Why don't we follow the Old Testament laws?

I cannot tell you how many times I have been questioned by non-Christians about why I would wear clothes with mixed threads. Or why we don't stone women caught in adultery. Or why we think it's okay to eat pork. How is it that we Christians pick and choose what we want to follow from the Bible and still call it infallible? Isn't that hypocrisy?

The short answer is no.

In reality, anybody who accuses Christians of this are simply repeating it from someone they heard say. Who heard someone else say it etc... Because nobody who studies the Word of God can come away with that understanding.

I was sparked into thinking about this when I ran across a great article explaining in-depth the different covenants in Scripture. I highly recommend that anybody read it.

In short, the reason that we don't follow those laws which we are all confronted with from time to time by our non-Christian friends is that those laws were part of the Mosaic Covenant. There are a few major covenants that we can find reading through Scripture, and those laws, being part of the Mosaic Covenant, was a covenant between God and the nation of His people, Israel. This covenant only ever applied to the nation of Israel. I suggest checking out that article for a more in-depth look at the differences between the various covenants. 

Boldly approaching the Throne of Grace

I have had the great fortune to move to Washington, DC to go to school and was very quickly plugged into an amazing church in the heart of the city. One of the things I have come to love about this church is its love of hymns. I have always enjoyed them, but only ever really heard one here and there. Being exposed to hymns, some of them centuries old, has really been a cool experience.

In particular, there was one which stuck out to me. "Arise, My Soul, Arise" was written in the 1700's and its verses hit me in a powerful way.

"Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me:
'Forgive him, O, forgive' they cry,
'Forgive him, O, forgive' they cry,
'Nor let that ransomed sinner die.'

My God is reconciled;
His pard'ning voice I hear;
He owns me for His child,
I can no longer fear,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And, 'Father, Abba, Father,' cry."

These words have hit me so hard in the past few days. I feel like it has revealed to me how incorrect my focus in prayer has been. Buried within my own understanding has been hidden a naivety about why it is that I have the privilege to approach the Throne of Grace. And approach it boldly. It is an important distinction to understand, as these verses illuminate, that we are able to cry to our Father because the blood of Jesus testifies for us. When God looks at us, He no longer sees our sins and rebellion, but Jesus' blood.

Even in our prayers we must be humble. It is only because of that day on Calvary that we have the blessing to cry out to God and have Him hear us. But now that we do have the covering of Jesus' blood, we may boldly approach the Throne of Grace with our worship and our petitions. Praise God!

Seeing the Creator in creation

Last month I was traveling around Idaho and was daily confronted with the beauty of creation. Some of the most gorgeous country you will ever see is in wilderness Idaho. One of the days I was there, some of us went on a hike which took us up above an alpine lake up to the ridge of a low mountain and let us look down into the rolling valleys beyond. Such a beautiful place.

When we were sitting on top of the ridge I pulled out my Bible and read through my favorite Psalms. One line in particular struck me.

"Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it  very well."
-Psalm 139:14b

Standing up there, seemingly on top of the world, I looked out at creation before me and the grand scope of it all screamed the Lord's name. Everywhere I looked I saw His handiwork. I could not separate what I was seeing from Him and my soul knew it very well. It is amazing how much my relationship with Christ has affected the way I see the world.

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
-Psalm 139:17

Should Christians judge?

I have quite often been told, by non-Christians and Christians alike, that I should not judge others. They will recite Scripture to me (the non-believers too!). Have you ever heard this before?

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."

-Mathew 7:1-2

This is normally where they stop. The rest of the passage is rather important as well however...

"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye."

- Matthew 7:3-5

And how about just a few verses later?

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."

Matthew 7:15-20

You will know them by their fruits...This sounds a lot like we are supposed to judge the fruits of people who claim Christ. This is reiterated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5.

It is very important to realize that Christians are not meant to judge the actions of non-believers. Paul very clearly points this out, also in 1 Corinthians 5. 

I think this sums it up all very nicely:

"I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one."

-1 Corinthians 5:11

The phrase 'so-called brother' is what really nails it down. Clearly, if someone comes in the name of Christ, we are supposed to look at their life and weigh it against the fruits of the spirit we see in Scripture. We are not supposed to simply take their word for it.

But in all things let us show grace and love. And, let us also not forget the first part of Matthew 7:

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you."

as well as John 7:24:

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

So in our judgments of others we must remember that we are all fallen and that nobody is perfect. But let us not be afraid to judge the actions of others and be made vulnerable to false teachers and false prophets. Before you give someone influence in your life, examine theirs and test it against Scripture as Paul and Jesus have commanded.

A kid named Nathan

I spent the last weekend at the beautiful Kelly's Whitewater Park in Idaho. It was hosting the national kayak championships and, boy, was it gorgeous. Even with temperatures right around 100 degrees, the amazingly clean and refreshing river running through the park made it not only bearable, but enjoyable too.

At any rate, I was there with my aunt who was manning a stand and selling her new book. Lots of things about the weekend will be remembered but nothing more than the boy named Nathan. He was maybe ten or eleven years old and I only talked to him once. But he had more of an impact on me than anything else that weekend.

So there we were, my aunt and I, sitting behind her book stand, when young Nathan walks up. He had a short conversation with my aunt and then moved on. As soon as he did, my aunt and I both looked at each other like, "Did you see that kid?"

Just the way the he walked and carried himself screamed of self-confidence. The kind of confidence I struggle to maintain even when I'm thinking about it. This kid already has what few grown men obtain and it was so tangible it came off of him in waves. And then there was the simple cross hanging around his neck.

It hit me like a ton of bricks that I had just seen the attribute which comes from realizing you are a son of the King. I don't know if Nathan is walking with the Lord or not, but he certainly exhibited exactly what I have been thinking about. I pray that cross around his neck means the world to him...

Update about the big move

So, I got into American University! God is good. A lot has happened since then and already God has shown that He is faithful to provide for me. Finances were a real challenge to figure out but the funding came through right when I was about to give up on it. Thank you Lord for giving me this opportunity!

At this point, my flight is booked, my classes are registered for, and it all seems to be approaching extremely quickly. DC...here I come!

This season...

A crazy adventure. That's what my life feels like right now. Well, maybe more like the calm before the storm. The adventure starts in August.

I have lived my whole life here on the Eastside (East of Seattle that is). Born and raised. Been outside of the country once and visited a few states here and there. But I've spent my whole life here on the Eastside. But in August, I'm moving to DC. For anybody who has moved around a lot or maybe seen more of the world, that might not seem like a big deal. BUT I'M MOVING TO DC! So much prayer is needed for this. I'm excited by the unknown. Excited to see how God is going to provide for me in this new situation. But the unknown should always be approached with prayer.

Right now I am waiting to hear back from American University, the school I really want to go to. I have already been accepted to George Mason, and if that's where God would have me than I am excited for it. But still waiting to hear back from AU. I need prayer for finances. I have lived on my own before but this will be different. If anything had ever happened before, I would be able to go back home in a moment's notice. I'm more excited about this than worried about it, but prayer is a must. I also need prayer for guidance. There will be so many doors opened, so many directions lit up when I get to DC that I will need wisdom and discernment to figure out where it is God would have me. Again...excited, not nervous...but prayer!

I am unbelievably excited about the future. What's not to look forward to? Better weather, see another part of the world, pursuing a girl... Yeah...I definitely need prayer :)

An encouragement about evangelism

I have been listening to a lot of Ravi Zacharias recently and it has done a lot to grow my faith and confidence in what it is I believe. I just wanted to share a quick encouragement from something he said in one of his talks. As someone who travels the world on a regular basis, Ravi said that it is very easy for us in America to forget the weight of sin. As Matthew 19:24 says, it is incredibly hard for the wealthy and materially blessed to focus on God. As it turns out, the vast, vast majority of us in the United States enjoy comforts that Solomon would only have dreamt of. Having everything we desire disguises our immediate need for a savior. Someone who lives in abject poverty or in danger of violence everyday has much less trouble recognizing their need for Christ and feeling the burden of the sin that separates them from Him.

Remembering that, even though here in America we have so much wealth and material security, everyone is heavily burdened by the weight of their own iniquity is something that we can take as an encouragement. We have not been sent into a world to preach a gospel to people who don't really need it. Just the opposite; everyone is in desperate need of it and at some level, even if it is disguised underneath a mountain of wealth, feels the burden of that need. We must trust that God will prepare the hearts of those we share the gospel with. And when we do share the good news, and it is rejected, we must continue sharing and praying that God will soften their hearts for the next gospel opportunity. 

Of snow and persecution

I have often heard that the best thing that could happen to the church, is persecution. That the reason the American church has become so soft is because life is too easy. We may feel pressured by society because of our views, especially in certain parts of the country (like the incredibly liberal city of Seattle where I live). But when you think about it, we have it really good. Think back to the beginning of the church. There were times when you would be killed if you did not renounce Christ! Roman Emperor Nero would eat dinner by the light of Christians burning at the stake. We can barely even comprehend that today.

What is it about persecution that strengthens the church?

Here in Seattle, we just had a few inches of snow. If snow sticks to the ground, the city basically shuts down. All sense of over-productivity that is so common in this area disappears and people will do what they can to stay home and out of the way of their fellow can’t-drive-in-snow Seattlites. As I have been walking around, I have noticed a grand difference in people. As a general rule, people here don’t interact with each other unless they have to. But since the snow hit the ground, people are…nicer! People are going out of their way to help those whose cars have spun out. Stopping and talking to others on the street as they’re walking around. That’s not what people in the suburbs of Seattle do.

So what is it that is causing my fellow Seattlites to be so much more friendly?

I think, in our day and age, with the rise of technology and social networking, personal face-to-face communication has lost much of its value to us. Why spend my time talking with this random person when I have the ability to talk to the people I REALLY want to talk to at any time? It’s hard work to relate to people we don’t know. You have to invest enough time and effort in that person to find things to talk about. Maybe even make yourself vulnerable by telling them things about yourself. But when snow happens to Seattle, you no longer have to work to find something in common. Snow gives you something to talk about without having to work at it. Even Seattlites can do that.

In a similar way, when we, as a church, have it easy, we can afford to wait to talk to the people we really want to talk to. We have no reason to really work at it. Just like the rest of our culture, we have access to technology and social networking that makes it easier to reach out to those who are the easiest and most comfortable for us to reach to.

But when persecution hits (real persecution), that’s no longer an option. Think of countries where there is a great hostility towards Christianity. If you were living in China, for instance, and a believer, you would greatly value every believer who you came across. You wouldn’t have the option of just reaching out and communicating with whoever you want so the people you could talk to would be that much more treasured.

If something as innocuous as snow can bring that kind of commonality to a group of people, than how much greater a commonality should Christ bring? It shouldn’t take persecution for us to be able to advantage of this. There is power in Christ. What is it going to take, short of persecution, to get us to value and treasure one another? I believe that if we are truly sold out to Christ, as He calls us to be, then community and commonality have no choice but to follow…