Exegete \ EK-suh-jeet \

My best attempt to make sense a mysterious and divinely inspired book that chronicles God's participation in human history in order to bring about renewal, restoration, and redemption of this world. twitter.com/the_rev_jacob facebook.com/jacoblange lowermanhattanchurch.com var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-19093659-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[bibleyear-blog]

Marriage // Ephesians 5

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Below are the notes I took on Tim Keller's sermon on marriage.  Ephesians 5:21 (above), lays the foundation for the marriage relationship. 

(1) Paul is assuming that we have reached a point where we are able to serve one another - with the help of the Spirit.  It is not natural/intrinsic to think of others before themselves.  We are naturally self-centered.  

{Submit: refers to a soldier under the direction of a general} 

Mutually submission is assumed to be the foundation of any healthy marriage. 

The basic problem in marriage is self-centeredness.  

(2) The essence of marriage is a commitment / a promise. The two become one flesh.    

Marriage vows have very little to do with the present.  I promise to be... until death.  You are making a promise about the future.  

(3) The purpose of marriage is companionship.  Adam could not find a companion ["it was not good"], so God created woman.  God created us with a deficit.  

If there is some one of the opposite sex who is a better friend to you then your spouse than you have violated the covenant of marriage.

(4) Marriage takes the highest priority. 

If everything around you is a mess, but you marriage is strong, you will go out into the world in strength.  If everything is great, and your marriage is a mess, you will go out into life in desperation and weakness.    

[bibleyear-blog]

Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially.

[bibleyear-blog]

Many people seek a sympathetic ear and do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking even when they should be listening. But Christians who can no longer listen to one another will soon no longer be listening to God either; they will always be talking even in the presence of God.

[bibleyear-blog]

Who is pure in heart? Only those who have completely given their hearts to Jesus, so that he alone rules in them. Only those who do not stain their hearts with their own evil, but also not with their own good. A pure heart is the simple heart of a child, who does not know about good and evil, the heart of Adam before the fall, the heart in which the will of Jesus rules instead of one’s own conscience.…

Bonhoeffer

[bibleyear-blog]

Psalm 103

May my inmost being praise His holy name! 

[bibleyear-blog]

Prayer offered in early morning is decisive for the day. The wasted time we are ashamed of, the temptations we succumb to, the weakness and discouragement in our work, the disorder and lack of discipline in our thinking and in our dealings with other people․all these very frequently have their cause in our neglect of morning prayer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

[bibleyear-blog]

In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross he remains on the throne... We want to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.

AW Tozer

[bibleyear-blog]

The inner voice of God does not argue, does not try to convince you. It just speaks and it is self-authenticating.

E Stanley Jones

[bibleyear-blog]

Please consider making a contribution to my upcoming half marathon.  I am running to help change lives.

$50 provides clean, safe water to a real person for the rest of his or her life!  

Let's doing something meaningful together. 

[bibleyear-blog]

A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps

Proverbs 14:15

[bibleyear-blog]

O my divine Master, teach me this mute language which says so many things.

Jean-Nicholas Grou

[bibleyear-blog]

Be silent and listen to God. Let your heart be in such a state of preparation that his Spirit may impress upon you such virtues as will please him. Let all within you listen to him. This silence of all outward and earthly affections and of human thoughts within us is essential if we are to hear his voice.

Francois Fenelon 

[bibleyear-blog]

Good hearers do three things. First, they listen attentively. Second, they keep what they hear in their minds and hearts and think about it until they discover its meaning for themselves. Third, they act upon it. They translate what they have heard into action.”

William Barclay, Commentary on Luke

[bibleyear-blog]

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Isaiah 44:3

[bibleyear-blog]

Time of Solitude

This is what I wrote for last year's retreat: 

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

  Now is a time to slow down.  It is a time to rest.  It is a time to breathe, and to think, and to wait on God.  It might not feel “productive,” but you are creating the time and space for God to show up.

  “Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.  Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and him alone.  If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in our lives – healing, teaching, and guiding – we need to set aside a time and space to give him our undivided attention.”  Henri Nouwen

  God deserves our undivided attention.  

  Jesus gave us the example.  “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

  Jesus also gave us the command. “When you pray, go into the closet, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. And you Father who sees what is done in private, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

  Spend the next 5 to 10 minutes in silence.  Try to clear your mind.  Think about Jesus.  Pray, but also listen. 

  Find rest in His presence.  Invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.

  Meditate on God’s love for you.  You are His son or daughter.  He is wrapping His arms of love and forgiveness around you right now. 

  What might God be saying to you?  What does He want you know about Him?  What does God want you know about yourself? 

This year I am going to be more specific... almost like a minute by minute guide.  Solitude is difficult, especially if it is not a discipline we practice regularly. 

[bibleyear-blog]

If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad.

CS Lewis

[bibleyear-blog]

I saw satan fall like lightning...

"Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out the 72.  Their mission is to proclaim the Kingdom at hand.  But upon their return, they are filled with joy that even demons were subjugated at the name of Christ.  

Here is what Calvin says about their response: Christ does not affirm that the gift of which they now boast is not illustrious, but reminds them, that they ought to keep their eye chiefly on something loftier still, and not remain satisfied with outward miracles. He does not altogether condemn their joy, as if it were groundless, but shows it to be faulty in this respect, that they were immoderately delighted with a temporal favor, and did not elevate their minds higher. To this disease even the godly are almost all liable. Though the goodness of God is received by them with gratitude, yet the acts of the Divine kindness do not assist them, as they ought to do, by becoming ladders for ascending to heaven. This makes it necessary that the Lord should, as it were, stretch out his hand to raise them up, that they may not rest satisfied with the earth, but may aspire to heavenly renovation.

Translation: The ability to perform "acts of divine kindness" (meaning miracles) is good, but the advancement of the Gospel is so much better.  Calvin (the theologian that he was) seems to much prefer doctrine over experience, but on this point Christ was in full agreement.  

Jesus tells his disciples, "it's great that the spirits submit to you, but how much better is it that your names are written in heaven."  

Calvin makes the point that the miracles should not be an end in themselves, but a ladder for ascending into heaven.  This is precisely why scripture teaches that all spiritual gifts are for the building up of the church, never as an end in themselves.  

But it would be an equally dangerous mistake to assume that God no longer gives us power in the spiritual realm.  Even the act of proclamation (preaching, teaching, evangelism) should be done in the power of the Holy Spirit.  

The beauty of Luke 10 is that it foreshadows the healthy functioning of the church.  Jesus sends out 72 others (not the special 12), they move in power, and the Kingdom of God advances; meaning the Kingdom of the enemy retreats.  This is still the model for today.