The Unseen Revealed

2 Corinthians 4:18     So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (NIV).

   This statement seems illogical.  If you cannot see something, how can you trust whether it even exists, let alone whether it is good or whether it will last forever?  And even if you can create a dim vision of something you have not seen or experienced, it could be merely a fantasy.

   Now what we people see is under what many would call “natural law.”  The Bible reveals God is superior to “natural law,” rather than being confined by it.  God can overcome “natural law.”  When this is done, we often term it “supernatural” or “miracles.”  And miracles bring our focus on the unseen.

   God, who is unseen to us, has revealed Himself to people ever since the separation between God and people.  Before the time of Christ, God interacted with humanity, including doing miracles.  For example, the Hebrew people were miraculously given bread by God for forty years in a desert region!  This bread from God was unique, which is why the Israelites named it manna, which means, “What is it?”  The description: “It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31).  This was only one of many miracles God did for the Israelites!

   Yet miracles seen and experienced by the Hebrew people were exceptional.  And all of us humans are physical beings in this world of matter, and focusing our minds on the “unseen” can seem ridiculous.

   Yet then the Messiah came!  “Immanuel,” which means God with us, entered the world on our level.  Jesus, being fully God and fully human, could be seen, heard, and touched.  And when Jesus started His ministry, He did miracles which were seen, heard, and felt.  For those who experienced the miracles, they were known!  John 1:18 states: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”  And revealing Himself with miracles was simply a part of His ultimate mission to become the sacrificial atonement on the cross.

   A revelation from Jesus: “God is spirit…” (John 4:24), thus He is of a different substance than what the human eye can detect.  Yet since we people were made in the image of God, as is revealed in Genesis, we can realize we have a core of ourselves which is unseen.  Thanks to the reconciliation which God made possible since Jesus died on the cross to forgive sins, we can now know the love of God in our “hearts.”  We can know in our minds and “hearts” the reality of the invisible God, because Jesus has revealed God to us!

   Suffering so much unemployment during this pandemic, I wondered if God was going to call me to something other than my passion of vocational ministry.  Since ministry work, title or no title, has been a way of life for me for so long, it seemed odd when I considered it would be easier to do a job where you could frequently see the results of your work.  It would be easier to deal with what is under “natural law.”  But easier does not mean better.  When I do ministry work, I know in my heart I am doing work which is making an eternal difference.  And if you are a follower of Jesus, as you witness Jesus by your life and in your life, you are making an eternal difference.

Hunter Irvine

I love Jesus

   Regarding being all out romantically in love, I was in love once.  She married someone else.  It still hurts.  Yet I pray for her sometimes, since to truly love people is to want the best for her or him.  Now if I am ever blessed to romantically fall in love again and get married, I know I will tell everyone I know: “I am in love!”  I will probably tell some people I do not know.  And I am quite certain she will dominate my screen saver.

   Regarding my true love which I have had for over 31 years, I now consider the fact that in my heart this entire time I have wanted to tell the world I am in love with Jesus.  Usually there has been a purpose in telling others about Jesus: I want others to likewise receive the true love of Jesus, which is offered to everyone, and gain the eternal life and goodness which results from receiving His love.  Yet even in addition to wanting others to be in a true loving relationship with the Lord God Almighty, sometimes I express to someone that I love Jesus simply because I am in love.  I think expressing your heart is a natural need.

   Here in 2021, I have engaged in an unusual expression of my heart.  Though I had a mask in 2020 which really fit and which was very protective, I remained on a long search for a mask which genuinely expressed me, and which I thought was classy.  To me, covering up my face is personal, since your face is what first identifies you to most people.  After a long search, last winter I bought a mask online which states: Jesus loves you, with “love” expressed by the symbol of a heart.  It became my go-to mask.

   Now I was not expecting mask compliments, yet I have had many.  Students at school sporting events, two cashiers, a security guard, a fellow customer in a store, and two stocking clerks.  Comprising of a variety of ethnic groups, the one cashier was a woman from India.  I was encouraged by each and every compliment!  But even if weird looks is all I ever got, I would wear the mask because being in love with Jesus is my life.  We human beings, who are made in the image of God, need true love for life.  And I live by the love of Jesus!

   Being in love with Jesus, there are still numerous hardships.  In this world where there was a separation between God and people, there are countless wrongdoings and hurts.  Even we Christians still sin.  We need to be grateful that we have the forgiveness of our sins, which would have otherwise resulted in spiritual death.  And we can be thankful God keeps improving us.  Yet the journey is still full of many hardships.  In following Jesus for over 31 years, I have had consistent rough times.  Yet what has remained has been His true love.

   If you love Jesus you do not need to go out and get a mask like mine, or a t-shirt, or a bumper sticker.  Rather express your love for Jesus in a manner fitting for you, which includes actions.  Yet saying “I love You” is always a good thing.  May I encourage you this very day, when you have a moment of time all alone, to tell Jesus, “I love You.”

   And know that Jesus loves you.

Hunter Irvine

Preach Heaven

Matthew 10:7-10 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep” (NIV).

   Jesus made it totally clear the apostles were to be completely dependent on God as they embarked on their ministry mission to the Israelites.  They were to do what Jesus had been doing, thus they needed to completely rely on Him.

   Jesus said, “…Freely you have received, freely give” (10:8).  They themselves had received the message of Jesus.  They themselves had received His love.  They were sent out to do for others what He had done for them.  In fact, the word apostle means “sent out.”

   Verses 9 and 10 sure do show their need to be completely dependent on Him.  This was not a permanent standard for disciples of Christ for all ages.  This was a unique apostolic “short term” mission adventure, which truly required the apostles to trust Him.

   I think this order applied for the Twelve only for this one occasion.  I do not know for sure.  I have studied the ministry of the apostles extensively, and I think they had provisions years later as they embarked on ministry work to people of the world, a number of whom were not even anticipating the Messiah.

   All Twelve, counting the replacement for Judas, did ministry work until physical death.  Most traveled into foreign countries and territories.  For many, they went to multiple countries at first, and then settled into a foreign country for the long haul.  Some of the apostles had families.  For example, Eusebius quotes Clement of Alexandria regarding Philip being married and having daughters.  Eusebius goes on to quote Polycrates: “Philip, one of the twelve apostles who sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two aged virgin daughters.  Another of his daughters, who lived in the Holy Spirit, rests at Ephesus.” [1]  (Note that Polycrates contradicts Clement of Alexandria, since Clement said all of Philip’s daughters were married.  Yet the agreement is on the fact Philip was married with daughters.)

   However, considering the phenomenal accomplishments by the apostles, there is no question they traveled light!  We are not talking large camel caravans here.  And there is still a lesson in this unique command to the apostles for us today.  The lesson: the less stuff the better.

   One of many blessings of a job I had years ago as a student assistant at the Colorado Christian University Library was I got to talk a bit with the great students of CCU.  Once when checking out books for a student, we started talking about dorm living, and in the midst of the conversation she said, “We all have stuff.”  The manner in which she stated the obvious was a fresh reminder that “stuff” needs to be accepted.  Yet “stuff” also needs to be controlled.

   One of my three favorite quotes from Chuck Swindoll when listening to him on the radio years ago: “There is nothing wrong with owning possessions, so long as they are not possessing you.”  How true.

   I conclude by giving the illustration of what has happened to me ever since I entered my vocational ministry calling.  Since packing up my possessions into a moving truck in the spring of 1997 to drive over two thousand miles to begin a position as a youth pastor, I have given away, recycled, or thrown away much stuff of which I personally had no previous intention of parting with.  I have had to move many times in my ministry calling, and each move created a need to give away more stuff.  My last ministry move involved fitting everything I own, literally, into one car.  I now have a fraction of the stuff I had twenty-four years ago.

   Often, I did not want to part with certain possessions.  However, after doing so I was often glad, and even grateful, I no longer had a number of those possessions I gave away.  Regarding some of the other possessions, it was painful to give them away!  However, it was a life-long lesson to me of the fact that possessions in this world are temporary.

   Preparation is key to succeeding at anything, and preparation to do ministry work requires having certain physical provisions.  However, preparation for ministry work usually also involves being more mobile, thus getting rid of more stuff than you originally considered.  When a Scout, the Friday before a backpacking trip, we would have what we Scouts called a “shake down.”  If you follow Jesus, get prepared for a “shake down,” even if your mission involves staying right where you are.

   The lesson I think Jesus was teaching His apostles, and a lesson He wants us to get from their incredible mission adventure: Be dependent on Him, not your temporary possessions.

   Remain focused on Jesus in heaven.  Always remember what Jesus had His apostles preach during His three years of ministry work here on earth: “The kingdom of heaven is near” (7).

Hunter Irvine

[1] Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, 

trans. C.F. Cruse 

(Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1998), 95-96.

Christ has a mission for us

Matthew 10:1-6

   In the previous passage which I wrote about last week, Matthew repeats a statement he made near the conclusion of chapter four.  I think he repeats himself in order to emphasize the mission of Jesus in order that we may be absolutely convicted and encouraged regarding our mission as disciples of Jesus.

   Learning of this mission of Christ, and starting to learn about a short-term missions adventure of the apostles, we still need to distinguish between the progression of Christ’s mission, the apostle’s mission before the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the apostle’s mission after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and the mission of all followers of Jesus in every generation since.

   First note that Jesus made it clear His mission during His three year period in this world was specifically to the Israelites.  The Messiah’s immediate mission did not extended beyond Israelites until He suffered on the cross.  Though Jesus had strict parameters for teaching, preaching, and healing, He was leading to His plan of being the sacrificial atonement on the cross offered to all people of all time.

   And as we learn in this passage, the Israelites were the mission field for the apostle’s mission at this time before the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

   After the resurrection and just before the ascension of Jesus, the apostle’s mission would be radically expanded by Jesus to the entire world.  Their mission expansion by Jesus is recorded in Acts 1:8.  The apostles were a group of Hebrews who would not normally even dine together.  For starters, the group included a Zion Zealot and a tax collector for Rome from the tribe of Levi, and fellowship between two such Israelites was probably unheard of.  Yet the Twelve, with a replacement for Judas, ended up becoming evangelists for Christ to countries in every direction.  If you are interested in learning about the missions of the apostles, see my blog entries from February to April of 2015, which were the result of countless hours of research: The Twelve Apostles

   Now what is the mission for you and me?  All people of every nation remain the mission field for Christians as it has been for all following generations since the apostolic age.  The command by Jesus in Acts 1:8 continues for all disciples of Christ until Jesus returns.

   Do note one difference between the nature of the ministry between the apostles and the rest of us Christians ever since.  Apostles were given the ability and authority by Jesus to physically heal people.  Yet I reiterate what I said in my last piece: I advocate the calling and ability the apostles were given to physically heal people from diseases, and to even physically raise people from the dead, was specific to the apostolic age.  Yet the Holy Spirit can still assist with physical healing in unique ways and unique circumstances.  This is aside from a spiritual gift of a person, and aside from diligent church attendance.

   I once rented a room in a townhouse from a person who is blind, a man who is a brother-in-Christ.  No minister ever restored his sight, and he was not expecting such.  Yet Jesus still does miracles in this world rooted in a spiritual nature, including healing for the heart.  And in order for us to do work as a part of our mission calling, we must rely completely on Him to be enabled to carry out the spiritual work of God, who is Spirit (as revealed in John 4:24).

Hunter Irvine

Be a minister

Matthew 9:35-38     Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (NIV).

   Jesus has called all of His disciples to be ministers.  Since Jesus is our example and our strength, we need to see what He did.

   First, Jesus taught.  One example of His teaching is found in what is now termed “The Sermon on the Mount.”

   And Jesus commands us to continue teaching about Him, which He clearly stated in what we now term the Great Commission, which was given after He was resurrected.  Now some have the gift for public teaching, as Timothy did.  Those of us with that gift should be encouraged as Timothy was encouraged in I Timothy 4:13-14.  I love teaching.

   Now some do not have a gift for public or formal teaching.  Yet most people “teach” a person or people in some manner.  Parents teach their children.  Even if parents do not methodically teach children lessons for life, just by their own behavior they are teaching.  Children learn much from the actions of their parents.

   Christians teach their co-workers by their behavior.  After I became a Christian, I slowly learned that co-workers were noticing my actions, and how I lived a different life than others.  I realized I had an added responsibility in my daily life.  Most of us have opportunities to teach people about Jesus by our daily behavior, as is detailed in I Timothy 4:12.

   Second, Jesus preached “the good news of the kingdom.”

   And disciples with the gift of preaching should preach.  Jesus instructed His disciples to go and preach, as recorded in Matthew 10:7 and Mark 3:14.  Timothy was likewise encouraged to preach as recorded in I Timothy 4:13-14.  Now a large number of churches restrict preaching to a tiny group of academic elites.  This is not biblical in my view.  Now ministry preparation is needed.  For example, my preaching class at CCU was one of my best classes among many great classes at CCU.  Yet successful preaching is a result of a lifetime commitment to learning from Jesus!  If you are called to preach, you must work hard just to get the opportunity to preach in America, and then you will need to engage in the hard work of preparing and presenting sermons.  Yet fruit will result.

   Third, Jesus physically healed people, as is stated in this passage and is shown throughout the first four books of the New Testament.

   Physical healing was also an apostolic calling, which is recorded in Matthew 10:1 and 10:8.  Yet I advocate the call from Jesus for the apostles to physically heal people of diseases and to even raise people from the dead was specific to the apostolic age.  Yet the Holy Spirit can still assist with physical healing in unique ways and within unique circumstances.  This is aside from a spiritual gift of a person, and aside from diligent church attendance.

   In this day and age, healing for the soul is a daily work of the Holy Spirit.  In the summer of 1998, I attended my third Promise Keepers event at the basketball stadium in Denver.  Near the conclusion of a full day of preachers on Saturday, Coach Bill McCartney preached.  Then he called people who needed healing to come down to the “floor” of the arena.  Then he called pastors to come down to pray with the people who needed healing.  One sentence of Coach McCartney stuck with me.  He said, “God can heal a broken heart.”  That is the work of the Lord God Almighty right here and now.  Jesus is the One who did miracles to physically heal people when He ministered here on earth.  And Jesus is the One who can do miracles to bring spiritual healing to all those who have faith in Him since His resurrection.  We disciples of Jesus need to keep encouraging people to turn to the Healer of our hearts.

   Having set the standard, Jesus makes a statement to His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few….”  This applies today!  I have long found ministry positions to be few and far between.  I consider ministry work to be one of the most challenging careers to enter.  Yet Jesus is not referring to open positions in Christian institutions at any given time.  Jesus is referring to the field of the human race.  For example, how many people in your neighborhood have received Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord?

   God’s plan of salvation was the sacrificial atonement of Jesus on the cross.  All of us people have sinned, thus all of us people deserved the resulting punishment of spiritual death.  Yet Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the cross, and suffered the resulting punishment of those sins, dying physically and spiritually.  Now God’s plan continues as He calls disciples of Jesus to tell the good news of Christ’s atonement. We Christians are called to proclaim the good news now!  The role of each Christian will vary according to her or his gift.  Yet God is calling all of His disciples to be ministers!

   Scripture makes it clear there is a special calling and office of church ministers, as is described in places such as I Timothy 3:1-13.  Yet all followers of Jesus are members of the royal priesthood stated in I Peter 2:9, and all followers of Jesus are called to contribute to carrying out the “Great Commission” in a manner fitting for each individual.

   Loving ministers for Jesus are needed.  I will refrain from telling some stories from some experiences I had this summer which illustrate the moral disaster taking place in our society.  You may have your own stories from this summer.

   Amidst this moral disaster, Jesus has compassion.  Called by the Father to minister to the Israelites for three years in this world, Jesus had compassion for them.  His compassion continues for everyone.  Jesus wants you to love people.  Jesus wants you to use your gifts to proclaim the good news of His atoning death on the cross.  Jesus wants you to be a minister for Him.

Hunter Irvine

Celebration in Christ

Matthew 9:14-17

   In this passage, Jesus gives a unique metaphorical teaching to illustrate He is offering something new which involves celebration, since where there is a groom, there is a wedding, and where there is a wedding, there is celebration.

   Interpreting this passage in the context of other Scriptures helps me to know the fact that the celebration came at a cost of the ultimate suffering.  There is a need to remember Christ’s sacrifice.  Second, we can celebrate our eternal life in Christ.

   Notice the suggestion of both realities when Jesus performed the first miracle revealed in Scripture.  In turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, Jesus instructed the workers to use containers which were normally used for “ceremonial washing,” as stated in John 2:6.  I think Jesus did that on purpose to gently foreshadow the cleansing which would be available by His blood shed on the cross.  And even though the party looked like it was going to come to a halt, the miraculous wine opened the door for a new celebration, another gentle foreshadowing.

   Jesus would later directly assign wine as a symbol of His blood.  During the supper the night before He was crucified, Jesus used the familiar objects of bread and wine to symbolize His body and blood shortly before He was sacrificed.  Jesus specifically said His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and He said His blood was of the New Covenant (see Matthew 26:28).

   Regarding the forgiveness of sins, 1 Peter 1:18-19 states redemption was made possible by “the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  Jesus was the Lamb of God who shed His blood as the atonement for the sins of people.  Cleansing comes from the death of Jesus, the One who died in our place, taking the punishment we deserved.

   Regarding the New Covenant, the shed blood as the sacrificial atonement also was used by Jesus to establish the New Covenant, since the shedding of blood was a necessary action in the Ancient Near East for sealing a covenant.  Jewish people were under the Mosaic Covenant, as they had been for over 1400 years.  The Messiah rocked the Israelite world, and the rest of the world, by establishing a New Covenant which was available to anyone, and which results in an eternal celebration for anyone who believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord.  Such a believer can experience the ultimate celebration in his or her heart, as he or she has been saved from spiritual death forever.

   Thus when Jesus speaks of new wine, I think He is speaking of the blood He shed on the cross.  And when He speaks of new wineskins, I think He is speaking of the New Covenant.  Both involved suffering.  Both brought about a possibility for an eternal celebration.

   Considering this passage is often avoided in sermons, I address one issue which I think presents a challenge: the passage involves alcohol.  Personally, I do not drink alcohol, and I do not advocate drinking alcohol in the least.  What I learned in Biology class in college about alcohol is just a starting point of the negative points I could go on and on about.  Yet what does the Bible say?  The Bible does not prohibit alcohol, however, New Testament Scripture does prohibit getting drunk (see Ephesians 5:18).  And New Testament Scripture does set strict standards regarding alcohol consumption for Christian leaders (see I Timothy 3:8).

   Wine was a staple in the Middle East in ancient times due to the fact people in ancient times did not have refrigeration there in a region where temperatures are scorching hot.  Thus wine was a common beverage, which I read in a Bible encyclopedia in 2015.

   Yet I do not think Jesus was promoting alcohol here.  Jesus further upgraded wine as a drink to be used for remembering His death on the cross.  I also noticed when pondering this passage throughout the week that when Jesus was establishing the Lord’s Supper, He referred to the drink as “the cup.”  For example: “Then [Jesus] took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).  He never said wine.  Considering this fact and considering the context of wine being used frequently in that culture, I advocate grape juice can be used for the Lord’s Supper.  There are various convictions on this subject.

   Yet what we should be focused on when partaking of the Lord’s Supper brings us back to the lesson of this passage.  When partaking of Communion, we need to remember the sacrifice Christ made, and we are blessed beyond description to celebrate the forgiveness of our sins and celebrate our new life within the New Covenant.

   The suffering of Jesus is finished, as Jesus proclaimed on the cross as recorded in John 19:30.  Then in due time afterwards, Jesus ascended into heaven.  Though Jesus remains in the heart of a believer by the Holy Spirit, He is not with us in full, and we followers of Jesus suffer in this fallen and hurtful world in manners we would not if we were not Christians.  Thus there are times when even a follower of Jesus is going to feel lonely, or frustrated, or hurt, or rejected, or abandoned.  We Christians sometimes still sin, and we Christians are surrounded by people who sometimes sin and hurt us.  Sometimes giving up something I do regularly helps me focus on God.  There will likely be occasions when a Christian feels compelled to fast, if not from food then from something else.  However such fasting should always be done as a personal choice.

   And in spite of the continued challenges for Christians in this world, we followers of Jesus can still celebrate in our hearts, and hopefully in other ways, our new life in Christ.  The Holy Spirit is with us now, and one day we will be with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in full for all eternity.  Indeed all genuine believers in Jesus will never suffer again as we feast at the wedding supper of the Lamb, as was foretold in Revelation 19:7-9!

Hunter Irvine

We all need Jesus

Matthew 9:9-13

   Jesus said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Before I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990, I was a sinner, yet Jesus kept reaching out to me.  Now in the 6th grade, I was Captain of the safety patrols at my school, and at the end of the year I was recognized as the number two safety patrol in my county.  In junior high school and in high school, when we would do yearbook signings near the end of the year, a vast majority of women would write I was a “nice guy.”  My primary activity in my youth was Scouting, and I earned the rank of Eagle!  At Virginia Tech, I was a dedicated student and a successful Resident Advisor.

   But I was a sinner not doing God’s will.  I did not have true love in my heart, and I was spiritually dying.  I needed the forgiveness of my sins.  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone since He loves us.  Jesus was the substitutional atonement.  I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990, receiving His offer of forgiveness.  I am ever thankful He forgave me.

   And I live daily with His true love.  Jesus remains with me through the Holy Spirit, still working even 31 years later, to keep healing me and to keep making me a better person.  I am such a different person than I was 31 years ago in my heart.  In the midst of the countless challenges in my life, it is a blessing to remember that this Jesus lover, student of the Bible, ancient virgin, and passionate witness, was a sinner saved from spiritual death thanks to the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.  And even though after all this time this Jesus lover, student of the Bible, ancient virgin, and passionate witness sometimes really messes up, I am able to keep relying on God for mercy and for help to be a better man.

   Please know today that Jesus loves you!

Hunter