Zealots: Scot McKnight

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Zealotry 2

Aug 24, 2015 @ 5:05by 0 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-08-23 at 9.52.43 AMZealotry is the choice to protect holiness by living beyond what the Bible says, and it finds in that zeal a source of immunity from being wrong. I contend that zealotry reflects an absence of trust in God’s Word. Its motivation is the fear of freedom. Its environment is inevitable: judgmentalism and boundary-marking that together destroy in different ways the unity in Christ. God’s people were not meant to be penguins, waddling all alike, but instead free, separable, unique individuals who live in community and fellowship across those differences.

I’ve never seen zealots who weren’t also judgmental; I’ve never seen those freed in the Spirit who were judgmental. The freed know the tranquility of where they belong in God’s society; zealots don’t know where they belong and therefore do not know that others also belong.

The freed love others and, in so loving others, care for their moral development; zealots seek to control others, and therefore do not love others properly. Zealots do not lead others into moral development but into conformity. They tie people into knots. [

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It’s Spring Already!

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Spring generally comes early in Narrabri. Even though it’s “officially” still winter, many plants are getting right into the spring season of flowers and growth. It’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was rushing out to protect my frangipani trees from the late frosts.

Last night’s rain and the higher temperatures seem to have made every part of the garden come to life.

img_7791I forgot to plant sweetpeas this year. Well to be honest, I didn’t bother because last spring and summer were so disheartening for gardening. But the sweetpeas did not forget me! A couple of hardy plants are growing from last year’s seed.

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The conditions seemed to be particularly tough on stone fruit trees. I lost my beloved peach tree and one of two plum trees. This tree is starting to bud with the promise of leaves and blossom starting to unfurl.

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A bottle brush has grown next to the church fence ever since we have been here. Because of its position, hidden behind the play area, I rarely even acknowledge its existence. Today it was magnificent.

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And who doesn’t love annuals at this time of the year? I love petunias because they cope so well with our extremes of heat and cold. Sometimes they keep going into their second or third year. This year there seemed to be a shortage of petunias at the nursery but dianthus are a pretty good substitute!

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I wasn’t thinking about photography at all this afternoon, but I was outside when I opened my eyes and saw what was all around me and the camera called.

Reflection on John 6:56-69

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Scripture
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Observation
Jesus tells His followers that to receive eternal life they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Many of the people are offended by this.

Jesus tells them that His words are spirit and life. Some of them do not believe and this is why He has told them that no one can come to Him unless the Father enables them.

Many of the disciples turn back from following Jesus. He asks the Twelve if they want to leave too. But Jesus says “Where else could we go?”

Application
Following Jesus is not always easy. Often He will challenge our thinking in order to confront the sins we love and the lies we trust.

We all have our idols, and Jesus is determined to strip them of the power they have over us.

When Jesus leads us into water too deep for us to stand, the true disciple keeps looking towards Him and trusting Him to lead us through. The ones who never really knew Him will turn away and complain that it is too hard.

Prayer
Lord Jesus please help me to trust you more, especially when things seem too hard. Amen.

Reflection on Ephesians 6:10-20

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Scripture
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil on the heavenly realms.

Observation
We must put on the full armour of God to resist the devil’s evil plans. We don’t struggle against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil.

The armour of God is our combat equipment that enables us to stand our ground and defeat every attack of the enemy. It consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

We should pray in the Spirit on every occasion, with all kinds of prayers, especially for our christian brothers and sisters.

Application
Our struggle as christians is against the demonic forces not against people. For this reason, it is important to fight our battles in the heavenly realm, not in the earthly realm.

Prayer is what wins our battles for the Lord- prayer together with integrity and devotion to Christ.

God does call us to action, even to activism, but this must start and continue in prayer. There is no point fighting the battles we have not been called to fight, nor in engaging in actions which God has not initiated. These are the very things which play into the hands of the devil.

Prayer
Lord help me to discern your will for me as I step out into the battle each day. Amen.

Reflection on John 6:51-58

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Photo:Alvin TRusty

Photo:Alvin Trusty

Scripture
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Observation
Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. If we eat this bread we will live for ever.

The Jewish people begin to argue among themselves. Jesus tells them that without Him they have no life in them. The one who eats His body and drinks His blood has eternal life.

Jesus lives because of His relationship with the Father, and so the one who feeds on Him will live because of Him. This is better than the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert.

Application
In Communion we feed on the body and blood of Christ. This is not some kind of gory ritual, but a representation of the life-giving power of Jesus’ death on the cross for us.

Eating bread and drinking wine or grape juice do not give eternal life in themselves. It is only when by faith we take the spiritual meaning of the physical objects that we feast on Jesus.

It was Jesus’ union with the Father that gave Him life, and it is our union with Christ that gives us eternal life. By faith in the death and resurrection of Christ we too are raised for eternity.

Prayer
Thank you Father for the power of faith in your Son setting us free from the law of sin and death. Amen.

Child of Lesbian Parents Opposes Gay “Marriage”

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From the ABC:

Ask the Bigot: Who is Katy Faust and why is the daughter of lesbian parents against gay marriage?

 American Katy Faust was raised by her lesbian mother and her partner and she now runs a blog called asktheBigot, which is fiercely opposed to gay marriage.

She became a Christian in high school and was concerned by the plight of children.

She is in Canberra to lobby the Federal Government against gay marriage and she told Lateline why. (Click here to view video)

These are her key points:

1. She loves her lesbian mother and her partner:

“While my mother was a fantastic mother and most of what I do well as a mother myself I do because that’s how she parented me, she can’t be a father. Her partner, an incredible woman — both of these women have my heart — cannot be a father either.”

2. She says children of gay parents pressured into supporting them:

“There’s several children that have contacted me even since I started writing about this, saying ‘I agree with you, but I’ll never come out and speak about this publicly because my relationship with my parent is too tenuous’.”

3. When she became Christian she struggled with Bible’s teachings on sexuality:

“Because there’s a fierce protectiveness I think that all children have for their parents, but what I was delighted to find when I read Scripture is that God has an incredible heart for the orphan and that he’s very concerned with the plight of children.”

4. She says children should not have to fit into parents’ ‘lifestyles’:

“Children have rights … the onus needs to be on adults to conform to the rights of children rather than children fitting into an adult’s lifestyle. And certainly, I don’t think that homosexuals are responsible by any means for the crisis that we face in America when it comes to family structure these days. Absolutely, heterosexuals have led the way on that charge.”

5. Her blog was originally anonymous but she was outed by a gay blogger:

“I wouldn’t be having this interview with you today, because I never intended to be involved in the legal fight, but because I was outed in the name of love and tolerance, I am talking with you today.”

Reflection on 1 Kings 3:1-15

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Scripture
“I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for- both riches and honour- so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”

Observation
Solomon makes an alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt. He shows his love for the Lord by obeying the statues of his father David.

He goes to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. While there, the Lord appears to him in a dream and tells him to ask for whatever he wants. Solomon replies that he needs a discerning heart to rule the kingdom wisely.

The Lord is pleased with Solomon and promises to give him a discerning heart which he asked for and riches and honour which he did not ask for.

Application
Solomon was already wise in acknowledging that he needed wisdom from the Lord. God granted this very selfless request and much more.

When God promises to meet our needs, He is not stingy just doling out the bare minimum to get by. He loves to grant our requests when they come from a simple humble heart. He goes far beyond what we can think to ask Him for, giving us things that we never think to request.

Jesus tells us to seek His kingdom first, then everything else will also be given to us. God’s grace is truly limitless, not bounded by what we can ask Him for.

Prayer
Teach me Lord how to pray the prayers that please you. Show me your ways and I will walk in them. Amen.

Ann Voskamp- An Honest Conversation About Abortion that Asks Us Not to Turn Away

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Ann Voskamp writes powerfully about abortin and the changes needed in the attitude of the church to make life a more powerful option than death

When I get the message that Sozan wants an abortion, it feels like all the air got vacuumed out of my lungs.

But I get it.

I once sat in a doctor’s office and the atomic blast of my own pregnancy test ripped through me and I’m telling you, it was impossible to breathe through the shockwaves, the thermal heat.

I’ve sat with Sozan in Iraq, in the windowless, no-plumbing shipping container where, she, her husband, her children slept on the floor through the winter. I’d watched her rock her sick baby. I’d watched her eyes howl, heard the raw ache in her as she told me how ISIS began the blood bath genocide of her people. 

One year ago this week.

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