Let’s take a few minutes to review: The staff here at Fuse Student Ministries have been hard at work for what our discipleship path will look like. Since Mondays are for movement, let’s spend some time looking at the result of the first part of this pathway. Our desire is to engage our culture and to find ways to help non-Christians see Christ clearly through us. Some are left wondering how to do this or are worried that they cannot “properly” share the good news of Jesus (evangelize). So we are trying to help you.

An earlier post dealt with the first part. Here is the result: finding Jesus. I remember the day I found Jesus. Do you? What was it like? What happened? What happened afterward? For me, this just began a journey that I did not expect. I thought it would be all done, but lo and behold, I have a ton of work to do still (and this is 22 years later!). So, when you help someone “Engage” Jesus and they are ready to receive the Gospel, what do you do? So many miss this part of the disciplemaking process. They never ask for a response from the other person. It is like talking about not drowning while all the while you are holding the life jacket and you never offer it to them. You must ask for a response for a response to be given. So, let’s engage our culture and our friends, call for a response and help them to find Christ so that their journey can begin! This week’s lesson is going to deal with some of this concept – so be there!

Much has been made about this topic. Whether it deals with how the Bible is outdated, that Christians are judgmental, or that marriage is some sham of an institution not even upheld by heterosexual couples. Some even go so far to believe that an openness to homosexual marriage will create a slippery slope to bestiality or show the statistics that seem to prove that homosexuals cannot be monogamous. Needless to say, this is a hot-button issue.

What should our opinion be as Christians?

Let’s start with what the Bible says about homosexuality. There are the verses in the Old Testament that speak directly to homosexuality as sin: Lv 18:22, 20:13. Further, there are many passages that deal with the wrath of God towards the cultures that did not stand against sodomy: Gn 19, Jg 19:22-24. It should be noted that much of Genesis and Judges develop a key idea, “man did what was right in his own eyes.” Much of the Old Testament gives man a guidebook for how to live while developing a cavernous gap between a holy God and sinful man. It sets us all up for Jesus – the forgiveness of our sins. Some things surely seem unusual, as many have pointed out – shellfish, beards, etc – but all the law shows us that we need to think about what we do and fall in line with His purposes, not just do things ourselves. In some cases, the law has been loosened…

unless it is also “carried” into the new covenant that Christ gives us. If the New Testament deals with the same topic as the Old Testament, this is the standard we Christians (many of us Gentiles) must follow and let God lead us in. Therefore, Paul’s commands in various places must be met with obedience, at least causing us to pause: Rm 1:24-27, 1Co 6:9-10, 1Ti 1:10. Also, John’s Revelation should support the belief that sexual immorality is sin (shown repeatedly to include homosexuality): Rv 22:15. 

Marriage

Marriage is a covenant relationship between two people. It is not just a contract or a trading of goods with people involved, but it is meant to be a covenant made before God that faithfulness and growth will occur – no matter what. It is a biblical concept given by God and provided by Him for us to follow – in learning how to grow together as a believer grows in relationship to God. This is why so many passages of Scripture speak of marriage in a way similar to Christ’s love for the church: Ep 5:22-33. Re 19:6-9. In fact, the whole concept of marriage was one of completion and complementing the other (sexually is just one component of this!) and therefore suggests that marriage is for one man and one woman. 

It is no surprise that many have not held to the concept of marriage as rightly as they should. This does not mean that the vast majority (I would suggest all) Christ-followers do not. In fact, I view it so highly that I would not sanctify a marriage that does not hold to Scriptural laws. Whether this is a Christian determining to get married to someone that does not share beliefs (2Co 6:14) or a couple that knows Jesus yet is not striving to remain pure before their wedding (He 13:4). This is not a legalistic view, but a principled stance due to the judgment I will have to stand someday. This judgment is due to the fact that we are not in control, but God is. True, God is love – but love is just as well. He has a way for doing things and we must abide by them. There is always room for repentance and forgiveness, but we must come into line with His ways and thoughts first. We must at least surrender to His ways.

This line of thinking is why I oppose same-sex marriage. I am not unloving, nor am I blind to the struggle of those in this position. However, I cannot support an amendment or law that could force me to go against Scripture one day and perhaps force me to condone a “marriage” that I view as anti-Scriptural. This stance has been taken since the beginning of the church and I don’t know why it would suddenly change.

All this leads to this: I know that we live in America. I know that we are free or at least believe we are free and can do whatever we want. This freedom ideal may in fact make my statement and view unconstitutional. This is why legally I can see why civil unions that afford many of the concepts of marriage without the title of marriage should be upheld and fought for. I just do not believe that a law should mandate something for a church to abide by that Scripture does not. 

Comments?

Day 13 deals with an interesting topic – The Ripe Harvest in Samaria (John 4:1-42).

We looked at one key idea – “What does this tell us about Jesus’ priorities?” First, in verse 1-3, we see that Jesus passes ministry on to others. This is a huge priority of His – He wants His followers taking part in meaningful aspects of the ministry, not just sitting and absorbing from Him. What does this mean to you?

Second, we see in the further verses that Jesus is not going to do things just like they have always been done. He was going to go places others wouldn’t go (Samaria) and reaching the world (in fulfillment of Genesis 12:1-3), not just Israel. In doing this, He deals with a woman’s sin without being uber-judgmental and meets her where she is (also unusual). He also teaches her that the way they do religion is missing something – there is more to a walk with God! If you look closely, you will see that Jesus shows that racism doesn’t fit into His ideal, that sin must be dealt with (but not by avoiding it or showing hate) and that prejudice doesn’t fit (woman of ill-repute, many husbands, not currently married, etc). God is doing something very cool here!

This left us wondering what God is doing through Jesus for the rest of the world. If Jesus is modeling that no prejudice/race/cultural/etc fit into His kingdom, what does this mean when we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” We know that His kingdom does not have one race/color/people. Jesus is modeling this for us. We know that kingdom is for those that have realized they are sinners, but have been saved by grace. Jesus shows us this here. His kingdom come, His will be done, indeed. What are the areas of your heart that need to be changed to fall in line with this?

Sorry, guys and gals – my dad came into town yesterday and we had a great day just hanging out together – and the blog was an afterthought. Here I go, I am gonna make up for it!

The Network book that I mentioned on Sunday night is available on Amazon here if you want one yourself. Otherwise, I am going to just pick up 20 more and make them available as need be. Our leaders will be prepared to walk you through it and to help you discover your spiritual gifts.

Remember, the gift God gave you is to build His church (for the common good) and therefore is to be used in this context. I really want you to learn your gift so that you can use it. We see Fuse as a training ground, a laboratory where you can test and perfect your skills and gifts that God naturally gave you. I think it would be great to graduate a class of seniors who 1) have discipled the underclassmen 2) know their spiritual gifts 3) are using their spiritual gifts 4) know how to share their faith 5) are eager to get involved in a local church after graduation (Redeemer or elsewhere) and 6) have the skills they need to think critically while they are in college or the workplace. How many of those 6 do you have down? How can we help with the rest?

I am loving this series and am amazed that it is nearly complete! It is a blast to serve you guys – hopefully you feel that you are getting something out of our times together!

Thursdays are going to be spent working a little Theology (study of God) together – starting with the EFCA statement of faith found here.

The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of autonomous churches united around these theological convictions:

 Jesus Christ

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

As I study for my Ancient Church class exam this week, Arius comes to the forefront in a major way. He wrongly believed that Jesus could not have been the same substance as God and ended up being marked a heretic. Scripture is clear (Jn 1, Co 1:15-23) that He was God, begotten in human form and given to us as a gift to show how life should be lived – dying on a cross for our sins – and rising from the grave in victory over death. We see this in the first part of article 4 of the Statement of Faith for the EFCA. Jesus was both natures in one person, fully God and fully man. The statement goes on to state that He was the one Israel was waiting for – the promised Messiah of what we call the Old Testament (Gn 3:15, Is 52:13-53:12).

We believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit (God) in the virgin Mary (man) and was able therefore to live a sinless life, not succumbing to the curse of Adam (Ro 5:12-21). He lived that sinless life, suffering all trials and temptations man feels, while not allowing them to rule but instead living out the will of the Father perfectly (He 8-9, look at 9:14!). The last part of the statement is there to fit into the Apostle’s Creed and to identify Jesus as the one from the Gospels. He is now our High Priest (offering His sacrifice to the Father on our behalf) and advocate (standing up for us and sitting in power at the right hand of God). Jesus is amazing in so many ways. What do you love about Him?

Today was just one guy and me – and we discussed Day 12 – John 3:22-35. This passage/day focuses around John the Baptist and his understanding of the ministry of Jesus. John was to herald Jesus’ coming and then get out of the way. The overriding question asked, “What is John modeling for us?” and we both thought it showed a great amount of humility for John to step out – this was modeled for us here.

However, there is an overarching concept here that you simply cannot miss! John was to prepare the way (Is 40:1-3) and get people ready for Jesus. I think if we are honest for a moment, we like to be the center of attention. When someone comes to Jesus, we often feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in the fact that “another soul has come home thanks to me.” Now we never say this, but I venture to guess it is there. I can prove it in this way – Have you ever been jealous of someone who leads someone else to the Lord? Why do we do this to ourselves? It is not our kingdom, ministry or name that is to be praised/built up – but the Father’s, right? God is good to us and allows us to be a part of that experience. John understood this, and Jesus’ ministry is all about this (see Luke 9:1-6 and 10:1-2), allowing others to proclaim His coming and to allow others into the story. So, learn this from John. Be a proclaimer – we are told to preach the good news! This means that we should proclaim what God is doing in us all the time – not to go out and get a Bible degree, learning how to speak well on Sunday mornings (as preaching is often understood). So go, be a proclaimer – make way for the King and help to raise the valleys and lower the mountains so that a straight path to God can be seen by others.