http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blog.aspx?site_id=10257&blog_id=175047 EN-US Copyright &#xA9; 2012 Bethel Community Church http://www.triplePixel.com Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:00:00 GMT http://www.bethelcommunity.org/Content/10257/thumbnails/175047-rss-thumbnail.jpghttp://www.bethelcommunity.org/blog.aspx?site_id=10257&amp;blog_id=175047 every moment Pastor Rob Bukowski Pastor Rob Bukowskibethelencounter@gmail.com no http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=292249http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=292249 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:00:00 GMT One of the most important elements about Christianity to me is that it is believable. It is believable not just in the sense that if you close your eyes, and cross your fingers, and make a wish kind of way you can believe anything. But it is rooted in history. It involves a specific nation of people that is known and accepted. It involves a system of sacrifice for this nation and people that is known and accepted. It involves a person who lived on the earth and died on a cross, which is again known and accepted. The haziness does not involve whether or not those things happened- almost everyone acknowledge that they happened. The haziness involves what those things mean- if they mean anything at all. But what I love about Christianity is that there is enough reason and reason enough to believe without thoughtlessness. We can reason about our faith and look for logical understanding why what we believe is valid. Added to this is the important continuation, that while there is reason enough to believe there is never going to be reason enough to believe without an element of faith. It is akin to driving a car across a bridge. You might see many cars cross the bridge. You might do weight limitation studies on the bridge. You might have much logical reason and verifiable data that demonstrates that the bridge is worthy to drive on. Yet you do not prove faith in the bridge until you begin to drive across it. Christianity is not mindless. Yet it also cannot be proven without faith.<br /> <br /> In his book&nbsp;Surprised by Hope&nbsp;N.T. Wright discusses this dynamic of our beliefs:<br /> "The most important decisions we make in life are not made by post-Enlightenment left-brain rationality alone. I do not suggest that one can argue right up to the central truth of Christian faith by pure human reason building on simple observation of the world. Indeed, it should be obvious that that is impossible. Equally, I would not suggest that historical investigation of this sort has therefore no part to play and that all that is &nbsp;required is a blind leap of faith. God has given us minds to think; the question has been appropriately raised; Christianity appeals to history and to history it must go. And the question of Jesus' resurrection, though it may in some senses burst the boundaries of history, also remains within them; that is precisely why it is so important, so disturbing, so life and death."<br /> <br /> This thought gives an important foundation for our study of why the thought of the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a credible thought though seeming absolutely incredible. As we discuss these matters we will present reasoning for why the resurrection of Jesus is an idea that can stand up to thinking. Yet at the same time we are certainly well aware that no amount of natural thought will prompt us to final belief that a man bodily rose from the dead. This will take the step of faith.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> In considering why we believe the resurrection to be real we will look at some biblical passages to see what they have to say about the matter. This brings immediate red flags. How can we go to the Bible to prove the resurrection is real? Of course the Bible will say that it is real. 2000 years removed from the biblical writing it is simple to view in this way. But we must step back to remember that when the gospels and the rest of the New Testament were written they were written to be received as true by an audience that would be made up of people who would have experienced the events of the biblical writings or are one generation removed from people who had experienced the events of the biblical writing. We do not take the Bible as credible source because of the fact that we can prove it today. We take it as potential credible source because it could have been easily disproved when it was written. Within the past hour I finished listening to an outstanding podcast named "Retraction" from "This American Life." In the podcast the producers of the show go into pained detail about how they needed to retract a story from an earlier episode about the working conditions at the Chinese factories that make Apple products. This story was submitted by a man named Mike Daisey. Daisey is a performer who does monologues about different people or different stories in the news. Daisey performed a monologue based on his visits to the Apple iPad factories in China. He presented many aspects of the story that were things that he merely heard about and did not witness himself. He presented many things that seemed to have little or no viability at all. He presented them all as true and this got exposed. The problem was that as the story became popular and began to spread people who were familiar with the Apple plant began to suspect that elements of the story were true. As things began to be checked into on deeper and deeper levels the story began to unravel. The tipping point of the story's demise came when those investigating the truth of the original story were able to track down the woman who translated for Daisey as he visited the plants. While she corroborated some of the things that Daisey had presented. She also contradicted and denied many of the other things. Once those who were skeptical of the story found a credible source the elements of the story that were made up had been exposed. If you were to advance 2000 years and find a copy of the original This American Life piece you might think it was true. But because that piece was being presented now, it was easily disproven as false.<br /> <br /> Christianity has always faced skeptics. At the beginning of the church it faced obstacles much stronger than skeptics. It was a baby movement and vulnerable to the weaknesses of being young. It was hated by the society around it. The Romans hated it as did the religious leadership in its' culture. There was great effort to put it down- to kill it fast, especially as it began to spread. As I mentioned in the last post, if the resurrection was proved false Christianity dies immediately. Paul even said that at the time. So the choice is to either believe the resurrection or believe that the story was made up. It is easy in our setting to believe that a story from 2000 years ago was made up and we might just categorize it as legend or mythology. However, it was not written as legend or mythology. It was written as true and worthy of belief. It was written to tell others that it was true and get them to believe it and follow Christ because of it. While we can see that stories can be made up, it is much more difficult to see that a story can be made up and presented as true to people who lived it, and saw the events surrounding it, and were set out to disprove it. The idea that the resurrection was made up suffers from three initial practical problems: 1. There is the chronological problem that it is written to close in time for people to believe it without being able to disprove it. 2. There is the geographical problem that it is written to near in proximity to people who would know where the crucifixion and burial happened. They could go to the grave. They could go to the home of the people involved in taking the body and burying the body. They could do the work of investigating the places of the story. 3. There is the relational problem that the story involves real people who were still around and alive. Real people who could have been investigated and harassed and brutally persecuted (and they were) to get them to admit that the story was made up. This is a story written by and about real people who are calling people to believe something that they saw with their own eyes.<br /> <br /> So as we consider the writings of the Bible we must seek to view them as they were written 2000 years ago to an audience that was receiving them for the first time. They were meant to be accepted and true and to persuade people to believe. They were written to answer questions that were already being raised within the audience that would receive them. You might say that the biblical authors were deceived about the resurrection (which has numerous problem on its' own) but it is hard to be objective and say that they made it up.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /> So a few things must be said about the Bible as primary source:<br /> <br /> The people who were around when the books of the New Testament were written and who were opposed to Christianity could have spoken to other people who were still alive who had been there. When they first heard to the idea of the resurrection they could have gone to people who were present for the crucifixion and knew the tomb where Jesus had supposedly been buried. They would have done anything to prove that this was a hoax and that Jesus had not died or especially had not been raised from the dead. Produce the body, get the disciples to recant and the faith is dead<br /> <br /> We will talk about this in a moment but the disciples had nothing to gain and everything to lose by this belief in the resurrection. They all get slaughtered for belief in Christ. And from the gospels it is clear they don&rsquo;t expect a bodily resurrection anyway. So it should have been easy to get them to recant if it were not true. Why would the make up the resurrection- it is not believable and easily disproved. Why would they continue to stick by a false story when they are getting their backs ripped apart with whips when they are being flogged for believing in Christ?<br /> <br /> So this is an important starting point. Because we can easily look back 2000 years and say that the Bible is not reliable as a source, but it is important to remember that when and in the culture it was written there were people who would have done anything to disprove it and many of the books allude to these people and their arguments as well. While the Bible is not our only source, it is an important primary source about what the thinking was at the time.<br /> <br /> Much of the next section is taken or adapted from a book by William Lane Craig titled&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Reasonable Faith</span>:<br /> <br /> A first question to ask when considering the truth of the resurrection is an obvious one: did the disciples invent the resurrection. If it were not true the disciples would have almost certainly been the ones to make it up.<br /> <br /> The evidence argues against this for many reasons. First, as you look at the gospel accounts the disciples never grasp what Jesus means when He talks about the resurrection. Thus, when Christ died on a cross they would not have been expecting a resurrection. So why would they make one up? They had nothing to gain and everything to lose in doing this. Belief in Jesus would cause them to be whipped, and flogged, and beaten...eventually it would cost them their life. Even if they had decided to make it up why would they all continue standing for it even after being beaten and even after they split up as a group to spread out in ministry. How bad was it? Consider this from Craig's book:&nbsp; <p style="text-indent: -0.25in;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;70 years after Christ&rsquo;s death Tacitus, an early historian, discusses Nero&rsquo;s persecution of Christians 30 years after Christ&rsquo;s death. They were clothed in the skins of animals and thrown to dogs, others were covered in tar and used as human torches to light the streets of the city while Nero rode on chariots enjoying the sight.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Why would they continue to endure such torture for something that they had made up. And why would they have made it up anyway. It did not bring them power or prestige. It brought them ridicule, punishment, and rejection. From their original concept of who Jesus was supposed to be he had been a failure. He did not give them national peace and personal power. He did not lead armies into military victory and ascend to the throne. He died before He got there. What would be the benefit of making up a resurrection story that could be disproved and would be ridiculed. Just begin new and go back to the life you had before Christ came into it. Or even if you did invent it, how much pain would it take to renounce it and admit that you made it up.<br /> <br /> Apologist William Paley gives this insight:</p> <p>&ldquo;W"Would men in such circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw; assert facts which they had not knowledge of. Go about lying to teach virtue; and though not only convinced of Christ being an imposter, but having seen Him crucified- yet they carry on; and so persist, as to bring upon themselves, for nothing, and with full knowledge of consequence, enmity, hatred, and death.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> It simply does not follow. They would not have invented this...especially when they never expected it. They would have seen Christ as a failure and fraud and dealt with his death and moved on. How would all of the disciples, having been taught ethics by Jesus for years decide to as a group carry out this fraud? Why would not one of them admit that it was not true. Had all of that time with Jesus cost them all decency as people? Why would they go with a story that was so easily debunked?- and to gain nothing from it except hardship and death.<br /> <br /> Craig gives three reasons to believe the resurrection:<br /> 1. The historical belief of the empty tomb<br /> <br /> There is no much debate that the tomb was empty. Most proposed theories seek to explain why the tomb was emptied in natural ways. What we have argued so far about the resurrection and the ease of disproving it demonstrate that the tomb was empty.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Jesus' burial site would have been known by people in Jerusalem and this brings an important point that Craig refers to:<br /> &ldquo;One of the most remarkable facts about the early Christian belief in Jesus&rsquo; resurrection was that it flourished in the very city where Jesus had been publicly crucified. So long as the people of Jerusalem thought that Jesus&rsquo; body was in the tomb, few would have been prepared to believe such nonsense as that Jesus had been raised from the dead.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> In Matthew 28:11-15 an interesting discussion takes place about theories of the empty tomb. It is important to remember that Matthew would have written this passage in a context that was fighting against the spread of Christianity. As you consider the passage it is clear that Matthew is writing this to counter what is being said about the tomb being empty. Matthew is not making this up, but rather countering a "story that has been spread among the Jews to this day" (verse 15). Again consider the audience. If this story had not been spread to that day the audience would have known this and would have challenged what was said. It is written to an audience that believed that the tomb was empty, but were hearing alternative reasons about why the tomb was empty.<br /> <br /> A point that is often made about the narrative of the empty tomb is that if you were going to invent a story that you wanted to believe about the empty tomb you would never have women be the witnesses who found the tomb empty. As offensive as this sounds in our culture it is important in understanding the culture of the time. In the culture of that time women were viewed as unreliable witnesses. They were immediately discredited and disrespected in that society. If you were going to make up a story of a resurrection and an empty tomb you would never have women be the lead characters in the finding of the tomb.<br /> <br /> While an empty tomb is generally accepted based on these reasons the question evolves to why the tomb was empty. Some interesting theories have been presented over the years.<br /> <br /> One of these is the conspiracy theory. In this theory the disciples conspired to steal the body and make up the resurrection. Many of the shortcomings of this theory have been discussed earlier. N.T. Wright in the book <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Surprised by Joy</span>&nbsp;adds this insight:</p> <div style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /> &ldquo;The conspiracy thought views the disciples in the rear view mirror of history without understanding of their situation in the first century. In that time there was no thought of a savior or Messiah who would die on a cross and then raise from the dead. The Messiah was supposed to ascend to the throne of David and subdue the enemies of Israel. If your Messiah died you chose wrong. You started over choosing another Messiah. Which is still what the Jewish people long for today.&rdquo;</span></div> <br /> Another theory was the "apparent death theory." This proposes that Jesus was not entirely dead when he was on the cross and that he was revived when placed in the tomb. The theory falls under any examination. This theory presents that though the Romans were outstanding executioners, they botched this one up. That Jesus endured the nails, and the thorns, and the spear in the side. Jesus was placed in the tomb and woke up. Thought having bled on the cross all day he woke in the tomb, mustered the strength to roll away the boulder that stood in front of the entrance of the tomb and then walked on nail pierced feet to find the disciples.<br /> <br /> A second reason to believe in the validity of the resurrection is the post mortem appearances of Jesus. Again at first glance the Bible does not seem to be good evidence for proof here. But if we step back and consider what the passages would have said at the time of its' writing there are important things to be noticed. Consider 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. In this passage Paul makes a list of people who Jesus appeared to following his resurrection. If you were a Crime Scene Investigator that wanted to disprove the resurrection Paul is giving you a list of witnesses to interview.<br /> <br /> He begins by mentioning that Jesus appeared to Cephas and the twelve. These are straight forward. Following this Paul states that Jesus appeared to a group of 500. Of this group Paul says that "most of whom are still alive." We might wonder why Paul would point out that most of that group are still alive. As we step back it becomes obvious. Paul is inviting the reader to seek out these people and as them about what they saw. Remember this is the same context in which Paul tells the audience that the faith without the resurrection is not real. Paul wants the reader to inquire about these things.<br /> <br /> From here Paul says that Jesus appeared to his brother James. This is an eye opener. Throughout the gospels (not written by Paul) we know that Jesus' siblings do not seem to be very warm to him. You can imagine why. Jesus is a half brother who gets all the attention. Jesus' death might have made James gloat and say "See. I told you he was not real. I told you he was no messiah. He is dead now. There was nothing special about him. He was a con man." But we know from extra biblical sources that James was one of the first leaders of the early church. What changed? Paul says that what changed was that James saw Jesus resurrected and then knew that Jesus was who He said He was.<br /> <br /> Finally Paul mentions that he himself saw Jesus after the resurrection. This is a remarkable point. There was no one who hated the church more than Paul. He killed followers of Christ. The church spread out of fear of Paul. The church moved city to city because Christians were running from Paul. That Paul becomes the most important evangelist in the history of the church. What changed? Paul saw the risen Christ and everything changes.<br /> <br /> The biggest theory trying to explain these appearances apart from the resurrection is the hallucination theory. This theory presents that the people who claimed to see Jesus following His death were having hallucinations some of which brought on by their sadness of missing Him. Again this falls far short of credible. Why would this happen in different times and places? Why would it impact people who never met Jesus? Why would the disciples be willing to die for a hallucination and why would they all have had similar hallucinations? These would be some very random and arbitrary hallucinations.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> The final point that Craig makes arguing for the resurrection is the spread of the church. This ties together many things said earlier. The church has no reason for belief without the resurrection. The church spread under great danger and sacrifice of comfort and life. What else would have caused the early church to continue on and continue to spread the church and the gospel without a sincere belief that the resurrection was true.<br /> <br /> <br /> One of the most important elements about Christianity to me is that it is believable. It is believable not just in the sense that if you close your eyes, and cross your fingers, and make a wish kind of way you can believe anything. But it is rooted in history. It involves a specific nation of people that is known and accepted. It involves a system of sacrifice for this nation and people that is known and accepted. It involves a person who lived on the earth and died on a cross, which is again known and accepted. The haziness does not involve whether or not those things happened- almost everyone acknowledge that they happened. The haziness involves what those things mean- if they mean anything at all. But what I love about Christianity is that there is enough reason and reason enough to believe without thoughtlessness. We can reason about our faith and look for logical understanding why what we believe is valid. Added to this is the important continuation, that while there is reason enough to believe there is never going to be reason enough to believe without an element of faith. It is akin to driving a car across a bridge. You might see many cars cross the bridge. You might do weight limitation studies on the bridge. You might have much logical reason and verifiable data that demonstrates that the bridge is worthy to drive on. Yet you do not prove faith in the bridge until you begin to drive across it. Christianity is not mindless. Yet it also cannot be proven without faith. In his book Surprised by Hope N.T. Wright discusses this dynamic of our beliefs: "The most important decisions we make in life are not made by post-Enlightenment left-brain rationality alone. I do not suggest that one can argue right up to the central truth of Christian faith by pure human reason building on simple observation of the world. Indeed, it should be obvious that that is impossible. Equally, I would not suggest that historical investigation of this sort has therefore no part to play and that all that is required is a blind leap of faith. God has given us minds to think; the question has been appropriately raised; Christianity appeals to history and to history it must go. And the question of Jesus' resurrection, though it may in some senses burst the boundaries of history, also remains within them; that is precisely why it is so important, so disturbing, so life and death." This thought gives an important foundation for our study of why the thought of the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a credible thought though seeming absolutely incredible. As we discuss these matters we will present reasoning for why the resurrection of Jesus is an idea that can stand up to thinking. Yet at the same time we are certainly well aware that no amount of natural thought will prompt us to final belief that a man bodily rose from the dead. This will take the step of faith. In considering why we believe the resurrection to be real we will look at some biblical passages to see what they have to say about the matter. This brings immediate red flags. How can we go to the Bible to prove the resurrection is real? Of course the Bible will say that it is real. 2000 years removed from the biblical writing it is simple to view in this way. But we must step back to remember that when the gospels and the rest of the New Testament were written they were written to be received as true by an audience that would be made up of people who would have experienced the events of the biblical... http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=292122http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=292122 Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:00:00 GMT When you think about it the idea of a bodily resurrection is a ridiculous one. Meaning that we would ridicule people who carried such unfounded beliefs today. We tend to look this way at people who claim that Elvis Presley is still alive for example, although people have seemed to stop claiming that. Why have they stopped claiming it? I guess because they no longer believe that it is true. Which is an intriguing thing to think about when you think about the continued global spread of Christianity around the globe. Because within Christianity, unlike any of the other religions of the world, you have an inherent self destruct button. This is stated in 1 Corinthians 15:17 in which Paul says "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile." In other words Paul has thrown down the gauntlet only a culturally short time removed from Jesus' death. "If you want to end Christianity (Which so many did) go dig up the body. You can easily find out where Jesus was buried. Go dig him up and this thing is over. Immediately. Never open the doors of a church again over...right now." And I would imagine that in that time and even before Paul had written this down that many people attempted to do this. Wouldn't that be our natural response? If you heard me spreading the message that Lou Malnati's had stopped selling pizza and you were getting irritated as people actually began to give this some credibility you could easily try to stop it all by just calling Lou Malnati's. And if you were bothered enough you certainly would. Knowing what we know about the early opposition to the spread of the church we can easily envision that finding some proof of the body of Jesus would have been highly sought after.<br /> <br /> But the church still continues on with a belief that would destroy the entire faith if disproved. And while it would be very difficult to reliably produce and prove the body of Jesus (or better said the remains of Jesus) if he were not resurrected today it would not have been as difficult in the days of the early church. Especially when you consider that the church was growing in chronological and geographical proximity to where Christ would have been crucified and buried. Especially when you consider the tremendous religious and political opposition there was to Christianity at the time. Especially considering the fact that the resurrection story was being spread among thousands of people who would have been there for the events and would have known the people involved in the events. Imagine if I wrote an article about how great the Chicago Bears season was last year. That story might be believed a thousand years from now. But it could not pass now or ten years from now or fifty years from now. There would be too many people around who could disagree with it and who lived through the misery enough to know that an article stating that the season was great was errant.<br /> <br /> The resurrection is the reason why the church exists. Without the resurrection Jesus Christ is not a good man. He is a power hungry mad man who claimed things that were not true about himself and died on a cross. He is a man who would have lost his followers as soon as he died because he would not have lived up to their expectations of the "Messiah" they were expecting. A Messiah who could do many powerful things to restore peace to the nation of Israel and bring them a nation and a security that they had not had in centuries. In the expectation of that day for the disciples of Jesus, the Messiah could have done many things. But dying is not one of them. The true Messiah does not die before he delivers his people. But Jesus is the true Messiah because He delivers His people by dying and then being raised from the dead. The dying does not matter without the being raised.<br /> <br /> I have been recently moved by the thought of how dramatic the impact of the resurrection is. On a foundational level consider the impact of the resurrection when you think about how different Sunday is from every other day of the week in our culture. Stores have different hours and some stores are not even open at all. Entire municipalities do not sell liquor on Sundays. Sunday is the consistent day off in our culture and is the day that people choose to relax and prepare for the next day. Sunday is a different day. Whether we know it or not that is an impact of the resurrection.<br /> <br /> This is a tremendous shift. For generations the Jewish people had Saturday as their holy day. They knew it. They never forgot it. But for many of those early Christians who were coming from the traditional Jewish faith they now had a new day of worship- Sunday. We might not be hit by the enormity of that at first but consider:<br /> <p>"For several thousand years in the midst of a bewildering variety of geographic locations and civilizations- even as their own language and cultural practices changed in myriad ways- the Jews have never forgotten which day is the Sabbath. And yet within a few years of Jesus&rsquo; death, we have clear evidence of a group of largely or exclusively Jewish believers, living within sight of the temple, who have shifted their primary day of worship from Saturday the traditional Sabbath day to Sunday the day of the resurrection.</p> <p>To grasp the cultural significance of this, imagine leaving the United States for a decade or so and returning to find that while the wider society continued to get up on Monday and go to work and school, a substantial number of churches left their buildings dark on Sunday and gathered for worship on Monday instead- and now calling it the Lord&rsquo;s Day. You would conclude that something extraordinary had happened.&rdquo;<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Andy Crouch <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Culture Making</span><br /> <br /> How much impact does the resurrection have on our thinking? How many of us have ever worn a cross on a t-shirt or an earring or a piece of jewelry? How many of us have ever viewed a cross as a picture of beauty? Think about the words that come to our minds when we think about the cross- words such as grace, and love, and mercy. This is all result of the resurrection. The cross is an ugly thing not a thing of beauty. It is two beams of wood that people were nailed to- spikes driven though their hands and feet. Hung by nails in the hot sun- with little or no clothes on. Birds landing on the punished picking away at their flesh. People walking by and looking on in awe at the people hanging as if hanging on the walls of an art gallery. How big of a nail must you use to correctly hang a person from? People on crosses didn't usually die because of the wounds of the cross. They usually died from an inability to no longer breath. At the beginning of the crucifixion they would breath by lifting their bodies on the spike that had been driven through their feet to allow the air to come into their lungs. By the end of the day they no longer had the strength to do this excruciating act. So they finally die due to lack of oxygen. If &nbsp;there were ever a way to kill a person by inflicting the most pain and torture possible- the cross was it. Yet we view it as a thing of beauty. Maybe a thing of beauty to a masochist, but not to the civilized...until the resurrection.<br /> <br /> Crouch writes:<br /> &ldquo;Indeed one of the most dramatic cultural effects of the resurrection is the transformation of the heinous cultural artifact known as the cross. An instrument of domination and condemnation becomes a symbol of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed: an alternative culture where grace and forgiveness are the last word.&rdquo; - <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Culture Making</span>.</p> <p>This struck me greatly because it is true. It is also a picture of our lives. Our lives were dead in sin and the rejection of God. We stood at war with God and deserved separation and punishment. Without the work of Christ we were lost and this world is as good as it gets.</p> <p> </p> <p>In a sense our life was a picture of brutality because we are human and we are often surrounded by the destruction that our lives cause. And we know that a man named Jesus lived on this earth and died on a cross. But without the resurrection that death has no power.</p> <p> </p> <p>Because of the resurrection we can be forgiven and made right. Because of the resurrection everything changes&hellip;everything is different. Just like the cross has been transformed for brutality to beauty our lives are transformed from death to life, for war to peace, from guilt to forgiveness, from a vessel prepared for eternal destruction to a vessel of mercy fitted for eternal life.</p> <p> </p> <p>Everything is different.</p> <p ><br /> </p> <p><br /> </p> When you think about it the idea of a bodily resurrection is a ridiculous one. Meaning that we would ridicule people who carried such unfounded beliefs today. We tend to look this way at people who claim that Elvis Presley is still alive for example, although people have seemed to stop claiming that. Why have they stopped claiming it? I guess because they no longer believe that it is true. Which is an intriguing thing to think about when you think about the continued global spread of Christianity around the globe. Because within Christianity, unlike any of the other religions of the world, you have an inherent self destruct button. This is stated in 1 Corinthians 15:17 in which Paul says "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile." In other words Paul has thrown down the gauntlet only a culturally short time removed from Jesus' death. "If you want to end Christianity (Which so many did) go dig up the body. You can easily find out where Jesus was buried. Go dig him up and this thing is over. Immediately. Never open the doors of a church again over...right now." And I would imagine that in that time and even before Paul had written this down that many people attempted to do this. Wouldn't that be our natural response? If you heard me spreading the message that Lou Malnati's had stopped selling pizza and you were getting irritated as people actually began to give this some credibility you could easily try to stop it all by just calling Lou Malnati's. And if you were bothered enough you certainly would. Knowing what we know about the early opposition to the spread of the church we can easily envision that finding some proof of the body of Jesus would have been highly sought after. But the church still continues on with a belief that would destroy the entire faith if disproved. And while it would be very difficult to reliably produce and prove the body of Jesus (or better said the remains of Jesus) if he were not resurrected today it would not have been as difficult in the days of the early church. Especially when you consider that the church was growing in chronological and geographical proximity to where Christ would have been crucified and buried. Especially when you consider the tremendous religious and political opposition there was to Christianity at the time. Especially considering the fact that the resurrection story was being spread among thousands of people who would have been there for the events and would have known the people involved in the events. Imagine if I wrote an article about how great the Chicago Bears season was last year. That story might be believed a thousand years from now. But it could not pass now or ten years from now or fifty years from now. There would be too many people around who could disagree with it and who lived through the misery enough to know that an article stating that the season was great was errant. The resurrection is the reason why the church exists. Without the resurrection Jesus Christ is not a good man. He is a power hungry mad man who claimed things that were not true about himself and died on a cross. He is a man who would have lost his followers as soon as he died because he would not have lived up to their expectations of the "Messiah" they were expecting. A Messiah who could do many powerful things to restore peace to the nation of Israel and bring them a nation and a security that they had not had in centuries. In the expectation of that day for the disciples of Jesus,... http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=290513http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=290513 Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:00:00 GMT This Sunday night we begin a new series on the importance of the resurrection entitled "Everything Different." As we approach Easter Sunday I thought it would be good to process the importance of the resurrection on a more practical level than we&nbsp;usually do. I think that we often appreciate the resurrection as a theological matter and appreciate the statement that the resurrection makes about the power of Jesus. This is, of course, an important part of the story. However, there is more to the resurrection than just that.<br /> <br /> While I was reading a book entitled <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Culture Making</span>&nbsp;by Andy Crouch I was struck by some thoughts that he had written about the importance and profound impact of the resurrection in greater ways than we might have ever considered.<br /> <br /> Crouch writes:<br /> "one of the most dramatic cultural effects of the resurrection is the transformation of that heinous cultural artifact known as a cross. An instrument of domination and condemnation becomes a symbol of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed: an alternative culture where grace and forgiveness are the last word."<br /> <br /> Consider how the cross is viewed in our culture. People delight in the cross. They celebrate it. They hang it around their necks and make jewelry of it. This does not strike us as odd. This transformation only occurs because of the resurrection. We would certainly view it as odd if we saw someone wearing jewelry of the electric chair or adorned themselves with images of the lethal injection machinery. Yet the cross has become beautiful. Why is that? It is only because of the resurrection.<br /> <br /> The resurrection transformed the ugly, devastated and devastating instrument of brutality known as the cross. This is a picture of what the work of Christ on earth, culminated in His resurrection accomplishes in the lives of those how turn to Him for forgiveness. Through His work He has taken the lives of His people and turned them from being objects of the devastating wrath of God and given them eternal riches. He has taken those who were enemies of God and brought them to peace with God once and for all. We are now vessels of mercy whose sin and shortcoming has been washed away. We are headed to a place that God Himself is preparing for us and where we will dwell with Him forever. Entirely undeserved. Completely guaranteed as true by the proof of the resurrection.<br /> <br /> This matters to our everyday life and in every way that we view the world that we live in. I am looking forward to exploring this with you as we come into our new series together. I hope you can join us. This Sunday night we begin a new series on the importance of the resurrection entitled "Everything Different." As we approach Easter Sunday I thought it would be good to process the importance of the resurrection on a more practical level than we usually do. I think that we often appreciate the resurrection as a theological matter and appreciate the statement that the resurrection makes about the power of Jesus. This is, of course, an important part of the story. However, there is more to the resurrection than just that. While I was reading a book entitled Culture Making by Andy Crouch I was struck by some thoughts that he had written about the importance and profound impact of the resurrection in greater ways than we might have ever considered. Crouch writes: "one of the most dramatic cultural effects of the resurrection is the transformation of that heinous cultural artifact known as a cross. An instrument of domination and condemnation becomes a symbol of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed: an alternative culture where grace and forgiveness are the last word." Consider how the cross is viewed in our culture. People delight in the cross. They celebrate it. They hang it around their necks and make jewelry of it. This does not strike us as odd. This transformation only occurs because of the resurrection. We would certainly view it as odd if we saw someone wearing jewelry of the electric chair or adorned themselves with images of the lethal injection machinery. Yet the cross has become beautiful. Why is that? It is only because of the resurrection. The resurrection transformed the ugly, devastated and devastating instrument of brutality known as the cross. This is a picture of what the work of Christ on earth, culminated in His resurrection accomplishes in the lives of those how turn to Him for forgiveness. Through His work He has taken the lives of His people and turned them from being objects of the devastating wrath of God and given them eternal riches. He has taken those who were enemies of God and brought them to peace with God once and for all. We are now vessels of mercy whose sin and shortcoming has been washed away. We are headed to a place that God Himself is preparing for us and where we will dwell with Him forever. Entirely undeserved. Completely guaranteed as true by the proof of the resurrection. This matters to our everyday life and in every way that we view the world that we live in. I am looking forward to exploring this with you as we come into our new series together. I hope you can join us. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=290305http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=290305 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:00:00 GMT Last night was one of those good nights at encounter when we were able to take some time to process a very tough subject and respond to the truth that we are confronted with. Almost all of us have wrestled with what is called the "Problem of Evil." The "Problem of Evil" refers to the major questions: "How could a good God allow such terrible things to happen in the world?" Or "How can a good and loving God punish people by sending them to Hell?" These are difficult questions. Last night I walked through some of the thoughts that it is out of God's goodness that He must punish sin because this will make right happen in the end. This idea of a divine judge who will punish wrong gives us hope in the times of difficulty and hardship. Things do not go unnoticed by God.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> The podcast will be up soon if you would like to listen to the message but there were some elements of the sermon that I wanted to expand on and some passages from books about the issue that I wanted to include in case there were further interest.<br /> <br /> I mentioned that a loving Father goes to severe lengths to protect his children. When we were at camp when my son Ben was 2 years old he saw this huge campground as a license to free run. The problem was that there were many dangers. There were the roads that ran through the campground which cars would drive on throughout the day. There were concrete gutters that ran through the roads, in which a 2 year old could fall and snap an ankle or bust up their mouth. There was the waterfront on the property with no barrier to stop Ben from wandering in. In order to protect Ben I held him firmly and told him in strong words that he could not just run around without us. He could not just run through an open door and try to get away from all of the adults. Someone who was watching from the outside might have seen this as severe. But this was the most living thing I could have done. I was protecting my son from what I knew would harm him. God is serious and severe about sin because He knows its' effect. He is severe about sin because it is an affront to Him and how He desires things to be.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> We have developed a false view of a Santa Claus god. We believe in a god who will give out gifts regardless of whether or not people believe in him. This false god is like Santa Claus in that he has only a mild concern for sin, only in speech but not in action. Santa Claus winds up bringing gifts regardless of whether or not the children have been "naughty or nice." Santa talks a good game of knowing "if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake." But he doesn't really back it up. Behavior does not impact whether or not you get the gifts in the end. There are many with this view of God. Their god is all about love so it doesn't matter that people have rejected the love of God and have lived their own way and not sought to repent of their sin and change their lives by the grace of God. They have rejected God and sought to live without Him in their lives and yet in the end they will all get the gifts because God is a loving God who does not care about right or wrong. In Exodus 34:7 God wants us to know that He is not like this. He is loving, gracious, kind, loyal, patient, and merciful. But He closes with the warning that He will punish the sin of people who reject Him and that this punishment will have lasting consequence.<br /> <br /> In his book&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Knowing God</span>&nbsp;J.I. Packer discusses this view of a Santa Claus god:<br /> <p>&ldquo;In Santa Claus theology sin creates no problem, and atonement (death of Christ to take the punishment for our sin) becomes needless; God&rsquo;s active favor extends no less to those who disregard his commands than to those who keep them. The idea that God&rsquo;s attitude to me is affected by whether or not I do what he says has no place in the thought of today&rsquo;s man on the street, and any attempt to show the need for fear in God&rsquo;s presence, for trembling at his word, gets written off as old fashioned.</p> <p>Yet the Santa Claus theology carries within itself the seeds of its own collapse, for it cannot cope with the fact of evil. It is no accident that when belief in a God who is only good and loving came into prominence- the problem of evil (how can a good God allow bad things to happen) suddenly leaped into prominence as the number one question about our faith. This was inevitable, for it is not possible to see the good will of a heavenly Santa Claus in heartbreaking and destructive things like cruelty, or marital infidelity, or death on the road, or lung cancer. The only way to save this view of God is to dissociate Him from these things and to deny that He has any direct relation to them or control over them; in other words to deny His omnipotence or lordship in this world.</p> This is a huge problem because this leaves us with a God who means well but cannot always insulate His children from trouble and grief. When trouble comes, therefore, there is nothing to do but grin and bear it. In this way, by an ironic paradox, faith in a God who is all goodness and no severity tends to confirm men in a fatalistic and pessimistic attitude to life.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> The bottom line from this is that a God who does not punish sin cannot be God. All sin is punished by God. That punishment is either applied to Christ on the cross (when we confess our sin before God, ask forgiveness, and give our lives to Him seeking to follow Him), or we take that punishment by rejecting His work. This punishment for rejection of God is called Hell. It is the absence of God and the culmination of our choice to keep God out of our lives. Thus, in the end God gives us eternally what we have chosen on this earth. We have sought to keep God out of our lives here, and thus God gives us what we want in the end.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> C.S. Lewis in&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Great Divorce</span>&nbsp;describes it in this way:<br /> "There are only two kinds of people- those who say 'Thy will be done' to God or those to whom God in the end says 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice it wouldn't be Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it."<br /> <br /> It is an intriguing note when you look at the passage in Exodus 34:6-7 that God closes the description of Himself on such a down note. Previously, He has described Himself as gracious, merciful, patient, good, loving, and forgiving. Now he wants to close on the note that He will punish sin. This is because God knows that we will take advantage of those attributes. His patience will tempt us into thinking that He does not care about our sin. He does and He uses this conclusion to make sure that we understand how serious is to Him.<br /> <br /> Sin is a serious matter to God because He is so loving. He punishes sin out of His goodness because He has seen the effect of sin. Sin deeply marred the work of God. God had created the world as it was meant to be. In a book entitled<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Not The Way It's Supposed to Be</span>&nbsp;Cornelius Platinga describes this as "shalom." Sin devastated shalom. Sin has made the world not as it should be and we are surrounded by proof of that everyday. Sin has hurt this world and hurt the people of this world and so a good God cannot just pretend that this is not the case. He must act because sin is an affront to Him and an affront to the people He has made.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Plantinga describes it in this way:<br /> <p>&ldquo;In biblical thinking, we can understand neither shalom or sin apart from reference to God. Sin is a religious concept, not just a moral one. Sin is not only the breaking of law but also the breaking of covenant with one&rsquo;s savior. Sin is the smearing of a relationship, the grieving of one&rsquo;s divine parent and benefactor, a betrayal of the partner to whom one is joined by a holy bond.</p> <p>All sin has first and finally a Godward force. Let us that that a sin is an act- any thought, desire, emotion, word, or deed- or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame. Sin is a culpable and personal affront to a personal God.</p> <p>When we understand shalom and there is a way where all is right with the world, we understand sin more. God is not arbitrarily offended by sin. God hates sin not just because it violates his law, but more substantively, because it violates shalom, because it breaks peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> In this sense God's sense becomes good and right. Imagine a world without the wrath of God. It would be a world of anarchy. People would fight for their own revenge and retribution. There would be no hope that things would be made right in the end. This world would be as good as it ever gets.<br /> <br /> </p> <p>Sin is a violation of the way things were supposed to be&nbsp; where God is exalted and worshiped and blessing His people. It is why children will die from hunger while we sit here for this hour. It is why warlords are kidnapping children and building armies. It is why buildings have locks on them and economies break. It is why families are broken and tears will be shed tonight over words that were carelessly typed into a facebook status. It affects everything. And will be done away with by a wrathful God.</p> Timothy Keller discusses this impact on society as seen through the words of Miroslav Volf a Croation who has seen tremendous sin, evil, and violence in the Balkans. He discusses the societal impact of a god who does nothing to punish wrong doing.<br /> <p>&ldquo;Volf reasons that a lack of belief in a God of vengeance secretly nourishes violence. The human impulse to make perpetrators of violence pay for their crimes is almost an overwhelming one. It cannot possibly be overcome with clich&eacute;s such as &ldquo;Violence will not solve anything.&rdquo; If you have seen your home burned down and your relatives killed and raped-this talk is laughable- and it shows no real concern for justice. Yet victims of violence are drawn to go far beyond justice into the vengeance that says &lsquo;You put out one of my eyes, so I will put out both of yours.&rsquo; Thus begins an endless cycle of vengeance, of strikes and counterstrikes nurtured and justified by the memory of terrible wrongs.</p> <p>Can our passion for justice be honored in a way that does not nurture our desire for blood vengeance? Volf says the best resource for this is belief in the concept of God&rsquo;s divine justice. If I don&rsquo;t believe that there is a God who will eventually put all things right, I&nbsp;<strong>will</strong>&nbsp;take up the and will be sucked into the endless vortex of retaliation. Only if I am sure that there&rsquo;s a God who will right all wrongs and setlle all accounts perfectly do I have the power to refrain.&rdquo;<br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Reason For God</span>&nbsp;by Timothy Keller<br /> <br /> God is both loving and wrathful because his wrath is part of His love and His love is part of His wrath. Because God is love He acts on behalf of His people and in a way that seeks to draw people to Him. God's punishment for sin is a call for our need to be forgiven of our sin. Every natural disaster, or terrible news story, or personal heartbreak is a reminder that our lives and this world long for the eternal redemption of God. They can be seen as the voice of God prompting a return to Him. &nbsp;<br /> <br /> God is a judge of sin but we cannot view this judgment and the God of this judgment in the way that we view judges and judgments in our society. The biblical judge is different.<br /> <br /> In&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Knowing God,&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;Packer teaches that the judge of the Bible is:<br /> 1. A person with authority<br /> 2. A person with the power to execute and not merely pronounce sentence<br /> 3. A person with the wisdom to discern truth. Thus every sentence is to be based on what is true. Every sentence is based on solid evidence. Thus every sentence must be deserved and right.<br /> 4. The biblical judge acts on behalf of what is true and right.<br /> <br /> Packer brings home the point by saying:</p> <p><strong>&ldquo;</strong>The modern idea that a judge should be cold and dispassionate has no place in the Bible. The biblical judge is to love justice and fair play and to loathe ill-treatment of man by his fellow-man. An unjust judge- one who has no interest I seeing right triumph over wrong is a biblical monstrosity. &ldquo;</p> <p>As judge God is good, and not evil. His judgments are good. They make things right.</p> <p>&ldquo;Would a God who took as much pleasure in evil as He did good be a good God? Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in His world be morally perfect? Surely not. But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, that the Bible has in view when it speaks of God&rsquo;s wrath.&rdquo;</p> The thought that a God of love cannot also be a righteous and wrathful judge is scripturally incongruous. The love of God is a deeply biblical idea but God in His fullness is fully all of His attributes. Interestingly, the love of God is also a distinctly biblical idea. Keller once again says:<br /> <p>&ldquo;Today many of the skeptics I talk to say, as I once did, they cant believe in the God of the Bible who punishes and judges people, because they believe in a God of love. I now ask, what makes them think God is love? Can they look at life I the world today and say &lsquo;This proves that the God of the world is a God of love? Can they look at history and say &lsquo;This all shows that the God of history is a God of love?&rsquo; Can they look at the religious texts of the world and conclude that God is a God of love? By no means is that the dominant, ruling attribute of God as understood in any of the major faiths. I must conclude that the source of the idea that God is love is the Bible itself. And the Bible tells us that the God of love is also a God of judgment who will put all things in the world to rights in the end.</p> <p>The belief in a God of pure love- who accepts everyone and judges no one- is a powerful act of faith. Not only is there no evidence for it in the natural order, bet there is almost no historical, religious textual support for it outside of Christianity. The more you look at it the less justified it appears.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> So the full picture is a call to turn to God. In a negative sense God will punish sin and this causes us a natural concern about avoiding this punishment through belief in Christ's work on the cross. In a positive sense God is loving and good and gracious and merciful and patient and forgiving. To have relationship with Him is to begin to find life as it was meant to be. The ideas of the wrath of God and the love of God are complementary to each other and not in opposition to each other and both are used by God with the loving purpose of drawing us to Himself.</p> Last night was one of those good nights at encounter when we were able to take some time to process a very tough subject and respond to the truth that we are confronted with. Almost all of us have wrestled with what is called the "Problem of Evil." The "Problem of Evil" refers to the major questions: "How could a good God allow such terrible things to happen in the world?" Or "How can a good and loving God punish people by sending them to Hell?" These are difficult questions. Last night I walked through some of the thoughts that it is out of God's goodness that He must punish sin because this will make right happen in the end. This idea of a divine judge who will punish wrong gives us hope in the times of difficulty and hardship. Things do not go unnoticed by God. The podcast will be up soon if you would like to listen to the message but there were some elements of the sermon that I wanted to expand on and some passages from books about the issue that I wanted to include in case there were further interest. I mentioned that a loving Father goes to severe lengths to protect his children. When we were at camp when my son Ben was 2 years old he saw this huge campground as a license to free run. The problem was that there were many dangers. There were the roads that ran through the campground which cars would drive on throughout the day. There were concrete gutters that ran through the roads, in which a 2 year old could fall and snap an ankle or bust up their mouth. There was the waterfront on the property with no barrier to stop Ben from wandering in. In order to protect Ben I held him firmly and told him in strong words that he could not just run around without us. He could not just run through an open door and try to get away from all of the adults. Someone who was watching from the outside might have seen this as severe. But this was the most living thing I could have done. I was protecting my son from what I knew would harm him. God is serious and severe about sin because He knows its' effect. He is severe about sin because it is an affront to Him and how He desires things to be. We have developed a false view of a Santa Claus god. We believe in a god who will give out gifts regardless of whether or not people believe in him. This false god is like Santa Claus in that he has only a mild concern for sin, only in speech but not in action. Santa Claus winds up bringing gifts regardless of whether or not the children have been "naughty or nice." Santa talks a good game of knowing "if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake." But he doesn't really back it up. Behavior does not impact whether or not you get the gifts in the end. There are many with this view of God. Their god is all about love so it doesn't matter that people have rejected the love of God and have lived their own way and not sought to repent of their sin and change their lives by the grace of God. They have rejected God and sought to live without Him in their lives and yet in the end they will all get the gifts because God is a loving God who does not care about right or wrong. In Exodus 34:7 God wants us to know that He is not like this. He is loving, gracious, kind, loyal, patient, and merciful. But He closes with the warning that He will punish the sin of people who reject Him and that this punishment will have lasting consequence. In his book Knowing God J.I. Packer discusses this view of a Santa Claus god: “In Santa Claus theology sin creates no... http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=289740http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=289740 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:00:00 GMT we are starting a new series at encounter beginning next week. Hope to see you all out! Invite a friend!<br /> <br /> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nKOrRDrpALM" frameborder="0"></iframe> we are starting a new series at encounter beginning next week. Hope to see you all out! Invite a friend! http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=248095http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=248095 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:00:00 GMT The new encounter series starting May 1st. <div><br /> </div> <div><br /> </div> <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22681229?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe> The new encounter series starting May 1st. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=246104http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=246104 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:00:00 GMT It is an interesting thing to think about- what message does the cross send? For many the cross is an icon or symbol that hangs around their neck or sits on a table or hangs on a wall. For others it is a piece of art. For some it carries the emotions of the religion of their upbringing. Sadly, for others the cross has been used as a symbol of war or hatred. In this case, nothing could be further from the truth. <div><br /> </div> <div>The beauty of the cross is that it demonstrates the depths of God's love for us. The cross is an open invitation. The cross is God spreading open His arms and saying "All may come." God does not turn His back on His creation, though His creation turned their backs on Him. God says come to me...anyone...no matter who you are and what you have done. Come to me and find forgiveness. I love you so much and here is how I will demonstrate that to you. The cross is a reminder that no one is too far away from God to be loved by Him. No one has rejected God so much that they cannot feel the grace of the cross.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>This is what is the saddest about those groups of people who like to talk about who God hates, and who deserves Hell. The thing is that we all deserve Hell. We have all done things that have rejected God and deserve His punishment. The cross tells us that God hates no one. He loves everyone so much that He came to take that punishment so that we do not have to. The cross is an instrument of torture that Christ endured out of great love for us.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>In this series we will continue to take a look at the cross and grow in our wonder and amazement about a perfect God who loves imperfect people so much that He would hang on the most cruel devices ever created to provide us a way to know Him.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>So the invitation is there for everyone...come to the cross. Find forgiveness and a God who loves you beyond anything you could ever imagine or comprehend.</div> It is an interesting thing to think about- what message does the cross send? For many the cross is an icon or symbol that hangs around their neck or sits on a table or hangs on a wall. For others it is a piece of art. For some it carries the emotions of the religion of their upbringing. Sadly, for others the cross has been used as a symbol of war or hatred. In this case, nothing could be further from the truth. The beauty of the cross is that it demonstrates the depths of God's love for us. The cross is an open invitation. The cross is God spreading open His arms and saying "All may come." God does not turn His back on His creation, though His creation turned their backs on Him. God says come to me...anyone...no matter who you are and what you have done. Come to me and find forgiveness. I love you so much and here is how I will demonstrate that to you. The cross is a reminder that no one is too far away from God to be loved by Him. No one has rejected God so much that they cannot feel the grace of the cross. This is what is the saddest about those groups of people who like to talk about who God hates, and who deserves Hell. The thing is that we all deserve Hell. We have all done things that have rejected God and deserve His punishment. The cross tells us that God hates no one. He loves everyone so much that He came to take that punishment so that we do not have to. The cross is an instrument of torture that Christ endured out of great love for us. In this series we will continue to take a look at the cross and grow in our wonder and amazement about a perfect God who loves imperfect people so much that He would hang on the most cruel devices ever created to provide us a way to know Him. So the invitation is there for everyone...come to the cross. Find forgiveness and a God who loves you beyond anything you could ever imagine or comprehend. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=245683http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=245683 Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:00:00 GMT Hello everyone.<br /> <br type="_moz" /> <div>I hope your weekend is going well. I wanted to invite you to join us for encounter tomorrow night. We will be beginning a new series about the importance of the cross. I think it will be a good series as we approach the Passion season and Good Friday and Easter. It will remind us of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. It will also grow our appreciate and worship for what the cross accomplished in our lives. I think it will be very meaningful and I really hope you will be a part of it.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>See you tomorrow.</div> <div>rob</div> Hello everyone. I hope your weekend is going well. I wanted to invite you to join us for encounter tomorrow night. We will be beginning a new series about the importance of the cross. I think it will be a good series as we approach the Passion season and Good Friday and Easter. It will remind us of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. It will also grow our appreciate and worship for what the cross accomplished in our lives. I think it will be very meaningful and I really hope you will be a part of it. See you tomorrow. rob http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=244258http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=244258 Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:00:00 GMT &lt;iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20859582?title=0&amp;amp;byline=0&amp;amp;portrait=0" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; <div><br /> </div> <div><br /> </div> <div><br /> </div> <div><br /> </div> <div>We thought that everyone might enjoy seeing this as they prepare to give tonight.</div> <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20859582?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe> We thought that everyone might enjoy seeing this as they prepare to give tonight. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=243814http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=243814 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:00:00 GMT <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20273580" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"> </iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/20273580">Water Project- Bethel Community Church</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/jhoffmann">Jonathan Hoffmann</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> Water Project- Bethel Community Church from Jonathan Hoffmann on Vimeo . http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=223244http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=223244 Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:00:00 GMT Hello everyone. <div>Last Sunday night we had a great start to our new sermon series and encounter for the Fall. It felt very good to be back together again after a powerful summer apart. I am looking forward to this Sunday evening as we continue on again.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>I am sure you noticed that last Sunday night we had a good number of people who were new to encounter and new to the church. This was very exciting and we pray that they will continue to come out again this week. So I want to ask you to do two things: 1. Be praying for those people and the message as it goes out to them. 2. If you see people that you do not recognize welcome them to the church and try to reach out to them. We are so privileged to have them here and we would like them to feel that.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>I hope to see you on Sunday,</div> <div><br /> </div> <span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"> <div>rob</div> </span> Hello everyone. Last Sunday night we had a great start to our new sermon series and encounter for the Fall. It felt very good to be back together again after a powerful summer apart. I am looking forward to this Sunday evening as we continue on again. I am sure you noticed that last Sunday night we had a good number of people who were new to encounter and new to the church. This was very exciting and we pray that they will continue to come out again this week. So I want to ask you to do two things: 1. Be praying for those people and the message as it goes out to them. 2. If you see people that you do not recognize welcome them to the church and try to reach out to them. We are so privileged to have them here and we would like them to feel that. I hope to see you on Sunday, rob http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=222089http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=222089 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:00:00 GMT Hey everyone.<br /> <br type="_moz" /> <div>It is mid week but I hope you are already anticipating the start of new sermon series' this Sunday. In the morning we will begin a series based on the book entitled <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Hole in Our Gospel</span> This has been a book that has made tremendous impact on many lives about the necessity to back up our faith with our actions. I look forward to hearing what Pastor Paul will say these weeks.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>On Sunday evening we will begin our new series "Certainty." In that series we will be walking verse by verse through the book of 1 John. In preparation for the series you should read the book of 1 John this week. There is so much in it and it is so powerful. The book almost preaches itself and if you read the book I am certain you will want to hear it and study it more. It is amazing. Join us. And pray for those who will hear the messages. One of the major purposes of 1 John is that the reader would be certain of where they stand in relationship to Christ. I hope many lives will be changed as a result of this series. One other hope is that through the series we would all grow in our understanding of how to be students of the Bible on our own.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>I hope you will join us. </div> <div><br /> </div> <div>pastor rob</div> Hey everyone. It is mid week but I hope you are already anticipating the start of new sermon series' this Sunday. In the morning we will begin a series based on the book entitled The Hole in Our Gospel This has been a book that has made tremendous impact on many lives about the necessity to back up our faith with our actions. I look forward to hearing what Pastor Paul will say these weeks. On Sunday evening we will begin our new series "Certainty." In that series we will be walking verse by verse through the book of 1 John. In preparation for the series you should read the book of 1 John this week. There is so much in it and it is so powerful. The book almost preaches itself and if you read the book I am certain you will want to hear it and study it more. It is amazing. Join us. And pray for those who will hear the messages. One of the major purposes of 1 John is that the reader would be certain of where they stand in relationship to Christ. I hope many lives will be changed as a result of this series. One other hope is that through the series we would all grow in our understanding of how to be students of the Bible on our own. I hope you will join us. pastor rob http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=221199http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=221199 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:00:00 GMT Hello everyone, <div><br /> </div> <div>I want to remind all of the men that tomorrow night at Bethel (Wednesday, Sept. 1st) at 7pm Tim Shoemaker will be repeating his session on "God's man and sexual purity." This was a powerful night. I have to say what Tim had to say on the topic was so insightful. He does not just talk about the need for sexual purity in order to please God. He also has very specific and accurate stuff to say about the damaging effect that this has on men and their marriages. It is tremendous. Please join us. We will possibly have guests from other churches with us that night so even if you heard it you might want to come to be an encouragement to the other men.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Last Sunday night I recommended a Bible to our men to use for reading the Bible to their children. The name of the Bible is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.christianbook.com/jesus-storybook-bible-every-story-whispers/sally-lloyd-jones/9780310708254/pd/708257?item_code=WW&amp;netp_id=417972&amp;event=ESRCN&amp;view=details"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Jesus Storybook Bible</span>.</a> The author is Sally lloyd Jones. I wrote that the author was Andrew Peterson. It is not.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Finally, remember that we do not have encounter this Sunday evening. We will be together for our all church picnic at the Methodist Campground in Des Plaines following our morning services. One morning service this week at 10 am. Your kids might want to wear or bring swimsuits because there will be a water slide.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>In two weeks we being our new series going verse by verse through the book of 1 John. It should be good.</div> <div><br /> </div> <div>Talk to you soon,</div> <div>rob</div> Hello everyone, I want to remind all of the men that tomorrow night at Bethel (Wednesday, Sept. 1st) at 7pm Tim Shoemaker will be repeating his session on "God's man and sexual purity." This was a powerful night. I have to say what Tim had to say on the topic was so insightful. He does not just talk about the need for sexual purity in order to please God. He also has very specific and accurate stuff to say about the damaging effect that this has on men and their marriages. It is tremendous. Please join us. We will possibly have guests from other churches with us that night so even if you heard it you might want to come to be an encouragement to the other men. Last Sunday night I recommended a Bible to our men to use for reading the Bible to their children. The name of the Bible is The Jesus Storybook Bible . The author is Sally lloyd Jones. I wrote that the author was Andrew Peterson. It is not. Finally, remember that we do not have encounter this Sunday evening. We will be together for our all church picnic at the Methodist Campground in Des Plaines following our morning services. One morning service this week at 10 am. Your kids might want to wear or bring swimsuits because there will be a water slide. In two weeks we being our new series going verse by verse through the book of 1 John. It should be good. Talk to you soon, rob http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=179794http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=179794 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:00:00 GMT For those of you who may have missed them, we've uploaded the <a href="http://www.bethelcommunity.org/Content.aspx?site_id=10257&amp;content_id=179785">God Unplugged handouts</a>. Don't forget you catch up by listening to the podcast (either by <a href="http://www.bethelcommunity.org/Blog.aspx?site_id=10257&amp;blog_id=110413&amp;ref_object=highlight&amp;referrer=%2fIndex.aspx">streaming</a> or <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=298444580">subscribing in iTunes</a>). <br /> For those of you who may have missed them, we've uploaded the God Unplugged handouts . Don't forget you catch up by listening to the podcast (either by streaming or subscribing in iTunes ). http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=179200http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=179200 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT So I have been doing much thinking about Hosea and the more I think about it the more amazed I get that God would ask one of His followers to do what He asked Hosea to do. While Nate was doing the scripture reading last week and he put the words "Whoredom" "whoredom" "whoredom" three times on his chest as he read the words of the beginning verses of Hosea I was hit by how appropriate that was. Following his marriage to Gomer I am certain that everyone would see those labels on the chest of Hosea as he walked down the street, as he talked with people day to day, as he told other about the love of God. Without question, people behind his back would say "Isn't that the guy that married Gomer? Gomer the w--re." <br /> <br /> And yet think about the people who God loves and how much he loves them. I say them, but of course I mean us ( or me to be exact.). I would probably never call myself the name that God called His people...and yet I know that it would be appropriate at times. I know that at times I have taken the love of God for granted. I have taken the things that He has given me and used them to pursue other lovers or false gods...we all have. <br /> <br /> Yes I believe that people would look at Hosea and consider who he had chosen to marry, I also believe that it is stunning that God has chosen to love us. hehas chosen to be faithful to us even though we consistently choose to be faithless to Him and give our love to other things.<br /> <br /> Amazing...<br /> <br /> By the way, in studying for our message this coming Sunday I have been moved by the passages. I feel that on Sunday night we might possibly see the heart of God  more from these passages than from any other passages I have ever spoken on. I hope you will join us.<br /> <br /> So I have been doing much thinking about Hosea and the more I think about it the more amazed I get that God would ask one of His followers to do what He asked Hosea to do. While Nate was doing the scripture reading last week and he put the words "Whoredom" "whoredom" "whoredom" three times on his chest as he read the words of the beginning verses of Hosea I was hit by how appropriate that was. Following his marriage to Gomer I am certain that everyone would see those labels on the chest of Hosea as he walked down the street, as he talked with people day to day, as he told other about the love of God. Without question, people behind his back would say "Isn't that the guy that married Gomer? Gomer the w--re." And yet think about the people who God loves and how much he loves them. I say them, but of course I mean us ( or me to be exact.). I would probably never call myself the name that God called His people...and yet I know that it would be appropriate at times. I know that at times I have taken the love of God for granted. I have taken the things that He has given me and used them to pursue other lovers or false gods...we all have. Yes I believe that people would look at Hosea and consider who he had chosen to marry, I also believe that it is stunning that God has chosen to love us. hehas chosen to be faithful to us even though we consistently choose to be faithless to Him and give our love to other things. Amazing... By the way, in studying for our message this coming Sunday I have been moved by the passages. I feel that on Sunday night we might possibly see the heart of God more from these passages than from any other passages I have ever spoken on. I hope you will join us. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=178517http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=178517 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT A few years ago there was a new trend that I noticed developing. It seemed foolish and fascinating at the same time. It probably started with Hurricane Katrina and picked up from there. News organizations began sending camera crews and anchors to stand in the hurricane and do live news reports on scene. So I would watch hour after hour of weather maps and wind gusts and cameras almost get knocked over and people almost get knocked over and things crashing to the ground. Crews were starting to get good at this. With one hurricane they began to use this handheld device that you held into the wind and it would tell you how fast the wind was blowing. The whole scene was overwhelming and I am sure you saw this stuff and would say the same thing.<br /> <br /> I was moved at encounter last Sunday when Pastor Shawn and the band sang a song that compared the love of God to a hurricane. I immediately had thoughts of Anderson Cooper standing in his red CNN rain poncho being driven by wind and rain. Clutching to something because it was so powerful that it would blow him over or impale him on something. The intense power, and sweep of area that the hurricane affected were immense. The power is incomprehensible and permeates deeply. How do you not be changed by contact with a hurricane? how could you ever dry off?<br /> <br /> As I read the prophets this hurricane of love drives forth. God calling His people to stop ruining their lives and start following Him and finding the blessings that come with that. God as the jilted lover angry that His people have rejected His love. Angry because His love is perfect. And angry because he knows that which he loves will be harmed because of that rejection. God's pain in this is two ways...His pain at His own rejection...and His pain at how our rejection of Him will hurt us. It is amazing to think about. A few years ago there was a new trend that I noticed developing. It seemed foolish and fascinating at the same time. It probably started with Hurricane Katrina and picked up from there. News organizations began sending camera crews and anchors to stand in the hurricane and do live news reports on scene. So I would watch hour after hour of weather maps and wind gusts and cameras almost get knocked over and people almost get knocked over and things crashing to the ground. Crews were starting to get good at this. With one hurricane they began to use this handheld device that you held into the wind and it would tell you how fast the wind was blowing. The whole scene was overwhelming and I am sure you saw this stuff and would say the same thing. I was moved at encounter last Sunday when Pastor Shawn and the band sang a song that compared the love of God to a hurricane. I immediately had thoughts of Anderson Cooper standing in his red CNN rain poncho being driven by wind and rain. Clutching to something because it was so powerful that it would blow him over or impale him on something. The intense power, and sweep of area that the hurricane affected were immense. The power is incomprehensible and permeates deeply. How do you not be changed by contact with a hurricane? how could you ever dry off? As I read the prophets this hurricane of love drives forth. God calling His people to stop ruining their lives and start following Him and finding the blessings that come with that. God as the jilted lover angry that His people have rejected His love. Angry because His love is perfect. And angry because he knows that which he loves will be harmed because of that rejection. God's pain in this is two ways...His pain at His own rejection...and His pain at how our rejection of Him will hurt us. It is amazing to think about. http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=177987http://www.bethelcommunity.org/blogentry.aspx?site_id=10257&entry_id=177987 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT Every once in a while you see a work of God and you wish that everyone could have been around to see it. You wish you could send time in reverse and tell everyone "You need to be here for this. it is really going to be good." I felt that way about encounter last night. Every once in a while you feel amazed at how God has worked and you are grateful that you play a small part in it...you are humbled that you are even there to see it. <br /> <br /> Watching people come forward last night moved my heart. I thought about how each of us struggles with idols that we have to overcome on a daily basis. Probably every one of us has been burnt to often by sin and yet we are tempted to go back and get burnt again. Seeing the long line of people come forward to "tear their garments" as a symbol of "tearing their hearts" reminds you that we have so many struggles in the panoply lf backgrounds that we come from. Yet God calls us all out of them and binds us to Himself under the covenant of His love manifest in Jesus Christ.<br /> <br /> And that is a stunning thought. Last night we were reminded that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament. People often get this wrong. Often times they think that the OT God was a God of judgment and the NT God is the God of grace. How false. Read the prophets as we travel through this series. Listen to God plead with his people for their return. He is angry, but He is angry because His love has been betrayed. He is angry because those He loves deeply are hurting themselves. His anger arises from His love. He doesn't want to see those He loves be harmed. He doesn't want to see those He loves be broken, and lost, and empty. And so His anger is provoked. But it is not because of a divine power trip. It is because of divine love...a power almost incomprehensible.<br /> <br /> And it appears incomprehensible, because if we understood it why would we walk from it? If we got the depths of the perfect love of God why would we ever take it for granted? How could we choose cheaper love or feeling if we could even grasp for a moment how overwhelming the love of God is?<br /> <br /> As Shawn sang last night, the love of God is a hurricane that washes over us. This is a powerful picture. I will talk more of this later this week. Every once in a while you see a work of God and you wish that everyone could have been around to see it. You wish you could send time in reverse and tell everyone "You need to be here for this. it is really going to be good." I felt that way about encounter last night. Every once in a while you feel amazed at how God has worked and you are grateful that you play a small part in it...you are humbled that you are even there to see it. Watching people come forward last night moved my heart. I thought about how each of us struggles with idols that we have to overcome on a daily basis. Probably every one of us has been burnt to often by sin and yet we are tempted to go back and get burnt again. Seeing the long line of people come forward to "tear their garments" as a symbol of "tearing their hearts" reminds you that we have so many struggles in the panoply lf backgrounds that we come from. Yet God calls us all out of them and binds us to Himself under the covenant of His love manifest in Jesus Christ. And that is a stunning thought. Last night we were reminded that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament. People often get this wrong. Often times they think that the OT God was a God of judgment and the NT God is the God of grace. How false. Read the prophets as we travel through this series. Listen to God plead with his people for their return. He is angry, but He is angry because His love has been betrayed. He is angry because those He loves deeply are hurting themselves. His anger arises from His love. He doesn't want to see those He loves be harmed. He doesn't want to see those He loves be broken, and lost, and empty. And so His anger is provoked. But it is not because of a divine power trip. It is because of divine love...a power almost incomprehensible. And it appears incomprehensible, because if we understood it why would we walk from it? If we got the depths of the perfect love of God why would we ever take it for granted? How could we choose cheaper love or feeling if we could even grasp for a moment how overwhelming the love of God is? As Shawn sang last night, the love of God is a hurricane that washes over us. This is a powerful picture. I will talk more of this later this week.