Okay -- my wife Rachael and I are working overtime on these text questions. Feel free to offer us a nice dinner for our hard work (kidding). Just so you know, we'll get them all on the blog by Friday. Also, if your question wasn't answered, it's not because we didn't like it... it's because we didn't understand it. If that's the case, please feel free to ask your question in person on Sunday. Alright, here we go with Part II.
- HT
* * *
Q: Is it okay to use fertility drugs and treatments to help married couples have children?
A: Absolutely! This is one of the benefits humanity derives as we explore science and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28). We learn the things in the earth that God has made possible for us to do. Sometimes, in exploring God’s world in science we find solutions that help us battle the effects of the fall.
Q: If we are commanded to fill the earth, will Christ not come back until we do so?
A: Nowhere in the Bible does it say that humanity has to reach a quota of persons before Jesus comes back. The one thing we do know is that Jesus said this Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). It’s not the filling of the earth that brings the end, but rather the full preaching of the gospel throughout the world to all of God’s elect.
Q: Does anyone today know where the Garden of Eden was?
A: Through what the text says, people come to the conclusion that it was either in modern day Iraq or in modern day Turkey, west of Lake Van.
Q: Doesn’t Genesis 2:5-8 contradict the creation account? In Chapter 1, God created land and the plants first, then man. In Chapter 2, He stops to create man, and then plants a garden. Explain.
A: What we have in chapter 2 is God zooming in on day 6. None of this contradicts the creation account in chapter 1. In Chapter 1, you still have plants on the earth and then He created man. Chapter 2 is referring to the garden, which was a special area of plants that God created after he created man. It is not referring to Him creating foliage in the entire earth. We are focused in on the garden part of the creation.
Q: If God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, then why create the tree? Why did God allow the serpent to tempt them? (God knew Adam would fail, is this what He wanted?)
A: First thing I would say is that God has all wisdom and we do not. The second thing I would say is that this question assumes that the scope of history would have been better off if humanity had not fallen. What this assumption leaves out is the most important part of the story of the Bible. Because humanity fell, God sent Jesus. This is the greatest thing that could possibly happen to humanity. It is even greater than the glory of Him creating the garden and man before the fall. Jesus’ coming is the most important event in all human history and greatest thing for our souls to understand and experience God. So we must just trust God, that what God allowed is what is best for His glory and our good. If man is made in the image of God, but has the knowledge of good and evil, is man born inherently good or evil?
Man is born both inherently good and inherently evil. He has goodness in him because he is created in the image of God. He has evil in him because of the infection of sin which corrupts the totality of his being. Therefore the goodness that is in him is not complete or whole. Romans 3:10 says, “No one is righteous, no not one.” Is there goodness in man? Yes. Is there evil in man? Yes. Is man righteous? No. This is why we had to have what Martin Luther called the Great Exchange. Christ’s righteousness was given to us in exchange for our sin. That’s what we call the Gospel. After a human believes in Christ, he is, as Martin Luther says, “both fallen and redeemed.” That’s why we wait for the return of Jesus when our redemption will be brought to completion when Jesus heals our body from sin the way he has healed our soul from sin. (Romans 8:18-25)
Q: According to Colossians 1:15, is Jesus a created being? (“Firstborn of all creation”)?
A: No. Verse 16 says, “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Everything that was part of creation was created by Jesus; that would mean He is not created. When the Bible speaks of firstborn, it is referring to the prominent relationship that a firstborn son would have in the family. The firstborn son would take over leadership of the family. What Colossians 1:15 is saying is that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is the ruler of all the creation of God. Firstborn is referring to Jesus’ authority over creation.
Q: If I have done so many sins, how come I’m still in this life?
A: Because God is merciful and not wishing that you should perish, but He is hoping that you will come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Q: I’m taking a Core Humanities class this semester. One of my discussion questions involves the meaning of the “fall.” What’s your take on that?
A: I’m preaching on this on February 8th. Come back and you’ll get the full low down on what I think.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Q&A from Genesis
For the next few posts, I'm going to focus on some of the unanswered questions from last week's Q&A on Genesis. For context, listen to last week's sermon, Origin of Humanity, on iTunes. Comment back if you have more questions.
- HT
* * *
Q: Biblically, how do you view the choice of how many kids to have by married couples? Keep multiplying until bodies are unable? Or limit the number?
A: The Bible doesn’t give us any direction on this. I think you just need to go with your gut. Children are a blessing from the Lord and the Scripture says, “Blessed is the man who has a quiver full of children.” (Psalm 127:3-4) In our family, we’re about to have our third child and who knows, we might have four or five. Or we may just stop at three. Pray with your spouse and God will give you direction. The Bible tells us to be fruitful and multiply, but God doesn’t give us a quota. If you have one kid, that’s fruitful. If you have ten kids that’s hella fruitful.
Q: If we are to be fruitful, than why does God allow miscarriage?
A: First of all, if this has happened to you, as I know it has happened to many women in our community, I grieve with you. I can’t imagine the pain you’re experiencing and have experienced. What is interesting is that many holy women of the Bible were unable to have children. The Bible is filled with couples calling out to God to give them children. And sometimes God did and other times He did not. I’m not sure why God allows miscarriage. But, I am sure that things like miscarriage are a result of the fall and the effects of sin on humanity. You must remember that there is no passage of scripture indicating that your miscarriage was a direct result of your personal sin. Just as the starving child in Africa is not suffering for his own personal sin, he’s suffering because of the sins of humanity and as a result of the fall. We should turn our anger to sin and not to God. God is good and always does what is right. Even when it doesn’t seem like the best choice to us, we can never put ourselves in the position where we—as creatures—think that we are wiser and more righteous than the Creator. Often when people are angry with God, it is because they assume that God has done them wrong, which is a form of self-righteousness because we are saying we are more righteous than God. So, when it comes to horrible things like miscarriage, we must know that God grieves with us in our pain. Scripture says that God keeps every one of our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). This means that God is collecting our tears because they are precious to Him. If miscarriage is a result of the fall and sin in the world, then we must remember that our Savior came to take away sin by entering into our pain and suffering as we do. God, in the midst of our pain, brought redemption. It’s possible that redemption for you would be to try for another child. It’s possible that redemption for you would be to adopt a child, saving the child from living without parents just as Jesus saved you from living without a heavenly Father.
- HT
* * *
Q: Biblically, how do you view the choice of how many kids to have by married couples? Keep multiplying until bodies are unable? Or limit the number?
A: The Bible doesn’t give us any direction on this. I think you just need to go with your gut. Children are a blessing from the Lord and the Scripture says, “Blessed is the man who has a quiver full of children.” (Psalm 127:3-4) In our family, we’re about to have our third child and who knows, we might have four or five. Or we may just stop at three. Pray with your spouse and God will give you direction. The Bible tells us to be fruitful and multiply, but God doesn’t give us a quota. If you have one kid, that’s fruitful. If you have ten kids that’s hella fruitful.
Q: If we are to be fruitful, than why does God allow miscarriage?
A: First of all, if this has happened to you, as I know it has happened to many women in our community, I grieve with you. I can’t imagine the pain you’re experiencing and have experienced. What is interesting is that many holy women of the Bible were unable to have children. The Bible is filled with couples calling out to God to give them children. And sometimes God did and other times He did not. I’m not sure why God allows miscarriage. But, I am sure that things like miscarriage are a result of the fall and the effects of sin on humanity. You must remember that there is no passage of scripture indicating that your miscarriage was a direct result of your personal sin. Just as the starving child in Africa is not suffering for his own personal sin, he’s suffering because of the sins of humanity and as a result of the fall. We should turn our anger to sin and not to God. God is good and always does what is right. Even when it doesn’t seem like the best choice to us, we can never put ourselves in the position where we—as creatures—think that we are wiser and more righteous than the Creator. Often when people are angry with God, it is because they assume that God has done them wrong, which is a form of self-righteousness because we are saying we are more righteous than God. So, when it comes to horrible things like miscarriage, we must know that God grieves with us in our pain. Scripture says that God keeps every one of our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). This means that God is collecting our tears because they are precious to Him. If miscarriage is a result of the fall and sin in the world, then we must remember that our Savior came to take away sin by entering into our pain and suffering as we do. God, in the midst of our pain, brought redemption. It’s possible that redemption for you would be to try for another child. It’s possible that redemption for you would be to adopt a child, saving the child from living without parents just as Jesus saved you from living without a heavenly Father.
Friday, January 16, 2009
This week, we will begin our new series through the book of Genesis. This is an exciting new chapter (or 50 chapters) for the LS Community. The book is not only the first to appear in the Bible, but it brings weight to the old adage that you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. Genesis is a look at what was, what is, and what is to come because it examines the person and work of God, who Himself was and is and is to come.
For the first couple of months we are going to camp out on the first few chapters of the book in both Large and Small Group Gatherings. Here’s a highlight to be aware of—on Sunday, March 1st, we’ll host a forum in which we will bring in some experts to talk about creation, evolution, science and the age of the earth in response to some of the issues that Genesis provokes. Next, we’ll look at some of the pre-historic narratives like the Noah and the Flood and the Tower of Babel. These stories have been hijacked by a lot of cheesy Christian media, but we’ll try to cut through the junk and get to the meat. After that, we’ll move to The Patriarchs of our Faith—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. The lives of these men and their interactions with God truly inform our own… probably more than we’d like to admit at times. This whole process will take us until September.
You may not see the name of ‘Jesus’ recorded in the Book of Genesis, but He’s written all over its pages. This will be a great series to invite unchurched people to as it will talk about the beginnings of many things which will naturally unfold questions about the Gospel.
So come. Learn. Do Mission. Join us as we press forward by going back to the start.
For the first couple of months we are going to camp out on the first few chapters of the book in both Large and Small Group Gatherings. Here’s a highlight to be aware of—on Sunday, March 1st, we’ll host a forum in which we will bring in some experts to talk about creation, evolution, science and the age of the earth in response to some of the issues that Genesis provokes. Next, we’ll look at some of the pre-historic narratives like the Noah and the Flood and the Tower of Babel. These stories have been hijacked by a lot of cheesy Christian media, but we’ll try to cut through the junk and get to the meat. After that, we’ll move to The Patriarchs of our Faith—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. The lives of these men and their interactions with God truly inform our own… probably more than we’d like to admit at times. This whole process will take us until September.
You may not see the name of ‘Jesus’ recorded in the Book of Genesis, but He’s written all over its pages. This will be a great series to invite unchurched people to as it will talk about the beginnings of many things which will naturally unfold questions about the Gospel.
So come. Learn. Do Mission. Join us as we press forward by going back to the start.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Keystone Campus
A new chapter in the History of the Living Stones Community began this weekend.
This Sunday morning at 10am, Living Stones launched its first Sunday morning gathering at the Keystone Campus with around 150 people in attendance. It was absolutely amazing. What does this mean for the Living Stones community? A lot of things.
This gathering is not only another way for Living Stones to continue growing and proclaim Christ, but it provides whole new campus/church in the center of the City—a vastly unchurched region. Will there be anything different about the Keystone Campus from the Robb Campus other than the location? Essentially, Keystone will continue to echo what you’ve come to expect from LS. I (or whoever is teaching that week) will preach the same sermon in the morning at the Keystone Campus as in the evening at the Robb Campus. Bands, however, will vary between campuses on any given Sunday. One of the 4 LS Bands will lead us in worship at Keystone and then another of the 4 will lead in the evening at Robb. What do we need to do? We desperately need to open around 100 seats at the 7pm Robb Campus gathering and around 50 at the 5pm gathering to continue to make room for people to come hear the good news about Jesus.
So—if you are not already moving to the Keystone Campus, would you consider it?
This Sunday morning at 10am, Living Stones launched its first Sunday morning gathering at the Keystone Campus with around 150 people in attendance. It was absolutely amazing. What does this mean for the Living Stones community? A lot of things.
This gathering is not only another way for Living Stones to continue growing and proclaim Christ, but it provides whole new campus/church in the center of the City—a vastly unchurched region. Will there be anything different about the Keystone Campus from the Robb Campus other than the location? Essentially, Keystone will continue to echo what you’ve come to expect from LS. I (or whoever is teaching that week) will preach the same sermon in the morning at the Keystone Campus as in the evening at the Robb Campus. Bands, however, will vary between campuses on any given Sunday. One of the 4 LS Bands will lead us in worship at Keystone and then another of the 4 will lead in the evening at Robb. What do we need to do? We desperately need to open around 100 seats at the 7pm Robb Campus gathering and around 50 at the 5pm gathering to continue to make room for people to come hear the good news about Jesus.
So—if you are not already moving to the Keystone Campus, would you consider it?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Rest and Reflection
I have heard it said that if you don’t Sabbath yourself, then God will Sabbath you. So, I got sick this week. I sat around the house reading, watching movies, thinking, praying. It was awesome. Now it’s not that I like being sick. It usually drives me nuts that I can’t get anything done, but on the other hand God will allow me to get sick when I haven’t taken time to really reflect and pray and read to hear his voice. When I don’t take time to just sit and be – not do – be. So the past few days I have been able to get my arms around my thought life, my emotional life, and my spiritual life. It’s so easy to just forget that Christianity is not a faith of “do,” but it’s a faith of done. So for the past few days, I have sabbathed (not in the Old Testament sense, but in the rest sense) and remembered that I am a child of the King. Do you ever notice how the Bible is always telling us to “remember?” So, I remembered.
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