2 Corinthians 1

I thought that I'd take the time to share some of the things from the Bible Study I'm doing with the Set Free church. We'll be going through the book of 2 Corinthians, one of my absolute favorites!

When Paul wrote the letter, the situation at Corinth was a mess. A small group of people were slandering Paul for "breaking promises" dealing with travel plans. They were saying that all his sufferings proved that Paul was not approved by God. So Paul wrote back his most rhetorically amazing letter. In it, Paul seeks to prove his qualifications as an apostle. The big question of the letter is found in 2:16, "who is qualified/adequate/sufficient for these things?" What are "these things"? We'll find out as we go.

The most important part of a biblical letter is the blessing/thanksgiving at the beginning. Paul begins by blessing the "God of all comfort." It's important to note here that comfort is a result of suffering, and not just any suffering, but suffering for the sake of the Gospel: persecution. And this comfort is God's blessing to us to bless others with. It is not merely ours to keep. There is a community for us to share testimonies of God's faithfulness and grace in times of hardship, to encourage others to persevere under pressure. "Patient endurance" is the outward sign of this comfort (v.6).

Then Paul gives a weird promise in verse 7. He says that the sufferings of the Corinthian church are a guarantee of God's comfort to come. Think about that: suffering guarantees comfort.

So what does this mean for you?

1) When you suffer, experience hardship, or are wrongly accused, you're in good company: the apostles, saints in history, the present church, even our Lord Jesus endured suffering, and we can too, because we're not alone.
2) The comfort and consolation and patience you receive through these trials is meant to be passed on to others. God's pattern from Gen 12:2 on has always been to bless one person who will then pass on that blessing to others, and so on, and so on.....
3) Endurance and patience are not passive resignation to the unchangeable, but rather, an active bearing up under hardship, in the confidence that God will absolutely deliver you from this (even if that means through death, like it eventually meant for Paul).
4) Two of the most prominent marks of a true believer in the New Testament are: a) experiencing trials and hardships, and b) patiently enduring them. Do these describe you? If not, why not?

I'll pick up with verse 8 next time. I'm trying to keep these reasonably short.

New Bible Study

As some of you may know, I do the music for Set Free ministry's weekly services. They are a church based out of Los Angeles that reaches out to the kind of people that most churches want nothing to do with: homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, gang members, ex-cons, and so on. Two of the bigger churches are Set Free Skid Row, and Set Free Yucaipa.

Their program is simple. They bring people off the streets, out of their negative environment, and give them a regimented program of discipline, health, work, Bible study, and positive community.

Since the Kansas City Set Free is so small, pastor Reggie depends on other local pastors or leaders to come in and help out with the daily Bible studies. So starting next week, I'm going to be leading one of their Bible studies, and right now I'm planning on going through 2 Corinthians ("when I am weak, then I am strong").

It's going to be pretty challenging to try to relate the message to people I have so little in common with. However, I'm hoping to really learn a lot about this important group of people, the "tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners" of our generation.

In my opinion, people have a lot more in common each other than we'd like to admit. We all have family problems, hidden sins, embarrassing failures, and hopes and dreams for a better future. While we don't all sin in the same way, all have sinned, and we all need the same Jesus to forgive our sins and restore us to God.

So if you get a chance, send up a quick prayer to God to help me through this. I'm really looking forward to it!!

Visioneering -4- The Bible

I feel like I came across almost anti-Bible for the previous post. For the record, I am not.

I know some of you out there in Blog-land are going to hate this, but I am an inerrantist. I believe the Bible is completely true and accurate, and even more, the only objective authority in our life. Having said that, as my theology professor says, "The Bible is not the fourth person of the trinity." I get a little weirded out when churches start singing hymns and choruses of praise to the Bible, such as "Holy Bible, Book Divine," or "Ancient Words."

I also get a little nervous when people start using the biblical inerrancy platform to say that their interpretation is also inerrant on everything. Here we see the fuzzy line between the Bible's authority and my authority.

Here's my point. I love the Bible; I want to live like the Bible tells me; I want others to love the Bible and read it every day. However, LECTURE IS BORING!! I want to explore other ways to teach the Bible to people without boring them and putting them to sleep. Lecture is NOT the only God-ordained way to teach and preach. This is why video, art, music, and drama are so important. They capture the attention and imagination better than a boring lecture (TWO boring lectures if you also go to Sunday School!).

Nobody better accuse me of taking the Bible lightly. I am, however, very open to accusations of how I take the Bible to others, so long as you don't lecture me.

End Communication.