HISTORIC CHRISTIANS--by Linden Malki

Many people are surprised by the news reports about the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria--wondering where they came from and why are they living in "Moslem countries." The answer is that they've been there all along, particularly in the northern, more remote parts of those countries. Some years ago, they were about 20% of the population of Syria and Iraq; they are now estimated at 5-10%.  Moslems often say that Christians and Jews have always "lived in peace in in our countries"; what they don't mention is the restrictions and the fragility of their lives. We do not know what will happen--how many will survive, how many will escape, how many will not.

It was in Antioch of ancient Syria that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians, and this was one of the five major Patriarchates of the early church, along with Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople. The Gospel spread from there through the area that is now Syria, eastern Turkey, and Iraq. They have survived the controversies within the early church in the fouth through sixth century; the Moslem conquest of the 600s, the Crusades, the Mongol conquests of the 1200's, the massacres of Armenian and Assyrian Christians during and after World War I by Turkish and Kurdish nationalists, and increasing emigration over the last century.

My father-in-law was born in southeastern Turkey, just north of the border between Syria and Iraq, in an historically Christian town. As a  young man, he and one brother escaped a massacre of Christians in the 1920's; another brother and their father were killed. Practically everybody I have met from their people have a horror story of loss and survival. I had not known a lot about the Eastern Churches before marrying into this subculture, but have found it a fascinating study. There are remnants of at least six traditions that survived; I have been to weddings and funerals in several different churches, one of which claims to use the original "St James Liturgy" of the first-century Jerusalem church.

What can we learn about following Jesus from those who have lived out Jesus' warnings that things would not be easy in this world?
These are some of the things that we need to know:
Hard conditions can give us the time and motivation to spend time with God, to know Him, and gain strength.
We do not know what God is doing; we are not on the planning level.
Weakness is an opportunity for God to change us and use us.
We should pray to stay strong; bad things happen but we can honor God through our response.
We can be enabled  to forgive and love on a deeper level than we ever thought possible.
Prayer is the ultimate fellowship--we should pray for all of those on the same Road we are on, wherever they may be.

https://www.opendoorsusa.org/persecution/theology-of-persecution

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GOD's Open Doors--by Linden Malki

The classic definition of insanity: Do the same thing, expect different results. There  is an exception: if you add one new thing to the mix, the results will be amazing--one way or another. Add a new ingredient to your soup, it may taste better, it might not.  There is one new ingredient that can make all the difference: God.

Fifteen years ago this month we came to worship on a Sunday morning to find a charred ruin where our sanctuary had been the day before. Two years later we discovered that the insurance company responsible for our rebuild--then about half-done--had gone into liquidation after the disaster of 9/11.  We were able to get financing to finish; the loan officer for our credit union told me that he had never before taken in an application with such a high "faith factor", but 40 months after the fire, we rededicated and moved back into a beautiful new worship center.  However, there were financial stresses that led to a need for change.  We were approached by a ministry needing a larger facility, and by the Elks Lodge needing someone to fill an available  rental slot: Sunday mornings. 

Now, four years later, our tenant at Sierra Way, who has been looking at another expansion, has found a building and is planning to move  the first part of next year.  Our attempts at finding a buyer have not succeeded. But add God to the mix: we were led to a minister who is involved with charter schools and counseling centers, and who was led to look for space in San Bernardino, knowing the spiritual needs of this city. 

A tenant moving on; a new tenant for part of the facility--what's the missing piece? Our Pastors and Ministry Board have put in a lot of prayer, and a lot of email and text  and personal conversations with the other parties in this situation in the past week, and it may mean our congregation moving back into the Sierra Way location.  First reaction: been there, done that, are we crazy to think of doing it again?  What are the new ingredients? One: a God-led, financially responsible, experienced, independent charter school, with leadership that we have already worked with successfully.  Two: a ministry team that has grown spiritually and professionally, led by a pastor who is within sight of successfully completing a Doctor of Ministry degree. Three:  A congregational family of leaders and people who have spiritually grown together and work together in an awesome way. 

During the height of these conversations,  Pastor Paul said that he wanted to make sure that we were operating with clean hands and a pure heart. I was amazed to find on Friday morning that the NCF Daily Bible reading was Psalm 24(chosen for that day a week earlier), which is the source of Paul's statement; and which also talks about opening up the doors for the King of Glory to come in.  I got a vision of God opening doors not just for us, but doors that He Himself can come in.

 God's Open Doors

The classic definition of insanity: Do the same thing, expect different results. There  is an exception: if you add one new thing to the mix, the results will be amazing--one way or another. Add a new ingredient to your soup, it may taste better, it might not.  There is one new ingredient that can make all the difference: God.

Fifteen years ago this month we came to worship on a Sunday morning to find a charred ruin where our sanctuary had been the day before. Two years later we discovered that the insurance company responsible for our rebuild--then about half-done--had gone into liquidation after the disaster of 9/11.  We were able to get financing to finish; the loan officer for our credit union told me that he had never before taken in an application with such a high "faith factor", but 40 months after the fire, we rededicated and moved back into a beautiful new worship center.  However, there were financial stresses that led to a need for change.  We were approached by a ministry needing a larger facility, and by the Elks Lodge needing someone to fill an available  rental slot: Sunday mornings. 

Now, four years later, our tenant at Sierra Way, who has been looking at another expansion, has found a building and is planning to move  the first part of next year.  Our attempts at finding a buyer have not succeeded. But add God to the mix: we were led to a minister who is involved with charter schools and counseling centers, and who was led to look for space in San Bernardino, knowing the spiritual needs of this city. 

A tenant moving on; a new tenant for part of the facility--what's the missing piece? Our Pastors and Ministry Board have put in a lot of prayer, and a lot of email and text  and personal conversations with the other parties in this situation in the past week, and it may mean our congregation moving back into the Sierra Way location.  First reaction: been there, done that, are we crazy to think of doing it again?  What are the new ingredients? One: a God-led, financially responsible, experienced, independent charter school, with leadership that we have already worked with successfully.  Two: a ministry team that has grown spiritually and professionally, led by a pastor who is within sight of successfully completing a Doctor of Ministry degree. Three:  A congregational family of leaders and people who have spiritually grown together and work together in an awesome way. 

During the height of these conversations,  Pastor Paul said that he wanted to make sure that we were operating with clean hands and a pure heart. I was amazed to find on Friday morning that the NCF Daily Bible reading was Psalm 24(chosen for that day a week earlier), which is the source of Paul's statement; and which also talks about opening up the doors for the King of Glory to come in.  I got a vision of God opening doors not just for us, but doors that He Himself can come in.

WHAT ARE YOU FOLLOWING?--by Linden Malki

We are all following something. It might be a person, it might be an idea, it might be a philosophy, it might be a fashion, it might be some sort of wishful thinking.  We can see the results of this around us.  Right now we are seen horrific pictures of people following someonr claiming to be the rightful Caliph (successor to Muhammad) and intending to bring the world in line with Islamic law. Actually, there are a number of followers of Muhammad, each following a slightly different tradition of Islam, each offering a leader, a cause, a way to better follow the Koran.

Modern media has brought us a great number of things we can follow.  For example, there are musicians, each appealing for followers to listen and buy their music. We have technology that allows continuous soaking our brains with music in a wide variety of styles, each with their own attitude and influence, and their own group of followers.

There are sports teams with their own followers--the leagues and their teams are designed to encourage followers who will buy tickets to their games, merchandise with their logos, and stuff advertised by sponsors paying lots of money to advertise on the coattails of the games. We are currently seeing the team organizations struggling with the behaviors of the players, asking how much responsibility they have for the examples set for their followers.

There are politicians looking or followers who will buy into their visions of the ideal societies, each with their own motives of power, money,  influence. Some of them want to point their followers to what they claim is a better way of life; some of them use their vision for their own enrichment or power trips.

There are writers and artists creating heroes and villains for fans to follow; books to buy, movies to see, games to play, alternate realities to soak up our time and money.  How do we judge the health of these examples for us and our children?

Every day we choose what examples we will follow; what we will wear, what will we eat, where will we go, what will we do. Every culture from the village to the world has leaders and followers. Almost everything people follow has human beings at the back of it.  Where else can we look?

Billions of people believe that there is a power in the Universe larger than human beings. What does this look like? We believe that the Creator of the Universe has made Himself known to us, and that He has provided ways for us to know how to follow Him. There have been many people in the history of the world who have claimed to be speaking for a supernatural Power.  We as Christians believe that God Himself has come to us, lived with us, and died for us, and we can have a relationship with.Him. We are engaged in life-long effort to understand Who He Is, and what it means to follow Him.

Go for the ORIGINAL--by Linden Malki

When we read Scripture and find that it demands something of us,the first thing we need to know that it is authentic, that it comes from a reliable Source. The first step is to believe that God exists, and rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Heb 11:6) How do we know He exists? St Paul tells the Romans that "Ever since God created the world, His everlasting power and deity--however invisible--have been there for the mind to see in the things He has made." The writer of  Hebrews also goes on to the historical evidence--the many people who had seen or done amazing things through the power of God. He will demand more than we can do on our own.

'We believe--on good evidence--that the God of the Bible is the authentic, original manufacturer of the universe we live in, the basic source of everything. We find God and His obedient followers in Scripture. What else do we find?  We find people and experiences that do not live up to what is needed; some that do not have a connection with the true God; and some who found or made false gods for their own reasons. Do we recognize what is going on here?

Looking at the stuff I deal with every day, I see some parallels.

The first question my customers often asks about a part we offer is "Who made it? "  "Is is original?" Some of what we have available is original, in a genuine factory package.  We have some parts that are "original equipment supplier" items, made to factory specs by companies that deal with the original factories. In our Christian life, we have available the experiences and wisdom of people who are connected with the Creator and live according to His specifications. In my world, we get some things are from outside sources, not connected with the original factories. They are only as good as their fidelity to appropriate materials, original specs, and quality workmanship. In the church world, there have always been people  who put out a more or less good imitation of godly wisdom, and can be anywhere from "right on" to barely recognizable. In the business world, there is cheap junk, made who knows where, intended for those who are easily satisfied with cheap and close enough. Often this will have a brand name designed to mislead: "First Equipment Quality" or "Genuine". And there is counterfeit--lookalike packaging, fake logos, designed to fool customers, just as we find folks who peddle imitation spirituality and counterfeit gods.

I've always been "picky" about what I sell; to find the best combination of as close to original as I can at a fair price.  People are nice enough sometimes to let me know that something they got from us fixed what they needed. If we are in a saving relationship with God, we need to understand He is the genuine Maker of the Universe, learn as much as we can from the best sources and our best connections with Him, so that He can fix the broken stuff in us, and we can become the people we were created to be.

SEQUEL 2: The Word is Spread to the World--by Linden Malki

More than half of the New Testament books are "Epistles" (letters), many of them written by Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee who became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. He is a good example of how God chooses special people for special jobs. He was born into a Hebrew family,  in the Greek city of Tarsus on the Mediterranean coast of what is now southeastern Turkey, and was also a Roman citizen. He had a Greek education as well as having been a student of Gamaliel, one of the most respected scholars in Jewish tradition.   He was a Pharisee, with great zeal for Jewish law, and originally judged the followers of Jesus as heretics. Read his story in Acts 22; how he was called to serve God by preaching the message of the Gospel to first, his fellow Jews, and then to the outsiders, the Gentiles. We have many of his letters, to churches he founded and others to people he had mentored, dealing both with the meaning of Jesus' life and death and the practical issues and problems that came up in the churches. This gives us an amazing real-time snapshot of the development of the  early church, as well as supplying advice and instruction to 2000 years of Christians.

The letters were written (in order of their appearance in the Bible, not geographically or chronologically) to Rome, Corinth (a seaport on the isthmus between mainland Greece and the peninsula that is the southern half of the country), Galatia in Asia Minor (now Turkey), Ephesus (a seaport on the east coast of the Aegean Sea). Philippi (on the  northern coast of the Aegean in Macedonia, north of Greece), Colossae (in eastern Asia Minor), and Thessonika (now Salonika on the northwest corner of the Aegean, the second largest city in Greece.) In addition, we have letters written to Timothy and Titus, mentorees of Paul who became church leaders, and Philemon, a personal letter to a friend.   The letter to the Romans is Paul's most scholarly presentation of the Gospel; The two letters to the Corinthians deal with the problems of a rambunctious group of folks in a very pagan city; and the letter to the Philippians was written from prison but expresses eloquently the joy of knowing Christ.  More than one psychologist has recommended reading this small book for encouragement and mental health.

We also have letters from other major followers of Jesus.  The next one is the Letter to the Hebrews, by an unknown writer who is obviously inspired and respected by the churches.  Some older Bible translations give Paul as the author, but the more I read Paul's letters and this book, the more aware I am that the style is different and the writer comes to the story of Jesus from a different direction--aimed directly at a traditional Jewish community.  The other letters we have are from James (the leader of the original Jerusalem church and brother of Jesus), Peter, John, and Jude (brother of James and another brother of Jesus).

The final book is the "end of the story." It is a form that  was popular in this period, a vision of the final triumph of God in human history.  Jesus Himself is the "star" of this one.  It is a series of visions that John had when he was confined to the prison island of Patmos, in the western Aegean Sea. Amateur and professional scholars have analyzed it in many different ways, which is not surprising when we realize that there are references and coded descriptions for which we no longer have the key, as it was circulated underground among churches who were being persecuted.  A surprising amount of church music is based on passages from this book. The  important thing to remember is that even  though there are different ways to interpret it, there is one overarching message: at the end, we will be with God forever!

ean coast of what is now southeastern Turkey, and was also a Roman citizen. He had a Greek education as well as having been a student of Gamaliel, one of the most respected scholars in Jewish tradition.   He was a Pharisee, with great zeal for Jewish law, and originally judged the followers of Jesus as heretics. Read his story in Acts 9; how he was called to serve God by preaching the message of the Gospel to first, his fellow Jews, and then to the outsiders, the Gentiles. We have many of his letters, to churches he founded and others to people he had mentored, dealing both with the meaning of Jesus' life and death and the practical issues and problems that came up in the churches. This gives us an amazing real-time snapshot of the development of the  early church, as well as supplying advice and instruction to 2000 years of Christians.

SEQUEL: The Promised Messiah Comes!

Human beings have been created with an insatiable desire to retell stories and write them down.  By the time of Jesus, in the Roman Empire of what we now call The First Century AD,  the Jewish Scriptures were in wide circulation across the empire.  Jesus and His followers assumed a familiarity with them in their audiences. As the teachings of Jesus spread, they were written down; fragments have been found that have been dated to within a generation of Jesus' death and resurrection. Like the earlier Jewish Scriptures that we now call the Old Testament, this is a collection, not a single narrative.  

We find four different kinds of literature in this collection.First, the “Gospels” (Good News), the story of Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s Promise, from four different angles. 

 

"The Gospel of Matthew" written by a well-educated Jew with a thorough familiarity with the traditional Scriptures; refers constantly to examples and prophecies.

"The Gospel of Mark", Jesus in action. This is considered by many scholars to be Peter's preaching as collected and retold by John Mark, a young man from a good Jewish Christian family in Jerusalem, who was later associated with Peter, Paul, and Barnabas.

"The Gospel of Luke", written by a Gentile to a Gentile friend. Luke is considered by many scholars to be a first-rate historian. This is the first of two writings by the same author. It was written for a wider, Greek-speaking audience, and  includes more of Jesus’ parables.

These three are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, because they share a framework and chronology, and may have drawn on a common source, although each has material unique to itself.

"The Gospel of John"  appears to have been written later, when the Synoptics were in wide circulation. John does not repeat them, but gives more material and spiritual truths that go deeper, and which shows the uniqueness of  Jesus, within the Jewish tradition but not limited to it. 

The second type of writing is historical. "Acts of the Apostles", the continuation of Luke’s Gospel, carries the story of Jesus through the first generation of the early church. Luke traveled with Paul in his later missionary journeys, and spent several years in Galilee when Paul was in prison in Caesarea while the various authorities tried to figure out what to do with him. It is likely that Luke took this opportunity to visit people who had known Jesus and the apostles and collected their recollections.

(to be continued next week: The Epistles (Letters), and the final drama.)