A Blogger's Year

Well friends, the year 2012 is about to close and the blog seems to be doing well. I began this blog simply as a way to express my thoughts in an open forum. When I began with my Proverbs a day blog set in January, I had no idea I would have even one person read, let alone 3200 (where it stands right now).

I hope that what is posted here has been a blessing. I certainly didn't expect it to be filled with so much Christian insight, but I am happy that is how it turned out. I am not a preacher or scholar or even that wonderful of a Christian, but I feel much of what has been posted, was Holy Spirit led. I sought (in most instances) to pray before typing a Christian-themed blog (some are general themes), so that the words of the blog could be a means of blessing those who read.

Whatever your relationship to the "Straight Shootin'" blog this year, I hope it has been positive. I will continue to write as I feel led, or as topics present themselves in the coming year. It is mostly an informal process in deciding when and how to post, so stay tuned or bookmark it for reference.

For fun, I will list the stats for the most viewed posts of the year, and include links (or titles) to my personal favorites. If you haven't had a chance to explore the posts yet, I hope you will take some time to explore them.

Thanks to God and to friends and family who have support me in this endeavor.


Most Viewed Posts of the Year
Facebook Friendship and How to Maintain It- 96 Views
No Other Name- 82 Views
Pay Attention for Retention- 66 Views
No Refutation for Creation- 50 Views
Worship God and Prosper?- 46 Views


My Personal Favorite Blogs of the Year (in no Particular order)
Pay Attention for Retention
No Refutation for Creation
No Other Name
1- 2- 3- 4, I Declare Taco War!
Facebook Friendship and How to Maintain It
What a Friend We Have...
Sanctification Station, from "What I Believe," by Chris Byers
Belief in a Family of Unbelief
Did It Really Happen?
Waffle Fries are Not Anti-Anything

These can all be viewed from the main blog page by checking the list on the right which is listed by Date.

May God bless you all in the coming year!

Decoding Christmas Part 2: We Three Kings of Orient Aren't

The Magi
This Christmas many of us probably had a nativity scene set up somewhere in the home. If not, we likely passed by them near the local churches or businesses. It's a common scene, that actually has a significantly different background than the presentation we see each year. The representation of the birth of Christ is true to Matthew and Luke's depictions, but surprisingly, the wise men are one interpretation of the scene that are often incorrectly portrayed.

In Matthew Chapter 2, we read that Magi from the east visited Jerusalem to inquire about the child who was born "king of the Jews."It never mentions anywhere in the Bible the number of Magi who came to visit. It also never specifically calls them kings, or mentions them originating from what we define as "orient" today. When we say "oriental" we think of Asian areas like China and Japan.

The original translations made it clear that when referencing east, it was probably speaking of either Ancient Babylon or Persia.

Another term within the tale that gets tossed around and translated in an odd way is Magi. We hear them referred to as kings, wise men, magicians, magi, etc...

The term Magi, which is found in the root of many of our current words, did not necessarily refer to hocus-pocus magic. Words we use like Mag-nificent, Mag-istrate, Mag-estic, all have meanings of something big or important, or held in high esteem.

When we hear Magi in the Bible, it is likely referring to men of great esteem who came from near Persia, east of Israel to visit the prophesied king of the Jews.

So, the number of them was not three, as is commonly depicted, and they weren't magicians or kings visiting Christ. Who were they then, and how did they know to seek this child born in Bethlehem?

To find a plausible possibilty, we revisit the Book of Daniel in the Bible.
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Blast to the Past
During the time of Daniel, we see God's people besieged by Babylon due to their idolatry and general ignoring of their covenant with God. This temporary exile from the homeland was used by God  to bring about repentance, and they did eventually return to Jerusalem.

We see King Nebuchadnezzar taking captives after overtaking Jerusalem. He takes Daniel and other nobility as well. We get the story of the fiery furnace, and dream interpretations in which Daniel's influence on the king leads him into an eventual acknowledgement of Daniel's God, the Biblical God.

Later in the book, Nebuchadnezzar's grandson Belshazzar is having a feast when writing appears on the wall, warning of his reign coming to an end. That same night, the Medes and Persians are set to overtake the kingdom, and the following day Belshazzar is dead and Darius from Medo-Persia has conquered the Babylonians and is ruling.

Because of jealousy of Daniel, high officials trick Darius into convicting Daniel of the crime of praying and he is thrown into the Lion's den. Upon seeing that the Lions by supernatural means, did not devour Daniel, Darius frees him and instead throws the officials and their families to the lions where they are soon devoured.

Darius, recognizing the authority of the God of Daniel, decrees that all the kingdom is to fear and tremble before Daniel's God (Daniel 6:26).
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Back to the Future
Flash forward to the time of Christ's birth, remembering that to the Persian historians, there would be record of this decree by Darius referencing the God of Daniel.

It is important to note here that Magi, as they would have been in ancient near east Persia, would have been the best and brightest scholars (professors) of the day. They would be trained in history and religious knowledge as well, similar to Pharisees.

The religion of Persia at this time was Zoroastrianism, which did acknowledge one true God who had been in existence since time began and was never created. This is very similar to the Jewish God, and parallels could be noted. It is possible then that the Magi, or highly esteemed learned men of the day, would be aware of the Jewish prophesies concerning a coming messiah. Zoroastrianism had its own prophesies that were similar.

Taking all of this into account, we can assert that the Magi who visited Christ in Bethlehem, had not only been supernaturally lead by God, but also had some existing knowledge of who it was they sought.

Taking Darius' acknowledgement of the true God of Daniel into account, it is feasible that throughout the generations after, knowledge of the Jewish God and life would have made its way into the scholarly sections of Ancient Persia.

Regardless of how they knew, (and supernaturally seems to fit more with God's methods of working) the Magi who visited the baby Christ, bowed and worshipped the baby whom they recognized as the prophesied messiah, and king of the Jews. Their hearts were towards God on that visit, and they are a prime example of worship.
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Bearing Gifts
On a related note, the gifts they brought seem to have symbolic significance. The rumor of 3 wise men, likely stemmed partially from a poem written in New York a few centuries back, and the fact that we see three gifts and naturally assume one gift per person. I know with our Christmas celebrations we certainly find it common to present multiple gifts from the same person, so there is nothing to say each Magi had to have just one gift.

The Gold is a kingly gift, and bestowing this upon a baby would have significance. Only royalty would have expected this gift in those days, and it was an acknowledgment of the Christ as king.

The Frankincense was another gift, usually reserved for religious persons or priests. In Old Testament law they had the offering of incense as part of their sacrificial system. This symbolized the priestly nature of Christ. (the Book of Hebrews calls him our great high priest).

Finally we have Myrrh, which is by far the weirdest of the gifts. Myrrh in those days was essentially an embalming fluid, from local trees, used in preservation of dead bodies. The gift of myrrh to a baby, then seems strange. The symbol of myrrh and death, seems to acknowledge (whether the Magi realized or not) that Christ would die for our sin. This is all speculation of course based on the true story, portrayed in the Gospel accounts.
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In summary
So, it is interesting to see that even as far back as the Babylonian and Persian exiles, the knowledge of a messiah who would save was common to the learned men of areas near ancient Jerusalem. While the idea of the Magi being from Persia is one suggested possibility, it is the one most referenced today by pastors speaking to the true story behind the wise men.

Next time we set up our nativity sets, let's pause and think about the faith of those men (unknown in number) who paid homage to a baby. Let's think of their method of worship and the giving of gifts to this newborn king. And let's remember that that baby is God made flesh to live and die as a sin offering for all of mankind, so that our reconciliation to a Holy God could be made possible through our faith in his Son, Jesus Christ.
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Bonus Fact
The names of the "Three kings" came about during medieval times, and the true names of the uncounted number of Magi remains a mystery
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*Much information presented was gathered from sermons related to the topic by Mike Fabarez of Focal Point  Ministries. My best efforts to preserve the information presented have been made.*

http://www.focalpointministries.org

Decoding Christmas Part 1: Saint Nicholas

I was listening to a few great sermons today by Mike Fabarez of Focal point Ministries (http://www.focalpointministries.org). In a few sermons, Mike was discussing some of the truth behind the myths and legends that have become such a big part of our cultural view of Christmas.

Whether it's waiting on Santa Clause to bring us gifts, or building our nativity sets with 3 wise men, there are many aspects of our traditional Christmas that have interesting truths behind them. For this post, I'd like to tell the story of the man whose legend would become Jolly Old Saint Nick.

In Acts chapter 21, we see Paul still on his 3rd missionary journey. In verse 1 we read, "after we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. (emphasis mine)"

The story of Pastor Nicholas, or Saint Nick as we have come to know him, begins in this port city of Patara. Paul's visit to Patara during his missionary journey means that the gospel he was preaching from place to place, likely took root in some form in this port city. However it occurred, we see by the third century that Christianity had taken root in various areas of Patara.

Nicholas was born to wealthy Christian parents in the city of Patara where Paul had traveled many years before. From his earliest childhood, Nicholas and his parents were attending a Christian church in the area. He was a very devout Christian from an early age, and excelled in his knowledge of doctrine and the Bible.

When Nicholas was around age 9, his parents both passed away. His uncle, who was also associated with the church in Patara, took Nicholas in, and maintained the lifestyle of devotion to Christianity to which he was accustomed.

The years went by, and Nicholas eventually came of age and would soon have to leave his uncle's care. Being of age, he was also in line to receive his parents wealth by inheritance.

I imagine Nicholas as a teenager or young adult, given an abundance of wealth. If it were me, I would have likely been out buying all the newest and coolest gadgets, while also giving to others. Nicholas thought only of others.

As his biography goes, Nicholas prayed to God that his wealth could be used to further the kingdom and to help those in need.

Many stories exist regarding his early generosity, but the one most historically accepted involves a very poor man.

The man, possibly a member of Nicholas' church, had three daughters. The town of Patara was near the area of Lycia in Asia Minor and temple worship of the patron goddess of the area was common. A profession many young women fell into in those days was temple prostitution.

The poor man realized his oldest daughter was of the age to marry, but he had no wedding dowry. Without a dowry, his daughter would not find a husband (based on the cultural custom of the day). At his most desperate moment, he had finally exhausted all other options and considered letting them go into prostitution at the temple (the only way to survive with this type of destitution).

The story goes that Nicholas heard of this man's plight, and using some of his abundant wealth, snuck into the man's house late one night and left a bag of gold for the man's daughter's dowry.

The man was overjoyed to find it, but also curious as to who his anonymous donor had been. With Nicholas' gift, the man and daughters lived well for a few more years until the next daughter came of age. Faced with another wedding dowry, and no money to pay it, the man was back to square one.

Apparently, Nicholas continued this practice until all three of the man's daughter's were married off, so that by his generous giving, the man's innocent daughters were spared from having to go into temple prostitution.

Nicholas' generosity apparently became very well known within the area of his hometown of Patara. After some years, news of his sound doctrine, Christian living and giving nature had spread to another church in the nearby town of Myra. The church, in need of a pastor, requested that Nicholas take the position.

Nicholas accepted, but ended up pastoring in a time that was one of the most persectued in Christian history. The Roman emporer of the time, Diocletian, was perhaps the bloodiest persecutor of Christians. Nicholas became pastor at Myra at almost the exact time of Diocletian's persecution of Christians. As a result, he was arrested and held in prison.

Political climate changed during Nicholas' time in prison, and soon Constantine took over the empire. Constantine, unlike Diocletian, was in favor of Christianity, and released all of the imprisoned pastors and leader sof the Christian church once taking over the reigns.

As a pastor, Nicholas was known to be hard nosed in doctrine and soft hearted with people. In other words, he was a staunch defender of orthodox Christian doctrine, but also had great compassion for people. In this way, Nicholas was very much a Christ-like figure of the Christian church, and likely one of the greatest early Christians. Nicholas' life was lived fully for God, and his wealth was made fully available to the work of the kingdom. His pastoring also had great influence during a tumultuous time of Christian history.

Constantine, though in favor of Christianity, left most doctrinal decisions to the many Christian pastors. In 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicea to address the heresy of Arius, which made claims against the doctrine of the Trinitarian nature of God.

Pastor Nicholas was one of many to attend this meeting to help set the record straight. There is a legend that Nichoals was so upset with Arius for his distortion of the gospel that he slapped him in the face, but this is likely just a story.

Nicholas remained a bishop in Myra and eventually died and was buried there.

Within a few hundred years of his death, churches were already being named for this great example of the Christian faith. The Catholic church eventually sainted him in whatever process it is they use to do such things. I'm not so sure Nicholas would have desired that sort of recognition, but then again, many people given sainthood after death would likely not have wanted that attention.

It is interesting to think that the story we tell about Santa Clause now, has little resemblance to the actual, historical Pastor Nicholas of Patara. Practically the only attribute in common is the extremely giving nature of both the real Saint Nick and the children's' legend.

When Craving Milk, Seek Meat

I had a moment of utter weakness this past Sunday. Many factors were contributing to it, and I couldn't be sure if it was the combination of all, or individual ones that pushed me over the edge. My Saturday night had been frustrating, and though Sunday service had brought me up temporarily, by time I got home I was feeling quite distraught. It wasn't until today, that I gained some insight/perspective on what may have been happening.

The Background
As I warmed up (Juliet actually did this) a bath to sit and relax, I was feeling very uneasy. Since August when I led the seminar on Salvation with Pastor Matthew, I seemed to have hit a brick wall in terms of spiritual growth. The books seemed less interesting, my daily readings did not entice, and I really just wanted to  do anything but study.

This was completely opposite of the attitude I had before the seminar (and perhaps why I look at it as a turning point). Prior to the seminar I had been building my faith up daily. Verses finally made sense, I grew in knowledge and understanding, and I felt God right by me pushing me onward.

By Sunday, the desire to learn had been long gone for months, and I had settled into laziness characteristic of my time before this year's spiritual step forward. I wasn't feeling God with me, and I was again doubting my salvation. It has always been an uphill battle for me on that front. My prayers seemed empty and I had not been feeling any moving of God's spirit during worship, or in daily life.

In my mind I wanted to believe it was something God was doing. My human arrogance wanted it to be God's fault for not making me feel more close to Him. I ignored the fact that with a God who is always constant, I was the one that had moved around.

As I lay beneath the water of my warm bath, praying fervently and nearly begging for a response or a little feeling again, I hit my spiritual rock bottom. I came above the water multiple times as Juliet listened to Christian radio in the other room, hoping a lyric would speak to me. I tested the lyrics seeing if each time I was getting some message from God. Finally, I drained the water from the tub, but found it difficult to bring myself to stand up and move on with the day. I was frozen in frustration and the worry that perhaps it has all been a lie to this point. Maybe I had never been saved. Maybe those times I thought it was God by my side, or that the chill was from the Holy Spirit it was just the air conditioning. Maybe my compelling inner thoughts toward actions I would not normally take, was simply my own imagination, and not God pushing me forward for building up His kingdom.

These thoughts and more occurred in a span of about 5 minutes before Juliet walked in and saw me. I began to incoherently ramble on about my concerns about my assurance of salvation, and how upset I have been lately that no one that I have sought to bring to Christ has had any hint of movement because of me. I longed for my friends to just be around...not even in a spiritual sense, but just for moral support. I wished the phone calls weren't ignored, and that I didn't have to assume it is because of my outward expressions of faith on Facebook and in this blog. I asked her if something was wrong with me for not feeling any emotion for the Gospel in the past months.

I cannot remember exactly what Juliet said over the next 10-15 minutes, but I remember it being words as if spoken from God through her, to me. She said things so assuring and comforting that my tears soon were replaced with dry eyes. I still longed to cry a little more, to relieve the stresses of the past months, but her assuring words kept propelling me towards solace.

She began to pray out loud for me in a way we have not prayed together before. My heart remembers, though my mind is blank on exactly what was said. The cloud lifted, and I emerged from my bath with a new sense of spiritual readiness. (I've been calling my bathtub faith renewal)

We spent the remainder of our weekend in normal fashion, relaxing. I told her we needed some time to set aside to read and pray for Monday, so we did the best we could on that before giving in to tacos to ease our hunger.

I got back to work on Tuesday feeling rejuvenated and have been feeling great since. I am feeling more compelled to study again, and to live out my faith, instead of simply typing it out. My pursuit of knowledge to best my opponents of the faith with facts and explanations is replaced with a calm assurance that God will work on whom He will work. If I am that instrument, so be it, and if not, someone will be. My stress over not being as recognized at work this past month is set aside, and I look forward to many more fun nights with a team of coworkers I truly enjoy. And, I'm able to write a blog again. I've had bloggers block for a few months now, only feeling compelled to write at certain times. I'm hoping this re-enters me into this great outlet for myself, and hopefully others.

The Epiphany
Today after work, I chatted with a co-worker who is a fellow brother in Christ for about a half hour, regarding this whole situation. He related a similar story that had happened to him shortly after first becoming a Christian.

The verse that he was referring to was 1 Corinthians 3:2.

1 Corinthians 3:2, "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it, indeed you are still not ready."

He pointed out that God had really been there to give the milk in the early days of His conversion. The vices he once held were removed and he was, as they say, on fire for God. He said that as he began to grow however, he noticed that instead of feeling God in 5 minutes of prayer, it became 10 minutes, then 15 and so on. He described this as God weaning him off of the milk in preparation for greater things, or to allude to the above verse, for solid food.

It all made sense to me. As I had grown and gotten closer to a position in the faith of really making a difference (the seminar), God had provided the milk of his presence in abundance. It propelled me forward to an end that likely would have continued if I had realized that eventually, we need to stop drinking milk and switch to solid food.

Believers grow just as babies grow. God provides what we need in our early days of belief, but as we learn more and grow more, we need another type of food. Maybe that's not answering a prayer as fast as before to test faith. Maybe that's a lump on your back that is unknown to test your resolve to trust in him. Maybe it's friends turning from you, to see if you trust Him to handle their hearts, or bring new people into your life.

In perspective, it certainly explains why I fell so hard initially Sunday. If a baby is crying for milk and you take it from the baby, he certainly will cry at first. But gradually, over time, as you withdraw more and replace with solid food, the baby begins to realize it needs this growth. The lack of feeling with my 10 minute prayers maybe is an indication that I should invest more time in praying. Perhaps the time is set higher already in expectation that as a Christian who was strong enough to lead a group of fellow believers in a seminar, I should be praying more than 10 minutes a day.

Apply this to other aspects of the spiritual walk besides prayer, and I think we get a great example of how God truly is our Father. When we need it most, he provides with ease, but growth requires pruning. Growth requires testing and conflict. We don't always like it (and often cry for our milk), but when we finally reach that point beyond the babying, we can truly step out as disciples for the Gospel.

When our fleshly minds and hearts are still craving milk, maybe it's time we begin to seek meat, and move forward in our growth so that we may be mature, spiritual instruments for God's purpose in our lives.