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Week 45 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:18-20. I notice two things Paul says…
The first thing is: I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. Then he adds: but we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God.
I’d have thought Paul would contrast foolishness with wisdom… Foolishness (disguised as Natural Intellectual Savvy) vs. Supra-Natural Spiritual Wisdom. But he doesn’t. He sets foolishness up against power.
So I’m left wondering not only how More-Smart & Less-Smart relate to Foolishness & Wisdom…but also to Weakness & Power.
I notice a second thing…
Paul starts by asking: so where does that leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?
And he answers: God has made them look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense.
I’m reading a book on the universe and black holes. The guy is a good writer and is writing fairly simply but I’m still out of my conceptual depth. So it makes me wonder…when Paul says that natural intellect is basically useless-nonsense what do I make of that?
What I figure right now is that Paul might be saying two things. That a) in the natural-intellectual domain of astrophysics (for example) guys can be super-smart. But b) when you move into the dynamic power-domain of the gospel then Natural Savvy – comparatively speaking & impressive as it is – is roughly equivalent to foolishness.

Note: quotes from 1 Corinthians 1:18 & 20 (NLT)

Week 45 Romans

I’m thinking Paul’s advice in chapter 14 is transferrable. So even though he’s talking about vegetarian-style eating his advice can be used in other circumstances. So let’s say there’s a hypothetical Alberta Government Mandate saying we all need to take a Pink Pill. Some people in the church say: I’ll-take-the-pill. But others: I-won’t-take-it. Now the Pill-takers and the Anti-Pill-takers start fighting.
Would Paul have something to say about our Pink Pill Controversy.  I survey his chapter again:
Don’t argue with (other believers) about what they think is right and wrong
Don’t condemn other believers: they’re responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong
Bottom line for people who believe is: to honour and please and give thanks to the Lord (not argue about Pink Pills)
Every one of us will have to give a personal account to God. So don’t condemn each other
The kingdom of God isn’t about Pink Pills it’s about: living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
Don’t fixate on Pink Pills. Instead: let’s aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up
Don’t tear apart the work of God over (Pink Pills)
You don’t think there’s any problem with Pink Pills? Fine: but keep it between yourself and God
If someone thinks it’s wrong to eat a Pink Pill: they shouldn’t eat it.
There’s some pretty good advice here.

Note: quotes & paraphrases from Romans 14:1, 4, 6-7, 12-13, 17, 19-20, 22-23 (NLT)

Week 45 Romans

After a letter filled with some pretty theoretical religious content Paul changes gears in chapter 13 and talks to the church-people in Rome about government: what government is & what a person’s behaviour to government should be & what his responsibilities are. Paul says things like this:
Obey the government (since) God is the one who put it there
All governments have been placed in power by God
Refusing to obey the laws of the land basically means you’re refusing to obey God
If you resist the government expect to be punished
Government authorities don’t frighten people who are doing right
Government authorities do frighten people who do wrong
Do what the government says and you’ll get along okay
Government authorities are sent by God to help you
If you’re doing wrong you’ll be punished since governments are set up by God to punish wrong-doing
Obey the government to keep yourself from being punished
Obey the government to keep a clear conscience
Pay your taxes…you even owe the government respect & honour.
Hmmmmm…. I sit thinking about what I would be sitting thinking about Paul’s Paragraph on Government if I lived in a country north of Mongolia. Or in one south of Mongolia. Or north of South Korea. Like that. It’s pretty easy reading it today here in Medicine Hat Alberta Canada. Not so easy other places.

Note: quotes & mhj-paraphrases from Romans 13:1-7 (NLT)

Week 44 Romans

One of the complex-er ideas in the NT is the mechanism by which people trade-up from their normal dead-while-physically-alive life to a new life in Christ. Jesus tried simplifying the concept for Nicodemus by describing it as a new birth – a rebirth. That didn’t seem to help Nicodemus very much.
Anyway another completely different illustration that’s used is the idea of being set free from slavery. I’d map it out this way…
Life before Christ: Slavery
Life after Christ: Freedom
But when I got to Romans 6 I realized I’d need to revise that idea of freedom. Paul said: thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you. Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have becomes slaves to your new master, righteousness.
Things were going along okay until I saw the last ten words.
If what Paul says is true I need a different scheme. More like…
Life before Christ: Slavery
Life after Christ: Slavery
There’s a rule in the books of Moses that a slave had to be released after six years work. But if a slave really liked his master he could elect to remain his slave. Hard to believe but there it is…a volunteer slave…willing slave-itude. I figure that’s what Paul was driving at. The Lord’s willing slave.

Note: quote from Romans 6:17-18 (NLT). And see Exodus 21.

Week 44 Romans

Something I’m usually hoping for when I sit down to read is a decent Level of Concentration. Unfortunately Level of Concentration is something I just either have or don’t have from day-to-day. I don’t know any tricks to make sure I have a High Level of Concentration; no strategies to avoid a Low Level of Concentration. Seems to be a matter of pure chance.
Anyway I usually tend to think that I’ll be in better shape if I start with an HLC. But I’m into Romans now and I realize that even a sky-high HLC won’t solve everything because an HLC – by definition – relates to Concentration. Meaning it doesn’t relate to a critically & totally different issue: Level of Understanding.
I was reading Romans 7 today.
If I started reading Romans 7 with an LLC I would be doubly-frustrated because LLC + Low Level of Understanding = frustration (x2).
If I started reading Romans 7 with an HLC I would only be singly-frustrated  because HLC + Low Level of Understanding = frustration.
Even an extremely HLC doesn’t bail-me-out if I just don’t get it. All it does is help me concentrate in a much higher & more focused & intent mental state about something I don’t really get.

Note: Ten-months of 2021 are gone so I checked my reading progress. Even though I kind of idled through John and Acts I calculate that I’ve read about 91% of the bible as of today. So that means with 16% of the year to go I’m in pretty good shape.

Week 43 Romans

Chapter two begins with two facts about God…
First Paul says God will Judge people. Second he mentions God’s Kindness-Tolerance-Patience. [When it comes to Preferred Qualities of God it’s hands-down-nicer to think about God being Kind but not Judgmental. But…Paul doesn’t sound like he’s saying I get to pick-and-choose.]
Anyway the interesting thing is how Paul jig-saws these two pieces together.
He starts by saying plainly that God is going to judge evilness – that’s just how things are going to work out in this world. So whatever I do is going to be impartially assessed.
But then Paul makes a quick lane-change and asks: don’t you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Without waiting for an answer Paul goes on to ask another question: can’t you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin? Two questions in a row. I can answer them yes or no but my answer won’t change Paul’s point. Which is…God is being kind to me by giving me extra time to see my evil for what it is.
It’s no big surprise if Paul tells me I’m-going-to-be-judged-for-doing-evil. But what is a surprise is that my court date is pushed into the future because of God’s kindness tolerance and patience.
I figure that God is kind  & tolerant & patient anyway. But Paul says it’s also because he’s buying me some extra time.

Note: quote from Romans 2:4 (NLT)

Week 43 Romans

After a short salutation Paul jumps right into deep water.
He’s talking about how a person acquaints himself with God: from the time the earth was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature.
Paul says that the visual-experienceable-materiality of the natural world is a tangibleization of God’s power and divinity. Tangible enough for me to make an informed choice.
The world is a kind of data-saturated medium that might disguise but can’t completely hide the medium’s master designer.
I look at the medium. And I draw conclusions. My conclusions are mine to choose but Paul says I can either a) Choose-Up or b) Choose-Down.
Paul says that a couple of outcomes when I Choose-Up are to honour God and to thank God.
There are also a couple of things that happen when I Choose-Down. Choosing-Down: Part One is to decide to not bother honouring or thanking God (I’d classify that as a negative choice since I’m doing nothing about what I’ve seen). Choosing-Down: Part Two includes thinking foolishly and living-out the dark qualities of my soul (I’d think of those as positive choices because I’m being proactive…living the outcomes of my decision) (Paul lists about thirty of those lived-out-actions in the last verses of the chapter).
So…some big happenings are being played out even if I’ve never seen a bible.

Note: quote from Romans 1:20 (NLT)

Week 43 Acts

Paul took a breather on his trip home so he could visit the church leaders from Ephesus one last time. It wasn’t exactly a social call.
First Paul reminded them that his basic message for all people everywhere was: the necessity of turning from sin and turning to God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus. Previously Paul had spent three years in Ephesus and likely said an awful lot of other things but the bare bones summary of it all was this: a) turn away from your sin; b) turn toward God; and c) put your faith in the Lord Jesus. The rest was detail.
Secondly Paul gave the church leaders some pretty serious advice and warnings:
…be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s church
…false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave
…some of you will (eventually) distort the truth in order to draw a following (gulp!)
Finally, Paul told the church leaders a couple of things about money:
…I have never coveted anyone’s money
…(I) worked to pay my own way
…I have been (an) example of how you can help the poor by working hard.
I reread the section. If I said out loud what Luke said Paul said it would take less than five minutes. So I guess Paul likely said more. But even this condensed version would make me think twice about leadership and ministry.

Note: quotes from Acts 20:21, 28-30, 33-35 (NLT)

Week 42 Acts

Philip left Samaria and headed out to the desert because an angel of the Lord had told him: go south down to the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza. Along that road Philip met an Ethiopian (he was the country’s royal treasurer) and the reason he was coming down that road from Jerusalem was because: he had gone to Jerusalem to worship.
Which sounds like he was a religious convert to Judaism…from Africa – however that happened.
Philip approached the chariot and walked alongside beside it. The man was travelling along reading the book of Isaiah out loud. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading.
I started reading the book of Isaiah in April and finished in early May. No one asked me if I understood what I was reading and if someone had I might have said – depending on what chapter I was reading – what the Ethiopian guy said: how can I, when there is no one to instruct me?
The African guy asked if Isaiah was talking about himself or someone else and Philip started with Isaiah and then looked at other OT passages and finally told him the man Isaiah was referring to was the resurrected Lord. And having just crossed paths with Philip that day the Ethiopian believed. And then Philip turned and headed north.
I’m left wondering what happened with the Ethiopian. Where did he end up?
It seems like an unfinished story.

Note: quotes from Acts 8:26, 27, 31 NLT

Week 42 Acts

Acts 8 features a man named Philip.
I don’t think he’s the apostle Philip. I think the Acts 8 Philip is the Philip mentioned in the Acts 6 list: Stephen Philip Procorus Nicanor Timon Parmenas & Nicolas.
Philip left Jerusalem when persecution started. He: went to Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did. Many evil spirits were cast out…Many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.
Out of the many Samaritans only one was named – a sorcerer-magician-black-arts guy called Simon. The people in town called him: “the Great One – the Power of God”. And Luke conceded that Simon: was very influential because of the magic he performed.
Still…as powerful as he was Simon realized he wasn’t in Philip’s class. So  he converted and was baptized.
A bit later when Simon saw townspeople receiving the Holy Spirit he offered to pay the apostles for that skill. It seems like a crass request…though maybe not for a guy who figured spiritual power – like other things – was available on the open-market.
Peter told him that his heart was wrong…his thought-processes evil…and that he was captivated by sin. That subdued Simon and he asked for prayers to be said for him.
And then just like that Simon the Magician disappeared from the bible.
So I’m left wondering what happened with Simon? Where did he end up?
It seems like an unfinished story.

Note: quotes from Acts 6:5, 8:5-7, 10-11, 21-23 (NLT)