The Keener Way

  I know, its been yet another long gap since I've posted. The thing is, I write stuff as inspiration hits me. Sometimes i get lots of ideas, sometimes they trickle slowly. This time around, I've had an idea for a while, but its been simmering on a backburner until I got the angle I needed this morning.  It started when I received a text with a quote by C.S. Lewis from his essay collection, "God in the Dock", which goes, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." This weighed heavily on my mind, as I often feel like I treat Christianity as only moderately important. Indeed, sometimes it feels like the modern church at large is doing this with great unity. As I mulled over this for some weeks, my church started a sermon series in the book of 1 Peter. What particularly stood out was Chapter 1, verses 13-16. "Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-min...

    “What is sin? It is the glory of God not honored . The holiness of God not reverenced . The greatness of God not admired . The power of God not praised . The truth of God not sought . The wisdom of God not esteemed . The beauty of God not treasured . The goodness of God not savored . The faithfulness of God not trusted . The commandments of God not obeyed . The justice of God not respected . The wrath of God not feared . The grace of God not cherished . The presence of God not prized . The person of God not loved . That is sin.” ~John Piper  We live in a broken world. Perhaps more broken than ever, perhaps less broken than ever. There is only one entity who has been alive for the Earth's entire history, and that is our Creator. So only he can judge our current level of broken. But through all of time, man has called things sin which the Lord never forbid, and man has called good things that the Lord explicitly denounced. So I thought I'd do a little script...

  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." ~Matthew 5:17-20 BSB Not gonna lie, this section of Yeshua's Sermon on the Mount is perhaps one of the most difficult sections to fully grasp. There are so many ways to take this. Here's the thing. Yeshua said: 1. I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill 2. Till heaven and Earth pass away, not one yod (the smallest Hebrew l...

  In continuing with Yeshua's Sermon on the Mount, we're going to spice things up a bit. Rather than looking at one verse, we're going to hit three. Or at least start and see if we get that far. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Matthew 5:7-9, BSB In the Roman Empire that ruled during Yeshua's lifetime. mercy was a sign of weakness. Even in the Greek Empire, it was not seen as a virtue. The respected virtues were strength and power, not kindness. Yet Jewish and Christian cultures dared to be counter-culture. They pushed the view that mercy was an attribute of the divine. Indeed, a core attribute. For as the prophet Micah declared, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy , and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8, BSB But here, in Hi...

  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 This fourth blessing of Yeshua's Sermon on the Mount draws many similarities to Psalm 42, a song of the sons of Korah, which begins with those long familiar lines, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after you, O God." Psalm 42:1 BSB And it seems pretty straightforward. Be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and you will be satisfied. But let's explore the word 'righteousness'. Growing up, it always seemed like kind of a vague concept. It comes up frequently enough in scripture to gather the idea that it's about being upright, being morally pure, being good, etcetera. In a general sense, the keeping of the law. Which is a fairly intense undertaking, considering that Yeshua said, "except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Obviously, this is something that...

  This past week, I've been doing a challenge set by my church's pastor. Each day, choose a random passage of scripture, study it, and try to find an attribute of Adonai's character. In five weekdays, that is five attributes. Its been a fascinating study so far. But it really got interesting when one morning, I decided to study Job 38. A little poke inside me said "no, do Job 42." I looked at Job 42 and thought, "But i don't want to do Job 42. YHWH is rebuking Job's three friends. If I study that, I'm gonna almost have to study the whole book, to really grasp why he was angry with their counsel. That's the way my mind works." But the voice insisted. "Job 42". And I'll be honest, the study was worth it. I only did a very general overview of the whole book, but I came out of it with some enlightened thoughts. Here is a (very) rough and abridged version of the argument between Job and his companions.   Eliphaz (my god is fine g...