Category Archives: Scriptures

Gospel of John

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Taking inspiration from Reformed Pope's recent study on Matthew 5-7 (BTW, Pope, when are we gonna get some more of that?), I thought maybe we could do the same thing with John's Gospel, which is most people's favorite anyway.

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NASB)

One of the most familiar verses in the Bible, I suppose, at least to believers.

"In the beginning"

The words remind us of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God…."

The beginning…a tough concept to wrap the mind around.

I mean, what "beginning" is this? The beginning of the earth? The beginning of the universe? The beginning of heaven itself, wherever that is? I suppose one could say that the beginning goes back to eternity itself. 

Um, whenever that was.

My "beginning" was at Emmanuel Hospital, in Portland, Oregon, in 1957. Which may seem long ago to someone in their 20s, but 50 years is really nothing in comparison to a couple of thousand years, and is a mere blip on the scope in comparison to a million years. Or a billion. Or a trillion. Or a "goolgolplex," which is the largest officially named number, consisting of a one followed by a thousand zeroes.

Whenever this "beginning" was, it had to be eons and eons ago.

"was the Word,"

The Greek scholars say that this verb "was" means something like, when you go back to whenever (and wherever) the beginning began, this Word was already there, and had been there. Forever.

Kind of like backtracking a trail which leads up a mountain. When you finally get to the top, you look out into the haze and see that you're not at the beginning of the trail at all, but that it extends back from where you are, way out beyond to a mountain in the distance where your eyes can barely even focus. So, you hop back into your Land Rover and drive back to that mountain. When you get there, you find the trail continues on past it to a another mountain in the blurry distance. So, off you go, again. When you finally arrive at that one, you find the same thing…the trail goes on and on, as far as the eye can see. You notice the gas gauge is perilously close to "E," as opposed to "F," and begin to suspect that you will never get to the beginning of this trail.

In other words, there really is no specific time when the Word started or began. It just always — and already — was.

"Word" is the familiar Greek term logos, which describes the communicating of the meaning of a thought. So, the Word here is revealing someone's thoughts. Whose?

"and the Word was with God,"

Okay, so we now see the Word is in connection with God. "God" is theos in the Greek, from where we get the word theology, which literally means,"words about God," or "God-words."

So, the Word is the one who communicates or reveals God's thoughts. Sounds simple enough.

"and the Word was God."

Here's something a bit perplexing…how can the Word be with God and also be God, all at the same time?

Well, if you could explain that to the satisfaction of all, I suppose you could probably unite all world religions, and get rid of those pesky Muslims. The thought in the original is that whatever God was, and is, the Word was, and is, the same thing.

And don't let those Jehovah's Witnesses tell you that the Greek should say "the Word was a god." That's not only baloney, but violates Greek grammar as well.

And, which goes to show that some people will try anything in order to stuff their pre-conceived, pet doctrines into the Bible. Even going so far as to create their own version of the "original" Greek text, called the "Emphatic Diaglott," which all Greek scholars outside of the JW movement know is a joke.

Still though, I wonder how many of our doctrines, what we believe, are contrived, and not really biblical at all? Which we hold with great fervor and pride.

I remember one occasion, long ago, when I was defending that wonderful "doctrine" (theory) of Dispensationalism, and the whole discussion almost ended up devolving to the point of fisticuffs. "If I have to, I'll beat my doctrine into you." Great witness there, Mr. Christian. Didn't even know I was wrong, until years later. Embarassed

Which makes me worry…if any — and if so, how many— of my current beliefs are wrong now? Surprised

Thoughts?

-joebib

 

Verse of the Day (James 4:2)

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 James 4:2

…You do not have, because you do not ask God.

Ahhh, I love this scripture. How often have we heard this. It's good to get a reminder every now and again that we need to have faith and ask God for the things we want.

I wonder if the rest of the book of James is as interesting. I think I'll read on…

Wait a minute. What's this in verse 3? No, it can't be…

3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Is this really saying that we can't just ask for anything we want? Our motives have to be right as well? This is ridiculous.

I'm cutting that verse out of my Bible.  

First Response

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WWJD, Survivor, Chocolate Thunder, et al:
 

It seems like we go through this every few months, but since you’re all new to the blogging ways of the Morton family I’ll be happy to indulge…
 

I would rather get the families together to discuss this, it takes a lot less time that way, but regardless, here we go.
 

My first response will be to address the scriptures listed by WWJD under CBC Talking Points. I will hopefully be able to move on to a more humorous post in the near future, but for now we begin with:
 

GEN 14:18-20
18 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said:
Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth, 20 and give praise to God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.And Abram gave him a tenth of everything
 

Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. This was not commanded by God or anyone. If you research this scripture in any study Bible you will likely find that what Abram did was a custom not a command.

Gen 28:20-22

“If God will be with me and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothing, 21 and if he will bring me back safely to my father, then I will make the LORD my God. 22 This memorial pillar will become a place for worshiping God, and I will give God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
Again not a command from God, but a decision by Jacob… his decision is even conditional: “IF God will be with me…”
 

LEV 27:30
30 ”A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy.
 

This is the best sounding scripture so far, unfortunately if you read the whole book of Leviticus you find that Christians ignore 90% of the laws it sets forth.
 

When was the last time CBC stoned someone for Blasphemy? Lev 24:16 “Anyone who blasphemes the LORD’s name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD’s name will surely die.” How many Christians agree with the death penalty? Lev 24:17 ”Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death.”
 

There are many examples like this throughout the book. Read it.
 

DT 12:17
17 ”But your offerings must not be eaten at home – neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor an offering to fulfill a vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor your special gifts.
 

Back up 2 verses and see DT 12:15-16. 15 ”But you may butcher animals for meat in any town, wherever you want, just as you do now with gazelle and deer. You may eat as many animals as the LORD your God gives you. All of you, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat. 16 The only restriction is that you are not to eat the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
 

I like my meat rare, am I going to hell for that?
 

DT 26:12
12 “Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. You must give these tithes to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows so that they will have enough to eat in your towns.
 

Should we only tithe every third year? Should we always tithe but give a special tithe every third year? Throw this scripture out of your study, it does more harm than good.
 

1 CH 6:45
54 This is a record of the towns and territory assigned by means of sacred lots to the descendants of Aaron who were from the clan of Kohath
 

?
 

2 CH 31:5
5 The people responded immediately and generously with the first of their crops and grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a tithe of all they owned
 

This is a great ideal. If people acted this way today, then there would be no need for this argument. I don’t, however,  think the command of that time still stands for us today. You should read further and see the strict way they divided up all the tithe’s brought forth. I know churches don’t follow that formula anymore.
 

PR 3:9-10
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces. 10 Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.
 

“Honor the LORD with your wealth…” Is there only one way to do this? By giving 10% of everything you own to God? Is it possible that giving to the poor would also be Honoring the LORD? Would he bless you for that? Even if you weren’t a tither?

Mal 3:9-10
9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!
 

 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.  Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!

This is my favorite. Why is it that I can turn on TBN at any time and here this scripture, but no one ever mentions what it says in Mal 2:2-3 “Honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you… 3 I will rebuke your descendants and splatter your faces with the dung of your festival sacrifices, and I will add you to the dung heap. Why is it that preachers teach so strongly that God will curse you for not tithing, but fail to mention that he will also smear your face with Poo?

Of course outside of this verse I haven’t ever heard of God flinging POO at anyone, so maybe he hasn’t cursed anyone for failing to get their tithe in on time.

2 Cor 9:7
7 You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.
 

Thank you. This is exactly right. This is what it is all about. It doesn’t help the “tither’s” case, but it is very clear. “You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give.” It doesn’t say give 10% or I will curse you. It doesn’t say give 10% and I will bless you, it says “make up your own mind” and “give cheerfully”. It then goes on to say how he will provide for you. That’s why it works for CBC. It’s the principle of sowing and reaping. God will take care of his children, especially when they are generous. What you must remember is that Jesus died on the cross to take the Curse away. We don’t have to follow the letter of the law anymore. Through his grace we are saved.
 

Heb 7:1
1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.
See my notes on GEN 14:18-20.

OK, My point is this: Many people want to apply certain parts of certain scriptures to our lives today, but they don’t want to apply them all.

I know what you are going to say next because I’ve had this conversation with Marc Estes myself. “Blah, blah, blah, You apply the principle not the rule.” Well that sounds nice, but doesn’t really help your cause. The principle is “Give and you shall receive”, the rule is “Give 10% or get cursed.”  Nice try Marc, but I ain’t yo bitch.

Any thoughts?

Verse of the week (or last 5 months)

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Romans 10:1-4

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Scriptures from above

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Genesis 2:7 & 18-22 & 25 (New International Version)

7Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 3:16 (New International Version)

I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

Holy Cow, It’s the BIBLE!

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Eccles. 5:10-11 (NIV)
Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless. (Church Gal would like to know what people do with that scripture? No picking and choosing now.)

[11] As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?

Isaiah 52:3 (NIV)
For this is what the Lord says:

"You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed."

Acts 8:20-21 (NIV)
Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! [21] You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."

Matthew 19:24 (NIV)
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Disclaimer:
Having lots of money is not a sin, in my opinion. I like to compare money with alcohol; they both are a lot of fun to have, but if you let them control you they can destroy your life.

Lost Scriptures – Part 1

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I was doing my nightly Bible study and reading up on the beatitudes. I carefully went through each one. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the meek…

I got to the last Beatitude "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness" and became confused. I frantically turned the pages because I new that there had to be more. Where were the other scriptures we have always been taught? What happened to:

Blessed are generous givers,
for they shall inherit great wealth

Blessed are the faithful tithers,
for theirs is the riches of earth

Blessed are the businessmen
for they will be first in the kingdom

Quickly I went to my handy Bible reference guide to show me what had happened to these "Cornerstone" scriptures. My first thought was that it had something to do with those pesky gays, but then I realized that’s silly; gays don’t read the Bible. Then I thought maybe my son had ripped that page out of the Bible, but no he doesn’t read the Bible either. Then I thought those scriptures must only be able to be seen by the highest level of Christian businessmen, but again I don’t think they read the Bible either.

Suddenly, like the curse of Malachi, it hit me. I fell to the floor screaming "Dear God, Noooooooooo." It had just been made clear that those verses aren’t in the Bible. "Smite me now Lord" I yelled, "I have spent my entire life trying to buy happiness and now there is no reason left to live. If I can’t purchase heaven, then I am definitely going to hell"

A voice called out to me "John, or do you go by John-Paul? Is it all right if I call you JP, John-Paul is awful hard to say?"

"Um, God," I responded ‘If you came here to annihilate me will you get on with it."

"My son," the boice boomed "as much as you deserve to be wiped clear off this earth, I will spare your life, but only if go around and educate people on the truth in scripture."

So, here it goes:

Matthew 5:3-10 (NIV)
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[4] Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
[5] Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
[6] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
[7] Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
[8] Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
[9] Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
[10] Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

JESUS TODAY (in a post Measure 36 world)

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John 8:1-11 (NIV)
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. [2] At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. [3] The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group [4] and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. [5] In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" [6] They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. [7] When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." [8] Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
[9] At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. [10] Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
[11] "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

I would like to translate this into a modern day story. Lets pretend that Jesus was here on earth living with us today and he was faced with another sexual sin.

But Jesus went to the Butte of Rocky. At dawn he appeared again in the former temple where all the people gathered around him, and He sat down to teach them. Then the pastors and elders brought to Him a man caught in homosexuality. They made him stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this man was caught in the act of homosexuality and would like to marry his sinful partner. Now Measure 36 has been designed to keep this man from redefining marriage.” “Will you vote yes on Measure 36?” They were using this question for political gain, in order to pass the measure.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the new and updated carpet. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is with out sin among you, let him vote yes first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the carpet. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the man still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked him, “Man, where are they? Has no one voted against you?” “No one, sir” he said. “Then neither do I vote against you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

It is important to note that when Jesus was confronted with this sinner, he did not condemn her, but he also did not condone the sin. He said "Then neither do I condemn you, go now and leave your life of sin." This is grace in its truest form. Here was a woman who was caught in a sinful and immoral act. According to the law she should have been stoned. Her death would have been justified, however Jesus bestowed His grace upon her life. Can you see the parallel to what He has done for you in your life?
Homosexuality is a sin, that should not be denied. I believe that homosexuals are sinful humans, but I also believe that Johnpaul Morton is a sinful human. Do I deserve more grace, because the sins that I have committed are more socially acceptable? No, I deserve hell just as much as the homosexual does. The difference is that God has revealed his grace to me and now I believe in the work and the cross and that has freed me from the penalty of death. The poor homosexual hasn’t had that revelation yet; but don’t think that God can’t forgive their sins the same way he forgave ours.

The problem that I see with today’s church is that they have flipped Christ’s example around. Jesus spent his time on earth rebuking the church and loving sinners. Today’s church spends it’s time rebuking sinners and loving itself. Why are we trying to make the world a more “Christian” place?
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." John 18:36

God has blessed us with grace to cover our sins, but this doesn’t give us a free pass to sin whenever we want. God is calling us to treat the worldly man with love, just has He treated the adulterous woman. We simply can not allow pride to get in the way of the cross.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Disclaimer:
I do not approve of homosexuality or gay marriage, in fact from a political standpoint I support the Defense of Marriage Coalition. My main complaint is that this political battle was brought inside the church and turned into a church vs. gays battle. Jesus won people over with love and compassion not by lobbying against them politically. I simply wish that we would treat people with the same love and compassion Christ showed us.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.