For God so loved.....who?

I got this email the other day. I'm sure you have recieved this one or one just like it:



DID YOU KNOW THESE FACTS?
I SURE DIDNT TILL NOW
Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death!
Make a personal reflection about this.....
Very interesting, read until the end.....
It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):
'Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man sow,
that shall he also reap.

Here are some men and20women
who mocked God :

John Lennon (Singer):
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
'Christianity will end, it will disappear.
I do not have to argue about
that. I am certain.
Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous
than Him' (1966).
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ,
was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves(President of Brazil ):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his
party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.
Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President,
then he died.

Cazuz a (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During A show in Canecio ( Rio de Janeiro ),
while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and
said:'God, that's for you.'
He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic
would be.
With an ironic tone he said:
'Not even God can sink it'
The result:I think you all know what happened to the Titanic

Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.
He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:
'I don't need your Jesus'.
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment

Bon Scott (Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'.
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked
by his own vomit.

Campinas(IN 2005)
In Campinas , Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a
friend.....
The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the
drunkenness of her friends=2 0and she said to the daughter holding her hand,
who was already seated in the car:
'My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'
She responded: 'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside
Here.....It's Already Full '
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident,
everyone had died,
the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but
surprisingly, the trunk was intact.
The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To
their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer)
said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.
In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.
Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that
was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.
Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive.











So 1st, look in the mirror. Tell me what you see? Is it perfection? of course not. Dave Ramsey says "I'm better than I deserve". I totally agree with that. I'm a poor sinner with no hope of digging myself out of the pit of sin I have dug on my own. My only hope is in Jesus Christ.



"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son to the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved thru him. "





The first question you should ask after reading the above email is "did God smite them?" Basically that's what the email was saying. These people rejected God, or spat at him, or vocally mocked him and now they are dead. Coincidence. Yeah I think so. Some people die of natural causes, some die when bad things happen, and some die of stupidity. What I hate about the email is it infers that if you believe in God you are ok. There is a small step from this to the prosperity preachers on TV saying if you just pray louder and have more faith you will have prosperity.





Back to our first scripture of John 3:16. For God so loved......THE WORLD. Here is where many people get off track. The "children" of God are not only the people who have a saving faith in Jesus Christ. The "children" of God are all people. Unfortunately, there are many of the children who have turned their back on the Father resulting in the loss of that wonderful relationship they can have with him. Your heavenly Father loves you more than anyone here on earth could love you.





For those who are not believers and reading this, I want to assure you....Christians are not perfect. It's that simple. As a Christian we have assurance of an eternal relationship with God. Unfortunately there are some Christians who have "pet sins" they like to Preach about. Whether it be adultery, homosexuality, pride, anger, materialism, etc, etc it doesn't matter. What I used to preach to the congregation was "You cannot save anyone." It's impossible. You can only lead them to the living water. You can only share the living water. You cannot make them drink.


Read mark 4, the parable of the sower. The sower spread his seed on the hard road, rocky ground, among the thorns, and on fertile ground. Jesus was the sower for his parable. You as Christians are sowers today. However, that's it. You sow. Spread the Word and let the Holy Spirit penetrate the hardened heart. Only those who are wanting to see the truth will be able to accept it. Others actively cover their eyes wanting rather to live with the darkness instead of seeing the truth before them. One of the things I learned as a pastor was "unsolicited advice is never taken."


I get tired of beating down on the pet sins. Yes they are wrong. I won't deny that the bible says in Romans 1 that homosexuality is wrong. But I am more interested in how a person's spirit is doing more than what they are doing in bed.



Shane Claiborne has a great book out called Irresistable Revolution. He really shows what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. Him and a small group of people moved to the inner city in Philly and they live among the poorest of the poor. When scripture says "the poor will always be with you" he understands what that means. But I bring that up because Christ said in Matthew 25 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, and I was thirst and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me....I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of these least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."



I realized from reading Shane's book, that we all come fromd ifferent worldview backgrounds, so our emotions will be focused on different things. For example, a woman who is racked with guilt over having an abortion will be engaged in coversation or social justice regarding abortion. However, a man with 2 kids married for 15 years and just fired from his job will engage in conversations regarding employment, healthcare, and being a good father.

Have you read the bible and thought "I can apply that to my life"? Of course you have. Interpretation leads to Application. But maybe instead of "apply that to my life" we should "apply that to my community." Will O'Brien has a great article HERE. He gives some good illustrations of obsticles to biblical literacy. I can narrow those down to "worldview". But one of his main points is how we should read the scriptures as the 1st century people would have heard them, as a community. He says:

Similarly, we cringe at the story of the rich man whom Jesus counsels to sell
all his possessions (Mark 10:17-22). Only a handful of saints could ever do
that, we think. But we miss that this story is part of Jesus' teaching on a new
way of communal economic sharing (10:28-31), a way of living that Jesus insists
is both practical and possible. Gospel economics are not a matter of heroic
individualism but are rooted in ancient covenantal practices. Paul's writings
have been particularly skewed by the individualist paradigm. As Krister Stendahl
and other biblical scholars have argued, we moderns read Paul through the lens
of Augustine, Luther, and the "introspective conscience" of Western
individualism. As a result, Paul is diluted into a theologian of personal
salvation with a minimal or even conservative social viewpoint. Yet scholars
like Neil Elliott, Elsa Tamez, and Ched Myers have helped increase understanding
of Paul as a builder of communities very much rooted in Jesus' radical vision.

We are a community of individualist. Who is #1? I AM or I am? For God so loved the world. He loves the world thru the church. The church is not a haven for Christians to huddle in the basement while the storm of society swirls outside. Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches." On the back wall of our house last year we planted some vines (I think they are jasmine). We were trying to keep the heat off the house. They grew some, but not what I was hoping. Oh well.
Well this year, they came back with a vengence. The Vine is now thick and hearty. The 'branches' running from that vine are going in all directions. None of them are going back into the earth though. I try to make them grow down (after reaching the roof) and they turn right back around.

O'Brien tells how communities were formed around him:

How can we begin to put aside this filter of individualism so endemic to our own
culture? A primary way is to situate ourselves within a community as the context
for our Bible reading. Within our Alternative Seminary, we've encouraged study
group members to covenant together as community. (In fact, a small house church
grew out of our first study groups; other groups have formed prayer circles or
have continued to meet for more life-sharing and discernment.)Structuring our
lives so that we read Scripture within a committed community of fellow believers
and disciples is a fundamental challenge to our cultural values. Whether such
groups happen through a church, an intentional community, or some other
structure, they would ideally include serious life-sharing, reflection on our
social context, mutual accountability, and prayerful attention to the presence
of God's Spirit. The core biblical image of covenant is itself a guide for our
Bible study.

You see, God so loved you and me and everyone else in the world that he wants to have a relationship with you, not only individually, but also communally. In the spiritual sense, 1+1=3 because we are stronger standing together than we are standing alone.

Looking back at the original email I received from a caring friend. I don't know if the people who died were believers in Jesus Christ or not. That is not a determination I am here to make. I can lead you to the water, but cannot make you drink. However, I do know that God loved them as much as he loves you and me and you and you and you :o). I believe it was Peter that asked in the book of John regarding John, "well what about him. what will happen to him?" and Jesus responded, "that is none of your concern." Remember that God loves the world and everyone in it. we are all children of God. make Him proud.

Galatians....Salvation thru faith alone

Galatians is a great book to read to get a better understanding of “salvation is thru faith alone” and not thru works. In the letter, Paul is addressing a community of believers he founded. It looks like he was going thru the area, fell sick, they took care of him, and he ministered to their souls (4:12-20). Apparently some “Jewish Christians” have come to the Galatian community after Paul. They have denounced Paul as an apostle, and they have said that Paul is right that Jesus is the messiah but to be a son of Abraham and be saved, you must be circumcised. Besides the truth of salvation by faith alone, this book is also a good study for the argument of free will or election. There are others that can go better into that argument, but it can be made here also.
Let me start with the free will/election problem. To do this we have to go all the way back to the beginning of humans. In the beginning there was Adam and Eve. They were in paradise, everything was provided for them, and their biggest challenge is whether to eat carrots or potatoes today (yes I know there probably were not bananas or potatoes there, but it really doesn’t matter for this story). Eve is out one day doing her Eve-like thing and the snake comes up and deceives her. Where was Adam? He was right beside her. He didn’t stop Eve from eating the apple. He even took it from her to eat of it. I wonder if he started singing the song by Dierks Bentley after that. What Was I Thinking.
Why did God not come in and stop them from eating the fruit? Or why didn’t God tell Adam the day before “Hey Adam…tomorrow the serpent is going to be talking to your girl and is going to start messing with her mind. You need to be there to pull her to the side and tell her what’s going on.” But God didn’t. Why?
I’m actually jumping ahead in the Galatians study to chapter 3 but that’s ok. You see, God knew what was going to happen. He knew Eve and Adam would fail. But he didn’t tell them because if he did, their acceptance and our acceptance of his love and grace would not be genuine and authentic. You see, I don’t think anyone can make a good decision unless they have all the facts and know both sides. All of history thru Abraham and Moses, from the Law to grace of Jesus had to happen so we could make an informed decision (see Galatians 3:19-4:31). The Law was added when Moses was around to show us what has happened (that is, what we have done wrong), and what was to come. The Law was our guardian (Chapter 4) to keep us in line until we became mature enough to understand the end game. The gift (salvation) was given by God to Abraham and to his offspring Jesus. We became heirs Abraham and we get the benefit of that inheritance by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. By accepting the truth of Jesus (instead of looking for circumcision) you receive the Spirit and become children of the true Jerusalem (Heaven) from above.
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Throughout this book, Paul has to assert he is an apostle just like the other 12. He was called by God, shown the truth, and given a commission to go and share the Word with gentiles. He jumps right in the face of the Galatian believers right off the bat….”You are confused and want to follow a perverted gospel….anyone that gives you a different gospel than the one we gave you will be accursed (and he says that twice to make sure they got it)”. Paul was an apostle because of authority of JC and God the Father (1:1-3); he was made an apostle by the revelation of JC (1:11-12); he was an apostle because God set him apart from birth.
This last one is significant. Remember what I wrote at the beginning of this post. We cannot fully accept the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless we know the whole story (where is Paul Harvey when I need him). So Paul, who is a very zealous Pharisee, probably knew the Law inside and out, persecuted the church because THEY were perverting the word of God. He knew where he came from. He knew the past. The present is his salvation thru Jesus Christ. And the future (or where he is going) is his journey to perfection and eventually heaven because of the faith of Jesus Christ and his acceptance of Jesus.
That jumps us up to chapter 2 starting at vs 15. Jews and Gentiles are both saved by faith. The question we can ask ourselves, is it faith in Jesus or faith of Jesus. It’s a subtle difference but one that is important. The funny thing is it can be both at once. Here is what I mean. I believe it is the faith OF Jesus that saves us. Our belief in Jesus as our Lord and savior makes us heirs of the promise. In addition to that, it is Jesus’ faith (in us, in the truth, in himself, in God the father) that gives us this promise. So in 2:15-21 Paul says we are justified by the faith of Jesus and not works because no one can be justified by works. And I now live in the flesh (and all the sinning and crap that comes with that) but I live knowing that I am justified by faith of the Son of God.
Here is the kicker for the of/in debate. Paul asks in vs 17, if we are saved (justified) and still sin, isn’t Jesus a servant of sin. To put it another way, if we are justified by the faith of Jesus, and we are found to be sinners, isn’t Jesus just a peddler of sin then? If he is so perfect, and it’s his faith that justifies us, doesn’t that mean it’s him that put the sin in us? The answer is a resounding NO. The Law showed me my sin, I am still a sinner, but Christ is perfect and it is his perfection and faith that allows me to have salvation even though I am a sinner. My sinning crappy terrible self has died to the Law and now because of that I don’t live. Christ lives within me and he carries me thru the pain and suffering of sin. The life I live now in this flesh (this is vs 20) I live because of the faith of Jesus. The Law exposes my sin to me and to the world, but that doesn’t give me justification. And with the Law exposing my sin (and proving me a sinner), that doesn’t invalidate the grace given to me because if the Law did justify me, Christ would have died for nothing.
Galatians 3:12…you either live by faith or you live to your works. 3:10 shows us that if you are a follower of the Law and don’t obey the Law fully, you are cursed (lost). You must choose either the Law or faith, and it can’t be both. If you close the Law you are lost because no-one can follow every single law. Choose faith and you are righteous (saved). If you have faith and are righteous you are a descendent of Abraham (3:7). Decedents of Abraham get his blessing of redemption. Christ died and was hung on a tree and he absorbed the curse that comes with the Law so we are FREE TO CHOOSE TO RECEIVE the promise of the Spirit. Starting at 3:15, the inheritance we get comes thru the promise made to Abraham down to Jesus. The promise comes to Abraham and to us because of faith.
So to finish out chapter 3 and go into chapter 4, let’s ask the question “what is the purpose of the law?” So far we have downgraded the law to some backwoods hillbilly that has not moved thru evolution yet. Paul’s purpose is to show that the Law had a temporary role that ended with the appearance of Christ. It was never intended to give life or to justify; otherwise, there would have been no need for Christ to die for our sins. (from my study bible notes) Vs 21…is the law opposed to the promises of God? Remember the promises are faith and righteousness and salvation. Before faith came (that is before Jesus came around) we were imprisoned under the law. Basically since we know right from wrong and we fail to do right every time, we break the law all the time. If we break the law we cannot be saved. By breaking the law all the time, we cannot be saved ever under the law. Vs 25…but now Christ has come into the picture. Faith has come and in that faith those of us who believe Jesus and trust him to be our Lord and savior are now children of God thru that faith. To show we are heirs to the promise, we get baptized. Baptism is our sign of holy adoption into the family of believers so instead of a blood family of people with similar dna, we are a spiritual family, part of Abraham’s offspring, and heirs in the promise. Since we become a member of the family, we receive the Spirit into our lives.
The Spirit is our possessor or keeper and he is here to show us the way. That’s what Paul gets into in chapter 4. We were minors not knowing the truth and probably not able to handle the truth. So the Law was put into place to keep us in line. God sent his son Jesus to be born under this law that keeps us down, he fulfills the law perfectly, and dies to the law so we can be adopted as heirs to the promise outside the law.
Starting at 4:8, Paul talks about elemental spirits. At first I thought he might mean false prophets or false teachers (kind of like Benny Hinn today). But in Hellenistic view, there were demonic elements that worked within the individual and cosmos (think astrology) to control human destiny. Magic, prayers, rituals (observing special days and years in 4:10) and laws were used to keep them at bay. Paul says that the Galatians are circumcising themselves as a way to be protected from the elements (even angels). To finish up chapter 4, Paul gives an allegory of Hagar and Sarah. In the end he is saying we must reject trying to please God by relying on the Law.
Live by the Spirit, Paul says in 5:16. Gratifying the flesh is against the Spirit. Here is what the Jews would say and what unbelievers would say…..”we have the Law. That tells us what to, when to do it, and as long as we follow the recipe prescribed out before us, we have it made.” The Jews say that because that’s the way it’s always been and that’s what they were taught from birth. The unbeliever says that they want something concrete in their life to make it. Unbelievers want to go to heaven also (most do). These people do want to have steps for what they can do get salvation. We are a society of independent people. So the question they ask is what can I do to be saved? The answer they get back is “do this and this and this and be circumcised and you made it”.
But Paul says to live by the Spirit. In vs 18 if you are living by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. What that means is you still do right but you don’t try to get your salvation by following the law. Paul says in vvs 13-15 that thru love you must become slaves to one another and the WHOLE law is summed up in the single commandment of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
But if you are not led by the Spirit, you are searching out to do works of the flesh. Here are some things you will do (vs 19-21) fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing. I love the way The Message paraphrase bible puts this: 19 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; 20 trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; 21 the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.
He then contrasts those works of the flesh with the fruits of the Spirit. Mmmm fruit. Sweet, natural, healthy. There is no law against these things. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Message puts it this way: 22 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, 23 not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Therefore we do not compare ourselves with others, don’t envy what others have. We are guided by the Spirit and everything connected with the ways of the flesh above are killed off (or crucified).
Then starting in chapter 6, Paul says something interesting. “If anyone has transgressed (read that as backsliding, sinning, failing, falling, or in other words not acting in a way that shows you to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’) then you who are Spirit-filled must love them back to health. Take care that you are not tempted. I like that line. For example, you who have turned your back from drugs and have are now free…don’t go down and hang around your old dealer and addict friends to see how they are doing. If you on the other hand fall back into that lifestyle, your Christian friends should come along side you and lift you up to health again.
Bear one another’s burdens because that’s what Christ did. I will dig deeper in that in one minute. Help others, but you must test your own work. Work as if you are working for God and not for men. So those who can’t, will have help and those that can will help on top of doing a good job with their own work. So back to Christ. Christ in his perfect life/death/resurrection showed that his love fulfilled the Law. He gave himself up for others by embracing the love commandment.
When I began this post, I stated that yes Galatians is a book showing salvation is by faith alone. In Paul’s closing (and in mine), his focus is on circumcision. He states it right…”Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything. But a new creation is everything”. Reference that to 2 Corinthians 5:17. Before the Spirit you were doing the works of the flesh. Now after the Spirit (no mention of circumcision here) you are exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit. And then a reference back to the “Jerusalem from above” he says as for those who follow this rule…those who are believers, love their neighbors as themselves, and exhibit the fruits of the Spirit….peace be upon you, mercy upon you, and upon the true Israel.
One last mention of his authority, Paul says that he bears the marks of Jesus branded on his body. That could be the persecution he received as a believer from unbelievers and Jews. Here is him saying, “I am an apostle. I imitate Jesus and you can imitate me”. So no one should make trouble for me. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.