God Himself will provide the lamb

   For a seemingly short yet memorable time I taught Bible and World History in Appalachia.  I avoided showing videos except on rare occasions, because I wanted to enhance student reading.  My common longtime practice is to have students read out loud in Sunday school, only on a volunteer basis.  When I was teaching in the rural school, it was not voluntary.  Be it in Appalachia or in a big city, I think it is enriching for students to read.  And reading in front of peers increases confidence in public reading ability.  I have had students who thought they could not do it, usually because they were degraded by someone in the past when doing so, learn they can do it, and even do it well.  Also, other students are more likely to listen to their peers read, thus the students who would fail to read material at home had the opportunity to listen to the material.  Yet these teenage students in Appalachia, like so many other places in the U.S., grew up submersed in videos, so they always were happy on the rare occasion when I showed a video.  The school had an extensive quality Biblical video collection, and I would be less stingy on videos if I had it to do over, because sometimes the students needed more breaks after going so strong in my class.

   So recently I was watching two old “Bible based” movies for my own interest and also as possible Sunday school teaching tools in the future.  Turns out I will not be using them.  I am not going to become a movie critic here, so I will not get into specifics.  I will say the two movies had some good acting and engaging scenes.  Yet in my opinion there were problems.  There happened to be common problems, such as the one was rated “G,” yet there was some nudity I thought was purposely provocative.  Yes I know that most people think I am a prude.  At least I am a cheery prude.  The key problem I had with the movies was the fact they all veered away from Biblical dialogue.  From changing a word here and there, to totally leaving out verses or passages, to adding dialogue not in the Bible, the scripts, more in some places than others, started to take on a life of its own rather than capturing the historical accuracy of the Scripture.  “Artistic license” is a delicate practice when it comes to portraying God’s revelations in Scripture.

   This leads me to one point I want to make.  The story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac always stirs my soul.  Knowing now the event foreshadowed the sacrifice by the Son of God, the story is so fitting.  Yet at that time for Abraham, the command to him could be nothing less that agonizing, which was captured in one movie.  How could God ask such a thing?  God speaks of humans sacrificing humans as evil in other Scripture.  His command to Abraham seems contradictory.  And what about Isaac?  I think it would be child abuse to put a child through such a psychological ordeal, even if he was not killed.  Was God not thinking of the trauma it would cause Isaac?  I saw such trauma dramatized in one movie, which provoked this thought in the first place.

   Though God had asked the unthinkable from Abraham, His intention was not abuse.  I believe God knew Abraham would be faithful.

   Now Isaac caught on that something was amiss:

   Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

   “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

   “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7 NIV).

   For several years, I babysat two great kids every Thursday.  And what do kids do?  They ask questions, lots of questions.  I would always answer the kids, even if I had to put some answers on a kid’s level, because question asking is a crucial part of the learning process for kids.  So that is why Isaac’s question is hard hitting for me.  It is a standard question for a kid, yet the answer could be one which would permanently damage his heart.  This is why I think God knew Abraham would stand in his faith in God.  Abraham had made mistakes, but God had remained faithful to him, and Abraham’s faith matured to epic proportion.  I add we have an extensive explanation of Abraham’s faith from the author of Hebrews.  “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:19 NIV).  Yet in focusing on the story itself in Genesis, the key statement in response to Isaac’s question, which rings out with joy even over four thousand years later, is one which cannot be omitted.

   Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”  And the two of them went on together (Genesis 22:8 NIV).

   This statement is a pinnacle verse, because it shows the faith of Abraham, and it shows the faith of Abraham was enough to console the child, so there was not trauma for the kid who trusted his dad.  And the child likewise had faith.  Isaac went on the altar, maybe a little nervous, I would be anyway, but not in despair.  Abraham said God would provide a lamb.  And God did.

   Jumping ahead to verse 13: “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.  He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:13 NIV).

   Come this spring, I will have been following Jesus for twenty-five years.  Living by faith in our God who is Spirit has never been an easy path for me.  Yet having faith in Jesus results in goodness which consistently has brought fruit in and from my life, and the blessings even exceed my comprehension.

   Scripture clearly records how the apostle Thomas was someone who witnessed Jesus accomplish many miracles, and yet who was cynical.  At that time, Thomas would have probably brought sourness to the fellowship hall for the doughnut time.  But I have always felt bad that almost two thousand years later he still gets “doubting” attached to his name.  I try not to do that.  An apostle who did ministry work in India, and who was a martyr for Christ, he is not doubting now in heaven.  So I close with the statement of Jesus after He allowed Thomas to put his hand on Him.

John 20:29 – Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (NIV).  If you believe in Jesus, you are blessed!

Hunter Irvine

   Here I also think of Galatians 2:20.  At the conclusion of my last post, I put a link to a Rebecca St. James video.  Speaking of a woman of faith, she is indeed.  I had the honor of serving on her altar call team at her concert in October of 2002 at Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Colorado, where I lived for a number of years.  I even got to talk with her briefly, which was special for me.  And a few hours before the concert, there was a buffet dinner for the band and “volunteer staff," which was great because I had not been able to get dinner and I was starving, and also I got to have a talk with her cool guitarist.  So here is a link to a video by Rebecca, which contains her short testimony.  The testimony starts at the 5:10 mark.  The start of the video is choppy, but then quickly smooths out.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giu3tfKXkqo

   And here is a great song by her.  I add that Rebecca St. James and her husband had a baby last winter.  God bless sister Rebecca, the best.
(And the ad which states you need a certain tool goes away after so many seconds.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmCquVpU_6o

Jesus knocking at the door

   Students love scavenger hunts.  In my youth ministry work over the years at various times in various capacities, my passion has always been teaching.  Teaching for me is fun!  Yet I have always shared an appreciation that teenagers love doing fun doing activities, and I have provided many fun activities for them.  One activity I prepared was clue hunts in churches.  Students are given a sheet of paper with a clue for another location, and when they find that location, there is another clue written on a sheet of paper there.  Students like running around their church poking into places which have been off limits ever since they were toddlers, such as the church office and the janitor’s closet.  It was places like this where I hid a trail of clues.  The final clue would lead to a spot where there was a reward like chocolate.

   The last time I ever did this, the final clue purposely led to an object for a teaching.  Up in the balcony of the church, where I only saw people once in the entire year I worshiped at that church, were two paintings.  I am not positive, but I think Warner Sallman was the artist for both, and if that was the case, one would be from 1946 and the other from 1953.  The painting on the one side was of Jesus holding a lamb in the midst of some sheep.  In the other painting, Jesus is portrayed simply knocking on a door.

   My message for the students standing by the door painting was based on what I learned in the winter of 1998 from the Reverend Dr. John Stott in his classic book Basic Christianity.  Dr. Stott gave an illustration of a 1853 painting whose artist was [William] Holman Hunt which was apparently the original painting of Christ knocking on a door, a model for a number of similar paintings which would follow, such as Sallman’s.  One significant detail common for both Hunt’s and Sallman’s painting was that in both, a door knob is absent.  Regarding Hunt’s painting, Dr. Stott states: “There is neither handle nor latch on the door in Holman Hunt’s picture.  It is said that he omitted them deliberately, to show that the handle was on the inside.  Christ knocks; but we must open.”(1)  Dr. Stott describes how God, who created everything, could get into the house: “He could command us to open to him; instead, he merely invites us to do so.  He will not force an entry into anybody’s life.”(2)  Indeed an invitation is the nature of true love.  It is not something forced, rather it is offered, and the person gets to decide whether or not he or she will receive.

   Dr. Stott used this painting to illustrate the offer of salvation for people.  “Christ came into the world and died for your sins.  He has now come and stood outside the front door of the house of your life, and he is knocking.  The next move is yours.  His hand is already on the knocker; your hand must now feel for the latch.”(3)

   In all fairness to John Stott, I add that in his later years on earth, long after this classic book was published in 1958, John Stott shifted from basic “reformed” principles that most Protestants would agree with, such as that Jesus was the penal substitute, to more disputed reformation doctrines, such as suggesting God regenerates a person before a person makes a choice.  On the flip side, even though John Stott always practiced infant baptism, he always insisted that was not the occasion of regeneration, which is counter to Reformed theology.  This is shown in his eclectic theology book, Evangelical Truth from 1999, which has some doctrines which are strongly “reformed” alongside other doctrines fitting the theology of Karl Barth, or which are quite unique.  Yet even in that book, regarding gaining the kingdom of heaven, Dr. Stott stated: “It could only be ‘received,’ as a little child receives a gift, freely and gratefully…”(4)  And going back to his teaching in Basic Christianity, Dr. Stott stated, “…you can have been baptized and confirmed…and still not have opened the door to Christ.”(5)  And he boldly states in chapter ten what is truly the theme of chapter ten: “Nor can anybody else settle the matter for us.  We must decide for ourselves.”(6)

   I close by giving a statement from Dr. Stott: “A boy in his later teens knelt at his bedside one Sunday night in the dormitory of his school.  In a simple, matter-of-fact but definite way he told Christ that he had made rather a mess of life so far; he confessed his sins; he thanked Christ for dying for him; and he asked him to come into his life.”(7)  The boy here is a self-description by John Stott.  That night he received Jesus into his heart, and after doing so, gave Jesus complete control of his life.  The result was a ministry which had a worldwide impact in the 20th century.  Revelations 3:20 is the verse associated with the paintings: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (NRSV).  This invitation is actually the offer for an eternity.

Hunter Irvine

   Here is the link to a video of my favorite singer, Rebecca St. James.  If you have never opened your heart to Jesus, may you know that Jesus is knocking, and He is the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice who made it possible for you, whoever you are, to be united with God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWeKnEKmhIY

1) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 126.

2) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 124.

3) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 127.

4) John Stott, Evangelical Truth:
 A Personal Plea for Unity, Integrity, and Faithfulness
 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 124.

5) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 127.

6) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 121.

7) John Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press,
 1958), 128.