Oh Beloved…
They say it’s uncouth to greet each other with “happy Good Friday” as that day was such a dark and painful one for Jesus and his loved ones. It is to be a day of mourning and reflection they say (who is “they,” anyway? …but that’s another topic…). I would suggest that our perspective on today is different. Yes, it was a terrible day when viewed from Friday’s side of the story. It was a wretched day when viewed from earth’s side of reality. But when viewed from what happened next, and from what was happening behind the curtain… wow… what a day! I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · This Sunday is the biggest celebration of our year--9:00 and 10:30 a.m. for our Easter services. I bet you know the story. I’ll flesh it out a bit more in Deeper Thoughts below, and then we will raise our hearts together on Sunday. Join us and invite your unchurched family and friends. We will make the experience incredibly welcoming and navigable for them! o In-person is always best if you are able… come stand with the people of God in mighty celebration; online-livestream will be available both services, 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. for those who need it. o Kids Connect and Middle School programs will be held at 10:30 a.m. only. o Easter Egg hunt at 11:45 a.m. for the kids! Come hang out with us outside and watch them have a ton of fun! This would be great to invite your unchurched neighbors to participate! o Our nursery will be staffed at the 10:30 service; if you need nursery at 9:00, please click here to let us know so we can line up care for your infant or toddler. o Parking!! We expect a challenging load to our parking lot this Sunday. Please remember that the gravel parking areas across the street from the church (along the wood line) belong to Mt. Hope; we also have remote parking back beyond the firepit. If you are able to walk some distance, please consider filling those areas first so newcomers can find a spot closer to the facility. Next up: · Men’s Breakfast Saturday, April 6. Great food, fellowship, and challenging growth! · Church-wide Spring Spruce Up Workday: Saturday, April 13, 9:00 -12:30. We will have lots of opportunities to match your skill levels, abilities, and interests—indoor and outdoor, heavy-lift and light duty…whatever you will enjoy the most! · Volunteer Info Meeting for serving our Kids and Teens: Sunday, April 14, for a no-commitment information and vision-casting meeting. Lunch included!! Click here to let our family ministry team know you’ll be coming! · All-church “Freedom in Christ” teaching and healing event Saturday, April 27. We will step across lines of faith into practical, actualized healing. RSVP will open next week! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who are numbed by the Easter story. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I wonder if the day moves you that much anymore. Sometimes I think I’ve become a little complacent with it. You? It really is the biggest story in all of human history. At no other time on this planet has natural law been so shaken. At no other time has death been so wildly reversed. At no other time has a spiritual transaction been so forcefully made. At no other time has the volatility and fickleness of human politics been so radically leveraged for an ultimate good. On the surface, it makes for a great fantasy action movie. A beloved but controversial hero gets killed and all looks terribly dark. Three days later, his fortunes are supernaturally reversed, and he rises again. He and his victorious followers launch out to change the world, and everyone lives happily ever after. We believers recognize this is more than an unrealistic and entertaining superhero action flick. Deep down we know there is truth to the story—that God is indeed capable of such miraculous things as resurrections. But since we routinely celebrate it each year with familiar songs, fancy clothes, beautiful Easter lilies, colorful eggs, and a happy bouncy bunny, has it become just too familiar to us? I wonder how much it really moves us. If the empty tomb is not just religious folklore--as most non-Christians (and even many nominal Christians) would see it—but is an actual and literal event, the implications are tremendous. Not only has God demonstrated His ability to upend natural law by raising the dead; He has also decisively established Jesus Christ as Lord of everything. If Jesus literally rose from the dead, the necessity of our submission to his Lordship is inarguable. For the people of Jerusalem, those volatile seven days were life-shattering. A lot can happen in seven days. The week began with intoxicating political excitement and fervor. Rumors and speeches about how God had finally provided the much sought after Messiah stirred the entire city. This miracle-working rabbi embodied all their hopes for a political revolution. The oppressive Roman occupation of their cherished homeland would finally be overthrown. Jesus was more than happy to oblige their political fantasies as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds waved palm branches in front of him symbolizing their coronation of his kingdom. But he had a twist up his sleeve. As the week progressed, it became clear that Jesus had no intention of political revolution. His was an internal revolution. His kingdom would be nothing more than submission to the Lordship of God inside of every individual. The crowd would have nothing to do with it. What started on Palm Sunday (last week) as a joyful coronation ended on Maundy Thursday (yesterday) as a betrayal, and by Friday (today) a violent cry for his torturous execution. God could not have been happier. Friday would be good. Very good. Before the creation of the world, God had planned this fateful day we now call Good Friday. His crucifixion through Jesus would not only decimate the ill-conceived expectations of a politically victorious messiah, but it would irreversibly settle the score on everything that was wrong with humanity. Our sin would be crucified. God would once and for all open the window to our radically transformed life. The cross was just the beginning—a crack in the impenetrable wall of sin that blocks us from abundant life. Once that crack was made, God kicked a massive hole in that wall through Jesus’ resurrection. The window is now open. You and I can live a brand-new life. And this is very good. A lot can happen in seven days. An ill-formed coronation turns into a bloody crucifixion. A torturous death turns into an earth-shattering victory. A resurrection turns into an individually transformed life. Do you see it? Do you want it? Over this weekend, will you once again soak in the glory of those tumultuous seven days? Carefully read Luke 19:28-44; 22:1 – 24:35; Romans 6:3-7; and Romans 8:31-39. Let’s make this Easter Sunday a fresh and joyful “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You Have Never Been.” Much love to all… I can’t wait to celebrate with each of you!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
0 Comments
Hey Friends…
It is all about the stories. Four of them—exciting, compelling, transforming. You really don’t want to miss this Sunday! First of all, you won’t have to buckle in for an intense deep-dive study of every nuance and phrase in Romans this week (everyone shouts a huge “yea!!!”). But even better, tomorrow will be all about personal stories that confirm the grand truths of Romans. We will see how God put His promise into immediate real-life circumstances right here in Northern Virginia. I’ll tell you more about it in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…don’t miss the details: · Tomorrow is going to be our biggest “don’t miss this in-person” Sunday of the year: o Palm Sunday worship and baptizing our beloved Sam Bluestein who came to Christ this year at Mt. Hope. You’ll love hearing his story of how he came to faith—it’s way over the top fun! o We launch a brand new every-week Middle School program with their own dedicated teaching time, games, and activities. Plan for your middle schoolers to head out with Chris Bowen early in the service. o Then, after church, we will all hang around for a fantastic fellowship luncheon. Chris Nicholson’s world-famous honey glazed ham and your potluck sides will be the perfect conclusion to a wonderful morning. It’s not too late to click here to let us know what you can bring! · Men: Our next Men’s Breakfast and challenge time will be Saturday, April 6. Plan to join us for great food, fellowship, and challenging growth as men of God! · We need your help! Church-wide Spring Spruce Up Workday: Join us for a great time of fellowship while sprucing up the church--Saturday, April 13, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. We will have lots of opportunities to match your skill levels, abilities, and interests—indoor and outdoor, heavy-lift and light duty…whatever you will enjoy the most. Kristie Zoller calls it “like e-Harmony for a workday.” Don’t miss it!! · Got a green thumb? Our new “Seed Sowers” team is forming to get this year’s church garden and flowerbeds looking great. Click here to jump in! · Help Shape the Next Generation: We have volunteer opportunities both large and small; with the students or quietly behind the scenes; frequent and infrequent. Join us after church on Sunday, April 14, for a no-commitment information and vision-casting meeting. Lunch included!! Click here to let our family ministry team know you’ll be coming! · Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 27 for an all-church “Freedom in Christ” teaching and healing event led by Chris Campbell. Not only will we tighten down our understanding of identity and freedom in Jesus, but we will also step across lines of faith into practical, actualized healing. RSVP will open next week! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t want to hear a good story. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… One story is 39 years old, the other 39 weeks. The one led--in part—to the other. And yet, while both these stories happened here in Northern Virginia over the last four decades, they actually took place long before the earth was created and are written all over the scriptures. Confused yet? Tomorrow morning, I am so excited to share with you two of the most important people in my life. When I met Phil and Carolyn Holliday, they were a young 30-something couple chasing the suburban dream in our fancy little “keep-up-with-the-Jones’s” neighborhood in Vienna, Virginia. I was a 14-year-old insecure, nerdy (hmmm…that one hasn’t changed), awkward kid with a broken home life. Every day, I rode my bike over the Holliday’s partly because their son Brian was my age and we had become close buddies. (Oh, the shenanigans we got into throughout that neighborhood!) But more than just hanging out with my partner in juvenile crime, I was drawn to the stability of their home life—a family that truly loved one another, a home that was filled with joy and peace, and a mom who had just found Jesus and who was filled with the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow you will meet Phil and Carolyn, and we will share together the three stories of how we each came to Christ one after the other, and how that has led to today. Our three-fold story is from 39 years ago. God wrote about it in a journal He was keeping long before He created the earth: “…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” the Psalmist declares of God’s journaling habits (Psalm 139:16). God selected this story to occur, and the people within it to be cast as the leading characters, long before any of us were born: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world…predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). God organized and implemented our salvation by the sacrifice of His son long before any sin had demanded a crucified savior: “…the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Friends, our stories--your story—has been crafted by God from a long time ago, long before you were even aware. Which brings us to 39 weeks ago. I’m taking a little liberty with the exact timing to make it all rhyme, but it was roughly a year ago when I first sat down with Sam Bluestein. He had visited our church for the first time with a healthy sense of confidence--the personality we’ve all come to know and love about him as a young man who is super-clear in his pursuit of truth. And yet, a quick conversation revealed that he was far from knowing Christ. He was seeking, but with great skepticism. He laughs with me now about my brazen confidence in one of our early conversations. I told him the matter was already settled. I told him God had already ordained the outcome and that it was just a matter of time before he crossed a line of faith. He looked a little shocked when I said it; his response was a simple, “we’ll see.” Well… God had already written it before time began. Once the Lord has set His sights on your salvation--a vision He had before He created the periodic table of elements or hung a single star in the sky—it really is only a matter of time if you will lean even the slightest bit in His direction. Yes, there is a part we play in whether or not God’s will is accomplished in our life. It is what we are learning about week-after-week in our study of Romans: “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You Have Never Been.” Our part is to place our faith down upon Him and His promise. The rest is up to Him. Period. Beloved, tomorrow please come in-person if you are able. Hear the four stories--Phil, Carolyn, me, Sam—and how they all intertwine. Celebrate with Sam his confession of faith and his union with Christ in baptism. And then, celebrate with all of us the joy of being a family—united together in this grand eternal story of salvation. Wow…this is going to be such a fun Sunday morning! Of course, we will online-livestream as always for those who truly cannot get here in-person. But if you have the ability… c’mon. This will be one of our best gatherings ever! Can’t wait!!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
My wife always has one answer to this question: “I don’t care,” or “it doesn’t matter,” or “whatever you want.” We’re thinking one of these phrases would be a great name for a new restaurant. It would certainly solve the important question of where to eat. But how about spiritually? What do you want to eat in your spiritual life? God provides an important menu choice in the Book of Romans that would be well worth considering… but lookout! It might surprise you. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…exciting stuff is happening at Mt. Hope!! · NEXT Sunday—March 24—is going to be the biggest “don’t miss this in-person” Sunday of the year…Palm Sunday worship, life-changing testimony, baptism, and seriously yummy food. In addition to a super-celebratory service, we’ll hang around afterwards for a delicious fellowship luncheon. Chris Nicholson’s world-famous honey glazed ham and your potluck sides will fill our bellies with sheer delight. Click here to let us know what you can bring! · Also NEXT Sunday: a NEW middle school program every Sunday morning starts March 24. The middle-schoolers will go out after worship to their own dedicated teaching, fellowship, and games with Chris Bowen, Jess Sauder, Kelley Adrain, and others! · Ladies: The day before our great Palm Sunday extravaganza, get your bowling shoes out and join us on Saturday, March 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for fun, fellowship, and bowling. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Wanna help us spring clean and spruce up? Mark your calendars for a great time of fellowship while sprucing up the church--Saturday, April 13. More details to come!! · Wanna do some veggie growing and gardening? A new “Seed Sowers” team is forming to get this year’s church garden underway. Click here to jump in! · And even more important: Wanna help us lead kids and teens to their fullness in Christ? We have volunteer opportunities both large and small; with the students or quietly behind the scenes; frequent and infrequent. Join us after church on Sunday, April 14, for a no-commitment information and vision-casting meeting. Lunch included!! Details and RSVP to come! · Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 27 for an all-church “Freedom in Christ” teaching and healing event led by Chris Campbell. Not only will we tighten down our understanding of identity and freedom in Jesus that we’ve been learning from Romans, but we will also step across lines of faith into practical, actualized healing. More info to come!! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t care what God is serving. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I’m sure you’ve picked up by now that I think our beloved Chris Nicholson makes really good food. (You coming to try it out on March 24? Honey glazed ham… Yum!!) As much as I am enamored by Chris’ culinary skills, I would propose to you that God Almighty is an even better chef. The question is what is He making for dinner? Unfortunately, His is one of those really specialized restaurants. We have just two choices on the menu. You might have heard that Romans 6:23 says the “wages of sin is death…” The Greek word for “wages” is a word that literally means “meat that is purchased to eat.” Spiritual death is what's for dinner when we live in alignment to sin. That does not sound nearly so yummy as a Nicholson ham. We have been learning from Romans in recent weeks that sin emerges by living in alignment with our flesh—our core human nature with all its natural impulses and instincts. It is slavery to a way of life that is so far below what God has for us. (If you have missed our recent teachings, last Sunday might be the most valuable for you to pick up on YouTube… click here!) But there’s one more choice on the menu. And it’s a super-yummy one that eclipses anything Chris Nicholson has ever served us. By a wide margin. Romans 6:23 continues: “…but the gift of God is eternal [everlasting] life.” With our identity grounded in Jesus, with our faith fully rooted in His power, and living by His Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9-14 and Galatians 5:24-25), we can become bonded to righteousness more than we were ever bound up in sin beforehand. In doing so, we select a different “meal” from the menu--an entirely different set of results (“wages”) that we receive straight from the great Master Chef's kitchen. This Sunday, as we continue our 20-week study of the Book of Romans called “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You’ve Never Been,” we will look carefully at how the unwelcomed menu option of spiritual death unexpectedly landed on our plate. We will poke around Romans 5:20, where we discover that God’s Law slipped in almost unnoticed for what it does within us--food it unexpectedly served up like a spoiled filet mignon that accidentally made it out of the kitchen. When first received by the people of Israel, the Law was welcomed as solid guidance. They joyfully received it and committed themselves to it. But within weeks, their incapability to keep the Law became clearly evident. Their flesh was simply too infected and diseased for God’s Law to be useful (see Romans 8:3). They ordered God’s best from the menu. But they got something entirely different from the kitchen. Their spiritual dinner was rotten. But good news! We will also discover that “where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death (i.e. served us up a spoiled dinner), so also grace might reign through righteousness….” (Romans 5:20-21). What’s more, grace produces not only forgiveness for our sins, but an entirely new way of life—in actually, in practicality, in specific outcomes, we do not have to live bound up in sin any longer. Wow! This is the core message of every Sunday in our Romans study. This week, we will cycle yet again through another fresh layer of understanding this truth. We will look at what we need to both believe and to put into action as a result. Before you come on Sunday, see if you can dig out anything in advance from Romans 5:17-6:14. This is going to be good...precisely because God is a super-excellent chef. He wants to serve up the best filet mignon of spiritual vitality you’ve ever tasted. And to that, we can all say a resounding “Yum!!” You in? Sunday morning… 10:00 a.m. in-person (always the most powerful) or online livestream. Can’t wait to see you all!! Much authentic love from me and Sherri… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
I’m glad I ran out of time this past Sunday. It’s not often that I get to take a second pass at something that we simply ran out of room to finish. I had loaded up my teaching notes with way too much good stuff, the clock was expiring simultaneously to your attention span, so we stopped right there in the middle. I’m glad we did. We’re going to be able to slow down on something that has monumental importance for us, take a second pass, and perhaps make this even more relevant to us. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Will you seek God fervently with us? This Sunday night at 5:30 p.m., join us for a very special prayer, worship, and sharing night as we lay out some vitally important next steps to what’s happening at Mt. Hope and then lay it all before God in prayer and surrender. We have a TON of big stuff in front of us—from the uniqueness of our culture to the development of ministry strategies, to the expansion of our facility, to the resources we need God to provide. Let’s get before God and each other about this on Sunday night!! · Palm Sunday—March 24—is going to be an amazing extravaganza of worship, celebration, testimony, fellowship, and seriously yummy food. In addition to a super-creative and celebratory service with testimony and baptism, we’ll hang around afterwards for a delicious fellowship luncheon. In addition to Chris Nicholson’s world-famous and scrumptious cuisine, we’ll also bring potluck sides to fill our bellies with sheer goodness. Click here to let us know what you can bring! · We are launching a NEW middle school program every Sunday morning starting March 24. The middle-schoolers will go out after worship to their own dedicated teaching, fellowship, and games with Chris Bowen, Jess Sauder, Kelley Adrain, and others! · Ladies: The day before our great Palm Sunday extravaganza, get your bowling shoes out and join us on Saturday, March 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for fun, fellowship, and bowling. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 27 for an all-church “Freedom in Christ” teaching and healing event led by Chris Campbell. Not only will we tighten down our understanding of identity and freedom in Jesus that we’ve been learning from Romans, but we will also step across lines of faith into practical, actualized healing. More info to come!! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who would rather just move on to something else. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Have you ever hung on every word that someone was saying? Every single word of the Bible is a treasure for me. Not everyone sees it this way, I know. Truth be told, even among faithful and passionate believers, the Bible’s complexity, its rich but sometimes confusing history, and its wildly spiritual language can make its relevance to our daily lives hard to recognize. But because each individual word in the Bible is the direct and purposeful revelation of God to us, I want to hang on every word. How about you? To this end, we have been carefully combing through every word, every nuance, every definition of each phrase of the revelation the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Roman Christians, circa 57 AD. The revelation to us could not be more important. Its relevance to our daily--even hourly—lives could not be more significant. The promise of abundant life transformation could not be more hopeful. Last Sunday, we carefully unpacked the scripture’s revelation on the role our “flesh” plays in our spiritual victory or defeat. It is a teaching found in more than 120 places in the New Testament, demonstrating the immense consequence of the flesh for each of us. Yet, this concept is largely ignored in contemporary Christian circles because modern translations of the Bible have simplified Paul’s writing in such a way that we typically miss what is actually being revealed to us. If you missed last Sunday’s teaching, may I humbly suggest you invest a half-hour this weekend to catch up? Click here to take it in. Simply put, the scriptures reveal that our basic human nature—called “the flesh” in the Bible—profoundly stands in the way of our relationship with God and our spiritual victory. Worse, God calls us “cursed” if we depend upon it. Gulp. I didn’t want to write that just now. I doubt you wanted to read it either. Jeremiah 17:5: “This is what the Lord says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on his flesh for his strength.” There is a counteracting promise in response: “But blessed in the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” (Jeremiah 17:7). To the one depending on his or her flesh, God reveals that we will be “like a bush in the wastelands” dwelling “in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives” (Jeremiah 17:6). But good news! To the one who turns away from depending on his or her flesh—his or her human nature—and puts their confidence in the Lord: “he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8). Who wants no fear, no worries, no failure? You in? Paul’s letter to the Romans promises us victory for those who “do not live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:4, 12), for those who do not have “their minds set” on what the flesh desires (Romans 8:5), for those who are not “controlled by the flesh” (Romans 8:9). When we live according to our flesh, drought, dryness, parched places, and uninhabitable salt lands describe the inner workings of our soul. But when we reject the flesh and turn towards living by the Holy Spirit, the abundance and freshness is as brilliant as a well-watered tree basking in spring rains and vibrant fruit. This Sunday, we will explore this concept one layer deeper. We will provide you with an even more practical way to look at this teaching--the good part I ran out of time to show you last Sunday!! I will share my own story of what this looks like in my life and give you very pragmatic ways to focus yourself away from the flesh and into the Spirit. Before Sunday, dig around Romans 8 and Galatians 5 once more. And, if you’re really bold about it, wander over into Jeremiah 17 and see what stands out to you. I am so grateful that you are hungry to search out the revelation of scripture with us. I’m SO looking forward to praying with you all, worshipping alongside you, and opening God’s Word together this Sunday. Can’t wait!! Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
There are two profound forces at work within us that are diametrically opposed to one another. When I tell you what they are, you will instantly understand. But at the same time, most Christians have little awareness of these two forces in a practical, “in the moment” kind of way. Worse yet, most do not know which are presently in control of our immediate behavior. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a few important things: · Last chance to sign up for tomorrow’s 8:30 a.m. men’s breakfast!! Click here to RSVP… c’mon out to harden your arteries with waffles, eggs, and more and soften your heart before God as we explore some exciting challenges that are sure to help us grow in Christ! · Potluck sign-up is here for our March 24 Palm Sunday extravaganza and fellowship luncheon!! Click here to let us know what you can bring. Our service that morning is going to be incredibly powerful: testimonies of wild transformation, a celebration of baptism, and great worship. This will be a “don’t miss in-person” Sunday morning if there ever was one!! · We are launching a NEW middle school program every Sunday morning starting March 24. The middle-schoolers will go out after worship to their own dedicated teaching, fellowship, and games with Chris Bowen, Jess Sauder, Kelley Adrain, and others! · Speaking of younger Mt. Hope’rs… We are praying for a wide range of volunteers to serve in our children and youth ministries—everything ranging from administrative, to teaching, to activities, to nursery. We have low-frequency, low-prep options as well as more intense roles. Click here to let us know you’d like to learn more! · Mark your calendars for Easter, March 31. We will hold two Easter services—9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Kids Connect and nursery will be offered only during our 10:30 service; however, nursery will be available at 9:00 by RSVP only (click here to let us know!). AND… just after the 10:30 service, join the kids for an action-packed Easter Egg hunt!! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who never struggle with anything. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… We are being led. Powerfully. Every single day. Every single moment. Every single impulse. Someone is pulling at you. Someone is leading you… according to scripture, even controlling you. Most of us have no idea it’s happening. Now, we’ve all heard the concept of a little angel standing on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. We laugh about it, and then quietly hang our heads and admit that more often than not, one of those little fellas on our shoulder (um…usually the one dressed in red) wins the argument. It is a fun way to visualize the moment-by-moment struggle we face between good and evil. But do you know the biblical version of this? In the Bible’s revelation to us, it is not at all an angel or a devil. (Those critters are way bigger than would fit on your shoulder anyway. Oh… and they probably don’t wear white robes and wings, nor red suits with pointy horns and pitchforks.) The influence of these two powerful leaders in our life is far more subtle. So subtle, in fact, that very few of us ever recognize their presence. A hundred years ago, the Church talked about it all the time. Every movement of the believer was judged carefully by these two influencers. We talked constantly about whether we were walking in alignment with one or the other. Every Christian could unmistakably recognize them and judge their reactions by them. We held each other accountable to see their influence, and then intentionally change which one had a hold of our reactions. A hundred years ago, the Church was thoroughly in the Word of God. We knew the teaching on the subject like the back of our hands and lived according to it. And then the Church just dropped it. We went silent on the subject. Today, we know almost nothing of it. Part of this happened because the Church decided the teaching wasn’t popular. It didn’t make us feel better about ourselves to recognize a moment-by-moment struggle we had to be attentive to every day. I mean, who wants to be on high alert all day long? Where’s the fun in that? Another part of dropping the topic had to do with modern Bible translations that took an unfortunate turn trying to proactively interpret the New Testament’s original Greek language for you. Modern Bible translators added modifying English words to their translation of the Greek that very subtly changed our understanding of the text. While this often does make it easier for us to grasp the Bible’s meaning, in this particular case, it ever so slightly shifted our perception of the teaching. As a result, we miss its import altogether. Wanna know who these two powerful leaders in your life are? One of them is you and the other is Him. In the Greek New Testament, one is called your “flesh” and the other is your “spirit.” Do you know the difference? Your flesh--in the terms meant by the Greek writers of the New Testament—speaks of your whole self. It is all of who you are: your ideas, your intellect, your desires, your impulses, your fears, your joys, your personality, your will. It is the holistic you. When led by your flesh, you are being led by you. Modern Bible translations unfortunately translate this word “flesh” as “the sinful nature.” It causes us to read right past it because we do a quick gut check and say, “well, I know where I sin and where I don’t. So long as I’m not overtly sinning, I can move past these teachings as they do not reflect my current situation.” The problem is that our flesh does not just command the bad things we do. It also commands, controls, and leads the good things that we do. It cannot be recognized as the little red-caped, pitchfork-bearing devilish imp on our shoulder because our flesh is not always pure evil. Simply put, our flesh is our human nature. God designed it and put it in us, so its origins were not sinful. Then… sin indeed entered that nature (thanks, Adam and Eve…hmmph…). So, what was designed perfectly by God to be our essential nature was corrupted by sin—hence modern translators offer their interpretation to you that you are being led by your sinful nature. We need to grasp the difference between flesh and spirit. It has monumental daily and hourly implications for us. It defines everything about our spiritual, emotional, relational, and mental health. Ooops… I’ve just run out of room in my weekly book-writing to you… so shucks, you’ll just have to come to church to find out more!! Oh… but you need to know this!! Will you do some reading in advance and then come hang with us this Sunday? Check out Romans 8:5-16 and Galatians 5:16-25. Do me a favor: circle every place where you see the phrase “sinful nature” and replace it--just write above it in your Bible—with the word “flesh.” We’ll unpack this very carefully Sunday morning--10:00 a.m. in-person (best!!) or online livestream (mediocre, but still worthwhile…) Can’t wait… love you all so dearly!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend |
Chris EadsMt Hope Pastor Archives
February 2025
Categories |