The Kingdom is Kid’s Stuff

Rob Woodrum5 Comments

What I know right now is that there are no five year olds reading this post.  That’s not what five year olds do.  They don’t  read blogs…they stare in wonder at frogs, but they don’t read blogs.  They watch garbage trucks drive by and imagine themselves commanding that awesome piece of machinery and they stand transfixed as a butterfly flutters past them.  Never mind that people don’t usually think of garbage collection as a career goal, and most people are way too busy to watch a butterfly….kids don’t care.  Sometimes, the huge rift between a child’s priorities and an adult’s can cause an adult to minimize the importance of a child’s contribution to community…but is that the right frame of mind to have?

Our passage in Luke 18:15-17 is the classic account of Jesus making time for children.  It’s an account that appears in the three synoptic gospels, and it’s repetition does seem to carry a bit of weight.  Kids are important.  It really does say so.  Obviously, Jesus is using this event to make his “bigger picture” point in v17…but his actions tell us something as well, don’t they?

What do you see as the lessons of this passage?  It’s not very long…but it’s message is deep.  How do we “bring” the children to Jesus?  What does child-like faith look like to you? Hope to see you Sunday as we discuss this wonderful story!

Getting it Right

Rob Woodrum2 Comments

Hey all…we’re going to be picking back up in our study of the Gospel of Luke this Sunday.  We’ll be reading from chapter 18:9-14 and it’s a particularly favorite passage of mine.  It’s the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, both praying in the temple.

Several things to think about while you read this story:

  • This is the only place where Jesus uses a religious backdrop for one of his parables.  Do you think there is any significance to that, or to his use of the temple as a backdrop?
  • This is once again a reversal of roles/fortunes, because the Pharisees were the God-guys while the tax collectors were generally seen as the devil’s folk. Think of the people who are regarded as the representations of God in our culture, and the people who are normally viewed as a pariah on society, and insert them into these roles as you read this tale. Does it bother you to do that?
  • There is a trap in this parable…a hook hidden in the characters.  What would you think we should be cautious about when identifying a good guy or a bad guy in the realm of religion?
  • What is it that causes the tax collector to go home JUSTIFIED (declared not guilty, restored to right relationship with God)? What did he do, and how does it compare with the Pharisee’s list of achievements?
  • What is the general point of this passage, in your view?

Anyway…that’s some stuff to ponder until we dig into it together this Sunday!  Hope to see you there!  Also, don’t forget that there will be a meeting right after 2nd service with those who are interested in supporting or going on a short missions trip to the Sudan in the future.

Oh yeah…and Burning House is this Sunday too….hope you can make it for that as well!

Keep Talking to the Wall

Rob Woodrum9 Comments

Have you ever had times when praying seemed like an exercise in futility? Where heaven seems silent, and the requests you’ve made fall to the floor making no discernible difference?  How do you feel, if you’ve faced those times?  Ever feel like giving up…ever just stop praying just so you wont get disappointed?  I had a friend who didn’t want to pray about a matter for that very reason;  “If I don’t ask, I won’t feel bad when nothing happens.”

Prayer can be a frustrating experience…but what’s interesting to me is that Jesus seems to anticipate that it WILL be hard.  The parable we’ll be reading in Luke 18:1-8 is one Jesus tells to encourage us not to give up praying, even though things don’t seem to change right away.

It’s a pretty self explanatory story.  What observations do you take away from this story?  What does it mean to you that Jesus compares his followers to a widow?  If God is greater than the unjust judge, what do we understand about God in the contrast?  How do these things encourage us not to lose heart…to keep on praying?

This Sunday is Surf N Grill…lets pray for the weather to be accommodating!  Hope to see you there!

It’s the End of the World as we Know it…(and I feel fine)

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

From an interview with Harold Camping concerning his prediction of the rapture on May 21st, 2011 in the NYT:

Reporter: If six o’clock rolls around and there are no major earthquakes, are you going to start to get worried?

Harold Camping: It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. I don’t even think about those kind of issues. The Bible is not — God is not playing games. I don’t even want to think about that question at all. It is going to happen.

You haven’t thought about what you’ll tell your followers on May 22 if the Rapture doesn’t take place?

I’m not even thinking about that at all. It. Is. Going. To. Happen. Because I trust the Bible implicitly, the Bible is God’s word — it’s not from a man, it’s not from an organization of some kind where there’s plenty of room for error. It is the word of God. When God speaks that it is going to happen, the Bible is a very factual book, and God gives many examples of how he has made prophesies and it always has happened in exact accord with what God has prophesied.

I know you’re convinced this is going to happen, but if May 22 comes around and you’re still here, can we talk again?

I can’t even think about that question because you’re thinking that maybe, maybe Judgment Day will not happen. But it will happen, and I believe the Bible implicitly.

On May 24th, Mr. Camping declared that Jesus did indeed come back on the 21st, just spiritually.  Judgment day has been moved to October 21st according to his new calculations.

Ok…the easiest thing to do would be to mock Harold Camping for his failed prophecy…but that’s really not a fair thing to do.  He’s too easy of a target, a caricature of Christian zeal. There’s another good reason not to pile on this guy right now…he’s suffered a stroke.  I’m not jumping on the religious blame wagon to imply judgment on him either…he had a stroke, many people do, and he deserves the dignity of any fellow human in his plight.   I would think the right response to this news would be to pray for him.

The thing is though, his prophecy was public and it drew a lot of attention.  I wonder if I can address his tactics without attacking the man?  I hope so.  A lot of people seem to be really fascinated by end of the world scenarios (most of them seem to be working as program directors for the History Channel). The end of days has always been of interest to the church, and rightly so, because Jesus did talk about it…though I really think the amount of space devoted to the subject at any Christian bookstore is disproportionate to the amount of times Jesus did talk about the end.

Our passage this week is Luke 17:20-37, where Jesus talks about the end! (For the rest of this blog post I dare you not to hum “its the end of the world as we know it” by REM.  If you DO start humming, welcome to my world where that has been a constant ear-worm for the last three days)

Jesus is asked about the timing of the kingdom of God’s arrival by the Pharisees.  They are questioning his role as a possible messiah.  They have things worked out very neatly in their theological training…they’ve probably got charts…and they want to know where all the blood and fire and pillars of smoke are that Joel said would come with Messiah and the end of the age.  Jesus responds about signs…what does he say, and what do YOU take from that?

He next turns to his disciples and warns them that things may get rough…and people will come declaring they know the timetable and location of the end game.  How does he say we should react and respond to them?  What does THAT tell us about end-time hoopla?

The next thing Jesus does is compare the end to two different stories of divine cataclysmic judgment in the Old Testament – Noah’s flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What does he say characterized those days preceding  that sudden judgment?  Do they read like “signs” of impending doom?  What WAS there to tell people in Noah’s day that and end was coming and something new would be in it’s place?  What does THAT tell us about what we should focus on concerning intrigue about the end of history?

Stuff to think about.  Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!  Hope to see you on Sunday!

I Can See Clearly Now

Rob Woodrum4 Comments

This Sunday, we’re going to read the account of Jesus healing 10 lepers, and the one who came back to thank him.  It’s found in Luke 17:11-19.

The word “saw” occurs twice in this story.  To me, it emerges as a subtle theme concerning perspective.  There are also some strong contrasts that emerge in the text, encouraged by Jesus himself.  He asks the question “where are the other nine?”.  The similarities and differences between the 9 and the 1 are intriguing to me. What similarities in plight, positioning,  plea and cure do you see in the 10 as a whole…but what differences occur with the ONE who “…saw that he was healed”?  What contrast do you see from his original plight, positioning, plea and even pronounced cure?

Crud…this is too heady, isn’t it?  How about this…. All ten lepers stood at a distance pleading for mercy in the opening of the story.  Where does the one Samaritan end up positionally at the end of this story?  Jesus tells the 10 to GO to the priests….what does he tell the one to do at the end of the story?  We’re told that the 10 were cleansed (original word), but he told the one who returned that he was made well (original word)…what distinction, if any, do you see in this?  A cure that leads to healing…that sounds strange, doesn’t it?  If we think about our own lives and encounters with Christ, do we see similarities between our own experiences and that of the 10 and then the 1?  What does this tell us about goals for our spiritual journey?

Well…those are some interesting questions about a passage that always seemed so straight forward to me before.  This will be fun to explore together this Sunday!

No Privatized Faith

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

Did you grow up in a family with siblings?  Did you ever disagree on anything with your brothers or sisters?  Ever get into an all-out brawl over anything?  If you were part of a family with siblings, and you answered no on any of the other questions, you are A) in total denial and unable to process reality correctly; or B) an alien for whom Scully and Mulder have been searching in vain for these two score years.

Point is…families fight. They just do.  The Christian church is oft described as the family of God…and we shouldn’t be surprised that as God’s family, we fight too!  Jesus is going to give us some instruction concerning this, in a series of sayings that require us to engage in some serious self-inspection.

We’ll be reading Luke 17:1-10 this Sunday (Father’s Day…happy happy! – then it’s off to the beach for Surf N Grill!!!!)

It’s my consideration that v1-2 are a transition, where Jesus is still talking about the bad behavior and attitudes of the Pharisees.  We aren’t told to judge them back…but that’s not to say that judgement is non-existent.  With eternity in view…what should we feel for those who try to put a stumbling block in our path of faith?

V3-4 change the focus to US.  How are WE supposed to deal with offenses within our community of faith?  Sluff things off, tell white lies that “nothing’s wrong”….or what does Jesus instruct?

If someone wrongs us, we’re commanded to forgive.  Not just once…but open-endedly.  How does that work for you?

By v5-10, the disciples are in a panic because this seems like impossible stuff to live out. They need more faith…they really want superpowers to accomplish this change in reaction.  But Jesus doesn’t seem to indicate that more faith is the answer.  What DOES Jesus indicate as the key to living out this forgiving love in real life?

Should be an interesting read this Sunday…hope to see you there!

The Great Reversal

Rob Woodrum2 Comments

Well, about two or three months ago a book was released entitled “Love Wins” by Rob Bell.  It immediately caused a firestorm from all the people burning Bell in effigy on Twitter.  The smoke is still in the air.  The big deal was and is, Bell questions the doctrine of eternal judgement and damnation in hell as Dante  or Spawn described it.  I haven’t read the book, only in snippets (But Cole has, and he gave me a book report).  I really don’t care about reading it, as awful as that sounds. Even if Rob Bell is a universalist, (which I don’t KNOW that he IS, that’s just what’s been asserted by others) it really isn’t that important to me.  I can still love him and respect him and learn from him even if I happen to disagree on that issue.  I just don’t remember Paul saying anything about holding to the doctrine of hell as a prerequisite for salvation…but maybe someone can enlighten me.

My point in bringing this up is…the passage we’re going to read this Sunday is one of the primary weapons of those who represent an understanding of the  judgement of hell in detail.  We’re going to be reading Luke 16:19-31. This is the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. There are not a few people who are adamant that this is not a parable, but a warning about what awaits us in the afterlife.  I’m someone, as I hope you know, who believes without reservation that there is something more, beyond this life we now live.  I believe in the eternal state, and in divine judgement for sin.  I really do.  I just am not at all certain on the details…and I have strong reservations about reading Luke 16 as a provider of those details.

If you’ve kept up with this at all, I’d like you to remember the overall context in which we find this story that Jesus tells.  The context was established back in chapter 15 and it hasn’t changed yet.  If we use chapter 15 as our context for this story…does it effect the way we read it?   If this story is a literal description of heaven and hell, are there any concerns you have about what is described?  Who goes to heaven, and who goes to hell, and why?  What is heaven described as?  Are you comfortable with reading all those details literally?

Lets think about it another way.  Lets just consider that maybe Jesus didn’t suddenly change subjects from how we handle the resources we’ve been given and how the Pharisees looked good to everyone else, but God knew their hearts… and lets imagine that He told this story as a way to reinforce the point He had been making.  What would that point be, do you suppose?

I’d be interested to hear your take on this section of Luke.  how do you read it? It’s certainly a fascinating passage, and one I think we’ll find really interesting to explore!  Hope to see you Sunday!

The Responsibility of Life

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

Money is deadly.  I was perusing the headlines of MSNBC just today, and saw so many stories of trouble that had as their basis the issue of money.  A senator indicted, a stalled economy…as we drill down we read of killings during robberies and the heartbreak of those who’ve lost great sums of money.  We use money every day of our lives…do we ever stop to think about what a powerful force in this world it is?  It’s pretty important that we consider it now and anon.

We’re going to read Luke 16:10-18 this Sunday, and Jesus will go from telling a parable which uses commerce as a vehicle for truth, to actually talking about money and it’s place in our lives.

V10-12 transition from the story about how to live with eternity in mind, to v13, a warning about loyalties.  The over-arching idea is that of stewardship…of properly managing what God has entrusted to us…our time, talents, resources and money.  When we think of someone SERVING money, what do we normally think of?  Do we ever consider OURSELVES as people who serve money?  If we use serving God as a template, how would we define serving money, and what ways could we recognize this behavior in our own lives?

By v14, the Pharisees are upset (again….those guys were seriously no fun to be around).  Their reason for offense?  Their true religion was being challenged.  Jesus then launches into an expose of their fraudulent religious practices, culminating with v18.  PLEASE, don’t let v18 throw you…Jesus is making a point about heart-faithfulness, NOT a commentary on intricacies of human relationships.  I did a teaching in Mark 10 about Jesus’ sayings concerning the issue of divorce, I’d implore you to hear my whole argument before you make up your mind about v18.

Ok…well…we’ll see you Sunday, hopefully!

Relational Stewardship

Rob Woodrum2 Comments

This is Memorial Day Weekend.  While we’ll have our fun doing what we do best as Americans (BBQ), lets enjoy ourselves for all its worth, but not forget the price that gets paid to ensure our freedom to do so. Lets pray for peace and an end to madness…that’s the best gift we can give to any solider far from home.

Ok…well, this Sunday we’ll be reading Luke 16:1-9  …it is a serious WTF passage. (WTF=”where’s this fit?”…..why, what did you THINK I meant?)

Scholars have had headaches for hundreds of years trying to puzzle through what this story is trying to say…and how we apply it to life as the church.  I scoured through a lot of writings by experts from  N.T. Wright and Eugene Peterson to John Piper and John MacArthur (different ends of the doctrinal spectrum, FYI),   and taking their thoughts in overview provided  the footing I needed to try and exegete this passage.  I’m no scholar…so you may disagree with me, and that’s totally cool…but I think we CAN learn some valuable principles from this passage that are at very least in harmony with the rest of Scripture.

I won’t throw out a lot of questions in this post….just one main one:  What do you think Jesus’ point is in telling this parable?  Can you decipher a context that could help this make sense?

I’d be interested in your thoughts….but it’s an odd passage, so I’m not pressuring you to weigh in.  You’d be surprised how many scholars just say “We can never understand it”, and move on to the next verses.  Not US though…we’re taking this passage to the mattress!   Hope you can be there to join the exploration!

Parable of the Father’s Love

Rob Woodrum1 Comment

What was the biggest shock you encountered when you finally left the home of your parents and got out on your own? I know I had all these dreams about how things were going to go and how I would finally do things MY WAY…but in the end, I still found myself leaning into and receiving my parent’s love and support.

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the famous story of the Prodigal Son(s).  It’s probably very familiar to most of us…if not, then you’re in for a treat.  It’s one of my favorite stories of the Bible, and it is the picture of God I cling to most of all.

As you read the story, you may realize that we’ve sort of misrepresented it by calling it “The Prodigal Son”…because the main character is not the son(s).  The main character of this story is the Father.  Jesus is trying to tell us something about God…and he’s telling it in response to v1-2.

Read the story with your main focus being on the Father. What do you learn about God in the face of man’s rebellion of sin?  What do we learn about life away from God? What do we learn about God’s willingness to accept us into his family?

The second part of the story has to do with the Father’s other son…the one who was lost while still at home.  What was his biggest complaint?  How would you understand his complaint in light of v1-2?  The oldest son had LOST the plot…his values had gotten misconstrued. What can WE learn from this…from what the Father instructs his oldest son?

Anyway…those are just some things to think over before Sunday.  Also, please remember that we’re collecting RELIEF ITEMS for the tornado victims in Alabama…bring them this Sunday if you can!  You’re the BEST!!!