Replay: A Christian Archaeological Find of Monumental Proportions!
Last year about this time – to be specific, it was one year ago tomorrow – I wrote a post called “Contents of the Ancient Lead Codices of Scripture Revealed!” If you remember, this was just after some archaeologists announced that they had discovered some new codices (books) of Scripture which were covered in lead. I wrote this post about the content of those amazing books. They filled in many holes in our ecclesiology…
(By the way, if you enjoy this post, you might also enjoy these posts, which just happened to have been published on April 1, 2010 and April 1, 2008 respectively: “Jesus is not risen” and “A Completely Biblical Church.”)
Contents of the Ancient Lead Codices of Scripture Revealed!
Recently, news sources have reported the existence of some ancient (2000 years old) lead-lined codices (books) which have been described as (possibly) “the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
While scholars and academic-types discuss and debate the source of these new codices, very few have mentioned the ground-breaking contents of these old manuscripts. I had the opportunity to scan a few of these pages, and make public (for the first time) my translations of the ancient scripts.
From a previously unknown letter from Paul to the Corinthians, we read this: “Concerning my previous letter, I do not want you to be ignorant. When I wrote that whenever you gather together you should edify one another, I did not mean your worship services. During worship services, it is necessary for you to sit quietly and learn from your leaders. They will edify you. However, when you meet in your small groups, which are not church gatherings, then you should edify one another under the authority of a church designated teacher.”
Also, there was this page from a missing section of Paul’s letter to the Romans: “And when I arrive, please do everything that you can to arrange a meeting with Simon Peter, Bishop of Rome. I need his ruling on a few rules of doctrine and to ask his blessing on some things that I have written that others say are difficult to understand.”
There was also this alternative opening to Peter’s first letter: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ and Bishop of Rome…”
Apparently, Paul wrote a third letter to Timothy which we have just now recovered. It begins like this: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to Timothy, my beloved son in the faith and senior pastor of the church in Ephesus.”
A previously unknown work of obvious apostolic origin detailed the necessary beliefs of all Christians in the categories of Scripture, God, Man, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Salvation, Church, and Eschatology.
Another codex collects several of Timothy’s sermons to the church in Ephesus and Titus’ sermons to the church in Crete. As an added bonus, a sheet was folded and stuffed into the back of this codex which gave detailed minutes of a church business meeting which included the ordination service of Titus’ successor as senior pastor of Crete after God called Titus to a larger church nearby.
Finally, almost miraculously, a bulletin for a church service in Philippi survived the years among this collection. It turns out that this church service began with prayer and three songs. After taking up an offering and a special choral anthem, the pastor preached from three verses from the letter that Paul had recently sent them. Then, after singing another song and praying, they were dismissed. According to a note at the bottom of the page, you could have received a 10% discount from a nearby restaurant by showing this bulletin.
I can’t wait to read more from this exciting discovery!
Sixth Blogiversary
I started “The Assembling of the Church” six years ago today – March 21, 2006. So, today is my sixth blogiversary.
The blog started on blogger, but I switched to a self-hosted WordPress-based blog a few years ago. (That’s why you may occasionally find links to assembling.blogspot.com, but those links should direct you back here.)
Even though I started blogging with two posts on the same day (“Welcome” and “Questions“), I didn’t write many posts for the first few months. I did not start blogging regularly (i.e., usually daily) until November 2006.
Originally, I started blogging to parallel my PhD studies. I’ve always enjoyed the interaction with readers and commenters, either on the blog or through email. While many of you remain “virtual” friends, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of meeting several of you “face-to-face.”
Over the last couple of years, the purpose and scope of this blog has changed. Actually, for me, the change was gradual and natural. I’ve shifted from focusing primarily on what Scripture says about the church, and I’ve added more focus on living according to what Scripture says about the church. This may seem like a small change – perhaps even a change in terminology. But, in reality, there’s a huge difference.
So, hopefully, I will continue to write posts examining Scripture and discussing various aspects of church life as described by the authors of the New Testament. But, I also plan to continue to write posts exhorting us to live according to these patterns.
Remember that a disciple of Jesus Christ is not someone who knows about God or what God commands. Instead, a disciple is someone who hears, knows, and OBEYS God more and more. (Matthew 7:24-27; Matthew 28:19-20) So, let’s continually help one another grow in our understanding of God and in our obedience to his way of life.
Thank you for reading my blog, for commenting on my posts, and for being a part of my life in Christ.
Is God opening a door of opportunity for us in The Congo?
It looks like God may be opening a door of opportunity for us to serve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, when I say us, I don’t mean just me and my family. I mean that God may be providing an opportunity for the church to connect with other believers and other churches in the Congo.
Let me explain. First, as you can probably guess (for those of you who know that Dave Black is my PhD mentor), I’ve been greatly influenced by Dave and BeckyLynn Black’s work in Ethiopia. (You can find more information about that in their “Ethiopia Files.”)
As a church and as a family, we have worked with the Blacks to serve the people of Alaba, Ethiopia for several years. I even spent a couple of weeks in Alaba two years ago. I love the way they work through existing relationships and in the work that God is already doing in Ethiopia.
(I hope this relationship and working partnership continues! One of our brothers from Ethiopia is even planning to meet with us in a few weeks.)
Now, some friends of ours are planning to move to the Congo. Their work will primarily be in the area of Bible translation, but they will also be meeting and working with local believers. Hopefully, if God leads us to continue in this direction, they will be able to connect us to our brothers and sisters in that area of the Congo. I see this as being a two-way partnership, so I’m just as excited about what we can learn from them as what we can do for them.
We’ve looked into partnerships like this before. But, this time, there’s something present that has always been missing before: an existing relationship!
For example, I think about Paul getting ready to go to Rome. He had never visited Rome before, but there were brothers and sisters in Rome (at least Prisca and Aquila) with whom he already had an existing relationship. When he traveled to Rome, he would be continuing that relationship as well as building new relationships with people that they introduced him to.
If we travel to the Congo, we will be continuing our relationship with our friends, and at the same time, building new relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in that area.
So, this could be an exciting time for us. We will learn more after our friends move in a few weeks and as they get settled in and begin learning about what God is already doing in that area of the Congo.
Race Report from the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon
For the one or two of you who may be interested, I’ve written a “race report” about the Myrtle Beach half marathon which I ran last Saturday. You can find it at my running blog in a post called “Myrtle Beach Half Marathon Race Report.”
The report includes pictures and a short video that my wife recorded while I was running by near the start of the race. She continued recording after I ran by which gives you an idea of the numbers of people running that day.
I am running the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon this morning
I’ve scheduled this post earlier than normal. I usually publish my first post of the morning at 9:00 a.m. However, this post will be published at 6:30 a.m.
Why? Because the Myrtle Beach Marathon and Half Marathon start at 6:30 a.m.
It will probably take me a few minutes to reach the start line, since there are thousands of people running this race. So, if you read this immediately after it is published, then you may be reading before I actually start running. But, for most of you, you will read this while I am running or after I finish the race.
I have two goals for this race. My primary goal is to finish the race. I have run 13.1 miles before (half marathon distance), but never in a race. So, if I finish, this will be a big accomplishment for me, especially since I couldn’t run at all last summer.
My secondary goal is to finish the race in under 2 hours. That means that I will need to run all 13.1 miles at a pace of around 9 minutes per mile. I’ve run just over 9 miles at that pace. But, when I ran 13.1 miles before, I ran slower that than pace. So, again, if I finish in under 2 hours, this will be another great accomplishment for me. In early fall, I was running much shorter distances at a pace of 12 minutes per mile.
Plus, because of this race, I’m able to spend a long weekend with my wife, Margaret. My parents, Margaret’s parents, and some good friends of ours helped make this weekend possible, and we are greatly appreciative!
I have decided that I do not like making decisions
A few days ago, I entered the title of this post as my Facebook status: I have decided that I do not like making decisions.
Many of my Facebook friends know that I like to enter humorous quips like this as my status, so we had a great time bantering about this one.
Many of my real life friends knew that I was actually facing a major decision. In fact, many knew that this was the cause of the stress in my life that I wrote about a few weeks ago.
In fact, this was a major decision that I wanted to make. I had been praying for this decision in general for a few years now and praying for this decision specifically for a few months. Many of my friends knew about this and had been praying with me.
Since last fall, I had been working towards this decision and fighting for the opportunity. I knew which decision I wanted to make, even though it would mean a huge life change for myself and my family and probably many of my friends as well.
But, when the decision actually presented itself, it was not as cut and dry as I had hoped. And, I was given a deadline. I had to make a final decision in less than 48 hours.
I weighed both options. There were pros and cons to each direction. Unfortunately, the decision that I had been working toward – the decision that I wanted to make – was not as obvious to me as I had hoped it would be.
I began to wonder, “Is this a difficulty that I should continue walking through – like a test of faith – or is it a road block that God is using to stop me from going in this direction?”
I had no direct revelation from God about this decision (although I believe that he could have directly told me which decision to make if he had wanted to). Of course, it was also possible that God was trying to tell me which decision to make but I was not paying attention to him.
So, I talked with my friends. All of these people knew me and knew my family. They knew how God had been working in our lives. They knew our struggles, and they knew why I had been working up to the point of making this decision.
Some of my friends offered additional information that I had not considered. Others offered new perspectives. Some simply allowed me to voice my issues with each decision… listening is a powerful gift. They also gave me advice. I’m so glad that God has placed people like this in my life.
I made a decision. Did I make the “right” decision? I don’t know if there was a “right” decision in this case, although, like I said, it was a huge potentially life-changing decision. I know that I and my family are at peace with this decision. I knew that I trust God in making this decision, and I would have trusted God is making the opposite decision. I know that he is with me – regardless of which decision I had made.
Decisions. Sometimes God makes it clear which decision he wants us to make. That doesn’t mean that decision is easy, though.
Sometimes, God does not make it clear which decision he wants us to make. What do we do when we have to make a decision anyway? Well, in my case, I continue to seek God, and I seek the counsel of the godly men and women who God has placed in my life… real life people who know me and my family and my struggles and my victories and my strengths and my weaknesses.
God often communicates through these people who truly are brothers and sisters to me and my family.
What do you do when you are forced to make a decision, but God has not directly made the direction clear?
Will you read about my friends Lew and Kati and consider helping them?
My friend Lew and Kati recently made the HUGE decision to adopt a little girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Earlier this week, they found out that her older brother is also up for adoption. So, guess what they’ve decided to do?!? They’ve decided to adopt the brother also!
While they are understandably excited, they also realize that they have a huge hurdle in front of them. Besides the cost of the original adoption, they now had an added $7500 to adopt two.
Would you read through their adoption site “No Stretch Marks Required” and perhaps consider helping them out by purchasing an item or two or more from their fundraisers list?
I appreciate it… and I know they appreciate it also.
When I don’t deal with stress well…
I’m usually a pretty mellow person. While it might not come through the net of ether – especially during online discussions or disagreement – I’m almost always light and carefree. Very few things stress me out…
But, the last two weeks or so has been different. I’ve been stressed out, and I don’t like it.
Now, I know what’s stressing me out… Or, I should say, I know all of the things that taken together are stressing me out. At this point, I can’t go into the details about everything that’s going on, because many of them are ongoing. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more in the next month or so.
But, really, the causes are not that important. None of them are life threatening or relationship threatening or anything like that. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still stressed.
A few times, I’ve had trouble going to sleep. Sometimes, I’m quiet or just want to spend time by myself. I’ve vegged out on video games. I’ve been discouraged. I’ve dealt with the stress in many different ways – but I’m still stressed.
Of course, I’ve prayed… often… regularly… now. I’ve read Scripture. I’ve talked with my family and some friends.
I know that I’m stressed, and I don’t like it.
Times like this are difficult… but often very important. Whether it’s stress or anxiety or depression or pain or illness or something else, it reminds us how desperately we depend on God.
What’s interesting is that in spite of the stress, my faith is strong, and I’ve never doubted God. I know and trust that he is in control. (Yes, I know this may sound contradictory… but, oh well.)
So, why am I sharing this with you? Do I want you to fix my stress problems? No. Do I want your pity or mercy? No, not really. Do I want you to pray for me. Sure, but, I always want you to pray for me. But, I didn’t write this so that you would pray for me.
Instead, I’m just trying to share more of myself with you. You may not care, and you may not want to read this kind of post, and that’s fine. But, to me, sharing all of life is important – even the parts that aren’t necessarily pretty. Right now, this is me.
I’m also hoping that this post will be encouraging to someone. Yep, encouraging. You see, too often Christians (especially those in the public eye) are all smiles and roses. But, life isn’t all smiles and roses. It doesn’t help others to pretend that everything is great when it’s not.
So, if you’re having a rough time too, just know that I’m right there with you.
So, right now, everything is not great in my life. Like I said, there are no big issues, but I’m not dealing with this stress well. (Thank God that my family has been extremely patient and caring.)
Have you signed my “Guest Book”?
Do you remember “guest books”? I’m not talking wedding guest books or funeral guest books. I’m talking about online guest books.
Back in the early days of the internet, during the heyday of AOL and do-it-yourself websites on various community type pages (such as angelfire or homepages) and before the growth and domination of blogs and social media, every site had a “guest book.”
There would be a huge icon someone on the site with the words “Sign my Guest Book.” The best sites, of course, had an animated GIF icon that would flash various colors or show a book opening and closing or a pen writing in the book. It was awesome…. if you like that kind of thing.
I never had guest books on any of my sites.
But, I’ve always enjoyed getting to know the people how spend time reading and interacting with what I write. In fact, several times over the last few years, I’ve written posts like that with one goal in mind: to allow you and other readers to introduce yourself.
So, this is your opportunity to “sign my guest book.” Please take a moment to tell us about yourself – whatever you feel comfortable sharing.
Also, on this blog, I primarily write about issues related to the church. So, if you are so inclined, I’d love to know a little about your own journey into church-related issues.
I look forward to “meeting” you!
The Assembling of the Church blog and Facebook
If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that my new posts on this blog are automatically published on my Facebook profile as well. I’ve also scheduled several older posts to publish to my Facebook profile each day as well. While I’ve wanted to link to new and older posts on Facebook, I’ve never really been happy about the “clutter” on my Facebook profile.
Now, I’ve created a Facebook page specifically to parallel my blog. Like the blog, the Facebook page is called “The Assembling of the Church.” I will probably still publish new blog posts to my Facebook profile (at least for a while).
If you like to follow my blog on Facebook, then please jump over to my new Facebook page and “like” that page. That way, anything posted on that page will show up on your Facebook news feed. Also, feel free to comment on and share posts from that page as well. If you follow my blog through a blog reader or Twitter or some other method, then this won’t affect you.
(By the way, I don’t know why I waited so long to do this. I’ve helped other people set up Facebook pages, but I’m only just now setting up one for myself and my blog. Oh well.)