Do not worry...

As my family and friends will tell you, I love to worry.

Due to my love of worrying, I plan. I make lists. I think everything through and do my best to make sure that I can make everything work out. 

This does not always go as one plans. To paraphrase what a friend of mine once said, "We plan and God laughs." 

The pinnacle of my worrying career occurred this last summer during my furlough to the US. For the first time, my sister and I were going without our parents. We were going to travel to the other side of the planet, then around that side of the planet, for almost three months WITHOUT MY PARENTS! I was a nervous wreck. Because I was worried I planned:

Tickets: check! Packed backs: check! Chewing gum for the flight: check! (Where's my passport?!? Oh, there it is...)

Our plane ride across to the US went very smoothly. Then came the most challenging part of our trip, traveling around and raising support. My sister and I lost a considerable amount of support after this tour so we had a considerable amount to raise. We also had a sponsor to find. Cue planning mode. 

Acquire vehicle: check! Email supporters: check! Plan trip: check!

From then on it was smooth sailing. People took such good care of us! We stayed with wonderful people, ate at their houses or ate out with them at restaurants, people took us sightseeing, and they just loved us. We are so blessed! We got to go so many places and see so many things!

While traveling we were also raising money. Everyone we met was so encouraging and helped tremendously, even if it wasn't financially. 

When we got to about a month before we were scheduled to leave things started to feel different and I began to worry again. At that point we only had about half of our monthly support committed and no sponsor. That's when I really started to freak out. 

What are we to do if we don't get a sponsor? Can we still go back?

I pleaded with the Lord to show me his plan, and it seemed like all I got back was silence. What was I to do?!?

It was around this time that in the deep dark recesses of my heart I began to doubt that I was supposed to return to Cebu. I couldn't see how things could bounce back from this depressing state. Despite all the encouragement we had from our brethren, I felt uncertain.

This was when my lesson in trust really began. The week before we left we were invited to share about our work to a couple congregations. People began to make financial commitments. After a presentation on Sunday night one of the elders at my grandparents' congregation came up to me and said that they would take up sponsorship. A couple days later another congregation said that they would pick up the remaining support we lacked. We were all set!!!

After all of this you would think that I would have learned, but even preparations for our actual flight back to the field had me worried. 

Are our bags too heavy? Did we get everything we need? What do I do about all this stuff? 

Do you know what happened when we checked in? Every single bag was underweight. We had a lot of weight in carry-on luggage so guess what? They let us check another bag for free. We had a long layover in LA, we got free passes to the Business Class Lounge. They even upgraded our tickets for the last leg of our trip! When we arrived in Cebu all our bags arrived with us!

It's embarrassing, isn't it?

The Lord has always had the situation under control, no matter what happened. Even when I didn't think so, he was there trying to show me that he's the boss. If it wasn't for me being such a wool-headed goose then perhaps he wouldn't have had to go to such lengths. 

A passage came to my mind when I sat back and thought about all that has happened:

"25 On account of this I say to you; "Do not be anxious for your soul what you might eat [or what you might drink], neither for your body what you might wear. Is not the soul more (important) than food and the body than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of heaven that they do not sow nor reap nor do they gather together into storehouses, and your heavenly father feeds them; Are you not better (worth more) than them? 27 And who of you while worrying is able to add one cubit to his height?  28 And why are you worrying concerning clothing? You observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor spin;  29 But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these.  30 But if God clothes the grass of the field in this way which is here today and tomorrow is cast into (the) furnace, (will he) not much more (clothe) you, oh you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious saying, "What might we eat?" or; "What might we drink?" or; "What might we wear?" 32 For the nations seek after all these things; for your heavenly father knows that you need all these (things). 33 But you seek first the kingdom [of God] and his justice, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry into tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself; The trouble of (tomorrow) is sufficient for the day." Matthew 6:25-34 (SAM)

For some reason I'm important to the Lord. He looks down and this ridiculous speck of a person and loves me. A lot. I think I've learned my lesson. As a result of all of this, I don't think I'm ever going to worry again. 

And if I do? Shame on me :).

Which seed are YOU?

April is almost over and I haven't posted anything this month. Gak! I could rant about how busy I am, but then that might bore you. Instead I think I'll go over a parable that I've been thinking about...

I know that practically EVERYONE is familiar with the Parable of the Sower. It's an amazing story Jesus told to teach everyone that it is not enough for us to just listen to what he says, but we also need to obey him. In the parable he talks about a sower (someone who plants seeds in a field, NOT a tailor :) ) who sows seeds on four different types of soil. These soils represent the different kinds of people who will hear the message and the way they will respond to it. One thing that's really neat about this parable is that we do not have to try and figure out what Jesus meant by this parable, for he explains it to us. The following is my translation of the parable.

Matthew 13:1 In that day after going Jesus went out of the house he sat beside the sea; 2 And many people gathered together to him, so after getting into a boat he sat. 3 And he spoke to them many things in parables saying; "Behold the sower came out to sow. 4 And while he sowed on the one hand (seeds) fell along the road, and after coming the birds ate them. 5 Yet they fell upon the rocky (ground) where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprung up because they did not have depth of soil; 6 But after the sun rose they burned up and dried up because they did not have root. 7 Yet they fell upon the thorny (ground), and the thorns went up and choked them. 8 Yet they fell upon the good earth and they gave fruit, on the one hand one hundred, and on the other hand sixty, and on the other hand thirty. 9 Let the one having ears hear.
(Note: my translations are usually pretty rough. I like to stay as close to the original as possible.)

Jesus' apostles come to him and ask him why he speaks in parables, so he explains the prophecy of Isaiah to them. He then explains the meaning of the parable.

18 Therefore you hear the parable of sower. 19 The evil one comes and seizes the (seed) which has been sown in the heart of every one hearing the word of the kingdom and not understanding, this is the one (seed) which was sown alongside the road. 20 And the one which was sown upon the rocky soil, this is the one hearing the word and receiving it immediately with joy, 21 But he does not have root in himself but is passing, and after tribulation or persecution comes on account of the word immediately he is caused to stumble. 22 And the one which was sown into the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, and the worry of the age and the deceit of riches chokes the word and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one which was sown upon the good earth, this is the one hearing the word and understanding, who indeed is bearing fruit and makes one the one hand one hundred, and on the other hand sixty, and on the other hand thirty.

One thing that didn't register in my brain until recently is the similarities between these types of soil. The first one is really the easiest to spot, because they never grow and the seed never has a chance to take root in the soil. The other three, however, start out the same! The seed on the rocky ground sprang up and grew for a while, but then died because they had no root. The seed which fell on the thorny ground grew for a while, but then were choked by the thorns. Then, the seed which fell on the good soil grew up, and because it was on the good ground it grew and produced an amazing amount of fruit!

These are all referring to people, right? This is the part that scares me. Just because you have the seed in you and are growing now does NOT mean that you will continue. Are you rocky soil, on which God's word has been planted and been growing but will soon give up because of trials. Are you thorny soil, who is currently thriving but will give in to the cares of the world? Are you good soil, which will produce fruit in excess? When do you know what kind of fruit you are?

You could become any of these kinds of fruit at any time!!! 

Just because you are strong now does not mean that you will be forever. At any moment the evil one could throw something at you which could cause you to forget your responsibility and give up to either difficulties or the cares of the world.

I find this thought rather scary. I could, at any moment, be discovered to be any one of these three kinds of soil! I wonder if this isn't a parable about receiving the gospel but more a warning to those of us who already have received it. Life in this world isn't easy, and my father likes to joke that we can rest when we're dead. Every day of our life is a battle for our Christianity. While some people may have more difficult struggles than others, we have the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13. God knows each and every person's capabilities, which means that we can survive anything that is thrown at us.

If this parable teaches us nothing else, it shows us that nothing is permanent. Each of the three soils (rocky, thorny, and good) GREW! Just because they started good doesn't mean that they finished good. I encourage you to keep fighting your battle and strive to produce 30, 60, or even 100 times for the harvest. Only then will our master say "Well done good and faithful servant..."

The New Testament Manuscripts

Have you ever wondered about whether we have the message of the New Testament? Do we have the original documents written by Paul, Peter, John, and the other writers? How do we KNOW for certain?

Well, one thing that we must acknowledge is that the autographs, the original writings of these books, are probably gone; either they were destroyed by a person or just deteriorated by time, or they are lost and there is no way to determine if they are the originals or not. How is one to determine whether you have the original? Do we know what James' handwriting looked like, or do we have a sample of Luke's signature? The existence of either is highly unlikely.

Having said that, there are copies of the books of the New Testament (and the Old Testament!) that we have access to. In fact, there are over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament alone! Imagine, 5,000!!! If you compare this to the copies of the manuscripts of ancient philosophers and historians, the number of copies of the ancient works of Tacitus number a high of 2! Thucydides has only 8! And yet the New Testament books have over 5,000! Pretty amazing.

You would think with that number of copies there would make several errors. While there ARE errors, most are simple spelling errors similar to our mistaking homonyms (words which have the same pronunciation but have a different spelling) for one another. Just like we mistake "their" for "there" or "they're", spelling errors came into the copies of the New Testament books.

In addition to errors in hearing, errors in sight could occur. If a scribe was copying a manuscript late at night by candlelight, due to fatigue or his haste to finish his work he might skip a word, or even a line or two of the manuscript he is copying. Some manuscripts have this error as well.

The previous two errors are unintentional, but what is called intentional changes also occur. Sometimes a scribe or religious teacher who wanted to prove a teaching or belief of his would add something to the manuscript he was copying, or he would change the words. This caused errors as well, but usually this sort of error is easy to spot.

Scholars have counted up the errors and determined that less than 5% of the New Testament has possible changes. That is a small percentage! Most of these changes are minor, such as spelling errors, and do not change the overall meanings of the passages they record. Imagine! Scholars are also able to look at these errors and compare them to find what was most likely the original reading based on the above mentioned possible errors.

What does this mean for us? Well, the documents that we have speak for themselves. When scholars put them together and compare the differences they find what was most likely the original wording of the New Testament message. Ultimately though, there is a certain level of faith that we must put into the equation. Though there are so many manuscripts available, the fact remains that we do not have the originals by the authors who wrote them. However, the copies of this book, which date anywhere from the end of the first century all the way to 17th century and later, all agree in 95% of the message recorded! There is a great amount of evidence which can influence people to believe in the message recorded within the pages of this great book!

Who were the Pharisees and the Sadducees?

When we read the stories of Jesus in the Gospels and the stories of the book of Acts we often come across a couple terms which we might have a little trouble understanding. I've done some research and want to share what I've found. I believe that understanding the cultural, historical, and political context of the New Testament can help us better understand the message that Jesus and his apostles brought and what it means for us.

The New Testament frequently mentions two basic types of religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There were actually five sects including the Essenes, Zealots, and Herodians. The Essenes are never actually mentioned and the Herodians are only mentioned three times. Jesus actually had an apostle who was a Zealot; Simon. A little examination of their beliefs will show us that, though they were all JEWS, they had their own flavor of Judaism. It was kind of like different Jewish denominations. These groups arose after the Old Testament times during the captivity period when temple worship was impossible due to the dispersion of Israelites and the destruction of the temple.Sectarianism had divided these people and the religious situation of the Jews during the time of Christ was not what God had intended when he gave them the law through Moses.

The Sadducees were a group of religious teachers who were a bit of a sophisticated group. They did not usually like to associate with the common Jew. They were very influential as far as politics goes, and were usually wealthy educated men of rank. They were of a small number and not many Jews cared for them.

The Pharisees were a different story. They, too, were religious teachers, but they were the teacher of the common man. They were a relatively large group, and were very legalistic. This can be seen in their dealings with Jesus and his disciples when discussing the Sabbath, among other things. Leaders of this sect were usually considered hypocrites, preaching and teaching what was right but not practicing it (Matthew 23:2-4). The English term "Pharisaical" comes from this group of people and means "hypocritical and self-righteous".

Though the Pharisees and Sadducees are both mentioned in the New Testament, the Pharisees are more commonly discussed. John the Immerser called them a "brood of vipers" in Luke 3:7, and Jesus spoke in Matthew 23 about them, beginning each paragraph with "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees..." Not all Pharisees were bad, however. Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee (John 3), and Paul was a Pharisee (he turned out all right =D).

There were a few basic differences in beliefs between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The following is a basic outline of what Josephus said their differences were (Jewish War, II.viii.14; Antiquities, XVIII.i.3):

1 - The Pharisees believed in predestination by God, but not everything. The Saducees believed that the history of the world was dependent on the free will of man and that God did not interfere.

2 - The Pharisees believed in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead. Sadducees did not.

3. The Pharisees believed in angels and demons while the Sadducees did not.

4 -The Pharisees believed that the Holy Scriptures, including the oral traditions passed down throughout the centuries, were to be recognized as supreme authority. The Sadducees only recognized the written Holy Scriptures.

The scriptures mention some differences between the two groups, and the dispute between the two groups about the resurrection is one that multiple times. There is one situation, in Acts 23, that I find rather amusing. Please turn there and read Acts 21:27-23:10 to get the context.

Paul had returned to Jerusalem and had been going to the temple. One day the Jews recognized him and had him arrested. He tried to defend himself by explaining his conversion, but that only angered the crowd. He then was turned over to the Roman guards where they intend to whip him. Before this could happen, he turned to the men who had bound him and asked if it was lawful to whip a Roman citizen without proof of guilt (what a blessing for Paul that he was a Roman citizen!). They then become frightened and don't beat him, but wait to hear from their superiors (eventually he is taken to Felix). The following day Paul asks to speak to the people. After some clamour and yelling he got their attention. In 23:6, we learn that Paul is both observant and clever. He noticed that the crowd listening to him was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees, and so declared to the people that:

"Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of Pharisees, I am being judged concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead." Acts 23:6b (SAM)

What happened after this? Chaos!!! Paul caused a mini riot. Some of the Pharisees stood up and said that, maybe he HAD been visited by an angel or had seen a vision. They took Paul into the prison to protect him, and eventually he was taken to Rome to be judged by the Emperor.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed these random facts and that they might help you understand the scriptures a little better when you read about these two groups.

An old game I found :)

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm a bit of an Archaeology fan. I love ancient languages and dabble in them, and I like to do research on ancient cultures and places. Perhaps this comes from studying the Bible as I have and teaching classes on Archaeology, but there it is.

I came across an ancient Egyptian game called Senet and figured I'd try playing it. This game is one of the oldest board games in the world. Ancient Egyptians, from the Pharaohs and their wives, to the common Egyptian man, played this game. To them it represented something of one's journey to the afterlife and some believed that if you won, you would have no problem on your journey after death.

As old as this game is, no one knows how to play it. There were never any records, and I presume this is because EVERYONE knew how to play and therefore did not need instruction. Despite the lack of records, different people have speculated and come up with different ways of playing. The link below is to a PDF with Kendall's rules and a board to play on. This game is for two players, so you'll need 14 pieces to represent the seven pawns of each player. You could use two kinds of coins. You'll also need 4 sticks. You could use popsicle sticks and draw some kind of mark on the tops of each, but the sticks should be flat. You can even use coins and count how many times "heads" shows up. If all sides show "heads", you move five spaces and can flip again.

The rules are pretty simple. Place the game pieces on tiles 1-14 of the board. Your goal is to get all your pieces off the board. If, while moving pieces, you should land on your opponent's piece (or vice versa), the your pieces will exchange places (meaning their piece moves where your's started). There are five special spaces; 15 and 26-29. Each piece has its restrictions and functions. If you pass square 15, you will not have to move further back than this square. No one can exchange pieces with a piece on this space. The same thing goes for space 26. If you land on space 27 you must move your tile all the way back to space 15. If you land on space 28 you may only leave if you roll a three. If you land on square 29 you may only leave if you roll a 2.

So, if you are bored and have been staring at your computer screen refreshing your twitter or facebook page over and over again, don't! Try entertaining yourself the way the Ancient Egyptians would. Or better yet, pick up your Bible and read something! The story of Joseph and Moses is pretty interesting :)

http://legacy.mos.org/quest/pdf/senet.pdf

What about the OTHER son?

We find the story of the Prodigal Son recorded in Luke 15:11-32. In this parable, Jesus taught us a story about forgiveness and repentance. It is such an encouraging tale as well! Knowing that God looks for the return of sinners like a father looking for the return of a son who has wandered off. The love our father has for us is so amazing and unfathomable!

There is another side of this story, however, which doesn't usually get more thought. In verses 25-32, Jesus tells about the older son's response to the return of his brother. What was his reaction? Was the older son pleased? On the contrary, the older son was very angry at his father for accepting his brother, and he wouldn't even enter the house! When the father came out, the older son tells him of his frustration. He tells his father how he has SLAVED (the original word actually is the word for a slave's labor) for him over the years. The brother even seems to be jealous and thinks the father should not have received his brother back. His father tries to calm him down and help him see the reason that they should be happy: his brother was dead and still lives, he was lost but has been found!

The most interesting thing in this parable for me is how Jesus did not finish the story. We do not know what the older son said or did next, and we don't know if he listened to his father. This, I think, was intentional. As Christians, we are the older son in the parable. How should we respond if someone wanders away, then comes back? Should we reject them and cast them out? The father in the parable, representing our Father, accepted the wayward son and welcomed him back without any question! How can we be so foolish and let our silly feelings and opinions get in the way of someone who is lost returning to the flock?

So, what is the point of all this? We all were at one point the younger son, returning to our father, and he accepted us. Let us remember that we all were saved by grace, and that grace is UNDESERVED. Let us not look down on others who the father is willing to accept. If he will accept them, why shouldn't we?

Don't we have an amazing God?