Have We Become Functional Atheists?

Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ (Ezk 9:9)

Here's a personal note: It is always risky to pray before opening God's word something to the effect of "Open my eyes to see You in your word, even in obscure passages like Ezekiel." The Holy Spirit may just honor such a request.

It is interesting to peel back some of the layers in Ezekiel 8 & 9. These chapters contain a great expression of God's displeasure with his people and help us understand why he dealt so severely with them at the end of  run the of kings. It is also helpful to remember that God's expectations haven't changed. Do we have a better understanding of grace than Israel did? Sure. Do we have the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely. But if our lives are not marked by a trajectory that is leading toward God and toward Christlikeness, one has to wonder whether we are revealing the heart attitudes found in Ezk 8-9.

For me, the telling phrase found in each chapter is when God repeats what he hears the people saying "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see." It is easy to read this in the sense of "The cat's away so the mice can play." I'm confident that is a large part of what was happening in Israel and what is happening in our day. Throw away any conception of God, abandon any moral code that He might impose and what your left with is an ever decreasing cycle of sinfulness and depravity. I imagine taking 10 year snapshots of our culture even for the past 100 years would show not just a decline but one that is accelerating.

And yet, I think there is another layer in these chapters. When God repeats what he's heard "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see." he is quoting in one instance the elders and in another instance the houses of Israel and Judah. In effect, He's addressing the church. And why this is pressing so hard on me today is not from the morality perspective (as real and profound as that is), but rather from the perspective of Christians, both individually and corporately, who have functionally abandoned God.

Consider your own lives or the life of your church. How much is done that totally depends on God? Not just sitting on the banks of the Jordan and waiting for the water to part, but to actively stepping into river expecting something only God can do? Not simply standing in the crowd around Jesus thinking "He could heal me if He wants to", but actively pushing through the throng and grabbing the hem of His robe? I see a lot of methodology in my own life and in the churches I've been a part of. I see much less abandonment to the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the question comes down to this: If the Holy Spirit left you, your family, your church, would you even notice? The leaders of Israel couldn't even see Him while He was still in their midst, so when He did leave there was no change from their perspective. Are we in the same boat? Do we have everything scripted so well that we have functionally removed our need for God?

I don't know that I have all (or any) of the the answers, but one thing I do know that needs to change in my own life is more God dependent, Spirit pleading prayer. I know its not the quantity of prayer that makes a difference, but there is some correlation between how often we come utterly dependent and bankrupt before God and our true vision of our own abilities.

In conclusion, maybe the picture of the church of Laodicea from Rev 3:14-22 is apt. In their self assessment, they needed nothing. In Jesus' assessment, they needed everything, The solution: "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see."

To God Alone be the Glory

Truth and Promise from Revelation

To often I shy away from the book of Revelation for two man-centered reasons:

1) Its truths, while deep and profound are "locked up" in symbolism and the interpretive debate seems to over shadow the truths to be proclaimed

2) Poor interpretations have often "boxed in" our thinking on the book and truths it contains and overcoming that hurdle seems to be more effort than one can muster.

Yet, with that bagged in tow, as I entered my first reading of Revelation for 2011, I was struck by the repetitive pattern of the letters to the seven churches in Rev 2 & 3. And, as I reflected on the attribute of Christ at the beginning of each letter and the promise to the overcomers at the end of each letter, I thought it would be worthwhile to compile those items into a list to be read in concert with each other.

So for what its worth here are the truths and the promises of Revelation 2 & 3.

Who Christ is:

• The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
• The one who is the first and the last, who died and came to life.
• The one who has the sharp two-edged sword.
• The one who is the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
• The one who has has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
• The one who is the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
• The one who is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

What Christ promises to those who overcome:

• To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
• Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
• The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.
• To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
• The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. 
• The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
• The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
• The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 

To God Alone be the Glory

True Worship - part 2

A devotional probably shouldn't start with a disclaimer, but I want to do that, since my title could be misleading. My goal is not to write about any kind of "worship wars" or even probe whether certain songs are better suited as worship songs than others. No, my objective is different, although maybe these meager thoughts can be used by the Holy Spirit to set our minds straight about some of the other worship questions that come before us.

Revelation 5 is soul mate to Revelation 4. One pastor described Rev 4 as the scene, the setting and the stage to Rev 5 action, performance and unveiling. Those descriptions are helpful to me in order to fit the two chapters together. Yet I think there is something in the emotion and enormity of Rev 4 which combines with different emotions and intimacy of Rev 5 to drive us to the very heart of God. And the very heart of worship.

If these two chapters do anything, they drive us away from ourselves and to the glory and grandeur of God. They drive us away from our own salvation, as great as that is, and toward Christ's greater, more glorious plan to redeem for himself a kingdom of priests for God. They drive us away from our light and momentary afflictions and toward a savior who was slaughtered, but is infinitely worthy of our praise, worship and unflinching allegiance.

One last observation: what do you do with the word new in Rev 5:9? Just close your eyes for a moment and ponder how often something new occurs in heaven. To top that, it is a new worship song to a new being at the center of the throne that no other creature could even approach. If words and thoughts escape you, I think that's the point. SDG

[8] And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song, saying, 

   “Worthy are you to take the scroll

      and to open its seals,

   for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

      from every tribe and language and people and nation,

    [10] and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

      and they shall reign on the earth.”

 [11] Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  (Revelation 5:8-13 ESV)

True Worship - part 1

A devotional probably shouldn't start with a disclaimer, but I want to do that, since my title could be misleading. My goal is not to write about any kind of "worship wars" or even probe whether certain songs are better suited as worship songs than others. No, my objective is different, although maybe these meager thoughts can be used by the Holy Spirit to set our minds straight about some of the other worship questions that come before us.

Revelation 4 never fails to blow me away. I have to admit, much of my perspective on Rev 4 comes from Francis Chan. Yet, whenever I read it, I'm drawn to the sad reality that this is not my typical view of God. Whatever the images in my mind may be, they are rarely so grand, majestic, holy or awesome. When I pray, I often give creedal assent to what is true about the Father, the Son and the Spirit. I try to acknowledge my immense gratitude for what God has given me in Christ. And, my goal is usually to submit my intercessions to the sovereign, glorious will of God.

But, in saying all that, as I simply, thoughtfully read Revelation 4, I can't help but think I'm missing something.  Call it "true worship" or call it something else, I see in these 11 power-packed verses an image and a reality that often escapes me. God is not just holy, He is a sea of glass beyond us holy. God is not just awesome, He is all the creative and destructive power in the universe at one point awesome. God is not just worthy of worship, He is worshiped by those who have already been redeemed and those who stand in his presence day and night.

I could probably go on, but I will close with this: part 2 (i.e. Rev 5) is tomorrow.  God is holy, awesome and worthy beyond description. We (or at least I) have no business in His presence. But praise be to God that He sent His Son! If you will, please spend a moment or two and simply reflect on the greatness of our God. Maybe see Him for who He is will lead us to true worship.  SDG