What Does "Salt" Mean in Matthew 5:13?

Light or Persecution?

Brian Davidson over at LXXI blogged about Matthew 5:13

In light of verses 11-12, perhaps we are to read “of the earth” as a genitive of possession or a “genitive which expresses relations merely external” (Robertson, Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p 234). That is, in the eyes of the world, disciples of Jesus still belong to the world. Yet, disciples, people who resemble the beatitudes of verses 3-12, have “lost their salt.” They no longer fit it. They’ve become “foolish” (μωρανθῇ). They are good for nothing but trampling (καταπατεῖσθαι), and should expect to be “cast out” (βληθὲν ἔξω).

Read the rest here.

If You Have to Choose Between An All-Powerful God and an All-Loving God, Choose the All-Loving One

The Tragic Events at Sandy Hook Elementary Bring God's Nature Into Question Once Again

When studying at Trinity International University, I became good friends with one of the students there. He was gifted in philosophy and theology and we had many great conversations. I transferred to Biola University and He want on to seminary. We lost touch but reconnected about 10 years later. A number of tragic events had happened in his life and he had become a chain smoker, borderline alcoholic and borderline atheist. Even with the difference in world views, we still had great conversations - conversations that were stimulating and challenging for both of us. One of the issues we discussed was the problem of evil. How can an all-powerful God be loving if He allows evil in the world. "God can't be omnipotent and loving", he said. I knew he had heard all of the various arguments in order to solve that problem and for my friend, they all came up short. "Why don't you just start with with a loving God and go from there?", I replied. "Why would I want to?", he answered.

His question reflects a common feeling among Christians and unbelievers alike: If there is a God, then He must be all-powerful, or else he isn't God. I heard theologian R.C. Sproul say something very similar and the sentiment is echoed on Toby Jones' blog by his atheist friend, regarding the recent shooting:

Seriously, if god can’t intervene to prevent a senseless such as what occurred today, what the hell good is he?

My purpose in this post is not to debate the omnipotence of God, but to point out that this line of thinking reveals a disturbing relationship with God. Even if God is not all-powerful, I think He still qualifies as the most powerful force in the universe. Why wouldn't you want Him on your side? However, the answer I gave to my friend's question was, "Because of His love!" If your relationship with God relies solely on His ability to control all things, then you are missing out.

Being part of a charismatic church, I get to see God intervene in people's lives on a regular basis. When you have an encounter with God, you realize His love is incredible - not because of what He did but because of who He is. There are those who warn against the dangers of "experience" and those warnings have their place but with out experience, any relationship, whether with God or your spouse or your children, would only be abstract. The interesting thing that I have found, is when you encounter God's love, His power tends to show up as well.

My Feeble Attempt to Cast Out a Demon

Come out in the name of Jesus!....Please?

It always upset me when I would watch Hollywood movies that portrayed priests struggling to cast out demons. Doesn't Hollywood know how powerful God is? I daydreamed of movies that showed "real" Christians nonchalantly casting out demons. After all, that's how it was done in the Bible - wasn't it?

When I was in the seventh grade, I attended a Christian school. We had Bible class every morning. Most of us had grown up in the Church and had heard the typical Bible stories and lessons ad nauseum. So every morning most of the students would either sleep or do their homework during Bible class. Then one day we had a substitute teacher. She taught Bible class from her own personal life and experiences. She ended with a story about how she had cast a demon out of a guy. Every one of us were on the edge of our seats, listening to every word. At the very end she pointed at us with a super serious face and said, "Remember, as Christians, you have power!" Those words sank deep into my soul and I carry them with me to this day.

Several years ago I was part of a small church plant. I was praying for people after the service. I saw an old Latino woman walk in the back of the room. I knew who she was. We had been to her house and had ministered to her before. Although late, it was the first time she had come to one of our church services. She came up for prayer and the pastor's wife and I began praying for her. As we were praying for her, she fell to the floor. This was not unusual. People often fell out "in the Spirit" when we prayed for them. But then she let out a little moan - nothing dramatic but my spidey senses were uneasy. Then another moan, this one loud and guttural. The pastor's wife told it to come out and then it was on. This old lady's face contorted, her eyes rolled back into her head and she began growling and laughing. It was the first time I had encountered a demon and it was...well...scary. The pastor's wife kept telling it to come out but with no effect. I mustered up some courage and the words "Come out in the name of Jesus" softly tumbled off my lips. It continued to growl, apparently not even noticing my quiet command.

It began to get frustrating. No matter what we did, the thing wouldn't come out. The pastor said, "let her up!" An ex-con and former kickboxer, the pastor was truly a work of God. He was a violent criminal that had been transformed by God into a loving and kind man. The pastor's wife let the old lady go. The pastor went into a fighting stance as she shot up off the ground and was preparing to charge him. In any other situation, my money would have been on the pastor, but I wasn't sure who would win this fist fight. The pastor's wife stepped back in before they came to blows and guided the old lady with surprising ease back down to the floor.

Eventually, we were able to get the old lady to say the name of Jesus and the demon went away but it was more of a subsiding than being cast out. We called it a draw and I was glad it was over but that experience changed my theology of casting out demons.

In his book "Biblical Foundations of Freedom", Art Mathias writes about a similar (but more successful) experience casting demons out of a woman:

She refused to look me in the eye, so I gently took her chin and turned her head toward me. Then I commanded all the unclean, foul spirits to leave. Nothing happened.

Then I demanded in Jesus' name that the spirit tell me its name. The most guttural voice I have ever heard said, "hatred."

I was on uncharted ground, but with a Holy boldness I commanded "hatred" to leave in the name of Jesus. The voice retorted. "no, I don't have to, I"m justified."

Wow! What a statement! What did it mean? "No, you are not justified; leave her now in the name of Jesus," I demanded.

"She hates everybody," the demon growled.

I ordered the demon to be quiet, and we carefully led Joan through forgiveness of everybody that had ever abused her. It took more than an hour. We commanded the principality of bitterness and all its supporting demons of unforgiveness, resentment, retaliation, anger, hatred, violence, and murder to leave in the name of Jesus. They did.

Well, that worked well, not only for Mathias, but I have personally talked to others who have had success casting out demons using that methodology. However, the story violates my top two rules for dealing with demons:

Rule #1 - Don't believe what demons say
Rule #2 - See Rule #1

It just seems like we should have more authority than that. Is there a better way? Maybe I'm too much of an idealist and "Come out in the name of Jesus" is too simple like "Be healed in the name of Jesus".

The God of Cracked Tile

Hardships or an Opportunity to Pray?

At one of the small groups I used to go to, the small group leader taught on hardships in life. He used an example of one of his friends, who had just installed new tile in his home. Shortly after the new tile had been laid, the house settled and cracked the tile across the floor. The small group leader told his friend, it was just part of life and that we shouldn't be surprised by such events. He then quoted this Scripture:

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. -1 Pet 4:12-13a (NIV)

There are a couple problems I have with this. First, the context of the verse quoted is that of being persecuted for the Christian faith. It is not referring to the regular crappy events that we experience from time to time in life. The same goes for all the verses in the New Testament that talks about hardship. They all refer to persecution.

Second, and this is what really got me, was the acceptance of the cracked tile. This small group leader is of a charismatic denomination. He believes in miracles. He believes in healings. If his friend had come to him and told him he had cancer instead of cracked tile, then the small group leader would have prayed for him - no questions asked. For crying out loud, if you believe God can heal cancer then drop to your knees and pray over the cracked tile! I'm reminded of this verse:

Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too - Romans 3:29

Is God the God over cancer only? Is he not the God over cracked tile too? Yes, over cracked tile too!

I have a lot of respect for that small group leader and there was some truth in what he was trying to teach, but I just didn't agree with his response to the cracked tile.

Sometimes I Don't Like Praying for People to be Healed

Here's Why:

I just want to say "Be healed in the name of Jesus" and be done with it. Plain and simple. But that doesn't seem to be proper prayer etiquette. People expect longer prayers (maybe more than they expect to be healed?). So longer prayers are given. Some like to pray over the details of the ailment, using medical terms to define their specificity. Some like to take to control over the evil spirits causing the ailment. The more charismatically inclined will pray in tongues. Some will just be silent, seeking direction from the Holy Spirit.

I can't say any of that is bad. In fact, I've prayed for people that way and saw them healed. Honestly, I like those longer prayers when I'm the one receiving those prayers. However, I'd rather be healed with a short prayer rather than not healed with a long prayer.

Sometimes I'll be praying for someone and they will assume I'm praying silently, but really, I'm just standing there, thinking to myself, "How much longer should I stand here before they feel I've prayed for them long enough?" Why can't my prayers to heal be like the quality meat I buy at the supermarket - 100% Beef, No Fillers.

It wasn't always this way. Before I learned how I was "supposed" to pray, I kept my prayers short. I had read in the Bible how Peter and Paul prayed for the sick. Their prayers seemed rather to the point. True, I'm no Peter or Paul but it seemed like the way to go when praying for healing. When I was at Trinity International University, I walked into the Student Center to find one of my friends. She told me her head hurt. I asked her if she wanted me to pray for her to be healed. "Seriously?", she responded. I was serious. I asked her where it hurt, put my hand there and said "Be healed in the name of Jesus". "Does it feel any better?" I asked. "Actually, I think it does a little bit". "Cool", I said, and was on my way. Later, I would become immersed in the charismatic movement and would receive training in healing. Suddenly my simple prayers seemed insufficient.

I would occasionally balk at the idea of longer prayers. One time a couple asked me to pray for their sick daughter. "Look", I said, "I'm just going to say 'Be healed in the name of Jesus' and be done with it". "We don't care." they replied, "Just pray for her." I set the 3 year old girl on my lap and put my hand on her back. She seemed uninterested and was engrossed in a program on the TV. "Be healed in the name of Jesus", I said. She gasped and then whipped her head around to look at me as if I had just shocked her with a cattle prod. Her reaction even startled me a bit. We saw no improvement in her that night, but the next day she awoke, completely healed. Was she healed naturally while she slept? Maybe. But I can't deny that "something" happened when I prayed those simple words over her.

So my prayer policy is to just pray "Be healed in the name of Jesus", and I'll pray it 3 times if you're not healed before then. If you're not healed by the third time, come see me again in a week and I'll do the same thing. But that's an ideal and I hardly ever adhere to it. Instead, I find myself "silently praying" for people, while in the back of my mind I'm thinking: Be healed in the name of Jesus....Next!

Commentary on Ephesians 1:1

A New Post on My Ephesians Revealed Blog

The word "apostle" literally means "sent one" and although it can be used in a political sense, it's use in the New Testament is more geared toward the Jewish religious sense. If there was a prominent Rabbi, he sometimes would send out some of his students as apostles to teach others the teachings he had taught them. This makes sense when we see Jesus pick 12 apostles in the Gospels to carry on his teachings. False teachers in Ephesus were saying Paul was not an apostle of Christ like the other apostles but had made himself one by his own will.

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Ephesians and Saints

A New Post on My Ephesians Revealed Blog

The word often translated as "saints" literally means "holy ones" or further yet "set apart ones". There were different reasons that one might become a holy one. Israel was set apart from the world as God's nation and so they were all considered "holy ones". Those who were set apart for ministering to God were called "holy ones" and so angels were referred to as "holy ones" as well as priests (Ezekiel 44:11, Psalm 16:3, Maccabees 7:17).

The concern during the time of Paul's letter to the Ephesians was, who would be considered "holy ones" when the Christ in the Flesh came? False teachers in Ephesus were saying that certain categories of people would not be holy ones:

Read the rest here.