Only God Moments

I live in Arizona, where it is dry and hot most of the year. I could complain about all of the things I don't like about it but that would be contrary to the point of this post so I must resist. Besides, I really like Arizona most of the time anyways. What I'm getting at is, I live in a valley surrounded by awesome mountains and other great scenery that was created by God. I wake up every day, get in my car, and drive through said valley, next to said mountains, and the vast majority of the time do not stop to appreciate the beauty that God has placed around me. It's because I am used to it. I expect it to be there because it has been there a lot longer than I have and I don't really pay attention to it. None of that means that the mountains are less wonderful. It just means I am less observant.

It's like when us Christian folks say things like "It was an only God moment". That sounds kind of silly to me after thinking about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the fact that God does AWESOME things in our lives at all. I'm doing the exact opposite. I am pointing out/realizing/re-realizing that every moment is an "only God" moment. We just don't stop to recognize it often enough. At least I don't, and I would like that to change. I want to be thankful more often for more things. I tend to laugh at the prayers of children when they are thankful for seemingly insignificant things.

 God, please make me more aware of the significance of those things and increase my thankfulness for them.

I just had an "only God" moment-- I took a breath. Thank you God!

Wibbly Wobbly, Time-y Wimey

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff." - The Doctor 

 So I have recently (not really recently, but in relation to my last post, fairly recently) discovered the BBC series "Doctor Who". I have been thoroughly enjoying it. It makes you think about time in weird ways.

 I was thinking a few days ago (more like two weeks ago), about the fact that God is not restricted by time. At the same time, I was wondering if each individual sin had a quantifiable amount of suffering required in order to pay for it (not that it would be measurable by any human standard). And then the question struck me, if God is outside of time, and Christ is God incarnate, and Christ suffered for the sins of the world, what if I could actually lessen the suffering that my savior had to endure all those years ago, by choosing righteousness instead of sinfulness? We are no longer slaves to sin, so we have the option not to sin. Can I remove a thorn from Christ's crown by not acting on a sinful thought that I have tomorrow? I mean, He is outside of time after all. Not that it would diminish the significance of the sacrifice at all! But can I actively decrease the pain that Christ had to endure for my sake? Food for thought to say the least.

 See, Doctor Who is good for me after all...

God, the all powerful genie

It saddens me when God is treated like some cosmic genie that is only there to grant our wishes. I know I sometimes treat Him that way. We so often pray for things that we want to happen, and then get upset with God for not answering our prayers, when the truth is, God knows so much more than you can imagine, you don't even realize that He is giving you bigger and better gifts than you could think up in a million years. God IS answering our prayers. Every single one of them. Whether we like or understand the answers is a different story. But remember this.

"... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

You can't see it, you can't understand it, but what God does in your life is for your good and His glory. Period. Life is not about what you want in the here and now. It is about God and His eternal kingdom.

Besides all of that, what is honestly the purpose of prayer? Is it only to ask for things we want? To petition our King to bend to our wishes? No. A huge part of what prayer should be is praise! If we only find ourselves praying when we want something, there is a serious problem. We need to be thanking Him for the prayers that He constantly is answering, and Praising Him JUST for who He is. That is the kind of God we serve. A God who hears prayers, answers them, and requires (and deserves) our worship. Nothing less than constant praise and adoration is acceptable, for we serve the King and Creator of the universe, who cares down to the ant.

Thank you Lord that you are a God who hears and answers prayers. You are worthy of my praise, much more than I can give. But I give all I have to you.

Busy, Busy Bee

Well it sure has been awhile since I have written anything here. We have been busy. Im sure after you read this you will understand why.

I have had a lot on my mind the past few days. As Danielle and I are gravitating slowly towards making the leap and purchasing our own home, again I am forced to get perspective on many things. My income is low. I make roughly $18,000 a year. Which isn't terrible, but it isnt enough to live anywhere near comfortably in our own house. We spoke with a financial advisor last night, and he said a few things that I knew, but never really acknowledged. I am working for a decent company, but I am a temporary agent. That needs to change. I could lose my job at the drop of a hat. That is not safe for my family at all. My first step, then would be to get hired on at Pace permanantly. That's all well and good, but that doesn't increase my salary at all.

This is where the struggle really comes in. I am interested in the IT industry. I think its great and it probably is going to be viable income for a long time. However, I have a passion for music. Until recently I had been ignoring it, and then a good friend of mine started looking for work as a worship leader. I haven't stopped thinking about doing that myself ever since. I dont know how stable the income would be, I dont know what it would provide for our family, I DO know that God will always provide for His people, but where do I start? I have no career path in mind at all. I am just going one step at a time. That is hardly a good plan.

All I can say is, I have no idea what the future will bring. I am praying about it alot. Will I stay in the IT industry? If so where will i go from where I am? Will I make a change and go into full time ministry? Or is there yet some other path the Lord has yet to reveal to me? Lord, guide my steps.

Which Baptism is Biblical?

Being married makes some things more important than they used to be. For instance, what do I think about Baptism? I have always somewhat leaned towards the infant baptism side, if only because that is what I have been taught. That has not changed, but my recent study of the Word, along with my desire to do what is right in God's eyes for my family, pushed me to look further into the topic. Should my wife and I have a child, I wanted to make sure we were clear on our beliefs. The following is the result of that study. I hope you find it enjoyable, informative, and possibly challenging. I also hope that if there are errors in my conclusions that can be proven through scripture, that someone will bring them to my attention.

I believe that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16). My following argument hinges completely on that belief.

Instead of trying to disprove that Baptism is a sign of righteousness that we have by faith, as most Baptists would say, I am going to heartily agree. I think the Bible is clear that once someone believes, they should be baptized.

However, I do not believe this is the ONLY acceptable parameter for baptism.

Before I go too far, I want to try to explain the difference between what I think the traditional Baptist view is, and what I have come to believe.

A traditional Baptist would say that baptism is our outward sign of our inward commitment to Christ. I would say that baptism is not our sign at all; rather it is God's sign of the covenant that He made with us. This covenant does not save, but it marks us as a part of God's family, just as circumcision did in the Old Testament. Not all circumcised Israelites went to heaven, but they were held to a higher standard because of their affiliation with God's family. Not all baptized people will be in heaven, but they are held to a higher standard because of their affiliation with God's family. I honestly think this is where the biggest disconnect with my Baptist brothers and sisters lies. Obviously, if baptism were all about our decision and our commitment, an infant would not have the presence of mind to make such a decision.

However, I do not believe that is what Baptism is about at all. I believe that the covenant that God made with Abraham, which had the sign of circumcision attached to it, was an "everlasting" covenant, as God said it was.

"And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you."

-Genesis 17:7-11

I believe that the new covenant is the same as the old covenant. It is an everlasting covenant after all, and our God deals with His people in the same way throughout the entirety of scripture. He does not change.

To quote Robert Booth, "The Bible teaches one and the same way of salvation in both the Old and New Testaments, despite some different outward requirements." (from his book "Children of the Promise", p.8)

One of the most compelling verses that state this fact specifically in regards to circumcision and baptism, is found in Colossians 2:11-12

"In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,  having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."

Here, baptism is directly referred to as "circumcision without hands". The verse goes on to say that certain physical requirements of the covenant under the old sign (circumcision) were made unnecessary by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

Now I would not say that either myself or my Baptist brothers think that baptism saves souls. A little (or a lot) of water cannot save a soul. The Holy Spirit can. But baptism is commanded many times in scripture. It is such commands in scripture that my Baptist brothers cite as proof that the practice of infant baptism does not hold water (ok, that pun was intended).

Verses such as:

Acts 2:38 - "And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." 

Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." 

Acts 2:41 "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." 

At this point I would like to re-state that ALL scripture is God breathed, and that our God is the same yesterday today and forever. I would never try to argue my way around the fact that all of these verses command baptism of believers. But I have yet to see a verse that says "You may not baptize infants". The aforementioned verses do not disprove the validity of infant baptism; rather they prove the validity of believer's baptism. The two can both exist.

We have to realize that the majority of the New Testament was during or directly after Christ's ministry on earth. I believe these commands to be baptized are coupled with other commands such as "receive His word", and "believe", because they were given to a crowd of unbelievers. Personally, I do not remember a time that I did not believe in God and consider myself to be a Christian. I was not baptized as an infant, only because my parents were Baptists at the time, but I was very young. To one who already believes, the command to believe is superfluous. The Bible talks about "childlike faith", and babies jumping in the womb at the presence of Jesus, so I have no problem with saying that an infant, even a non-verbal 8 day old child can have faith in the God that made him. It may or may not be quite as developed as our faith, but as mature Christians it is our duty to train our children up in the love and knowledge of God. Nurture their faith. God promises that if we are faithful, He will be too.

Read the following excerpt from Romans:

“Blessed are those 

whose transgressions are forgiven, 

whose sins are covered. 

Blessed is the one 

whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.  Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!  And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.  And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.  For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,  being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,  but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

This speaks of circumcision in very familiar language, but we are familiar with the language because it is how we are used to hearing Baptism spoken about. Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a mark of righteousness through faith. Is that not how many Baptists speak of the requirements for Baptism? You must believe, THEN be baptized, as Abraham believed, THEN was circumcised.

But we see, back in Genesis, that Abraham circumcised his own son at the young age of eight days old, as was the command by God to do for all of His covenant people. The big question is then, why were babies circumcised if it was a covenant sign applied by faith?

Conversely --or perhaps not-- should we baptize babies?

The only answer I can think of would be this:

Abraham required his own faith as entrance into the covenant with God. Isaac was part of the covenant by proxy.

In the same way, I believe that, when a baptized believer has a child, that child is immediately grafted into the covenant by proxy, However, when someone outside of the family of God desires entrance into it, it is appropriate for believers baptism to occur.

So, to be fair, I asked a trick question. There is only one Baptism. I should not have asked "Which baptism is Biblical?", I should have asked, "When is baptism appropriate for me, or my child?". 

And here are the two possible answers

1. Infant baptism- For children born into the covenant, by one or more baptized parents.

2. Believer's baptism- For a person born outside of the covenant, who desires entrance into it.

I wonder as I wander

I can’t help but wonder what God’s plan is for my life. I love writing, music, and working with anything technology related, but how do those things glorify God?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matt 6: 19-24

I can’t serve God and money. So what is the purpose of a career? I am married, I know I need to provide for my wife, but what does that mean? Should I try to get a well-paying job in a field that looks interesting to me? Should I disregard how much money I will make and only focus on what I can do best, or what I would enjoy doing most? Should I live my life so that my family and I are comfortable and safe, or are we meant for more?

It’s a hard thought, but one that keeps coming to mind as I see people close to me going off to other countries to spread the Word of God. Can I effectively further the kingdom of God from the safety of America, or should I be seriously considering missionary work? How can I make sure that I don’t waste my life, and how can I make sure that, when my family and I stand before the King of Kings, He will say “well done, good and faithful servant”?

So many questions and no solid answers... I know that the first place I should go to get answers is to God Himself. I must confess I have not been as close to Him as I would like for some time. I pray daily, but I don’t seek to know Him more. My priorities are messed up. I ask God to make MY life better, to make things easier for ME and people that I care about. I am a selfish
Christian. I don’t even take time out of my day most days to open the Word of our God that is so precious and so valuable, a fact that we forget because we can pick a copy up on amazon.com for less than $5. We forget that it is God breathed, sharper than any two edged sword, able to divide soul and spirit, and exposes the thoughts and desires of the heart. That is quite a description.

A new goal I have for my life is that my Bible will end up being frayed around the edges, being highlighted and written in-- in several colors, and that there will be pages that are loose and falling out. I want to be intimately familiar with God’s Word.

I pray that God will reveal His purpose for my life and the life of my family to me, so that I may know how better to serve Him.

-Myii

me first, gimme gimme

I think we as Christians forget the purpose of our exsistence. Even the church generally preaches about what God can do for us. Do we follow Christ because He makes our lives better? Or is it because He is the King and the Creator and He deserves our devotion?