Posted in Daily Living • Faith • Fruit • Healing • Law • Love • Reading

Counseling

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Back in the early ’80’s, I was buying a lot of books on subjects such as Systematic Theology, church history, hermeneutics (translating the bible), and biblical counseling. To round out my studies on counseling I purchased such books as Christian Psychiatry by Frank Minirth (not a good set of ideas) and Psychoheresy by Martin and Deidre Bobgan (excellent). The best book I found on counseling was Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams, an American Reformed (Presbyterian) pastor who passed away a few years ago but had a huge impact in the field of biblical counseling.

I have a lot of respect for Mr. Adams as one of my teachers, even though he never knew me. I learned much through his theology and bible perspectives.  In Competent to Counsel Jay presents the idea that anyone who is saved and knows the bible can counsel more effectively, and with more positive results, than any secular counselor. He contrasts Bible teachings in his nouthetic counseling method (a Greek word that means to admonish, counsel or confront) with the bankrupt beliefs of secular counseling such as Freudianism, Rogerianism, behaviorism (Skinner), or whatever.

The Bobgans over the years have moved away from some of what they originally taught to something they call “soul care” in their book Against Psychotherapy/For the Bible. They disagree with Mr. Adams, which might move them closer to my points in this article. I use some of what Mr. Adams taught, and his basic ideas are present in my own small attempts at counseling. There is a lot more to say on the subject of counseling and the content of these books, but with all of his (and others) excellent insights, he has a blind spot with regard to what was recorded for us prior to the Advent of Jesus.

Even the good leaders like Jay are trained to think that the Church (all of the organizations and para-church clubs) is correct, and any person, opinion, teaching or group that isn’t “Church” is a wrong. Examples of these philosophies of men are such ideas as, the Law has been fulfilled and eliminated by the cross, it’s only for Jews, and we don’t have to do it. Jay gets closer to the commands, but for him the Law is limited to a few of the Ten.

Most church teachers (nouthetic counselors or not) could offer a lot more help to people if they used the whole Bible. It’s not enough just to read the Bible (Luke 6:46-49); we need to do what we read in order to make the reading effective. Teaching and counseling from a few select passages is not a well-rounded approach to living the words of Jesus. The benefits and blessings of the Law as a lifestyle and discipleship process elude them. They also cannot see the use of the Law in counseling, or that the fact that it is missing in much of Church teaching contributes to the need for a lot of counseling. If more teachers taught the whole of the Bible in the first place, the need for counseling would be drastically reduced. It is my firm opinion, born out by much study and personal experience, that much of society’s ills are due to the lack of teaching (and modeling) the whole Bible, including the Law.

Adding the Bible material from before the Advent would help counselees in many, many ways. The Law is God’s version of a 12 step program. One of the biggest factors in this program, in keeping with love and the Spirit, is in admitting that the whole of the Word is objective and absolute truth. Teaching some of it piecemeal destroys the veracity and absolute truth of the Word. It should be taught and applied as a whole faith for, as Paul says, our one body.

The number one question after a person becomes a believer is, “What do I do now?” The stock answer usually given is, “Nothing. Jesus has done it all for you. Just read the Bible and go to church.” It is true that nothing can be added to the sacrifice of Jesus to obtain salvation, which is gained by grace through faith. This answer is lacking, however, because there are lots of things that the believer could be doing to strengthen their faith (and maybe avoid counseling).

Sanctification is what we do after salvation, and there is actually much that helps. The “do nothing” answer misses the wonderful, faith building exercises our Messiah gave His people at Mount Sinai to help “work out” our salvation. The Law gives us nice, concrete things to do for staying in contact with Jesus on a minute-by-minute basis, and to build our faith. Working through the Law with all of our heart, soul and strength is the best lifestyle and discipleship method ever devised, and is unequaled by anything the Church or man ever attempted.

Obedience to all of God’s commands is the path to present our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12), work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), produce the fruit of the Spirit, build up the body of Christ, put off our old self (Ephesians 4:22), and please our Lord and Master. The habits Jesus prescribes in His Laws are effective in counseling because they impact the soul directly and give us concrete actions. They help build faith and produce the fruit of the Spirit, which in turn reinforces our relationship with God and leads us out of problems.

Romans 8:7–8 ESV. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Most know that in order to stop a bad habit we need to replace it with a good habit. Simply trying to stop a bad habit is very difficult, unless we have something better to put in its place. The Law Jesus gave at Sinai, clarified and reinforced with original interpretations and applications by Him as He walked in Israel as a man, gives us those good habits. They are useful for transforming and renewing our minds, so that we may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:3 paraphrased).

The first command of The Law is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul or strength. Love means to speak or act on behalf of someone, even if it doesn’t benefit us (or even if it hurts). Acting on God’s Laws hits us where we live – in our flesh. We are challenged point by point in daily life, deciding whose will is going to win. Do we choose God’s will, or our own? If we choose God’s will as revealed to us through obedience to all of His instructions, we might avoid many of the problems that take us to counseling in the first place. And they can definitely help heal us.

Shalom.

Posted in Daily Living • Grace • Holy Spirit • Law • Love • Marriage • Paul Teachings • Women

Submitting

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The foundation for submitting is built on submitting to God first. Believers submit to every applicable word that is written for each of us. Some of God’s words are for men, and some are for women. Some are for husbands and others are for wives, and some apply to all of us equally.

It’s a blessing and an honor to submit to all of our Father’s instructions. But sometimes we get out of balance and emphasize instructions for other people while forgetting to check ourselves first. Such is the case in marriages where we husbands frequently have more expectations for our spouses than we expect of our own walk.

There are men who demand that a wife submit to him without considering God’s instructions first for husbands. Submitting to God’s instructions will determine how wives submit to husbands. Men demand an unbalanced submission without regard to their own complete submission to our Father. In a marriage context, there are more instructions for a husband than there are for a wife. For instance, a husband is tasked with washing his wife with the Word.

Ephesians 5:25–32 ESV. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Submission to God depends on our view of Him and is directly related to how well we know Him. If He seems to us to be a remote, arbitrary tyrant who makes rules that we can’t possibly obey, then we will resist submitting to Him. If, however, He is a loving, forgiving, merciful and compassionate God who encourages us to follow His ways because they are life-giving and easy to obey, then submission for both husband and wife is a piece of cake.

In fact, God loves us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son to restore us as sons and daughters. All we have to do is accept what He did and follow His ways, just like we do with an earthly, loving father. If we expect a wife to submit, then we must first be like an earthly, loving copy of our Father. Yeshua/Jesus is a beautiful example for us to follow.

1 Corinthians 11:2–3 ESV. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Husbands have the responsibility to void a wife’s vow if he hears of it and does not agree, as we are instructed in Numbers 30. If a husband divorces his wife and she marries another then is divorced from that man, the previous husband may not remarry her. The husband has authority over his wife’s body (and she over his), which applies to care and concern for her well-being as well as for intimate relations according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 7. Husbands are not to divorce their wives even in the event of unbelief, so long as she wants to stay married.

Women have a tendency to go their own way (and husbands aren’t guiltless in this either), which has been the trend since the Garden. Just because our Father said “he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16) does not give license to be a tyrannical despot. A wife can’t be forced to change, but they can generally be led to change. Men are the leaders (or rulers if you will) which means we are to lead our families to the Father as we follow His example.

1 Corinthians 14:33–35 ESV. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

We like to use this Scripture from Paul to keep women from speaking in our assemblies (which is another subject) but the flip side is that husbands are to answer our wives’ questions and teach them. This implies that the husband is taking time to study and learn, and reinforces unity. If a wife is being “washed” well, she will probably have fewer questions anyway. Husbands are also admonished to avoid harshness (which includes being a tyrant) with their wives.

Colossians 3:19 ESV. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Husbands have many godly responsibilities, and we should take care to apply ourselves to those first and many of the other issues will solve themselves. If a husband is pointing his finger at a wife’s failings, it is probable that his own lack of submission to his responsibilities is lacking. A wife will generally follow and submit to a husband if he is following God’s instructions for him because it’s in her nature to respond to love. Peter amplifies our focus.

1 Peter 3:7 ESV. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

A woman thinks and feels in ways that her husband finds puzzling at the least. It can be frustrating because men and women are – news flash – different. Men tend to think objectively, and women subjectively, or more according to her feelings. Wives and husbands can both be wrong, and both act according to pride, the flesh or sin nature. Understanding and forgiveness go a long way in encouraging submission in both parties.

Galatians 5:25 ESV. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Shalom

Posted in Blessing • Children • Church • Comfort • Daily Living • Fear • Identity • Prophecy • Resurrection • Righteousness • Salvation • Second death • Worship

Shining Wise

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Daniel 12:1–3 ESV. “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Imagine you are walking through a dark forest. There are creatures of the darkness all around you, slavering in anticipation of the meal you represent. But none attacks. Instead, they retreat as you move forward. They wrinkle their noses in disgust at the smell of you, though you just took a shower and have on some nice deodorant. The creatures wince and hide their eyes from some unseen pain as you pass by, as if they are looking at the sun, though you see only darkness.

Children of God actually shine in a way that is painful to the hateful eyes of the deceiver’s creatures. We can’t see this light with our own eyes; we still need flashlights to light the way in our houses at night. This light manifests itself to those in darkness and they hate us because of it. There’s a smell around us too, sharply repugnant to the noses of the creatures, because it is the aroma of Christ and life. It reminds them they are destined to die a second death in the lake of fire.

2 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV. “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

We wonder sometimes why we suffer. In our jobs we might be unfairly attacked and pressured to quit, and it seems to us as if there’s no rationale. At school there are few (too few) that are friendly and many who avoid us and spread gossip about us behind our backs. In the line at the grocery store we experience hostile stares. Even at church we might be marginalized or outright asked to leave. We can’t see the reasons. But they are offended by our mere presence because our internal light hurts their eyes and the smell of life around us is worse to them than an open cesspool or Limburger cheese on a hot muffler.

As we head into the trials and turmoil prophesied in the Bible, we are marked by God more obviously and surely than a tattoo on the head or hand. Our Messiah is with us, and no creature of darkness can stand against us. They might get us fired from a job or kicked out of church; they might even kill the body in which we are temporarily resident. However, to those who are being saved we are a fragrance of life and light in the darkness of the world. Remember that you are a child of God and a friend to Yeshua, and the salvation you have will be shared with many who turn to righteousness because of His light and aroma.

Shalom, Bruce

Posted in Blessing

The Law versus the Approval of Men

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One of the many good things about God’s living oracles, or the law, is that I can take comfort and have confidence that I am an approved son. Oh, not that I get any special awards or accolades. It’s just that I can feel good about doing one more thing God says on a minute-by-minute basis. I am not perfectly behaved. I am not Jewish. I don’t have a bunch of people who hang on my every word, nor do I have frames of famous people I’ve met or recognition from colleges or learned men on my wall. What I do have is the satisfaction of doing what God says, no matter how small the effort or how many times in between I might fall.

The approval of men is much different. Most judge by appearances, or money, or by the number of followers on Twitter. Approval from people is ephemeral, vaporous, and without substance. As long as I think like them, do like them, make sure I feed their egos and avoid hurting their feelings, then I am accepted and part of the group. Step outside with a different thought one time, however, and you are done. Not only that but you will never be accepted by them again unless you spend a lifetime in obeisance, bowing and scraping and hungry for every tiny little pat on the head or scratch under the chin.

Each command, statute, hint or suggestion I do from what He says as outlined in His Word I know meets with His approval. I might not get a coin from Him immediately, or even a pat on the head or scratch under the chin, but each step connects me better and blessings flow. When I refrain from work on His sabbath simply because He asks me to I am made whole with His oneness and Spirit. I avoid pork or shellfish; He is there. His holidays channel the river of life through my soul.

Men do not approve. They’d rather my worship be at their direction and that I elect them to be as gods. The only reward from that, however, is in their regard which is as changeable as the weather during a Rocky Mountain spring. One minute sunshine, the next a freezing snowstorm. No thank you. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Shalom

Bruce

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Audiobook for Whole Bible Christianity Available

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It took a while, but an Audiobook version of our book Whole Bible Christianity is now available. It’s about 15 and a half hours, narrated by Bruce. You can get it free if you sign up for a trial membership at Audible.com. You get a free audiobook when you first sign up for the service. After the first month it costs $15.00 per month but you get one free book per month too.

If you click this link to view the print version, then click on the Free with your Audible Trial button and stay with Audible for two months, not only do you get two free audiobooks (for $15.00 the second month) but we get a $50.00 bonus! You can exchange any audiobook you decide is not for you, and your credit for one free book rolls over to the next month if you don’t use it. Even if you cancel membership after a while you can keep all your audiobooks.

What a great deal! Whole Bible Christianity, Blessings Pressed Down and Overflowing audiobook for free, a bonus to us, and you get more free audiobooks.

There’s also the print version of the book, and Kindle version for a pretty low cost. The Kindle and audiobook versions do not have the Scripture Index with almost 1,500 entries from every book in the Bible, and the audiobook doesn’t have the footnotes, but still you can listen on the way to work and back or read on a Kindle at your leisure. Get all three and get it all.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Book publishing • Church • Clean & Unclean • Continuity & Discontinuity • Daily Living • Faith • Fear • Feast and Festivals • Feast of Tabernacles • Feast of Trumpets • God • Gospel • Grace • Holy Spirit • Humility • Hypocrisy • Identity • Israel • Law • Love • Marriage • Messianic Movement • New Covenant • New Testament • Old Testament • Paul Teachings • Whole Bible Christianity book

New Audiobook!

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We’ve now produced an audiobook for Whole Bible Christianity. It is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. I narrated it myself and it sounds very good. I did the narration because I don’t think anyone else could’ve really given the project the right tone except the guy who wrote it. It’s about 16 hours long but I don’t know what the pricing will be. Just check with Amazon under Whole Bible Christianity when you want a complete reference for Whole Bible Christianity to listen to in your car or while you are trying to go to sleep!

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Daily Living • Fruit • Gospel • Grace • Identity • Love • Music • Paganism • Political • Repentance • Tongues

Rebuilding the Tower

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The rock band Queen had a song I liked called “One Vision.” It’s got a nice sentiment involving one voice, one heart, one vision, one race and so on. They express the desire of a lot of people that either we are presently “one” and just need to realize it for paradise on earth to be established, or that we need to become “one” so people can make a paradise. “If we could just realize that we are all one then all the problems would be solved” to summarize. It’s a nice thought, and I long for it too. It’s going to happen hopefully soon.

Trouble is it’s not going to happen the way most people envision.

This sentiment is not a new one. About 4,500 years ago the people of the earth had one language and a large group settled in the land of Shinar. This group decided to build a city and a tower with its top in the heavens to make a name. They wanted to stay “one” and avoid being “dispersed over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11). Their desire was to take the oneness of all the people of the time and presumably make a paradise on earth. Sound familiar?

In Genesis 11 we read that “The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” He was impressed, from our perspective. “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” This might be puzzling to some. Why would God have a problem with unity?

The implication was (and is) they wanted to be one without God. He knows this is impossible, because our natures, without Him, tend towards destruction. He is the source of light, life and love and anyone that wants to be apart from that cannot establish it. He is love; anything less is hate. The very idea of existence without the Source is repugnant to Him. He knows it means death. All that nice sentiment and wishful thinking from musicians, movie stars and politicians will not work without God. God knows it and gives us the choice – if you really want it come to Him.

God said, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand on another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city (Genesis 11:7-8).

The tower the ancients built we now call the Tower of Babel. All talk of oneness without the presence of God is just so much babble. It’s not just words either. It’s also the way we think. For all the talk of unity and oneness we remain scattered because our thoughts drive us away from each other. Without God to gather us together on His principles and character we will never be able to have one flesh, one bone or one true religion. Oneness will continue to elude us as long as we exclude the author of all things pure and clear. There’s no way we will experience love and oneness and paradise without the person who connects us all together in goodness and holiness.

Jesus the Christ was killed as the ultimate expression both of God’s love and human hate. We had the chance at paradise, brotherhood and all those nice things in the songs. We blew it at the Tower, and we blew it at the cross. We’re going to blow it again if we don’t accept Him, His ways, and His Spirit. He’s coming again to establish paradise. Paradise is in, around and through Him and His love. Reject the Christ and you reject all hope of oneness. There is no other way to build it. Believe God and follow what He says. Dedicate ourselves to build His kingdom or keep trying in vain to rebuild our own tower. We’ve got one more chance. The time is now.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Animal sacrifice • Atonement • Clean & Unclean • Daily Living • Feast of Tabernacles • Grace • Holy Spirit • Identity • Love • Relevance • Righteousness

God is Going to Live With Us!

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Reading through the biblical account of the Tabernacle caused me to ponder a number of issues. I mean, to be honest, it can be quite boring trying to visualize while reading all of the details. I have difficulty placing all of the sockets, clasps, curtains and boards together into a coherent picture of what the Tent looked like. The initial preparations were extensive, but Israel also had to keep things going with many offerings and sacrifices. I’m glad my English Standard Version Study Bible has a picture and some helpful notes or I’d still be lost in the details.

It’s also difficult to see the relevance. Even if someone tells me that all of the parts and pieces, as well as the finished product and continuing handling instructions, represent some aspect of Jesus or His ministry, it still boggles the mind to try and see the connections. How does reading all of the details of the construction, transport and use of the Tabernacle apply to me today? Why are all of these somewhat tedious instructions included in the Word in the first place? I can see how the ministry of Jesus is represented, at least partially, but doesn’t having Jesus sort of make the Tabernacle unnecessary? So why include the details in the Bible? Was Moses bored and just kept writing because he had nothing else to do? Or maybe he wrote the instructions in case he died and the Tabernacle wasn’t finished?

A side thought was that I wonder if the inclusion of the instructions was for the future? What if Israel decided that instead of a Temple they could build a Tabernacle? A tent would be something portable they could set up easily and move if there was a problem with the building site for a temple.

As I pondered these issues it dawned on me before I completely zoned out that God was coming to live in Israel and the Tabernacle was one of the things they had to do to get ready. God is coming to live with us! How cool is that? For over 2,000 years at that time believers were separated from Him, wandering in the proverbial desert as the unbelievers built cities and kingdoms and seemed to have their way unendingly. Now He is reversing that separation and making a home within the nation of Israel. What excitement! What a monumental change! What a nerve-wracking event!

I know how my wife gets when we are expecting company. Everything must be cleaned and put in order. She makes me change my clothes and I have to put on my best jeans. If the company is really important I even have to shower. All the food is chosen with care with an eye towards what the guests might like. Any decorations are carefully assembled and placed or hung. Etiquette is reviewed and the children rehearsed in it. We want to make our company welcome and comfortable so they want to come and eventually come back.

So it is with the Tabernacle. God is coming to live with us! The people are getting ready for company and for a very special and unique company at that. Everything must be just so. Each item in the Tent needs special care and must be constructed with the utmost skill and talent given to the best craftsmen and finest artisans we have. Every stitch, every hammer blow, every forging, the tanning of all the skins and each and every thread simply has to be as beautiful and perfect as we can manage. So now when I read the instructions I don’t get a sense of an onerous God demanding slavery to useless details. I get a sense of the excitement we have when a special visitor is coming to our home.

Another connection to the Tabernacle popped into my head before I dozed off. You probably remember the verses where Jesus tells us that he is going to prepare a place for us. I wondered if perhaps He is as excited to prepare a place for us as we would be for Him.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1–3, ESV)

I don’t think He is building a tent, but still the idea is that He is also preparing for us to come and live with Him. Currently we are living in a tent (our body) that is not our permanent home. Living in a tent shows us that this place and our current circumstances are only temporary. The permanent home for believers is with God. When we are there we won’t be moving around like many of us do now.

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. (2 Corinthians 5:1–3, ESV)

In the meantime God lives with us in our tent. The blood of our Messiah, His only begotten Son, makes this possible. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God cleanses us so that God can come and live with us here and now. Jesus has made us clean. He has granted us forgiveness for sin and prepares a permanent home for us. He continues to forgive us our sins to maintain our relationship in this tent.

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

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:5, ESV)

Israel did not earn a right for God to dwell with them, He just granted it. It was His desire and only within His power that we be reconciled. We cannot earn any of His regard but He has given it to us anyway. This is what we call grace. So how do we prepare and keep this dwelling, knowing it is the residence of God? Do we take it all for granted? Do we presume on His graciousness, living out our own will? Or do we keep the preparations of our tabernacle going, finding and living His will? In view of the preparations for the Tabernacle, how do we regard the gift of God tearing the veil of the Holy of Holies and allowing unfettered access to His glory?

We can’t earn access to His presence; He just gave it to us. But we can make our dwelling holy by continually following His instructions for living. Like priests we can partake of the sacrifices as we consume the body and blood of the Messiah, which is every word He speaks. His Words are the showbread of life, and living them out we offer incense that is unlike any other.

God is living with us!

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Authority • Church • Comfort • Daily Living • Demons • Faith • Fruit • Hypocrisy • Salvation

Of Pigs and Men

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Jesus meets a demon possessed man near a herd of pigs in the country of the Gadarenes or Gerasenes as recorded for us in Matthew 8, Mark 5, and Luke 8. He commands the demons, who call themselves Legion, to leave the man, and Legion’s last request is that Jesus allow them to go into the nearby pigs. Granting Legion’s request, they leave the man and enter the herd of about 2,000 which immediately rushes downhill and drowns itself in the Sea of Galilee.

Whenever I read these accounts, one of the first things that puzzles me is that the people ask Jesus to leave the area. Why, I wonder, would they send away such a powerful miracle worker, one who had returned one of their brothers to them? Why would they not rejoice that a local travel hazard was removed? What if the demons left that man and infected others?

Some teachers say that the expense of the pigs was a factor. Jesus had just cost someone (or maybe several someone’s) a lot of money. Others say that these people weren’t supposed to be growing pigs for market because pork was not to be eaten according to the Mosaic Law. I get that these were possibilities, and perhaps they can stay in the mix for explaining the incident. But they just are not that satisfactory to me. Wouldn’t the loss of the pigs be worth removing a hazard like a man who could break chains and attack people? I’d think so. Were the citizens Jews, who would care about the Law, or were they gentiles, who wouldn’t? The ESV study Bible says that they were Gentiles, but there must’ve been some Jews around too. And Jews aren’t exactly known for always sticking with all of the Law anyway.

I was able to make a great deal of progress understanding this situation as I read further in Mark and got to the rich young man of Mark 10, and the question on the authority of Jesus in Mark 11. Now how, you may ask, did I connect the people of Gennesaret unwilling to allow Jesus to stay in the area with a rich man unwilling to give up his riches and the unwillingness of the chief priests to answer Jesus about whether the baptism of John was from heaven or from man? I’m glad you asked that. (You might be guessing at the same conclusion as I because of the way I phrased the question.)

The chief priests could not answer a simple question, because they refused to acknowledge that the authority of Jesus was from God. If they did it would mean that their authority was from man, and they would have had to give up their cushy positions. The rich man knew that Jesus was a “good teacher,” but not so much that he was willing to suffer economic harm to follow Him. The Gennesaret people knew Jesus was at the very least a holy man of God, but were not willing to suffer further economic harm in order for Him to have stayed in the area.

In other words, none of these people wanted to go all the way. They saw the miracles done by Jesus, acknowledged His power and authority, recognized that He was from God, but didn’t take the next step of risking everything to follow Him.

In modern times we find the same sorts of attitudes. We hear people saying “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” all the time, in song and prayer and sermons. We see regular attendance at a church service, with many an “Amen” during the preaching. There are bumper stickers and hats and T-shirts proclaiming that the wearers “know Jesus.” Mega-churches abound, pastors have carved out positions with nice paychecks claiming to speak for God, and television stars rake in the bucks while hawking their latest books and trinkets.

Very few will see the Kingdom of God because the ticket into the Kingdom costs a lot more than simply raising a hand and “going forward.” Faith is putting your money where your mouth is, like the rich young man refused to do. It is the willingness to give up possibly everything you have to follow Him, like the people of Gennesaret could have done. It is submitting your will to His, and giving everything to welcome Him into your heart unlike the chief priests, Pharisees, and other religious leaders then and now.

Jesus obviously had authority from God because He did what God told Him to do and taught what God wanted Him to teach. Everything Jesus did or said was right from the written Word, and could easily be checked if one wanted to do so. But we don’t want. We fear to give up our position, our money, our reputations or our lives because the short term suffering is not worth the long term gain.

Like Frank Sinatra or Cain, we want to do it our way. We want to retain parts of the world system and try to merge them into the Kingdom. We say “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that we are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. We want to patch the garment with unshrunk cloth because we don’t want the work of making it right. We try to fit new wine and old wineskins together when they are just not compatible.

We refuse to accept a message from the Christ because it will cause us too much trouble and might wreck the nice little corner of the world we have made for ourselves. It might cause us some discomfort. It might make us change. It might make us realize that even with the talisman of the name of Jesus we are still far short of what God requires of us.

Shalom

Bruce

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Whole Bible Christianity, The Book

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Our book Whole Bible Christianity has finally been published! It is on Amazon at this link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997501413/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DQVER67Q2HMX&coliid=I1RPTLB6JQO1FI

There is a Look Inside feature, you can flip between the front and back cover, and it is only $19.50. If you would prefer, we will have the entire text on a web page when we update our website so you can read it online.

The book has about 800 direct quotes from the Word, around 1,500 entries in the Scripture Index, and is about 340 pages. One of the many uses of the book is as a handbook for whole Bible Christians everywhere who need a reference to help counter attacks against a whole Bible lifestyle. Chapter 7 deals with a bunch of the objections to following God’s living oracles, and chapter 8 has a list of blessings from doing what Jesus says.

Let us know what you think, and make sure to post a review on Amazon if you would be so kind.

Shalom
Bruce