The Corinthians were a mess. Think about sitting in a living room with 20 Christians. The guy on your right is having sex with his step mom. The contractor on his right is suing the couple across the room for not paying for the addition he built them. A couple of the more spiritual dudes are arguing about who is the greater authority in the church. The large guy next to them is bragging about his recent date with a prostitute before he came to church that day, and the single girl next to him is sleeping with the convert on your left. Not to mention the remaining couple is having major marital issues. What a mess and we are only in chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians.

Help.

I gotta say this is all pretty painful stuff for a pastor to deal with. And has anyone thought about what the community is thinking about this group of rebels?

Paul the Apostle is direct and kind. Listen to his words….”Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin or who worship idols, or commit adultery or are male prostitutes or practice homosexuality or are thieves or greedy people or drunkards or are abusive or cheat people none of these will inherit the kingdom of God? 1 Cor. 6.9-10

Now here is the amazing news. Change is not only possible, but is real for you. Look at vs. 11 “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

“you were like that once.” Change. And the process is explained…cleansed…made holy…made right by means of calling on Jesus and His Spirit.

The true evidence of the presence of God and His Spirit is…change.

In chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians Paul the Apostle lays down the hammer for sexual sin. He will call out the guy who was having sex with his step mother, Paul will prescribe the treatment, and the long term prognosis. Check it out.

Another sin emerges in this passage. Paul says in vss. 2 and 6 …you are so proud of yourselves (for this sexual sin)…your boasting about this (sin) is horrible.

Pride…the act of firing God.

I am proud, I fire Jesus, I then disconnect from moral conscience. I pink slip the living God and distance his character from the everyday workings of my life.

Another sin results…I do nothing about sin. I wink, slap the proverbial back of sinful choices and pretend I am ok.

Now that is another thing to consider.

The way sin works is that it is not just about me. My sin impacts community. Ever heard someone say their sin is only about them? Not true.

Ask the child of a broken home, or children of parents who drink, drug, criticize, gossip.

Paul prescribes direct treatment for sin to protect the community of faith. He says this sexual sin is like leaven that corrupts the whole.

I don’t feel a calling to be a Holy Hall Monitor, you know getting into everybody’s stuff. But when community is in crisis, family, faith, work community…time to step up…call it like it is…no more abuse, no more sin…time to rehire Jesus and put him back to work in the moral mess of our culture.

Hey bloggers,

In chapter one of First Corinthians Paul talks about Jesus, being holy, he challenges us not to be divided in the way we think of Jesus.

In chapter 2 Paul will speak of maturity and depth. He will present the Holy Spirit as a basis of transformation and change. In 2.18 he will give the end result of the work of the Spirit…”the mind of Christ”.

I would love to hear your reflections on the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is first Holy. This connects to the premier concern of Paul in chapter one, we are called Holy and we are to be His holy people.

Have you noticed that there is a bunch of activity around the Holy Spirit which frankly is pretty creepy?

You know, the TV preachers of the 80’s doing prostitutes and affairs, the cover ups, the replapses, yada, yada, yada.

How about a few years ago the leader of a major evangelical movement confessing to drugs, gay masseur, and more? His ministry was full of the Holy Spirit…(?)

Check out the major cults in history and you will uncover immorality blamed on the Holy Spirit. This is very similar to the Corinthian believers.

I am not throwing stones, but I have seen a bunch of weird stuff blamed on the Holy Spirit. Have you? I would enjoy hearing your reflections.

The Corinthians had special spiritual experiences which Paul will affirm later in the book. But in this chapter we are led to a deep truth of the Holy Spirit…we will in the end have the mind of Christ.

This means I will think like Jesus in my marriage, and in my work, I will connect my morality to the mind of Jesus, how I drink (I am alcohol free by the way) and what I watch.

So in the end…experience is not the cool stuff of the Spirit…but the mind of Jesus.

Do you have a crazy story or two? Love to hear it. In the end…The Spirit causes me to think, to have the world view, the orientation of Jesus in all I do.

Welcome to the book of First Catastrophes…I mean first Corinthians.

Ever walked into a mess? You know, a room full of drama, deception, danger, and disaster?

Paul the Apostle had the swagger of a UFC fighter. He was shipwrecked, snake bit, side swiped, and shaken to the core by his own faith community as he carried out the great commission to reach people for Christ.

I wonder though was he ready for the Corinthians? After establishing this small group faith community in one of the most immoral cities in the east, Paul left for Ephesus. While there, he learned his small group had a few “issues”; nasty division, immorality, specifically sex with a step mom…eoooh, getting hammered at communion, and more.

What would be the first thing you’d say? You know, without swearing?

Paul calls them holy.

Look at the passage: I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours. 1 Cor. 1.2

Instead of hammering them, Paul shows them where they are. These hard core people stand…holy.

Holy means separate, special, sacred as opposed to worthless, common, and unholy.

This makes me squint and rewrinkle the creases in my forehead. How about you?

As I follow Jesus, he calls me holy. As the Corinthians brutalize their beliefs, Paul points to the foundation of faith…God is holy.

We are followers not because we performed, but because God loves and declares.

I forget where I stand sometimes…do you? I assume that if I am good enough, God accepts. This is heresy. God accepts because He is good.

But when he calls me holy…something happens within…the being holy motivates me to “do” holy. The vision calls me higher than mediocrity. By the way, mediocrity begins with the word…me. Holy touches his being, his holiness declares me worthy, special, and accepted.

I am working with a bunch of marriages right now. Some are catastrophes and others are pending…but all of these marriages are…holy. Holy inspires hope.

I spoke with a single friend this week…she is so grateful for her church. The church is holy, she is holy accepted, beloved, included, has immense purpose and value. I think we have something here.

Is the world a mess and you have no control over the catastrophes? He calls you…holy. Go ahead and unwrinkle that contorted forehead. God is good and HE is holy.

Hosea was a pastor. His life connected deeply to integrity, honor, truth, and high morality. His wife was a call girl which has nothing to do with a phone. Hosea married a ho…hmmmm that kinda goes together…Hosea…ho…. What’s more God commanded Hosea to marry the….you know.

They had children together. This had to be very special to the pastor dude in a macabre sense. He loved her, tolerated her, and yet adored the 3 children they had together. My son Dan looks like me. His son Carson resembles him. Therefore, Carson looks like me. I feel attachment to the little guy. I think the world of my son. I love my family. I think Hosea was torn.

Then, Hosea’s ho walks out of his life to check into a HOtel with another man. Crushed is an understatement for the pastor.

Then in Hosea 3 God speaks to the pastor and tells him to go and love his wife though she commits adultery with other lovers. Hosea HOnors God by purchasing his wife from her pimp.

Hosea takes her home, puts her in proximity to their children. He watches her walk through the home, guilty as sin. Did you know an adulteress was to be killed in that culture? She sleeps in his bed, she eats his food. This was wrong on so many levels.

Each time he looked in his children’s faces he could see her image in them. I am not sure words can fully describe this dysfunctional home.

But if you look close enough you can see the image of God emerging from this crazy family. God seeks…he pursues us when we betray Him…He forgives our sins…. A beautiful word weaves its way through this account…Hesed. It means a love that endures, cares for, is loyal to another. God is love the Bible says….I fear this word cannot convey the depth and wonder of what he feels for us and what he chooses to do in pursuit of our heart.

Today…you are pursued…treasured…cared for. Read this great book and you will see the God who wipes the HOrrible makeup of the oldest profession on the planet from our faces, he brings us tenderly to the home of his heart, he makes a place for us with an amazing family he calls the church.

Recently a young woman in her 20’s came up to me after a church service. She told me her name, thanked me for a wonderful church service, and declared how thankful she was that Jesus bought her from a life of prostitution and drugs.

She is so young, so beloved by God, I see healing touch her heart. This morning I greeted her and she was amazed that I remembered her name. Are you kidding? God has your name written on his hand Isaiah says. She matters, your heart matters, whatever you have done, whatever you have become, he pursues you. Love is only the beginning. For everyone who has betrayed or belittled the greatness of God…you are welcome to come home.

I had an email today from a young friend going through some marriage difficulties. Ok, big time trouble. He asked me how I do it…you know…stay married.

Lori and I are sooooo different. She is dignified, I am down and dirty. She is sweet, I am sour, Lori is quiet, I am obnoxious.

What keeps us together is a deep truth, covenant. This is stronger than the lame idea of love today. You know Jon and Kate separate, or Brad dumping Jennifer.

I live my life to serve my wife…to honor our vows…I try to listen to her pain…heal her wounds…pray for her growth and depth.

What I receive on the other end of giving my life for her is amazing…she is sensitive about my world, she cares for me…is tender.

I see strength in her eyes which draws me to her.

And very little of this is based on the goof ball notions of love we see in the media today. Lori and I stand on the truth of Jesus…his unconditional, tender, committed loyalty drive a deeper love.

So I reflect on the wonder of God’s covenant love for us. His love is everlasting…sure, strong. I love what the writer of The Song says

…place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned. The Song 8.6-7 NLT

So, let me know how you see love…can you go deeper to covenant?

Hey gloggers, great to have you back this week.

Sunday September 27, 2009 I will speak on God Chases: Covenant.

There are 6 covenants in Scripture: Adam -Genesis 1.26, Noah- Genesis 9.8, Abraham -Genesis 12.1, Moses -Exodus 19.5, David- 2 Samuel 7.8, and Jesus- Matthew 16.17; 26.28.

All six connect ending with the fulfillment of covenant in Jesus and his church…you.

The Hebrew word for covenant is berith…this means literally to cut. Blood is shed and the members of the covenant make a loyalty pact that if they break the boundaries of the agreement their own blood is to be shed.

When I consider this aspect of covenant, I think…serious. This is no game.

I also think of loyalty. The primary Hebrew word attached to the word covenant is hesed, community love and loyalty.

Hesed speaks to affection, choice, passion, loyalty, and community. This is no individualistic program. Covenant speaks about a community relationship of loving loyalty locked into a serious commitment.

I like to say that covenant is the deepest word for love in the Bible. When I look at marriages which fail I see serial selfishness and a void of covenant.

I also see the angst of aloneness in the reflections of my single friends. How cool is it to have a friend who will be loyal to the point of shedding their own blood for you?

You are a student in school…do you ever wonder if you truly belong to anyone?

I think this is groundbreaking for your local faith community and your market place or school. Covenant love runs deep…I have a sense of solid connection to Jesus, my wife, and children.

I have this picture in my brain of Charleton Heston as Pres of the NRA raising his rifle above his head and exclaiming to cheering NRAers “from my cold dead hands!!!!” I am not sure about all that but I love his passion and commitment to something.

Glog to me your heart about covenant…I wonder if this is the love our culture seeks. What do you think?

Thank you so much for helping me prepare and think through this message series. Honestly I did not think this process would be so fulfilling and helpful. Your input and discussion challenges me and I think keeps me on a relevant track. I hope you will continue this journey.

Sunday September 20 I will be speaking on God’s love and judgment.

The thinking follows the logic that God’s image can shed light on who we are…our identity becomes clearer as we connect with his image.

In Genesis 1-3 amazing pictures emerge. God creates mankind in his own image and he calls them, man and woman, good creatures.

I see a God of love speaking the world into existence, and our Creator then fashioning man with his own hands. The image is of a personal Creator God who personally brings man into being with love and tenderness.

Then when man falls from the pride of sin, the same loving God judges mankind, pain and suffering result.

How do you reconcile the loving Creator and the just judge? How do you connect those dots in your own life?

Let me give you something to think about as you ponder the six theories of Creation. Think with me about the context of Creation ideas in the ancient world. In Greek mythology Gaea, mother earth, simply appeared. She gave birth to a son named Uranus, in Greek ouranos, the word for heaven. She then became the incestuous lover of her son. They had children who became irritating to Uranus so he imprisoned them in the womb, the deep earth, of Gaea. She became angry and plotted with her son Cronos to ambush Uranus. Cronos with a flint sickle provided by his mother co conspirator cut of the genitals of Uranus and threw the remains into the sea, the bloody foam on the shore produced the goddess Aphrodite.

In Sumerian mythology Tiamat was the primevil chaos monster goddess. Pictured as a dragon she is described as a bizarre figure of serpent parts, udders, and human appendages. Her husband Apsu was irritated by their children and plotted to kill them. Tiamat resisted and in a battle with the god Marduk she was distended, shot, cut in two, and pierced in the heart. Her crushed skull signaled her death and the corpse which remained provided structure to hold up the sky.

And then Genesis…In the beginning God created… He calls his creation good using the Hebrew word tob meaning beautiful, delightful, morally good. The Creation account is good news for mankind gone wild with family meltdowns, incest, hatred, violence, immorality.

What if the purpose of Genesis 1 has nothing to do with the six theories but instead is the Good News of Creation?

Genesis 1.1 says In the beginning God created….

This has been a hot topic for a long time.

There are a number of opinions within the Christian community about who done it and when.

Was there a bang, a boom, or is that all a big bust?

Here are 6 opinions in Christian communities about creation. I want to thank Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill in Seattle for this outline. Gracias Mark.

1. Exegetical Historic Creationism-the Hebrew word bereshith “in the beginning” means an indefinite period of time. This could have been billions of years. Historic creationism also holds to the truth that after this creating for an indefinite period of time, six days of creation took place. In this view you have much time elapsing and 6 literal days.

2. New Earth Creationism-This view holds to a literal 6 days of creation and essentially rejects scientific claims.

3. Gap Theory-This view posits that two creative events happened in Genesis 1-3. The first event explains the “oldness” of the world, and the second event explains the “newness” as it relates to the literal 6 days of creation.

4. Literary Picture-This view holds that the creation account is a lovely literary picture.

5. Creative Event Theory-This position sees creation happening in 6 events without chronological limitation of 24 hour time period.

6.Theistic Evolution- Theistic evolution believes that God created but then removed himself from direct control. This allows the theory of evolution to emerge.

So where do you land and how bad do you want to fight over your position?

Let’s have some fun this week. Watch for more posts as I develop this message.

Glen