Finding direction

3 December 2021

A Year in Biblical Anthropology!

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

All right, not quite a year. But it was in 2019 that Rod and I began planning a new study for Sunday School called “Biblical Anthropology”.

Original promo poster in Spanish for Biblical Anthropology — *Original promo poster for Biblical Anthropology series.*

It was put on hold in 2020, and then revived in 2021, but Rod wasn’t in Mexico for the majority of the year, so I ended up teaching it – one lesson per month, starting in February. And ending – this Sunday!

It has been a fascinating opportunity at a fascinating time in history to look at some of the things that are going on in our world, and to see what the Bible has to say about them. I read lots of books I otherwise would not have read, studied history I would not have studied, listened to other people’s sermons I would not otherwise have listened to, and read articles I would not have otherwise read. And all that in two languages from multiple countries!

This Sunday will actually be a review/overview/opportunity for discussion, questions and comments from all of the topics we covered this year. Here’s a brief look at what we studied, while I have it all fresh in my mind:

“The Beginning” – why the first few words and phrases of Genesis are completely revolutionary, and how the Bible explains humanity, and in fact reality itself.
“Christ or Chaos” – The horror of sin, the “Great Universal Project of Humanity”, and what happens when God’s truth is rejected.
“The Image” – What does it mean to be created in the image of God? How have we tried to destroy the image, and how did “Christmas” restore it?
“The Family” – What does the Bible say about family, gender, and sexuality?
“The Borders of Life” – What the Bible says about euthanasia, suicide, abortion, and various types of murder and homicide. Suffering and death from a biblical perspective.
“The Authorities” – This wasn’t originally meant to be a part of the series, but it was part of our study through Romans. But it’s such an important part of being human, in the future I would definitely include it. It will be in the review on Sunday.
“Technology” – Science and technology, evaluating technology in our lives, transhumanism, posthumanism, antihumanism, etc.
“Justice” – Biblical teaching on truth and justice, and justice as seen by many in the world today.
“Partiality” – Race and racism from a biblical standpoint, more on justice and the rule of law in the Bible. How Christians should promote justice.
“Creativity and Communication” – A focus on art, and touching on communication, social media, etc. Can it be evaluated? How can it be used? How does the world twist even this good gift of God?
“The Environment” – Principles of caring for creation from the Bible, and the clash of the Christian worldview and the worldview of secular humanism in this area.
“Everything Together” – a review of it all!

I’m considering posting some of this study here at Finding direction, because it would be a good review for me and maybe be helpful for some of you as well. But in the meantime, I’ve started posting it in Spanish at En la Biblia (lessons 1, 2, and 6 (in two parts) can be found there, and in fact, I did post the study “The Authorities” here as “The Christian and the Government” in English.

If you would like to pray for our review on Sunday, that would be great. This series has certainly gotten to some of the most important things in life, and some of the biggest issues in our world today, though of course in a very brief introductory format. But I look forward to hearing more from our congregation about what they’ve learned – or what they’re completely confused about! 🙂

2 December 2021

Christmas Song #4: A Reason For Silence

Jim Devotional and Bible 0

It was a time of falling and rising empires. The great Assyrian Empire was all that anyone remembered. And Judah had watched when the northern kingdom of Israel had finally fallen in 722 BC.

A century later, there was another power growing in the east – the Chaldeans, also known as the Babylonians. The young empire quickly began to gobble up territory. They would soon become an instrument of God’s judgement as their armies headed toward Judah.

But although God would use the Babylonians for His purposes, He would also judge their sin. They had no intention of going out on some holy mission. Instead, in their pride, they rejected God. In their greed, they went out to steal from other nations. Their method was violence.

Successful? Oh yes, they were succeeding in their tyranny. Gaining wealth and power. But God gave them a stern warning:

Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
to set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
Habakkuk 2:9-10

But why should the great Babylon listen to the prophet from some small neighbour nation? After all, the Chaldeans had their own gods. Surely this sudden rise to power was a sign that their gods were stronger and greater than anything Judah had to offer!

But Yahweh mocks the false gods of Babylon:

What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes speechless idols!
Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
But Yahweh is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:18-20

The foolishness of walking into a pagan temple and trusting in a metal image! But let’s see the temple of Yahweh in our mind’s eye. Lamps, incense, a curtain – but no image of metal or wood or gold. Instead, the presence of the invisible God, transcendent, apart from His creation, all-powerful Lord.

This passage might remind you of Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God” (a verse we talked about last year). Not so much a call to quiet meditation, but a violent command to stop foolish war against God and His people.

The Lord of all is warning the earth of judgement, with a voice louder than all the confused conflicting shouts of the little creatures of the earth. Be QUIET! There is a King and He is in His temple.

In this Christmas carol, God’s demand for silence is a precursor to the coming of Christ. Yes, He was coming as a baby, but don’t be fooled – His is Lord of all.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

He comes with blessing – but it is blessing for those who recognize Him for who He is – Lord of all. And so we all called to worship – to give our “full homage”. That is, the allegiance and honour that we owe Him as King.

Tyranny and greed may have its day. But tyrants are truly on “the wrong side of history”. Look! The King descends to take His earthly throne.

25 November 2021

Christmas Song #4: One of the Oldest!

Jim Devotional and Bible 0

I’ve enjoyed our deep-dives into Christmas carols from the past three years, so let’s do it again! And this might be the oldest Christmas carol you know – if you know it.

But first, if you need some background on this Christmas carol series thing, here’s how this all started.

So, what is the oldest Christmas carol? Some smart person might suggest that it’s the carol the angels sang – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14) But another smart person will point out, of course, that the angels apparently said these words – there is no indication that they sang.

The question of the “oldest carol” is complicated – the oldest carol that is still sung? The oldest carol that is still used in the same form? And what exactly counts as a carol?

But this carol has origins so ancient that some claim it was written by the half-brother of Jesus, James (the writer of the book of James in the New Testament). Well, there’s no solid evidence for that, but the origins of the carol probably go back to the third or fourth century. So there isn’t any Old English in the original words – we’re talking Greek.

James the Just, as we remember him today, was not a believer during Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matthew 13:55; John 7:5), but eventually became a follower of Christ and an important leader in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17–19). It is possible that the “Liturgy of St. James” developed from some of the early traditions of the Jerusalem church. It is generally dated from the fourth century (with the earliest copy still in existence from the 9th century), but some parts or origins may go back much further.

In the second part of the liturgy, there is a call to worship called the Cherubic Hymn – beginning with the words, “Let all mortal flesh be silent, and stand with fear and trembling…”

Sound familiar yet?

The words are actually based on this section of Habakkuk:

What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.
But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:18-20

The text of the liturgy and this section was adapted and translated over the centuries. It would have been recited or chanted early on, and later parts were put to music. But the “carol” part for an English audience really comes in the 1800s, with a Rev. Gerard Moultrie. Moultrie was an Anglican minister in South Leigh, England (west of Oxford), and eventually a hymn writer.

Moultrie took the words from an English version of the liturgy and “versified” them. The carol was published in 1864 as “Greek Cherubic Hymn” (that is, hymn of the cherubs or angels). Today it’s more commonly known as “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”.

It may seem a little odd that our Christmas carol this year starts by calling everyone to silence! But we’ll see why as we take a closer look at the first part next week.

12 November 2021

5th Anniversary Service!

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Last Sunday we celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas (Iglesia Bíblica Sendero de Vida Las Palmas)!

Iglesia Bíblica Sendero de Vida Las Palmas 2021

Don’t look too carefully, because 2 or 3 people were missing from the photo… but over 50 of us went out to “Emerald Forest” (about a 45-minute drive away, toward the volcanoes) for a special service. Most were regular attendees, although we had some visitors, which was fun. It was really a great time. Here’s the banner which we had for the day. Since we’re going through Exodus in our sermons now, we used Exodus 6:7a as a theme: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (see also 2 Corinthians 6:16):

5th Anniversary Banner 2021 — *(Click image for a larger photo)*

We heard three testimonies from people in the church during the service, which was very encouraging. And we took a break for (a gorgeous) cake (which a friend made)…

Ezequiel led the service. We had a worship time when people chose their favourite songs (all good, except that no one wanted to stop singing! Wait – I guess that’s not a bad thing…). And Rod preached a challenging message on Psalm 90. (Yes, it was Rod and Mayra’s first Sunday back! Welcome back!)

Rod preaching at the anniversary service

After the service we had a BBQ – grilling of all kinds of meats, green onions, cactus… and someone was walking around selling grasshoppers in a chilli sauce, so I had some of those too. We had lots of time to talk, play soccer/fútbol, ride a horse, or generally enjoy the outdoors. Here’s a shot of some of the youth playing bottle bash:

It was a wonderful Sunday, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ and celebrating His faithfulness! Please continue to pray for this young church, that we would all grow in our love for the Lord in the year ahead. Who knows what He has in store? All I know is, He will still be faithful!

See more pictures at Rod’s blog here.

3 November 2021

Retro: The (lo-res) Family

Jim Family, Just for fun, Retro 0

Both good memories and frustrating memories accompany this picture of the family.

We were at First Evangelical Free Church in Calgary (good memories), and we asked the pastor to take a few pictures for us, so that we could use them for a prayer card (still, so far so good).

He was kind enough to take a whole lot of pictures (I think it was with my phone), and we finally got some that were half decent (thanks, Barry!).

Later we discovered – yes, somehow we had the phone set to low resolution photos. And knowing how hard it was in those days to get a good family picture (not to mention any names), we weren’t about to go through the ordeal again.

We still used one of the photos for a little while, but let’s just say it wasn’t our greatest prayer card of all time.

I don’t think this is the actual picture we used, just one of many … so here it is, published for the first time ever, from 10 years ago today!

I hope you like the picture. If you want me to send you a hi-res version, tough luck!! 😀

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