Hoping for an interpreter

This afternoon I had the strangest dream while I took a much needed nap.  I usually don't remember my dreams.  This one was so fresh and vivid that, as I woke up, I began to wonder how I had gotten into my bedroom.  This leads me to believe that there may be some meaning behind it.

It may make me strange but I believe God can use his people to interpret dreams like the way he used Joseph to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. So I'll retell the dream in hopes that God would send an interpreter my way  and if not at least it will be a little entertaining. I would love to hear your opinions of this dream.  Since I usually don't remember my dreams, when I do remember them, they fascinate me.

Here goes:

The first thing I remember is being among some of my co-workers (plumbers) doing some work in a building I had never been in before.  I needed to find the restroom, so I asked for directions and followed the instructions through a maze of hallways and doors.  I then entered into a series of sliding chutes, the kind that the kids play on at McDonald's or Chuck E Cheese.  The restrooms were only accessible from the slides and the facilities were divided on two levels.  I explored the levels to admire the design of the bathrooms, something I'm sure only a plumber would do, and that only a strange one.  After checking the place out, I went back to the level that I needed to use.  Once I glided into the room I noticed that something had fallen out of my pocket.  A shiny quarter lay on the ground near where I had exited the mouth of the tube.  I reached out to retrieve it just as someone else was coming through.  I jumped back, leaving the money there and watched as that person was followed by another and another and another.  All of them crashing in with enormous speed and each one losing belongings from their pockets as they exited.  I was bewildered as I watched it pile up almost magnetically, supernaturally, into a neat orderly pile.  Then a man, whom I didn't recognize, emerged from what seemed to be below the landing of the slide and offered the pile of lost belongings to me.  At first I rejected, admitting that only one coin in the pile belonged to me but everyone unanimously and loudly insisted that I take it, so I did.

Immediately I was outside, sitting in my car with the sun beaming down all around me.  A man stood outside my window holding a book and was asking me to choose what I would do with the newly acquired treasures I had received.  In his book were choices along with a signature line next to each choice.  I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it but deep down I knew I didn't want to give it to him.  I looked hard at the lines on the page, not really reading, just staring through the page as the frustrations caused my heart to beat in my throat.   I remember that the man made me feel guilty for not immediately signing his book and giving him everything.  He just kept pressing and pressing the issue.  In spite of his pushiness, I had an inexplicable respect and fondness for the man yet I hesitated to give in to his persistent requests.  "What exactly is it that you want from me?" I shouted.  "You're just badgering me and I don't understand what you want and why you want it!"  At this moment I could see his face for the first time, previously drowned out by the brightness of the sun.  He was very tall with a beard and glasses rested on his nose.  The muscles of his face were shaped into a look of grave concern.  At this time, a shorter man approached and went straight up to the tall man, whispering something in his ear.  I listened intently, trying to make out the message that seemed so urgent.  "...decided...make trouble out there...no longer acceptable."  Then he turned away and ran off.  The bearded man looked intently at me and said "what you are doing is now against the book of the law.  Unless you change your mind right now we will have nothing to do with you."  "WHAT?  Against what law?  Who has the authority to make these laws?"  I gasped.  He spoke not a word, just closed his book, shook his head, turned on his heel and walked casually away.  I was confused.  I jumped from my vehicle and followed after him, wanting to understand, not wanting to be distanced from this strange man who I respected and loved yet didn't know.  It was all so overwhelming and I had to figure it out.  I needed to take it one step at a time and try to understand.  The man ignored me and kept walking away.

I woke up.  The sight of the ceiling fan above me convinced me that I would never find the answers I wanted. The man was gone, I was only dreaming.  Like I said, my dreams are usually non-existent or lost before the alarm sounds.  This one left me wanting answers and since I'll never see the man in my dreams again, maybe there is someone who will stumble upon my blog although it is insignificant and trapped in obscurity and they will be given an understanding better than I.

So, what do you think?  Don't be shy, after all it was just a dream.  I have prayed that if there was more to it than my rambling weirded out subconscious gone haywire that God would interpret my dream for me.  If it is his will, he will use someone just like you, after reading this post to write a response.  It can be either a comment or a private e-mail ( ceeking_truth at bellsouth dot net).  Either way it will contain certain elements that only He and I know as a sign for me that it is from Him.

Seems a little out there, I know, but I'm just being honest.  I really believe God will speak through one of you.

Simple way to explain simple church

This is a new video showing a very easy way to explain simple church in 2 minutes using a napkin.  For 2 short minutes it is very informative.  Check it out.

Looking for Jesus

I've finished reading Finding Our Way Again by Brian McLaren.  I received this book for free from BookSneeze in return for this review.  I'm glad I got it for free.  I read the whole book and didn't find "the way" within its pages.

When I requested this book I expected bad theology and a bad way of spending my time, yet I was hopeful that I was wrong.  Well, I should have gone with my gut.  Brian has a very enjoyable writing style splashed with numerous pithy comments and the book is broken up into short chapters, making it an easy read.  That's about as good as it gets.

The title of the book gives the reader hope that it contains the answer to the question "which way should I go".  Only those who realize they have lost their way or are going the wrong way would be interested in this book and those people would be better off leaving this book in the store.  It does not contain the answer to your questions.

If you're looking for "the way", you will not find it in this book.  In this book you will find a bunch of spiritual activities that are A way to "spirituality" but not THE way to God, His kingdom  andeverlasting life.  Brian tries to convince his readers that the ancient practices are the pathway to God.  He even makes references to following Christ on the way to God.  Brian never once in this entire book points to Jesus Christ as THE WAY.  Rather, Jesus is just on the way and we should follow him.  In fact, there a times in the book when Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are lumped together as being on the same path to finding peace, love and joy.

Don't be deceived.  Peace, love and joy are the results of being united with the man Jesus Christ.  You can be united with Him by believing that he has left his heavenly throne, come to earth, lives a sinless life, died a death he did not deserve, and was raised from the dead.  With Him he brought the kingdom of heaven down to earth through the forgiveness of sin by the shedding of his blood.  He also brought death to our chaotic, unloving, and miserable old selves by crucifying them with himself on the cross.  Now God's kingdom has partially come into the world through this new race of people who dwell in love, joy, peace, selflessness, service, and harmony as long as we walk in the spirit by faith in our indwelling Lord.  This union with Jesus Christ is the way because He is the way.  It is yours if you would become His disciple, follow Him, become like Him because your life and all of creation around you is all about Him.

It's all about Jesus, Brian's book is not.  As much as Brian talks about the sermon on the mount, I am surprised to see he avoids these words of our Lord from that very sermon on this subject:


“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

Rob Bell and the power of words

For starters, let me say that while I think it is unwarranted to judge a book by its cover (in this case Love Wins by Rob Bell) it is necessary and expected for leaders to speak against false doctrine.  Since I took a leap and blogged about all the goings on over Rob Bell's upcoming book I thought I would share some thoughtful commentary I read today on the issue. Something I didn't think through before posting previously is the power of words.  Whether those words come in the form of a question or a declarative statement, there is great power in words.

What troubles me is the idea that asking questions regarding doctrine points to heretical views.  Does asking a question make someone a heretic?  Well, no,  but that is not all that we have here.  With Bell we have a skilled speaker and writer putting forth a series of questions that carries implications...heretical implications.  While Bell doesn't say anything heretical as a declaration, the questions he asks and the order he asks them in is enough to lead someone easily to those conclusions.  There is no way of knowing what he actually believes regarding these doctrines without reading the book but that doesn't get him off the hook for being careless with words.  Compounding the problem is the fact that he is such a gifted speaker and it is unlikely that he was careless.  It is much more likely that it was deliberate.
The commentary I'm referring to comes from the blog of Kevin DeYoung.  Here is a small clip:

 "And he is saying something. Don’t think for a second the questions don’t communicate something. These are not “let’s explore together and see what the Bible says about these hard issues” kind of questions. Everyone agrees Bell is a remarkable communicator. He is not unaware of the effect of these three minutes. Words mean something and words do something. Whether the sentences end in question marks or not, these force of these sentences is to undermine—nay, to ridicule—the reality of eternal conscious punishment, the wrath of the God, and penal substitutionary atonement."

Click over and read the rest.  He asks some very good questions.

In conclusion, I don't think that asking questions can reveal if someone is a heretic but one should be very careful how they use words, questions or otherwise.  Especially if that person is in a position of leadership.  otherwise the example he sets is one of carelessness with words and purposeful provocation, neither of which should be emulated.

So for all those who booted me from their feed reader and blogroll or prayed and worried that I E-merged into a heretical superhighway, I apologize for being so quick to speak and not recognizing the power of words in my previous post.

A glimpse of our gathering

Today (Sunday) we met with a group of families we haven't seen in some months.  It was refreshing to be gathered with so many believers in one place again. I love being with the children of God and today was a special treat.  We arrived at 10:30 in front of the house along with another family at the host's house.  Everyone was very happy to see us.  We received a warm welcome of hugs and offers to help carry our numerous belongings and children into the house.  I liken it to an American version of greeting with a holy kiss.  Once inside and unloaded, the children scattered and I started conversing with the man of the house, admiring the handiwork of his new patio.  We were soon joined by the other father who arrived at the same time as my family and I learned how they had been working together to secure a good running vehicle for him at a fair price.  Before long other families arrived and soon all the fathers were gathered on the back patio.  Inside, moms talked homeschooling and children played together.  Outside, dads talked cars, jobs, theology and mission.

When we entered the house and gathered in the living room (and the dining room) I looked around and saw a lot of new faces.  Families that were not there the last few times we were and it was good to meet them.  We sang a few songs together (one brother plays the guitar very well) mingled with prayers and scripture readings.  As our singing ended and all was quiet for a brief moment, a woman burst forth in beautiful praise to our Lord.  Then the Spirit moved in such a way to bring to mind a scripture or a teaching from many members of the body, each passage or word building on the rest.  It was richly edifying.  Multiple members at work building up the rest of the body.  There was no schedule of speakers, no list of scriptures yet there was perfect order and someone was clearly in control and guiding the participation.  The themes of Christ as our high priest, the preciousness and necessity of his blood, the weight of our sin and unworthiness, and his example becoming our call to serve were some themes that were expounded.  All this before we entered into the next passage of scripture that had been predetermined.

It was marvelous to see Christ at work building his Church.  It was glorious to see Christ manifested through the working of his many members under his headship.  Not tossed to and fro by different doctrines but gathered together with one theme and one song:  Praise be to the lamb that was slain and to the victory that is ours because of his love.

How was your Sunday morning gathering?

Rob Bell: Love Wins = universalism?

Rob Bell has a new book coming out and many are quick to speak that Rob has fallen off into the error of universalism, I'm not so sure.  If there is anything I know about Rob Bell it is this:  Rob likes to make vague statements that challenge traditional orthodoxy.  He likes to ask questions that make people think.  One example is in his book Velvet Elvis where he describes our orthodoxy or theology as a brick wall and like a brick wall a few bricks can be knocked out without tearing the wall down.  Thats cool, I can see that.  The cannons fired when he said one such brick was the virgin birth of Jesus.  Yikes!  That's a shocker!  Now surely if you "knock out" the virgin birth you knock out Christ altogether, I know that, you know that, and I think Rob knows that.  So why did he say it?  Because that is what he does...he makes you think about what it is you believe.  a kind of meditative catalyst to drive you to believe what you believe because you find it to be true and not just because everyone says it is true.

Now, why do I mention this today?  Because I have seen numerous people jump to conclusions about Rob and universalism over a video teaser that was released for the upcoming book Love Wins.  In the video Rob asks a lot of questions but he doesn't make many statements, typical Bell style.  See for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

LOVE WINS. from Rob Bell on Vimeo.

What do you think?  Has Rob gone off the deep end?  Or even more penetrating:  does questioning traditional belief make a person a heretic?  or unregenerate?

(Update:  follow-up post on the power of words)

God says we should love our enemies, does God love Satan?

This is the question posed by our five year old during the early morning homeschool hours.  Liberal statists everywhere are going nuts at this point with the knowledge that we talk about God during school hours.  Shocking that we would indoctrinate our children, I know, but this question was a doozy, especially coming from such a young aspiring theologian.  Our son posed the question to their mommy/teacher who in turn shot me an email forwarding the probing doctrinal dilemma. I received the email at lunch.  A perfect time to ponder the deep things and meditate on the depths of God's love.  My mind swirled with weighty thoughts.  Giving an answer to the question was tough enough.  Answering a five year old adds multiple levels of difficulty.  I felt like I a kid snatched away from my flag football game and placed in the pro bowl, the big opponent before me ready to trample me.

I decided to write a response to my wife that I knew was inadequate to read to our son but I hoped it would equip her to handle the answering herself.  Uh, no.  Didn't get off that easy.  She hadn't even read the response by the time I got home and so the ball was back in my court. YAY!  So over dinner we had a string of questions and answers.  That's right, I went catechism style.  I think the boys got it.

Now I'm really afraid. Our boys are five and seven and they are asking us questions that most believers never even consider.  Now I have to figure out how to balance scriptural study with personal discipleship so that I can be ready with answers to their seminary level questions.  Does that balance even exist?  I always feel like I am falling short one way or the other.

Enough of my rambling...help me out folks.  How would you answer a five year old who asks such a question?

God says we should love our enemies, does God love Satan?  Wow, just, wow.

A modern day parable

So, a couple days ago my wifey posted a parable of sorts that I found very interesting, prophetic even.  Here is a pinch:

Behind Blue Eyes: A short story: "Once upon a time there were two wood cutters. They led similar lives and both had a deep love for both God and their families. They both worked for sunrise to sunset and both avid readers. The first man came home every evening and kissed his wife and hugged his children and then would spend the rest of the evening reading. He read all of the great dead theologians and he read all of the great living theologians."

I don't know where she comes up with this stuff but I dig it.   If you haven't read her blog before you should definitely jump over and check it out.  What she writes is raw and straight-out-of-the-box.  I admire her genuine style.

 

Looking forward to the 2011 Ligonier conference

My blue-eyed beauty gave me two "big" gifts this year that she was extremely excited about.  The first was a Kindle from amazon which I take everywhere and have enjoyed very much.  The second was an advance ticket to this years Ligonier conference.  I have never been but I have desired to.  In fact, the only conferences I have been to were Promise Keepers conferences, which were edifying and exciting but shallow theologically.

I don't know of anyone else who is going to the conference this year.  I hope that there is someone here locally that would be willing to have me along.  I'm not all that excited about going by myself.  Last year there were three men that invited me personally to join them.  (I wonder if they are planning on going this year?)  This year I haven't heard a word about it.  Nonetheless, I look forward to attending, even if I have to go alone.

What's weird is that this conference comes during such a transition in my convictions.  If I had gotten tickets to the same conference at this time last year I would have had stars in my eyes.  Now, that is not quite the case.  At this point in my spiritual pilgrimage I would much rather be witness to spiritual growth among believers in my own neighborhood than to go to a conference.  Don't get me wrong, I am still looking forward to hearing Piper, Sproul, and Ferguson speak at the conference.  What has changed?  I'm not exactly sure.  I just know that I feel different.  I now see them as gifted men and not like pastoral superstars.  I'm sure they would be glad to hear that.

So, I'm going to Ligonier's 2011 national conference.  Out of the three or four of you who read my blog, do any plan to attend?  Maybe we can meet up!

Suffering with Jesus by serving with Jesus

Something hit home with me today at work.  One of my co-workers confided in me with an issue that was very burdensome for him.  It has the potential to cause a lot of strife and uncertainty in his relationships and finances.  I listened carefully as he shared this burden with me and them we continued with our work (we are both plumbers).  At the end of the day I couldn't get his problem off my mind.  It was like I was carrying his burden with me even though it didn't directly effect me.  Yet, somehow I hurt with him and needed to pray about it.  As I lifted the burden up I was given a strong desire to wait until my co-worker came out to his vehicle and ask him if I could pray with him.  He gave me permission and then laid out some more details of the things he was worried about most due to this new valley in life.  We prayed together.  Actually, I did all the talking, he mostly cried.  I didn't expect that.