Monthly Archives: October 2011

"God is Love." 1 John 4:8

The easiest Greek in the Bible is 1 John. Any new student first taking the language will likely be directed to this little book. Readers Digest has something called a "Fog Index." I don't recall the specifics but you count the number of lines in a paragraph, the number of words in each sentence, the number of words that have more than three syllables, or something like that, and you end up with a number slightly corresponding to the grade level reading for your target audience. Use a lot of long sentences, long words and you risk becoming pretty foggy.

Readers Digest aims for 8. I did the same test on the Greek language of John and came up with 8. John wanted to be readable. He wanted everyone to understand. The most mysterious event in the history of the world, the most staggering concepts anyone ever dealt with, and John wanted to clarify rather than confuse.

That's why you have rather simple and somewhat repeatable statements in John. 'The eternal life was made manifest to us," is John's way of saying "we saw God." He clarifies it by adding, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched. . . . We saw Him" (1:2). You can't be much more straightforward than that.

John also has simple and memorable sayings about forgiveness, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1:9). Forgiveness, according to John, is not esoteric and obtuse. If you sin, ask forgiveness. God takes care of the rest.

Also John was pretty straightforward about sin itself. "If you say you have no sin, you're deceiving yourself, and the truth is not in you" (1:7). Questions?

How about the manner in which we should live? Don't we need a fairly good size booklet with a study guide to pin down all the ways to be a Christian? Not according to John. "He who abides in Him ought also to walk the way He walked" (1:6). That was WWJD before we even had a W (that would come several centuries later).

Of course, love is the reigning theme in 1 John, and we should not be surprised that we find that simple phrase "God is love" twice in the letter (4:7, 16).

So we have a very simple book, studied by very confused Greek grammarians, who begin among its verses to tease out the simple meanings of what can be an extraordinary language. All students of Greek owe a great debt of gratitude to John who desired to communicate simply and succinctly.

But John did not always have this goal. Early in his life he could be quite a pain. He tended to see the world in typical ways for the day, that is, his race on the winning side, all other races ran a distant second. We have that rather embarrassing scene where an entire Samaritan village has declined Jesus' offer to enter and John came up with a very practical solution: "Do you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume them?" (Luke 9:54).

This sounds kind of like the teacher's pet trying to come up with the perfect answer. Jesus' response? He rebuked them and turned away.

Then there was the time he came with his brother James and asked Jesus a rather uncomfortable question, "Can we have the seats at your right and left hand when you come back in glory?" (Mark 9: 37). This occurred near the end of Jesus' life when the disciples had pretty much come to grips with the fact that He was not going to overthrow the Romans. This coming really did not satisfy John and James so they were already making plans for the next coming and assuming it would be more to their tastes.

So John was not always so simple, and we have the benefit of seeing his growth and maturity over a period of perhaps 50 years from the gospels to the letters. And what grace had wrought during those times! We don't see any of the brashness. None of the competition with the other disciples, or trying to get ahead of the other disciples.

By that late stage of his life, John made a few basic decisions. Jesus was God. We were with Him. He taught us to love, forgive, get along with one another.

Hemingway wrote, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger in the broken places." I think life broke John because he needed breaking. He needed to learn a few things, like depth comes from simplicity. So out of those grace-filled scars came some the most beautiful and clear theology we find anywhere in the Bible.

That's just the kind I need.

Grace,

Terry Ellis

October 31

"Beloved, being very eager to write to you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." Jude 3

Jude wrote his letter to warn churches against the influence of false teachers, a common problem in the early church and not so uncommon today. These "grumblers, malcontents, loud mouthed boasters" (v. 16) taught a perversion of grace (v. 4) and practiced a licentious lifestyle (v. 7). In response, Jude appealed to Christians to "contend for the faith." The word for contend is built on the word for "agony." The stakes were high. The effort would need to be intense.

These early apologists started a long line of intellectual inquiry and engagement that extends to the present day. We need good Christians who will fight for the faith, define it, identify threats to it, and encourage Christians to embrace the teaching of the New Testament. They battle on behalf of the entire church body.

This "corporate" defense of the faith has a personal dimension also, and that is what I want to address in this week's GraceWaves. Individually we face many challenges to believe. It may come in the form of a clever argument against the resurrection or reliability of Scripture. As I have said repeatedly, the Christian faith has powerful intellectual supports. Some who cast aspersions, I am sure, do so to give themselves a patina of intellectual superiority. Gratefully, we have strong apologists who can engage them, and thus help the church at large to embrace "the faith."

Much more common, however, is the doubt that creeps in because of personal disappointment. You have suffered some hard blows. You are disappointed in a church. Or a minister. Or you just don't seem to get much out of reading the Bible. Prayers seem hollow. Denominational bickering disgusts you. Etc. This affects "your faith." I know a great many Christians who, because of long-running doubt, have set the bar so low that they expect little and receive less. You may be one of these Christians. Doubt has lodged in your heart. What can you do?

First, do not embrace doubt as a virtue. Doubt is a challenge to be faced. It is a reality, a "black dog" of the spiritual life. But the fact that it is a common problem does not mean doubt should become a self-justifying excuse. Yes, you may have doubt; and yes, we all do sometimes, but that is all the more reason to contend for your faith! In other words, don't let the seed of doubt root its way into your soul. Fight it!

Second, remember that faith, growing faith, is both a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) and a gift of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9). Ask God to help you. The Spirit loves to remind us and encourage us! That is His task. God does not expect you to manufacture faith on your own. He expects you to exercise it, like a muscle, and grow stronger in the process. If you haven't worked your faith in a while, start again by calling for the Spirit's help.

Third, as a practical matter, read the Scripture, pray, worship, sing hymns, and lead a life worthy of your calling. Serve and encourage one another. The Biblical word for faith has a strong element of perseverance in it. See Hebrews 11 for a list of people who kept believing. When challenged, do not fling away from what you know is right and good. The regular practice of spiritual disciplines is eternally valuable. Don't give up on cherished and good traditions.

In the end, we are all like the father who came to Jesus pleading for his son's healing: "I believe. Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). We are all schizophrenic mixtures who need regular reminders that God does help us to believe, and at the same time urges us to fight for our faith. This week's GraveWaves is your reminder. Contend for your faith.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 23, 2011

The Christian Attitude Toward Death

"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

Of all Jesus' stunning and somewhat counter-intuitive sayings this one surely ranks near the top. Jesus has taken on the supreme fear of all humanity, the fear of death, and His statements at first appear contradictory and perhaps even flippant. On reflection, however, they are perfectly in keeping with what God might say about the topic.

We need to remember the context. Jesus was good at making friends, a jovial and outgoing kind of person (quite a contrast to the way we normally think about Jesus). He had become quite close to two sisters and their brother, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. While in Jerusalem, He was told that Lazarus was seriously sick. Even though the journey from Jerusalem to Bethany, Lazarus' home, was only two miles, Jesus did not immediately go. In fact, He waited four days, and in that interim time Lazarus died.

One of several possibilities explains His delay. It's quite possible that upon hearing the symptoms, Jesus knew they were so serious that Lazarus would not survive. You do not have to be a physician to know that certain circumstances likely do not turn out well. Of course, it's also possible Jesus had a divine insight that Lazarus would die. Whatever the case, Jesus obviously was "setting up" a situation which would bring Him face to face, in the most public way possible, with death. And in the confrontation He would teach us all we really need to know about death.

So what do we learn?

1. Death is an enemy. God's first gift is life, and the Bible is a record of His effort to defeat death, the wages of sin. So when Jesus stood outside Lazarus's tomb, He didn't say "what are all you people crying about? He's only dead!" No, in fact, Jesus Himself wept, and I believe He did so because more than anyone Jesus knew what life could be and how horribly damaged it is by death.

We learn from Jesus that He cared deeply for people, and had certain ones He called friends in a special way. To think of their suffering in death evoked a deep sadness. "This is not the way we intended it." He wept for some of the same reasons we weep.

2. Even though death is a horrible reality, for the Christian it is a negligible experience. I'm speaking specifically here about the one who dies. The person approaching death certainly may experience tremendous pain and discomfort (though we are thankful for the wonderful ministry of hospice). However, Jesus' words have a certain absurdity to them unless they are true: "Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." I have to imagine that even a few moments after the final earthly breath, the person you love would say to you "Everything is all right. I am fine. We need never have feared this."

By the way, I put no stock in the grocery store check-out line books about surviving a terminal moment or period of time. Some such books claiming to chronicle after death experiences certainly appear to have more validity than others, but the ones claiming angelic guides or talking pets are just plain schmaltzy. A Christian does well to remember that when the Apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) he was too overwhelmed and humble to even attempt to describe the experience, much less put it in a 50-page pamphlet.

Our best guide to having the right attitude about death is not the description of heaven in Revelation, or extrapolating from Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, or trying to imagine what a "heavenly body" is (1 Cor. 15). Jesus' words in John 11 are our best guide, and He said death as you fear it, is not real. As a Christian, you will never die.

Do you believe this?

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 17, 2011

"The Lord will deliver me." 1 Samuel 17:37

We have all heard the saying, "you're making a mountain out of molehill." Today I want you to see how you can do the opposite. With God's help you can make a molehill out of a mountain. That is what David did when he faced Goliath.

David did not deny reality. Goliath was a real giant that would have made Shaq look small by comparison. In the same way, you are facing a real giant. Your challenge is real. The disease is real. The relationship is troubled. The financial challenge is obvious. The giant is real. We all face at least one giant, and you can't ignore it, and it's no help to be told there is no problem.

More importantly, however, giants are subject to exaggeration, which is precisely what Israel's army, David's brothers, and the king did. We tend to do the same. All problems are subject to exaggeration, but they are also subject to defeat. I believe firmly that every problem in life has a solution. Further, I believe that every problem in life can be magnified beyond its real impact. Do not give too much power to your problem.

The main part of the solution is to embrace the truth that God will deliver you. When everyone else saw a giant only, David saw a problem that could be met and defeated through God's strength. He said, "The Lord will deliver me." That is one reason he is called "a man after God's own heart."

Let today be that point in your life when you decide, with God's help, to make a molehill out of that mountain. This can happen in a number of ways. You will no longer allow hurts from the past to ruin your present and your future. You decide to trust God more deeply than you fear your trial. You start celebrating success and blessing instead of rehearsing defeat and discouragement. All these can help.

Because I know a great many people reading this are facing a giant of a problem, allow me to give you one final bit of guidance. You might not see your way through to the solution today, tomorrow, or even next week or next year! The delay in your deliverance is not because you are not faithful enough or did not pray hard enough. God works slowly, almost always slowly, in order to build your faith. During this slow time you can't figure out a solution to your problem. The giant lingers. What do you do?

Sometimes when you can't figure out a solution, you can clearly see how to not make the problem worse. I see many Christians regularly fail at this point. Something happens that displeases them, and perhaps after an interim period where they wait and expect a solution they decide to do something, and the something is almost always counter-productive. They confront the giant in anger, or in some other way allow emotions to take over. They may lose faith, stop praying, or stop going to church. They may start talking to everyone else about their problem (i.e. gossiping). They may become irritable or resentful. Do any of these actions accomplish anything positive? All you likely have done is make the problem worse and more hurtful for you.

The bottom line here is simple, while you are waiting for the Lord's deliverance, make certain that you do nothing to make the problem worse, or make the giant bigger, or multiply the giants!

Take a deep breath of the Spirit, say the Lord's Prayer, read the book of Philippians. These are the things you can positively do while waiting for God to act. The giant's days are numbered. In some way, you need to make "the Lord will deliver me" a part of your daily conviction and daily prayer.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 10, 2011

"I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints the length, width, height, and depth of God's love; and to know that Christ's love for you surpasses all knowledge and fills you with the fullness of God." Ephesians 2:17b-19

God loves you. You know that don't you? But you have heard it so often that it risks sounding trite or maudlin. What is indisputably true is that most Christians live as if they are unaware of God's love. Your challenge this week is to recapture some of the grandeur of the fact that God loves you.

Here's how you will do it. Pretend you are an Ephesian Christian in the first century. You live in one of the truly magnificent cities of the empire, one of the top half-dozen or so. Due to its location on a major trading route, the city's financial impact reverberates through the empire. The same is true of its political might. And religiously? Before you became a Christian you could have worshiped in scores of temples dedicated to dozens of different gods and goddesses. The centerpiece is the Artemision (later called one of the Seven Wonders of the World), the temple dedicated to the city's patroness: Artemis, whom the Romans adopted from the Greeks and equated with Diana. You worshiped there.

Actually "worshiped" is a bit of stretch. Temples practically were little more than elaborate eating clubs. Worshipers cooked and ate the sacrifice as part of "the service." You may have participated in a number of such gatherings. They were social events. You respected Diana, but your sacrifice was more of an appeasement. Like most of your fellow Romans you went through the rituals in order to keep Diana off your back. Seriously. You did not love her any more than she loved you.

Diana was like all the gods and goddesses; capricious, capable of the very worst morals, and generally completely uninterested in people. Love her? You could never love something that dangerous or uncaring.

So what led you to become a Christian? It was the good news that a heretofore unknown God deeply loved you. He was nothing like Zeus or Apollo who were more like humans with superhuman powers. No, this God was supremely good and so glorious that He could not be depicted in any art form. The Christians that shared this good news with you explained that He was the only God, the Creator of all, and most amazingly, had sent His Son to show His great love for all people, to die to remove sin and guilt, and to rise three days later. What truly struck you, however, was the love part. This God loves you. You were so overwhelmed that you became a Christian. When you read the words quoted above from the letter addressed to your church you are still a little stunned, but warmed and encouraged beyond words to know the one and only God loves you.

Now back to today. The passage from Ephesians for this week's GraceWaves is one of the most tender and emphatic declarations of God's love to be found anywhere in the New Testament. It ranks with John 3:16 and Romans 8:38-39. The personal love of God for all people is the single most important, transforming revelation that enabled Christianity to convert an empire. God's love was not greeted with a yawn in the early centuries, and it shouldn't be today.

Yet most Christians never give ten minutes of serious consideration to this tremendous truth. The great God of the universe knows your name! He knows your history! He loves you deeply! Today you must recapture some measure of the grand vision that God loves you. No doctrine is more important. It all begins here. Waves of grace flow from God's loving character. Never forget this greatest truth, and never allow it be diminished either by familiarity, or by the challenges you face this week. God truly loves you.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

October 2, 2011