Regularly attending a church is a Christian issue that I've wrestled with for many years, and have come to the conclusion that it is vitally important and should be prioritized. Today, many seem to believe that not attending church is alright, or not committing to a church is fine. I would argue otherwise.
First, why is attending church regularly so important? It is key here to describe exactly what I mean by attending church. I don't necessarily mean attending Sunday services, although that is definitely an aspect of it. Attending a church is joining a family and growing in your faith alongside them. As a group, it is joining together and seeking God out. While it does include Sunday services, it also includes volunteering, praying together, meeting outside of church together, connecting with others in the goal of finding Christ together.
Aspects of Sunday services can be recreated individually, but the church experience cannot be. Church is all about a group of likeminded people, blessed by God to be a family to tackle life together.
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20
This group gathering develops aspects of the faith that otherwise are going to be untouched. You can try to grow by yourself as much as possible, but there is a ceiling that you will hit. A church unlocks that, and helps bring you to a whole new level. It's also a support system to keep you focused, and really living the life that Christ designed for you.
And secondly, why should you commit to one church?
This is the area that I have really struggled with over the years. I think it's one of those issues that really do deal with a balance. The balance goes between your commitment to your church, and your commitment to your own faith. This is a really hard balance to discern, because each situation is going to be different. With that in mind, I do think more importance should be put on committing to one church family. The exception is if what is happening within the church family is absolutely detrimental to your faith and progression. At those drastic times, it might be best to search for a new family to help you out. But do not use this as an out, an excuse; it's really a last resort.
The church is a family first and foremost. Throughout it all, everyone has something to offer, something to contribute to help through the growing pains. If everyone just gave up when things didn't go their way, the church would be dead today. Change is hard, and it's going to be difficult, especially in the church setting, but it is possible, and necessary.
Monday 29 August 2016
Thursday 18 August 2016
Exodus: Gods and Kings Movie Review
Rating: 8.4/10
Website: http://www.exodusgodsandkings.com/
Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/exodus-gods-and-kings/id940901911
Website: http://www.exodusgodsandkings.com/
Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/exodus-gods-and-kings/id940901911
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. As I've discussed before, it seems to be a real issue in Hollywood that Christian based movies have to be twisted in order to come up with the theatrical effect that you look for in a hit film. If that theatrical aspect isn't there, the movie, no matter the story, does tend to be very bland. While this film does take some liberties, I found myself just enjoying it rather then focusing on those differences.
The movie focuses on the story of Moses and specifically his struggles with God in terms of the pain he had watching the pain of the Egyptians he had grown up with. It showed how Moses struggled to let his natural character fall to the side in order to let God do amazing work. It focused on the patience required by Moses, and the rest of the Israelites.
While some may argue that God was painted as a cruel being in the movie, or that some of the plagues were stretched, or that the story focused too much on rituals, I actually thought that the production crew did a fairly good job depicting the story. Of course, there were some differences, but not enough in my opinion to comprise the story, or the reason behind the story. The casting was amazing, the production was outstanding. The only thing to bring up is that there was some violence with war scenes and such.
This movie really made me think, and opened my eyes to a whole different side of the Moses story. I truly enjoyed the film, and would highly rate it to anyone. I would even watch it with a non-Christian friend, and expect them to enjoy it.
The movie focuses on the story of Moses and specifically his struggles with God in terms of the pain he had watching the pain of the Egyptians he had grown up with. It showed how Moses struggled to let his natural character fall to the side in order to let God do amazing work. It focused on the patience required by Moses, and the rest of the Israelites.
While some may argue that God was painted as a cruel being in the movie, or that some of the plagues were stretched, or that the story focused too much on rituals, I actually thought that the production crew did a fairly good job depicting the story. Of course, there were some differences, but not enough in my opinion to comprise the story, or the reason behind the story. The casting was amazing, the production was outstanding. The only thing to bring up is that there was some violence with war scenes and such.
This movie really made me think, and opened my eyes to a whole different side of the Moses story. I truly enjoyed the film, and would highly rate it to anyone. I would even watch it with a non-Christian friend, and expect them to enjoy it.
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| HBO Watch |
Tuesday 9 August 2016
Doubt
Doubt. Not exactly the first sin that would pop into our minds, but still a sin. Romans 14:23 states "But whoever has doubts is condemned...and everything that does not come from faith is sin." Now, I purposely left out the middle part of that verse. Taken out of context it does sound extremely weird, but is of dire important to our idea of doubt. Reading just this part of the verse, it sounds like Paul (the author of Romans) is stating that any form of doubt is condemned.
However, doubt is a natural human emotion. Now we can control our emotions to a point, we can limit them, we can train ourselves to only bring them up in certain situations. I don't think we can completely wipe out our emotions. We have to accept that doubt is going to be a natural emotion that is going to pop up at some point during our lives.
The middle part of Romans 14:23 states "whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith." I would argue that the lesson from this is that doubt in itself is not sin, but our reaction to it could be. Let me describe two different situations.
I have doubts about what I'm choosing to do for the future of my life. Because of that doubt, I stay stuck in my decision, never actually choosing to do something. Playing it safe, continually questioning, eventually leading to self-pity, despair, and depression.
Or, I have doubts about what I'm choosing to do for the future of my life. Because of that doubt, I start looking at my options, sizing up why I'm doing what I'm doing. I start to turn to others to help me, I start to question myself as to why I'm having doubts, and what God could be telling me because of that doubt.
To me, one of those is a sin because it's turning inward instead of heavenly, while the other is normal, especially in our human nature. Now obviously the difference between the two isn't that great, making it a very slippery slope between the two. But, let's connect it back to the verse.
Again, Paul is condemning those who doubt if they follow through with their action with their doubt still lingering. The issue he is specifically addressing here would be regarding what the people are eating. One of the biggest issues gripping the early church was Gentiles vs. Jews. Jews had an extremely strict diet, in accordance to the Mosaic law, whereas the Gentiles didn't. With this new bonding under the church of Christ, the two parties were struggling to adapt, with this being an area of contention. Paul isn't condemning the fact that the two parties are struggling to find answers. In fact, in many places in his letters, he encourages this type of discussion, with one of his favourite literary devices being rhetorical questions. Instead, here he is condemning those that aren't convicted. He isn't siding with a certain perspective, instead he's saying choose a perspective. One isn't better then the other in this case, but having no belief is worse.
Perhaps the biggest area of doubt rather then the future of our lives, or the decisions we make, would be the status of our relationship with God. That can present itself through our actual salvation, or maybe our progress, or maybe even if we are even doing what God wants us to. When it comes to salvation, many tend to doubt their status, or where they stand in God's eyes. The thing to realize is that we can't know for certain where we stand in God's eyes. All we can know for certain is that if we do believe in Jesus, then in God's eyes we are forgiven. Again, it comes down to putting doubt off and choosing faith. Knowing what God wants us to do is slightly harder. One book I love is Me Myself and Bob by Phil Vischer. One of the greatest quotes in that book regards the author's conviction that people should stop trying to be a star, and instead focus on your relationship with God. A sermon that backs that up would be the Will of God by Afshin Ziafat, which is my favourite sermon of all time. He states the same idea. What our careers are, what our earthly relationships look like, what our bank account sits at, doesn't ultimately matter. Instead, it's what our standing with God is like. Instead it's our prayer life, our progression towards a Christ-like life, our fulfillment of the Great Commission. Everything else is secondary. While I do think that God does want us to specifically do certain things in life, I believe He leaves a lot of it up to us to get to on our own. The doubt can be quenched when you look at how your relationship with God is developing.
Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is don't be afraid of doubt. Don't feel dirty when you doubt yourself. Instead use it, harness it, turn it into a stronger faith. Accept your doubt, and challenge yourself. Focus on what truly matters in life. Worry about that, and not everything around you.
However, doubt is a natural human emotion. Now we can control our emotions to a point, we can limit them, we can train ourselves to only bring them up in certain situations. I don't think we can completely wipe out our emotions. We have to accept that doubt is going to be a natural emotion that is going to pop up at some point during our lives.
The middle part of Romans 14:23 states "whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith." I would argue that the lesson from this is that doubt in itself is not sin, but our reaction to it could be. Let me describe two different situations.
I have doubts about what I'm choosing to do for the future of my life. Because of that doubt, I stay stuck in my decision, never actually choosing to do something. Playing it safe, continually questioning, eventually leading to self-pity, despair, and depression.
Or, I have doubts about what I'm choosing to do for the future of my life. Because of that doubt, I start looking at my options, sizing up why I'm doing what I'm doing. I start to turn to others to help me, I start to question myself as to why I'm having doubts, and what God could be telling me because of that doubt.
To me, one of those is a sin because it's turning inward instead of heavenly, while the other is normal, especially in our human nature. Now obviously the difference between the two isn't that great, making it a very slippery slope between the two. But, let's connect it back to the verse.
Again, Paul is condemning those who doubt if they follow through with their action with their doubt still lingering. The issue he is specifically addressing here would be regarding what the people are eating. One of the biggest issues gripping the early church was Gentiles vs. Jews. Jews had an extremely strict diet, in accordance to the Mosaic law, whereas the Gentiles didn't. With this new bonding under the church of Christ, the two parties were struggling to adapt, with this being an area of contention. Paul isn't condemning the fact that the two parties are struggling to find answers. In fact, in many places in his letters, he encourages this type of discussion, with one of his favourite literary devices being rhetorical questions. Instead, here he is condemning those that aren't convicted. He isn't siding with a certain perspective, instead he's saying choose a perspective. One isn't better then the other in this case, but having no belief is worse.
Perhaps the biggest area of doubt rather then the future of our lives, or the decisions we make, would be the status of our relationship with God. That can present itself through our actual salvation, or maybe our progress, or maybe even if we are even doing what God wants us to. When it comes to salvation, many tend to doubt their status, or where they stand in God's eyes. The thing to realize is that we can't know for certain where we stand in God's eyes. All we can know for certain is that if we do believe in Jesus, then in God's eyes we are forgiven. Again, it comes down to putting doubt off and choosing faith. Knowing what God wants us to do is slightly harder. One book I love is Me Myself and Bob by Phil Vischer. One of the greatest quotes in that book regards the author's conviction that people should stop trying to be a star, and instead focus on your relationship with God. A sermon that backs that up would be the Will of God by Afshin Ziafat, which is my favourite sermon of all time. He states the same idea. What our careers are, what our earthly relationships look like, what our bank account sits at, doesn't ultimately matter. Instead, it's what our standing with God is like. Instead it's our prayer life, our progression towards a Christ-like life, our fulfillment of the Great Commission. Everything else is secondary. While I do think that God does want us to specifically do certain things in life, I believe He leaves a lot of it up to us to get to on our own. The doubt can be quenched when you look at how your relationship with God is developing.
Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is don't be afraid of doubt. Don't feel dirty when you doubt yourself. Instead use it, harness it, turn it into a stronger faith. Accept your doubt, and challenge yourself. Focus on what truly matters in life. Worry about that, and not everything around you.
Sunday 7 August 2016
Risen Movie Review
Rating: 8.4/10
Website: http://sites.sonypictures.com/risen/discanddigital/
Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/risen/id1079613281
A lot of times with Biblical movies that are created and really broadcasted to the mainstream of culture, it's a fine line between completely off, or a theatrical failure. For some reason, it seems to be really hard for film makers to find the right spot between the two extremes. In my opinion, this is one of the better films to try to tackle this in an extremely long time.
Website: http://sites.sonypictures.com/risen/discanddigital/
Purchase: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/risen/id1079613281
A lot of times with Biblical movies that are created and really broadcasted to the mainstream of culture, it's a fine line between completely off, or a theatrical failure. For some reason, it seems to be really hard for film makers to find the right spot between the two extremes. In my opinion, this is one of the better films to try to tackle this in an extremely long time.
Coming off the end of the year of Biblical interpretation movies with Noah and Exodus, this one tackles the Resurrection story, from the viewpoint of a Roman soldier, and really, someone outside of the Messiah picture/understanding. It opens up an interesting discussion of the different perspectives on the events leading up to, and after the Crucifixion of Jesus.
Biblically, the movie does tend to stick to the actual story. While it does seem to bend some stuff, it's not in an egregious way, and can slip under the eyes of even the most tuned Bible expert. I really got the impression that the movie was trying to stay as neutral as possible as well. It's not an overly religious movie, but at the same time does stay true to where the plot actually comes from.
Theatrically, the movie again does a good job. The casting was very well done, and makes for a very convincing watch. My only criticism would be some of the visual effects they used. It made it seem kind of corny and unrealistic, especially when it came to some of the miracles of Jesus.
Still, this is a great watch for anyone, but specifically Christian families (although there are some mild bloody scenes). It really does make you think, and enjoy the Gospel story and its effect from a different perspective. It also serves as good movie to watch with non-Christian friends, as it doesn't really push religion on them, but instead takes a critical, detective style look at the story.
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| Sony Pictures |
Thursday 4 August 2016
Jesus' Piercing Insight
A passage that I have really been mulling over recently is the recording of Jesus and Peter's conversation after Jesus' resurrection. It's interesting how God continues to place passages over and over in front of you through multiple venues. I've studied this passage in my Christology class over last summer, and then it popped up in a conversation, and then in a devotional. Clearly, God has a reason for me understanding this passage.
John 21:15-22 - "After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?' 'Yes Lord,' Peter replied, 'you know I love you.' 'Then feed my lambs,' Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord,' Peter said, 'you know I love you.' 'Then take care of my sheep,' Jesus said. A third time he asked him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, 'Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Then feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go.' Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, 'Follow me.' Peter turned around and saw behind him the disciple Jesus loved - the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, 'Lord, who will betray you?' Peter asked Jesus, 'What about him, Lord?' Jesus replied, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.'"
A lot of times when we read this passage, we have to ask why? Why did Jesus continue to ask Peter this? And why specifically three times?
The first two times, according to the original Greek language, Jesus used the word agapao, whereas the last time, he uses phileo. Does this mean something?
With the first two times, using the word agapao, Jesus is referring to sacrificial love. This love is the most noble, most powerful, really an act of will. Phileo is love that is friendship, or loving your brother.
With these questions, Jesus is looking right into Peter's heart to see what stage of love he is at. Peter truly reveals himself when he looks around to try to pass off this gaze on somebody else. He's definitely progressed, but he's still not completely ready to stand by Jesus' side. His love is there, but it's not quite at the stage it should be. Because Christianity is based so much on love, it should be our aim to constantly be improving at this stage. We should always be checking ourselves to see where we're at, and where we should be going. We should use that piercing insight of Jesus to really rattle our consciousness so that we start actively loving again.
John 21:15-22 - "After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?' 'Yes Lord,' Peter replied, 'you know I love you.' 'Then feed my lambs,' Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord,' Peter said, 'you know I love you.' 'Then take care of my sheep,' Jesus said. A third time he asked him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, 'Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Then feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go.' Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, 'Follow me.' Peter turned around and saw behind him the disciple Jesus loved - the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, 'Lord, who will betray you?' Peter asked Jesus, 'What about him, Lord?' Jesus replied, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.'"
A lot of times when we read this passage, we have to ask why? Why did Jesus continue to ask Peter this? And why specifically three times?
The first two times, according to the original Greek language, Jesus used the word agapao, whereas the last time, he uses phileo. Does this mean something?
With the first two times, using the word agapao, Jesus is referring to sacrificial love. This love is the most noble, most powerful, really an act of will. Phileo is love that is friendship, or loving your brother.
With these questions, Jesus is looking right into Peter's heart to see what stage of love he is at. Peter truly reveals himself when he looks around to try to pass off this gaze on somebody else. He's definitely progressed, but he's still not completely ready to stand by Jesus' side. His love is there, but it's not quite at the stage it should be. Because Christianity is based so much on love, it should be our aim to constantly be improving at this stage. We should always be checking ourselves to see where we're at, and where we should be going. We should use that piercing insight of Jesus to really rattle our consciousness so that we start actively loving again.
Monday 1 August 2016
The Importance of Evangelism
In my first year of university, perhaps the most important lesson I took away was the importance of evangelism. Surprisingly, I've been a member of an Evangelical Missionary church, and the priority of the task of evangelism has never been impressed upon me. I never really grasped just how much we need to evangelize before this year. This brings up some initial concerns for me. First, how is the church failing in teaching the principles of evangelism? Secondly, if the members of the church are not grasping the importance of evangelism, what does the future look like for the church?
Answering the second question first, without evangelism, our church future looks extremely bleak. Evangelism is the way in which we add to our numbers. In Acts 2, the Pentecost is described. Essentially, Peter and the other disciples went into the streets (or possibly on top of a roof), and began to evangelize, spreading the good news about Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit inspiring their words. Acts 2:47 states that the disciples continued "praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." At one point after this Pentecost, 3000 people were baptized! So without adding to our numbers, just using common sense, obviously the church is going to die out pretty soon if we don't evangelize.
Now onto the first question, why is the church currently failing? I believe there are two correct answers to this dilemma. There is a lack of passion, and people are afraid. Technically, we can tie these two issues into one as you'll see in a minute. Both of these answers can be a little intimidating to tackle, as you can really offend some people. But that in itself is lack of passion and being afraid.
Everyone who knows me hopefully understands that I think passion is the key to Christianity. It's my mission, the point behind me striving to work through ministry. Passion is what should initially spark our eagerness to evangelize. Our passion should be multi-faceted. We should be passionate because of our love for our Lord, and therefore that carries through to doing whatever He says, which includes going out into the world and teaching, baptizing and making disciples (the Great Commission). We should also be passionate about our own lives, and how our faith has changed us. That excitement should generate a need to spread the news.
The second reason why we are currently failing would be that people are afraid. As I stated, this is also tied to the lack of passion issue. We are afraid that we will waste the opportunity, we are afraid that people's opinions of us will change, we are afraid that we'll ruin Jesus for people, we are afraid of pretty much everything. The thing is, when we are afraid, we're completely forgetting about Jesus, and His power. God's power is greater then anything we'll ever face here on Earth, and so we have no reason to fear.
I'll be honest, evangelism is something that I struggle with. I'm a very reserved person, I tend not to discuss personal things with people. I have my moments where I'll definitely step up to the plate, such as explaining something, or debating, or speaking in front of a crowd, but personal evangelism isn't my strong suit. However, as a Christian, it's something that we all have to work on. It's one of the essentials of our faith.
Answering the second question first, without evangelism, our church future looks extremely bleak. Evangelism is the way in which we add to our numbers. In Acts 2, the Pentecost is described. Essentially, Peter and the other disciples went into the streets (or possibly on top of a roof), and began to evangelize, spreading the good news about Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit inspiring their words. Acts 2:47 states that the disciples continued "praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." At one point after this Pentecost, 3000 people were baptized! So without adding to our numbers, just using common sense, obviously the church is going to die out pretty soon if we don't evangelize.
Now onto the first question, why is the church currently failing? I believe there are two correct answers to this dilemma. There is a lack of passion, and people are afraid. Technically, we can tie these two issues into one as you'll see in a minute. Both of these answers can be a little intimidating to tackle, as you can really offend some people. But that in itself is lack of passion and being afraid.
Everyone who knows me hopefully understands that I think passion is the key to Christianity. It's my mission, the point behind me striving to work through ministry. Passion is what should initially spark our eagerness to evangelize. Our passion should be multi-faceted. We should be passionate because of our love for our Lord, and therefore that carries through to doing whatever He says, which includes going out into the world and teaching, baptizing and making disciples (the Great Commission). We should also be passionate about our own lives, and how our faith has changed us. That excitement should generate a need to spread the news.
The second reason why we are currently failing would be that people are afraid. As I stated, this is also tied to the lack of passion issue. We are afraid that we will waste the opportunity, we are afraid that people's opinions of us will change, we are afraid that we'll ruin Jesus for people, we are afraid of pretty much everything. The thing is, when we are afraid, we're completely forgetting about Jesus, and His power. God's power is greater then anything we'll ever face here on Earth, and so we have no reason to fear.
I'll be honest, evangelism is something that I struggle with. I'm a very reserved person, I tend not to discuss personal things with people. I have my moments where I'll definitely step up to the plate, such as explaining something, or debating, or speaking in front of a crowd, but personal evangelism isn't my strong suit. However, as a Christian, it's something that we all have to work on. It's one of the essentials of our faith.
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