On Dealing with Insecurities, Part 2

Posted on 12/23/2010 by Paul Pavao

Yesterday’s Part 1 to this post was called "Dealing with Mental Illness," not "Dealing with Insecurities."

Yesterday, I had a point to make about ignoring that sort of mental illness.

Today, though I want to talk about security and the family of God.

This post started out as an addendum to yesterday’s post, but it got long enough and off the subject enough that I thought it deserved its own post.

So here goes:

Dealing with Insecurities, Part 2

Yesterday, I called my post “light-hearted.” Far from being light-hearted, that post made me nauseous. I don’t talk about my feelings very well, and I don’t disparage myself very well unless I’m just joking around.

Too proud, I guess! 🙂

I wrote yesterday’s post just in case there were others as messed up as me, and afterward I wanted to go hide in a closet and peek out the door to see if anyone was going to come in and comfort me. (That’s not a very mature thing to do, so I didn’t do that.)

Okay, having said all that, now the manly side of me can shrug all this off, make sure everyone knows I only wrote that post to help others who might struggle with those kind of thoughts, and act real secure … at such times it’s important to laugh the discussion off with a deep, resonant, manly laugh.

The fact is, though, that I can laugh it off because my insecurities are driven out by wonderful love and fellowship from people who know everything I said yesterday is true, but who don’t think I’m stupid, insane, or childish—or if they do, then they must not care. I don’t have to worry about those feelings because they neither control me nor get hidden in a cage, silently affecting all my actions in the background.

We all need that kind of love, and that’s why the church is so important. For us to walk in the fullness of what God has given us to do, we have to grow up—even if we do that growing up when we’re 40, 50, or 60 years old—in the wonderful, loving environment of the family of God.

The Family of God and Insecurities

The family of God is not a Sunday morning meeting in suits.

Now would be a good time to talk about how to either start or be a part of the real family of God—not a meeting; not a club; but people who act like family to one another because their spiritual kin are more important to them than their physical kin.

But I write about that a lot.

Today I just want it to sink in that it’s so important.

Most men are like me, full of insecurities. Most men—and unfortunately, especially Christians—are not like me, in that they don’t have intimate friends loving and nurturing them spiritually so that their insecurities don’t overrun them.

One of the most amazing revelations of church life, and there’s been many, is that most men who come to the church are overrun by fear; fear affects every aspect of their personalities, and their bravest, most macho behavior is usually 100% fear-based.

I don’t think I have time to explain how true that is. I can give you an example, though.

We met one really macho, sharp-tongued, not-afraid-to-say-anything Christian guy a few years back. As we got to know him, it slowly became apparent that the reason he was so sharp-tongued is that he was scared to talk to people! Amazingly, what looked like “I’m not afraid to talk about anything” was really “I have to offend you quickly because I’m afraid to talk about almost anything.”

So many men are just that way. They growl their way past their insecurities, unable to love lest they look bad while loving.

The answer my friend, is not prayer. The answer is to be exhorted, comforted, and encouraged every day, while it’s called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of insecurity … oops, sin (Heb. 3:13).

That’s what the church needs to offer, not just good teaching or good singing, and especially not a beautiful building that we foolishly call the church.

Posted in Church, Holiness | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

On Dealing with Mental Illness

Posted on 12/22/2010 by Paul Pavao

If you’re here because you googled mental illness, you came to the wrong place. There are mental illnesses that need professional, medical treatment, and there’s others that require deliverance by Christians that are close to God and able to drive out demons.

I’m not talking about those mental illnesses. I’m talking about the ones that come from being human, which most of us don’t realize are mental illnesses.

This is a little more light-hearted than most of my posts, but no less important in my eyes.

Swollen head Syndrome

God’s called me to a be a teacher. He’s given me a gift. Sometimes that means it’s really easy to teach and really easy to know what God’s saying. Sometimes that means that people walk away saying wonderful things about me, and other times they just walk away amazed, just a little bit more open to God in their lives.

I don’t want to talk about being a teacher. I want to talk about what it took for me to write the last paragraph.

Just saying that God called me to be a teacher sets off alarm bells inside. Numerous parts of me start speaking:

  • The part that catalogs what other people think so that I can make sure to follow all the rules for life says, "That’s not a very humble thing to say."
  • The part of me that is scared of what other people think—the part that wants me to follow polls like a politician—says, "Think of a way to tell them you’re a teacher http://rosecreekvillage.com/shammah/wp-admin/post.php?post=837&action=edit&message=1to get your point across, but find some words that make you look humble."
  • The part of me that wants to affect what other people think of me, says, "Be bold! You can’t be humble by acting humble, anyway. Cross lines fearlessly, like all those guys you admire, and then maybe others will admire you, too!"

All that happens inside me in a split second.

Shrunken Head Syndrome

Worse, I’d love to acknowledge that I’m astounded at the revelation God gives me sometimes. It comes down from heaven, fills me with joy, makes my insides quiver, and always gives me power to dispel anything that comes up against what I’m saying. When that revelation comes, I can see inside of people, and it’s no problem cutting right to the center of a matter, nor to speak fearlessly yet with care and compassion.

That’s a gift of God. It’s incredibly delightful, and I think it’s a good thing to talk about because every one of us has a gift from God like that, and every one of us can experience the thrill and the inexplicable confidence that comes from operating in that gift.

But it’s exceptionally difficult to talk about the gift of God in me.

The fact is, when it’s happening, it’s very easy to be really, truly proud in a sinful way.

But then, afterward, this other gift of mine rises up. It’s the ability to condemn, and especially to condemn myself.

"Got arrogant again today, didn’t you? There’s people who ask you now and then just who you think you are, and they saw you today, puffed up and full of pride. Today, they know they’re justified in paying no attention to you because they’re right. You’re too big for your breeches."

The voice goes on:

"And what do you have to be proud of, anyway? It’s not like you deny yourself the way Hudson Taylor did. Are you scraping aside every bit of extra money? How about selling your furniture for missions support like Carol Vezey did? Amy Carmichael had her eyes set on the Gospel all the time. She wasn’t unmoved, and she sure wasn’t spending any time thinking she just gave a wonderful message. She was too busy being spiritual."

Your Voices

Do you ever go through that kind of thinking?

I’m 49. I’ve been walking with God for 28 years. I’ve paid a lot of attention the advice that’s been given me over the last 28 years in hopes of overthrowing those voices and thinking properly.

And I’ve found an answer.

The answer is that there is no answer.

No, the answer is that no answer is needed.

My mind’s going to be like that forever. Maybe it’s a mental illness. I’ve lived long enough, though, to know that if it’s a mental illness, it’s a mental illness that afflicts a lot of people.

But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Those voices make a lot of noise, and it’s slightly uncomfortable, and sometimes I feel bad for a little while, but those voices don’t deceive me. I know what’s right, and if I ignore what I feel about a situation and do what I know to be true about a situation, those voices don’t get in the way of that.

By the way, I’m not talking about really hearing voices. I heard voices for a couple years as a teenager after doing some LSD, and it took the prayers of the saints for those voices to go away … and they didn’t go away without a fight, nor without my choosing to do what’s right.

A 2nd-century Christian once wrote, "The evil demons … subdue all who do not put up a strong opposing effort for their own salvation." (Justin, First Apology 14). Don’t think that it’s all about God’s call. There’s God’s call, but he only chooses those who take the kingdom of heaven with violent effort.

The answer God has given me is to ignore all those thoughts and feelings. Who cares if I’m insecure, shaken by circumstances, and my feelings are driven around by what others think about me? My job is to ignore all that and get about my business serving God. I’m too busy to spend time fixing inadequacies that are impossible to fix, anyway.

What would be worse is if I used them as excuses.

To this day the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Maybe God will deliver you from your insecurities, but he’s never delivered me from mine, nor from the utterly ridiculous thoughts that accompany them.

I don’t argue with those thoughts, anymore. I just ignore them, and I get on about my business.

You need to do the same because I’m pretty sure God thinks you can rise up and serve him despite how you feel.

Posted in Holiness | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The 3 Things Paul Wants Us To Know

Posted on 12/21/2010 by Paul Pavao

Many years ago a read a book suggesting that we learn how to pray for each other from the apostle Paul. Paul tells three churches—Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae—what he was praying for them about. He gives his prayers for the church in Ephesus twice, once in 1:17-23 and once in 3:14-21.

I only want to focus on the first of those prayers because it lends itself well to an outline, and its outline matches the other prayers in Philippians, and Colossians well.

Here’s his prayer:

"… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, so that you may know …

  1. "what is the hope of his calling,
  2. "what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
  3. "and what is the exception greatness of his power to us who believe."

1. The hope of his calling

The issue here is first and foremost eternal life. In Titus 1:2, Paul writes:

… in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.

In another place, Paul tells us we are saved by hope, and that hope concerns those things that we cannot yet see. The context of that hope is …

[We], who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom. 8:23)

The apostle John adds, "This is the promise which he has promised: eternal life." (1 Jn. 2:25).

How many times does our Master promise us riches in heaven if we will forsake the riches of this earth? Paul, too, tells us that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The writer of Hebrews, when he asks us to set aside the weights, the things that hold us back, as well as the sins we’ve done, tells us to do so with our eyes on Jesus who endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. If even our Master kept his eyes on the reward at the end, how much more should we!

So Paul prays that we would first know the hope of eternal life.

2. The Riches of the Glory of His Inheritance in the Saints

Paul takes the time to distinguish between the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints.

It’s important not to treat the two as the same thing.

Note that it is "his" inheritance in the saints, not "ours."

I’m sure that I’ll not be able to do this topic justice, but the adoption, the redemption of our bodies is not just something that we groan for. "The whole creation" groans and it travails like a woman in childbirth, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:20-23).

We’re going to save the universe, folks. When the sons of God are revealed, the entire creation will be released from its slavery to decay and brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

I’ll bet you’ve heard the verse that says that the sufferings of this time aren’t worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us. I bet you have never thought about the context of that verse, which is that all creation will enter into the glorious liberty of …

Of us!

All creation … our glorious liberty …

Pretty heady stuff, isn’t it?

Paul’s prayer was that we would know the hope of our calling, which is eternal life, but that, second, we would also know the incredible wealth associated with the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints. That incredible wealth is the deliverance of the creation from uselessness and decay.

The entire creation is groaning in earnest expectation of that day.

We think so small.

3. The Exceptional Greatness of His Power … Toward Us Who Believe!

The third thing Paul prays for us to know is not just the exceptional greatness of his power. We all think we know that. After all, he created the universe. He can do anything he wants. Yeah, God! He’s awesome.

No, Paul prays that we would know the exception greatness of his power to us who believe.

Paul was going for it. Nothing deterred him. He was convinced of the power of the Gospel, and even if you bottled him up in a prison, illegally beat him with whips, and stuck him in stocks, he was going to cry out praises to God.

When he did, the earth shook, the stocks fell off, and Paul preached the Gospel once more.

Well, that was for then, right?

May God grant you to know the exceptional greatness of his power to us who believe!

We’re wimpy. And we’re wimpy because we’re full of unbelief. It’s not our weakness as humans that makes us wimpy. It’s our unbelief. According to James, Elijah was just like us, subject to the same passions. But he prayed and no rain fell for 3 years.

I talked about it on this blog a few days ago. Moses, David, and even Samson were mightily used by God, and it wasn’t because they were overflowing with the power to overcome temptation beyond all the rest of us mere mortals. They just believed God more. As a matter of fact, Moses probably didn’t even believe God more. He was just in the right place at the right time.

Oh that we knew the exceptional greatness of his power!

4. The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Him

Wait, I said 3 things, didn’t I!

This last one is not something he wanted us to know, it’s how he wanted us to get to know the other things!

The knowledge of those things does not come by my explaining them in a blog. It comes by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

The first thing Paul prays for is not that we know those 3 things I mentioned, but that we have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; otherwise, we’re just blind, carnal theologians, repeating words without power, except perhaps the power to kill, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

We’ve addressed other verses in Romans 8, let us never forget Romans 8:14: "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."

Christianity is not a religion of knowledge; it’s a religion of power; it’s a religion of revelation; it’s a spiritual religion. If you aren’t led by the Spirit of God, then you aren’t a son of God, and if you’re not a son of God, then you’re not a Christian.

Christians aren’t good people; Christians are sons of the living God.

I’ve said enough. May God give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, so that you can really be a believer, and never underestimate that incredible, universe-changing word: Believer.

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What It Takes To Be a Missionary

Posted on 12/20/2010 by Paul Pavao

A few days ago I gave you a link to Dassi’s Mexico Blog, and I made a few comments about what it means to be a missionary.

As usual, it included a lot of words. Today, I saw a blog from Aubrey, who’s down there for a couple weeks. It includes the following paragraph that says what I was trying to say but, of course, much more succinctly:

I really love being here. It is easy to think that if you’re going to be a missionary you need to be really spiritual, quick witted, and some kind of a leader. Of course these things come in handy and you do need a solid relationship with God to sustain you in tough situations, but the needs of people are very basic. If you can love all the time, which isn’t always easy, that is pretty much all you need. That probably sounds dumb. It just kind of hit home for me though being able to watch Nichole and Jason take care of these people.

That does not sound dumb, Aubrey, it’s profound.

I don’t know how to link to her individual pages. That quote’s from December 15. Make sure to read her Dec. 12 post, too, especially the part about the steam.

Posted in missions | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Did Jolly St. Nick Slap Arius at the Council of Nicea?

Posted on 12/19/2010 by Paul Pavao

Suddenly, all over the internet, I’m reading that St. Nicholas, the person from whom Santa Claus got his name, was at the Council of Nicea and that he was so fed up with the obstinance of the heretic Arius that he marched across the room and slapped him in the face.

Of course, this rings true because it is in line with what we know about Santa Claus. Remember him bopping that psychiatrist with his cane in Miracle on 34th Street? And he gave a movie director a black eye in that greatest of Christmas movies, Ernest Saves Christmas.

Despite this powerful endorsement, however, the St. Nicholas story is, sadly, not true.

Who Knows What Happened at Nicea?

The story caught me by surprise because I’d never heard it, and I’m writing a book on the Council of Nicea. I’ve read all the writings from people who were there. I’ve read the 5th century histories that describe the council. I’ve read the canons they produced.

None of them even mention not-so-jolly St. Nick.

Fortunately, there are professional historians with more time than me that can go hunt down the sources of myths like this. In this case, good ol’ Christianity Today, which used to publish Christian History magazine, has an article on the St. Nicholas story.

I’m afraid, though, that the story of Nicholas slapping Arius wasn’t made up until about 5 centuries after Nicea.

By the way, the rest of the story is that the bishops were appalled at St. Nick’s lack of decorum, so they removed him from being bishop of Myra. But then Joseph and Mary appeared next to him, and they realized they couldn’t do that.

What a great Christmas story!

But, unfortunately, just an old bishop’s tale.

Shameless Plug

I have a page on Nicea myths at Christian History for Everyman.

That page will link you to the Council of Nicea section, too, which I personally believe is the best combination of readability and indepth accuracy you’ll find about that first ecumenical council on the internet.

I’m a chapter away from having a first version of my book on the Council of Nicea, too, though it still has that horrible editing process that it takes to make a book feel professional.

You also missed the short overview of the Council of Nicea and its events if you’re not signed up for the Early Church History Newsletter.

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Teaching All the Wrong Things To Get All the Right Results

Posted on 12/18/2010 by Paul Pavao

I talked to Austin Park this morning. He’s 20 years old, and he’s going off from Rose Creek Village to join ITEC and be taught by Steve Saint and friends how to help spread the Gospel to the whole world. He was raised at Rose Creek Village, and we devoted ourselves to teaching him how to follow Christ.

We forgot, however, to teach him how to be a Christian.

So he called today to ask. "What church do I go to?" "Is it okay to go to church?" "Do I have to care about end times?" "Why are Christians so condemning toward Jehovah’s Witnesses."

Now that was an enjoyable conversation!

I want to talk, though, about only one of his questions: "Why did Steve Saint make an exception for me and know so quickly he should?"

Diligently Preserve the Unity of the Spirit

Austin didn’t exactly ask that question. It was more a topic we discussed. I thought, however, you’d appreciate it if I didn’t type out our whole phone conversation, but reduced it to a question and answer.

Austin told me that Steve Saint knew within half an hour that Austin was sent to meet a need of theirs. He also told Austin that Austin has the spiritual maturity of a much older man.

I haven’t met Steve Saint. He’s the son of Nate Saint, who was martyred in Ecuador with Jim Elliott, a story which was covered in the movie, End of the Spear. I’ve only heard him speak, and I’ve talked to others who are now meeting and talking to him. Steve Saint is a spiritual man.

Austin has spiritual maturity, and Steve Saint could see into Austin’s heart quickly … both are true for the same reason.

Austin has spiritual maturity, not because of what we’ve taught him, but because of what we haven’t taught him.

Austin told me that concerning many of the subjects he’s discussed with Christians he’s met, his answer has repeatedly been, "I don’t really care."

Christians today think that unity comes from doctrine. We have all these doctrines we care about. We honor the Scriptures, most of the time more than we honor God. God might lead us astray, most Christians think, but the Scriptures won’t. We’re safer if we have good, solid, black-and-white Scriptural guidance for what we believe and how we live than if we lean on invisible, possibly emotional Spiritual guidance.

That’s ridiculous, and if it doesn’t kill you spiritually, it will make you deathly ill.

It will certainly hide your heart and stunt your spiritual growth.

Spiritual men have learned what to care about and what not to care about. Spiritual men are capable of preserving the unity of the Spirit because they’re not covering up spiritual unity with all sorts of brilliant, insightful—and even Scriptural—theological ideas.

Steve Saint and Austin touched hearts quickly because we’ve never clogged up Austin’s spirit with good Christian ideas. We just left him to God.

Good Christian Ideas and Spiritual Power

Sometimes that’s embarrassing. He doesn’t know all the Bible stories that the Sunday school kids know. He doesn’t know all the right Scriptures. He may never have paid much attention to "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Instead, he learned verses like "warn the unruly and comfort the fainthearted," so he’d know how to talk to friends.

But it’s never embarrassing when the battles come. No one ever regrets having Austin alongside them on the spiritual front lines. You turn, and he’s still there. Provisions and supplies run low, and people are collapsing everywhere, and you turn, and Austin is saying, "I’m still here; we’ll win in the end."

When the battle’s not raging, you may find our kids sitting in the theater watching Harry Potter, or worse, the latest Matt Damon movie.

Sometimes it may be appropriate to be embarrassed about things like that; however, what’s never embarrassing is that every one of them knows that the ultimate sin is to talk about the movie afterward without including every one of their friends, or to ignore the lonely stranger sitting in the corner, or to be too busy to open a door for a lady or to help someone in need.

No one left out, no one lonely, always have time for people, and always serve them.

That ought to be a Scripture or something.

"They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another."

"If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of everyone."

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When You’re Not Greater Than John the Baptist

Posted on 12/17/2010 by Paul Pavao

I’m so sorry I’m not better at being brief. The following is SO IMPORTANT, but it’s written the only way I know how to say it, which I’m sure is too long. You have to be able to get this, however, or the devil will beat the snot out of you with your own evil conscience.

******************

I’m not going to apologize for laying a heavy load on myself and you yesterday because that load is based on simply believing. We can believe like that. The things I wrote are true!

However, if we’re going to walk in real belief and real power, then we’re also going to have to be honest and real about the following, which I got from Jeff Milam’s Transient Glory blog.

There are two things that are constant in the lives of the Hebrew people from the time they leave Egypt until they are on the brink of crossing the Jordan. First, God is always with them; guiding, instructing, providing, delivering, protecting, and performing miracles for them. The other constant is the complaining that reveals their unbelief. … As I’ve been reading through the story of the Hebrews, I’m left with the notion that these people somehow either persistently failed to remember what God had accomplished for them or simply and stubbornly refused to embrace belief in Him. … But do I have any room to talk?

The Right Goal and Looking at the Right Place

I wasn’t completely comfortable with yesterday’s post. It seemed too likely to make people feel like failures rather than lifting them up to the wonderful standard I was talking about.

On the other hand, I feel like I’m as bad at being a good Christian as most people I know, yet I not only have real hope of living in those incredible promises; I’ve experienced it, and not all that rarely.

Jeff’s blog painted a perfect picture. (Thanks, Jeff!)

God is the powerful one, and he was powerful for terrible people like the Israelites Jeff mentions. He was powerful even for someone so unbelieving as …

Moses.

Think about it. Have you ever paid attention to the discussion Moses had with God while a bush was burning without being burned right in front of his eyes? This was going on the whole time they were talking. Oh, yeah, and he was TALKING TO GOD!!!

So God says he’s going to send Moses (Ex. 3:7-10).

Moses says, "Who? Me?" Then he says he doesn’t think he can do it (v. 11).

So God says he’ll be with Moses and give him a sign (v. 12).

Moses asks who he’s supposed to say is sending him. He asks for God’s name (v. 13).

So God gives him 2 different versions of his name (vv. 14-15).

Then God explains the whole scenario to Moses. He explains that the elders of Israel will listen to him, but Pharaoh will not, but God will do miracles to bring the Israelites out. He even tells him that the Israelites will leave wealthy (vv. 16-22).

Moses disagrees with God and says the elders won’t believe him (4:1).

God gives him THREE miracles to show the elders, two of which he works right on the spot so Moses can see them (vv. 2-9).

Moses says he’s not eloquent (v. 10).

Now God, understandably, gets irritated. Picture a parent with a child. The conversation changes from the parent helping the child to understand, to, "Listen, just go do what I tell you" (vv. 11-12).

MOSES SAYS NO!!! (v. 13)

Can you imagine this? Moses is so scared that he won’t look at God. He believes the superstition common among the Jews that if you look at God, you’ll die, and he acts in accordance with that. But while the God he won’t look at is telling him what to do, he’s refusing!

Superstitions are ridiculous. Yes, God himself says that if you look at his face, you’ll die, but Moses wasn’t looking at his face … or his body … or any other part of God. He was looking at a miraculous fire on a bush.

All sorts of Old Testament figures saw "angels"—representative, created-on-the-spot, spiritual bodies—of God, and they lived.

But disobeying God, now that can lead to death, but Moses wasn’t afraid of that!

Now God’s not irritated. He’s angry. The Scripture says, "The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses" (v. 14).

So God tells Moses that Aaron is on his way and will be his spokesman. Then he tells Moses that he will take his rod and go do signs (vv. 15-17).

You know the rest of the story. After this ridiculous episode, Moses is pretty awesome. In fact, he’s so awesome that at the end of his life he gets a little haughty and isn’t allowed to enter Canaan.

As an aside, I think about that, and I think Moses was probably pretty frustrated with those people. Their unbelief resulted in his wandering around in the desert for 40 years for a second time.

But that’s just the point. The first time was his own fault, and when God came to end that first 40 years in the desert, God was very patient with Moses’ phenomenal obstinance. So he wasn’t very patient when Moses couldn’t handle the Israelites’ unbelief.

What About Us?

I talked about a high standard of belief yesterday. Thank God for wonderful people like Hudson Taylor and Amy Carmichael who set terribly convicting examples of how to live in faith like that.

I think I’ve given up on ever being Hudson Taylor or Amy Carmichael. Those were good Christians.

But Moses? I could be Moses!

That’s not a joke. It is meant to be ironic or even to make you chuckle, but it’s not a joke. You can be Moses.

The great men I’ve known personally seem to be oblivious to how unworthy they are to do the things they do. Unlike me, they don’t spend time wringing their hands, wondering why anyone ought to listen to them when they’re such wretched creatures, always finding ways to irritate God.

Do you know why?

It’s because they’ve got their eyes off themselves and on the throne of God, where Jesus—the rightful and righteous King—is sitting.

I’ve had a lot of experience with God: 28 years. After 28 years, it has become clear that God has never gotten up on even one morning fretting over what I did yesterday. Only I do.

Our King always has a right to ask—or demand—that his will be done. He always has a right to speak, and he always has a right to speak through whomever he wants. When he asks you to stand up for him, that’s not the time for you to let all your previous failures be an excuse to fail again!

God’s too busy to fret about what you did last time.

Maybe here’s another illustration.

When I was in high school, I made the baseball team for our Air Force base. I wasn’t a starter, though, and I wanted to be. One day, before a game, while the coach was hitting us grounders, I let a ball scoot under the end of my glove. I wanted the coach to know that wasn’t normal for me, so I did a little "I can’t believe that happened" dance of frustration.

The coach was frustrated, too, but not with my error, but with my ridiculous show. "Just pick the *@&* ball up and throw it back to me," he said. "Do you want to play today or not?"

I still like to do a mental dance of mourning when it’s time to rise to the occasion for God. "Look God! Now’s a time I could really be useful, and I’m worthy to be useful, I’m sure! Look how I’m repenting! Look at my mourning over the fact that I’ve been distracted by my own interests for the last 3 hours! Use me now!"

God usually says, "I’m trying to, but you won’t shut up. I don’t have time for all this. I’m going to go find some other fallible, imperfect human that goes out of his way to please me when he can and who will SHUT UP AND LISTEN when I try to get him to do something."

Pretty human, pretty earthy, somewhat gross, but the route to real power with God is along that route. God uses and chooses not only Moses but even Sampson. You might as well line up with Isaiah and say, "Here am I, use me."

You won’t believe the people that are getting called to work out of that line. You could even be one of them.

Posted in Holiness, missions | 2 Comments

Who’s Greater Than John the Baptist?

Posted on 12/16/2010 by Paul Pavao

Who is greater than John the Baptist?

You are.

I can guarantee this truth: Of all people ever born, no one is greater than John the Baptizer. Yet, the least important person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. (Matt. 11:11, God’s Word Version)

Have you ever thought about this? You should.

Underestimating Ourselves

In 1 Cor. 3:3 Paul rebukes the Corinthians for behaving like men.

We are not mere children of Adam. Have you ever noticed that Jesus is called "the last Adam" in 1 Cor. 15:45. Two verses later, he is called "the second man."

There’s a reason for the choice of "last" and "second." Jesus’ spiritual brothers are not sons of Adam anymore. Jesus was the last Adam.

He was also the second man. He came to make a new race of people, not children of Adam, but children of God. Not partakers of the fallen nature of man, but partakers of the heavenly nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4). The first man, Paul tells us, was a living soul. The second man, is a life-giving spirit.

We are of that new race of life-giving spirits, not of the old one that lives by the soul.

Whenever Jesus told us to lay down our lives, he used the Greek word psuche, which is the word for soul, the same word used in 1 Cor. 15:45.

Whoever tries to save his psuche shall lose it; whoever is willing to lose his psuche for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:25)

Am I taking this too far? I’d like you to consider the following verses:

"Soulish" Men

There’s a word not many of us are familiar with because it’s translated so many ways in our English Bibles.

That word is "soulish." It’s psuchikos in Greek, and it’s used 6 times (in 5 verses) in the New Testament. Let me list the 5 verses for you:

  • The soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness to him. (1 Cor. 2:14)
  • It is sown a soulish body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a soulish body, and there is a spiritual one. (1 Cor. 15:44)
  • That which is spiritual was not first, but that which was soulish, then afterward that which is spiritual. (1 Cor. 15:46)
  • This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, soulish, demonic. (Jam. 3:15)
  • These are those who separate themselves, soulish, not having the Spirit. (Jude 1:19)

As you can see, it’s not really good to be soulish.

Do you know how I apply this? I apply this to the times when I want to say, "Well, you know, I’m just human."

No, I’m not. I’m not just human.

By [his divine power] are given to us exceptionally great and precious promises so that through these we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Pet. 1:4)

Wow. Do we believe this?

Would we accept a rebuke from a brother that said, "You’re behaving like humans."

Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. (1 Jn. 3:2)

Greater Than John the Baptist

You have something John didn’t have. You have the New Covenant. Those who have entered the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13) have been delivered from the darkness in a way which John the Baptist had not yet partaken of.

Remember Jesus’ comment about new wineskins?

Jesus was being asked why his disciples weren’t fasting. Jesus told the disciples of John—it wasn’t the Pharisees asking—that his disciples would fast when the bridegroom left them (Matt. 9:14-17).

Was that only because they would mourn over the bridegroom being gone?

Well, let me ask you. Are you living in mourning over the loss of Jesus? Are you supposed to be mourning that Jesus is gone?

I think not. I think that Jesus said it would be better if he left because that’s the only way the Comforter would come. C’est ne pas? (I’m probably misusing that French phrase, but it felt like a good place for it.)

Immediately after the comment about the bridegroom leaving, Jesus adds that you can’t put unshrunk cloth on an old garment, nor new wine in old wineskins.

He was saying his disciples’ fasting not only wasn’t necessary until he left, but their fasting wouldn’t be worth much until he left.

Why? Because they were still old garments and hardened wineskins. He was looking for new wine, and he needed to make them new garments and refreshed wineskins before he could patch them up or give them the new wine.

But now it’s happened! The bridegroom has gone—temporarily—and the Comforter has come. We are partakers of the new covenant, built on better promises—exceptionally great and precious promises—so that through these we might be partakers of the divine nature!

Divine beings; sons of Almighty God.

No wonder Paul rebukes the Corinthians for behaving like men. No wonder Jesus said it was better that he go away. No wonder he said the very least in his kingdom would be greater than John.

These all, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise; God having provided something better for us, so that they should not be made complete without us. (Heb. 11:39-40)

Do you know who "these all" are? Isaiah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses!

This comment by Jesus that we would be greater than John is not unique or alone!

But if the service of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance—a glory that would pass away—how will the service of the Spirit not be greater in glory? (2 Cor. 3:7-8)

Walking in the Promises of God

Okay, I’m taking a deep breath as I write this, so often the stinking hypocrite that I can be.

Can I believe this? Can I walk this out in truth?

The truth is that I do walk this out in truth … often. It’s those times when I don’t that make me breathe hard, lower my eyes, and mutter and mourn. What great promises! What great power!

Look what John the Baptist, Moses, and Abraham did without that same great power!

Listen, if we believe the Bible, that’s what it says. We have a more glorious service. We are greater than John who was greater than all men born before him. We have promises they did not have.

Yeah, I know; that can be depressing. Us? Greater than Moses?

I don’t believe God does "depressing." I believe that we should walk boldly into the light by the blood of Christ … and BELIEVE.

He can take care of the past. He can overlook all that of which we repent.

Don’t the righteous live by faith? Let’s BELIEVE.

Sin will not have power over you because you are not under Law but under grace. (Rom. 6:14)

Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:24)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Php. 4:13)

Posted in Holiness | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Polycarp, Anicetus, Popes, Tradition, the Passover, and Easter

Posted on 12/15/2010 by Paul Pavao

Odd title, I know. This is a story I wrote, based on a true 2nd-century story, to start a chapter in the book I’m writing on the Council of Nicea. (Decoding Nicea is now available wherever books are sold.)

I include it here in hopes that it’s interesting and gives you a little picture into life in the 2nd-century church, complete with a couple known early Christian traditions thrown in.

Note, a couple days ago I sent an entire chapter, the short version of the overview of the council, to my mailing list from Christian History for Everyman. If you’re not on that mailing list and would like to be, you can sign up here.

Polycarp, the aged and respected bishop of Smyrna, was in Rome. It was spring, and the Italian weather was beautiful.

Polycarp was over 70, and attendants helped him across the threshold into the home of Anicetus, bishop of Rome.

Rome was the most prestigious church in the world. It was not only founded by Paul, but Peter had lived there as an elder for many years before Nero had him crucified, upside down at Peter’s request. He felt unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

Now, though, Anicetus had an issue with Polycarp. It was Saturday, the day before Pascha, the Christian version of Passover, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. In preparation, the Roman church was fasting, but the Smyrneans, and Polycarp himself, were not.

It was a time of great unity and joy in the churches. They did everything together. Having vanquished the gnostic heretics, the apostolic churches proclaimed their Gospel together as if they had “but one soul and one and the same heart.” They proclaimed the teaching of the apostles and handed them down “with perfect harmony, as if they possessed but one mouth” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies I:10:2).

Anicetus, then, was shocked at the distinction he was now witnessing. Why did the Smyrneans not fast with the Romans in preparation for the greatest of all first days, the great feast of Pascha?

“John, and other apostles, as well,” Polycarp explained to Anicetus, “taught us this tradition. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered on the Passover day, Nisan 14 by Jewish reckoning, and so we celebrate that day as we have been taught by the apostles.”

Anicetus was not sure what to do. The tradition of celebrating Pascha on the Lord’s day, the first day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead, had come to them from Peter and Paul. How could they do otherwise? Yet here was Polycarp, possibly the last bishop alive who actually knew the apostles. As Peter and Paul were the greatest of apostles in their day, so Polycarp was greatest of the bishops in this day.

But Anicetus’ flock knew that there was disparity in practice between the Smyrneans and the Romans. Something must be done.

The Christian spirit and affection was strong in those days. From great to small, Christians were known for their bravery. Not just men, but women and children scorned the punishment of Roman persecutors, passing judgment on their judges by their joy in facing death, and knowing that every drop of blood they shed was seed. “The more often you mow us down, the more of us there are,” they would boast (Tertullian, Apology 50).

The Christians were not just brave but even poetic in their sufferings.

“It’s a beautiful thing to God when a Christian does battle with pain: when he faces threats, punishments, and tortures by mocking death and treading underfoot the horror of the executioner; when he raises up his freedom in Christ as a standard before kings and princes; when he yields to God alone and, triumphant and victorious, he tramples upon the very man who has pronounced sentence upon him. God finds all these things beautiful.” (Minucius Felix, The Octavius 37, c. 200).

Warmed by that Christian spirit, Anicetus asked his venerable fellow bishop to appear in the gathering the following morning.

Each first day, the Christians in Rome—and indeed all over the world—would gather early, before the day’s work commenced, and break bread and drink wine in remembrance of the Lord’s death, as he had commanded. They did not kneel, for the first day was the Lord’s day, the day of resurrection, and thus it was to be celebrated with joy. When they prayed, they raised their hands, making their whole bodies a sign of the cross and expecting acceptance at the throne of God because of the precious blood of Christ, who had died on their behalf.

This first day, the presiding one, the bishop of Rome, handed the bread to Polycarp to break.

Polycarp offered prayer to God in heaven, thanking him that as the wheat was gathered from every hillside to be ground together into one loaf, so the people of God had been gathered from every place to become one body for the Son of God to dwell in. He then broke the loaf, gave it to the servants of the congregation, and they ate the food that they called “the medicine of immortality” (Ignatius of Antioch, AD 107 or 116, “Epistle to the Ephesians,” ch. 20).

Polycarp repeated the prayer with the cup, filled with wine that had been crushed from grapes from many clusters.

And as they finished, the two bishops looked at one another, knowing that without breaking the tradition of their forefathers in the faith, they had preserved that one loaf and that one cup that is the church of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Church, History, Unity | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To Evangelize Or Not To Evangelize

Posted on 12/14/2010 by Paul Pavao

Today someone tweeted a link to one of my posts, which I of course appreciate. I looked at his Twittermeme page, and I appreciate guys like that. They’re awesome, and anyone that’s zealous for proclaiming Jesus is my brother. I’m proud of and thrilled with such people.

But …

It is with fear and trepidation that I disagree with the header on his account:

In Acts 5:42, all shared the gospel. Fact: today only 2%. What’s changed?

All shared the Gospel in Acts 5:42?

I looked it up. Acts 5:42 is talking about the apostles and maybe even just a couple of the apostles. A chapter earlier, Luke writes:

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of Christ. (Acts 4:33)

Believing the Scriptures Even When We’re More Righteous Than the Scriptures

How’s that for a heading?

The Scriptures say, "How shall they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:15). But we want everyone to preach.

Our righteousness is supposed to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20), but it is not supposed to exceed that of the Scriptures or of Christ! Bad things happen when we get ourselves in that position!

Paul didn’t travel and preach the Gospel until many years—more than a decade—after he was saved.

Now keep in mind Paul was a preacher by nature. He was zealous and outspoken enough to be trying to crush the Christians, even by violence, before he was saved. You can be assured that people like him will always be trying to convince everyone around them of what they think.

Others are not so. Should we all be Pauls?

Well, I’ve pointed out that Acts has only the apostles, plus some additional men like Stephen, Philip, Apollos, and even a woman, Priscilla, preaching the Gospel, but not the general populace of the church.

Nor is there a single command in the New Testament to preach the Gospel except commands directed to the apostles or to Timothy, an apostle himself.

Really.

Shut Up!

The Scriptures, in order to see the Gospel spread, tell us …

Honor yourself by shutting up! Work with your own hands, like we told you, so that you are living decently in front of outsiders! (1 Thess. 4:11)

You’ve probably never seen that translation before. It’s from the PAVAO Bible (Paul’s Annotated Version and Anointed Opinions).

Okay, I made it up, and I’m kidding around a little bit, but it’s not an illegitimate translation. It’s overboard, but I’m not misrepresenting the gist of 1 Thess. 4:11. That verse is trying to say, in context, "Quit being a busybody. Leave people alone. Quit ‘living by faith’ and get a job so that people don’t think you’re a bum."

Read it yourself. That’s the point. And if you move on to 2 Thessalonians and read the 3rd chapter, you’ll see that he had to tell them the same thing all over again.

Evangelizing the Bible Way

It has always stood out to me that when Justin Martyr, around A.D. 150, described how people had become Christians, he listed only three things:

  • By the consistency they witnessed in their Christian neighbor’s lives
  • By the extraordinary forbearance they witnessed in Christian travelers when they were cheated. (I guess this was common in the 2nd century.)
  • By the honesty of the Christians with whom they’d transacted business.

In other words, Christians had shut up, gotten jobs, and lived honorable lives in front of outsiders, and those outsiders saw it and wanted in.

Would it be fair to say that we’re failing miserably at that today?

As a whole, we are. Christianity in America, as a whole, is embarrassing. Overall, it produces no change in people’s lives except an occasional obsession with right-wing politics. Christians are divided, and they are not distinguished by honesty or by anything else.

And, in general, they’re sure not going to be forbearing when they’re cheated at a hotel!

Individually, though, there are some Christians, and everyone who’s ever lived like that knows that people take notice.

I remember only one real Christian that I knew as a child. I never forgot her. It put an openness to the Gospel in me that never went away.

Before I lived in a Christian community where everyone is patient, forbearing, and kind, I was told several times that I was the first real Christian that a person had met. I was even told by an atheist once that meeting me across the internet and seeing my honest dealings with the Gospel shook his atheism.

I’m not bragging. Anyone who’s really devoted themselves to the Gospel, whether they’re lousy at it like me or real good at it like that lady I knew as a child, has had such experiences.

But we ruin it when we try to turn every Christian into a used-religion salesmen. Those people are no better a testimony for the Gospel than is a used-car salesman.

In Danger of Rambling On, I Conclude …

For most of us, shut up, get a job, and be a good testimony with your life until you’re sent, then preach, is good advice.

Here’s Jesus’ general command to evangelize: Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

If you think that is a big enough goal for the average Christian to pursue all by itself, you don’t know the half of it! That "your" is plural! It’s not okay to shine "this little light of mine." You have to shine the great light on a hill that can’t be hidden. That means you not only have to live for Jesus, you have to find others, join yourself to them, and live for Jesus with them, exhorting one another every day so that none of you are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

If you do that, then maybe one day, God will say, "Set aside <your name here> and <your co-workers name here> for the work to which I’ve called them."

This post’s a disorganized mess, but I’m happy with that conclusion.

Posted in Gospel, Holiness, missions, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments