Everybody I know says they need just the one thing.
And what they really mean is that they need just the one thing more.

During the summer of 1995 I worked 11 consecutive weeks of basketball camps, traveling around the upper midwest in my trust 1987 Chevy Nova. Only one week interrupted that string of camps: The 1995 Free Lutheran Youth Convention in Estes Park, Coloardo.

At that convention several people asked me about attending a small 2-year Bible School in Minneapolis. I did, and God changed my life there in a way second only to saving me in 1991.

But on my way to making that decision I made trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit a trusted coaching mentor who had helped me both in basketball and in my walk with Christ. On the way I stopped and purchased a cassette tape of Christian music. It was my first exposure to Rich Mullins, and these words came to mind again today as I considered Psalm 27:4- One thing I have desired...

So many Christians I meet are looking for "one thing," or "the next thing" or "something..." when they already have "everything" in the cross. Friends, trust the cross. Get really good at preaching the Gospel to yourself. It's the "only thing" worth delighting in.

Everybody I know says they need just the one thing.
And what they really mean is that they need just the one thing more.
And everybody seems to think that they got it coming.
Well I know that I don't deserve it Cause I want to love and serve You more.
You know You're my One Thing.

Save me from those things that might distract me.
Please take them away; purify my heart
I don't want to lose the eternal for the things that are passing
Cause what will I have when the world is gone
If it weren't for the love that goes on and on
You're my One Thing.
- The late Rich Mullins, 1993

"So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land they spied out..." -Numbers 13:32

As God was leading Israel through the exodus into the conquest of the holy land he prepared the way by commanding Moses to send out twelve spies to scope out theiir new home. They saw the land, and it was good.

There was just one problem: the land-it was occupied. You know the passage: Twelve men went to spy on Canaan, ten were bad and two were good. God said the land was good. They saw the land and it was good. But when the ten saw the giants they decided the land wasn't so good after all. The two just called it as God did- the land was good.

I saw a miracle today. A little girl whose bery survival was in doubt just 24 hours ago sure looks like she's going to make it. "Blessed be the LORD, for He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy..." (Psalm 28:6) What consoled this family through a tough week wasn't the likelihood of a good outcome- that wasn't a given. No, what consoled this family is what joys them today: They have seen the land and it is good.

My beloved, many of you connect the goodness or existence of God to a certain outcome. He has done no such thing. He IS good and trustworthy- regardless of any given outcome. He says the land IS good, giants or not. And if you are trusting God at His word the land is yours in the cross. Oh, there are giants, both present and future. But I have seen the land, and it is good.

It just feels good to see a giant fall. And I did today. Thank you, Jesus.

We have a lot of babies at Living Word. We're a prolific group, dedicated to biological church growth.

One more precious eternal human soul came into Living Word's world this week, and some medical concerns surrounding her birth have reminded us how precious- and how tenuous-the miracle of life is.

In order to procure the speaking services of Lutherans for Life president Dr. James Lamb we are observing Sanctity of Human LIfe Sunday on March 11. But last week was "the" date, being the 39th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, 1973 (I remember that as Michele's birthdate and my birth year). Note: If you haven't read the decision, do so. It is haunting. And legal experts tell me that the following case that year- Doe v. Bolton- actually did more to solidify "abortion rights" than Roe v. Wade. Since then about 53 million babies have been killed in the womb in the United States, and abortion has become one of our country's greatest exports through UN poverty (population control) policy and now military base policy under the current administration.

I want to share some tidbits with you for your own perusal:

• One minute pro-life apologist (copyright Steven Wagner)- If "it" is growing "it" is alive. If "it" has human parents "it" is a human life. And human life is precious, isn't it?
• If an unborn child is not a human life then no justification for abortion is necessary (copyright Greg Koukl). If an unborn child is a human life then no justification for abortion is possible. Note: The exceedingly and exceptionally rare case when the mother's life is endangered does not violate this principle but rather strengthens it. Why is that such a sobering case? Because any decision where the continuation of two human lives is truly mutually excclusive is tragic.
• Someone from Living Word exercised their Ambassadorship particularly well recently after posting an article on the shoddy legal standing of Roe (something about which scholars on both sides agree) and how it allows for unrestricted abortion for reasons like gender selection:

Contrary response #1- I read the article and while it was very well written it was written from an anti-abortion perspective. I will not start a pro-choice debate though! But one thing that sticks out is that being pro-choice doesn't really have anything to do with sex selection which they tried to use as a point in the story.

Contrary response #2- I would agree that it is very one-sided and very skewed towards the anti-abortion perspective. I would like to see an author acknowledge that adoption and surragacey laws as well as education and other laws that protect child need to be radically changed. I really want people to follow through the after birth of aborted children...it's not enough to create laws to force them to be born - laws then must be made to protect these children and create government aide. Otherwise a good debater could argue you are doing a disservice to the children by not protecting them after birth.

Excellent ambassador reply- Yes, you are both correct. But what of the implications for a judicial system that upholds something that is unconstitutional? But the real point is this: If abortion doesn't end a human life, no justification is necessary. If abortion does end a human life, then no justification is possible.

• And World Magazine- if you don't know it you need to- does an UNBELIEVABLE Sanctity of Human Life issue every year. Here is a particularly compelling article about the state of the Pro-Life position in the United States. It's winning, hands down. It is very rare to find someone who actually supports abortion law as it stands today. They just think they do.

Value life, delight in Christ, and go serve your King,
Pastor Wade Mobley

While I didn't have a line of people waiting to burn me at the stake Sunday, I did have two people wonder why an explanation I gave specifically disagreed with the notes in their study Bibles. The point I was making was unaffected but the structure of the argument certainly was. Since different interpretations generally don't come out of thin air (people do some research when they are writing a study Bible, after all), I thought it was worth some investment.

The topic: Who were the "Hellenists" referred to in Acts 11:20? 

The background: When Stephen was martyred (Acts 7) there were about 25,000 Christians (followers of Christ as Messiah- mostly Jewish) in Jerusalem. The persecution that followed spread them all around (Acts 11:19), including Syrian Antioch, the third largest city in the Roman Empire. God tells us in Acts that these Christians spoke the Gospel to Jews only. but it took some others- men of Cyprus and Cyrene- to speak the Gospel to "Hellenists."

What's at stake: Who spread the gospel to these Hellenists, and who were the Hellenists? Ironically, the point (see below) remains unchanged, but the historical background is significant to its appication.

Why it really gets interesting:
The normal bedfellows don't agree on this one.  Here's what word various translations use:
"Greeks" or "Grecians": King James, New American Standard, New International
"Hellinists": English Standard (what I preach from), New King James, New Revised Standard
These are not the "usual suspects" in translation choices.

Here's what I found out:
A) There are two interpretations in play:
Men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who were certainly not of Jewish genetics, culture or religion, were the ones who broke through a culture barrier and ministered to the "Hellenists." That means, depending on translation, they ministered either to:
1) People of Jewish genetics who followed Greek culture- which means the gospel spread between people of different genetics but similar culture.
2) People of Greek birth who followed Greek culture- which means the gospel spread between people of similar genetics and similar culture.

B) There are two words in play- both are transliterated from Greek:
1) Hellenistas- People of Jewish genetics who were born outside of Palestine, and thus tended toward Grecian culture. This is a more general term, a subset of which is...
2) Hellenas (long "a," like "lake")- Non-Jewish pagan Greek people, who were considered by Jews as distinct from the non-Greek pagans, who were called "Barbaroi," which is where we get our word "barbarian." This is a more specific term.

C) Where I went "wrong"
The notes in the commentary I read, and the translation of the ESV text, rely on a set of manuscripts that uses the more general term "Hellenist." The problem is, though, that this set of manuscripts is generally considered farther away from the originals. Folks disagree on this, but it usually follows King James only or not King James only divides. And this isn't the case here. The reading that yields the "Greek" translation is what I would generally prefer, and what I would use if I were preaching this text again.

What you can learn from this:
1) Culture over content kills- The culture barrier between those Jews who followed Greek customs and those who followed Jewish customs made it difficult to convince each other to follow Christ as Messiah- ultimately the only content that saves. Either way, The first Christians (who happened to be  genetically Jewish) allowed genetic or cultural barriers to stop their proclamation of the Gospel. Part of this is natural, as we sometimes relate better to people who are similar to us. But it shouldn't have been that hard. They all spoke Greek, at least a little (see Peter, Galilean fisherman and Letter writer par excellence. More likely they let genetic and cultural prejudices hinder their ministry. Don't imitate that.

2) You can trust your English Bible- the painstaking work of finding the best manuscripts has been done, and the translations you hold are likely very good. The different manuscripts that account for differences between, say, the New King James and the New American Standard versions are relatively minor, and while some people make a huge deal out of this they are entirely misguided in doing so.

3) When in doubt, go with what's "above the line"- Study Bibles are great if you keep them in perspective. But remember that what's ABOVE the line is God's Word, while what's BELOW the line is man's efforts to interpret. Man usually does okay, but it's not God's Word. You are particularly safe in following the commentary below the line when it teaches context- date, location, cultural settings, etc. Every commentary is theologically biased. I love The Lutheran Study Bible from Concordia Publishing. Most of my baptist friends don't. I tell them, "Hey, why should the baptists have all the good study Bibles?"

Go serve your King,
PW

Why Numbers?

God wrote it, so even though there are two relatively tedious "countings" to read, it's important. The benediction you hear a lot of (Numbers 6:22-24) is from that book, for example. And when a Pharisee named Nicodemus asked Jesus about eternal life, the Son of Man Himself quoted numbers as He led up to the most famous verse in the Bible- John 3:16. I preached on this passage on January 8, and will preach from a great chapter (Numbers 11) next week, about grumbling and the solution for it.

You never know what's in a book until you read it. So use our congregational reading plan to get a glimpse of a little-read book of the Bible, the book of Numbers. God wrote it, so it must be worthwhile.

Go serve your King,
PW

The words draw me in every year- words of songs that proclaim Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection and return. Here are a few that have blessed me this week.

Merry Christmas, and go serve your King,
PW

A friend of Living Word recently took up a challenge on web site operated by a guy named P. Z. Meyers. He's a mean guy. I'll leave it at that. But Taylor wrote a reply that got on his site. He did well. I've not given you the link because some of the content is REALLY objectionable. But this is a good example of a job well done. I've reprinted Taylor's article, Meyers' intro, and Meyer's followup. You don't have to be an expert in apologetics, but you need to be able to find the errors in Meyers' reasoning. I'll follow this up, but comment below with questions and comments and insights.

(Want a chew toy? I’ve had a number of submissions to the “Why I am an atheist” series from Christians trying to play the apologetics game. Most of them are embarrassingly illiterate and incoherent, and I just throw them away; this one is at least competently written, even if the ideas are nonsense cribbed from William Lane Craig. Have fun tearing them up.)

Hi PZ, I know this isn’t exactly what you called for, and you probably won’t post this on your famous blog (understandably), but I feel quite strongly that I have two very good reasons for being a Christian:

1) Existence
2) The Uniqueness of Christianity

Now I’ll elaborate a little:

1) The universe exists. Disregarding modern philosophy for a minute, I think this one is fairly obvious. As far as I can know anything, I know that the universe exists. That means it had to have a beginning. Now, the existence and order of the universe may or may not be explained by the Big Bang (I’m no theoretical physicist), but it seems to me that the Big Bang still needs a Big Banger. Someone or something to start the whole thing off. Multiverse theory? I think it still needs some work. And evidence. An eternal Universe? Ok, but I think there are some problems with assigning non-material properties (namely eternal existence) to material things (namely matter). I’ll come back to that. But for now, I’m at the point where I admit that there has to be a beginning, an “uncaused cause” as the philosopher’s put it.

2) That “uncaused cause,” that “Big Banger,” the being that caused everything else to exist, must be the God of the Christian Bible. Why? Because of Christianity’s uniqueness. Say what you will, but after years of studying world religions, Christianity is entirely unique. To oversimplify my case: Every other religion requires an action (service, certain words or actions, good works, etc.), in return for a reward. Christianity is the exact opposite. You are called by Christ first, saved from yourself (that’s the reward), and then the good works flow out of gratitude, or a desire to be more like God. You don’t have to do good works to be saved. Can you see how this is unique?

Now, as to the point about assigning eternal properties to material objects, I don’t see how this is beneficial. Christianity says God created the universe, and He is eternal, intelligent, and caring. Atheism says that the universe created itself, and it is eternal, unintelligent, and uncaring. Is that really better? Personally, I can’t believe that this universe is unintelligent, nor that all of the pain and suffering I see is purposeless.

It seems pretty straightforward to me, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

God bless, and stay warm up there,

Taylor
United States

(My response: #1 is meaningless. Physics has evidence that our universe had a beginning, but there is absolutely no reason to suppose a cosmic benign intelligence was behind it. An avalanche also has a beginning, but we don’t assume it was a little man triggering it by intent. #2 is absolutely the dumbest reason I’ve ever heard (and I’ve heard it many times) for believing Christianity is true. Here, I’ve just invented a religion: you achieve salvation by hopping precisely three times on one leg every morning. If you forget and die unhopped, you go to hell; so long as you have hopped, you are forgiven and go to heaven. That’s entirely unique, but it doesn’t make it true — in this case, and in Christianity’s case, it’s just stupid.

Now compare this Christian entry, selected as the best of the religious submissions so far, to the atheist submissions, which were chosen entirely at random.)

One of my college-aged friends has been studying the authorship of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) at his school. While many modern scholars reject what the Bible (including Jesus' claims) says about Moses writing Genesis-Deuteronomy, the "more conservative" position says that it was compiled from several different authors over thousands of years. There is no evidence for this, of course, and the idea comes from the presupposition that God revealing Himself by giving His words to men is impossible. This article may help you: Did Moses write Genesis? It's a big deal. Because Jesus says he did. And if he didn't, Jesus was wrong. Read on, and

Go serve your King,
PW

God blessed us with Sue Nelson.

Marv and Sue Nelson came to us through their daughter, Kelly Sue Campbell. They were active members and participants over the past two years, and while they have considered themselves new faces around Living Word, they very much have been a blessing. Sue died Sunday after a long illness and we host her celebration of life tomorrow (Wednesday, November 23). Pray for Marv and the rest of the family. And grieve. But this is a good story, friends. A victory story. You can read more here.

I am learning better leadership every day. God is a great teacher!
One core value at Living Word is equipping. This article was a great read on the subject. Enjoy!