Transgender in Tabletalk // Loving Daughters // Speak Like Jesus

1. Great, short article in Tabletalk, bringing together all the demons:

Critical theory

Transgenderism

Enlightenment autonomy from God

2. Abigail Shrier on combatting the trans-gender craze:

"I'll tell you the best thing a dad can do for his daughter, in my view.  Make her feel beautiful and loved just as she is.  That she can be a little heavy, or a little imperfect looking in her most awkward period that she will ever go through physically.  And that she is still lovable and wonderful just as she is and that doesn't make her any less of a woman.  And all the fake images that she is seeing online are not more attractive.  And they think that a father, whatever she says, and however much she denies it, a father's opinion of her is... that's the man who matters most.  And on some level, I think that's a big deal.  I really do."  It's at the 1:00:00 mark.

3. Communicating the truth like Jesus
Neat insight here, connecting our speech with Christ's threefold office as prophet, priest, and king. Our speech should be true like a prophet, pure and compassionate like a priest, and wise and timely like a king.

Deuteronomy 1 - Bible Notes

 Deuteronomy means "second law."

It is Moses reiterating to Israel, on the verge of entering the promised land, the history of their wilderness wanderings, and exhorting them to be faithful to Yahweh.

Chapter 1

a. God commands them to leave Sinai.

b. Judges are set up under Moses.  (See Exodus 18)

c. They go spy out the land, refuse to enter, and are turned away.  (See Numbers 13)

Jesus

a. God calls us to the glory of Christ, and this means in part, turning away from looking to the law (Sinai) to save you.

b. Jesus sets up shepherds and judges under Him in His church.

c. Jesus promises us great things, but we are often unwilling to sacrifice, deny ourselves, and do the needed faith/work to obtain those promises.

Seasons of Life in the Lord

"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves His life loses it…” – John 12:24-25.

Spring is here!  A time of planting and seeing shoots come up out of the ground.  This time of year, my wife excitedly shows me every day from our back patio how much everything is growing.  But for all that to happen, there had to be a time of planting and waiting first.

 

When Jesus said these words above, He had just entered Jerusalem to the triumphant joy of the crowds, with His crucifixion and burial a few short days away.  Everyone wanted to meet Him, to laud Him, to see Him restore the kingdom to Israel. 

 

Christ’s words bring us up short.  He has to die before He can bear fruit.  We are always rushing to the harvest, when we can pick and eat the fruit.  We want “Serenity Now!” (a Seinfeld reference…), the kingdom fulfilled immediately.  Bill Buckley liked to say we can’t immanentize the eschaton - heh heh.  But like in the Garden of Eden, when God says, “Not yet,” we try to grab it anyway.

 

No, first comes the darkness of Winter, when a divine seed is planted and delivered from a dark womb.  Jesus’ ministry is foundational, underground stuff, showing us the truth of God’s Word and a faithful life of Israel before God, in His very life.

 

Then comes Spring, when new life comes out of the ground, as Jesus emerges from the grave.  In Spring, life and growth first become visible to us.  Though it had been going on for a while.  Similarly, we did not realize the power and nature of Jesus’ life fully until after the resurrection.

 

Then comes Summer, a time for watering and weeding.  Tending to the new life God has given us.  It can be hot, sweaty business.  Pests and weeds invade.  It’s a constant battle to keep them growing.  But with Jesus as the root and stem, we grow on His vine.  Sometimes we wilt.  Sometimes we thrive.  But we are headed for fruitful transformation.

 

Finally comes the Harvest when we are plucked and placed in God’s house to be fully enjoyed by Him.  Not in a way that devours, but transforms and rejoices us in newer, unimaginable ways.  And we fully enjoy Him, too.

 

 

I am talking here about Jesus.  Born, growing up, ministering, dying, rising, and glorified.

 

I am talking here about your life.  We are hardly aware of our earliest moments of life and growth, physically or spiritually.  We grow and learn, suffering the thorns and cares of this world, watered by the Word and Spirit. 

 

I am talking here about others around you.

·         As a parent, you bury yourself every day for your children.  It’s hard to see the growth sometimes, but it is there.  We get frustrated with the weeds that keep coming back.  Often the growth is only on the inside, and you can’t see the flower until the end.

·         At work, you don’t feel like your work is appreciated.  Are your labors bearing fruit?  Give it time – reward often comes down the road, not right away.

·         Before God, you wonder some time if the gardener is paying any attention to you.  You feel so dry and wilted.

 

And sometimes God messes with the natural process.

·         A baby miscarries and goes straight from winter in the womb to harvest in God’s house.

·         A believer backslides and has more growing to do.

·         A professing believer had shown everyone a picture of a growing plant all his life, but one day throws it in the trash and is revealed as a weed.

 

But His plan and timing are perfect through it all. 

He is the Gardener. 

Jesus is the main stem. 

You are the shoot, growing and bearing fruit. 

 

Rejoice in the life God gives!

Church Response to Wokeness // Lewis on Communion // "At the First Puff of Wind"

Kevin DeYoung lays out the church's responses to woke-ness.

This article assumes or argues several important things at once:

1. People in the middle aren't just squishy and uncertain, but thoughtful.

2. People in the middle have different perspectives.

3. There IS a middle, in a news world that often only shows us the extremes.

4. People with strong opinions are not automatically extremists and crazy.

5. When she becomes a minority in the culture (which we just did, like 30 minutes ago), the church is uniquely tempted to divide in how we respond.

The point isn't to pigeonhole others, as much as to understand our own impulses, so we can be as self-critical as needed.

C.S. Lewis, on Communion: "The command, after all, was Take, eat: not Take, understand."  (The Joyful Christian, pg 82.)

Presbyterians especially are prone to read the command to discern the body as, "Understand fully all that's going on, here, and what the elements actually are."

Mortification of Spin has an excellent take on Max Lucado's rather unhelpful response to being criticized for his biblical position on marriage.

Jesus on Taxes - Matthew 17:24

 Hi R_____, 

I enjoyed our conversation the other day.  I wound up reading Matthew 17:24ff for my devotions later – the account of Jesus getting the temple tax miraculously from the fish for Himself and Peter.  So I studied it a bit and found Exodus 30:11ff.  It looks like from there that the temple tax was a legit charge for each Israelite adult.  Small, to be sure, and a "flat tax."  But I’m not sure you can make a case from Matthew 17 and Exodus 30 that countries shouldn’t tax their own citizens.

 

I might argue that the temple tax was a church thing, not a civil government thing.  But Romans 13:6-7 also seems to assume that Romans should pay Roman taxes.

 

I could try to say the “two-drachma” tax (the literal Greek) was a Roman tax, not the temple tax, but that looks like a very minority view.  Every Bible translation treats it as the temple tax, either in the actual translation, in a footnote, or in referencing Exodus 30:11ff.

 

What I conclude is that Jesus is not arguing here for a jaded view of earthly taxes, but setting Himself above the temple authorities, and even above Exodus 30, in a way.  He is the true ruler of the temple, the son of the house (see Hebrews 3:6), so shouldn’t be subject to its tax, just as Caesar didn’t tax his own children.

 

The interesting thing is that Jesus includes Peter (and all of Jesus’ followers by extension) as exempt from the temple tax!  Not just Jesus Himself, as the Son of God, but all those united with Him have His privilege.  I don’t think this means Christians should assert that we aren’t subject to earthly taxes or church tithes.  See Romans 13, above.  That would be an “over-realized eschatology,” as they say.  But it may give us a glimpse of what the kingdom of God in its consummation will look like.

As an aside, some speculate that the rest of the disciples besides Peter were under the age of 20 at the time. Peter was the oldest, and the leader/spokesman. Why wouldn’t Jesus pay their tax, since they are all following Him at this point? They weren’t 20 yet, and subject to the tax, the theory goes.

Fighting Evil in This World

 

 

I reread this in the last two days. 

It is about fantasy in the real world.

 

1. Evil lurks in this world.

            Both the uber-evil, and the run-of-the-mill occurrences of life that don’t seem so evil.

            Nimiane and Endor is the uber-evil.

            But just as damaging: hostility to friends – when Henrietta and Henry fall out, and later repent to each other in the kitchen, this shows the need for unity in the fight against evil.

 

2. We are exasperatingly clueless to this evil

Henrietta and Frank are great examples of this.  Both run headlong (or let others do so) into evil far more powerful than they can endure.

 

3. God has set up this world so that it helps us fight the evil in it.

This is the unique and redemptive message of the book.

            Zeke’s bat is one example.  He’s been studying baseball all his life, and it helps him take out the witch.  Just like David had been throwing rocks as a shepherd all his life, and it helps him take out Goliath – 1 Samuel 17.

            Another example is Richard.  The ounce of compassion Henry shows for Richard turns out to be Henry’s salvation/

He Is Risen! - Mark 16 - Bible notes

The Text: 

The women go to anoint Jesus' body with spices first thing after the Sabbath.  They expect a sealed tomb, but find it rolled aside.  They expect a body to anoint, but find the tomb empty.  They expect guards, but find angels.  The angels announce His resurrection.  At first they tell no one out of fear.  When they tell the disciples, they don't believe the women.  Jesus appears, rebukes their unbelief, sends them to proclaim the gospel everywhere, predicts their miracles, and ascends to heaven.

Jesus in the text: 

Jesus is the risen Son of God, who has defeated death, taken the punishment for our sin, and ascended to sit in glory with His Father as before His Incarnation.

Our response to the text: 

Expect God to do things you don't expect.  

He will call for you to listen to people you might think you don't need to (the women).

We are slow to believe what Jesus tells us.

Jesus Condemned, Crucified and Buried - Mark 15 - Bible Notes

 1. What does the text say?

2. What does the text say about Jesus?

3. What does the text say about me?

1. The Jews were required to let Pilate hold a trial, if they wanted to execute someone.  Pilate sees nothing wrong with Jesus.  He probably saw through the leaders, that Jesus was somehow a threat to their position.  Pilate tries to get Him off by offering the crowd Barrabbas, a murderer in the insurrection, but it doesn't work.  Once condemned, the soldiers mock and beat Him and deride Him as "King of the Jews."  They crucify Him at 9am, and many see and mock Him.  At noon the sun goes out for 3 hours.  Jesus quotes Psalm 22, which actually happened to Him then.  He dies with the women watching.  A Sanhedrin member buries Him.

2. Jesus suffers and dies innocently, forsaken by God, while the crowds misunderstand and mock Him.

3. Whoever you identify with, in this story, you are guilty in contrast with Jesus.  The crowds wanted a revolutionary to save them, instead of their true Savior.  The leaders wanted Caesar as king, instead of Jesus.  Pilate wanted short-term, political peace, instead of the King of Peace.  Barrabbas was freed in place of Jesus, who died in his place.  The soldiers wanted a scapegoat to take out their anger on.  Passersby were glad someone else got in trouble with Rome, and not them.  The leaders felt justified in their disobedience, rejecting Him: He can't be the Christ if He's crucified.

This doesn't mean we are always guilty no matter what we do.  After His death, the women and Joseph are shown, being faithful to Jesus as best they can.

Saint Patrick

Everything you know about Patrick is wrong.

He didn’t drive the snakes out of Ireland.  Romans wrote 100 years before Patrick was born about the lack of snakes in Ireland. 

There’s no proof he used the leaves of a shamrock to illustrate the Trinity.

He probably didn’t even write St Patrick’s Breastplate.

He wasn’t even Irish!

 

Patrick was a British Roman citizen, but as a teenager, Irish raiders captured and enslaved him in Ireland for six years!  His faith grew a lot there.  He managed to escape and get back home, but soon he had a dream where God called him back to Ireland as a missionary.

 

Patrick’s writing at this time drips with the Scriptural call to missions.  “The nations will come to you from the ends of the earth.  I have put you as a light among the nations.  Go into all the world, disciple the nations.”  Patrick was one of the first to suceed in taking this to mean, go beyond the Roman Empire and teach the barbarians to follow Christ.  And he was really good at it.  Patrick converted thousands, planted churches, ordained priests, and set up monasteries.

 

Suffering bears fruit.  After 6 years of slavery, and because of that hardship, Patrick went from a rebellious teenager to a devout follower of Jesus.  He learned the Celtic language of his captors.  He knew how they lived.  God had honed him into the perfect missionary.  And Patrick bore fruit for decades.  Almost single handedly, he brought Christianity to Ireland.  Suffering bears fruit.

 

Loving your enemies bears fruit.  Most of us if we were in Patrick’s shoes as a slave, if we escaped and got home, would never think to set foot in Ireland again.  But he genuinely came to love this people.  He wanted to bless them and do them good, by giving them the gospel.  As he experienced the blessing of the Gospel, he saw how badly they needed it, and did something about it.  Patrick died on Mar 17, in the late 400s.  Thank God this week for St Patrick.

The Ides of March and a Counterfeit Trinity

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar shows us the doom that came on Caesar for over-reaching for power.  But the stronger message is the doom that comes on those who stab him ("Et tu, Brute?") out of envy, who take justice in their own hands.

I like to watch the Marlon Brando version around the Ides of March every year.  It is a prophetic warning to everyone to curb the ambition, envy, and vengeance within, lest chaos and carnage follow.

A week or so ago I read a Tabletalk article about John 17, where Jesus speaks of being sent by the Father and sending the Spirit.  Since I had Julius Caesar on the brain already, I connected it to a scene in the play.  Tell me if I'm on to something...

The Triumvirate that replaced Caesar after his death are deciding who to execute.  Marc Antony sends the old general to deliver the order.  Once he leaves, he tells Octavius they should cut the old general out of power.  He's just a messenger, willing to be sent by others.  Not fit for great leadership!

Shakespeare may be purposefully (or accidentally hitting upon) a huge theological truth and an application of practical humility.

The triumvirate is a counterfeit, anti-Trinity.

The Three are willing to send without despising the sent.  To be sent without resenting the sender.  The triumvirate cannot send without lording it over the sent.  

The Trinity remains an abundant fountain of love and respect for One Another, throughout their sending work to save us.  The triumvirate, founded on grasping for power, can only descend to destruction, through the intrusion of jealousy and self-seeking, as they give orders to kill their enemies.

Beware the Ides of March, the foul winds that blow through your heart.  Self-promotion.  Vaunting ambition.  Despising others.  Putting them down.

Do you resent it when your:

• mom sends you to take out the trash?
• wife sends you to the store?
• boss gives you a task you don't like?
• church member's distress calls for your help?
• neighbor borrows something and keeps it a while?

Look to the Trinity for a better way to love God and neighbor.  

Willing humility.  Eager service for others.  These things DEFINE great leadership.

Jesus' Supper, Arrest, and Trial - Mark 14 - Bible Notes

Verses 1-2 - The Sanhedrin decides to get rid of Jesus.

Verses 12-21, 26-31 - At Passover Jesus knows Judas will betray Him, and Peter will deny knowing Him.

Jesus knows all of our deliberate choices against Him.

Verses 3-9 - A woman pours really expensive perfume over Jesus, worth a middle-class annual salary!  His death and burial is well worth it.

There are times that call for great sacrifice for Jesus.

Verses 10-11 - Did Judas decide to betray Jesus because of the prior event?  He wanted to embezzle some of what they could give "to the poor"?

Don't let selfishness move you to go against Jesus.

Verses 22-25 - Jesus morphs the Passover ritual into the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper, or Communion).  Why does He use bread, instead of the Passover lamb itself?  I believe it was to make the point to us, after the crucifixion, that the sacrifice is over.  No longer do we need to kill a lamb every year, every day.  The bread and wine show us the result of the sacrifice, as much as the sacrifice itself.

Communion is a forward-looking event: "not until I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."  This is the real meaning of Passover - not, "next year in Jerusalem."

Verses 32-42 - Jesus prays in Gethsemane, while the disciples sleep.

Pretty much the last words Jesus says to His disciples before He dies: "after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."  Did He walk all that way after the Resurrection?  (70-ish miles north!)  Or fly?  Did anyone notice Him?

It's easy for us to be caught off guard at key spiritual moments.

Verses 43-51 - They arrest Jesus.  His disciples are ready to fight until He submits to the arrest.  Then they flee.

We are fight or flight people.  But Jesus calmly submits to trouble, and trusts His Father.

Verses 53-65 - the Sandhedrin condemns Jesus without evidence, against Jesus' truthful witness, at night.

Believers in Jesus will be accused and condemned against justice and truth, because they are a standing witness to the guilt of their accusers.

Verses 66-72 - Peter denies knowing Jesus, three times.

Society is so set against Jesus, it will be very tempting to let on that we are not followers of His.

Mark 13 - Bible Notes

There will be much destruction before that day.  Abominations will be set up where they shouldn't be.

Keep a lookout for the true Messiah!

Teaching in Passion Week - Mark 12 - Bible Notes

 Jesus claims to be the son of the vineyard owner.  The rulers He speaks to are just tenants.  "Where is My fruit?"

Should we pay taxes to Caesar?"

"If yes, the people will turn against Him.  If no, He's a rebel we can clearly convict."

"Give to God and Caesar what each is due."

"Isn't the resurrection absurd?"

"No, you don't know the power of God."

Jesus: "How can Messiah be the son of David, if David calls Him greater than himself?"

Psalm 110:1-2...

Answer: "uh...."

Triumphal Entry and the Fallout - Mark 11 - Bible notes

 Jesus enters Jerusalem as the understood Messiah, proclaimed so by the crowds.

He curses the fig tree, representing the leaders of Israel.

He cleanses the temple, rebuking their wicked practices there.

He says by prayer their rule can be overthrown.

They question Jesus' authority, but they won't say if they believe John or not.

Application:

1. Hosanna means "save us."  Jesus is the one we look to, to save us.

2. We pray for unfaithful leaders to be unfruitful - for their plans to not succeed.

3. Do not use God's house (church) for your own self-seeking agenda.

4. You can do more by faith than tyrants do by force (Herod moved a mountain to build a fortress visible from the Mount of Olives...)

5. Don't back down when unbelievers challenge your authority.  Question theirs.

An Empty Hand

When Israel fled from Pharoah and entered the wilderness, God gave them water, bread and meat, from the rock, and from heaven. How thirsty they must have been after 3 days with little to drink. How hungry they must have been after a month and a half with little to eat. God nourished them with bread and water, on their way to the promised land.

When Elijah fled from Ahab and Jezebel into the wilderness, God sent an angel with bread and water for his 40-day journey to Sinai. It was much-needed nourishment. There he heard God’s voice calling Elijah to begin restoring Israel as a nation.

When Jesus was led into the wilderness, He was tempted to make the bread for Himself instead of rely on His Father. He was on His way to glory, too, but it led through the cross first.

 

Do you recognize the true King, as the men of Gath did? It isn’t Saul, but the Son of David. If you do, are you working against Him, as the men of Gath did, or are you ready to go with Him to the cave of death? Are you gathering to Him, distressed and discontent with the state of things in your own soul and family first, and with your nation? Do you gather to Him here because you think Jesus can do something about it? He can. What He gives here is life-giving nourishment. You need this.

If you hold out your hand - notice, there is nothing in your hand, just as David’s hand was empty. Ahimelech’s hands, though were full, and he was gracious. How much more so the Son of David, the Bread of life, who multiplied 5 loaves of bread to feed thousand? Receive Him now.

3/8/21

Me Time or Service?

Mark 6:30-38

Meaning to rest, people keep following Jesus.  He teaches them, while the disciples seem impatient to get away.  He miraculously feeds 5,000!

Right when we think we need a little "Me Time," Jesus will plop a "ministry opportunity" into your lap.  Be ready to lay yourself out when you think it's time for a break.

Mark 10 - Bible notes

 Divorce is about the violating of the sexual union - can't divorce for lesser matters.

Bring your children to Jesus.  We need to enter the kingdom of God as children.

The rich young ruler cannot enter - he won't give up his riches.

Jesus predicts very specifically how He will die, and rise again.

James and John ask for top spots in His kingdom.  "Only if you suffer as I do."  The other disciples envy and resent them.  Jesus: serve others, don't lord it over others.

Jesus heals the blind, even when the crowds protest the blind's cry for help.

Masks - Big Tech - Antiracism

 World Magazine has not been very anti-mask, but this was a good article on the negative side effects of widespread mask wearing.

What to do about big tech?  I've seen this same idea from a wide range of political opinions.  Content filtering is the problem...

The Gospel Coalition helpfully debunks Critical Race Theory's Anti-Racism.  This article is excellent.

"It’s bewildering that Kendi has written such a significant book devoted to an idea that can’t withstand scrutiny."

"Group disparities aren't only due to racism."

"The cause of justice is damaged when accusations of racism are unjust."

Transfiguration and Other Forms of Glory - Mark 9 - Bible Notes

1. Jesus shows His true glory to some of His disciples.

Jesus was no human teacher, but the glorious and majestic GOD.

2. Jesus casts out a demon that the disciples could not.

Jesus had given the disciples power to cast out demons, but they couldn't deal with this one.  Jesus always has more spiritual strength to oppose evil than we do.

3. On the road, Jesus tells the disciples He will be killed and rise again the third day.  They don't get it.  They argue about who is the greatest among them.

Jesus knew what was coming.  He knew the Plan.  He went ahead with it regardless the petty selfishness of the people He was going to die for.

We can be so incredibly selfish and insensitive to the plight of others.  The disciples did this to Jesus.  We can do this to our neighbors, whom God calls us to love.

Feeding the World - Accepting the Judge - Mark 8 - Bible Notes

 In the Decapolis (7:31), a Gentile region east of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus feeds 4,000.

This was called the "Land of the Seven," because of the 7 nations driven out by Joshua (

So Jesus feeds them with 7 loaves of bread.

The disciples don't get it.  The 5-12 stand for feeding Israel.

The 4-7 stand for feeding the Gentiles.

Peter doesn't understand - being the Christ doesn't mean glory right away, but suffering and death.

If you're ashamed of this humiliation - if you'd rather have glory with a different Messiah, then the true Messiah will deny you when the judgment comes.