Socio-rhetorical commentary on Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians
So this week I’ve been studying Acts 17:1-9 as the backdrop for our up and coming series on 1 & 2 Thessalonians. I had previously noted some of the resources I’ve been using (found here) and, alongside the text, these resources are proving extremely helpful. With that in mind, I need to suggest that anyone looking to preach on the Thessalonian letters needs to take Ben Witherington III’s 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary seriously. I do not always agree with Witherington’s exegesis of the text, but you can’t imagine how helpful the historical background, insights, and applications are. Witherington’s commentary is fantastic. I read 1/3 of it last night and I had just received the package yesterday afternoon.
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Turn your world upside down!
Have you ever been considered a “world changer” in any sense of the words? I am 30 years old and I often feel like I haven’t accomplished anything for the Kingdom of God. I know, I know… I’m only human. But, what Luke records in Acts 17 shakes my world…
“These men who have turned the world upside down…” (17:6)
The Thessalonians, who made this comment regarding the believers located in their city, make me think a lot about 1st century Christianity and modern day Christianity churchianity. That probably sounds a bit negative, but I don’t mean it to be. The label “Christianity” has become such a overly used and misunderstood term that it gets thrown around a bit.
But according to the non-believers of Thessalonica, the early Christians were turning their world upside down. What world is that, you say? It was the Roman Empire. Scholars estimate (because all that we can do is estimate) that the Roman Empire had approximately 45 million people… and a small band of Jews and Gentiles were turning that 45 million person world upside down with the gospel of the Kingdom. Wow.
Letters to Thessalonica…
This Sunday I’m beginning to teach through the Thessalonian letters, though I’ll obviously be taking a quick jump into the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25) throughout certain parts of the letters. I had considered just nailing down 1 Thess. 4-5 and 2 Thess. 2 in order to just “highlight” the main eschatological sections but recently decided against it for several reasons: (1) my committment to teaching books of the Bible expositionally as often as I can; (2) the majority of these letters are filled with Paul’s eschatological insights which makes it virtually impossible to just pick three chapters when you would miss out on several other important Pauline teachings; (3) I’ve never taught through these books so I’m looking forward to growing in my own understanding of them as a whole, rather than just sections.
This Sunday I’m going to just give background information from Acts, tracing how Paul came to Thessalonica and how a church was established there, as well as providing background information of the city and its social and cultural background.
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Bibleworks 8 giveaway…
Cal.vini.st is giving away a copy of BibleWorks 8. I have version 7 and I’d love to have version 8. Win it for me!
Worship from part of your heart…
7 people baptized…
This week we had our children’s camping event and spent a few days in the scorching hot sun. We had planned several baptisms and on Wednesday evening had the opportunity to baptize 7 people! It was pretty neat to be a part of that.
I think, for the first time, it hit me on how important it is to be committed to a community. From the perspective of being a pastor, I’m realizing now that I have the opportunity and honor of really watching more than just adults grow in their faith – I also get to be a part of children coming to the Lord and expressing their faith in Him by being baptized and reading their Bible and praying, etc. Wow. It’s absolutely beautiful!
So my week has been great. Absolutely busier than busy, but great. And here I am, Friday morning, and I’m just getting started with my week 
This weekend was Grrreeeeaaaat!
Yesterday we had a wonderful worship gathering. Think “grrreeeeaaatt” like Tony the Tiger. Tyler and Holly (YWAMers) came down to lead the worship music (again!) and it was great! The presence of the Lord was with us and our hearts were engaged; we had a ton of new people and I preached on something that I spent a lot of time studying (as noted two blogs ago). I’m so thankful for what the Lord does in our lives. He showed Himself strong in my life and I can’t even begin to communicate how much I needed to just hang out with Him. But, it was really great seeing all the faces and it was equally great seeing my own parents and two of my sisters hanging out with us too.
I preached on Luke 11:1-13 and covered the importance of praying Jesus’ priorities (audio here).
Calvin influences American culture!
There’s an interesting post @ Desiring God – America’s Debt to John Calvin. Piper writes some interesting thoughts here regarding Calvin’s influence on American culture and democracy as a whole, based on lectures by Abraham Kuyper (Lectures on Calvinism). Kuyper was a Dutch politician, journalist, statesman and superb theologian who went on to found the Anti-Revolutionary Party and was prime minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905. Kuyper also started the Free University of Amsterdam. Kuyper is a heavyweight within the Reformed tradition.
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Jesus’ teaching on prayer…
I’m thinking along the lines of the Lord’s disciples’ prayer. Yeah, Jesus didn’t sin so the model or pattern of Luke 11:1-4 is clearly a pattern that followers of Jesus should be praying and we should all stop referring to it as the “Lord’s Prayer.” Okay, sorry for the rant. You’ll hear more on Sunday.
But I just wanted to say that I have been deep in the trenches of exegesis within the beautiful landscape of Luke 11:1-13 and it sure has paid off. I have a sermon manuscript. And I started with several sentances on a bulletin from last Sunday’s worship gathering. And in between I had a basic outline. Check the pictures from step 1 to step 3 (click on them to make them larger):
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Confronting church leaders and expressing concerns…
Some things are very timely. I just read an interesting bit of advice from Kevin DeYoung, author of Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be. DeYoung gives nine steps to follow when you are concerned about issues in your local church (DeYoung’s thoughts are here). DeYoung is commenting specifically in regards to responding to a church expressing Emergent characteristics, but I think his advice would be helpful in other situations. I really wish I’d had read this ten years ago (or five years ago) when I had some concerns at a church I was at. Since I’ve been thinking about this a little bit, I’m thinking this would have helped produce fruit in my own life and possibly in the life of my leaders and church!
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Poll: church – how big is “too big”?
After a couple months of polling, we have some results. The question for our poll was, How big is “too big” for “church”? And I am pleased with the results!
The majority of folks said that it depended on the leadership (50%) or that it depended upon the situation (33%). I wholeheartedly agree. Some people attached a number to the term “too big,” though I think it would be difficult to pin down the exact reasoning as to why those numbers are “too big.”
For me, what really matters is the nature of what “church” is. I sense that the next “hot” topic within scholarship and popular works will be on Ecclesiology. The Emerging Church Movement, House Church Movement, and many authors & pastors have brought these issues to the table and perhaps the Church will grow in this area. There are many small churches and many large churches that really don’t resemble what the Bible reveals to be “church” and it’s pretty exciting to see how this topic is gaining more attention.
Time for a new poll…
To pulpit or not to pulpit – that IS the question…
For quite some time I’ve been reading various people’s thoughts on the contemporary use and non-use of pulpits. There are some interesting thoughts out there, from both sides of the issue. And while I’ve been reading, I’ve been thinking a lot about the issue myself. Are pulpits useful in today’s post-modern culture? Are preachers essentially “selling out” if they remove the pulpit? Does the pulpit actually serve as a means of grace, as some seem to insist? Does the pulpit really matter? Does the lack of pulpit equate to “selling out” the gospel or to liberal theology? Should every pastor preach from a pulpit? What size pulpit is most biblical?
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Busy week @ YWAM
Yeah, as you’ve seen, I haven’t been able to keep up with posting on Exodus. I am at the Northwood YWAM base teaching on the Emerging Church Movement Missional Living. It has been really fun to discuss with these students the various aspects of what I’ve learned and how I’ve failed and where I’ve had victories. Hopefully they are gaining from the discussions.
But, since I’m so busy here, I haven’t been able to post on Exodus. But I’m loving the readings! How’s everyone’s week?
A month’s exodus, pt. 5-6
Day 5 and 6’s readings: 6:14-8:32 & 9-10. Our readings are getting into the heavy judgments of God’s against the people of Egypt. I wonder if the fact that God deals out judgments against all the people of Egypt when the main conflict is between God and Pharaoh is a biblical reference to what some deem Federal Headship. Hmm. Interesting, I may have to revisit that theory. Actually, I visit it now, because as we read some geneological references (6:14-25), we see what appears to be the heads of the families. Interesting. Someone needs to have fun and jump into that subject.
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A month’s exodus, pt. 3-4
I apologize for not posting this in the past two days. My daughter’s kindergarten graduation was yesterday and the day before was extremely busy. I’ll try and keep up here! I did read it… I promise
Day 3 & 4’s readings: 4 and 5-6:13. In Old Testament narratives there are always characters, a plot, and the plot resolution. We’ve been introduced to several of the characters (Moses, Pharaoh, Aaron, Jethro, etc.) and now, as the saying goes, the plot thickens!
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A month’s exodus, pt. 2
Today’s read: 2:11-3:22. Our text follows the story of Moses leaving his Egyptian social standing after taking a stand for his true people, the Hebrews. After leaving Egypt, Moses heads to the land of Midian and finds himself a wife and a new trade alongside his father-in-law, Reuel (Jethro). Not only does Moses join a new family, but his first son is born, Gershom.
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Hymns Ancient & Modern…
If you don’t have the Passion: Hymns Ancient & Modern album, you need to stop everything you are doing and get it. I don’t know why I was so slow in picking this one up, but it is incredible. Wow. The music is very, very good and the selection of hymns is great too. I really like Charlie Hall’s music. He impresses me more and more with each song that I listen to of his. Actually, all the artists on this CD are great: Matt Redman, the David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, & Christy Nockels. Some of my favorite songs are “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” “All Creatures of our God and King,” “Here is Love,” and “How Great Thou Art.” Seriously, stop what you are doing and either go to Amazon (link provided), a Christian book store, or open up iTunes and get it from there (like I did). You won’t be disappointed. If you are, you’re wierd.
Hilarious review of The Shack…
Andrew Faris has written the shortest review of The Shack that I have read (my thoughts on the book are here). He says,
If I was an egalitarian, arminian, open theist who was rather confused about the trinity and about justification, and who had no concern about writing quality in literature, then I would have absolutely loved The Shack.
But I am none of those things. Seriously, the fact that there is actually any discussion by evangelicals about the merits of this book is indicative of how poorly our minds are working.
Ha ha! Wow. I haven’t laughed that hard in quite some time!
A month’s exodus, pt. 1
For the month of June, the friends that we worship with will be reading through the Book of Exodus. We’re following a handy book mark that breaks the book’s 40 chapters into 30 seperate readings (found here). Feel free to join us and to post your thoughts for various readings within the 30 day journey that I plan on sharing!
Today’s reading: 1 – 2:10. Our passage begins by noting the transition from Joseph’s family living in Egypt and quickly increasing in number and strength (v. 7). It’s hard to imagine the concept of the land being full of the Jewish people, but apparently their strength became quite a concern for the new king of Egypt (Pharaoh). In fact, the “concern” led to the king publically telling his own people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land” (vv. 9-10). Read more
Short Term Missions…
There have been some fantastic articles @ Desiring God that I would strongly recommend anyone who is involved in missions read (summary is found here). I have developed some strong reservations about what commonly is called “short-term mission trips” and I was rather interested to find many of the same thoughts coming from others. I’ve often wondered if my opinions were based more on subjective experiences than conclusive facts. Perhaps I’m not as crazy as some people think! Well, at least in this area… The following articles have been written at Piper’s site…
- Rethinking Short-Term Missions
- The Effect of Short-Term Missions on Poverty
- We Need Them at Least as Much as They Need Us
- Teaching as a Short-Term Missions Strategy
- The Importance of Doing Missions as Servants
The point of the articles is to challenge our perceptions of what qualifies as a short-term mission trip and what does not. What is effective in the task of missions and what is not? How can local churches share in the work of missions without doing more damage than good? Many short-term mission trips are essentially vacations (e.g., see the picture!). Not all, but certainly more than should be!
If you have done short-term missions, have a heart for missions, are a missionary, or just consider yourself a concerned Christian, I’d encourage you to read each of these short essays. They’re really great discussion starters!
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