more tests a month before that we were able to get a very good look at the progression of the cancer. Bottom line is that all the chemo Carol has done for the last 3-4 months has done nothing and the cancer continues to grow; now taking up most of the right lobe and part of the left lobe of her liver. After a very difficult consultation with her oncologist we have come to the place where the disease has turned a corner. We have simply run out of treatment options. Our decision now is whether Carol wants to keep trying chemo or stop the treatments. She hasn’t had any chemo since July 27th. She has not yet made a decision about that and we continue to pray.
If we look to the doctors, they have all but thrown in the towel. We can understand why from a human perspective. But where we end up is entirely in the hands of God, really where we have been all along. And perhaps the best place to be. Only the Lord knows what is next. After out traumatic weekend and a week’s worth of some pretty nasty drugs, carol is feeling much better. She has stopped working since her energy level really is not up to that so she is here at home and doing fine. As I like to tell people, if you met her on the street, you’d never think there was anything wrong with her, she looks great. But the scans don’t lie and we know what we are up against. We have meds should she need them but right now she is not taking anything. We have looked into and researched all kinds of alternatives and found many to be without any credibility at all. (“Eat only pork rinds and your cancer will disappear!”)
So, for the time being we are waiting on the Lord, praying our guts out and trying to make good, well educated decisions. With God’s grace we’ll be heading to Kauai soon for a little R&R as well. We could both use it! Keep the prayers coming and I’ll try to do better about keeping the updates coming…feel free always to send us a private email or even a phone call, we love hearing from you all.
This verse keeps coming back to me…
“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10)
God bless you all.
If Christ is not the hope of your life, I question whether you have any hope at all.
If Christ is not your highest aspiration, then you are aiming too low.
Trust in Him, now and always, He has never let me down.
Grace and peace to you all,
Brian and Carol
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bible Basics - The Holy Spirit
Sorry for the long delay on continuing this series, but finally here is the next installment...
"Bible Basics: The Holy Spirit"
There is perhaps no more misunderstood, used and abused member of the Trinity than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is credited with doing all manner of crazy thing and used or abused on national television nightly but so little understood from the Biblical perspective. Really, it is not difficult to understand the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, in the Believer and in this world. But in the process of gaining the correct Biblical understanding we may get our theology shaken up a bit in the process. Well, that's okay. If God's Word shakes us up that's the way it ought to be!
One of the reasons why we misunderstand so much concerning the Holy Spirit is because it all seems so "mystical", or a bit too "supernatural". We may be a little afraid of that, and if we are then we are afraid of half of what God left us in this world. He left us with His Word and His Holy Spirit and if we eliminate either one we lose half of what God gave us here on earth. This is supernatural! The Holy Spirit is not some mystical force or some unseen power that we can manipulate with the power of our faith. He is the third Person of the Trinity with very specific functions in this world and in the life of the Believer. We'll break this study down into three parts. The Deity of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit's work in the World, and the Holy Spirit's work in the Believer.
1.) "The Deity of the Holy Spirit" = Just as in our studies on God and on Jesus, one of the most important and distinctive characteristics of the Holy Spirit is His deity. (I use "His" merely as a point of reference) Deity being the claim that the Holy Spirit exhibits all the powers associated with God alone.
A.) The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent = Psalm 139:7-12 Here the Holy Spirit is seen as being everywhere just like God.
B.) The Holy Spirit is Omniscient = 1Cor.2:10 The Holy Spirit knows everything that God knows.
C.) The Holy Spirit is Omnipotent = Luke 1:35, Romans 1:4, Here and in Romans the Holy Spirit is seen with the power to create new life and raise the dead to life.
Not to mention Acts 5:1-4 where Peter tells Ananias that he has lied to the Holy Spirit then explains that by doing that he has lied to God. No clearer declaration of the Holy Spirit's deity is to be found. The Holy Spirit is seen in the acts of creation in Gen.1:2 and throughout the O.T. interacting in the lives of God's people. I'll touch on that a little more in just a few…
With the deity of the Holy Spirit clearly defined we can and have seen the presence of the Trinity throughout scripture. Just by way of reminder, here are a few quick references to the Trinity. Matt.3:16-17 (Jesus' baptism), Matt.28:19 (Baptism formula), 2Cor.13:14 (Benediction), Eph.4:4-6 (Each One present) and 1Thess.5:18-19 just to name a few. But the Person and work of the Holy Spirit is not limited to the believer…
2.) "The Work of the Holy Spirit in the World" = Not only do we see the Holy Spirit at work in the Creation, but throughout the O.T. There are however some distinctive differences, but let’s start here first; Jesus gives us the teaching in John 16:8-11. He "convicts" the world. That also means "rebuke", it is generally defined as "creating shame in the one convicted", or "to bring to light or expose". So here in John 16 Jesus explains how this works, the thing that becomes clear is that the Holy Spirit does what he does in and through the life of the believer in the Church. So the "instrument" is the believer, the "medium or method" is the Church. This is the purifying force of the Holy Spirit in the believer through the Church to the world around us. In the O.T. that function was filled by God's Prophets. They brought God's message to Israel and the world, and Israel and the world had the choice to obey God's Word or not. The world still has that choice today.
This purifying force is seen most clearly in its removal from the world in 2Thess.2:6-7. When the purifying power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the believer through the Church is removed, then the Anti-Christ will be revealed. The Believer in the Church acts as "salt and light" as Jesus said, both being purifying and revealing forces. It is this combination, Holy Spirit/Believer/Church that acts as a restrainer of sorts to the sin in the world around us. So as long as we are here, the world has a "conscience" of sorts because we keep standing up for the truth and saying things like, 'that’s not right…" Apart from us doing that, the world is free to have no conscience at all. The world around us today offers ample evidence that the purifying power of the Church is waning. We have less and less influence every day.
Why is that? Seems to me that from a Biblical perspective, the biggest thing missing today compared to the Church of the first century is holiness and purity. We are all so much more interested in our liberties than in holiness to God. It may be too late for the Church to ever regain the influence it once had, but its never too late for you and I to have a greater influence on our world, but it will only come as we increase in holiness to God, giving up more and more of our so called liberties, which are not really liberties at all, only excuses to compromise.
3.) "The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer" = In the O.T. we see frequent references to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He instructed Israel in the wilderness (Neh.9:20), He is responsible for inspiring the writers of both Old and New Testaments, (2Sam23:2, Is.59:21, 2Peter 1:21, 2Tim.3:16 "lit." God-breathed") that last reference is most interesting because the Greek word for "spirit" is "pneuma" or "breath". Here also is where we can make the distinction between the Holy Spirit's work in the O.T. and the N.T. There are three different experiences with the Holy Spirit; "with", "upon" and "in". In the O.T. the Holy Spirit was "with" and came "upon" God's people.
In Psalm 51:11 David prayed in repentance, "…do no take Your Holy Spirit from me…" Judges 6:34, "But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon…" He came "upon" Jephthah in Judges 11:29. Or Samson in Judges 14:6 where the Spirit of the Lord "came upon him mightily…" Not to mention all the Prophets. But the work of the Spirit was one of temporarily coming down, then being gone again in the sense of what He did in that moment or particular event. In the N.T. this is quite different. In the N.T. and to the Believer specifically there are three different manifestations for four different purposes.
A.) "With" = John 14:16, the word "with" means to accompany. So the Holy Spirit will accompany the Believer wherever he or she goes. Note that it says "forever", David prayed that God would not take His Holy Spirit from him, and now Jesus says that He will not.
B.) "In" = John 14:17, now Jesus adds on "in" as well as "with". The Greek word for "in" that is used here has the same meaning as "abide". That is a settled and permanent place or position. This is the one fundamental difference between those of us who are Believers, followers of Jesus Christ, born again by His Spirit; we have the Holy Spirit within us, never to leave.
C.) "Upon" = Luke 24:49, "power from on high", so like in the O.T. there is still this manifestation of the Spirit coming down from God "upon" His people. So the Holy Spirit is "with", "in", and "upon" those who are followers of Jesus.
This is quite handy; the Holy Spirit serves many different functions in the life of the Believer. Like assurance of our Salvation (Rom.8:16), giving us renewed physical life (Rom.8:11), He helps us to pray (Rom.8:26) amongst many others. But there are four specific functions I want to focus in on.
A.) "Illumination" = First is the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, 1Cor.12:3 says that we can't even confess "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit would "convict the world of sin righteousness and of judgment". So the Spirit is at work on us bringing us to Christ for salvation. Then as we are born again by His Spirit, (John 3:5) His indwelling presence now "illuminates" our understanding of God's Word. (John 14:25-26, 16:13-15)
B.) "Accompaniment" = The Greek word used by Jesus in John 14:16 is "parakletos", lit. "One called alongside to help". As I mentioned before He will be with us forever and one of the big bonuses of having Him with us is His "guidance" We see Him function in that way many times through the book of Acts, like 13:4, 16:6-7, 20:28. This is barely even mentioning what it means to "live" by the Spirit. (Rom.8:1-17) But that does get me to my next point.
C.) "Empowering" = Acts 1:8, the definitive verse on the subject. Here is Jesus reminding His followers that although they have so much, there is one thing more they need, power to do what Jesus commands. When we look at the commands that Jesus gave us, they are either very cruel, or He has a different idea in mind. Cruel because we can't do them! So Jesus says that He will empower us to do whatever He asks. Here in Acts 1:8 it is to be His "witnesses", the Greek word is "martus" or "martyr" Here is the power not only to die for Jesus, but to live for Him! Now it is not us trying to do what Jesus wants us to do in our own strength, but it is His power, His Spirit doing it in us! I'm relieved! I've tried in my own power and discovered that I didn't have any!
D.) "Equipping" = 1Cor.12:7, says that the Spirit gives to each of us who have been born again a "manifestation of the Spirit…for the profit of all." Here a number of things come together. We have the Spirits work through the Word (2Tim.3:16-17), His empowering to be "witnesses" for Jesus (Acts 1:8), His accompanying Presence with us (John 14:16), but now His "gifting". See 1Cor.12:1-11. The rest of chap.12 and then chap.14 goes on to explain the gifts and their proper exercise in the Church. Like 12:28-30, 14:1-5, 26-33. It's hard to imagine how some Churches get so whacked out in these things when the directions are so clear.
Now this brings us back again to the "in" and "upon" work of the Spirit. In Acts 19:1-6 Paul found "disciples" in Ephesus, these were followers of Jesus, but lacked this one last thing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let's walk through a few scriptures; Acts 2:1-4 (Holy Spirit spontaneously comes down, disciples speak in hitherto unknown languages), Acts 8:14-20 (Simon the Sorcerer's attempt to buy the Gift), Acts 10:44-47 (no hands, speaking in tongues, before baptism), and Acts 19:6 (hands, tongues and prophecy). Interesting side note is that in all the references to "tongues" in the N.T. all but one are defined as speaking another "earthly" language that someone did not know before. Only one reference to and "unknown tongue" is found in 1Cor. 14:21.
In each case it was simply God pouring out upon His people all that He has for them. There are good people who love Jesus who do not believe in this baptism of the Holy Spirit, or at least that it is not for believers of today, or some combination thereof. But when I look at what God's Word says about the Holy Spirit I want everything that God has for me. And when I study the Person and work of the Holy Spirit I question why anyone would think that that power is only for then and not now. We have certainly not covered all that we could about the Holy Spirit, but it does come down to this; have you been born of His Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit been working on your heart today? Do you need forgiveness of your sins and a new start with Christ? Then surrender to the work of the spirit and confess that Jesus Christ is your Lord and savior.
Perhaps you have been born again, but you have not yet asked for this baptism with the Holy Spirit. You have the Spirit in you and with you, but you have not yet asked Him to come upon you and gift you with whatever He wants to gift you with. Remember we are not talking about "natural" gifting, but supernatural gifting. If you have not then today is your day! I don't know what gift or gifts God will give you, but I know from His Word that He wants to. Jesus said "Ask and you shall receive", James said "You have not because you ask not", ask today for all the God has for you by His Holy Spirit.
"Bible Basics: The Holy Spirit"
There is perhaps no more misunderstood, used and abused member of the Trinity than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is credited with doing all manner of crazy thing and used or abused on national television nightly but so little understood from the Biblical perspective. Really, it is not difficult to understand the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, in the Believer and in this world. But in the process of gaining the correct Biblical understanding we may get our theology shaken up a bit in the process. Well, that's okay. If God's Word shakes us up that's the way it ought to be!
One of the reasons why we misunderstand so much concerning the Holy Spirit is because it all seems so "mystical", or a bit too "supernatural". We may be a little afraid of that, and if we are then we are afraid of half of what God left us in this world. He left us with His Word and His Holy Spirit and if we eliminate either one we lose half of what God gave us here on earth. This is supernatural! The Holy Spirit is not some mystical force or some unseen power that we can manipulate with the power of our faith. He is the third Person of the Trinity with very specific functions in this world and in the life of the Believer. We'll break this study down into three parts. The Deity of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit's work in the World, and the Holy Spirit's work in the Believer.
1.) "The Deity of the Holy Spirit" = Just as in our studies on God and on Jesus, one of the most important and distinctive characteristics of the Holy Spirit is His deity. (I use "His" merely as a point of reference) Deity being the claim that the Holy Spirit exhibits all the powers associated with God alone.
A.) The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent = Psalm 139:7-12 Here the Holy Spirit is seen as being everywhere just like God.
B.) The Holy Spirit is Omniscient = 1Cor.2:10 The Holy Spirit knows everything that God knows.
C.) The Holy Spirit is Omnipotent = Luke 1:35, Romans 1:4, Here and in Romans the Holy Spirit is seen with the power to create new life and raise the dead to life.
Not to mention Acts 5:1-4 where Peter tells Ananias that he has lied to the Holy Spirit then explains that by doing that he has lied to God. No clearer declaration of the Holy Spirit's deity is to be found. The Holy Spirit is seen in the acts of creation in Gen.1:2 and throughout the O.T. interacting in the lives of God's people. I'll touch on that a little more in just a few…
With the deity of the Holy Spirit clearly defined we can and have seen the presence of the Trinity throughout scripture. Just by way of reminder, here are a few quick references to the Trinity. Matt.3:16-17 (Jesus' baptism), Matt.28:19 (Baptism formula), 2Cor.13:14 (Benediction), Eph.4:4-6 (Each One present) and 1Thess.5:18-19 just to name a few. But the Person and work of the Holy Spirit is not limited to the believer…
2.) "The Work of the Holy Spirit in the World" = Not only do we see the Holy Spirit at work in the Creation, but throughout the O.T. There are however some distinctive differences, but let’s start here first; Jesus gives us the teaching in John 16:8-11. He "convicts" the world. That also means "rebuke", it is generally defined as "creating shame in the one convicted", or "to bring to light or expose". So here in John 16 Jesus explains how this works, the thing that becomes clear is that the Holy Spirit does what he does in and through the life of the believer in the Church. So the "instrument" is the believer, the "medium or method" is the Church. This is the purifying force of the Holy Spirit in the believer through the Church to the world around us. In the O.T. that function was filled by God's Prophets. They brought God's message to Israel and the world, and Israel and the world had the choice to obey God's Word or not. The world still has that choice today.
This purifying force is seen most clearly in its removal from the world in 2Thess.2:6-7. When the purifying power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the believer through the Church is removed, then the Anti-Christ will be revealed. The Believer in the Church acts as "salt and light" as Jesus said, both being purifying and revealing forces. It is this combination, Holy Spirit/Believer/Church that acts as a restrainer of sorts to the sin in the world around us. So as long as we are here, the world has a "conscience" of sorts because we keep standing up for the truth and saying things like, 'that’s not right…" Apart from us doing that, the world is free to have no conscience at all. The world around us today offers ample evidence that the purifying power of the Church is waning. We have less and less influence every day.
Why is that? Seems to me that from a Biblical perspective, the biggest thing missing today compared to the Church of the first century is holiness and purity. We are all so much more interested in our liberties than in holiness to God. It may be too late for the Church to ever regain the influence it once had, but its never too late for you and I to have a greater influence on our world, but it will only come as we increase in holiness to God, giving up more and more of our so called liberties, which are not really liberties at all, only excuses to compromise.
3.) "The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer" = In the O.T. we see frequent references to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He instructed Israel in the wilderness (Neh.9:20), He is responsible for inspiring the writers of both Old and New Testaments, (2Sam23:2, Is.59:21, 2Peter 1:21, 2Tim.3:16 "lit." God-breathed") that last reference is most interesting because the Greek word for "spirit" is "pneuma" or "breath". Here also is where we can make the distinction between the Holy Spirit's work in the O.T. and the N.T. There are three different experiences with the Holy Spirit; "with", "upon" and "in". In the O.T. the Holy Spirit was "with" and came "upon" God's people.
In Psalm 51:11 David prayed in repentance, "…do no take Your Holy Spirit from me…" Judges 6:34, "But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon…" He came "upon" Jephthah in Judges 11:29. Or Samson in Judges 14:6 where the Spirit of the Lord "came upon him mightily…" Not to mention all the Prophets. But the work of the Spirit was one of temporarily coming down, then being gone again in the sense of what He did in that moment or particular event. In the N.T. this is quite different. In the N.T. and to the Believer specifically there are three different manifestations for four different purposes.
A.) "With" = John 14:16, the word "with" means to accompany. So the Holy Spirit will accompany the Believer wherever he or she goes. Note that it says "forever", David prayed that God would not take His Holy Spirit from him, and now Jesus says that He will not.
B.) "In" = John 14:17, now Jesus adds on "in" as well as "with". The Greek word for "in" that is used here has the same meaning as "abide". That is a settled and permanent place or position. This is the one fundamental difference between those of us who are Believers, followers of Jesus Christ, born again by His Spirit; we have the Holy Spirit within us, never to leave.
C.) "Upon" = Luke 24:49, "power from on high", so like in the O.T. there is still this manifestation of the Spirit coming down from God "upon" His people. So the Holy Spirit is "with", "in", and "upon" those who are followers of Jesus.
This is quite handy; the Holy Spirit serves many different functions in the life of the Believer. Like assurance of our Salvation (Rom.8:16), giving us renewed physical life (Rom.8:11), He helps us to pray (Rom.8:26) amongst many others. But there are four specific functions I want to focus in on.
A.) "Illumination" = First is the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, 1Cor.12:3 says that we can't even confess "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit would "convict the world of sin righteousness and of judgment". So the Spirit is at work on us bringing us to Christ for salvation. Then as we are born again by His Spirit, (John 3:5) His indwelling presence now "illuminates" our understanding of God's Word. (John 14:25-26, 16:13-15)
B.) "Accompaniment" = The Greek word used by Jesus in John 14:16 is "parakletos", lit. "One called alongside to help". As I mentioned before He will be with us forever and one of the big bonuses of having Him with us is His "guidance" We see Him function in that way many times through the book of Acts, like 13:4, 16:6-7, 20:28. This is barely even mentioning what it means to "live" by the Spirit. (Rom.8:1-17) But that does get me to my next point.
C.) "Empowering" = Acts 1:8, the definitive verse on the subject. Here is Jesus reminding His followers that although they have so much, there is one thing more they need, power to do what Jesus commands. When we look at the commands that Jesus gave us, they are either very cruel, or He has a different idea in mind. Cruel because we can't do them! So Jesus says that He will empower us to do whatever He asks. Here in Acts 1:8 it is to be His "witnesses", the Greek word is "martus" or "martyr" Here is the power not only to die for Jesus, but to live for Him! Now it is not us trying to do what Jesus wants us to do in our own strength, but it is His power, His Spirit doing it in us! I'm relieved! I've tried in my own power and discovered that I didn't have any!
D.) "Equipping" = 1Cor.12:7, says that the Spirit gives to each of us who have been born again a "manifestation of the Spirit…for the profit of all." Here a number of things come together. We have the Spirits work through the Word (2Tim.3:16-17), His empowering to be "witnesses" for Jesus (Acts 1:8), His accompanying Presence with us (John 14:16), but now His "gifting". See 1Cor.12:1-11. The rest of chap.12 and then chap.14 goes on to explain the gifts and their proper exercise in the Church. Like 12:28-30, 14:1-5, 26-33. It's hard to imagine how some Churches get so whacked out in these things when the directions are so clear.
Now this brings us back again to the "in" and "upon" work of the Spirit. In Acts 19:1-6 Paul found "disciples" in Ephesus, these were followers of Jesus, but lacked this one last thing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Let's walk through a few scriptures; Acts 2:1-4 (Holy Spirit spontaneously comes down, disciples speak in hitherto unknown languages), Acts 8:14-20 (Simon the Sorcerer's attempt to buy the Gift), Acts 10:44-47 (no hands, speaking in tongues, before baptism), and Acts 19:6 (hands, tongues and prophecy). Interesting side note is that in all the references to "tongues" in the N.T. all but one are defined as speaking another "earthly" language that someone did not know before. Only one reference to and "unknown tongue" is found in 1Cor. 14:21.
In each case it was simply God pouring out upon His people all that He has for them. There are good people who love Jesus who do not believe in this baptism of the Holy Spirit, or at least that it is not for believers of today, or some combination thereof. But when I look at what God's Word says about the Holy Spirit I want everything that God has for me. And when I study the Person and work of the Holy Spirit I question why anyone would think that that power is only for then and not now. We have certainly not covered all that we could about the Holy Spirit, but it does come down to this; have you been born of His Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit been working on your heart today? Do you need forgiveness of your sins and a new start with Christ? Then surrender to the work of the spirit and confess that Jesus Christ is your Lord and savior.
Perhaps you have been born again, but you have not yet asked for this baptism with the Holy Spirit. You have the Spirit in you and with you, but you have not yet asked Him to come upon you and gift you with whatever He wants to gift you with. Remember we are not talking about "natural" gifting, but supernatural gifting. If you have not then today is your day! I don't know what gift or gifts God will give you, but I know from His Word that He wants to. Jesus said "Ask and you shall receive", James said "You have not because you ask not", ask today for all the God has for you by His Holy Spirit.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Bible Basics: Jesus
Part two in the Bible Basics series...
There is no doubt that the most beloved and controversial figure in all of history is Jesus. He divides time (B.C. /A.D.) and divides human kind between those who believe in Him and those who do not. The second study in our "Bible Basics" series will attempt to give you an overview of Jesus. Again the impossibility of this is obvious, but we will look to God's Word and let God Himself clear up any misunderstandings or misconceptions we may have of Who Jesus is. From the promise of the Messiah in Gen.3:15 (…her seed…) to the fulfillment of all things in the book of Revelation, the Bible has One central figure; Jesus. He is called "The Christ", that is His office (not His last name!), and that office is the Messiah, also called "the Anointed One"
If we were to ask a thousand people what they thought of Jesus we'd probably get a thousand different answers. Every religion in the world has an opinion about Who Jesus was, we will see not only Who Jesus was, but Who He is today. There are five different categories we will look at briefly of course, and again I encourage you to take notes and examine this material for yourself at home. (Yes, it's that important!) Those five categories are these; His Pre-existence, His Incarnation, His Deity, His Claims, and His Return.
1.) "The Pre-existence of Christ" = If we only think of Jesus as the guy in the N.T. Who healed people we will miss a large part of His story. The pre-existent Christ is made clear in Gen.1:26 when God says; "…let Us make man in Our image…" Our first hint is that God is not alone as we understand alone. Remember how we understand the Trinity? That's right, we don't! But if God is saying "Us" and "Our", then He is including more than His singular Self in the conversation. John's Gospel also addresses Christ in the creation in chap.1 verses 1-4. (See also Col.1:16-17)
In addition to Jesus being present in all eternity and the active Creator of all things, He would put in an occasional guest appearance here on earth before His incarnation. Those appearances of Jesus in the O.T. are called "Theophanies" or appearances of Christ in the O.T., usually referred to as "The Angel of the Lord" as opposed to "an" angel of the Lord. A couple of good ones to refer to would be Gen.18:1-15 (12-15), Joshua 5:13-6:2, Judges 6:11-14, and Dan.3:25 amongst many others.
This does not even take into account all the prophecies made in the O.T. concerning the coming Messiah. So with all these O.T. references to a pre-incarnate Christ we can have no doubt that Jesus does indeed exist in eternity and because He exists in eternity, He existed before the creation of this world. He made special guest appearances in the world before He came in the flesh always as an active participant in the affairs of His creation.
2.) "The Incarnation of Christ" = Incarnation simply means His appearing in the flesh. The term "Messiah" simply means "The Anointed One". Just to take a couple of O.T. references to set the stage, let's go back to Gen.3:15 and note the prophecy of the virgin birth of the Savior, "her seed". As we all know the woman does not carry the "seed", but rather the "egg". And although satan would inflict damage on the coming Messiah ("…bruise His heel…"), the Messiah would destroy satan. ("…crush your head…"). Move on to Isaiah 9:6, where not only is the Messiah promised but His Deity is clearly declared. We could exhaust ourselves studying O.T. prophecies concerning Jesus, but let's move on to the N.T. for a few references. Start with Matthew 1:18-23 and Luke 1:26-38. Both stories that we commonly hear around Christmas! Not stories only, but history that bears' further study. God in His eternal wisdom foresaw the condition of mankind after the fall and had prepared from all eternity His Son, to come to earth in the likeness of man. See Phil.2:5-11 for an excellent description of the events.
(Another fruitful field of study is the names and titles used for Jesus in the N.T. In John 1 Jesus is called the "Word of God". Along with His claims concerning Himself (next), this is an area worth studying. We will not get into that today, but we'll touch on it in some of our other studies in this series as we see the plan of God unfold.)
There really is no historian of any kind who denies that a person named Jesus existed 2,000 years ago. The argument is over whether Jesus is Who He claims to be. That’s brings us to our next heading.
3.) "The Claims of Christ Concerning Himself" = There are 7 to bring to your attention, and very briefly they are;
A.) "I Am the Bread of Life" = John 6:35, 41, 48-51. Jesus claims that He alone can satisfy the spiritual hunger for our souls. He not only sustains life but He gives it as the Author of life. He is the True food for your soul.
B.) "I Am the Light of the World" = John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46. Jesus claims that He alone is the Light that illuminates our hearts and souls. If you want to see spiritually, if you want to see the path that He has marked out for you, then Jesus claims that He is The Light, and that He gives that illumination.
C.) "I Am the Door" = John 10:7-9 Jesus here claims that if you are a Sheep (one of His followers), then the only way into "salvation" (vs.10) and "pasture" (good feeding), is through Him. Interesting to note that Jesus mentions that there are others (all who came before me), so we have a choice, but for salvation and feeding there is only One.
D.) "I Am the Good Shepherd" = John 10:11-14 Jesus claims here that if you are a Sheep (one of His followers), then any real protection will come from Him. Again He states that there will be those who are false shepherds, but that those who know Him will recognize Him by the way He cares for the sheep.
E.) "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" = John 11:25 Note that He did not claim to be able to resurrect, or to be able to give life (though that is all true), but He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. In Him is life after death, life eternal.
F.) "I Am the Way the Truth and the Life" = John 14:6 Again Jesus did not claim to be a way, a truth, or a life, but rather "THE". There is hardly any greater claim of exclusivity in all of scripture. He doesn't claim to teach about these things or show the way, He simply claims that He is these things.
G.) "I Am the True Vine" = John 15:1-5 Jesus claims that if we know Him we now draw His life from Him, and that His life now flows into us as vine into the branch. If we want to live and be fruitful we will stay attached to Him for life and fruitfulness, and that not of ourselves, it is from Him into us.
The reason I bring these claims to your attention is this; when we read the claims that Christ made about Himself, we have only one of three conclusions to come to. From C.S. Lewis via Josh McDowell, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or He really is Lord. No sane individual would make such claims about Himself if he was not one of these things. Jesus' claims about Himself are perhaps the most striking thing to study in God's Word and the very things that set Jesus apart from any other figure in history, religious or otherwise. There is no one else in the world who has ever made those claims, then went on to prove them! That brings us to our next point…
4.) "The Deity of Christ" = Simply claiming to be God does not make someone God. Mental institutions all have someone claiming to be God or Jesus. How did Jesus prove His deity? First and foremost are His miracles. Each one demonstrates that He has the power to suspend the "laws of nature" for the purpose of demonstrating His Deity. Here are just a few examples; Matt.8:23-27 (even the wind and the sea obey Him), John 11:38-44 (if you would believe you would see the glory of God), and perhaps one of my favorites, Luke 5:18-26 (who can forgive sins but God alone?).
We also have scriptures like John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Or Col.2:9, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." But let's also separate this out like we did last week in establishing the attributes of God Himself.
A.) Omnipotence of Jesus = He is all powerful, Is.9:6, Matt.28:18, John 5:21, 10:17-18, Col.1:17, Rev.1:8.
B.) Omnipresence of Jesus = He is everywhere at all times, Matt.18:20, Matt.28:20, Eph.1:22-23, Heb.13:5.
C.) Omniscience of Jesus = He knows everything, Matt.9:4, John 1:48-49, 2:24, 16:29-30, 21:17.
As we saw in the previous post concerning God Himself, we noted that these attributes are possessed by God alone, yet Jesus Himself demonstrates these very same attributes. There can only be one conclusion, and that is that Jesus is in fact God in the flesh. 1John 4:2-3 says that this one issue is the dividing point between the true followers and teachers of Christ and the false ones. Now, lastly…
5.) "The Return of Christ" = In all of the things we have looked at this morning, they have all been fulfilled by Jesus. There is only one thing that remains for us, Jesus' return. In John 14:1-2 Jesus made the promise. 1Thess.4:16 describes the next event on the prophetic calendar, the rapture of the Church. Once the Church is removed from this earth, then all hell brakes loose in what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation. Seven years of satan having his way and God intervening in judgment. Then, at the end of that seven year period (Daniel's 70th week, Dan.9:24-27), Jesus Himself will physically return to earth to clean up the wreckage and to rule and reign. (Rev.19)
I mention this because everything Jesus ever said or did was complete. The only thing left and remaining is this. After Jesus fulfilled everything else, what are the odds He will come back as He claimed? In His birth, life, death and resurrection Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning Himself, I think He will fulfill this last one too.
But now the question becomes this; is this the Jesus you know? Or have you believed in some other Jesus? Even a Jesus of your own making? Jesus as He is recorded in God's Word is the only One Who saves, the only One with the power to rescue you and me from a life of futility and an eternity in hell. His life, death and resurrection from the dead delcares Jesus as the only One in all of human history to have done so. Is your faith in Him today? Or in a Jesus who is not savior at all?
There is no doubt that the most beloved and controversial figure in all of history is Jesus. He divides time (B.C. /A.D.) and divides human kind between those who believe in Him and those who do not. The second study in our "Bible Basics" series will attempt to give you an overview of Jesus. Again the impossibility of this is obvious, but we will look to God's Word and let God Himself clear up any misunderstandings or misconceptions we may have of Who Jesus is. From the promise of the Messiah in Gen.3:15 (…her seed…) to the fulfillment of all things in the book of Revelation, the Bible has One central figure; Jesus. He is called "The Christ", that is His office (not His last name!), and that office is the Messiah, also called "the Anointed One"
If we were to ask a thousand people what they thought of Jesus we'd probably get a thousand different answers. Every religion in the world has an opinion about Who Jesus was, we will see not only Who Jesus was, but Who He is today. There are five different categories we will look at briefly of course, and again I encourage you to take notes and examine this material for yourself at home. (Yes, it's that important!) Those five categories are these; His Pre-existence, His Incarnation, His Deity, His Claims, and His Return.
1.) "The Pre-existence of Christ" = If we only think of Jesus as the guy in the N.T. Who healed people we will miss a large part of His story. The pre-existent Christ is made clear in Gen.1:26 when God says; "…let Us make man in Our image…" Our first hint is that God is not alone as we understand alone. Remember how we understand the Trinity? That's right, we don't! But if God is saying "Us" and "Our", then He is including more than His singular Self in the conversation. John's Gospel also addresses Christ in the creation in chap.1 verses 1-4. (See also Col.1:16-17)
In addition to Jesus being present in all eternity and the active Creator of all things, He would put in an occasional guest appearance here on earth before His incarnation. Those appearances of Jesus in the O.T. are called "Theophanies" or appearances of Christ in the O.T., usually referred to as "The Angel of the Lord" as opposed to "an" angel of the Lord. A couple of good ones to refer to would be Gen.18:1-15 (12-15), Joshua 5:13-6:2, Judges 6:11-14, and Dan.3:25 amongst many others.
This does not even take into account all the prophecies made in the O.T. concerning the coming Messiah. So with all these O.T. references to a pre-incarnate Christ we can have no doubt that Jesus does indeed exist in eternity and because He exists in eternity, He existed before the creation of this world. He made special guest appearances in the world before He came in the flesh always as an active participant in the affairs of His creation.
2.) "The Incarnation of Christ" = Incarnation simply means His appearing in the flesh. The term "Messiah" simply means "The Anointed One". Just to take a couple of O.T. references to set the stage, let's go back to Gen.3:15 and note the prophecy of the virgin birth of the Savior, "her seed". As we all know the woman does not carry the "seed", but rather the "egg". And although satan would inflict damage on the coming Messiah ("…bruise His heel…"), the Messiah would destroy satan. ("…crush your head…"). Move on to Isaiah 9:6, where not only is the Messiah promised but His Deity is clearly declared. We could exhaust ourselves studying O.T. prophecies concerning Jesus, but let's move on to the N.T. for a few references. Start with Matthew 1:18-23 and Luke 1:26-38. Both stories that we commonly hear around Christmas! Not stories only, but history that bears' further study. God in His eternal wisdom foresaw the condition of mankind after the fall and had prepared from all eternity His Son, to come to earth in the likeness of man. See Phil.2:5-11 for an excellent description of the events.
(Another fruitful field of study is the names and titles used for Jesus in the N.T. In John 1 Jesus is called the "Word of God". Along with His claims concerning Himself (next), this is an area worth studying. We will not get into that today, but we'll touch on it in some of our other studies in this series as we see the plan of God unfold.)
There really is no historian of any kind who denies that a person named Jesus existed 2,000 years ago. The argument is over whether Jesus is Who He claims to be. That’s brings us to our next heading.
3.) "The Claims of Christ Concerning Himself" = There are 7 to bring to your attention, and very briefly they are;
A.) "I Am the Bread of Life" = John 6:35, 41, 48-51. Jesus claims that He alone can satisfy the spiritual hunger for our souls. He not only sustains life but He gives it as the Author of life. He is the True food for your soul.
B.) "I Am the Light of the World" = John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46. Jesus claims that He alone is the Light that illuminates our hearts and souls. If you want to see spiritually, if you want to see the path that He has marked out for you, then Jesus claims that He is The Light, and that He gives that illumination.
C.) "I Am the Door" = John 10:7-9 Jesus here claims that if you are a Sheep (one of His followers), then the only way into "salvation" (vs.10) and "pasture" (good feeding), is through Him. Interesting to note that Jesus mentions that there are others (all who came before me), so we have a choice, but for salvation and feeding there is only One.
D.) "I Am the Good Shepherd" = John 10:11-14 Jesus claims here that if you are a Sheep (one of His followers), then any real protection will come from Him. Again He states that there will be those who are false shepherds, but that those who know Him will recognize Him by the way He cares for the sheep.
E.) "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" = John 11:25 Note that He did not claim to be able to resurrect, or to be able to give life (though that is all true), but He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. In Him is life after death, life eternal.
F.) "I Am the Way the Truth and the Life" = John 14:6 Again Jesus did not claim to be a way, a truth, or a life, but rather "THE". There is hardly any greater claim of exclusivity in all of scripture. He doesn't claim to teach about these things or show the way, He simply claims that He is these things.
G.) "I Am the True Vine" = John 15:1-5 Jesus claims that if we know Him we now draw His life from Him, and that His life now flows into us as vine into the branch. If we want to live and be fruitful we will stay attached to Him for life and fruitfulness, and that not of ourselves, it is from Him into us.
The reason I bring these claims to your attention is this; when we read the claims that Christ made about Himself, we have only one of three conclusions to come to. From C.S. Lewis via Josh McDowell, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or He really is Lord. No sane individual would make such claims about Himself if he was not one of these things. Jesus' claims about Himself are perhaps the most striking thing to study in God's Word and the very things that set Jesus apart from any other figure in history, religious or otherwise. There is no one else in the world who has ever made those claims, then went on to prove them! That brings us to our next point…
4.) "The Deity of Christ" = Simply claiming to be God does not make someone God. Mental institutions all have someone claiming to be God or Jesus. How did Jesus prove His deity? First and foremost are His miracles. Each one demonstrates that He has the power to suspend the "laws of nature" for the purpose of demonstrating His Deity. Here are just a few examples; Matt.8:23-27 (even the wind and the sea obey Him), John 11:38-44 (if you would believe you would see the glory of God), and perhaps one of my favorites, Luke 5:18-26 (who can forgive sins but God alone?).
We also have scriptures like John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Or Col.2:9, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." But let's also separate this out like we did last week in establishing the attributes of God Himself.
A.) Omnipotence of Jesus = He is all powerful, Is.9:6, Matt.28:18, John 5:21, 10:17-18, Col.1:17, Rev.1:8.
B.) Omnipresence of Jesus = He is everywhere at all times, Matt.18:20, Matt.28:20, Eph.1:22-23, Heb.13:5.
C.) Omniscience of Jesus = He knows everything, Matt.9:4, John 1:48-49, 2:24, 16:29-30, 21:17.
As we saw in the previous post concerning God Himself, we noted that these attributes are possessed by God alone, yet Jesus Himself demonstrates these very same attributes. There can only be one conclusion, and that is that Jesus is in fact God in the flesh. 1John 4:2-3 says that this one issue is the dividing point between the true followers and teachers of Christ and the false ones. Now, lastly…
5.) "The Return of Christ" = In all of the things we have looked at this morning, they have all been fulfilled by Jesus. There is only one thing that remains for us, Jesus' return. In John 14:1-2 Jesus made the promise. 1Thess.4:16 describes the next event on the prophetic calendar, the rapture of the Church. Once the Church is removed from this earth, then all hell brakes loose in what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation. Seven years of satan having his way and God intervening in judgment. Then, at the end of that seven year period (Daniel's 70th week, Dan.9:24-27), Jesus Himself will physically return to earth to clean up the wreckage and to rule and reign. (Rev.19)
I mention this because everything Jesus ever said or did was complete. The only thing left and remaining is this. After Jesus fulfilled everything else, what are the odds He will come back as He claimed? In His birth, life, death and resurrection Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning Himself, I think He will fulfill this last one too.
But now the question becomes this; is this the Jesus you know? Or have you believed in some other Jesus? Even a Jesus of your own making? Jesus as He is recorded in God's Word is the only One Who saves, the only One with the power to rescue you and me from a life of futility and an eternity in hell. His life, death and resurrection from the dead delcares Jesus as the only One in all of human history to have done so. Is your faith in Him today? Or in a Jesus who is not savior at all?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Bible Basics
Here's the last installment in the intro message on God. More Basics messages on the way, so keep checking back!
Grace and peace,
Brian
3.) "The Attributes of God" = It is difficult to distinguish between the nature of God and His attributes. Trying to separate God and His nature into parts is always a bit problematic because it presumes an ability on our part to understand these distinctions. As foolish as that is, let's plunge forward and see what many theologians call the "natural" and "moral" attributes of God. (I could certainly reference more passages from the Bible for each point but I've intentionally kept this brief...)
The "natural" attributes go like this:
1.) God is Omniscient; that means He knows everything. He has perfect understanding and knowledge of everything at all times. 1John 3:20 simply states that "…God...knows all things." (Also Is.40:28)
2.) God is Omnipotent; that means He is all powerful. God can bring to pass anything that He wills, nothing is impossible for Him, He has no limitations. See Job 42:2, Gen. 18:14, Luke 1:37. There is nothing outside of the realm of His control.
3.) God is Omnipresent; that means that He is everywhere at all times. He is not limited by time or space. Again Psalm 139:7-12, Jer.23:23-24 amongst others.
We might sum up the Trinity like this; God the Father is specially manifested in Heaven, God the Son has been specially manifested on Earth, God the Holy Spirit has been specially manifested everywhere. God is present everywhere at all times with all power and all knowledge.
The "moral" attributes go like this:
1.) God is Immutable = That means He never changes. Mal.3:6, "For I am the Lord, and I do not change."
2.) God is Holy = That means He is perfect in purity, in Him there is no shadow or variance, no spot or wrinkle. Is.6:3 God is declared to be "holy, holy, holy", the only attribute of God repeated three times. We can also see that the holiness of God is the primary message of the OT. (Lev.11:45, Psalm 99:9) This may be the most overwhelming of His attributes.
3.) God is righteous and just = These things spring from His holiness. This means that He is always right, and all His actions and decisions are right and according to perfect justice. Ezra 9:15 says; "O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous…" Also Psalm 11:4-7, 145:17, and Rev.16:5-6.
4.) God is full of loving-kindness and mercy = God is not mean hearted. Mercy is defined as "not giving us what we deserve". In that respect, everyday that this planet and it's inhabitants wakes up and breaths again is because of His mercy. His loving-kindness is seen in His grace. Not only do we wake up and breath, but He has supplied humanity all that it needs to survive and even prosper. Deut. 4:31, "…for the Lord your God is a merciful God…" Also Ps.92:1-2, Eph.2:4.
5.) God is love = 1John 4:8 makes this bold and startling declaration about God. He is simply love. He is also described as "Light", and "Spirit", but here He is love. God's nature is to love. 1John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us." That love was declared in John 3:16 then demonstrated in Jesus' death on the cross. (Romans 5:8)
God simply is. We can see many things about Him throughout His Word. He has manifested Himself in this world that we might see Him, He sent His Son that we might know Him, and sent His Holy Spirit that we might experience Him. There is only one way to do this, by faith. God cannot be proven or disproved by science. But He has made Himself known and knowable. Every other religion on earth disagrees. As we proceed further in our lessons we will continue to see the nature and attributes of God manifested throughout all of His Word. Though this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface so to speak, perhaps it will get us into a mind set to consider Who He is, and when we do there is only one thing left to do, that is to worship Him.
Seeing God for Who He is leads to only one thing, worship. He alone is worthy to be praised; He alone is worthy to be worshiped. But one last thing I want to leave you with. As we have very briefly looked at God in His Word I want you to walk away with this; God, Who is Self-Existent, Spirit, manifested in the Trinity, Creator of all things seen and unseen, Who alone knows all, sees all, and has all power, our God Who alone is Holy, holy, holy, righteous, just, full of loving-kindness, mercy and grace, Who alone is love in and of Himself, this God knows you, and He loves you, and He is calling to you to come to Him for salvation and forgiveness. He has made Himself known for you and knowable for you that you might enjoy all the mercy, love and forgiveness that He has for you. The Bible says that there is only one God, all else is a fake. Do you know God today, because He knows you and loves you with an everlasting love.
Grace and peace,
Brian
3.) "The Attributes of God" = It is difficult to distinguish between the nature of God and His attributes. Trying to separate God and His nature into parts is always a bit problematic because it presumes an ability on our part to understand these distinctions. As foolish as that is, let's plunge forward and see what many theologians call the "natural" and "moral" attributes of God. (I could certainly reference more passages from the Bible for each point but I've intentionally kept this brief...)
The "natural" attributes go like this:
1.) God is Omniscient; that means He knows everything. He has perfect understanding and knowledge of everything at all times. 1John 3:20 simply states that "…God...knows all things." (Also Is.40:28)
2.) God is Omnipotent; that means He is all powerful. God can bring to pass anything that He wills, nothing is impossible for Him, He has no limitations. See Job 42:2, Gen. 18:14, Luke 1:37. There is nothing outside of the realm of His control.
3.) God is Omnipresent; that means that He is everywhere at all times. He is not limited by time or space. Again Psalm 139:7-12, Jer.23:23-24 amongst others.
We might sum up the Trinity like this; God the Father is specially manifested in Heaven, God the Son has been specially manifested on Earth, God the Holy Spirit has been specially manifested everywhere. God is present everywhere at all times with all power and all knowledge.
The "moral" attributes go like this:
1.) God is Immutable = That means He never changes. Mal.3:6, "For I am the Lord, and I do not change."
2.) God is Holy = That means He is perfect in purity, in Him there is no shadow or variance, no spot or wrinkle. Is.6:3 God is declared to be "holy, holy, holy", the only attribute of God repeated three times. We can also see that the holiness of God is the primary message of the OT. (Lev.11:45, Psalm 99:9) This may be the most overwhelming of His attributes.
3.) God is righteous and just = These things spring from His holiness. This means that He is always right, and all His actions and decisions are right and according to perfect justice. Ezra 9:15 says; "O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous…" Also Psalm 11:4-7, 145:17, and Rev.16:5-6.
4.) God is full of loving-kindness and mercy = God is not mean hearted. Mercy is defined as "not giving us what we deserve". In that respect, everyday that this planet and it's inhabitants wakes up and breaths again is because of His mercy. His loving-kindness is seen in His grace. Not only do we wake up and breath, but He has supplied humanity all that it needs to survive and even prosper. Deut. 4:31, "…for the Lord your God is a merciful God…" Also Ps.92:1-2, Eph.2:4.
5.) God is love = 1John 4:8 makes this bold and startling declaration about God. He is simply love. He is also described as "Light", and "Spirit", but here He is love. God's nature is to love. 1John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us." That love was declared in John 3:16 then demonstrated in Jesus' death on the cross. (Romans 5:8)
God simply is. We can see many things about Him throughout His Word. He has manifested Himself in this world that we might see Him, He sent His Son that we might know Him, and sent His Holy Spirit that we might experience Him. There is only one way to do this, by faith. God cannot be proven or disproved by science. But He has made Himself known and knowable. Every other religion on earth disagrees. As we proceed further in our lessons we will continue to see the nature and attributes of God manifested throughout all of His Word. Though this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface so to speak, perhaps it will get us into a mind set to consider Who He is, and when we do there is only one thing left to do, that is to worship Him.
Seeing God for Who He is leads to only one thing, worship. He alone is worthy to be praised; He alone is worthy to be worshiped. But one last thing I want to leave you with. As we have very briefly looked at God in His Word I want you to walk away with this; God, Who is Self-Existent, Spirit, manifested in the Trinity, Creator of all things seen and unseen, Who alone knows all, sees all, and has all power, our God Who alone is Holy, holy, holy, righteous, just, full of loving-kindness, mercy and grace, Who alone is love in and of Himself, this God knows you, and He loves you, and He is calling to you to come to Him for salvation and forgiveness. He has made Himself known for you and knowable for you that you might enjoy all the mercy, love and forgiveness that He has for you. The Bible says that there is only one God, all else is a fake. Do you know God today, because He knows you and loves you with an everlasting love.
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