Tag Archives: Jesus

Seize The Day

Published in Nate's Blog on April 30, 2012
Seize The Day

Horace, a Roman poet who lived around the time of Jesus, wrote these famous words: “Seize the day! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.”

The first line of his quote, (Latin “carpe diem”] has been immortalized in American culture through films such as Dead Poets’ Society and The Lion King. But it is the last line that stirs me. “It is later than you think.”

Our church family has experienced sudden loss twice in the past 27 months – one of them a young man just 18 years of age, the other a father of two teenage students. In both cases, it was later than we thought.

“It is later than you think.” This truth echoes down through the halls of history. It trails behind us as we walk, hiding in the shadows, out of sight and yet not entirely out of mind. We hear its footsteps even as we seek to turn up the volume of our lives so as to drown out the pitter-patter of its relentless tread.

Jesus was familiar with this truth, that “it is later than you think.” Jesus heard the footsteps, and He embraced the footsteps. Jesus was not afraid of death, because Jesus knew that there was a deeper truth. He spoke this deeper truth to Martha after her brother Lazarus had died. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’” (John 11)

Death is an enemy, but the Life of Jesus has engulfed and surpassed and defeated it! The Life of Jesus penetrates into the fabric of our being and we have the privilege of participating in that glorious Life. In the valley of the shadow of death we have found Life. What a mighty privilege it is to share the Life of Jesus Christ with each other and with our friends and neighbors!

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Discipleship

Published in Nate's Blog on April 4, 2010
Discipleship

A portion of my job description as Associate Pastor revolves around Christian Education programming, and by extension, our student ministry at Jenison Christian Church.  Discipleship is a key objective of our student ministry at Jenison Christian Church.  Discipleship is the process, within your community of believers, of becoming more like Jesus than you were the day before.

  • It’s a pursuit, a journey, an adventure.  It’s not the mountaintop experience; it’s the hike on the way to the summit.
  • It never takes place in a vacuum, socially or spiritually, but rather in the interaction between fellow travelers who have the same intended destination.
  • It is the purpose for which Jesus gathered twelve men around him at the beginning of his three-year ministry – so that by spending time with Him, they would take on His attributes, His character qualities, His patterns of thinking, and His relationship with God.

Senior high students watch and discuss The Truth Project on Sunday nights so that they will be encouraged and empowered to think and act like Jesus Christ.  They volunteer for the Haiti Food Pack and the West Michigan Food Bank so that they can become like Jesus in service.  On Wednesday nights, junior high students read and talk through Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, so that they can become more obedient to the commands of Jesus, and thereby grow in faith and love and in looking like Him.  And we intentionally structure specific ministry times so that our students can be exposed to Godly adults and role models who will demonstrate the actions and thoughts and words of Christ in everyday situations.

Often, we think of progressing in the Christian faith as a series of bullet points to be memorized and recited at will.  But discipleship is about growing and changing so much more than the mind.  It’s about changing the body and the spirit and the soul and, yes, the mind too.  It’s about changing the inner core – the secret heart, the very being of an individual – into something that is more like Jesus than it was the day before.  What an incredible adventure we are on as we seek to help people become passionate followers of Jesus Christ!  Thank you for serving with us!

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Your view of “labor”

Published in Nate's Blog on March 15, 2010
Your view of “labor”

What’s your view of “labor”?

In the video series we watched last night (the Truth Project), Dr. Del Tackett made several statements about labor and working that made me raise my eyebrows.  He might be right (he’s obviously a lot more intelligent than I), but on the other hand maybe he’s wrong.  At the very least, I didn’t like what he did hermeneutically with a couple of scripture passages…

He purports that God has ordained the following economic system:  a three part system including God, Stewards, and Stuff, in which God owns all the “stuff”, God designates stewards to be accountable for the “stuff, and the stewards steward the “stuff.   He then purports a lesser/lower version of the same system (a three part system including owners, workers, and stuff – Owners own the stuff, owners designate employees to be accountable for the stuff, and the employees steward the stuff, while owners are responsible for the well-being of their employees)

Something strikes me as wrong, even though when I look at the diagrams he drew, it seems hard to argue with it.

Perhaps more than anything, it felt like Dr. Tackett was suggesting that God has ordained a system of capitalism, even though the word “capitalism” never appeared as far as I remember in the 60 minute presentation.

I don’t have any problems with capitalism.  I’m not a socialist, I’m not a communist, I’m not a liberal politically-speaking;  I’m fiscally and socially conservative, and I have been and remain a capitalist.

But I’m not sure that God is as concerned about a country’s economic system as some on the Christian right want Him to be, Dr. Tackett’s arguments notwithstanding.

Granted, there are plenty of hints in the Scripture that point toward working hard, investing well, and doing long-term financial planning.  But there are plenty of hints in the Scripture that point toward sharing, giving generously without expectation of repayment or reward, and living communally.

I am loathe to endorse the idea that God prefers capitalism over socialism or communism.

In fact, I could probably make the argument that more people become followers of Christ living in a communistic system than in a capitalistic system, as miserable as a communistic system is.  Actually, they probably become followers of Christ in large part BECAUSE they live in the misery of a communistic system.  And isn’t becoming a follower of Christ more important in the long-term than what economic system people live in?

Scripturally, I didn’t like what he did with:

1.  Ephesians 6:5-8 – he took Paul’s commands to masters and slaves and applied them to the owner/worker relationship.  I’d have to study the passage, but it certainly feels like a stretch.  On the face of it, I’d rather default to a position that Eph. 6:5-8 is a passage that is no longer culturally relevant.

2.  Leviticus 23:22 (leaving the gleanings in the field for the poor) – he asserted that a) the poor need work, not a handout, and b) it is the duty of owners/employers to provide work opportunities for them.  Essentially, he argued that those who own businesses are obligated to provide opportunities for those who are unemployed and/or poor.

Ok, again, this might be right.  I don’t know.  But this is where the capitalistic side of me rears up and says that Americans live in a system in which virtually anyone who desires to succeed and to provide for themselves and their family can do so (excluding the physically disabled and the mentally disturbed).  I have extremely mixed feelings on the (b) idea above.

Anyway….

Here’s a recent article about Glenn Beck’s recent comments on economic and social systems.  I’m not a Glenn Beck fan, but I’m not his biggest detractor either.  Mostly I just thought it was interesting that his brou-ha-ha came up at the same time that we watched this edition of the Truth Project…  Check out the article here.

What’s your view on labor?

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On Tiger and life

Published in Nate's Blog on December 16, 2009
On Tiger and life

“….a now-shattered personal life…”

In a recent piece on ESPN.com, Jason Sobel wrote the preceding words in regards to Tiger Woods.  Unless you were on Jupiter, you might have heard about the scandal that has unfolded in the days following Thanksgiving 2009.  A tabloid reported alleged infidelity on Tiger’s part just before Thanksgiving.  Tiger crashed his SUV early on Friday morning after Thanksgiving in a bizarre one-car accident coming out of his driveway.  The tabloids caught the scent of blood and latched on for dear life, alleging multiple affairs by Tiger with as many as 14 different women over the course of at least 5 years.  Within a few days Tiger acknowledged infidelity on his part, though not in any detail, and just two weeks after he wrecked his SUV he went into total hiding as he announced he was taking an indefinite leave from playing golf (and most likely, from any public appearances for the foreseeable future).

A “now-shattered life” indeed.

I’m never been a Tiger fan.  Of course one might think it’s easy to say that after the events of the past month.  But it’s true nonetheless.  I’ve never liked Tiger’s foul language on the golf course, his tossing of golf clubs, his caddy’s treatment of fans on the course, Tiger’s own attitude toward the fans who are responsible for all of his money, his reticence to sign autographs for those same fans, and so on.

I’d rather follow Vijay Singh, a golfer who gives interviews in which he tells you what he actually thinks instead of what he thinks you want to hear.  Or Tom Watson, a man who has more class in his little finger than most of the guys on the PGA Tour have in their whole being.  Or Y.E. Yang, who showed guts in putting the beatdown on Tiger at the 2009 PGA Championship.  Heck, I’d rather follow Phil Mickelson, whom my wife affectionately refers to as “Gumby” both for his goofy appearance as well as his ability to choke in clutch situations.

I’d rather follow anybody but Tiger.

There’s nothing that would make me happier in terms of my golf fanhood than to see Tiger Woods take a tumble.  And what falls into my fanhood lap but a situation that seems guaranteed to bring down Tiger Woods from his pinnacle of golf dominance.  But somehow I can’t bring myself to celebrate.

I’ve gone through a wide range of thoughts on the Tiger scandal.  In semi-chronological order starting from his SUV accident through my thoughts from just a couple of days ago……..

That’s weird.

Wow.

Why in the world was he leaving his driveway that early in the morning?

That’s crazy.

No, it can’t be true.

It’s just the tabloids doing their thing.

Are you serious?

Oh boy, this can’t be good for Tiger.

He very well may be in deep trouble.

He very well may be in DEEP trouble.

Tiger is hosed.

What a crumb.

Man, do I feel sorry for his wife.

What a jerk and a dope.

How could he have everything he ever needed and get caught up in that?

How could he be dumb enough to get CAUGHT?

What was he THINKING?

Well, he’s gonna get what he deserved.  What a dope.

————————————————————-

That’s a sampling of what has percolated through my mind over the last 3+ weeks.

But in the last several days, more has bubbled to the surface.  A feeling that there may be something deeper here.  There’s more to this story than simply cause and effect.  There’s more to it than crime and punishment, or sin and consequences.  It’s deeper than A + B = C.  There may be more to it than a reckless and unfaithful husband, a shellshocked wife, and a marriage hanging by a thread – though that’s more than enough for the public (and most sportswriters) to be prepared to act as judge, jury, and executioner in the Tiger Woods Trial.

And it was that one short clause in a lengthy article by Jason Sobel on ESPN.com that served as the trigger that brought my latest thoughts to a head…

“…a now-shattered life….”

“…a now-shattered life”?  I don’t think so.  No, here is the ugly, unfettered truth:  Tiger’s life was shattered long before it became public knowledge.

It’s just that we didn’t know about it.

His life was already shattered.  It was already in pieces.  But it was hidden.  It was secret.  It was in the dark.  His broken life was covered up with secrets and hiding places and women and enabling managers (maybe) and accomplices (allegedly) and agents (possibly) and only God (literally) knows what else.

But it was broken nonetheless.  Long before we knew about it, his life was shattered.

And that particular realization brought a whole new set of questions for me.  Questions such as….

~~Wait a minute – how would I like it if MY personal sins were exposed for the public to see?

~~Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun.

~~I wonder what’s going on in the Woods’ household right now.  Is his wife in shock?

~~Can Tiger look his wife in the face?

~~Was he addicted to his sins?  Was he, deep down, embarrassed and ashamed of his behavior and secretly hoping that he could find some way out of it?  Did he ever feel the twinge of conscience that accompanies failed choices?

~~Did he want to be loved?

~~Does Tiger want to be helped?

~~Does Tiger need condemnation?  Or does Tiger need Jesus?

And how about this one…

~~What would Jesus say to Tiger? And though I don’t know Tiger, how ought I to react to the news of Tiger’s failings?  And how should I react to the failings of people that I actually DO know?

————————————————————-

I can tell you this.  I’ve never slept with anyone except my own wife, and I don’t have any personal sins that are as flashy or headline-worthy as Tiger’s – but I STILL wouldn’t want to have my personal sins paraded around for public consumption.  I know what’s on my inside.  I don’t want you to see it.  Because apart from Jesus, my inside looks just like Tiger’s — broken, shattered, wounded, and battered.

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Whose worldview?

Published in Nate's Blog on September 28, 2009
Whose worldview?

We’re working through a curriculum called The Truth Project with our senior high kids this year.  Del Tackett is the virtual facilitator and our own Dave and Amy Barber are our on-site coordinators – they’re doing a great job.

Last night’s session discussed, among other things, two worldviews.  (A “worldview” is simply a way of describing how a person looks at life as they know it, and the parameters by which that person tries to make sense of reality.)

A materialistic worldview sees the universe as a box, and inside the box are three things: matter, energy, and man.  There is nothing outside of the box, and everything in life must be viewed and explained in terms of what is inside the box.  A Christian (or perhaps I should just say “theistic” worldview also sees the universe as a box, with this crucial difference – that there is a God who exists outside of the box, and has chosen to come down into the box at various points in history.  This God is concerned about what happens in the box.

It’s interesting stuff that got me thinking, and as we got into last night’s session dealing with the origin and purpose of philosophy and ethics, a variety of questions came to mind…

~Where do we go to answer the “universal” questions of life?  The answer that most Christians would give (obviously, I think?) is that we seek answers in the Bible.  And yet what interests me about this point is the fact that the Bible was written “in the box” – not outside of the box.  And on top of that, it almost always answers question in terms of particulars – not in terms of universals.  Almost all of the books of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, were addressed to a particular people, in a particular place, at a particular time, and in a particular circumstance!  Dr. Tackett says that we ought to go to God for the answer to these questions – and yet the way God has chosen to speak to us has come THROUGH particular philosophies and particular times and places.

What was the worldview of Jesus?  He grew up in a particular culture, a place, a time, a circumstance.  What impact did his time/place/circumstance have on his worldview?  Would we say he had a Jewish worldview? If so, was that OK?  Or did he need to repent of that worldview in order to grasp a more “godly” worldview?

What was the worldview of a good Jew?  What was the worldview of a true Jew, one who would be saved upon his death?

What was the worldview of a good Gentile proselyte, who would be saved upon his death?

Would Dr. Tackett approve of the modern worldview?  Can the gospel work through the modern worldview?

In referring to post-modernism and its philosophical wake, RC Sproul suggested that this might be the most “anti-intellectual” period in the history of the church.  Really?  REALLY???

Is it possible for the gospel (good news) to work through other worldviews?  Can a Christ-follower also be a Marxist?  Communist?  Socialist? Nazi?  Fascist? Postmodern? Modern?

I’m just asking…….  Discuss.

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Some quotes from NT Wright

Published in Nate's Blog on September 25, 2009
Some quotes from NT Wright

Tuesday I finished reading an interesting paper by Nikolas Thomas Wright entitled “How can the Bible be authoritative?”  It was written originally for a lecture series and presented as a paper for Vox Evangelica in 1991.  Here’s a link to the whole thing.  (It’s about 13,000 words, but it’s worth it.)  And thanks for the FaceBook heads-up, Jas…

I pulled a few of my favorite quotes out of it for your enjoyment…

“It is not enough to translate scripture into timeless truths.”

“This is how the gospels are to become authoritative. They are to become authoritative because, as they tell the story of who Jesus was for Israel in judging and redeeming Israel, so we continue that story—this is the great message of Luke, is it not—in being for the world what Jesus was for Israel. That is how the translation works. And that is why we need narrative, not timeless truth. I’m not a timeless person; I’ve got a story. The world’s not a timeless world; it’s got a story. And I’ve got a responsibility, armed with scripture, to tell the world God’s story, through song and in speech, in drama and in art.”

“We must allow scripture to teach us how to think straight, because by ourselves we don’t; we think bent, we think crooked. “

“The Bible is not an end in itself. It is there so that, by its proper use, the creator may be glorified and the creation may be healed. It is our task to be the people through whom this extraordinary vision comes to pass.”

I remember preaching a sermon maybe 10 years ago that got more funny looks from listeners than any other sermon I ever preached.  The sermon subject was idols – What’s your idol? was the general theme.  We talked about various idols in our lives, and then I remember talking about how we in the evangelical ranks in general, and the Restoration Movement in particular, can so easily tend to fall into some sort of “Scripture-olatry”.  We can begin to worship the Scripture as though it is somehow holy in and of itself.  It’s easy for us who attempt to hold to a high view of Scripture to put too much stock in the actual words themselves.  It was at this point that I began to get the funny looks from the congregation.

[Aaaauuugggghhh, how do I say this right?  The second half of that last paragraph can be so easily misconstrued.  Ummmmm....]

The Bible is God’s word.  It is inspired by Him.  It is breathed by His Spirit.  It is without error in the originals.

But it is God Himself who holds all authority.  It is God Himself to whom belongs the power and the glory.  God does not serve the Scripture; the Scripture is subservient to God.  We live under the Scripture, yes; but only insofar as it illuminates the narrative of God’s ongoing story.  The Scripture does not rule our lives; God rules our lives.

It’s been 10 years, and I still can’t explain it very well without making people think I’m a heretic.  That’s a great commentary on my ability to explicate.  Anyway, I like what NT Wright has to say about it.  Take the time to read that link above if you get the chance.

And as always, I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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What does it mean to be human?

Published in Nate's Blog on April 21, 2009
What does it mean to be human?

I read a quote from Sigmund Freud yesterday.  He said, “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.”

I am quite sure that in many ways, Mr. Freud was much more intelligent than I.  And yet there is a part of me that says that on this (as with a number of other issues), he was wrong.  Or at least only partially right.  For one thing, is “work” a cornerstone of our humanness?  There are some people I know that cannot work.  They are incapable of it, for one reason or another.  Josh, for example, is a young man that I know.  He was in an accident and is a paraplegic.  He will probably never walk again, let alone work again (barring a medical miracle from the Lord).  And yet, though he’ll never walk again or work again, my sister who works with him will tell you that he is certainly very human.  He loves, he wants, he hurts, he lives.

Is “love” a cornerstone of being human?  I don’t know.  My baby Samantha was born on June 2, 2008.  Will she be capable of love at some point?  Certainly.  Does she love right now, at the ripe old age of 10.5 months?  I seriously doubt it.  Is she human?  Most definitely.  She inspires joy, she wants, she hurts, she lives.  Ok, this is a weak excuse to insert a photo of my beauty…

samantha elisabeth hannum

The instant I read that quote from Freud, I thought of another quote, but I couldn’t place it in my memory.  All I could remember was that it started out, “What does it mean to be human?  What does it mean to be human?”  But I couldn’t bring it to the front of my brain.  It’s a terrible thing to get old.

Google to the rescue.  “What does it mean to be human?” gave me 56,000 results.  But “What does it mean to be human?  What does it mean to be human” gave me exactly 7 results – one of which was a page with the quote from an ooooollllllldddddd Rich Mullins album.  His intro to the song “Higher Education and Book of Love” starts out with this spoken essay….

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals… like maybe loyalty or maybe faith… or maybe even love. But now we told by people who think they know, that we vary from amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are forever bound up in certain genetic reigns – that we are merely products of the way things are and not free – not free to be the people who make them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that we could believe that we were something to be made – something to be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars – used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.

Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap – dung heap though it is – and who say it is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either. What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means we are spiritual – that we are responsible and that we are free – that we are responsible to be free.”

As this blog grows, I suspect that you’ll hear a whole lot more about Rich Mullins – he’s easily my favorite artist of all time, bar none.  I think that he hits the nail on the head here. And yet I think that there may be something that I can add.

There is a large segment of society that preaches that we are only better-looking monkeys – and there are some who would even dispute the statement that we are “better-looking.”  There is another (smaller) segment of society that teaches that we are simply spiritual – that the physical body in which we live is something to be shucked off at the moment of our physical death so that our spirit may live forever.

Is it not true that when we talk about our humanness, we are both spiritual, as Rich insists, and also physical?  Our spirit will live on past our physical death, yes;  but will not our physical body be resurrected to an eternal life also? Will not our bodies exist forever in a relationship with God that we call “heaven”?

Consider Jesus.  He is born into our world, our physical/spiritual time and space, following in the footsteps of our father Adam who was also perfect at the beginning.  As opposed to Adam (who failed miserably), Jesus lives a perfect sinless life.  He is killed regardless of the fact that he has done nothing to deserve it.  His dead physical body is placed in the earth.  By the power of God working through and with the Holy Spirit, the body of our Lord Jesus is raised back up from death.  He is not a ghost, not solely some mystical spirit.  He meets with his disciples.  He eats with his disciples.  They touch his hair, his arms, his back, his hands, his side.  His body is real, it is resurrected, it is raised up to heaven in the ascension – not left behind or shucked off when he leaves this earth.  It is eternal.  It will live forever along with his spirit.

Was not our Lord Jesus the only person to ever be able to truly claim the label of “human being”?  Wouldn’t it be fair to call we who follow in his footsteps “sub-human”?  We may be greater than the animals, yet surely we who fall so short of the example which Jesus has set for us cannot claim the same level of being which he has?

What does it mean to be human?  It means to be physical – with all of the hurts and pleasures that come with it.  It means to be spiritual, with all of the hurts and pleasures that come with it.  It means to be eternal – with all of the rewards and punishments that come with it.

What does it mean to be human?

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