Hello everybody!! It has been a very long while since I have last updated anything on this blog. I apologize to those who actually read anything on here. I plan to try and update at least once a week. Before hand it was try everyday, but as usual, I didn’t succeed in that goal. I really would like it if you guys stopped in and commented and started encouraging discussion about the topics I post, Christians and non-Christians alike. I’m going to try and give a glimpse of what I’m being challenged with spiritually, or thoughts about topics of the world and Christianity in general. So let’s get this party started.

The other day I was standing at the bus stop. As a matter of fact, I stand there pretty much everyday. I usually arrive 15 minutes before the bus arrives, as I do not do well being late for anything. While standing at these bus stops, I usually think about the day ahead, or whatever else comes floating into my feeble mind. This particular day, I had one thought and one thought only. It was all I could think about the whole day.

“The deepest desire of the human race is to have a Saviour. Our deepest desire should be to show them that Saviour”

That was the singular thought that was running through my head. That was the thought that changed how that day would end. Instead of ending on a selfish note, me thinking how tired I was and how I should really go to bed, I ended up thinking about the disparity and depravity of this world we live in.

So many people are lost, and so many people have the wrong idea of Christianity, so much so, that being a Christian means absolutely nothing anymore. I thought, how best to reach these people? How best to make the revolutionary message of the gospel relevant to a culture in need? I had no clue. I had read, just before bed, a chapter in the book Blue Like Jazz about confession. This wasn’t a confession of the sin of others to you, but rather the confession of our failures as examples of Christ to those that don’t know Him. How powerful, how moving this would be if followers of Christ admitted our inadequacies, our failures to those in need. They would see the revolutionary love of Christ at work in our lives at that very moment of weakness. This thought troubled me. It disturbed me to a certain extent. Do I really want to be that open? Aren’t we as Christians supposed to be above reproach? Aren’t we supposed to attain to Holiness? Yes we are, but above reproach doesn’t mean we aren’t sinners. Above reproach doesn’t mean we are better than those in need. We are in just as much need as them, what separates us from them is, we have found the fulfillment of that need in Christ. That is what the world needs to see. They don’t need to see perfection. They don’t need to see that we have our act together. They don’t need any of those facades, they need reality. Reality hurts, but also touches lives. I don’t have the answer to making the gospel relevant, and I don’t know that I ever will have an answer to that. But do I really need to? I mean, is it my job to make the Gospel relevant? Or does Jesus make the Gospel relevant? Jesus crosses cultures today that humans can’t dream of crossing. That is the only relevancy we need. I think the better question to ask is not how do we make the Gospel relevant or attractive, Jesus already has that handled, but rather how evident is the Gospel in our own lives? If we live the Gospel, then Christ has made it relevant.

In closing, to illustrate the desire for a Saviour, I want to quote one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Surprisingly, this passages finds its home in the book of Job

“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him. And that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him, but it is not so with me” – Job 9:32-35

Grace and Peace

Mark Halvorson

Hey y’all, sorry I have been absent for a considerable amount of time. Sometimes I just can’t find stuff to write, or I forget about this blog. I hope you haven’t forgotten about me. So this morning I was reading in Luke chapter 2 and I noticed something that absolutely astonished me. It occurs in verses 29-32. First a little background, we have just witnessed the birth of Christ, one of the most miraculous and awe inspiring things to happen in history, secondary to the Resurrection. Then the shepherds come and visit the little child, at the calling of the angel of the Lord. When Jesus is 8 years old, his parents take him to the temple to be consecrated and circumcised, where they meet Simeon. Simeon was an old man, devoted to God. The bible says he was “eagerly waiting for the Messiah” and that “the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Obviously, this dude had things together, but one thing lacked in his life, and that was the promise made to him, by God, that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. Now we are at the part that astonished me, upon seeing Christ, Simeon says this

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
³⁰ I have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared for all people.
³² He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (NLT)

I like the way the Amplified Bible puts it as well:

9And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart (leave this world) in peace, according to Your word.

³⁰For with my [own] eyes I have seen Your Salvation,^(A)

³¹Which You have ordained and prepared before (in the presence of) all peoples,

³²A Light for ^[a]revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was before unknown] and [to bring] praise and honor and glory to Your people Israel.^(B)

There are two things that I want to mention, that caught me in this passage

1) Simeon recognized upon looking at the child the purpose of Jesus Christ. Somehow, what took the disciples three years or so to understand, took this man a few minutes to realize. As I look back at the passage, I look for things that separate Simeon from the disciples, and notice one defining thing, the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure of the functions of the Holy Spirit before Pentecost, but I’m venturing to say that one of them was revelation. I believe that Simeon was able to deduce the mission of Christ in such a manner because of the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Now why does this man, only mentioned this one time, have the Holy Spirit, while there is never mention of the disciples having the impact of the Spirit upon their lives. I think about this, and see that the world view of the disciples was tainted by the physical present, never the spiritual future. They were always worried about salvation from their present oppression under Roman rule. Constantly Jesus tries pointing them towards the spiritual side of things, trying to get them to be kingdom minded, but they never understand what he is talking about, they never have that spiritual connection. It isn’t until Jesus ascends to heaven, and during Pentecost, that they realize what He was teaching. On the flip side, we have Simeon who was in tune with God. He was led by the spirit, he was righteous and devout. It says in this chapter that the spirit led him to the temple. I think it was because of this “oneness” if I can call it that with God, that Simeon immediately realized the mission of Jesus. Another thing I find funny is, Jesus’ parents didn’t even understand His mission, and an angel even spoke to Mary. Verse 33 says “Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him” think about that.

2) From these four verses, we realize that God’s mission is not local, but Global. This mission is clearly stated in verses 30-32

³⁰ I have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared for all people.
³² He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (NLT)

We read that God prepared his salvation for ALL people, not just the Israelites. My favorite part of this passage is verse 32 “He is a light to reveal God to the nations” This verse speaks so much of my life. Now that Christ is no longer physically present with us, as he was with the disciples 2,000 years ago, we are supposed to be that light that reveals God to the nations now, through the power of Christ in us. We have a big task. It isn’t just about your neighbors or the people down the street, it is about revealing God to the nations. That is God’s heart. He wants all the nations to know Him. How is that going to happen, through us, the church. Am I being a light to reveal God to the nations?

1. Pray for the Kheng people of Bhutan.

2. Pray for your enemies.

3. Pray for a national return to Christ and His teachings.

4. Pray for the persecuted Christians in other countries, that they may remain strong in Christ and His love.

1. Pray for the Lampung Peminggir people of Indonesia. This unreached people group has a population of 837,000. Their main religion is Islam, and 0.00% of the people are evangelical. Pray for education and jobs to come along, as well as the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to capture their hearts.

2. Pray for our nation and its leader. Our nation is in a bad state right now, and could get a lot worse. Pray that ultimately God’s will be done in all situations, and that our leaders would heed to the words of God.

3. Pray for a return to the truth in the church, and a unification amongst the churches. There is too much disagreement today to be effective for Christ.

4. Pray for courage to accomplish the will of God.

1. Pray for the Northern Uzbek people of Uzbekistan. This unreached people group has a population of 21,846,000. Only 0.04% of the people are evangelicals. The main religion is Islam. Pray for God to raise up a willing heart to go spread the love of Christ to these people.

2. Pray for the glory of God to be revealed within our lives.

3. Pray for the leaders of the church as they continue to lead God’s people through these times.

4 .Pray for understanding of God’s word and a willingness to share with others.

1. Pray for President Obama as he undertakes the difficult task of leading our nation. Pray for wisdom in his decisions.

2. Pray for the Freedom of Choice Act.

3. Pray for a revival to take place WITHIN the church today. We need to not ask God to send revival to the nations, but rather that God would send revival to the church, so we, as a body, start doing the job we were called to.

4. Pray for the unreached people groups of the world.

1)  Pray for the Berber, Warain people of Morocco . There are 281,000 people in this group of unreached peoples. The main religion is Islam, and 0% of the people are evangelicals.

2) Pray for the upcoming Presidential term, especially the Freedom of Choice Act. The FOCA is a devestating bill that will forever change the nation.

3) Pray for revival within the church. A revival that would encourage the church to do our jobs and evangelize the world. We don’t need revival outside of the church, when we can’t even get our own jobs straight.

4) Pray for Barack Obama, as we as Christians are called to pray for those in authority over us.

So, as I stated, I’m taking a class called “The Quest for Meaning: World Religions”. It is an odd class to say the least. Today, we discussed religion and what it means. There were some odd ideas. Never-the-less, I want to see what you guys think religion is. What is religion defined as? I stated that it was a misused term, and that it is something that entirely transcends human understanding, but yet drives who we are.

Well, it is that time of year again, when I am school, being spiteful of the rest of the nation that still has at least one more week off for Christmas break . Anyway, I’m two days into classes, and I like most of them. I have this one class though, it will be an odd one. It is my Philosophy class. The title is thus “Quest for Meaning: World Religions” I have to say, this shall be an interesting class. I am required to go to two services of different faith traditions than my own. So, for those of you in Corvallis, if you see me walking into some weird building or something, fear not, it is for the quest of an A. I also have to watch two movies on some other faiths. The professor seems nice enough, but I’m not sure where he is coming from in the class, raised Lutheran, spent four years living in a Buddhist temple, and who knows what else. I also plan on resuming my daily prayer points this term, so tune in and join with me in prayer!

Have you ever wondered why the world hates Christians now days? Well, upon reading Oregon States newspaper, “The Daily Barometer”, I found out why. I picked up the paper, and on the front page was an article entitled “Preaching to a Campus Full of Questions” with the following picture:

The rest of the article can be read here http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2008/12/02/News/Preaching.To.A.Campus.Full.Of.Questions-3565164.shtml

Upon seeing this artcle on the front page, I was filled with disgust. This is what the world sees Christianity as today. Crazy, off whack, preachers, condemning every person to Hell. That to me, isn’t a very good example of love. I look at his sign, Evolution is a Lie, and think “Does he have anything to back the up, or is he just making a statement?” This is what has given Christianity the lable of “intolerant”. Yes, while as Christians, let me use the words followers of Christ, for Christian has no meaning to me. As followers of Christ, we do believe the consequences of sin is eternal damnation, and apart from Christ, it is inevitable. But is this really an effective way of demonstrating this point? Standing up, making yourself appear better than others, telling them they are wrong in everything they do, condemning them to Hell unless they repent right now. This may have worked in Billy Sunday’s day, but in today’s society, it only degrades “Christianity”.

I decided to venture to his website, www.salvationjunction.com, and was horrified. It isn’t a spectacular website, no gospel message what-so-ever, only a little counter that shows how many people have died while you spend time on the website, serving as a guilt trip. I think 50 people died while I was wasting time on his website. Why even have a website? Also, there was the “good” test, with the primary purpose of determining whether you were a good person or not. I venture to guess at the end was something to the effect of “You may be good, but you are still going to Hell.” What a way to show the love of Christ, no?

So my point is this, we hear about these lunatics every so often, and we read about the aftermath of their antics. People are angry, hate Christians more, and harden their hearts towards the life changing love of Christ. What if this man, this Rev. Shawn David Holes, had instead decided to set up a few tables and serve the  students lunch, and talk with them, caring about them? What if he had decided to BE the love of Christ, instead of trying to DISTRIBUTE it forcefully? What Shawn Holes did to me, was not an example of the love of Christ, but rather of legalistic Christianity. Had he rethought his strategy a little bit, maybe, just maybe, some of the students would have reconciled their lives with Christ, having experienced His love in a real way, from a realy man, not some preacher, caught up in himself and “serving” the kingdom.