Universal Health Care – $1000 fine for those who refuse coverage

According to this piece at Fox News people who do not carry health coverage may face a $1000 fine. They may be looking at health care like they look at auto insurance today. If you don’t carry it be ready to face penalties. Additionally, there might be a $750/worker fine for companies that don’t offer health benefits to their employees. With 50 million Americans who don’t carry health coverage today, many because they cannot afford it, it is going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

10 Ways to Help Deacons Be Effective

As Jay mentioned earlier, one problem many churches face is helping their deacons to be effective. Often through poor communication and unrealistic expectations things fall through the cracks. It vital to the health of the church that we take the necessary steps to help our deacons be effective:

1 – Realize this is volunteer help and people are busy. So for that reason and for accountability try to have 2 deacons for each area of service/ministry

2 – Have each deacon have a corresponding elder/minister as a contact point for the elders. This is for accountability and for communication.

3 – Make sure all deacons have a specific job description that is as measurable as possible. It doesn’t help if you ask someone to do something and there is no way to tell if it actually got done.

4 – Have regular followup with deacons to encourage them and help them plan out their vision for their ministry. If not most just go into “default mode” and nothing gets done.

5 – Make sure not to undermine your deacons by doing things in their area without their knowledge. If something is being done to the building, make sure the “building and grounds” deacon knows about it and isn’t caught by surprise on Sunday, etc.

6 – Have regular meetings with all deacons with a set agenda for them to talk about what is coming up in their area. Have time for prayer and make sure this is very structured. This is aided by points 2 & 4 above to make sure they are all on track in advance of the meeting. Otherwise the ones who do the least will end up feeling bad and talking the most.

7 – Make sure you are actively recruiting new members into specific areas of service and that the appropriate deacons are getting the names and contact info for people who want to help in their area.

8 – As ministries grow, make sure you help your deacons transition from the one who does everything in the ministry to someone who coordinates and facilitates their volunteer help from within the congregation. This gets more people involved and results in less deacon burnout.

9 – Make sure you realize changes and needs in the congregation to proactively address those with deacons/ministries in advance so we don’t drop the ball with anyone. One example. With the failing economy we added more deacons to benevolence to specifically address helping people budget and find jobs in addition to the financial assistance piece we already had.

10 – Make sure  your deacons get positive feedback when things are going well. Ministers and elders often get in emergency mode and take for granted those people and areas that are actually accomplishing their purposes. If you want someone to keep doing a good job, make sure you show your appreciation.

What Are the Results of Sin?

We usually are quick to point out death (Romans 3:23) and that is a correct answer but what is interesting about sin is that this death can be a very slow, gradual process. This is very much in line with the song “Slow fade” by Casting Crowns. Death yes, but in the meantime sin takes its toll.

Scripture is clear that sin has consequences while we are living that don’t have to wait until we die. Here are some that the Bible mentions:

1. Darkening of our hearts (Roman 1:21)
2. Being given over to our desires (Romans 1:24)
3. Corrupted minds (1 Timothy 6:5)
4. Being unable to understand the truth (1 Corinthians 2:14 & 2 Corinthians 4:4)
5. Hostility toward God (Romans 8:7-8)
6. Love of darkness (John 3:19)
7. Slavery (John 8:34)
8. Disconnected from community with God and others (2 Corinthians 6:14)
9. Enemies with God (Romans 5:10)
10. Death (Romans 6:23)

Sin is the opposite of what God wants for us. Sin doesn’t wait until we die to start killing us. It can be a long and slow process that results in the exact opposite of God’s design. Notice how what God wants for us is the exact opposite of this list:

1. Give us light (John 8:12)
2. Freed from earthly desires (1 Peter 4:1-2)
3. Renewed minds (Romans 12:2)
4. Convicted of the truth (John 8:32)
5. Friendship with God (John 15:15)
6. Love of the light (1 John 1:7)
7. Freedom (2 Cor 3:17)
8. Perfect community with God and others (Hebrews 8:10)
9. Children of God (1 John 3:2)
10. Life (John 10:10)

In the end, sin is set to undo all that God intended for our lives. It is more than an “oops” or an “uh oh.” It is important that we recognize the serious consequences of sin in our lives and its destructive force and power to murder us slowly. Credit to Stanley Grenz’s, Theology for the Community of God for help with the sin list. It is a great book if you don’t have it I would highly recommend purchasing it.

Mike Lewis the Jesus Painter

I have never met Mike Lewis but I have seen his art and seen him perform his art live and it is very impressive. Mike is a Harding University alum who travels the U.S. painting pictures of Jesus. He has a great website that is definitely worth a look. He also has a group on facebook where you can follow his travels. Here is a video from his website where he is featured at the GMA Dove awards with Mac Powell of Third Day and Steven Curtis Chapman.

And another clip of him at work.

Bible Study – Just Pick a Book And Stick With It

Over the last couple of months in our 20s & 30s Bible class we spent several weeks talking about why study and how to study the Bible. Bottom line – pick a book of the Bible and start studying. We recommended the book of James as a good starting place and I started emailing a study guide every couple of days to class members. This isn’t anything in depth but would be useful for someone trying to get the gist of what James is talking about. It also has application questions. I will be posting these study guides over the next few days for anyone who would like to take on reading and studying James.

Here are a couple of useful tips to use when studying scripture:

1. Don’t assume you already know what it says. You can read the same chapter at different times in life and come away catching something entirely new. I am convinced that scripture intersects our lives at particular points in time that make it come alive in new and varied ways. There is still absolute truth found in scripture but the way we perceive it can be affected by where we find ourselves in the moment we read.
2. Ask lots and lots of questions. Make sure to write these down so you can try to figure them out.
3. Journal as you read. Don’t read for volume. Read for quality and transformation. Make notes of relevant points and things you want to try to remember. Journal things the text calls you to change in your life or any calls to action you find.
4. Try to find at least one thing out of any given text that does one of the following: changes the way you view yourself or others, calls you to action, encourages repentance in an area of your life, humbles you, leads you to give God glory and praise.
5. Let the Bible shape you and not the other way around. That has been said on this blog in the past but it is such an important point. Transformation should never go in the direction of us to text. It should always go from text to us. In other words, we don’t twist the text to avoid transformation or to remain comfortable. We have to allow the text to work on changing us instead.
6. Use two translations that fit well together. Go with something on different ends of the spectrum like any of these pairs: NASB + NLT, NIV + NRSV, ESV + NRSV (these are all found at Biblegateway.com for free)

How to Use the Bible

This link was sent to me by Philip and I am glad he did. This is a helpful list on how to and not to use scripture – link.

The Remains of The Apostle Paul

Have a look at Claude Mariottini’s latest post on archaeologists and the body of the apostle Paul. He also includes a picture of what is possibly the oldest image of Paul from the fourth century. Here is the link.

Spiritual Snacks Will Never Fill You Up

I love snacks. I could snack all day. Chips, donuts, cokes, string cheese…I could probably make a list longer than all the types of shrimp Forrest and Bubba came up with. They are my weakness. What I have found over my years of snacking is that they never leave you full. Snacks are like throwing gasoline on a fire. It makes a big flame but it doesn’t last. If you want a fire that lasts you have to have a fuel that is jam packed with lasting fuel. Wood burns so well because of the years of growth it has taken to build it into what it is.

Some Christians live from one spiritual snack to the next. They snack on quick prayers, weekly worship, a verse here and there, and maybe something on the radio or a Christian CD that keeps them encouraged. Moving rapidly from one snack to the next there is never a sense of being full. There is never a lasting feeling of satiation. Deeply rooted spiritual experience and relationship with God is forfeited for a much shallower yet much flashier brand of Christian faith that is high carb, high fat, low protein and low fiber. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6). When you think about your faith, is there ever a time you can say you feel “filled”? Jesus promised it. If we don’t then maybe we aren’t actually hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Maybe we have been hungering and thirsting for something that has the appearance of spiritual nutrients but in the end is no more than spiritual junk food.

Jesus explained the differences between these types of Christians through his parable of the seed. The sower sows seed and it falls on different types of soil. Spiritual snackers are like the seed that falls in the rocky places (Matthew 13:5). It springs up quickly but because it has no root so its quick growth is rapidly depleted. But the seed that falls on good soil had the lasting nutrients it needed to grow tall but also deep as its roots had a favorable environment to grow in a lasting way.

So put down your spiritual snacks and Christian crutches and begin a healthier diet that may not be as flashy and maybe doesn’t taste as sugary but it will see you through the tough times and draw you in closer to the heart of God.

What Did Jesus Do During His Three Days in the Grave?

Did you know the answer to that question may be found in the story of the flood in Genesis 6? There is this strange verse tucked into the Flood story in Genesis 6:4 – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” The verses that follow talk about God seeing the wickedness of mankind and his decision to send a flood to get a fresh start with humanity. For thousands of years people have debated who these “sons of God” were and what their nature was.

One source we have that tries to clear some of this up is the book of Enoch. We normally wouldn’t take much stock in a book that is written under a fictitious pseudonym but there are reasons to think it is valid on this issue (more on that in a minute). The book of Enoch, written around 300 B.C. is written as if by someone of the past (namely Noah’s great-grandfather Enoch). The book of Enoch says these were angels who came down and had relations with women on the earth and who were a bad influence on mankind, trying to lead them astray. The author of 1 Enoch says that God took these rebellious angels and locked them up in prison for their wickedness and rebellion.

“And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers (angels), because they have wronged mankind…” (1 Enoch 10:11-16).

What does this have to do with Jesus in the grave? Peter references 1 Enoch in 1 Peter 3:18-20 when he wrote about what happened after Jesus died,

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison ²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”

Many have interpreted these verses to say some people got a second chance to obey the Gospel after they died. What else would Jesus preach than the Gospel? There are a few faulty assumptions that take place when we read 1 Peter with no knowledge of the book of Enoch (which Peter certainly had based on this text and 2 Peter 2:4 which specifically references angels put into prison by God). The first faulty assumption is that these spirits are the spirits of men. Enoch makes it clear that the spirits put in prison in the days of Noah were disobedient angels (as does Peter in the verses just referenced). The second faulty assumption people have brought to this text is that the message Jesus would preach would be the gospel, thus giving these spirits a second chance. Enoch tells us these spirits are awaiting judgment. So Jesus preached to these fallen angels a message of triumph and judgment. We would assume Jesus let them know that although they tried to lead mankind astray, God had the final word through what Jesus came to do and is now accomplishing in the world. Jesus preached to these disobedient spirits a message of victory and the finality of their own defeat. This, according to Peter, is what Jesus did while in the grave.

So, while we would normally not give Enoch much thought or weight, Peter deemed it fit in this instance through inspiration and so in this instance we can gain insight from Enoch and Peter on these matters.

Why does this matter? It should encourage us as Christians to know that Christ has paved the way for death to not be the final say. It should encourage us to know that he is putting all things under his feet and subduing those powers that seek to harm us. It should embolden us to know that our God has the power to put under lock and key those who seek our destruction and give us courage to move forward and accomplish God’s purposes for our lives without fear. I get the same feeling from knowing these verses in context that I do when I read 1 Cor 15:54-58,

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[g]
55“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”^[h]

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Biblioblogs Lists Kingdom Living

Thanks to Biblioblogs for including this blog in its newest list. I guess I better get back to blogging about something biblical…