Why The Bible Shouldn't Have Verses

I love Bible school. This week has been the week that many of us from Bethlehem College and Seminary students have volunteered at the Gospel Coalition Conference ’11 in Chicago. Earlier this week, I was having conversation with one of the seminarians, and we were talking about whether or not the advent of chapters and verses in the Bible are truly helpful. We both agree that it is convenient to have chapters and verses in order to reference different parts of this massive 66 book anthology, but because of chapters/verses, there have been some pretty detrimental consequences that have come about as a consequence of diving the Bible into chapters and verses. It also may be helpful to note that these demarcations of the text were instituted within the last 600 years, so they certainly not inspired by a long shot.

With some publications of the Bible, which were most of the Bibles that I grew up reading, the passages are printed with each verse parsed out as each its own beginning of a new paragraph. Reading and studying these Bibles can be dangerous, because it is very easy to look at each verse as its own thought, independent from its wider context. This can be especially dangerous when studying one particular doctrine, when one or two verses jump off the page; and being their own entity, they can be used to manipulate the intent of the passage to something that the author was not actually intending at all.

On the other hand, for someone to argue that verse delineations are not helpful at all is out of his mind. However, while there is much more to say on this, I believe there is a strong case to be made that in the realm of theological study, verses have not ultimately been helpful in understanding each passage for the message that it was originally intended to be read. It would be more time-consuming to consistently read larger portions of Scripture, but I would be interested to see if taking such an approach to Scripture reading would affect us differently? Who knows. Just some thoughts from a young Bible school student. I would love to read thought/opinions in the comment section below. Please share!

Deus Spes Nostra

Moment of Cogency v1.0

"Hanging on to every word you speak, because it's all that I need. Hanging on to every word you say, to light up my way. Even every little whisper I'm hanging on as if it were my life, I'm hanging on."

That's the chorus to a Britt Nicole song that I just listened to as we just finished up a really busy week here at the incubator for theological students. We studied the Pastoral Epistles on Monday, had 3.5 hours of lecture on Calvinism/Arminianism on Wednesday, and listened to 2 hours on Hebrews today. All while trying to write an 8 page paper on limited/definite atonement which was due today (my choice). I listen to that song as I process this week, pending conversations, and the coming trip to Chicago, and I realized that I don't believe a word of that song. I got up at 5:15 this morning to exercise; while I was in the middle of running, I realized that I'm wasting my life. I haven't been in the Scriptures to get to know God for months. I have not been hanging on every word He speaks. I've been just floating along, not affecting the kingdom or spreading the gospel. I'm wasting my life. My freshman year of college is almost over. I will be home for my first college summer in 50 days. I have not done anything to pour into other peoples' lives, I've just taken for myself and expected MOUNDS of grace and LOADS of service. This has all culminated in today's realization that I am not furthering the kingdom with my life and pursuing recognition to be seen and praised by men.

I'm just tired. I'm getting really sick of pursuing things that make me feel good and scrape hours, days, weeks, months, years off of my life, and I just need to grow up. The only problem is, the more of the onus that I put on myself to just grow up and dress for action like a man, the more I fail and get more miserable. What do you know, I guess I'm seeing that the gospel really is true after all.. To put it in worldly terms, I feel like I'm having a pre-mid-life crisis. I see friends that are playing college basketball, and I want to play college basketball. I see friends that are in a relationship, and I want a girlfriend. I see married couples that are learning the intricacies of living together and having little babies, and I want to get married and have kids. I know in my mind that those things are not for me right now, but I still want them all. The problem is that I see God's calling for my life as being something much more than that. I am gaining clarity on what I honestly can see God doing in me; but at the same time, I have such an aversion to pursuing excellence in those areas. I feel the draw to the world and to worldly things, but they are so transient! I just can't see myself totally pursuing worldly things, because it just seems like SUCH a worthless waste of time. I'm almost 20, and I haven't done anything with myself to present to God when I get to heaven. Maybe that's the point. Sometimes I think I never do enough, sometimes I think I try too hard and don't just rest in what God has done. I get jealous and sad about the fact that I can't sing like Putnam, play guitar like Thom, play basketball like Fields, make friends like Gerstl, think and read like Griffith, teach like Rigney, or love people like Schmitter.

I've hit the wall. I can't really find the energy to keep trying to run through. It's too hard. I have no self-control. I go on food binges of eating a whole box of Hot Tamales and another box of Milk Duds.. In the same day. I'm breaking down... but


Deus Spes Nostra

Maturing Into Manhood 1.0

It’s been a good 61 days. I’ve done quite a bit for one quarter: I have found out a possible housing arrangement for next year, hosted a massively huge party, added two serves to my ping-pong repertoire, failed a science exam, met with multiple counselors in order to further understand to what specific kind of vocational ministry God may be calling me, made four(ish) new friends, and again learned how ridiculously emotional I am. I have learned a lot about life through all of those things, but I feel especially burdened to share some thoughts on the last point of emotional self-control.

This is one of the many difficulties of growing into manhood – while in high school, I readily oozed emotion anyone and everyone that would listen; but seeing the need to protect others from the destructive nature of “emotional throw-up” (as coined by my roommate), I am being convinced that discernment is extremely valuable, especially when sharing life with women particularly. 1 Peter 3:7 teaches, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” This verse does not describe exactly how men are to interact with women, but we (men) have the moral obligation to observe and understand how our thoughts, words, and actions affect them. As I personally strive to live out the implications of this verse, I am convicted that I must be careful with the smallest things, even things like body language and tone of voice, to ensure that I do not lead any women to believe something other than what I am trying to communicate. This approach may seem like work, and it is. Being careful with actions and speech is not easy, and it takes discipline that is quite often difficult, but it is what God calls us young men to as we have not yet reached the point to pursue someone with the goal of moving from brother/sister to husband/wife.

1 Timothy 5:1-2 also addresses this issue, “Treat…younger women like sisters, in all purity.” Through all means of communication with women, I must not only make painstakingly sure that I know what I am communicating and how I am coming across, but I must pray that God changes my heart in a way such that I want to pursue relationships with the opposite sex like I would a sister. Pursuing a brother/sister relationship in all purity seems to indicate a certain propriety with which the relationship is approached; while there is obviously there is the physical aspect of “all purity”, I cannot imagine that the apostle Paul would have stopped there. While a husband and wife become one flesh physically (Genesis 2:24), there is a clear emotional connection that develops in the dating/engagement period that is the foundation on which the marriage is built. Paul is not only warning young men to be physically pure in male/female relationships, but is also warning us to not treat any woman in the way that when married, he would only treat his wife.

As my third and final point, I want to be perfectly clear that while there must be the utmost care and respect in man/woman relationships, I do not want to communicate that I think everyone should be celibate, or ignore the opposite sex, or anything like that. Agur says in Proverbs 30:17-18: “Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden (RSV).” When the time is right (there actually is a time that is right), it is an AWESOME thing to be able to pursue a woman in a more-than-friends relationship! It is amazing to see how a jerk guy –or girl for that matter– can be totally changed because of their ‘significant other’ in that way! But when emotions are shared before either side can act on them, from what I’ve seen, the only by-products are hurt and heartache, not to mention the incredible temptations and opportunities for sin.

I understand that my last 717 words cover these issues with extremely broad brush-strokes. They are just some of the thoughts I have had because of situations in my own life; and as I observe other younger men in their –immature– dealings with other younger women, and I feel like there is a general lack of guidance (or lack of submission to authority) concerning them and these pre-mature high school relationships. I would love some feedback in the comments section on especially this and the other posts on my manhood posts. I’m just another guy that has put of maturity for long enough and just trying to make sense of what God wants for young men as they/we transition from immature boyhood to a state of manhood that is able to properly care for a marriage, family, job, and ministry in a godly and manly way.

In this case, as always, Deus Spes Nostra!!

Meditations at Children Desiring God 2011

So I am at the Children Desiring God conference, sitting here in a row of seats, observing people, eavesdropping on conversations, and restfully processing the experience of this weekend in a few moments of stillness. One thing that has stood out to me in this barrage of God-glorifying and others-focused teaching, and that is that we as Bible believing adults have the moral obligation to serve the young men and women that are growing up in the body through mentorship, discipleship, and voluntary acts of service. I’ve been becoming increasingly aware of the plight that the younger generations are faced with, as it seems as though there are more and more young men that are being mentored by their peers, not godly leaders. At CDG, I am one of the youngest men in attendance, and have met incredibly humble and godly men that have talked and prayed with me; and through these interaction, I have realized how vital the need is for the church to have those kinds of men to lead and help guide younger men like me, but especially through the middle/high school years. Looking back, one of the things I did not have as a junior higher was an older man in the church who was willing to model a sincere love for God and an equally sincere love for people. While this was God’s will in my life, I know that I would probably have been different given the presence of a mentor like that. As I compare my earlier life experiences with the things that I am learning and observing now, I can see that there are many cases where having a role model other than my father could have been very helpful to reinforce Biblical truth and encourage a totally surrendering love for God.

In applying this to my life as a green college student, I can see that I have not done very well at all when leading, or attempting to lead the younger men that God has placed in my life. Through these sessions and times of prayer at CDG, I have been encouraged to both seek out godly mentoring from men that can pour years of wisdom into my life through prayer and encouragement, and the opportunity to speak into the lives of younger men that also need direction as they experience many of the same things that I experienced at their age. The Biblical model of discipleship seems to point to the selfless discipling of the younger generation for the building up of the kingdom; and this is the reason I believe that (at any age) the mentoring of younger men, by more mature older men, is absolutely essential to the vibrancy and growth of any body of believers. While it may seem obvious, the only growth in any mentor/mentee relationship can only be harvested by the Creator. That reality should shape the approach to discipleship in a way that will leave the discipler completely reliant on the work of the cross in the life of the disciple through prayer and power of the Holy Spirit. 

Readjusting

So I’ve been here in Minneapolis for two weeks, but already my experience here has been a great contrast to the month-long hiatus from my freshman year. Transitioning from the many responsibilities of the first semester to the sedentary lifestyle of vacation then back to the daily grind of school and work, God has shown me how weak and sinful of a person I am. After the first couple days of renewing fellowship with classmates, I recognized how much I rely on this 15-minute radius of Bethlehem Baptist Church as the bastion for my spiritual well being. When I got to New England, the habits and disciplines that were forced upon me through school, work, and ministry were now taken away, and I needed to exercise these disciplines by the order of my own volition.  I noticed that as I returned home, I was much more prone to selfish sins that would have been otherwise dealt with, had I been surrounded with a culture that seeks to help brothers deal with these issues. I don’t mean to say that the fellowship I had at home was not one that meant to come alongside me and vice versa, the difference is that seeing roommates/students every day and hearing lectures on the Word of God multiple times a week gave me a much more ready awareness of my own sin. I hope that the next few months provide me with opportunities to pursue and make habit disciplines of prayer, daily 1 on 1 time with my Savior, and even simply more consistent sleeping patterns. If, by God’s grace, I can begin to act in more disciplined ways, hopefully I will be enabled to serve more people more effectively and God will use my vessel to shine his light even a little more brightly and clearly. I feel as though I really have benefited from the prayers from brothers and sisters back home; and if the Lord ever places me on your heart, I would greatly appreciate even a quick supplication on my behalf for God’s moving to show me how to more effectively love Him, and through that, love people with a selfless, others-centered love! Praise Him for all good gifts that we are given, in this case the community of believers that so lovingly bear our burdens with us!

A Few Thoughts on Atheism and Morality

The other day in class, we had an Indian professor guest-teach for us who has done work with Ravi Zacharias, and it showed, because he was awesome. After speaking with him after his lecture, I began to think again about how Atheism can work in respect to the way an Atheist views morality. It seems like if you are an atheist there are only a few options: 1) You believe that there are certain things that govern what is right and what is wrong that goes further than simply the furtherance of the evolutionary process, but you assume that this moral sense comes from somewhere other than Yahweh and His law, 2) You believe that the evolutionary process (survival of the fittest, natural selection) provides a sufficient standard for a "bare-minimum" morality, or 3) You do not believe in morality at all (the most consistent Atheism). I want to quickly address these three issues, because I feel that it is very important for Christians to be able to converse with Atheists in an understanding way, but also not to act like a postmodern and smugly placate the Atheist by a false sense of humility. While there must be love in the gospel, God's truth cannot be compromised, and that is a point that cannot be stressed strongly enough.

1) To deny the existence of God but to agree with a moral law is the most honest, yet illogical form of atheism in existence. To believe that murder, rape, and cannibalism etc. are reprehensible acts, but deny a God that would create a conscience that enables one to be able to discern those things has only a few options to explain where this sense comes from (and these explanations include but are not limited to): A) general morality was spawned at the birth of the first human in the evolutionary process, B) general morality is given by society, C) general morality is passed down through family, or D) general morality is discovered based on what is best for each individual. I say general, because specific morality will differ based on more individualized experience and influence. Now I understand that these views do differ in the scope of their application to real life situations, but one coverall way to deal with them is to ask at what point they qualify the actions of others as wrong. That point will be different for mostly everyone, but the majority of Atheists that hold to one of these views will often say that Hitler and the Nazi German society were wrong for participating in and approving the holocaust; however, such a condemnation is not warranted with the aforementioned views on morality because such a condemnation would either be imposing one view on someone else, or pure conjecture (no authoritative basis to make such a claim), which either hints at a transcending moral law that is more than personal conviction or societal teaching, or it dismisses the statement as meaningless from the beginning. If this Atheist wants to continue to deny the presence of a transcendent spiritual being that created humans with a conscience (Romans 1), they will most often move on to the next view of morality.

2) For one to say that morality and moral precepts only exist in the realm of continuing the evolutionary process, i.e. the furtherance of the human race, they either have a very poor understanding of what they are saying, or they understand it and still refuse to say something logical. The reason that this idea is inconsistent with reality is because if "survival of the fittest" and "natural selection" were the guiding principles of the world, then Hitler should be the poster boy of evolution manifested in society as he eradicated homosexuals, cripples, mentally handicapped, and anyone with a birth defect (along with Jews and Christians obviously) because he understood that anyone that could not help the human race would hurt it, and cleansing the gene pool would be the kindest thing to humanity anyone could do, and from this view of morality, these are only logical statements. Hitler's attempted extermination of those that make a practice of circumventing procreation seems to be a more atheistically logical action. Another reason that this very rudimentary understanding of morality does not work is that even to say that human race should be propagated is a moral statement, and thusly needs an authoritative source to affirm it as true. This is impossible, because no such authority exists, which again renders that assertion of what 'should' be as equal in value of an irrelevant opinion. Anyways, if one were to be logical in their processes yet still deny the existence of God, they would most probably move to the assenting of no morality at all, which leads me to my last point.

3) For someone to outright deny morality altogether, they may have been so extremely hardened that they absolutely refuse to see the truth, they have had very negative experiences in childhood, or very negative experiences with religion; and unfortunately, that religion is quite often some form of Christianity. There are a few things to keep in mind when talking with an Atheist that outright denies morality and says things like murder, perjury, theft, rape, and all other horrific evils are completely acceptable (interestingly, most sociopaths will also agree with these things as well). I have heard of "consistent atheists" making completely absurd statements like, "because I was at one point a part of my mother, she has the right to kill, cook, and eat me for dinner whenever she would like" (incidentally, this same person was very offended when my friend was curt with him in an online conversation during a chess game, funny, I know).  There is not a whole lot that can be said to these people because they are quite often so hardened that they will not be able to see life in terms of anything spiritually, but one of the most, if not only effective thing to say to this person is that they live differently than the things they may endorse. While one may claim that his mother has some human right to his left ventricle or lungs, will he actually climb into a cauldron and be willingly be boiled alive? Probably not. While another may claim that rape is only taboo because of some cultural pretense, that same person (most often) will not willingly subjugate his baby son or daughter to a gang of convicted murdering rapists, much like the priest in Judges 19. Many of these 'tough' Atheists will talk a big game, but when life actually happens, they really do act out of something more than simply self-preservation. They still do make value judgements, and may even participate in altruism, however illogical that may be. They will have to believe that Hitler's extermination of approximately 14Million men, women, and children is all simply a matter of preference. There are no moral implications because of the inconsistencies of positions #1 and #2. When talking to someone like this, again, there is not a whole lot to say to this kind of person except to try to point out the inconsistencies between philosophy and reality and pray that the Holy Spirit changes their heart.

In thinking through all of this, I am SO glad that God decided to make known to me the graciousness of His love before I am forced to bow my knee in submission to Him.

If anyone has something to add, please leave a comment and I would love to continue to talk with you about this very serious subject. If you have gotten this far, it is possible that you have read the whole post, so thank you :)

Deus Spes Nostra

Doesn't God Just Blow You Away?

"Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" (Psalm 136:1, ESV)
- 'Give thanks to Yahweh, for He answers the prayers of His children in His wonderful graciousness, for his steadfast love endures forever!' - (My adaptation of Psalm 136)

These last few days have been very difficult for me. I am fairly convinced that in my self-righteousness of denouncing certain sins, God has let the proverbial leash go a little bit in the allowance of sins that he lets me commit. I have found myself doing my daily tasks with almost a low-grade depression, almost wallowing in my sin and feeling sorry that I have not a stronger moral fiber.

Today, through the encouragement of a fellow classmate here at Bethlehem College and Seminary, I was encouraged to pray and meditate upon the prayer of Psalm 13: "Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death"(Psalm 13:3 ESV). My friend encouraged me, that when he struggled with the sins with which I have been struggling, he prayed and asked that God would open his eyes to see the heinousness of his sin, so that he would not continue in his it. After our conversation, we prayed, and we both again prayed the prayer of Psalm 13. A prayer asking God to even begin to reveal the true wickedness of sin can be very dangerous and painful. Even with this in mind, I still sought God's revelation (specifically asking for His mercy), because I want to be healed.

In His amazing providence, He ordered my steps in a way such that I would be listening to audio from 2 Kings while on work duty today. Chapter after chapter describes the perpetual faithlessness of Israel and Judah, but Yahweh is faithful to save them. King after king ignores the commandments of Yahweh and continues to build high places and Asherah poles. I began to see the repetition with which Yahweh punishes their wicked deeds, but again and again they are brought into exile, then God gloriously brings them back to their land. I began to become saddened at the repeated stubbornness and rebellion of Yahweh's chosen people; I saw that they would sin, be reprimanded, and harden themselves even harder, almost giving no heed to the past history of chastisement in the precedent set by their fathers.

However, after listening to 2 Kings 23, I felt as though a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. King Josiah finds the Book of the Law, and in response, he FINALLY destroys the Asherah poles, high places, the quarters for the male prostitues (that were in the temple of Yahweh!), and many other symbols of idolatry. I was so relieved that, even with a tremendous history of sin, Yahweh can still forgive His people! I saw this as an answer to my prayer of asking God to show me how bad my sin really is. While God did show me how despicable and deceitful sin is, in His grace, He impressed upon my heart the love He shows to great repentant kings of Yahweh, like King Josiah.

Through these next few days, I want to meditate on His grace and kindness and understand that while Yahweh ABHORS sin, He does have a steadfast love for those that fear Him, those whom He has chosen in love. While without His love it is impossible to love in return, I see that He gives little tokens of grace to His children in order to show us that even in dark places, He is still here, and will forgive with open arms. While consequences may still follow, I would rather spend one day in the house of Yahweh then 1,000 days anywhere else!