James4:11-12/ To encourage or to slander?/3-21-2010

I. Intro: The passage begins with the last and the final, the eleventh Imperative (an imperative in grammatical context, is a command; so the idea is something that we must obey). James gives this last and the final imperative to the believers in the Diaspora Christian Community. And the command is that they are not to speak against one another or slander. And this is the theme that James dealt in earlier chapter (3:1-12). Yet it’s so important that James is instructing the believers again.

II. What is slander?

1. Slander is not an evaluation. Evaluation is done in order to promote improvement for an individual or to create more effective atmosphere for a group. Even within the church setting, leaders evaluate. And so evaluation is overall constructive and it is done in any and every group setting. However, slander is neither constructive nor necessary. Slander is not an evaluation.

2. Slander is not gossip. Slander often times develops from gossip and results from gossip but slander still isn’t gossip. There is a specific word used to mean gossip in Greek (Phlualoi 1Tim 5:13), and it literally means “unnecessary talk” but there is a different Greek word used for slander. The word for slander is katalalias (as in today's passage), which literally means “to speak evil against” or simply “to slander.” Christians are not to gossip, but still slander does not equate with gossip.

3. Slander is speaking falsehood about a person in attempt to tarnish the person’s reputation. The actual English definition of slander is “defamation,” which means “to damage the good reputation of.” And so in today’s passage, James commands the believers not to just talk less, but not to defame one another. And James gives the audience two reasons why not to slander.

III. Believers are not to slander because:

1. Slander speaks against the law: Christians are not to slander because it speaks against the law. The most important law of God comes from Matthew 22 (Mark 12). In Matthew 22, God’s people are instructed to love God with all their heart, mind and soul and to love the neighbors as self. So the greatest law is love, loving God and neighbors. And so when slander takes place, it is a direct challenge and opposition to the law of God. Hence, slander is not merely directed towards a person, but it is also directed against God’s law. Slander speaks against God’s law of love.

2. Slander is demonstration of arrogance: Slander results from judging others. However, there is only one who can judge, and he is God. Thus, when slander takes place, the person, who slanders, is placing himself in equal terms with God. So slander is demonstration of exalting of self in equality with God. Hence, slander is demonstration of arrogance.

IV. Believers are to love others.

If there is a person with psychosis (chemical imbalance in brain) and he is harming others as result, addressing the issue or just punishing the person will not resolve the matter. Until the root problem of chemical imbalance is dealt with, the problem will continue. In the same way, merely telling others not to slander will not resolve the issue because slander is the surface problem. The root problem is lacking in genuine love for others. Christians are to understand that genuine love is to be demonstrated between the believers.

V. Conclusion: As Christians, we are to expect slander from non-believers. Non-believers slander one another, God's people and God, and they are expected because God and the world are in opposition. But believers in Christ are not to slander one another because it opposes God and demonstrates arrogance; instead Christians are to love one another.

Application

In order to genuinely love one another, we are to be humble. Humility is the beginning of all things. If you are humble, you will not judge others. If you are humble, you will not think of yourself more highly than others. If you are humble, you will be able to love others genuinely with selfless love.

RESOLVE!

"Resolved..." -Jonathan Edwards

So I recently have taken an interest in historical church figures like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, George Whitfield, etc. and I came upon this man named Jonathan Edwards.

All I have to say is...Jonathan Edwards is the man! When he was in his late teens to early twenties he wrote a resolution to himself. The resolution contained a list of 70 resolutions that he had accumulated in the span of about 6 years. I chose some of my favorite resolutions from his list:

BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE. (he wrote this opening statement in the beginning of the list)

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6, A faithful man who can find? may not be partly fulfilled in me.

41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better.

43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God' s; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time.

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them.

Pretty intense right?

Jonathan Edwards later on became one of the forefront leaders in the First Great Awakening. His life and list of resolutions makes one ponder "What the heck am I doing with my life?!" I hope this post will be an encouragement and challenge to the GGCEM family!

the complete list of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions

What's your favorite resolution from his list? And what resolution do you want to make on your list?

-Otus Mostus Postus Lotus

James 4:7-10/Christian Test/3-14-2010

I. Intro: today's passage is mainly directed to one group of people within the Diaspora community. The identity of this group is articulated in the previous passage (chapter4 verse4) where James describes them as "adulterous, hostile towards God and enemy of God," none of which is description of God-fearing genuine believers' characteristics. These are actually the descriptions of non-believers. Apparently there were a lot of these so-called church-going non-believers who were convinced that they were Christians because they merely attended church gatherings. And as a result, there were conflicts within the church between these church-going non-believers and the genuine believers.

II. To these church-going non-believers, James gives 10 imperatives. Imperatives are commands in grammatical context. An example of Imperative would be something like the 10 Commandments. Hence, imperatives are not suggestions, but it is an injunction that must be obeyed with utmost urgency.

1. Submit to God: when a person submits to God, it results in salvation. Hence, James is rebuking the non-believers to submit before God by being genuinely saved.

2. Resist the devil: resisting the devil refers to opposing any and every demonic power as well as the influences from the world. It is also an evidence of genuine salvation; hence James is teaching that the mark of genuine salvation will be demonstrated by life that resists any and every type of ungodliness.

3. Draw near to God: drawing near to God refers to having intimate fellowship with God. The desire to have intimate fellowship with God is another evidence of genuine salvation; hence James is explaining that if there is no desire to have intimate fellowship with God, the salvation itself is questionable.

4. Clean your hands: This is from Exodus 30, and the symbolic implication of having clean hands is having blameless or sinless life. An example of this is Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands after handing Jesus over to the Jews in order to be free from blame or sin. This imperative is directed towards the "sinners" according to today's passage. Hence, James is literally commanding the non-believers, "stop sinning you sinners!"

5. Purify your hearts: This is taking one step further from cleansing our hands. Being pure in heart refers to being pure and clean from the inward, from the heart whereas having clean hands refers to having blameless outwardly life. The implication of this imperative is that people who are double-minded may seem blameless outwardly, but are filled with sin inwardly. Hence James addresses the people not to be double-minded, meaning be blameless from the inward.

6. Be miserable: this refers to the being broken and wretched over one's own sin. Genuine believers neither enjoys nor dwells in sin; rather, they are to be miserable over sin.

7. Be mournful: not only the believers are to feel miserable over sin, but they are to mourn over sin.

8. Weep: this is an expression resulting from feeling miserable and mourning over sin. It's not talking about just shedding some tears out of emotionalism, but weeping bitterly like apostle Peter when he realized he had betrayed his lord three times.

9. Be gloomy: the phrase "let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom" refers to the laughter of scoffers. James is sternly warning those who mock and jeer at God and his people that they are to turn from their laugher. They are to mourn and gloom over their sin. This is first spoken by Jesus in Luke 6:25 (Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep) as a warning. Same implication follows in today's passage.

10. Be humble: humility is the beginning of genuine salvation and James is addressing the non-believers to humble themselves so that they may be saved.

In today's passage, the ten imperatives are mainly directed towards the church-going non-believers; it's a command and a warning to the non-believers. However it also applies to the genuine believers; the genuine believers are to use these imperatives as a barometer to check the status of one's salvation. This passage was never meant to be used as a weapon to judge or condemn others. But it is given to us (believers) as means to observe ourselves continually according to the measure given by God, so that we do not lose sight of His precious gift. So let us continually challenge and test ourselves, according to the holy ordinances of God.

Application:

Be a genuine believer: being a genuine believer means having clear motive in serving and loving God.

3-7-2010/ Follow the Spirit's will/ Matthew 26:40-41

Intro: Jesus goes to the garden of Gethsemane to pray the day before his arrest. Jesus asks his disciples to pray, but upon his return, He finds them sleeping repeatedly because of their physical weariness. In the same way, a lot of times, when we want to follow God, obey the will of the Spirit, and be faithful, it's our flesh and the will of our flesh that hiders us. Our flesh or the will of flesh may be different things.

1. Physical Hunger: thinking about food during bible study, worship or even prayer time.

2. Physical weariness: falling a sleep instead of praying after coming home from school or work.

3. Lust: keeping sexually immoral thoughts during worship time.

4. Ambition: keeping the mind and heart busy with worldly and selfish ambitions, thus neither having time nor desire for God.

5. Greed: being occupied with goal of earning more by working unceasingly (no break, no sabbath, no time for God).

All of these things can hinder us as it did for the disciples. However, we are to remember that the importance is not what we are vulnerable to, but it is the acknowledgment of the fact that we are weak and thus we are to rely on God. In return, Jesus gives clear cut solution and He teaches us that we are to be awake and pray.

I. Be awake

Being awake means always be aware of possibility of falling into temptations. There are neither super Christians nor perfect Christians. We can and we will always fail without our Lord. Hence, we have to be aware and acknowledge that we are weak.

II. Pray

Because we are aware and we acknowledge that we are weak, we are to rely on God. The most intimate way for us to rely on God is to pray consistently.

Shepherd's Conference

Well, I would also like to share about Shepherds Conference. The three of us (Chris, Jay and Julian) went to the conference. Shepherds Conference is an annual conference held by Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, and it is directed towards the shepherds i.e. pastors and lay leaders. Its aim is to equip and encourage pastors and leaders of various churches around the world. Grace Community Church's doctrinal stand does not align well with a lot of Korean Churches. However, its faithfulness in handling the word of God and genuine fellowship between the believers are considered as the standard for all modern evangelical churches.

We went through rigorous lecture sessions, services and workshops during the conference. However, I personally benefitted from the messages given during the services. Although there were many messages given by various pastors, I would like to share two of them. The first message was the one given by John MacArthur, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church (also the president of Master's college and Seminary who is considered as one of the most influential preacher of our time), and the message was about separation between God's people and the people of the world. The point was that there is clear distinction between God's people and the people of the world in the church, outside of the church and even in mist of church functions. This clearly identified the problem many churches encounter today where Christians and even the worship services are blend into the patterns of the world that they are no longer distinguishable as "of God." And so the message encouraged the audience (the pastors and the leaders) to set the standard in teaching word of God as well as living the life of godliness distinct from the patterns of the world.

The second message is the one given by Albert Mohler. Albert Mohler is the current president of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (also a nation wide radio program host and one of the most well-known preacher of our time). The message given by Dr. Mohler was about the healing of blind man by Jesus. He focused on the fact that it wasn't the blind man who was actually blind, but the pharisees, who interviewed and condemned the formerly blind man, who were actually blind. This is because the blind man was able to concede to the authority of Christ and believe, even though he didn't know much, whereas the pharisees, the teachers of the law, were unable to accept Jesus as Christ despite their role as leaders. This showed an interesting similarity with Christians of today. Many believers today have tendency to inquire for physical evidence despite the presence of the Word of God, which parallels the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. Believers are to open their eyes and see what lies beyond this world and the offers of this world.

Overall, the entire conference was very encouraging. All of the volunteers (restroom cleaners, food servers, workers as well as ushers) showed genuineness and respect towards all of the attendees. From which, all three of us felt genuine godliness and maturity of true believers. I sincerely pray and hope that all of us can demonstrate and emulate such godly lifestyle and genuineness in our lives as well.

-Polar Bear-

Shepherds Conference

Just like Jay... I mean Otus Potus Lotus Motus has written, we went to Shepherds Conference last week. There were intense bouts of learning followed by wild shenanigans. In keeping this post short I will focus on the most convicting message I had come to understand. Al Mohler spoke an expository message of the healing of the blind man in John 9. The sermon was one the most well prepared messages I have ever heard, but I will bring the attention to verse 4, "As long as it is day, WE must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." In short we must do the work of the Father as Jesus has done.

We have only one life to live, there are no redo's or 2nd chances. All that is, is now. Even though I may serve in the church, I waste so much of my life on my own desires. Knowing the urgency of the "day" fading is one thing, but acting upon it is another. We are all so easily consumed by our own desires and tend to forget the Commission given. Knowing only one life can be lived and that the day is fading, I for one know that I must "do the work". I encourage all you brothers and sisters to heed the urgency and act, not in your own strength but through the power of God given you. Quoting Phil Johnson and, of course, Chris Kim, "Man Up"!

-Young Jeezy MAN-

Shepherd's Conference

"Sissified" -Phil Johnson

A few of the brothers along with our Pastor Julian, went to the Shepherd's Conference hosted by Grace Community Church, who's senior pastor is Dr. John Macarthur. Now from the outset, I want to state that our church does not agree with everything that Grace Community Church believes in. We, however, believe that there are many good things to be learned there, and many things that Grace Community Church does the right way.

So we went. There we learned many things. We learned words like "sissified." We learned that dispensationalist drives in their convertibles with the top down. We learned that when a pastor said that he had "too much material to go over," he really actually ran out of things to talk about. We learned hand signals to the congregation, to signal when to stand and when to sit down.

We learned many things. But the main theme that was present in all the sessions, the seminars, the worship, was that God needed to be the center and focus of all parts of life, including corporate Sunday worship. We learned that the amazing work of Christ, The Gospel, should be ever present in every aspect of worship. We learned that without the divine power of the Holy Spirit, and His ministry, we cannot hope to accomplish anything. We learned the importance of the church.

The Shepherd's Conference were for pastors, and there were lots of them. Some of the people attending were lay people who served in the church, church leaders, church elders, or teachers. The majority of the people, however, were pastors. These were not young pastors (though there were many of them), the majority were old pastors that looked like they were in there mid 40's early 50's. These were people that, I personally, was not used to being surrounded with in a conference. It was good though. The kind of fellowship that we were able to share, no matter how much of a difference there was, was genuine and encouraging. Although we were strangers, we were children of God, and to varying degrees, laborers for Christ.

The praises that we sang, were not accompanied by flashy lights and a fog machines. The praises we sang were very simple hymns, but with exponential value and meaning. Many times the only thing being heard were the voices of all the people singing, with the music being a nice little background to support the singing. Simple yet profoundly deep. It was kind of almost like a small glimpse of what heaven would be like, worshipping with all the saints.

There were minor things that we disagreed on, but overall the conference was a huge blessing. We came out with a heavier sense of responsibility, encouraged, convicted, refreshed, and an anxiousness to worship with God's people on Sunday in our church. All in all, it was a good conference, with good people, and good food.

-Otus Mostus Postus Lotus