Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

It's been a wonderful Christmas for the Wolff family this year. Last night we saw both Peggy's side of the family, and we had the full complement of the Wolff family at my parent's celebration. And my Mom's oyster stew was out of this world!

Merry Christmas to you. Today's post will talk about the source of the Good News of Christmas – that God Himself came to Earth in the form of human flesh. Yes, that's right, Jesus is God. More correctly put, Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son. Here are some Bible verses showing Jesus' Divinity:

Job 19:26 (NKJV)
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

Jeremiah 23:6 (ESV)
6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'

John 1:1-2 (ESV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

John 20:28 (ESV)
28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

Acts 20:28 (ESV)
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

1 Corinthians 2:8 (ESV)
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Romans 9:5 (ESV)
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Colossians 2:9 (ESV)
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

Philippians 2:6 (ESV)
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Titus 2:13 (ESV)
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 1:8 (ESV)
8 But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

1 John 5:20 (ESV)
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

So this Christmas praise our Divine Savior, who saves us all from the judgment our sin deserves. And we can claim this gift of salvation and forgiveness through repentance and faith. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Who is in There?

If you ask most Christians, 'which Person of the Trinity indwells believers?' Most Christians would answer the Holy Spirit. But would it surprise you to know that all three persons of the Trinity are actually inside a believer once they become born again? Let me back up this bold statement with some Bible verses:

Romans 8:11 starts out by saying: "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…" And here is what the Study Guide Commentary Series (R.J.D. Utley - Volume 5: The Gospel According to Paul: Romans) says about this verse: "the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you"
Which Person of the Trinity indwells believers? Most Christians would answer the Spirit. This is certainly true, but in reality, all three Persons of the Trinity indwell believers.

Here are the Bible verses cited by the Commentary:

1.    God the Holy Spirit:

John 14:16–17 (ESV) - And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Rom. 8:11 (ESV) – If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.;

1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV) - Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV) - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

2 Timothy 1:14 (ESV) - By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

2.    God the Son:

Matthew 28:20 (ESV) - teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

John 14:20 (ESV) - In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 14:23 (ESV) - 23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 15:4-5 (ESV) - 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Romans 8:10 (ESV) - 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) - Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Galatians 2:20 (ESV) - 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 3:17 (ESV) - 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Colossians 1:27 (ESV) - To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

3.    God the Father:

John 14:23 (ESV) - 23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

2 Corinthians 6:16 (ESV) - 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So these verses show that the three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all present inside of a believer, helping the believer grow in faithfulness, holiness and righteousness. Praise God for His work in making us more Christ like! Amen, /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Happy Anniversary (to My Blog)

With this post, I am celebrating two milestones: This post is my 200th post, and I have been posting for four years. It is interesting to me which of my posts are the 'most viewed' Here are my most viewed posts:

1.    The 10 Greatest Bible Verses - 1,277 views;

2.    Lenski's E-Coli Experiments – 1,062 views;

3.    Four Winged Fruit Fly – 140 views;

4.    Best Male Rock Vocalists – 138 views;

5.    Jesus Commands – Sin – 127 views.

OK, I know that my blog is not visited ny many people. But for some reason, over 1,000 visitors to take a look at my post on Lenski's e-coli experiments? Or one guy's opinion on the top verses in the Bible? I don't get the internet, or what draws people to a blog. The 1980's post on greatest male vocalist makes me happy to see a few others are also interested, with the 1980's being American music's highest peak.

Anyway, I enjoy posting, and I appreciate all who visit. Have a great weekend. /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Jesus Feeding the Thousands

I wish everyone a happy start to the holiday season. My family and I watched a movie entitled 'Joshua' last night. It was great. It has a story line where someone walks into a small town and he just starts helping everyone around. And through his work and help, others join in, and through this he starts transforming lives. It is billed as a movie about Jesus' Second Coming, but it is not anything like what this connotes. Instead, it is a great example of what lives with faith looks like. We recommend it!

Today's topic is a discussion of the different Greek words used for 'baskets" in the Gospel stories on Jesus feeding the thousands with loaves of bread and a few fish. Yes, this is the sort of family I have, where a Thanksgiving celebration often brings up a discussion involving the Bible. And this year, my cousin's husband Bob brought out that in the miracles of Jesus feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish, that different Greek words were used for the 'baskets' used to pick up the left over portion afterwards. In the miracle of 5,000 being fed with 5 loaves and three fish (described in Matthew 14:20-21, Mark 6:43-44, Luke 9:14-17, and John 6:10-13), there were 12 'baskets' of leftover food that was gathered. The Greek word used in the story of the 5,000 being fed is kophinos – which means large baskets. While in the other similar miracle of 4,000 being fed (described in Matthew 15:37-38 and Mark 8:8-9) with seven loaves and a few fish, there were seven 'baskets' left over and gathered. Here, the Greek word used by the Gospel writers is spyris – which means large hampers. This is the sort of a hamper large enough to hold a person. See, Acts 9:23-25 - (ESV), where Paul is lowered in a spyris (or a large hamper to escape): 23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. Thus, the Gospel writers were showing that even though fewer people were being fed in the story of Jesus feeding 4,000 people, there were larger baskets / hampers of food left over. This use of different words used was later kept when Jesus spoke to the disciples about the two different miracles in Mark 8:19-20: (ESV): 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets (i.e., kophinos) full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." 20 "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets (i.e., spyris) full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven."

Here is how one commentator describes the difference:    … The distinction between the feeding of the four thousand and of the five thousand is emphasized by the Gospel writers' use of Gk. Kophinos (Strong's Greek #2894) for basket in the former miracle (Mt. 14:20; 16:9; Mk. 6:43; 8:19; Lk. 9:17; Jn. 6:13), but Gk. Spyris(Strong's Greek #4711) in the latter (Mt. 15:37; 16:10; Mk. 8:8, 20). Both words denote a hamper, kophinos appearing elsewhere in a Jewish context, and spyris, in which Paul was lowered from the wall of Damascus, being the larger (Acts 9:25…) from, A. R. Millard, New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.) (125). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.

There was also another comment that I thought was worth passing along from J. H. Smith, comment on the feeding of the 4,000 in the 'New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge':

This was another incontestable miracle—four thousand men, besides women and children (Mt 15:28), fed with seven loaves (or rather cakes) and a few small fishes! Here there must have been a manifest creation of substance—for they all ate, and were filled.

I liked this Comment not only because it stresses the importance of the miraculous nature of the creation of the food enough to feed thousands (more than 4,000 (because the women and children were not counted.) But also because instead of using 'loaves' J. H. Smith thinks 'cakes' is a better description of what Jesus actually used. To me, 'cakes' seems something smaller, and again emphasizes the amazing nature of the miracle.

From these stories I praise Jesus who is concerned about making sure that our needs are met. May God bless you this week in the sure and increasing knowledge of His love for you. /s/Tom Wolff

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

What Does God Want of You?

There was an interesting segment on radio host Dennis Prager's "Ultimate Issues" show today. He discussed the Bible being the most wisdom-filled book in human history, and showed this by pointing to a famous Bible verse that explains in a clear picture what God wants from us. Here is the Bible verse Dennis Prager talked about today on his radio program:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 (this is from the NIV, which is the translation he used.) See, Hosea 6:6. What does God require of us? The spokesperson Micah explains that it is -To act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly before God. As background, in case you are not familiar with him, Mr. Prager, he is a practicing Jew, who is also very supportive of Christians. And so, it is not surprising that he would look to an Old Testament verse as being so important. To explain why this is so important to him, he emphasized that he does not care if a person is religious or not. Instead, he looks at one's actions toward him and to others –he says that if your religion does not make you a better person, then it is worthless. Dennis Prager calls his view "virtues based", where virtues of good actions from others is all that is important to him.

OK, so it should not be surprising to us Christians that a Jewish teacher / radio host would be focused on actions (or could we say, works?) But can we argue against the importance of being a good person? Of course not! When we want justice or mercy in our lives, we want a person's action to respond to our need. I don't care where if I was in need, whether the person who helped me was a religious person, an atheist, a pagan, or a follower of Cthulu. It is their response that I need, and Christians certainly do not have the market cornered on being nice people. See Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan. And this was Dennis Prager's point, it doesn't matter what you believe (or have faith in), it is only actions that other people look at and see.

As a Christian, I reflexively objected to what Dennis Prager was saying. Actions are more important than faith? For Christians, faith in Jesus is the beginning and end of what we believe. Our actions have no eternal significance, but faith in Jesus does. But does faith in Jesus make our actions unimportant? As James the brother of Jesus writes in the New Testament, faith without actions is dead (James 2:17). Our actions are obviously very important. So how should we piece this together?

Let's look at Jesus' teaching on the two Greatest Commandments we have: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."
(Matthew 22:37-38; see, Leviticus 19:17-19). So the greatest Commandments are to love God and to also love our neighbors. So here is my take: The first and greatest Commandment to love our God with all of our heart, soul and strength, is what we know of as Faith. We trust in God and His promises to us, as set out in the Bible. And when we receive this gift of faith from God (Ephesians 2:8-9), and we reflect back this love to the Creator, we are then empowered to love others. For me, the transformation in my life took place when I started seeing God doing things in my life. This led me to begin reading the Bible, and taking what was written there seriously. Next, I saw my sinful and broken condition before a Holy God (perhaps the last part of Micah 6:8). But then I also started beginning to turn the focus off of me and my life and I was for the first time, realizing the needs of others around me. So the connection in my life was that God's love caused me to love Him, and His love then helped me to love others. I think this is what Matthew 22:37-38 means when Matthew writes saying that loving others is "like" loving God – that loving God is tied to loving others. In my case, loving God first enabled me to start seeing and then love others.

My final note is that for the most part while your actions are more important to me than your faith or religion, but for me, my faith is the most important part of my life. Again, this makes sense in that once I received my faith and the salvation offered by faith in Jesus, I no longer was an enemy of God, under His anger. What gratitude joy and peace I received on that day – have you heard the song "Oh Happy Day"? This gratitude, joy and peace I have towards God allows me to be part of other's lives and to walk alongside them in their battles and trials, and to help them if I can. I now understand that what happens to others is really important, and I want to help them in their needs, and rejoice with them in their victories. So Dennis Prager is partially right – actions are important for others. But for me (and from your perspective also) faith is by far the greatest gift of all.

May God bless you this week with growing insights, financial provision, and the Lord's shalom peace, in Jesus' name, Amen. /s/Tom

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Skepsis

Our Church at Hosanna in Lakeville, Minnesota is running a new program called 'Skepsis' which I have found to be truly unique and interesting. 'Skepsis' I am told is a Greek word that means looking at a truth statement from all different angles, similar to the way one would look at a diamond's different facets from different angles. From the Greek Skepsis, we get our English word skepticism. There are many things that make Skepsis unique for a Church, but the main one seems to be that it is not trying to convert its attendees to believe like Christians do. Instead, it is designed to make us all be more open minded in our thinking.

]Let me give you an example. Last week we discussed the topic of "Exclusiveness". The main question asked was "how can you can you possibly claim that your religion is the one true religion?" Now understand that we are not opening up the Bible. We are not bringing out Bible verses that show why Christianity makes the claim that it is the exclusive way for people to receive salvation. No, it treats all religions on the same level, and that they all teach that they are the best way to understand the world around us. The authors suggest that there are three responses to religious claims and the bad things that religions are doing in the world today:

  1. Seek to suppress and even stamp out religion;
  2. Push to privatize and completely personalize religion – you believe what you want to believe and I will believe what I believe;
  3. Accept that all truth claims are ultimately exclusive and ask: "which one is best"?

I hope this draws the philosophical nature of the "Skepsis" program. So the initial question is whether ALL truth claims are ultimately exclusive. You may have heard of the story of the blind-folded people touching an elephant, as an analogy of the world's different religions. One blind-folded person touches the side of the elephant and says God is like a big wall. While another grabs a leg and says God is like a tree trunk. Another person touches the tail and says God is like a rope, etc… The point of the Elephant story being God is too big for any one religion to accurately describe. They even showed at Skepsis this hilarious video of a Bayer commercial. But even this viewpoint suffers from a flawed assumption – "how can you possibly know that no religion can see the whole truth unless you yourself have superior comprehensive knowledge of reality you just claimed that none of the religions have?" (T Keller).

Another thing that makes Skepsis different is that it breaks into small group discussions very frequently. So you get people from very different backgrounds trying to get their minds around some pretty heavy philosophical teachings. But again the objective of Skepsis is not to teach everyone to believe the same thing. Instead its emphasis is to view things differently. To show this, here is one of the discussion questions they asked the Table Leaders to ask the group: "Try to genuinely identify with where someone from the opposite perspective viewpoint is coming from. Why might they have come to this conclusion?" Wow! Most of the attendees would say they are Christians, though many come with varying levels of a skeptical mindset. But to ask them to think and understand what someone else believes who they disagree with is revolutionary for a Church program.

The final topic for last Thursday's topic dealt with the following question: "do you think it is possible for one religion to be "best" or "right"? Why or why not?" This is a fair question. What makes our religion better than any other? Or is everything just a different path up to the top of the mountain? No final answers were given, again showing the open-ended nature of Skepsis.

Hosanna Church in Lakeville is running this interesting and innovative program. It runs every Thursday up until Thanksgiving, from 6 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. Each week a different obstacle to faith is discussed, and next Thursday's topic is suffering. You will be blessed if you come and check it out.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Prayer – Led by the Spirit

It's been an eventful past few weeks. Asia has her driver's license. The kids have started school. We celebrated Asia's birthday. Elijah's flag football season has started. And Elijah and I went out to the TCF Bank stadium for the first time, as we watched the Gophers football team lose their home opener. I loved how when the Gophers scored, the announcer would say "that's six points in the Bank". It's a fun place to watch a football game. And this week is Burnsville homecoming, and both Asia and Maggie are going to the homecoming dance.

For today's post, I thought I would talk a bit more about the full Armor of God (Ephesians chapter 6) which protects believers from the enemy's attacks. More specifically, I wanted to talk about Ephesians 6:18's discussion that as part of believer's armor, we need to pray in the Spirit. Here is Ephesians 6:18:

18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication…

The Apostle Paul is not telling us that we should be praying at all times by speaking in 'tongues' (a gift of the Holy Spirit, see 1 Corinthians 12:10). Because speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift that only a portion of the believer's are blessed with, it would not make sense for Paul to tell us that everyone should be praying in tongues at all times. Instead, I believe he is telling us that our prayers should be led by the Holy Spirit. We do this through reading God's Word, taking the items that are on our heart, and asking God how we should pray about these things. By this, I mean that when something is causing us anxiousness, or even fear, then we should ask God what our prayers about this should look like. And God has always gently taught me through the something in the Bible, through something said by other believers, or by providing me with a new insight. Here is a short example of how this has worked for me. As our children starting going off to school, I didn't know how to pray for God's protection upon them. This is when an associate Pastor at Hosanna mentioned that for her children, she prayed a blessing upon them as they left for school. Her blessing was that God keep them "physically, spiritually and emotionally safe" this day. I love the conciseness and power of this blessing. And so, since then this has become a regular prayer for my children. This is how I think God leads us to pray being led by the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18, above) with things that are causing us stress in our lives. He loves us, He wants us to come to Him with our troubles, and He answers our prayers, in this case by putting someone in our lives to teach us how they deal with this same problem. God is great, and this has been a source of strength and peace to me every time I pray this simple blessing. This is an Ephesians 6:18 prayer in the Spirit.

So I want to see if my regular prayers may bless you, and if you are willing to share, how your regular prayers may be a blessing to others. Here are some of my regular prayers:

  • I start the day praying the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6). I try and pray it 2 to 3 times a day (see, the Didache, chapter 8). It's the best prayer, and again I love its conciseness and power;
  • I love the Apostle's creed (link here). I regularly pray this when my faith is running low;
  • I regularly pray for the forgiveness of my sins and the sins of my wife and children. I sometimes pray for the forgiveness of my friend's sins;
  • Once a week, I pray the physical and spiritual protection of my family and friends, co-workers and even clients. I ask for angels (cherubim, seraphim, arch-angels, angels and heavenly host) to be active in this protection, and the body of Christ (and for us to likewise bless and protect others). I pray for God's protection of us from Satan and his ally's and servant's attacks. I also pray against the enemy's camp with prayers that they be divided, even attacking each other. Finally, I pray that we are protected from the sins and negligence of others, and that we likewise not hurt others;
  • I like to regularly pray Pastor John Eldredge's prayer from his book 'Waking the Dead. Link here;

So, if you have any regular prayers that you are blessed by, I hope that you will share them as a comment. Thank you, and I pr ay that the Lord bless you with His strength, wisdom and peace this week. /s/ Tom Wolff

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Whole Armor of God

Congratulations to my sweet daughter Asia for passing her driver's license test today. Today's topic for this post is the Armor of God. Maybe you've seen the Halloween costume with the different pieces of the Ephesians 6 armor. To start, here are the verses:

Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18, ESV).

I am writing today about the Ephesians chapter 6 the whole "Armor of God" which Christ-followers use to defend themselves against Satan's schemes. Here are a few quick points about this armor:

  • We are not to battle against other people. Instead, we are to fight the unseen enemies that are in the devil's camp (v. 12);
  • The shield of faith is foundational. The New King James version states in verse 16 "above all, taking the shield of faith…" While the ESV says that "in all circumstances take up the shield of faith";
  • A vital part of our armor is "praying in the Spirit" (v. 18) and keeping "alert" (v. 18). If you pray this prayer as a regular part of your daily petitions, remember to include these pieces of the armor as well.


 

Now, for the main reason why I am writing today about the armor of God. The Apostle Paul did not just pull this armor idea out of thin air. Instead, he pulled together a number of different Old Testament verses to show what we are to wear in fighting our true enemy. Here are the whole armor of God, Old Testament references:

  • belt of truth (v.14); Isa 11:5 (Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.)
  • breastplate of righteousness (v. 14); Isa. 59:17 (He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head)
  • shoes having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace (v.15); Isa. 52:7 (How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns.")

    also, Nahum 1:15 (Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace!)

  • shield of faith (v. 16); Genesis 15:1 (After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.)
  • helmet of salvation (v. 17); Isa. 59:17 (He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head)

    also, Psalm 140:7 (O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.)


     

  • sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (v.17); Hosea 6:5 (Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.)


     

May God bless us all with His whole armor of protection against the enemy's attacks. In our Lord and Savior's name Jesus I pray, Amen. /s/Tom

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Who (or What) is the Restrainer?

Do you feel like the world is spinning out of control? Now I am not just talking about a horrible week on Wall Street, starving people in East Africa, the threatened impending doom of Global Warming (it's been a hot summer hasn't it), everyone fighting with each other (let's see, we have the Minnesota Government shut-down, the NFL lockout, the NBA lockout, and the furor and animosity on both sides over the debate with the raising the federal government debt ceiling). Everything seems really crazy to me, like things are falling apart.

Which leads me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, which teaches that at some point in our future a "restrainer" will be removed from the world. This connotes to me an even more lawless, uncontrolled world. Chaos will reign. In today's post, I want to review the identity of this "restrainer", and start by looking at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This chapter is fantastic reading because it has everything – it discusses the end-times, it talks about the Antichrist, and it talks about two mysteries – one of which is this "restrainer". Well, let's take a look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. (ESV)

Wow, this is a great set of verses filled with important information. So, from these verses we see that Jesus is going to return to Earth (His Second Coming), and that this has not yet taken place. We also see that before Jesus' return, there will be a rebellion, and that the "man of lawlessness" is revealed, and that he will seat himself in the temple of God. This man of lawlessness does not violate the speeding and traffic laws. No, instead he will be a violator of God's Law: he will not honor God, he will have a life of idolatry, placing other things (rather than God) as preeminent in his life, he will take the Lord's name in vain, and he will not honor the Sabbath Day (these are the first table of the 10 Commandments). And he will also violate the second table of Commandments: he will not honor his parents, he will murder, he will be an adulterer, thief, liar, and also be covetous of other's belongings. This is also where the second mystery is discussed – the mystery of lawlessness (v. 7). This "man of lawlessness", the Antichrist sounds like a despicable character, right? But how far are we from following these Commandments?

But I find the most interesting insight from these verses being the discussion of the restrainer in verses 6 and 7. The restrainer is restraining the Antichrist (v. 6). And his restraining will continue until he is removed, or until he is "out of the way". This sounds almost like a mafia hit, doesn't it? Guido says let's remove the problem, and his hit man responds by saying that he will make sure that "he is out of the way". I think this wording could be lifted from one of the Godfather movies. A couple of quick notes about verses 6 and 7 – first, in verse 6, the restraining is placed as a neuter (the ESV properly uses "what" here), while in verse 7 the author uses the masculine to describe "he who now restrains". One commentator says that the switching from neuter to masculine means that what is being described is an influence capable of personification. And second, Paul is being purposely unclear about the identity of the restrainer, and this is another key clue to revealing the identity of this mystery person or institution. In addition, remember that the Thessalonians would have understood who Paul was talking about.

The traditional explanation of the identity of the "restrainer is as follows:

  • Tertullian taught that this was the governing authorities, or more specifically the Roman Empire – see, Romans 13;
  • Some explain that this is the removal of angelic authorities watching over the nations, similar to what is described in Daniel chapter 10;
  • And the most popular recent explanation is that these verses describe the secret rapture of believers from the world, which means that God the Holy Spirit is removed from Earth.

These explanations all have something going for it. But I came across a very good commentary by J H Smith in his New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (citing Vine), which adds a twist to the "restrainer" being the governing authorities, but also adds a complete refuting of the secret rapture explanation. Here is what J. H. Smith writes:

… This factor of obscurity immediately rules out the possibility that the reference is to God, the Holy Spirit, or the Church, for if any of these were what he meant, he could have unhesitatingly named any of them without risk. Grammatical considerations also remove God, the Church, or the Holy Spirit from consideration. In this passage two grammatical genders are used of the restrainer: neuter gender, and masculine gender. If the Holy Spirit were the intended reference, Paul would have consistently used the neuter gender. Since the Holy Spirit is omnipresent (Ps 139:7, 8), and does not merely indwell believers, the removal of the saints at the Rapture does not constitute his removal. His removal is not suggested here or elsewhere in Scripture. … If the Church were Paul's intended reference, Paul would have consistently used the feminine gender, for in Greek the word "church" is feminine in its grammatical gender. … But the masculine and neuter gender does fit the future government (neuter gender) and its king (masculine gender). This leaves human government as the only remaining choice of those given. But the reference is not to human government in general, for prophecy nowhere states that such government will cease just prior to the revelation of the Antichrist. Rather, Paul has a specific reference to biblical prophecy in mind, Daniel 7:8, 24, where Daniel speaks of the Antichrist defeating three kings which until that time restrained his power. That Paul's reference is to prophecy in the book of Daniel is confirmed by his reference to Daniel in ver. 4, and his statement in ver. 5, which indicates that when he was present with the Thessalonians he had been teaching them about Bible prophecy from the book of Daniel.

Wow, I like how this is explained. This means that because Paul uses the neuter and masculine gender descriptions for the "restrainer" in verses 6 and 7, that it cannot be either the church or God the Holy Spirit. The fact that Paul is intentionally not providing the identity of the "restrainer" means that it is likely that Paul was cautious in making sure that unnecessary persecution not result from his writing. Thus, Paul likely was referring to the Roman government as the identity of the "restrainer", which is why it is unnamed. But here is the twist, in the Old Testament book of Daniel there is a prophecy that the Antichrist will "put down" three kings on his rise to power (Daniel 7:24). Putting down rivals, eliminating the enemy? This sounds like my Godfather reference for 2 Thess. 2:7 that I started this post writing about. Taking out, or putting down enemy heads of state sounds like this is something the Antichrist will do. And so, the "restrainer" of 2 Thess. 2:6-7 might be three powerful country's leaders who are removed by the Antichrist. Think of how the world would look if this actually took place. Therefore, in thinking of the "restrainer", there is the possibility that it is more than just the world's governing authorities – it may be the heads of three powerful world countries or institutions (see, Daniel 7:8, :24).

Alright, that is enough thinking about the scary future for today. Remember for those who place their hope and trust in Jesus, He will be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). May God bless you this week. /s/Tom

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Scripture Memory - Memlok

Hi everyone. Peggy and I celebrated the wedding of Peggy's sister Theresa to Erik. The celebration took place yesterday at friends of Theresa's, who live in Wisconsin near the Apple River. So yes, Peggy's side of the family, along with Peggy and I and the kids were taken tubing on the Apple River, upstream from Sommerset. The tubing lasted about 35 minutes, no rapids, and the hosts provided boys to steer our group of tubers down the river. They drove us, provided the tubes, picked us up at the end, and drove us back to the farm where the party was taking place. It was a lot of fun, although Elijah and I are the worst victims of sun burn today. But despite the sunburn, it was a great way to celebrate the marriage.

Today's post is about my favorite Bible memorization program, which I can now whole heartedly recommend – Memlok. They recently updated their program so that it works with Windows 7, and the new program is better than ever. Memlok uses a picture to help you get started with the memory verse, then you can type in the verse, or play a word jumble, or fill in the blank. It uses the combination of the word picture and repetition to lock in these great verses. It works, it stretches your brain, but it is well worth it. The Family version costs $29.95. Try it, it's a great way to learn Bible verses.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Unity, not Uniformity

In our Thursday morning Men's Group we are studying the Book of Ephesians. And this week's lesson includes Ephesians 4:3, the unity verse. It reads:

Unity in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:1–3 (ESV))

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.


 

So in verse 3 we see Paul's instruction to Christians that the Church be eager to maintain "unity". With three main braches of Christianity (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant), how can the call given Ephesians 4:3's for unity when we have (according to Christianity Today) over 38,000 different denominations today? I am a Protestant. I am also a 'Lutheran' Protestant. Protestant's tend to place more emphasis upon Scripture than the other branches of Christianity – sola Scriptura is one of our battle calls. Yet nearly all of the 38,000 denominations that exist today are from the Protestant branch. So how come Protestants have so blatantly ignored this call for unity?

The reason I am writing today's post is that I do not think that the divisions in Christianity are such a bad thing. Yes, I know the primary reason for so many denominations is human pride. They might say, I know this better than you do, so if you won't follow me, then I will start my own Church. This is pure arrogance, and this attitude clearly flies in the face of Ephesians 4:2's call for humility. But each denomination has something different to offer, that when taken together shows the beautiful bouquet of the "flowers" of faith that are in the different denominations of the Body of Christ:

Roman Catholics – Who fights harder for marriage and against abortion than the Catholics? They also tend to be more freely giving of their time and effort to help those in need;

Baptists – No one loves the Holy Scriptures like the Baptists. Their love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel is second to none.

Lutherans – I see Lutherans as the most "normal" of those who call themselves Christians. And many times, normal is important – they cherish family, the Protestant work ethic, and volunteering their time. All good things. And the Christians I I respect the most for their proper understanding of God's Grace, are Lutherans - Simultaneously saint and sinner.

Pentecostal – The faith of Pentecostals is fun. They believe in miracles, answered prayer, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is joy in their worship of God. And they really believe God hears their prayers, and that their prayers are answered. If I want someone to pray for me, I want someone with a Pentecostal background doing that prayer.

Eastern Orthodox – The incense, the beauty of their Church and services, and the seriousness they take the mystical worship of God. There is a lot to be said for going to the same place of worship that has been around for hundreds of years.

Anglican – I don't know much about the Church of England. But I watched the wedding ceremony of William and Kate on TV. And I loved the preaching, the message that gave the royal couple, and the singing of their choirs.

Christian Liberal – The social Gospel, of helping those in need. They help the poorest around the world to have food, water, clothing and shelter. Their compassion has changed how the world responds to disasters.

And yes, there are many more denominations, but I hope that you see my point. And I understand these are generalizations, and that I am painting with a broad brush. But the point I want to make is that if we see fellow members of the Body of Christ, those who call themselves Christians, and we focus on the positive things that they are doing, then we don't have to worry so much about the differences we have in our faith. Let God sort out on the Last Day the mistakes in our interpretation of the Bible, and the misunderstandings we have of salvation, forgiveness, missions, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc. If we turn this over the God, then we do not have to worry so much about pointing out the problems in other's faith, and instead concentrate the positive things that we see in their faith. Is it possible if we focus on the good things in others faiths, then perhaps we can start incorporating all of the positive things in the faiths of those around us. Do you want a Bible verse that teaches this? How about Philippians 4: 8:" Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." In other words, let our brains tune into pure, excellent, good things, and stop thinking about things that are wrong with others.

So my take away this week is look at the different denominations of those around you not as a sign that Christians are hopelessly divided, and that unity is impossible. Instead, try looking at the other Christian faiths as part of wonderful bouquet of flowers, with all different kinds of smells and looks, coming together in a wonderful way. And the individual beauty of each comes together with the others to show the glory and majesty of the One who made these flowers – the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God please bless us in our upcoming week. Thank you for your sending your Son. Amen.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Disc Golf (and Happy 4th)

I wish a Happy Independence Day (July 4, 2011) to everyone. We are blessed to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. I feel blessed today, as I dragged my wife and four children out to play Disc Golf with me. Here is what my initial attempt at Disc Golf was like:

A friend at work recommended Disc Golf (or Frisbee Golf for the unlearned) as a fun, cheap way to enjoy the outdoors with the family. So to start, I checked out the local second-hand sports equipment store, and I was able to pick up 7 disks. Here is where I discovered that there are different discs depending on how far you want your throw to go. Yes, just like in golf they have drivers, putters and mid-range discs. So I began with mostly drivers, because doesn't everyone enjoy it when the disc / ball / puck goes far and fast? So last Friday with my collection of discs in hand, the next step was to find a course to play on.

There are all sorts of FREE Disc Golf courses around the area. The two I focused my attention on were the Braemer Pool, Edina course, and the Alimagnet (on the border of Apple Valley and Burnsville) course. I was afraid the Edina course would be too crowded. And so my focus turned to Alimagnet. Now, I heard that the Alimagnet course was hard to reach. But I knew it must be near to the Alimagnet Dog off-leash park, where we have been many times taking our pooches. So after convincing my family to test this sport out earlier today, we gave the Alimagnet Disc Golf course a try.

Here I thought Disc Golf would be easy – you hurl your disc as far as you can, and drop it into the hole / basket. The "holes" are really poles covered with chains and a basket to catch the discs. But I couldn't whip my disc anywhere near as far as I would like. But the first couple of baskets were nice, short holes that gave us a good introduction to the game. Just toss it as far as you can, then try and get it close to the basket. But it's much tougher than it looks…

So Asia had the best looking, straight and long throws. But it turned out to be Elijah who caught on the quickest. After the first hole, Elijah ended up having the best score of the family in three of the next four holes. He's such a natural athlete. And I did horribly. Sigh.

OK, it was a beautiful day outside, no bugs, and together with the family. What could be better? Well, it would have been much better if we could have parked in the Alimagnet Disc Golf course parking lot, and not at the Dog Park parking lot. I am told it is off of Garden View Lane, but next time we will have to search it out. But we tried to discover the course through walking the back paths of the Dog Park, which led to a much longer stroll than we were looking for. I am saying we did something on the order of a 'Stripes' 20 mile hike in the forest to finally find the course. But after playing 5 holes, hiking back and finally returning to our car, I saw that we had only spent 1 hour and 45 minutes with our hiking and disc golfing. So it probably was a little shorter than 20 miles. But to my credit, it was mountainous. Err, I mean hilly.

So my overall impression was that if we eliminated the hike trying to find the course, and allowed us to just play disc golf, it was fun enough to try again. I hope to get my family out again here one of these days. Maybe with practice, I can improve from horrible.

May God bless you with peace, provision, and more laughter today and this week. /s/Tom Wolff

Sunday, June 26, 2011

3 Signs of the End

Happy near-end of June to everyone. Now that we have survived Harold Camping's debacle because of his failed prediction of the end of the world, I thought it would be a good time to discuss the Bible's signs of the last day / end-times. There are two main camps in Christianity discussing Christ's Return and the end of times: first, we have the Pre-Tribulationists, who believe that a rapture of believers can take place at any moment. They also see many events taking place as "signs" that the end is near. An example of this is 'The Rapture Index' link here, which lists 45 signs that the Rapture is really near. Based upon these signs, this website also post a "Rapture Index" to show how close we are to the Rapture. Today, they have listed our Rapture Index as 182, with anything above 160 described as "fasten your seatbelts". So Pre-Tribulationists see many Bible verses as pointing to the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the rapture of believers.

Now the second group is the Amillennialist camp. An excellent example of this line of Christian thought was published in a recent 'Modern Reformation' magazine. The article is by Pastor Kim Riddlebarger (link to his blog is here), and he is a top Reformed thinker on end-time's issues. In his article entitled "You are Here", he discusses the Biblical signs pointing to the Last Day. He finds only three signs that "herald the end of the age and the return of our Lord." Here are Pastor Riddlebarger's three signs pointing to the End of the Age:

  1. The first sign is that the Gospel is preached to the end of the world; Matthew 24:14 (ESV): And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

    Tom's Thought: The New Testament Gospel is translated and published in over 1,200 languages, which covers over 75% of the world's population (Wycliffe.org). So this looks as though we have met or are close to meeting the completion of this first Sign;

  2. The second sign that foretells the end is the salvation of "all Israel"; Romans 11:25–26 (ESV): Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

    "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

    Tom's Thought: This sign is not yet met. When we see mass ethnic Jewish conversions to Christianity, we should know that the end is near. I assume this mass conversion would take place in a relatively short timeframe, because although we are given the signs of the end, we are also told that the end can come upon us at any moment – Matt. 24:37. So for this one, we need to wait.

  3. The third sign of the impending end is the age of the great apostasy, and with this the appearance of the Man of Sin, who is the Antichrist. The final Antichrist will be given Satan's power and great authority (Revelation 13:2). There will be a great persecution of Christians during this time.

    Tom's Thought: This sign is also not yet met. Although I think many would agree that we are seeing the beginning of the Great Apostasy – with even in the Church there is the denial of sin, denial of Hell, and all sorts of date-setters of Jesus' Return. So again for this one, we must wait. But the wait may not be long…


     

So here you see the stark contrast between the two main schools of thought that deal with the end-times – Pre-Tribulationists see many Bible verses as showing the "signs" that the Rapture of believers can take place at any time. While on the other hand, the second school of thought is Amillennialism, which sees perhaps as few as three signs which point to the Last Day and Jesus' Return. So there you have it. I found Pastor Riddlebarger's article helpful in discussing the signs that point to the coming of the end of the age, and I hope you have as well. God bless you, today and this week. /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Must Hitler Burn Forever?

Have you thought much about the traditional doctrine of Hell? Unbelievers in Christ, we are taught, will spend eternity in a place of punishment called Hell (or H-E-double hockey sticks for those of you from Minnesota). Well, here I am greeted this morning in the Christian Post with having to reflect on whether unbelievers and even evil scoundrels like Adolf Hitler are they really spending eternity in Hell.

Link HERE. The author is Randall Rauser, who is the associate professor of historical theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton. And his approach to the topic is first using reason and logic in suggesting that Christians have misunderstood the doctrine of an eternal Hell. He has a very persuasive line that summarizes his position: can the finite life (of 70 to 80 years) commit sins that deserve eternal punishment? He uses the worst of all lives, Adolf Hitler as his example. And if God punished Hitler for 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) years in Hell, with perhaps physical, emotional or even psychological torment, wouldn't this stir in even our hearts compassion that the torment end? His point is that if even Hitler does not deserve eternal Hell, then how can Christianity continue to cling to the eternal Hell doctrine?

I am sympathetic to Professor Rauser's argument. However, anytime that you go against 2,000 years of Christian teaching and rely upon our reason primarily, we are treading in dangerous waters. So let us remember the clear teaching of our Lord Jesus:

Mathew 25:31-34, :41 says: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (ESV)

So Jesus' teaching on Judgment Day is that all the nations will be gathered before Jesus' throne. And He will separate them into two groups: sheep on the right and goats on the left. The sheep will enter God's Kingdom, and the goats will depart "into the eternal fire". So the teaching could not be much clearer: the sheep of Jesus will go to Heaven, and the goats will depart into Hell.

So perhaps Hell is eternal fire, while the punishment is not eternal (annihilationism). Or perhaps everyone goes to Heaven (universalism). Professor Rauser does a good job explaining what the alternatives and implications of what his teaching really means.

My take away is this – I hope that you will read Professor Rauser's chapter, and if you disagree with him, at least have a thoughtful response of why you disagree. For me, I found it helpful and refreshing in seeing that someone else besides me was wrestling with the same doctrine on eternal punishment in Hell. God bless you, /s/Tom Wolff

Monday, June 6, 2011

92% of People Believe in God

From a Gallup Poll that has been run every decade going back to November 1944. Yes, 92% of Americans believe in God. Darwinism and Atheism have made little in-roads in people's belief in God.

Here's the Link. A couple on interesting parts of the survey – first, the percentage of people who believe in God actually increases if they have graduated college – 94% of college graduates believe in God.

Second, if you ask the question do you believe in God or a universal spirit, the number of people who say yes actually drops. This seems odd, as it is a seemingly a broader question.

No other comment, other than there are still a few people who believe the Earth is flat. There's just no way to get everyone to believe in something, no matter how obvious.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Harold Camping is Wrong.

We survived May 21st, without the return of Jesus inflicting judgment upon the world's inhabitants. And unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard about Harold Camping a California Radio network (called "Family Radio") owner, who spent a great deal of money to make sure America knew of his prophecy. Harold Camping is not a trained Bible instructor. He also is NOT associated with any denomination, and was punished by the last church he was a part of. He is just a guy who loves the Bible, and thought he had a secret message from his reading of Scripture, that only he understood. That Jesus' return would take place in 1994 (his first failed prophecy), no, I mean May 21, 2011. And this May 21st prediction was also wrong.

I am not going to jump on the bandwagon of those making fun of him, or make hurtful statements about him. I truly feel sorry for him, and hope that he and his failed prophecies are quickly forgotten. I know of the power of when you feel the Spirit telling to do something, and then learning that this was not from God. So please have mercy on him. Instead, what I want to do with this post, is to review WHY Camping was wrong, and suggest that his failed method of Bible interpretation (looking at Old Testament verses on par with the New Testament teachings) is a warning for those who follow the Pre-Trib / Dispensational method of interpreting the Bible. The Traditional Church method of interpreting the Bible is to focus on the New Testament Gospels for the foundations of all doctrine for Christians. The New Testament Epistles help explain and shed further light on the Gospel teachings. And here is the important part of what I am saying – the Old Testament is read in light of what is taught and said in the New Testament. The teaching of Jesus in the Gospels sheds light and help us better understand what is in the Old Testament, not the other way around.

This is where Harold Camping, and other Pre-Trib Dispensationalists (the poster boy for what I am talking about is Tim LaHaye's 'Left Behind' end-times book series) go wrong. They treat Old Testament teachings as equally instructive for Christian foundational issues. Here is an example. Here is my brief (and too simplistic) explanation of Camping's failed prophecy: The Old Testament story of Noah's Ark took place on May 21st , 7,000 years ago. For God a day is like 1,000 years (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). There are 7 days in Creation, and on the 7th day God rested. So after the 7th day (here 7,000 years), God will start something new – and it will start with Jesus' return that initiates God's judgment upon our world.

Here are some similar examples of Dispensationalist / Pre-Trib use of Old Testament verses to support their view of what takes place during the " end-times": Redevelopment of the Roman / European Empire (Daniel 2:32-33); The appearance of a Red Heifer after 2,000 years (Numbers 19:2-7), and ; The Rise of Russia (Ezekiel 38:2,4,8). Now some of these can be read along with what the New Testament books say about the "end-times", like Daniel 12:4, which predicts that during the "end-times" there will be a great increase in knowledge and travel. But otherwise, if we keep our focus on what is taught in the New Testament, then the errors of Harold Camping are avoided.

As an example, Jesus taught that the Day of Jesus' Return will come unexpectantly (Luke 21:34); and "no one knows the day or hour" (Matthew 24:36) when this return will take place. This should end anyone's attempts of telling the world when Jesus will return. And so, my hope is that we learn two things from Harold Camping's mistake of prophesying Jesus' return taking place on May 21, 2011: first, that we read everything in the Old Testament in light of what is taught in the New Testament; and, second that if anyone else predicts a date for Jesus' return, then we will boldly tell others that their prediction is false, and not in line with what Jesus taught. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Law News

Hey, I am a lawyer after all. So I thought I would provide a few news stories involving the LAW. Here are the stories I thought that were interesting:

  1. Osama Bin Laden's Will. Just 3 months after 9/11, Osama Bin Laden had his Will drafted. And in his Will, there were a couple of interesting provisions: his wives – not allowed to marry again. And his children – they are not allowed to join Al Qaeda. So much for continuing in the family business…


     

  2. For 1st time, more women getting advanced degrees than men. Story here. For the first time, American women have passed men in gaining advanced college degrees as well as bachelor's degrees, part of a trend that is helping redefine who goes off to work and who stays home with the kids….Among adults 25 and older, 10.6 million U.S. women have master's degrees or higher, compared to 10.5 million men. Measured by shares, about 10.2 percent of women have advanced degrees compared to 10.9 percent of men — a gap steadily narrowing in recent years. Women still trail men in professional subcategories such as business, science and engineering.

    When it comes to finishing college, roughly 20.1 million women have bachelor's degrees, compared to nearly 18.7 million men — a gap of more than 1.4 million that has remained steady in recent years. Women first passed men in bachelor's degrees in 1996…


     

  3. Betting has gone crazy in the US. But have you thought about betting on whether or not someone will be convicted? You can do it at Intrade – which had as its odds that Raj Rajaratnam to be found guilty of at least one count of insider trading is 94% probable). He ended up being convicted.


     

  4. Elizabeth Taylor Requests that She Will be Late to Her Own Funeral. Story here. True to the sense of humor and flair that defined her life, Elizabeth Taylor knew exactly how she wanted her final starring role to play out… The service was scheduled to begin at 2 pm but at Miss Taylor's request started late. Miss Taylor had left instructions that it was to begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled, with the announcement, "She even wanted to be late for her own funeral."


     

  5. Most Americans Do Not Have a Will. Story here. The March 2011 survey of 1,001 adults revealed that more than half of all adults (57 percent) do not have a Will, including a shocking 92 percent of adults under age 35 and 44 percent of baby boomers (ages 45-64). Hey, you have to have a Will, so if you do not have one, give me a call or drop me an email at tewolff@aol.com.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Lord Bless You

The cub scouts were out collecting bags of food yesterday for the food shelves. Yes, it was early, cold, raining and windy. But Elijah was a trooper. He kept knocking on door after door to see if people were willing to help the needy. And they were! With two scouts, we were able to collect 86 pounds of food. So it lifted my heart to see the willingness of people and their desire to give.

Today, I wanted to post on the topic of God's blessing. Who doesn't want to be blessed? Yes, and the classic statement of blessing comes from Numbers 6:22-27, which is sometimes called the Priestly (or Aaron's) Blessing. It is a blessing upon the nation of Israel, but it definitely looks as though it can also be claimed by New Testament believers. I say this because of the repetition of the name "Lord" or "Jehovah" three times (and as Matthew Henry points out, each use of Jehovah places a different accent in the original), expresses the great mystery of the Godhead—three persons, and yet one God. The expressions in the separate clauses correspond to the respective offices of the Father, to "bless and keep us" (v.24); of the Son, to be "gracious to us" (v.25); and of the Holy Spirit, to "give us peace." (v.26). This promise of blessing for New Testament believers also bring to mind 2 Corinthians 1:20 (all the promises of God find their Yes in him.) So here is the "Priestly Blessing", which is for everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike:


 

Numbers 6:22-27 (ESV)
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus zyou shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

     24     The Lord bless you and keep you;

     25     the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

     26     the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."


 

This Priestly blessing is also the oldest recovered verse of the O.T. and is found engraved on a piece of thin metal foil. Let's do a little unpacking of the meaning of these blessings: Verse 24 asks for God to "bless" and "keep" us. This blessing is upon each person. To receive his blessing of us is doing well for us; those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. For God to "keep" us is God to protect us. Blessed protection is the promise of verse 24.


 

Verse 25 speaks of God making "his face to shine" upon us and that he be "gracious" to us. The analogy here of God's face shining upon us is made to the sun pouring out its light upon. When we are bathed in the warmth and light of the sunshine, it feels wonderful. When we feel God's love upon us, the blessing is even greater: we cannot but be happy if we have God's love; and we cannot but be easy if we know that we have it. God's gracious love is the focus here in verse 25.

In verse 26, the blessing is of God's "countenance" upon us, and His shalom peace. God giving us His "countenance" seems to allude to the smiles of a father upon his child, or of a man upon his friend whom he takes pleasure in. If God give us the assurances of his special favor and his acceptance of us, this will put gladness into the heart, Ps. 4:7, 8. The promise of peace here is the greater peace of completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord. What a wonderful blessing in verse 26 of God's kindness and full peace being given to us.

Finally, in verse 27, because the benediction, though pronounced by the lips of a fellow man, derived its virtue, not from the priest but from God, the encouraging assurance was added, "I the Lord will bless them." It is up to God, and not dependent on anything about us or what we have done.

So here is my blessing upon you, May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. This blessing is for everyone, so please go out there this week and live in God's blessing upon you.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. Sometimes it is easy for Christians to have our focus be on the "Good Friday" Jesus. The "Good Friday" Jesus is our Savior, who died for our sins. Through faith in Jesus we receive the forgiveness of our sins and Jesus' sacrifice in our place on the Cross, our sins are paid, and we receive our salvation. This is why as John 14:6 says that Jesus is the only "way" to God the Father – because without our sins being forgiven we cannot approach God. And only Jesus can cleanse us of our sins. Without Him, our dirt-filled lives are too wicked to be in God's presence. Until we make Jesus our "Savior" this is when we have our Savior's sacrifice to cleanse and purify us, and providing us our salvation.

But enough about the "Good Friday" Jesus being our Savior. Easter is the focus of our Holy Week celebration, and I hope to encourage you to consider the importance of the "Lord" Jesus. The one who rose from the dead, after three days in the tomb, He arose. Hallelujah! This "Lord" Jesus showed himself to be God the Son through the resurrection. And his appearances after his resurrection to the Apostles turned them from cowardly, simple students into world-changing evangelists, telling others what they had seen and learned. Their message spread like wild fire throughout the world, and the world has never been the same again. So let us also remember the "Lord" Jesus who was resurrected, defeating death (O death where is thy sting?), and providing us with the clear portrait of God – and His love for us. Happy Easter everyone.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Baptism and China’s Faith

G'day everyone. I am a proud papa today. I just came back (on Saturday) from a Baptism class at Hosanna led by Pastors Larry and Susan Fannon. Our daughters Asia (age 16) and Olivia (age 13) have chosen to be baptized and attended the class as part of their baptism which will take place today. The class was great and I learned another great verse that supports Baptism of all Christians. Take a look at Matthew 3:15, where Jesus asks John to baptize him, and John says he's not worthy to. Here is Jesus' response – " But Jesus said, "It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.*" So John agreed to baptize him". (Matthew 3:15 - NLT). So baptism is a requirement from God for the Christian life. In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded it, God requires it, so we should do it!


 

Second, I found what I thought was a really interesting article in the Washington Post on China's religious explosion. What's going on in China? Here are portions from the article: Constitutional changes in 1982 led to greater freedom of religion, all this is very sudden. It was barely 25 years ago since the Amity Press, the official press for the Patriotic Church, started printing Chinese Bibles. Only three years since Hu Jintao, president and general secretary of the Communist party told the Chinese Politburo:"We must strive to closely unite religious figures and believers... to build an all-around...prosperous society while quickening the pace towards modernization and socialism". These are sentiments supported in public statements by Premier Wen Jiabao.

This has resulted in more Muslims in China than in the whole of Europe. There are more practicing Protestants in China than in Britain. More practicing Catholics than in Italy. And an estimated 100 million or more people who consider themselves Buddhists. … Official Chinese surveys show that nearly one in three Chinese describe themselves as religious. This is not where they were 30 years ago.

Tom's thought: China is now an open field where different religions are staking their claims to a country with over 19% of the world's population (see Wikipedia). With over 1.3 billion people, it is difficult to expect that China will continue to allow the expansion of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Something's gotta give.

Link to the article is here.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

IBM Helps in Fight against MRSA

A great e-letter sent out by K-House news (April 5, 2011), on IBM's development of tiny, degradable plastic "nano-particles" that tear down the walls of MRSA cells. Here is their article:

When superbugs attack, get out the plastic nano-armies. Engineers in San Jose, California have created a new form of antibiotic out of manmade nano-particles 50,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. According to researchers, these microscopic soldiers of germ warfare are able to search out and destroy even the scariest of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When their job of slaughtering the bacterial enemy is finished, the nano-particles harmlessly biodegrade away.

Misuse of standard antibiotics has led to the rise of drug-resistant "super" bacteria. If antibiotics don't quite kill off all the bacteria in their host, the most drug-resistant ones are left to reproduce after their kind, producing virulent strains that refuse to die through normal treatment. Typical drugs also kill the beneficial bacteria that bodies need to function well.

Bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infected at least 94,360 people in 2005, according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. About 18,650 died during their hospital stays due to this serious staph infection that has been busily defying common antibiotics.

IBM is behind a technology to use nano-particles to take over where antibiotic drugs have failed. These newly developed plastic nanoparticles use a different method of attack, as reported in this week's issue of Nature Chemistry. The engineers have given the nano-particles a charge so that they are attracted to oppositely charged bacteria. In this way, they can be used to target infected cells, reportedly eradicating bacteria like MRSA while leaving beneficial bacteria alone.

According to the IBM researchers, these nano-particles also take a different approach to killing the bacteria. Rather than attacking the bacterial DNA, these brutal plastic machetes beat down the cell walls, destroying the bacteria from the outside-in.

"These are designed to slice the cell membrane, to rip the membrane up and eliminate the contents," explains James Hedrick, advanced organic materials scientist at IBM Almaden Research Center. "It's kind of like the way a virus would work - a virus drills a pore, empties the contents and hijacks it. This is drilling in little holes, and all the contents leak out."

IBM's technology "goes outside the scheme of current antibiotics to something that physically destroys bacteria", said Mario Raviglione, chief of the World Health Organisation's Stop TB department. "If this is proven to work in humans, it will simply revolutionize the way we deal with antimicrobial treatment."

While the technology sounds promising, it has yet to be tested on humans. IBM declares that the nano-particles harmlessly degrade into an "innocuous byproduct." It is encouraging that these microscopic machines can attack harmful bacteria without any threat that they themselves will reproduce or remain forever in the blood stream. Yet, a great deal of testing needs to be done to make sure that the nano-particles only attack the cells of the organisms they are intended to attack.

Humankind continually presses upward in its technological advances, offering promises of wonder cures. An awareness of possible unforeseen results needs to keep us cautious in our biotech race.

The article provides several links about this story, and here is a good one. One of the statistics it mentions is that 25,000 people in the European Union are dying each year from infections like MRSA! Let's hope that this technology really works.


 

Second, Here is another article on the "super-bug" MRSA-like infection known as NDM-1 (named for New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase, because it is widespread in New Delhi, India). The World Health Organization (WHO) called for action in fighting NDM-1 and warns that it is posing a global health risk. Currently, it is spreading through India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Great Britain. New research published Thursday in a U.K. medical publication shows the source of NDM-1 is widespread in sewage and drinking water outside the hospital environment in Delhi, India, circulating because of sewage contamination in bacteria that inhabit drains and tap water.

How serious are drug-resistant infections? The article cites statistics that in the US, hospital-acquired, drug-resistant bacterial infections kill 63,000 patients each year and cost $34 billion. Wikipedia reports that for a study done on New Delhi water samples studied, 20 strains of bacteria were found to contain NDM-1 gene in 51 out of 171 seepage samples and 2 out of 50 tap water samples. Although there hasn't been many deaths yet from NDM-1, this is one to keep your eyes on.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Give us this Day our “Daily Bread”

Happy Sabbath and Lord's Day (or weekend, if you prefer) to everyone. We have started Spring Break here in Burnsville. And Ohio State and Wisconsin both got knocked out of March Madness, leaving us with no Big-10 teams in college basketball's final tournament. But all is good in our home this day – everyone is healthy, bills are paid, relationships are good, and if it weren't for my oldest two daughters learning to drive (Asia is set to take her driver's license test, and Maggie her permit test), I would be at real peace with the world. Which brings me to today's topic the Lord's Prayer.

This isn't such a big jump in topic as you may think. I like to regularly pray the Lord's Prayer, after I read in the early Christian writing called the Didache (written around 150 AD) that we should pray the Lord's prayer three times a day (Didache 8:3). In today's post I wanted to talk about the Fourth Petition in the Lord's Prayer that we be given this day our "daily bread". In our men's group we discussed Martin Luther's description of what is meant by "daily bread", and here is what Luther wrote:

Fourth Petition – Luther's Small Catechism - Give us today our daily bread.

What does this mean?

God surely gives daily bread without our asking, even to all the wicked, but we pray in this petition that he would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What, then, is meant by daily bread?

Daily bread includes everything that we need for our bodily welfare, such as food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land and cattle, money and goods, a godly spouse, godly children, godly workers, godly and faithful leaders, good government, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

Martin Luther makes the claim that "daily bread" covers not only our food, clothing and home, but also the weather (?), health, peace and order, good government, good friends, etc. So I wanted to see why Martin Luther makes such a broad description of what is meant in the Fourth Petition in the Lord's Prayer for our "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Here is what I found (all verses are from the ESV):

Food:

Psalm 132:15 (for Zion) I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.

All Food - Genesis 3:19 (ESV) 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

And meat, and all that they craved; - Numbers 11:18-19 (ESV) 18 And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days; and, Psalm 78:27-29 (ESV) 27 he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; 28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. 29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.

Who provides food for all living creatures? Job 38:41 (ESV) 41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

(Do not worry) Matthew 6:25-27
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6:31-32
Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Clothing: Genesis 28:20-21 (ESV) 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,

Deuteronomy 8:3-4 (ESV)
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.

Matthew 6:28-29
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

God provides whatever there is a desire for - Psalm 145:15-16 (ESV) 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. (this looks to include food, shelter, job, love, companionship, friendship, etc.)

For he who walks in righteousness, a promise of defense, food and water, and peace - Isaiah 33:15-16 (ESV) 15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. (See, Isaiah 32:15, 17-18);

Food for our children:

Psalm 37:25
I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.

Spiritual Life-
Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!


 


OK, and here is where it gets really good. Check out these promises:

(All sufficiency in everything so that we may do good deeds) 2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything; you may have an abundance for every good deed;

(All needs) Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… (also peace, see Psalm 23:2-3).

(Relation with God/A.S.K.) - Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

(Our prayers are heard and answered) 1 John 5:14-15 - And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.

Matthew 6:8
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Psalm 84:11
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

(Seek His Kingdom) Luke 12:30-31 (ESV)
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.


 

(God's Grace gives all things – which means we don't deserve it) Romans 8:32 (ESV)
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

(All sufficiency is given so that we may be generous) 2 Corinthians 9:8-11
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.


 

And now three verses to take away with you this week – Proverbs 30:8-9 (ESV) 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

2 Corinthians 1:20 – all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

CONCLUSION: Yes, Martin Luther correctly described the portion of the Lord's Prayer asking for our "daily bread" as very broad. It includes for believers not only food, clothing and shelter, but our protection, blessing on our children, everything we need, including relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And God provides for our needs so that we can be generous with those in need around us. The Lord's Prayer is an amazing prayer, so let's get out there and pray the Lord's Prayer and place our trust that what we pray for will be given. Amen, /s/Tom Wolff