Changing Times

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John Piper Interviews Rick Warren

What is Docetism?

Did God really appear in human form or was it just an illusion?

In response to those who question the humanity of the Christ, the writer of 1 John states in chapter 4:

4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (ESV)

The above was written as a direct response to arguments that sought to distort the nature of Jesus. In my opinion, the teachings of the Docetist is a response to a cultural view of divinity. Gods don't suffer. Yet the bible declares that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the same time.

Philippians 2:3-8 declares Christ's humanity and divinity:

3 Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

4 Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,

8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. (New Living Translation)

Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch is credited with this poem:

Very Flesh, yet Spirit too;
Uncreated, and yet born;
God-and-Man in One agreed,
Very-Life-in-Death indeed,
Fruit of God and Mary's seed
At once impassible and torn
By pain and suffering here below:
Jesus Christ, whom as our Lord we know.

The prophet Isaiah wrote of The Christ as the suffering servant:

53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Core Values - Part 1

We study the scriptures, listen to the preaching and teaching of the word in order to bring about an internal cultural shift.

I’d like to focus on one aspect of culture that the spirit of the living God is shifting. I’m going to use the word values to label the specific aspect of culture that will be my focus in the next couple of post.

The word “values” has an easy definition. It simply means what’s important to you and is an abstract idea. It does not possess mass, texture, shape or color.

However, you can see your values by examining the choices you make each day of each week.

There is another idea called core values that is relevant. Core values is simply what’s important to you in times of stress. What we choose to do when times are great, may not be what we do under duress.

An important core value is honesty. Specifically, I want to talk about honesty in the context of our economic dealings.

I’d like to turn to 2 passages in the Old Testament that articulate God’s view point on honesty in business-customer relations. It would seem strange that a lofty God would be concerned with the mundane economic issues of life. He is. In fact there are many passages in the bible that give instructions on honesty in our economic dealings. We will look at 2, one in Leviticus and the other in Deuteronomy.

Leviticus 19:35-36
“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Jacob Milgrom in his book titled Leviticus writes:

“Values are what Leviticus is all about. They pervade every chapter and almost every verse.”
When I read that first statement in Jacob Milgrom’s book, my first reaction was “what, that can’t be”. And I’m sure that most of you who are familiar with the Old Testament book of Leviticus would probably think of it as containing specific instructions on performing rituals, sacrifices and even handling cases of religious impurity.

However, Jacob Milgrom suggests that as we read Leviticus we should keep an open ear to the subtext of every ritual or sacrificial instructions.

In his words, Leviticus contains “an intricate web of values that purports to model how we should relate to God and to one another.”

Leviticus 19:35-36, then, conveys an ageless principle of fairness. A 10 lb bag should be 10 and not 8lbs. I think most importantly, in the context of an Employer-employee relation, we should always be attuned to doing a fair days labour. We should never play hide-and-seek, but step up to the plate and give what is right.

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 echoes similar principles with a twist.

13 “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy labels individuals who act dishonestly as an abomination to the Lord. That’s a very strong word.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

²³ Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Psychologist estimate that up to 77% of what we hear and see throughout our day is negative. Negative thought, negative attitude, negative words, negative drift will weaken your innermost being to the point where what God has designed to sustain your life does not function as it should. Faith in Christ and practicing the teachings of Jesus will set you on a path to function properly. I want to function properly.

I love action and adventure films. I love the feeling that a bit of adrenaline brings. It’s a great kick to my sympathetic nervous system. There’s nothing like an epinephrine rush. Epinephrine is another name for adrenaline, a natural god given substance that prepares our bodies to fight or run when faced with danger. But on another level I am personally getting tired of drinking in the violence that sometimes goes hand-in hand with that genre. I’m at the point where I just don’t need to handle one more gun play, murder or torture event. Do I really need to drink that in.

The spirit of God will make you aware of the things that affect us over time. The proper rule of thumb probably could be phrased: “If its negative, run from it.” It’s like being exposed to low doses, low levels of radiation. Over time exposure to negative words, events, frameworks damages the soul, even defiles the spirit.

It is possible to be aware of the thought patterns, ideas and concepts that bombard our innermost being like exposure to low doses of radiation. It is possible to be very selective about what we allow in and out of our heart. Guard your heart and be diligent about it.

The most dangerous time during commercial or even non commercial flight is take-off and landing. Landing an aircraft requires diligence. There is no room for error. Error means fatalities. That’s the attitude we need to have when it comes to our heart.

There is nothing magical or spooky about the act of guard or keeping ones heart. It is about being intentional with what we listen to, read, speak and watch.

When you have experienced a loss, one must be even more diligent in guarding your heart.

Emotional Stability - Definition

Let’s encapsulate a definition of the construct or idea of emotional stability in the bounds of an analogy that most of us who drive can identify with.

Imagine yourself seated behind the wheel of automobile on a sunny mid-afternoon in the fall. You are making your way through the Colorado Rockies. On this leg of the journey, the roadway enters a sharp 7% decent. You release your foot from the gas pedal ready to apply the brake in order to maintain your decent at the legal limit of 70.

Emotional stability is like the idea that when you are descending a hill or mountain you take your foot off the gas and use the brakes of the car to manage your speed.

In life, emotional stability is a decision that you make ahead of time to use brakes when faced with a decent or to give gas when faced with an uphill struggle.

From a Christian view point, emotional stability is built on peace. The living God provides us with a precious resource called peace and it is our responsibility to manifest that peace in our emotions at all time and everywhere.

Romans 5:1 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Prophetic Worship Conference

2 Anbetungskonferenz - Prophetic worshipconference 2 from Ben Andi on Vimeo.

Prophetischer Gottesdienst während Anbetungskonferenz - Very prophetic and anointed service during our worshipconference with/mit Francois Botes