The Prophets

Chapter 10 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

Confusion revolving the books of the prophets often stems from the inaccurate definition of the word "prophet." It's typically linked with "prophecy", which is then linked to mean some sort of future prediction or foretelling of what is to come. However, to have this view of the prophet books is to miss their primary function, which was to speak for God to their own contemporaries.

Four things to emphasize their role and function:

1) The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators
2) The prophet's message was not their own, but God's
3) The prophets were God's direct representatives
4) The prophet's message is unoriginal

To understand the books of the prophets, one must often seek out external sources to learn more about the context as to the current circumstances.

The Law

Chapter 9 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth + Class Discussion

Arguably probably my favorite, yet also most confusing, topic: How do present-day Christians handle the Law? (The "law" meaning those 600+ specific stipulations, or even more broadly those books of the Old Testament relating to the law. )

What do we know:

We must start with what do we know about the Old Testament law. Here are a couple snippets:

- Jesus summarized the entire law in vertical and horizontal love; loving God and loving others (Matthew 22)
- Jesus doesn't want to throw law out? (Matthew 15)
- Paul states that all Scripture is beneficial (2 Timothy 3:16)... given that the New Testament was yet to be assembled at this point, he was directly referring to the Old Testament


Present Day Viewpoints:

Traditional - Portions of the law can be divided up into moral, civic, and ceremonial laws. We are no longer bound to civic and ceremonial laws, but God's moral law remains intact.
Problems -
1) No Hebrew would have distinguished these, because everything is significant to God.
2) Scripture doesn't explicitly categorize these laws into those sects, so who determines which goes in what category?
3) 2 Timothy 3:16 - Paul said ALL Scripture is beneficial, not just parts.

Antinomian - Throw the law out, because it has no implications for us.
Problems -
1) Argued that you cannot read the New Testament without the Old Testament.
2) 2 Timothy 3:16 again, ALL is beneficial.

Reconstructionist - Attempt to reconstruct the law in today's terms.
Problems -
1) Typically people who hold to this view believe America to be the new "Israel", so push for a more theocratic government (God-run) than democratic, versus seeing the church as being the new "Israel" in a people sense.
2) The Old Testament stipulations were for a separate covenant that we are currently not bound to.


Conclusion

Different covenant, so assume none of the stipulations are bound to us unless explicitly renewed in new covenant. However, it is still FOR us if not written TO us. What matters is how much we can learn from this law about God, his demands for fairness, his ideals for society, and his relationship to his people.

Other Points when Reading Old Testament Law:

- Nowhere is it suggested that anyone is saved by keeping the Law (in fact, in Leviticus 4 there is no atoning sacrifice for intentional sins (only for unintentional), so it's assumed that people were only forgiven by God's grace).
- The law is paradigmatic, meaning it sets a standard by an example rather than by mentioning every possible circumstance.

Parables

Chapter 8 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

A good place to start with parable is to determine what their primary purpose is. Contrary to many individual's belief, parables do not function primarily for theology. Their primary function, instead, is to call forth a response from the hearer.

Parables are stories. They are not allegories, in which every element has some direct symbolism. The point of the story is can be found in the intended response.

The difficulty? Ever been around someone who had to explain a joke to you? Sure, you understand it, and can even say "Wow, that would have been funny," but it looses the original punch had you heard it and understood it simultaneously. Thus is our dilemma. As we search for the intended meaning of a parable, it can be much like someone explaining a joke to us. We can understand, but can find it harder to relate to that same original punch. Thus it takes that much more effort to place ourselves in the shoes of the original audience.

Let's use the classic example of the Prodigal Son. Most people read it and immediately identify with the prodigal, extracting God's mercy and love. Though that may be true, that wasn't the primary force of the original parable, as it was more focused to "sting" or "catch" those who were self-righteous and judging the love shown by Christ to others.

Continuous effort is needed to place ourselves in the original audience, as well as to hermeneutically translate the same point into our own context.

The Gospels

Chapter 7 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

The gospels are books written about Jesus, not written by Jesus. They are unlike other books because they contain elements of both narratives and teachings.

So, the captain obvious questions remain... why four? Wouldn't one be good enough? Well, in a certain sense, the gospels function as hermeneutical models for us, as each was designed for a particular audience.

Matthew - Focuses on the Messianic nature of Christ, fulfilling the Old Testament, for Greek Jews
Mark - Focuses on martyrdom, action, and defends the universal call to discipleship for Rome
Luke - Focuses for instruction and handling the attacks of nonbelievers
John - Focuses on believing in Christ and knowing Him to have eternal life

All of these, believed, to be orchestrated by the Holy Spirit.

It's important also to keep in mind to take the teacher for what he means, not necessarily what he says. Context is of continual importance with interpreting well. However, the difficulty arises when teachings are transmitted without their contexts.

Book of Acts

Chapter 6 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

Though rules from the previous chapter apply, most Christians don't read Acts the same way they read Judges or 2 Samuel, even if they are not fully aware of it. The underlying question that needs to get answered to provide clear hermeneutical precision is "What is Acts trying to teach?" The interest that brings people to Acts (whether historical, devotional, etc.) typically develops a great deal of selectivity to take place in what's studied.

A few observations about Luke's possible purposes with Acts:
- Interest in showing the movement of the gospel, starting from a Jerusalem-based, Judiasm-orientated beginning to a Holy Spirit led worldwide phenomenon.
- Interesting in what he doesn't tell us, including biographical information of individual lives, little to no interest in church organization and polity, and other gospel expansion beyond a direct line from Jerusalem to Rome.
- Fails to standardize or bring things into uniformity
- Shows to be a model, but a model of the overall picture rather than specifics

The large discussion arises between people asking "should we do this?" as described in Acts, or "can we do this?"

A generally shared rule is that: Unless Scripture explicitly tells us we must do something, what is only narrated or described does not function in a normative (i.e. obligatory) way - unless it can be demonstrated on other grounds that the author intended it to function in this way.

Do we have to follow what Acts states? Maybe not... but one must ask that if such a procedure makes good sense, why anyone would fight it.

Need to Dream

"When your memories begin to outweigh your dreams, you know the end is near."
- Unknown

Nuff said...

Old Testament Narratives

Chapter 5 Notes of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

Over 40% of the Old Testament is narrative, meaning it's stories. They are purposeful stories retelling the historical events of the past that are intended to give meaning and direction for a given people in the present. The consist of your typical characters, plot, and plot resolution. The story being told can be seen of three levels:

Third (top) level - the metanarrative, or the whole universal plan of God worked out through His creation (e.i., creation, fall, sin, need of redemption, Christ incarnation and sacrifice)
Second level - the story of God's redeeming a people for His name (e.i., call of Abraham, enslaving of Israel, exile)
First level - the individual narratives that make up the other two levels (e.i., Joseph, Jacob, Esau)

Often the struggle is not what are narratives, but what they are not. Here are a few examples:

- Narratives are not allegories or stories filled with hidden meanings
- Narratives are not intended to teach moral lessons, but are given to show the progress of God's history of redemption
- Narratives are not lessons to follow; Just because someone did something in a Bible story doesn't mean you either have the permission or obligation to do it too

The Epistles

Chapter 3-4 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

The "ease" of interpreting epistles can be quite deceptive. Although inspired by the Holy Spirit and thus belonging to all time, they were first written out of the context of the author to the context of the original recipients. An issue we have is that the epistles are often written in response to something; so, we have the answers, but don't necessarily know the questions or problems. Another thing to note is that they were not written as encompass all Christian theology, but instead always theology applied to or directed toward a particular need.

Historical context - first thing is to try and reconstruct the original situation
Literary context - try to learn to trace the author's argument throughout the text

Often the hermeneutical challenge exists with what is cultural and therefore belongs to the first century alone and what transcends culture and is thus a Word for all seasons. To often we try to sneak around texts that don't make sense, rather than asking the right questions as to what it means.

Basic Rule - A text cannot mean what it never meant to its original audience (doesn't always help find out what text means, but helps find out what it doesn't mean)
Second Rule - Whenever we share comparable particulars (i.e., similar specific life situations), we can directly relate commands/text. If no comparable particulars exist, you must transfer the principle behind the text.

The Basic Tool: A Good Translation

Chapter 2 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

Obviously, the Bible was not originally written in English, so it has to be translated. Many make the downfall of trusting in only one translation. However, for the study of the Bible, you should use several well-chosen translations, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Historical distance - the difference that exists between the original language and receptor language
Formal equivalence - attempt to keep as close to the "form" of original language (literal, word for word)
Functional equivalence - attempt to keep as close to the "meaning" of original language (thought for thought)
Free translation - attempt to simply translate ideas, without less concern of exact words

Anyone who deals with multiple languages knows the difficulty of translations, i.e. euphemisms, idioms, vocabulary, wordplays, and matters of gender... All Bibles English-speakers use today are a product of translation, and thus deal with all these issues.

The Need to Interpret

Chapter 1 Notes from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

The Need to Interpret
Some people will often remark, "You don't have to interpret the Bible; just read it and do what is says!" Though there is some truth to that statement, as generally most people don't have trouble understanding Biblical principles, but instead struggle with putting it into practice. However, that statement is also false, as you often can't take the Bible at face value.

- The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness, as unique interpretations are often wrong. Instead the aim is simple, to interpret the plain meaning of the text.

- The problem with us as readers is that we tend to believe our understanding is the same thing as the Holy Spirit/author's intent. However, everyone brings to the text all that they are, with their past knowledge, experience, culture, and so forth. So, whether people like it or not, they are always in the process of interpreting.

- Your Bible, whatever translation you use, as your BEGINNING point is actually the END RESULT of much scholarly work

- People can often interpret the "plain meaning" of the text to simply be what they desire that meaning to be, in order to justify or support their ideas

- The antidote to bad interpretation is not no interpretation, but good interpretation

- Much like the nature of Christ, the nature is Scripture is both human and divine - it has eternal relevance yet is given at a specific time, so it has historical particularity (conditioned by language, culture, and time of origin).

Step 1 - Exegesis
Exegesis - the careful, systematic study of the Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning (to hear what the original hearers heard)

-To make a text mean something God did not intend is to abuse the text, not use it.

-Good exegesis is to learn to read the text carefully and to ask the right questions of the text.

-Keys for good questions: context and content

Historical context - time, culture, politics, etc., figuring out the occasion an purpose of text
Literary context - placement in text, how it fits with the overall point of arguement
Content - definitions of words, grammatical relationships, etc.

Step 2 - Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics - how to apply these biblical principles to daily life today (how's does this apply to me?)

CONSENSUS

An exert from Team Fusion Blog

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There are multiple methods for making a decision such as a team vote, one person decides (best used in an emergency situation), or by a subgroup of the team (such as experts). Today, I will focus on the one method most often used by teams…CONSENSUS.

What is Consensus?
• Everyone understands the decision and can explain why it is best.
• Everyone can live with the decision.
• Everyone discussed the issue and took all sides into consideration.
• Everyone expressed their current viewpoint and answered questions posed by the team.

What is NOT Consensus?
• Everyone getting what they want.
• Everyone agreeing to a compromise.
• Everyone agreeing to a unanimous vote.

Consensus Works Best When…
• Decisions are important and affects many people.
• The team has 10 or fewer members.
• The team has lots of ideas to exchange whether in person, by phone, or video conferencing.

TOP TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CONSENSUS

1. Listen carefully. Be open and watch your assumptions about what is being said. Ask for the speakers’ reasons if you are unclear.
2. Encourage all team members to contribute. Silence does not necessarily mean the person agrees. Go around the circle and have each team member state their viewpoint.
3. Diligently search for options that meet the goals of the team. Don’t think in terms of “winning” or “losing.” When there is a disagreement, look for the next best alternative for everyone.
4. Don’t change your mind only to avoid conflict.
5. Don’t argue only for your position. Can your idea be combined with someone else’s?
6. Allow enough time to come to consensus. Here is the down-side to consensus…it takes time. Since everyone is expressing their opinion and everyone on the team needs to agree with the decision, the meeting should be long enough to give each person the opportunity to speak and ask clarifying questions.

Other than additional time, consensus requires the team to be skilled in communication, conflict resolution, facilitation, creative thinking, and open-mindedness. The up-side of coming to consensus is the high degree of trust and understanding created among the team members.

The Evil of Religion

"The idolatry of your rules is keeping you from seeing what God is doing right in front of your face."
- Greg Boyd

My brother-in-law, being the good-looking stud that he is, shared with me this sermon. Arguably one of the best sermons I've ever heard in regards to how following Christ is not religion, because "in religion rules trump love for others."

Readers are Leaders

"Leaders are readers."
- Unknown

John Maxwell says that an organization won't be able to rise above its leader's leadership capacity. If a leader is growing, the organization grows. And growing comes from learning, and a good source of learning is books (from what I'm told).

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 17+ Notes

7) Find some traction - what's the next step?

- Inevitably, there are times when you are stuck, and need tools to help you plow forward

- Step one, is literal, pull-out-the-stops, fall-on-the-ground prayer... the Lord will use your "stuckness" as a call for you to come before Him for guidance, to deal with sin, to calm anxiety, etc.

- Step two, is going through a list of questions to help bring the message into perspective:
1 - What do they need to know?
2- Why do they need to know it?
3 - What do they need to do? (be creative and specific)
4 - Why do they need to do it?
5 - What can I do to help them remember (not really a "stuck" strategy question, but one to always ask)

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 16 Notes

6) Find your voice - what works for you?

- Being authentic covers a multitude of communication sins... it's huge to just be yourself, and not a stage act of your favorite communicator

- However, being yourself is not an excuse for poor communication skills... boring is not a communication style... boring is boring, as confusing is confusing

- You must allow communication principles to shape your style

- Need to constantly be asking what works and what works for me?

- Experience doesn't make you better, evaluation does. You must always evaluate yourself (listen to your messages, watch your videos, etc.) in order to find the things you will naturally never know yourself, and ask for constructive criticism.

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 15 Notes

5) Engage the audience - what's your plan to capture and keep their attention?

- It's tragic that pastors spending hours pouring into a sermon, only to have no one remember anything or even talk about the sermon afterwards

- Attention and retention is determined by presentation, not information - a principle all marketing agencies embrace. Presentation matters, a lot.

- The stories and messages are always the same, but it's how you frame it that makes the difference, to present it in a way that shakes people out of their apathy

- The more interested we are in a topic, the easier it is to engage us... there is always high attendance when a church is going to talk about sex

- If the interest is high is because that is answering a question people already have, they already have a felt need, and it feel relevant to them. If that need isn't originally felt, the presentation's job is to make that need felt, so the relevancy can be seen. Thus, an introduction might be the most important part of a talk.

- Three questions to ask for introductions (assume no interest):
1 - What is the question I'm answering? How can I get my audience to want to know the answer?
2 - What is the tension I'm resolving? How can I help the audience feel the tension?
3 - What mystery am I solving? How can I make the audience want a solution?

- Five suggestions to help you keep them engaged throughout:
1 - Check your speed - pace can communicate importance, so suggested speak faster than normal, but not overwhelmingly fast that people can't follow
2 - Slow down in the curves - slow down during transitions
3 - Navigate through the text - God's Word should be the most engaging part... to help:

- Pick and make people turn to only one central text
- Don't read long sections without comment... comment along the way
- Highlight and explain odd words or phrases
- Voice frustration or skepticism about a text
- Help people anticipate the main point
- Deliberately read the text to bring notice to that the opposite isn't written
- Have audience read certain words out loud for emphasis
- Summarize text with short, crafted statement
- Use visuals any time you can
- Resist to share everything you learned in your research

4 - Add something unexpected to the trip - unexpected is always engaging... always.
5 - Take the most direct route - being over direct can be better

- Learning to be engaging is a continuing process

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 14 Notes

4) Internalize the message – what’s your story?

- No actor would make simply take out a manuscript and start reading monotone

- You need to own your message, as if it’s a part of you, where you able to tell it rather than preach it

- Do you really expect anyone to remember anything you said if you haven’t?

- If you’re reading from notes, chances are you haven’t internalized it

- Having too much to say is sometimes the equivalent of saying nothing (less is more)

- If something doesn’t support the point, cut it… have your talk read like a story (tension, resolution, climax, conclusion)

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 13 Notes

3) Create a map – what’s the best route to your point?

ME – Orientation – introduces dilemma/topic
WE – Identification – common ground to share dilemma, assuring them this is a relevant topic
GOD – Illumination – Discover what God says about the tension or question
YOU – Application – Challenge audience to act on God’s Word
WE – Inspiration – The “what ifs” of if we all acted upon God’s Word

ME
- Common ground is essential for any relationship
- People desire genuineness, so share your struggles and be open with your weaknesses
- People buy into the messenger before they buy into the message
- Don’t focus on rushing through your content at the expense of the person, don’t make people feel like they are a second priority to getting through everything

WE
- Bridging your struggles to encompass emotional agreement with as many people as possible
- Never transition out of the WE section until you have created a tension people are dying for you to resolve
- Application isn’t a section of your message, it’s the context of your message

GOD
- The meat of the message, being able to share God’s insights!
- Engage the text… don’t brush over it so much that people become biblically illiterate, but don’t go so far deep that people feel like they could never understand the Bible on their own

YOU
- Answer the questions “so what?” and “now what?”
- Think through how this can apply to relational circles (me, family, other believers, non-believers, workplace, etc.) and life stages (teenage, singles, newlyweds, empty nesters, etc.)
- Make sure to address the nonbelievers in your audience as well… simply letting them know your aware of them will help build a bridge

WE
- Really about vision casting (dreaming phase)
- Explain “what if”, if people would actually do the application and what that would look like

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 12 Notes

2) Pick a point - what are you trying to say?

- Talk planned with the end in mind

- Problem with multiple-point outline talks: no one remembers them all (even the preacher), and doesn't reflect the lives we live in - multiple points typically just go from preacher's notes, to mouth, to thin air, to filing cabinet

- Argument is that multiple points isn't the most effective way... it can still be good. However, typically the outcome is from the final point that inspires people to action and life change. Why not gear the entire sermon around that then?

- Knowing the one point is refusing to get up and talk before you can answer these two questions:
1 -What is the one thing I want my audience to know?
2 - What do I want them to do about it?

- The process for developing a one-point message:
1 - Dig until you find it - the one thing usually appears late in the prepartion process, because during preparation is when we find out what the text says and doesn't say (expository preaching) and then bridging the text with experience
Never input your ideas upon a text that the text didn't mean to say

2 - Build everything around it - once you find the one point, to go back and oriented your message around the one point (more in next chapter)

3 - Make it stick -need to craft a single statement or phrase that is memorable (the phrase that pays) to be used as your anchor

- Charles Stanley: You need to have a burden. If you don't have a burden it's a lot of fluff.

- Again, the aim is to work WITH the Holy Spirit to communicate the most effective way we can to allow Him the most opportunities to change people's hearts

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 11 Notes

PART TWO

(The authors of this book were fairly ingenious... they talked about the necessity of engaging your audience with a story that took them somewhere to teach them God's truth... in the very same way they used Part One to teach all of the principles in a narrative story format to show it's effectiveness. Part Two is more laid out like a teaching outline, providing a more structured, detailed version of the principles the book already explained - so there might be some redundancy)

The Seven Imperatives to Effective Communication:

1) Determine your goal - what are you trying to accomplish?

- Preachers are performers, but goes beyond the realm of what we think in regards to "performers" - they aren't to entertain, but instead are to be educational, theological, inspirational, and engaging all the same time

- If you preach, you have to remember that no sermon is so great it will ever change the world, nor so bad that it will destroy Christianity (within obvious reason) - need to experience grace, because preaching can be such a vulnerable thing

- However, if your success criteria is about your performance (your jokes, your style, your delivery...), then it's all about you. You need to get to a place where you care more about people and changed lives than yourself.

- Our approach in communicating should always be shaped by the goal of communicating

- Sunday morning services, small group training, lecture seminars... all have different goals, and should likewise have different approaches

- Three possible goals:
1 - Teach the Bible to people - teach content of Bible so those interested can navigate and learn
Typically teaching verse by verse with little application and a lot of information to explain Scripture
Primary concern is generally "did I cover the material?"

2 - Teach people the Bible -teach content of the Bible, but keep your audience in mind to impart Biblical truth into the heart and mind of the hearer
Typically teaching with a mulitple-point message outline with an application question at the end
Primary concern is generally "did audience understand/remember the material?"

(If spiritual maturity were synonmyous with content transfer, either of the above would be fine - however we all know "knowing" isn't enough, and can even lead to pride (the opposite of spiritual maturity) - look at the Pharasees)

3 - Teach people how to live the Bible - teach the Bible in a way that will encourage people change, teaching people how to live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible
Typically teaching that has clear application and inspirational
Primary concern is generally "did audience know what to do with information and do it?" (focuses less on how you did on Sunday and more on what are your people doing on Monday)

(Even though all Scripture is equally inspired, it's not all equally applicable... acts of obidence allow our faith to intersect with Gods' faithfullness, and this is where we see God at work and when our faith grows)

- If your too consumed with how you are going to do, your performance, you're too focused on you... You need to remember how would I preach this if your son was in the audience on the verge of leavining everything morally, ethically, and theologically behind and give God the hand... that's whats at stake, because for someone that might be the case

- So what is your goal?? What is your win? It will dictate your approach

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 7-10 Notes

- You can go somewhere, but if you leave your audience behind it's not going to be a very successful trip - You need to make sure they know where you are going (connectedness and transitions in a talk)

- Be YOU when you get in front of people... find your voice and who you are, don't just try and mimic the personalities of your favorite communicators

- The goal is never to compete with God, but to work WITH God... which means honoring God by working hard to engage your audience and humbly seeking Him throughout the whole process with guidance how to do that, being God's mouthpieces... He's the one who ultimately does the talking and life changing

- People need great insight from the Word of God, but if it's not communicated in way they'll understand, feel the need, or know what to do with it, it'll be meaningless

- Our culture is changing, and thus our methods need to change and the way we communicate needs to change... there is too much at stake to not be willing to swallow our pride in "our way" to not be willing to see things through the lens of "what will communicate God's truth most effectively to this crowd?"

Communicating for a Change - Chapter 1-6 Notes

The book is broken into two parts... first part is a narrative and story of discovering communication principles, while the second part is more a structural, informative outline to follow.

PART ONE

- The decision to improve communication skills has to come from the person

- You need to have a clear goal and objective

- You can talk about a lot of interesting stuff, and it can all be true, but if there's no point, no ultimate direction, then all you've been doing is talking

- Airlines don't give broad messages ("Fly to Russia"), so why should the church?

- The one point message - can you give a clear "address" of the message, eliminating other locations a listener might want to wander to and verifying if you reached it at the end? (a short simple statement that summarizes the entire message - like 7010 Hwy 40 NE) - Recalling numbers listed exercise

- People can't apply things they can't remember, and it's hard enough to get someone to apply something even if they remember

- Too many preachers hide behind the excuse that it's the Holy Spirit's job to apply a message, but then they don't give the Holy Spirit anything to work with

- You need a map, not outlines. Outlines focus on structure and supportive statements, while maps bring you somewhere. A good map isn't an atlas, but one picked route clearly laid-out. An atlas is the starting point, but gives you too many options... you're goal is to narrow it down to give the most effective path.

- The map can look like an outline, but a different kind (not a traditional information outline, but a relationship outline between the communicator and audience): ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE

- You need to internalize the message personally - it isn't delivery style, but more... knowing your message so well that you own it, and it feels like a burden you need to share

Hostility - Quote

"If you don't hit the devil head on, maybe it's because you're traveling in the same direction."
- Unknown

I love fun quotes that sting, so I'll try to periodically share some of my favorites here as well.

Suffering to Learn - Blessed Opportunities (Part 4)

"Wow bro. You must be in a lot of pain."

I remember those being the most encouraging words my ears had heard in a long time. I was talking to a friend of mine who had experienced the same thing I was going through years before. For the first time, I had someone who could understand my pain. For the first time, I had someone who could give my some justification to how hard it was. For the first time, I had someone who could tell me it sucks, but there was hope.

It was at the moment I realized that such a deep resounding need in the human life is the aspect of feeling known and understood. The power behind the "I've been there" was incredible. I instantly felt a connection, attentive to each of his words more so than anyone I had talked to previously.

Though suffering may never be "fixed", it has the potential to not be wasted. Suffering, in a hard way to explain, can be an unbelievable blessing. It provides you that seemingly instant credibility to those who are also suffering. Oh the opportunities that brings that otherwise would have never been present! It has incredible purpose.

Sufferers can often have the most profound ministries.

Suffering to Learn - Rejoice (Part 3)

God gets you through trials, not necessarily around trials. Many of you might have heard some inaccurate teaching growing up, saying that God is going to fix everything. And, well, He will... but it won't be fixed until after you die (they might have left out that part). The occurrences of trials, as stated in the Bible, is not a question of if, but a question of when.

God is just as active in the low points of life as He is during the high (and probably even more conceptually so, because people rarely notice God or pay heed to Him until things are going bad and we call out for help)... so much so that the Bible even instructs us to "rejoice" in our sufferings. Now, I don't naturally rejoice with hardship. It's not my first response, or my second, or third... Though I'm a fairly positive person, I'm not the smore-eating, jumping-around-the-campfire-for-Jesus type. It takes me a while, a long while - like around response seventy-two - to get me to that point of being able to rejoice.

During these times, there are a few things that have proven themselves to be my "cling to" items, to help that rejoice process:

God's purification

Suffering is always purifying. I do have to believe, and past experience has reinforced, that suffering truly is for our good (though it's hardest to believe that in the midst of it). Trials continue to raise sin to the surface so that it can be scooped out accordingly. It allows us the opportunity to investigate and judge ourselves. If EVERYTHING is taken away, is God truly... not as in a flippant, quick, un-investigated "truly", but a deep, soul-wrenching "truly"... enough for you, for me?

On the other hand, everything requires trust, and that is what God seeks. Therefore, everything is allowed or destined in hopes to greenhouse that trust. I remember going through this process, when trying to deal with if surgery was the right answer or not. I had countless "reliable professionals" all yelling at me to do different things... the surgeons told my to do surgery, the physical therapists told me to do physical therapy, and the chiropractors told me to chiropractic methods... all vouching that the other was wrong. It got the the point where I had enough information, but that wasn't enough to make a decision. Even that, required stepping out in faith, taking action, and trusting God with the results.

God's love

Suffering is really weighty. You should never deny it, but what you need is to counter-balance it. One such way is just to try and soak in and dwell on God's love. Now awareness of love is hard, especially if that love is being "tested" in any way. So, you most undoublty can never look to the present for the evidence to lead you to your conclusion, but to the past. That is where the sufferer needs to focus on what God has done in the past, both through them personally as well as through the world historically, to draw out the evidence needed for them to dwell on that love.

Though suffering is heavy, God' s love is heavier. And though the sufferer might have a hard time believing this as they struggle with self-consumption... suffering is NOT the worse thing in the world. There is something much worse. And that is not knowing God personally, not having a steadfast relationship with Him to stand on, being objects of wrath. That, indeed, is the worse thing of all.

God's grace

One I have frequently had to take in time and time again is God's continuous grace. If sufferers are much like me, you don't handle the situation of suffering very well. So, not only does the process bring up all this sin in your life, but you also can quickly get the burden of not being a "good Christian" by how you've handled the trial process itself. The beauty of God is one to bathe in... being one who, no matter how messy we are, always welcomes us back with wide arms. And as the cosmic Mr. Clean of the universe, is always able to clean us up once again.

God's finale

You may suffer greatly, but when you die and stand before God, having finished strong with no regrets... whoa... what a feeling! The simple fact is that everybody dies, but how you die is what differs. There will soon be a time when Christ will return, this world will come to an end, and suffering will be gone forever! That is why the Bible so frequently talks about hope. Hope, in of itself, is a forward looking entity. You never hope in the present, you hope for the future! And that future, the one with the large "Suffering-Free" label, is what we hope in, and in that we rejoice.

Suffering to Learn - Blessed Revelations (Part 2)

Living in a comfort-focused society and culture, when it comes to suffering, the goals tend to be either to avoid it altogether or attempt to get through with it as fast as possible. We never actually take the time to instead learn how to be good at it. I mean, it's not something one would normally think about in regards to things you're good at... football, math, suffering... To attempt to avoid suffering is natural, but to embrace it is supernatural.

As I began to read Don Piper's book, the flood gates of conviction were opened wide, as the book provided raw, unedited emotion that echoed in my situation... one prone to sin, bitterness, and the like. The following were a few key points in regards to understanding myself and my own sin that the Lord walked me through, that I think can resonate with other sufferers:

Problem with Selfishness

Suffering can easily make you self-focused. All-consuming, narrow-visioned, self-focused. We can allow the suffering to become our justification to avoid the rest of the world around us. The only tears we shed are for ourselves. Our suffering slowly begins to become our new identity. We can even begin to use our suffering as justification to sin in other areas, thinking it gives us some perverse thoughts of entitlement to do whatever we want because we are suffering.

It's easy to think, "God, this is SO unfair! I'm an innocent victim here!", to which God says, "So was my Son." The sufferer needs to remember that, though what happened is tragic and pain felt is real, that selfishness is not the solution. It's not all about them. We need to instead focus our sights on Christ, being renewed by His understanding of our suffering, as well as even grieved by how our sin caused Him to suffer.

Problem with Pride

I try to tend to be a positive person, looking on the brighter outlook of life. However, the negative side of that, combined with some acting skills, makes me prone to never let people in. I brush off people wanting to get close and help. I avoided fellowship, streaming from one side of not even desiring to be around people to the other side of not wanting to be a burden to others. I didn't want encouragement, I didn't want people... I wanted results.

What the sufferer needs to know is that fellowship is a necessary component to reap the full purpose of the suffering process. You can't allow yourself to distance yourself from others, turning you down a horrible spiral of isolation. The most effective strategy to leave someone vulnerable is to take out their wingmen. At the same time, the sufferer must realize that to deny people's help is to deny them the ability to minister to us. Sufferers tend to be good at helping, but suck at being helped... all stemmed from a root of pride.

I remember when this wall came down for me (not by choice). I was attempting to pack for my flight home, which was all it was... an attempt. I would get up for about one minute, try to throw some shirts in a bag before the pain got too overwhelming and I had to lay back down. I would continue that process over and over, until at one point I just broke down in tears, throwing my hands up... I need help! I can't do this alone!

Problem with Idols

One of the largest bitter-sweet moments for the sufferer is the revelation of who their God really is. When we suffer, our idols rise to the surface... they are the places we go to indulge ourselves to aid for the pain. Food, sex, drinking, drugs? You will worship something, it's just a matter of determining what that is. The root is idoltry.

I remember laying in my bed, staring at my Bible... with no desire to open it up what-so-ever. I don't know if it was a combined emotion with being angry and confused with God about the whole situation, or if it was the mere fact that I had a worship problem. I would go to all other venues I knew how to deal with the suffering... food, video games, movies, emotional pity-parties... even the aquistion of knowledge could clearly be seen as an idol for me, as I looked to spend my time going to books and information for comfort rather than the Lord. Even times when people would send me encouraging Scripture, and I would just roll my eyes and not even read it.

In suffering, our worship and identity is tested. It provides an amazing opportunity to worship God or learn how to worship Him better. Many of these idols in my life would never have come to the surface, had I not had to go through this process. Through suffering, you have the grace to see what or who your functional Savior is, not your proclaimed Savior (if they are in contradiction).

Problem of Worth

Everyone always seeks purpose and meaning for their lives. However, when suffering hits, we tend to see that is a bump in the road, a hindrance to our destination, rather than a loaded turbine to project us forward. The sufferer, still being self-consumed, can feel worthless, depressed, alone.

I remember laying in bed alone, again in tears because of the built up emotional stress coupled with the phyiscal pain. I remember just yelling out, "What good am I here?!" I literally thought I possessed percisely zero value for the Kingdom of Heaven laying in a bed. Then, while reading through some old journal entries, I recalled an old prayer that I made me both cry and laugh at the same time. "Lord, teach me what it looks like to 'Be still, and know that you are God'."

Well, I didn't really have many options but to "be still", so I just began to focus on the "that you are God" part. Instantly, the Lord began running Scripture through my head, reminding me about how He didn't need me. My value to Him was not determined by what I could do FOR Him. God just wanted me... disabled, vulnerable, and emotional Jon Neal. He loves me just as I am, and I need to continually just be still, and know that He IS God, and all that that entails.

20 Ways to Get Mentally Tough

A phrase I've heard before in leadership-world is that leaders should be like turtles... soft on the inside, with a hard shell on the outside; the metaphor describing that leaders should be caring and compassionate on the inside, but being thick-skinned enough to handle the wealth of criticism that will inevitably cross their path. Being a person who continually struggles with people pleasing and perception management, the following list was good for me to read:

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1. When you face a setback, think of it as a defining moment that will lead to a future accomplishment.

2. When you encounter adversity, remember, the best don’t just face adversity; they embrace it, knowing it’s not a dead end but a detour to something greater and better.

3. When you face negative people, know that the key to life is to stay positive in the face of negativity, not in the absence of it. After all, everyone will have to overcome negativity to define themselves and create their success.

4. When you face the naysayer’s, remember the people who believed in you and spoke positive words to you.

5. When you face critics, remember to tune them out and focus only on being the best you can be.

6. When you wake up in the morning, take a morning walk of gratitude and prayer. It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

7. When you fear, trust. Let your faith be greater than your doubt.

8. When you fail, find the lesson in it, and then recall a time when you have succeeded.

9. When you head into battle, visualize success.

10. When you are thinking about the past or worrying about the future, instead focus your energy on the present moment. The now is where your power is the greatest.

11. When you want to complain, instead identify a solution.

12. When your own self-doubt crowds your mind, weed it and replace it with positive thoughts and positive self-talk.

13. When you feel distracted, focus on your breathing, observe your surroundings, clear your mind, and get into The Zone. The Zone is not a random event. It can be created.

14. When you feel all is impossible, know that with God all things are possible.

15. When you feel alone, think of all the people who have helped you along the way and who love and support you now.

16. When you feel lost, pray for guidance.

17. When you are tired and drained, remember to never, never, never give up. Finish Strong in everything you do.

18. When you feel like you can’t do it, know that you can do all things through Him who gives you strength.

19. When you feel like your situation is beyond your control, pray and surrender. Focus on what you can control and let go of what you can’t.

20. When you’re in a high-pressure situation and the game is on the line, and everyone is watching you, remember to smile, have fun, and enjoy it. Life is short; you only live once. You have nothing to lose. Seize the moment.

Excerpt was taken from here

Doing Whatever it Takes

Irronically, after just writing my previous post, I stumbled upon this interview with Dino Rizzo, church planter, author, and a man focused on serving others.

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Q: Dino, there is an idea out there, held by many Christians, that the job of the Church is to meet peoples’ spiritual needs (salvation) and then, if we have extra time or money laying around, meet their physical needs. How do you address this mindset?

A: To answer your question, I don’t believe we should have to choose between the two. At the end of the day, we want to see people come to Jesus. And serving is a means to that end but it isn’t the end itself. What we really want to do is help the cause of Christ come alive in people’s hearts, but the path to that is serving people where they are. It’s all one package - one goal - seeing people live out God’s plan for their lives. And we need to be willing to do whatever it takes, whenever it is needed.

God is doing phenomenal things at Healing Place Church thru their attitude of service. To learn more, check-out the website www.SERVOLUTION.org.

Spoken, Affirmed by Action

This is a segment from a blog post by Michael Mckinley, from the Church Matters: 9Marks site.

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We must beware the popular “share the Gospel, and if necessary use words” mindset.

Similarly, the Gospel is, properly speaking, preached, not done (though our actions can certainly affirm it, e.g., John 13:34-35 [even here it is interesting to note that it is our love for one another that is said to point to the Gospel!]).

Social ministry done by the church should be self-consciously engaged in with the hope, prayer and design of sharing the Gospel. J. Gresham Machen wrote that “material benefits were never valued in the apostolic age for their own sake, they were never regarded as substitutes for spiritual things. That lesson needs to be learned. Social betterment, though important, is insufficient; it must always be supplemented by God’s unspeakable gift,” (J. Gresham Machen, New Testament, ed., John Cook, pp. 345-346).

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I found it intriguing, especially for myself, being someone who has used, shared, and proclaimed the very "share the gospel, use words if necessary" phrase over many years. However, I must say, my perspective does seem to be changing. To be honest, it comes more with a realization of my own sin, this phrase acting as a cover-up for fear, in my soul hoping to be used as a crutch to grasp onto comfort -

-You just love people, people think you're a nice person and think well of you
-You share the gospel with people, an offensive message, you could face persecution

I've never heard many stories of people loosing friends just by loving them, but I have heard many people loosing friends because of their commitment to sharing Christ. The gospel CANNOT be shared unless it is proclaimed... plain and simple. I've met lots of people in my life who have loved me well, but if I never knew Christ to begin with, I would never heard about Him. Ideally, we would love people so well that it would drive them to ask questions which could lead to the gospel (another mindset I held strongly for sometime). However, I had to once again give myself a honest heart check... and ask, "who has been asking?"

Don't hear me wrong with this. I am not advocating not loving people... what freakin' foolishness that would be! We are called to love people outrageously! However, what I am advocating for is that the gospel needs to be preached and proclaimed, with its message being affirmed and confirmed by loving actions.... opposed to the other way around.

Even as stated above in John 13:34-35, love points to the Gospel... again, establishing a position of affirmation rather than focus. By our love, people will know, or be sure, that we are Christ's disciples. The love affirms a pre-existing understanding, that is, that we are Christ's disciples, which had to be communicated prior. It's a matter of focus.

I guess a large factor for me that influences this is how sinful I still remain. By God's grace, I try love people. But there are times I fail... many times. Do I really want my actions being the only thing revealing Christ? I can't, in my heart, say yes to that.

Share like crazy, love like crazy. Again, even as I write this, these two entities are linked... they are hand-in-hand. The peanut butter and jelly of the Bible (well, unless you're allergic to peanuts, in which I pity you, and the analogy breaks down). Do NOT attempt to separate them. However, I do feel proper focus is needed, and it should be clear what affirms what.

God is love, and the best way to love people is to introduce them to Him.

As John Piper would say, we are in the business of relieving all suffering, ESPECIALLY eternal suffering.