Friday Faithfuls 2 - Titus

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ok.  I am doing this week and next week out of order because 2 Tim. is Paul's final epistle and I want do do that one last. So it's Titus this week...another letter written to a young pastor with advice on church government, his role, and what to teach.

Today's gotcha is something that made me double take...

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.  In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.  They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.  - Titus 1:15 - 16a

I had never noticed that seeming contradiction before... those who are corrupted and do not believe...claim to know God.  

Whoa.  I had always kinda stopped the thought at the end of verse 15, as I knew many folks who were unbelievers who had minds that would make jokes of twisting something entirely innocent into something foul.  Literally...everything...was subject to coarse interpretation.  Nothing was pure.  But 'they claim to know God' was not something that applied to these folks.  They were heathen and proud of it.

How does one claim to know God without believing?  It was Jesus who made God personable; the knowledge of God in the OT was limited to a few prophets and leaders who had been specifically anointed. So I don't think Paul was talking about someone who just hadn't made the paradigm shift to Jesus as Messiah, as such a person would likely NOT claim to 'know God'.  Study about him, yes, honor, respect and fear him, yes, but not KNOW him. Such folks are taken aback by the concept that God is know-able, and it was one of the reasons the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were offended by him.

So who are these people who claim to know God but do not believe?

They have to be people in the church.

And that made me sit back and ponder.  There were fake believers in the church in Paul's day, and they were causing problems.  

I honestly think this is one of the enemy's best tactics...to seed such folks in churches to tarnish the work of the church.  Folks who claim to know God...but teach contrary to the word.  Folks who claim to know God...but are actually working for their own reputation/ agenda.  To these folks, nothing is truly sacred; they don't fear to appropriate the appearance of true faith to reach their goals.  Undermining the teaching of Scripture is nothing to them if it gains them acceptance and accolades amongst their peers or their followers.  Nothing is pure.

But the thing is...God IS know-able.  We CAN pursue him with a pure heart and he WILL reveal himself via Holy Spirit.  Fakery is just that...fake...and eventually it crumbles under its own corruption.

Friday Faithfuls 2 - 1 Timothy

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

After a spontaneous out of town trip last week, Friday Faithfuls is back and we have come to 1 Timothy in our weekly skim through a book of the Bible, just to see what Holy Spirit highlights at that point.

Not a terribly disciplined way to study the Bible, I'll admit, but we have found some unexpected lessons along the way.

1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon are a different sort of letter than we've been reading; so far, the epistles of Paul have been letters to churches...corporate bodies.  But  these four letters are to individuals. 1 Timothy and Titus are written to give guidance and advice to young men that are leading congregations.  The other two are written for more personal reasons, as we'll see when we get there.

1 Timothy was written to Timothy, whom Paul had mentored and sent to Ephesus to lead the church there.  Timothy was a young man; this may have been his first appointment as a leader, so Paul writes a letter full of instruction on church government, order of service, and how Timothy should conduct himself as a leader.  And it's one of the 'how to conduct yourself' moments that caught my eye today.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness -- 1 Tim 6:11, NIV 84.

What caught my eye first was the emphatic title that Paul used for Timothy -- you, man of God  That's an identity statement.  Of course, Timothy was in a pastoral role.  He was clearly the 'man of God' for his position.  But...how would each of us be different if we really took on that identity...man of God/ woman of God.  If we believed that the most fundamental aspect of who we are begins with being 'of God'...belonging to him, a representative of him?  Not just something to be put on when we are doing churchy things.  

The next thing I saw was the use of the word 'flee'.  Believers are not instructed to flee from very many things.  The concordance in the back of my Scofield lists only 4 verses with instructions to a believer to flee from something.  The other three are:

1 Corinthians 6:18  ('flee from sexual immorality); 1 Corinthians 10:14 (idolatry); and 2 Timothy 2:22 (evil desires of youth).

But for this verse, we have to go to preceding verses to see what constitutes the 'all this' from which he is instructed to flee.  It turns out to be...drum roll...the love of money and desire for wealth (1 Tim 8 - 10).  Paul emphasizes contentment; satisfaction with having our needs met rather than pursuing wealth.

Contentment is a challenge in a world that is always pushing something newer, something better, something flashier, something more exciting (what number iPhone are we up to now? And how long before the next one is marketed?)...something that will Make Your Life Complete If You Get It. Our  our contentment is not related to the stuff we can accumulate.  It is related to righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  The true versions, not the caricatures. If we flee from the desire to possess and accumulate...we'll be running towards those things..

Reading More...Intentionally

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

2022 was going to be the year I really paid attention to the books I read; make notes, keep a notebook of reviews, and have witty and profound comments to make about them from time to time on the blog.

I did good in January, lol.  Read, noted and reviewed in a notebook 4 books.  Then I kinda got behind.  I made notes on two more books...undated in my journal...and certainly not in order.   The rest of the books I read (and I don't even know for sure how many) didn't make it into the journal.  It wasn't handy at the opportune moment and I just didn't keep up.

I read some profound books...and some books that were grinds to finish.  One book I read through, then turned right around and read it again, it was That Good (Stephen Roach's Naming the Animals, if you're curious).  At least one had me confused as to what really happened.  One blew me away with the world building and the creativity (Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline.  Yeah, I'm a little late to the party on that one...)

See, I used to be the girl that read All The Time.  Who finished the Reading textbook before Christmas (actually, probably before Halloween...) every year.  Who got into trouble for reading when there was Work To Be Done.  Who did the summer reading challenge at the local library in the first two weeks.  There were no AR points to be had when I was a kid, but I would have torn that up.  

I LOVED reading.

I still love reading...but I struggle with getting time to do it.  Hasn't stopped me from accumulating books, though.  I just have to be more...intentional...about actually reading them.

The notebook is a good idea, and I may go back and write up the rest of the books I read last year...that I can remember, anyway.

This year I decided to take pictures of books as I finish them.  At least that way I will have a visual record, if nothing else.

And maybe next January I can make witty and profound comments about the books I will read in the next twelve months...

What have you been reading?

Friday Faithfuls Two - 2 Thessalonians

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The holidays have come and gone like a snowstorm in the South...which also happened the day after Christmas (a whole half inch, lol)...and now it's time to get back into the little 'let's skim a book a week and see what verse/ passage Holy Spirit will highlight'.  We are in the T books of the New Testament and this week we have 2 Thessalonians.

Paul had mentioned the return of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians (the last post, two weeks ago), and he returns to that topic in this letter.  I kinda suspect that Paul had had news of these folks, which prompted the second letter, and there may have been a mention of their interest in this topic, because he writes, 'Concerning  the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him...' in 2:1.  This leads to a discussion of what will precede this event, namely, the revealing of 'the lawless one' (2:3), who will deceive 'those who are perishing' (2:10a).

This brings me to the verse that jumped out at me this week; maybe it's because I've been in conversations lately discussing our human tendency to be dishonest with ourselves, which is where all true deception starts.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. -- 2 Thess. 2: 10b- 12

They refused to love the truth. That's where it ALL starts.  All the deception, all the pain, all the rebellion, all the ...sin.  It STARTS with a refusal to love the truth.

What is the Truth, Eve?  God loves you and wants to fellowship with you and gave you ONE THING to do in order to obey him.  The Deception...God is holding out on me and I need to make up my own mind. 

What is the Truth, Cain?  You know what God expects from you, why not simply do what he asks?  You know...the right thing?  The Deception...I should be able to show God my love and worship how I think fit, if he doesn't accept it, that's his problem and I shouldn't have to change.  If I remove the one he prefers to me, then he will have to accept me, right?

What is the Truth, Pharoah? The God of the Israelites has decreed that they should go into the desert and worship him.  The Deception...The God of the Israelites is nothing in Egypt; I am not under his authority.  I am the ruler here.

What is the Truth, Achan?  God said all the plunder from this battle was his.  The Deception...I don't have to give him everything, I can slip some of this wealth into my pocket.  No one need ever know.

What is the Truth, Uzziah?  Burning incense in the Holy Place is the task of the Priests, who are anointed and set apart to do that.  The Deception...I am king, I am above the Law, I should be able to show God my love and worship as I see fit.  I am as worthy as you priests.

What is the Truth, Sadducees and Pharisees of the 1st Century?  The Messiah has come from God and is standing before you now, doing signs and wonders and teaching everyone to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength...and to love others (even Samaritans!) as they love themselves.  The Deception ...This can't be the Messiah...he doesn't fit our expectations.  And he's going to upset the status quo and we'll lose the limited autonomy that we have, as well as our positions of honor and privilege.  He is a threat we must eliminate.

Do you see?  Truth is clearly before all these folks, yet they chose to believe something else.  And that sets up the pattern for rebellion and destruction.

Some will argue that it's God's fault...that he sends the delusion so they believe the lie.  But that's not strictly correct.  They CHOSE first...to reject the truth.  The delusion is part of the consequences of that choice.  They choose a lie...so God gives them what they chose.

Anyone in honest pursuit of THE truth will find it.  Anyone seeking to define THEIR truth...rejecting THE truth...is headed for destruction.

And that's the truth.