On average, 121 people commit suicide per day in America. It is now the tenth leading cause of death in this country.  In this episode we discuss this phenomenon and seek to understand what the bible can teach us about this subject.  In addition, we wrestle with a number of hard questions about suicide such as:

Lastly, we consider how the bible provides hope for when we go through the darkest of times.

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In this episode, you’ll get a brief introduction to the contributions of Martin Luther and John Calvin to the initiation and spread of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, including these events:

This is lecture 2 of a history of Christianity class called Five Hundred: From Martin Luther to Joel Osteen.

All the notes are available here as a pdf.

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Martin Luther (1483-1546)

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Today we are beginning a new series on life and death, in which we’ll consider abortion, suicide, euthanasia, and capital punishment.  Our goal is to address each topic from a biblical framework in order to arrive at a Christian position.  At the outset, I’ll admit that we don’t know everything and could be wrong, so we appreciate your engagement in helping us arrive at a godly position.

Today we’ll focus on abortion and consider whether it’s ever right for a Christian to have an abortion.  We’ll cover the scriptures that relate to this topic, the track record of early Christianity, and how this relates to our own time.  We discuss the major objections and consider the toughest cases like rape, incest, and when the mothers’ life is in danger.

Please note that some of what we discuss here is probably inappropriate for children.

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500 years ago, there was only one Christian denomination throughout most of the world. 500 years ago, the church and the government killed those who resisted tradition. 500 years ago, no one could read the bible in their own language. How did we get from there to here? Discover the wild and exciting story of Christianity for the last 500 years, so you can understand how the world ended up the way it is now, avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, and gain inspiration from heroic people who made a difference.

In this first lecture, you’ll learn:

All the notes are available here as a pdf.

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Three aims for this class:

I want to talk about Martin Luther, but first need to do some background

Three points for today:

Have you ever read about the time Uzzah touched the ark and God struck him down? When’s the last time you heard a sermon preached on this text? Anytime I’ve reflected on this passage, I’m so focused on trying to explain how God could be just in carrying out this judgment that I’ve missed the point for my own life. In this rousing sermon, Victor Gluckin argues that we often commit the same sin as Uzzah. We reject God’s good way of doing life and prefer instead to “put it on a cart,” that is, come up with our own easier way of handling the situation.

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Divorce is a painful and complicated subject to talk about in America today where about half of all marriages end in divorce. Our laws have changed to accept “no-fault” divorce and many of us are unaware of what the bible teaches on this critical subject. To figure out the biblical perspective on divorce and remarriage, we will consider three scriptures from the Old Testament (Mal 2.13-16; Deut 22.13-21; 24.1-4) and three from the New (Mat 5.31-32; 19.3-12; 1 Cor 7.10-40). We’ll give particular focus to the reasons that allow for divorce both in Deuteronomy as well as how Jesus interpreted it when he was asked about it.

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To figure out the biblical perspective on divorce and remarriage, we will consider three Scriptures from the Old Testament (Mal 2:13-16; Deut 22:13-21; 24:1-4) and three from the New Testament (Mat 5:31-32; 19:3-12; 1 Cor 7:10-40).  Although other verses touch on this subject, the constraints of time limit what we can consider here.  Other texts include: Lev 21:7, 14; 22:13; Num 30:9; Is 50:1; Jer 3:8; Hos 2:2; Mat 1:19; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18.

Malachi 2:13-16 13   In antiquity, divorced women had limited options.  A man could get rid of “the wife of his youth” and upgrade to a younger wife.  God takes a strong stand on this.  He will not accept the offerings of a man who has done this.  He hates divorce.[1]

Deuteronomy 22:13-21   This law protects the virtuous woman from getting divorced.  If her husband falsely accuses her of pre-marital sex, he will get whipped, fined, and barred from divorcing her henceforth.  If she’s guilty, she’ll suffer capital punishment, a harsh ruling by our standards.  Even so, this shows how seriously they treated pre-marital sex and virginity.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4   Providing a divorced woman with a certificate of divorce (today called “a get”) was a huge step forward for women.  It meant she was legally free and could remarry.  This law specifically prohibited remarrying a woman who had an intervening marriage with someone else, but our interest is more on the reason for the initial divorce.

The Hebrew word in question is עֶרְוַת (ervat), the word for “nakedness.”[2]

The rabbis argued over what ervat precisely meant.  From the Babylonian Talmud, we gather three perspectives: Hillel, Shammai, and Akiva.  Hillel (110 – 10 BC) died before Jesus was born, Shammai (50 BC – AD 30) overlapped with Jesus, and Akiva (AD 50 – 132) was born a generation after Jesus.  Here are their positions on divorce:

Tractate Gittin 90a

How did Jesus compare to these other rabbis from this period?

Matthew 5:31-32

Stanley Chee of the Christian Disciples Church in Toronto, Canada shares a brief overview of how the doctrine of the trinity developed in the first four centuries.  Pulling on the work of Eric Chang, Bentley Chan, Hans Kung, and Richard Rubenstein, Chee explains four major factors that played a role in this process:

Chee delivered this message at LHIM‘s annual 2017 Kingdom Fest.

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We all get beaten down in life. Whether it’s catastrophes like hurricanes, shootings, or economic meltdowns, or just dealing with the day to day demands and responsibilities of life, we all go through periods of dryness, feeling like we aren’t making a difference. This is where Elijah’s example is particularly pertinent. Having reached the peak of his influence and achieved a mighty victory over the prophets of Baal and Ashera, Elijah still found himself on the run from the government, hunted like an animal. In the deepest time of despair and discouragement, we encounter a message that can help us today as well. God told Elijah that he wasn’t done with him yet. I believe God’s not done with you yet either. He has work for you to do.

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1 Kings 17:1 Elijah’s name means “Yahweh is my God.” He wants to attack Baal directly, by undermining his alleged weather powers. It will not rain until Yahweh’s prophet says so.

Is God done with you, or does He still have more work for you to do? What’s God calling you to do? Is it to volunteer here on Sundays, invite your neighbors over for dinner, invite your coworker to church, start teaching your kids the Bible, go to a foreign land as a missionary, serve the poor, feed the hungry, or clothe the naked? Whatever God’s calling you to do, it’s time to do it.

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The first verse of John’s Gospel reads: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” Typically, Christians understand the Word to refer to the Son and God to refer to the Father. However, as John Schoenheit explains, this reading owes more to later trinitarian theology than the native biblical context. Instead of assuming the Word just is the Son, Schoenheit carefully shows how God’s word is his plan for salvation. In fact this is what became incarnate in Jesus in verse 14.

Here’s a link to John Schoenheit’s slideshow

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So goes the classic hymn, “This World Is Not My Home.”  However, the bible frequently portrays the final destination of the righteous as occurring on earth.  In this message we’ll take our cue from Daniel’s vision in chapter seven to see what God’s plan is for his people.  Ultimately, he wants a restored world without suffering and sin so that he can enjoy a relationship with his people forever.  This world is your home.  You were born here.  You currently live here.  And your hope is to remain here.

Notes:

Vision

Daniel 7.9-12: The Ancient of Days passes judgment against the dreadful beast

Daniel 7.13-14: The Son of Man rules over all peoples forever

Daniel 7.15: Daniel’s response

Interpretation

Daniel 7.19-27: second clarification – the fourth kingdom and the little horn who persecutes the saints

Daniel 7.28: Daniel’s response

The Saints Will Reign

Kingdom Driven

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