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GUEST POST: sacred saturday | for your consideration: meditations on philippians 3:8

By albert on June 4, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

“Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)

Consider this. Life is a series of decisions and each decision is a sacrifice. When you decide to do something you are also concluding that thousands of other things are not going to be done. When you decide to eat pizza for lunch you are sacrificing your ability to have a sandwich. When you decide to take a certain class you are also deciding to NOT take another. Some decisions in life seem inconsequential: like what shirt to wear or what drink to buy at Starbucks. Others are little more significant, like where am I going to go to college? Or Should I marry this person? However, regardless of the caliber of decision we must consider each of them a sacrifice. Every decision is an alter. Within this reality we acknowledge that because God is good and desires our good he wants us to think rightly and wisely about the decisions that we make in our lives, no matter how big or how small they appear. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippian church begins his argument within this framework.

“Indeed I count”

Consider this. Paul is not a person so foolish to believe that life can be lived flippantly and without consideration. Paul realized that in order to live rightly and godly in a world of sin and confusion we must be willing to consider our lives and the situations around. Within these considerations there are wise decisions to be made, foolish decisions to be rejected.

“everything as loss”

Consider this. With this simple statement Paul is beginning to paint a picture of scales. On the one side we Paul places “everything”. Within the context we see that “everything” includes not only all other methods or means of “righteousness” but also any and every temporary comfort or necessity. This incomplete picture ought to bother us. The reason that it makes very little sense is because with just this portion of the sentence we see that the scales are imbalanced. We are made in the image of God and the reason that this bothers us is because it first bothers God. Proverbs 20:10 says “Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD”. Therefore, to “consider everything as loss” without any else to balance the scale is divinely irrational. Furthermore to believe that “considering everything loss” is by any means meritorious in and of itself is at the least foolish and at the most condemnable asceticism. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself.”

Consider this. “…without faith it is impossible to please [God] for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he REWARDS those who seek him.” (Heb 11:6). Therefore it would appear that in the face of unbalanced scales God would desire us to ask, “How is this worth it?” For God’s very character proves that wisdom is always worth it.

“because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Consider this.

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Guest Author: Eric Walter | @eric_walter

sacred saturday | the archive

By albert on April 23, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

i’ve been continuing to dig through the archives of my blog, and pulled something i haven’t read in a long time. Continue Reading…

sacred saturday | God hears the cry of the oppressed

By albert on April 16, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

this is fun. occasionally i look through really old artciles or posts i have written. Continue Reading…

sacred saturday | everything’s amazing, and nobody’s happy

By albert on April 9, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

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sacred saturday | rest

By albert on April 3, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

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sacred saturday (sunday) | the gospel in tiny living

By albert on March 27, 2011 in sacred saturday with 2 Comments

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sacred saturday | how western rationality and naturalism screws us again

By jon on March 19, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

Let me tell you two stories that demonstrate two worldviews. When I was in college I took courses on Jesus and Christianity. Our professor gave several arguments which showed the historical likelihood that Jesus’ tomb was empty and that his disciples had had experiences of “seeing” him after his death; this was despite the fact that I went to a secular university. But upon talking with people afterwards the response was pretty typical, “That’s all very cute. I’m glad they had a spiritual experience of Jesus ‘rising’ in their hearts. I like having warm, fuzzy, spiritual feelings sometimes, too.” Rational arguments could not overturn the worldview.

Six months ago I had dinner at a new friend’s home to discuss what God is doing in the world today. A new acquaintance and his wife had come from Nigeria to enjoy a conference on Christianity. My new friend wanted to provoke some controversy so he leaned over to the Nigerian pastor and his wife and said, “So what is God doing in Nigeria? Any miracles? Are people being healed? Are demons being driven out?” The pastor nodded. Then my new friend pushed the envelope, “Is anyone being raised from the dead?” The pastor looked down to take another bite of dinner and said, “Oh yes, of course.” He couldn’t stop there, so he prodded for more info. “Just a few weeks before I came to the United States I was preaching on the resurrection of Jesus. As I preached a witch doctor stood in the back very angry. He put a curse on two men from the congregation and they immediately died. When I finished preaching he called to me. ‘If your God can raise people from the dead, prove it!’ So I knelt on the ground and said, ‘In Jesus’ name arise.’ And the two men came back to life.”

Arrogant westerners often assume that their position is the rational one and that other opinions are backward, stupid, or out-dated. Reality differs widely from Western experience. Experience strongly shapes our interpretation of reality. A thousand solid arguments hardly convince an aggressive secularist from North America or Europe because no matter how “rational” they claim to be their experience and reputation (aka pride) prevent them from “seeing” anything that the majority around them doesn’t “see.” Westerners stack the deck against anything they don’t like; they create the criteria for what counts as “legitimate evidence” and then only admit things as “true” which fit their preconceived notions of “evidence.” Can you see how strongly biased that approach is? Jesus’ tomb was empty. We need an explanation of Jesus’ empty tomb that includes all the evidence.

Jesus rose from the dead in a body that is as physical as yours and mine but as trans-physical (beyond “normal” physical) as any heavenly being. Every book of the NT assumes and explicitly lives in this reality. The evidence in the NT and outside of it is quite remarkable; an extremely strong case can be made on purely logical grounds. But there’s much more to the story than simply logically “proving” that Jesus came back to life. Jesus’ resurrection is the story of the enthroning of a king, restoration of a people, and empowering of a mission. For that reason the “evidence” which “proves” the resurrection of this king looks a little different in its original context than it does today. If you allow reality to shape how you interpret reality you will enjoy more of reality. Rational argument doesn’t do justice to the living reality of an all-powerful king. I could describe to you the physics of a 20-foot wave but you’d get a better idea if you stood in front of it.

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jon marshall

sacred saturday: purposeful suffering

By jon on March 12, 2011 in sacred saturday with 1 Comment

Philippians 1:12-14

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Your initial reaction to hearing that a friend is getting fired from work for being a Christian is to be bummed. Your first instinct when you hear that thirty Korean missionaries to Iraq have been kidnapped is to worry and fear for their lives. You can’t help but be dejected when you learn that Muslim women who convert to Christ normally get doused in skin-dissolving acid. Likewise when the Philippians heard about Paul’s imprisonment for the gospel, they’d be sad, worried, anxious, or depressed. But Paul is cheerful. Actually, he says, in the grand scheme of things it’s been great. “My whole passion,” he has said, “is to spread the gospel. Now, my imprisonment is working toward my passion. It’s actually doing the work for me.”

In particular Paul sees two things clearly:

1. All the soldiers, guards, officers, and officials are hearing the gospel of Jesus. Each time he gets passed from one guard to the next (every four-hour shift) they’d say, “What’s his crime” and the other would say, “He’s out there saying that Jesus, a man we killed in Israel 20 years ago, isn’t actually dead. In fact, this man says he’s alive and is actually ruling from heaven!” Both would have a good laugh and then chain Paul up again. Paul would respond by saying he’s happy to be in chains because in suffering he imitates his Savior, this is the Christian life (being “in Christ”). The Gospel spreads. People hear the message.

2. Other believers (“brothers” and sisters) get inspired by Paul’s imprisonment. Something happens inside of us when we hear of other people suffering for Christ. “Paul is taking this very seriously. He must think this is very real. If he can sacrifice and be even more joyful, then I can, too. What am I doing living for the pleasures of this world when Jesus truly is King?” These brothers and sisters go out and proclaim that Jesus is king (“speak the word”) not fearing a little suffering on earth.

So while our initial reaction to suffering is sadness, we can’t stay there long. Suffering spreads the gospel, among those who inflict the suffering and through those who are inspired by the courageous example.

how are you suffering for the gospel this week?

_

jon marshall

sacred saturday | finding joy in pain

By albert on March 5, 2011 in sacred saturday with 0 Comments

for the last couple of months, i have been speaking for the high schoolers here in camarillo on sundays. we’ve been plowing through the book psalms, and i’ve been learning so much through it. just the other week i was teaching through psalm 27. it was pretty sweet. i told a few stories about how much of a chicken i am, and constantly how often i’m afraid or worried about things i have no reason to be. verse one speaks right to this:

the LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall i fear? the LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall i be afraid?

psalm 27:1

now, a lot of the psalms may seem a bit farfetched or out of date or irrelevant to us, but something to remember, most of these were written by a guy, david, who was being hunted for a large portion of his life. kind of like the most dangerous game. saul just had it out for him. so a lot of the psalm, both cries of helps and shouts of praise, were written under an immense amount of duress. so when we read something like, the LORD is my salvation, whom shall i fear, those are pretty bold words.

david, finding joy in pain, is incredibly relevant to us today. we all experience pain in some capacity daily. i personally have been in a lot of pain in the last few months, and i do not think it was chance that i have been teaching through the psalms in my time of greatest emotional need. reinforcing that God loves you, he cares for you and he is looking out for you is so beneficial.

God loves you.

God cares about you.

God is looking out for you.

when the maker of the entire universe has your back, how big is your problem, really? easier said than done. agreed. but hammer in that truth, that the creator of all things is looking out for you and has a plan for you, and guaranteed, that will be the one constant source of peace in your life, it’s been that for me.

now, is my problem gone? no. am i still anxious, afraid, worried, sad, in pain? of course! but i can say with confidence that i have never had more peace occupying space in me at any given time. and that i would certainly not trade for any superficial happiness.

i need the real stuff.

i need to stuff that’s gonna get me through the crazy times. i need the joy that only comes from the peace of God.

–
albert alcorn

sacred saturday | an introduction

By albert on March 5, 2011 in news and blues, sacred saturday with 0 Comments

well, if you haven’t noticed already, we here at 6MOB like to try new things. sometimes they’re awesome, and sometime they fail big time.

we’re hoping this one is the former.

starting today, every saturday will be dedicated to our new series: sacred saturdays. we will take a break from our predictable hilarity to bring form some truth. every once in a while we gotta get serious. but don’t think this won’t be fun. it’ll be great. every week we’ll have little mini devotionals, but the fun part will be they will come from different people each week! this, to us, is very exciting! we love guest posts around here and have not, admittedly, done much of them….yet.

this week, you get me. starting next week we’ll be featuring posts from theologians, professors, pastors, bible college students, and even regular people! the idea is to present some facet of bibcal truth through a story, piece of scripture, song or really whatever inspires!

now, on to today…