Devotion: Biblical Engagement

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.”  Deuteronomy 11:18 (NLT)

 

This past month, I have been teaching a course on the basics of the Bible.  This past week, we talked about how for the first time in human history there are more printed Bibles than there are people in the world.  They estimate that there are 7.5 billion Bibles that have been printed since 1455, and 7 billion people.  Personally, I have 12 in my office so clearly distribution is skewed.  Yet it still raises an interesting question: why do so few people actually read the Bible?

I was amazed in a third year Seminary class when a professor asked these future pastors how many of us had read the Bible cover to cover, and only 3 of the 25 of us raised our hands.

Originally, the stories of the Bible were oral traditions passed on from generation to generation, then they began to be written down by freehand, but only the wealthy and professional religious people had access to them.  In fact, one of the major changes by the Reformation in the 1500s was to take the Bible out of the hands of priests and into the hands of the laity making personal devotion times possible.  The amazing expansion of access to the Bible is a huge benefit we now have, yet, it still remains that Biblical literacy rates have dramatically decreased.

It is not surprising that when life suddenly becomes chaotic, and we are struck by tragedy that many of us seek out the counsel of the Bible.  Unfortunately, if we have not been reading it, learning about its structure and context, or engaging it prior to these events, then it is far more difficult to hear God’s words of comfort and love.

What are some of the biggest hurdles for our engagement with the Bible?  Does it seem antiquated, confusing, overwhelming, boring or irrelevant?  Why?  How may we overcome these obstacles?

 

Three Videos for the Price of None

Thomas crawling/flopping


James Saying "DaDa" or so I believe!

Devitional: Experiencing Hope

“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?”    Romans 8:24

 

This past Sunday, Dr. Wood preached on Paul’s belief that experience leads to hope.  He reflected that in actuality, for most of us—Paul include—experience should not lead to hope but cynicism, anxiety and at times despair.  Therefore, how could Paul, someone who was once at the top of his profession but found himself writing to the early church from prison, believe that experience produces hope?

For many of us, we enter a new work environment, a new city, a new relationship with great excitement and confidence that this will “be the one” and that we will be able to make a difference.  Reality quickly sets in and we recognize that the ideal job is still a job, that we brought the same baggage with us to the new city, or that the perfect relationship is still two people trying to figure out life together.  Rarely does experience lead to hope.

So was Paul’s hope illogical?  Yes.  Hope is illogical.

Hope is not wishful thinking, luck or good karma, it is a deep conviction that while all other things around us may be telling us the exact opposite, we believe that ultimately God will prevail.  Paul understood that while things are not perfect now, one day they will be.  This is essential to the Christian life—if we don’t have hope, then we have nothing.

Have recent experiences led you to have hope or have caused cynicism?  How might you hold onto hope, while the things around you tell you the opposite?  Who is someone that may need your encouragement this week that God will prevail?

Devotion: Obviously

Did you know that the word “obviously” never appears in the Bible, yet it seems as though this word is an essential for a preacher:  “Obviously, the Bible says that you should _______.”

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone starts a sentence with obviously, when in reality it is not that obvious.  It establishes them as the one with insider information and us as the ignorant bystander, who if dared to ask a simple question would reveal their ignorance.  “Obviously” stifles conversation; it stifles exploration; it stifles discipleship.

            Following Christ is not about the obvious, it is about discovering what is not obvious.  That is why the church uses terms like “discipleship”—because it implies that faith is an exploration, a journey, a disciplined movement of seeking to know more about God, about ourselves and about the world we live in.

            The Christian faith is not obvious, rather it is complex.  A life of following Christ is far richer and far more satisfying then simply saying, “Obviously, if the Bible says it, then I believe it and that settles it.”

            As Paul tells the church in Corinth, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part, then I will know fully.”  Paul is describing how even for him, the great writer of the New Testament, we will only partly understand who God is and who we are.

            Finish this sentence:  “Obviously, God wants me to _________.” 

Why is that obvious?  Is that really what God may want for you?  If so, then what things are preventing you?  If not, then what is drawing you to this?

 

            Obviously,

            Rev. Wes Barry

 

 

Universalism Gone Too Far

Granted this may be based on my being raised in a Duke household.

 

Why do all of the commentators, SportsCenter, the Today Show, Facebook Status updates and basically all of America feel the need to sugar coat the Butler loss?

To say that “There were no losers out there on the court today” or “Both teams are champions in my book” is an offensive statement, not only to Duke but also for the Butler Bulldogs.  

They did not win; they played hard (and incredible), but they loss.  

They were in the lockerroom crying while Duke was hoisting the trophy and the commentators were trying to protect the kids’ fragile egos by calling them co-champions.  Those kids know the truth and will grow mightily from the experience of coming that close to a championship.  To water it down, to sugar coat it so that they may not feel heartbreak and disappointment only makes us (the observers) feel better. 

Why do we do it?

Because we cannot deal with the reality that in life there are winners and there losers.

Because we cannot deal with disappointments in our own lives and do not want to see others go through it too.

It’s like giving trophies to kids for showing up to tryouts.

It’s like saying all religions lead to the same god, and thereby negating the deep seeded differences in all religions.

It’s like Phil Keoghan announcing that this was a non-elimination leg of the Amazing Race; then why race?

 

Oh yeah,

K-4, Dean-2