Epiclogue - 03/07/2010

Today Jamie lead us in an inductive study of Acts 8:26-40. It's the story of Phillip and his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. I'll do a quick re-cap & comment some of my thoughts. If you have any thoughts, comment your own. Quick links:
>> ACTS 8:26-40 <<
>> ISAIAH 53 << (the passage the eunuch was reading)

So first off there was a lot of "What??" going on about this Ethiopian dude. He was on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem, sittin' in his chariot, reading Isaiah. So there's a lot of odd stuff there. He was in Jerusalem to worship, so he's Jewish...?...but he's from Ethiopia...and an eunuch (shaky Mohel?)...and the accountant to the queen of Ethiopia....and he's reading Isaiah-which means he apparently has a scroll. These are a lot of weird things to read these days, but it's not unrealistic.

Ethiopia was a huge powerhouse around the turn of the age, up there with Rome, Persia, and China, so if he was the accountant to the queen, he's up there. The passage reads that he was traveling in a chariot, but that's gotta be a poor translation. He's not just standing there on an little platform being pulled by two horses. First off, he's traveling to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. That' a long way to stand. Second off "v38 - and he gave orders to stop the chariot." If it was just him, he's just stop the chariot. If it were a fancy coach, he's order it stopped. If it were a caravan, which we suspected it to be, he would have to give orders to servants to go tell all the different wagons and coaches to stop. But it's not like Phillip was standing on the side of the desert road and happened upon this lone Ethiopian traveler.

"How can I unless someone explains it to me." After looking it over more closely, I'm fairly convinced that his man was a Jewish convert - or at least a would-be Jewish convert. Obviously with all the possible translation issues it's possible I'm reading into this instead of reading it (I'll have to bug Brock about this), but the passage says that the man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, not that he had been worshiping in Jerusalem. This man was the treasurer for the queen of a powerful state, which means he dealt in commerce, which means there were merchants, which means there would naturally be an exchange of customs and beliefs along side those physical commodities. Perhaps at some point he met a Jewish man or learned about Judaism and felt a glimmer of the truth and beauty of the Lord, perhaps even fully converted. It would be easy for him to arrange to travel to Jerusalem so that he could worship the Lord. And after reading all the rebuking that Jesus had to do towards the leaders of the temples, I can very easily see the Rabbi's, Pharisees, and Sadducees of the time taking one look at him and dismissing him. How could he make his convenant with the Lord if the Ethiopian king had already removed his member. How could he perform the rights if he couldn't read the Hebrew passages?

So I kinda read an un-fulfilled longing into that statement. And as always when talking about the Jewish leaders of Jesus's time, a parallel can be drawn to Christianity today where the Church focuses legalistically on a list of check-boxed "Do's" and "Don't's" and thereby turn people away from God when we should simply offer our love to them. I'm incredibly grateful that I can say that EPIC has not problem with that. But the Church as a whole does.

Anyways, that's me on "the Ethiopian dude."

The parts we focused on most were Phillip and his interactions and relationship with the Holy Spirit. We thought it was odd that at the first part of the passage it was an angel that told Phillip to go the the road, and then it was the Spirit that told him to go stay near the chariot. We've been reading through different passages about the Holy Spirit. Two weeks ago we read and discussed Pentecost (Acts 2). Last week we discussed Acts 4 where, after being on trial before the Jewish leaders, the disciples many followers prayed for boldness and then their place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and went forth and shared Christ boldly.

This week, we read about Phillip. Phillip was a man who had a relationship with the Holy Spirit. He was a man who was able to discern what the Lord wanted him to do. We all have things we'd like to do and we all have ways that's we'd like to serve the Lord, but until we want what God want's we're not going to want to do what God wants us to do. We're just going to want God to want us to do what we want to do. And we are sinful - corrupt. We inherently desire that which isn't good for our souls.

We can't go from being a seed to producing fruit in a Snap. We have to grow in the Spirit. And once we're no longer seeds, we'll be BURSTING! to produce fruit, but even then if we try to produce fruit when we're just a sappling we can do ourselves damage. If we just seek the Lord, if we dig deep roots in the Holy Spirit, we will naturally grow strong branches and pour forth fruit. But the fruit is a byproduct of deep roots. If we just try to produce fruit (which is the sexier, cooler sounding thing to do) without growing in the spirit, we're not actually trying to be a plant, and we will fail to produce fruit, and we will not deceive the Lord (you know, 'cause He's God).

Once we love the Lord, we will be able to hear Him and we'll want to obey. But until then we'll just be like children saying "I want to help by testing the cookies!" and the Lord will just laugh and ruffle our hair and make us childishly angry at Him. Until we actually want to help we won't be told how we can help. I know some of you disagree, but that's what I believe, and I'm the one writing the post. : p

"That's SO 2009"

Howdy folks, Chris Cook here with another exciting Epic blog post! Over the last four months of 2009 Louis led us through a ton of great topics during our Sunday mornings together. Obviously it's been a bit and I can't even hope to begin to reiterate any worthwhile portion of the discussions we had, but I can post links to the Powerpoints that Louis made for some of the different discussions. See below.

God.pptx
OT violence.pptx
The Bible 3.pptx
What Christians Believe.pptx
humanity.pptx
predestination.pptx

Managing Wealth - Week One

We are tackling the issue of wealth and finances for the next couple of Sundays in Epic. I pray that we will all have an open mind and heart as we look at what God as to say about money, generosity and the heart of the matter.

This week we looked a global perspective of the wealth, discussed the importance of attitude when giving and spending and introduced the idea of managing, not owning, the money God has given us.

For a global perspective on where you stand check out www.globalrichlist.com.

We spent some time this week studying 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 which reminds us that it is not the amount we give but the attitude and purpose that matters most. Since we are simply managers of God's riches, we must use the money he has provided us to advance his kingdom and bring him glory.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

During his message at Hillcrest this morning, Darrin Plant said that surrendering was the "Ultimate New Year's Resolution". Is money the part of your life that needs to be surrendered to God?

We will take a deeper dive into tithing, loans, debt, savings and more in the weeks to come... Stay tuned!

Blog Attack p2...and 3 now

The way we all operate these days makes it seems as though there's nothing left for Christ to do except make our existence more comfortable.

Several weeks ago I mentioned the book Unchristian. Several of those who have been in Epic and at Hillcrest for a few years said that Pastor Mark did a sermon series on the book. So, some are familiar with the book and some are not. For those not I will briefly summarize the book by saying that it deals with the very negative perceptions that people outside the church (and even many who are within the church) have of Christianity because of the drastic and damnable gaps that has grown first between what we as disciples of Christ are called to be and what we as American Christians claim to be, and secondly between what we claim to be and what we do. Christ calls us to humble ourselves, ask forgiveness, and love. Christianity has, in many ways, become little more than a moral code (and, for those our age, a philosophical mindset). Very few self-identified Christians adhere to that moral code.

We are seen as posers of extreme proportion.

That being said, the part part of the book that has stuck with me the most was a brief section that discussed Matthew 5: 13-16, the verses that call us as disciples to be

• the salt of the earth
• the light of the world
• a city on a hill

Here is a passage from the book.

Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don't hold up both truths in tension, you invariably become useless and separated from the world God loves. For example, if you only practice purity apart from proximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatist, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from the fallen culture and useless in God's kingdom.

And I think that it's very easy to practice neither one. It's very easy to separate ourselves from the world and still not practice the purity. I actually think that it's more likely that if we section ourselves off and just hone in on Epic and Epic time and that it can become a simple social group where we are not out among the world nor calling ourselves to purity and Christ-like-ness. I feel like spreading God's love isn't a responsibility, a requirement for salvation, but a necessity for growing into a Christlike person. It's a pressure we put upon ourselves so that the pressure might shape and harden us. Most of us would never study if we didn't have a test coming up. If I hadn't volunteered to lead a week on Christ I never would have done the reading I did. I would guess that the same is true for Louis, Kelly, and Paul to extents.

The group has spoken of it several times, but in '10 I'll be pushing for it: that Epic gets involved in the community. Probably gonna be Harvesters or something. It's been mentioned that a great way to tie it in would be to do some volunteering right before a retreat, which will hopefully get lined up for early '10. I'll be pushing for that too. But involvement doesn't have to be as a group. It's might be more fun, but much harder to organize. Get out there if you can.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

I was asked to start this blog and so I guess I'll finally start it. The three troubles are that A) I haven't really anything to say and when I haven't anything to say and yet feel I need to say something I tend to ramble and digress and wander off on many different tangents, only rarely finding my way back to the original center. B) When I do have something to say I often hold back for varying reasons. C) Not having anything to say about the tribulations and exaltations of living for Christ-about the daily attempts to simply come to terms with what the relationship demands and about the weeks-long stretches were we get so busy that we simply and slowly shut ourselves off and shut ourselves in and twist down bitterly and angerly upon ourselves without lifting our head up to try to figure out why things suddenly suck so much until we are inevitably, unfailingly broken out of it by some incredibly small and otherwise trivial moment or memory or thought and reminded that there's a reason the Lord demands that we offer ourselves in whole to Him - not having anything to say about it seems like death.

The fourth trouble is that's fairly late.

Whether it's Thursdays, Sundays, or on a blog EPIC still seems to constantly teeter on the dangerous ridge that connects being a Christian fellowship and being a social group. I feel that we aren't firmly standing on either side. I took the position of "Secretary" and have done a rather poor job of it these past two months. I will bump it up a notch. If you shouldered any responsibilities please try to move forward with them as well.

The fifth trouble is that this is the end, and at the end of this I still haven't said anything worthwhile; no personal trials, no theological thoughts, no honest attempts at growth. Those things seem to be the idea behind this blog and this group. But I am spent and will wait to post again...hopefully after someone else hops on.

'Til Sunday.