Bryan Sherwood

1 Peter - Prayer, Love, and Hospitality

I was reading 1 Peter 4 tonight.  Here are a few verses I found interesting.

⁷The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.⁸Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.⁹Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

These words are simple but are good reminders to what our lives as Christ followers should look like.  Prayer.  Love.  Hospitality.  Even as these Christians Peter wrote to were undergoing persecution for their faith, these were three things Peter found important to share with them.  Good words for us today.  I'm no expert but I have a feeling that prayer, love, and hospitality might just change the world.

Pax.

How Scripture Changes Us - A Quote from Saint Aelred

I love this quote by Saint Aelred.  His language is a bit "flowery" but he says many good things about how the Scriptures change us.

Brothers, however cast down we may be by harassment or heartache, the consolations of the Scripture will lift us up again . . . I tell you, brother, no misfortune can touch us, no situation so galling or distressing can arise that does not, as soon as Holy Writ seizes hold of us, either fade into nothingness or become bearable.  This is the field where Isaac walked in the evening meditating, and where Rebecca came hurrying towards him and soothed with her gently charm the grief that had befallen him.  How often, good Jesus, does day incline to evening, how often does the daylight of some slight consolation fade before the black night of an intolerable grief?  Everything turns to ashes in my mouth; wherever I look, I see a load of cares.  If someone speaks to me, I barely hear; if someone knocks, I scarcely notice; my heart is turned to stone, my tongue sticks fast, my tear-ducts are dry.  What then?  Into the field I go to meditate.  I reread the holy book; I note down my thoughts; and suddenly Rebecca comes running towards me and with her light, which is your grace, good Jesus, dispels the gloom, puts melancholy to flight, disintegrates my hardness.  Soon sighs give way to tears, accompanied in their turn by heavenly joy.  Unhappy are those who, when oppressed in spirit, do no walk into this field and find that joy.  (De oneribus 27; Matarasso 193)

John 6 - The Bread of Heaven

It struck me last night while reading John 6 and 7: Jesus talks a lot about bread. Bread is mentioned some twenty times in the Gospel of John and over half of those instances occur in chapter 6.

Jesus first feeds the thousands who have gathered around him with five loaves of bread and two fish A true miracle. Not only does everyone have something to eat, “they all ate as much as they wanted.” (v. 11). This miracle should remind us of Numbers 11 where the Israelites were fed with manna from heaven. Through Moses, the Father fed his children with manna. Now, Jesus is “the true bread from heaven.” This bread from heaven “gives life to the world.” (v. 33). The manna only met physical, temporal needs; the bread of life nourishes people spiritually and eternally.

Just like in the days of Moses, the people grumbled.

(John 6:41) So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." (John 6:42) They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus rebukes them and not only calls himself the bread of life but Jesus explains that he is “the living bread that came down from heaven.” He goes on to say “Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” I wonder if these words rang in the minds of those who heard them when Jesus is later crucified?

Now, we move to the section of Scripture that is regularly discussed and debated.

John 6:53-59 (NLT) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (54) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (55) For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. (56) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (57) As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. (58) This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." (59) Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

What does Jesus mean when he says “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you?” Some would say that Jesus is asking for people to fully “consume” him by believing in him. Others would say that Jesus is speaking specifically of the Eucharist: this bread is Christ's literal flesh broken for us and the wine is his literal blood shed for us.

Perhaps it's both? At this point, those who heard this teaching cannot literally partake of the Eucharist but they can believe in this bread of life. The message is clear: there is life in Jesus. Eternal life. We see it played out each time we gather for the Eurcharist. As the liturgy instructs us:

On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our
Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks
to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take,
eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the
remembrance of me."

After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given
thanks, he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you:
This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you
and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink
it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Celebrant and People

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

The Celebrant continues

We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in
this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death,
resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.

Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the
Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new
and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully
receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy,
and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints
into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and
with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor
and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

What we find in John 6 is very good news. Jesus brings life to those who would believe in him. He meets our greatest need by his own sacrifice. We eat his body and drink his blood and recall the sheer wonder of his grace and love toward us.

Release of the Mosaic Bible

Today is the release of the Mosaic Bible.  If you're a fan of the New Living Translation, you'll want to check this Bible out.  Plus, the good people at Tyndale have a little contest going on if you're interested!

Tim Keller - What is the Gospel?

I've come to really enjoy Tim Keller's teaching. Here is a video entitled "What is the Gospel?

1 John and Love

1 John is one of my favorite books in the New Testament.  I enjoy the Apostle John's writing and teaching. 

He writes this letter late in life.  One would expect his words to be important - he's not at a stage in his life to mess around.  His life is drawing to a close.  With that in mind, what would you have written about?  John picks up  his pen and writes a lot about . . .  love.  That's right, love.

Here's a sampling:

1Jn 2:10  Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

1Jn 2:15  Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

1Jn 3:1  See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him.

1Jn 3:10  So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

1Jn 3:18  Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1Jn 3:23  And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

1Jn 4:7  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

1Jn 4:16  We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

1Jn 4:19  We love each other because He loved us first.

1Jn 4:20  If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

1Jn 5:1  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too.

That's not all of the verses where John specifically mentions love but there's enough there to keep us busy for a while inwardly digesting these thoughts.  What many people would pass right over when reading the text, John is trying to hammer on.  He doesn't want us to miss it.  Over and over he writes it.  Love one another.  Love God.  Love each other.  The Father loves you!  Jesus loves you!  Do you see it?

Perhaps this "basic" thing called love isn't so basic after all?  Maybe we Christians don't really do a good job understanding it and practicing it?  So, I point you to 1 John. . . to the Apostle John who knew Jesus intimately . . . he has much to teach us about love.

Bible Translations- A Few Thoughts

I find myself using primarily two translations: the English Standard Version and the New Living Translation. They seem to compliment each other nicely since they differ in translation philosophies. For instance, the ESV is more of a word-for-word translation while the NLT is more of a “thought for thought” or “meaning-based” translation.

Here are two examples that I got from the NLT and ESV websites.

Proverbs 5:15-16 (NLT)
Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?

Proverbs 5:15-16 (ESV)
Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?

Matthew 6:28 (NLT)
And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing.

Matthew 6:28 (ESV)
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.

As you can see, the NLT helps the reader understand the passage more readily while the ESV renders the passage more literally. I’ve come to believe that using two translations (a “word for word” and a “thought for thought”) helps one get a better view of the text. The truth is, sometimes the thought for thought translation is more helpful while at other times, the word-for-word translation brings more clarity to the passage.

It’s easy to be critical of Bible translations and to “throw stones” at their shortcomings. However, it’s worth pointing out that Bible translation is difficult work. Taking ancient languages and translating them into modern day English (or other languages) while trying to be faithful to the text is no easy task! I wouldn’t want the job, would you?

What Bible translations do you find yourself using in your own reading and study?

A Few Thoughts on Church - Part 1

I've been in church since I was a boy.  I remember going to Vacation Bible School and Sunday School when I was six or seven years old.  Vacation Bible School was always fun.  Heck, they had great snacks like ice cream in a cup and Popsicles.  What's not to like about that?  Of course, there were always crafts, singing, and even memorizing a verse of Scripture or two.  Good memories.  I remember being given a New Testament Bible for memorizing Luke 2.8-14 during VBS one year.  I'm thankful for those caring Baptists who instilled in me a great love for Scripture.

In my teen years, my family became involved in an independent Christian Church.  The Christian Church also had a very high view of Scripture.  Baptism was emphasized in the church's teaching and the Lord's Supper was celebrated weekly.  I always appreciated the emphasis placed on a weekly celebration of Communion.  I went off to Bible College at Kentucky Christian College and graduated with a BA in Bible and Preaching.  I spent about ten years in ministry mostly in the Independent Christian Church tradition until I helped plant a SBC church near Cincinnati Ohio in early 2001.

Heather and I returned to Lexington in 2003.  We soon became involved in Vine & Branches Christian Community which was a great experience for us.  In some ways, it was the opposite of what we had just left in Cincinnati.  Instead of worship with a band, video clips, and PowerPoint slides, we were meeting in a living room.  Typically, we gathered around the kitchen table and shared a meal together.  We prayed the office and received Communion.  There was no worship band.  No music.  No PowerPoint.  No sermon series.  There was liturgy.  There was prayer.  Jesus was present.  Stripped down, bare, real worship.  Good stuff.

A few years on the other side of this, I now realize what a pivotal time this was in our lives.  Heather and I were pretty burned out of trying to make the "church machine" go.  All of the preparation for a seeker sensitive type of worship had been exhausting.  We were tired.  God brought us to a place that was radically different than anything we had ever experienced before.  This experience of church changed us forever.

(Part 2 to come)

Help Me Understand Double Predestination

I’m sitting at work drinking coffee. I like coffee but I’m drinking it at the moment because my throat hurts and something hot feels good on it. However, there’s something bothering me besides my throat. It’s predestination, particularly double predestination

Here's a short explanation from the Wikipedia article:

Double predestination is the eternal act of God, whereby the future of every particular person in the human race has been determined beforehand, by God. Whatever the individual wills or does, for good or for evil, is conceived as performing a functional part, or outworking of that ordained purpose. This prior determination applies to both, the elect and the reprobate. This idea is formed on an interpretation of various Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments. Romans 9 is frequently quoted in explanation of the doctrine.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— (ESV)

The question that bothers me is this: Does the Father predestine some to be saved and others to be lost?

If the answer is yes, then I wonder why He would choose some to be saved but not choose everyone? I have a hard time reconciling that with the idea of God being a loving, merciful and gracious God.

So, let’s hear from you Arminians, Calvinists, etc. I invite your input, discussion, questions, etc. Feel free to recommend good resources on the subject as well.

Free Bible Software - e-Sword

Since I was sick today and bored I started looking at what was available in Bible software.  (Yes, I'm a geek, I know).  I found a great Bible search program called e-Sword.  The best part ?  It's FREE.  Rick Meyers has written this software and made it available free of charge.  I had heard of it years ago but never bothered to check it out.  I downloaded it today and have been pretty impressed with its functionality and available add-ons.  Heck, I paid hundreds of dollars a few years ago for similar software and here it is offering many of the same features for free.  I'm not the only one using it.  Over nine million people have downloaded e-Sword and is being used all across the world. 

Honestly, unless you have a reason to buy higher end bible search software, e-Sword may be just the thing you're looking for.  Check it out.  (Did I mention it was free?).

Pax.