Applying scripture?

I have recently been working through a discipleship course with my church family. It is a series of books that go through the basic doctrines of Christianity. These are great for new believers and people who perhaps have been in church for awhile but have never connected the "theological dots" of scripture. In one of the books the authors teach their readers how to do a personal Bible study. As a part of this experience the students are to write down their thoughts and specifically one "application" from the text they read that they can apply to their lives.

As I was attempting to follow this format in my own study it got me thinking about the emphasis many make on "applying scripture." I think at some point in the 80's many church leaders realized that there were too many "smart Christians" in the church and not many "active Christians." The smart Christians were the people who knew the Bible but did not apply it to their lives and therefore exprience life change. Application of scripture is an important part of discipleship (2 Timothy 3.16-17). So there was a renewed emphasis on applying scripture. And many "new believer" discipleship materials now emphasize that each time the text is read the believer should come up with or discover something they should do with this new knowledge or else they risk becoming another "smart Christian."

My struggle is that if the application of scripture becomes the primary goal of Bible study then the Bible becomes a manual for life book rather than a book about God. I heard Tim Keller (http://www.redeemer.com/) say something like this at a Resurgence (http://www.theresurgence.com/) conference in Seattle, "When you read the Bible, do you read it as a book that is primarily about you or primarily about Jesus?" It is a dangerous thing to read the Bible as a book that is primarily about me asking, what should I do next, how God will help me, what God is trying to tell me, etc. Because the Bible is not about you or I rather it is about Jesus.

My fear is that the over emphasis on application leads a new believer into reading the Bible as though it were a book about them because the main question they are asking in their head as they read is, "How does this apply to me?" rather than "Where is Jesus in this text?" Ultimately, this will lead to frustration because the Bible is not written at all like a self help manual or a manual for life. Rather it is written as the narrative of God redeeming humanity through his son and in that story we can all see our place. Not as the main subject (Jesus) but as the object of God's work in Christ.

A second grade Bible Student

Tonight I came up stairs to finish putting together a bookshelf to hold all my books. I like having books. I like reading them and studying, but if I am honest I really like people to think I am smart and theological when they come over... especially my pastor friends.

Anyway, as I passed the girls room (Miram age 7 and Ellie age 3) I overheard Miriam talking. I peeked in to find her sitting up in bed with her book light reading the Bible outloud to her sister. (Last Easter I gave her the NIrV kids devotional Bible). She was up past her bedtime, but hey I can't discipline her for reading the Bible right? Actually, I almost started crying. She was reading in Isaiah and when I asked her how she got there she showed me that she had read one of the 'devotional' sections on Genesis 1 and 2 (she already read the entire book of Genesis by the way last spring... on her own ya'll). In the devotional they have cross references which is sort of an 'extra credit' part and in this one they had referenced Isaiah 45.18.

"For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): " 'I am the LORD and there is no other.' "

I asked her how she had found Isaiah because I don't remember showing her how to look up Bible passages and she showed me how she went to the table of contents and found it. Then she was able to find the verse. My daughter has placed her faith in Jesus and knows what it means to repent of her sins. The Holy Spirit has indwelt her and I believe was clearly leading her tonight. Not only to illuminate the scriptures and help her find them but also to read to her sister.

I share all of this not to brag about my girl (though I really want to) but simply to share with you that if a second grader will read her Bible why don't you? Why don't I at times? Yeah... I have all the books but tonight my daughter was more spiritual than me and closer to Jesus than me. Tonight I continued to be humbled by her.

On the block

When I drove up to the house this evening after getting some Thai food and a kids movie (no school tomorrow) I was blessed by what I saw. Along with my kids there were about 6 other neighborhood kids playing in my front yard. We've only been here for 2 1/2 weeks and we've been able to begin establishing our home and yard as a safe place to be on the block. What a gift. Please pray we can be loving adults sharing the gospel and our lives with our neighbors.

Well it's back to Ninja Warrior. That's right... it's like American Gladiator on steriods and based out of Japan. My wife and I are addicted to this show. It is pretty cool and on the G4 channel. In one stage of the competition these guys have to grab onto these balls they look like light bulbs attached to a structure like monkey bars 15 feet in the air over a pitt filled with muddy water (u gotta see it to believe it). Awesome! I am seriously thinking about beginning my training... always wanted to be a Ninja.

Ministry Leadership in Crisis

I am almost 30 years old. I have been in vocational ministry for 5 years and I have been a Christian for 12 years. In my short time as a believer and pastor I have seen many men in pastoral leaderhip fall into devastating sin. I have seen my mentor/proffessor in from the Bible College I graduated from as well as my first pastor (who also married me and my wife) both fall into sexual sin in their early 40's. One of whom lost his family because of it. I have personally known and even had the opportunity to confront a pastor (whose church was close to 1,000 regular attenders) who was dangerously close to adultery only to find out one month later he was caught in the act and he too was disqualified for ministry. Another pastor I knew indirectly had to resign for crack addiction and pain pill addiction. Recently, a church who I have worked with and whose leadership I respected all resigned from their Pastoral/Elder positions due to an inablility to lead the congregation. About a month ago I heard from a confidential resource that 2 well known pastors in the area have both been exposed for sexual immorality. And tonight I found out that a trusted friend of mine who had established a dynmic urban youth ministry was exposed for sexually abusing middle and high school boys in his care, was subsequently locked up, and lost his wife and children.

This latest news which I just recieved tonight has made me sick to my stomach. Not just for the repercussions on his own family and ministry which are devastating but this was someone I would have trusted alone with my children and someone who I had approached in the past about partnering with me in church planting. My question to all believers and leaders in ministry is, "WHEN WILL WE MAKE HEALTHY MINISTRY A PRIORITY?" If you are in ministry would you just admit that you are not superman and you are a normal human being who has limitations. Lead by example and lead in health. I have learned that health brings health. If a ministry is sick it is because it's leaders are sick.

The Blog is up and running for real

Hey yall,
Well, we are settling down in our new house in B-more. It was a weird experience to place all my belongings in 4 shipping containers on my front driveway at my old house in Portland. And then see them show up at my new place 2 weeks later 3,000 miles away. Our kids are adjusting to their new school and we are grateful that we can walk them to school each morning. There were some tears from Miriam as she adjusted to her new class. The kids go to a great school but it definitely has an urban edge to it and Miriam wasn't used to the teachers raising their voices a little more than her teachers in Portland. She and Samuel are both one of a few white kids in their classes with the majority being African American. The kids in both of their classes have reached out to them and genuinely want to be their friends. It is awesome to see how the racial barriers adults set up don't exist between children.

Anyway I will be posting regularly, please hit me up and respond to my blogs anytime.